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Tuesday, 27 January 2015
Tuesday, 27 January 2015
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After the two confronted during the 2015 Royal Rumble post-show, John Cena and Rusev will be facing off in the ring for the first time.
The WWE announced a match between the two will take place at Fast Lane:
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After the Rumble ended, Cena was being interviewed about his loss in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match. Rusev then interrupted the 15-time world champion, and the two had to be separated by fellow superstars.
For all intents and purposes, it looked to be the start of a Cena-Rusev feud, and that is indeed the direction WWE is going.
Most likely, the match at Fast Lane will only be the setup to a bigger, more important match at WrestleMania 31.WWE would be foolish to make this match a one-off at a minor pay-per-view, especially with WrestleMania right around the corner.
In a way, the company has been building to this ever since Rusev's debut. He's been booked as an unstoppable monster, and only one guy stops unstoppable monsters not named Brock Lesnar: Cena.
It's anybody's guess as to how WWE will book the feud. Most expected Bray Wyatt to get the better of Cena at WrestleMania XXX, so Wyatt's momentum took a nosedive following the defeat. The angle itself was generally underwhelming and did Wyatt no favors.
A win over Cena at WrestleMania would be huge for Rusev and firmly establish him as one of the top heels in WWE. A loss, meanwhile, would likely mean a Wyatt-like fall into a creative abyss.
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Monday, 26 January 2015
Monday, 26 January 2015
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The response to Sunday’s Royal Rumble was anything but scripted
After Roman Reigns emerged victorious for the evening’s highly anticipated battle royal finale, fans sounded off in mass on social media outlets with the hashtag: “#CancelWWENetwork” that was trending worldwide by the night’s end.Wrestling fans were seething after the World Wrestling Entertainment’s annual Royal Rumble event came to what appears to be an unsatisfactory end in Philadelphia on Sunday night.
According to wrestling blogs, spectators at the event were chanting for refunds as rumors swirled that the WWE Network cancellation page had crashed as fans bombarded the site.
With burned bridges behind him and a hostile new home ahead of him, CM Punk treks on.
Traces of Punk continue to fade from WWE. The company continues the process of wiping away his name and likeness.
Meanwhile, the UFC hopes that the fame Punk gained as a pro wrestler nets the organization increased viewership and added pay-pay-views. Even with more money likelname keeps growing.
The trash-taly to flow into the sport, though, the list of fighters snarling at the sound of his king directed at him grows louder, but Punk is set to go into a hibernation of sorts.
After his departure from WWE, Punk said nothing for a long time. That silence bred speculation and anticipation. Following his now-famous interview with Colt Cabana and signing with UFC, Punk was seemingly everywhere talking about his new venture and reflecting on his past in the ring.
Now that his UFC media blitz is over, expect Punk to go radio silent again. He has training to do as he tries to morph from a showman to a striker.
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The WWE will be equally quiet when it comes to the former world champ, even to the point of tearing him out of pre-existing products.
WWE ring as he and that company now feel like two divorced parents living separate lives.
That split apparently also includes WWE removing Punk from past publications. According to PWInsider Elite (subscription required, h/t WrestlingInc.com) WWE instructed the comic company Paper Cutzto remove Punk from future reprints of WWE graphic novels.
Royalties are likely to blame for this. Why else would WWE go to all the trouble of redoing old comics?
The same goes for WWE clearing Punk out of its online catalog.
As Raj Giri notes on WrestlingInc.com, Punk merchandise is no longer available on WWEShop.com. Searches for the former WWE champ come up empty.
With Punk gone, WWE has also felt the need to take thinly veiled shots at him. The most recent of these came on SmackDown on Jan. 22. Dolph Ziggler certainly seemed to be referencing Punk when he talked about not wanting to whine on a podcast.
