Raw Preview

The Spotlight On The Week Ahead In WWE: 11/9-11/15

Tom Lynch Spotlight On Raw, Spotlight On The WWE Network, Wrestling , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hello everyone and a happy Monday to each and every one of you. With a new week upon us I figured it would be a fun idea to take a look at the week ahead for WWE. Please note that at the end of this piece I’m going to have some (hopefully) fun bits of news regarding this website and the wrestling material that I have planned for all of you over the week as well. Let’s get right into it with some highlights of the week ahead in WWE.Highlights:

Manchester Mayhem: WWE heads to the United Kingdom to tape both Raw and Smackdown. Now for those of us in the New York City Area, Manchester is actually 5 hours ahead of us and so as I type this piece up right now, WWE is preparing to tape Raw live in just a little under two hours. With the tape delay, I’ve noticed in the past that while the Raw tapings in the UK often have strong in ring work (often stronger than many of the matches taped for Raw here in the States), there often isn’t as much storyline development when Raw heads to the UK. I don’t know if that’s because of the time difference and the fact that, with the way social media works, many spoilers get out prior to Raw airing on television or what but this is what I’ve noticed. Well, I don’t expect that to be the case tonight as tonght’s Raw will be the first live WWE broadcast since the news broke of Seth Rollins’ injury and it was announced that a tournament would be held to crown a new world champion at the Survivor Series on November 22nd. Here is what we do know right now in regards to Raw and Smackdown this week, WWE.com has confirmed that the tournament for the world title would kick off tonight on Raw and continue into Smackdown for the rest of the week. While not confirmed, I would think there would be 16 superstars competing in the tournament and they’ll have 2 first round matches on Raw and Smackdown both this week and next then hold the final 8 of the tournament live on the Survivor Series. It is certainly possible that the tournament would only have 8 participants or that they would do the first round this week and the second round next week then have the final four of the tournament at the Survivor Series but that remains to be seen. Personally I think this is great idea for WWE as it drives up the interest of Smackdown and makes that show a more “must see” program so that you can see the tournament matches. There hasn’t been any brackets released as of yet but I personally hope that we don’t see the brackets and instead they announce each matchup as they occur. I also know, and this is a bit of a SPOILER, that the Undertaker is locally advertised for tomorrow’s Smackdown taping and so it’ll be interesting to see if he is simply there for the live crowd following the taping or if perhaps he’ll get involved in the tapings this week to respond to the actions of the Wyatt family and continue the build for his involvement at the Survivor Series. 

Why, Joe, Why?: From an NXT, one of the big questions going into this week’s NXT is why Samoa Joe turned his back on former tag team partner and NXT World Champion, Finn Balor at the end of last week’s NXT television. If you haven’t seen last week’s NXT, I suggest going out of your way to do so. There is a really strong main event between Finn Balor and Apllo Crews for the NXT world title and the turn by Joe at the end was so well done and seemed to really shock the crowd. Also during that match, Baron Corbin attacked Crews, costing him the match. One would assume that the build for NXT Takeover:UK would continue this week and push towards a world title match between Balor and Joe (A match that on paper looks incredible) and, perhaps, a number one contender match between Crews and Corbin. Not bad at all and I’m interested to see how we get there on NXT this week.  
New Network Programming: There is also a good amount of original programming coming to the WWE Network this week. For starters, a brand new episode of WWE Breaking Ground will air on the Network immediately following Raw. If you haven’t seen the first two episodes so far. , I suggest you check those out as Breaking Ground is a really unique show as the WWE Network cameras peal back the curtain and really gives fans behind the scenes access to NXT that we’ve never seen anything like in WWE before. It almost reminds me of what the NFL does with Hard Knocks, especially the scene last week where Devin Taylor gets fired.  Aside from that this week, a new episode of Table For Three will debut featuring William Regal, Wade Barrett and Sheamus. Table For Three is a lot of fun and an easy watch if you have an extra 20 minutes to do so. Finally, the piece I’m actually looking most forward to checking out on the WWE Network is the First Look at the WWE Christmas DVD that’s going to be released tomorrow, hosted by Mick Foley. As you will all find out next month, I’m a huge fan of Christmas and have always enjoyed seeing the holidays tied into WWE. This should be a fun release, albeit a little short, especially with Foley’s involvement in the project. There are few more passionate about Christmas than Mick Foley.

