Latest news with #RawonNetflix
Newsweek
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Newsweek
Hulk Hogan Explains Why John Cena's Heel Turn Fell Short
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Hulk Hogan recently shared his perspective on major happenings within his former company, particularly John Cena's significant character shift. Hogan's own last appearance before a WWE crowd, at the Raw on Netflix premiere, saw him receive a negative reaction while promoting his beer brand. However, his name became relevant again in fan discourse when John Cena turned heel at WWE Elimination Chamber earlier this year. Cena adopting a heel persona for the first time in over twenty years immediately sparked comparisons to Hogan's own landscape-altering heel turn in 1996, which launched the New World Order (nWo) in WCW. Speaking with Forbes, Hogan offered a nuanced take on Cena's turn, beginning with high praise for Cena the performer and person. "First off, John Cena was my favorite wrestler. Let me start there," Hogan stated. "Because I grinded for years, brother, and there was no Rock, no Stone Cold. There was only me for 20-plus years. I saw all the Make-A-Wish kids. I've met with all the station producers, everybody. So John stepped up and really ran with the ball, and he did a really great job. I think he saw more Make-A-Wish kids than anybody's ever seen." Despite holding Cena in such high regard, Hogan felt the storyline execution following Cena's turn didn't capture the magic or momentum of the nWo's formation. "And at the end of the day, when he turned heel—like the [nWo] storyline, like Eric said—we set it up, we set up, we set up, then we delivered." WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 09: WWE Legend Hulk Hogan attends the 2015 Susan G. Komen D.C. Race for the Cure at The National Mall on May 9, 2015 in Washington DC. WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 09: WWE Legend Hulk Hogan attends the 2015 Susan G. Komen D.C. Race for the Cure at The National Mall on May 9, 2015 in Washington DC. Kris Connor/WireImage/Getty Images More news: WWE News: Steve Austin Reveals Real-Life Vince McMahon Confrontation "And then not only did we deliver, we rolled out with me, Hall and Nash. And that story kept snowballing and snowballing, and we kept getting more evil and more evil." Hogan explained where the Cena storyline lost him, pointing to the lack of immediate follow-through after The Rock's involvement in the turn. "And so for me, watching that story with John Cena, when The Rock did the throat thing, cut his throat, and John Cena turned heel, I expected more of the same. And then John Cena came out and there was no Rock, and I just got disconnected at that point, 'cause I was expecting the characters to keep rolling out like we did," Hogan elaborated. He felt it lacked the overwhelming impact of his own faction's debut: "So I know everybody's got movies and obligations and stuff, but it didn't feel like that big tidal wave coming at you. Like when the nWo took over, man, I even hate to say the word, we just cleaned house and beat everybody's a**, and we just killed it. All the babyfaces were crying and complaining, and it got really ugly. We were so powerful with that trio." More WWE News: For more on WWE, head to Newsweek Sports.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
WWE Raw results, highlights (Mar. 10): Roman Reigns crashes CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins steel cage match
It feels special anytime WWE goes to Madison Square Garden — and tonight's installment of "WWE Raw" was no different. Roman Reigns was bound to make his presence felt before WrestleMania 41, setting up an expected program with Seth Rollins — and possibly CM Punk too. The latter rivals' steel cage match main event was the justified spotlight of the night, garnering that PLE vibe. Professional wrestling companies decided to spoil us with steel cage match violence on back-to-back days. Topping Will Ospreay vs. Kyle Fletcher at AEW Revolution 2025 last night was going to be a near-impossible task, but Rollins and Punk tried their damnedest in their rematch. It surpassed their first match by miles. As soon as Rollins powerbombed Punk into the cage wall, I said, 'OK, please don't get injured, old Phil.' The way the dude bounced off and down the ropes was brutal. Overall, they had a lot of fun with the escape method, teasing each other to leave out the door, and using their offenses creatively. STEEL CAGE CITY!#WWERaw — WWE (@WWE) March 11, 2025 FROM THE TOP OF THE CAGE!!! 😲😲😲#WWERaw — WWE (@WWE) March 11, 2025 Here's a quick tangent, but the door escape is the stupidest thing about WWE's cage matches. It entirely defeats the purpose of the stipulation. If you're going to win by escape, it should exclusively be escaping over the walls and not being let out the door by outside officials. Anyway, Punk and Rollins saved all the goods for this rematch because some of the counters they pulled off could have been applied at the "Raw on Netflix" debut without the cage element. From pedigrees to GTS', an STF into an Anaconda Vice, trading stomps and a superplex on Punk dangling off the cage. You name it, they thought of it. This was an excellent match, and somehow didn't end with a brilliant sequence when Rollins stole the GTS and hit a stomp afterward. The story became that neither were finishable, so who would take the easy way out and escape out the door for the win? Deja vu!#WWERaw — WWE (@WWE) March 11, 2025 Seth FINISHER Rollins!