WWE Money In The Bank 2016 Review

WWE Money In The Bank has come & gone and the event that WWE kept hyping up as the “biggest MITB in history” lived up to expectation & was strong from top to bottom. We are writing about this now because we wanted to see what happened on the Raw afterwards that would explain some of the events that took place at Money In The Bank. Great move.

We are going to review some of the key moments of the event here. Some matches that don’t mean anything in the grand scheme of the storyline will be skipped because – well, we don’t want to bore you & lose viewers.

Dean Ambrose Cashes In Money In The Bank

This was very unexpected, but made the WWE universe completely happy. Ambrose has been one of the most consistent workers since he showed up in 2012 as a member of The Shield with Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns. While all of the guys have become stars in the company in their own ways, Ambrose had the personality & ring style to be a true brawler and could deliver this era of hardcore matches & can also talk people into the building.

The actual Money In The Bank ladder match was a strong one. While it wasn’t one of the greatest of all time, it was a solid match with all of the guys involved having a chance to show off their skills. Ambrose winning immediately made us think that he would be out teasing the contract for about 2-3 weeks & maybe have a cash in either on the night of the upcoming WWE Draft or shortly after that. With the rosters getting ready to be split up, we don’t know if each show is going to have their own world championship as it was back in the day, or if the champions are going to go between shows.

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eukIRKaf2Nc%5B/embedyt%5D

Ambrose cashing in on Seth Rollins in the same night that Rollins wins the belt makes so much sense, especially with Roman Reigns having a suspension for 30 days due to a wellness policy violation, more on that later. With Ambrose as champion, he & Rollins can carry the bulk of the promotion for their triple threat match at Battleground in July, which would have been the case anyway due to Reigns being limited on the mic.

Seth Rollins vs Roman Reigns Delivers in WWE Championship Match

Not knowing what we knew about Reigns going in, it was a bit of a surprise to see Rollins go over Reigns in this match. Reigns looked as though he was going to have the John Cena complex, in that he wouldn’t lose for a relatively long time, unless it happened at a major event like Summerslam, Survivor Series, Wrestlemania or Royal Rumble. Rollins winning the belt & having that time to enjoy his moment looked like a testament to his career & the hard work he has put in to get back in the ring and reclaim the belt he really never lost.

Obviously, Dean Ambrose beat Rollins to win the championship with the cash-in, but one of the coolest moments of the match was that a member of The Shield all held the WWE Championship at some point in the night, showing the depth of the NXT system & shows that WWE really knows how to cultivate the upcoming talent, all under the watch of Triple H.

The match itself told a great story, with Reigns actually looking as though he was working heel at times & chasing around Rollins. From a physical standpoint, Reigns definitely got in a ton of offense until later in the match when Rollins & Reigns traded excellent near falls that had the Vegas crowd at the new T-Mobile Arena on their feet the whole time.

Another interesting part of the match was that it didn’t begin until around 11:00 p.m. eastern time, after the Cleveland Cavs defeated the Golden State Warriors to win the NBA Championship. The show didn’t end until shortly after 11:30 p.m., showing the power of the WWE Network & why it was put in place anyway – give matches time to really build up, promos to do well, & more talent has the chance to show their skills on a bigger stage.

A.J. Styles & John Cena Had Strong Match

This feud came together pretty fast in the last three weeks, but after MITB, it looks as though Styles & Cena could have a few matches to build up some great chemistry. Both men told a great story, one that saw that Cena was trying to get in some kind of normal power offense on Styles, but the “Phenomenal One” was just too fast for him & was running circles around him in the ring. Once that pace slowed down & more of the actual wrestling came into play, they really tore the house down & had a phenomenal match.

Seeing Styles go over, even with the help of Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson, was a great tone setter for this feud. It shows that WWE is showing faith in the new wave of superstars coming in. Cena didn’t need the victory because let’s face it – he is the face of the franchise no matter what happens, but it shows that WWE is going to put some serious money in to Styles & possibly the rest of the Club – formerly the Bullet Club.

It was too early in the feud for Styles to get a pure clean victory over Cena, and if Cena went over, all of the solid momentum that Styles has built up from his great matches with Chris Jericho & the New Day (as part of The Club) would have completely disappeared. Styles and Cena should be on pace to have a rematch at Battleground, most likely with some stipulation that would have Gallows & Anderson barred from ringside yet again. The possibilities for these two in the ring could be really interesting going forward, as long as WWE doesn’t waste a rematch on an episode of Raw or Smackdown.

Natalya Goes Heel on Becky Lynch

According to several websites, it was supposed to be Becky Lynch who was supposed to go heel on Nattie, but right now, it honestly doesn’t matter right now. Natalya could be leaving WWE at some point to take care of her husband, Tyson Kidd, who just can’t get over his injury situations right now to be a regular on the road, particularly after being injured taking a muscle buster finisher from Samoa Joe.

Becky Lynch desperately needs a good feud right now & on Raw, Sasha Banks returned and it looks as though she will be going after Charlotte’s women’s championship now. Lynch has an awesome look with the orange hair & the steam punk style. She has the rocker image, but is crazy hot at the same time. She is incredibly marketable, but right now, she needs more ladies to come up that she can have solid matches with, & Nattie is one of those women.

As for Nattie, with the rumors of her leaving at some point, she could be using this feud to push Becky over the top & give her the rub going forward with some strong matches in the next several weeks before the WWE Draft gets going. We don’t see this having a big match at Battleground, but some great TV matches could be coming up for these two, which just adds depth to the women’s division.

Going Forward

Having the suspension of Roman Reigns is going to be huge for the company for the next 30 days. Many guys mess up sometimes, but WWE went ahead with having Reigns in the main event at WWE Battleground, meaning that they knew about the suspension days ago going into the MITB WWE Championship match. He definitely had to lose the championship, but if he has to be away for 30 days, this was the best scenario for WWE right now to make sure he isn’t missing any big money time that the company has helped to promote, especially having the dynamic of all Shield members facing each other, probably for the last time for a bit.

WWE NXT Takeover: The End Preview

Tonight, WWE will present NXT Takeover: The End, an event that will feature the first ever steel cage match in the history of NXT as the main event when Finn Balor takes on Samoa Joe. The event will be on WWE Network starting with a pre-show at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Many people in the IWC (internet wrestling community) have been wondering what “The End” means. If you read groups on Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere else online, people think that “The End” meant that the end of NXT Takeover specials. This is far from the truth because during the week, WWE COO & one of the main producers of NXT – Triple H – confirmed that NXT Takeover: Brooklyn will be taking place during Summerslam weekend in August.

