John Cena appeared on HLN’s “Showbiz Tonight” cable show on Wednesday night and spoke about his character’s “cool factor” – and why he doesn’t mind that a lot of adult male WWE fans don’t like him.
“A lot of times you don’t put into perspective how many people really take what you do as an impression on their daily lives. I have a great grasp on that. I enjoy a youthful audience and I truly cater to them. Rather than the older demographic that really doesn’t think I’m as cool. It doesn’t score me cool points and I lose a bit of street cred, but I get parents coming up to me all the time saying, ‘Hey, keep doing what you’re doing because my kid loves you.'”
Cena also spoke about the ongoing celebrity scandals involving Kanye West and Justin Beiber and promoted his “10 Weeks BodyChange” fitness and diet program.
Tonight on Spike TV, TNA presents a special Genesis edition of Impact Wrestling from Huntsville, Alabama. Next week’s show (which will be taped tonight as well) will also feature the Genesis theme. Matches advertised for tonight’s show include:
– Sting vs. Ethan Carter III
– Kurt Angle vs. Bobby Roode in a Steel Cage Match
– Bully Ray vs. Mr. Anderson
– Knockouts Champion Gail Kim vs. Madison Rayne
We’ll also see the fallout of Magnus being crowned the undisputed TNA World Champion and the fallout of AJ Styles’ departure from the company.
TNA President Dixie Carter has been teasing that new talent will be debuting at Genesis and revealed the first two that will be on tonight’s show are “DR” and “EE” – believed to be former ROH/NXT stars Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards.
TNA President Dixie Carter tweeted the following on Wednesday, revealing a hint about two new faces we’ll see on Thursday’s live Genesis edition of Impact Wrestling:
“DR” amd “EE” are former ROH tag team champions Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards, who recently did a short stint at WWE NXT but were not signed to contracts.
WWE has added the latest sit-down interview between Triple H and Michael Cole to their official YouTube channel.
WWE COO Triple H addresses Randy Orton’s attack on John Cena’s father, The New Age Outlaws walking out on CM Punk, the decision to induct The Ultimate Warrior in the WWE Hall of Fame, Batista’s looming return and WWE Network.”
TMZ.com caught up with Hulk Hogan this week and asked him about the news of The Ultimate Warrior being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
After their much-publicized personal rivalry, Hogan appears to have buried the hatchet and said “He’s a good choice for the Hall of Fame.” Hogan added, “He’s a good man.”
Back in the summer of 2011, after Hulk Hogan had been running down the Ultimate Warrior in a series of interviews, Warrior unleashed his 55-minute “Karma Collects” video on Youtube, accusing Hogan of being an avid user of cocaine and marijuana, keeping other wrestlers hooked on drugs to hold them down, having an ‘open marriage’ with his ex-wife Linda, offering his wife’s ‘services’ to other wrestlers back in the day and being a disgraceful parent (among other things).
– WWE Hall Of Famer recently confirmed the report we published on Tuesday that noted WWE’s intentions on inducting the WrestleMania I main event into their Hall Of Fame this year. Piper also confirmed the rumors as to why he had issues with WWE officials recently.
You can check out more from “The Hot Rod” by checking out his official Twitter account @R_Roddy_Piper.
– The latest edition of Chris Jericho’s “Talk Is Jericho” has been added online. The seventh edition of the show features part two of Jericho’s interview with WWE Hall Of Famer Bret “The Hitman” Hart. Following a lengthy discussion in part one of their discussion about Hart’s time in the Stampede promotion in Canada, part two features Hart talking mostly about his legendary run in WWE.
You can check out the latest edition of “Talk Is Jericho” online at PodcastOne.com.
Former TNA World Champion Bully Ray joined Doug Mortman and Dave Lagreca on Busted Open.. You can hear Busted Open on SiriusXM 92 and on the SiriusXM app. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
Being the “glue” that has been holding TNA together: “Well I appreciate you guys thinking that I’m the glue that holds the company together. That’s always nice to hear. Listen, I go out there–you guys know this damn well–whether you love me, whether you hate me, you gotta respect me just a little bit, cause every night I go out there to steal the show. And give the people exactly what they pay to see. And they pay to hate me. And that’s what they get.”
