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We publish a whole lot of content here at Cageside Seats. We’re also [looks around and whispers so the bosses can’t hear] not the only place producing wrestling content on the internet. So, as a service to you on the weekdays, we’ll be producing a wrestling newsletter, "Rude Awakening." Well, it will be a newsletter eventually: for now, it’ll just be part of your experience here at Cageside, collecting the news, recaps, and social moments from the greater wrestling universe daily so you won’t fall behind, with a newsletter format to come.
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WWE declared a House of Horrors match would occur as the rematch between Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt for the WWE World Championship. There has never been a House of Horrors match in WWE, so no one had any idea what exactly it was. It turns out WWE themselves hadn’t figured it out, either, and then to further confuse everything, Bray was moved to RAW from SmackDown Live in the Superstar Shakeup. So, the match was still on, but suddenly it was at Payback instead of at Backlash, a mix between the two brands, and somewhere along the way, it was also no longer for the WWE World Championship.
That means the emphasis here is heavily on the house and its horrors, but what exactly WWE can do with this is up in the air. They sent out a survey to viewers hoping to find out what it is they would want to see in such a match in the first place. There are rumors floating around, reported by Dave Meltzer, that the match will start with pre-taped action that will eventually move to the ring itself for a live finish.
It’s not that we need to be spoiled on precisely what kind of horrors the match will have, or what form it will take. But when Randy Orton is basically going, “I don’t even know what this is,” and Bray Wyatt isn’t giving even little hints, and we’re coming off the weird, mostly pointless bugs projection from their Mania 33 match, and it’s no longer for the title and these two aren’t even on the same show where a win or a loss will impact either much... well, a little something to go on would alleviate some pre-match stress.
What we do know is that this is a huge opportunity to actually do something with Bray Wyatt and the whole spooky cult leader thing. If House of Horrors is as much of a joke as what happened at Mania, though, it might be time for WWE and Bray to think of entirely new directions for the popular, but ineffective, character.
- Asuka’s undefeated streak is up to 167, leaving her just six victories from Goldberg’s record.
- Friday’s Rumor Roundup involves, among other things, word of the plans for Charlotte on SmackDown.
- One Cagesider is fine with Jinder Mahal, but worried about WWE’s history of booking in these scenarios.
- Lana is now taking credit for the women’s revolution in WWE, and seems to have stepped up her kayfabe work on her Twitter account.
- Randy Orton has never really reinvented himself in WWE. Nicknames come and go, but that’s about it.
- Steve Austin revealed the one WWE stunt that nearly killed him, and it’s probably not one you were thinking of.
- The latest GLOW teaser trailer is out, and in this one, Alison Brie becomes a villain.
- Impact decided to ease off the announcer feud a bit, and it helped with this week’s episode.
- New Zealand’s Evie wrestled her last match before officially reporting to the WWE.
- Like I’d give up an opportunity to promote a feature looking at Keith Lee.
- Brie Bella’s baby should be coming any time now.
- Cesaro was hoping for a little more shakeup in the RAW tag division, but maybe breaking the Hardyz at Payback can solve that issue.
- Not Your Demographic’s latest episode is up, with Stella and Erin answering listener questions for a mini-episode. Rudo Radio is also live, previewing Payback while talking up SmackDown’s women and Braun Strowman.
- Lana and Rusev had the Bulgarian version of their wedding on Total Divas, and Lana was not having it.
- This week’s RAW made it pretty clear that WWE doesn’t care about go-home shows like they used to.