The second biggest WWE pay-per-view of the year, SummerSlam, will be once again held at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California.
This will be the sixth SummerSlam in a row to be held at the STAPLES Center, with the date this year being August 17. Tickets for the show go on sale on March 15 with pre-sale kicking off a few days before that.
WWE keeps hosting SummerSlam in Los Angeles to get the extra rub from Hollywood as several events are held during the weekend with several movie stars and celebrities attending, giving WWE some extra publicity on entertainment websites.
The third inductee announced for the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2014 is former WWE Women’s champion Amy Dumas, better known to wrestling fans as the one and only Lita.
The soon to be 39 year old was announced to join the Hall of Fame on last night’s episode of Monday Night RAW, making her the seventh female inductee following Moolah, Sensational Sherri, Mae Young, Wendi Richter, Sunny, and Trish Stratus.
Lita’s career with the WWE started in 1999 first pairing up with Essa Rios before joining the Hardy Boyz as part of Team Xtreme. She was involved in high-profile angles with Edge, Matt Hardy, Kane, and perhaps the best female feud in wrestling with Trish Stratus.
Lita retired from wrestling in 2006, wrestling her last match – and losing the title – against Mickie James at that year’s Survivor Series.
She has appeared sporadically on Monday Night RAW since then and last appeared on the 1000th episode of Monday Night RAW defeating Heath Slater. Last year she was at the WWE Hall of Fame with her then-boyfriend CM Punk to see her friend Trish being inducted.
Raw redeemed themselves last week with the main-event scenario a little, but unfortunately, Smackdown took a step backwards. As I wrote last week, I believe that Christian should ride this “one more match/one last chance” and win all his matches right up to Elimination Chamber. Then it would make it interesting (even though he would not win, because he’s not pegged for WrestleMania main-event) and a little suspenseful. Alas, they kyboshed that with his loss to World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton. But, that was last week. Tonight, “The Viper” moves on and faces his nemesis, John Cena. Will the champion prevail, or does a returning Cena gain momentum (most likely!) heading into the Chamber?
My favorite feud right now is The Wyatts and The Shield. As has been said before, they should not touch each other and continue to play these brilliant psychological games instead. Loving their promos and can’t wait to see them interact again!
The undercard for the pay-per-view needs to start to build, so hopefully we get that tonight, with I.C. Champ Big E. and The Usos perhaps stepping up to now challenge the Tag-Team Champions The New Age Outlaws. As well, here’s hoping another Hall-Of-Fame announcement – missed that last week!
Lastly, Betty White, legendary actress, will have a part in tonight’s show. I am very interested to see how WWE is going to use her. Please let it be respectful, and just plain good!
Read on to find out what goes down in the “City Of Angels!”
Monday Night Raw Report for February 10th, 2014 – “Momentum – Who’s Got It?”
Introduction: In Memoriam
A picture of Frank Bullock, 1957 – 2014, is shown. He was a ringside assistant with WWE, who recently passed away. May God rest his soul.
Segment #1: Arena Promo
WWE wastes no time in bringing out tonight’s special guest. Justin Roberts welcomes Betty White, who is accompanied by The Big Show. The 7-Footer asks her what’s going happen, and she responds with a resounding “I’m going to kick some ass!” The Authority interjects, much to Show’s chagrin as he escorts Betty to the back.
Triple H clears up what they said about reconsidering Daniel Bryan as “the face of the WWE.” He says the “key word being ‘reconsider.'” Triple H lists all the other competitors in the Elimination Chamber as ones they are “reconsidering” too. The man they haven’t mentioned yet, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton now walks out. Stephanie tears him up for interrupting them, but Orton retorts and wants to make amends to Triple H for all that has gone down in recent times. “If I want to get what I want, I have to give you what you want. And for both of those things to happen, I have to bring ‘The Viper’ to the ring.” Stephanie likes what she is hearing, but wonders how she can trust him.
Orton says “it’s coming from the heart,” and wants to make everything right again, like the last time they were in Los Angeles at SummerSlam 2013, when he became WWE Champion. Much like (cough), C.M. Punk, (cough), Orton wants to be the entire star of the WWE and to have his face plastered on every media outlet possible. He claims he is the “heart and soul of WWE.”
Arguably, the real “heart and soul of the WWE,” Daniel Bryan, makes his fan-favorite presence known. Bryan questions Orton on being the “heart and soul,” and then focuses his attention on The Authority. He wants a match with Kane after the Director Of Operations “did your bidding” by assaulting him last week. Stephanie denies that request, revealing that Kane has been given a one-week administration leave and has a “strongly-worded letter of reprimand.” Daniel mocks this, and Triple H declares that in his state of mind, Bryan will face …. no one! He thinks that it is in Bryan’s best interests to have the night off. Daniel refutes this (as do the fans) with rambunctious “no, no, no” signals and chants in “The Game’s” face.
