– The Undertaker will compete on Raw next Monday, which is being taped at the London O2 Arena in London, England. In-advance, the venue has been advertising an appearance from “The Deadman.”
During tonight’s Raw, Undertaker was advertised for a Six-Man Tag Team Match pitting himself, and WWE Tag Team Champions Daniel Bryan and Kane against all three members of The Shield.
– On this week’s Raw Slam of the Week, Ryback shocks fans by attacking WWE Champion John Cena.
– “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Jerry “The King” Lawler, Diamond Dallas Page and Jake “The Snake” Roberts are advertised to appear at the Fanboy Expo, which takes place May 31 to June 2 at the Jacob Building at Chilhowee Park 3301 E Magnolia Ave. Knoxville, Tennessee. Click here for more information.
Arda Ocal of the Baltimore Sun and Layfield Report recently conducted a live Q/A with Bret “Hitman” Hart. In the session which was primary questions from the audience, many questions were covered including:
– Opponents we wished he had a chance to work and would have liked to work one more match against
– His interactions with Batista
– Opinions of John Cena and the opinions of him from critics
– Who he considers today to be the “Best There is, Best There Was and the Best There ever will be”
Ocal asked him about comments he made when the pair last spoke in an interview a few weeks ago about Triple H not being in his Top 1000 wrestlers and giving Undertaker vs Triple H at Wrestlemania 28 a 4 out of 10.
Bret is aware that this has become a phenomenon among the internet wrestling community and also gave the match between Triple H and Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 29 a 4/10. He also reveals that he and Triple H don’t speak today and when they see each other its typically nothing more than “Hi, bye”. Though he does keep in contact today with Shawn Michaels.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSIYmDweNiQ
This week on Because Wrestling, we’re joined by The Solomonster of SEScoops.com to talk about the latest in news from around the world of pro wrestling
Q: I was wondering the other day about [all of the] things you can patent in wrestling… themes, characters, masks, logos and names. I don’t understand why you can patent characters, could you help explain that? Also, WWE has a habit of changing the names of indy stars to new ones. Why can’t they make a special contract in which the wrestler can still use the name after he/she leaves WWE? – Paul Jordan
A: They would want to trademark characters because they can claim it’s their creation and no other organization should be allowed to profit off of it. When Scott Hall showed up on Nitro doing his Razor Ramon shtick, WWE took them to court for it. Likewise, when it comes to wrestler names, WWE would not want to make such an arrangement — they would want to retain ownership of that person’s stage name so they can continue to make money off of it, and also make it less likely that wrestler would want to jump ship to another group.
Q: Many people came away from WrestleMania disappointed because of the predictability of the 4 top matches, however, I don’t think the results could have gone any other way. I’m interested to hear your take on this as I feel that the Undertaker, Cena, Triple H and Del Rio all had to win. – Justin from London
A: Undertaker winning was a given and I had no problem with it. As long as he thinks he can still go, the streak should stay alive, it’s the best gimmick in wrestling right now. Cena winning felt stale, but made sense in that he had to get his win back over Rock. But I disagree that Triple H and Del Rio HAD to win their matches. I’m glad Del Rio won because Swagger deserved to be punished for his DUI arrest, but there was more to be gained by having Lesnar beat Triple H for the second time, especially if he’s penciled in for next year’s main event against Rock. It was nice that the babyface got his revenge here, but from a business standpoint, it was foolish for Brock to lose.
Q: Solomonster, I know you would rather combine titles and get rid of most of them (World, US, etc.), but what if you didn’t have that option? How would you boost [the prestige of these] titles to where people would actually care about them? – C.R. Massey
A: Perception is reality. You don’t open a WrestleMania like they did the previous two years with a World title match. You don’t have a random World title contest on Raw in the middle of the show like it’s some mid-card match. You don’t have the United States champion lose every non-title match he is in, and then leave him off your biggest show of the year (not to mention Raw the next night). It’s not hard — just do the opposite of what they’ve been doing, let the challengers have more microphone time to put over how important the quest for those titles is to them, and you’re well on your way to making them mean something again.
Q: With The Rock being injured at WrestleMania, do you think he will stop wrestling altogether so injuries in the ring don’t interfere with his acting career? I know a lot of people hate on Rock for coming back, but I have really liked having him back and hope he has at least a few more matches. – Jake from Long Island, NY
A: Nobody knows for sure, probably not even Rock. My gut tells me he’ll be at WrestleMania next year, so we haven’t seen the last of him. I wouldn’t expect much more out of him than Mania at this point.
Q: I think [Chris] Jericho is doing an extremely important job building up new guys. He returns to wrestling for a few months, helps a new guy and leaves. Pretty much charity work, but with decent payment. What do you think about his contribution? – Nisim Levi
A: He’s been the MVP of WWE since his return at the Royal Rumble. He’s had terrific matches on TV, can play any role you ask of him and has no problem working with younger guys and putting them over if it’s good for business. His contribution has been huge.
Q: Is Fandango a made man thanks to that live crowd and [Chris] Jericho? He’s in a perfect spot now and really has no safety net. Do you see him making the most of his opportunity? – Tim from Pennsylvania
A: Well, his theme music is certainly over. Let’s not mistake that for meaning Fandango himself is suddenly a made man. He’s still saddled with a ridiculous gimmick, but aside from that, they’re giving him every opportunity to succeed. You can’t get any better than working with Jericho. It worked for John Cena early in his career. Ball’s in his court now.
