– Jim Ross tweeted the following about The Undertaker’s WWE legacy after his match on Monday’s RAW:
I mean this respectfully, but #Undertaker IMO has surpassed the immortal Andre the Giant as greatest BIG man in history of the biz. #WWE
— Jim Ross (@JRsBBQ) April 23, 2013
– Triple H posted the following Tout video addressing Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar:
WWE taped tonight’s edition of RAW this afternoon from the O2 Arena in London, England. Here’s a preview of the matches we’ll see:
* The Undertaker, Kane and Daniel Bryan vs. Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose
* Dolph Ziggler vs. Chris Jericho
* Antonio Cesaro vs. R-Truth
* Fandango vs. A Surprise WWE Legend
* Brodus Clay vs. Damien Sandow
* Tensai vs. Cody Rhodes
* Big E Langston vs. Zack Ryder
* Divas Battle Royal to Determine a #1 Contender
Plus – Triple H will answer Brock Lesnar’s challenge to a steel cage match at Extreme Rules.
WWE.com has an article up questioning whether The Shield has a mystery fourth member. Some of the names discussed include Paul Heyman, Big Show, Ryback and Jack Swagger.
As noted earlier, WWE has confirmed that Rosa Mendes has been sent home from the ongoing international tour. There have been reports that Rosa has been acting erratically over the past few days, with one source stating that alcohol is believed to be a factor.
Rosa Mendes tweeted the following on Monday afternoon in response to being sent home:
Just wanted to let all my #Mendesluverz that I'm ok. I had to take care of some personal matters. Thank you for all your support. Love you?
— MilenaRoucka (@LaRosaMendes) April 22, 2013
I also encourage everyone to continue #MuscleMania. It has helped me in the past and it will still be helping me now. #Determination.
— MilenaRoucka (@LaRosaMendes) April 22, 2013
Following up on our earlier report about WWE Diva Rosa Mendes being sent home from the ongoing international tour, WWE issued the following statement on Monday afternoon:
“Milena Roucka (Rosa Mendes) left the international tour for personal reasons.”
According to WWE sources, Rosa has been exhibiting wild, erratic behavior over the past week and it’s believed that alcohol is involved.
WWE taped tonight’s episode of Monday Night RAW this afternoon from the O2 Arena in London, England. Here are complete spoiler results:
– RAW kicks off with Paul Heyman coming out, representing Brock Lesnar. Big ECW chants for Heyman. Heyman says Triple H is not at Raw tonight, and he is going to read an email to the live crowd that he received from Triple H.
Triple H’s music hits, and he is in fact at RAW. He got a huge pop, but surprisingly not as big as the one JBL received for his entrance before RAW began. Triple H accepts Brock Lesnar’s Extreme Rules match challenge, then gives Paul Heyman a pedigree!
– A graphic displays on the Titan Tron showing that later tonight – it will be World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler vs. Chris Jericho.
– R-Truth defeated Antonio Cesaro in a pretty quick match.
– Damien Sandow defeated Brodus Clay with a roll-up. Tensai and Cody Rhodes were at ringside.
– There have been very loud JBL chants all night.
– Dolph Ziggler defeated Chris Jericho with a Zig Zag. If Jericho had won the match, he would have been added to the World Heavyweight title match at Extreme Rules. The crowd got rowdy during this match, including a “We are awesome” chant. Jericho went for the Walls of Jericho, but Fandango’s music hit and the crowd went nuts. However, Fandango never appeared – but the music distracted Jericho and allowed Ziggler to hit the Zig Zag.
– Tensai defeated Cody Rhodes.
– Ryback appears on the big screen says the fans don’t understand him. He hyped his upcoming WWE Title match against John Cena at Extreme Rules and said he wants Mick Foley in the ring later tonight.
– Big E Langston squashed Zack Ryder.
– Backstage, Daniel Bryan and Kane were talking about their match against The Shield later tonight. Daniel Bryan showed Kane a pie chart – which led to a “we want pie charts” chant breaking out.
