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.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross will be kicking off his new venture on February 19, an online audio show in association with Podcast One.
Titled Ross Report, a name which is familiar with fans following his Ross Report columns on WWE.COM, JR joins Stone Cold Steve Austin and Chris Jericho on the rising Podcast One platform.
Ross’ first guest will be his good friend and fellow Hall of Famer Steve Austin.
The star of Hot In Cleveland, Betty White, will be on Monday Night RAW next week when the show rolls into Los Angeles, California, at the STAPLES Center.
The 92 year old Guinness World Record holder for the longest television career for a female entertainer will probably not take any bumps in the ring for obvious reasons but will be interacting with the Superstars and Divas throughout the three hour broadcast.
This is her first appearance on WWE television and WWE announced her participation on RAW last night and via a press release.
Let’s hope tonight is much better than last week. I really, really hope they fix the WWE World Heavyweight Championship picture and do not go in the route of Batista/Orton – again, I am fine with Batista as the #1 Contender, but a fresh face (Daniel Bryan, Christian, even Cena again [since they didn’t put Lesnar in a qualifying match) must be the champion going into WrestleMania XXX to at least make a new main event interesting.
Meanwhile, the Tag-Team Title scenario is great – loving the Steel Cage rematch that is on the card and again, really hope they give this match either the deserved main-event or a long time on Raw. Unfortunately, I don’t believe that will happen, but wishful thinking. Plus a continuing feud between The Brotherhood and The New Age Outlaws.
The Shield are set to face The Wyatt Family at Elimination Chamber. While I think this is rushed/out-of-nowhere, it is very intriguing for three reasons: the great in-ring skills with all of them, their microphone work, and the fact they both teams are supposed to be heels, so who will the fans cheer for? (At recent times, they love both but have leaned towards “The Hounds of Justice”!). Also, will Triple H get involved? As seen on Smackdown he got in the face of Roman Reigns and Reigns did not back down. Is this a new rivalry leading to a match at ‘Mania 30? If it is, Roman needs to come out on top to be the potential big star he can be.
Lastly, will they announce another Hall Of Fame Inductee, and who will it be for the Class Of 2014?
All this and much more, so read on!
Monday Night Raw TV Report for February 3rd, 2014 – “Saving ‘Face?'”
Introduction Segment: Arena Promo
Michael Cole welcomes us to Monday Night Raw right off the bat, and the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Randy Orton, proceeds out. Orton speculates that The Authority wants to strip him of the title, since they put him in the Elimination Chamber predicament. He wonders how many times he has to defeat Cena, or Christian, or Bryan, or Sheamus, or Cesaro. He also berates Batista and says he will be him handily too at Wrestlemania. (Again, I hope not, as in I hope their is a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion by that time to take on “The Animal!”) Randy puts himself over as the “greatest superstar of this generation and the main attraction of Monday Night Raw.”
The Authority themselves appear on stage to respond. Amid loud “C.M. Punk” chants, Stephanie tries to build up Orton’s confidence and remind him of all they have done for him. Triple H considers realigning their faith in a new “face of the WWE,” since all the words that “The Viper” has been ranting about, which to them is not becoming of the “face of the WWE.” McMahon then announces that the WWE World Heavyweight Champion will take on all five of his competitors in singles matches over the next few weeks. And, if tonight’s opponent wins, she may consider him the “new face of the WWE.” The man Orton is going to “face?” (yes, stupid pun intended!) Yes, yes, yes, Daniel Bryan! Triple H even leads the fans in a “yes, yes, yes chant.”
A video is shown of The New Age Outlaws winning the Tag-Team Championships from The Brotherhood at the Royal Rumble. Later tonight, the two teams will square off inside a Steel Cage, and can only win by pin or submission!
The Shield make their way through the crowd for their 6-Man Tag-Team bout, as clips of their struggles with The Wyatt Family and Triple H air.
Commercials.
Match #1: Six-Man Tag-Team – The Shield (United States Champion Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns) VS. Kofi Kingston, Intercontinental Champion Big E. Langston, and Rey Mysterio
The U.S. Champ and the I.C. Champ begin, with Langston pounding away on Ambrose. Kofi is tagged in and leaps up then armdrags Ambrose. Rollins now in and eats a jumping elbow by Kofi. Ambrose back in and viciously mudhole stomps Kofi in The Shield’s corner. Kingston is dominated by the trio. Scoop slam by Rollins, but he misses a splash, which allows Kofi to tag in Rey-Rey. He soars in with a seated senton then flies around Rollins, nailing him with a stiff kick. Rollins catches Rey on his shoulders and Reigns comes in to hit him with a leaping forearm.