Later tonight, of course as advertised, it will be WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton taking on John Cena. Up next in six-man action, The Wyatt Family faces Rey Mysterio and The Brotherhood!
Commercials.
Match #1: Six-Man Tag-Team – Rey Mysterio and The Brotherhood (Cody Rhodes and Goldust) VS. The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Erik Rowan, and Luke Harper)
Rowan and Rhodes begin, with Rowan kicking and pounding away. Cody flips out of a backdrop attempt, hitting a dropkick and tagging in his half-brother. Goldust runs into a brick wall of Rowan’s shoulder block, but switches around in the corner with a slap. Harper now in and gets uppercut by Goldust, then flipped around with a second-rope hurricanrana! Cody is in and baseball slides Luke to the floor, then rockets Mysterio towards him!
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Goldust and Rowan back at it, with Erik running Goldust into the corner. Harper gets aggressive with Rowan, and whips him hard into the corner with a splash on Goldust! Bray is now in and sits atop Goldust while punching away. The two now slug it out back-and-forth, but Bray and Rowan double-team Rowan to put him down. Erik crunches Goldust’s face with his boot, but gets taken down with a springboard back elbow. Goldust yanks the ropes down, which sends Rowan tumbling to the floor. Harper is in and cuts of the potential tag. However, he turns around into a powerslam, allowing Goldust to tag in Rey-Rey.
The “biggest little man” flies all over The Wyatts, hitting a flying heasdscissors and seated senton on Harper. He counters Luke with a tilt-a-whirl DDT, then trips up both Harper and Bray; but he misses the 619 on Bray. Bray pulls him off the apron, but Cody soars off the top with a crossbody, while Goldust somersaults over Rowan! Mysterio retries the 619 on Harper, but Bray tags in and catches him with the Sister Abigail and cover to get the victory!
Winners via Pinfall: The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, and Erik Rowan)
Post-match, Bray sits in his rocking chair and prophesizes to The Shield. “You will fall, providing time for my next game to begin. Follow the buzzards.”
Commercials.
Segment #2: Video Recap
A montage of The Shield’s Roman Reigns’ Royal Rumble record eliminations (12) airs.
Segment #3: Backstage Promo
Rene Young is with The Shield and asks their response to Bray Wyatt’s words. “Baby girl, actions always speak louder than words. Remember that,” Reigns replies. Rollins chimes in with “The Wyatts love to speak in riddles. Rene, we don’t. We speak in ‘absolutes.'” “As in, we will absolutely destroy The Wyatt Family.” Young then inquires about Dean Ambrose not defending his United States Championship for a long while, and Dean makes a lame excuse about “paperwork.” Reigns calls him on it, so Ambrose decides that he will offer an open challenge for anyone to wrestle for the title tonight. He walks off, while Reigns looks at him pleased.
Segment #4: Backstage Promo
Betty White is chatting with The Bella Twins, Natalya, Eva Marie, Cameron, and Vickie Guerrero when Tag-Team Champions The New Age Outlaws walk in. Billy and Road Dogg escort her away for “protection.”
Santino Marella and new Diva Emma make their entrance for his match with Fandango, next.
Ads.
Match #2: Single – Santino Marella (with Emma) VS. Fandango (with Summer Rae)
Santino takes Fandango down with a fireman’s carry, but is clubbed in the kidneys in the corner. As the bout gets under way, The Miz walks out and grabs the headset. He vents his frustration (rightfully so!) on being left off tonight’s card for “twinkle toes and some guy who’s act is older than Betty White.
In the ring, Fandango punches Marella off the turnbuckle and follows up with the legdrop for the quick 1 – 2 – 3!
Winner via Pinfall: Fandango (with Summer Rae)
Segment #5: Locker Room Promo
Byron Saxton, NXT announcer/commentator, interviews Sheamus about his tag-team match with Christian against The Real Americans. Sheamus is fine with it tonight, despite their history. However, he will put aside all feelings when it comes to the Elimination Chamber, as he will “kick their teeth in and become the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion.”
Commercials.
Match #3: Tag-Team – Christian and Sheamus VS. The Real Americans (Antonio Cesaro and Jack Swagger) (with Zeb Colter)
Prior to this contest, Colter cuts a promo ripping Sheamus and Christian for missing in action and “sneaking across our borders” and “sneaking back into the WWE.”
Cesaro and Christian begin, trading wasitlocks. Cesaro slams Christian down and then gut-wrench suplexes him. Swagger now in, and gets dominated by Christian with a kick and missile dropkick. Christian tags in Sheamus who slugs away in the corner on Jack then suplexes him for a two-count. Swagger knees Sheamus in the gut to put him down, then switches with Cesaro. Sheamus blocks a hip-toss attempt and clotheslines Antonio down.