– The Shield defeated The Undertaker, Kane and Daniel Bryan. The Undertaker made his way out to the ring first, but was confronted by The Shield. Team Hell No ran out and made the save – which led to a brawl between all 6 men. Once things settled down, the match began – with Daniel Bryan and Dean Ambrose starting things off. Bryan quickly tagged in the Undertaker, who got in some offense on Ambrose and hit “Old School” before tagging in Kane. Our live correspondent says The Undertaker looked to be in great physical condition, moving around quickly without any signs of injury. Taker was involved in several big spots in the match, including a spear from Roman Reigns. The finish came when Daniel Bryan went for his flying headbutt on Ambrose, but Ambrose moved out of the way and got the pin.
– After the six-man, Bryan wants a hug from The Undertaker, but the Undertaker wasn’t having it. Bryan insists Taker hugged him backstage earlier in the night. He never got a hug from the Dead Man, but got one from Kane.
– On the big screen, WWE showed several tweets from The Rock about needing surgery due to the injuries he suffered at WrestleMania 29.
– Backstage, John Cena was shown talking with Mick Foley. Foley addressed Ryback’s comments from earlier in the evening, where he said he wants Foley in the ring tonight.
– Fandango comes out to one of the loudest pops of the night. His opponent tonight will be … William Regal. Fandango got the win in what was described as a short, but fun match with a lot of crowd involvement. After the match, Chris Jericho came out and attacked Fandango. Jericho throws him off the stage and danced with Fandango’s dancing partner.
– Divas champion Kaitlyn came out and cut a promo. A battle royal will be held to determine the #1 contender to the Divas title. AJ Lee won the battle royal, which also included Tamina Snuka, Cameron, Naomi, Layla and The Bella Twins.
– Mick Foley came out with a steel chair, but says he’d rather not fight anybody tonight. Out comes Ryback. They go back and forth – with Foley listing his career accomplishments and asying he won’t back down from a fight. Ryback tells him to shut up and declares he will capture the WWE Championship at Extreme Rules when he defeats “Super Cena.” Ryback calls Foley fat and pathetic and gets in his face.
John Cena’s music hits and gets loud boos from the London crowd. The Shield runs out and it looks to be 4-on-1, with insurmountable odds against Cena. Cena manages to escape – which leaves The Shield there with Ryback. The Shield turns their attention to Ryback – but John Cena runs back into the ring with a steel chair and chases off The Shield. This leaves Cena and Ryback in the ring. Cena nails him with Attitude Adjustment to end the show.
WWE held this week’s WWE Superstars taping on Monday afternoon from the O2 Arena in London, England. Here are spoiler results:
Dark Match:
– Zack Ryder defeated Heath Slater, and Ryder got a nice reaction from the live crowd.
WWE Superstars
– Jimmy Uso defeated Michael McGillicutty. Uso won after a Super Fly Splash in about 5 minutes. The crowd was pretty dead for this one.
– Kaitlyn and Layla vs Tamina and Aksana. There was a lout “We want Chyna” chant during the match.
– Here are the dates and locations of the first 3 WWE pay-per-view events of 2014:
– WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley was asked by a fan on Twitter who he thinks should be inducted next year. Foley listed these names:
https://twitter.com/realmickfoley/status/325730689813204992
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights of what JR wrote about:
The Rock’s In-Ring Future: “Has the Rock, @TheRock, wrestled his last match due to injury? Seems as if Rock has left that matter open for speculation depending on the results of the surgery and his non stop schedule, etc. However, knowing Dwayne as I do, I would think that he would want to go out differently and be remembered for one, last major bout. If I had to make a wager, I’d say we haven’t seen the last of @TheRock. The one wild card may be his movie partners who may not want to risk their franchise player stepping back in the ring. That’s all TBD. I would speculate that if Dwayne can’t do WM30 for any reason that he may be closer to done than many want to see.”