Q: I have a question about WrestleMania 30 next year. With the rumored matches being Rock vs. Brock Lesnar, Undertaker vs. John Cena and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs CM Punk, which match should be the main event? – Joe S.
A: I have serious doubts we’re ever going to see Austin vs. Punk at this point. That said, I’m torn on this one. I’ve always said if Austin decides to return for a match with Punk, it should headline. And really, it’s probably Punk’s only chance of getting his elusive Mania main event. But The Streak has become larger than anything else at WrestleMania. Undertaker only has a finite number of matches left in him… who knows, next year in New Orleans could be his swan song. John Cena is the absolute perfect opponent for him, the only man who could create serious doubt about the outcome and have the fans ready to riot if he wins. Both matches are deserving, but for me, Undertaker vs. Cena has to headline.
Paul Heyman was recently interviewed by Brian Soscia. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
“I’d fire the McMahons immediately.”
“How could you look at CM Punk and not think that he has the it factor? I don’t think I’m any great visionary or genius because I saw something in CM Punk, I think everyone else is a stupid schmuck for not seeing it in CM Punk. They’re blind. I mean truly, in the land of the blind the one eyed man is king and if you can’t spot that CM Punk is magic from the moment he walks in the door then you’re reading a playbook from an antiquated writer.”
“The very next week [following the Apollo and Martinez vs. Love Brothers match] they were replaced on television by Vince McMahon’s father’s television show and I saw Superstar Billy Graham do one interview and I was blown away by it. I realized that that man does not work for a living. I said I don’t want to work for a living either. I want to talk s*** on TV like Superstar Billy Graham. That’s what I get to do for a living now.”
“The ECW audience itself. The audience was the biggest star. We played to them and for a reason. They were the greatest performers we had. I mean, who else would have thought about actually chanting the name of the promotion? We didn’t come up with that. They did. Who else thought of then screaming out the name of the company and literally fighting our battles for us? We didn’t ask them to do it. They volunteered to. We didn’t get on pay per view on our own merits. We got on pay per view because the audience got us on. The greatest creation of ECW was the ECW audience.”
Tonight’s episode of WWE RAW emanates live from the Bi-Lo Center in Greenville, South Carolina. With the dust settled from WrestleMania 29, the road to Extreme Rules (5/19) begins. Here are the major items to look forward to heading into the show:
– After taking a week off last week, CM Punk returns to RAW tonight to address his loss to The Undertaker at WrestleMania.
– The WWE title picture was shaken up last week, with Mark Henry confronting John Cena at the start of the show and Ryback laying out the WWE Champion at the end of the show. WWE publicly stated that The Rock is the #1 contender, however his injury and movie schedule will likely result in Ryback, Mark Henry or both challenging Cena at Extreme Rules.
– New World Heavyweight champion Dolph Ziggler will be in the house, as will The Shield. Following their confrontation with The Undertaker and Team Hell No last week, The Shield is expected to begin a feud with the WWE tag team champions. Plus – will the “Fandangoing” phenomenon continue?
The advertised dark match main event for tonight will see Ryback and Dolph Ziggler challenging John Cena and Alberto Del Rio.
– As you can imagine, WWE is thrilled with the exposure that Fandango and his theme song have been getting over the past week. WWE has been pushing the Fandango Revolution on Twitter, asking fans and popular brands to take the “Fandango challenge” and upload video of them Fandangoing. They are also encouraging fans to download Fandango’s theme song, ChaChaLaLa, from iTunes and make it their ringtones.
– Fandango’s theme song, ChaChaLaLa, has been played at several professional sporting events over the past week, including games for the Buffalo Sabres NHL team and the UK’s Everton Football Club.
– BuzzFeed.com has an article up about Fandango’s entrance theme racing up the Billboard charts. FOXNews.com also has an article up looking at the Fandangoing craze.
– Fandango tweeted this to the Houston Texans cheerleaders for their video we posted earlier this week [view here]:
I would like to personally thank all the TX Cheerleaders for all the support. Ill b holding private dance lessons in Houston in May. #hugs
— Dango (@DirtyDangoCurty) April 13, 2013
– Fandango was referenced in the end credits of VH-1?s show Best Week Ever. Check out the video below via the show’s Twitter and Vine accounts:
#Fandangoing in the end credits. @WWE @WWEFandango #BestWeekEver https://t.co/nWK416Mdp1
— BestWeekEver (@BestWeekEver) April 13, 2013
We’ve got another update on the story of Kevin Nash calling out Top Rope Wrestling for not paying him and Sean Waltman for a recent appearance (previous update). Kevin Nash tweeted the following on Sunday night, explaining that Top Rope was not at fault for the situation:
https://twitter.com/RealKevinNash/statuses/323626722757054465
Top Rope also issued the following statement in response to Kevin Nash clearing them from being at fault:
“Kevin Nash has corrected the record regarding Top Rope Promotions on Twitter (@realkevinnash) with respect to payment issues at Night of the Superstars. We have been in contact with Kevin by email to thank him for clearing up what we both agreed was a misunderstanding. We look forward to being able to putting our focus on building upon what was a very successful house show at Night of the Superstars last night.”
