– Randy Orton will put the WWE World Heavyweight championship on the line in the Elimination Chamber match at next month’s pay-per-view.
John Cena, Daniel Bryan and Sheamus all qualified for the match during the 6-man tag team elimination main event of RAW. During their match against The Shield, the lights went out and The Wyatt Family began attacking John Cena, disqualifying The Shield.
With Orton, Cena, Bryan and Sheamus confirmed for the match, two more spots remain.
– WWE Superstar Christian will be returning to action on Friday’s SmackDown. He tweeted during RAW:
Seems a lot of superstars are making their returns on #Raw lately.. I'm throwing a curve.. See you Friday night #Smackdown#OneMoreMatch
– Prior to Monday’s WWE RAW, WWE taped the following matches from Cleveland, Ohio for this week’s episode of Superstars:
Natalya vs. Summer Rae
Los Matadores vs. Jinder Mahal and Drew McIntyre
– WWE has launched a new Twitter account for Sin Cara at @SinCaraWWE. The account is not yet “Verified” but is followed by the official WWE Twitter account and is posted on WWE.com.
It’s worth noting that the ‘original’ Sin Cara is still using the verified @TheSinCaraWWE account and his account description still reads, “WWE Superstar.”
– Last week’s episode of SmackDown averaged 3.03 million viewers, up over 100,000 from the previous week. It was the first time SmackDown topped 3 million viewers since February 8, 2013.
– WWE Superstar Seth Rollins took a spill on Monday’s RAW during The Shield’s entrance. Rollins jumped over the guard rail and slipped on the floor at ringside. Here’s a video of the fall:
RAW opens with The Authority coming to the ring. Stephanie starts things off on the mic. The “Yes! Yes! Yes!” chants cut her off almost immediately. Triple H mocks the fans in a little kiddie voice and says “did someone not get what they wanted?” The crowd boo’s him like crazy. HHH barrels on to run down some of the good things that actually took place at Royal Rumble last night. Stephanie brings up the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. She says Randy Orton will defend the title inside the Elimination Chamber itself. As soon as she says that, Daniel Bryan’s music hits.
Daniel Bryan comes out smiling and the fans get crazy with “Yes!” chants as he comes to the ring. As soon as he gets into the ring there’s a loud mixture of “Daniel Bryan” and “Yes!” chants. Bryan says “please stop the Yes’ing, they don’t like it.” He continues, “Stop chanting for Daniel Bryan. They don’t like it. We don’t wanna make The Authority mad.” They respond with a loud mixture of “Yes!” and “Daniel Bryan” chants. Stephanie mocks the crowd for falling for Bryan’s “cheap parlor tricks.” Bryan says he had one of the toughest matches of his career last night. HHH says “I’ll be the first to give you all the credit in the world. It was a good little effort.” Bryan says a big disappointment last night was him not being in the Royal Rumble. He says he came to them time and again and said he wanted to be in the Rumble. He tells them to listen to the people, they wanted him to be in the Royal Rumble. He says there’s a “Yes! Movement” going on. He says listen to the people. Stephanie says they have to look out for the well-being of their Superstars and Divas and they didn’t want to put him in that type of danger. The crowd responds by chanting “You Suck!” Bryan says they’ve made him wrestle all three members of The Shield, all three members of The Wyatt Family. He’s wrestled more than once on RAW countless times. HHH said exactly, that’s why we didn’t want to make you work twice at the Rumble. Bryan says they don’t care about what’s best for business, they just care about what’s worst for Daniel Bryan. Stephanie says Bryan is only thinking about himself. She says did all these people only come to see him. The crowd responds by chanting “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
Bryan says he wants in the Elimination Chamber. The crowd chants “Yes!” He says the people want him in that match too. He tells Stephanie to step aside. He tells Hunter that neither of them should leave the ring until he gets what he wants. He and HHH go nose-to-nose. HHH says it’s not just them two in the ring. He says it sounds like he’s got company. The Shield come to the ring. Bryan quickly jumps out of the ring and grabs a chair as The Shield comes to ringside. Eventually the numbers game is too much and The Shield beat down Bryan in the ring.
