WrestleMania 31 and the Raw after WrestleMania

WrestleMania 31 is officially in the books and I gotta say, I was a lot more entertained by the show than I thought I would be. Maybe it’s because I went in with low expectations but I was very pleased with the way WM31 was put together. Granted, there were some finishes I didn’t like, which I’ll go over below, but that’s to be expected. Still, the set was very cool and the day time setting of the show was actually kinda cool. Kept to a once in a seldom while thing, a show in full daylight like WM31 can be a great change of pace.

Also as has been in the past few years, the Raw after WrestleMania is almost as important as the annual event itself – and this year was no exception. With lots of great matches and surprises (not to mention a hot crowd), Raw from San Jose on March 30 was one of the best in recent months.

WrestleMania 31 Pre-Show

It’s weird that a 4-hour show needs an hour pre-show, since it just feels like it diminishes whatever is on it, like it wasn’t good enough for the show proper. Regardless of that, the pre-show saw Cesaro and Kidd retain the tag titles and Big Show win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.

Kidd and Cesaro retaining was the right choice, especially since one of the Usos is injured and the other teams were The Matadores (who only show up on TV around Mania season) and the New Day, who the fans actively hate with every fiber of their being. (I like all the members of New Day – Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods – but I can’t deny the New Day gimmick is less than pointless and they’ve done nothing with it so far.) And not to be overlooked, Natalya is killing it lately with these leather, dominatrix-type outfits.

The Battle Royal came down to Miz, Mizdow, and Big Show. Miz demanded Mizdow eliminate himself and Mizdow finally fought back and eliminated Miz. Though, this was before they thought to team up and take out Big Show. Mizdow put up a good fight but couldn’t take out the giant. I really, REALLY hope they feud Mizdow against Big Show in the coming weeks/months in a David and Goliath feud to keep getting him sympathy heat, now that a feud with Miz seems to be kicking off. Because if they just kill any kind of push for Mizdow, what was the point of having Big Show win?

Sandow, you're the real people's champion

It was cool to see Hideo Itami in the Battle Royal (and swerve everyone who thought Adrian Neville was a lock to win the spot) but I think that someone like Ryback or Mizdow should’ve won the Battle Royal. Someone younger on the roster who could use any kind of accolade to propel them forward a little bit.

IC title ladder match

The show opened with a bang with the Intercontinental title ladder match. Almost everyone in the match had a good shot of winning the belt (sorry, R-Truth) but in the end it was Daniel Bryan who walked out with the gold. His first IC title win, this makes Daniel Bryan the 26^th Triple Crown Champion in WWE history, winning all the titles he’s eligible for. Not even John Cena or the Undertaker are Triple Crown winners (both needing an IC title reign).

Then Bryan had his first title defense the very next night against Dolph Ziggler. It was a great singles match, one of the best seen on Raw in a long time. Afterward, Wade Barrett attacked Bryan and Ziggler but Sheamus ran out to make the save – only to (gasp) turn heel and Brogue Kick both Ziggler and Bryan. They’ve been teasing his return for some time now and there’s been speculation that he would turn heel upon his return and it looks like he’ll be a major contender for the IC title now too.

Seth Rollins vs Randy Orton

This was a solid match but the highlight was the finish, where Orton popped Rollins into the air while he went for a Curb Stomp, only to bring him crashing down in an RKO. Orton got the win but Rollins would be the biggest winner of the day later in the show. 

Sting vs. Triple H

“Shenanigans” is the only word that comes to mind when I think about this match. The entrances were ridiculous, to start. I didn’t really get why Sting had a band of drummers open for him. I thought a small orchestra set up like in the WWE 2K15 commercial would’ve been much better and fit his character. And the Triple H entrance…oh my god the Triple H entrance. I’m still torn about it. On one hand, it was pretty cool but on the other hand it was super cheesy. But Triple H as a Terminator made a lot more sense once the match was over.

Along with the Terminators, Triple H had soldiers during his entrance, played by (from left) Enzo Amore, Scott Dawson, Dash Wilder, Buddy Murphy, Solomon Crowe and referee Drake Wuertz.

