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Backstage Update On Shield-Evolution Plans, New Payback Match Rumors

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Currently there are three matches officially announced for the upcoming WWE Payback pay-per-view on June 1st in Chicago, Illinois. Those matches are The Shield vs. Evolution in a No Holds Barred Elimination match, John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt in a Last Man Standing match and Bad News Barrett vs. Rob Van Dam for the WWE Intercontinental Championship.

Other matches likely for WWE Payback include The Usos vs. Luke Harper & Erick Rowan for the WWE Tag-Team Championships, Paige vs. Alicia Fox for the WWE Divas Championship, Sheamus vs. Cesaro for the WWE United States Championship, Adam Rose vs. Jack Swagger, Rusev vs. Big E. and Summer Rae vs. Layla with Fandango as special guest referee.

As far as the No Holds Barred Elimination main event, a possible scenario being considered is one that would see Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins eliminated early, leaving Roman Reigns to make a huge comeback on all three Evolution members by himself.

The match will be Batista’s final match in WWE for several months, and based on plans for the future, could be one of Triple H’s last for a while as well.

Fandango Love Triangle Leading To A Match At WWE Payback?

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WWE is indeed apparently going ahead with a love triangle story line between Fandango, Layla and Summer Rae.

According to one source, WWE is looking at a possible Layla vs. Summer Rae match at the upcoming WWE Payback pay-per-view on June 1st, with Fandango serving as the special guest referee for the bout.

Apparently the idea behind that match would be to see who Fandango sides with, and further the aforementioned love triangle story.

The two have already been sniping at each other on Twitter:

  • DIRECT LINK: Photos Of A BRAND NEW TNA Knockout — And She’s *HOT*! [View Here >>]

    (Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

  • Details On When AJ Lee Is Returning To WWE

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    AJ Lee is currently scheduled to return after she and WWE Superstar CM Punk get married next month. During her time off, AJ has been moving to Chicago and planning her wedding.

    As of a few weeks ago, the plan was originally for Lee to be back either in late May or early June. She’s been out of action since taking time off after dropping the Divas Championship to Paige the night after WrestleMania XXX.

    Candid Photos Of AJ LEE At WWE Live Events

    (Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

    Jim Ross To Appear On UFC TV Show Tonight, JR Comments On The Appearance

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    WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross will be appearing on tonight’s edkition of “UFC Tonight” on FOX Sports 1. The show is a weekly UFC news-talk program, and JR will be on tonight to discuss Saturday’s UFC 173 pay-per-view, as well as his boxing announcing debut for the Golden Boy Promotions event on FOX Sports 1 next Monday night.

    JR tweeted about the appearance, writing the following on Wednesday afternoon:

  • BREAKING NEWS: GOLDBERG Says He WOULD Wrestle For WWE AGAIN! [Full Story >>]
  • Big Matches Announced For MSG “SummerSlam Heatwave Tour” (7/12)

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    Madison Square Garden has announced several huge matches the upcoming “SummerSlam Heatwave Tour” live event from  New York City on Saturday, July 12th.

    Tickets start at only $25. For discounted seats, visit Ticketmaster.com and use the code “SLAM.” You can also contact Cameron Nichols at (212) 631-5238 and [email protected].

    Matches announced for the show include:

    Street Fight for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship:
    – Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Triple H

    – John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt

    United States Championship:
    – Sheamus (c) vs. Randy Orton

    Other stars advertised to appear include Dolph Ziggler, Mark Henry, The Usos, Ryback, Fandango, Big E and Santino.

    Goldberg To Debut “Who’s Next?” PodcastOne.com Show This Friday

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    As previously reported, Bill Goldberg was the guest on this week’s Jim Ross “Ross Report” podcast at PodcastOne.com. Goldberg revealed during the interview that he will soon be debuting his own new podcast at PodcastOne.com.