Eric Bischoff was interviewed by Brian Thompson of the Neck Breaker Podcast. Here are some highlights:
“Oh, sure. I mean, anyone that says they don’t is probably lying to themselves or intentionally lying to somebody else. I for one read them and I read them for entertainment because it amazes me how small minded or uneducated a lot of these supposed wrestling experts, or people that put themselves out as experts, are and how far off the mark they are about so many of the things that they write and the positions they take. I also read them because a lot of times, things leak from inside of the office and you need to be aware of what’s out there in the universe when there are certain things you don’t want out there. Whether it’s a story line or a talent issue, or a direction that you’re going. So, I monitor it simply to make sure the things I deem [secret] need to stay inside and part of story, part of character and part of talent development do so. And when they don’t we’re pretty hard to find out why not and the reason for that leak. But ya, it happens. I’m sure for some people more than others, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t check them on a regular basis.”
“It’s impossible to answer with any credibility because there’s just no way of knowing. Had we had the television, had we had the financial backing, the way we did by the way. It wasn’t a question as to whether or not we were going to get the financial backing. We had it. That wasn’t the reason why we didn’t acquire WCW. The reason we didn’t acquire WCW is an incoming, rotating door, new head of Turner at that time, took prime time television literally out of the deal that we had already negotiated. Once that happened there was no way to make any sense of it. It was really just a video library and some ring mats. There’s no way of knowing. I can tell you what I would have liked to happen, but who knows what would have happened.”
“That’s hard. I have a lot of respect for the folks over at WWE and I have a ton of respect for what they’ve accomplished within the industry. So for me to take an adverse position on anything they’re doing, quite frankly I’d be thrilled with just about any of their mistakes at this point. [laughter] When I look at the television product, and again you have to look at what we do and what they do within context, meaning they’re on probably the number two or three network that averages more than likely 3 million viewers all week long in prime time. We’re on a smaller network. They’ve got a budget of probably, and I’m guessing, I don’t know this, but they’ve got a budget of probably 6, 7 maybe even 800,000 an episode to work with. We have a fraction of a fraction of that. They’re a 30 plus year old company that’s been around for a long long time. It’s got a lot of brand affinity and history and relationship with generations of wrestling fans around the country and around the world. TNA has been around they say ten years, but probably really seven or eight as a viable company. So you can’t really compare. It’s not apples to apples.
“That being said, when I look at the way we tell our stories, I, along with my partner Jason Hervey, have a very successful television production company, one of the more successful ones in Hollywood and we have since 2003. We produce shows for every major cable network and a few of the bigger networks like NBC. We have a fairly good knowledge of television and how it works and the audience and what the networks are looking for. One of the advantages I think TNA has with BHE [his company], myself and Jason, is that we’re able to bring things that work in other formats, particularly in reality, and integrate them into a wrestling format. The wrestling format has pretty much been the same for the last 15 years and prior to that it was the same for 30 years. Now we’re changing things. We’re adding more reality. If you look at the Aces and Eights story, that story from conception to what you saw last night is over a year old and while along the way we’ve had to bob an weave a little bit, make some changes due to circumstances, some of them out of our control, whether they be injuries, talent contract issues or whatever, for the most part we’ve been able to keep that story very on the rails, very episodic.
“If you saw the show last night [with Bully Ray’s explanation about joining Aces & Eights], for the first time ever, we’re taking the audience back and showing them what they missed. Not that they may not have tuned in, but they may not have realized how that story was unfolding before their eyes. It’s a little bit like putting on a magic show and then taking people backstage and showing them just a little bit of the magic. We didn’t show them all the magic. We didn’t get into all of the nuance and detail because there’s some of it that we’re still going to reveal; we didn’t lay everything out there last night. But that’s never been done before. We’re essentially telling or teaching the viewers how to watch our show because what we’re doing and the way we’re telling our stories is different than what we used to do and it’s certainly different than what WWE does. As in any program, it doesn’t matter what it is, you have to train the viewer or guide the viewer along the way to help them really understand where those changes are and how to watch the show. Hopefully now viewers will start watching for little nuance within a story. They’ll start looking for the bobs and the weaves and looking for the depth of the story that was actually created, as opposed to grading a dropkick or talking about a hurricanrana.
“It’s time that the wrestling product evolves and becomes much more episodic as well as more character driven, but in a real way. Not just pay lip service to it, because everybody pays lip service to it. We’ve done it. We’re building long term arcs and we take those long term arcs and create weekly bibles. And we take those weekly bibles and they’re the basis and the outline of every format. We plan our shows six months in advance. I don’t care what anybody says, that doesn’t happen anywhere else. It’s certainly not happening in the WWE and anybody that says it is is lying through their teeth. We know enough people there on the creative side of things to know how that process works and it’s not what we’re doing. Now, they’re having tremendous success doing not what we’re doing [laughter] so more power to them, but you’re asking me what we’re doing differently and I think the way we tell our stories, the way we’re trying to help our audience along to how to appreciate and watch those stories, as well as providing great wrestling action. I think that’s what we’re doing differently.”
“My goal isn’t as much personal achievement in TNA because quite frankly my role is such that I’m not positioned to achieve much on a personal basis or a professional basis, individually within TNA. I’m a support mechanism. I oversee to a large degree creative, along with Bruce Pritchard. I enjoy the hell out of working with the staff that we have. We’re looking forward to bringing in some more people. I really like teaching them the thing’s I’ve learned, not only from the wrestling business, but the way to present television, the way to present story, the way to present character that’s new and different than the way we’ve always done it in wrestling. I get a big kick out of that. It’s very rewarding for me to work with those guys and watch them grow.”