Christian is tagged and double-axe-handles Cesaro’s arm, then switches again with Sheamus. Cesaro and Sheamus, and Cesaro takes control with a furry of uppercuts to the pleasure of the crowd. Sheamus counters with a couple more hard uppercuts, hen dives off the top rope with the Battering Ram shoulder tackle. Swagger holds Sheamus on the apron, allowing Cesaro to boot him to the floor.
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Sheamus and Cesaro are still wrestling, trading Irish Whips (no pun intended, considering Sheamus!), and Sheamus putting him down with the Irish Curse backbreaker. Christian back in and puts Cesaro to the canvas with a second-rope tornado back elbow. Cesaro counters a Killswitch attempt with a flapjack into an uppercut! 1 – 2 – Christian kicks out! Swagger now stomps on Christian and slingshots him against the bottom rope. 1 – 2 – Christian gets the shoulder up.
Jack clamps on a rolling grounding front facelock. Christian rights back but is pulled into the corner, where Swagger drops the Swaggerbomb splash on him and Cesaro follows up with a jumping double-stomp! Cesaro mudhole stomps Christian in the corner, then catches Christian in the Big Swing. Christian takes ten rotations and is swung out of the ring! The referee begins the 10-count but slides in the ring at 9! 1 – 2 – Christian kicks out! Cesaro sling-shots Christian into Swagger who slams him over for another near-fall! Jack tosses Cesaro into the corner, but Christian moves! Christian sends Swagger over the ropes, then both Christian and Cesaro make respective tags.
Sheamus back in and is all over Swagger until he gets knocked down by Cesaro and locked in the Patriot Ankle Lock by Swagger. Christian soars off the top rope to break the submission, and Sheamus hits the Brogue Kick to finally take this one!
Winners via Pinfall: Christian and Sheamus
Segment #6: Backstage Promo
Rene Young is with John Cena and wants to know his thoughts on his match with Randy Orton tonight. He puts over the change in WWE coming through, including Daniel Bryan and many other new WWE Superstars. “The match tonight is about our future. Because tonight, I close my rivalry with Randy Orton.” (I hope so!) “That statement goes to The Wyatts, to The Shield, Antonio Cesaro, and Daniel Bryan. If any of you think you have what it takes to carry the future of the WWE, know you have to go through me to get it!”
Commercials.
Match #4: Single – “The Show Off” Dolph Ziggler VS. Alberto Del Rio
Del Rio kicks and hammers Ziggler right away. Ziggler clutches the ropes to block a whip, then comes back with a dropkick and series of elbow drops! Dolph puts Alberto down with a Fameasser, but is quickly and suddenly put away with the stiff-kick!
Winner via Pinfall: Alberto Del Rio
Post-match, Del Rio contemplates then locks on the Cross Armbreaker Submission until Batista runs out, spearing him! Batista chucks him into the steel steps and hurls Alberto into the barricade after tearing apart the announce table. Batista sets up for the Batista Bomb and drives Del Rio through the commentator’s table, then walks away after making a physical statement.
Up next, a new Inductee for the Hall-Of-Fame Class will be announced! (Woo-hoo!)
Ads.
Segment #7: Backstage Promo
“The Animal” is walking through the hallways went Triple H comes up and confronts him. HHH wants Batista to “keep it in the ring,” and warns Batista that it is his own “neck on the line” if something goes bad. “The Game” books Batista VS. Alberto Del Rio for Elimination Chamber, and tells him “I’m just looking out for ya man.” Batista quirks, “I guess things really have changed around here.”
Segment #8: Hall-Of-Fame Announcement
The third member of this year’s class is … my favorite women’s wrestler, Lita! Highlights and comments from past and present Divas/Wrestlers/Personalities about her groundbreaking career are shown. Well, well deserved!
Segment #9: Locker Room Promo
Tag-Team Champions The New Age Outlaws are having tea (yes, I actually typed that!) with Betty White. She is enjoying herself, admiring Billy Gunn’s Tag-Team Title while Road Dogg puts a liquid into her tea. She wants some lemon, and they both go to get it, leaving her to switch the teas around. All three cheer each other while Ms. White smiles.
Later tonight, “The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry makes his return.
Commercials.
Match #5: Tag-Team – Rybaxel (Ryback and Curtis Axel) VS. The Usos (Jimmy and Jey)
(Note: Tag-Team Champions The New Age Outlaws are on commentary, with Billy Gunn apparently having an upset stomach.) Axel and Jey start out. Jey nails Curtis with an uppercut, then trades with his twin, who delivers a jumping forearm in the corner. Ryback comes in and stomps away on Jimmy. He gives him shoulder-rams in the corner, then whips him hard into the opposite corner. Jimmy chops away but is hit with a resounding smacking kick. Ryback is in a again, but is elbowed off the corner rope and taken down with a spiral back splash!