    The show, which will be called “Who’s Next?” debuts at PodcastOne.com this Friday, with special guest NASCAR driver Tony Stewart. Goldberg tweeted the following about the new podcast:

  • BREAKING NEWS: BILL GOLDBERG Says He WOULD Wrestle For WWE AGAIN! [Full Story >>]
  • VIDEOS: Previews For This Week’s WWE Countdown & WrestleMania Rewind

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    – This week’s edition of WWE Countdown, which premiered on the WWE Network on Tuesday night, featured a look at the top ten memorable debuts in history. You can check out a preview for the show, which is available right now on the WWE Network, below.

    – This week’s WrestleMania Rewind, which also aired on the WWE Network on Tuesday night, looked back at the WrestleMania V main event between Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage. You can check out a preview for that one below.

  • BREAKING NEWS: BILL GOLDBERG Says He WOULD Wrestle For WWE AGAIN! [Full Story >>]
  • TNA Star Reveals He’s Engaged, Eric Young TV Appearances This Week

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    – TNA star Davey Richards revealed on his official Facebook page recently that he is now officially engaged to his girlfriend.

    – TNA World Heavyweight Champion Eric Young will be hosting “Monster Week” on Animal Planet this week.

  • BREAKING NEWS: BILL GOLDBERG Says He WOULD Wrestle For WWE AGAIN! [Full Story >>]
  • Backstage News On A Longtime TNA Producer Quitting The Company

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    TNA’s Senior Audio Producer Jason Seeman reportedly resigned from the company on Monday. Seeman left the company after eight years as an employee.

    The backstage reaction regarding Seeman’s departure was that of shock, as many within the company saw Seeman as one of the most well-liked and hardest working employees in the TNA production crew.

  • BREAKING NEWS: BILL GOLDBERG Says He WOULD Wrestle For WWE AGAIN! [Full Story >>]

    (Credit: PWInsider.com)

  • Short Sleeve Sampson Speaks On Backstage Heat For Extreme Rules Photo

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    The following are highlights of a new interview with Short Sleeve Sampson:

    His favorite moment in WWE: “There are definitely several different ones. The ones that stand out the most are the parodies. I was mini-Kurt Angle and I worked with Angle and did some work with John Cena as well. Both of them are very professional and fun to work with.–Another one was my Undertaker parody and working with him and JBL. I don’t know if getting chokeslammed by The Undertaker was the best thing in the world, but hey, how many people can say they’ve been chokeslammed by The Undertaker?”

    His relationship with Vince McMahon: “It was a huge honor to work for him. I have a lot of respect for Vince and what he’s done, whether or not I agree with some of his decisions. He’s the head honcho and to work for the number one company is a great experience.”

    Backstage heat reports at Extreme Rules: “I had been taking pictures throughout the day and after the weeLC match, I uploaded some of those pictures to my Facebook and social media pages. I was getting a lot of comments on the pictures and after an hour or so, someone commented on that particular photo: “If I were WWE, I’d fire Short Sleeve Sampson right now.” And I thought why would someone say that? So I looked at the picture and saw that Cena and the Wyatts were in it and I was surprised. So I deleted the picture. That was all done before their match took place that night. In that hour, people probably saved the photo and uploaded it, because the next day I saw that the photo went viral.

    WWE never contacted me about it. I actually talked to them and everything’s been fine. There’s no heat. Had I known what was in the background, I never would have uploaded the picture. And I put up an apology for that online. I appreciate everything WWE has done for me and the opportunities they’ve given me and I would not want to burn any bridges.”

    Check out the complete interview at PWMania.com.

