BRM Books Raw 1,000 and beyond

[Big Red Machine]

WWE.com reports that the Bella Twins were unhappy about Brie’s loss to Cameron last night on Main Event, claiming that the only way that a “joke” like Cameron could possibly have beaten Brie is by a fluke. They barged into WWE General Manager Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley’s office and demanded a tag team match against Cameron to eliminate the possibility of Cameron winning by a fluke. Apparently AJ Bryan overhead the Bella’s demands and volunteered to be Cameron’s tag team partner. That match has been signed for tonight’s Superstars.
Speaking of tonight’s Superstars, it will be a tag team extravaganza, with three big tag team matches. In addition to the aforementioned Divas tag team match and the European Union vs. Drew McIntyre & Michael McGillicutty, the Brain Trust will face off against one of the entrants in the Blind Draw Tag Team Tournament: Seth Rollins and Kofi Kingston.




Superstars: (1/2/2014)
SETH ROLLINS & KOFI KINGSTON vs. THE BRAIN TRUST (w/Naomi)-
Rollins & Kofi win clean in thirteen minutes
Bo & Randy are at ringside to do scouting.

THE BELLA TWINS vs. AJ BRYAN & CAMERON (w/Daniel Bryan)-
AJ & Cameron win clean in seven minutes when Cameron pins Nikki after a diving crossbody.
Daniel Bryan joins Cole and JBL on commentary. They ask him if maybe he is going a little overboard with his scouting of the world champions and their challengers. Dragon says that he is doing what he needs to do to ensure that he wins a world title so that he and AJ can fulfill their dream and be happy together. Cole says that AJ didn’t seem so happy last night. Dragon says that you need to make sacrifices now in order to be happy and successful later.

DREW MCINTYRE & MICHAEL MCGILLICUTTY vs. THE EUROPEAN UNION (Wade Barrett & Antonio Cesaro) (w/Aksana)-
Barrett & Cesaro win clean in twelve minutes when Barrett pinned McIntyre after a Barrett Barrage.
Bo & Randy are at ringside to do scouting.


In addition to tons of other great action, tonight’s Smackdown will see WWE United States Champion Evan Bourne return to action after suffering an injury last week at the hands of Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez. Bourne has asked for a challenging match in his return, and WWE General Manager Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley has certainly delivered as Bourne will team up with R-Truth in a four way tag team match that will also include International Airstrike 2.0, the Usos, and the WWE World Tag Team Champions, the Prime Time Players!






Smackdown: (1/3/2014)- Washington D.C.

YOSHI TATSU vs. HEATH SLATER-
The match goes about a minute before Big Show jumps the barricade and takes out both guys… but this time, WWE is ready for him, as almost a hundred security guards dressed in riot gear pour out from backstage and take him down, while Triple H gives orders from the stage.

ROB VAN DAM vs. DREW MCINTYRE (w/Michael McGillicutty)-
Rob wins clean in five minutes with the Frog Splash. AJ and Dragon are scouting the match from ringside.

BLIND DRAW TAG TEAM TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND MATCH: Co-Bro vs. The Miz & Alberto Del Rio (w/Ricardo Rodriguez)-
The heels control the match from the beginning. A few minutes in, when Ricardo is distracting the referee so Del Rio can use his scarf of affluence (or whatever you call it) to choke Ryder, Roman Reigns comes out and takes Ricardo out with a spear. This allows the referee to turn around in time to see the heels cheating and disqualify them.

When we come back from commercial, we are in Steph’s office and Steph announces that there will be a major announcement regarding the Royal Rumble match this Monday on Raw. Del Rio and Miz then burst into the office, complaining about Reigns attacking Ricardo. Steph blows them off. Rollins & Kofi then come in to the office and say that they would like a match tonight. Steph books them against the Colons.

FOUR WAY TAG TEAM MATCH: The Usos vs. the Prime Time Players vs. International Airstrike 2.0 vs. R-Truth & Evan Bourne-
Wild and crazy match, with the Usos, Airstrike and Bourne all doing crazy flippy things. The announcers point out that after their Blind Draw Tag Team Tournament match on Main Event, the Usos and Airstrike are now 2-2 against each other. Bourne & Truth win clean in twelve minutes when Bourne pins Darren Young after an Air Bourne. The announcers put over not only that Bourne seems to be fully recovered from his injuries, but that he has just pinned one of the tag team champions in a tag team match.
Renee Young gets a reaction interview from Evan Bourne. Bourne says that he is totally recovered from his injury and he feels great. He says he’s ready to defend the US Title against Alberto Del Rio any time.

Byron Saxton is interviewing CM Punk backstage. He asks Punk if he thinks that Dragon is looking past their IC Title match on Raw and is too focused on winning a world title. Punk says that he thinks there is some truth to that, but he won’t let that affect his training for this match because Daniel Bryan is one of the most dangerous wrestlers in the world and he can beat anyone on any given night. Even if Dragon hasn’t prepared for Punk as well as he should have, if Punk makes even one mistake, it could cost him the IC Title.
Punk then says he has some unfinished business he needs to sort out before his match against Tensai tonight, and he is going to go out to the ring to do that right now.
When we come back from a commercial, Punk is in the ring. He calls out Christian, saying that Christian saw fit to assault him with a steel chair last week on Smackdown, and now he wants some revenge. Christian says he will only face Punk if Punk puts the IC Title on the line. Punk agrees, but Christian quickly says that he doesn’t want to do the match in a crap-hole like DC and suggests that they have the match next week on Smackdown instead.

CM PUNK vs. TENSAI-
Tensai uses his size to try to squash Punk from the get-go, but Punk uses his speed and avoids Tensai’s attacks. Tensai accidentally crushes the referee with an attack meant for Punk, knocking the ref out. They continue to wrestle for a few minutes until Christian sneaks down to ringside with a lead pipe and whacks Punk in the ankle a few times. This slows Punk down so that Tensai can crush him with his big Stinger-splash type moves and get the win when the referee recovers. Punk limps to the back.

Cesaro and Barrett cut a promo saying that it doesn’t matter if Brain Trust get another rematch and win the tag team titles or if Bourne and Truth have a win over PTP. All that matters is that they will in the Blind Draw Tag Team Tournament and win the WWE World Tag Team Titles at the Royal Rumble.

Renee Young is interviewing Sheamus about the schedule he has taken on recently, defending the World Heavyweight Title very often and asking management for major challenges. Sheamus says that he is always looking for a good fight and that he believes that a champion should be a fighting champion, so he is always eager to prove that he is the best wrestler in the world. In fact, he says he has a great idea for how determine his next challenger, and that he is going to pitch it to Steph right now.

Dolph Ziggler and the now-reinstated Vickie Guerrero cut a backstage promo. Dolph says that Vickie has advised him to focus on pursuing the WWE Title instead of the Intercontinental Title which he was robbed of last week when the Big Show interfered in a match which he was certainly going to win. He says that he will keep his claim to an IC Title match in his back pocket until after he wins the WWE Title, then he will win that title, too.


The Brain Trust come out to the ring and say that there is no way that Cameron could have acquired a manager’s license so quickly, and therefore her license must be a fake, meaning that they should get another shot at the tag titles. They demand that Cameron turn her license over to a third party expert to determine if it is real or not. Cameron comes out, at which point Naomi runs away through the crowd. Cameron says that her license is real, but she will submit it to their tests anyway. She asks them if Naomi ran away from the ring because she doesn’t want Cameron to kick her butt again. Sandow and Otunga claim that Naomi left the ring to go train for her match tonight against Nattie and Paige, and that she is DEFINITELY NOT scared of a joke like Cameron. Cameron vows to be the one to take the Divas Title from Naomi.

SETH ROLLINS & KOFI KINGSTON vs. THE COLONS (w/Rosa Mendes)-
Rollins & Kofi win clean in seven minutes

Byron Saxton interviews Randy Orton about Orton and Bo’s scouting of the bother teams in the Blind Draw Tag Team Tournament. Orton explains that the Blind Draw concept means that they don’t know who they will face at any stage of the tournament, so they are going to ensure that they are ready for any of the teams at every stage of the tournament. He also says that putting so much work into the scouting and watching tapes has kept Bo busy so he doesn’t think about his missing cousin; Husky Harris… but if anyone has seen Husky, they should call WWE’s special Husky Harris Sighting Hotline immediately.

NATALYA NEIDHART vs. NAOMI (w/the Brain Trust) vs. PAIGE (w/Christian)-
Early on in the match, Cameron comes out and Naomi runs away from her. Paige wins in six minutes, pinning Nattie with a roll-up after a distraction by Christian.

CODY RHODES vs. CHRISTIAN (w/Paige)-
Cody wins clean in fifteen minutes.




Del Rio puts out a Tout saying that he will teach Evan Bourne to be careful what he wishes for when he takes the WWE United States Title from him on Raw!

[Big Red Machine]

WWE.com reports that CM Punk will not be on this weekend’s live events after Christian hit him in the ankle with a lead pipe on Smackdown. Punk was also given the option of postponing his upcoming Intercontinental Title defense against Daniel Bryan, but he has vowed to fight through the pain and defend his title on Raw!
Punk’s match against Christian for Smackdown has also been made official by WWE Management, and that match will happen whether Punk is still the Intercontinental Champion or not!



The first Monday Night Raw of 2014 is shaping up to be one you don’t want to miss. WWE General Manager of Raw and Smackdown Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley and her husband, WWE COO Hunter Hearst Helmsley will be making several major announcements. While we don’t know the exact contents of these announcements, WWE.com can confirm that they will deal with the Big Show situation, the next contender for the World Heavyweight Title, and the Royal Rumble!
In addition to this, we will see CM Punk defend the Intercontinental Title against Daniel Bryan despite having an injured ankle, Evan Bourne defend the WWE United States Title against Alberto Del Rio, and the final match in the first round of the Blind Draw Tag Team Tournament, which, by process of elimination will be Seth Rollins & Kofi Kingston vs. The European Union (Wade Barrett & Antonio Cesaro).

WWE.com reports that R-Truth will not be at Raw tonight because he is doing some sort of charity thing or another.




Raw: (1/6/2014)- Baltimore, MD
Raw opens with Triple H and Steph making a few big announcements:
1. After last week’s incidents, they are reviewing the Big Show’s case and are looking into taking further punitive action against the Big Show.
2. As per the suggestion of Sheamus, the Celtic Warrior will be defending his World Heavyweight Title this week on Smackdown against the winner of a Beat The Clock Challenge which will take place this week on Raw, Main Event, and Superstars.
3.Regarding the Royale Rumble, they have decided to act on a suggestion made by Shawn Michaels and rather than have people have just one qualifying match, the entrants will be selected by a panel of WWE experts, including Triple H, Steph, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, Jim Duggan, Bret Hart, and a bunch of others. This panel will take into account ALL of each superstars recent matches as well as their potential in order to pick the best Royal Rumble field possible.

WWE UNITED STATES TITLE MATCH: Evan Bourne(c) vs. Alberto Del Rio (w/Ricardo Rodriguez &The Miz)-
The match goes about ten minutes. Del Rio uses his buddies on the outside to gain the advantage. At one point when Bourne is on the outside, Del Rio distracts the referee, allowing Miz to hit Bourne with brass knuckles. Miz rolls Bourne back into the ring for Del Rio to get the pin and steal the US Title, but Roman Reigns comes charging down the ramp and manages to break the pin up just in the nick of time (Del Rio wins by DQ, Bourne retains the title), then manages to clean house on all three heels, including spearing Del Rio.

INTERNATIONAL AIRSTRIKE 2.0 vs. DREW MCINTYRE & MICHAEL MCGILLICUTTY- Airstrike win clean in five minutes after some flippy stuff.

The Prime Time Players cut a promo about having been pinned by the makeshift team of R-Truth and Evan Bourne on Smackdown. They say that this definitely earns Bourne and Truth a WWE World Tag Team Title shot, and they look forward to the challenge.

NATALYA NEIDHART vs. AJ BRYAN (w/Daniel Bryan)-
Rather than being at ringside for AJ, Dragon does commentary, but instead of paying attention to the match, Dragon pumps JBL, Cole Lawler for any info or anything they may have noticed about WWE Champion RVD, World Heavyweight Champion Shemaus, or #1 contender Dolph Ziggler that might help Dragon defeat them. Cole points out that maybe Dragon should be paying attention to his wife’s match, but Dragon says that AJ can handle it. Dragon also ignores all of the announcers questions about his IC Title match tonight with CM Punk.
Nattie wins clean in nine minutes, making AJ tap to the Sharpshooter.

The Brain Trust are cutting a backstage promo in which they claim that their independent verifier examined Cameron’s manager’s license very closely and it appeared to be 100% authentic... but they know better than that. This just means that Cameron’s manager’s license must be an excellent counterfeit, and because it is a counterfeit, she shouldn’t have been at ringside for last week’s match, and thus they deserve another rematch for the tag titles.
An angry Cameron storms up to them, at which point Naomi flees in the opposite direction. Cameron claims to have seen some liquid running down Naomi’s leg and says that she must have scared Naomi so badly that she had to run to the bathroom. Sandow responds by saying that yes, Naomi did have to go to the bathroom because she has been having stomach problems all day, but she didn’t bring it up because that is not polite, civilized talk… but Naomi definitely did not run away because she was scared of a joke like Cameron. Cameron then goes off on them for questioning her integrity by claiming she would ever use a fake manager’s license. She demands a match with Naomi for the Divas Title and says that if Naomi accepts her challenge, she won’t need to make excuses for her loss like the Brain Trust do because she won’t lose to Naomi.


BLIND DRAW TAG TEAM TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND MATCH: Seth Rollins & Kofi Kingston vs. The European Union (Wade Barrett & Antonio Cesaro) (w/Aksana)-
The European Union win clean after a pop-up European Uppercut to Kofi. Bo and Orton scout from the ramp.

WWE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: CM Punk(c) vs. Daniel Bryan (w/AJ Bryan)-
Dragon completely ignores Punk’s injured ankle (despite AJ calling it out to him), going for arm submissions instead. The announcers play this off as Dragon being so focused on winning a world title that he didn’t scout Punk at all, because if he did, he would have known that Christian injured Punk’s ankle last week. Punk ends up pinning Dragon in twelve minutes with a small package to retain the title.

ROB VAN DAM & SHEAMUS vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER & CHRISTIAN (w/Vickie Guerrero & Paige)-
Heels win clean in twenty five minutes when Dolph pins RVD with a Zig Zag.

Also on this show, a bunch of guys have “Beat the Clock Challenge” matches, with Cody Rhodes setting the best time.

Main Event: (1/8/2014)
BLIND DRAW TAG TEAM TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND MATCH: Bo Dallas & Randy Orton vs. The Usos-
Randy & Bo win clean in twelve minutes

Naomi cuts a promo saying that she isn’t scared of anyone… especially not a joke like Cameron, and to prove it, she will put the Divas Title on the line tomorrow night on Superstars against the Diva on the biggest hot streak right now on both TV and live events: Natalya.


BEAT THE CLOCK CHALLENGE MATCH: CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre (w/Michael McGillicutty)-
The match never gets started because Christian attacks Punk on his way up the ramp, clipping his knee, then smashing his ankle into the ramp and the barricade.

EVAN BOURNE & ROMAN REIGNS vs. THE MIZ & ALBERTO DEL RIO (w/Ricardo Rodriguez)-
Babyfaces win clean in twelve minutes when Reigns spears Miz. After the match, Bourne offers Reigns a handshake, and Reigns accepts.



Superstars: (1/9/2014)
WWE DIVAS TITLE MATCH: Naomi(c) (w/the Brain Trust) vs. Natalya Neidhart-
Cameron comes out and Naomi runs away. Nattie wins by count-out, but Naomi retains the title.

Various Beat The Clock matches happen, with no one beating Cody’s time until the last match, where Dragon gets the win by submission, exactly tying Cody’s time.

[Big Red Machine]

The lead story on WWE.com on Friday is that WWE Management is trying to figure out what to do about the fact that Daniel Bryan and Cody Rhodes tied in the Beat The Clock Challenge for a World Heavyweight Title match on Smackdown.
Halfway through the day, Sheamus Tweets “I’ll take ‘em both on.”
WWE.com reports that Hunter & Steph thought this was a good idea and booked it. Tonight’s main event will be Sheamus defending the World Heavyweight Title against both Cody Rhodes AND Daniel Bryan.



Smackdown: (1/10/2014)- Philadelphia, PA
Smackdown opens with a recap of the Beat The Clock Challenge tie situation between Daniel Bryan and Cody Rhodes, then with the announcers telling us about (and a graphic showing us) Sheamus’ Tweet which lead to the Triple Threat being booked. They promise us that we will bear from both challengers later on tonight. Sheamus was also asked for an interview, but he said that his Tweet and the talking he does in the ring tonight will be all he needs to say.

TENSAI, DREW MCINTYRE, & MICHAEL MCGILLICUTTY vs. ROB VAN DAM, SIN CARA, & BO DALLAS (w/Randy Orton)-
The heels win clean in seven minutes Tensai pins Cara. The announcers put this over as being very shocking. After the match, Tensai grabs a mic and says that CM Punk needs to stop worrying about Christian and Mark Henry and start worrying about him because unlike the other two, he has actually beaten Punk.
Cut to commercial.
When we come back from commercial, Renee Young gets a reaction interview from RVD. She points out that Dolph Ziggler beat RVD clean on Raw and that now, tonight, although Rob wasn’t the one to actually get pinned, his team lost a match that on paper, they appeared to be heavily favored to win. Rob says that he won the WWE Title to prove that he could be a top guy in the WWE and he is going to work as hard as he needs to in order to prove that he can stay at the top.

Cody Rhodes cuts a promo reminding us that ten weeks ago in Tampa, he made a vow to become the World Heavyweight Champion by the end of the next WWE event in Tampa. Come Monday, at the Raw 21st Anniversary Show, his deadline is up. A man is only as good as his word, and Cody intends to honor his word. Tonight, he will win the World Heavyweight Title.

BLIND DRAW TAG TEAM TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND MATCH: Co-Bro vs. The European Union (Wade Barrett & Antonio Cesaro) (w/Aksana)-
The European Union win clean in what is pretty much a squash match. Bo and Randy are on commentary, doing scouting.

Damien Sandow & David Otunga come out to the ring and call out Cameron, demanding that she publicly apologize for the terrible, slanderous things she has been saying about Naomi: specifically her fallacious accusation that Naomi is in any way afraid of a joke like Cameron. Cameron comes out to confront them, but when she is half way down the ramp, Naomi charges out from the back and attacks her from behind. Naomi continues the beatdown on Cameron while Sandow and Otunga start to set up a table. The announcers remind us that Sandow & Otunga putting Brodus Clay through a table is what gave brodus the concussion he is currently on the shelf because of, and they fear that Naomi plans to do the same to Cameron…
But the Primetime Players charge out and make the save, fighting off Sandow and Otunga before they can get the table set up, while Cameron makes her own comeback and gets the best of Naomi. An angry Cameron grabs a mic and demands that Naomi get back in the ring and face her right now! Naomi refuses. Titus O’Neil then takes the mic and says that he is sick of the Brain Trust’s excuses. He says that if they want a tag team title shot, they’ll have to earn it… and he has a perfect idea how they can do that: in a mixed tag team match on the Raw 21st Anniversary Show: If Brain Trust wins, Sandow & Otunga get a WWE World Tag Team Title match… but if PTP and Cameron win, Cameron gets a shot at the Divas Title.
Brain Trust have a group huddle… and accept the match.

Roman Reigns is cutting a backstage promo saying that he wants to be in the Royal Rumble so he can win it and become a world champion at Wrestlemania. He says that WWE Management’s panel of experts should see the potential in him because of how great he is etc. etc. Almost an arrogant heel promo, except that he has actually backed up everything he is saying. He ends the promo talking about having the heart of a champion.
When Reigns is done talking, Evan Bourne comes up to him and thanks Reigns for helping him out on Raw and for teaming with him on Main Event. He says that Reigns has really earned his respect and shown him that he has the heart of a champion, so he offers him a shot at the US Title on Raw. Reigns accepts.

THE USOS vs. THE MIZ & ALBERTO DEL RIO (w/Ricardo Rodriguez)-
The Usos win clean in seven minutes. After the match they call out International Airstrike 2.0. They say that their victory over Airstrike in the first round of the Blind Draw Tag Team Tournament means that they are now 2-2 against each other, and now that they have also been eliminated from the tournament, they can have a tiebreaker. Airstrike come out and say that they like this idea and shake hands with The Usos.
Triple H comes out and says that while the WWE Superstars often have great ideas for matches, they really need to run things by management first.
He does think that this is a very good idea, too, and he signs the match (also throwing in that both the Reigns vs. Bourne US Title match and the mixed tag team match have been made official). He puts both teams over for having had great matches recently and being the future of the tag team division… and because they are the future of WWE, he wants to showcase them at the Raw 21st Anniversary Show on Monday. He also says that that show is a big landmark for WWE, and when people look back on it in twenty years, he wants it to feel like a landmark. He wants people to be able to point to that show and say that it was the start of something big, and he thinks either one of these teams can be that something big, so he is also putting a shot at the WWE World Tag Team Titles on the line. If either of these teams lives up to their full potential, he says, people will look back on their victory on the Raw 21st Anniversary Show as the start of their climb to the top.

Renee Young asks Mark Henry for some thoughts on tonight’s IC Title match between CM Punk and Christian. Mark says that it doesn’t matter who wins, because either way, he will squash the winner like a bug in three days on the Raw 21st Anniversary Show and win the Intercontinental Title for the first time… and if Tensai thinks he is going to be the next intercontinental champion, he is in for a very BIG surprise.

EVAN BOURNE & R-TRUTH vs. SETH ROLLINS & KOFI KINGSTON vs. THE COLONS (w/Rosa Mendes)-
Bourne & Truth win clean in six minutes of fast-paced action when Bourne pins Epico after a Scissors Kick from Truth sets up a Shooting Star Press from Bourne. During this match, the announcers remind us that Bourne and Truth pinned the tag champs last week and have thus earned a tag title shot at some point in the future. They comment that between Bourne and Truth, the winner of the Usos vs. Airstrike match, the winners of the Blind Draw Tag Team Tournament, and the possibility of the Brain Trust winning a tag title shot, PTP really seem to have their work cut out for them. They also comment on the extremely hectic title defense schedules that World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus and especially Intercontinental Champion CM Punk have undertaken.