In a big surprise, the DX appeared (Billy Gunn, Road Dogg and X-Pac) to try and help Triple H but it wasn’t long before nWo (Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash) hit the scene to even the odds. Then from nowhere, Shawn Michaels appeared to Sweet Chin Music away any hope Sting had of winning. I thought it was an odd move to sign Sting and push this months-long angle since Survivor Series only to have him lose but it made more sense once I heard JBL yell, “We win again!”

It’s very apparent Vince put this whole angle together as one more “up yours” to WCW – WWE won the Monday Night War and refuse to let anyone ever forget it. I don’t know what Sting will do now but I’d hope he stays around. Coming into WWE to have one match and lose doesn’t seem like a great way to end your career. But Triple H being a Terminator made more sense after he won, seeing as how WWE likes to rewrite the past and kill any threats to their dominance that they possibly can.

AJ Lee and Paige vs The Bella Twins

I don’t remember a whole lot from this match, other than Paige’s awesome new pentagon ring gear and the Bellas losing. It didn’t make much sense for this tag match to exist – shouldn’t it have been a title match with all four of these Divas competing against each other? Granted, it would’ve been a pretty terrible four-way to shove into the barely 6 minutes they got at WM31.

The six-Diva tag match the next night on Raw was really great though as Paige, AJ and Naomi faced The Bellas and Natalya. Teaming Natty with the Bellas doesn’t make much sense but hey, anything is better than her feuding with El Torito.

Rusev vs John Cena

United States Championship

Rusev’s entrance was easily one of the best visuals of the entire night. Rusev in a tank?! It couldn’t get any more perfect for the Bulgarian Brute, the Hero of the Russian Federation.

And though I would’ve liked to have seen Rusev win, I think he still looked pretty good in defeat. Everyone knew that Cena was going to win because CENAWINSLOL. I just hope that Rusev’s previous year of domination is enough to propel him forward and that his current friction with Lana will pass because they work really well together.

The Rock and Ronda Rousey vs Triple H and Stephanie

I don’t remember the impetus for this segment (I think it was for Trips and Stephanie to gloat about beating Sting? Maybe?) but eventually The Rock interrupted them and he got a much better reaction than he did at the Royal Rumble.

What I do remember from this segment is that Steph slapped The Rock who said he doesn’t hit women but he knows someone who does – and brought in UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey from the front row into the ring. The Rock beat down Trips and Rousey gave him a judo throw. Steph tried to slap Rousey who immediately realized she had made a huge mistake. Rousey showed restraint and didn’t obliterate Steph or rip her arm clean off, unfortunately.

I’ll be really interested to see where this goes. Rousey is a huge fan of pro wrestling, has appeared on WWE segments before (at Summerslam I think) and has been seen at PWG before. But I don’t think she has any training so it will be interesting to see what her involvement is going forward. I’m assuming this was just another way to promote the new Fast and Furious movie which she and The Rock are in but here’s hoping for more Rousey in WWE.

Bray Wyatt vs The Undertaker

This is another match I’m really split on. On one hand, I think Bray did a great job in the match itself but an even better job carrying the feud itself, since Taker didn’t show up until WrestleMania itself. There’s also the sentiment that just being in there with Taker makes him look better.

Although, I don’t subscribe to that feeling. In my eyes, Bray should have won that match. He carried the entire thing going into Mania and if he had beaten Taker, would have legitimately been seen as the new “Phenom,” the new supernatural entity in WWE. But he was booked to lose and because of that, looked even more foolish for wasting his time for so many weeks calling out Undertaker only to lose.

Bray has had enough adversity in getting to the top of the card without losing matches he really should have and needed to win. Losing a feud with Cena and getting the Family taken away from him has really hindered his advancement. He won a nothing feud with Ambrose and had he defeated Taker, would’ve immediately been seen as a main event player. But now he’ll have to pick up the pieces all over again.

Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns
WWE Championship

Before Mania, everyone thought Reigns was a lock to win since it seemed like Brock was on his way back to UFC. But with the announcement on ESPN that he was staying in WWE, telling who would win this match became a lot more cloudy.

Brock started out this match brutalizing Roman, hitting several F5s and numerous suplexs, taking Reigns to Suplex City. But Roman stayed in it. And despite his efforts, the crowd still hated him. Hated him like you wouldn’t believe. Then something glorious happened. Seth Rollins cashed in.