  • BREAKING NEWS: BILL GOLDBERG Says He WOULD Wrestle For WWE AGAIN! [Full Story >>]
  • Kazarian Talks Last Few Months In TNA, TNA Sale Rumors & More

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    The following are highlights of a new Between The Ropes interview with Frankie Kazarian:

    On the last few months with the company: “Honestly, since after Bound for Glory, there just wasn’t any direction for Bad Influence the tag-team. We continued to ask questions, we continued to pitch ideas and it was just like “OK, we’re thinking of this or that” but we never got a straight answer and we were just kind of floating. It kind of bothered us because, honestly, we’re too good for this. We should really be involved in something. When Davey (Richards) and Eddie (Edwards) came in, we were kind of licking our chops. Sweet! This could be six months, a year. A lot of folks on the internet and within the wrestling community were excited for the potential matchup of us and The Wolves. So were we and so were they when they came in. So we thought we were going to get back in the fold and it never happened and we never got a straight answer other than we’re going with other teams. What can you say other than OK? After the UK, we did Lockdown with Muta and Sanada. That was great and after that we were left off television. Right then it was like OK, they literally have nothing going on for us. And here we are now.”

    On seeing so many longtime TNA wrestlers no longer with the company: “It’s different. My last day at TNA, I said this to a few people, I didn’t feel like I was leaving TNA because I didn’t feel like I recognized the company. There was still people I’ll miss but it didn’t feel like I was leaving TNA. Honestly, there was a couple of red flags, and this was even preceding when I was starting to make up my mind about my current situation, AJ Styles leaving obviously, because I’m very close to AJ and knowing what he was going through and talking to him, that was huge. I was like wait a minute. I say this as his friend and I say this selfishly, I don’t understand why they didn’t do whatever it took to keep him there. And I’m not just saying that because he’s a friend. I’m saying that because he’s a franchise guy. He’s one of the best in the world. He’s a good human being. He’s a guy you can continue to build the company around. He leaves and real soon thereafter Jeff Jarrett leaves so that was a big red flag being waved. Wait a minute … things are changing. I don’t know that they’re changing for the better. It could just be me. Internally, management, complete turnover, people on the creative team, people in management. It really is just different.”

    One the talk last year of TNA being close to being sold: “I didn’t know. I heard the rumors and there’s no one I can really ask. It’s not like I can call Dixie (Carter) and go hey, are we being sold? I could but I would never do that. Obviously, it’s none of my business. I would hope and pray that if that were to go down that they would call a meeting and say “hey guys, by the way, we’re selling the company”. When it was all going down, I had people here i the gym near where I live asking me if TNA is being sold. I was like I don’t think so. And then we all got an email from Janice Carter one day saying, first email and last I promise you I’ll get from Janice Carter believe it or not, saying please don’t believe the rumors, we’re not being sold. And I thought that was odd because I was like wow, all these years and all these rumors of TNA and everything that’s ever been said and now we finally get a letter saying don’t believe the rumors. OK. All I can do is take that at face value but we later found out that maybe that was … I still don’t know what the situation was because that’s all part of the business side. I had hopes that whoever wanted to buy it wanted to buy it because they were passionate about wrestling and wanted to try and do something different with the product. But apparently it’s not being sold, it’s not for sale, there’s not a for sale sign on it.”

    Check out the complete interview at BetweenTheRopes.com.

  • BREAKING NEWS: BILL GOLDBERG Says He WOULD Wrestle For WWE AGAIN! [Full Story >>]
  • Triple H Talks About Daniel Bryan Surrendering The WWE Championship, “Little Internet Dweebs”

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    WWE COO Triple H is back for this week’s sitdown interview with Michael Cole. Here are some highlights of the interview, which was taped from London, England:

    – Triple H talked about how in true WWE fashion, they’ve taken over the UK. He said he’ll be going on private tours of the Vatican and the Coliseum in Rome.

    – When asked about Daniel Bryan being home in the United States recovering from neck surgery, Triple H said it’s odd not having the “face of WWE” on tour with them.

    – Cole brought up Stephanie McMahon’s promo from RAW, where she urged Daniel Bryan to show up on next week’s show to surrender the WWE World Heavyweight championship. Triple H says the reason they’re allowing Bryan to surrender the title instead of outright stripping him of it is because Bryan will become a and his “little internet dweebs” will get upset. If Daniel Bryan is a man, he will do what’s “best for business” on RAW. If he doesn’t, The Authority will deal with it.