We feel as though NXT saying “The End” is meaning two things: the end of the Balor/Joe feud & the end of this crop of NXT talent. While the entire roster won’t be moving up to Raw & Smackdown, with the brand extension coming in July, there will no doubt be some NXT superstars brought up to the main WWE level. Balor is one of those guys who has been rumored to be coming up. Many thought he would be a part of “The Club,” which features former Bullet Club members Karl Anderson, Luke (Doc) Gallows, & AJ Styles. While that would remind many fans of the Bullet Club, knowing WWE as well as we do, they will have Balor doing something completely different for a while, hopefully something that won’t diminish his character & momentum that he has formed in NXT.

All of that said, here is the Detroit Sports Outlet preview for NXT Takeover: The End:

 

Shinsuke Nakamura Is About To Become The New Face of NXT

The match at NXT Takeover: Dallas during Wrestlemania 32 weekend that Nakamura had with Sami Zayn was one of the best matches in the history of the WWE & will surely be a contender for match of the year – no matter what show. Nakamura is hands-down the most charismatic & dynamic superstar in all of NXT & WWE. He commands attention from the minute his music hits, to his knee-bend when he walks through the ropes, all the way to his finishing moves in the ring.

We expect the “King of Strong Style” to have an epic encounter with Austin Aries, who is absolutely one of the best wrestlers in the world, but will be in NXT as a franchise staple of the brand for a bit & frankly because Vince McMahon has shown in the past that he is not a fan of the smaller wrestler, but Triple H is. Aries & Nakamura are going to have a phenomenal match, especially because Aries needs a five-star match at this point in his NXT career. Most hardcore wrestling fans know about his work in ROH & TNA, but he needs to have a technical masterpiece with a guy, such as Nakamura, that he can have a great dance with.

Aries had his brief feud with Baron Corbin, which was the match & mini feud that sent Corbin off to the WWE. We would have liked to see a bit more of what they could do with that feud, but it is what it is. We see Nakamura going over here because WWE is clearly building him up to be the Japanese face of the WWE, at least until Hideo Itami (the former KENTA) comes back, which should be very soon if the recent reports are correct about him almost being 100% ready to compete again. With the WWE Network about to make major waves in the Asian markets, it will be important to see Nakamura be booked strong for a while.

Aries is going to have his time to build up & there could be room for a series of matches with Shinsuke, however, it will be up to WWE to make sure to build it up a bit. We have a feeling that Nakamura could be pushed up to the main roster quickly, which is probably somehow included in his deal, but he will get more of a chance to shine in NXT than we will at Raw or Smackdown, depending on what the rosters will look like when the brand extension takes place. There are some matches taking place in Hawaii this summer where Nakamura is scheduled to take on John Cena. That could be because Hawaii has a strong Asian base or a trial run to see how Nakamura’s chemistry with one of the WWE’s top stars comes across to the crowd.

Finn Balor & Samoa Joe Will Have a Physical, Brutal Cage Match

The Finn Balor-Samoa Joe series has been a strong, very well build-up storyline throughout the winter & into the summer. Their match at NXT Takeover: London was an outstanding match & a great preview of things to come. In Dallas, they turned a match that could have been great, came off awkward because blood, into an instant classic because they just didn’t stop & they fought a physical style despite probably having to cut out some parts of the match due to Samoa Joe’s blood & time lost dealing with it.

This cage match is going to be one of the better cage matches that we will see for a while for a variety of reasons. First off, the creative team at NXT, along with Triple H, have done a tremendous job with building up the importance of the match, which already gives it a different feel & expectation than most cage matches we have seen in the last few years. Second, these two are two of the greatest technical wrestlers in the world, but can wrestle a physical, more intense style that a cage match calls for. Im expecting the level of this match to match the Bret Hart/Owen Hart cage match at Summerslam 1994.

With that said, we are going to go with Samoa Joe in this matchup. Balor has had a tremendous run as NXT Champion & there isn’t much else he can gain by having the belt. Would we all like to see a Balor/Nakamura match for the NXT Championship – sure. But Samoa Joe vs Nakamura can & will be a huge draw coming up. Joe & Nakamura wrestle very similar styles, yet approach the matches in a completely different style.

As far as Balor goes, we fully expect for him to be called up to Raw or Smackdown in the brand extension. The online insiders have teased it for a while & while im sure WWE has been waiting for the right time to bring him up. What better time than the extension when you have time to get him into a good program and get him ready for a prime position at Summerslam in August at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. If this match – basically a send off for Balor – isn’t a 30-40 minute match, that will be very disappointing. This is a stacked card in terms of talent but in terms of amount of matches, it is looking very light as of right now. Should be more than enough time for Balor & Joe to truly show why they are among the best in the world at their craft.

Asuka vs Nia Jax Will Be Strong, But Will Have Room To Grow Later

Asuka & Nia Jax are two of the growing NXT women’s wrestlers right now. Both of them have a distinct look, can go in the ring, but right now, we don’t have the big fire & excitement for this match. I think Nia Jax has a phenomenal look & has great athletic ability, but she needs more time in-ring before its time for a classic match against Asuka.

This should be pretty easy in the sense that Asuka should retain, with a rematch set-up for NXT Takeover: Brooklyn. Jax needs more time to build up her character & really make people believe that she can be a long-term women’s champion. She had a solid match against Bailey at NXT Takeover: London, but it showed there that she had a long way to go. She has come a long way from her initial debut & she is definitely unlike any women’s wrestler on the roster, but this is not the time to be the face of the NXT women’s division. We should learn more after the next round of tapings take place leading up to Takeover Brooklyn.

American Alpha & The Revival Have Taken Tag Team Wrestling To A New Level in NXT and WWE

The tag-team scene in NXT has been good ever since the brand first got going on WWE Network in 2014. Triple H has done a great job to put more emphasis on the tag-team dynamic & showing that the right teams & athletes together can make absolute magic. The Revival & American Alpha have done that. AA looks very much like the World’s Greatest Tag Team combination of Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas from back in 2003. Not many people probably thought much of Jason Jordan & Chad Gable individually at first, but once they came together as a team, they have been able to show their personalities & true athletic ability in big time ways.

On the other side of the ledger, Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder seem like two guys who wouldn’t be WWE superstars. They sound like enhancement guys for the most part. However, they are a hard-hitting, in-your-face team that can also tell a great story & wrestle a finesse style in the ring, that complements the American Alpha speed & intense cardio action. Both teams know how to control the pace of a match & all have strong athletic ability, and are getting much better on the microphone.

