Spotlight On Raw

The Spotlight On WWE Week On The USA Network

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Hey guys normally in this slot, I would do a spotlight on the week ahead for WWE but I thought it would fun to preview WWE week on the USA Network that will be premiering next month.  WWE sent out a press release late last week announcing that WWE week will launch on the USA Network beginning Sunday, December 20th. Let’s get into some of the highlights of what you can expect to see on WWE Week.

Highlights:

Santa’s Little Helper- We mentioned on our “The Week Ahead For WWE” piece last Monday, that the latest WWE Studios release was going to be released this past Tuesday, November 17th. Well now Santa’s Little Helper will air on the USA Network from 8-10PM on Sunday night December 20th. Santa’s Little Helper is actually the third Christmas film released by WWE Films and stars Mike “The Miz” Mizanin, WWE Diva Paige & former 90210 star, Annalyn McCord. I’m always a fan of Christmas flicks and I can tell you that you can absolutely expect a review on Santa’s Little Helper once it airs on the USA Network.

The Slammys Are Back- Sadly the Slammys won’t be a black tie affair nor will Todd Pettengill be hosting the show but the Slammys will return to Monday Night Raw on 12/21. The Slammys are always a good time. I remember back in 2009 they actually started the build to the Wrestlemania rematch between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker at the Slammys. Most of the old Slammy Awards Shows are available in the on demand section of the WWE Network if you’re looking to get excited for this year’s big show. Once the ballots are released, we’ll be back with our picks here on the site.

Live Smackdown- WWE Week will continue with a live Smackdown on December 22nd and it will take place on the USA Network, not the SYFY network. I always enjoy when Smackdown goes live and will be tuning in that night for sure. Smackdown will officially premiere on the USA Network regularly beginning on January 5th and so I’m sure this will be a good promotional tool for the show. Even though Smackdown being on Thursday spaces out the WWE television programming throughout the week, I would love to have back to back live WWE programming. I just feel like anything can happen when you’re live.

Tribute To The Troops- The annual WWE week concludes with the traditional Tribute to the Troops special that WWE has been doing over the last decade plus. This year WWE will be heading to the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida. They will also have the band Train on hand to perform for the troops. I can’t say enough about how cool I think it is that WWE continues to bring their product to the men and women who make the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. You don’t see the NBA, NFL or any other sports and/or entity bringing their product directly to our troops. To me this is the single most important event of the year for WWE and there’s something about this special that I find synonymous with the holidays.

Closing Thoughts

Obviously this will be a pretty big week of programming for WWE as they close out the year. Pretty much right after this week, it’ll be time to prepare for the Royal Rumble.  I should also add that WWE superstars and divas will be appearing live during USA’s daytime programming from 11AM-3PM Monday thru Friday. My word of advice would be that, l if you’re only interested in the WWE programming, DVR the block of programming and fast forward through it all so that you can catch the interviews with WWE superstars and divas.  That’s going to do it for me today but I’ve attached the official press release below if you would like to check it out for yourself.

“WWE® WEEK” TO KICK OFF DECEMBER 20TH ON USA NETWORK, FEATURING THE 2015 WWE SLAMMY AWARDS AND WWE TRIBUTE TO THE TROOPS®

NEW YORK and STAMFORD, Conn., – November 19, 2015 – USA Network and WWE will kick off the holiday season with an action-packed “WWE Week.”  The week begins Sunday, December 20 with SANTA’S LITTLE HELPER, followed by MONDAY NIGHT RAW®; the 2015 WWE SLAMMY AWARDS on Monday, December 21; a live SMACKDOWN® on Tuesday, December 22; and a two-hour WWE TRIBUTE TO THE TROOPS special on Wednesday, December 23. The week will also include a daytime roadblock featuring interviews with WWE Superstars and Divas.