Mickie James spoke with Phil Allely of FameMagazine.co.uk about her new country music video. Here is what she said:
“There are ton of parallels as far as your confidence and your ability to be able to tell a story, both within wrestling and within music. With wrestling, you’re running on raw passion and adrenaline. With music, your emotions are more present and your heart goes more into it.
“This is my first video, so it was wonderful to have so many of my friends join me in front of the camera and the fact that Trish and Nick took time out of their schedules to take part in it made it something very special.”
“I wanted to create a video that would really showcase this song for my fans – and Blake did a brilliant job helping me bring that to life.”
DOWNLOAD THE PODCAST HERE:
Solomonster Sounds Off (Episode 269)
*right-click, “Save As”, or stream it!
Est. Runtime: 1 hour, 36 minutes
Solomonster is back this week with a FULL post-WrestleMania wrapup, including live thoughts from MetLife Stadium, which of the three Mania main events completely sucked the life right out of the crowd, THE MIGHTY IZOD CENTER on Monday night and how it compared to Miami last year, why the crowd may have turned on Orton vs. Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler finally WINS THE BIG ONE, a rant on disrespectful fans at the Hall of Fame, Marty Jannetty wrestles for Chikara but gets caught stealing merch at WrestleCon, Jay Briscoe wins the ROH World title and Adam Pearce gets cut from TNA’s Gut Check. Yeah, not happy about that one.
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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 said about:
Last Week’s Rowdy Crowd At RAW: “Speaking of reactions, the live events, RAWS, Smackdown, and the PPVs are the places fans should express themselves and not, as I wrote about recently, at an event like the WWE Hall of Fame. The boorish behavior of a loud, perhaps inebriated, minority of male fans is inexcusable and, believe me, I’ve heard all the excuses since writing about some of the attendees who acted like morons at the 2013 #WWEHOF Induction Ceremony. I see this behavior as a total lack of respect for all involved in the process not just those being jeered. Finally, the “we pay our money, so we can act any way that we choose” excuse is laughable….and embarrassing.”
Ryback Attacking Cena: “Just because @Ryback22 is hungry for the WWE Title and the money that comes along with it why does that motive make the powerhouse a villain? Since when did ambition make one an antagonist. Antagonist display a variety of common traits, non of which I have seen yet, I stress yet, from Ryback. I do like the apparent pairing of Ryback vs. John Cena and where this matter may be heading. To me, it certainly feels fresh even though some will take exception to the fact that Cena is in the equation. It doesn’t both me and I see this rivalry selling tickets and producing a reaction in the arenas.”
Steve Austin’s Thoughts on Fandango: “@steveaustinBSR predicts that @WWEFandango will be IC Champion within a few months. It might not take that long but I could also see Fandango winning the US Title as well at some point. Stars become stars over the long haul and even though Fandango has had an amazing few weeks and change as it relates to recognition, etc, it’s how he does long term that writes his story. If Fandango can continue to grow, a key role at WM30 could be in his future and that’s generally considered the yard stick.”
Scott Hall joined Inside The Ropes this past Thursday to talk about getting sober and his career in professional wrestling. Highlights from the interview are as follows:
“I don’t get to watch a lot of WWE, but through this internet thing, Some people comment about a guy becoming the World Champ or the US champ and a couple of weeks later he’s down the card in the opening match. I think that kills the image of being a top guy. But I guess the promoters, the guys in the WWE calling the shots are seeing it like ‘We’re giving you a chance and if you don’t produce, you don’t produce and back down you go’ I’ve talked to Cody about it a lot and he’s in no hurry to go there. He’d rather be seasoned and polished before he makes a move like that.”
“We had no idea who it was going to be. The whole third guy thing came up by accident. I remember Kev and I called Bret and I spoke to him, Kev spoke to him and we told him it was really fun working at WCW. It was really laid back, guaranteed money, it was easy. We were so used to being in a shark tank in New York. Coming to Atlanta was like being in a country club. It was really tame in the locker room in WCW compared to New York. We told Bret he should come down. Bischoff was interested, he was offering him a pretty sweet deal but Bret wasn’t interested. We wanted it to be Hulk, but Hulk had creative control in his contract so he didn’t have to do anything he didn’t want to do. We went to the ring, we hadn’t even met Hulk yet, I met him briefly at WrestleMania 9 but I didn’t know Hulk, we actually went to the ring in Daytona and Hogan wasn’t even there yet. He was on a jet, flying cross country from shooting a movie. Bischoff wanted it to be Hulk but before we went out, Bischoff told us “If Hulk doesn’t show, I’m gonna send out Sting.”
“I didn’t have any purpose in my life. My goal had been to be a top star in wrestling and I did that. Then I thought the natural progression would be me working in the office but it didn’t happen. I had a little heart episode about 7 weeks ago, I ended up in the hospital in intensive care for a week. The doctor commented ‘you’re a freak, you’re a genetic freak, your heart is normal again’ While I was there, there was this kid who brought me my food and he was a big wrestling fan, and the kid kept coming back and one time he whipped out his iPhone and he had the before and after pics of Jake The Snake. I’d heard things but never seen the pictures. I’d talked to Jake and I knew good things were happening and Dallas was at the root of it and I thought, Do I go to rehab again? Or do I try something else? Instead of treading water in rehab, I don’t know what triggered it and to be honest i don’t question it. I’m moving in the right direction finally, for the first time in so long. I’m 65 days now without any alcohol or drug. I’ve had longer times, but I’ve always been in a facility. I have no cravings and I feel great.”