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Reigns is still in control over Mysterio, clasping on a grounding rear chinlock. Rey elbows and kicks his way out, but is elbowed back down to the canvas. Dean is back in and rips away at Mysterio’s neck. Ambrose hang shim upside down in the corner and stomps away, then goes for a running shoulder but finds the ring post instead! Rey gets the hot-tag to Langston, who cleans house on The Shield. Big E. runs over Roman with a couple clotheslines, one that busted Reigns wide open near his right eye. He rams Reigns in the corner, then impressively overhead belly-to-belly suplexes him! Langston follows with a splash, but the rest of The Shield break up the count. Reigns collects himself and nails the Superman Punch on Langston. He is setting up for the spear when Ambrose tags himself in and drives Langston down face-first with the front DDT! He follows with the cover to get the victory!
Winners via Pinfall: The Shield (United States Champion Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns)
Post-match, Roman gets in Ambrose’s face about the finish until Seth gets in between to calm them down. Just then, The Wyatt Family appear on the Titantron. Bray proclaims their moment is soon, and Luke tells them “he has always been your king.” Rowan warns them to “run.”
Commercials.
Segment #2: Arena Promo
“Bad News” Barrett cuts another pointless promo about football (American) fans over-feeding themselves and risking their health. Jerry “The King” Lawler interrupts Barrett, but unfortunately subtly warns him that he “won’t be here next week.” That went virtually nowhere.
Christian makes his return to Raw and will have a match next!
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Match #2: Single – Christian VS. Jack Swagger (with Real Americans partners Antonio Cesaro and Zeb Colter)
Swagger waistlock slams Christian then rolls around with him. Christian moves out of the corner and kicks him away. He tosses Jack over the ropes, then follows up with a baseball slide. Swagger yanks Christian face-first onto the apron! He throws him in to the steel steps. Swagger takes control in the ring, hurling Christian across the canvas. He clamps on a butterfly lock, which Christian rises out of, but is quickly slammed back into the corner. Swagger climbs the turnbuckle, signals “We The People,” but takes a double-boot to the face! Christian fires himself up, but is quickly turned over with a knee-to-the-gut by Jack. Christian spins out of a gutwrench suplex attempt and drops Swagger with a reverse DDT. 1 – 2 – Swagger kicks out!
Swagger catches Christian in an ankle lock position, but Christian rolls through. He uses the middle rope to springboard into a sunset flip and take this one!
Winner via Pinfall: Christian
It’s not the main-event after all, but let’s hope this next contest gets some lengthy time. Up next is the Steel Cage Match for the Tag-Team Championship!
The steel structure lowers and The New Age Outlaws make their entrance and usual promo, followed by Goldust and Cody Rhodes.
Commercials.
Match #3: Steel Cage Tag-Team for the Tag-Team Championship – The New Age Outlaws (“Road Dogg” Jesse James and “Bad Ass” Billy Gunn) (Champions) VS. The Brotherhood (Goldust and Cody Rhodes) (Challengers)
After formal introductions (nice touch!) Goldust and Road Dogg begin. Goldust taunts Dogg who tries to escape, but Goldust rolls him up from behind for two. Dogg wants out, so he tags in Gunn. Again, Goldust taunts Billy, but “Bad Ass” taunts right back with the DX signal. Rhodes is tagged in, and swings over in a sunset flip for two! He counters a suplex attempt with an inside cradle for two. Billy backs into his own corner for a chat with Dogg. Rhodes wants to continue, and odes, but is taken over by Road Dogg.
Once again, loud “C.M. Punk” ring out. James holds Rhodes in an armlock and switches with Gunn. He too clamps on an armbar and hammers away on Rhodes’ taped-up left arm. Cody comes back with a shoulder block, then stomps away. He now locks James in an armlock, then tags in his half-brother. He too works over James’ left arm. Goldust slugs away with a 10-punch, but is chucked into the steel cage as a more boisterous “we want Punk” call blares out.
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Road Dogg is still in control, again hurling Goldust face-first into the steel mesh. Gunn back in and whips Goldust into the corner, but is taken down with a springboard back elbow by “The Bizarre One.” He leaps for a tag to Cody, but is caught then given a big boot! Goldust counters with a spinebuster, then tags in Cody!