Where his new, more mysterious Bully is heading coming out of Aces and Eights: “In wrestling, as you guys know, and in sports, in wrestling, in entertainment; you always have to evolve. So I’m giving the people the next level, the next chapter, the next evolution of Bully Ray. Some people might like it, some people might hate it. I really don’t care what they think as long as they tune in. And that’s all that matters.”
How he feels about the new Dixie Carter/Magnus regime: “Listen. In business there is always going to be changes going on. You guys experience change there; working at Sirius XM; all the time. Whether it’s McDonalds, or whether it’s in a hospital or whether it’s an auto body shop, whether it’s pro wrestling. There’s always going to be changes. Changes in talent, changes in personnel, changes in management, changes in direction, changes in theory on how the business should be run. So you always try to evolve. You always try to move forward and see what the next thing is that is going to hit. So you know wrestling is no different than any other business. You keep evolving, you keep changing. So we’ll see what happens with this. Everybody wants to see TNA succeed. Everybody likes to sit back and whether it’s bash TNA or bash the WWE; people will sit there and bash. They don’t do anybody any good. Everybody is entitled to their opinion. You might not like something and that’s cool. But to sit back there and bash a company for no fricking good reason when all of the wrestlers are trying to go out there every single week and do their absolute best. And all of the creative members are trying to do their absolute best in the best interest of the fans. Sometimes things don’t always go the right way. Sometimes they go really great. You kind of gotta roll with the punches.”
His turn at Lockdown in 2013 in San Antonio: “OH! Well the first thing I got to say is this: whoever thought or came up with the delusion that those were plants in the audience; I would love to meet that person face to face and mafia kick them in their fricking jaw. That’s first of all. Then I’ll wish them a Happy New Year. That is the kind of hatred; that is the kind of emotional response that I strive on. That’s the kind of emotional response that me and Devon (Dudley) used to get on a nightly basis in ECW. I was so proud of the response at Lockdown. I was so proud that I was able to pull off what I pulled off. I was proud of the fact of being the champion. I was proud of the fact of being able to pull the wool over the eyes of all of the smart wrestling fans all over the world. And people were pissed off. And that’s what’s going to make me memorable; things like that. The last time you saw an incident like that was in Daytona Beach, Florida when Hulk Hogan joined the nWo. And to be able to do it to him and his daughter (Brooke) and shove it up both of their asses at the same time? That was golden.”
Having a crazy 2013: “No doubt. World Titles; women; whisky. Hanging out with Motley Crue in Vegas. Going crazy. My goal for 2014 is this: I want to get my World Title back. I want to piss off even more people and I want to see how many Knockouts I can get through in the locker room.”
Facing Ken Anderson at Genesis this Thursday on Spike TV: “Well you got to dig the fact that TNA does try to give away quality Pay Per View, main event matches on free TV. I think that’s where you gotta really look at TNA–you gotta tip the hat to them and say Hey! You know they’re trying. They’re not trying to hang us out for 39.95 every single month for a PPV. They are doing some of the old school things. Some of the things to keep wrestling fans happy and interested. And Genesis is going to be a very interesting PPV. Just the fact alone that you got me and Anderson; the feud that has been going on for months and months. And whether you like it or hate it, me and Anderson always deliver in that ring. You know if I’m out there, you gotta keep that channel on. You know if I’m out there, something is going to happen. You know if I’m out there, I’m gonna say something or I’m gonna do something that’s going to be totally unexpected. And at Genesis I plan on doing the same thing. And it started out with House of Hardcore a couple of months ago, followed up at Old School in Poughkeepsie, got Genesis right around the corner. If Bully Ray is out there, expect the unexpected.”
His thoughts on the new WWE Network: “I think it’s great for wrestling fans. As a wrestling fan and personally I am a wrestling fan. There are a lot of things that I would like to see. If I know that I can go to the WWE Network and just order something up and check out a match from back in the day that I want to see; that’s awesome. So I think it’s good for all of wrestling. It keeps wrestling out there. It keeps wrestling in the public’s eye. And now fans have access to whatever they want to see. It’s all about entertainment, guys. KISS goes up there every night; plays the same songs; Gene spits the same blood; they do the same pyro and people pay to see them. Because people love KISS. People love rock and roll; drinking whiskey; naked girls and partying. And that’s the same reason why people will always love pro wrestling. “
The official YouTube channel for Ringside Collectibles has added the following video interviews with John Cena and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin discussing the WWE Network:
– The Newsday website recently published a featured article with comments from the former Vice President of Sales at ESPN, Larry Mann, talking about the possibility of the WWE Network hurting the weekly television ratings of WWE’s “RAW” and “SmackDown” cable programs.