In a WrestleMania first, Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract. The match turned into a triple threat and with Roman and Brock both beaten down, Rollins was able to Curb Stomp Reigns after he had speared Brock and Rollins pinned his former Shield teammate and tag partner to become the WWE World Heavyweight champion.

The night after on Raw

After a better-than-expected WrestleMania 31, the Raw crowd was red hot. We saw the debuts of Kalisto as part of the Lucha Dragons (winning an 8-man tag match with New Day against Kidd and Cesaro and The Ascension) as well as Adrian Neville, who appears to have lost his first name. I can’t get over how stupid it is that his name is just “Neville” on the main roster and will continue to complain about it for weeks to come (maybe forever if they don’t give him back his first name).

Sheamus also came back and went full heel almost instantly, though it’s fair to say that his new haircut was enough to tell everyone that he’s not gonna be a face anymore.

Brock Lesnar wanted his rematch against Seth Rollins but Rollins said no…and Lesnar absolutely lost his mind. He tore up the set, pushed the announce table on JBL and Booker T, F5’ed Michael Cole and then F5’ed a cameraman twice. Stephanie suspended Brock indefinitely (to no doubt write him off the show for a few months) but I could see this as the beginning of a face turn for Brock as he fights against The Authority and their champ, Seth Rollins.

Dean Ambrose had a really good match for the US title against John Cena but ended up losing. Whether it’s the US or IC title, I just hope Ambrose is the next guy to win gold because he really deserves it.

And the Raw crowd HATED Roman Reigns. Like, even more than the crowd at WM31. Reigns was in a 6-man tag with Randy Orton and Ryback against Rollins, Kane and Big Show. The crowd was the least into this match of the entire night and proceeded to chant anything they could think of (namely NXT related chants), did the wave (which the cameras watched for a while instead of the match) and chanted “Please retire” at Big Show. But here’s the thing – a few mere minutes after chanting at Big Show to retire, they wildly cheered him for beating down Roman Reigns. That’s how much people hate Reigns – THEY WERE CHEERING BIG SHOW.

Lots of other stuff happened too on Raw but this is running way too long and I can’t remember everything so that’s it for now. Here’s hoping that WWE can build on this momentum into Extreme Rules and that Reigns doesn’t just immediately get another match for the title at Extreme Rules (he doesn’t deserve one either – he won the Rumble, got his shot and lost), though I’m almost certain he will.

(Gifs and images were found on r/SquaredCircle and /wooo/ or from Twitter. Also, the panorama at the top was by a Reddit user whose name I took down to give him credit then lost - sorry.)

Brock Lesnar and the WWE Championship

For the first time in a long time, the future of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship is in a state of the unknown. It’s often not too difficult to discern who is next in line to hold the coveted championship, but after the events of SummerSlam this past Sunday, its future is very ambiguous.

At SummerSlam, Brock Lesnar – a former NCAA, UFC, IWGP and WWE champion – defeated John Cena for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the main event. Though, saying that he “defeated” Cena would hardly be doing Brock justice. Lesnar mauled Cena. Lesnar annihilated Cena. Lesnar conquered Cena. For the first time in a long time, John Cena, a 15-time WWE Champion, looked weak and vulnerable – words with which John Cena has almost never been described in his WWE career. Over-rated, maybe. Over-exposed, sure. But “weak” and “vulnerable?” No, I can’t ever really recall a time that the WWE has booked John Cena – their resident Superman – to look so utterly ineffectual and downright powerless.

Brock Lesnar has a unique mystique in the landscape of the today’s WWE. Lesnar was last WWE Champion over a decade ago, in 2003. Since then he’s won the New Japan Pro Wrestling IWGP World Heavyweight Championship in 2005 and the UFC Heavyweight championship in 2008. Not only has he been able to earn gold in a completely different professional wrestling atmosphere but he has proven that he can be successful in the legitimate combat sport of mixed-martial arts as well which lends Lesnar an incredibly daunting aura that almost no other athlete in the WWE or in the world can match up against. 