To hear the full interview where Scott talks about breaking into the business, creating the Razor character in the WWF, working with Shawn and much more, click here.
– CM Punk and his girlfriend Amy “Lita” Dumas attended Saturday night’s UFC Ultimate Fighter (Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen) finale.
– As we reported last week, many fans who ordered the WrestleMania 29 feed at WWE.com and on the WWE App experienced technical difficulties throughout the show. After submitting complaints to WWE, the following message was sent out:
“Hello,
Thank you for your purchase of WrestleMania XXIX.We apologize for the technical difficulties that you experienced during the event. After further investigation, we are happy to see that you were able to view the event after the technical issues were resolved. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience, and hope you enjoyed the show.
Sincerely,
WWE Customer Support Team”
WWE’s new Mick Foley “For All Of Mankind” DVD/Blu-ray set will be released this Tuesday and can be purchased now at Amazon.com
DISC 1 – Documentary
A Happy Story
Idyllic Childhood
Huge Fan
Training School
Working the Road
WCW
Sting
Vader
ECW & Japan
Mankind
Dude Love
Hell in a Cell
Mr. Socko
The Rock
Author
Triple H
Commissioner
Going Away
Randy Orton
Making a Difference
Edge
Retirement
Stand Up Comic
A Complete One-Off
DISC 2
Jack Foley / Les Thornton vs. The British Bulldogs
Superstars September 1986
Alternate Commentary: Mick Foley & Joey Styles
Cactus Jack / Gary Young vs. Scott Steiner / Billy Travis
AWA All Star Wrestling October 1988
Cactus Jack Manson vs. Brickhouse Brown
Wild West Wrestling April 1989
Cactus Jack vs. Keith Hart
Power Hour March 1990
Submit or Surrender Match
Cactus Jack vs. Sting
Power Hour November 1991
Falls Count Anywhere Match
Cactus Jack vs. Van Hammer
Clash of the Champions XVIII 21st January, 1992
Barbed Wire Match
Cactus Jack vs. Sandman
Ft. Lauderdale, FL May 1995
Cactus Jack vs. Shane Douglas
CyberSlam February 1996
Alternate Commentary: Mick Foley & Joey Styles
Mankind vs. Rocky Maivia
IYH: Cold Day in Hell 11th May, 1997
Mankind vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley
IYH: Canadian Stampede 6th July, 1997
DISC 3
Dude Love vs. Rocky Maivia
RAW 17th November, 1997
Hell in a Cell
Mankind vs. Undertaker
King of the Ring 28th June, 1998
Alternate Commentary: Mick Foley & Joey Styles
WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Mankind / Kane vs. New Age Outlaws
RAW 13th July, 1998
WWE Championship Match
Mankind vs. The Rock
IYH: Rock Bottom 13th December, 1998
WWE Tag Team Championship
Mankind / The Rock vs. Triple H / Shane McMahon
SmackDown 2nd September, 1999
Mankind vs. Al Snow
SmackDown 16th December, 1999
Hell In A Cell – Retirement Match
Cactus Jack vs. Triple H
No Way Out 27th February, 2000
BLU-RAY EXCLUSIVES
Promos
Sting’s Birthday Cake
WCW World Championship Wrestling 5th October, 1991
No Ear Surgery
WCW Saturday Night 10th September, 1994
Barbie
RAW 5th April, 2004
Cutting Edge
SmackDown 1st August, 2008
Relevancy with CM Punk
RAW 24th September, 2012
Stories
Frank Foley
Snowed In
DeNucci Training School
Arrested in Italy?
Cactus Jack – The Name
Africa
Birth of Bang Bang
Losing Teeth
On the Spot
Wanted T-Shirt
Smoking Flight?
Anti-Hardcore ECW
Farewell in ECW
Vicious Suplex
Kevin Sullivan – Mentor
Rock ‘n Sock Jacket
Disneyland
Loogie Heard ‘Round the World
Commentator
Mr. Socko vs. The Cobra
Comedy Show
Favourite Mick Foley Persona
Sheamus Meets Mick
Christmas Cheer
Wardrobe
Thrifty Mick
Great Dad
Here’s Part 29 of our WrestleMania Retrospective series, looking back at past WrestleMania events as we march towards WrestleMania XXX on April 6th
WrestleMania 29 (2013)
Tagline: “NY/NJ”
Date: April 7, 2013
Venue: Metlife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Attendance: 80,676
The Undertaker’s Streak: 21-0 (Def. CM Punk)
WrestleMania 29 was the 29th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE, held on April 7, 2013 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. It drew 80,676 fans, which became the second highest attended event in the history of WWE after WrestleMania III.
The event was the fifth WrestleMania in the New York metropolitan area; WrestleMania I, X, and XX were held at Madison Square Garden, and a portion of WrestleMania 2 was held at Nassau Coliseum. It was the third WrestleMania held in the state of New Jersey after WrestleMania IV and V, both of which were held at Trump Plaza/Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
The Sheild
The Shield is a professional wrestling stable in WWE, consisting of Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns. The group debuted in November 2012 at the Survivor Series pay-per-view, and later declared their intention to fight what they perceive as injustice in WWE.