Jimmy tags in Jey and flies all over Curtis. He kicks him so hard that Axel spins upside down, then is planted with a hard Samoan drop. Ryback is sent into the ring post, allowing The Usos to double-team Axel. Jey tags in Jimmy while he soars over the ropes on to Ryback on the outside! Jimmy follows up with a Superfly Splash for the 1 – 2 – 3!
Winners via Pinfall: The Usos (Jimmy and Jey)
Post-match, The Usos stare down The New Age Outlaws, but Billy Gunn has to run off, holding his rear end.
Up next, Dean Ambrose’s open challenge for his United States Championship will happen!
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Match #6: Single for the United States Championship – Dean Ambrose (Champion) (with The Shield partners Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns) VS. ???
The open challenger is …
Mark Henry! “The World’s Strongest Man” walks out with a big (pun-intended) smile on his face as Ambrose looks extremely nervous. Reigns whispers something in his ear, which appears to give Dean a little more confidence.
After formal introductions by Justin Roberts, the bell rings and they lock up. Henry shoves Ambrose across the ring, twice! Dean collects himself with his Shield partners. Henry misses an arm club, but nails a big boot and hard tosses into the corners and ring post. Ambrose comes back and sets his sight on Henry’s hurt left arm. He locks it against the ropes, but is quickly hip-tossed over to the outside!
Commercials.
Back in the ring, Dean locks Henry in a grounding armbar, which “The World’s Strongest Man” struggles out of. He tosses Ambrose off the top rope and puts him to the canvas with a shoulder powerslam. He plants him with The World’s Strongest Slam and covers, but Seth Rollins breaks it up, causing the dq.
Winner via Disqualification: “The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry (Dean Ambrose retains his United States Championship)
Post-match, The Shield beat down Henry, with Reigns spearing him to the floor!
The lights go out and The Wyatts appear! They stroll out to the ring while The Shield await. Both trios glare at each other, Wyatts from the ramp and Shield near the barricade. The Shield hop the railing and approach the ring. The Wyatts stand on the other side, still staring. The crowd wants it to happen, as they call “yes, yes, yes!” The Shield stand on the ring apron, as do The Family. It’s a game of “one-ups-manship, until Bray toys with The Shield and The Wyatt Family back away. Bray calls “make your move, make your move!”
Recap of WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton attacking John Cena Sr. from Raw last month is quickly aired.
Ads.
Segment #10: Video Promo
A highlight package of the late Bobo Brazil is aired, celebrating Black History Month and recognizing African-American wrestlers in WWE history.
Match #7: Six-Women Tag-Team Match: The Bella Twins (Nikki and Brie) and Cameron (with Eva Marie) VS. Aksana, Alicia Fox, and Divas Champion A.J. Lee (with Tamina Snuka) (Non-Title)
Nikki and A.J. begin, with Nikki dominating the Divas Champion. Aksana is brought in, and Brie tries a double-team with her sister but badly botches it, landing face-first into Aksana in the corner! Brie is controlled by both Aksana and Alicia. Cameron is tagged in and all over Alicia, taking her down with a flying headscissors! She hits Alicia in the face with a front dropkick, but is pounded down viciously with a forearm. She gets right back up and plants Aksana with a fierce DDT to finish this one!
Winners via Pinfall: The Bella Twins (Nikki and Brie) and Cameron
Recap of WWE’s “Be A Star” campaign airs, featuring The Bella Twins, Mark Henry, and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley.
Commercials.
Segment #11: Video Promo
Lana appears on screen, calling Alexander Rusev (the name screen reads “Aljiekcah??p Pyceb” – forgive the spelling, a couple of keys do not translate) “intelligence, brute force.” He says something in another language to put himself over.
As Michael Cole is putting over tonight’s main-event, pyro from the stage suddenly blows and Director Of Operations Kane surprisingly walks out! He accepts “the punishment placed by The Authority.” Kane calls his attack on Bryan “ill-advised” and claims The Authority had nothing to do with it. Daniel Bryan charges to the ring and brawls with the former “Big Red Machine.” Kane puts him down with an uppercut and goes for a Chokeslam, but Bryan hops out of it and pulls the ropes down to send Kane to the outside. Bryan follows up with a suicide dive and front-dropkicks Kane over the barricade!
Up next, the main-event.
Ads.
It is announced that The Usos will team with The Brotherhood to take on Rybaxel and Tag-Team Champions The New Age Outlaws, plus WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton will face Antonio Cesaro this week on Smackdown!
