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The Miz Takes On Wade Barrett On “WWE Superstars”, WWE Looks Back At The “Wildest” WBF Stars

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– In battle of competitors that squared off on the WrestleMania XXIX Pre-Show, The Miz takes on Wade Barrett on this week’s episode of WWE Superstars. A clip from the match is available (view the full episode at WWEOnHulu.com).

Also, Zack Ryder takes on Antonio Cesaro.

– The official WWE website has published an article recalling seven of the “wildest” and most “outrageous” individuals to appear for the World Bodybuilding Federation, a bodybuilding organization founded in 1990 by Vince McMahon that lasted through 1992. Among those profiled with accompanying photos and video are “The Flexing Dutchman” Berry de May, “The Giant Killer” Danny Padilla, “Dark Angel” Aaron Baker, “The Executioner” Johnnie Morant, “The Phoenix” Vince Comerford, “California Personified” Troy Zuccolotto and short-lived organization’s lone champion, Gary Strydom.

WWE Looks Back At Dennis Rodman’s Time In WCW, Lex Luger, Diamond Dallas Page & Others Comment

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The official WWE website has published an article Friday profiling former NBA star Dennis Rodman’s attention-grabbing tenure with World Championship Wrestling in the late-1990’s. Diamond Dallas Page, Lex Luger, Kevin Sullivan, Dean Malenko and Billy Kidman are quoted in the piece.

The then-member of the Chicago Bulls joined forces with WCW in early-1997 while serving a suspension from the NBA for kicking a cameraman in the groin during a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He appeared alongside the New World Order at the March 1997 Uncensored pay-per-view event and made his wrestling debut four months later at Bash at the Beach, where he partnered with Hollywood Hogan in a loss to Luger and The Giant. According to accounts, Rodman tried in earnest to prepare for the match, with Sullivan stating that he spent time learning the ropes from Paul Orndorff and Jody Hamilton at the WCW’s training facility, the Power Plant.

“He was a natural,” Luger told WWE.com. “Man, he caught right on. I was almost envious. It took me a lot longer to even have a clue how to do this.”

Rodman laced up the wrestling boots again one year later as he squared off against Karl Malone at the 1998 Bash at the Beach, just one month after playing against him in the NBA Finals. Page brainstormed the idea of himself and Malone (who had become friends due to Malone’s wrestling fandom) facing Rodman and Hogan at the pay-per-view event, but admits that former WCW executive Eric Bischoff initially had another wrestler in mind as Malone’s tag team partner.

“I went over to Eric Bischoff’s house and I said, ‘I got this idea: Me and Malone against Rodman and Hogan,” Page said. “Bischoff thought about it and went, ‘Wow, Hogan and Rodman versus Savage and Malone.’ I said, ‘Maybe you didn’t hear me. Me and Malone, because this is my connection and I’m not giving it to anybody.’”

The 23-minute match, however, was poorly received, with WWE labeling the match as “not very good” and branding Rodman as “sluggish and, at times, barely conscious.”

“He’s probably one of the only people in the history of our business to fall asleep during a match, using the turnbuckle as a pillow,” said WWE producer Dean Malenko, who worked for WCW at the time.

WWE also acknowledges the end of Rodman’s wrestling career, which included matches against “Macho Man” Randy Savage and Curt Hennig, and winning the Hulk Hogan’s Celebrity Championship Wrestling reality show. To access the article, click here.

Matt Striker Discusses His WWE Release, What He Learned While Working For The Company

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Matt Striker appeared as a guest on the latest edition of Busted Open Radio, hosted by Doug Mortman and Dave LaGreca (Busted Open Radio airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Sirius 94 and XM 208), where he addressed his departure from WWE and a series of other topics. Highlights from the interview are as follows:

His feelings on being released from the WWE: “Yeah I mean it’s, it’s kind of like losing a family member. It’s kind of like breaking up with your best girl. It’s—it sucks. From what I understand, WWE is continually growing and wants to go in certain directions and invest in certain new directions and talents and for whatever the reasons were, I was not a part of that growth process. And I say this in all honesty; if the number one creative minds in the company that we all love says right now, you don’t fit in here. Even if I wanted to stomp my feet and cry and scream, I have to respect the fact that there’s a reason for everything. And if these minds are making this executive decision, who am I to counter that? I’m sure there is a reason for it. Maybe it’s something I’m not supposed to know. But either way, it’s the decision they made and I have no choice but to respect it.”

