SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
TORCH TODAY – Tuesday, March 29, 2016
– Opening Commentary: Three-hour Raws continue to drain the life out of Raw, especially on the Road to WrestleMania. Raw seemed to come to its natural conclusion when Dean Ambrose wheeled his wagon full of weapons away from ringside as Brock Lesnar stood in the ring twirling a kendo stick waiting to punish Ambrose on Sunday. WWE already got in the Undertaker-Shane McMahon hype, did what they could do with Roman Reigns and Triple H before Mania, and finished it off with Dean-Brock. But… there was even more show to go. Which led to a very long “main event” four-plus-hours into the TV taping, an uninspired Triple H promo, and an attempted pull-apart brawl that the crowd wasn’t having. The third hour really was a microcosm of the three-hour Raw era. As a result, PWTorch readers were not pleased with the final Raw before WrestleMania…
- 32% – Terrible Show (0-2 score)
- 29% – Below Average (3-4 score)
- 17% – Average Show (5 score)
- 16% – Above Average (6-7 score)
- 6% – Excellent Show (8-10 score)
– At PWTorchLivecast.com: On-demand access to the final Raw Post-Game Show before WM32 with James Caldwell, Pat McNeill, Joel Dehnel, live calls, and emails.
– At MMATorch.com: Coverage of Jon Jones’s latest run-in with the law just ahead of his UFC return fight.
– C.M. Punk talked on Monday to Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour that he could not put off back surgery any longer when his latest injury occurred training for his UFC debut fight. Punk said there is a small chance he could fight at UFC 200 this summer, but it’s more likely for later this year.
“Don’t worry haters, I’m going to fight and it’s going to be f—— fun and awesome and you are going to be real upset. I just don’t want to say anything because I have learned my lesson. I have optimistic goals and we are just going to see if my back can cooperate with that,” Punk said of trying not to set expectations for when his first fight might happen so that he doesn’t have to pull out of another fight, like he did with Mickey Gall.
– Mauro Ranallo revealed that his WrestleMania Weekend schedule will include calling the WrestleMania pre-show matches and being part of the NXT Takeover panel on Friday night.
I'm on @WWENXT Takeover panel & I am blessed to call @WWE #WrestleMania Kickoff on @WWENetwork & @USA_Network #DreamIsReal
— Mauro Ranallo (@mauroranallo) March 29, 2016
– Dean Ambrose talked to Live Audio Wrestling about his old-school wrestling approach, how veterans respect him for his approach to his craft, and enjoying his Roadblock match against Triple H.
“It was very cool to me because it was a lower-key situation, a bare-bones situation, it wasn’t all the bells and whistles and the sparks and crap. It was just a more intimate arena at Ricoh, a bare set, just a ramp. I showed up to the building at 6:00, you had two dudes, he’s an old school kind of guy too and I shared the ring with him. It was just two guys working, two guys wrestling, just feeling it, and doing it old-school style. Having that classic style match that you don’t really get to do anymore because now we’re out there doing TV style stuff. Now it’s sports entertainment. To be able to travel back in time and take everyone on a retro night, it was like retro night. This is what it would be like if it was still pro wrestling. Just for one night, we’re going to turn the clock back and I was so happy to be able to do that,” Ambrose said.
– NXT Women’s champion Bayley talked to the Busted Open satellite radio show about her thoughts seeing the other Four Horsewomen in a Divas Title match at WrestleMania.
“I love NXT. It’s been an honor and a privilege traveling the world with them. We’re such a family here, but my ultimate goal is definitely to be up there and seeing them (Charlotte, Sasha Banks, and Becky Lynch) in a match at WrestleMania when you’re thinking last year, we were just watching it together on the floor of WrestleMania,” Bayley said. “I just saw a picture of AT&T Stadium and they’re, like, right front and center and it’s just amazing what a year does and what hard work and dedication does. It makes me so proud, like I feel like I’m part of the show. But, I know that after the end of the show, I’m just going to go back to my hotel and just think, ‘What can I do to be there next year?'”
– Before returning to WWE TV on Raw, Eva Marie appeared on Hallmark Channel’s “Home & Family” show on Monday morning. Eva talked about training in NXT, where everyone is fighting for a main roster spot. She said she watched WWE during the Attitude Era with her family, who initially thought she was crazy for trying to be a wrestler as an adult. (Thanks to VIP’er Kylin)
– NXT wrestler Baron Corbin talked to the Pittsburgh CBS affiliate about his college football background and battle with NXT fans who do not see him as one of their guys, like Austin Aries, who Corbin faces at “NXT Takeover” on Friday.
“It’s just my attitude. I’m gonna do what I want when I want to do it, and if people don’t like it they can either change their mind or deal with it,” Corbin said. “I’m getting opportunities to get in there and tangle it up with these guys, and of course I learn every single time. I learn what to do, what not to do.”
– ESPN.com’s David Shoemaker published an article on the injury-filled Road to WrestleMania that led to Shane McMahon in a headline match at WrestleMania.
– ESPN.com also published an incomplete list of college football and pro wrestling tie-ins. The main focus was on Roman Reigns, who played at Georgia Tech, headlining WrestleMania for the second consecutive year a decade removed from his college football career. ESPN also dove into the history of college football stars with wrestling tie-ins, omitting University of Texas All-American Steve “Mongo” McMichael, who had a WCW run in the 1990s.
– Ahead of WrestleMania returning to Texas on Sunday, Jim Ross published an article on FoxSports.com looking at the history of Texas Wrestling and some of wrestling’s biggest stars hailing from Texas. Ross will be camped out at the House of Blues in Dallas this weekend for three “Ringside” shows that might include some special guests with Texas tie-ins.
Big Week in Texas, @HOBDallas Tkts Scarce, Ross Report Podcast w/ @MarcMero, Book Update, AXSTV, https://t.co/ZF6yr0xQYo
JR's Blog
RT— Jim Ross (@JRsBBQ) March 29, 2016
– WWE announcer Renee Young talked to the Miami Herald about the influences on her TV interview style and talked to Sports Illustrated about auditioning for ESPN’s SportsNation gig when Michelle Beadle briefly left ESPN for NBC Sports.
– WWNLive released a new mini-documentary on Evolve champion Timothy Thatcher. EVOLVE commissioned filmmaker Kenny Johnson to produce the special documentary on the Evolve Title match between Thatcher and Matt Riddle from March 19 in New York.
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