From a title standpoint, I think the Revival actually gets the titles back to set up the rubber match at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn. This rivalry has room for a three-part series where the teams can have some phenomenal matches. There is word that American Alpha could go to the main roster at some point. I would like to see them stay on NXT for a bit longer as they can be a real force there for a bit & help develop some new rivalries in NXT & bring up some of the young teams on the rise. Tomaiso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano would have some great matches with both AA & Revival, and HHH has to make sure the guys aren’t going up too fast before they are ready, only to get buried in matches & in storylines where neither team will have a chance to fully show their skills.

Andrade Cien Almas vs Tye Dillinger

Poor Tye Dillinger. He was the guy that Shinsuke Nakamura went through at the taping after NXT Takeover: Dallas that helped propel him to the top of NXT, and it sounds like Andrade “Cien” Almas will be on the same road here.

Obviously, he won’t lose to Dillinger, but depending on the presentation & if he has changes the La Sombra ring style he used in CMLL & New Japan for so long, he will be built into a rising star quickly.

 

If you want to watch an event on Wednesday where there will be some actual action that won’t disappoint (hello NBA Finals), then give WWE Network & NXT Takeover: The End a view. No matter what or how our predictions turn out, guaranteed there won’t be any down time.

WWE Summerslam 2015 – First Preview

The biggest event of the summer is set & we are going to a tried & true matchup – Undertaker vs Brock Lesnar for the main event. The pieces were set in motion after WWE Battleground on Sunday night when Undertaker cost Lesnar the WWE World Heavyweight Championship during his match with Seth Rollins.

Many remember that Lesnar defeated the Undertaker at Wrestlemania XXX, thus ending Taker’s famed Wrestlemania streak, which was at 21-0. WWE is going back to the well & going back to the good money draw, which is always Lesnar & Taker. This is special for Undertaker especially because this will be the first Summerslam that Taker has participated in since Summerslam 2008 when he defeated WWE Hall-of-Famer Edge.

Brock Lesnar will face The Undertaker in the main event of WWE Summerslam 2015.

WWE is clearly putting all of its chips on the table for this Summerslam weekend – having NXT Takeover: Brooklyn is the Saturday night before Summerslam with NXT being the hottest overall brand in the company because of the wrestling styles & having the top stars. Since Triple H has had much more of a say in the company in terms of booking & matches, he has been able to put his finger on what is clearly working.

Having Undertaker & Lesnar – while people may say that it shouldn’t be the main event because you are putting on part-time guys at the top of the card thus taking away from the up-and-coming stars, the idea is to push sales of the WWE Network & boost up subscriber numbers for the 3rd quarter, which will probably include a Stone Cold podcast special either right before or right after Summerslam on Monday night.

At this point, we know that Undertaker has only so many matches left in his WWE career & the fans realize this so it will be a real treat to have Undertaker at this event, especially since it looks as though he is going to work the heel to Lesnar’s face. It doesn’t sound like it would work, but if you watch how Undertaker was being so aggressive towards Lesnar when he interfered at Battleground, you realize that its a much different Taker than what was being seen at the past Wrestlemanias. Undertaker should avenge his loss to Lesnar here so that he looks strong in a potential match against Sting in Dallas at Wrestlemania 32, which WWE has been teasing as a big money match. Undertaker & Sting both have to look good going into Wrestlemania season, especially with trying to fill up at 100,000 seat stadium at AT&T Stadium, which looks to break the all-time indoor attendance record held by the Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit for Wrestlemania III.

However, Undertaker/Lesnar won’t be the only big match on the card. For the first time in a long time, the WWE Divas are being heavily promoted as former NXT divas Charlotte, Becky Lynch & Sasha Banks all made their debuts in the last couple of weeks on Raw.  This is after the WWE Universe voices made themselves heard with the #givedivasachance campaign

NXT (now WWE) Diva Charlotte.

NXT (now WWE) diva Becky Lynch.

Sasha Banks, the NXT Women’s Champion.

Having the Divas so prominently focused in what will most likely be high-profile & well wrestled matches shows how far WWE has come in showing what these ladies can do inside the ring as well as outside. It shows that women can be beautiful but just as good performers as the male counterparts.

We will write more about Summerslam soon.

CM Punk Goes To UFC; Shuns WWE

CM Punk calls himself the best in the world in the WWE, now he can try to apply that to the UFC. At UFC 181, Punk & UFC President Dana White announced that Punk had signed a new contract to compete at the 185 middleweight division in the UFC, beginning in 2015.

CM Punk (real name Phil Brooks) is now a competitor in the UFC after his big announcement on December 6 at UFC 181.

When this came out, the MMA & pro wrestling world absolutely went insane. Punk is undoubtedly the most controversial name in professional wrestling due to his leaving WWE abruptly after the Royal Rumble in January. Punk cited that he was burned out & absolutely sick of the industry, along with not getting the opportunity to have some of the perks that top guys receive such as John Cena, Brock Lesnar, Triple H & others.

Punk also wanted to headline Wrestlemania at some point in his career, & even though he has been in many high profile matches at the biggest event in pro wrestling against the likes of Chris Jericho & the Undertaker, every WWE star wants to be the guy to close the show at a Mania event, which Punk never received.

Punk had one of the most telling interviews of all time on the Art of Wrestling podcast, hosted by his good friend, Colt Cabana, in which Punk truly opened up about all of his issues & frustrations in the WWE & such & just where his mind is at & his body.

 

Here is part 2 of the CM Punk interview on the Art of Wrestling –

Before I go too deep into CM Punk the UFC fighter, Id like to talk a bit more about the CM Punk who was one of the greatest WWE performers of all time.

Punk was huge on the independent wrestling circuit, especially in promotions such as Ring of Honor. Unfortunately, he came up during a time when WWE Chairman Vince McMahon still wanted the bigger guys who were “more marketable” & looked better. He wasn’t ready to embrace a performer of Punk’s caliber, until he showed up in 2006 during the weird version of ECW that was on SyFy for a long period of time.

Punk became a mainstay on there & eventually became a two-time winner of the Money In The Bank ladder match at Wrestlemania in 2007 & 2008, cashing in each time to win the WWE Championship. Even during those times, Punk was not always at the top of the card. He was near the top but in the wrestling industry, if you aren’t closing the show, the WWE isn’t really worried about you, even though you may be the guy who is the true “face of the company.”

