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Paul Heyman Interrupted Roman Reigns On ESPN’s SportsNation Last Night & I Wish Every Week Was WrestleMania Week
First Brock Lesnar announces he’s staying with the WWE on Sportscenter and then Roman Reigns goes on SportsNation to punch a speed bag with Lesnar’s head on it only to be interrupted by Paul Heyman. Is it possible for every week to be WrestleMania week? Because this is wonderful. The handsome prince Roman Reigns was looking extra handsome and Paul Heyman was looking extra dapper, and I’m just pretty sure Michelle Beadle had the best day of her life.
– Ryan
5 Stars From Last Night’s #RAW & The Unnecessary Hole The WWE Has Dug Themselves For The Main Event of WrestleMania
The final Raw before WrestleMania aired last night from Los Angeles, and for the most part was a pretty solid show. Every WrestleMania match has been made, so Raw served as a platform to tie up any loose ends and get the final fight/promo out of the way before WWE’s biggest show of the year. Just like last week, all hands were on deck, including Sting and Brock Lesnar, and one of them was utilized correctly while the other one still has me puzzled. I’m going to make this a joint article with the regular five star setup followed by what happened to close Raw.
1. This IS Sting
Sting opened up Monday Night Raw last night and it was a breath of fresh air. I can’t remember the last time someone other than a member of The Authority started Raw, so not only was Sting a sight for sore eyes, but he had a lot of energy and finally explained why he was in the WWE. Stephanie McMahon is so evil and played her role pitch perfectly, including the damsel in distress after her slap backfired. It’s clear by it’s use both as Fast Lane and last night’s Raw that the sledgehammer and the baseball bat will come into play for Sting and HHH’s match at Mania, but how that will happen is anyone’s guess at this point. Not only is Sting in great shape, but he really seems to be enjoying himself. He’s at the stage in his career where he’s going to get a huge pop no matter what arena he walks into, and I fully expect Levi’s Stadium in San Fran to blow the imaginary roof off the stadium on Sunday. If he can, I’d love for Sting to stick around for one more year and finish his career off in Dallas for next year’s Mania, but for now I’m going to enjoy him Stinger Splashing HHH on Sunday.
2. Have Yourselves A Match Nikki & Paige
Raise your hand if heading into Raw you thought Nikki Bella and Paige would have the match of the night. Raise your hand if halfway through Raw you thought Nikki Bella and Paige would have the match of the night on the same show that included Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler. I’m assuming no one has their hands raised. This isn’t a knock on Nikki or Paige or any of the Divas, but the WWE hasn’t exactly inspired us with confidence when it comes to the Divas division. Nikki and Paige were given enough time to tell a story and have a solid match, and look what happened: they told a story and had a solid match! I’m hoping this will lead to a Fatal Four Way or Triple Threat match for the Diva’s title at Mania, because not having the championship defended at your biggest show isn’t right. If the match stays as is, they should have enough time to at least have a good match (it is a 4 hour show), and I expect Paige and AJ to feud shortly after Mania.
3. RUSEV
Besides the Diva’s match, my other personal highlight was Rusev killing Jack Swagger and John Cena. Props to Michael Cole for pointing out that Lana is usually the one who stops Rusev from going too far post match, but since she’s not here, he’s basically a monster without a leash. I fully expected Cena to come down to the ring and toss Rusev around and leave him running up the ramp, but NOPE. Rusev just forearmed him in the face, threw him into the barricade and camel clutched him until he passed out. My only complaint was that he didn’t drape the Russian flag over Cena’s lifeless body afterwards. The pessimist in wrestling fans came out last night when people started tweeting that now Cena is definitely going to win at Mania. How about we enjoy the show guys? Maybe Cena wins, maybe he doesn’t. The key to Rusev will be how he responds to his match at Mania, and while a loss will definitely hurt him, if he comes back strong he’ll be fine in the long run. I really hope he is fine in the long run, because he is far and away my favorite character on the show right now.