Rhodes is all over the Outlaws, taking both out. Gunn tries a Fameasser, but Cody gets out of it. He sets up for the CrossRhodes, but James interrupts, however gets spun around with a powerslam by Goldust! Cody hits the Disaster Kick on Gunn and covers. 1 – 2 – kick out at the last half-second by Billy! Cody argues with Mike Chioda, the referee, then eyes the steel cage. He ascends the walls, looks at the crowd, and moonsaults back! Unfortunately, he basically misses “Road Dogg”, only hitting him with an arm. “Bad Ass” capitalizes with a Fameasser on Rhodes for the 1 – 2 – 3!
Winners via Pinfall and STILL Tag-Team Champions: The New Age Outlaws (“Road Dogg” Jesse James and “Bad Ass” Billy Gunn)
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Match #4: Single – Zack Ryder VS. Titus O’Neil
A recap of Titus’ heel turn and beat down of former Prime Time Players partner Darren Young is shown. O’Neil is aggressive right away and pushes Ryder off the ropes and into the barricade. The Miz also walks out and joins on commentary, ripping on both competitors then walks away. O’Neil has Ryder wrapped in a standing side submission, then clotheslines him. Ryder comes back with a double-knee hit and the Broski Boot. Titus counters again, runs at Ryder in the corner with a splash, then puts Zack down with a high-dropping spinebuster!
Winner via Pinfall” Titus O’Neil
Commercials.
Summer Rae and Fandango make their way to the ring, then a video package commemorating the late-great Ernie “Big Cat” Ladd and Black History Month airs.
Segment #3: Dance-Off
Justin Roberts introduces Santino as a challenger, but he converts it to a dance-off between Summer Rae and NXT Superstar Emma. (She can wrestle really well, and yet they make her debut like this?) Summer goes first, followed by Emma. Santino asks for the vote of the fans, and naturally they pick Emma. (Pointless, and waste of talent for both Summer and Emma.)
Sheamus come to the ring for his contest, next!
Match #5: Single- Sheamus VS. Curtis Axel (with Ryback)
Sheamus controls with a hip toss and side headlock. He counters an Irish whip, ramming his shoulder into Axel’s gut then nails a high running knee. He catches Curtis on the apron and pounds away with fists ten times! Sheamus slams Curtis’ head off the announce table, then delivers an elbow to the back of the head in the ring. Axel comes back and throws Sheamus shoulder-first into the ring post. He wears over the left shoulder/arm area for a while. Once again, the fans chant for C.M. Punk.
Axel has Sheamus pressed against the mat with an armbar, but Sheamus begins to “Hulk Up.” Sheamus catches Curtis off the ropes with a rolling fireman’s carry, then gets geared up. He signals for it and Brogue Kicks Axel to earn this contest!
Winner via Pinfall: Sheamus
Up next, Batista will be out!
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Segment #4: Arena Promo
Batista makes his entrance amid both cheers and boos. Before he can say a word, a man who has had a beef with him interjects. Alberto Del Rio comes out and wants to talk about “our unfinished business.” Batista denies having a problem with Del Rio, but is put down for being at home for almost four years. Del Rio informs Batista during that time he won major titles and threatens to “break your arm.” Batista again says he’s not sure what the problem is, but gets quickly beaten down. Del Rio hammers away. Batista comes back with a kick, but Alberto wiggles out of a Batista Bomb attempt. They stare each other down as Del Rio backed away to the stage.
Dolph Ziggler, R-Truth, and Xavier Woods are out for their 6-Man bout, next!
Commercials.
Match #6: Six-Man Tag-Team – “The Show Off” Dolph Ziggler, R-Truth, and Xavier Woods VS. The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, and Erik Rowan)
The Wyatts dominate for most of the bout until Truth comes back with a jumping calf-kick. He tags in Ziggler, who is all over Harper! Rowan breaks up a pin attempt, and Ziggler is thrown off a sleeper. Luke hits him with a wicked clothesline, then Bray finishes this off with Sister Abigail.
Winners via Pinfall: The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, and Erik Rowan)
Post-match, The Shield appear on the Titantron. They say The Wyatts are “delusional,” and The Shield doesn’t live in their world of “monsters.” Reigns tells them that “play times over. Believe that, and believe in The Shield.” Bray laughs eerily and screams, “I welcome this war! Bring it to me!”
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Segment #5: Video Promo
NXT Wrestler Alexander Rusev claims “The Rusev legacy begins.”