On what other possible growth did he need to do to remain with the company: “I think what, now in retrospect that I didn’t understand then was; an announcer’s role, an interviewer’s role is to just be vanilla. It’s like being a referee, we shouldn’t notice you. And I think that the difficult position I was in was try not to be noticed. And that’s difficult for me when passion just kind of oozes out of me. And for whatever the reason is, in the assignment I was given as an announcer or as a backstage interviewer, perhaps I stepped—just my shoulder too much into the spotlight. Or for whatever the reasons are, you know, that’s the case. And that’s it. I made a joke in another interview that in 6 months, I’m gonna get real fat, grow my hair out, grow a beard and go apply for a job in the WWE mailroom and see if anyone notices just so I can be around the product. Just kind of still hang out with the cool kids, so to speak.”

On if he knew or had a feeling he was going to be released: “Well looking back on it, yes and no. I think in my naivety and my ignorance I didn’t want to see the writing (on the wall). In the last month or six weeks, I wasn’t on any WWE programming at all. Whether it be the app or other than Superstars commentary. I was wondering if maybe there was something coming down the line, maybe they was a new idea to put me back as a manager or a competitor or whatever the case may be. But I just started to see that a lot of new faces were coming in and their marching orders were very different. And they towed that line and I always kind of seemed to, do my thing. You know I just couldn’t resist telling anyone about Nick Bockwinkel and Larry Zbyszko. And damn it no one cares.”

On the lack of history or knowledge of wrestling being integrated into the current product: “Guys you got to understand something. WWE is an entertainment company that uses wrestling as a vehicle, it’s not a wrestling company. And that’s something I had to learn. No one give’s a crap about Billy Robinson. No one cares about Mr. Saito and Mr. Fuji. All they care about is that John Cena has to take on Mark Henry and why. And I think that’s something that we all need to kind of understand.”

On whether there is a place for him in the WWE in the future: “I appreciate when people come up to me but the people who make that decision? The three main people don’t feel that way. Which also leads me to believe there has to be a reason. I may have done something that I don’t know about that has gotten back to the WWE and they are just trying to protect themselves and me by saying, you know what? Let’s cut ties with you for a little while. I don’t know. That’s the big thing but again when you’re a kid and your mom says you can’t go out and you say why and she says because I’m your mom and I say so. And that’s it.”

On his emotional ties to the WWE, how much he loves the company and if part of him wishes he was still there: “Oh yeah. I’m not gonna lie. (laughs) Are you kidding me? A little insight into the person that plays Matt Striker, I guess. I never had a lot of friends growing up. And I never really fit in anywhere. I have a lot of anxiety. And I’m antisocial. I’m aloof. And the only time I ever felt like I belonged anywhere was when I was amongst my brethren in the WWE because we’re all a little different. And a lot of people think well you’re Matt Striker, you should be the life of the party. I become frozen with anxiety in social situations cause I have nothing to say and I don’t fit in. So I think that is where the emotion comes. It’s the only place I really ever fit in was in WWE.”

On why he hasn’t used social media to rip on the WWE: “I have no reason to. I don’t have a genuine gripe and again, I have to humble myself and take a step back. You gotta understand. I was a guest in their home. A short little kid from Bayside, Queens has no business being in the WWE for almost eight years. And I’m aware of that so I have nothing bad to say even if they all come out and say you were the worst and we hope you die! I still have nothing bad to say about them. I’m just thankful for the opportunity they gave me. And it’s not so that six months from now maybe they’ll call me back. If they never, ever call me back, I still will say that I am thankful for the opportunity they gave me because let’s be honest. Did anyone think I was gonna last this long?”