The Spotlight On The Survivor Series: Alright time for my big announcement regarding this week on the site. I’m sure most of you scrolled past the WWE stuff to read this section here (more like will skip this part). In any event with Survivor Series taking place in just 13 days, I thought it would be fun to take a look back on some of my memories of the different Survivor Series past, starting with tonight. I’ll warn you that some of the events will be covered briefly with a thought or two about what I remember about the shows but there will be posts dedicated to specific Survivor Series events that took place either near my hometown of New York City, had historical significance or that attended live. We’ll kick off this unique retrospective tonight looking at the first 9 Surivor Series events from 1987-1995. This should be a lot of fun and then this weekend, the retrospective will conclude with a countdown on the top 10 Traditional Survivor Series of all time. 

That’s going to do it for right now but enjoy the week in WWE and keep it locked in for all of your wrestling needs to thedailyspotlight.com! 

The Spotlight On The Week Ahead For WWE 10/5-10/11

Tom Lynch Spotlight On Raw, Spotlight On The WWE Network, Wrestling , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hello every and happy Monday.  I hope all of you out there had a great weekend.  I enjoyed mine quite a bit whether it be all of the football yesterday, checking out DJ Chucky at LAVO NYC or finishing up moving into my new place, I really couldn’t complain.  With Monday morning comes a brand new week of goodness (one that will see my birthday take place tomorrow actually) and a pretty big week in the world of WWE.  Let’s get right into it.

The Week Ahead For WWE

Monday-  Raw emanates live from Boston, Massachusetts and it is the next step on Brock Lesnar’s Go To Hell Tour, a stop that was added last week, as Brock will likely start the build for the Hell In A Cell Match for The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar later this month.  I will say that the build for Hell In A Cell has been particularly strong this year, in my opinion.  The two cell matches, Lesnar-Taker and Reigns- Wyatt have been going on for a long period of time and it makes sense to have the culmination of each take place inside the confines of Hell In A Cell. Almost, exactly one year ago to the day, I was live at Raw at the Barclays Center as my girlfriend was nice enough to get me tickets for my birthday.  This was the night where Dean Ambrose left Raw to head to Coney Island, only to return with a hot dog stand for Seth Rollins.  It was also the night where The Rock made a surprise appearance, out of nowhere, to interrupt Lana and Rusev.  That was one of my favorite live shows I’ve seen and it’ll be interesting to see if WWE brings forth a packed show like that tonight to the, sure to be, hot crowd in Boston tonight.

Wednesday- Ever since the first NXT: Takeover Special in last February, as most of you know by now, the NXT specials on the WWE Network have been some of my favorite parts of the Network.  This week will be no exception as NXT presents NXT Takeover: Respect this Wednesday night live from Full Sail University at 8:00PM EST in Orlando, Florida.  NXT has been one of my favorite weekly shows recently as I’ve found the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Tournament to be so unique and overall, a lot of fun.  It’s going to be pretty emotional to see whoever wins the tournament be presented with the trophy by Cody and Dustin Runnels, Dusty’s sons aka Goldust and Stardust,  But that’s not all their is to look forward to at the NXT special.  The main event this Wednesday is the first NXT Special that will be main evented by women as Bayley defends the NXT Women’s title against Sasha Banks in the first ever Women’s 30-minute Ironman match.  Also really glad to see that WWE has stretched the special out to 2 and a half hours this week as it will allow every match to get the time they deserve.  As always the NXT pre show, which take place outdoors on campus and really reminds me of ESPN’s College Gameday kicks off at 7:30PM EST.  This special is the highlight of the week for me as a WWE fan.

Network Original Programming- This is another big week filled with WWE Network original programming, other than the aforementioned Takeover special, that really caught my attention.  In descending order,  have a new episode of the very underrated Table For 3 that will debut just a few hours before NXT at 4:00PM Wednesday afternoon, featuring Kevin Owens, Dean Ambrose and Cesaro.  From there, on Tuesday afternoon at 3:00PM there will be an hour long preview for NXT Takeover: Respect and then at 5:00PM it’s the return of the docuseries- “Rivalries” featuring the rivalry between Lita and Trish Stratus.  For me though, the highlight is tonight following Monday Night Raw where the 24 series returns to the WWE Network, this time looking at the NXT: Takeover special that took place in Brooklyn a few months back, from a behind the scenes perspective.  The best news is that tonight’s 24 is set to be an hour long which is great news.  While the past 24 specials were great, I always felt that 30 minutes was a bit too short.