Match #7: Single – Aksana (with Alicia Fox) VS. Naomi (with Funkadactyls partner Cameron)
(Note: Divas Champion A.J. Lee and her partner Tamina are out on commentary/at ringside) Naomi leap-frogs Aksana, but is slammed down and stomped on. She gets a two following a suplex, then clamps on an armlock. She then turns into a scissors lock around the neck, but Naomi gets out of it. Naomi come back with a couple of dropkicks. Naomi flips off the ropes with the split-legged moonsault and 1 – 2 – 3!
Winner via Pinfall: Naomi (with Funkadactyls partner Cameron)
Up next, the main-event!
Commercials.
Both Bryan and Orton make their respective entrances.
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Match #8: Single – Daniel Bryan VS. WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton (Non-Title)
Even start for both competitors, then Bryan takes control with an armlock. Orton counters by ripping at his ear. He suplexes Daniel for two, then grapples him with a standing side headlock. Bryan fires back with quick kicks in the corner and a dragon screw. He slams Orton’s leg into the ring post, then runs at it with a front dropkick! He puts Orton in an Indian Deathlock, then turns Orton around and rams Randy’s knee backwards. Bryan turns him over into a surfboard pin combo for two, and continue to work over Orton. “The Viper” counters by biting Bryan, then hits an uppercut. Bryan counters another uppercut into a backslide for two! They brawl on the outside, with Daniel aggressively chucking Orton over the announce table onto Michael Cole!
In the ring, Bryan turn Randy head-over-heels with a hurricanrana out of the corner for a near fall! Bryan continues to be fierce with kicks, then locks on a half-crab submission. Orton is struggling, but eventually makes it to the ropes. He comes back by backdropping Bryan onto the barricade, then follows up with a cover for two! Orton stomps on Bryan’s stomach. Daniel starts another comeback but is caught with a quick powerslam by Randy!
Commercials.
Orton spins Bryan around and tosses him over with a t-bone like suplex. He runs Bryan shoulder-first into the steel post, twice, then the steel steps. He continues to be aggressive, smartly working over the potentially-injured shoulder. He sits Bryan atop the turnbuckle and punches him a couple times. Orton goes for a superplex, but Daniel blocks it. He punches him down, then flies off with a front dropkick! It takes a bit for both to get up and then they slug it out. Bryan starts his patented kicks, but Randy counters with an arm wringer.
Bryan suddenly catches Orton and locks him in the Yes Lock Crossface! Orton puts his leg on the ropes to break, but Bryan is fired up and hits a couple runs at Randy in the corner. Orton counters the last run with a big dropkick of his own! He drives Bryan down with the slingshot DDT. “The Viper” gets in his zone, but Bryan hits a kick and the headbutt! 1 – 2 – Orton kicks out! Bryan kicks away, but Director Of Operations Kane walks out. He hops the apron, but Daniel puts him down. Orton is shot over the ropes too and Bryan follows up with a double suicide dive. He rolls Randy in the ring and takes Kane into the steel steps! Orton tries an RKO back in the ring but is shoved off and Bryan nails the running knee for the hard-fought victory!
Winner via Pinfall: Daniel Bryan
Post-match, as Daniel celebrates, both Kane and Orton double-team him. Kane Chokeslams Bryan, then blows his pyro out of the corner. They both stand over a downed Bryan to close the show.
End Of Raw.
Reporter’s Rumblings – By Moe Tapp
Well, they seemed to have redeemed themselves, just a little. This was a great Raw and I loved the ending of Bryan winning – it at least points to a better direction. Let’s hope they continue that way, but the real telling of the tale will be known after Elimination Chamber. Onto the analysis:
Excellence: As already mentioned, the quick turn-around with The Authority seemingly getting behind Daniel Bryan. While I’m sceptical for sure, and believe this is a response to Punk leaving and the extremely negative reaction they received over the Royal Rumble, it was something a little different than the last little while, which was nice. The match Orton/Bryan had was fantastic; however still wouldn’t be enough to win me over on Orton’s side for the WrestleMania main-event.
Great match between The Shield and Mysterio/Kingston/Langston. I’d like to also see Reigns and Langston go at it – two big brutes who can willingly deliver in both power and speed. Both Wyatts and Shield’s promos were awesome and creepy, fitting their respective characters perfectly. Right now, I do think The Shield need to win this one, as I see a bigger position(s) for all three on the WrestleMania card.