Match #8: Single – John Cena VS. WWE World Heavyweight Champion “The Viper” Randy Orton (Non-Title)
Randy begins with a standing side headlock, but Cena comes back with a leapfrog and hip-toss. Orton slides out for a quick break, then the two lock up again. Cena grounds Orton with a rear chinlock, then reverses a hip-toss try into one of his own. Randy backs to the aisle way for another break, then suckers in Cena and kicks him down. Orton mount-punches Cena then stomps on him. He catches John off the ropes with an elbow, then taunts him and the fans. Cena counters a suplexes into one of his own, but Orton comes back. Randy turns the match slow and methodical, slamming Cena’s head on the announce table and backdropping him against the corner of the barricade. Orton stomps again in the ring, then poses for a break.
Commercials.
Randy still in control, continues to kick away. Cena comes back with a scoop slam, punches, and a shoulder tackle, but Orton fends him off to the floor again. “The Viper” suplexes Cena from the apron to the ring and gets a two-count! Orton grasps Cena with a grounding rear chinlock, which Cena fights out of and goes for the Attitude Adjustment. Orton wiggles out of it and drives John down with a hard DDT! 1 – 2 – Cena kicks out! Orton goes back to slowing this match down with stomps around Cena’s body. John builds momentum again with shoulder tackles, a spin-out backdrop and the 5-Knuckle Shuffle fistdrop. He goes for the A.A. again, but Orton slides out and brings him down with a backbreaker.
Randy tries for the slingshot-DDT, but Cena counters by throwing Orton over the ropes! Cena catches Orton off the ropes in another A.A. position, but Orton gets out of it again and spins Cena around with a powerslam for a near fall! Orton tries a top-rope suplex, but Cena fends it off. Orton crotches Cena to counter, then plants him with a DDT from the turnbuckle! Orton fires himself up for the R.K.O, but Cena trips him up into an STF Submission! Orton crawls and clutches the bottom rope for a break!
“The Viper” comes back with a dropkick and both men are down! Orton stares at the WrestleMania XXX sign and then back at Cena. He misses the punt kick, but slides out of another A.A. attempt, then the R.K.O.! 1 – 2 – Cena still kicks out! Cena suddenly drops him with the Attitude Adjustment, but the WWE World Heavyweight Champion also kicks out! Cena positions Orton in the corner, and off the top rope, wants to go for an A.A. Orton pounds out of it, but Cena follows up with the legdrop on Orton’s neck and a second Attitude Adjustment for the victory!
Winner via Pinfall: John Cena
John Cena celebrates his hard-fought win to close the show!
End Of Raw.
Reporter’s Rumblings – By Moe Tapp
Another pretty good Raw, making it back-to-back again. I felt it was still a little down from last week and do have more grievances, but there was plenty of action, so that is definitely a plus! Onto the usual analysis:
Excellence: the matches of Rey/Brotherhood & The Wyatts, Christian/Sheamus & The Real Americans, Rybaxel and The Usos, and Henry/Ambrose. All very well put together with neat spots (especially the leaping tag at the end between Jimmy and Jey of their bout, and Bray’s Sister Abigail move on a running Mysterio!) and told some great stories in the ring.
The arena face-off between The Shield and The Wyatt. That was awesome, and again, proves why they don’t need to touch each other until Elimination Chamber. Builds great suspense and elicits excellent crowd reactions. This is the feud I love the most right now!
The New Age Outlaws. Really are just being themselves from the 2000s and are still awesome at it! Loved the comic interaction with Betty White, and it was them who made that segment.
Roman Reigns – not only his physicality in the ring, but his reactions, promo skills, and charisma have really amped up over the last few months. I wrote before how he’s also starting to get that Kevin Nash/Diesel “cool-guy cockiness” to him with his some of his facial expressions (i.e. his words to Rene Young and reply to Ambrose’s “paperwork” line with the United States Championship), and it actually suits him pretty good.
Sitting on the fence with Alexander Rusev – I usually fast-forward his NXT matches, because they book him to pretty much squash his opponents. Will make a judgment call when he faces main-roster competition. I.C. Title feud with Langston would be a good start!
As always right now, Daniel Bryan can do no wrong with both promos and in-ring skills.
Lita as a Hall-Of-Famer! Absolutely a shoe-in with how she redefined the WOMEN’S Division back in the day, along with Trish Stratus. Man, I miss those times and matches! That’s when women’s WRESTLING really mattered! As mentioned above, she was always my favorite for both her look and invigorating in-ring moves/style! I really hope it is Trish inducting her, since Lita inducted Trish last year!
Bogus: The use of Betty White and The Big Show. While at least it didn’t go really weird/crude/disrespectful, it just seemed pointless to have her there. Same with Big Show bringing her out and back. It came off as a one-off cameo for him, and should not have been.