That’s going to do it for me but obviously a big week of action this week for WWE.  We’ll have coverage of all of it starting with Raw tomorrow morning.  Until then, what are you most looking forward to seeing in the week ahead for WWE.

The Spotlight On The Taz Show: Bodyslams & Beyond 

Tom Lynch The Spotlight On Wrestling Podcasts, Wrestling , , , , , , , , , , , ,

  Tomorrow is a big day for wrestling podcast listeners around the world with the debut of The TAZ Show on CBS Radio’s Play.It. The show will be the first podcast hosted by a former pro wrestler to air five days a week at 10AM EST. What’s really cool about the show is that it’s also going to air live from 7-9AM and will feature live call ins. 

I’m really excited for this show as I’ve always thought it would really cool to have a morning show focusing on all things wrestling. I also think that Taz is the perfect guy for the job.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again when Taz first launched his podcast I had a bit of hesitation. There are so many wrestling podcasts out there and already a good amount hosted by wrestlers that I thought this one, honestly, would get lost in the shuffle. That said, I decided to try out Taz’s Human Poscast Machine and I couldn’t  have been more happy to be so wrong. First off, Taz is histerical and the banter between he and producer, Seth, is off the charts funny. But the thing about Taz that can’t go unmentioned is that he is both knowledgeable and reputable. When Taz has an opinion you listen because he’s made so many sacrifices in the pro wrestling business, including breaking his neck, and Taz is also so honest. It’s obvious that Taz has respect for everyone in the wrestling business but also doesn’t hold back how he feels in fear of offending a wrestler or company.  

Thus, im really excited for Taz’s new daily show and not only for the wrestling talk but also for the “Beyond” portion of the show. Taz is very knowledgeable in the world of sports & has numerous other interests so it’ll be great to hear him talk about those as well. Taz has also promised that both Jim Ross & Mike Tenay will have weekly spots on his show, which is great. Taz and Tenay have done some really good countdown episodes on a number of wrestling topics so I’m interested to see if he’ll incorporate that. Taz also said that the show will be streamed via video as well, which is unique, but that won’t start right at first. The best part of Taz’ new show is that it’ll be available on demand at 10 AM every day. This way you can listen to Taz’s show anytime in its entirety and it’ll be there when you need it. The biggest problem with wrestling podcasts, for me, is that they generally aren’t the most consistent as to when they’re posted. This is different, it’s Internet radio by CBS so you know they’re good for what they’re advertising. 

Well that’s going to do it for me but make sure you check out the Taz show airing Monday-Friday from 7AM-9AM and available on demand each day at 10AM. If you do check it out, Id love to hear what you thought. 

The Spotlight On The Week ahead for WWE 8/10-8/16

Tom Lynch Spotlight On Raw, Spotlight On The WWE Network, Wrestling , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hello everyone I hope everybody had a good week last week, as the summer continues to fly right by here in New York City and I know has officially ended in other parts of the United States, as public schools have reopened.  For my fellow New Yorkers, let’s enjoy some of this hot weather while we can because, before we know it, there will be 2 feet of snow on the ground again.  Now that I’ve bummed everyone out, as the summer continues to count down for some of us, things continue to heat up in WWE.  We are now just 13 days away from the “Wrestlemania of the Summer” as the road continues to Summerslam.  Let’s get right into some of the things you can look forward to this upcoming week in WWE.

Highlights

1) The Arrow Has Landed…and He May Have Company-  Ever since Raw emanated live from the Nassau Coliseum (A show I was at live and covered here on the site on Memorial Day) when actor Stephen Amell sat front row for the show, the tension has been building between the actor and Stardust.  This all comes to a head tonight as the actor will return to Raw, live from Everett, Washington this evening.  Whether the actor has agreed to a match at Summerslam remains to be seen, but I’d say it is likely that Amell will be at the event in some capacity.  Rumors are running rampant that Amell will don the role of Arrow for a “Superhero” type showdown with Stardust at the biggest event of the summer.  I think it would personally be a lot of fun but I believe that if Amell hasn’t signed on for a match, he’ll at the least be in the corner of Neville (who’s also been involved in this story line) at Summerslam.