Sheamus’ music hits and Sheamus comes out to help Bryan. The Shield eventually is too much for him. John Cena’s music hits. Cena runs to the ring as well. Now it’s three on three. D-Bry, Sheamus and Cena eventually get the upper hand and throw all three members of The Shield out of the ring. Bryan’s music hits as The Shield retreats through the crowd. We head to a commercial on that note.
Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara vs. The Real Americans
When we return from commercial, Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara are standing in the ring. Michael Cole talks about Randy Orton having to defend his title at the Elimination Chamber. He reveals that tonight’s main event will be Daniel Bryan, John Cena and Sheamus vs. The Shield in a six-man tag match. Whoever wins the match, all three members will be entered into the Elimination Chamber match. The Real Americans make their way to the ring for tag-team action in our first match of the evening on RAW. Zeb Colter cuts a promo. Typical Zeb stuff.
The bell rings and Mysterio and Antonio Cesaro start things off for their respective teams. Mysterio gets Cesaro on the mat and then tags in Sin Cara. Sin Cara huricanrana’s Cesaro down. Cesaro regroups and tags in Swagger. Sin Cara quickly gets the upper-hand on Swagger. Cara hits Swagger with a springboard back-elbow off the ropes for a near fall. Swagger over-shoots a move on Sin Cara and ends up on the floor. Cara dives through the ropes and splashes onto Swagger. Zeb Colter gets in Swagger’s face and yells at him. Zeb slaps Swagger in the face. Swagger freaks out.
Swagger gets back in the ring and is now even more aggressive after being slapped. Swagger is dominating the crap out of Sin Cara now. We head to a mid-match commercial on that note.
When we return from commercial, Cesaro is beating up Sin Cara. Sin Cara blasts Cesaro with a kick. Cesaro tags in Swagger. Sin Cara quickly gets Swagger down. Swagger ends up on the floor. Cara goes to tag Mysterio but Cesaro ends up yanking him off the apron and onto the floor. Back in the ring, Cara reverses a Cesaro move into a roll-up for a close near fall. Cesaro manhandles Cara down and seems to be back in control of the match. He tags Swagger back in and they hit a big scoop-slam style double-team move. Swagger makes the tag and goes for a Swagger Bomb. Cara rolls out of the way.
Cesaro goes to get Cara but Cara kicks him to buy some time. He makes the tag to Mysterio. Mysterio makes the hot tag and is flying all over the place. He hits a seated-senton on Cesaro for a near fall. Mysterio gets Cesaro in position for the 6-1-9 and hits it. He tags Sin Cara and dives onto Swagger on the floor. Cesaro slows Cara down by catching him in mid-air with an uppercut. He follows it up with the Nuetralizer. 1-2-3. The Real Americans win.
Winners: The Real Americans
Bad News Barrett Segment
Bad News Barrett pops up on his big podium. He tells us that he’s afraid he’s got some bad news for the television viewers. He says later on we have a match that features The Miz against Dolph Ziggler. He talks trash about Cleveland, where RAW is tonight. That’s about it.
The following are highlights from a new online Q&A update posted by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On whether or not not including Daniel Bryan in the Royal Rumble will hurt his popularity: “How does one judge an entire storyline while it is still being played out? I’m not smart enough to do such. I do think that Daniel Bryan is more popular today and is getting much more fan attention than at any time in his career. I’m curious to see what WWE does with this matter. It’s far from over in my view.”
On if he’d like to see a special attraction six-man tag between The Wyatt Family and Hulk Hogan, John Cena & Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania XXX: “That might work. As usual, it all depends on presentation and execution. What sounds good on paper isn’t always a guaranteed hit.”
On if they should include Daniel Bryan in the WMXXX main event to avoid a bad crowd reaction: “You might be right but the landscape can change drastically between now and April 6. I’d consider closing the PPV with Undertaker’s match assuming that he’s working on WM30.”
On the school-letter grade he would give the Royal Rumble: “Overall…B- or a C+.”
Check out more from JR’s latest Q&A update at JRsBarBQ.com.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog at JRsBarBQ.com with his thoughts & predictions for tonight’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view:
Daniel Bryan vs. Bray Wyatt: “I’ve got Daniel Bryan beating Bray Wyatt but if it goes the other way I won’t be shocked. I can see an argument made for each participant to win in this match. As a matter of fact, the more I think about it, the more I see Wyatt grinding out a physical victory. It’s official…Bray Wyatt will be the winner vs. Daniel Bryan.”