Daniel Bryan (w/AJ) cuts a backstage promo saying that tonight is the night that all of his scouting over the past month will pay off. He will win the World Heavyweight Title. Then AJ will win the Divas Title, and they will be champions together.

WWE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: CM Punk(c) vs. Christian (w/Paige)-
Christian works over Punk’s injured ankle, but Punk manages to pull out the clean win in fifteen minutes, making Christian tap to the Anaconda Vise

Dolph Ziggler cuts an arrogant heel promo about how great he is and announces that he will use the world title match he won at TLC to face Rob Van Dam at the Royal Rumble!

TRIPLE THREAT MATCH FOR THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE: Sheamus(c) vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Daniel Bryan (w/AJ Bryan)-
Sheamus wins clean in twenty minutes, pinning Dragon after a Brogue Kick.






A WWE.com backstage exclusive shows Rollins & Kofi hanging out backstage and joking about the fact that teaming up in the Blind Draw Tag Team Tournament meant that they never got a rematch with each other to see who is better. They both jokingly claim to be better than the other, which causes things to suddenly get a bit more serious. They decide to ask Steph for a match on Raw.

[Big Red Machine]

Tonight will be a major milestone for WWE as we celebrate the 21st Anniversary of Monday Night Raw! To thank the fans who have made this all possible through their support of the last 21 years, WWE has compiled a blockbuster of a show tonight with comments and appearances by many WWE legends, including a man who has not appeared on WWE television in almost a year: Mr. McMahon himself!
In addition, we have some very important matches including an Intercontinental Title match between CM Punk and Mark Henry, a singles match between Seth Rollins and Kofi Kingston, a US Title match between Evan Bourne and Roman Reigns, the finals of the Blind Draw Tag Team Tournament, and a match with multiple title shots on the line when the Prime Time Players & Cameron meet The Brain Trust in a mixed tag team match.
We will also have a big contract signing for the WWE Title match at Royal Rumble between RVD and Dolph Ziggler, and WWE GM Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley will have another meeting with the suspended Big Show, live via satellite. This is one Raw you don’t want to miss!





Raw 21st Anniversary Show: (1/13/2014)- Tampa, FL
Raw opens with Hunter and Steph in the ring. Steph introduces Vince, who comes out and makes a short speech thanking everyone for their support over the years.
Throughout the night we get appearances and comments by many legends. We also see them discussing the various matches and who they should put in the Royal Rumble.

WWE UNITED STATES TITLE MATCH: Evan Bourne(c) vs. Roman Reigns-
Bourne wins clean with Air Bourne in twelve minutes. Reigns looks frustrated with his loss.

MIXED TAG TEAM MATCH WITH TITLE SHOTS ON THE LINE: the Primetime Players & Cameron vs. the Brain Trust-
Babyfaces win clean in ten minutes when Cameron pins Naomi.

Steph talks with Big Show about his suspension, live via satellite. Show once again makes the case that suspending him for attacking another wrestler is ridiculous. He says that eleven years ago, when Steph was the GM of Smackdown and he threw Undertaker off of the stage, Steph didn’t suspend him… she waited for The Undertaker to get better, then made Show face the music by facing Undertaker. Steph admits that Show has a point, but also says that that was a different time, and now she needs to look out for the long-term health of the whole WWE; not just Smackdown, so she needs to make an example of the Big Show by punishing him for his actions. She does have an offer for Big Show, though: He can come back from his suspension at the Royal Rumble… but because he attacked Jack Swagger because he thought Jack had cost him a chance at becoming world champion, Big Show will not be eligible for any title matches for an entire year! Big Show accepts the offer.

WINNER GETS A FUTURE SHOT AT THE WWE WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES: The Usos vs. International Airstrike 2.0-
They do lots of cool, crazy dives and stuff, and as a result, we wind up with a double count-out when everyone is wiped out on the outside.

SETH ROLLINS vs. KOFI KINGSTON-
Kofi def. Rollins clean in fifteen minutes via Trouble in Paradise.

BLIND DRAW TAG TEAM TOURNAMENT FINALS: Randy Orton & Bo Dallas vs. the European Union (w/Aksana)-
The heels win clean in twenty minutes.

Shawn Michaels comes out to the ring and talks about being on the very first Raw and lots of nice stuff. He then calls out his student, Daniel Bryan. Shawn says that Dragon has been moping around in the back all day, and tells him to quit it! He says that while Dragon might have lost to Sheamus twice in the past few weeks, HBK hasn’t changed his mind about what he said on Smackdown a few weeks ago. He does think that Dragon has what it takes to become the world champion again. He says that Dragon is good enough to beat anyone on any given night… and that is why he has nominated Dragon for a spot in the Royal Rumble… and the panel of experts has agreed. He says that Dragon and AJ both have what it takes to be champions in them. They’ve done it before, and that means they can do it again… and if they keep working hard, HBK guarantees that it will happen by the end of 2014.

WWE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: CM Punk(c) vs. Mark Henry-
Punk chokes Mark out with a mounted sleeper hold in fourteen minutes. Tensai is at ringside, scouting the match and doing some commentary.

We then get the contract signing for the WWE Title match at Royal Rumble. Many former WWE Champions come out and surround the ring. RVD makes a quick speech about what being the WWE Champion means to him and how hard he will work to remain champion. Ziggler then cuts a promo in which he guarantees himself a victory because he is not only better than Rob, but he is better than all of the former WWE Champions surrounding the ring. Just like he went to Kent State and became the best collegiate wrestler that school has ever had, he has come to WWE, and he knows he will be the best of all-time!

After the ceremony, (hopefully a bit before the two hour mark), Cody Rhodes comes out to the ring. He says that the last time he was here in Tampa, he vowed that the next time the WWE left Tampa, he would be the World Heavyweight Champion. He got his chance on Smackdown, but unfortunately, he couldn’t get the job done… but he is a man of his word. He WILL leave Tampa tonight as the World Heavyweight Championl! He calls out Sheamus and announces that he is cashing in his Money in the Bank contract, right here, right now, and says that he will win the World Heavyweight Title for the first time in the same city his father did almost 35 years ago!

WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Sheamus(c) vs. Cody Rhodes-
They have an epic, back-and forth match, with Sheamus paying the “heel” role in the match. About half-way through, they do a spot where Sheamus has Cody locked in the cloverleaf and Cody is about to tap, but finds his strength and crawls to the ropes… just to have Sheamus drag him right back to the center of the ring. Cody is now definitely about to tap… but then Dusty Rhodes comes out to ringside to lend his son moral support and this gives Cody the fortitude to make it to the ropes again and start his comeback.
I’d have them go a good forty minutes, with Cody even kicking out of a Brogue Kick. With all of the elements of a great climax to a dramatic tale- Cody’s issues with his family and now pride in and support from his family and his vow to win the world title tonight (basically everything I’ve been planning for him since I started booking this a year and a half ago)- all in place…
Sheamus beats Cody clean in the middle of the ring with a crazy puro-esque succession of multiple Brogue Kicks. Dusty helps Cody to the back, (with the camera being sure to catch Dusty telling his son how proud he made him) while Triple H comes out to the ring and puts Sheamus over HUGE. He talks about how when he first saw Sheamus wrestle during a tour of Europe in 2006, he KNEW that Sheamus had the potential to be the future of the WWE, and with years of hard work and dedication, Sheamus has accomplished even more than Hunter or Vince or anyone ever dreamed that he would in such a relatively short amount of time.
Hunter talks up Sheamus’ now 652 (and counting) day title reign and talks up all of the big names Sheamus has beaten during that time. When Hunter is finally done, Sheamus, looking a little flustered and embarrassed, thanks Hunter of for his praise and his guidance, and then admits that there is one of the all-time greats that he has wanted to face during his title reign that he hasn’t had the chance to defend the belt against yet.
“Who?” Hunter asks.
Sheamus replies “You.”

[Big Red Machine]

WWE.com has no report on Triple H’s answer to Sheamus. They only say that he is considering all of the factors that would be involved in making a full-time comeback to WWE, which he would need to do if he won the title.

For Main Event, WWE promotes a special appearance by Dusty Rhodes, managing his son Cody against The Miz. Also on this show, CM Punk will defend the Intercontinental Title against Tensai.
In other title-related news, a date has finally been set for Evan Bourne and R-Truth’s tag team title shot: This coming Monday night on Raw! Truth and Bourne earned this shot by getting a pinfall over the champions in a four-way tag team match on Smackdown two weeks ago… and this Thursday on Superstars, they are booked in another four way tag team match, this time against Del Rio & Miz, the Colons, and challengers for the WWE World Tag Team Titles at Royal Rumble 2014, the winners of the Blind Draw Tag Team Tournament: Antonio Cesaro & Wade Barrett! Could these two teams matching up be a preview of next Sunday’s WWE World Tag Team Title match?



Main Event: (1/15/2014)
THE MIZ vs. CODY RHODES (w/Dusty Rhodes)-
Cody definitely doesn’t seem to be at 100% mentally, and after Miz kicks out of several roll-ups, Cody gives up and walks out. Dusty tries to talk to him but Cody keeps repeating “I had it… and it just slipped through my fingers.”

THE USOS vs. THE BRAIN TRUST (w/Naomi)-
Naomi tries to interfere, but Cameron comes out and chases her away. The Usos win clean in ten minutes.

Barrett and Cesaro cut a promo saying that they are the best tag team in the WWE, that they will win the tag team titles at Royal Rumble, and tomorrow night’s four-way tag team match will prove that.

WWE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: CM Punk(c) vs. Tensai-
Punk wins clean in fifteen minutes, making Tensai tap to the Anaconda Vise.

[Big Red Machine]

WWE.com announces that Cody Rhodes has asked to take some time off from WWE. WWE.com also reports that both World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus and Intercontinental Champion CM Punk will not be at this week’s Superstars or Smackdown because they are doing promotional appearances for WWE.


Superstars: (1/16/2014):
ALICIA FOX & PAIGE (w/Christian) vs. AJ BRYAN & CAMERON (w/Daniel Bryan)-
They go a good twelve minutes with AJ being the babyface in peril. Cameron gets the hot tag and eventually pins Fox. After the match, Cameron grabs a mic and thanks AJ for sticking up for her against the Bellas a few weeks ago and for helping her out a lot in recent weeks, giving her feedback, helping her train, etc., but she says she has one last favor to ask her: she wants a match against AJ tomorrow night on Smackdown, because AJ is the best female wrestler in the world, and she knows that if she can beat AJ, she will definitely be able to beat Naomi at the Royal Rumble and win the Divas Title. AJ says she would be glad to wrestle Cameron.

EZEKIEL JACKSON vs. DREW MCINTYRE (w/Michael McGillicutty)-
Drew wins clean in five minutes with the Future Shock DDT. After the match, Drew gets on the mic.
“Eight days ago on Main Event, I was supposed to wrestle the Intercontinental Champion CM Punk in a Beat The Clock Challenge match, but the match never got started because Punk was too much of a coward to face me. He knew I was going to beat him and win the whole Beat The Clock Challenge, so he used a little leg injury as an excuse to not wrestle me (the announcers make sure to point out that the injury in question was a vicious assault by Christian to Punk’s already-injured ankle, and that Drew is full of sh*t. They also note that Punk is not here tonight because he is doing some promotional work for WWE, and that Drew would never make accusations like this to Punk’s face). Because Punk’s cowardice robbed me of a World Heavyweight Title match from the Beat The Clock Challenge, I think it’s the least that WWE and Punk the coward can do to give me a shot at Punk’s Intercontinental Title.

FOUR WAY TAG TEAM MATCH: R-Truth & Evan Bourne vs. Colons (w/Rosa Mendes) vs. The Miz & Alberto Del Rio (w/Ricardo Rodriguez) vs. The European Union (Wade Barrett & Antonio Cesaro) (w/Aksana)-
European Union wins clean in nineteen minutes when Wade pins a Colon after a Barrett Barrage. After the match, the two heel teams jump the babyfaces, with Miz and Del Rio beating up Bourne while the European Union beats up Truth on the outside, repeatedly slamming his head into the ringpost.



Thursday night after Superstars, Del Rio puts out a Tout saying that he is still owed a US Title match, and he wants it soon!



On Friday, WWE.com reports that after both Cameron and AJ requested it last night on Superstars, a singles match between the two Divas has been signed for Smackdown. Smackdown will also feature a tag team match between Co-Bro and Miz & Del Rio, a Wrestlemania rematch between Seth Rolins and Dolph Ziggler, and a big six man tag team main event pitting Christian and the Brain Trust against Sin Cara, Daniel Bryan, and the WWE Champion Rob Van Dam.
In other news, in response to Alberto Del Rio’s Tout, a US Title match between Del Rio and champion Evan Bourne has been signed for Raw!

Mid-way through the day, WWE.com announces that Triple H has made a decision about whether or not to accept Sheamus’ challenge for a World Heavyweight Title match at the Royal Rumble, and he will announce it right at the beginning of tonight’s Smackdown!



Smackdown: (1/17/2014)- Washington D.C:
Triple H comes out to the ring and says that Sheamus’ challenge for a World Heavyweight Title match at Royal Rumble really took him by surprise, and he has had a lot to think about in the past few days. He has talked it over with his friends; guys like Kevin Nash and Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair; and with other legends who he greatly, greatly respects,; guys like Arn Anderson, Harley Race, and Bruno Sammartino; and, of course, with his family; with his wife Stephanie, with his brother-in-law Shane, with Vince and Linda, with his sister and his parents… and he has come to his decision.
The reason that you see old wrestlers come out of retirement and get in the ring so often, even when all common sense dictates that they shouldn’t, is because they all have this bug. This itch. This nagging question in their minds: Was it the right decision… or can I still go? Do I still have what it takes to be the world champion?
And most of the time, tragically, the answer is a resounding “no.”
But then I see a guy like Rob Van Dam, who is only seventeen months younger than me, who came back after being away from the business and won the WWE Title. Then I get to thinking… Ric Flair won the World Title when he was older than I am now. So did Bob Backlund. So did Terry Funk. And if they could do it, couldn’t I do it, too?
I’ve got to find out.
I’m still in great physical condition, and my last match was actually less than a year ago, but I am going to take this next week and train my ass off, because this isn’t just about one match. If I beat Sheamus- if I still have it in me to be the world champion, then I’m going to show that title the respect it deserves; I’m going give it my all and keep wrestling and defending it until I lose it. Next Sunday at the Royal Rumble will be the beginning of a new era for Triple H.

The announcers inform us that tonight’s scheduled WWE World Tag Team Title match between the Prime Time Players and Bourne & Truth will not be happening because of injuries that Truth suffered during a post-match assault last night at the hands of the European Union. After we are shown the video, Cole tells us that Truth will probably be out of action for a week or two. He then sends us to the back, where PTP are standing by to comment on the situation.
PTP say they are disappointed that they aren’t getting to defend the tag titles tonight against a deserving team like Truth & Bourne, and they hope that when they face the European Union for the tag titles at the Royal Rumble, the Europeans will fight like men instead of attacking people from behind like cowards.

CAMERON vs. AJ BRYAN (w/Daniel Bryan)-
Cameron wins clean in seven minutes. AJ and Dragon show her respect after the match with a handshake and by raising her arms.
We cut to Steph’s office just in time to see both International Airstrike 2.0 and the Usos leaving it. Steph then makes a series of announcements:
1. Effective earlier today, Triple H has stepped down as COO of the WWE. If he loses to Sheamus at the Royal Rumble, he will then resume his duties after that, but if he wins the World Heavyweight Titie, he will focus on defending the title as a wrestler and will not resume his duties as COO until such time as he loses the title.
2. As a result of their double count-out on Raw, the Usos will face International Airstrike at the Royal Rumble with a WWE World Tag Team Title match on the line, just like they did on the Raw 21st Anniversary show… except that this time, it will be a Falls Count Anywhere match.
3. While not all of the 30 spots in the Royal Rumble have been finalized yet, as Shawn Michaels’ comments to Daniel Bryan on Raw indicate, some of the spots, such as Bryan’s have been finalized, and the committee will be announcing some of them in the coming week… though they will be keeping others completely quiet because every Royal Rumble needs its surprises… and boy do they have some big surprises planned!
Tonight, though, Steph will announce the second participant in the Royal Rumble: One of the best performers in Royal Rumble history… the Big Red Monster: KANE!

Co-Bro cut a backstage promo in which Santino claims that, as the most popular tag team in the WWE, they deserve a tag title shot because WWE follows the will of the WWE Universe. They make fun of the heel teams, especially focusing on the European Union and Miz & Del Rio. The European Union come up behind them and attack them from behind. During the beatdown, Cesaro shouts that no one deserves to have a tag team title shot before they get theirs at the Royal Rumble.

SETH ROLLINS vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER (w/Vickie Guerrero)-
Ziggler wins clean in twenty minutes. The announcers note that Dolph has now avenged his IC Title lost at Wrestlemania, which can only be good for his confidence.

We get a backstage promo in the trainer’s room. Zack Ryder does the talking, while a trainer attends to Santino in the background. Ryder tells us that he is a little banged up but otherwise okay to wrestle tonight, but Santino is too injured to wrestle. Evan Bourne comes up to him and says that he is banged up, too, from last night’s assault on him by Miz & Del Rio, but he doesn’t want to wait for Monday to get revenge on them, so he offers himself as a replacement tag team partner. Ryder accepts.
The trainer pipes up, telling Bourne that while he is medically cleared to wrestle tonight if he wishes, in his professionally-trained opinion, it would be a very bad idea to do so. Bourne says he will wrestle anyway. The announcers put Bourne over for being courageous, especially because if he aggravates his injuries in tonight’s match, it could well cost him his US Title against Del Rio in three days on Raw.

RANDY ORTON & BO DALLAS vs. DREW MCINTYRE & MICHAEL MCGILLICUTTY-
The announcers mention that Bo once again seems to be distracted. The finish comes when he is not in position to help Orton hit a double team move, resulting in hit being countered, then Orton being showed into Bo and the two of them bumping heads, then Bo getting rolled up for the pin in about six minutes. Randy yells at Bo on their way up the ramp. Bo hangs his head the whole time, knowing that Orton is absolutely right to be angry at him.
After the match, McIntyre gets on the mic and repeats his promo from Superstars, calling Punk a coward and demanding to be booked in an IC Title match. Steph comes out and says that WWE received a video from Punk, which she has the guys in the truck play on the Tron. In the video, Punk says that Drew is the coward, calling Punk out when he’s not even around to face him, and saying that he will shut Drew up once and for all on Raw. He doesn’t care if the match is for the title or not. Steph then announces that Punk vs. McIntyre will take place this coming Monday on Raw… and it WILL be for the IC Title!


The Miz cuts a backstage promo saying that Cody Rhodes walking out of their match on Main Event, taking his ball and going home just proves that he was right about Cody all along: Cody really is a loser.
But there is someone who lost recently who is not a loser: Roman Reigns. Miz says that he sees a lot of potential in Reigns, and his offer is still open for Reigns to join and learn from himself and Del Rio. Miz promises to teach him all of the tools he needs to become a champion.

EVAN BOURNE & ZACK RYDER vs. THE MIZ & ALBERTO DEL RIO (w/Ricardo Rodriguez)-
Early on in the match, Roman Reigns comes out to the stage, and stands there, stoically watching the match. They go for about eight minutes, with Bourne playing the babyfaace in peril. Just as he is about to make the hot tag, Miz comes around and pulls Ryder off the apron, then takes him out by slamming his head into the steel steps a bunch of times. Bourne fights valiantly and manages to make his own comeback, setting Del Rio up for the Air Bourne, but Miz distracts the ref while Ricardo shakes the ropes, causing Bourne to crotch himself. Del Rio takes advantage of this by hitting his running enzugiri on the turnbuckle, and then, when Bourne falls down, hitting him with the Si! superkick to get the pin.

Kofi Kingston cuts a promo saying that while he is not okay with what Big Show did to Jack Swagger, he is okay with Steph deciding to lift Big Show’s suspension so that Big Show can pay for his sins in the ring… and he wants to be the one to make Show pay for those sins. He wants to face Big Show in Show’s first match back at the Royal Rumble.


ROB VAN DAM, SIN CARA, & DANIEL BRYAN (w/AJ Bryan) vs. CHRISTIAN & THE BRAIN TRUST (w/Paige & Naomi)-
Babyfaces win clean in fifteen minutes when RVD pins Otunga with a Five Star Frog Splash. At one point Paige tries to interfere, but AJ takes her out on the outside. Naomi then comes over and attacks AJ from behind, so Cameron comes out and chases Naomi off.

[Big Red Machine]

WWE.com announces that due to the constant interference in the recent Bourne vs. Del Rio matches, Monday’s US Title match will now take place inside a steel cage.




Raw: (1/20/2014)- Dayton, OH
The show opens with the European Union in the ring, cutting a promo crapping on the USA to get cheap heat. PTP come out and say that it sounds like the WWE Universe doesn’t like the European Union, so they are going to do the WWE Universe a favor on Sunday at the Royal Rumble and shut Barrett and Cesaro up for good.

Dolph Ziggler cuts a backstage promo in which he says ”I just beat Seth Rollins on Smackdown and he is one of the top up-and-comers in the WWE. If I can beat him, I can sure as hell beat a washed-up old has-been like Rob Van Dam. That WWE Title is as good as mine.”

FATAL FOUR WAY MATCH: Natalya Neidhart vs. Aksana (w/Cesaro) vs. Paige (w/Christian) vs. Cameron (w/Daniel & AJ Bryan)-
While Nattie is on the way to the ring, we get an in-set promo from her saying that she is peeved that in the fervor to support Cameron, everyone seems to have forgotten that she had a Divas Title opportunity on Superstars a week and a half ago during which Cameron came out and chased Naomi off, causing Naomi to lose by count-out and robbing Nattie of a title opportunity. She hopes to win here to remind everyone that she is still deserving of a title shot.
Although Dragon and AJ come out with Cameron, they don’t support her during the match, instead focusing intensely, scouting her and writing things down on notepads. AJ takes the time to inform us that they helping Cameron train for her title match. The announcers put Dragon over a possible Royal Rumble winner. This upsets Christian, who comes over and says that he just learned that he will be in the Rumble, so no one else has a chance of winning.
Cameron picks up the win in five minutes, pinning Aksana after a diving crossbody.

We get a video package of International Airstrike 2.0 talking up their feud with the Usos, their match at Royal Rumble, and what it would mean to them to win that #1 contendership match and go on to win the tag titles.
THE USOS vs. RANDY ORTON & BO DALLAS-
Usos win clean when Bo keeps attacking the wrong Uso, even after they made an obvious tag, allowing the legal Uso to roll him up for a pin. Randy yells at him again on their way up the ramp.

