Real Reason For Daniel Bryan's Return At Elimination Chamber, Original Plans for Owens - Cena

* Daniel Bryan will be appearing on the WWE Elimination Chamber Kickoff Pre-show in a MizTV segment with The Miz. Bryan’s new WWE DVD comes out next Tuesday so that’s likely the main reason for the appearance. 

* WWE originally wanted to do the Kevin Owens vs. John Cena program later this summer but it was rushed to Elimination Chamber, which allowed them to also promote the NXT Takeover: Unstoppable event with the free month of WWE Network in May. WWE obviously has big plans for Owens.

* The man who payed the camera man on last night’s WWE RAW in the angle with Dean Ambrose was Ring of Honor regular Will Ferrara.

Latest News On Sami Zayn's Injury Status

According to latest reports, WWE NXT star Sami Zayn is in Birmingham, Alabama, likely to schedule shoulder surgery.

As noted Zayn came into his match against John Cena on Raw with the shoulder already bothering him, and he further injured his shoulder during the bout.

Zayn has dealt with this injury before, and while no timeline for his return was given, Hideo Itami recently had similar surgery which will keep him out of the ring for 6-8 months. So expect Sami Zayn to be out for a long time.

Zayn was written off NXT TV at Takeover Unstoppable.

Curtis Axel Responds to Triple H Promo, Big Matches Set for WWE MSG

- Below is the updated card for WWE’s February 27th live event at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Bad News Barrett, The New Day, Goldust, Stardust, The Bella Twins, Paige and others will also be appearing.

* Hulk Hogan Appreciation Night
* The Highlight Reel with Chris Jericho
* Cesaro vs. Dean Ambrose
* Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt
* Rusev vs. John Cena
* Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan vs. Kane and Seth Rollins

- WWE’s website has video of Tom Phillips talking about Curtis Axel and the Royal Rumble on the WWE App at this link. The video aired during Thursday’s SmackDown after Triple H’s promo on the Royal Rumble controversy. Axel continues to tweet about being screwed at the Rumble and deserving a title shot at WrestleMania 31:
So @TripleH says there was a "controversy" at the #RoyalRumble? Damn right there was! I won and I want my #WrestleMania match! @WWE

Backstage Update on Plans for WWE Title Match, TLC Main Event

We’ve noted how there was talk of having #1 contender John Cena get his title shot against WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar at this month’s TLC pay-per-view.

Vince McMahon continues to go back and forth on the match happening at TLC. There are just two RAW episodes left until TLC and with no mention of the title or Cena being #1 contender on RAW this past week, there’s a feeling that the match won’t take place at TLC.

Original plans had Cena getting the title shot at the Royal Rumble, which could be the direction they’re going in. As noted, there has also been talk of having Cena face Seth Rollins and Randy Orton at TLC but we should have a better idea of TLC plans after this week’s RAW.

Early SummerSlam Promotion Leaks Hyping the Main Event

A short video was uploaded to Vimeo today from user “TheRussianPolice” that looks to be a promotional package for this year’s WWE SummerSlam event. In the video – featured below – it hypes 15-time World Champion John Cena facing former UFC Champion and former WWE Champion Brock Lesnar, a match that has been rumored for the past month.

The final frame of the video shows that the commercial is from MTS, which is a Canadian PPV provider.

We're trying to find a way to prove this isn’t legit, but we can’t see one. It’s clearly got the guy who does all their other PPV voice-overs, looks professionally made, and has recent footage of WrestleMania and Cena winning the title for a 15th time, so it isn’t an edited version of their 2012 Extreme Rules match. By this point everyone knows this match is happening next month, it's just surprising to see that WWE doesn’t have better quality control, as they still have a PPV to promote for this Sunday.

Video : SummerSlam 2014 Main Event

Update on World Title Belt Status

As we reported last night, the status of the World Heavyweight Title “Big Gold Belt” is unknown, as it seemed like WWE might have retired it last night when John Cena handed the title to Ric Flair.

PWInsider.com is reporting while no official announcement has come from WWE regarding the status of the belt, Ric Flair did give it back to WWE backstage at Raw last night and he did not leave the building with the title.

UPDATE: Several fans have sent in word that WWE has removed the “Big Gold Belt” from the Champions section of WWE.com. Before, both championship belts were pictured underneath John Cena’s photo, but now only the WWE Title is present, and the World Title has been removed.

Big Angle with The Undertaker After RAW

WWE taped the RAW Backstage Pass post-show tonight from a different location in the arena as they resumed dark main events after taking a few weeks off since the Network launched.

Tonight’s dark main event segment saw John Cena come out but was confronted by Erick Rowan and Luke Harper of The Wyatt Family. This led to The Undertaker coming out to a massive pop, as heard on the post-show. Taker helped Cena fight off Rowan and Harper to end the show.

Former WCW Wrestler Rips John Cena & Randy Orton

Former WCW Wrestler Scotty Riggs was recently interviewed. Here are some highlights: 

John Cena: "Every single match is the same, and it is sickening. Five simple moves every match. When it is time for Cena's comeback it is the same moves, boom, boom, boom. That does not suspend any disbelief. That is what wrestlers are supposed to do, have the craft to anywhere in the match a finish can come up. 

"Cena has mixed himself with the Super Cena thing, which is what Vince McMahon has a hard on for, he is a good guy that is so good that it is sickening. That is why so many people don't like him. Cena is WWE's cash cow. When I am watching Cena I feel like I am watching a TV commercial. Everything he is doing, he is selling cereal, he is selling t-shirts, he is selling something in everything he does." 

Randy Orton: "Randy Orton just can't seem to find something that fits. He's got all the tools in the world, and every opportunity, but he is not allowed to be himself." 

The difference between WWE and WCW: "WWE is a TV show about wrestling, WCW in their prime was a TV show that had happened to have wrestling on it." 

WWE Network: "I'm one of those guys that I rarely ever watch my old matches. The only thing I think would be really good about WWE Network is finding stuff that fans don't know that used to be wrestling like is different than what WWE is giving them now. If WWE gives them what USWA used to be, what World Class used to be, what Florida Championship Wrestling was, if what wrestling really was in the '70s, '80s, I think it would be good because it will teach fans what wrestling was. It could hurt them (WWE) because fans can say I like 'wrestling' not 'sports entertainment' stuff." 

Hulk Hogan returning to WWE: "Hulk Hogan, even at his age, still has the 'It Factor'. The crowd loves the nostalgia that he brings. It's the same old thing, over and over again, but the fans still dig that. It still captures their childhood imagination." 

Recently catching up with Dennis Rodman: "He is the most personable, charming person you will ever meet. When Dennis Rodman walked in to the bar, he said 'Riggs, I didn't know you had a beard.' For him to remember me was a really cool moment. It was a really good time." 

Perry Saturn: "Perry Saturn is the only guy I know who is a Ranger that has had 103 successful jumps out of a perfectly good airplane and wear a dress in the ring." 

Almost signing with WWF instead of WCW: "I was being groomed as a protege of Lex Luger in the WWF. Little did we know that on the first Nitro Luger has crossed over to WCW, if I had listened to Jerry Lawler and stayed on as Lex's protege, Lex wouldn't have been there anyway. I would have been lost." 

The American Males theme song: "The great thing about that song is, the song as wacky as it is, it still stands alone today. Fans still remember that song."