The Shield is portrayed as a terrorist gang that has no qualms with taking unjust, immoral measures to righting all the many wrongs they believe to be existent in the WWE. Often, the heel stable is seen ambushing, outnumbering, and skillfully exploiting chaos. Garbed in personal armor, each of the group members take on the appearance of riot police. The Shield’s trademarked promos are held in electrical rooms in which they hold a hand-held camcorder close up to their faces one by one and express their intentions. As another trademark of the stable, their entrances and exits are typically made by coming through the audience as opposed to using the aisle way. At the time of WrestleMania 29, the stable held the mark of being collectively undefeated in a scheduled match.
On the March 15 episode of SmackDown, The Shield challenged Randy Orton and Sheamus to a six-man tag team match at WrestleMania 29. Orton and Sheamus accepted, then recruited Ryback as their third man. Later that night, The Shield interfered in Ryback’s match with Mark Henry and delivered a triple powerbomb to Ryback before he was given three World’s Strongest Slams by Henry. The following Monday on Raw, Vickie Guerrero pulled Ryback from the six-man tag team match and put him in a singles match with Henry. After winning a match on the March 18 episode of Raw, Sheamus and Orton were about to be assaulted by The Shield, but then Big Show – who had also been brutalized by The Shield – stepped into the ring, causing The Shield to retreat, and on SmackDown! that week, Sheamus, Orton and Big Show were teamed together by Booker T to test their teamwork in a six-man tag match against 3MB, in which they were victorious. Following the match, The Shield came to the ring to confront the victors before retreating once again.
WrestleMania 29 began with The Shield (in their WrestleMania debut) taking on Sheamus, Big Show, and Randy Orton in a Six-Man Tag Team match. Sheamus and Roman Reigns started the match. Big Show ripped off Ambrose’s vest and chopped his chest. Sheamus also removed Seth Rollins’s vest. When The Shield went for their trademark Triple Power Bomb, Big Show speared all of them. When Sheamus tried to tag Big Show, Orton tagged himself in. As Orton tried to hit Ambrose with an RKO, Rollins came off the top rope and Orton caught him with an RKO in mid-air. Reigns speared Orton and Ambrose pinned him. After the match, Big Show knocked out Sheamus and Orton with punches.
The World Heavyweight Championship
On the February 1, 2013 episode of SmackDown, Swagger returned, and demanded that SmackDown General Manager Booker T put him in the Elimination Chamber match at Elimination Chamber. Later on that night, Swagger made his in-ring return by defeating Kofi Kingston. On the February 11 episode of Raw, Swagger debuted a new manager, Zeb Colter, who strongly advocated anti-immigrant beliefs; Swagger’s character was influenced by Colter to display similar traits. That same episode, Swagger defeated Zack Ryder to qualify for the Elimination Chamber match to determine the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship, which he won after last eliminating Randy Orton.
On February 19, Fox News and various right-wing commentators including Glenn Beck claimed that Swagger and Colter’s characters were a mockery of the Tea Party movement meant to “demonize” the Tea Party.WWE responded to the criticism by stating that they were incorporating “current events into [their] storylines” to “create compelling and relevant content for [their] audience” and that “this storyline in no way represents WWE’s political point of view”. WWE followed by having Swagger and Colter break character during a video to invite Beck to appear on Raw while justifying that the storyline was designed to elicit a crowd response for the protagonist, Alberto Del Rio, and the antagonists, Swagger and Colter, while remaining within a PG rating, unlike several high-rated scripted dramas that use murder and rape in their storylines. Beck rejected the invitation. On the March 18 episode of Raw, Swagger broke the ankle of Del Rio’s ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez after Rodriguez tried to save Del Rio from Swagger’s vicious assault.
During The Match at WrestleMania 29 between Jack Swagger and challenger Alberto Del Rio, Del Rio Irish whipped Swagger into the barricade. Swagger later nailed the Swagger Bomb, but Del Rio kicked out. Swagger then tried a gutwrench power bomb, but Del Rio kicked out again. Swagger worked Del Rio’s leg, then tried the Patriot Lock a few times, but Del Rio wouldn’t submit. Finally, Del Rio locked in the Cross Armbreaker and Swagger tapped out.
The Streak
On the March 4 episode of Raw, which celebrated “Old School Raw”, The Undertaker made his return to WWE by opening up the show, signaling any challenger to face him and try to end his undefeated WrestleMania streak at the event. CM Punk, Randy Orton, Big Show, and Sheamus all declared they wanted to face The Undertaker, prompting Raw’s Managing Supervisor Vickie Guerrero to set a Fatal Four-Way match among the four later that night. CM Punk won the match by pinning Orton, earning him the match against The Undertaker.
The following week, Undertaker and Kane’s former manager Paul Bearer died of respitory problems. The next week on Raw, Punk interrupted Paul Bearer’s tribute segment to boast that he would break Undertaker’s streak, which prompted Undertaker’s brother Kane to attack Punk, although Punk escaped. Later that night, Kane defeated Punk in a No Disqualification Match, before Undertaker came to the stage to perform his signature taunt with Kane to honour Bearer. Punk interrupted this by hitting Kane with The Undertaker’s urn, which prompted Undertaker to chase him away, and Punk escaped with the urn. On the March 18 episode of Raw, The Undertaker came to the ring to tell Punk he had one chance to return Undertaker’s property, but was interrupted by Punk on the TitanTron, who further boasted about being the one to “snap the streak” while nonchalantly tossing the urn in the air. Disguised as a druid, Punk further assaulted Undertaker on Raw and constantly beat him with the urn. Punk then boldly opened the urn and emptied its contents over a fallen Undertaker, thus igniting their feud.