Actor Stephen Amell, may not be the only person returning to WWE tonight as last night at a WWE live event in Vancouver, BC, Dolph Ziggler made a surprise appearance attacking Rusev.  While pwinsider.com is reporting that Ziggler’s return will be held off until next week, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Dolph make that return tonight to build towards his inevitable match with Rusev at Summerslam.  Another superstar on the mend is the intercontinental champion, Ryback.  We touched on Ryback’s staph infection last week on this very column and it does appear that Ryback is going to also be returning in time for Summerslam so he can continue his program with the Miz and The Big Show.  Whether, he returns to Raw tonight, remains to be seen.  Of course, will all do respect to Dolph Ziggler and Ryback, the biggest name of superstars on the way back from injury is John Cena.  Cena has not been seen on WWE television since his broken nose two weeks ago.  It’ll be interesting to see if he shows up tonight to accept Seth Rollins’ title vs. title match at Summerslam.  I for one would like to see Cena held out until Summerslam to add to the mystique of what he will look like and whether he’ll even be there, but I realize that isn’t very likely.

2) A Big Night Following Raw- While both the Undertaker and Brock Lesnar aren’t advertised for Raw tonight, there will be a special presentation profiling the big Summerslam match between the two immediately following Monday Night Raw on the WWE Network.  The special, entitled “Undertaker Vs. Lesnar: One On One” is being promoted as a preview of the main event match with thoughts and predictions from the other WWE Superstars.  I can’t remember the last time that WWE has done this but I’m excited for it, the special gives this match a big event feel and also ties in the WWE Network with the Summerslam promotion.  If WWE were smart they’d promote this special and try to get some network subscriptions out of this promotion.

Also, on the WWE Network tonight is a first look at the new Best of WCW Monday Nitro Volume 3 Blu Ray set which will be released tomorrow.  I also appreciate these first looks and, I know in the case of Daniel Bryan, the first look got me to go out and purchase the blu ray the next day so they’re a smart idea in that sense too.  DDP is back hosting the set and I think he did a great job on the first two editions.

3) The Build For NXT Takeover: Brooklyn Continues-  WWE Summerslam isn’t the only show emanating out of the Barclays center the weekend of 8/23.  The night before Summerslam, NXT Takeover:Brooklyn will be live on the WWE Network on August 22nd (and is actually sold out which is very impressive for the NXT brand).  Well, this Wednesday the build for Takeover continues when Becky Lynch goes one on one with Bayley to determine the number one contender for Sasha Banks’ NXT Women’s championship at Takeover.  The women’s championship match will no doubt be the second biggest match on the Takeover card behind only the ladder match for the NXT World Title between Kevin Ownes and Finn Balor, so this is a match you want to go out of your way to see,  Will Bayley continue her recent winning streak towards getting a womens title match? or Will Becky Lynch get a rematch against Sasha Banks from their epic match at the last NXT: Takeover event?  The only way to find out would be to tune into NXT this Wednesday night on the WWE Network at 8:00 Pm EST.

Closing Thoughts

On top of all of this, John Cena will be appearing on WWE Tough Enough tomorrow night, as the show has reached it’s final six.  Whether he is able to return to Monday Night Raw tonight remains to be seen, but if not than Tough Enough would be John’s first appearance since breaking his nose in a match with Seth Rollins two weeks ago.  Lastly, tomorrow night on Total Divas it appears that Daniel Bryan’s health will be a big focus of the show.  Up until this point, the details behind Bryan’s injury have been kept pretty close to the vest so I wonder if this is because WWE is saving Bryan’s health update for Total Divas.  Regardless it promises to be a big week for WWE before the mega week and chaos that will commence next week.  Until then, be sure to keep yourself tuned it with all of the great coverage we have for you right here on thedailyspotlight.com.

