Russo is joined on today’s show by his co-host, Jeff Lane.

Speaking about the current steroid allegations facing Roman Reigns, Russo says he doesn’t consider this to be a big deal at all. He actually has no issue with grown men choosing to use steroids, and he compares it to some people choosing to smoke cigarettes. If you’re an adult and you’re aware of what you’re doing, why is this a big deal? He points out that actors like Sylvester Stallone have used steroids to prepare for movie roles in the past, so he doesn’t see why professional wrestling is so against this.

Lane mentions that PWTorch’s Wade Keller spoke about Johnny Gargano this past week, saying he’s a star who could really help turn 205 Live’s dropping viewership numbers around. Along with other stars such as Finn Balor and Hideo Itami, Gargano could make 205 Live entertaining programming according to Keller. Russo doesn’t agree with that statement at all, but he does give Keller credit for finally realizing that Balor needs to be moved from RAW to 205 Live.

In another audio clip, Keller said that Elias is only going to rise up and meet his potential when he stops playing his guitar in the ring eery week. Russo points out that if Keller had his way, he’d strip every character of their gimmicks. In this case, RAW’s roster would consist of 100 identical wrestlers with no character development or interesting gimmicks, and that’s not good.

Continuing with his thoughts on Elias, Russo thinks WWE’s booking of him has been brutal as of late. He can’t understand why they’d book Elias to be the opening act for The Miztourage every week when there are millions of other creative things they could be doing with him.

The post Vince Russo’s The Brand Recap – Reigns’ Steroid Allegations, Balor Moving to 205 Live? Meltzer Claims to be Stronger Than Strowman, More! appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

The Miz recently reared his head again after filming a movie. He’s got his sights set on one thing and one thing only: the Intercontinental Championship. Roman Reigns dethroned him back in November, but the A-Lister has not forgotten. He’s back on the prowl, and he hopes to reclaim his gold.

But is Miz becoming an eight time champion really a good idea? For once, maybe it isn’t. Here are a few reasons why Miz might not be the right guy to defeat Roman Reigns.

Miz Is Already Established

Who would have thought that the Miz would be one of the most entertaining champions in WWE today? People hated him when he became WWE Champion, but he’s grown since then. He’s done so much for the Intercontinental Championship. He will forever be in the conversation for the greatest Intercontinental Champions. He could win the title and lose it 30 seconds later and he’d still be one of the best Intercontinental Champions.

The thing is, other people could benefit from a run with the white and gold. The Intercontinental Championship used to be given to guys as an opportunity to prove themselves. Sure, this led to some duds like Ezekiel Jackson, it also gave a spotlight to up and coming guys. Superstars like Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, Kevin Owens, Dolph Ziggler, Kofi Kingston, and many others all proved themselves while carrying the Great White. With Miz holding the belt pretty much all the time, it denies other superstars the opportunity that Miz himself took advantage of.

Think of cool and cocky Finn Balor running with his Good Brothers as the Intercontinental Champion. Or Elias singing about his new title. Imagine Samoa Joe putting to sleep all who dare look to dethrone him. Heck, maybe even Sheamus can win it so he can complete his Grand Slam and stop wrestling Seth Rollins, dear God.

It’s Getting Old

Ever since Wrestlemania 32, there have been 12 PPV matches for the Intercontinental Championship. Miz has been involved in 11 of those (the lone exception is Baron Corbin v. Dean Ambrose at Wrestlemania 33). That’s not even counting the numerous times the title’s been defended on TV since then. It’s crazy.

I like the Miz. I really do. You have to respect his work ethic, and his character work is amazing. But the Intercontinental title scene is getting old. Yes, he’s had some great matches (the Fatal Four-Way at Extreme Rules 2016, his series with Dolph Ziggler), but there’s also been its fair share of duds (Darren Young at Battleground 2016, Apollo Crews at Summerslam 2016). When Dean Ambrose arrived at Raw, there were so many new faces who could challenge him. Instead, it went back to Miz (another note: they should stop putting Ambrose in endless feuds [v. The Bar, v. The Miz, etc.]).

Miz really has done a lot for the title. His run on Smackdown was one of the best. On Raw, his reign was sort of listless, what with him talking a whole lot but not actually doing anything. Raw’s aimless midcard has suffered a bit, and while for a while Miz was also treading water, by having someone new claim the title, it gives them a new sense of direction. Miz can survive without the white and gold.

The post Reasons Why The Miz Shouldn’t Be The Next Intercontinental Champion appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

WWE heads to the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texts for tonight’s episode of RAW. Here are the focus points for the show:

* Nia Jax is ready for Asuka

* How will Roman Reigns repay The Miz and The Miztourage?