At Wrestlemania 29, The Undertaker defended his 20-0 WrestleMania winning streak against CM Punk. Punk first tried to intimidate Undertaker, finally slapping him. Undertaker retaliated with a chokeslam, but Punk countered it with a kick to the head. Undertaker hit Punk with a big boot off the ropes and threw him outside, where they brawled. Undertaker cleared the Spanish announce table and hit Punk with a guillotine legdrop on the ring apron. Back in the ring, Undertaker attempted his signature move, Old School, but was pulled off the rope. Punk then “stole” the move and used it against Undertaker.
Undertaker attempted a big boot to the corner, but was caught on the top rope when Punk moved. Punk hit a flying axehandle. Punk attempted to steal Old School again, but was thrown from the ring. Paul Heyman stepped onto the apron and was almost chokeslammed, when Punk saved him with a flying clothesline, for a near-fall. Punk hit Undertaker with a running high knee and clothesline, and then a flying elbowdrop for another two-count. He then attempted a GTS, but Undertaker countered with a chokeslam, for a two-count, then Snake Eyes. Punk retaliated with a heel kick, and threw Undertaker outside.
Undertaker tried to Last Ride Punk through the table he’d cleared, but Punk countered and kicked him the back of the head. He laid Undertaker on the table, climbed the turnbuckle, and hit another flying elbowdrop. The table didn’t break. The referee began counting them out, and Undertaker made it back into the ring with one second to spare. As Punk attempted to pick him up from the mat, Undertaker suddenly locked in the Hell’s Gate. Punk countered into a bridging pin for another near-fall. He then secured the Anaconda Vice, but Undertaker powered through to his feet and tried another chokeslam, which Punk reversed into the GTS. Undertaker rebounded off the ropes and nailed Punk with the Tombstone, for a dramatic near-fall
Heyman was apparently trying to conjure the “power” of Undertaker’s urn at ringside, then stared at it in amazement when Punk kicked out. Back on their feet, the two traded blows, and the referee was knocked down in the chaos. Punk hit the high knee again, but Undertaker took advantage of the position by attempting the Last Ride. While Punk was on Undertaker’s shoulders, Heyman handed him the urn, which he struck on the back of Undertaker’s head.
Punk then “stole” the Tombstone and Undertaker’s traditional pinning style, for a two-count. Punk and Undertaker then traded near-finishers, with the Undertaker’s Tombstone finally winning out, securing his victory and improving his streak to 21 wins. He reclaimed the urn, and walked backstage, pausing on the ramp to raise his fist.
Triple H vs Brock Lesnar
On the February 25, 2013 episode of Raw, Triple H returned, brawling with a returning Brock Lesnar, who was about to attack Vince McMahon for a second time. During the brawl, Lesnar’s head was busted open and required 18 stitches. The following week on Raw, Triple H set out a challenge to Lesnar at WrestleMania. On the March 11 episode of Raw, after Lesnar attacked Triple H’s former D-Generation X members, the New Age Outlaws, Lesnar’s manager, Paul Heyman, said that Lesnar accepted Triple H’s challenge, but they would add the stipulations which would be revealed only after Triple H signed the contract. Triple H accepted the conditions, then Heyman revealed that the bout would be No Holds Barred and that if Triple H lost, he must retire from WWE. On the Raw before WrestleMania, Shawn Michaels returned to announce he would be in Triple H’s corner for the match to support him.
The next match on the card was the No Holds Barred match between Triple H and Brock Lesnar with the added stipulation that if Triple H lost, he would have to retire. Triple H and Lesnar quickly spilled to the floor of MetLife Stadium, pummeling each other with anything and everything within arm’s reach. Triple H sent Lesnar crashing into the ringside barricade, and he drove Triple H’s sternum into the announcers’ table in return. After a big brawl in and outside of the ring Triple H stole Brock Lesnar’s submission move, the Kimura lock and did it on Brock lesnar for a extended amount of time. In the end Triple H performed a pedigree on Brock lesnar (on the steel steps) and got him down for a 3 count.
John Cena vs The Rock
On January 27, 2013, John Cena won the 2013 Royal Rumble match, making him a two-time Rumble winner. In doing so, he earned a WWE Championship or World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania 29. The next night on the January 28 edition of Raw, he announced that he will challenge the reigning WWE Champion. At the Elimination Chamber event on February 17, 2013,
The Rock successfully defended the WWE Championship against CM Punk. The next night on Raw, Punk challenged Cena for his spot in the main event, and Cena accepted. Cena won the match on February 25, setting up a rematch of the previous year’s main event against The Rock.
The final match of WrestleMania 29 was The Main Event between John Cena and the WWE champion The Rock. After the bell had rang and the match had begun, Cena struck first, and it didn’t take long for The Rock to seize control of the contest, halting the Cena’s momentum and sending him scrambling outside the ring to regroup within the bout’s opening moments. The match went on while the Rock had control in the match hitting Cena with a few blows and punches. Later on in the match Cena attempted a five knuckleshuffle but failed to do it as the rock escaped. Later Cena came back locking The Rock in the STF but he reached the ropes forcing cena to break the hold. The Rock then hit Cena with a Rock Bottom but only for a 2 count.