Where was Paul Heyman? I know Brock Lesnar only has a certain amount of dates, but they were building to something before and I think at least Heyman should be on T.V. every week to continue the storyline, whatever it will be. Right now, they have lost steam.
Where was Intercontinental Champion Big E. Langston? Also needs to be on T.V. every week to build himself and the I.C. Title up.
Fandango/Marella and the Six-Women Tag-Team match were both pointless. Unfortunately, Divas Champ A.J. has also lost momentum recently and the entire Divas Division needs new blood in them (hello Women’s Champion Paige and Bailey from NXT!) to reignite their spark. This is where Emma could’ve easily been inserted! She is a great WRESTLER on NXT. Should NOT have debuted “dancing” with Marella. Killed her potential right off the bat. There, got that off my chest!
Really hate how far Dolph and The Miz have fallen. Both are great personalities and in-ring performers, yet they are passed up by the old-time feuds of Batista/Orton and Orton/Cena. Absolutely thought Del Rio’s match with Ziggler could’ve and should’ve gone longer (cutting out Marella/Fandango or the Divas tag-team to save that time) and it would’ve been a potential “match of the night” for sure!
I must admit too, sitting on the fence about Batista being the Royal Rumble winner right now. On one hand, sure, it doesn’t matter who he feuds with until after Elimination Chamber because he’s guaranteed the spot at WrestleMania XXX. But, I think he needs to have some interaction with his potential opponent(s) in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship picture, to keep him interesting and remind fans that he is supposed to be in that scenario come WrestleMania time. (I know he is, but some may not with him having a mid-card feud right now.) Wait until after E.C. to make a judgment.
While it was very physical, John Cena VS. WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton, part something-or-other, was very monotonous tonight. I was really bored by it, as it just seemed very routine and nothing special. At least Cena came out on top, to build up the challenger and put Orton vulnerable for the Chamber; but I really didn’t care about this match and hopefully it really is the last one-on-one feud between the two for a long, long time. Also, the ending was bland too. Should’ve been more “cliffhanger-ish” with another E.C. opponent running out and either squaring off or engaging in a fight with Cena. The ending they had seemed more like a “happy-go-lucky” finish to a pay-per-view, than one that should entice viewers to tune in next week.
Yes, it seems I wrote more “hate” than “love” about Raw tonight, but I really did like the show in general. It just the parts I didn’t enjoy that I wrote more on why, and had to vent a couple issues! Otherwise, a decent show and next week will be the “go-home” for Elimination Chamber, which will also provide my picks for that Pay-Per-View. Let’s hope they have more than two matches by then!
Until next week, as always, Be Excellent Wrestling-Online Readers and Wrestling Fans!
Although a year away, TNA has already announced details for the 2015 Maximum Impact Tour of the United Kingdom with tickets already on sale on Ticketmaster.co.uk.
So far there are three events booked for the tour, one in Glasgow, Scotland, on January 29 at The SSE Hydro, one in Manchester, England, on January 30 at the Phones 4u Arena, and one in London, England, on January 31 at the Wembley Arena. The Wembley show will be a double television taping for Impact which will also include an Ultimate X match.
This will be the seventh UK tour in a row for TNA coming off a very successful tour which ended at the end of January this year.
John Cena has reached yet another milestone with Make-A-Wish Foundation, granting his 400th wish, the highest for any celebrity.
Cena’s accomplishment was announced on the Wish.org website. “We would like to thank John Cena for his commitment to Make-A-Wish, and congratulate him on being the first celebrity to grant 400 wishes,” read a small statement on the site.
He broke the 300th wish back in June 2012 and was honored by Make-A-Wish Foundation at the annual awards last year in Glendale, Arizona. At the event, David A. Williams, President and CEO of Make-A-Wish America, called Cena a champion in the ring and a champion for wish kids across the world.
Most of Cena’s wishes are not publicized as per his request and the former WWE champion spends a lot of time meeting kids for the organization.
This weekend, the man who wrote the Wyatt Family theme song, Mark Crozer, announced on his Facebook that he would be performing the theme live at WrestleMania.
“Well as I’m no longer able to contain my excitement I may as well let you know… I’m playing Wrestlemania! I’ll let you know more details when I get them.”
Later on he deleted the message from his Facebook saying he jumped the gun about the news and it is still not confirmed that he would be playing at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
The song, titled Live in Fear, is performed by Crozer featuring The Rels and is a big hit among the WWE fans. His Facebook page has now been deactivated although his Twitter account is still active. There’s no mention on Twitter about him performing at WrestleMania yet.
Fans who attended the San Jose non-televised WWE live event over the weekend were treated to a first – Mark Henry doing a split!