It would be great (and looks to be that way) for Christian to win all the way up to Elimination Chamber. This would give him a believability that he can/would win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Definitely got one of my wishes with the Steel Cage match being given plenty of time. It was crafted very well too, and the ending was very back-and-forth/suspenseful! The Outlaws really do “still got it,” and The Brotherhood keep rolling with their in-ring ability!
Was really surprised by Titus’ heel turn on Smackdown, but I really like it. Interested to see how far up the proverbial ladder he will go.
Bogus: “Bad News” Barrett – as always, don’t care! As I wrote above, really disappointed in Emma’s “official” debut. She should’ve been in a wrestling match; the girl can wrestle very well! That segment was definitely wasting hers and Summer’s talent. Really hate how far Dolph Ziggler has fallen star-wise. I can’t even see him on the WrestleMania card this year, which is a true shame.
Sheamus/Axel was a great physical battle, but a one-off, so not very interested. Same with this Batista/Del Rio feud. Liked the fire in Alberto with his promo, but really, it’s just a hold-over for “The Animal” until WrestleMania; so knowing the very predicted outcome hurts what could’ve been a decent rivalry any other time of the year. Not Naomi’s biggest fan, and I don’t usually like (save for Dean Ambrose of The Shield) one partner of a tag-team getting a singles championship match. A.J. should be feuding with Natalya, Tamina, or an NXT woman.
Where were The Usos and Brock Lesnar/Paul Heyman? I know John Cena has a severe eye injury, so that explains his unfortunate absence.
All in all, a much, much better Raw this week. Here’s wishing they go back to a streak of great ones leading to WrestleMania 30; and again, change the main-event Batista VS. any of the other 4 (sorry, Cesaro, just not believable yet) in the Chamber other than Orton at WrestleMania.
Until next week, as always, Be Excellent Wrestling-Online Readers and Wrestling Fans!
A reply to a question on Facebook regarding the WWE Network being available on the Apple TV was deleted by the WWE social media team but not before Apple websites such as Mac Rumors and Apple Insider got a hold of it.
A would-be WWE Network subscriber asked about the availability of WWE Network on Apple TV, a device which WWE has so far not mentioned about being supported. “In order to experience WWE Network on Apple TV, you must have a second generation or later (black) Apple TV and be a WWE Network subscriber,” read the response.
The second half of the response mentions a WWE-specific app on the Apple TV like Netflix, Hulu Plus, MLB, and others have. “Once WWE Network is available, you will be able to launch the WWE Network app directly from your Apple TV.” The response also said that the app would launch on February 24.
The reply by the social media team was however deleted from the Facebook page soon after it was posted probably because they’re not allowed to reveal it yet for some reason.
At the launch event, WWE Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer Michelle Wilson did mention that the service would be available on a connected device that she was not allow to mention yet. Media reps who attended that event were given a Google Chromecast or an Apple TV for free.
Former WWE champion John Cena was injured during his match against Randy Orton on Saturday night in Orlando, Florida, and missed yesterday’s non-televised live event in Kansas City, Missouri.
Cena apparently got poked in the eye by the WWE World Heavyweight champion by mistake and the injury was serious enough to take Cena off the show last night. A photo which surfaced online shows Cena’s eye swollen shut.
At the Kansas City event, Orton told the fans that he injured Cena’s eye and that’s why he wouldn’t be in the building. Orton wrestled Daniel Bryan in a steel cage match instead, which Orton won with an RKO after interference from the Wyatt Family.
The new SuperBowl champions, the Seattle Seahawks, paid tribute to Daniel Bryan on their official Twitter account after the game.
Bryan, who is from the state of Washington, first tweeted “First ever Seahawks Super Bowl win!!! AMAZING!!! There’s going to be a lot of happy people in Washington.”
The social media team of the Seahawks got word of his Tweet and decided to return the favor.
“@wwedanielbryan In the words of one of @wwe’s finest… #SuperBowlChamps,” the Seahawks tweeted, along with a picture of YES! YES! YES! along with the team’s logo, Super Bowl XLVIII Champions at the bottom and @WWEDANIELBRYAN at the very top. The image and tweet was retweeted 4,750 times at time of this writing.
Hulk Hogan was one of the many 80s stars who were featured in a Radio Shack commercial which played during the SuperBowl yesterday.
The pricey commercial featured two Radio Shack employees with one answering the phone telling his co-worker that the 80s called and they want their store back.