Steve Austin Wrestling Again: “Interesting note….recently I read about @steveaustinBSR being in great shape physically and looking excellent ala being in ‘show shape’ but not wrestling shape for a return to a WWE ring. News flash or as the one person in the world that I would really NOT want to take a long, care trip with, Nancy Grace, might say….BOMBSHELL….Steve is ALWAYS in great shape. Old habits die hard and the Texas Rattlesnake (Thanks, JR) is a gym guy in that he hits the gym regularly and with P&V. With all that said, the only way that I see Steve returning to the ring for one, final bout is obviously on the biggest stage (WM30), with the exact, right opponent (Who is that?) , and with a strategic game plan that Steve can emotionally invest . That’s a bunch of if’s so the door isn’t closed but it’s not exactly standing wide open either. Austin fans will continue to hold out hope until it’s either a done deal or not but a Stone Cold return at WM30 would help insure that the biggest event of 2014 would be a can’t miss event. AS I have said in the past, I’d gage an Austin return to WWE for a farewell promotion as 50/50 or less.”
New WWE Divas & New Divas E! Reality Show WWE is bringing some new Diva prospects to NXT to begin training soon plus with the new, WWE Diva reality show that will be airing this Fall, I assume, on the E Network, I’d say that WWE is essentially setting the reset button on the Divas division sooner than later. E cameras were all over the place at WM29 as some new talents are also featured in this new show. Being the reality show junkie that I am, I’m looking forward to seeing this production and from what I could tell all the ladies were just being themselves, for better or for worse, and not doing ‘canned’ reality.
As announced in the WWE press release for the “Total Divas” series debuting this summer on the E! Network, there will be two new Divas featured on the series:
Natalia Eva Marie will be known as “Eva Marie” and was a 2012 Powertec Fashion Model Winner.
Joseann Alexie Offerman will be known as “Jo-Jo Offerman” and is a Dominican singer/dancer.
The new Divas were found via the recent Diva casting search WWE conducted several months ago across the United States. Each were in attendance over Wrestlemania week and filmed scenes for the new series.
WWE Diva Layla posted the following photo on Instagram of herself with Eva Marie & Jo-Jo Offerman from WrestleMania 29 weekend:
This week on Because Wrestling, it’s business as usual as we head into the latest news from the world of wrestling
Tonight’s edition WWE RAW will be taped this afternoon from the O2 Arena in London, England.
SEScoops.com will have live spoilers of the tapings this afternoon – so make sure to check back later for that.
The Undertaker will be making a rare in-ring appearance tonight, teaming up with WWE Tag Team Champions Kane & Daniel Bryan in a 6-man tag match against The Shield.
Also confirmed for RAW are Triple H answering Brock Lesnar’s challenge for a steel cage match at Extreme Rules and an appearance from Chris Jericho, who is currently overseas in the UK with his band Fozzy.
WWE.com’s 5 Point Preview features the following items:
– A report at WrestleZone.com claims that WWE Diva Rosa Mendes has been sent home from WWE’s current European tour after appearing to be drunk for most of the trip. We will ask around about this story and will post an update when it becomes available.
– Brock Lesnar said to be opening an “outdoors” business near Milk River in Alberta, Canada which would guide people into the wilderness to hunt, fish and camp.
– Here is video from Diamond Dallas Page’s 57th birthday:
– WWE Diva Naomi may have injured her left knee in a six-Divas tag match in Paris, France last night. She reportedly landed awkwardly after executing a move on one of The Bella Twins.
– MMA fighter Paul Lazenby, a stuntman and friend of WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, recently told Live Audio Wrestling that “The Rattlesnake” is in great shape and would consider wrestling one more match. The LAW tweeted:
According to Paul Lazenby – Steve Austin is in better shape then most might think, last time they spoke he would entertain the "right offer"
— Live Audio Wrestling (@LAWradio) April 22, 2013
WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart recently took part in an online Q&A session with fans. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
“I don’t think so, but you never know what can happen. I have a lot of fun doing them. I appreciate people giving me a stage. They present scenarios that are quite easy for anybody to step into and be quite funny. Sometimes I can be spontaneously funny. When you just make it up as you go along it’s hit or miss, but I’ve found I’ve done pretty good.”
