– As noted recently, Randy Orton has been advertised locally to return at several of the past WWE television tapings, but was held back due to creative decisions made by the company. Orton is being advertised for the February 16th edition of RAW in Orlando, which is the Fast Lane “go-home” edition of the show. With Orton scheduled to return in time for a program at WrestleMania 31, one would assume that if he doesn’t return on the 2/16 RAW show, he will be returning either at the pay-per-view itself, or at RAW the following night.
– The following matches were taped at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida for tonight’s edition of NXT on the WWE Network:
– Emma vs. Carmella
– Adrian Neville vs. Baron Corbin (Semifinals of the No. 1 Contender’s Tournament)
– Bayley vs. Becky Lynch
– Hideo Itami vs. Finn Bálor (Semifinals of the No. 1 Contender Tournament)
– Sami Zayn and Adrian Neville vs. Kevin Owens and Tyson Kidd
Check out the official video promo for tonight’s NXT show below.
Stone Cold Steve Austin’s podcast with Triple H from Monday night continues to make headlines, which is not surprising considering the number of controversial topics discussed.
Regarding Triple H’s comments a bout CM Punk where he said there is no animosity between the two parties, a lot of people were rolling their eyes at that one. That said, Triple H’s description of Punk saying “everything’s fine” when everything is not fine is viewed as a pretty accurate assessment of his demeanor.
WWE talent was also surprised that Triple H acknowledged that he prefers a 2-hour format for RAW. While its certainly a popular opinion, there are no plans to scale back RAW due to the millions of dollars WWE generates in ad revenue from the extra hour of prime time programming each week.
It’s also worth noting that during Triple H’s weekly sit down interview with Michael Cole at WWE.com, Triple H said that the show did 40% more viewers than Vince McMahon’s appearance on the Stone Cold Podcast back in December.
(Information from F4Wonline.com was used in this report)
One of the reasons that WWE had The Lucha Dragons, Sin Cara and Kalisto, drop the NXT Tag-Team Championships recently is because they are contemplating giving Kalisto a new gimmick.
Verified Reddit user MetsFan4Ever noted recently that WWE is looking for a new masked Superstar to take over the void that Rey Mysterio will soon be leaving, however they have recently tried using Kalisto under a new, unmasked gimmick — that of a homosexual hair stylist.
WWE officials were reportedly pleased with Kalisto’s performance as that character and as a result, they are said to be seriously considering having him do that gimmick permanently instead of continuing with his current Kalisto character.
Heath Slater, who has been out of action for a while dealing with personal issues stemming from an alleged domestic violence incident with a security guard at the official WrestleMania after party in 2011, worked a dark match at the WWE SmackDown television taping in Colorado Springs, Colorado on Tuesday night. The charges against Slater were dropped due to the statute of limitations expiring on the case.
WWE taped this week’s episode of SmackDown on Tuesday night from Colorado Springs, Colorado. Here’s a preview for the show, followed by spoiler results on Page 2:
The following matches were taped in Colorado Springs, Colorado on Tuesday night prior to the WWE SmackDown television taping for this week’s edition of WWE Main Event, which will be available soon on Hulu Plus, and will air as scheduled in certain international markets.
Dark Match
– Luke Harper def. Heath Slater to kick off the evening. In the end, Harper picked up the win with his 360-clothesline finisher for the 1-2-3.
WWE Main Event
– Bad News Barrett def. Sin Cara in a non-title match. The crowd was said to be pretty into Barrett live, and was popping for a lot of the spots in this match. The finish saw Barrett pick up the pin fall after blasting Sin Cara with the Bull Hammer Elbow.
– Brie Bella def. Summer Rae in Divas action. Nikki Bella was in Brie’s corner for this one. The Bella Twins, despite being heels, were getting a lot of babyface reactions from the Colorado fans. Bella scored the pin in a pretty typical Divas match after nailing Summer with a face-buster.
– The Ascension def. a local enhancement tag-team. This was said to be pretty much the same match we’ve seen from The Ascension since the two debuted on the main roster a few weeks ago. The crowd boo’d The Ascension a lot during the match, but it was said to be pretty normal heel heat.