Some of his favorite colleagues, memories with the WWE: “You have to understand for me, coming into the WWE, I had all of these heroes in my mind. And you get to meet some of these guys, and you go wow. Not only are you a hero of mine nut you’re actually a decent person. And you go on to become a friend, and you go on to become a mentor. And I’m speaking of William Regal in this regard. William Regal is one of my top five all-time favorite wrestlers. Ever, ever, ever, ever. EVER! And then I got to meet him. And then I got to work with him. And I got to learn from him. And it’s almost like when you meet your favorite ball player and he is a jerk. And as a kid you’re like oh god. That stinks. I met Keith Hernandez and he was an idiot. Versus…. I don’t know why I picked Keith Hernandez. Versus Wow. William Regal. And on top of that, the man who plays William Regal actually is a decent guy who becomes a friend? I mean that’s just–that anchors you to the ground because everything I learned from William Regal, I now can pass on to someone else. And do for them what a guy like William Regal did for me. Guys like Edge. Edge became one of my best buddies. My riding partner. You’re Edge! You’re a Hall of Famer! You’re a multi-time world heavyweight champion! You can go anywhere. You can wipe the bottom of your shoe with a guy like me. And yet, you’re my buddy? That’s the closest I will ever get to the Hall of Fame is being mentioned in Adam’s speech. And we’re buddies. And we talk about hockey and we go to the movies together when we were around. And we developed–Adam and Matt became friends. Striker and Edge, something entirely different. So you know there are a lot of guys that I developed a good connection with. It goes back to the fact that I can’t connect with anybody. I mean, I lost my dad five years ago, he was my best friend. I have no meaningful relationships in my life. My girlfriend hates my guts because I just can’t emotionally connect. It’s a void in me, it’s broken. But I was able to connect with a lot of people up at WWE.”

On his chemistry with Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler on commentary: “Well at first I think the direction was for me to spike the drink. Get out there and do your thing. Take over damn it. And then slowly but surely it’s almost like the teenager that talks back to his parents after a while and then when he’s 30 he comes back home and says Mom, Dad; you were right. I tried too hard to be what I thought was good and cool. And I keep going back to this. Again. NO ONE CARES ABOUT KEN PATERA. And it has no bearing on what’s going on here. And guys like Jerry Lawler, who have been doing this for 20 years, would try to sit me down and teach me. Listen. Speak in shorter sentences. Speak in sound bytes. Tell me stories. Make these Superstars on television. Make them three-dimensional. Make people care about them. But always remember who our viewers are. I was talking to guys like you. And people that listen to your show (Busted Open). But they are talking to the little kid wearing the John Cena shirt. And that was my fault and my disconnect for not being able to reach that fan base. In my opinion.”

On if the WWE used him to his full potential: “I think that it’s not for us to say what the full potential was. If the creative forces at WWE saw me as an annoying teacher who at some point gets his head taken off with a John Cena clothesline and that’s gonna help sell tickets for people to see John Cena face Ryback next week, then I am being used to my full potential. Was anyone going to believe me as the guy that could beat John Cena? If you saw John and I at a bar, would you really think that I could beat up John Cena? No. But you say the same thing about a guy like CM Punk. But then Punk gets on a microphone and damn it if you don’t believe everything that Phil says. Everything he says, he believes.”

What’s next for him: “Well I’m thankful that I have a lot of offers. I’m definitely going to explore the commercial, voice-over, hosting world. I also would like to somehow maybe get involved in sports. Maybe do some stunt work for some films. That is something that I always wanted to get involved in. I have some contacts for that. And if nothing else, I go back to my dad, who told me just do me a favor and go get your teaching degree that way if you blow your knee out tomorrow, you can always work. September’s coming around. There are six major universities within 20 miles of where I live. So I can get a job at a college, try and get a job at a high school. I’m thankful the WWE for what they taught me and now it’s my turn to go out onto the Indys when it is appropriate. And hopefully teach the new young guys that are coming up because somebody once did that for me. And if I can see one of these Indy guys on the WWE program one day, maybe I’ve done my service and contributed to the business.”

Wrestler Who Originally Portrayed Doink the Clown Dies – WWE Issues Statement

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F4Wonline.com and PWInsider.com reported this afternoon that Matt Osborne, who originally portrayed Doink the Clown on WWE programming in the early-1990’s, was found dead today by his girlfriend. WWE has issued a statement regarding his passing.

“Reports indicate that Matt Osborne, aka the original Doink the Clown, has passed away. A rugged brawler in promotions like Mid-South Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling, Osborne made a major impact in WWE under the greasepaint of a prankster named Doink — one of the most enduring personas of the early ’90s.

