Jeff Wilen of JAWBreaker recently spoke with WWE Superstar Alex Riley about WWE developmental, The Miz, his A-Ry nickname and more. The full interview is available at this link. Here are a few highlights:

Q: Your latest feuds have been with Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger. What feuds would you like to see in your future?

A: “It’s very hard to predict what’s going to happen. It all kinds of changes month to month. I’ve been in the ring with The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Rowdy Roddy Piper. I’ve worked with guys at the top of the business. I expect to be there. I’ve been able to work with legends. I hope to be WWE champion one day. I’d love to see CM Punk in my future, but things are going good for him now. I expect to be in feuds with Christian and Mark Henry.”

Q: Who would you want your WrestleMania match opponent to be?

A: “I’d love to face John Cena one day. He’s a 12-time champion. He has made a mark at the top for so long, and he’s done it better than anyone. He’s kind of the measuring stick for me.”

Labels: alex riley, john cena

Posted by Matt Loede at 3:54 AM | Permalink | Comments

WWE Title Match
R-Truth vs. John Cena

While I love the character of R-Truth and the push he has gotten, I can't see them putting the belt on him. About the only way is if it's a one month reign, and then Cena wins it back in time to face off with Alberto Del Rio at SummmerSlam in Los Angeles.

World Heavyweight Title Match
Christian vs. Randy Orton

Orton had a legit concussion that they worked in the storyline, and if they want to give him time off, they can put the belt on Christian tonight and keep that angle hot. SmackDown needed a top heel, and it was a good decision to take Christian in that direction. With that, I think they keep the strap on Orton with possibly a cage match between these two next month.

Intercontinental Title Match
Ezekiel Jackson vs. Wade Barrett

While I like Jackson, Barrett is the up and coming star, and unless they are going to push him into the semi-main angle with say a Big Show or Orton, I can't see them giving the belt to Jackson. Getting Barrett's old partners involved may be a way to have him lose if they go in that direction.

WWE United States Title Match
Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston

Like the direction Ziggler has been heading in, and while Kofi's act is always a crowd pleaser, I hope they give Ziggler the strap, as he's been working hard and they can keep this angle fresh and have other faces go after the US Belt.

The Miz vs. Alex Riley

This could be the most heated match on the card, and I for one am looking forward to this one. Riley has been red hot since going face, and I think he and Miz will have an excellent match. I'll go Miz here, with Riley getting over at the PPV next month.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Big Show

Show has this new aggression thing going, which is cool, but not sure how it's going to work as I think they need to keep Del Rio hot, and keep him winning. They could allow Show to get his revenge and lose via DQ, which is very possible, and then next month go over clean in getting ready for Cena at SummerSlam.

CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio

Throw away match to probably go on 2nd or 3rd. No real angle built up, and just a way to get these two mid-card guys on the show. With the future of Punk very much in question, I think they let Mysterio go over here.

Labels: 2011 Capitol Punishment, Alberto Del Rio, alex riley, john cena, the big show

Posted by Matt Loede at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments

RAW Superstar Alex Riley spoke with WashingtonCityPaper.com to promote tomorrow's WWE Capitol Punishment. Here are some highlights:

Washington City Paper: You grew up in Fairfax, Va., and get to make your pay-per-view debut in front of hometown pals. Geeked?

Alex Riley: I’m excited to come back to D.C. And turning into a face here, or at least moving in that direction, I think it’s a great place to start. If I can’t get [the fans] there, I can’t get them anywhere. ... I think I might stay at my old house the night before the pay-per-view and get a nice home-cooked meal. … I’ll sleep in my old bed that I used to grow up in and just spend the day in Northern Virginia as much as I can.

WCP: Your character’s heel-to-babyface transformation was really well done, but were you surprised how quickly you were embraced by the fans?

AR: If anybody stands up to the Miz, they’re going to get a big reaction. … Was I surprised it was going to be so big? I honestly didn’t know what to think. There had been a lot of stuff brewing between me and Mike [the Miz]. When I came into the company, I didn't want to go in and carry somebody else’s bags. I wanted to go in as my own guy. I felt like I was talented enough and charismatic enough, and had the tools to make an impact. But I was extremely happy with the position they gave me. Mike is a great character, he was on a fantastic run, and he's a great guy to work with and learn from. But when that moment happened [where I turned on Miz], there was a lot of realism in that moment. A lot of the things he said, he truly felt; and a lot of the things I did I truly felt. When you can capture that, and it is such a real moment in front of 20,000 people, it’s hard to not get a reaction.