Brad Maddox interviews Kofi Kingston about Kofi’s request to face the Big Show in Big Show’s return at the Royal Rumble. Maddox asks Kofi if he is really challenged Big Show because he wants to get revenge for Jack Swagger like he said on Smackdown… or is he really just doing it because Kofi was also part of Team Big Show at Survivor Series and Show blames Kofi for the loss just as much.
Kofi, surprisingly, admits that the thought had crossed his mind, but he does also really want to get revenge for Swagger, too, and at the Royal Rumble he will kill of two birds with one stone.

WWE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: CM Punk(c) vs. Drew McIntyre (w/Michael McGillicutty)-
Punk wins clean in fifteen minutes, pinning McIntyre after a GTS. The announcers put Punk over huge for having defended the Title so often since winning it just thirty-six days ago, and for doing so under often-unfavorable circumstances, such as going into matches injured and with very little rest or preparation time.

Naomi cuts a backstage promo on Cameron. She says that it doesn’t matter if Cameron can beat AJ and is having AJ help train her because AJ is a joke just like Cameron is. Naomi reminds us that she has beaten AJ in the past, and insists that she will beat Cameron at Royal Rumble and retain the Divas Title.

Cole informs us that Roman Reigns has been named as an entrant into the Royal Rumble and is now standing by with Renee Young to comment. We cut backstage to Reigns, but before he can begin to speak, The Miz interrupts him. Miz asks Reigns if he has considered his offer from Smackdown to learn from Miz’s genius. Reigns says that he hasn’t decided yet, but that Miz interrupting him isn’t doing Miz any favors. Tells Reigns to keep an eye on him, and he will show him what he has to teach.

RVD cuts a promo saying he is tired of heating Dolph run his mouth and that at Royale Rumble he will make Dolph put up or shut up.

SETH ROLLINS vs. DANIEL BRYAN (w/AJ Bryan)-
Dragon wins clean in twenty minutes, making Rollins tap to the Yes Lock.

Dusty Rhodes gives us an update on Cody- he will be back for the Rumble, which Cody has been entered in. Dusty predicts that Cody will win the Royale Rumble, then go on to Wrestlemania and become a World Champion on the Grandest Stage of Them All.

Triple H and Sheamus come out for a contract signing. Before signing the contract, Sheamus cuts a promo putting Hunter over huge. He says that when Hunter was taking some time off in the summer of 2005, he came to Ireland and saw Sheamus wrestle, and it was advice from Hunter to WWE Management that first put Sheamus on WWE’s radar. Then, in 2010, his rivalry with Triple H was the first real, sustained rivalry of his career, and although he was a sore loser after their match at Wrestlemania XXVI and even though he attacked Triple H with a lead pipe on Raw and basically beat him to death at Extreme Rules, when Triple H came back ten months later, he didn’t harbor any sort of grudge against Sheamus at all, and that taught Sheamus a lot about being a man in this business. When he saw the way Triple H acted and followed his example, he started to earn the respect of the WWE Universe, which became a major turning point in his career, because he could not have achieved the heights he is not currently at without the support of the WWE Universe… and the support of Triple H himself, because Hunter has been very forthcoming with advice, etc. etc., Sheamus thinks Hunter is one of the all-time greats and wanted to give Hunter this title shot as a way to say thank you… and to see if he can hang with one of the all-time greats.
Hunter is very moved by Sheamus’ speech and thanks him. They sign the contract and shake hands.

STEEL CAGE MATCH FOR THE WWE UNITED STATES TITLE: Evan Bourne(c) vs. Alberto Del Rio (w/Ricardo Rodriguez)-
Bourne overcomes his injuries and wins cleanly, pinning Del Rio in twenty-five minutes.



WWE.com reports that AJ Bryan did not take kindly to Naomi’s comments about her on Raw and has demanded a match with Naomi. That match has been signed for Smackdown. WWE.com also reports that The Miz has been confirmed as an entrant in the Royal Rumble.




Main Event: (1/22/2014)

We get a video package of the Bryans helping Cameron train for her Divas Title match at the Royal Rumble.

Naomi squashes a jobber, then says that she’ll beat AJ just as easily this Friday on Smackdown and she’ll beat Cameron even easier than that this Sunday at the Royal Rumble.

Brad Maddox is backstage, interviewing Sheamus. He asks Sheamus if the rumors going around the locker room are true. Sheamus has no idea what rumors Maddox is talking about, so Maddox explains that there is a rumor going around which says that Sheamus only challenged Triple H to a match at the Royal Rumble because Sheamus was afraid he would lose the title if he defended it against an active wrestler, and that everything Sheamus said to Triple H on Raw was a big lie, all designed to psych Triple H out making him feel like he doesn’t really deserve the title shot he is getting at Royal Rumble, thus leaving him easy pickings for Sheamus.
Sheamus denies the rumor, then gets very angry and demands to know who told Maddox this. Maddox says that a good reporter never reveals his sources, but Sheamus says that he thinks Maddox just made the rumor up, and threatens to Brogue Kick Maddox’s mouth off of his face. Maddox quickly implicates The Miz as the source of this rumor, and Sheamus grabs Maddox’s mic and storms out to the ring.
Sheamus angrily demands that Miz come out to the ring right now and face him like a man. Miz comes out, but says that he will only face Sheamus if Sheamus puts the World Heavyweight Title on the line. Sheamus agrees, and we get a…
WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Sheamus(c) vs. The Miz-
Cole tells us that he has been informed that Steph has sanctioned the match, but if Miz wins the title, there will be a rematch tomorrow night on Superstars. Del Rio and Ricardo both come out early on, and use various heel tactics to help Miz, setting up for a few false finishes before Sheamus gets the win via Cloverleaf in fifteen minutes.

We got backstage to Steph’s office, where she announces two more entrants for the Royal Rumble: US Champion Evan Bourne and IC Champion CM Punk. She then starts to hype up the Rumble a bit, but it interrupted by Luke Harper and Dean Ambrose walking into her office. Harper tells Steph that they are ready to come back, and fell they deserve spots in the Royal Rumble. Steph says that they both have a lot of potential, but she wants to see if they can control their emotions during matches- especially Ambrose- before she even thinks of putting them in a high-pressure situation. She thinks for a second, then announces that they will have a tag match on Superstars and Ambrose will have a singles match on Smackdown, and if they can keep it together, she will put them both in the Royal Rumble.

SETH ROLLINS & KOFI KINGSTON vs. THE EUROPEAN UNION (w/Aksana)-
Europeans win clean in ten minutes, pinning Kofi.



Superstars: (1/23/2014)
It is announced that Kofi Kingston has requested to face The Great Khali on tomorrow night’s Smackdown, and that match has been signed. It is also announced that Alberto Del Rio has been confirmed as an entrant in the Royal Rumble.

Zack Ryder comes out to the ring to cut a promo in which he announces that he has just been informed by WWE Royal Rumble Committee member Pat Patterson that he will be in this year’s Royale Rumble. He thanks the fans for their support and says he couldn’t have done it without them. The Colons come out and attack him. They say it is BS that Ryder is in the Royal Rumble and they aren’t, and they accuse the committee of pandering to the fans instead of taking true talent into account.

Roman Reigns once again tries to cut a backstage promo about how excited he is to be in the Royal Rumble, but he is once again interrupted by The Miz.
Miz: Did you see me last night?
Reigns: Yeah. You lost.
Miz: You’re missing the point. That match I lost was a World Heavyweight Title match; an opportunity that otherwise never would have been granted to me in the first place.
Reigns looks thoughtful, then decides that he will accept being under Miz’s tutelage.

RANDY ORTON & BO DALLAS vs. LUKE HARPER & DEAN AMBROSE-
The match is 100% clean, with Ambrose never trying to get a weapon or even doing anything as illegal as a closed fist. The finish comes when Bo seems to lose focus, and despite Randy shouting a warning from the apron, Bo turns around right into a Steam Roller from Luke Harper for the pin. Randy doesn’t even try to break the pin up and storms off angrily, leaving Bo unconscious in the ring.

BIG CLUSTERF*CK 15 MAN OVER THE TOP ROPE BATTLE ROYALE-
The announcers put this over as good practice for the people already announced for the Royal Rumble and a good opportunity for those not yet announced to prove themselves to the committee of experts. Dragon wins. The announcers say that this cements him as the favorite to win.



Smackdown: (1/24/2014)- Grand Rapids, MI
CM PUNK & SETH ROLLINS vs. ROMAN REIGNS & ALBERTO DEL RIO (w/Ricardo Rodriguez & The Miz)-
Rollins and Punk have some communication problems. Rollins is the babyface in peril, and at least once when Rollins pulls a small package out of nowhere, the ref doesn’t see it because he is busy dealing with Punk.
The match goes about twelve minutes and the finish sees Rollins coming off the ropes to hit Del Rio with a Black Out. Reigns comes into the ring and goes to spear Rollins as Rollins turns around. Punk, anticipating this move, makes a blind tag so that Rollins will not be the legal man when he is speared. Reigns charges for the spear… but Rollins leaps over it, sending Reigns spilling to the outside, then continues on to hit Del Rio with the Black Out. Rollins goes for the pin… but the referee won’t count because, unbeknownst to Rollins, he is no longer the legal man. Meanwhile, on the outside, Roman Reigns pulls the now-legal CM Punk down off of the apron and hits him with a big spear. Reigns then slides into the ring to brawl with Rollins while the referee counts Punk out, giving the heels the victory.


KOFI KINGSTON vs. THE GREAT KHALI-
Kofi wins clean in seven minutes. The announcers point out the Khali and Show are similar not only in size, but their primary weapons are also similar: Show’s WMD and Khali’s Brain Chop, and that Kofi has proven here that not only can he take down a giant, but he can do so while avoiding KO strikes as well.

Triple H comes out to the ring to cut a promo. He says that he might not be the COO anymore, but his wife is still running the show, so that gives him a bit of… stroke. Not being the COO anymore also means that he can be a policeman if need be, and teach someone a lesson if that is what the boss wants. In this case, the boss wants to show Miz what happens when you start rumors… so he announces the he will be facing The Miz, right here, right now, with all of Miz’s buddies banned from ringside.
THE MIZ vs. TRIPLE H-
Hunter pretty much squashes Miz in five minutes. The announcers put over that Hunter still has it. Hunter then cuts a big promo about wanting to win the World Heavyweight Title one more time.

We get a video package of The Usos talking up their feud with the Usos, their match at Royal Rumble, and what it would mean to them to win that #1 contendership match and go on to win the tag titles.
INTERNATIONAL AIRSTRIKE 2.0 vs. BRAIN TRUST (w/Naomi)-
Airstrike win clean in six minutes, pinning Otunga after a Red Arrow and a 450

Renee Young asks Sheamus for a reaction to Triple H’s dominant performance against The Miz tonight. Sheamus puts Hunter over and says he can’t wait to face him on Sunday at the Royal Rumble.

NAOMI (w/Brain Trust) vs. AJ BRYAN (w/Daniel Bryan)-
Sandow distracts AJ, which allows Naomi to hit the Rear View, then the split-legged moonsault for the pin in six minutes.

CURT HAWKINS vs. DEAN AMBROSE (w/Luke Harper)-
Ambrose wrestles 100% cleanly, picking up a very quick win via Regal Stretch. After the match, Harper grabs a mic and implores everyone around the world to buy this Sunday’s Royal Rumble Pay-Per-View, claiming it will be “the most important moment in WWE history” and “a life-changing event.” The announcers are baffled by this, and deal with the awkward situation by joking that Harper did a good job of hyping the PPV.

Cameron cuts a promo saying that she will beat Naomi at Royal Rumble to win the Divas Title and prove once and for all that she is not a “joke.” She also says that if Sandow and Otunga try to get involved at the Royal Rumble like they did in Naomi’s match tonight, there will be a “big, angry surprise” waiting for them.

Christian comes out and cuts a promo saying that he will prove his superiority in over the top rope matches by making an open challenge right now for an Over The Top Rope Challenge. It is answered by Mark Henry, who quickly defeats Christian.

We get a video of backstage footage taped during last night’s Superstars. We see Bo apologizing to Orton for blowing another match, and admits that he has been so distracted in his matches lately because he has been worrying about his missing cousin, Husky Harris, again. Randy tries to be compassionate (hilarious, I know), but warns Bo that even a brief lapse of concentration could cause him to be eliminated from the Royale Rumble. He tells Bo that he needs to find a away to stop letting this Husky Harris situation derail his career.

THE PRIME TIME PLAYERS, EVAN BOURNE, & ZACK RYDER vs. THE COLONS & THE EUROPEAN UNION (w/Rosa Mendes & Aksana)-
Heels win clean in ten minutes when Cesaro pins Darren Young after a Neutralizer.

ROB VAN DAM vs. DANIEL BRYAN (w/AJ Bryan)-
The match goes about seven minutes before Dolph Ziggler comes out with a steel chair and takes out both guys. Dolph says that he is the most talented superstar in the WWE and that he deserves the main event spotlight. He tells the WWE Universe that they need to get used to seeing him standing triumphant in the ring to close out every show because in two days at the Royal Rumble, he will show the world what he has been saying for years: He is the best wrestler in the world.

[Big Red Machine]

ROYAL RUMBLE RUNDOWN

WWE Royal Rumble 2014 (1/26/2014)- Pittsburgh, PA:


WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Sheamus(c) vs. Triple H
Does The Game have one more title run left in him?

WWE TITLE MATCH: Rob Van Dam(c) vs. Dolph Ziggler (w/Vickie Guerrero)
Ziggler claims he will finally show the world that he is the best wrestler in the WWE. As RVD said on Raw, it's time for Dolph to put up or shut up.

WWE DIVAS TITLE MATCH: Naomi(c) (w/the Brain Trust) vs. Cameron (w/AJ & Daniel Bryan)
Will the Bryans' training help Cameron prove once and for all that she is not a "joke" and capture the Divas Title from her arch-rival?

WWE WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Prime Time Players(c) vs. The European Union (w/Aksana)
The titles are on the line as the champs defend against the winners of the Blind Draw Tag Team Tournament.

BIG SHOW vs. KOFI KINGSTON
What frame of mind will Big Show be in after his suspension? Will Kofi make Show pay for his heinous attack on Jack Swagger?

FALLS COUNT ANYWHERE MATCH FOR A SHOT AT THE WWE WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES: The Usos vs. International Airstrike 2.0
This high-flying rivalry finally comes to a conclusion... and a shot at the tag titles hangs in the balance!

2014 ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH:
Who will go on to main event Wrestlemania XXX?
Confirmed participants: Daniel Bryan, Christian, Kane, The Miz, CM Punk, Evan Bourne, Roman Reigns, Zack Ryder, Randy Orton, Bo Dallas, Dean Ambrose, Luke Harper, Mark Henry, Cody Rhodes, and the return of Tyson Kidd! The other fifteen participants will be a surprise... but WWE General Manager Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley has assured us that there will surprises that you don't want to miss!

[Big Red Machine]

WWE Royal Rumble 2014 (1/26/2014)- Pittsburgh, PA

PRE-SHOW:
WWE DIVAS TITLE MATCH: Naomi(c) vs. Cameron-
Naomi wins in eight minutes, making Cameron tap to the Figure Four Leg Lock clean in the middle of the ring.
We get a backstage promo with Miz, Del Rio, and Reigns, with Miz preaching that one of them will win the rumble because they have the strongest alliance and that they know how to make the best of every opportunity.
We are told that Cody Rhodes declined an interview.
Seth Rollins cuts a promo saying that in his first Royal Rumble, he made it all the way to the final two. This year, he will take that last step and win the whole thing.


The show opens with Dolph Ziggler coming out and cutting a promo saying that he is tired of waiting. He wants to be the WWE Champion right now.
WWE TITLE MATCH: Rob Van Dam(c) vs. Dolph Ziggler (w/Vickie Guerrero)-
Dolph wins clean in twenty-five minutes, pinning RVD after a Zig-Zag.

KOFI KINGSTON vs. THE BIG SHOW-
Big Show wins clean in eight minutes, knocking Kofi out with a WMD as Kofi goes for Trouble in Paradise

FALLS COUNT ANYWHERE MATCH FOR A SHOT AT THE WWE WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES: The Usos vs. International Airstrike 2.0-
Usos win clean in thirteen minutes. They do high-flying stuff off of tall things.

WWE WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Primetime Players(c) vs. The European Union (Wade Barrett & Antonio Cesaro) (w/Aksana)-
European Union wins clean in ten minutes with a European Uppercut by Cesaro followed by Spinning Backfist by Barrett.

2014 ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH:
We start out with the ring announcer reminding us of the rules: A new participant will enter every ninety seconds. In order to be eliminated you must go over the TOP rope, and BOTH FEET must touch the floor. The last man standing is the winner. The announcers put over how big the Royal Rumble is, and also wonder who the as-of-yet unannounced surprise entrants could be.

The first entrant is Michael McGillicutty. The announcers confirm that he is one of the unannounced surprise entrants, but say that they were expecting the surprises to be bigger. The second entrant is also a surprise: Road Dogg. The announcers put him over as a big surprise and talk about how great it is to see him in the ring again.
McGillicutty and Road Dogg square off with Road Dogg eventually getting the advantage and getting shined until the third entrant, McGillicutty’s tag team partner Drew McIntyre, comes out and makes it two-on-one. They beat Road Dogg down and try to eliminate him, with Road Dogg barely surviving. Then the fourth entrant comes out: Billy Gunn! The announcers put over the New Age Outlaws reunion on the mic while McGillicutty and McIntyre put them over in the ring by bumping around for their stuff.
The fifth entrant is Bo Dallas, followed by the sixth, who is Tensai. Billy Gunn eliminates McGillicutty while Road Dogg eliminates McIntyre. As the countdown for lucky number seven starts, Bo low-bridges Tensai, eliminating him.
The seventh entrant is Luke Harper, who comes in and dominates the match. Over the course of the next ninety seconds, he eliminates both Outlaws and Bo.
TEN!
NINE!
EIGHT!
SEVEN!
SIX!
FIVE!
FOUR!
THREE!
TWO!
ONE!
The stage erupts in red fire, heralding the return of the Big Red Machine Kane at number eight. The announcers put over how dominant Kane was in 2013, suffering only one loss by pinfall or submission, and the penchant he had for randomly assaulting people. They wonder if having two months off has improved Kane’s temperament. Kane quickly gives them an answer by grabbing Bo as they cross paths on the ramp, and giving him a vicious chokeslam.
Kane and Harper start to trade heavy blows in the ring, but Dean Ambrose runs out with a steel chair and assaults Kane. He gives the chair to Harper, who keeps up the assault while Ambrose slides out of the ring to get another chair. They give Kane multiple Con-Chair-tos, then lodge a chair in the corner and drag Kane’s barely-moving body over to the corner, with his head leaning against the chair. Ambrose then holds the second chair in front of Kane’s face, and Harper charges across the ring for a SICK Steamroller, sandwiching Kane’s head between the two chairs. Harper then lifts up Kane’s now-lifeless body and dumps it over the top rope and onto the floor. In just over a minute, the Big Red Monster has been obliterated.

Then a large man wearing white pants, a black undershirt and a Hawaiian shirt with wild black hair, a long black beard, and a fedora jumps the barricade. Rather than react with surprise as most wrestlers would if someone jumped the barricade, Ambrose and Harper start to absolutely beam with happiness. Harper holds the ropes open for him while Ambrose slides out under the bottom rope to get the man a mic. He speaks in a loud, clear, proud voice, with a backwoods southern drawl.

“Rejoice, my brothers and sisters, for you no longer have to live in fear!” He points at Kane’s lifeless body on the outside. “Is this the monster who has terrorized you for so long? He cannot hurt you anymore!”

The ninth entrant’s music plays, but it is Dean Ambrose, who is already in the ring. The man waits for the music to stop before he continues talking.
“Monsters are real, and they live within us. They do terrible things.”
Some security guards now come out from backstage to try and take the man away, but Harper and Ambrose block them.
“You have spent your whole lives living in fear of what these monsters can do… but you do not have to fear them anymore, because I am here for you! I can help you. I can save you. Just ask these two men: Dean Ambrose and Luke Harper.”
Security now tries to force their way past Ambrose and Harper, so Ambrose and Harper lay them out.
“They are honest men. The most honest kind, because they are honest with themselves! They will tell you all you need to know: That I have saved them, and that I will gladly do the same for all of you, just as I already have by ridding you of the monster you see crumpled on the ground right here.”

The music for the tenth entrant plays. It’s Damien Sandow. As Sandow walks out onto the stage, he is almost trampled by about fifty security guards in riot gear (the announcers explain that this was Steph’s contingency plan just in case Big Show decided to go nuts and try to injure people tonight).
The man resumes speaking as security now surrounds the ring: “I only wish to help you, my brothers and sisters! I will rid you of your fears and help you achieve greater success than you have ever known.”

Security starts to in their way into the ring, and Harper and Ambrose are prepared to take them all on, but the man motions for them to stand down. Security cautiously gets into the ring and approach the man, brandishing their riot sticks and handcuffs.

“MY NAME IS BRAY WYATT, AND I AM A TAMER OF MONSTERS!” shouts the man, before dropping the microphone and allowing security to handcuff him and lead him away. Harper and Ambrose look uneasy about this, but as he is being ushered out of the ring, the man, Bray Wyatt, reassures them, saying “fear not, my brothers. Once they truly know who I am, they will never try to keep me away again.”
As they take him up the ramp, they pass the fallen Bo Dallas, who is just now starting to recover his senses. He tugs on the man’s leg to help pull himself up to his knees, and looks in the man’s face. A look of confusion crosses Bo’s face. “Cousin Husky?!” Bo exclaims in disbelief. The man just laughs and continues up the ramp.

As security takes Bray Wyatt backstage, the Royal Rumble seems ready to resume. Damien Sandow begins to walk down the ramp, but then realizes that he would be walking into a double team, so he instead stays on the ramp, telling everyone how smart he is. Ten seconds later, the next countdown starts, and ten seconds after that Randy Orton comes out.

