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Vince Russo’s The Brand Recap – RAW Flashback Analysis, Undertaker Kidnaps Stephanie, Convincing Austin to Make the Save, More!
On today’s show, Vince and his co-host Jeff Lane will discuss the episode of Monday Night RAW from April 26th, 1999.
The night before this show was the Backlash PPV where The Undertaker kidnapped Stephanie McMahon. The end of that PPV ended with a cliffhanger, where Undertaker was shown kidnapping McMahon and that led right into Monday’s episode of RAW. Russo mentions how effective this cliffhanger was, and he wishes WWE would use cliffhangers more often in today’s product.
To kick off RAW, The Rock came out and cut a promo. As Rock was making his way to the ring Jim Ross was updating fans on Stephanie’s situation, mentioning that she still hasn’t been heard from. The Rock was then interrupted by Shane McMahon and The Corporation, signalling the beginning of The Rock’s babyface turn.
The Rock issued a challenge to Shane McMahon for a match later in the night and McMahon accepted which Russo really liked. McMahon wasn’t a chicken heel and he shouldn’t have been because he had two or three guys standing behind him.
Eric Bischoff: Women’s Money In The Bank Re-Match Is A Bad Idea
After the controversial ending to the women’s Money in The Bank Ladder Match, Daniel Bryan announced on this week’s episode of SmackDown LIVE that there will be a rematch on next week’s episode of SmackDown LIVE. James Ellsworth will be banned from the ringside in the match.
Eric Bischoff expressed his displeasure over the decision on his podcast, “Bischoff on Wrestling”. Here’s what Bischoff said:
“I think it’s a bad move. It’s a mistake I’ve made in the past. Sometimes you learn from your mistakes. At least, sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t. When you build up to a big event on PPV and you build up the stakes and you build up the expectation and you basically deliver a screwed finish and then re-match it on free TV. It diminishes the long-term expectation of future big event matches on pay-per-view when that happens. I think it’s a really bad idea. By the way, I’ve done it and the results were always negative”
Ryback Talks About Teased Feud Against Triple H
On the latest episode of his podcast, Conversations with the Big Guy, Ryback revealed some interesting details about a teased feud between him and Triple H. Here’s what the “Big Guy” said: (Quote credits: wrestlinginc.com)
“I had a weird deal with Hunter. Did I ever tell [podcast co-host Pat Buck]? Do you remember that, where they had a thing where it looked like they were teasing a program with me and Hunter? They had us face off in England after I wrestled Kane. I think I broke my finger wrestling Kane one night. We were doing something and our hands hit and my finger went sideways.”
Ryback then continued:
“so I get through this match with Kane. I think it was the main event on SmackDown. Then, they have this big stare [down] with me and Hunter and they teased it for a couple of weeks with different things and then it just went away. It was nothing. And even he came up, ‘the plan was never for us to work, just so you know.’ And I go, ‘Oh, okay. I don’t know.’ I’m not in the creative meetings. I don’t know why. I just do what I’m told. He would always explain things weirdly, but, yeah, that never happened. It would’ve been nice, so he could f–king know that I could wrestle.”
Would you have liked seeing Hunter go at it with The Big Guy? Share your thoughts in the comments.
NXT Women’s Title Stipulation Match Announced
WWE announced that Asuka will defend her NXT Women’s Championship against Nikki Cross in a Last Woman Standing Match on the June 28th episode of NXT. Here is the announcement:
Asuka to defend NXT Women’s Title against Nikki Cross in Last Woman Standing Match
NXT Women’s Champion Asuka will put her coveted title on the line against the crazed Nikki Cross on the June 28 episode of NXT. The title showdown will be a Last Woman Standing Match, further adding to the uncertainty and chaos surrounding the huge championship contest.
The extreme stipulation was a logical next step in Asuka and Cross’s rivalry after the two brawled throughout Full Sail University on the June 14 episode of NXT. Along with Ruby Riot, they competed in a Triple Threat Elimination Match for the NXT Women’s Title. After Riot had been eliminated, Asuka and Cross fought outside the arena, only to return and eventually crash through a table, leaving them laid out in a heap of carnage.
Asuka’s record-breaking NXT Women’s Title reign has overcome many obstacles, but she has yet to face a challenger as crazy as Cross in a bout that caters to chaos like a Last Woman Standing Match. Will we see the end of The Empress of Tomorrow’s historic title reign?