“WWE is saddened by the news of Osborne’s passing. Our deepest condolences go out to Osborne’s family, friends and fans.”

The sports-entertainment organization is celebrating Osborne’s time as Doink the Clown, with a a look at his greatest moments as well as a photo retrospective. WWE is also asking fans to share their memories of Doink the Clown on the WWE Classics Facebook page.

Osborne was 55-years-old.

Vince McMahon Reportedly Doesn’t “See Money” In Daniel Bryan

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During an interview two weeks ago with the Ministry of Slam podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels acknowledged a recent conversion he had with WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon where the 67-year-old said he doesn’t “see money” in a certain, unnamed WWE Superstar. According to sources within the sports-entertainment organization, that individual is Daniel Bryan.

As transcribed by the Pro Wrestling Torch (interview remarks available here), Michaels said, “I had a conversation a couple of weeks ago with the man in charge and we were talking about a certain individual and he goes, ‘I just don’t see money in him.’ And I said, ‘You said the same thing about me.’ He said, ‘I did not.’ I said, ‘Yes you did!’ (laughs) I said, ‘And it’s okay. It’s just one of those things.'”

Michaels compared McMahon’s views on the WWE Superstar to himself, as he believes he wasn’t viewed as a “prototypical main event guy” while he was rising the ranks of WWE in the early-1990’s.

“I wasn’t your prototypical—heck, I wasn’t anybody’s prototypical main event guy. And I knew that. So, you just do your absolute best,” said Michaels. “Yes, I was very scared and very worried, which had a lot to do with how bad I handled stuff because I spent a great deal of my career waiting for the other shoe to drop. Because it was a very real view of me and my ability and my talent. I’m a firm believer that talent does rise to the top, but you have to be patient. So, I spent a great deal of time worried, intimidated, and concerned that with each passing storyline, it might be the last one.”

A WWE source believes that with Bryan having a major role on Total Divas—premiering next month on E!—as the boyfriend of cast member Brie Bella, his standing in the organization is “safe” for the time being.

(source: F4WOnline.com)

Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton Fined By WWE For Chair Shot Exchange On Raw

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WWE announced Friday that Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton have been fined an undisclosed monetary amount for their chair shot exchange in a Street Fight on Monday’s Raw.

“We don’t allow chair shots to the head in WWE,” said Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE’s Executive Vice President, Talent and Live Events. “We understand it was in the heat of the moment but we take this very seriously and as a result, [Orton and Bryan] were fined.”

Orton offered comment on the fine, stating, “Trust me, it was enough.”

The Breakdown – Episode 13: The Vince McMahon Filter

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This week on The Breakdown, Steve goes on the defense for the WWE’s writing staff

Because Wrestling – Episode 103

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This week on Because Wrestling, we take a look at Matt Striker’s WWE departure, the latest on Reid Flair, we take a close look at an outstanding episode of Raw, and more!

Sound Off 280: The Return of RVD, Possible Summerslam Opponent and His Swipe at TNA

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Download Solomonster Sounds Off Episode 280 Here

Est. Runtime: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Solomonster talks the WWE return of Rob Van Dam, a possible Summerslam opponent for him, RVD’s swipe at TNA, the greatest promo of Mark Henry’s life, the latest on Daniel Bryan’s injury, his backstage confrontation with Triple H and why it was probably a good thing, Bo Dallas gets cheesy on NXT, getting The Bella Twins involved in a Cena/Bryan feud, three WWE superstars who could have been top names, why it sucks what TNA is doing (or isn’t doing) with Bobby Roode and Austin Aries, and Rey Mysterio goes under the knife again — is it time for him to retire? Plus, Food Network star Paula Deen gets canned for using racist language and we’re listing her top ten favorite TV shows.

Follow The Solomonster on Twitter and on Facebook and subscribe to the Sound Off in iTunes!

Are you an Android user? Get the free Sound Off app on your device by visiting the Google Play Store today!

Want your question on the air? Send feedback to [email protected].

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Solomonster Sounds Off by The Solomonster is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

The Breakdown – Episode 12: Swerving the Masses

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This week on The Breakdown, in honor of Mark Henry’s retirement swerve, Steve takes a look back at some of the most notorious swerves in pro wrestling.