    – The discussion shifted to The Shield and their upcoming match against Evolution at Payback. Triple H said Evolution is going to put an end to The Shield and eliminate them one by one at Payback. When Payback is over, Triple H guarantees The Shield will no longer exist.

    – Triple H then talked about Bo Dallas’ “debut” on SmackDown this week, touting that he’s the longest reigning NXT Champion in history and is finally getting a shot at the main roster. He also hyped Hulk Hogan being the guest host of this week’s SmackDown from London, saying that Hogan will be making a special announcement about the WWE Network.

    *Spoilers* WWE SmackDown Tapings Results For Friday

    Backstage Reaction To WWE’s Recent Financial Woes

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    There was a lot of fear in WWE on Monday about how Vince McMahon would react to the implosion of WWE’s stock and the company losing approximately $350 million in value on Friday.

    It’s said that Vince feels mislead by his management team that WWE would be getting a much better television deal than they ultimately got. Especially with Vince McMahon personally losing a lot of money and credibility on Wall Street, certain people will be held accountable.

    The company taking such a massive hit in value has many people expecting the company to release talent to cut costs.

    Internally, the company is disappointed with the number of WWE Network subscribers and the company is expected to make significant changes to how the Network is promoted.

    (Information from PWInsider.com was used in this report)

    Video: Hugh Jackman Cuts A Promo On John Cena

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    Hollywood megastar Hugh Jackman appeared on ESPN SportsCenter yesterday and was asked by Jonathan Coachman (yes, that Jonathan Coachman) to cut a promo on John Cena.

    WWE 2K15 Now Available For Pre-Order (10/28 Release)

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    Take-Two has officially announced that WWE 2K15 will be released on October 28th for Playstation 4, Xbox One, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

    Pre-Order WWE 2K15 Now From Amazon.com

    It remains to be seen if Take-Two will continue building on the foundation built up by THQ over the years or if they will build a completely new game from the ground up.

    Hopefully, we’ll get a first look at WWE 2K15 at the upcoming E3 convention on June 10-12 from Los Angeles, California.

    Goldberg Says He Would Wrestle For WWE Again

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    Former WWE & WCW Superstar Bill Goldberg was Jim Ross’ guest on this week’s Ross Report podcast. When asked if he would consider wrestling one more match, Goldberg said he’s open to it if the money is right. He still hits the gym 5 days a week, stays in great shape and would want his young son see him wrestle live at least once.

    “My last conversation with WWE brass, which was a while ago, was to the effect of I have a seven-year-old son who would love to see me wrestle and whatever differences we’ve had in the past, if you guys want to make some money and do this again, then I’d then be willing to talk about it. That is my answer.”

    When asked who his ideal opponent would be, Goldberg named Brock Lesnar, Triple H and Roman Reigns.

    “Hunter and I will always have unfinished business until the day I die,” Goldberg said, regarding to their behind-the-scenes issues from Goldberg’s WWE run over a decade ago.

    “Brock and I have unfinished biz in the ring,” a reference to their infamous match at WrestleMania 20.

    Goldberg named Roman Reigns due to their mutual backgrounds playing college football in Georgia.

    “Whoever it is, I don’t care,” Goldberg said. “As long as it makes sense, then I’m in for it.”

    You can listen to the interview below:

    Adrian Neville & Sami Zayn Work Dark Match, Main Event Preview

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    – Prior to Tuesday’s WWE Main Event and SmackDown tapings from London, NXT Champion Adrian Neville defeated Sami Zayn.

    – The following matches will take place on tonight’s episode of WWE Main Event:

    • Cesaro vs. Mark Henry
    • R-Truth vs. Damien Sandow
    • Naomi vs. Aksana

    ROB VAN DAM: Worth Keeping On The WWE Roster? (Editorial)

    Monday’s Taped RAW From London Dips Below 4 Million Viewers

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    Monday’s taped episode of WWE RAW from London drew a 2.72 rating with 3.763 million viewers, down significantly from the previous week, which did a 2.88 rating and  4.006 million viewers.