Punk would have a great run in WWE in terms of having exciting matches, but rumors started going around that Punk was hard to deal with, a malcontent & a guy who was really a loner most days. When Punk got to 2011, his contract was legitimately up with WWE & he resigned right before the Money In The Bank PPV event in his hometown of Chicago, where his true push really came & after his amazing championship win against Cena in that event, Punk was the highlight of the card & the fans let the WWE know that they wanted to see much more of him.

But he still wasn’t getting all of the respect that he felt that he deserved. He got much better as a competitor & was still putting on phenomenal matches against all of the top guys in the company on a consistent basis. Punk was upset however, that he wasn’t getting the opportunity to main event Wrestlemania events over matches such as the John Cena vs Rock series that headlined Wrestlemania 28 & Wrestlemania 29 in 2012 & 2013 respectively.

Punk knew that the time was ticking & after the 2014 Royal Rumble, where he was eliminated very quietly, when many people felt that a situation was happening where he would face Triple H at Wrestlemania 30, Punk left the building before the next night’s Monday Night Raw episode was to air. That would be the last time Punk would ever be seen in the WWE outside of the WWE Network.

All through 2014, fans have cheered for Punk, especially when his girlfriend, now wife, A.J. Lee would be on the show. The fans hoped many days that Punk would magically show up & all would be forgotten, especially when we live in an era where guys like Hulk Hogan & the Ultimate Warrior was forgiven for many bad issues that had happened in the past in WWE. That would not be the case as we started to see Punk on TV shows such as Talking Dead & then announcing that he would do some writing for Marvel Comics & now this seals the deal with Punk taking the UFC deal.

A.J. Lee, the wife of CM Punk & WWE Superstar.

Recently, on the Stone Cold Steve Austin podcast, McMahon mentioned that he would be open to doing business with Punk in the future, but Punk does look as though he may actually be one of the guys who says they are finished with professional wrestling & actually mean it.

As far as Punk goes in the UFC, it has been very well noted that Punk has martial arts training with the famed Gracie family & has worked with some of the best training partners in the world, but the UFC is a whole different animal of fighter. There is no way that Punk can be ready for an actual fight before 2015 due to a variety of circumstances, not to mention just being able to have a competitive fight. Yes, Brock Lesnar was able to make the transition, but Lesnar was an NCAA wrestling champion at Minnesota, Punk was not. Punk has not been involved in any other actual fight techniques professionally or in amateur ranks outside of wrestling ever, which will make this situation all the more unique.

Competitors such as Matt Brown & Michael Bisping have already said they would like a shot at Punk, & many of the fighters probably believe that Punk only got the contract because of his name & what he can do for the UFC as a brand, as the company is not as hot as it used to be just a couple of years ago. Ronda Rousey is starting to go more into Hollywood. Anderson Silva is getting older, & after this coming weekend, will either Jon Jones or Daniel Cormier be able to be the faces of the company? Having Punk (and possibly Lesnar in 2015) back in the UFC fold gets the company back to the front of people’s minds & will help to replenish some of the possible star power that could leave the company in the next few months.

My prediction is that we could see Punk in the octagon in the UFC possibly around May or early fall, around the times when another PPV attraction – Floyd Mayweather – may be fighting his biggest fights of his career against Manny Pacquiao. If the UFC doesn’t have anything that is going to even cut a small dent into the Mayweather/Pacquiao buyrate, it could be a rough 2015 for the company, so it makes sense to bring in big, credible names like Punk & Lesnar into the fold, simply for just the buyrates & make people think twice about where they are going to spend their cash this summer & fall of 2015.

2014 WWE Survivor Series Preview – At Least Its Free

This weekend, the WWE is going to present to us the 2014 WWE Survivor Series on the WWE Network, which is completely free this month. When you see the card on this show, you probably realize why.

The WWE Survivor Series is very indicative of the current day WWE product – stale, boring & doing the exact same things again & again. The Survivor Series match itself tells quite a bit about the company – you have John Cena & his team against The Authority & WWE completely tipped its hand by saying that if Cena’s team loses, the team would be fired.

Well, considering that they can’t live without Cena & especially Dolph Ziggler on TV, this pretty much guarantees Cena’s team should win rather easily. Plus, with the rumors of Stephanie McMahon being pregnant, it would perfectly give she & her husband, Triple H, time to be off of television with Brock Lesnar scheduled to come back to TV soon & remind us all that he is the WWE World Champion, despite having not defended the championship since the Night of Champions event in September.

Could Survivor Series be the last time we see a lot of Stephanie McMahon for a while? Rumor has it she may be pregnant.

As for the rest of the card, there are 4 other matches that are really ways to just get guys on television & a check for being on PPV.

The Divas championship match between Nikki Bella & A.J. Lee should be interesting as Nikki should be the one who goes over & further her storyline with Brie Bella with the whole servant deal, which still has a few days left on the stipulation.

Nikki Bella should go over at WWE Survivor Series as the new WWE Divas Champion.

Should WWE DIvas Champion A.J. Lee leave WWE after Survivor Series, there will be a massive void of true female competitors in the company.

As it is shaping up, A.J. Lee could be leaving the WWE after the Survivor Series to be around more with her husband, former WWE Superstar C.M. Punk. If Lee does leave, a big void will need to be filled in the Divas division, which could be happening soon with some of the great NXT Divas that are doing great work down in Orlando.

The only other big event on the card that is worth really talking about is Dean Ambrose vs Bray Wyatt. From a character standpoint, this should be a phenomenal contest, but oddly enough, its Wyatt that needs a fresh boost. His promos are still excellent, but all we have heard about is how he saved Luke Harper & Erick Rowan, which is fine & all, but there needs to be an evolution to his character in some drastic way.

Ambrose is the future of the WWE right now. He has the mic skills & has shown the ability to evolve his character much more. Ambrose will have many other opportunities to go big in the company, Wyatt absolutely needs to go over to reestablish himself in the ring, not just on the mic.

But right now, its very hard to get excited about the current WWE product. With so much emphasis on the WWE Network & making it the best that it can be, there has been a major disconnect with the audience & the programming, which the ratings have reflected. Its as if the WWE is telling everyone to forget watching what’s on right now & just go strictly to the WWE Network exclusively, which, admittedly, I have done much more of over the last few months because the Network has been absolutely outstanding & has constantly gotten better over time.