You can check that article out online at Newsday.com. (Thanks to Joshua Stewart from Newsday.com for sending along the link.)
– As previously noted, legendary pro wrestling manager Jim Cornette is starting a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a new documentary project. Below is a video of the official announcement:
– TNA star Kurt Angle will be undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery on February 11th, according to a report at TNANews.com. The procedure was originally scheduled for January 21st but it was rescheduled so he could appear on the upcoming “Maximum Impact” European tour.
Recovery is expected to last 6 to 8 weeks. With Lockdown taking place less than a month after the surgery, it’s unlikely Angle will be competing on the show.
– As we’ve been reporting, TNA is bringing in some new talent soon. TNA President Dixie Carter tweeted last night that Thursday’s live Genesis edition of Impact Wrestling will feature a few new faces:
Just hung up the phone… New talents coming to #Genesis in Huntsville. Thursday 9/8c on @SpikeTV
With two weeks before the Royal Rumble, Noah Mark is back with his analysis of the second raw of 2014. Check out The YES! & The NO! of WWE RAW.” Comment below and tell us your thoughts.
Daniel Bryan & Bray Wyatt Kick Off Raw vs The USO’S – YES!
The Usos vs. Bray Wyatt & Daniel Bryan (Part 1) Raw starts off with the match advertised last week of Daniel Bryan and Bray Wyatt. The USO’s were in the ring at the start of Raw ready for the match. The lights blacked out for the Wyatts entrance, and came back on 30 seconds later to reveal Daniel Bryan and The Wyatts already in the ring. I liked the quick entrance. The match was good with Daniel Bryan in a more aggressive style. Luke Harper and Derek Rowan, interfered just before The USO’s were about to get airborne on Daniel Bryan and Bray Wyatt. This prompted another DQ on the Wyatts in their second week in a row with Daniel Bryan. Daniel Bryan drops to his knees to receive a Sister Abigail from Bray Wyatt. As I said for the last two weeks, I’m okay with this story in it’s context, provided it doesn’t go 16 weeks to WrestleMania. YES!
Damien Sandow holding his own against John Cena – YES!
Damien Sandow vs. John Cena I was fortunate to be in the crowd at Raw in Orlando, FL the night after The Hell-In-A-Cell Pay-Per-View. It was on that night that Damien Sandow cashed in his Money-In-The-Bank briefcase on John Cena. Although he didn’t win the match then, it was a great competitive match with Cena, and this episode of Raw was no different. There is a great chemistry between Sandow and Cena, and proof that Sandow should have a much more elevated status in WWE. All the things about Damien Sandow I enjoy are stripped away, no more robe, no more witty promos, he’s seemingly just an angry body. Where’s the man that would sign autographs with a quill pen? Why do we get “Sandow-Gimmick-Light”? I question this especially, because when he is called upon he delivers. Match was great. Don’t throw away Sandow after this. YES!
Kane & Brad Maddox, No Triple H or Stephanie. Kane and Brad get into it backstage, and Mr Maddox comes up with a Bray Wyatt & Daniel Bryan vs The Uso’s rematch in a steel cage for the main event. With Kane adding that he will personally chain the cage door shut. I thought this would spell disaster for Daniel Bryan, with some ulterior motive for his former Co-Tag Team Champion.
I did like the fact that Triple H and Stephanie were not on the show this week. Although they seem to back Orton, promoting him as the face Of WWE, they haven’t been targeting John Cena, like they did Bryan, with beat-downs and impossible handi-cap matches. YES!
Left – Intense Big Show to confront Brock Lesnar 1/6 YES! Right – Jolly Big Show eventually Beating Up Zed NO!