* Can Seth Rollins & Jason Jordan get on the same page before the Royal Rumble event?

* Braun Strowman brings down the house … literally

* Is Cedric Alexander our next WWE Cruiserweight Champion?

* Will “Woken” Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt collide?

Check back here at 8PM ET for our live play-by-play coverage of the event.

The post What to Expect on the January 15th Episode of RAW appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

The topic of which talents WWE will bring in for the RAW 25th anniversary show has been a hot topic of late among individuals within WWE. PWInsider reports that there was “a lot of talk” internally about which talents would be appearing over the last week.

As of this writing, the following names are confirmed legends for the event:

* The Undertaker
* Shawn Michaels
* Kevin Nash
* John Cena
* Brock Lesnar
* Jim Ross
* Jerry Lawler
* X-Pac

Active RAW Superstars being advertised include:

* Roman Reigns
* Seth Rollins
* Dean Ambrose
* Asuka
* Braun Strowman
* Alexa Bliss
* Samoa Joe
* Sheamus
* Cesaro
* Kane
* Kurt Angle

Active SmackDown Superstars advertised:

* AJ Styles
* Randy Orton
* Jinder Mahal

We will keep you updated if more names are “rumored” or confirmed for the event.

The post RAW 25th Anniversary Surprises Reportedly a “Hot Topic” Within WWE appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Welcome to Monday Night Raw for January 8th 2018!

We’re less than three weeks away from the 2018 Royal Rumble and things are finally heating up. Tonight’s Raw will feature the return of The Miz, who may be looking to claim back his WWE Intercontinental Championship from Roman Reigns. The Big Dog took the title from Miz and then put him through an announce table and the A-Lister has not been seen since. Well, Roman is on the lookout for a new challenger after dispatching Samoa Joe last week, and isn’t it perfect timing for The Miz to make his return.

Elsewhere on tonight’s Raw, Enzo Amore returns and will immediately defend his Cruiserweight Championship against Cedric Alexander. This match was supposed to take place on last week’s Raw but Enzo Amore was legitimately in the hospital for unknown reasons and was banned from competing that night by WWE officials. That means we get the match tonight and fans are hungry to see Enzo lose his title, however I don’t see it happening tonight. Let us know if you think Cedric will dethrone Enzo!

Also, WOKEN Matt Hardy will make his in-ring debut tonight, as well as Braun Strowman and Kane competing in one-upsmanship, and how will Alexa Bliss respond to being beaten by Asuka last week? All that and more to look forward to. Remember to download the free Ringside News or Talk app’s and let us know what you’re thinking. Enjoy the show!

The post Monday Night Raw Results – January 8th 2018 appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

As previously reported, Dean Ambrose is out of action with an injury and is expected to miss up to nine months of in-ring action. Since Ambrose’s injury, there have been significant amount of changes to several television storylines and it now looks like one plan the company had in mind could be nixed altogether.

WWE was originally planning a Shield reunion tour at WWE Live Events, which has already been pushed back once after Roman Reigns caught the mumps a couple months back. Ambrose’s recent injury may have now halted those plans altogether now.

The belief is once Ambrose returns from his injury in nine months, Roman Reigns will already be WWE Universal Champion, so it wouldn’t make much sense to do the tour because the idea behind The Shield’s reunion in the first place was to help get Reigns over more before they decided to put the title on him.

The post Dean Ambrose’s Injury Cause More Changes appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

WWE announced that Roman Reigns will defend his WWE Intercontinental Championship Title on Monday’s episode of RAW. If Reigns gets disqualified, he will lose his title. Kurt Angle made the announcement on Twitter.

He wrote, “On the first #Raw of 2018 @WWERomanReigns will defend his #ICTitle against @SamoaJoe; if Roman is DQ’ed, he’ll lose the match AND his title”

On the first #Raw of 2018 @WWERomanReigns will defend his #ICTitle against @SamoaJoe; if Roman is DQ’ed, he’ll lose the match AND his title

— Kurt Angle (@RealKurtAngle) December 29, 2017

The post Big Match Announced for Monday’s Episode of RAW appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

While appearing on MLive, Kevin Owens talked about the reaction he receives from the crowd and mentioned that someday he hopes to have the same kind of response that John Cena and Roman Reigns receives.

“I just try to listen to strong reaction. To me the best reaction is a mix of both boos and cheers. John Cena and Roman Reigns get insane reactions where half the crowd loves them and half the crowd despises them. When you’re in the ring waiting for your opponent, whether it’s John or Roman, you get hit by this crazy noise. It’s people almost competing with each other. The guy who’s booing one of them is trying to be louder than the guy cheering. It makes for a special atmosphere. That’s really what I’m striving for.”