WWE NXT has been amazing; the show is arguably the #1 show in all of WWE right now, the vault content has been strong & the Monday Night War, WWE Rivalries, WWE Wrestlemania Rewind & the other random specials that end up on the Network have been absolutely remarkable.

But because WWE has put so much emphasis on the Network, which is the smart business move, WWE has let some of the current go away. Survivor Series is one of the major events of the fall & winter & essentially the “end of the year” show that helps get people ready for the next year & the Royal Rumble & road to Wrestlemania. This doesn’t feel like a major event – it feels like an event that I wouldn’t pay a lot of money to watch anyway, & that is a shame.

When you have many of your top stars – Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan, Brock Lesnar – not advertised for the card, that hurts the bottom line & the event loses much of its luster. Somehow WWE is going to have to circumvent this issue – but it may be too late to save this event card. If you want to see the rest of the Survivor Series card, check out Bleacher Report here.

At least its only $9.99 per month.

WWE Summerslam 2014 Preview

Tonight, the biggest event of the WWE summer schedule takes place with the 27th annual Summerslam from Los Angeles. Yes, the event will be available on the WWE Network for what price? $9.99. Get ready, you will probably hear that a ton come tommorow night & into Monday Night Raw.

Figured it would be time to talk about where I see each match going through the entire card & what could be the future direction of the programs that are happening right now & into the WWE Night of Champions card in September. Also on the WWE Network – for $9.99.

WWE Summerslam Overview

Overall, this is a very critical card for the WWE in the sense that its the first big pay-per-view where the WWE Network is available worldwide & where the new financial position of the company really begins to take shape. Its no secret that the company has been cutting back big time, which the internet wrestling community gets all in arms about, but is no different than any other company on Earth.

WWE’s TV deal didn’t end up the way they believed so cuts have to be made. The company will bounce back, the performers will be back to where they normally are used to be & that will be that. However, Summerslam is the #2 pay-per-view of the calendar year & with all of the pub that goes along with being in Los Angeles at the Staples Center, it has to step up.

Summerslam 2014 will be available on the WWE Network tommorow night for the price of – wait for it – $9.99.

The storylines have actually been very well put together going into the card, from the surprising success of the Brie Bella/Stephanie McMahon feud all the way to John Cena vs Brock Lesnar, even with both men not being on Raw very much because of Cena’s filming schedule & with Lesnar having a limited amount of dates in his contract to work with. The company has had some compelling writing over the last few weeks to compensate for the lack of incredible pyro & such. They have kept the attention on the action & the storylines, which is the idea of professional wrestling & sports entertainment in the first place.

While this Summerslam is a bit of a top-heavy card, the mid-card matches have the ability to be true show stoppers as well. With that said, here is the Sports Fan Playground breakdown & preview/predictions for Summerslam 2014.

 Dolph Ziggler vs The Miz – WWE Intercontinental Championship.

This match should most likely be the opener & according to many publications including Bleacher Report, it is the opener.

Both of these guys desperately need wins, especially Ziggler, who for some reason the WWE has been hellbent on burying for the longest time. Ziggler is clearly one of the top 5, if not the best worker in the entire company & if the higher ups at WWE can’t see that, that is a sign of bad booking or talent evaluation.

Its time for Dolph Ziggler to get back in the WWE Championship picture & a win & an Intercontinental Championship reign should do just that.

The Miz needs the win as well because of the probable push for his new Marine movie that should be debuting later this year or early next year. Miz hasn’t had much sizzle since he has gotten back into full-time competition & his return & subsequent push was quickly destroyed on the night that Chris Jericho came back & gave him the codebreaker, as well as a pushbreaker right in the middle of the ring.

I am going to go with Ziggler on this one. It would be a great way to get the live crowd going & the WWE has shown that Ziggler may be out of the doghouse at some point soon because of how he has been booked on live events, has he has a couple of victories over Randy Orton – clean. Having Zigger go over & have a 5-star match in the process will really set the tone for the rest of the evening & get the crowd going early. Plus, its just time. Ziggler was the unfortunate recipient of a nasty concussion from Jack Swagger last year that killed off his World Heavyweight Championship push & reign & its time to move Dolph back to near the top of the card.

 Chris Jericho vs Bray Wyatt

This has been an interesting feud, but for many wrong reasons. This was the feud that was completely lost in the entire Stephanie McMahon/Brie Bella & Cena/Lesnar & Ambrose/Rollins/Authority situations. Both of these guys are outstanding on the microphone, but their first big match at Money In The Bank didn’t live up to the hype going in. It seemed as though there wasn’t a true connection there, which is rough for Wyatt.

Bray Wyatt has become one of the greatest men on the microphone in the history of the WWE, but he has to have a phenomenal match on Sunday against Chris Jericho for the WWE to continue to believe in him.

WWE officials have to really watch this match closely because ever since the Royal Rumble, where Wyatt had an amazing match with Daniel Bryan, Wyatt’s in-ring matches haven’t been the best, even though he has an amazing ability to promote a match with his verbal skills. For Wyatt’s career, he needs a big time match here & he & Jericho need time to really be able to tell the story, which I think WWE will allow them.

For Jericho, he has nothing to prove at all in his career. His job in the WWE at this point is to put over the younger talent & to push ahead the future of the WWE as a whole, which I see him doing exactly.

The promos from both men have been great, but this means far more to Wyatt than it does Jericho, which is why Wyatt will get the win, to tie the series at 1-1 & then have Wyatt win the rubber match either at Night of Champions or at a Raw show, considering that Jericho doesn’t have much time before he goes back on the road with his band, Fozzy.

Rusev vs Jack Swagger (Flag Match)

This has the potential to be one of the most interesting matches on the card, depending on if Rusev can bring it on his first major WWE event.

The build for this started off great, but fizzled off when the Russia/Ukraine situation came in & it took away mic time from Lana, who has been incredible in terms of her looks & her ability to really put over Rusev as the Russian (Bulgarian) monster.

Come on, you know you don’t watch this Rusev/Swagger feud for any other reason but to see Lana.

Jack Swagger has been excellent in keeping his mouth shut & let Zeb Colter do all of the work in terms of hyping up the United States flag & being strong. The match has the ability to be a nice, quick brawl & it could honestly go either way.

I think the company will side with Rusev because of the push of the NXT stars to be dominant in the WWE & to represent the future of the company. Swagger is a great performer, but his overall lack of charisma keeps him from having the big pushes that he needs to go to that next level, even though he is a former world champion. WWE has much more room to get more out of the Russian sympathizer angle as that can work with many top stars as Rusev continues to get better in the ring & his work rate gets better.