The move came after Rey Mysterio, Mark Henry, and Xavier Woods beat Alberto Del Rio and the Real Americans in a six-man tag team match and Woods started dancing and trying to get Henry to bust a move.
Eventually Mysterio started rubbing Henry’s thighs to prepare him – you know, to prevent another injury hah! – and then Henry turned around and boom, he hit the split as the crowd went “Oooooh!!!!”
You really gotta see it to believe it. Check out the video below.
The New York Post is reporting that it might be a Valentine’s Day massacre for WWE and NBC Universal as NBCU has up until Friday to accept or refuse WWE’s offer for their television shows.
NBCU had an exclusive negotiating period with WWE which ended last week and the NY Post says that there is “no deal in sight.” Once Friday is gone, WWE has the right to shop other networks with NBCU having the right to match the final offer.
Currently NBCU pays around $140 million for WWE television and WWE is looking to increase that, possibly doubling it, thanks to the ratings they pull in the important 18-34 demographic.
The same newspaper reported last month that NBCU is also offering a property at Universal Studios Florida as leverage to host a physical WWE Hall of Fame.
PWInsider.com is reporting that The Undertaker will be making his return on WWE television on the February 24 edition of Monday Night RAW, the day that the WWE Network is officially launched to the public.
It is around the usual time that the Undertaker returns to kick off his road to WrestleMania, lately his only physical participation inside a WWE ring during the year. The last time that the Undertaker was on WWE TV was at a Smackdown event in April, getting triple-bombed by The Shield.
The February 24 show will also have the fallout from the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view and the direction of WrestleMania will start to get more clear after that show.
In the first public comments regarding the inclusion of the Over The Edge pay-per-view where Owen Hart died on the WWE Network, WWE said that the show will indeed air however portions of it will be edited.
KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh talked with WWE’s Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon prior to the Royal Rumble pay-per-view and asked about the particular pay-per-view and McMahon replied at the time that the company has not made its decision yet.
But after WWE released the list of shows and Over The Edge was listed, KDKA-TV followed up and received a statement saying, “WWE Network will be airing the 1999 Over The Edge pay-per-view. However, portions of the event will be edited out of respect for Owen Hart.”
Over The Edge, the 1999 pay-per-view, remains the only WWE PPV to have never made it on home video due to the tragic events that happened that night.
Regarding the inclusion of Chris Benoit on the WWE Network, McMahon said that it was an incredible challenging decision to make however as a company they do what’s right for the fans. “We try to give them exactly what they want to see,” McMahon added.
Despite the boos and the “Cena Sucks” chants, one thing is for sure: A lot of people like John Cena! WWE announced yesterday that Cena has passed Kobe Bryant to become the most-liked active U.S. athlete on Facebook with more than 18.6 million followers.
Cena is also the seventh most-followed athlete in the world and has more Facebook followers than Kevin Durant, Michael Phelps and Tony Hawk combined.
WWE has eclipsed 260 million fans through its global social media networks, further cementing its position as one of the most followed brands in the world. Currently, WWE has more than 172 million Facebook fans and 82 million Twitter followers across all of its networks. WWE’s network of Facebook pages has more followers than the NFL and its 32 teams’ pages combined.
WWE and KaBOOM!, the national non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that all children get the balance of active play they need to become healthy and successful adults, announced a partnership to build a playground in New Orleans during WrestleMania Week.
KaBOOM! and WWE are teaming up to build a new playground at Woodland West Elementary School in Harvey, Louisiana, which serves more than 700 children in grades K-5.
To kick-off the project, WWE Superstar Kofi Kingston hosted a Design Day at Woodland West Elementary today during which children had the chance to brainstorm, draw and design their dream playground. Elements from the drawings will be incorporated into the final design for the playground.
The children will have their final design come to life during WrestleMania Week on Friday, April 4, when WWE Superstars, WWE employees and community volunteers will spend the day mulching, shoveling and hammering together to build them the playground of their dreams.
“We’re proud to play a small role in the great work that KaBOOM! does to ensure kids have opportunities to stay active in safe environments,” said Stephanie McMahon, Chief Brand Officer, WWE. “Our partnership with KaBOOM! enables us to leave a lasting impact on children in New Orleans.”
Former 11 time WWE and World Heavyweight champion Adam “Edge” Copeland appeared on the George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight show this week to talk about several topics including professional wrestling.
Stroumboulopoulos asked Copeland about his time in the WWE and his retirement. Copeland said that hew knew it was time to hang up his boots and he didn’t want to end up like Mickey Rourke in the movie The Wrestler. Copeland explained all the pain he went through and how he avoided the pain killers but sympathized with those who fell for them because it’s easy to forget the pain once you start popping them in.
