Between the ‘sheets
– John Cena will defend his Royal Rumble title shot against CM Punk tomorrow night on Raw.
– WrestleMania world title number one contender Jack Swagger was arrested on Tuesday night when he was pulled over and found to be in possession of marijuana. Weed the people, indeed. Swagger faces the possibility of fines, a licence suspension and/or even jail time, but we won’t know which – if any – until he appears in court on March 12th. No news so far on whether or not WWE will be passing Dutch to another performer, possibly someone more on the left hand side.
– Swagger has, however, appeared in a video on WWE’s YouTube page alongside Colter, in which they break kayfabe to address Glenn Beck. Beck commented on the Swagger character on Wednesday, calling WWE “stupid wrestling people,” which I personally find to be one of the less arguable things Beck has ever said. WWE responded by offering Beck the chance to appear on Monday night’s Raw from Dallas, but Beck replied with a blunt “Unfortunately, I am currently booked doing anything else.”
– The Rock gets things done. It took less than a month for WWE champion The Rock to unveil a new WWE championship belt, which he did on Raw last Monday. The former ‘spinner’ belt had been in use since April 2005 following John Cena’s first WWE title win at WrestleMania 21, and had become one of the longest-serving belt designs in WWE history. The design change has been rumoured for a long time after this photo was leaked last year, and back in July 2011 CM Punk had claimed the first thing he’d do after winning the title at Money In The Bank would be changing how it looks because “that thing has been far too ugly for far too long.” He never did. WWE.com published an article crediting Orange Country Choppers, of the American Chopper TV show, for helping to create the new belt with their 3D printer. Oh, and it doesn’t once refer to the belt as a belt, which isn’t awkward at all. Much. The Rock’s custom version features two ‘Brahma bull’ side plates, which replace WWE logos on the standard version.
– Ring of Honor is at risk of losing its TV coverage in DirecTV homes as soon as next Thursday. The deal between DirecTV and ROH’s parent company, Sinclair Broadcasting, is set to expire on February 28th, and a new agreement seems to be unlikely as the two sides can’t seem to agree on a price. Sinclair has released a statement regarding the situation, which claims that “the inability to reach agreement with DirecTV is about more than just money,” but goes on to state that “This is simply the case of buyer and seller being unable to agree on price.” Make sense of that if you can.
– Contrary to the joke I made last week, WWE has in fact put out a Harlem Shake video. And they’re not alone! At a recent house show, TNA did one too. Of course, it wouldn’t be TNA if they didn’t slightly misunderstand how to do something properly, as three people are dancing at the start instead of the usual one. A minor detail maybe, but so is having your top heel faction lose all their matches instead of winning them. Or not. I don’t know anymore.
– An amazing goal in the Mexican Liga MX was celebrated lucha style this week. Angel Reyna blasted a shot in from 30 yards to give Pachuca an early lead against Cruz Azul on Wednesday, and followed up with a unique celebration: A flying headscissors. And, to be fair, not a bad one. Does it count as a red card if you attack your own teammate?
– Wrestling superstar Virgil was spotted in Grand Central Subway on Friday afternoon. This wouldn’t be unusual if he weren’t trying to sell photos. According to this article on DeadSpin, the asking price was $20…but he could be haggled down to $5.
Speculation corner
– While we didn’t get as many hints to potential WrestleMania matches as expected on Monday night, there were segments that made some vague suggestions towards matches that could take place. The biggest one was R-Truth’s return to save former tag team championship partner Kofi Kingston from an attack by Damien Sandow. Sandow has recently split and reunited with Cody Rhodes, which would make a Rhodes Scholars v Truth & Kingston match a strong possibility. Whether that happens at WrestleMania or next week on Raw, we’ll soon find out.
– It seems highly unlikely that Punk will take Cena’s WWE title shot, but is a triple threat match out of the picture? Probably. Undertaker didn’t appear on Raw as expected this week, but Dave Meltzer seems confident that he’ll be around tomorrow night. Then again, he said that last week too. If Undertaker pulls out of WrestleMania, Punk would be left with no opponent and he may end up being forced into the Rock v Cena match.
– Swagger’s arrest may cause him to be dropped from the world title match against Del Rio, which would leave a huge opening for someone to fill. Dolph Ziggler, maybe? Or judging from the lack of movement on WWE’s end so far, the match could stand.
– The Miz defeated Antonio Cesaro in a non-title no DQ match on Raw, which means this feud must continue. With nothing else on the horizon for these two, a WrestleMania title change looks like the strongest possibility.
– Ryback has shown some subtle signs of a possible heel turn over the last week or so, leading some to believe he could be paired up with Sheamus for the big show. That is WrestleMania, not the other Big Show, who would pair the two up and eat them. If this happens (the match or the meal) the Shield would be left without opposition. However, they have been working many house show matches against Team Hell No over the last couple of months, so a tag title match could be an option.
– Bo Dallas hasn’t been seen for two weeks now, so it would appear his rumoured match against Wade Barrett could be off the table.
– And where does Brock Lesnar fit in now he’s signed a two-year extension? The original plan was for Lesnar to lose to Triple H in a SummerSlam rematch, but that was when Lesnar was expected to leave post-WrestleMania. Now he’s sticking around, a loss seems like career suicide. Could the Triple H program be dropped in favour of another match, maybe Randy Orton?
And finally…
– This week’s #BabyfaceDickery award goes to The Miz for bad sportsmanship following his DQ loss to Cesaro at Elimination Chamber. It’s understandable to be annoyed about being unintentionally disqualified, but that’s no reason for a hero to deliver “a real, non-accidental private shot” to the defenseless heel. And even worse would be to brag about it.
– #ThatsNotPG! WWE.com has interviewed AJ for a ranking of her best kisses. No, it doesn’t feature Primo, Cody Rhodes and Hornswoggle from her NXT days, but it does feature the questionable phrase, “heat from my undercarriage.” Whew. The article also links to another wacky list from the middle of last year, about the history of Kane’s romantic involvements. Spoiler: They omitted Katie Vick. Shocker, eh?