4. Bray Wyatt
Welp, there’s a new face of fear. This was SO GOOD. SO GOOD CAPTIAL LETTERS EXCLAMATION POINT. When the thunder and lightning effects kicked in I thought we’d get another Undertaker voice over, but it looks like Wyatt has literally usurped The Undertaker as the WWE’s resident poltergeist. He now has The Undertaker’s powers, and as good as Heyman has been hyping up Lesnar/Reigns, Wyatt has been even better. Heyman at least has someone beside him in Lesnar and someone to play off of in Reigns. Bray Wyatt has stood in the middle of that ring and single handedly sold us on a WrestleMania match with The Undertaker. The most mythical and holy match in the history of wrestling, and Wyatt’s done it on his own. If you still doubt Wyatt after that promo, you’re an idiot and don’t under pro wrestling.
5. Paul Heyman
Heyman started off his promo saying there’s nothing more he can say to sell us on the WrestleMania main event, then he went ahead and did it anyway. Without Heyman, this main event build would have been terrible, but I’m assuming the WWE knows that, and wouldn’t have set this match up without Heyman in the picture to begin with. He is wrestling’s best hype man, and his client is wrestling’s greatest beast. I don’t think Lesnar is going to lose at Mania, and I don’t think he should lose at Mania, which brings me to my next point…
What the hell was that ending? The WWE has done a great job lately in rallying the fans together to have the same opinion on a segment or a match, and that is the farthest thing from a compliment. At the Royal Rumble, the WWE booked the Rumble match so foolishly they screwed up their own coronation ceremony of Roman Reigns. I have no beef with Reigns winning the Rumble, or him main-eventing Mania, but what did you expect the crowd to do when Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt were all dumped out of the ring by KANE AND THE BIG SHOW? You had the show in Philly! One of the smarkiest crowds in wrestling, and you end a show like that. The fans lashed out, rightfully so, and now the WWE was forced to promote the main event on their biggest show of the year from deep within a hole they dug themselves. They trotted Roman Reigns out to the middle of a ring with a microphone, his main weakness, and sat there baffled when people shit all over it. Paul Heyman became their saving grace, but come bell time Sunday night, Paul Heyman won’t be in that ring. It will be up to Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns to put on a match that is worthy of the main event spot of a WrestleMania. The preview we got for that match last night was mind blowingly bad. You have the most dominant champion of this century and his equally as alpha male opponent tussle over the belt? I understand you don’t want a large scale brawl, but they needed to do something more than that. Unless WrestleMania opens up with Lesnar and Reigns still in the middle of the ring in LA fighting over the belt, I’m not satisfied, and once again, neither is the entire WWE Universe. The excuse of “it’s three hours of TV and it’s hard to get everything right” does not apply here. This what the WWE does: they put on shows that the audience pays for and we expect to be entertained. Maybe our favorite guy isn’t in the main event, maybe their best wrestlers don’t get enough ring time, but the audience puts blind faith in Vince, HHH and the writers and we are continually disappointed. I’m going to watch and enjoy WrestleMania and I expect most of the card to be great, but it won’t be because of anything that happened in the final minutes of last night’s Raw. The WWE will once again operating out of a hole they dug themselves in, and depending how Mania ends on Sunday, they might not be able to dig themselves out.
– Ryan
Jon Gruden Breaks Down The Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal On A Special Edition Of Gruden’s QB Camp #WWE
ESPN analyst and WWE fan Jon Gruden took a break from quizzing quarterbacks this week to break down the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Gruden does more research here than the entire announce team does on a yearly basis, and it makes for a great little segment. Axel as a dark horse and Ryback as a favorite are both solid picks, and it appears bringing back the Bunny is an ESPN thing as Bill Simmons mentioned it last night and Gruden does again here. On a side note, I love Gruden’s fascination with Titus O’Neil and his dog bark, it’s wonderful. I also love that ESPN is giving WWE some mainstream press ahead of Mania, as Grantland has always had some great WWE articles with The Masked Man, but getting guys like Gruden and Bill Simmons in on the fun is awesome. I’ll save my pick for the battle royal for the preview and predictions article on Friday morning, but don’t be surprised if Jon enters as a special entrant and takes home the trophy.