On an unrelated note, is Kane injured? Kane is one of the longest tenured Superstars on the roster, I know he has been working several holiday house show matches, however I don’t recall him having a TV match since that aforementioned Orlando Raw I was at where, on that show he shed his mask, this was after returning from filming a See No Evil sequel. It looked like he had a noticeable limp coming down the aisle way.
Big Show vs. Jack Swagger I don’t like smiling big show. I liked hoodie and skull cap wearing, intense Big Show from last week. I want all business Big Show. I want a focused Big Show that is going to seriously take on Brock Lesnar. Big show almost has John Cena-itus. Big Show should learn from his mistakes. Smiling Big Show ended 3-4 Raws this fall, then lost the Big One. Big show can smile his way to another loss at the Royal Rumble. I like Zeb Colter, but for some reason I DON’T want to see him hurt. I like Paul Heyman, but I DO want to see him get hurt. NO!
Moments before The New Age Outlaws, pull back their hands and walk out on CM Punk – NO!
CM Punk & The New Age Outlaws vs. The Shield I’m hoping after The Royal Rumble, CM Punk will move away from The Shield. I love Roman Reigns but If the Shield were to break up, I don’t think he should be put against CM Punk one on one, yet. I like the idea of him building up his singles resume, perhaps with a Big E, Dolph Ziggler, a returning Jericho, maybe even Daniel Bryan, before we see CM Punk vs Roman Reigns in a big time match. I love the New Age Outlaws, and I don’t want to boo them. I haven’t checked out the Smackdown Spoilers (They are scheduled to take on Cody Rhodes and Golddust) so I’m curious to see if they are “bad guys” now. They both appear to be in great shape, and would love to see them, hang around till WrestleMania, but not at heels. Besides, book him however you wish, but at WrestleMania XXX they will no doubt be faces one way or another. NO!
Meaningless win for AJ. Waste of talent – NO!
The Funkadactyls vs. AJ Lee & Tamina Snuka Throw-a-way match, AJ being underutilized. AJ hasn’t had many title defenses, the belt isn’t as special, not because of the person, because of the booking. She taps out and pins people left and right, then a silly beat down afterwords. If you’re going to give her a clean win, why bother, having the faces beat her down after the fact, they lost. This is why there is a huge drop off in star power in WWE, because you have someone like an AJ Lee who can cut a dynamite promo, you can cultivate that, make people want to see her, and let her flourish! Instead of losing her in the shuffle of 20 Total Diva® tag matches. NO!
WWE Hall Of Fame 2014 Inductee The Ultimate Warrior will Headline The 2014 Hall Of Fame. Ironic I watched a DVD about how he was horrible person to work with, held up Vince McMahon for money at SummerSlam 1991, and “self destructed” But as the saying goes Money Talks, and there is a lot of people who remember the guy you see below and could care less about what was hapening behind the curtain. So for that (and because our Webmaster is a huge fan of the man from Parts Unknown) we say YES!
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW and our Overall Raw Rating
Bourne has been out of action for almost two years. After being suspended in early 2014 due to a violation of WWE’s Wellness Policy, he was involved in a serious car accident in March of 2012 and broke his foot in four different places.
– WWE Superstar Justin Gabriel revealed on Twitter that he won’t be part of this year’s Royal Rumble match:
Ryback is at it again. On Monday’s RAW, Jerry Lawler joked that if Ryback was in an elevator, he wouldn’t know which direction an elevator goes if you gave him two guesses.
Ryback then responded on Twitter with a remark about Lawer’s ex-wife, former WWE Diva Stacy “The Kat” Carter:
“So apparently I do not know which way an elevator goes if you gave me two guesses according to Jerry Lawler. I can tell you one thing. If I was in an elevator with The Kat it would definitely be going down. Ryback Rules”
It was announced at Tuesday’s SmackDown tapings that Bad News Barrett and all 3 members of The Shield will compete in the 2014 WWE Royal Rumble match. Here is the updated card:
* WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton vs. John Cena (Pinfall or Submission)
* Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show
* 30 Man Royal Rumble Match (14 More Entrants TBA)
– Batista
– CM Punk
– Roman Reigns
– Dean Ambrose
– Seth Rollins
– Alberto Del Rio
– Big E. Langston
– Goldust
– Cody Rhodes
– Rey Mysterio
– The Miz
– Bad News Barrett
– Kofi Kingston
– R-Truth
– Xavier Woods
– Fandango
We are saddened to report that WWE Hall of Famer Mae Young has passed away, according to WWE.com.