Fandango Concussion Update, The Rock Sells Mansion For $500k Less Than He Wanted

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– There is said to be a lot of concern in WWE over Fandango’s recent concussion, since he already has suffered concussions in WWE prior to making his debut on the main roster.

– According to ContactMusic.com, The Rock has sold his Miami, CA mansion for $3 million, which is $500,000 less than the asking price.

Rock purchased the 13,154 square foot home from soccer player Vernon Carey last year for around $3.4 million.

The mansion has five bedrooms, seven baths, a large swimming pool, a home theater and more.

* PHOTOS of the MANSION The ROCK Just Sold – See Where THE ROCK Lived!

(Partial Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

CM Punk Gets Colt Cabana WWE Tryout, Natalya & Kidd’s Wedding On Total Divas

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– Former WWE Superstar Colt Cabana (known as Scotty Goldman during his brief run from 2007-2009) recently received a tryout with WWE to be a color commentator. At this time, there’s no word on whether he’ll be hired, but we do know the tryout was set up by his longtime friend, CM Punk.

– As reported earlier this month, WWE Diva Natalya is engaged to Tyson Kidd. WWE cameras were in Vegas last week for Natalya’s bachelorette party, recording footage for the Total Divas reality show. According to reports, the actual wedding will be taking place on the show as well. Since filming is currently underway and the show premieres this summer, it’s possible their wedding could be taking place very soon.

* PHOTO: WWE Divas Party In VEGAS For Natalya’s Bachelorette Party

TNA Impact Wrestling Preview: Bound For Glory Series Begins

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The following is TNA’s official preview for tonight’s episode of Impact Wrestling – LIVE from Peoria, Illinois at the Peoria Civic Center.

– Thursday’s IMPACT will feature the official start of the annual Bound For Glory Series – and ALL 12 participants will be in action on the huge broadcast! Based on fan votes at our website, either Jeff Hardy or Bobby Roode will get the first call-out to kick off the BFG Series! On Thursday, the annual competition begins, with one lucky superstar eventually winning a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship!

– “The Icon” Sting shocked the wrestling world by announcing he was forming a new MAIN EVENT MAFIA in TNA! Will Sting reveal more about his plans this Thursday to reform one of the most dominant groups in TNA history? Who will be the members of Sting’s Main Event Mafia? Don’t miss more from Sting on IMPACT!

– TNA Knockouts executive Brooke Hogan will give a “State Of The Knockouts Division” address on Thursday night! What does Brooke have planned for the ladies of TNA?

– Plus, Thursday’s OPEN FIGHT NIGHT edition of IMPACT will feature more of your favorite superstars, including Hulk Hogan, World Heavyweight Champion Bully Ray and the Aces and Eights, Kurt Angle, World Tag Team Champions “Cowboy” James Storm and Gunner, X Division Champion Chris Sabin, AJ Styles and many more.

* Rumored Bound For Glory Series WINNNER & News On Hulk Hogan Wrestling Again

Brock Lesnar’s RAW Appearance Kept Secret, Main Event & NXT Previews

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– Here’s a preview for this week’s episode of WWE NXT on Hulu Plus:

* Bray Wyatt vs. Adrian Neville
* Divas Championship Tournament Match: Sasha Banks vs. Summer Rae.
* Sami Zayn vs. Angelo Dawkins
* Xavier Woods vs. Jake Carter

– The following matches will be taking place on tonight’s WWE Main Event broadcast:

* The Shield vs. The Usos & Justin Gabriel
* Sin Cara vs. Antonio Cesaro
* Aksana vs. Kaitlyn

– Brock Lesnar made a surprisre return to WWE on Monday’s RAW, attacking CM Punk in the final segment of the show. According to reliable sources in WWE, Lesnar’s return was kept secret from most people in the company – with Lesnar not arriving at the arena until mid-way through the second hour of the show. Lesnar’s segment where he F5’d CM Punk was not even in the final script for RAW.