On Sunday, December 20, from 8pm-10pm ET, USA will air SANTA’S LITTLE HELPER, an original comedy from WWE Studios and 20th Century Fox.  The film follows a fast-talking businessman who is given the opportunity of a lifetime to become Santa Claus’ second-in-command.  SANTA’S LITTLE HELPER is directed by Gil Junger and produced by Richard Lowell and features WWE Superstar The Miz® and WWE Diva Paige®.  AnnaLynne McCord (“90210,” “American Heiress”) and Eric Keenleyside (“Godzilla,” “The Interpreter”) star.

On Monday, December 21, from 8-11pm ET, USA will air MONDAY NIGHT RAW, live from Minneapolis, MN, featuring the annual fan-voted SLAMMY AWARDS, the WWE’s biggest awards event of the year, honoring the best of the year with its own golden statue.  On Tuesday, December 22 from 8-10pm ET, USA will air SMACKDOWN live from Des Moines, Iowa. Both RAW and SMACKDOWN  will showcase a star-studded cast of WWE Superstars and Divas, and deliver a shot of adrenaline to viewers with over-the-top action, feats of athleticism and high- octane drama.

On Wednesday, December 23, from 8-10pm ET, USA will air the 13th annual holiday special, WWE TRIBUTE TO THE TROOPS.  In the tradition of Bob Hope, WWE brings together the best of sports entertainment and pop culture with celebrity appearances and performances from music’s most popular acts — performed for our servicemen and women, to honor their commitment and dedication to our country. This year, Grammy Award-winning rock band Train will perform.  WWE TRIBUTE TO THE TROOPS has become a holiday tradition and is considered TV’s most patriotic and heartwarming show of the year.  It will chronicle WWE’s visit to Florida’s Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena for military personnel and their families stationed at the Jacksonville Naval Air Station, Naval Station Mayport and Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base.  While in town, WWE Superstars and Divas will spend the day giving back to those who serve and their families with visits to each base, a Be a STAR anti-bullying rally, and military outreach.

WWE also takes over USA DAYTIME from 11am-3pm Monday, December 21 – Friday, December 25, as host Cat Greenleaf conducts interviews from her iconic stoop with WWE Superstars and Divas.

MONDAY NIGHT RAW on USA is the most-watched, regularly scheduled, year-round program on cable, with a live three-hour block every Monday night, 52 weeks a year.  RAW has been a cable mainstay for more than 20 years and is consistently a top ten show on television. The three-hour block on USA averages 1.9MM P18-49, 2.0MM P25-54 and 4.3MM total viewers P2+.  RAW and SMACKDOWN have reached 48.2 Million viewers in 2015.

With more than 800 original episodes, SMACKDOWN is the second longest-running weekly episodic program in U.S. television history, only behind MONDAY NIGHT RAW. Over the past 15 years, SMACKDOWN has been broadcast from 170 different venues, in 148 cities, in seven different countries including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Iraq, Japan, Italy and Mexico.

Follow the social conversation with #Troops on @WWE @TRIBUTETOTROOPS @USA_NETWORK.

 

The Spotlight On Raw- 11/16/2015

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Last Night WWE Raw emanated live from Greenville, SC and it was quite the newsworthy show to say the least.  Most people will probably remember this Raw for the final segment involving Paige and Charlotte as it was probably the most controversial segment in WWE, I’d say, since CM Punk faked the heart attack to mock Jerry Lawler back in 2013.  We’re going to get into that and a whole lot more in the highlights section below so let’s get right into it.

Highlights:

Divas Get The Spotlight: So I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I was a fan of Reid Flair’s death being brought into the storylines because I’m never a fan of that stuff, it’s pretty tasteless.  What happened to Reid was a real tragedy and I don’t think any one needs to be reminded of something like that while watching an episode of Raw.  That said, I’m sure that WWE got the blessing from both Charlotte and Ric to go ahead with the storyline and I’d think that Ric is old school in the belief that nothing is off limits in wrestling (much like comedy).  The main part of this that I do want to focus on, because we try to bring you the positive, is that WWE made a concerted effort to focus on the Divas last night.  They showed highlights of the Paige and Charlotte feud throughout the night and really made their contract signing at the end of the night feel like a big deal.  As for the contract signing itself, it was great to see the Divas get the final segment on Raw for the first time in over a year (I believe Stephanie McMahon and Brie Bella got that segment in August of 2014).  I also liked the fire and intensity of the brawl that the two had around the ring.  If nothing else, you really believed that Charlotte wanted to kill Paige at the end of the show and I’m more excited for their match now then I was prior to Raw.