Lesnar vs. Big Show: “Part time superstar and full time badass Brock Lesnar has to get on a roll to monetize his obvious upside so I’ve got Lesnar beating Big Show. Brock using a fan favorite finisher, the ‘F5,’ on the near 500 pounder would be impressive. Something tells me that if Lesnar wasn’t aligned with the masterful Paul Heyman that the former Golden Gopher would be a MAJOR fan favorite in WWE. What is there to detest? Exactly….Heyman! (That’s a compliment by the way.)”
Randy Orton vs. John Cena: “Randy Orton will retain his WWE World Title with a victory or a non finish decision over John Cena. I’d be very surprised if Orton leaves Pittsburgh without the championship. One thing about this matchup is that these two have had multiple opportunities to develop chemistry. This match should be very good.”
CM Punk Entering at #1: “It would be a great story for #1 entrant CM Punk to go door to door and win the Rumble match but wait, doesn’t that also apply to the #2 entrant? Punk’s issues are seemingly with the authority figures within WWE which usually end up biting a fan favorite like Punk in the backside. Just remember back to many of the predicaments that Stone Cold Steve Austin found himself in back in the day with ‘authority figures.'”
The Rumble Match & His Prediction For The Winner: “Throughout the Rumble match, talents will be provided specific opportunities to make themselves stand out and become more marketable thus making them more valuable to their employer. At no time of the PPV year does ‘maximize one’s minutes’ ever hold more true. If, for example, Roman Reigns eliminates a dozen men, which would be one more than Kane’s record of 11, then Reigns can notch his gun even if he doesn’t win the Royal Rumble. Big E Langston is another young talent to keep an eye on tonight.”
“Like many others, I’ve got Batista winning the Rumble match especially if he enters at #20 or above.”
There continue to be conflicting reports as to whether or not Vince Russo is in fact back as part of the TNA creative team.
PWInsider.com initially reported that Russo was likely back as a creative consultant, and was at least copied on some recent emails that circulated among the creative team.
F4WOnline.com, however, reports that a few top talents who have input into creative have not heard anything about Russo in several months.
Former WWE Superstar Matt Hardy recently spoke to The Swerve Magazine about enjoying his wrestling career now that he doesn’t have to deal with the rough travel schedule. Hardy said:
“I make my own schedule; if I want to take off, I can take off; if I want to work more, I can work more. I choose when I work, where I work, I choose who I wrestle. I pretty much get to choose everything. When you work for WWE they tell you where to go, they tell you when you work, they tell you when you’re not going to work, they tell you what to do. There is a huge part of your personal life that you leave once you sign your contract because you become their property in many ways. It is great because they put you in front of great big crowds at the shows and the television saturation is incredible, it’s global. But there is something to be said for having complete freedom, and with me just getting married and talking about having kids, I need that freedom. It helps give me a very good balance in life as far as doing things that fulfill my passion by working about places like Ring of Honor or Extreme Rising, and keeping my name out there circulating among mainstream fans and casual fans, and then also going on vacations, take family trips, doing things with my father.”
The following are highlights from a recent Jim Ross Q&A update:
On overcoming Bells Palsy to continue his on-camera career: “Thanks for reading my blog and for the insight. None of us should allow something like Bells palsy define us.”
On why WWE has 30 men in the Royal Rumble when only a handful of guys could potentially win: “I think perhaps this matter is being a little over thought. A 30 man show biz presentation seems to work ok. Enjoy the presentation and the ride. The same could or can be said of many matches.”
On if he feels Kurt Angle could pass the WWE physical for a potential WWE return: “I’m not a doctor nor do I know the extent of Kurt’s physical ailments, so I have no way of answering your question with any degree of accuracy. I’d hope that he could.”
On if WWE should bring back the “squash match” formula: “I have no issues with enhancement matches. I’d much rather see long arcing story lines return. Longer term planning generally equates to greater success.”
On his guesses for possible WrestleMania XXX matches: “I see Batista vs his former teammate Orton & Lesnar attempting to beat The Streak. Just one man’s take on the matter.”
On if he feels WWE will ever turn John Cena heel: “I don’t see Cena turning. He sells too much merch and is a fantastic spokesman for WWE. There’s no reason to flip him.”