“The last conversations we’ve had have been good. He seems to always be very warm and friendly with me. I would say he’s on the very best of terms with me. I think the last time I really talked to him, my knee was pretty swollen. He wanted me to go out to the ring in Philadelphia — and I did go out — but we were talking about our various injuries, since he had just had hip surgery. We’ve both sort of realized that we’re not getting any younger.”
“(Long pause) I think it’s that I was often told by the wrestlers I worked with that I was their best match. That was every single one of them, from Mr. Perfect to my brother Owen to the Bulldog to the Undertaker to Steve Austin — almost every single one of them pulled me aside and said the best match they ever had was the one against me. The list goes on — 1-2-3 Kid, Kevin Nash, Roddy Piper, Yokozuna — and I think it’s true. Every match was a different story, and we made magic. The other thing is that I never hurt anybody in all the years I wrestled. I had wrestlers come up to me and thank me for the match every night, thanking me because there was never any extra aches and pains or injuries. No animals were harmed in the making of my movies!”
WWE has announced the following dates and locations for the company’s next European tour:
RAW Brand
11/6: Belfast, Ireland
11/7: Dublin, Ireland
11/8: Brussels, Belgium
11/9: Birmingham, England
11/10: Cardiff, Wales
11/11: Manchester, England TV
11/12: Newcastle, England
11/13: Zurich, Switzerland
11/14: Roeun, France
11/15: Marseille, France
SmackDown Brand:
11/7 Barcelona, Spain
11/8: Gdansk / Madrid
11/9: Munich, Germany
11/10: Glasgow, Scotland
11/11: N/A (All talent at Raw TV)
11/12: Manchester, England TV
11/13: Nottingham, England
11/14: Leeds, England
11/15: London, England
11/16: Minehead, England
TNA has announced specific details of their annual 2014 Maximum Impact UK Tour over the weekend.
Next year’s tour will feature the following shows:
Tickets go on sale May 3 at Ticketmaster.co.uk.
– WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley answered fan questions on Twitter over the weekend while waiting to board a flight to the UK. Among the questions answered was on a potential last match, and who he would face:
https://twitter.com/realmickfoley/statuses/325726200540590081
Foley also answered questions @RealMickFoley about his favorite Undertaker match, having a “hug off” with Daniel Bryan’s beard on the line, and WWE’s new approach to signing talent to developmental.
– Check out the following video of Hulk Hogan and Superstar Billy Graham reuniting:
Jim Ross has updated his blog at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights:
WWE Scouting for Talent: “WWE will continue to look to colleges, the NFL, etc for world class athletes who have TV friendly personalities and the aptitude for sports entertainment. College athletes will come from wrestling, football, basketball, etc…no sport will be not considered if all the previously listed criteria is in place. For example, I’m planning on attending an upcoming major, Strongman competition just to see if there may be one individual who might have the youth, strength, look and personality for WWE to consider as a potential developmental talent. For novice athletes who aspire to join WWE, I suggest that you attend a credible wrestling school and obtain proper training. After one gets proper training, do all you can to work as many indy dates as possible, get your body of work in place and then make inroads to WWE Development with a DVD of some of your bouts and of you doing succinct promos. Would a beginner walk into a NFL training camp and expect a tryout? Obviously, no.”
WWE’s Ongoing European Tour: “The current WWE International tour is doing sellout or near capacity business nightly which is another statement of the global growth and the massive, media footprint that WWE has established over the years and that continues to grow. I’m of the belief that one of the reasons for success is that WWE tours these areas no more than twice annually. Some international markets are better served once a year while others are still developing their TV following and will be added to the schedule in the future.”
Brock Lesnar’s Performance on Raw: “Watched Brock Lesnar’s performance on Raw Monday again on DVR and it always amazes me how naturally animalistic Lesnar is and what an amazing athlete that he is. Lesnar got to the ‘first team’ quicker and the most effectively of any one that I can recall that we signed back in my era in talent relations. No one we ever signed was more athletically gifted than the former NCAA and UFC heavyweight champion. No one. Brock was making amazing money in WWE quicker than any of his predecessors or any one since.”
– Friday’s WWE Smackdown had a Trendrr.tv social media score of 70,253, down 12% from the previous week’s post-WrestleMania edition. Smackdown ranked #2 on cable for the night.