Tournament Matches Deliver:  Usually I give you that one match to go out of your way to watch but this week I had a hard time doing that because I really enjoyed each one of the tournament matches.  Each one of the matches went over 10 minutes and were split up into two segments.  I liked that it seemed like each superstar in the matches was giving it their all as it made the World Title really feel like “the richest prize in the sport”.  Roman Reigns and Cesaro had an unbelievable match that saw so many reversals and nearfalls and while you figured Roman was probably going to win, they had to have made you feel that at least for a second that Cesaro had him.   Right behind that I thought that Kevin Owens and Neville tore the house down and I’ll tell you this, say what you will about Kevin Owens’ weight but he hung in their with Neville move for move and never looked even a step behind.  I also really enjoyed the Ambrose-Ziggler match and thought it was great to see Ambrose get to cut a promo after the match about what he would do if he won the title (he remains my choice to take the whole thing).  Lastly, while it was never in doubt that Del Rio was going to win, I liked that they gave Kalisto a couple of near falls.  Every tournament needs a fun cinderella underdog to get behind (Crash Holly in 2000!) and Kalisto played that role real well. It was interesting to see that Sin Cara was nowhere to be found tonight and left me wondering if perhaps, they’re going to give Kalisto a shot as single.

The Druids Rise:  I don’t have too much to say about the actual angle between the Wyatts and Brothers of Destruction but I loved the way that Raw kicked off with that classic Undertaker entrance with the druids and both Kane and Undertaker coming to the ring to kick off Raw. It was cool to see Undertaker giving a classic promo and I’m not too sure how many more times we’re going to get to see that entrance, so I’m enjoying it while I can.

Class:  I usually limit this piece to three highlights but I have to give WWE a bit of a kudos for paying respect to the horrible tragedy that happened in Paris this past week.  WWE always handles these things with the utmost class and it was nice to see all of the superstars and divas on entrance ramp to start Raw and paying their respects to the victims of these heinous attacks.

Well that is going to do it for me right now but I will be back a whole lot more wrestling content throughout the week as we continue to countdown to the Survivor Series on Sunday.  I’ll be taking a look at each one of the different Undertaker Specials that are currently on the WWE Network as a part of Undertaker week as well as also continuing to go through my Survivor Series Retrospective, looking at each one of the different Survivor Series events of the past year.  Stay tuned for all of that and be sure to give us a follow over on our twitter @daily_spotlight.

The Spotlight On The Week Ahead For WWE: 11/16-11/22

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Before I start the list of what to look forward to in WWE this week, I’d like to send my condolences to the family of WWE Hall of Famer Nick Bockwinkel who passed away over the weekend at the age of 80.  WWE released a couple of breaking news bits on the WWE Network looking at Bockwinkel’s induction into the WWE Hall of Fame, as well as some of the many great moments in his career. Bockwinkel was unquestionably one of the all time greats. I expect that there will be a tribute to Bockwinkel tomorrow night on Raw, at least in some capacity.  With no great way to transition, let’s get into the week ahead for WWE.

Monday: Later tonight WWE Monday Night Raw emanates live from Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, SC, returning to the States after a few weeks in the UK.  I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s Raw as the quarter finals in the WWE World Heavyweight Title Tournament takes place.  The tournament is stacked with four matches that could be really great.  They are as follows:  Roman Reigns vs. Cesaro, Alberto Del Rio vs. Kalisto, Kevin Owens vs Neville and Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler.  On top of that this will be the final Raw before the 2015 Survivor Series and the Undertaker is advertised locally as being there live.  It’ll be interesting to see how this all unfolds tomorrow night.