So a bunch of 80s stars – including Hulk Hogan and Sgt Slaughter – walk in the Radio Shack store and clean house to make space for the new Radio Shack store.
It’s pretty funny. Don’t blink though, you might miss Slaughter. Hint, pause at the 9 second mark!
WWE’s newest private jet took flight today for the first time under the WWE brand according to a tweet by Stephanie McMahon.
The $27.5 million 2006 Bombardier Global 5000 jet took off for Omaha, Nebraska, for tonight’s Monday Night RAW carrying the McMahons and other key WWE personnel.
Prior to buying this jet, WWE owned a 1998 Canadair Challenger which they bought in 2001.
You can see the photo of WWE’s new plane covered with snow at the airport below.
TNA wraps up the successful Maximum Impact United Kingdom tour today with a final show in Birmingham, England.
Today’s show at the Birmingham NIA will be a taped pay-per-view of the One Night Only series titled Joker’s Wild 2, an event which will be airing later in the year in the United States and in International markets.
TNA Superstars and Knockouts have been in the United Kingdom this week to tape a month worth of Impact along with this pay-per-view and another special event. The company held shows in Dublin, Glasgow, Manchester, and London prior to wrapping things up in Birmingham.
The 2014 Maximum Impact VI was a big success for TNA as they performed in front of big crowds, something which is a rare when they are in the United States.
Following his UFC 169 win against Frank Mir yesterday, Alistair Overeem called out former UFC Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar in the Octagon.
However UFC President Dana White dismissed any rumor of the current WWE Superstar making his return to the UFC, telling the press in the post-fight press conference that it’s not going to happen.
“Brock Lesnar is not coming back. We have no deal with Lesnar and he’s not coming back anytime soon,” White said.
When Overeem was asked why he called out Brock, he said that he heard talk of him returning and that’s about it.
Overeem and Lesnar headlined UFC 141 on December 30, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, a fight which Overeem won in the first round. Immediately after the fight, Lesnar announced his retirement from the UFC.
WWE will be announcing its 2013 fourth quarter and full year results on Thursday, February 20, 2014, before the opening of the market.
Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon and Chief Strategy and Financial Officer George Barrios will host the conference call beginning at 11AM EST to discuss the results.
It will be interesting to see how Wall Street reacts to the results this time around. WWE is on a big climb in the stock market, closing the week at $24.19 and then rising to $24.73 in after market trading, their best in around 15 years.
Tickets for WrestleMania Axxess went on sale earlier today on Ticketmaster.com, with fans able to choose among six different sessions.
Axxess will be held at the New Orleans Convention Center starting on Thursday, April 3 at 6PM. Another session follows the next day, April 4, also at 6PM. Saturday will see three different sessions, one at 8AM, one at 1PM, and one at 6PM. The 6PM session clashes with the Hall of Fame ceremony. The last session is on WrestleMania Sunday at 8AM.
General admission tickets are $45, VIP tickets are $95 and Premium VIP are $175. Premium VIP ticket holders will also get an autograph and professional photo with a WWE Superstar, VIP line at the entrance, 8×10 glossy photo of the VIP Superstar in attendance and a copy of the WWE 50 book.
John Cena will be the Premium VIP Superstar on Friday at 6PM while Batista will be the other Premium VIP at 8PM on the same day. The Undertaker will be the Premium VIP at the 3PM session on Saturday.
Normal VIP ticket holders will get the same as the Premium VIP minus the book. Schedule for VIP autographs are Randy Orton at 6PM and Bret Hart at 8PM on April 3, Daniel Bryan at 10AM on Saturday, Big Show at 1PM in the second session, and Ric Flair at 6PM and Sheamus at 8PM in the third session.
Bruno Sammartino will be the VIP on Sunday starting at 8AM, Rey Mysterio will follow at 10AM, and Shawn Michaels will be there at Noon.
WWE announced yesterday the opening of their newest International office which is located in Mexico City.
With the opening of a new office comes a new General Manager for the region and WWE has appointed Rodrigo Fernandez in that role.
As General Manager of WWE Mexico, Fernandez will be responsible for growing WWE’s brand and business in the country. He will focus on expanding the company’s content distribution through strategic partnerships and deepening fan engagement across WWE’s live events, digital offerings, community outreach initiatives and retail programs.
Prior to joining WWE, Fernandez held key positions at Fox and Disney.