I think they may try to get one more match out of this at Night of Champions, but for Summerslam, I see Rusev handling the business & giving us more chances to look at Lana.

Paige vs A.J. Lee – WWE Divas Championship

If all goes as well as set up & meets WWE expectations, this is a feud that in-ring wise, could be as good as Trish Stratus vs Lita from the mid 2000s.

Both of these women are very strong in the ring, even though their Money In The Bank match wasn’t the best according to the internet wrestling community, who sometimes doesn’t know a good match if it walked up & farted in their face. The match at MITB wasn’t the greatest, but it was definitely very good & both women have room for improvement with each other.

A.J. Lee has kept her good standing in WWE circles, even after all of the issues the company has with her husband, C.M. Punk.

While Paige should be the one to go over in this match, I believe it will be A.J. Lee. Vince McMahon is a huge A.J. fan, even though she is married to C.M. Punk, who walked out on the company earlier this year. I believe that A.J. & Paige will have another match after this but Lee will end up having a feud with one of the Bella Twins down the line.

Paige may need more time in NXT after his angle with A.J Lee, possibly not because of anything she is doing wrong, but because it is a bit crowded in the Divas division right now & she may be the odd person out for a minute.

For some reason, McMahon is down on Paige’s gimmick & her speaking style in the ring. The storyline about them being “friends” or “friendnemies” or whatever is absolutely stupid, but these are two ladies who have the ability to overcome this. I sincerely hope that Paige is the Divas champion going out of Summerslam, but I think WWE is going to go with their opinion of the best worker on the roster in A.J. Lee, especially with Charlotte coming up to the roster soon from NXT. I think if the A.J/Paige situation doesn’t continue, A.J. will transition into working with Charlotte, which could be more interesting due to Charlotte’s height & size advantage over Lee. I have a feeling Paige might be back on NXT before  you know it, which actually might be the best thing for her in her career right now.

 Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins (Lumberjack Match)

Going into this match, I had my doubts about who would be winning this, but after finding out that Ambrose will be working as the lead in a new WWE films movie, the answer will be pretty simple – Seth Rollins.

Rollins has been the guy who has been the focus of the Money In The Bank briefcase as he has the briefcase right now. With Ambrose leaving for a bit, the match will be one of the best of the night & should be a show stealer, but at the end of the day, Ambrose really shouldn’t go over since he will leave for a bit.

Seth Rollins should win through somehow the Authority will all be bought off to beat up on Ambrose & Rollins gets a cheap win. Not much else to put here.

Roman Reigns vs Randy Orton

I really & truly want to get excited about this match, but I just can’t. I don’t know why, I just can’t get there right now. It feels as though this feud was just thrown together so both guys can get a Summerslam bonus in their checks because they are “top guys.”

Randy Orton has been at the top of the card all year long, but really hasn’t meant a ton in the storylines, outside of random Raw episodes where they will remind us that he is a mean “viper” snake, apparently. Orton needs to have a big time performance just to make the WWE fans care about him again.

As for Reigns, he is being groomed to be the guy for the future & to possibly have a big night at Wrestlemania 31 in Santa Clara, but right now, he has work to do in terms of his promo style & just showing more of his overall personality style in the ring. Reigns has the look & in-ring skills to be a main event player in the future, but both guys have been just………….blah through this whole angle.

I see Reigns going over here, & Triple H giving Randy Orton some flak that he couldn’t get the job done at all & couldn’t get the job done during the time in Evolution, which would bring back Batista & get Orton & Batista into a feud that was supposed to be the main event of Wrestlemania 30 before the rise of Daniel Bryan was so large & WWE had no choice but to put Bryan in that spot.

Brie Bella vs Stephanie McMahon

As weird as this may be to say, this is the hottest feud going in the WWE right now. The company has done a fabulous job of building this up slowly, but swiftly, with the arrest of Stephanie & now having the cheating angle going with the physical therapist. WWE has clearly invested big money in performers who they knew they could get some great attitude & action out of. At the same time, they have managed to keep Daniel Bryan relevant to the WWE Universe so when he comes back, he has something to work with immediately.

Stephanie McMahon goes up against Brie Bella at WWE Summerslam.

This match is not about anything concerning the action, it will be a decent match because both women are very athletic, but the key to all of this will be what happens when the WWE turns Nikki Bella heel against Brie. This has been playing up for the longest time now & of course, Stephanie is not going to be a regular performer in the ring by no stretch of the imagination.

This will be much more entertainment than actual ring work, but at or near the top of the card, that’s not a bad thing at all. Its what the fans absolutely want. Stephanie & the Authority will win due to needing to get the Brie Bella/Nikki Bella feud going into Night of Champions.

Brie Bella may be getting ready for a feud against her sister, Nikki Bella, after Summerslam is over.

Nikki Bella should be playing a big role in Brie losing to Stephanie at Summerslam, as a heel turn has been teased for a while.

John Cena vs Brock Lesnar – WWE Championship

This match has been one of the very well hyped matches, & most of it has been done without having both men together in the same arena most times. Paul Heyman needs to get tons of credit for how this has been built up & what has been done to draw people into the building for this event.

While this feud may continue into Night of Champions, I can easily see Lesnar going over here, especially because of the 12-year anniversary of Lesnar winning his first WWE Championship at Summerslam 2002 when he defeated the Rock. Having the WWE Championship could allow Lesnar to either drop it again to Cena at Night of Champions in a big-time rematch that would draw many subscriptions to the WWE Network, or have Lesnar get the win & allow the WWE Championship to be the holy grail while Lesnar makes sporadic appearances until Wrestlemania season when you would have either Lesnar vs Rock or Lesnar vs Reigns for the Championship in the main event.

This should go to Lesnar, & just set the internet wrestling community a blaze.

Also, during the card, I believe we will hear a big announcement about the Monday Night War show on the WWE Network. The company has said that it would debut this month & it would make the most sense to have a premiere date set on the biggest summer event that WWE has.

WWE Network Showing Massive Signs Of Promise – Forget What You Read Otherwise

The WWE has been going through a period that many top companies have to go through from time to time. They have to lay off quite a few workers, cutting & trimming the budget quite a bit, & basically trimming the “fat” off of the company in order for it to work efficiently.

That business practice has never been more evident for the company than with the launch of the WWE Network. It was announced on Thursday that the WWE Network has 700,000 subscribers to its service, which is currently only available in the United States. While many analysts believe that this is a low subscriber number, it actually isn’t bad at all.