#WWERaw — WWE (@WWE) March 11, 2025 Well, that was Rollins with the aid of an irate Reigns who grabbed and pulled him out the door, pulverizing him with a spear and stomp outside the cage. Rollins and Punk are officially 1-1, which was the right call regardless of Reigns' return because it keeps the Punk vs. Rollins trilogy intact. I said it months ago. This is the triple-threat we need, folks. Punk had reason to be upset with Reigns — he gave his bitter rival, Rollins, a win over him. That was before Reigns saw Paul Heyman consoling Punk, and attacked Punk in the cage. Beautiful stuff. Book it for WrestleMania 41, Hunter. ROMAN REIGNS is BACK and he's out for REVENGE! ☝️#WWERaw — WWE (@WWE) March 11, 2025 The OTC is FUMING and just wrecked CM Punk!#WWERaw — WWE (@WWE) March 11, 2025 Remember that time when WWE had a new celebrity general manager every week? Well, the Netflix era is officially turning into a modern-day version of that. No rotating door of celebrities is coming through to run the show anymore, but they appear every week. Travis Scott's involvement with the John Cena heel turn was the official switch flipping if Jey Uso's entrance on the first Raw on Netflix wasn't. Your typical boo-filled Logan Paul promo led to an attack on comedian Andrew Schulz, who sat ringside. So, you're telling me that's what we needed to get AJ Styles to come out for an interaction? Logan Paul picked a fight with Andrew Schulz at Madison Square Garden ... AND AJ Styles!#WWERaw — WWE (@WWE) March 11, 2025 It's all business, and arguably smart but lazy. Celebrity involvement in wrestling has become essentially a tradition for many years, but that doesn't make the quality any less rare. Dominick Mysterio got Finn Balor a Bron Breakker Intercontinental title shot for next week's "WWE Raw" just by talking to Adam Pearce. That sounds on-brand with Pearce's terrible "general managership." The real story here was Balor hugging and thanking Mysterio for helping out like that. Hopefully, it leads to the dissension The Judgment Day has been needing for some time now. The real championship is the friends he made along the way! ❤️#WWERaw — WWE (@WWE) March 11, 2025 The Balor business wasn't the only involvement from The Judgment Day on "WWE Raw." Raquel Rodriguez also earned an Intercontinental Championship title shot of her own when she defeated Bayley. She'll now face the champion Lyra Valkyria next week. The match was good, and at least Rodriguez had a match to earn her shot, but the distraction wins for The Judgment Day have gotten so boring and lame. Rodriguez is (or should be) more than capable of winning these matches on her own. Instead, Mysterio jumped up on the apron like he always does. These brainless referees just allow these guys at ringside every single week. It's all about the NUMBERS GAME!#WWERaw — WWE (@WWE) March 11, 2025 There is a lose-lose payoff to this because Rodriguez holding one of the Women's Tag Team titles with Liv Morgan and the Intercontinental title would be great for her. However, that means halting the incredible Valkyria, who should hold that title for a lengthy period. There's no chance that happens, so what's the idea? I have no clue. If we're making Valkyria look strong by overcoming The Judgment Day's shenanigans, then cool. Otherwise, I don't know. 1. The New Day picked up what is presumably their last win over LWO (Rey Mysterio & Dragon Lee), this time in a tornado tag match. I wasn't feeling it initially, but this was actually a pretty sweet match for what it was. Then Chad Gable returned to attack LWO without blatantly revealing it was him, wearing an American Made lucha mask. Considering Gable's literal lucha side quests, that was a fun little integration. Gable hilariously denied that it was him later in the night when he spoke to Cathy Kelley, as someone else in the same outfit was restrained by security behind them. You've been waiting a long time for this luchador to arrive on #WWERaw and here he is!!! 😲😲😲 — WWE (@WWE) March 11, 2025 Hey, wait a minute...#WWERaw — WWE (@WWE) March 11, 2025 2. Cody Rhodes delivered another solid promo on Cena, springboarding off his words this past Friday on "WWE SmackDown." Most importantly, he revealed that Cena will be on "WWE Raw" when WWE goes to Brussels, Belgium next Monday. NEXT MONDAY on #WWERaw@CodyRhodes and @JohnCena will be in the same ring for the first time since Elimination Chamber when #RawOnNetflix comes to Brussels, Belgium! 🇧🇪🎟️ — WWE (@WWE) March 11, 2025 3. New Women's World Champion Iyo Sky slapped the taste out of Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair's mouths when they disrespected her and ruined her celebratory interview. The segment was somewhat sloppy, and made Ripley look horrible, but this will clearly lead to a WrestleMania 41 Women's World Championship triple-threat match. I couldn't be more here for that, even if we got to it the worst way possible. Enough of the DISRESPECT!!!#WWERaw — WWE (@WWE) March 11, 2025 1. I'm getting flashbacks to the Rhodes-Kevin Owens feud because Jey Uso defeated Grayson Waller in a story-filler match, then was attacked by Austin Theory before getting choked out by Gunther. Rinse and repeat nothingness. This program legitimately feels like it revolves around a mid-card title rather than the (once) coveted World Heavyweight Championship. It's ups and downs for Jey Uso on #WWERaw! — WWE (@WWE) March 11, 2025 2. Go back to what I said about the Netflix era being the new celebrity era. WWE shows every celebrity imaginable when in attendance, and it's just like, who cares, man? This was an odd night of "WWE Raw" in the sense that everyone played their parts well enough to be memorable. If someone were our Uncrowned Gem though, it would have to be the Women's World Champion Sky for standing up to the big bad wolves, and putting them in their places. That was just a good stamp on that segment and surefire sign of things to come. 👑This "WWE Raw" flew by and delivered at a great pace with great action for what it all was. That main event, in particular, was one hell of a send-off. I give this show a Crown score of: 9/10👑