Undertaker Week: Tomorrow night immediately following Raw, on the WWE Network, Undertaker Week will begin with the first of a two part “Legends” interview with JBL hosting a sit down interview with Triple H, Shawn Michaels and Stone Cold Steve Austin.  The four legends will discuss their thoughts on their many battles with the Undertaker and this 2 part interview wraps up on Thursday on the Network.  Aside from that, the WWE Network will also feature two additional features on the Undertaker looking at his greatest moments on Tuesday and the most dangerous matches in his career on Wednesday.  I also expect that there will be some sort of on demand section added to Undertaker Week similar to what they did with Black Histroy month.  I say this because WWE has quietly added three episodes of Smackdown from 2007-2009 all prominently featuring the Undertaker.  I’ve enjoyed all of the theme weeks on the Network and I’m sure that this will be no exception.

2015 Survivor Series- This of course all culminates on Sunday night when WWE presents the 29th annual Survivor Series event live on the WWE Network from Atlanta, Georgia.  It appears that the event will feature both the semi finals and the finals of the WWE Heavyweight Title Tournament, a women’s championship match between Charlotte and Paige and a tag team match between The Brothers of Destruction and The Wyatt Family as WWE celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Undeetaker.  Interesting to note that their are not any Traditional Survivor Series Matches announced for Sunday as of this writing.  Things could certainly change this week at TV, however, and I’m sure all of you know that I’ll be rooting for a traditional survivor series match or two to be added.  There is a one hour long pre show being advertised on Sunday so, worst comes to worse, WWE could certainly put one of those matches on the pre show.

Closing Thoughts: 

Obviously with the conclusion of the World Title Tournament, The Survivor Series and Undertaker Week on the Network all coming up this week, it’s going to be a pretty important week for WWE. I should also mention that on November 17th, WWE Studios’ latest film, Santa’s Little Helper, will be released on DVD and Blu Ray starring WWE Studios mainstay, the Miz, and Paige.  This is a release that I plan on checking out here sometime before the holidays, it looks like it’ll be fun.

Ok well that’s going to do it for me but what are you looking forward to most this week in WWE?  What are some of your favorite Undertaker moments?  Let me know in the comments section below or on own brand new official twitter @Daily_Spotlight.

The Spotlight on Raw 11/09/2015

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WWE Monday Night Raw just went off the air emanating live from Machester, Great Britain and I honestly thought it was a pretty strong show.  We found out 2 quarterfinal matches for the WWE World Title Tournament as Roman Reigns will take on Cesaro and Dean Ambrose will take on Dolph Ziggler in two unique, fresh matches.  Aside from that I also really enjoyed some of the other build for the Survivor Series as WWE is really making it feel like one of the big four shows, at least in my opinion.  Let’s get right into some of the highlights on the show.

Highlights:

1) The Brothers Of Destruction Are Back–  This one I’ll probably get a little flack for but I really enjoyed the ending of Raw with the returns of both the Undertaker and Kane.  I also appreciated that, for the second week in a row, they continued to show old school clips of both the Undertaker and Kane to really point out how big of a deal what Bray Wyatt had done was.  Say what you will about the hokeyness of the last segment with the lightning and the special effects but that’s part of what I love about wrestling.  Whoever said wrestling had to be so serious?  Furthermore, the crowd absolutely lost their minds when the Undertaker and Kane came out and they ate up the staredown with the Wyatt Family showering the ring with “This Is Awesome” Chants.  Some of the folks on twitter seem a bit upset that Undertaker and Kane left the Wyatts laying but the Wyatts had done the same over the past few weeks.  Now there is still one last Raw before Survivor Series to see how the Wyatts regroup. I’m hooked into this one, can’t wait to see where they go next.