The discussion turned to his match with Hulk Hogan winning the tag team titles together and Copeland said that was the most fun time he’s ever had. He went over how Hulk Hogan was so laid back at the time and told him that he will do whatever he asks him. The man formerly known as Edge said he pitched the idea to have a double boot and double leg drop for the climax of the match and Hogan agreed, even letting him get the pin to win the titles.
In the final segment of the show, the host asked what was the most romantic thing that he’s ever done and Copeland answered with having a baby. He revealed that he’s still new to fatherhood as the baby was born just six weeks ago.
Copeland’s girlfriend and mother of his baby is former WWE Women’s champion Beth Phoenix, who before dated CM Punk.
The WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony and the post-WrestleMania RAW will no longer be marketed as coming from the New Orleans Arena as the owners of the building have signed a deal for a new name!
The arena will now be called the Smoothie King Center following a $40 million deal over 10 years with the NBA team New Orleans Pelicans.
The change is still not reflected on Ticketmaster.com for future ticket sales but everything will remain the same except the name of the arena.
Tickets for both the Hall of Fame and Monday Night RAW are still available although both carry a notice on Ticketmaster that not many seats are left.
In a rare interview acknowledging other wrestling companies around, WWE.COM talked with several Superstars who came through the ranks of Ring of Honor as well as its founder, Gabe Sapolsky.
The ones interviewed are Seth Rollins, Colt Cabana, Antonio Cesaro, and Daniel Bryan, leaving out one very important member of the ROH group – CM Punk.
There is mention of CM Punk however in the article as well as others such as Samoa Joe and Low Ki. WWE.COM even provided links back to ROH’s website and Dragon Gate USA’s website, which is Sapolsky’s current job.
Monday Night RAW this week did 4,211,000 viewers with a 3.15 rating, down over 500,000 viewers from the post-Royal Rumble show last week.
Hour one pulled in 4,428,000 viewers, hour two dropping slightly to 4,221,000 and then a drop to 3,983,00 viewers in the third and final hour. (Ratings credit: PWInsider.com)
WWE.COM has published a list of the pay-per-view archive that will be available right from the first day of the launch of the WWE Network come February 24.
Over 400 pay-per-views from WWE, WCW, and ECW, will be available to stream as part of the $9.99 per month price.
The shows are supposed to air uncut and unedited with some of them carrying a disclaimer at the beginning of the broadcast. The Over The Edge pay-per-view from 1999, the one where Owen Hart passed away, is also listed although it will be interesting to see if that gets any editing.
The WWE Network starts on February 24 and will be available to stream on several devices including Android, iOS, Playstation, Roku, and others.
John Cena was missing in action from the live broadcast of Monday Night RAW yesterday thanks to the eye injury he suffered over the weekend wrestling Randy Orton however that didn’t keep Cena completely away.
After RAW went off the air and the attack on Daniel Bryan continued, it was John Cena who came down to the rescue, clearing the ring. Both Orton and Kane tried to jump on Cena however the former WWE champ quickly disposed of them by delivering two Attitude Adjustments.
Cena was supposed to wrestle Orton in the dark match but that did not happen.
During the Take-Two Interactive’s conference call to discuss the company’s results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2014 ended December 31, 2013, Karl Slatoff, President of Take-Two, announced that consumers can “look forward to exciting next generation releases” including WWE 2K15 this year.
Strauss Zelnick, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said earlier in the call that sales of WWE 2K14 have exceeded their expectations and the WWE franchise has quickly proven to be a successful addition to their portfolio.
“We believe there is a meaningful opportunity to grow this series by further leveraging 2K’s marketing power and development expertise,” Zelnick said, without releasing any figures of how many copies the title has sold.
Take-Two took over the WWE license from THQ last year and is now marketing the WWE video games under their 2K Sports brand.
One half of the Funkadactyls, Naomi, suffered an eye injury during her match against Aksana on Monday Night RAW yesterday.
The injury happened when Aksana hit her with a knee while she was on the ground. The ref immediately noticed and didn’t count after the initial cover but then counted and then Naomi kicked out – and we use that term very lightly – with Aksana buying some time to let her opponent recover. Eventually the match continued briefly and Naomi went for the win.
Dr. Chris Amann, WWE’s resident physician, told WWE.COM that Naomi suffered a bruised orbital bone or bruised eye socket along with a scratch on her cornea. No concussions were diagnosed after a test was performed and they will check back on her again today.
Roman Reigns of The Shield was also on the receiving end of a nasty bump and had a laceration above his eye, an injury he received during the six man tag match on the broadcast against Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio, and Big E Langston.
The 2014 Royal Rumble MVP needed six stitches to close up the wound and WWE cameras did their best to avoid the blood showing on television.