    Here’s the hourly viewership breakdown:

    • Hour 1: 3.535 million viewers
    • Hour 2: 3.903 million viewers
    • Hour 2: 3.852 million viewers

    *Spoilers* WWE SmackDown Tapings Results For Friday

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    WWE taped Friday’s episode of SmackDown this afternoon from the O2 Arena in London, England. Here are the spoiler results:

    * SmackDown opens with WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan coming out to a huge pop. Hogan cut a promo about being the host of the show and hyped that the WWE Network is coming to the UK soon.

    * Matches announced for later in the show include The Usos vs. Erick Rowan and Luke Harper and Dolph Ziggler vs. Batista in a No DQ match.

    * Batista defeated Dolph Ziggler in what was described as a good No DQ match.

    * Bo Dallas made his re-debut, defeating Sin Cara in under 4 minutes. He cut a cheesy heel promo before the match and got a lot of heat from the crowd.

    * The Wyatt Family came out, with Bray cutting another great promo on John Cena and hyping their upcoming match at Payback.

    * Sheamus defeated Alberto Del Rio. Cesaro was on commentary.

    * Vickie Guerrero came out to the ring and got a ton of heat. She was quickly interrupted by Adam Rose and the Rosebuds. They all danced to the ring and Adam Rose entered, telling Vickie to be a Rosebud, not lemon.

    * The Usos (with John Cena) defeated Roman and Harper (with Bray Wyatt) in a 10 minute match.After the match, the Wyatt Family beat down the Usos and John Cena to end the show.

    *Spoilers* WWE Main Event Tapings Results From London

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    WWE taped tonight’s episode of Main Event this afternoon from the O2 Arena in London, England. Here are spoiler results:

    * Cesaro and Paul Heyman kicked off the show and got a big reaction from the crowd. Heyman was cutting a promo until Mark Henry came out to interrupt him. They set up a match between Cesaro and Henry later in the show.

    * Damien Sandow came out dressed as Sherlock Holmes. Sandow defeated R-Truth in what was described as a long, boring match.

    * Naomi defeated Aksana. There were a lot of CM Punk chants during the match.

    * Cesaro defeated Mark Henry.

    Stephanie Urges Daniel Bryan To Surrender The WWE Championship Next Week

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    On Monday’s WWE RAW from London, Stephanie McMahon made her big announcement about the fate of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

    In light of Daniel Bryan’s neck surgery and the fact that he will be out of action for an indeterminate amount of time, she is contemplating stripping him of the gold and awarding it to another Superstar, such as Kane, Bad News Barrett, Batista or her even husband, WWE COO Triple H.

    She then clarified that in all seriousness, she is demanding that Daniel Bryan show up at RAW next week and “do the right thing” by personally surrender the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

    (Spoilers) WWE Superstars Taping Results For This Week

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    The following are results of the matches taped for this week’s edition of WWE Superstars. The matches took place prior to Monday’s WWE RAW show, which was taped in the afternoon at the O2 Arena in London, England.

    – Big Show def. Titus O’Neil in the opening match of the evening. Show ended up picking up the win via pin fall after hitting O’Neil with a chokeslam.

    – Jack Swagger (with Zeb Colter) def. Cody Rhodes (with Goldust) via submission in the main event of the show. The finish saw Swagger lock Rhodes up in his Patriot Lock submission hold, forcing him to tap out.

  • BACKSTAGE NEWS: Daniel Bryan May Be Out MUCH LONGER Than Expected! [READ >>]
  • Video: Official Trailer For WWE’s New Paul Heyman DVD

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    Check out the official trailer for the highly anticipated “Ladies and Gentlemen My Name Is Paul Heyman” DVD & Blu-Ray. According to WrestlingDVDNews.com, it looks like Heyman project will be released in Europe first on July 28t, in the United States on August 5th and in Australia the following day. 