– Ryan
**UPDATE** Matt’s take:
I’m starting to think that Jon Gruden lives in his QB Camp office. The two places you see him throughout the year are there and in the booth for Monday Night Football. Love the analysis here. Only Jon Gruden would know that Titus O’neil sacked Peyton Manning back in his college days. This guy knows his shit. Probably has every NFL team’s playbook memorized and still has time to practice his Titus “bark” in his spare time. “I get a sore throat watching Ryback”, not sure what that means but it doesn’t sound good.
PS – How much do you want to bet Jon Gruden thinks Andre The Giant is still alive and that he can recruit him to play in the NFL?
-Matt
His Time Is Up, Our Time Is Now: Why John Cena Should Lose At WrestleMania 31
There’s no question that John Cena has been a huge part of the WWE and some may argue that he has even carried the company throughout the years, but with this new generation of wrestlers coming up through NXT, how long will it be before John Cena moves onto the next stage of his life and career? Cena definitely has a few years left to battle inside the ring, but in order to preserve his legacy and possibly elongate his career, this should probably be the year that John Cena starts the transition from in ring competitor to another role inside the WWE.
At this year’s Wrestlemania John Cena will do battle against current United States Champion Rusev for that same US Championship. There has been a lot of speculation going into this potential match that Cena will win, but if that’s the case, this would be the second year in a row that Cena would face a new and upcoming talent at WrestleMania and beat him. Last year at Wrestlemania 30 it was John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt in what was a very story driven match that made the crowd go wild, but it was clear the crowd wanted Wyatt to go over instead of Cena. That didn’t happen and Wyatt’s push to the main event scene was seriously halted. If WWE does decide to have Cena go over Rusev at this year’s Wrestlemania the arena will probably erupt in anger, because even though Rusev has been such a monstrous heel throughout his current run on the main roster, the fact that Cena is going over yet another future star at WrestleMania is troubling.
If John Cena does lose against Rusev at WrestleMania then this could be the gateway into transitioning Cena off television. Rusev and Lana have infused their promos with minor hints about Cena being an ‘old dog’ and needing to step away, so maybe now is the time for Cena take a step back. He can slowly transition into a different type of television persona such as a manager for a talent or an agent backstage. Another scenario could see Cena becoming the General Manager of both Monday Night RAW and Smackdown. The WWE could run a storyline similar to what they did with the Survivor Series buildup where Cena and the Authority feud over control of the WWE which could eventually lead to the Authority’s exit off television and back into the boardroom where they are always busy running the actual company.
Only time will tell what path John Cena will take into in the future, but putting him over young talent for two years in a row doesn’t seem like the most logical decision in 2015.
– Jake
As always, follow our guest blogger Jake on Twitter @imTHATguy_KJ.
Levi’s Stadium Is Tweeting Hype Photos For WrestleMania 31 & I Am Officially Jacked Up
Eleven days to go. #Wrestlemania#ComeToPlaypic.twitter.com/K3FgyHEG11
— Levi’s® Stadium (@LevisStadium) March 18, 2015
WrestleMania 31 is only 10 days away and I’m officially throwing inhibition to the wind and getting myself all jacked up for it. It’s important not to get too pumped for WrestleMania too early, but I think 10 days out is a good time to get the juices flowing. We’ve only got one Raw before the big show, and all the matches are pretty much in place. Plus the WWE Network just released their schedule for WrestleMania week and Sunday the 29th is just a wrestling fans dream come true. It’s going to be 12 hours of hype videos and promo packages and live look in’s at the set and stadium before WrestleMania goes live at 7pm. Football fans can have their Super Bowl, I’ll take WrestleMania every time.