Young was the oldest living professional wrestler in the world and is the only person in history to have documented matches in nine different decades. Her first match was in 1939 and her latest match was in 2010.
Vince McMahon has issued the following statement regarding her passing:
“There will never be another Mae Young. Her longevity in sports entertainment may never be matched, and I will forever be grateful for all of her contributions to the industry. On behalf of WWE, I extend our sincerest condolences to her family and friends. “
Here are some tweets from the wrestling world regarding Mae Young’s passing:
* Alexander Rusev defeated Tyson Kidd by submission with his Accolade finisher (the Camel Clutch). Prior to the match, Rusev cut a heel promo in Bulgarian and got a lot of heel heat from it.
WWE Main Event Taping
* Kofi Kingston defeated Curtis Axel with a rollup pin. After the match, Ryback’s music hit and the Big Guy came out, walked around the ring and then left.
* Damien Sandow defeated Sin Cara with his You’re Welcome finisher. Sandow got a babyface reaction from his hometown crowd. During the match, Ryback came out once again and paced around the ring and taunted fans at ringside.
* Bad News Barrett cut a promo running down the crowd and announced that he will be in the Royal Rumble.
* Ryback came out to his music again and did a lap around the ring before the next match.
* The Prime Time Players beat 3MB in 3-on-2 a handicap match. 3MB demanded that the match be restarted. Brad Maddox came out and denied their request – but said he’d give them a 6-man tag match against Los Matadores up next.
* Los Matadores and El Torito defeated 3MB with their finisher. El Torito got a hot tag during the match and cleaned house. After the match, Ryback came out for the fourth time and walked around the ring.
UPDATE: A WWE spokesperson has confirmed to us that Daniel Bryan did in fact suffer a concussion on RAW.
Monday’s RAW saw Daniel Bryan break free of the Wyatt Family and lead the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island to one of the most electric “Yes!” chants of all time.
Unfortunately, we can report exclusively that Daniel Bryan was diagnosed with a concussion shortly after RAW went off the air.
Based on preliminary testing by WWE doctors after the show, it’s believed injury took place early in the steel cage match main event. In a sad twist of irony, we are told Bryan does not remember much about last night.
Bryan tweeted this afternoon:
I sit humbled and in awe of peoples reaction to last night. I can’t bring down the machine on my own, but we can do it together #YesMovement
Based on this news, it seems highly unlikely that he’ll be wrestling at tonight’s WWE SmackDown tapings from the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts. No word yet on how long he will be out of action, but he is undergoing testing more today.
WWE is playing around with the idea of inducting a match into the 2014 class of the WWE Hall Of Fame in April.
According to a recent PWInsider.com report, the idea being pitched in WWE right now is for Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, Paul Orndorff and Mr. T to be inducted, making it the first time in history that an actual match itself is inducted into WWE’s Hall Of Fame, as all four were involved in the main event of the first ever WrestleMania.
It’s possible that Jimmy Snuka and Bob Orton Jr. will also be inducted, as they were part of the WrestleMania I main event as well. If the idea comes to fruition, it would leave the door open for future matches to be inducted into the Hall Of Fame as well.
Mr. T has reportedly turned down offers from WWE in the past, but company officials are reportedly negotiating with him to make the aforementioned idea possible.
Obviously if this idea pans out, it would make Hogan, Piper, Orndorff, as well as Orton and Snuka if they are involved, two-time Hall Of Famers. The only two-time Hall Of Famer at the moment is Ric Flair, who was both inducted as an individual and as part of the Four Horsemen.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross is no longer under contract with WWE, however, he’s going to be working with the company on yet another project later this week.
After Jim Ross revealed over the weekend that he’ll be part of WWE’s upcoming Paul Heyman DVD, WrestleZone.com is reporting that JR will be at the WWE Performance Center this Friday to host a “wrap up” panel with the cast of Legends House.
The show is expected to air on the WWE Network as part of the Legends House original series.