Orton charges to the ring, and on his way down the ramp, he grabs Sandow and tosses him into the ring before sliding in himself. They brawl with Ambrose and Harper until the next entrant, Christian, comes down. We get more brawling until Zack Ryder comes in. Then Santino comes in, and Ryder is eliminated by Ambrose. Santino gets his spots in and goes for the Cobra, but it intercepted by a HUGE Steamroller from Harper, knocking him out cold and sending him rolling towards the apron.
The next man out is David Otunga, who immediately saves Sandow from being eliminated by Orton. The Brain Trust work together, which forces Orton and Christian to form a temporary alliance to give us three teams of two. They break off into pairs and brawl for a bit, and Orton manages to eliminate Ambrose. Then Orton, Christian, and the Brain Trust all work together to eliminate Luke Harper. With things now two-on-two, Orton and Christian reaffirm their alliance to work together against the Brain Trust.
The two duos square off as the next entrant comes out from the back: Heath Slater. Orton looks over to check how close Slater is to the ring, and Christian picks this moment to betray Orton. He grabs Randy from behind for the Kill-switch, but Orton saw it coming and pushes Christian off with enough force to send him tumbling over the top rope and down to the floor.
Rather than enter the match, Slater chooses to stay on the outside and watch what develops. Despite being down two-on-one, Orton takes it to the Brain Trust, but eventually the numbers game overwhelms him. He manages to make a comeback, but Heath Slater slides into the ring and cuts Randy off from behind, proposing an alliance with the Brain Trust. They accept, and they all beat on Orton. Randy once again tries to fight back, even catching Slater with an RKO, but the Brain Trust manage to dump him to the floor as the countdown for the next entrant reaches five.
Sandow and Otunga congratulate themselves on doing so well as the crowd counts down for the next entrant:
FOUR!
THREE!
TWO!
ONE!
“SOMEONE BETTER CALL YOUR MAMA!”
Brodus Clay makes his return from injury, and contrary to the upbeat notes of his entrance music, Brodus is ALL business. He charges down the ring with a look of pure hatred on his face. Sandow and Otunga look like they have both just sh*t bricks. Brodus spends most of the next minute just absolutely kicking their asses from pillar to post. He eliminates Sandow with a huge clothesline, then charges across the ring and clotheslines Otunga with such force that both men tumble over the top rope and out to the floor. The fact that he has just eliminated himself from the Royal Rumble doesn’t even seem to faze Brodus. He just keeps kicking Otunga’s ass on the outside. Otunga manages to make his way over the barricade and flees through the crowd. Brodus gives chase.

Meanwhile, in the ring, Heath Slater has recovered from his RKO and is anxious to see who the next man coming out will be.
The arena goes nuts as JAKE “THE SNAKE” ROBERTS makes his return to the WWE… and he has a big burlap sack with him. Jake slides into the ring and starts knocking Slater around before quickly dumping him to the floor. Slater can’t believe it. He grabs a mic and claims that this was a fluke and there was no way that Jake could eliminate him again. He heads back for the ring, shoving through referees who are trying to stop him. He goes after Jake again, but Jake hits him with a few more solid punches, then delivers a DDT. Jake gets his snake out and gets ready to put it on the fallen Heath Slater.

While this is happening, Santino starts to finally wake up from the Steam Roller. Or, more accurately, the Cobra starts to wake up. It rises, then drags Santino over towards Jake’s snake. This movement seems to stir Santino, and by the time Santino fully awakens, he is face to face with Jake’s snake. Santino lets out a loud, high-pitched scream of terror and jumps backwards and then starts backpedaling in fear, accidentally tumbling over the top rope, eliminating himself.

The next man out is Del Rio. Not wanting to get in the ring with Jake and his snake, Del Rio orders Ricardo to go into the ring. Ricardo, having fear of snakes, does not want to. He gets on his knees and begs and pleads with Del Rio to not make him, but Del Rio will not relent. Ricardo crosses himself, then tentatively steps into the ring. Jake moves towards him with the snake, and Ricardo screams in fear, and does a suicide dive out of the ring, wiping out Del Rio.
This makes Del Rio even more angry, and when he has recovered, he orders a referee to make Jake put his snake away. The referee decides that this is a reasonable request, and Jake acquiesces. As Jake is putting the snake back in its bag, Del Rio jumps him from behind. As the countdown for the next entrant starts, Del Rio whips Jake off the ropes. Jake manages to come back with a big knee lift, knocking Del Rio down. As Jake locks in a sleeper, the clock reaches zero. Unfortunately for Jake, the next entrant is Del Rio’s stable-mate The Miz, who breaks up the hold. Jake takes a (lightly-worked) beatdown, makes a small comeback, but gets eliminated (as lightly and safely as possible). Miz and Del Rio then dump Slater’s lifeless body out of the ring as the countdown clock starts for the 21st entrant.

CM Punk charges the ring despite the two-on-one odds, and the announcers put over that Punk is facing this challenge head on, just like he has faced all of the other challenges put before him since winning the Intercontinental Title six weeks ago at TLC. Manages to fight off both guys and then tries to eliminate Del Rio but Miz saves his buddy. The two heels then beat Punk down until Punk makes another short comeback and tries to eliminate Miz, but this time Del Rio makes the save. Punk is again beaten down until entrant number twenty-two hits the ring: The returning Tyson Kidd. The announcers put Kidd’s return over as a big deal, and he dominates for a bit before things even out. Miz brawls with Kidd while Punk brawls with Del Rio. Whenever one of the babyfaces tries to eliminate one of the heels, the other heel breaks off of his own fight to break it up.
The next man in is Roman Reigns, and the stable of Reigns, Miz, and Del Rio start to dominate the match, using their 3-on-1-on-1 advantage. Miz and Reigns beat Kidd down while Del Rio beats Punk down. Punk manages to fight back and tries to eliminate Del Rio. Miz and Reigns come over to stop him, but they are just a moment too late, as Punk forces Del Rio over the top rope and onto the floor. Miz and Reigns then double-team Punk for a bit. When Miz tries to force Punk over the top rope, Reigns grabs Miz’s leg and flips him over the top rope, eliminating both Punk and Miz. When Miz realizes what happens he does not react with the expected rage, but instead he laughs and nods approvingly.
Kidd and Reigns square off, and the announcers put it over as “the future of the WWE.” Then Seth Rollins comes out, and the announcers put him over as the future of the WWE as well. Those three do their thing, teasing eliminations, until Daniel Bryan joins the fray at number twenty five. After another ninety seconds with no eliminations, number twenty six, the US Champion Evan Bourne enters the ring.
Tyson Kidd eventually manages to eliminate Roman Reigns, just before lucky number twenty seven comes out: Cody Rhodes.
The announcers try to get a read on what Cody’s state of mind might be. When he gets into the ring, he seems to be all business. He doesn’t play to the fans at all, but it doesn’t do anything dirty either. Just 100% focused on winning the match, not taking any chances by doing top rope or springboard moves, and taking whatever opportunities he can to try to eliminate someone.
Number twenty eight is Mark Henry, and he immediately takes over the match, effortlessly tossing around smaller guys in the ring. Even when they all band together and take Mark off of his feet with some big kicks, they do not even come close to being able to pick Mark up and force him off the top rope.
Number twenty-nine is Sin Cara, who figure he will try his luck. He enters the ring with a big springboard dive in at Mark… who just swats him down. Mark picks Cara up and press clams him towards the ropes. Cara lands hard on his stomach, but at least he lands inside the ring. Mark continues swatting the smaller men down as they come at him. As Cara pulls himself up, Mark hits him with a big clothesline to the outside. Evan Bourne charges at Mark, but Mark catches him and tosses him over the top rope. Bourne lands on Cara, wiping both men out. Mark dominates the smaller men, almost eliminating both Bryan and Cody. Despite their efforts the smaller men can barely get Mark off of his feet, much less over the top rope.
The final entrant in the 2014 Royal Rumble is someone who can:
John Cena.
Cena charges to the ring and takes it to the man who put him on the shelf for five months. He hits all of his big spots, ending in an AA, then picks Mark up and dumps him over the top rope. Cena then start using his own strength to dominate the match, but Cody Rhodes organizes the four smaller men into an alliance and they gang up on Cena. Cena eats a superkick from Rollins, a Disaster Kick from Cody, a running single-leg high knee from Bryan, and then a diving elbow drop from Kidd. The smaller guys then dump Cena over the top rope, eliminating him.
We are now down to the Final Four: Daniel Bryan, Seth Rollins, Cody Rhodes, and Tyson Kidd. The announcers put over how exciting it will be to have a first-time winner. They bring up the fact that this is the first time since 2005 and just the third time since 1994 that no previous Royal Rumble Winner has made it to the final four.

Hidden text.

Cody Rhodes eliminates Tyson Kidd.

Hidden text.

Daniel Bryan eliminates Cody Rhodes.

Hidden text.

Daniel Bryan eliminates Seth Rollins.
DANIEL BRYAN WINS THE 2014 ROYAL RUMBLE!
AJ rushes out to celebrate with Dragon.

WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Sheamus(c) vs. Triple H-
Sheamus wins clean in twenty-five minutes with the Brogue Kick, kicking out of multiple Pedigrees in the process. We get a nice show of respect after the match with Sheamus helping Hunter up and giving him a handshake and a hug.

Hidden text.

Hopefully the wait was worth it. Between massive writer's block, massive writer's "I really don't feel like doing this right now" and wanting to get the Bray stuff absolutely perfect, this took WAY too long to get done. I will hopefully be finished with everything through Mania in the next two or three weeks, and would like to be caught up to the real-time WWE by Summer Slam.

[Big Red Machine]

WWE.com announces that following his loss at Royal Rumble, Hunter Hearst Helmsley has resumed his duties as Chief Operating Officer of the WWE.
It also hypes up this week’s Raw as being a show that will deal with all of the fallout from a very eventful Royal Rumble PPV.
Luke Harper and Dean Ambrose have each been suspended indefinitely following an incident at the Royal Rumble during which they encouraged a man to jump over the security barrier, allowed him to speak on the microphone, and attempted to prevent security personnel from removing the unauthorized individual from the ring. WWE is extremely disappointed in their conduct on this matter.
WWE would like to stress the fact that the security barricade is there for the safety of our fans, as the ringside area can be a dangerous place. All WWE employees are licensed to perform their duties by the athletic commissions of each state that WWE tours, and any individual who attempts to enter the ringside area without the proper licensing will be immediately ejected from the arena and could face criminal charges.

At this time we have no update on Kane’s injuries, but we know that the Big Red Machine will not be on Raw tonight.

Several matches have been signed for tonight’s Raw, including the Randy Orton vs. Kofi Kingston, Brain Trust vs. Drew McIntyre & Michael McGillicutty, Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins, Tyson Kidd vs. Jinder Mahal, Evan Bourne & R-Truth vs. the Colons, and the Big Show’s first match on Raw since his return from suspension, in which he will face Tensai. In addition, we will also here from the winners and losers of all the big title matches at Royal Rumble, as well as the Royal Rumble winner Daniel Bryan. Also, HBK will be making an appearance.


Raw (1/27/2014)- Cleveland, OH:
The show opens with the announcers running down Royal Rumble highlights, including Dragon winning the rumble, Cena’s surprise return, Sheamus beating Hunter, Dolph winning the WWE Title from RVD, the European Union winning the WWE World Tag Team Titles from the Prime Time Players, Big Show’s return, and Roman Reigns turning on the Miz, and Miz’s strange reaction to it. They promise that we will hear from all of these parties by the end of the night… but the first to speak will be John Cena, and he is coming out right now.

John Cena comes out and starts to cut a standard babyface “I hated being away from the ring and worked and trained hard to come back as soon as I could” promo, but he is interrupted by the new WWE Champion, Dolph Ziggler. Ziggler says that no one cares about Cena coming back. The only piece of news coming out of the Royal Rumble that matters is the fact that he finally became the WWE Champion. They argue back and forth, which results in Steph coming out and announcing Dolph vs. Cena as tonight’s main event.

We get a video that has already been up on WWE.com from this morning of Hunter (& Steph) walking into the lobby of Titan Towers where all of the employees (Vince included) are waiting to welcome him with a hardy cheer. He thanks them, then gives a short pep talk saying that it is now officially Wrestlemania season, so everyone needs to get back to word.


PRIME TIME PLAYERS PROMO- they will admit that Cesaro and Barrett were the better team last night, but they still have their return match, and when they get it, they will, with the support of the WWE Universe, regain the tag team titles and go back to making millions o’ dollas.

JINDER MAHAL vs. TYSON KIDD (w/Natalya)-
Tyson wins clean in eight minutes, making Jinder tap to the debuting Dungeon Lock.

Bo cuts a backstage promo telling us that he is certain that the mysterious “Bray Wyatt” who Harper and Ambrose brought with them to the Royal Rumble is really his missing cousin, WWE NXT wrestler Husky Harris.

DREW MCINTYRE & MICHAEL MCGILLICUTTY vs. THE BRAIN TRUST (w/Naomi)-
Barely thirty seconds after the bell rings, Brodus Clay comes charging down the ramp and attacks the Brain Trust. McIntyre & McGillicutty start to yell at Brodus for ruining their match, so Brodus attacks both of them, hitting them both with big T-Bone Suplexes which they sell as finishers. This distraction is enough to let the Brain Trust sneak away through the crowd.

RVD cuts a backstage promo saying that Dolph was the better man last night, but that doesn’t mean Rob doesn’t have what it takes to beat him. He announces that he will be getting his return match on February 23rd at Battle Ground in Detroit, Michigan, just two hours from his hometown of Battle Creek, and with his heart and determination and his training and the support of the fans, he will regain the WWE Title.


Renee Young is interviewing Naomi. She asks if it is true that Sandow and Otunga have left the arena because they are afraid of Brodus. Naomi insists that this is untrue. They left the arena to strategize for her match against AJ on Main Event. Renee then asks Naomi if Cameron earned her respect through her valiant effort in their Divas Title match last night at the Royal Rumble. Naomi says that she still thinks Cameron is a joke, and claims to be both the smartest and best Diva in the WWE.

BIG SHOW vs. TENSAI-
Big Show pins Tensai clean in seven minutes after a Chokeslam.

The Usos cut a backstage promo saying that they will win the tag titles from the European Union at Battleground.

Sheamus cut a backstage promo talking about how big of an honor it was to wrestle Triple H one more time. He puts Hunter over big, but also says that he is ready to move on to his next challenge.

CODY RHODES vs. SETH ROLLINS-
Cody wins clean in twenty minutes with the CrossRhodes. Cody is cool, calm, and methodical in the ring. The announcers say that he seems to be blocking out everything but the match, even ignoring the crowd.


Shawn Michaels comes out to the ring and introduces the winner of the 2014 Royal Rumble match: Daniel Bryan. Dragon & AJ come out, HBK puts Dragon over huge, and Dragon thanks everyone, especially AJ and HBK, for believing in him even when he himself didn’t. He says that everyone can mark Wrestlemania XXX, April 6th, 2014, down on their calendars as the day that he and AJ will achieve their dream of becoming champions together.

EVAN BOURNE & R-TRUTH vs. THE COLONS (w/Rosa Mendes)-
Bourne & Truth win clean in ten minutes. After the match, Truth grabs a mic and says that Barrett and Cesaro shouldn’t get too used to being tag champs because they are still owed a title shot, and they want it as soon as possible.

Renee Young interviews Cameron. She asks Cameron if she has any response to Naomi’s comments from earlier. Cameron says that she doesn’t care about earning Naomi’s respect anymore because last night she earned the respect of people who matter a lot more: the WWE Universe and veteran Divas in the locker room… but when she eventually does beat Naomi for the Divas Title, then maybe that will make Naomi see the light, too.

KOFI KINGSTON vs. RANDY ORTON (w/Bo Dallas)-
Randy wins clean in twenty minutes after an RKO.

Cesaro and Wade Barrett cut a backstage promo putting over their tag team title victory. They say it doesn’t matter who has a title shot: PTP, Bourne & Truth, the Usos… it doesn’t matter because they are all Americans and therefore they are not as good as Europeans.

CM PUNK vs. SIN CARA vs. HEATH SLATER vs. CHRISTIAN (w/Paige)-
Punk wins clean in twelve minutes, making Heath tap the Anaconda Vise.

Renee Young is backstage with Miz, Del Rio, Ricardo, and, surprisingly, Roman Reigns. Miz says that not only is he perfectly okay with Reigns eliminating him from the Royal Rumble last night, but he is proud of Reigns for doing so. Reigns saw an opportunity and took it, and that is one of the traits of a true champion. Del Rio also puts this same idea over, reminding everyone that both he and the Miz won the WWE Title by seizing an opportunity and cashing in on an injured champion.

JOHN CENA vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER (w/Vickie Guerrero)-
Cena wins by DQ in ten minutes when Mark Henry attacks him during a double-down.

[Big Red Machine]

An out-out-of universe note:

Previously, when a talent has left WWE in the real world, I have followed WWE's real-world roster pretty closely, not using that talent after the release date. I have now chosen to change that policy. For guys who are released because "creative has nothing for them," I will keep them around if I see fit, especially if I have some sort of plan for them (because me, being create here, would actually have something for them). For releases that seem to be financially driven, as many of these recent "Black Thursday" releases do, I will attempt to release the same number of guys, but reserve the right to make some changes (especially if I don't want to release them because I have something for them).
If someone gets released because they get in legal trouble or something like that, I will release that person as well.

On a related note, I have chosen to deal with the CM Punk walkout in the following manner: I will continue as if it didn't happen. My reasoning for this is that the reasons Punk was reported to be upset were that he didn't get the promised Wrestlemania main event (which I did give him) and he was unhappy with part-time talent coming in and taking big spots at Mania, which is something else I have not done. If Punk does not resign when his contract expires, I will stop using him then.

I have also elected to not use Batista because I don't think I need him, and because I used RVD, another "part-timer" more often than I believe his contract allowed (though I would hope that between giving Rob some time off at various points during the fall and giving him a WWE Title run, he would agree to work all of the TVs and PPVs I'd want him to).

[Big Red Machine]

WWE.com announces that starting next week on Raw, there will be a twelve man tournament to determine the number one contender to the Intercontinental Title at Battleground.
Tonight’s edition of WWE Main Event will feature two big matches: First, Naomi will take on AJ Bryan, and then, in the main event, the European Union will make their first defense of the WWE World Tag Team Titles when they face Evan Bourne & R-Truth!




Main Event: (1/29/2014)
Main Event opens with CM Punk coming out to the ring to cut a promo. He says that he met with Steph today and Steph told him that they are doing this IC Title #1 contendership tournament to give him some time off after his grueling series of title defense since winning the belt. He says that he appreciates the sentiment, but he doesn’t want the time off. He wants to defend his title night in and night out. He says that he and Steph reached a compromise: Once the tournament starts, he will not defend the title until Battleground (so that the tournament will legitimately determine a number one contender), but until then, he will make open challenges for the IC Title on every show, so he is out here to make his right now.
Punk’s open challenge is answered by Alberto Del Rio…

WWE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: CM Punk(c) vs. Alberto Del Rio (w/Ricardo Rodriguez)-
Early on, Roman Reigns and the Miz ran out to interfere, leading to several nearfalls for Del Rio, but Punk eventually managed to make Alberto tap to the Anaconda Vise in eleven minutes

AJ BRYAN (w/Daniel Bryan) vs. NAOMI (w/the Brain Trust)-
Brodus shows up early on and chases Sandow and Otunga away. Naomi beats AJ clean in nine minutes.

WWE WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The European Union(c) (w/Aksana) vs. R-Truth & Evan Bourne-
European Union win clean in fourteen minutes when Wade pins Truth after the Barrett Barrage.





WWE.com reports that Brodus Clay & Yoshi Tatsu vs. The Colons has been signed for tonight’s Superstars. The main event of tonight’s show will be CM Punk’s open challenge for the Intercontinental Title.





BREAKING NEWS! WWE has been able to establish that Bray Wyatt, the man who jumped the barricade at Royal Rumble at the behest of Luke Harper and Dean Ambrose, is, in fact, missing WWE NXT superstar Husky Harris!
WWE is very, very glad that Husky has been found and is no longer missing. He has, however, insisted that he is ready to return to WWE, and WWE agrees. Mr. Harris, or “Bray Wyatt” as he is now calling himself, will be at Raw for a special in-ring sit-down interview with Michael Cole.
As a result of this revelation, WWE has lifted the suspensions of Ambrose and Harper. They will return to WWE tomorrow night on Smackdown.




Superstars: (1/30/2014)

BRODUS CLAY & YOSHI TATSU (w/Cameron) vs. THE COLONS (w/Rosa Mendes)-
Cameron does her standard dancing during the entrance, but Brodus doesn’t. Yoshi Tatsu starts for the babyfaces and quickly becomes the babyface in peril. He eventually manages to make a tag to Brodus who just destroys the Colons, tossing them all over the place with a bunch of suplexes before pinning Primo after a T-bone Suplex.

HEATH SLATER vs. SANTINO MARELLA-
Heath wins clean in six minutes

Bo Dallas cuts a promo saying he was so happy that his cousin Husky Harris has finally been confirmed as being found. He has been calling Husky, but Husky didn’t pick his phone up, but that’s okay because he is going through some hard stuff right now, and Bo can’t wait to see him when he returns to WWE on Monday!

CM Punk comes out to make his open challenge for the IC Title. The challenge is answered by The Miz.

WWE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: CM Punk(c) vs. The Miz (w/Roman Reigns, Alberto Del Rio, & Ricardo Rodriguez)-
Just like last night, the heels’ antics sets Miz up for a few nearfalls. At one point after a chair shot, the ref actually counts the three on Punk, only to then realize that Punk’s foot was on the ropes and restart the match. Punk eventually makes him tap to the Anaconda Vise.



Smackdown: (1/31/2014)- Toledo, OH
THE PRIME TIME PLAYERS vs. R-TRUTH & EVAN BOURNE-
PTP win clean in ten minutes

We go backstage to Brad Maddox who is supposed to be interviewing Harper and Ambrose, but they apparently aren’t here yet.

JINDER MAHAL vs. DANIEL BRYAN (w/AJ Bryan)-
Bryan squashes Jinder in under two minutes, making him tap to the Yes Lock.
Renee Young gets a reaction interview from Dragon. He says that things are coming together, and he vows that when Wrestlemania XXX goes off the air, he and AJ will fulfill their dream of being champions together.

CODY RHODES vs. TENSAI-
Cody wins clean in ten minutes. He works very methodically and maintains a calm demeanor throughout the match.