– Ryan
5 Stars From Last Night’s #RAW – The Divas, Paul Heyman & The Vigilantes
WrestleMania 31 is now less than two weeks away, and everyone was on hand for last night’s Raw ahead of WWE’s biggest event. WrestleMania is far and away the hardest event for the WWE to promote, as not only is it a four hour show, but there are more superstars performing at WrestleMania than any other pay per view. Including HHH and Sting, Fast Lane had 22 superstars and Divas on the show. There are 17 superstars alone in the Andre the Giant Battle Royal at WrestleMania, with more sure to be announced closer to the show. The WWE tries to get everyone they can on the show, which leads to a lot of short segments on the Raw’s and Smackdown’s leading up to the pay per view, which takes away from the build to some of the matches. Last night’s Raw had some peaks and some valleys, but ended on a high note that should have fans not only excited for next week, but also WrestleMania 31.
1. The Divas Division, Finally
Do you see what happens when the Divas are given a little time to work? This wasn’t a five star match, but it was solid, and most importantly, it furthered the storyline heading into Mania. The Bella Twins almost play two roles here: they are what Vince wants as a Diva, with super model looks and a culture crossing appeal, but to the hardcore fans, they are the anti Divas. Post Attitude Era fans are wrestling centric, and that goes for both the guys and the girls. Divas like Paige and AJ Lee resonate as ‘baby faces’ because they’re portrayed as focusing on wrestling first and everything else second. The Bella Twins, while they’ve improved in the ring, are the stars of Total Divas and the faces of the Divas division, but are still seen as models trying their hand at wrestling. The Bella’s vs. Paige and AJ is a perfect mix of styles and should be a fun match at Mania, and I’m glad they’re getting some time to not only tell a story but show that they can hang in the ring.
2. John Cena, Minus The ‘Balls’ Joke & Rusev, Of Course
Here’s my main beef with John Cena: he is not authentic. For all his Make-A-Wish sightings and t-shirt sales, he is the most inauthentic person on the WWE roster. He stands for hustle, loyalty and respect and wants kids to emulate him yet on back to back to Raw’s he has choked out a guy who didn’t give him what he wanted and then told that same guy that his manager/maybe girlfriend is the one who has the balls in their relationship. John Cena is supposed to be TV PG, and more than that, he’s supposed to the face of WWE’s TV PG movement. He is not The Rock, he is not Stone Cold, he is not HBK and he is not HHH. He is supposed to be a clean cut, Hulk Hogan esque superhero, yet when it benefits him, he can pull shit like he did on Rusev for the past two weeks. Do you ever remember Hulk Hogan asking someone if their girlfriend was the one with the balls in their relationship? No you do not, because that wasn’t what his character was all about. It was about being a role model to kids, taking your vitamins and saying your prayers. It’s supposed to be everything to the kids and lame to the adults, but Cena insists on trying to pander to both. His promo on Raw was great, fiery stuff, and as much as the USA vs. Russia angle is kind of burned out, at least Cena is showing some passion. Then Rusev got in the ring and Cena turned on the charm, asked him if his balls were with his girlfriend and all was lost. I still liked it because Rusev is great, and his written statement was so wonderful. I’ve mentioned it before, but speaking in broken English gives you leeway in your promos, and Rusev knows that, and executes it perfectly. What he’s saying doesn’t really have to make sense. What matters is that his message gets across, and that message is Russia>USA. When John Cena wins at Mania I’m going to cry for a thousand years.
3. Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman & Roman Reigns
This is more Paul Heyman and Lesnar than Reigns, but Reigns kept his promo short and sweet, and I’m glad he’s added something to the ‘Believe That’ line. ‘I can and I will’ is still kind of lame, but it’s progress, and his promos should be kept under two minutes at a maximum. Paul Heyman, on the other hand, should be given free REIGN over the show. He and Bray Wyatt are single handedly selling WrestleMania matches, and Heyman is at the absolute top of his game, which is saying something. He is simultaneously building up Reigns as a worthy competitor and Brock as an unbeatable champion. That may sound easy, but it’s something few other managers or superstars have mastered. I also love how Brock and Heyman have brought Lesnar’s real life contract dispute into the fray, because ignoring it would be silly in the internet age. We all know Lesnar walked out of Raw a few weeks ago, and we all know he’s undecided on his future. The WWE is the only company in the world that can use real life backstage details to enhance storylines, and I’m glad they’re doing that here. Also, Brock getting bleeped out because he threatened to ‘fuck up Roman Reigns’ was wonderful stuff.