Brock Lesnar was presented with the brand new WWE World Heavyweight Championship belt last Monday on Raw

If Brock Lesnar and John Cena had a back-and-forth battle at SummerSlam for the WWE Championship, it would be easy to assume that Cena could realistically win the title back at Night of Champions (the next Pay-Per-View) or at any time, really. But Brock utterly decimated Cena at SummerSlam. Their match at SummerSlam, which was about 15 minutes long, consisted of Brock hitting his finishing move, the F5, mere minutes into the match, followed by not one, not two but FIFTEEN German Suplexes on Cena, tossing the champion around like a ragdoll.

This victory follows Brock’s domination of The Undertaker at Wrestlemania 30, snapping Taker’s undefeated streak, which his advocate, Paul Heyman, eloquently reminds fans that he is “The one behind the one in ‘one and twenty-one.’” Beating John Cena as viciously as he did at SummerSlam is not quite as huge in the grand scheme of events as snapping the Undertaker’s undefeated streak at Wrestlemania – but if beating Taker at Wrestlemania is #1 on Lesnar’s list of amazing feats, dominating John Cena in a championship match is easily #2.

Brock doing his best Undertaker
impersonation at SummerSlam

Which leads me to why for the first time, in a long time, the future of the WWE Championship is so uncertain. It’s been a long time since there’s been such an utterly dominant champion as Brock Lesnar is in his current run. He’s dominated every foe he’s faced – which in the past year and a half includes Triple H, CM Punk, The Big Show, The Undertaker and John Cena – in such a convincing fashion that WWE will need to play the next few months of storyline very carefully in order to build a believable contender to Brock Lesnar. He broke the streak and utterly destroyed Cena, pinning him cleanly in a championship match. It will be hard for ANY wrestler in WWE to look like a believable threat to the beast that is Brock Lesnar.

The internet dirtsheets are reporting that Vince McMahon wants The Rock to face Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 31 and that Triple H wants Roman Reigns to be Brock’s opponent. None of the reports have indicated that those matches would be for the title but with all the evidence stated above, you’d be hard-pressed to find or build a worthy contender to Brock’s championship between now and Wrestlemania.

And while none of the dirtsheets have mentioned this specifically, I would hope that WWE is also considering Daniel Bryan as the man to take down the beast. Since having vacated the title after Extreme Rules, Bryan has been suffering myriad health problems requiring multiple surgeries and extensive rehab. The hope is that he will be able to return by the Royal Rumble, which is slated to take place in January 2015. Using a storyline that closely resembled his run to the championship while opposing the Authority, someone like Daniel Bryan, who has had overwhelming fan support, would be the perfect foil for Brock Lesnar. The “David vs Goliath” story of Bryan vs Lesnar would be almost as good, if not better than his conflict with the Authority which led to his title win at Wrestlemania 30.

It was announced on Main Event on Tuesday night that John Cena will have his rematch for the WWE Championship against Brock at the Night of Champions PPV in Nashville on September 21 and it will be interesting to see if he fares any differently against Lesnar than he did at SummerSlam. But as it stands right now, Brock Lesnar is the king of the mountain in the WWE and it will take some clever booking and a little bit of luck to create a challenger who can take the title from the Beast.

Exclusive interview with ECW co-founder and current WWE manager Paul Heyman on the upcoming SummerSlam PPV, his latest DVD and more

The Ring Rust Radio team is back with another huge, exclusive interview. Donald Wood, Mike Chiari and Brandon Galvin were able to speak with Paul Heyman, ECW co-founder and current WWE manager of such stars as CM Punk and Brock Lesnar. Ring Rust Radio gets to talk to Paul Heyman about SummerSlam, the future of WWE, if he would ever consider running a company, like ECW, again as well as the newly released DVD detailing the highlights of his career in professional wrestling entitled, “Ladies and Gentlemen, My Name is Paul Heyman” and more.


Donald Wood: SummerSlam is Sunday, August 17, on the WWE Network. Your client, Brock Lesnar, will be fighting John Cena for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. After being behind one of the most shocking moments in wrestling history, what does the duo of Lesnar and Heyman have in store for SummerSlam?