    Photo: Triple H On The Cover Of Muscle & Fitness

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    WWE COO Triple H is on the cover of the June 2014 edition of Muscle & Fitness Magazine:

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    Details On Season 3 Of WWE Total Divas, New WWE Diva Joins The Cast

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    WWE issued the following press release today:

    LOS ANGELES – E!, WWE and Bunim-Murray Productions continue their intimate look inside the glamorous, hectic and often dramatic lives of the WWE Divas when “Total Divas” returns for Season 3 Sunday, Sept. 7, at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT.

    Cameras will once again shadow Nikki and Brie Bella, Natalya, Naomi, Cameron and rookies Eva Marie and Summer Rae, giving viewers insight into how these women, who are on the road for 52 weeks a year, balance their personal lives while fighting for the spotlight. In addition, WWE Diva Rosa Mendes joins the cast, as the fiery Latina who has been around WWE for years has finally found herself in the limelight. Season two of “Total Divas” is currently airing all-new episodes every Sunday at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT.

    One of E!’s most popular series, “Total Divas” currently averages 798,000 viewers in the 18-49 demo, with a total of 1.3 million viewers on average. Additionally, the series ranks as a cable top-five destination in its timeslot, Sundays 9-10 p.m., in the viewers 18-34 and women 18-34 demos. “Total Divas” is E!’s second-strongest original series of 2014 to date, following “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.”

    In season two, the drama has been taken to new levels as the Divas’ popularity has grown. Nikki’s relationship with her boyfriend, WWE Superstar John Cena, has been under a media microscope and their contradicting thoughts on marriage and starting a family have placed the couple in a deadlock.

    Meanwhile, Brie has been eagerly planning her upcoming wedding to WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan, which will culminate in the “Total Divas” season finale airing Sunday, June 1, at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT.

    For Naomi, this season has been a roller coaster, as she married the love of her life, WWE Superstar Jimmy Uso, struggled with the idea of motherhood, and dropped her very first single, “Dance All Night.” In the remainder of the season, viewers will see Naomi face a career-threatening injury when she takes a blow from a fellow Diva during a televised match.

    Similar to Naomi, fun-loving Natalya has faced several challenges in season two as she continues to find common ground in her first year of marriage to her husband Tyson Kidd, especially when it comes to money, in-laws and their lackluster romantic lives. Natalya has also struggled with newbie Summer Rae, who has become a key player in WWE, taking screen time away from the veteran Divas.

    Natalya wasn’t the only Diva who Summer had conflicts with as she went toe-to-toe with Brie, Nikki and, as viewers will come to see later this season, possible tag team partner Eva Marie. Away from work, Summer has been trying to get into the dating scene after a recent breakup left her yearning for companionship.

    Sassy and saucy Cameron is also getting back to her music and dance roots as she gears up to release her first single. However, she is more focused on raising her celebrity status, which doesn’t sit very well with her boyfriend.

    Eva Marie opened up a closet full of secrets this season, each more shocking than the one before. Season two opened with the redheaded Diva revealing she secretly eloped with her longtime boyfriend Jonathan and some provocative modeling photos from her past surfaced, which spread quickly through the WWE locker room. Coming up, Eva continues to surprise and shows a side to her that none of the other Divas has seen before.

    Former model and WWE Diva Rosa Mendes joins the cast for season three. A veteran of the Divas Division since 2006, Rosa has spent the past year with her eyes on the cast of “Total Divas.” Now that she’s one of them, there is no telling what may happen next.

    On top of all the drama outside of the ring, Rosa and the rest of the Divas compete for a top spot, and the highly coveted Diva’s title, at WrestleMania 30.

    “Total Divas” is produced by WWE and Bunim-Murray Productions. Jon Murray, Gil Goldshein, Jeff Jenkins and Russell Jay are Executive Producers for Bunim-Murray Productions. Kevin Dunn and Will Staeger are Executive Producers for WWE.

  • BACKSTAGE NEWS: Daniel Bryan May Be Out MUCH LONGER Than Expected! [READ >>]