* BACKSTAGE FIGHT at RAW Between TRIPLE H & DANIEL BRYAN – Full Details

Superstars Tweet #RIPHayleigh after loss of a WWE Fan

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Hayleigh Kaur and her mother in London who died overnight in a house fire in South East London with her Twitter handle @TrueLoveAlwaysX. She was a huge WWE fan and known by many of the WWE Talent for waiting at airports, arenas, and hotels sometimes for hours with her friends to get a chance to meet her favorite superstars. WWE personalities have started to post their messages of condolence via Twitter

Full details on the house fire are here

The following tweet was Retweeted by Dolph Ziggler

Backstage Argument Between Daniel Bryan & Triple H, Final RAW Rating

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– Monday’s WWE RAW, the night after Payback, drew a 3.0 rating cable rating and averaged 4.15 million viewers. The rating was even from last week, while viewership was up from last week’s audience of 3.99 million viewers. Here’s the hourly breakdown for this week:

  • Hour 1: 4.03 million
  • Hour 2: 4.26 million
  • Hour 3: 4.17 million

– Daniel Bryan’s injury on RAW (a stinger) caused the finish of his match against Randy Orton to be changed. the original plan was for Daniel Bryan to go over clean, however, the injury resulted in the match finish being changed on the fly.

According to Mike Johnson of PWInsider, there was a heated argument backstage, with Daniel Bryan and Triple H yelling at each other in the gorilla position. Bryan was said to be irate with the match being called off – which surprised many observers, since Bryan is usually very soft spoken. The two later apologized to each other.

Antonio Cesaro & Zeb Colter Comment On Their New Alliance

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– Today’s wrestling birthdays include Big Vito (49) and Larry “The Axe” Hennig (77).

– Tickets for WWE’s Night of Champions pay-per-view on September 15th from the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan go on sale this Saturday at 10am EST at Ticketmaster.com and the arena box office.

– Antonio Cesaro tweeted and touted about his new alliance with Zeb Colter last night:

Zeb Colter wrote:

* When CM PUNK vs. BROCK LESNAR Will Happen & Details On RVD’s WWE Contract

Photos: Kaitlyn Wardrobe Malfunction From RAW (18+)

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WWE Diva Kaitlyn sufferd a wardrobe malfunction on WWE RAW (6/17). Warning: The following gallery contains some nudity and should only be viewed by people 18+.

Randy Orton Talks Cena, Punk, His Suspensions & More, SmackDown Viewership

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– Last Friday’s edition of WWE SmackDown, which featured the first televised loss of The Shield, averaged 2.32 million viewers, down from the previous week’s 2.68. (Source: Zap2It.com)

– WWE superstar Randy Orton was recently interviewed by Sam Roberts and spoke about his current role in WWE, his past suspensions, injuries, his thoughts on John Cena & CM Punk and more. Here’s video of the appearance:

Breaking News: Mark Henry Retiring Tonight On RAW

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Mark Henry Retiring – The End Of An Era

WWE Superstar Mark Henry, whom has been rumored to be retiring from the wrestling industry for quite some time now, revealed on Twitter this afternoon that he does in fact plan to retire tonight on RAW.

Henry tweeted The Rock, Snoop Dogg, Magic Johnson, Mike Epps, Jay Mohr and others on Monday afternoon, urging them to tune in to his retirement announcement tonight on RAW.

He also explained his decision, nothing that “father time” has caught up with him:

“Whether you loved or hated me in my career.I was all ways there for you.i appreciate u all. Good or bad I will live forever with u the fans. I found a place. “

 

“#raw #wwe I have spoke to my family and hope to talk to all of you fans tomorrow live from Grand Rapids. Guys Father Time is undefeated.”

 

“I know everyone wants answers,to emotional give me a few days.”

Henry has been a WWE superstar since 1996. Take a look at the following list of Mark Henry’s career accomplishments, courtesy of Wikipedia.com:

Mark Jerrold Henry (born June 12, 1971) is an American powerlifter, Olympic weightlifter, strongman, and professional wrestler who is currently signed to WWE. He was two times an Olympian in 1992 and 1996 and a Silver, Gold and Bronze Medalist at the Pan American Games in 1995.

As a powerlifter, he was drug-free World Champion (1995) and a two-time U.S. National Champion (1995 and 1997) as well as an all-time raw world record holder in the squat and deadlift. Currently, he still holds the WDFPF world records in the squat, deadlift and total and the USAPL American record in the deadlift since 1995. He is credited for the biggest raw squat and raw powerlifting total ever performed by a drug tested athlete, regardless of weight class, as well as the greatest raw deadlift by an American citizen.