– Tyson Kidd & Cesaro def. The New Day in a tag-team match to close out the taping. Kofi Kingston and Big E. represented The New Day in this one, with Xavier Woods staying outside of the ring during this one. The finish saw Cesaro score the pin for his team after getting some help from Kidd.
Monday’s February 2nd edition of WWE RAW, the first traditional arena version of the show since the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view, averaged 4.292 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Monday’s RAW was actually down from last week’s show, which was mostly a studio show with interview segments, as well as a re-airing of the Royal Rumble match and the triple-threat WWE World Heavyweight Championship match from the pay-per-view, as that show drew 4.42 million viewers.
The hourly viewership breakdown for Monday’s RAW is as follows:
Hour One: 4.466 million viewers
Hour Two: 4.403 million viewers
Hour Three: 4.008 million viewers
The final rating for this week’s show will be available in a few hours.
Last night during RAW, fans began tweeting that there was a mysterious masked man sitting at ringside, with many of them speculating that it was Randy Orton getting ready to make a surprise return. It turns out that the masked man was none of than The Boogeyman, who most recently made an appearance in the Royal Rumble match.
Former WWE Diva Kristal Marshall was also at the show with her kids.
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross shared his thoughts on last night’s “Stone Cold Podcast” with Triple H, as well as the changes to the upcoming WWE Fast Lane pay-per-view in the latest blog posted on his official website.
Below are highlights:
On the “Stone Cold Podcast” with Triple H: “Enjoyed the Austin-HHH podcast Monday night after RAW on the @WWENetwork and look forward to more programs such as this as they are somewhat easy to produce and more cost efficient than many other original programming concepts. For me the long term key to the Network are the PPV’s and Original Programming. The ideas for original programming are seemingly endless. Both Austin and Triple H were straight forward and once they got on a roll it created some interesting content. I could have easily listened to another hour.”
On WWE Fast Lane changes: “I liked the tweak in the booking as it relates to the the Fast Lane PPV in a few weeks in Memphis as it gets Daniel Bryan back involved, provides multiple ways to go and even potentially positions Reigns as the villain against fan favorite Lesnar. As I said when many fans were knocking themselves out with their uncontrollable knee jerks, the weekly TV between now and WM31 could and should be good programming. I see that happening if the stories are kept simple and not over thought.”
On Chris Benoit in the WWE Hall Of Fame: “The annual Chris Benoit into the WWE HOF topic has reared it’s head again and will likely linger until after the WWE HOF event the night before WM31. I do not endorse Chris, who I hired and had immense respect for until the final days of his life when he murdered his family and then committed suicide. Knowing Chris as I did I feel that he would NOT want to be enshrined into the WWE HOF because of the backlash that it would create and because the story would not be about Chris’s stellar career but instead about the infamous murder/suicide. The entire matter is still a gut wrencher including me representing the WWE at Nancy and Daniel’s funeral services which was a task that was SO hard for me to attend on a personal level. IMO one cannot separate the career of an overachieving athlete from the fact that he murdered his family and then took his own life and no matter the alleged motive.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
Next week’s NXT TakeOver special has been official titled, “TakeOver: Rival.” The show airs Wednesday night, February 11th live on the WWE Network. Here’s the updated card:
NXT Championship Match
Sami Zayn (c) vs. Kevin Owens
NXT Women’s Championship (Fatal 4 Way)
Charlotte (c) vs. Bayley vs. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch
#1 Contender’s Tournament Finals
Adrian Neville or Baron Corbin vs. Finn Balor or Hideo Itami
The tournament semi-finals take place on this week’s episode.
– Triple H noted on social media that a replica WWE World Heavyweight Championship belt is being sent to the NFL’s Super Bowl champion New England Patriots team for their victory parade at Gillette Stadium. HHH tweeted the following:
– Speaking of Twitter, WWE announced today that the official company Twitter account (@WWE) has passed the milestone of five million followers. WWE tweeted the following today.
– The marijuana documentary titled “The Emperor, The President & The King,” which features Rob Van Dam in a prominent role, has been announced as having a release date in film festivals this summer. The company that produced the documentary, Hollymood Entertainment, has also produced and distributed such pro wrestling titles as “101 Reasons Not To Be A Pro Wrestler” and “New Jack: Hardcore.” The company is looking for potential investors to produce future wrestling and non-wrestling projects at [email protected].