Check out more Q&A updates from Jim Ross online at JRsBarBQ.com.
– WWE Superstar and Shield member Seth Rollins made headlines on TMZ for admitting that he once urinated during a live wrestling match. The headline emanates from an interview Rollins did on “Talking With Soup,” which we posted earlier today.
You can check out the TMZ article online at TMZ.com.
– WWE Hall Of Famer “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair recently posted the following tweet to his former Evolution running-buddy Batista:
Best of luck to my old Evolution running buddy @DaveBautista. Style and profile all the way to WrestleMania! #RoyalRumble
The following are results from the WWE live event in State College, Pennsylvania. The event was held on Friday, January 24, 2014.
– Fandango def. Justin Gabriel in the opening match of the evening. This was said to be a pretty good match.
– Alexander Rusev def. Zack Ryder in a singles match. Many in the building didn’t seem to be aware of Rusev, but the match was pretty good regardless.
– The Funkadactyls def. Alicia Fox and Aksana in a Divas tag-team match.
– Los Matadores def. 3MB in a tag-team contest. Heath Slater and Drew McIntyre represented 3MB in the ring for this match, which was mostly a comedy match.
– Kofi Kingston def. Ryback in a singles match. Many seemed surprise to see Kingston get the win.
– Rey Mysterio, Goldust & Cody Rhodes def. Alberto Del Rio & The Real Americans in a six-man tag-team match. This was one of the best matches of the evening. Mysterio pinned Swagger for the win.
– John Cena def. Randy Orton via Disqualification. Due to the DQ, Orton retained his WWE World Heavyweight Championship. This is the same exact match these two have been doing at all of the recent WWE live events.
– WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin will be airing part one of his two-part interview with WWE music composer Jim Johnston on his “Steve Austin Show” podcast next week. Austin is also scheduled to interview comedian Gabriel Iglesias next week.
– TNA founder Jeff Jarrett recently posted the following tweet about “The Icon” Sting:
Stinger… Timeline filled up… A true class act and an one-of-a-kind MAN… Many, many thanks to you… @Sting#Icon#grateful#class
Members of the TNA production team are currently working on a Dixie Carter reality television show. For the last week or so, the production crew has been working on the project, with the idea being to shop the reel around to some television networks.
Apparently this is something the company has been working on. Carter tried getting on the cast of The Real Housewives of Nashville a few years ago, but it never worked out.
The following are highlights from Paul Heyman’s recent interview with Mark Madden:
On rumors of Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker at WrestleMania XXX: “If the Taker rumors are true, they’re very interesting. It’s the right year and right guy for Lesnar to walk away and crush ‘The Streak.'”
On how he feels Lesnar should be presented in WWE: “It doesn’t make sense for Lesnar to be presented as just another person. He should be set aside as distinct, different, and once-in-a-lifetime.”
Check out the complete interview online at 1059TheX.com.
Former WWE NXT Superstar revealed on Friday that he’s doing motion capture work for 2K Sports, the developer behind the WWE 2K video game series. WWE 2K15 has not been officially announced yet, but it’s expected to be released this fall for next generation gaming systems.
– Former WWE Superstar MVP will be making his official TNA Wrestling debut at next Thursday’s Impact Wrestling television taping in Glasgow, Scotland.
– Roderick Strong is off of the Ring Of Honor show in Pittsburgh on Saturday due to the neck injury he sustained in his match with AJ Styles a few weeks ago. Strong will be at the ROH taping, however, doing commentary for the television show.
The following are highlights of a recent interview with Pat Patterson. In the interview, Patterson discusses the origins of the Royal Rumble match concept.
On Vince McMahon’s initial reaction to the Royal Rumble match concept: “I used to talk to Vince [McMahon] about the Royal Rumble idea, even though I didn’t call it by that name, and Vince couldn’t visualize that.”
On pitching the idea to NBC executive Dick Ebersole: “I described what the concept would be and Dick Ebersol went crazy. He loved it. He said, ‘That would be so great for live television. Every two minutes another wrestler comes running in and you don’t know who it is until you hear the buzzer!’ So Vince went, ‘You’re on your own. You’re going to have to do it yourself. You’re going to have to produce it.’ Holy crap. It sounded good in my head, but to put it together was another story.”