Streaming networks are still a very new practice around the world & the technology is still being worked on to make them stronger, but WWE is not doing anything different than what Netflix & Hulu Plus had to do when they first started their streaming services, especially Netflix, which was originally just renting out DVDs for customers.

This week, the WWE had to cut 7% of their workforce in an on going effort to get $20 million off of their budget, which im guessing is either to save actual money or free up some extra cash to put back into the Network, which will end up being a complete cash cow in the next year or so. The company understands that this is the future of entertainment as we know it, but getting there is obviously no easy task.

The WWE Network recorded 700,000 subscribers as of June 30. That number should increase significantly with the international expansion beginning on August 12.

On Thursday, WWE announced that the Network will be going international beginning on August 12. The service will be available in Australia, Canada, Russia, Spain, Nordic countries, New Zealand, Mexico, & Latin American nations. It will be available to other nations in October 2014 & in the U.K. around the beginning of 2015.

The WWE will get to the 1 million subscriber mark that is being used to break even & turn a profit with the network, that part is not to be questioned. The WWE is huge around the world & if you were to go on Twitter, fans consistently write about when they will be able to have the WWE Network in their country. Many fans, however, have been able to use various devices & programs that allow for users to hide their local IP address & access the network, which the WWE will undoubtedly sure up as time goes on.

In Canada, the rollout of the WWE Network will be very unique, in that it will be an actual paid cable channel on Rogers, the big cable provider in Canada. WWE signed a new 10-year deal that will keep their flagship shows, Monday Night Raw & Friday Night Smackdown, available on the network & the WWE Network itself will be a paid channel, similar to what HBO is. The on-demand content will then be able on the internet based channel, exactly what the WWE Network is in America, but a better comparison will be HBO Go for the Canadian customers.

The regular paid channel will carry the WWE Network streaming programming lineup, with everything still being archived later.

The media has always had a thing against the WWE because of not understanding how the “wrestling” business worked. They could never understand what drew so many people into watching something that is so “scripted” & “fake” & why people spend hard earned money on this type of entertainment. So when the WWE Network launched, the pundits were already trying to find a way to rip it & let the world know that it wouldn’t or couldn’t survive.

They didn’t understand that WWE Chairman Vince McMahon is one of the most ingenious people of this generation. Yes, some of his business practices haven’t always been on the up & up, but who’s really is? McMahon had enough foresight to see that Pay-Per-View was the way of the future with entertainment & was one of the first companies to put sports on PPV, before boxing was available in that medium.  The same guy made Wrestlemania into one of the biggest events of all time after taking a major gamble on the event being a success back in 1985 with Wrestlemania 1.

30 years later, we are at Wrestlemania 30, being in the biggest stadiums around the country & now it gets ready for Wrestlemania 31, which will be held next year at the new Levi’s Stadium, the home of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers.

In fact, Wrestlemania was the first major event to be shown on the WWE Network & it went off very smoothly. The company knows what its doing with this channel, despite what the other internet pundits might want you to believe. Im not saying this because I am a wrestling fan, but as an internet & tech guy, this is going on the perfect path to success right now.

The company did announce that there would be a change in the pricing for the network at some point – the price would be either $20 per month or $60 for an entire 6-month subscription, which many people actually have been asking for for quite a long time. Many people didn’t like the idea that they were committed to paying $9.99 per month for 6-months due to not wanting to have that on their cards or just flat out being cheap (many wrestling fans love to watch things that stream online for free with crappy service most times instead of just playing the fee & being able to watch so much more).  For the life of me, I have never fully understood that idea of watching entertainment, but I digress.

The company is still in solid standing, & again, nothing that any other company doesn’t have to go through when they are launching something that is very revolutionary. It’s the exact same thing that the NFL is doing with their new NFL Now package, which will have games available as well as other NFL Network content available on demand through a streaming service. Major League Baseball has done the same thing, & other companies as well. The Watch ESPN app & the ESPN3 app on Xbox 360 & Xbox One has been a major source of revenue for the ESPN brand & has allowed them to carry far more sports than their regular TV networks can handle at one time.

The big difference is that all of those leagues have some kind of cable deal for their actual channels. While WWE has a TV deal with NBC Universal, they have yet to launch a cable or satellite deal in the United States, which they may not for a while. If they were to at some point, it would be a complete game changer & bring in more revenue, but at the same time, it would cause WWE to have to split revenue with the cable providers & in Canada, its a bit different simply because there aren’t as many competitors for cable there & not as much distribution of profit would have to be sent to as many companies.

Along with the distribution of the WWE Network worldwide, some of the biggest documentary series will be coming up shortly in August for the company. The highly anticipated series, The Monday Night War, will be available along with the show, WWE Rivalries, which will give in-depth analysis of the hottest feuds & matches in the history of the wrestling industry.

The Monday Night War, in particular, will be the series that most wrestling fans will probably get the Network for because for many, it was the golden age of wrestling for this generation during the rivalry of WWE against WCW with their respective shows, WWE Monday Night Raw & WCW Monday Nitro going head-to-head against each other.

The WWE Network isn’t perfect, but it has strong satisfactory ratings & will only continue to grow more as time goes on. Until you look at the numbers that the network will draw in in the long term, the pundits can’t speak on WWE getting smacked down or not so early in the game.

 

 

 

 

WWE Network Needs Presence on Cable, Satellite

For wrestling fans, old school & new school, the WWE hit a strong home run with their WWE Network, launched February 24, even with some of the bugs that were in the program ( & still are depending on the medium that you are watching the network on). Even though the network hasn’t launched around the world yet, the fact is that the network would help from having some kind of presence on cable & satellite providers.

The WWE Network is one of the better bargains in entertainment, having thousands of hours of classic wrestling content for $9.99 per month.

Yes, the WWE Network is amazing as an app, & it should stay available in app form, but many people around the country don’t have the access or capability to watch the network, especially if you live in a rural area. For example. I happened to be in Nevada in April for business & being in the mountain areas there, there was no way I could pull in the WWE Network because of the big signal there & that high-speed internet wasn’t completely available in that area.

With so many people in the United States who still live in very suburban & rural areas, the WWE is missing out on a large chunk of the population who would probably purchase the Network & with all of their pay-per-view events in the United States on the Network, the company is losing a strong chunk of customers.