A second trailer for the documentary, which features RVD, can be seen below. To watch the original trailer, click here.
– WWE NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte made a special appearance on the WWE App with Tom Phillips during last night’s RAW. Charlotte talked about defending her title in the Fatal 4 Way at NXT Takeover: Rival next week. She said that she’s already beaten all three challengers, so the odds are in her favor. This is her opportunity to show she’s the best wrestler in the world today, male or female.
– WWE announced the following details for the new WWE 2K15 DLC that’s been released today:
2K Announces WWE 2K15 Downloadable Content for 2K Showcase Available Today
New York – February 3, 2015 – 2K today announced the availability of the newest downloadable content for WWE® 2K15, the latest release in the flagship WWE video game franchise. The new content marks the first addition to the game’s story-driven 2K Showcase mode – One More Match – and highlights the rivalry between WWE Superstars Christian® and Randy Orton® in 2011. One More Match enables players to experience Christian’s triumph and heartbreak throughout the year, including winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship® at Extreme Rules®, losing it one night later to Orton and turning his back on his best friend, Edge®. Christian’s quest to regain the title is highlighted across a series of notable moments, including matches against Orton on SmackDown®, as well as at Over the Limit®, Capitol Punishment®, Money In the Bank® and SummerSlam®. The downloadable content offering* is accessible via Xbox Live online entertainment network from Microsoft for Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system and Xbox 360 games and entertainment system from Microsoft, as well as PlayStation®Network for the PlayStation®4 and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment systems, and includes the following items:
2K Showcase: One More Match
* Story focused on the rivalry between WWE Superstars Randy Orton and Christian in 2011;
* Playable WWE Superstars (2011 versions): Christian, Randy Orton, Edge®, Mark Henry® and Sheamus®;
* Playable arenas from 2011: SmackDown®, Extreme Rules®, Over the Limit® and Capitol Punishment®;
* 2K Showcase: One More Match is available for a suggested price of $9.99, as well as through the Season Pass program.
– New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) star A.J. Styles has been added to the upcoming Ring Of Honor 13th anniversary pay-per-view event. Styles, a former ROH star himself, will face ACH on the show, which emanates from the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sunday, March 1st.
– In addition to his live “Stone Cold Podcast” with Triple H on the WWE Network on Monday night, Steve Austin also released a regular edition of his “Steve Austin Show” podcast, where he spoke about such topics as his early days in the USWA promotion, the WWE Hall Of Fame, comments on this year’s Super Bowl game and more. You can download the show right now at PodcastOne.com.
– WWE Hall Of Famer Iron Sheik is the guest on this week’s edition of Jim Ross’ “Ross Report” podcast, which will be available at PodcastOne.com tonight at 9pm EST. / 6pm PST.
– Chris Jericho posted the following on his official Twitter account (@IAmJericho), revealing his guests for both of his “Talk Is Jericho” podcasts this week.
– WWE noted on RAW that the new Immortals mobile video game was the #1 iPad game during its opening weekend. They announced last week that the game had 2.7 million downloads through that first weekend.
– WWE Hall of Famers Trish Stratus and Lita are continuing their “Team Bestie Tour” with a live appearance on May 23rd during the Women In Pro Wrestling Fan Expo at the Coastline Convention Center in Wilmington, NC. For tickets, visit TrishStratus.com.
– WWE fans who took advantage of the free WWE Network month in November but did not renew are able to get this month for free. Also, users previously canceled their subscriptions are also allowed to sign up for the free month.
– WrestlingDVDNews.com has released the following clip of Dean Ambrose talking about his experience working with The Undertaker from WWE’s upcoming “Destruction of The Shield” DVD and Blu-ray that comes out on February 17th:
On Monday’s RAW, JBL made a joke during the Luke Harper vs. Ryback match in which he said Harper looked like a “Zombie Eddie Guerrero” when he dove over the top rope.
The remark got a lot of fans riled up on Twitter, with JBL posting this response on Facebook:
“The spot with Luke Harper I saw some Twitter comments over. I had just mentioned Walking Dead show and Luke does the ‘Eddie’ spot over the top rope, my comment (since I had mentioned Rick Grimes before toward Luke) was ‘it looks like a zombie Eddie Guerrero’. This was a WALKING DEAD reference toward Luke-who I have said before looks like a ‘walker’.