“With a rich lucha libre history and a strong affinity for the WWE brand, Mexico has always been an important market for us,” said Gerrit Meier, EVP International, WWE. “The opening of this office, and appointment of a General Manager with Rodrigo’s talent, underscores WWE’s commitment to the country and its passionate fan base.”
Apart from their world headquarters in Stamford and the new office in Mexico City, WWE now has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, London, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Munich and Tokyo.
WWE stocks continued to soar, ending the week at $24.19, a 4.18% increase over yesterday’s closing. Stocks jumped on the announcement of the WWE deal with BSkyB in the United Kingdom after rumors that Sky paid much more for the TV rights this time around.
At one point today stocks hit $24.82, which is a new 52-week high. WWE’s market cap on today’s closing stands at $1.7 billion.
How pissed off are fans that Daniel Bryan is not going to main event WrestleMania? So much that someone decided to create a petition with the White House!
The “We the People” petition page on WhiteHouse.gov allows Americans to ask the Obama Administration to take action on a range of important issues facing our country according to the page and as soon as any given petition hits 100,000 signatures, the White House staff have to consider it.
“We the people wish to see WWE superstar Daniel Bryan main event Wrestlemania XXX in a match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship,” read the description of the petition, which almost had 100,000 signatures.
But the White House staff deemed this was not an important issue to the country and deleted the petition. “The petition you are trying to access has been removed from the site under our Moderation Policy because it is in violation of our Terms of Participation,“ reads the note on the page.
Looks like the White House people aren’t fans of Daniel Bryan!
WWE’s first live wrestling broadcast on the WWE Network will be held on February 27 and it will be the future Superstars and Divas of the WWE along with the current roster participating in an NXT special being called NXT Arrival.
The show will be taped at the Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, the home of NXT tapings with tickets selling for $15 for general admission or $45 for ringside. The prices include admission for the tapings of the next day on February 28 and can be purchased online at http://nxttickets.ticketforce.com/ordertickets.asp?p=28.
Scheduled matches for the live event are Antonio Cesaro vs Sami Zayn in a two out of three falls, Paige vs Emma for the NXT Women’s title and Bo Dallas vs Adrian Neville in a ladder match for the NXT title. Also appearing on the show will be Shawn Michaels, John Cena, Paul Heyman, Bret Hart, New Age Outlaws, and Sheamus.
CM Punk has been replaced by WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair for the Saturday, April 5 meet and greet session at WrestleMania Axxess.
The change was announced in an e-mail by WWE to those who purchased tickets for the afternoon Axxess session. Those with tickets were given two options if they didn’t like the change: either replace it for another VIP session or get a full refund.
CM Punk was scheduled for the third autograph session at 6PM on that day which also has Daniel Bryan, Big Show, and Sheamus doing other VIP signings during the day.
As things stand and unless a compromise can be reached, Punk’s days in the WWE are over at least for the time being.
I’ve been a fan of the WWE for 25 years now since it first started airing in the UK. WrestleMania 5 was my first experience and since then I was hooked. Granted I’ve had little periods in recent years where I’ve drifted away, dismayed with the product, but I can’t ever stay away.
I am WWE through and through. I always felt that watching WCW and more recently TNA, was like betrayal to my beloved WWE, so I never did. That’s how important the WWE is to me and what it means to me.
Today I just can’t help but feel frustrated at such opportunities being wasted and chances missed for great storylines. I sometimes feel as if the creative team (led by Vince) have become lazy and continually take the easy option year after year.
I’ve been fortunate to experience the golden era first hand. And I’m realistic enough to know that we won’t ever experience the era that was dominated by Hogan, Warrior, Savage, Rude and a little later, the likes of Michaels and Hart.
But there is potential to get close!
I would go as far as to say that today’s roster has potential to rival it and when I look at the talent at their disposal, I get excited at the thought of the potential and possibilities. But time after time the management screw it up.
Instead what we get is storylines repeated every couple of years, we see the same feuds, over and over again, nothing feels fresh anymore and worse of all, they devalue some of the most important aspects of the WWE – their championship titles.
The reason for this? Laziness and making money.
Sadly for pure wrestling fans, the WWE has such a large fanbase that there are millions of fans out there that will pay whatever, shows, merchandise, etc etc, regardless of what product is being produced.
They have too many shows which doesn’t help storylines, but obviously helps the bank balance. 3 hours of RAW, 2 hours of Smackdown, plus Superstars and Main Event and the other various shows, means we are never ever likely to see a fresh feud between wrestlers with little or no history between them.