According to Worldbank.org, over 54 million people live in rural areas of the United States. If you figure that about 3-4 million of those people might be wrestling fans & another 1-2 million would be willing to actually purchase the WWE Network, that would have taken care of the WWE’s goal of hitting 1 million subscribers in year one & wouldn’t have to go through the massive cost-cutting measures that the company is going through right now, as WWE CEO & Chairman Vince McMahon announced that the company was trying to trim $20 million off of their regular budget.

At the $9.99 a month price for the channel, fans would easily pay for it & the company would become much stronger overall & reach those people in the rural areas that the network isn’t currently reaching.

If the channel were to launch on cable or satellite, it would work as an alternative for the people who don’t have the other systems, or the company could make the WWE Network app strictly their on-demand channel & let the live stream be exclusively on the cable & satellite channel & make the content that shows on the channel immediately available on the app when the shows are completed.

By having the WWE Network live stream running as a regular network on Xfinity, DirecTV & others, yes WWE might have to share some of the revenue streams, but due to so many customers not being able to cut the cord yet with their satellite & cable services, the company will still bring in a strong revenue & be able to turn a profit far faster than just being on an app that many people who are past the age of 55 may not understand.

Right now, the WWE Network is one of the best entertainment apps in the United States, hands down. The collection of shows & events that are available is unprecedented & looks to only get better with shows coming such as the Monday Night War, which looks as though it will be a slam dunk for the company, similar to how WWE Legends House was earlier this year.

It just seems to be, as a die hard wrestling fan, that the WWE Network is poised to succeed, & once more people have access to the service, it will take off the way the fans & the company believe that it will & it should have from the very beginning.

WWE Performers Salaries & Bonuses – 2014

We all know that the WWE is one of the most dominant entertainment & sports related companies in the world, but was always a company that didn’t release their financial stats. But recently, the salaries & bonuses of the top WWE stars (announcers, divas & male in-ring talent) was released & here are the numbers.

These are the downside guarantee numbers, most of these numbers are increased with live gates, merchandise & pay-per-view, & other extra expenses built into contracts.

WWE Wrestler Salaries – 2012 & 2014

Wrestler	Age	Salary for 2012	Estimated Salary – Earnings 2014
Alberto Del Rio	36	$675,000	$865.000+ Winning Bonus
Antonio Cesaro	33	–	$253,000
Wade Barrett	33	–	$455,000
Big E Langston	27	–	$350,000
Big Show	41	$1,050,000	$1,350,000 + Winning Bonus + Personal Travel Bus
Booker T	48	$477,375	$500,000
Bray Wyatt	26	–	$170,000
Brock Lesnar	36	–	$1,550,000 + Winning Bonus
Brodus Clay	27	$170,000	$200,000
Camacho	30	–	$190,000
Christian	40	$595,000	$625,600
CM Punk	35	$1,220,500	$1,600,500 + Personal Tour Bus
Cody Rhodes	28	$494,500	$520,000
Curt Hawkins	27	–	$200,000
Curtis Axel	34	–	$280,000
Damien Sandow	32	–	$450,000
Daniel Bryan	32	$620,470	$905,000 + Winning Bonus
Darren Young	30	$80,145	$160,000
David Otunga	33	–	$350,000
Dean Ambrose	28	–	$120,000
Dolph Ziggler	33	$540,230	$760,000 + Winning Bonus
Drew McIntyre	28	–	$80,000
Erick Rowan	32	–	$110,000
Evan Bourne	30	–	$320,000
Ezekiel Jackson	35	–	$550,000
Fandango	32	–	$60,000
Goldust	44	–	$170,000
The Great Khali	41	$974,000	$1,450,500
Heath Slater	30	–	$270,000
Hornswoggle	27	–	$80,000
Hunico	30	–	$60,000
Jack Swagger	31	$319,000	$502,240
Jey Uso	27	–	$105,000
Jimmy Uso	27	–	$105,000
Jinder Mahal	27	$75,000	$100,000
John Cena	36	$2,750,000	$3,500,000 + Winning Bonus + Merchandise Sale + Personal Tour Bus
JTG	29	–	$120,000
Justin Gabriel	32	–	$220,000
Kane	46	$905,000	$1,100,000
Kofi Kingston	32	$254,200	$450,500
Luke Harper	34	–	$70,000
Mark Henry	42	$877,000	$950,000
The Miz	32	$712,000	$850,000
Primo	31	–	$50,000
R-Truth	41	–	$330,000
Randy Orton	33	$1,600,500	$2,300,500 + Winning Bonus + Merchendise Sale + Personal Tour Bus
Rey Mysterio	39	$985,000	$1,234,445
Ricardo Rodriguez	27	–	$45000
The Rock	41	–	$2,756,650
Roman Reigns	28	–	$440,500
Ryback	32	$254,200	$450,500
Santino Marella	34	–	$350,000
Seth Rollins	27	–	$55,000
Sheamus	35	$1,000,000	$1,400,000
Sin Cara	31	–	$500,000
Tensai	41	–	$350,000
Titus O’Neil	36	–	$250,000
Triple H (Directors of WWE)	35	–	$2,500,502
Tyson Kidd	32	–	$280,000
Undertaker	50	–	$870,000 (Special Appearances)
William Regal	45	–	$402,000
Xavier Woods	27	–	$60,000
Yoshi Tatsu	26	–	$60,000
Zack Ryder	27	$135,050	$435,050
Rob Van Dam	35	–	$650,000

WWE Divas Salaries 2014

Wrestler Age Estimated Salary  – Earnings 2014

AJ Lee – 26 – $220,000

Aksana – 31- $45000

Alicia Fox – 27 – $85000

Brie Bella – 30 – $135,000

Cameron – 26- $30,000

Eva Marie –  29 – $145,000

JoJo Offerman – 20 — $25,000

Kaitlyn – 27- $110,000

Layla El – 36 – $120,000

Naomi Knight – 26 -$40,000

Natalya – 33- $110,000

Nikki Bella –  30 – $ 120,000

Rosa Mendes –  33 – $45,000

Tamina Snuka –  33- $55,000

Vickie Guerrero –  45 – $67,000

WWE Announcers Salaries – 2014

TV Announcer – Commentator	Position	Estimated Salary – Earnings 2014
Jerry Lawler	Commentator	$500,000
Matt Striker	NXT – Commentator	$164,000
Michael Cole	Commentator	$549,000
Lilian Garcia	Smack Down Announcer	$220,000
Justin Roberts	RAW Announcer	$220,000
Brad Maddox	Special Events Announcer	$220,000
JBL	– Not Known	– Not Known
El Torito	Mascot of Los Matadores	$220,000