You can listen to the complete interview here.

The post Kevin Owens Striving to Receive Reaction Similar to John Cena & Roman Reigns appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Below are the most “disliked” WWE YouTube videos of 2017 from both the RAW and SmackDown Live brand, courtesy of Forbes:

RAW Air Date / Video / Dislikes / Likes / Dislike Percentage
April 3, 2017 / Roman Reigns Declares that WWE is his Yard Now / 35,000 / 27,000 / 56%
April 10, 2017 / Braun Strowman Savagely Attacks Roman Reigns / 23,000 / 124,000 / 16%
January 23, 2017 / Emmalina Can’t Wait to Reward Your Patience / 15,000 / 2,000 / 88%
February 13, 2017 / Emmalina Finally Premieres / 15,000 / 8,000 / 65%
January 16, 2017 / You Won’t Want to Miss Emmalina’s Premiere / 11,000 / 1,000 / 92%

Smackdown Live Air Date / Video / Dislikes / Likes / Dislike Percentage
August 5, 2017 / John Cena vs. Jinder Mahal / 11,000 / 28,000 / 28%
May 23, 2017 / Witness Jinder Mahal’s Punjabi Celebration / 7,000 / 58,000 / 11%
April 18, 2017 / WWE Championship No. 1 Contender Six-Pack Challenge / 7,000 30,000 / 19%
May 16, 2017 / AJ Styles vs. Jinder Mahal / 5,000 23,000 / 18%
August 1, 2017 / John Cena vs. Shinsuke Nakamura / 5,000 46,000 / 10%

The post Most “Disliked” WWE Videos of 2017 Revealed appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

When Dolph Ziggler seemingly vacated the United States Championship, Daniel Bryan knew what he had to do. He booked one of WWE’s rare tournaments. You don’t see those too often. I know we had the Mae Young Classic and the Cruiserweight Classic recently, but I’m talking about one for the main roster dudes. They could happen a bit more.

Obviously they shouldn’t be overdone, but they could be used every once in a while, and here’s why.

Tournaments Showcase The Midcard

Remember the tournament WWE held for the vacant WWE Championship back in 2015? I know most people don’t want to. In case you do, you most likely remember the big names such as Roman Reigns, Dean Ambose, and Kevin Owens advancing in the tournament. But did you know that men like Kalisto, Ryback, Stardust, Neville, Titus O’Neil, and Tyler Breeze were also there? Granted, they didn’t last very long, but they were there. And those aren’t your main-event names.

Even with the Smackdown tournament for the vacant US Championship, they have the ability to showcase some of their less used talents. Though Tye Dillinger didn’t win, he had a strong showing against Jinder Mahal. Unless WWE decides to have big names such as Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura compete, they’ll have to use Sin Cara, Zack Ryder, Mojo Rawley, and Mike Kanellis, who are all talented performers. They have the chance to show off what they are capable of.

They Provide a Reason for Matches

Too often we see matches happen just for the sake of having a match. That’s it. No storyline advancement. No interference or anything. Nothing happens. A guy wins and the other guy loses. If WWE did more tournaments, this would happen less often. Now two guys can fight, and there’s a valid reason for them to fight. Therefore, the audience gets invested in the match.

Qualifying matches also do this quite well. Just last Survivor Series, the members of Team Smackdown (except for John Cena and Shane McMahon) all had to fight for their spots. Randy Orton beat Sami Zayn. Shinsuke Nakamura beat Kevin Owens. Bobby Roode beat Dolph Ziggler. At last year’s Money in the Bank, all the performers in that match had to qualify.

This doesn’t specifically apply to tournaments, but when you give a match a reason for happening, people will care about it more. Tournaments and qualifying matches provide an easy reason for two people to be fighting.

It Kills Time

Sometimes the gaps between PPVs can be as long as five or six weeks. For a company that often has trouble booking a story for four weeks, this can be a problem. Look at Raw right now. They’re far away from the Royal Rumble, so it’st just kind of happening. Last week’s episode was a whole episode of nothing. There are times when the shows feel like they are just spinning their wheels.

If there are five weeks until a PPV, instead of having the challenger decided in one and having him fight in tag matches against the champion for four, how about have the challenger decided in two or three weeks, and spend the others building the match? There are only so many promos you can cut, so many time you can stare down your opponent before it gets old. It may build interest a bit, but there is a better way.

The post Reasons Why WWE Should Do More Tournaments appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.