Paul Heyman: The same thing that was in store for The Undertaker at WrestleMania; a beating beyond compare. I don’t need to hype SummerSlam to those who understand the dominance that prevails in the universe that has been conquered by Brock Lesnar. I think the people who need to be sold on this Pay-Per-View are John Cena fans, to which I offer this very quick sales pitch. If you are a fan of John Cena, and if you are there is no accounting for taste, this is your last opportunity to see him. And if you think it’s all hype and hyperbole, here’s something to consider; if you look back on 21 appearances at WrestleMania by The Undertaker, you can rarely find a video clip of someone even getting a two-count on The Undertaker. Brock Lesnar just didn’t beat The Undertaker, Brock Lesnar hospitalized The Undertaker. Brock Lesnar gave The Undertaker such an ass-kicking that The Undertaker has not been seen, nor heard from since. There was no controversy. There was no outside interference. There was no manager distraction. Brock Lesnar stepped into the ring and beat The Undertaker within an inch of his life, and the same fate awaits for John Cena at the Staples Center, on August 17 in Los Angeles at SummerSlam.

Mike Chiari: Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena is the biggest money match WWE has to offer right now, but after SummerSlam what Superstar or Superstars would you like to see Brock face moving forward? Who do you think is ready to and worthy of going up against Brock?

Paul Heyman: I see Brock Lesnar defending the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against all comers. That could mean Randy Orton, that could mean Seth Rollins, that could mean Roman Reigns, that could mean Dean Ambrose, that could mean Big Show, that could mean Daniel Bryan. If there is anyone that wants to step up and try to take the title away, because that’s the key. You’re not going to just luck a victory over Brock Lesnar. You’re going to have to beat Brock Lesnar in order to take the championship from him. The same way Brock Lesnar is going to hoist John Cena up on his massive shoulders on August 17 at SummerSlam, drive John Cena down to the mat with such ferocity that John Cena will not know what hit him with the F-5 and pin John Cena’s shoulders to the mat 1-2-3 to take from John Cena the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. To strip John Cena of the dignity of being champion.

Brandon Galvin: The running joke among us is that every new promo you cut is a top 10 promo of the year because your delivery and intensity is impeccable and you always incite an emotional reaction from the audience. Is there anybody you've studied during your career, whether they be in wrestling or outside wrestling, to help you evolve into the best promo man in the business?

Paul Heyman: Everyone. I watch everyone. I look to see what everyone does. I watched my father present his case to juries, my father was a personal injury attorney in the Bronx, I watched my father present cases to juries when I was a kid. I look now at the WWE Universe as if they are my jury and I am the advocate for my client. In terms of people that I watch, I watch everybody. There is something to learn from every single person who goes out there and performs because you’re going to be judged up against them. The way they hold their hands, the way they hold the microphone, the way they tilt their head, the way they engage the audience, the way someone cuts their eyes to the right and to the left, the way someone avoids the camera, the way someone looks into the camera, how do they hold their legs, what is their body language, what does anything they do tell you in their desire to convey their message to you. And I study everybody because I’m competing with them in terms of being the best person on the microphone.

Donald Wood: Tuesday marked the release of the new “Ladies and Gentlemen, My Name is Paul Heyman” DVD. As someone who has been around the business for a long time, how does it feel to have a DVD made about you and what’s it like knowing the WWE is behind the production?

Paul Heyman: If you asked me two years ago if the WWE would’ve made a DVD of me, I wouldn’t say yes. I wouldn’t have envisioned this coming and I wasn’t particularly happy when I heard they were going to do it because I didn’t know what stories they were going to tell. I also knew that meant sitting down and reflecting upon my career and my life and I hate looking back. I’m obsessed with looking forward. I’m flattered by all of the positive reviews the DVD has gotten and I’m glad people like the take that was offered. Really, I have nothing to bitch about regarding it.

Brandon Galvin: Was there anything cut from the DVD that you wish made it?