Find out on Wednesday, June 28, at 8/7C on the award-winning WWE Network.
The Taz Show Recap – Calling Live Matches Vs. Taped, Asuka Needs A Challenge, Does Lana Deserve A Title Shot? More!
Blocks 1 & 2:
A listener calls into the show and presents an idea he has for the Mae Young Classic. He says that Asuka has been complaining about a lack of competition in NXT as of late, so perhaps she should be entered into the upcoming women’s tournament where she’d have to defend her NXT Women’s Title in every match.
Taz says thats a cool, unique idea, but WWE wouldn’t really be able to explain giving out multiple Title opportunities to women who didn’t earn it. Taz admits that WWE just did this by giving Lana a Title opportunity against Naomi at Money in the Bank, so perhaps they don’t worry about those types of details as much as we’d think.
Another listener calls into the show and asks Taz what your main goal should be as a colour commentator for a wrestling company. Taz says that first and foremost, you should never worry about getting yourself over. Your talking points should always focus on the story that the talents are telling in the ring, and your goal is to do everything you can to get those talents over with the audience.
Taz points out that a lot of commentators seem interested in getting themselves over more than the talents in the ring, and that should never be the case. He adds that colour commentators such as JBL or Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler can get away with that to a degree because they both had lengthy, successful in-ring careers before transitioning to the announce booth.
Segment Announced for Monday’s RAW
The Miz announced on tonight’s episode of RAW Talk that he will have an Intercontinental Championship Comeback Tour celebration on tomorrow’s episode of RAW.
No other matches or segments have been announced for the show, but we will keep you updated if they announce anything else.
Possible Injury Before Tonight’s RAW
Prior to tonight’s episode of RAW, WWE taped Drew Gulak vs. Lince Dorado for this week’s episode of WWE Main Event. Our correspondent in attendance sent word that Dorado landed badly on his knee after a tilt-a-whirl maneuver and could be legitimately hurt.
Very little details are known, but we will keep you updated on his status.
Wrong Episode of Impact Wrestling Airs Again
The Spike TV network in the UK aired the wrong episode of Impact Wrestling last week. This isn’t the first time that the wrong episode has been aired. It was noted a while back that The Fight Network aired the wrong week as well due to the copy of the episode getting corrupted just before the initial broadcast. They ended up airing the previous week’s show.
Spike TV issued the following statement on Twitter regarding the wrong episode being aired:
Big Match Announced for WWE Extreme Rules
Kurt Angle announced on tonight’s episode of RAW that the the winner of a Fatal 5-Way match at the upcoming WWE Extreme Rules event will face Brock Lesnar for the Universal Title. Here is the updated card for the show:
#1 Contenders Match for the WWE Universal Title
Seth Rollins vs. Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor vs. Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns
RAW Tag Team Championship
Sheamus and Cesaro vs. The Hardy Boyz
WWE Extreme Rules takes place on June 4, 2017. As always, we will be providing live play-by-play coverage of the event.
Jinder Mahal Reveals the Secret to His Body Transformation
While speaking to Pratyay Gosh, Jinder Mahal talked about how he was able to get into his current physical shape and revealed that consistency is the secret:
“The secret is consistency. I literally haven’t had a cheat meal in 3-4 months. I haven’t eaten anything I shouldn’t have. Even now, on the tour, I have my cooling bag with me and I carry 5 meals with me so that I eat every 2 hours. I eat 30/40 grammes of carbohydrates, 30/40 grammes of proteins with every meal. Then there’s cardio 6 days a week and weight training 6 days a week. I also became straight-edge. I also do a lot of Olympic compound movements. Then there are lots of basic squats, lots of push-ups and other exercises. Overall, from diet to exercise, I’m seeing good results. I’m going to keep getting in better shape because not only do I look better but I feel better. I feel better inside the ring in terms of stamina and endurance, which is important if I want to become WWE Champion and have long matches every night.”
While Mahal has denied steroid use in multiple interviews, Dave Meltzer noted back in January that he believes the WWE Superstar is juicing. He made the following remarks after an episode of RAW, where Mahal appeared way bigger than he previously did:
“Jinder Mahal then came out and my God! Jinder Mahal’s traps have grown incredibly. He’s shredded. He looks like, I mean … anyway, Jinder Mahal has changed his physique completely in like a couple weeks. And he’s got acne all over his back.”
Meltzer continued, “He is what he is and if this was USADA (the United States Anti-Doping Agency), he would probably be in trouble.”