WCP: WWE was also smart having you turn ‘face while accompanied by John Cena and Stone Cold Steve Austin one week, followed up by Rowdy Roddy Piper the next. That’s some positive rub from, arguably, three of the top names in WWE history.

AR: Yeah, and I’m extremely fortunate to be put in that position. Even when they put me with Miz to start. I went from [the WWE TV program] NXT, which is pretty much a reality show where I didn’t even have a contract, trying to fight for every word that I got to say, every match, every move. I’m out there fighting for attention and trying to get noticed to a point where I’m in the ring with The Rock, Stone Cold, John Cena—because of Miz. But there comes a point where there’s a lot of pressure that goes with that: If they put you in the ring and you don’t stand out, or you don’t do well, or you get lost among 10 stars and have no presence, then you’re very exposed at an early point in your career, and you don’t want that to happen, either.

I think I did a pretty good job of handling my own in there, and then they gave me this opportunity. And, yeah, they keep putting me in the ring with guys who are legends, and I’ve been able to feed off their credibility and all that they’ve done and it’s worked out extremely well.

Labels: alex riley

Posted by Matt Loede at 9:54 PM | Permalink | Comments

WWE.com has moved Alex Riley's profile from the SmackDown roster page to the Raw roster page.

Riley was moved to the SmackDown brand in the 2011 Supplemental Draft. He debuted on the April 29 episode of SmackDown, interrupting Randy Orton and given an RKO in response. This was his only television appearance on the brand. Riley continued to appear on Raw, alongside The Miz.

The Miz fired Riley as his assistance on the May 23 Raw, blaming him for his lack of success in regaining the WWE Championship. It was announced the following Monday that the Anonymous Raw General Manager had hired Riley, therefore moving him back to Raw.

Labels: alex riley

Posted by Matt Loede at 5:12 PM | Permalink | Comments

Jim Ross is back with another blog over on jrsbarbq.com this week. Here are some of the highlights from this entry:

- @IAmJericho, Chris Jericho is looking at doing a 3rd book! Amazing. I can’t even put a plan together to write one while wanting to stay away from a full blown autobiography at this time. Jericho is uber talented in many areas and has likely not wrestled his last WWE bout. The thing about Jericho is that he’s going to do things on his time line and that he enjoys doing. When or if he becomes ready to return to WWE he will. The Winnipeg native and Fozzy front man certainly doesn’t ‘owe’ any of us one more match.

- Yes emailer….Alex Riley has upped his game the past two weeks on Raw while beating up The Miz. The key to Riley’s rise to stardom and latching on to something tangible at the next level is his continued ability to shine and to get on a roll. The roll has started but how long will it be sustained? That’s always going to be the question no matter the talent. Riley-Miz has been some of my favorite, MNR content the past two broadcasts. It feels new and fresh.

- The THQ rendition of the WWE12 video game is going to really be slick. THQ has some very educated and intelligent fans of the genre working on this game and I look for it to be the most ecstatically pleasing and exciting to play video game that THQ/WWE has done to date.

Labels: alex riley, jim ross, the miz

Posted by Matt Loede at 5:09 PM | Permalink | Comments

While WWE indicated last night that Alex Riley had just been fired from his job at The Miz’s personal assistant, they have removed him from the RAW roster page. It was noted last night how there was no closing shot of Riley after he lost the cage match against John Cena.

There is speculation that Riley and Michael McGillicutty will be re-packaged and brought back to RAW or SmackDown. Nexus member McGillicutty was written off RAW last night after a punt kick from Randy Orton.

Labels: alex riley, Michael McGillicutty

Posted by Matt Loede at 2:53 PM | Permalink | Comments

WWE performer Kevin Kiley (a/k/a Alex Riley) was arrested this morning in Tampa, Florida on suspicion of driving under the influence.

The apprentice of The Miz was stopped at 1:14 a.m. at KENNEDY BL W/MACDILL AV N in Tampa, Florida and booked into the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Jail at 2:56 a.m.

His arrest report indicates that he refused to take a sobriety test after the arresting officer suspected that he was driving under the influence.

Labels: alex riley

Posted by Matt Loede at 8:24 PM | Permalink | Comments