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It was one heck of a week in WWE this past week, culminating in the WWE Royal Rumble 2015 pay-per-view, and the WWE Superstar Power Rankings have been shaken up. We saw Brock Lesnar retain his WWE World Heavyweight Championship, the return of Bubba Ray Dudley (among others) in the Royal Rumble match, the return of The Rock, and of course, Roman Reigns' Royal Rumble win.
The three Superstars who had been fired by The Authority (Dolph Ziggler, Erick Rowan and Ryback) have been rehired, thanks to John Cena defeating Seth Rollins, Kane and Big Show. And that win was due to the distraction caused by Sting, who made his first-ever appearance on WWE Raw this past Monday.
We also saw reunions of The Kliq, The APA and the NWO, appearances by Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, Hulk Hogan and the New Age Outlaws. What a week it was.
We'll get into all this past week's action and intrigue, including the Royal Rumble, in the following slides. But before we do, please read how these rankings work.
Note: These rankings are not a popularity contest and are not designed to determine who has the best matches, the most ability, etc. They are strictly storyline rankings.
These rankings consider all active WWE Superstars and Divas on the main roster and exclude talent that primarily or exclusively wrestles on NXT. Holding a championship, being a No. 1 contender or holding a Money in the Bank briefcase counts for much of a wrestler's ranking, and these honors are therefore the most heavily weighted components in the rankings.
If a wrestler is deemed to be tied in the rankings with another wrestler, holding a title will be the primary tiebreaker used. However, holding a championship, being a No. 1 contender or holding a Money in the Bank briefcase in no way guarantees a spot in the top 10.
These rankings consider all active WWE Superstars and Divas on the main roster and exclude talent that primarily or exclusively wrestles on NXT. Holding a championship, being a No. 1 contender or holding a Money in the Bank briefcase counts for much of a wrestler's ranking, and these honors are therefore the most heavily weighted components in the rankings.
If a wrestler is deemed to be tied in the rankings with another wrestler, holding a title will be the primary tiebreaker used. However, holding a championship, being a No. 1 contender or holding a Money in the Bank briefcase in no way guarantees a spot in the top 10.
Wins and losses account for the bulk of the week-to-week movement and, after championships, are the most important component of the rankings. The quality of a wrestler's opponents and whether they are ranked is considered in the week-to-week movement.
Getting the better of someone—like beating someone down—also counts, though not nearly as much as wins or losses. Being over with the fans (read: extremely popular) is considered but not heavily weighted in the ranking decisions. Pay-per-view performances take on added importance.
Only the top 10 wrestlers are ranked. Wrestlers on the "Watch List" were considered for top-10 status but were ultimately nixed. They are unranked, and their listing is in no particular order.
Generally speaking, these rankings do not break kayfabe; however, any major non-storyline information (serious injury, WWE Wellness Policy violations, suspensions, legitimate hirings, firings, contract information, "sabbaticals," etc.) may be taken into consideration but generally only if WWE confirms it publicly.
Domestic and international WWE live events are not included in these rankings unless WWE incorporates them into television storylines. Nothing that could be explicitly considered a spoiler is included unless WWE acknowledges it as well.
In short, all WWE shows, televised or digitally distributed, as well as anything from WWE.com, the WWE App, the WWE Network and any WWE or Superstar accounts on social media that don't break kayfabe, may be taken into consideration for these rankings.
WWE Raw for Jan. 26 Postponed Due to Snow
Roman Reigns' Royal Rumble celebration is going to have to wait; the Jan. 26 edition of WWE Raw is postponed due to inclement weather.
Hartford, CT was supposed to host the pay-pay-view fallout show but nature had other ideas. Snow hit the region hard, causing WWE to pull out of its premiere program. WWE will not tape SmackDown from Boston, MA on Tuesday and will air a live SmackDown edition from Hartford on Thursday instead.
WWE confirmed the news in an official press release confirming the news. Austin Hunt of BuzzFeed posted WWE's announcement:
following is the officail copy
Roman regin in royal rumble
Full list of Royal Rumble Match participants and eliminations
Total match time 59:33
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