CM Punk comes out to make his open challenge. It is answered by Roman Reigns-
WWE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: CM Punk(c) vs. Roman Reigns (w/The Miz, Alberto Del Rio, & Ricardo Rodriguez)-
Once again the heels use their numbers to distract the ref and try to cheat and interfere. Miz slides in with a chair while Del Rio and Ricardo distract the ref. Miz charges at Punk and swings the chair… but Punk avoids it and accidentally hits Reigns instead. Punk grabs Miz and tosses him out of the ring onto Del Rio and Ricardo, then pins Reigns and the ref counts to three.


NATALYA (w/Tyson Kidd) vs. AJ BRYAN (w/Daniel Bryan)-
Nattie wins clean in eight minutes, making AJ tap to the Sharpshooter.

RANDY ORTON & BO DALLAS vs. THE EUROPEAN UNION (w/Aksana)-
Towards the end of the match, Harper and Rowan come out on the stage. Bo immediately runs to them and asks them if they have seen his cousin Husky. They don’t answer him at all. While this is happening, Orton eats a Barrett Barrage, then gets tossed up for the Pop-up European uppercut.
When Bo hears the bell and realizes what has happened, he runs up the ramp to check on Orton (Harper & Ambrose go backstage). Randy is FURIOUS with Bo. He slaps Bo across the face a few times while shouting KEEP! YOUR HEAD! IN! THE GAME!” Then he gives Bo and RKO and angrily storms off

Dolph Ziggler cuts a promo saying that it doesn’t matter how hard RVD trains for their rematch, and it certainly doesn’t matter if the fans are behind him because the fans don’t matter at all.

JOHN CENA vs. MARK HENRY-
Mark works over Cena’s ribs the whole match, then locks him in a bearhug. Cena grabs the ropes, but Mark won’t let go and gets DQed. Mark still doesn’t let go, and a bunch of referee show up and try to try him Mark. Mark eventually lets go of his own volition, and the show goes off the air with Cena clutching his ribs in pain and being attended to by medical personnel.

[Big Red Machine]

I have decided to do most of this month as a breakdown of the angles rather than booking out all of the shows because I felt that would be easiest (I apologize in advance because the IC Title #1 Contendership Tournament section is pretty hard to read, but please bear with it). I will go back to full-on booking for the final Superstars and the go-home Smackdown, as well as Battleground. I then plan on doing the build-up for Wrestlemania XXX in a similar format.



WWE.com announces that both Primo Colon and Randy Orton have been injured. Primo will be out for a few months, having injured his shoulder Brodus Clay hit him with a bunch of suplexes on Superstars. Randy Orton has suffered a very mild concussion at the end of his match on Smackdown. He will be out for a few weeks.



WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE & JOHN CENA STUFF:
On the February 3rd Raw, Cena comes out with taped-up ribs and cuts a promo on Mark Henry saying that if Mark wants to just ignore the rules, that’s fine with Cena, too. Cena challenges Mark to a No DQ’s match on Smackdown, and Mark accepts. Mark offers a handshake, which Cena warily accepts. Mark tries to pull Cena in for a bearhug, but Cena manages to slither free. He lands some punches on Mark and then tries to go for the AA, but he can’t get Mark up because of his injured ribs.
On Smackdown they have their No DQ’s match in the main event. The story of the match is that Cena’s ribs are too injured to get Mark up for the AA and Mark is too big and strong for Cena to lock the STFU in tightly, so Cena needs to find another way to beat Mark. He finally settles on “hit him in the head with stuff” (which can all be gimmicked to make it safe) and the finish sees Cena knock Mark out by hitting him in the head repeatedly with one of the monitors from the announce desk. (It is later announced that Mark has suffered a concussion and will be out of action)

The main event of the Feb. 10th Raw is a non-title match between Cena and Sheamus, which Cena wins clean. The announcers make a HUGE deal out of this not just because the World Heavyweight Champion lost, because of how dominant Sheamus has been. This results in Cena being named #1 contender to the World Heavyweight Title at Battleground. (To build this up on Sheamus’ end, we maybe do some interviews with Renee or Byron asking Sheamus why he thinks Cena was able to beat him this time, and Sheamus saying he doesn’t know, but he does know that he has beaten Cena in the past, too, so he still likes his chances at Battleground.

WWE TITLE MATCH BUILD:
At the Feb. 3rd Raw we get a tag match pitting RVD & International Airstrike 2.0 against Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, & Michael McGillicutty. Rob is about to win, but Vickie distracts him, giving Dolph time to recover and then hit the Zig-Zag for the win. On the next Smackdown, Renee Young asks Rob if he thinks he will be able to overcome Dolph Ziggler having Vickie Guerrero at ringside. Rob replies that he has recruited one of wrestling’s greatest managers to help him train for his match and to be in his corner at Battleground to counteract Vickie.

BRAY WYATT STUFF:
On the February 3rd Raw, Michael Cole conducts a sit-down interview in the ring with Bray Wyatt. As Bray, Harper, and Ambrose come out to the ring, the graphic on the screen refers to Bray as “Husky Harris.” Cole and Bray are both seated on stools while Harper and Ambrose stand silently behind Bray.
Cole: Now Husky, you ha-
Bray: My name is Bray Wyatt.
Cole: Okay Mr. Wyatt, if that is how you would like to be known from now on, that’s fine, but you did perform in WWE as Husky Harris prior to your disappearance in September, correct?
Bray: Yes. I was Husky Harris. But not anymore. I didn’t disappear; Bray Wyatt appeared. I left Husky Harris in that car wreck in the same ditch on the side of the road in Louisiana where I discovered my true purpose.
Cole (clearly looking a little creeped out): And that purpose is?
Bray (laughing): To help people, Michael. That’s what I do. I help people.
Cole: Help people?
Bray: Yes, Michael. You see, there are monsters in this world. They live inside of us, and they do terrible, terrible things. They destroy dreams and they ruin lives… but no more. Because I conquer these monsters, Michael. I tame them. I make sure that they never cause problems again.
Cole: What is your relationship to these two men, Luke Harper and Dean Ambrose.
Bray: They are my brothers. Just like all of you are my brothers and sisters, and I want to help you like I helped them. You see, one day in early December I was doing what I always do. I would wander around the area of the bayou where I had made my home, and I would help those in need who came to my little town. One day, as if guided by destiny itself, Brother Harper wandered into my little town. I saw that he needed my help. I saw the monster within him; the monster that had been ruining his life: The failure that had been eating away at him for over a month. And I helped him tame that monster, and I sent him on his way in the world.
Then, a few weeks later, he returned to me with another troubled soul: Brother Ambrose. And I helped tame Brother Ambrose’s monster as well, and I sent them back here, to the WWE, as success stories. As proof of the sincerity and effectiveness of my offer of help, which I extended to each and every one of you, my brothers and sisters around the world.
Cole: Okay… What is your issue with Kane? What did your men assault him at the Royal Rumble?
Bray: As a token of my goodwill to the WWE Universe. Kane is a monster, and he is one who has plagued the WWE Universe for years… but I have conquered him! I have saved you all from this monster, just I can save you all from the monsters inside of you.
Cole: What about your relationship with your cousin, Bo Dallas?
Bray (chuckling): Yes, he is Husky Harris’ cousin, is he not? My offer extends to him, just as it does to anyone and everyone around the world who wants to join my family.



On that same show, we get a backstage segment with Bo and the Wyatt Family. Bo asks his cousin Husky for help. He says he feels really bad about the way he let his mentor Randy Orton down on Smackdown, which led to Randy getting injured, and the way he has been letting both Randy and himself down since Husky disappeared. He wants Husky to help him become a better, more focused wrestler like he has done for Ambrose and Harper.
Bray listens, almost stoically, before giving a little chuckle and answering, “yes, my brother. I know exactly how to help you.”

Over the course of the next two weeks, for all of Bo’s matches, Bray Wyatt watches from ringside in a rocking chair, with Ambrose and Harper standing silently behind him. Sometimes Bo wins, other times he loses, but he is always eager for feedback from Bray. Bray tends to chuckle at Bo, and gives him some cryptic pieces of advice like “be what you want to be.” The advice he gives Bo is very different in tone from the sermons he preaches to the crowd on Raw, in which he talks about taming monsters and offers to save any of his brothers and sisters who will listen to his call. For their part, Ambrose and Harper wrestle some undercard matches, both as a team and as singles, and win them all dominantly.
Bo picks up wins on the Feb. 17 & 19 editions of Raw and Main Event. On the Feb 20 edition of Superstars, he cuts a promo saying that he can’t wait for tomorrow night’s Smackdown (the go-home show) when Randy Orton returns from his injury, so that Bo can show Randy how much he has improved.


BRYANS STUFF
Daniel Bryan keeps picking up strong wins, dominating the competition. AJ, on the other hand, almost always comes up on the losing end of her matches. She begins expressing doubt to Dragon that she won’t even be able to earn a Divas Title match at Wrestlemania, much less win one.
Towards the end of the month, Alberto Del Rio starts to take every opportunity to insult AJ, and by doing this, he eventually manages to goad Daniel Bryan into putting his Wresltemania world title match on the line in a singles match at Battleground.


UNDERCARD TITLES PICTURE
The Intercontinental Title #1 Contendership Tournament is a twelve man tournament with three blocks of four competitors each. Each block will have two first-round matches, and then the winners will meet in the block finals. The winner of each block will then go on to the tournament finals in a three way match. There will be one match on each show, starting with the February 3rd Raw, and continuing until the finals on the February 19th episode of WWE Main Event. Each block will not start until the block before it has completed (so all three Block A matches will take place before any of the Block B matches start).
Block A’s preliminary matches will be Tensai vs. Seth Rollins and Zack Ryder vs. The Miz (who, despite his recent loss in an IC Title match to CM Punk on the 1/30/2014 Superstars, is being put in this tournament because the ref had originally counted Miz as the winner before realizing that Punk’s foot was on the ropes).
Block B’s preliminary matches will be Kof Kingston vs. The Great Khali and Damien Sandow vs. Brodus Clay. Block C’s preliminary matches will be Heath Slater vs. Sin Cara and R-Truth facing his tag team partner, the United States Champion Evan Bourne.

Raw 2/3- BLOCK A PRELIMINARY: Rollins def. Tensai clean.
Also on this show, we get a backstage segment with Reigns angry at Miz for accidentally costing him his IC Title match on Smackdown. Miz apologizes, but stresses that it is important that they put that behind them and focus on their next task, which is making sure that Miz wins this tournament and the IC Title.
Main Event 2/5- BLOCK A PRELIMINARY: Miz def. Ryder via heel tactics from Del Rio, Reigns and Ricardo at ringside
Superstars 2/6- BLOCK A FINALS: Miz def. Rollins via cheating by him and his pals at ringside.
Smackdown 2/7- BLOCK B PRELIMINARY: Damien Sandow def. Brodus Clay by count-out
Brodus charges down to the ring to get Sandow. Sandow slides out of the ring and leads Brodus on a chase around the ring. When the ref is just about to count ten, Sandow slides back in and is awarded the victory via count-out. Brodus slides into the ring as well and attacks Sandow from behind, beats him down, then gives him a big T-bone Suplex through the Spanish announce table.
Raw 2/10- Kofi Kingston is found unconscious backstage before his match (he will later be diagnosed with a concussion and be out of action. He also later gives an interview saying that he doesn’t know who attacked him: He just best himself get hit in the back of the ehad, and that is the last thing he remembers.)
Steph says that because Roman Reigns got screwed in his IC Title match on Smackdown, she is giving him Kofi’s spot in the tournament. Reigns comes out by himself and defeats Khali clean in the middle of the ring after a spear.
We get a backstage segment where Miz is upset that Rollins got himself entered into the IC Title #1 Contendership Tournament, but Reigns quotes Miz’s own rule about “creating opportunities” back to him.
Main Event 2/12- BLOCK B FINALS: Damien Sandow (w/Naomi) vs. Roman Reigns (w/The Miz, Alberto Del Rio, & Ricardo Rodriguez)-
Brodus charges down to the ring to attack Sandow, but Otunga was waiting in the crowd and ambushes him. The finish comes when Naomi has the referee distracted, so Del Rio jumps into the ring to attack Sandow, but Naomi smartly stops distracting the referee, who turns around just in time to see Alberto kick Sandow, resulting in Sandow winning by DQ.
Over the course of the next week, we do see Miz, Del Rio, and Reigns working better together, able to succesasfully use their heel tactics to pick up wins, including a win by Del Rio over Seth Rollins.
Superstars 2/13- BLOCK C PRELIMINARY MATCH: Sin Cara def. Heath Slater
This show also sees Brodus Clay assault Sandow and Otunga backstage.
Smackdown 2/14- BLOCK C PRELIMINARY MATCH: R-Truth vs. Evan Bourne-
Truth pins his tag team partner the US Champion Evan Bourne, clean in the middle of the ring. They shake hands afterwards.
This show also sees a tag team match pitting Heath Slater & Tensai against Co-Bro. In this match, Co-Bro use a lot of comedy, Colt Cabana-style offense, which makes Tensai very angry, but no matter what Tensai does, Co-Bro always wind up making him look silly, culminating in Ryder avoiding Stinger Splashes in all fourners of the ring successively, where after Santino does the school boy (not the wrestling move, but the schoolyard joke from which the wrestling move takes its name), causing Tensai to hit the back of his head on the mat. Then, as Tensai is trying to get up, Santino tosses Ryder the Cobra. Ryder puts the Cobra on his leg and hits Tensai with a Rough Ryder, then pins him. After the match, Tensai storms off furiously.
Also on this show, an angry Brodus Clay once again assault Sandow and Otunga backstage. After the assault, we get a backstage segment where Cameron tells Brodus that he hasn’t been himself lately. She says that he has already gotten his revenge on the Brain Trust for putting him out of action back in November, and it is time to let it go and be the old Brodus again. Brodus says that he will try.

Raw 2/17- BLOCK C FINALS: Sin Cara def. R-Truth (w/Evan Bourne)-
Later in the night, now that we know the Truth is eliminated from the IC Title #1 contendership tournament, Truth vs. Bourne for the US Title is announced as the main event of this week’s Superstars.
Also on this show, we get a match between Tensai and Brodus Clay. Brodus comes out with Cameron and they try to do their usual dancing, but Brodus very much doesn’t seem to be feeling it. Once the bell rings, however, Brodus seems to switch into kill mode. He and Tensai have a very hard-hitting big-man slugfest which ends when Brodus pins Tensai after an Exploder Suplex. Bray Wyatt came out to watch from the stage in his rocking chair, and laughs the whole time.

Main Event 2/19- THREE WAY TOURNAMENT FINALS: Sin Cara vs. Damien Sandow (w/David Otunga & Naomi) vs. The Miz (w/Alberto Del Rio, Ricardo Rodriguez, & Roman Reigns).
An angry Brodus Clay comes out to chase Naomi and Otunga away. The finish comes when Cara has the match won, but Miz’s pals pull Miz out of the ring right before the ref’s hand hits the match for three. Sandow then quickly rolls Cara up and gets the pin, stealing the match and becoming the #1 contender to the IC Title.



TAG TEAM TITLE PICTURE:
On the Feb. 3rd Raw, the Prime Time Players defeat t McIntyre & McGillictty. On the Feb 7th Smackdown, they beat International Airstrike 2.0. On the Feb. 10th Raw they cut a promo saying that they want their return match against the European Union. The match takes place on the Feb. 12th Main Event, and ends in a DQ when Big Show attacks PTP (the announcers surmise that Big Show must have been the one to attack Kofi backstage on Raw as well, and that he is still angry at this Survivor Series team for costing him a chance to earn a title match, and thus he doesn’t want to let them win titles either).
A rematch is signed for the Feb 14th Smackdown in a steel cage in order to prevent Big Show from interfering. It doesn’t work because Big just rips the cage open to get inside and attack PTP (Barrett and Cesaro win by escaping the cage and retain the titles). Big Show destroys PTP, first hitting them both with WMDs, then slamming them into the cage before finally chokeslamming each one through an announcers’ table.
Meanwhile, The Usos are getting wins and training hard for their tag team title match at Battleground, which they earned at the Royal Rumble.

DIVAS TITLE PICTURE:
Naomi is still calling Cameron a joke, and is now also bragging about having AJ’s number. Natalya says that she is still owed a Divas Title shot because the one she had on the January 9th Superstars ended in a count-out because Naomi was too afraid of Cameron. Nattie also lectures Naomi on being a good locker room leader because that is what a champ is supposed to do, and says that tNaomi being a jerk to the other Divas (especially the disrespect she is showing Cameron and AJ) is not the way a true champion should behave. Naomi counters by saying that she is smarter than all of them, so she can treat them however she likes. Nattie and Naomi have a Divas Title match scheduled for Battleground.

[Big Red Machine]

WWE.com reports that Randy Orton will be returning to action on this week’s Smackdown, which will feature a HUGE six man main event pitting Orton, Big Show, and Dolph Ziggler against RVD, John Cena, and Sheamus!
Also of note was a meeting between WWE Management and David Otunga yesterday at WWE Headquarters. Otunga lobbied to get Brodus Clay banned from ringside for all of his and Damien Sandow’s matches due to what Otunga described as “clear intent to injure” them, as Otunga argued that Brodus did to Primo Colon on the January 30th episode of Superstars. WWE Management has agreed to this, and the impact of this ruling will be felt immediately as the #1 contender to the Intercontinental Title Damien Sandow will go one-on-one with Justin Gabriel tonight on Superstars. Tonight’s Superstars will also see Brodus Clay take on Heath Slater and in the main event, R-Truth will challenge his tag team partner Evan Bourne for the United States Title!



Superstars (2/20/2014)-
DAMIEN SANDOW (w/David Otunga & Naomi) vs. JUSTIN GABRIEL (w/Adrian Neville)-
Sandow wins clean in twelve minutes with the Terminus.
During this match, we see shots of Brodus backstage, watching on the monitor, pacing angrily, while Cameron tries to calm him down.

Bo Dallas cuts a promo saying that he is so excited for his mentor Randy Orton to return to TV, and he can’t to show Randy how much better he is now that he has been taken his cousin Husky… sorry. I mean Bray Wyatt’s advice.

BRODUS CLAY (w/Cameron) vs. HEATH SLATER-
Cameron tries to get Brodus to dance, but once again, he really isn’t into it. Heath gets destroyed.

WWE UNITED STATES TITLE MATCH: Evan Bourne(c) vs. R-Truth-
Bourne wins in sixteen minutes after an Air Bourne, but the ref doesn’t notice that R-Truth’s foot was under the ropes.





Tonight’s Smackdown should be one to remember, with several big matches signed just two days before Battleground. As announced yesterday, Smackdown will feature a huge six man tag team main event which pits Big Show, WWE Champion Dolph Ziggler, and the returning Randy Orton against the #1 Contender to the WWE Title Rob Van Dam, World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus, and the #1 contender to the World Heavyweight Title, John Cena. Other matches signed include Daniel Bryan & Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns & The Miz, Bo Dallas vs. Tensai, and the husband and wife team of Tyson Kidd and Natalya taking on Daivd Otunga and WWE Divas Champion Naomi of the Brain Trust.
Speaking of the Brain Trust, their third member, Damien Sandow, has asked for some time tonight to address the man whose title he will try to take in just two days, WWE Intercontinental Champion CM Punk.


In the afternoon on Friday, WWE.com reports breaking news: a new match has been signed for this Sunday’s Battleground PPV, pitting the Wyatt Family against Randy Orton, Tyson Kidd, and Cody Rhodes. Bray Wyatt himself pitched the match to WWE General Manager Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, and he will have an exclusive interview with Renee Young tonight on Smackdown explaining why he requested to face these three tough competitors in his first match back in the WWE.



Smackdown (2/21/2014)- Colorado Springs, CO
SETH ROLLINS & DANIEL BRYAN (w/AJ Bryan) vs. ROMAN REIGNS & THE MIZ (w/Alberto Del Rio & Ricardo Rodriguez)-
Del Rio instructs Ricardo to use his mic to say mean, terrible things about AJ. This makes Dragon angry, and he goes and chases Del Rio and Ricardo to the back. As a result, Rollins is left alone in the ring against the two heels and winds up getting pinned by Miz. Total time is about eight minutes.

BO DALLAS vs. TENSAI-
Bo wins clean in eight minutes, pinning Tensai after hitting him with two spears. Bray Wyatt once again watched from his rocking chair on the stage, laughing the whole time, with Ambrose and Harper standing silently behind him.
At the end of the match, Michael alerts us that there is some breaking news backstage, and that we will have a big announcement about Sunday’s PPV when we come back from commercial. When we return from the commercial, Evan Bourne is standing backstage with Steph. Bourne explains that over the past few weeks, he has hated seeing worthy challengers get screwed in the WWE Intercontinental Title #1 Contendership Tournament by the cheating antics of The Miz, Alberto Del Rio, and their group. He can’t change the results of the matches, but he can give those guys something similar to the title opportunity they were robbed off. He says that he went to Steph and asked for a match to be booked at Battleground: a fatal four way elimination match for a future shot at his United States Title between the four guys who got screwed in the IC Title Tournament: Seth Rollins, Sin Cara, Zack Ryder… and even Miz and Del Rio’s cohort Roman Reigns. (Bourne points out that Reigns beat Khali on his own in the opening round with no help at all, but then lost when Del Rio and Miz tried to help him, and says that he hopes Reigns realizes that he doesn’t need to cheat to get to the top).
Steph then announces that as a result of the controversial finish to last night’s US Title match, R-Truth will receive another shot at the title at some point next week. For tonight, though, she says that she has just finalized another match… Bourne and Truth will have to team together to take on the WWE World Tag Team Champions, the European Union!

TYSON KIDD & NATALYA NEIDHART vs. DAVID OTUNGA & NAOMI (w/Damien Sandow)-
Nattie and TJ win clean in six minutes when Tyson makes Otunga tap clean to the Dungeon Lock.

Byron Saxton is backstage interviewing Randy Orton. Randy says he feels good and is 100% ready to return to the ring. Bo Dallas runs up to him and apologizes again for not paying attention to the match three weeks ago which resulting in Randy getting injured. Bo then asks Randy if he was impressed by his win against Tensai earlier. Randy says he has been impressed by Bo’s wins since he has been gone, but also adds in that Bo still has some work to do, as his losses have proved. Bo says that Bray Wyatt’s advice has really helped him to stay focused on matches and helped him become a better wrestler all around. Orton tells Bo that the everything Bray is saying is just meaningless crap, and that the ability to succeed has been within Bo all along. He doesn’t need Bray’s help, or even Randy’s. He just needs to work on his game.
Randy walks off, and Bo seems distraught.