I would NEVER insult my friend Eddie, for those who took it wrong-sorry about that, but it is what it is.”
After being postponed last week due to snow, the good ole live, in-ring version of Raw was back last night, emanating from the Mile High City. The company was back in full force, with Triple H making a “major announcement” and a big main event between Seth Rollins and Daniel Bryan. Without further ado, here are the pros and cons from last night’s episode of Raw.
Pros
The clear highlight of the night was the main event between Seth Rollins and Daniel Bryan. Anytime you get two guys with this type of talent in the same ring, you know you’re in for a treat. They certainly didn’t disappoint either, pulling off a number of impressive spots and exhibiting impeccable chemistry. The spot of the match was probably Rollins countering Bryan’s Running Knee finisher into a Powerbomb. In the end, Bryan picked up the win and will face Roman Reigns at Fast Lane for a chance to go to WrestleMania (more on this later).
The second best part of the night was probably the segment involving Curtis Axel and Dean Ambrose. It’s sad when the first thing Axel has to say when coming out is, “Don’t change the channel.” It’s like he’s a mind reader or something. Anyway, it was hilarious to see Ambrose quickly toss Axel over the top rope before telling him he’s now eliminated. Even more exciting was that Ambrose called out Bad News Barrett. This is a program that really needs to happen, as Ambrose is the type of guy who could bring some prestige back to the Intercontinental Title after the company has played hot potato with it over the past few years.
Bray Wyatt had a big night. His match with Dolph Ziggler was incredible, and it was nice to see two guys who don’t work together much get a chance to shine. Wyatt hit a devastating Sister Abigail that Ziggler sold better than anyone to end the match. Later in the night, he cut a promo saying things like, “I am the new face of fear” and, “We cannot wait to see you again.” It looks like they are going with the rumored Wyatt/Taker program for WrestleMania and I, for one, cannot wait. If only they had gone this route last year instead of wasting the streak on a part-timer…
Rusev’s beating of Rowan and post-match promo was money. I absolutely love this guy and he played off of the Russian flag miscue perfectly. Please push this guy to the top and don’t feed him to Cena.
Jimmy Uso and Cesaro looked great together. The highlights were a Cesaro Swing into a Half Crab and a brutal uppercut to end the contest. It was nice to see Cesaro pick up a victory, but the only downside was that they are already teasing tension between Cesaro and Kidd. I’d like to see these guys stick together for a while and get a run with the titles.
Finally, the Miz/Mizdow promo was absolutely hilarious. It was nice to see the Miz berate his now former stunt double and put the wheels in motion for a breakup. Here’s to hoping for a payoff at WrestleMania.
Last night during the Stone Cold Podcast on the WWE Network, As seen on the Steve Austin and Triple H interview last night, Triple H praised Michael “PS” Hayes, saying his contributions to the business are highly underrated.
Here’s what Hayes said regarding a possible 2016 WWE Hall of Fame induction from the Dallas area:
Well, can't say I disagree, but really appreciate the plug from @steveaustinBSR and @TripleH for the HOF next year in Dallas!!
– Triple H posted the following comment on his official Twitter account (@TripleH) immediately after his interview with Steve Austin on the live “Stone Cold Podcast” on the WWE Network after Monday’s edition of RAW.
For those interested, you can read a detailed recap of HHH’s appearance on the Stone Cold Podcast, as well a short clip of the interview by clicking here.
– Below is the video package on WWE Hall Of Famer “The Big Cat” Ernie Ladd that aired on Monday’s RAW in honor of “Black History Month.”
– WWE ended up posting a fourth RAW Fallout video on their official YouTube channel after this week’s show. The fourth installment of RAW Fallout, which you can view below, features Rusev reacting to the Russian flag incident during RAW.
For those who missed the initial three RAW Fallout videos, you can check those out by clicking here.
– On Monday’s edition of WWE RAW in Denver, Colorado it was announced that on this week’s WWE SmackDown show, which returns to its’ normal Friday time slot on the SyFy Network, The Miz will host a special edition of “MizTV” with his guests being Roman Reigns, and the man he will face at the Fast Lane pay-per-view, Daniel Bryan.
– On part one of this week’s three-part RAW Fallout, Curtis Axel continues to campaign for a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match against Brock Lesnar. You can check out the video below.