In weightlifting, Henry was a three-time U.S. National Weightlifting Champion (1993, 1994, 1996), an American Open winner (1992), a two-time U.S. Olympic Festival Champion (1993 and 1994) and a NACAC champion (1996). He holds all three Senior US American weightlifting records of 1993-1997. In 2002 he won the first annual Arnold Strongman Classic.

Since joining the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE) in 1996, he has become a one-time WWF European Champion and a two-time world champion, having held the ECW Championship in 2008, and the World Heavyweight Championship in 2011.

Comment Below and tell us what you think about Mark Henry retiring.

Dolph Ziggler Not Cleared To Wrestle, Heyman/Punk T-Shirt Combo Deal

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WWE.com is running a sale, with $5 off a CM Punk & Paul Heyman t-shirt combo.

– WWE has released an update on Dolph Ziggler’s medical condition – noting that the former (ugh) World Heavyweight champion is not currently cleared to compete after his match with Albero Del Rio at last night’s Payback pay-per-view:

“After suffering a brutal assault at the hands of Alberto Del Rio during their World Heavyweight Championship Match at WWE Payback, it has been determined that Dolph Ziggler is not medically cleared to compete at this time.”

* Backstage News For Tonight’s WWE RAW & New Details On RVD’s New WWE Contract

Update On The Rock’s Movie Hercules, Sunny Joining Another HOF, Roberts Congratulates Axel

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– Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson tweeted the following on Monday about his new movie Hercules:

– WWE ring announcer Justin Roberts tweeted a congratulatory message to WWE’s new Intercontinental Champion, Curtis Axel:

– WWE Hall of Famer Tammy “Sunny” Sytch will be inducted into the New England Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame this weekend in Fairhaven, Massachussetts, the third Hall of Fame she’ll be a part of.

* Recent Pictures of SUNNY – See How She Looks After Jail

Speculation On Whether Mark Henry Is Retiring, The Shield Added To Chicago Comic Con

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– WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has commented on speculation that Mark Henry will be retiring soon. In response to a fan asking about Henry’s possible retirement, JR tweeted:

WWE.com also has an article up sepculating whether Mark Henry’s recent cryptic tweets mean he’s retiring soon.

– WWE Superstars The Shield have been added to the upcoming “Wizard World Comic Con” convention in Chicago in August. Also appearing are CM Punk, Dolph Ziggler, AJ Lee and Ricky Steamboat. For full details on their apperance schedules, visit WizardWorld.com.

* Find Out If MARK HENRY Is Really Retiring & Details On RVD’s New WWE Contract

Ric Flair Comments On Reid’s Autopsy Report, TNA Executive Released

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– TNA let go Mike Weber, their Vice President of Marketing, last week. He had been with the company since 2008 and previously worked for WWE and WCW.

– WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair spoke to the Charlotte Observer over the weekend about the news that his son’s autopsy report confirmed that he died from a heroin overdose. Flair said:

“I loved him… He should have been on top of the world, but he was fighting a battle he couldn’t win. I hope people remember his laugh, his spirit and his love of life.”

Reid’s mother, Beth, said “I knew his fears and I knew how to help him,” Beth said. “All he wanted to do was stay busy, train and keep his mind off the old triggers, then go back to Japan. He was doing really well there. He was happy.”

* News On MARK HENRY RETIRING, CM Punk’s Possibly Turning Babyface, RVD’s Return

John Cena Comments On Hot Payback Crowd, News On WWE Concussions

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– WWE Champion John Cena tweeted the following in reaction to the hot crowd at Payback:

Yahoo.com has a guest editorial up looking the recent changes to WWE’s policy on concussions & post-concussion symptoms:

Since early May, Dolph Ziggler, Fandango, and Tamina Snuka have each suffered concussions in WWE matches. These are real concussions, not kayfabe injuries invented by the WWE creative team to further storylines. Dolph Ziggler missed a pay-per-view and was out of action for over a month with his concussion. Fandango and Snuka have not wrestled since their head injuries.

If the WWE’s treatment of concussions sounds familiar, that’s because it parallels similar trends in other sports, particularly the NFL. Former players who suffered concussions and are now dealing with their after-effects are suing the NFL. At the same time, the NFL is levying severe punishments against players whose actions could lead to concussions.

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