Check out the complete interview online at WWE.com.
– WWE Superstar Dean Ambrose recently appeared on Colt Cabana’s “Art Of Wrestling” podcast. You can check out the full appearance at ColtCabana.com.
– Speaking of The Shield, Seth Rollins appeared on the “Talking With Soup” YouTube show, which is hosted by Dan Campbell of “The Wonder Years.” You can check out that appearance below:
With the Royal Rumble taking place this weekend, we are officially on the road to WrestleMania XXX. As of this week, here are the matches that are scheduled to take place at WrestleMania:
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton vs. Batista
The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar
John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt
CM Punk vs. Triple H
Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus
Ever since it was announced that Batista was on his way back to WWE, we’ve been hearing that he’s slated to main event WrestleMania XXX. With the first hour of Monday’s RAW (featuring his return) drawing over 5 million viewers, it’s all but guaranteed that Big Dave will going on last at WWE’s biggest show of the year.
Fans hoping to see Daniel Bryan win the Royal Rumble and finally get his crowning moment of glory at WrestleMania XXX should abandon that fantasy ASAP.
The John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt match was first pitched in the fall but was later scrapped when WWE aligned Bryan with the Wyatt Family. After that angle was abruptly cut short after a matter of weeks, the Cena vs. Wyatt match is now back on.
Of course, plans can change in the next month or two, but as of this week, these are the top 5 matches planned for WWE’s biggest show of the year.
Comment Below: Tell us what you think of this lineup and give your own suggestions of how WWE should book the top WrestleMania XXX matches.
(Information from PWInsider was used in this report)
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
Batista’s Role At The Royal Rumble: “Still leaning on Batista, who I’m predicting will enter after #20, winning he Rumble which would set up a WWE World Title Bout vs. Randy Orton at WM30 as I see Orton winning Sunday in Pittsburgh vs John Cena with an obligatory helping of controversy.”
Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show: “Don’t see Lesnar losing to Big Show at the Rumble.It’s feeling more and more like it could be a Lesnar vs. Undertaker showdown at WM30 in NOLA but all that could change with one major signing or via the use of the most powerful weapon in the business….an eraser.”
CM Punk Entering At #1: “I’d love to see CM Punk go coast to coast while entering #1 in the Rumble match and win it all in Pitt but that’s a legit, long shot. I could see Punk lasting a abnormally long length of time before being tossed over the top rop…perhaps by Batista himself or Punk could run a foul of the Shield again.”
Dainel Bryan’s Popularity: “I’m still of the belief that Daniel Bryan is the most popular performer on the WWE roster these days but my opinion and a couple of bucks will buy you a few bottle of JR’s BBQ Sauce, too.”
Physical Hall Of Fame Building: “According to the New York Post, NBC Universal is allegedly attempting to sweeten the TV rights deal in which they are currently negotiating with WWE. Allegedly, NBC Universal is offering to house a bricks and mortar WWE Hall of Fame at Universal in Orlando. Orlando would be a great spot for the WWE HOF considering that WWE does a ample business in Orlando including the WWE Performance Center and the NXT tapings at Full Sail University.”
The original Sin Cara was interviewed on Mexican Lucha Libre show Tercera Caída on Thursday and spoke about his return to Mexico. The hosts talked about him no longer being with WWE and he confirmed that he is now an independent wrestler. He then claimed that he owns the rights to the Sin Cara name, gimmick and mask – not WWE.
“I am the owner of the persona of Sin Cara. I say it openly because it’s all on my side, in my favor. I think that it’s best left to lawyers because I am the owner of the persona I am the owner of the [character’s] image and I have proof.”
This seems highly unlikely, knowing WWE’s track record of wanting to own gimmicks they create – and the continued use of ‘Sin Cara’ on WWE television. The hosts acknowledged this, but the original Sin Cara was adamant and said he has proof.
“That depends on how the wrestler work their deals. I’m not here to talk bad about anyone. I’ve always been a person that goes the route of peace. I’m not going to fight with anyone or any company. I’m not saying that because I’m scared to fight a big company. No, Why would I? Everyone knows that the original Mistico went on to be [the original] Sin Cara in the WWE. So that we would not have any legal issues with CMLL, I automatically changed my name and my persona and continued on with my registered persona.”