BRODUS CLAY & CAMERON vs. JINDER MAHAL & NIKKI BELLA (w/Brie Bella)-
Brodus really tries to get into the dancing during his and Cameron’s entrance, but his heart just doesn’t seem in it. Nikki and Cameron start, and they do some comedy (maybe have the Bellas get caught doing a twin switch due to the breast-size difference, then do a spot where Brie grabs a spare turnbuckle cover from under the ring, rips it open, and tries to stuff her bra so she looks more like Nikki?). After about a minute or two of comedy from the women, Nikki tags Jinder in, forcing the babyfaces to switch as well. The tone of the match immediately changes, as Brodus charges across the ring and just DESTROYS Jinder, picking up the win about forty seconds later after a T-bone Suplex.

Renee Young is backstage interviewing Bray Wyatt. She first asks him why he asked to face Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, and Tyson Kidd at Battleground. Bray tells her that those three guys are “hungry,” and that makes them very dangerous. He intends to show that people who become part of his family, people who can tame their inner monsters, are even more dangerous.
Renee also mentions that someone also asked her to ask what was up with Bray laughing during the Tensai vs. Brodus Clay match on Raw. Bray responds by breaking into laughter again asking “how could you not laugh, Renee? A man pretending to be a monster, and a monster pretending to be a man!” Ambrose and Harper also now break out into laughter along with Bray, and the trio walks away, leaving Renee (and the announcers) confused.


Christian comes out to the ring and cuts a promo. - he claims he doesn’t have a match on PPV because everyone is afraid of him. The Wyatts didn’t want to face him because he is too hungry and dangerous. Dragon would never put his #1 contendership up against him because he knows he would lose, and Bourne didn’t want him in his #1 contendership match because he knew he would win the match and then beat him, and Punk politicked to keep him out of the IC Title tournament for the same reason.
Steph comes out and says that she does actually have someone for Christian to face at Battleground…
RYBACK’s music played, and Christian totally freaked. Ryback charged out to the ring, but Christian ran away.

RVD cut a promo saying that tonight will be a preview of Battleground. He is going to beat Dolph Ziggler’s team tonight, just like he will beat Dolph at Battleground, and if Vickie tries to interfere tonight, Rob’s special backup will counteract her, just like will happen at Battleground.

EVAN BOURNE & R-TRUTH vs. THE EUROPEAN UNION (Wade Barrett & Antonio Cesaro) (w/Aksana)-
Truth and Bourne work together fine, despite JBL’s claims that Truth might turn on Bourne at any moment in order to gain an advantage in their title match next week. The Usos also do commentary. The announcers are impressed by Cesaro and Barrett’s power, and how easily they thrown their opponents around. The Usos remind everyone that back in the fall, they made a bit of a reputation for themselves as guys who could overcome a size and power disadvantage, and they will do just that on Sunday and win the WWE World Tag Team Titles.

We get a backstage segment that teased that Cena and Sheamus wouldn’t be able to get along tonight.

Damien Sandow comes out to the ring and cuts a promo. He says that he has absolutely no respect for most of the WWE Superstars because they are just dumb meathead jocks, but throughout the years, there has been one man who has repeatedly impressed him with his intellectual prowess, and that man is his opponent on Sunday at Battleground: CM Punk. Sandow asks Punk to come out, and Punk does.
Sandow starts giving Punk a whole series of backhanded complements
“You are smarter than you look, Mr. Punk. MUCH smarter in fact- though you’d really have to be”
“I have found myself developing a deep respect for you despite your… unsightly obsessions with crude art like tattoos.”
That sort of thing. Putting Punk over for being well-read, while at the same time, crapping on Punk’s appearance and taste in music, and other things that Sandow considers to be “uncultured.” Sandow then says that two intellectuals like him and Punk know that competition can breed friendship, and Sandow believes that their Intercontinental Title match at Battleground will be the beginning of a long friendship between them.
He then wants to celebrate with Punk in the manner of intellectuals. He goes under the ring and pulls out a cooler, and from that cooler, he pulls out two stemmed glasses and a bottle of fine wine. Punk politely refuses the drink, but Sandow insists. Punk once again refuses, reminding Sandow that drinking alcohol goes against his beliefs. Sandow says he understands what Punk is saying, as he, too, would never stoop so low as to drink something disgusting and undignified like Coors, because beer is the drink of the unwashed masses, but surely Punk will drink a fine intellectual’s drink like this fine Italian wine. Punk once again refuses, reminded Sandow that being Straight Edge means that he doesn’t consume any alcohol at all, no matter the type.
Sandow now gets frustrated and tells Punk that he can “drop the act.” Sandow is smart enough to know that someone as smart as Punk would never pass up a glass of such a fine wine. Punk also starts to get frustrated, but collects himself and tells Sandow that Sandow should be smart enough to know that if he doesn’t respect Punk’s beliefs, he isn’t the type of person Punk would want to be friends with. Punk wishes Sandow good luck in their title match, and then walks t the back. Sandow becomes very angry and looks like he might attack Punk from behind, but he doesn’t.


RVD, JOHN CENA, & SHEAMUS vs. BIG SHOW, RANDY ORTON, & DOLPH ZIGGLER (w/Vickie Guerrero)-
Cena and Sheamus manage to work together, but there is definitely some competition between them as they try to one-up each other. At one point when RVD is and Dolph are legal, Vickie reaches in and trips Rob up, giving Dolph the advantage. Bill Alfonzo runs out from backstage and chases Vickie off. Ziggler tags Orton in, and Rob pins Orton with the Frog Splash soon after.



WWE.com posts a reaction interview with Randy Orton. Renee asks Randy if he feels that losing his first match back is a big setback for him. He says that Bray Wyatt has only been right about one thing in his life: Right now, Randy is dangerous and hungry, and losing this match has only made him hungrier for a win on PPV.






BATTLEGROUND RUNDOWN

WWE Battleground (2/23/2014)- Detroit, MI:


WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Sheamus(c) vs. John Cena
Cena pinned Sheamus two weeks ago on Raw, becoming just becoming just the fifth man to do so in the almost twenty-eight months, and just the third man to do so since Sheamus won the World Heavyweight Title almost two years ago! Can John Cena once again defy the odds be the main to end the Celtic Warriors amazing run with the title? Or will John Cena fall, just like everyone else who has tried to take Sheamus' championship?

WWE TITLE MATCH: Dolph Ziggler(c) (w/Vickie Guerrero) vs. Rob Van Dam (w/Bill Alfonzo)
Will Van Dam's old manager's training strategy and presence at ringside to counter Vickie Guerrero result in another WWE Championship for RVD? Or will the Show-off once again defeat Van Dam... and this time, show him up front of his home-state crowd?

WINNER GOES ON TO MAIN EVENT WRESTLEMANIA: Daniel Bryan (w/AJ Bryan) vs. Alberto Del Rio (w/Ricardo Rodriguez)
Del Rio managed to goad Bryan into putting his Wrestlemania main event on the line in this match by insulting Bryan's wife AJ. Will Bryan be able to keep his temper under control? Or will Del Rio's mind games pay off and cause Bryan to make a mistake?

WWE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: CM Punk(c) vs. Damien Sandow (w/the Brain Trust)
Will Damien Sandow ride the momentum from his #1 Contendership Tournament victory into his first championship in the WWE? Or will CM Punk dispatch Sandow just like he has dispatched many other challenges in what has been shaping up as one of the most intense Intercontinental Title reigns of all time?

FOUR WAY ELIMINATION MATCH FOR A UNITED STATES TITLE MATCH: Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins vs. Zack Ryder vs. Sin Cara-
Which of these four worthy challengers will earn back a title opportunity that he was unjustly robbed of duirng the Intercontinental Title #1 Contendership Tournament?

WWE WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The European Union(c) (w/Aksana) vs. The Usos-
The Usos developed a reputation for using their speed to defeat power-wrestlers. Will they do so once again and capture the WWE World Tag Team Titles? Or will the European Union prove their dominance over another non-European team?

RYBACK vs. CHRISTIAN (w/Paige)
Ryback returns from three months off due to injury, and he has set his sights on the man who put him on the shelf: Christian.

THE WYATT FAMILY vs. CODY RHODES, TYSON KIDD, & RANDY ORTON (w/Bo Dallas & Natalya)-
The dangerous Wyatt Family faces off against three of the hungriest superstars in the WWE, as their leader, Bray Wyatt (formerly Husky Harris) makes his return to WWE.

WWE DIVAS TITLE: Naomi(c) (w/the Brain Trust) vs. Natalya Neidhart (w/Tyson Kidd)
Can the brash young upstart Naomi defeat the veteran Natalya? Or will Natalya take Naomi to school with a lesson on being a true champion?

[Big Red Machine]

WWE Battleground (2/23/2014)- Detroit, MI
PRE-SHOW:
WWE DIVAS TITLE MATCH: Naomi(c) (w/Damien Sandow & David Otunga) vs. Natalya Neidhart (w/Tyson Kidd)-
Naomi wins clean in ten minutes, making Nattie tap to the Figure Four Leg Lock. Del Rio comes out to do commentary for this match, and buries AJ, talking about how much better Nattie and Naomi are than AJ.

MAIN SHOW:
As they go to the opening video package, we suddenly hear Cole telling them to cut away and go to the ring. Del Rio is in the ring with a mic, and starts to say even more terrible things about AJ (it’s a PPV, so maybe you could have him call her a b*tch or a slut or something terrible). This brings out an extremely angry Daniel Bryan who says he isn’t going to wait anymore. He is going to shut Del Rio up right now!

WINNER GETS A WORLD TITLE MATCH AT WRESTLEMANIA XXX: Daniel Bryan vs. Alberto Del Rio (w/Ricardo Rodriguez)-
The story of the match is that Del Rio says mean things about AJ in an attempt to get Dragon so angry he will get himself DQed. At one point Dragon gets so angry that he grabs a chair, but AJ runs down to the ring and stops him from using it. AJ acts as a calming influence on Dragon, despite Del Rio’s best efforts to get him angry by making lewd motions towards AJ.
Eventually we get a ref bump and Reigns and Miz come down to the ring. Dragon gets beaten down, but the tide turns when he is able to sidestep a spear from Reigns, causing Reigns to spear The Miz. After shaking off the shock of what has happened, Reigns gets up and turns around right into a flying knee from Dragon, knocking him out.
Dragon and Del Rio wrestle a bit more until Dragon locks in the Yes Lock. Ricardo gets in the ring to try to interfere, but AJ jumps on him and locks in the Black Widow. The ref recovers, sees Del Rio tapping, and declares Dragon the winner by submission. AJ and Dragon celebrate together (total time is about twenty-two minutes)

RYBACK vs. CHRISTIAN (w/Paige)-
Christian comes out to the ring and says that he isn’t afraid of Ryback. He just had to go to the bathroom really badly and that was why he ran so quickly on Smackdown. Then Ryback comes out and Christian runs away. Christian spends the early part of the match running away, but Ryback manages to catch him. Ryback gets shined up real good, hitting his signature stuff, but Christian manages to escape the Shell Shock with an eye-rake, then chop-blocks Ryback in the knee (the same one that Christian injured back in November which is what put Ryback on the shelf in the first place). Christian gets the heat, Ryback makes his comeback and wins with the Shell Shock in eleven minutes.

THE WYATT FAMILY (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, & Dean Ambrose) vs. RANDY ORTON, CODY RHODES, & TYSON KIDD (w/Natalya Neidhart & Bo Dallas)-
The heels wrestle cleanly, but use their familiarity with each other to gain an advantage. The babyfaces make a comeback before we get the standard “flurry of finishers” leaving Orton and Bray as the only two standing. Bray counters an RKO by shoving Orton away. Then Bo jumps in the ring and spears Randy, causing a DQ at about the thirteen minute mark. Bray laughs, and welcomes Bo into his family.

FOUR WAY ELIMINATION MATCH FOR A FUTURE SHOT AT THE US TITLE: Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns vs. Sin Cara vs. Zack Ryder-
US Champion Evan Bourne, who came up with the idea for this match, is on commentary. Bourne puts over the fact that he put Reigns in this match because he knows Reigns can win without Miz & Del Rio, and that those guys are only getting in his way, as is evidenced by them costing him both the IC Title on Smackdown a few weeks ago, and his block finals match in the IC Title #1 Contendership Tournament.
Reigns eliminates Zack Ryder at about the eight minute mark and Sin Cara at about the eleven minute mark, both with spears. After that, Miz, Del Rio, and Ricardo come out, and Bourne vows that he won’t let them screw up this match. He goes to fight them but gets beaten down until R-Truth and Daniel Bryan come out to make the save, and they chase the three heels away.
“Now we can really find out who the better man is!” the announcers happily declare.
Sorry guys.
Corey Graves makes his return, snapping Rollins’ head on the ropes (the ref is distracted putting a turnbuckle cover back on or something), which allows Reigns to spear Rollins for the win at the fifteen minute mark.


Josh Matthews interviews the Wyatt Family backstage. He asks Bo why Bo turned on Orton. Bo says that Randy was right: Bo didn’t need him to succeed… so given the choice between being with a no-longer necessary mentor with a violent, explosive temper, or being with his cousin who wants to help him, Bo chose his cousin.
Bray then cut a promo saying that some monsters are real, and others are just pretend… but he can tame them all.


WWE WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The European Union(c) (w/Aksana) vs. The Usos-
Barrett and Cesaro retain clean in seventeen minutes. The finish comes when an Uso goes for a big splash onto Wade, but Cesaro intercepts it with the European Uppercut, allowing Barrett to pin the Uso in question.

WWE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: CM Punk(c) vs. Damien Sandow (w/David Otunga & Naomi)-
Tensai jumps Punk form behind while Punk is making his entrance and throws him into a bunch of stuff on the stage and does some slams on the stage. After watching for about five minutes, Sandow grabs a chair and chases Tensai off. Sandow then helps Punk to the ring.
The ref asks Punk if he is okay, but before Punk can answer, Otunga jumps up onto the stage and insists that the rulebook says that if a competitor is able to make it to the ring, he is okay to wrestle a match. The announcers make it clear to us that this is a very strict “letter of the law” reading, and exceptions are often made for cases like this. Otunga continues to shove the rulebook in the refs face. Punk eventually manages to pull himself up and asks for a mic. He says he will fight through this, just like he has fought through everything else. Sandow is very happy about this, goes over, gives Punk a hearty handshake, and the bell rings.
Punk fights as best he can, but Sandow beats him easily to win the IC Title. Total time for everything is about fourteen minutes.


WWE TITLE MATCH: Dolph Ziggler(c) (w/Vickie Guerrero) vs. Rob Van Dam (w/Bill Alfonzo)-
Vickie does something to distract Rob early on, but Fonzie chases her away. Once they are both to the back, the match is wrestled entirely cleanly after that, with Dolph picking up the win in about twenty-five minutes when Rob passes out in the sleeper hold.

WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Sheamus(c) vs. John Cena-
Sheamus wins clean in about twenty-five minutes, though with a whole bunch of false finishes on both sides to sell the idea that Cena might win.
(I figured this would be the main event because it is both the bigger match and because it allows a babyface to go over in the main event, instead of having a babyface lose cleanly in his home town in the main event).

[Big Red Machine]

WWE Network Launch-
Yeah… I forgot that this was in January and not February. My WWE Network works the same way as theirs, I guess. One big change is that Main Event is NOT live on Tuesdays. I will retain the pre-Network schedule so that all of my tapings are still in order (Raw on Monday, with Main Event taped after it, then Superstars taped on Tuesday before Smackdown is taped). I will still have the NXT Specials… I’m just not going to book them because that would be WAY too much work.
That being said, everyone should totally buy the WWE Network, because if you do, you will get every PPV ever and lots of other stuff, including the next six months of WWE PPVs, including: Wrestlemania XXX, Extreme Rules (early May), Payback (early June), MITB (late June), Elimination Chamber (July), Summer Slam (August) for just $9.99 a month!



SOME UNDERCARD MATCHES:
Christian and Ryback’s rivalry continues with Christian attack Ryback on the Raw after Battleground and taking out his knee and vowing to make sure that Ryback won’t be able to stand again. This builds to a Last Man Standing between them. We get a spot similar to Wyatt vs. Cena at Payback, except that it is Christian who buries Ryback under heavy equipment. Just to add insult to injury, Christian stands on top of said equipment as the referee makes the count. At the count of nine, the pile of stuff starts to shake, and everyone oohs and ahs as Ryback uses his immense strength to push the pile of equipment off of himself, which sends Christian, who was standing on top of it, flying. Ryback gets up and the referee then starts to count Christian down for the ten count, which he cannot answer.
Ryback’s strength once again becomes the talk of the WWE. At one point we get a segment in “WWE Laboratories” where WWE’s R&D team has brought Ryback in to help them test a new alloy to make their steel cages out of- one sturdy enough that not even the strongest WWE superstar can rip through it.
All of this attention being focused on how strong Ryback is makes Mark Henry very unhappy. He is the World’s Strongest Man, after all. We get a couple of segments like the ones that WWE did to build up to this match for Wrestlemania XXIX (I thought that the whole “can’t touch each other” stip and the angle with the bench-press competition were particularly great), in order to build up to Ryback vs. Mark Henry at Wrestlemania XXX.
After his loss to Ryback in the Last Man Standing match, Christian has a shaky time, winning about as much as he loses. Cody Rhodes has a similar record, though he wins about 65% of the time instead of 50. His new strategy of putting everything else out of his head and completely concentrating on the match seems to be paying off for him a bit. Christian vs. Cody Rhodes is also announced for Wrestlemania.

The new extra-strong steel cage is put to the test when the Prime Time Players are given another shot at the WWE World Tag Team Titles in the new steel cage (to make up for their previous cage match title shot, which Show ruined, then put them out of action). Big Show tries to rip the cage open, but the new cage is too strong. He waits for someone to try to escape out the door, but winds up getting the door kicked into his head by Titus O’Neil, causing him to bleed. The bleeding, groggy Big Show, sulks to the back and PTP are able to concentrate on their match without worrying about any interference.
The match is long and grueling, but the European Union eventually manage to pull out the win and retain the tag titles. As PTP go backstage after the match, they are assaulted on the stage by the Big Show, who was hiding just behind the curtain. He gives them both WMDs and chokeslams Titus on the stage. He picks Darren up and prepares to toss him off of the stage, when JACK SWAGGER jumps out of the crowd (he was sitting on the far side of the ring, so it took him a while to get up here, which is why he didn’t stop the beating sooner), grabs a chair, and attacks Big Show, making the save. Unfortunately for PTP, it came too late, as between the grueling cage match and the attack by Big Show, both of them suffered injuries and will have to miss time. We build up to Jack Swagger vs. Big Show at Wrestlemania, with Swagger wanting to get revenge for Big Show throwing him off of the stage at TLC and wanting to prove to Big Show that he is wrong to blame his team’s loss at Survivor Series (and thus Big Show’s chance at a title match) purely on the other members of the team instead of being a man and taking some of the blame himself (which he will do by besting Big Show in a one-on-one match).



For the first Raw after Battleground, Steph books Miz, Del Rio, Reigns, & Corey Graves vs. the Wyatt Family (Bray, Harper, Ambrose, & Bo) so that Graves can get revenge on Ambrose for putting him out back in December. The match goes for about five minutes with the Wyatts being scary and aggressive (and also Bo is there, trying to be those things). Miz & his group quickly decide that facing these dangerous men is not worth it, and walk out of the match.
Also on the first Raw, Bourne beats Truth cleanly to retain the US Title, and they shake hands afterwards, their friendship completely intact.
Miz and his group use their usual interfering and distracting tactics to pick up wins, usually against some combination of Bourne, RVD, Seth Rollins, and Tyson Kidd. Things all finally come together during the US Title match that Reigns won by beating Rollins at Battleground when RVD, Rollins, and Kidd come out to prevent Miz, Del Rio, Graves, and Ricardo from interfering, and Bourne defeats Reigns cleanly to retain the title.
In the following weeks, this alliance of babyfaces all comes out to help each other (and others) whenever Miz, Reigns, Del Rio, Graves, and Ricardo try get involved in the others’ matches, and an eight man tag team match is booked for Wrestlemania XXX pitting WWE United States Champion Evan Bourne, Rob Van Dam, Seth Rollins, & Tyson Kidd (w/Natalya) vs. The Miz, Corey Graves, Roman Reigns, & Alberto Del Rio (w/Ricardo Rodriguez).

WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH:
On the Raw after Battleground (which emanates from Minneapolis, MN), Hunter & Steph throw a big party for Sheamus in recognition of his amazing title run. They run down all of the major names he has beaten in almost two full years as the World Heavyweight Champion.
BROCK LESNAR SHOWS UP.
Lesnar says he is the biggest ass-kicker WWE has ever seen and he wants a shot at the title. Hunter and Steph aren’t so sure, but Sheamus wants to fight Brock. Over the next few weeks, they build it up as ass-kicker vs. ass-kicker, with the Authority eventually giving in and have Brock Lesnar challenge Sheamus for the World Heavyweight Title at Wrestlemania XXX.

JOHN CENA VS. THE UNDERTAKER-
On the first or second Raw after Battleground, Cena cuts a promo putting Sheamus over for beating him clean in the middle of the ring at Battleground. Cena says that Sheamus was the better man on that night… but that doesn’t change the fact that a few weeks before that, on Raw, Cena was the better man and beat Sheamus clean in the middle of the ring. Cena points out that his victory over Sheamus was only the SIXTH time Sheamus has been pinned for a three count since November 4, 2011. That’s TWENTY-SEVEN MONTHS (proud editor’s note: half of those were before I started booking this). In 2013 alone, Sheamus was only pinned ONCE… but on that night a few weeks ago, Cena pinned him clean one-two-three in the middle of the ring. Throughout his career, Cena says, he has had a way of overcoming amazing odds- of doing the impossible. At Unforgiven 2006,(available on the WWE Network) he beat Edge in Edge’s hometown of Toronto in Edge’s own match, the TLC match. He’s come back from injuries MONTHS before he was supposed to. He handed the unstoppable Samoan Bulldozer Umaga his first loss, and then beat him in a last man standing match. He’s feuded with greats like Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton, Batista, and The Rock… and beaten them all. He’s a THIRTEEN TIME World Champion. That’s more than Bret Hart, more than Harley Race, more than Steve Austin, more than Verna Gagne, and even more than Hulk Hogan. He defies the odds and does the impossible… and that’s why, at Wrestlemania XXX, he is going to do the impossible once again and BREAK THE UNDERTAKER’S STREAK!
In Taker’s appearances on Raw, he is pissed off at Cena for treating him like just a feather in the cap. He is not just anyone: he is THE UNDERTAKER. Look at all of the greats who have fallen to him at Wrestlemania: Jimmy Snuka, Jake “the Snake” Roberts, Diesel, Sycho Sid, Kane, Big Show, Mark Henry, Batista,Randy Orton, Edge, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair… and they have all failed. Even Brock Lesnar failed.
Cena says that he is confident in his ability to beat Taker because he believes in himself and works hard etc. etc. Taker sees Cena going after the Streak to pad his resume as a sign of disrespect, and so he tries to scare some respect into Cena. Taker tries his standard mind games, but Cena doesn’t let it affect him (or, maybe, JBL says, it is affecting him, but Cena is smart enough not to show it). The announcers also put over Cena’s history of winning huge matches, and even Taker’s age. Is John Cena finally going to be the one to break the Streak?