– On part two of this week’s RAW Fallout, Bad News Barrett responds to Dean Ambrose’s challenge for a shot at the WWE Intercontinental Championship. You can check that one out below.
– Finally, in the third and final installment of this week’s RAW Fallout, an embarrassed Paige warns The Bella Twins that their “war” is not over yet. Check that one out below.
The following matches were taped at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado prior to Monday’s WWE RAW for this week’s edition of WWE Superstars.
WWE Superstars (Airing Thursday):
– Emma def. Summer Rae in the opening match of the evening. This was said to be your typical Divas match, with the crowd sitting on their hands for the majority of the contest.
– Fandango def. Adam Rose in the main event of the taping, which is set to air on the WWE Network this Thursday. This was said to be a pretty sloppy match, with both guys having timing issues and a few botched spots. The crowd was said to be pretty dead for this one as well. During Adam Rose’s entrance, the Rosebuds actually dropped him and he flipped out. In the end, Fandango picked up the win with his top-rope leg drop for the 1-2-3. It’s worth noting that he kind of played the babyface throughout the match.
On Monday’s edition of WWE RAW in Denver, Colorado, we saw the beginning of several programs leading into the first ever WWE Fast Lane pay-per-view, which emanates live from the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee on Sunday, February 22, 2015.
Below are some confirmed and rumored matches for the show:
Confirmed
– John Cena vs. Rusev
– Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan (#1 Contendership Match)
– Nikki Bella (c) vs. Paige (WWE Divas Championship)
– Triple H and Sting face-to-face confrontation
Rumored
– Bad News Barrett vs. Dean Ambrose (WWE Intercontinental Championship)
Make sure to visit us here on the website on Sunday, February 22, 2015 for the best WWE Fast Lane live results coverage on the web!
– The latest edition of Roddy Piper’s “Piper’s Pit” podcast, which is now available, features Luke, one-half of the former WWE tag-team, The Bushwhackers. The official description for the show reads as follows:
PP-Ep44 – Luke Williams of the Bushwhackers
“Luke Williams of the Bushwhackers makes a pilgrimage to Piper’s Pit this week to reconnect with his old friend and fans. Luke and Roddy talk about what it really takes to be part of a successful tag-team, Macho Man Randy Savage, Captain Lou Albano and why Roddy thinks that the next inductees into the Wrestling Hall of Fame should be The Bushwhackers and Cyndi Lauper.”
– Courtesy of the official WWE Instagram page, below is a photo of WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin backstage at Monday’s WWE RAW in Denver, Colorado.
– Speaking of RAW, below is the complete WWE RAW pre-show, which aired live on the WWE Network prior to this week’s show. This week’s RAW pre-show was hosted by Scott Stanford, Corey Graves and David Otunga.
– The following is a behind-the-scenes video of the new WWE Immortals mobile video game.
– As noted earlier, Dean Ambrose called out Bad News Barrett on Monday’s RAW, telling him he has his sights set on the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Bad News Barrett responded to Ambrose on Twitter, likely starting a feud between the two for a match at the upcoming WWE Fast Lane pay-per-view. Barrett tweeted the following:
You don't just 'call out' a champion of my calibre. Dean Ambrose can sod off. Get to the back of the line ya dipstick. #BNB
– As seen on Monday’s WWE RAW, Dean Ambrose made it clear that he is going after Bad News Barrett and the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Ambrose is scheduled to begin a program with Barrett, which will likely culminate in an Intercontinental Championship match between the two at the WWE Fast Lane pay-per-view.
– The Miz “fired” Damien Mizdow on RAW this week. He then re-hired him and made him his “personal assistant.” As noted recently, there is a good chance that Miz and Mizdow will split and end up feuding with each other heading into this year’s WrestleMania 31 pay-per-view.
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar’s WrestleMania opponent is now uncertain.
WWE COO Triple H announced on RAW that due to the controversy surrounding the Royal Rumble as a result of The Rock’s involvement, Roman Reigns will have to fight for his chance to main event WrestleMania.
At WWE Fast Lane on February 22nd, Reigns will face Daniel Bryan to determine who challenges Brock Lesnar. Bryan defeated Seth Rollins on RAW (with help from Reigns) to get the match.