There are far too many pay-per-views as well and with every one that rolls round, it always feels rushed. They no longer build feuds, captivating the interest of the audience anymore.
Vince and his team are not prepared to take a risk anymore. Because risks might mean failures which might mean lack of revenue. Instead we get the cycle of John Cena and Randy Orton hogging top spot. Now I have no problem with these two, but I don’t want to see PPV after PPV based around them.
As things stand we are heading to WrestleMania 30 – a land mark PPV – with a probably Randy Orton v Batista match to headline…. We saw that 5, 6, 7 years ago. No one is excited for that. But Vince doesn’t care because he knows it will sell because he knows they are household names.
But for me? I’d rather see Daniel Bryan leading into a feud with Roman Reigns for example or CM Punk building a feud with Seth Rollings.
Both Bryan and Punk are very similar in the fact their popularity was pretty much self made. They ran with Punk a few years back, kind of. They made him champion, gave him a long title reign, but they buried him at every chance in favor of Cena.
Punk was the champ, he was the man, but Cena was headlining PPV’s. So they never really gave CM Punk a chance did they? And the same will happen to Daniel Bryan. And why? Because Vince doesn’t like it when something is successful that wasn’t his idea. I’m convinced of this.
I respect everything Vince has done for wrestling in general, but if he wants to progress further he has got to do what he did 30 years ago – get out of the comfort zone and gamble with something new.
As I already mentioned, feuds and angles are rushed through to fit the next PPV and that is the main reason that promising stars that get given a push, ultimately get dropped back down to earth, that coupled with the over-reliance to have the same people grab the headlines.
I’m all for Batista making a return, I’m sure he’s got lots to offer, but not carrying the company forward he hasn’t. Right now Vince has the hottest property in Daniel Bryan, he should be giving him the ball and letting him run, but he won’t, because it wasn’t his idea and he doesn’t want to be being seen as we told you so Vince.
And now Triple H seems to have more and more say, that trend is carrying on and those who should be getting exposure and a push, are not getting it and that must be frustrating.
Bray Wyatt is another who I think could be massive. He could genuinely be one of the company’s best heels in the last 15 years, I really rate the character and think he is superb. But will creative take the risk and got the whole hog?
I ask this simple question, if Bray Wyatt got into a feud with Cena and they built to a match at WrestleMania, could you really see Bray Wyatt winning that cleanly? I could only see them plumping for a Cena win, so as not to damage him and in turn, their revenue.
But the minute that happened, most people will look at Wyatt’s defeat and think “Ok, he isn’t going to get the push we all thought he might,” and that’s why great potential stars soon disappear to mid-card level. It’s not people losing interest, they just lose faith, knowing that another potential superstar has taken second fiddle and kicked to the side again.
One thing, above all, that annoys me is the misuse of the championship titles. Unless it is around John Cena’s waist, then the World title usually becomes second fiddle. It hasn’t been so bad lately and the unification has helped it back to prominence. But as we saw with CM Punk’s reign, making money was more important.
The Intercontinental was once such a prestigious title and was a stepping stone to World title level, but now it’s almost like they pick someone to have the title who they may want to push, then they end up leaving them in limbo land, barely defending the title and not building up any feuds of any significant note.
Same with the tag team division, it’s steadily built up and it’s the best it has been competition wise for 4, 5 years I think. But they don’t give it any proper significant airtime especially at pay-per-views.
The common theme of this post has been creative, which the WWE is not right now. But they won’t really care as the money rolls in and whilst we moan and vent our anger, they will only look at the bank balance. Sadly for us and great for Vince, TNA are even more inept at running a promotion and until there is a genuine rival promotion, Vince and those around him will only go with the safe, easy, money making options.
About the author: Lee Richardson has been a fan of WWE for 25 years. You can follow him on Twitter @Thewwevoice.
The new TNA investor was revealed on yesterday’s Impact and it was former WWE Superstar MVP, who’s back on wrestling television for the first time since the end of 2010.
The news of MVP being at the show was actually spoiled before the tapings actually happened. On Twitter, he also posted, “A decision has been made. It’s final. All systems go,” with later replying to a fan that he has not signed a contract “but a handshake will do for now!”
The former WWE Tag Team and US title holder spent four years in the WWE, making his depute on Smackdown in August 2006. He was released from his WWE deal in December 2010 after he requested one.
During his time away from WWE, MVP – real name Hassan Assad – worked for New Japan Pro Wrestling.