Later on Cena recovered and they went to blows. The Rock went for the Rock Bottom, but Cena then reversed the move and countered with an AA, allowing him successfully pin the Rock. After the match Cena and The Rock shook hands as The Rock raised Cena’s hand as a sign of respect.
WrestleMania 29 Results
Pre-Show: The Miz defeated Wade Barrett (c) via submission for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
• The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns) defeated Randy Orton, Sheamus and The Big Show Six-Man Tag Team match
• Mark Henry defeated Ryback
• Team Hell No (c) (Kane and Daniel Bryan) defeated Dolph Ziggler and Big E Langston (with AJ Lee) Tag Team match for the WWE Tag Team Championship
• Fandango defeated Chris Jericho
• Alberto Del Rio (c) (with Ricardo Rodriguez) defeated Jack Swagger (with Zeb Colter) via Submission Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship
• The Undertaker defeated CM Punk (with Paul Heyman)
• Triple H (with Shawn Michaels) defeated Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman) No Holds Barred match; If Triple H had lost, he would have been forced to retire.
• John Cena defeated The Rock (c) for the WWE Championship
Hornswoggle was interviewed by Brian Soscia and his radio show. Here are some highlights from the interview.
What drew him into wrestling: “Ultimate Warrior. Everything about him. The entrance, the face paint, just his look, everything. I was the biggest Ultimate Warrior fan. [when Warrior beat Hogan] He won, that was the biggest night of my life. [when Warrior came back and saved Hogan] Saved Hogan, Wrestlemania 8. And then he had that match with Triple H at Wrestlemania 12. That didn’t turn out so well [for Triple H]. That’s like the last guy on my list that I need to meet. I heard he’s around. They always say don’t meet your heroes because you’ll be let down. I don’t want to be let down.”
If he is offended by the term midget wrestler: “That’s fully what I am. If you put little person wrestler on a poster, people are going to say oh is that kids? Is that weird, odd people? You put midget wrestling they know what it is. I am technically not a midget. I’m a dwarf, or a little person, but I consider myself a midget. I just don’t care enough to, I’m not going to waste anger on the word midget.”
If he still collects wrestling merchandise: “I still 100 percent [collect]. Me and Hawkins and Ryder have the collection wars and figure wars about who got what. I still have never owned the Legion of Doom Hasbro’s.”
Who would be on Hornswoggle’s wrestling Mt. Rushmore: “Cena, HBK, Taker and yeah, I want to say Bret Hart or Hogan but I can’t [decide]. It’s a legacy here, but I think Hogan because it would be the eras.”
Pictures of recently signed Irish wrestler Rebecca Knox.
On Monday’s post-WrestleMania 29 edition of WWE RAW, Dolph Ziggler finally cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and defeated Alberto Del Rio to capture the World Heavyweight championship. There have been many fans emailing in asking if Ziggler’s title win was the result of the extensive re-writes to the RAW script that occurred after The Rock had to pull out of the show due to injury.
According to PWInsider.com, the title change was not a last-minute decision and had been planned for weeks. The reason that Ziggler lost so many matches leading up to WrestleMania is because WWE wanted to set him up as a “vulnerable” champion, with many challengers already lined up because they just beat him.
As for the previous #1 contender, Jack Swagger, there were in fact plans for him to have a World Heavyweight title run. However, his DUI arrest put an end to that scenario.
(Source: PWInsider.com)
– The Rock tweeted the following message revealing if he’ll need surgery to repair the injuries sustained at WrestleMania 29:
Injury update: Dr's & I elected not to reattach tendons to my pelvis. They'll just scar up. Now I prep to shoot HERCULES #TheDemiGOD
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) April 13, 2013
– WWE returns to the Linco Stadium in Taipei, Taiwan on July 6th, 2013 at 6 PM. Tickets go on sale April 16th. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
– Check out the following video Bruno Sammartino posted on Youtube of himself at the WWE Hal of Fame after party:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=a42KJ0HJfr4
A press release was sent out this week announcing that WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels will be driving the official pace car at Saturday’s NRA 500 NASCAR event:
“After a career of driving opponents to the mat in professional wrestling rings with his signature ‘Sweet Chin Music’ finishing move, WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels will now grab the wheel of the ‘No Limits’ Wild Asphalt Circus Chevrolet Camaro Official Pace Car and lead the 43-car field to the green flag for Saturday evening’s NRA 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.”
HBK tweeted a photo of the pace car he’ll be driving today, which you can view above.
– Ryback tweeted the following about his road to the top of WWE:
https://twitter.com/Ryback22/status/322848120771862528
https://twitter.com/Ryback22/status/322849373870489601
– Friday’s WWE Smackdown scored a Trendrr.tv social media score of 79,964, down 6% for last week’s WrestleMania 29 “go home” show. Smackdown ranked #3 on cable for the night, behind “The Masters” on ESPN and the Celtics vs. Heat game on NBA TV.
– Here’s the latest episode of Backstage Fallout from last night’s WWE SmackDown:
– TNA and Delta Air lines are running a promotion where fans can win a trip to Slammiversary XI in Boston on Sunday, June 2nd. For full details, visit ImpactWrestling.com/Delta.
– Thursday’s episode of TNA Impact Wrestling television show drew a 0.93 rating with 1.17 million viewers – the lowest rated show of the year. Last week did a 1.1 rating with 1.43 million viewers.
Thursday’s Impact was a loaded show, featuring TNA World Champion Bully Ray vs. Jeff Hardy, a best of three falls tag title match, Gut Check and more.