– Here is the latest WWE Backstage Fallout:
Who does Big Show blame in WWE for his recent losses? Plus, The Great Khali, Natalya and Hornswoggle make a statement on the SmackDown edition of “Backstage Fallout.
– Former WWE Diva Maria Kanellis mocked Ryback’s promo from RAW on Twitter. She wrote the following in response to the short phrases used by Ryback:
“Stop talking Ryback! Stop talking Ryback! Stop talking Ryback!” “So sweaty…. Bring me towel. Bring me towel. Bring me towel.” “I breath heavy! I breath heavy! I breath heavy!” “I read teleprompter! I read teleprompter! I read teleprompter!”
– Rob Van Dam has announced that he signed a contract for his comic book Twisted Perception. RVD, a free agent, first teased that he might have signed with a wrestling promotion before making the announcement. Here’s audio:
– NJ.com has an article up about the approximately 450 workers who built the elaborate stadium setup at WrestleMania 29 earned approximately $1.4 million in gross salaries and benefits.
– UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman was reportedly very upset that CM Punk was shown on camera at the TUF finale show instead of him.
Punk also attended this weekend’s UFC on FOX show with his girlfriend Amy “Lita” Dumas and is planning to attend the UFC 159 PPV on April 27 to see his friend Chael Sonnen fight Jon Jones.
Prior to the debut of his Funkasaurus gimmick, WWE superstar Brodus Clay briefly had a stint as Alberto Del Rio’s enforcer. During a recent interview, Clay openly discussed his early days in WWE and how being paired with Del Rio held him back:
“Coming out of NXT I felt that I was robbed and I finished second and I cut a pretty good speech on the crowd. I told them I was going to get some back because I was angry, and being with Alberto Del Rio was basically similar to when I was with Snoop. My role was to get his back and make him look as tough as possible and me smiling and cracking jokes wasn’t going to do that. So I had to put my personality in the back seat to take care of the job, but I knew it was a doorway for me to get my own personality an opportunity.
So the time with Alberto was good in terms of learning and Alberto’s a great competitor and his experience helped me a lot, but as soon as I got a chance to be me, I never was a guy who was angry, that mean tough guy is usually the scariest guy in the room, I always noticed the guy that looked the meanest and act the meanest was terrified, that’s why he looked mean. And the guy who was smiling at you before he fought you was the guy you really worried about because he’s not sweating you.
So that’s kind of like how I was, even body guarding with guys I was more of a talker and ran my mouth and smiled and stuff and it kept people off, especially if a guy’s is fired up and you’re laughing at him or smiling or winking at him it just messes with their mind. That was more who I am. Shaquille O’Neal was the same way. If you looked at him before a basketball game, he was silly, joking around, dancing, but come tip-off he was the business and I’m trying to be more like that.”
The Rock tweeted the following over the weekend, revealing graphic details about the injury he sustained at WrestleMAnia 29:
Saw my Dr who had to push my intestines back thru the tear in my abdomen. Kinda romantic.
Surgery is next week. #BringItOn
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) April 21, 2013
He also indicated to media that he will filming for the movie Hercules for over 4 months between May and October. This brings into question his involvement for SummerSlam, as he would have very little time to promote any potential match of his for the PPV.
Our friend Peter Rosenberg (@Rosenbergradio) of New York City’s Hot 97 radio station recently interviewed The Rock and as The Rock put it, “this is some exclusive shit you’re getting right here.” The Rock discusses the controversy surrounding his injury and whether WrestleMania 29 was his final match:
Est. Runtime: 1 hour, 24 minutes
Solomonster is back to talk wrestling after a terrible week in the news, Rock having surgery, WWE’s new Performance Center and other locations where they should expand developmental, the end of Antonio Cesaro’s title run, why it may be the best thing for him and what WWE should do with him now, the Fandango embarrassment from last Monday, ranting on Impact and dumb wrestling referees, rumored storylines we never got to see and a FULL review of the Bret Hart “Dungeon Collection” DVD set!
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