The Spotlight On The Week Ahead For WWE 8/3/2015

Tom Lynch Spotlight On Raw, Spotlight On The WWE Network, Spotlight Sports Pick Of The Day, Wrestling , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hello everyone and welcome to the week ahead for WWE.  This week WWE continues down to the road to Summerslam, which is being promoted for the first time I can remember as the Wrestlemania of the Summer.  With less than 3 weeks left until the now 4 hour show, it’ll be interesting to see how WWE continues the build this week.  That being said, there’s a whole lot more to look forward to this week if you’re a fan of WWE so let’s get right into it.

Highlights

1) The Beast Returns-  Tonight Brock Lesnar returns to Raw which will emanate live from San Jose, California in his first appearance since his big brawl with the Undertaker.  However, one man who won’t be on hand for the show is John Cena who is still out recovering from his gruesome broken nose at the hands of Seth Rollins.  I’m really interested to get an update on John Cena because it really looked like they were heading towards Cena vs. Rollins for the world heavyweight title at Summerslam.  With Cena not being able to be at Raw, it’ll be interesting to see if they decide to go a different direction with the world title picture (perhaps Kane?) or if Cena will be able to return by Summerslam.

2) Stone Cold Live!-  Stone Cold Steve Austin returns to the WWE Network tonight with his latest installment of Stone Cold Live, this time with his guest Paige.  As I’ve touched on before, this was rumored to have been Hulk Hogan in this slot, but obviously with everything going on with him, he is not going to be featured on the WWE Network anytime soon.  This is the fourth installment of the Steve Austin Podcast on the WWE Network and I’m pretty intrigued to see Paige featured in the role as she is a pretty unique guest for the show.  Certainly, with Paige being positioned at the forefront of the Divas Revolution, I’m sure the new Divas movement will be a big topic of conversation.  One thing is for sure, the Texas Rattlesnake, won’t pull any punches.

https://twitter.com/wrestleview/status/628209248325873664%20

3) Big Guy Down– One man who’s been conspicuous by his absence has been, reigning Intercontinental champion, Ryback.  Well Ryback posted a picture of his current staph infection of his right knee this past weekend and it looks awful.  It’s good that the WWE doctors were able to catch the staph infection before the damage was worse.  With Ryback, not looking like he’ll be ready to return to the ring any time soon, it’ll be interesting to see how much longer he’ll be able to go with the intercontinental championship.  I always say that WWE should take a page of out UFC’s playbook in regards to this and crown an interim champion if the champion can’t compete for an extended period of time.  This allows for their to be a champion to still be on television and sets up for a clear title rematch once the original champion is able to return to the ring.  That being said, we wish the big guy a speedy recovery.

4) RIP Roddy Piper–  I’m preparing for a longer piece on Piper later this week but obviously WWE lost one of their hall of famers, and original Wrestlemania main eventers, in Roddy Piper late last week.  It has been a really tough year already for WWE with the untimely passing of Dusty Rhodes and now this.  WWE has been doing ten bell salutes to Piper during their live events since his passing and I’m sure that will continue tonight.  One of the good things with the Network, is that when someone passes, WWE is usually very good about doing a good amount of tribute type programming to remember that individual.  While their hasn’t been any Roddy Piper material added to the schedule just yet, I’m sure the WWE Network will do the same with Roddy later in the week, like they’ve done with Dusty and Warrior.  Of course, there is already tons of great Roddy Piper footage in the on demand section of the Network for fans to go back and enjoy while celebrating the life of one of the all time greats.

Closing Thoughts

Sorry to end on such a somber note, but I figured I would be remiss not to mention this somewhere, that this morning word came out that WWE hall of famer “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka is currently battling stomach cancer.  The good news is that it appears the doctors were able to get to the cancer in time as Jimmy has undergone stomach surgery to remove part of his stomach and lymph nodes and appears to be cancer free.  We wish The Superfly, a speedy recovery.

That’s going to do it for me but keep your eyes peeled for a few more pieces coming at you real soon on the daily spotlight, including my tribute piece on Roddy Piper, the Spotlight On Wrestling Podcasts which will feature Colt Cabana celebrating five years of the Art of Wrestling and so much more.  Until then, what are you looking most forward to this week in WWE?