4. Holy Hell, That IC Title Tag Match
If you’re taking bets at home, my money is on the IC Title ladder match to steal the show at Mania. I know that’s like saying Elizabeth Banks is pretty, but sometimes you need to get the obvious out of the way. It was clear from the beginning of this angle that this match would be the one that everyone would be talking about, and I’m glad the guys involved in last night’s tag match showed so much emotion and passion. The IC Title used to mean something, and it was a major building block on the road to the major championships. That prestige has been lost in recent years, but now you have six guys who are scratching and clawing their way back to the main event scene, and a major WrestleMania moment awaits them. The WWE needs to keep this momentum going after Mania if they want the IC title to be relevant again, but at the very least, they have right superstars in place to make that happen. Last night’s match was great, and if there’s one thing the WWE does well, it’s put on fantastic 6 man tag matches. It started a few years ago with The Shield and continued no matter what combination of guys are in the match. I liked the tease of fan favorites Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler, as well as the in sync outfits of Luke Harper and Dean Ambrose. This match will steal the show, and I have no clue who’s going to win at Mania. What I do know is that it won’t be R-Truth.
5. Randy Orton & Sting – The Vigilantes
When Seth Rollins unveiled his genius plan, you knew Sting was coming out, but that’s the best thing about Sting in 2015: you can see him coming from a mile away, but it’s still awesome. When the lights went out and the crow squawk echoed throughout the arena, the place ERUPTED for Sting. Also, how great does Sting look? He looks in better shape than most of his TNA run, and I’m glad the WWE is progressively upping his physicality. He got to whip a couple people with a bat last night, as well as deliver a double Stinger Splash and a Scorpion Death Drop. Sting/HHH isn’t going to wow anybody technically, but the storytelling and psychology of that match will be excellent. Another smart move by the WWE is lumping in Rollins/Orton with HHH/Sting as well as not having Rollins and Orton get any more physical than they did last week. You don’t want to show your hand before a big time Mania match, and although the brawl last week was a little much, I’m glad they scaled it back this week and let the rest of The Authority take the beat down. If Sting decides to stick around after WrestleMania, he and Randy Orton need to team up as The Vigilantes. I will not rest until that happens.
– Ryan
It’s Time For The WWE To Cut Their Losses And Get Rid Of The February Pay Per View
WWE February pay per views have definitely lost their momentum throughout the years. This has nothing to do with poor matches or bad angles, but is due to the fact that the outcomes are very predictable with WrestleMania right around the corner. For example, we all knew that Roman Reigns was going to defeat Daniel Bryan at Fast Lane. Was the match great? Yes, but some of the magic is taken away when you know who’s going to win. Championships rarely change hands, stories are rushed, and the February pay per view is missing the excitement factor that is key to WWE’s connection with its audience. Since February pay per views no longer bring home the bacon, the WWE should schedule an NXT live special for mid to late February instead. This would bring legitimate excitement and entertainment back to the WWE and rid it of its month of predictability.
Another benefit of running an NXT live special in place of a pay per view would be that it would allow the main roster writers and leads behind storylines to have more time to prepare for WrestleMania without having the February PPV in the way. The writing staff and performers could carefully look over and go in-depth on each story/match that they want at WrestleMania without any pay per view interruptions.
The NXT live special would create curiosity for those who haven’t seen what NXT is yet which in turn would bring more eyes to the NXT product and possibly new subscribers to the WWE Network. What type of NXT live event would this turn out to be? My guess would be a show that promotes the “Main Roster” talents vs. NXT talents. The storyline could be that the Superstars on the main rosters are angry over the fact that these NXT talents have “stolen” their pay per view time (the jealously factor is already there in real life) which could lead to a War Games or Survivor Series style match. If this plan is implemented, the NXT live special and WrestleMania would get the careful plan that would both events better for years to come.