THE EUROPEAN UNION(c) (w/Aksana) vs. INTERNATIONAL AIRSTRIKE 2.0 FOR THE WWE WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES:
International Airstrike 2.0 go on a winning streak, beating tag teams such as Evan Bourne & R-Truth (pinning Truth), McInytre & McGillicutty, and the Usos, and they earn themselves a shot at the WWE World Tag Team Titles at Wrestlemania XXX.


WOMEN’S TITLE PICTURE:
Naomi picks up some wins (including two clean wins over AJ), and after each match she runs down the Divas division, especially Cameron. Cameron is sick and tired of Naomi calling her a “joke” and is determined to prove Naomi wrong. Naomi points out that she has already beaten Cameron and thus has no reason to face Cameron. Cameron wants to know what she has to do to earn Naomi’s respect. Naomi tells her “get better.” They goad each other, and we wind up with the following match on TV: Cameron vs. Naomi(c) for the Divas Title- but if Cameron loses, she needs to go down to NXT for nine months of training. Naomi wins the match clean, sending Cameron down to NXT.
(While this feud is going on, I would be taping stuff for Total Divas to try to focus on both the fear of being booted off of the main roster if you’re not good enough and the idea of having to say mean things that you don’t really mean to a good friend of yours during a feud- maybe do an episode where Cameron thinks Naomi crossed a line in her promo or something. The other part of this grand plan would be to do stuff on Total Divas focusing on Cameron training and missing her friends and wanting to train hard so she can get back up to the main roster with them- and I would do all of this to set her up for a title shot at Royal Rumble 2015 to try to get some buys for the Rumble from Total Divas viewers).

Because Naomi’s comments have stirred up the ire of the rest of the division, Steph books a battle royale of all of the women in the division for a Divas Title shot at Wrestlemania. AJ wins it, so we will get Naomi(c) (w/the Brain Trust) vs. AJ Bryan (w/Daniel Bryan) for the WWE Divas Title at Wresltmania XXX. The build for their match focuses on the fact that Naomi has AJ’s number. This causes a lot of problems for AJ because she is concerned that not only will she lose, but she will let her husband Daniel Bryan down by not holding up her end of them becoming champions together.

WWE TITLE MATCH: Dolph Ziggler(c) (w/Vickie Guerrero) vs. Daniel Bryan (w/AJ Bryan)
Royal Rumble winner Daniel Bryan is going to challenge WWE Champion Daniel Bryan for the WWE Title at Wrestlemania. He is the exact opposite of AJ, picking up some big wins, and even pinning Dolph in a tag match. At one point we get an intergender tag team match pitting the Bryans against Divas Champion Naomi and IC Champion Damien Sandow which the Bryans win when Dragon pins Sandow. This leads to Dragon being scheduled for an IC Title match on Raw. Before the match, Dolph shows up and also asks to be added to the match, citing the fact that he never got a rematch from when Big Show ruined his IC Title match back on the December 30th Championship Monday edition of Raw. Bryan is fine with this, but Sandow insists that it be made a triple threat elimination match so that he can’t lose his title without being pinned. It turns out it is all a set-up, though, as Dolph immediately assaults Dragon’s leg with a chair, getting himself DQed, and allowing Sandow to pin Dragon to retain the title. On the road to Wresltemania, we play up Dragon’s injured leg as well as the Bryans’ dream of being champions together.

WWE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE: Damien Sandow(c) (w/the Brain Trust) vs. CM Punk
CM Punk feuds with Tensai, wanting to know why Tensai attacked him before his match with Sandow at Battleground, costing him the title. Sandow vows he had nothing to do with this. Punk doesn’t believe him, but says he will give him the benefit of the doubt until he beats the truth out of Tensai. He does indeed beat the truth out of Tensai, and it turns out that Sandow set the whole thing up. This leads to Punk getting his rematch with Sandow at Mania (and in the build to the match, we get Dragon and Punk teaming to take on the Brain Trust, six person intergender matches, Dragon, Punk & a partner vs. Brain Trust & Dolph… all fun matches)

THE WYATT FAMILY MATCH:
Randy Orton starts to feud with the Wyatts, and Bo in particular for betraying him. In his first big chance for revenge, he wins by DQ when he is assaulted by Brodus Clay. Brodus cuts a promo saying that when Bray called him “a monster pretending to be a man,” he was 100% right. He has decided to follow Bray Wyatt so he can become a monster again.
On the Smackdown after the Raw where Tensai admits that he took a payoff from Sandow, he cuts a promo in which he reveals “the whole deep dark truth.” Yes, he took a payoff from Sandow to assault Punk., but Punk was just a victim of circumstance because Tensai had been looking to prove to himself, to the WWE Universe, and to Bray Wyatt that Wyatt was wrong about him not being a monster. Now that he has lost a No DQ’s match to Punk, his eyes have been opened: It doesn’t matter what Bray says. TENSAI is the only one who make TENSAI- and he will prove that unlike Brodus, he doesn’t need Bray’s help becoming a monster. He also says that the west way to prove you are a monster is to take down a monster, so he wants to fight the Wyatt Family. We wind up with a ten man elimination tag team match booked for Wrestlemania pitting the Wyatt Family (Bray, Harper, Brodus, Ambrose, & Bo) vs. Orton, Tensai, Sin Cara (got to sell that Scooby Doo DVD!) and the Usos (who talk up their reputation for beating bigger guys that they have developed over the last five months).

[Big Red Machine]

WWE WrestleMania XXX (4/6/2014)- New Orleans, LA

PRE-SHOW:
We get a segment with AJ and Daniel Bryan talking about how great it will be to finally achieve their dream and be champions together. They talk about all of the ups and downs along the way, and how much their love and support means to each other, etc., etc, and say that no matter what fate throws at them, they will fight through anything to be champions together at the end of the night.

PRE-SHOW MATCH: Cody Rhodes vs. Christian (w/Paige)-
They have a good, solid opener. Paige tries to distract Cody multiple times during the match, but Cody keeps his focus on his opponent and picks up the clean win in twelve minutes.

We get a backstage segment with Sandow, Otunga, and Naomi in Steph’s office. They show the earlier clip of Dragon and AJ and claim it constitutes clear evidence that Dragon plans to interfere in the Divas’ Title match tonight, and thus he should be banned from ringside. Steph agrees… then she brings up their past history of interference in Naomi’s matches and bans Sandow and Otunga from ringside as well, to ensure that the match will be one-on-one, with the better woman coming out the winner.

OPENING SEGMENT WITH ROCK, AUSTIN, & HOGAN- yay! (25 minutes)

SETH ROLLINS, EVAN BOURNE, ROB VAN DAM, & TYSON KIDD (w/Natalya) vs. THE MIZ, COREY GRAVES, ROMAN REIGNS, & ALBERTO DEL RIO (w/Ricardo Rodriguez)-
They goes fifteen minutes total, including entrances (the heels all enter together to save time). We get lots of crowd-pleasing stuff from the babyfaces to keep the crowd into things after that big Hogan-Austin-Rock segment. The heels get their heat on Rollins until he makes the hot tag. We do a spot where Ricardo tries to interfere, but Nattie takes him out. Babyfaces win clean when Kidd pins Graves after a springboard elbow drop.

MARK HENRY vs. RYBACK-
The match is kept short to fit both guys styles. We do things like tests of strength and the “take turns trying to knock each other down with shoulder tackles” spot. Mark works Ryback over with a bearhug, but Ryback is able to break it using pure strength. He then fights back and gets Mark up for the Shell-Shock, which he hits and gets the win. Total time, including entrances, is about nine minutes.

TEN MAN ELIMINATION TAG TEAM MATCH: The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, Luke Harper, Brodus Clay, & Bo Dallas) vs. Randy Orton, Tensai, The Usos & Sin Cara-
Cara is the first one out, pinned by Brodus. The babyfaces then get an elimination when Orton pins Bo after an RKO. Things go downhill from there as the Usos are soon pinned (one by Ambrose and one by Bray). Tensai and Orton fight for a bit, but Tensai is pinned by Harper, and then finally, after putting up a bit more of a fight, Orton is pinned by Bray. Total time is about sixteen minutes.

WWE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: Damien Sandow(c) (w/the Brain Trust) vs. CM Punk-
Punk wants to brawl, but Sandow slows the pace down. Sandow eventually picks up the win via roll-up with his feet on the ropes for illegal leverage in about thirteen minutes. When Punk realizes what has happened, he attacks Sandow from behind after the match. Otunga jumps in and Punk manages to fight him off, but an army of referees come out to hold Punk back while Sandow escapes. Total time for everything is about seventeen minutes.

We get a backstage segment with AJ and Dragon. They talk about how sad they are that Dragon won’t be able to be at ringside to support AJ during her match. AJ insists that is okay because this will give Dragon more time to concentrate on his own match. Dragon says he believes in AJ.

WWE WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The European Union(c) (w/Aksana) vs. International Airstrike 2.0-
Barrett and Cesaro come out and cut a promo about how much better Europe is than the rest of the world, and say that New Orleans in particular is the worst place in the world. Airstrike win the match clean in seventeen minutes with the both guys getting the chance to be the babyface in peril before they finally make their comeback and win the titles.

JACK SWAGGER vs. BIG SHOW-
Swagger wins clean, getting his revenge on Big Show by making Big Show tap clean to the Patriot Act.

WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Sheamus(c) vs. Brock Lesnar (w/Paul Heyman)-
Just what it promised to be: two ass-kickers kicking each other’s asses. Sheamus wins clean. Total time is about thirty minutes.

WWE DIVAS TITLE MATCH: Naomi(c) vs. AJ Bryan-
AJ wins clean in twelve minutes, pinning Naomi after a Shining Wizard. Rather than celebrate in the ring, she runs to the back to go help Dragon train.

THE UNDERTAKER vs. JOHN CENA-
I’d do fancy entrances for this match. Cena gets in a bunch of nearfalls to scare the sh*t out of the smarks that he might actually break The Streak (same deal as Hunter in 2011), but Taker eventually wins. Total time of about thirty-five minutes.

WWE TITLE MATCH: Dolph Ziggler(c) (w/Vickie Guerrero) vs. Daniel Bryan (w/AJ Bryan)-
Let them go f*cking nuts. Give them over forty minutes to tell the story however they want (but let them get a spot in where Vickie cheats Dragon out the win, so AJ takes Vickie out). The purpose of this match is to TEAR THE HOUSE DOWN. They got the main event spot over both Brock vs. Sheamus and Cena vs. Taker, and in this match, they are going to prove why they deserved it. Dragon goes over clean with the Busaiku Knee, and he and AJ get to celebrate in the ring, having finally achieved their dream of being champions together.


(I actually struggled long and hard to figure out which match should main event the show, but came to the conclusion that it had to be Dragon vs. Dolph because
1. It is the Royal Rumble winner’s match
2. It is the match with the most potential to deliver, and certainly the least potential to wind up not working as well as you hoped
3. If I want them to really be seen as main eventers coming out of this show, they need to be the main event (especially because neither guy got to main event a PPV as champion before).
4. The Dragon-AJ celebration needed to go on last. You can’t culminate a story you have been building for almost two whole years in the middle of a show.)

[Big Red Machine]

THE ROAD TO EXTREME RULES 2014:

World Heavyweight Title Picture:
Sheamus has now been champ for TWO STRAIGHT YEARS now, and has just defeated BROCK LESNAR. People start to wonder if anyone can beat Sheamus. RVD notes that Extreme Rules is coming up, and that Sheamus has never defended the title in an Extreme Rules Match before, and he has certainly never defended the title against RVD. Sheamus accepts the challenge, and management makes it official: Sheamus vs. Rob Van Dam for the World Heavyweight Title in an Extreme Rules Match!

WWE Title Picture:
Dolph wants to cash in his rematch right away on Raw, but Vickie talks him out of it, convincing him to train up. Dolph agrees. Dragon says that he’ll be ready whenever Dolph is. Ryback gets a bunch of wins and is eventually named #1 contender, but there are a few other wrestlers who have been picking up big wins and vying for a shot at either the WWE Title or the World Heavyweight Title, including Cody Rhodes, Tyson Kidd, and Christian. The build between Bryan and Ryback is focus on Ryback’s major size and strength advantage.

IC Title Picture: (Punk vs. Sandow)
Sandow calls Punk attacking him after their match at Wresltemania “barbaric,” while dismisses accusations that he cheated by simply saying he was smarter than Punk. Punk is infuriated by this, and spends two weeks attacking Sandow backstage and during matches, etc. Eventually, Sandow lures Punk into an ambush and he and Otunga assault Punk with some weapons, putting Punk out of action.

Divas Title Picture:
It is announced that Naomi will be getting her rematch at Extreme Rules. The build-up consists of her, Sandow, and Otunga scrutinizing footage of AJ’s matches for a way to gain an edge.

The US & Tag Team Title Pictures:
The night after Wrestlemania, Evan Bourne comes out to the ring and cuts a promo saying that he was disappointed that he didn’t get to defend his US Title in front of the great WWE fans here in New Orleans last night at Wrestlemania, so tonight he asked Steph if he could issue and open challenge for the title, and she said yes. The open challenge is accepted by Kalysto, who the announcers put over as being one of the top talents in NXT. He and Bourne have a ten minute, action-packed lucha-fest, with Bourne winning clean. The announcers tell us that even a strong loss to a main roster champion is a HUGE accomplishment for an NXT guy, and that this will certainly make WWE officials take note of Kalysto. They also make sure to tell us that we can see NXT every Thursday night on the WWE Network.
Also on this show, International Airstrike 2.0 celebrate their big tag team title victory last night. They are interrupted by the European Union, who tell them not to get comfortable with those belts because they will be taking them right back. They let everyone know that they have a rematch clause, which makes them the de facto #1 contenders, and that Airstrike should spend less time partying and more time training if they want to have a chance of beating the European Union again.

On Smackdown, the European Union face R-Truth & Evan Bourne, with International Airstrike 2.0 on commentary. Airstrike say that they will face the EU whenever they want. Bourne and Truth pull off the upset win when Bourne pins Barrett.
The Europeans then take a week off to promote WWE’s upcoming tour of Europe. On Raw that week, we get a segment with Airstrike and Bourne & Truth. Bourne & Truth say that if they beat the #1 contenders, that should make them the #1 contenders instead. Airstrike agree, and they agree to have the match on Smackdown, pending office approval. They can’t have it any earlier than that because Bourne & Truth are signed for a match against McIntyre & McGillicutty on Main Event and Truth is signed for a singles match against Roman Reigns on Superstars (which they then hype up).
We learn the next day that management has approved the match, but unfortunately, Truth suffers an injury during the match on Main Event (he and Bourne still pick up the win, though), and the title match (as well as the Truth vs. Reigns) match are cancelled. WWE medical staff estimates that Truth will be out for two or three weeks.
The Truth vs. Reigns match is replaced with Reigns vs. Rollins. The interfering shenanigans of the stable of Miz, Reigns, Del Rio, & Graves (w/Ricardo) continue, but RVD comes out with a chair to chase them away, and Rollins eventually defeats Reigns cleanly. In addition to an RVD vs. Del Rio match on Smackdown (which RVD wins), this also leads to a segment on Smackdown where Bourne calls out Seth Rollins. Bourne says that last night’s match (which we have played clips of to set this segment up) reminded him of the #1 Contendership match at Battleground, and also the #1 Contendership Tournament in the weeks before it that led to that match. It made him remember how often Miz & Pals had cheated guys like Rollins out of possible title matches. They screwed Rollins at Battleground, but last night we saw that, when left in a one-on-one situation, Rollins was truly the better man and deserved a title shot last month, but was robbed of it, so Bourne wants to right this wrong and offers Rollins a US Title match on Raw. Rollins accepts.

On Raw, we get that title match, but it ends in a DQ when the European Union, now back from Europe, attack Bourne. Rollins helps Bourne fight them off, though, and a match is made for Smackdown. On Main Event, the European Union viciously squashes Co-Bro, and cut a promo saying that it doesn’t matter what International Airstrike 2.0 wants. They are still the #1 contenders to the tag team titles. They say that their loss to Bourne & Truth was a fluke and that their loss to Airstrike at Wresltemania XXIX was a fluke, and they will have the tag team titles back in no time.
International Airstrike 2.0 are once again on commentary for the big match on Smackdown, and are completely unashamed of the loud cheer they let out when Rollins rolls Barrett up for the three count. The Europeans jump Bourne and Rollins from behind while they are celebrating, but Airstrike quickly jump in and fight them off.


OTHER UNDERCARD FEUDS:
Big Show insists that his loss to Swagger at Mania was a fluke, so they have a rematch, which Swagger also wins. Show is upset and still insists that his team let him down and cost him a world title match at Survivor Series. Swagger challenges Show to put his money where his mouth is: The other members of Show’s Survivor Series team- Kofi Kingston and the Prime Time Players, who have all been out with injuries inflicted on them by the Big Show, are due to come back soon. Swagger suggests that Big Show find three partners and then face off against the four men who he blames for his own failures in an eight-man elimination tag team match at Extreme Rules. Show accepts.

Bray and his minions keep feuding with Tensai and Orton, with some others (usually the Usos, but occasionally other undercard babyfaces) teaming with Orton and Tensai.







THE GO-HOME WEEK:
The hype for this week focus around two points: The first is a pair of matches, one of Raw and one on Smackdown, in which Big Show will reveal his team for Extreme Rules. The second, and more important one, is that Hunter and Steph are taking a short vacation, and as a result will not be at Raw. To make sure things go smoothly, they have found a Special Guest Host for the night: REY MYSTERIO JR.! WWE.com has been in contact with Rey, and Rey has promised that tonight’s show will incorporate both the WWE style and his Lucha Libre heritage. He has also told us that he received very exciting news earlier today, and because of this news, has decided to book Damien Sandow in a singles match against a mystery opponent for tonight’s Raw.




Raw: (4/28/2014)- San Diego, CA

The show opens with Rey coming out and pandering to the crowd. He puts over Lucha Libre and its traditions, etc. etc. He announces that we will see several different signature Lucha Libre matches:
We will see a two-out-of-three falls tag team match, featuring Natalya Neidhart & AJ Bryan vs. Brie Bella & Naomi.
We will see an eight-man Lucha Libre Rules Atomicos Tag Team Match pitting, Randy Orton, Tensai, & the Usos vs. John Cena, Rob Van Dam, Kofi Kingston, & Jack Swagger.
We will see a Parejas Increibles match in which WWE Champion Daniel Bryan will team up with the #1 contender Ryback to face to men with a long and violent history together: Tyson Kidd & Christian… in a Tornado Tag Team Match!
And we will see a six-man Captains match (a six man elimination match in which each side picks a captain and the match ends when one of the captains is pinned) in which all of the survivors on the winning team will get a future shot at the World Heavyweight Title! That match will see Cody Rhodes, Sin Cara, and up-and-coming Luchador Kalysto take on The Miz, Roman Reigns, & Alberto Del Rio (Rey spends time specifically putting over Reigns and saying telling the crowd that while he doesn’t like Del Rio, he respects his skills as a wrestler and thinks that he deserves this opportunity).
He says that International Airstrike 2.0 and Seth Rollins & Evan Bourne are both great examples of the high-flying that Lucha Libre has inspired in the world of wrestling, so he books those two teams in a WWE World Tag Team Title match tonight!

DAMIEN SANDOW vs. A MYSTERY OPPONENT:…
Sandow comes out alone. He explains that Otunga and Naomi aren’t out here because Otunga is helping Naomi strategize for her match, which is next. He says it doesn’t matter who is opponent is, because he is so smart he can beat anyone.
His opponent is…



CM PUNK!
Punk charges down the ramp and immediately goes after Sandow, hungry for some revenge. Sandow tries to run away, but Punk gives chase on the outside. The match officially ends in a double count-out, but Punk catches Sandow on the stage and starts to wail on him. David Otunga shows up with a Kendo Stick and attacks Punk with it, hurting Punk just enough to let Sandow escape. When we come back from a commercial, we see Sandow, Otunga, and Naomi running to their car and leaving the arena, as Punk is hot on their heels, swinging a pipe, which he hurls at the car as they leave.


TWO OUT OF THREE FALLS MATCH: The Bella Twins vs. AJ Bryan & Natalya Neidhart (w/Daniel Bryan & Tyson Kidd)-
The announcers explain that Nikki stepped up to be Brie’s partner because Naomi left the arena with Sandow & Otunga. They also use this as time to hype up the Parejas Increibles main event. The heels win the first fall when Brie pins Nattie with her feet on the ropes, but the babyfaces come back and win the final two falls, with AJ pinning each Bella after a Shining Wizard. The match goes about twelve minutes.

WWE WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: International Airstrike 2.0(c) vs. Evan Bourne & Seth Rollins-
The match goes about eight minutes of great high-flying action before the European Union shows up and attacks both teams, causing a double DQ. They then put all four guys through tables and cut a promo saying they will destroy anyone who tries to get in their way of regaining their WWE World Tag Team Titles.

SHEAMUS vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER (w/Vickie Guerrero)-
They go about twelve minutes. When Sheamus seems to have Dolph on the ropes, Vickie convinces Dolph to not risk getting hurt in this match and instead keep up her training regiment for his contractually obligated return match for the WWE Title. Dolph argues that if he beats Sheamus here, he will earn a World Heavyweight Title shot as well, but he eventually gives in to Vickie’s reasoning and takes an intentional count-out loss.