2) The Tournament–  I really enjoyed the way that they did the first round of the tournament throughout the night while leaving three more of the first round matches for Smackdown.  By spacing out the matches throughout the night, this gave the viewers reason to remain engaged in the show all night and I felt the tournament matches made the show go by pretty fast for a 3 hour show.  As for the tournament matches,  I felt that Dolph Ziggler and The Miz had a good match and especially felt that Dean Ambrose and Tyler Breeze had a good long match. I didn’t feel like Breeze lost anything by losing because he hung in there with Ambrose for so long and simply got caught by a rollup.  The shock of the tournament so far, for me, was seeing Cesaro pick of a win over Sheamus (with a nice little assist from Rooney!).  I assumed that Sheamus would get the win to set up a face-heel match with Roman.  Instead we’re going to get Roman vs. Cesaro in a really intriguing match between two fan favorites.

3) The New Day-  The New Day was in rare form tonight and hysterical by dropping in disses on Harry Potter and talking about how they really outdid themselves.  They remain a highlight on every show they’re apart of and I was glad that they mentioned not being a part of the tournament because that;s the first thing I thought when I saw the bracket as well.  As for the six man featuring the New Day against The Usos and Neville, it was the match of the night as all six of them busted their hides with high flying moves at every turn and Neville even getting a “Holy Shit” chant due to his Red Arrow off the top to the outside.  Go out of your way to watch that match, it was great.

Closing Thoughts

Overall, the crowd deserves some credit here because they were great throughout the night and gave Raw a really unique feel to it.  One of the first things I thought from watching the crowd was “Wow NXT: Takeover is going to be the best!”  I can’t wait for that show.

In closing, we also found out that next week on the WWE Network it will be Undertaker week leading into the Survivor Series and his 25th Anniversary.  Ironically, it will also be Undertake week here on the daily spotlight as I’ll be counting down my top 25 favorite Undertaker moments of all time.  Hopefully, my piece will act as a good companion piece to Undertaker week on the Network.  The WWE Network alwasy does a good job with their themed weeks and I’m sure next week will be no different.

Well that’s going to do it for me tonight but if you haven’t done so I’ve posted the first part of my Survivor Series Retrospective looking at the first 9 years of the Survivor Series from 1987-1995, so be sure to check that out.  Until then, what was some of your favorite moments from Raw?  What did you think of the Brothers of Destruction returning to Raw?

The Spotlight On The WWE Title Tournament (Updated With Bracket) 

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Please note that below you will find a spoiler on the bracket for the WWE World Title Tournament, which will in fact feature 16 different WWE Superstars. If you’d like to continue reading from this point I won’t give away any of the first round results (I don’t actually know them myself) but just the matches that you can expect to see in the first round of the tournament.  First off Roman Reigns will be going one on one with the Big Show. The winner of that match will face the winner of the first round match between Cesaro and Sheamus. Right below them on the bracket it’ll be Alberto Del Rio squaring off with Stardust and the winner of that match will face the winner of Ryback Vs. Kalisto ( I’ll be honest I’m pulling for upset here so we can get Del rio vs. Kalisto in the Quarterfinals, that’ll be a lot of fun.)

On the other side of the bracket, Kevin Owens will take on Titus O’Neil and the winner of that will face the winner of King  Barrett vs. Neville. Rounding out the tournament below them will be The Miz taking on Dolph Ziggler & the winner of that match will take on the winner of Dean Ambrose vs Tyler Breeze. 

Thus, those hoping for a “Battle Of The Best Friends” final between Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns are in luck, as the only way that match can happen is in the finals. If you’re looking for a prediction from me I would say Reigns over Del Rio in the semis & Ambrose over Owens before Reigns outlasts Ambrose to win the world title. 

What I could tell you is that the first round of the tournament is going to be completed this week between Raw & Smackdown. This would suggest that the Quarterfinals of the tournament would likely take place next week and the semi finals & finals of the tournament would both take place at the Survivor Series, similar to the way they did it with the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Invitiational down in NXT. 

I’ll be back a little bit later to kick of my Survivor Series Retrospective and, at the lastest, tomorrow morning looking at Raw. Until then, who do you guys think is going to win the tournament? Let me know in the comments section below, on Twitter @TommyOnTheSpot or via email at thedailyspotlight2@gmail.com!