– Jake
Remember to follow our guest blogger on Twitter, @ImTHATGuy_KJ.
5 Stars From Last Night’s #RAW
Last nights Raw featured a 3 song concert by Wiz Khalifa and the two top tag teams losing to The New Day and Los Matadores, respectively. Sting finally “spoke” in response to HHH’s challenge and general bashing of himself and WCW, and even that was weird. It would have been a sub par Raw in general, but since we’re less than three weeks away from WrestleMania, it felt especially stale. There’s no way I could pick five things that I liked about this episode, but I’ll try my best.
1. At Least the IC Title Picture is Interesting
After another talking segment to open Raw, we were treated to two matches featuring four superstars who be vying for the IC title at WrestleMania. The first was BNB vs. Daniel Bryan and the second was Dean Ambrose vs. Stardust. While the merry go round of competitors for the IC title has been fun, I can’t help but think how much better this whole thing would be if the IC belt itself wasn’t treated like garbage for the last 1-5 years. WWE is making up for this by putting pretty much all their best workers in one match, and the build up has been fun because you know the in ring product will be great no matter what. R-Truth on commentary for almost a half hour was a little much, but both matches were solid, and a multi person MITB style ladder match that includes Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Luke Harper and a face painted Cody Rhodes can’t possibly be bad.
2. Paul Heyman, The G.O.A.T.
I have a feeling someone backstage is purposely messing with Heyman’s microphone because they know how much it’s going to piss him off and unleash his inner verbal beast. This was one of Heyman’s best promos EVER, and I hope no contract talks leak out ahead of Mania because after this promo I really can’t see Brock losing the title. If news leaks out that he’s definitely going to UFC then we’ll know he’s losing, but it if doesn’t, I’m having a hard time picturing a scenario where he loses. Heyman is the ultimate hype man, and here he mixes some old school pro wrestling theater with a little bit of shoot promo skills and sells the main event at the same time. It’s refreshing hearing Heyman speak so passionately especially after the rest of the show’s promos from Rollins, Orton and The Authority were so emotionless.
3. Bray Wyatt & The Undertaker
Yesterday I wrote about The Undertaker possibly coming to Raw last night to answer Bray Wyatt’s challenge, and I’m glad he showed up (sort of). The Undertaker’s nemesis’s stealing his urn is one of those turning points in Undertaker feuds. Mankind did it. Yokozuna did it. CM Punk did it. Every time somebody took his urn, his essence, they thought they had the upper hand on Taker, but he’d always resurrect and defeat them. This time’s it’s different, obviously. Undertaker is as close to the end of his career as he’s ever been, and he hasn’t faced a competitor as young and in need of a giant push since Randy Orton in 2005. Regardless of the outcome, Undertaker feuds are just so much fun to watch. They’re different than everyone else’s matches entirely, and almost seem to exist outside the WWE Universe. When Seth Rollins and Orton feud, you know you’re going to get duel promos and a brawl at some point. With The Undertaker, you have smoking urns and lightning being shot from the ceiling and thunder and voice overs from beyond the grave. It’s awesome. I think Wyatt should win at Mania, but I’m also just happy to have the Deadman back again.
4. Randy Orton
This probably should have happened the day after Fast Lane, but it was still a good brawl. My only question is where does Orton/Rollins go from here? I’m assuming they’re going to fight at Mania, but what’s the point? Orton got his revenge. He drew Rollins in, played him like a fool, destroyed him and forced him to leave the arena on a stretcher. What would they be fighting for at Mania? Unless a stipulation involving the briefcase is added, I’m not sure what kind of drama would surround this match. With that said, it was nice to see some aggression from Orton. When he’s on, he’s still one of the best guys on the roster with one of the best and most unpredictable finishing moves.
5. Connor “The Crusher’ Michalek
You can’t say enough about the WWE for doing something like this, and that video package made me cry some serious man tears. Congrats to Connor’s family, and congrats to the WWE for being awesome.
– Ryan