LUCHA LIBRE RULES ATOMICOS TAG TEAM MATCH: John Cena, Rob Van Dam, Jack Swagger, & Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton, Tensai, & the Usos-
I’d give them a good thirty minutes here, in part to make up for all of the disappointing finishes so far, and in part to hopefully raise the stature of Swagger, Kofi, and the Usos. I’d have my agents help them come up with a story that makes very good use of the rules. RVD pins Jey Uso with the Five Star Fromg Splash to get the clean win.
After the victorious babyface team goes to the back, while the losing babyface team is still recovering in the ring, we go to a video package hyping up the WWE Network, but quickly here Cole, Lawler, and JBL, yelling to get the cameras back live. THE WYATTS ARE ATTACKING!
All five Wyatts beat up the four babyfaces, with the Usos in particular taking some harsh punishment, including Jey, who is still hurting from the Frog Splash, eating a Sister Abigail on the floor.
BOOM!
The stage explodes in fire, and KANE makes his return, seeking vengeance on the Wyatt Family! Kane gives them all uppercuts and big boots and sends the heels scurrying.

THE PRIME TIME PLAYERS vs. DREW MCINTYRE & MICHAEL MCGILLICUTTY (w/the Big Show)-
PTP spend a lot of time jawing with Big Show, but despite not being as focused as they should be, they manage to pull out the clean win in ten minutes. Big Show is very upset about this.

SIX-MAN TAG TEAM CAPTAINS ELIMINATION MATCH IN WHICH THE SURVIVORS ON THE WINNING TEAM WILL EACH GET A FUTURE SHOT AT THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE: Sin Cara(captain), Kalysto & Cody Rhodes vs. The Miz(captain), Roman Reigns, & Alberto Del Rio (w/Ricardo Rodriguez)-
Before the match, Del Rio cuts a promo saying that Rey might have finally learned to show him the respect he deserves, but he still has no respect for that little dog Rey Mysterio Jr.
Cody is eliminated twelve minutes in when Ricardo distracts the ref, allowing Del Rio to hit a low blow and roll him up. The next man out is Del Rio, after Sin Cara hits him with his finisher and pins him clean. The third man out is Kalysto, who eats a HUGE spear from Reigns.
It is now two-on-one. Reigns does most of the work for his team, beating Cara down. When Cara manages to get in a desperation counter and we get a double-down, Miz tags himself in. Miz takes his time taunting the crowd and stalking Cara, setting up for a Skull-Crushing Finale, but Cara manages to block it and then does a crazy Lucha roll-up to get the pin and win the match, earning himself a shot at the World Heavyweight Title. Total time for the match should be about twenty minutes.


PAREJAS INCREIBLES TORNADO TAG TEAM MATCH: Tyson Kidd & Christian (w/Natalya Neidhart & Paige) vs. RYBACK & DANIEL BRYAN (w/AJ Bryan)-
Even a year after their feud ended, things between Tyson and Christian are understandably icy even their respective females are constantly glaring at each other, looking for any sign of betrayal) Despite this, they actually manage to work pretty well together. The finish comes about 25 minutes in, when they have Ryback on the outside and Kidd runs along the apron and gives him a big kick to the head, setting up for Christian to spear him. Bryan goes for his suicide dive, but Tyson cuts him of, then follows up with a springboard blockbuster. Tyson Kidd then hits his springboard elbow drop, then Christian comes off the top rope with the Frog Splash. They have a short but tense staredown, with each guy wanting to get the pin, but not trusting the other not to kick him in the head and steal the pin… so they eventually settle on both making the cover at the same time. With the combination of the damage he has taken and twice the usual weight pressing his shoulders down, Bryan is unable to kick out. The WWE Champion has been pinned!



WWE.com reports that because of the actions of the European Union last night on Raw, WWE management has booked a new match for Extreme Rules: International Airstrike 2.0 will defends the WWE World Tag Team Titles against both the European Union and Seth Rollins & Evan Bourne in a Triple Threat Elimination Tables Match!


WWE.com reports that CM Punk will be at NXT tonight, so he won’t be on Main Event

Main Event: (4/30/2014)
SETH ROLLINS & EVAN BOURNE vs. SIN CARA & KALYSTO-
Rollins & Bourne win clean in fifteen minutes, when Rollins pinned Kalysto after a Curb Stomp.

Tyson Kidd cuts a promo telling everyone that he pinned WWE Champion Daniel Bryan two nights ago on Raw, so he wants a shot at the WWE Title!

Damien Sandow & David Otunga cut a promo saying that Punk is a “barbarian.” Someone who doesn’t understand the bounderies of civilized society. Wrestling is a combat sport, and the rules of that sport must be obeyed: You only attack someone DURING your match. You don’t attack people backstage. You don’t attack people with weapons. You keep the fighting IN the ring.
But CM Punk is too dumb to understand these rules, so Sandow must lower himself to using the only language a barbarian like Punk understands: violence. Because of this, he has asked WWE management for a Falls Count Anywhere Match against CM Punk at Extreme Rules.


AJ BRYAN (w/Daniel Bryan) vs. NATALYA NEIDHART (w/Tyson Kidd)-
AJ gets off to a good start early, and goes for the Shining Wizard just a few minutes in, but Nattie manages to block it by grabbing AJ’s legs, then rolls her over into the Sharpshooter. AJ gets to the ropes, but the momentum has clearly changed, with Nattie working over AJ’s legs the whole match. This limits AJ’s mobility so she is unable to move out of the way when Nattie goes for a Discus Clothesline and gets the pin, beating the champ in this non-title match. The match goes a good 15-20 minutes- enough time to ensure that they have the time to tell the necessary story.
During the match, the announcers tease that there might be some tension between Dragon and TJ because TJ pinned Dragon on Raw, and after the match, they speculate that Nattie’s win over AJ might add to that tension even more.

WWE.com reports that WWE General Manager of Raw and Smackdown Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley has decided to grant Damien Sandow’s request for a Falls Count Anywhere Match at Extreme Rules... but with one added stipulation: Sandow will be putting the WWE Intercontinental Title on the line against Punk one last time. Mrs. McMahon-Helmsley said that a Falls Count Anywhere Match is perfect for ensuring a conclusive winner with no controversy. The WWE.com reporters who talked to CM Punk about this match could only describe him as “eager” for the match.
For a little teaser of some of the action we might get at Extreme Rules, Punk will team up with WWE Champion Daniel Bryan to face the team of Damien Sandow and the World’s Strongest Man Mark Henry.


Superstars: (5/1/2014)
SETH ROLLINS & EVAN BOURNE vs. THE BRAIN TRUST (w/Naomi)-
Rollins & Bourne win clean in ten minutes, with Rollins pinning Otunga after a Curb Stomp.


Christian cuts a promo telling everyone that he pinned WWE Champion Daniel Bryan two nights ago on Raw, so he wants a shot at the WWE Title!

KANE vs. HEATH SLATER-
Kane squashes Slater.

AJ BRYAN (w/Daniel Bryan) vs. PAIGE (w/Christian)-
AJ’s legs are still hurt from last night, and it shows in tonight’s match. She is slower than normal, and this allows Paige to recover in time to block a Shining Wizard by catching AJ’s legs, then turn it over into a Stretch Muffler. AJ manages to get to the ropes, but Paige controls the match after that, working over AJ’s knees, including stuff not normally seen from the Divas, like a diving elbow drop to the back of the knees.
Paige gets cocky, though, and spends too much time taunting AJ, Dragon, and the crowd, allowing AJ to mount a comeback. During this comeback, AJ fights through the pain to hit the Shining Wizard, but her knee is in too much pain for her to capitalize on it by going for a pin. Paige starts to take over the match and once again goes for the diving elbow drop to the back of the knees, but AJ rolls out of the way and Paige crashes to the mat. AJ quickly covers Paige to pick up the win (though Paige kicks out at about three and a half to put over the fact that AJ is actually the one who came out of this much worse for wear). Match goes about twenty minutes







Smackdown and the PPV will hopefully be up tomorrow.

[Big Red Machine]

Signed for tonight’s Smackdown in a singles match pitting Kofi Kingston against the final member of Big Show’s team for Extreme Rules: Jinder Mahal. Also signed for Smackdown is the return of R-Truth from an injury he suffered two weeks ago Main Event. He will face one of the brightest stars in WWE’s future Sin Cara’s protégé Kalysto. Speaking of Sin Cara, WWE.com can now report that Sin Cara will be receiving the World Heavyweight Title match he earned in the Captain-Fall tag team match on next week’s episode of Monday Night Raw, no matter who the champion is coming out of Extreme Rules.


Smackdown: (5/2/2014)- Kansas City, MO
SANTINO MARELLA vs. THE MIZ (w/Alberto Del Rio, Ricardo Rodriguez , Roman Reigns)-
Miz squashes Santino, although Santino does get one good roll-up for a false finish. After the match, Miz gets a mic and starts to cut a promo about his dominant win. Reigns cuts a promo and says it was dominant except for the part where he almost got rolled up and lost… just like he did on in the Captains-Fall match, screwing Reigns a shot at the World Heavyweight Title. They bicker, and Del Rio and Ricardo try to make peace. Cody Rhodes comes out and says that if anyone was screwed out of a World Heavyweight Title shot, it was him, by Del Rio’s cheating. He challenges Del Rio to a match at Extreme Rules, and Del Rio accepts.

R-TRUTH vs. KALYSTO-
Truth wins clean in six minutes, though Kalysto gets the chance to show off his high-flying stuff first. Sin Cara is on commentary and talks about his World Heavyweight Title shot on Raw.

Naomi, Sandow, and Otunga cut a promo saying they have come up with an undefeatable strategy to beat AJ, and that at Extreme Rules, Naomi will reclaim the Divas Title

KOFI KINGSTON vs. JINDER MAHAL-
Kofi wins in four minutes. Big Show is on commentary, and gets very angry when Jinder loses.

We go to a backstage promo with Miz, Reigns, Ricardo, and Del Rio. First Del Rio cuts a promo saying that at Extreme Rules, he will make Cody Rhodes sorry he ever issued this challenge. Miz then grabs the mic and brags that he just spoke to Steph and managed to get himself signed to a match at Extreme Rules again John Cena. Miz shoves the mic at Reigns and says “See? That’s how it’s done! You call out top guys, and then you BEAT them. That’s how you earn a title shot. Yeah, I got pinned I’m Raw, but I’ve just created a situation where I can beat a top guy, and then they’ll have to give me a title shot. I CREATED this situation. That’s why you’re the student and I’m the teacher, so you’d better start showing me the respect I deserve!” then storms off.

We get a contract signing for the WWE Title match between Daniel Bryan and Ryback, with Steph officiating. She starts to hype the match up a bit, but Christian comes out and interrupts her. He says that he pinned Dragon on Raw, and thus he deserves a shot at the WWE Title… and he demands his shot right here, right now!
Dragon is ready to accept the challenge, but Ryback starts to yell at Christian for interrupting his contract signing. Tyson Kidd then comes out and says that he could make the same argument that Christian just did because he pinned Dragon on Raw, too. Steph says that because they both pinned Dragon, they will both be getting title shots. She then says that because they both pinned Dragon at the exact same time, they will have a match at Extreme Rules to determine which one of them will get their title shot first. The winner of the match will get his title shot at Payback, which the loser of the match will get his title shot at Money in the Bank. This seems to placate them, so they both walk off.
Ryback then cuts a promo saying that the combined weight of Tyson Kidd and Christian (which pinned Dragon on Raw) is less than his strength, so there is no way Dragon will be able to kick out if he is able to apply full pressure on a lateral press. Ryback reassures Dragon that he isn’t trying to be disrespectful… he just doesn’t want the WWE Universe to be so let down when the match ends with the first pinfall. This angers Dragon, who cuts a fiery babyface promo on Ryback and vows to retain the WWE Title at Extreme Rules.

The European Union cut a promo saying they will win the tag titles at Extreme Rules

Dolph Ziggler cuts a promo telling us that as we speak, Vickie Guerrero is meeting with Steph to negotiate the terms of a match for Dolph at Extreme Rules, but Dolph still needs an opponent. Roman Reigns comes out to answer the challenge, and Dolph says he’d be glad to beat Reigns at Extreme Rules. (And I would have the announcers point out the Reigns has gotten himself a match against a former world champion, just like Miz did).

International Airstrike 2.0 cut a promo saying they will win the tag titles at Extreme Rules

We get an in-ring interview with Sheamus. Renee Young asks him to respond to the many people who believe that the fact that his match with RVD will be an Extreme Rules match makes him an underdog. Sheamus responds by talking about his now over-two-year-long reign as the World Heavyweight Champion, and talks about past Extreme Rules matches and street fights he has had. RVD comes out and says that Sheamus might have been in Extreme Rules matches before, but there is a HUGE difference between an Extreme Rules match and an Extreme Rules match against RVD.

Byron Saxton asks AJ Bryan if she is worried about this secret strategy that the Brian Trust has developed. AJ says that it doesn’t matter what they throw at her because she knows that she has the support of her husband Daniel Bryan and the support of the WWE Universe, and with that, she knows she can fight through anything.

JIMMY USO vs. HEATH SLATER-
Uso wins clean, but is then assaulted by the Wyatts and put through the announce table by a Luke Harper powerbomb. Orton, Kane, and Tensai all come out to try to make the save, but are too late. They instead brawl with the Wyatts, but the locker room empties out to break it up.

Seth Rollins & Evan Bourne cut a promo saying they will win the tag titles at Extreme Rules

CM PUNK & JACK SWAGGER vs. MARK HENRY & DAMIEN SANDOW (w/David Otunga & Naomi)-
Sandow pins Punk after a distraction from Otunga.



WWE.com reports that Jimmy Uso was injured at the hands of the Wyatt Family and will be out of action


CM Punk puts out a Tout saying that he now knows what to watch out for, and will take the necessary steps to ensure that he kicks Sandow's ass and reclaims the IC Title at Extreme Rules.



EXTREME RULES RUNDOWN

WWE Extreme Rules 2014 (5/4/2014)- East Rutherford, NJ:

EXTREME RULES MATCH FOR THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE: Sheamus(c) vs. Rob Van Dam
Sheamus has now been World Heavyweight Champion for twenty-five months, but can he overcome Extreme Icon Rob Van Dam in an Extreme Rules match in ECW country?

WWE TITLE MATCH: Daniel Bryan(c) (w/AJ Bryan) vs. Ryback
Will Ryback be able to overpower Daniel Bryan and win his first WWE Title?

FALLS COUNT ANYWHERE MATCH FOR THE WWE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE: Damien Sandow(c) (w/the Brain Trust) vs. CM Punk
Punk wants his title back... and now there is nowhere for Sandow to run!

CODY RHODES vs. ALBERTO DEL RIO (w/Ricardo Rodriguez, The Miz, & Roman Reigns)
Del Rio's shady tactics may have cost Cody a shot at the World Heavyweight Title which Cody has vowed to bring back to the Rhodes Family. Will Cody get revenge on Del Rio on the road to fulfilling his dream, or will Del Rio hand Cody another setback?

WWE DIVAS TITLE MATCH: AJ Bryan(c) (w/Daniel Bryan) vs. Naomi (w/the Brain Trust)
The Brain Trust claim to have devised a strategy that will ensure Naomi's victory. Will AJ be able to hang on to the title and keep living the Bryan Family dream of being champions together, or has this strategy made the dream's end inevitable.

WINNER BECOMES #1 CONTENDER TO THE WWE TITLE AT PAYBACK, THE LOSER MUST WAIT UNTIL MONEY IN THE BANK: Tyson Kidd (w/Natalya Neidhart) vs. Christian (w/Paige)
One of the most person rivalries WWE has ever seen will be renewed, and this time, there are title implication on the line!

KANE, RANDY ORTON, & TENSAI vs. THE WYATT FAMILY (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, & Brodus Clay) (w/Bo Dallas & Dean Ambrose)
Kane returns to seek revenge on the Wyatt Family for their brutal assault on him at the Royal Rumble, and he will have the help of the Wyatt Family's most dangerous enemies: The Viper, and the man with everything to prove: Tensai

THREE-WAY ELIMINATION TABLES MATCH FOR THE WWE WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES: International Airstrike 2.0(c) vs. Evan Bourne & Seth Rollins vs. The European Union (w/Aksana)
Will Airstrike retain their titles? Will the European Union regain them? Or will Evan Bourne's new partner, originally a replacement for the injured R-Truth, help get Bourne a second belt to go with his US Title?

EIGHT MAN ELIMINATION TAG TEAM MATCH: Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, & The Prime Time Players vs. Team Big Show (Big Show, Jinder Mahal, Michael McGillcutty, & Drew McIntyre)
Jack Swagger leads the rest of Big Show's former teammates from Survivor Series into battle to prove Big Show wrong for blaming them for his own failings.

JOHN CENA vs. THE MIZ (w/Roman Reigns, Alberto Del Rio, & Ricardo Rodriguez)
Miz made the challenge, Cena accepted.

DOLPH ZIGGLER (w/Vickie Guerrero) vs. ROMAN REIGNS (w/The Miz, Ricardo Rodriguez, & Alberto Del Rio)
Former WWE Champion Ziggler looks to return to his winning ways in preparation invoking his rematch clause, while Reigns looks to beat the former champ to bring himself in line for a shot at that very title!

[Big Red Machine]

WWE Extreme Rules 2014 (5/4/2014)- East Rutherford, NJ:

PRE-SHOW: Dolph Ziggler (w/Vickie Guerrero) vs. ROMAN REIGNS (w/The Miz, Ricardo Rodriguez, & Alberto Del Rio)-
Stuff happens, resulting in all of those on the outside being ejected from ringside very early on. Ziggler wins clean in fourteen minutes.


MAIN SHOW:
CODY RHODES vs. ALBERTO DEL RIO (w/Ricardo Rodriguez, The Miz, & Roman Reigns)-
Cody wins clean in sixteen minutes with the Cross Rhodes.

RANDY ORTON, TENSAI, & KANE vs. THE WYATT FAMILY (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, & Brodus Clay) (w/Bo Dallas & Dean Ambrose)-
The match goes for about eight minutes, with Bray letting his disciples do most of the heavy lifting. Kane manages to goozle Bray, but Harper and Brodus come in and save Bray. Bray rolls to the floor, grabs a mic, and says that because tonight is Extreme Rules, there is no better time to unleash his hardcore monster. Ambrose grabs a chair, jumps into the ring and attacks the babyfaces for the DQ. The babyfaces fight back and we get a big brawl. Kane, Ambrose and Harper split off through the crowd one way while Tensai, Brodus, and Bray split off through the crowd in the other direction. This leaves Orton and Bo to brawl in the ring. Orton wins the brawl by hitting Bo with an RKO onto a steel chair.

EIGHT MAN ELIMINATION TAG TEAM MATCH: Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, & The Prime Time Players vs. Team Big Show (Big Show, Jinder Mahal, Michael McGillcutty, & Drew McIntyre)-
Big Show starts off for his team and refuses to make any tags. This results in Show getting worn down and eventually pinned after taking first a Trouble in Paradise, then PTP’s finisher, then a Swagger Bomb. The babyfaces make quick work of the rest of Big Show’s team, with Titus pinning McGillicutty, Darren pinning Drew, and Kofi pinning Jinder. Total time is about twelve minutes.

THREE TEAM ELIMINATION TABLES MATCH FOR THE WWE WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES: International Airstrike 2.0(c) vs. Evan Bourne & Seth Rollins vs. The European Union (w/Aksana)-
The first elimination comes out ten minutes in when Bourne was about to put Cesaro through a table with the Air Bourne, but R-Truth snuck down to ringside and shoved him off the top rope and through another table. When the ref, who had been distracted by Aksana, saw this, he saw Cesaro standing over Bourne and assumed that Cesaro had done it, so he declared Rollins and Bourne eliminated. Five minutes later, Adrian Neville put Wade Barrett through a table with the Red Arrow to retain the titles.

WINNER BECOMES #1 CONTENDER TO THE WWE TITLE AT PAYBACK, THE LOSER MUST WAIT UNTIL MONEY IN THE BANK: Tyson Kidd (w/Natalya Neidhart) vs. Christian (w/Paige)-
Tyson Kidd wins clean in eighteen minutes, making Christian tap to the Dungeon Lock.

WWE DIVAS TITLE MATCH: AJ Bryan(c) (w/Daniel Bryan) vs. Naomi (w/the Brain Trust)-
AJ’s legs are still hurt from her matches this week. It turns out that Brain Trust’s strategy was to have Naomi play possum at the earliest opportunity to sucker AJ into going for the Shining Wizard, so that Naomi could block it and quickly slap on a leg lock and take control of the match. It works, and Naomi has firm control of the match, working over AJ’s legs.
At one point Naomi has AJ in the figure four (her finisher) and just as AJ is about to get to the ropes, Sandow pulls them back so she can’t reach. Dragon sees this and chases Sandow backstage (and AJ gets to the ropes). Soon after this, CM Punk comes out and assaults David Otunga, taking out his knee with a steel chair. AJ eventually wins when she manages to catch Naomi with a school girl. Total time is about fifteen minutes.

JOHN CENA vs. THE MIZ (w/Roman Reigns, Alberto Del Rio, & Ricardo Rodriguez)-
Cena wins clean in twelve minutes, despite the heels' attempts to interfere. As the heels slink away up the ramp, Cena grabs a mic and cuts a promo on Roman Reigns, telling him that he is better than interfering in matches and hanging out with guys like Miz. Cena says that he knows Reigns has what it takes to be a champion, but he’ll never prove it to anyone if the keeps hanging out with Miz and Del Rio and trying to win matches with interference.


FALLS COUNT ANYWHERE MATCH FOR THE WWE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE: Damien Sandow(c) vs. CM Punk-
Now that Punk has taken Otunga out, Sandow is forced to fight for himself, and after a brutal twenty-two minute brawl all over the arena (with both guys bleeding), Sandow beats Punk clean to retain the title.

WWE TITLE MATCH: Daniel Bryan(c) (w/AJ Bryan) vs. Ryback-
Ryback uses his power to dominate the match, while Dragon uses his speed, technique, and pin-point strikes to try to beat Ryback. Dragon manages to avoid getting pinned with a lateral press most of the time, and the few times he doesn’t he gets his foot on the ropes to break up the pin. The finish comes when Ryback goes for the Shell Shock, but Dragon counters it with a Crucifix roll-up for the pin. Ryback is completely stunned by the finish. He seems to just stare through Dragon for a long time when Dragon offers a handshake before finally giving him a weak handshake. Total match time is sixteen minutes.

EXTREME RULES MATCH FOR THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE: Sheamus(c) vs. Rob Van Dam-
Sheamus wins a brutal match in twenty five minutes to retain the World Heavyweight Title. RVD shows him respect after the match with a handshake.