Paul Heyman: I have no idea what was shot for the DVD. My participation in this DVD, besides giving them pictures of my children and a few pictures of my parents to the WWE, was I sat down for an interview, we did it all in one shot, it took about 16 hours. The only request that I had was that we kinda do it like a Charlie Rose interview. I’m sitting at a table because it’s a more relaxed atmosphere. I didn’t want to shoot it in my house. I didn’t want to shoot it in my office. I sat down for 16 hours and we banged it out. I went in with the full intention of just whatever the question was, I’m going to give it a 100 percent honest answer. I don’t know what else was shot. I wasn’t privy to who was being interviewed for it, although I had heard. I don’t know what footage that was shot ever made it, I don’t know which stories were told never made it, which probably means if this documentary goes well there will be a Part II. After doing an interview for 16 hours, I don’t really know what they asked me that didn’t make the cut simply because it was a 16-hour interview and I was glad to be done with it.

Mike Chiari: You were there front and center when Brock Lesnar picked up the biggest win in WrestleMania history against The Undertaker. Knowing what type of condition he was in after that match and knowing everything he’s accomplished over the course of his career, in your opinion do you believe we’ll ever see The Undertaker wrestle another match?

Paul Heyman: I don’t know. I truly don’t know. I don’t know as a human being and I don’t know as a character. I don’t know what he’s thinking and I don’t know what his reaction to this is. I didn’t see The Undertaker after the match. The Undertaker legitimately collapsed five seconds after he walked through that curtain. He never even made it to the Gorilla position. He was in between the set and the curtain that leads to the control room, known as the Gorilla position. He collapsed there. They loaded him into the ambulance down a side ramp from right behind the curtain and was taken straight to the hospital. That’s not a storyline, that’s the way it happened. I don’t know how he feels about it. I don’t know if he feels that once his streak was over, that’s what he had left to give. And I don’t know if he feels that he doesn’t want to go out like that. It’s not something I’m privy to the answer of and nor should I be for that matter. It’s clearly his decision.

Donald Wood: I’d be remiss as a kid from Philadelphia who witnessed the ECW revolution if we didn’t touch on that. You helped build one of the most successful wrestling federations in the history of the sport. With TNA struggling and a wide-open market desperate for a viable alternative, do you ever think about getting back in the saddle as a primary shot caller for a company again?

Paul Heyman: No. No. No. In 2010, after Brock Lesnar choked out Shane Carwin, there was a discussion that I had with TNA that involved Spike TV. Ultimately, because TNA had been trying to get me on the phone from the day I left WWE in 2006 and I never took the phone call. We finally got into a conversation because Spike TV had reached out to make that happen. Ultimately, the story of this is, if I was going to do it, I wanted the Dana White deal. I wanted complete control, I wanted a piece of the company and I wanted the ability to, when the time was right, to take it public. I wanted to do the programming completely different than the way they had been doing it and Spike TV signed off on it. The concept was a very youth-oriented, youth-based, youth-marketed promotion. A complete contrast to the way WWE does things. A complete and utter alternative to WWE at the time. While the ruling family in TNA had no problem with my salary request, my ownership demands, my concepts, etc. etc., they didn’t want to implement as much of a youth-oriented product as I was looking for and I balked at it. I have no regrets about that. At the end of the day, they were happier being a WWE-lite promotion than they were branding themselves something different as TNA. So that was the last flirtation I had with doing my own thing. I do my own thing with my marketing brand and talent agency in New York City called Looking 4 Larry Agency. I’m very proud of the body of work. We have a long list of clients including 2KSports and in the past THQ and EA Sports and a number of different clients. And I get to do my own thing in the mainstream world with a marketing firm right in the heart of New York City. In regard to doing my own thing in sports entertainment, I kinda do my own thing now with Brock Lesnar and I’m very happy doing it. Running a whole show is a 24/7 and 365 commitment, and you would need an enormous amount of financing and very strong distribution set up front to get me to the table to even consider such a task. Otherwise, it’s doomed to fail.

Mike Chiari: During your time at the helm in ECW you became known for your ability and willingness to scour the globe and bring in unique talent. With WWE currently doing the same in the form of Kenta and Prince Devitt specifically how impressed are you with WWE’s efforts to broaden its horizons in a sense?

Paul Heyman: Very. I commend them on this reach out for the best talent on the face of the planet. That obviously includes the two men you just mentioned. We’re getting the cream of the crop and that notes a style change in the WWE. A higher work rate. Higher customer satisfaction in terms of the actual in-ring product. It’s a very exciting future to think about the kind of people who have yet to debut on WWE television.