– Vince McMahon, The Miz, R-Truth, Eve Torres and Layla returned to the United States on Tuesday evening after visiting US troops stationed abroad in the Middle East.
– Chris Jericho’s metal band Fozzy will be performing tonight in Manchester, UK tonight. For more information, visit FozzyRock.com.
– Speaking of Jericho, he was recently interviewed by Wrestling Voice Radio:
During Fozzy’s European Tour in late 2012, frontman Chris Jericho sat down with Wrestling Voice Radio’s Duane Doogan to discuss a host of subjects from the band’s latest album, to touring, to his current WWE status and more.
– WWE returns to Little Rock, Arkansas for a SmackDown taping at the Verizon Arena on Tuesday, February 12, 2013. Tickets go on sale this Friday at 10am at Ticketmaster and the arena box office.
– KATC.com has an article up looking at WWE fans who camped out at Red’s Fitness Center in Louisiana to meet WWE superstars training at the gym prior to to that night’s WWE RAW. One fan who got to the gym at 6am to see the WWE superstars doing their morning workouts said, “It’s a hobby. I love getting my wrestling autographs and I’ve been doing it for six years.”
– Vickie Guerrero tweeted that Tamina Snuka will be joining her at this weekend’s WWE live events and talked about surrounding herself with good company:
– There were some technical difficulties at Tuesday night’s WWE TV tapings, including the fire alarm and sprinklers going off and lights going out in the arena. The incident took place in between the WWE Main Event and WWE Saturday Morning Slam tapings, with Ricardo Rodriguez tweeting:
So power goes out in entire arena and our amazing crew got everything sorted out ASAP! Show Must Go On. P.S. Kane's pyro >:( #NoWarning
MDI Secures IMPACT WRESTLING Superstars and Experiential Prizes for Exciting New Instant Games
MDI Entertainment, LLC, a subsidiary of Scientific Games Corporation, has signed an agreement with TNA Entertainment, LLC, dba IMPACT WRESTLING, to offer lotteries branded instant games featuring some of the biggest names and most recognizable imagery in professional wrestling today.
The agreement makes the names and likenesses of more than a dozen wrestling superstars, as well as the logos, marks and artwork of IMPACT WRESTLING, available to lotteries worldwide.
Stars like Hulk Hogan, Kurt Angle, Sting, Jeff Hardy, Matt Morgan and Bobby Roode are included, and can be used on instant tickets and promotional materials, as well as in television and radio commercials. They also are available for personal appearances and public service announcements to promote the good causes lottery games support.
“We are extremely pleased to have secured this license, and to be able to give lotteries so many noteworthy options to promote games associated with it,” said Steve Saferin, President, Properties Group and Chief Creative Officer for Scientific Games.
“In addition to providing the biggest names in wrestling today, IMPACT WRESTLING is offering extraordinary marketing support and incredible prize opportunities. This gives lotteries a chance to reach and inspire wrestling fans – including the often elusive 18-34 age group – in very powerful ways.”
IMPACT WRESTLING President Dixie Carter stated, “Working with MDI provides a new marketing platform for IMPACT WRESTLING to connect with our fans through the state lottery programs. Our fans avidly invest in our superstars as they appear on SPIKE TV every Thursday and travel the country on the IMPACT WRESTLING LIVE WORLD TOUR.”
IMPACT WRESTLING will work with MDI and lotteries to create 2nd Chance prizes that can include merchandise and trips where winners will be treated to a live taping of the IMPACT WRESTLING television show, a backstage tour and a chance to meet wrestling talent. “IMPACT WRESTLING” is a weekly, two-hour show appearing during prime time on SPIKE TV.
A “Contract-for-a-Day” prize also can be created, in which the winner will be given the trip, plus an on-camera cameo role to be included in an IMPACT WRESTLING pay-per-view live show.
– Independent wrestler Luke Hawx wrestled a dark match prior to Tuesday night’s WWE tapings from Bossier City, LA, losing to Santino Marella.
Hawx appeared on Monday’s RAW as one of the security guards that confronted Ryback at the beginning of the show and met with Paul Heyman backstage at the event.
– Longtime WWE employee Steve Lumbardi, best known as the Brooklyn Brawler, is now on Twitter at @brawlerreal.
– WWE Hall of Famer and NXT head trainer / authority figure Dusty Rhodes wrote on Twitter that he is celebrating 43 year in the wrestling business this week:
This week 43years in pro wrestling , thanks and to WWE giving me a place to teach ! Cody on the rehab going good . Dustin hard at work !
– The dark match main event that took place after Tuesday’s SmackDown tapings saw Sheamus defeat the Big Show by disqualification. The finish came after Big Show hit Sheamus with a steel chair. After the match, Sheamus leveled Show with the Brogue Kick.
WWE.com has a new interview up with injured superstar Cody Rhodes. Here are some highlights of what Rhodes said about:
The Extent of his Injury:”Well, honestly, the best way I’ve heard the injury described, is that I dodged a bullet. The trap tear is a grade two (on a scale of one to three), but I don’t need surgery — the tears will heal themselves over time with proper physical therapy. The separated shoulder is an old injury from amateur wrestling, and it’s basically the area that could have been considerably worse. I could have landed on my neck, but I turned just in time to land on my shoulder. The separated shoulder is where the most pain is and it’s the AC joint, but like I said, I dodged a bullet — no surgery.”
His Initial Reaction To The Injury: “I thought I broke my arm, and I was in a very bad position in the ring. You know, ring awareness is something I’ve always been fond of — having ring awareness, having mat awareness. Always knowing where I am at all times. Especially in a tag team situation, knowing if I’m on my side of the ring. I wasn’t. I was in enemy territory and Daniel Bryan had me wide open.”
“Actually, everything after Kane dropped me, I don’t remember. I remember hitting the mat one more time, and then I thought that I immediately tagged out, but watching back, there’s a whole period of a minute, a minute-and-a-half, where I faked out Daniel Bryan, who missed a headbutt and I just laid there. I didn’t know that — I thought I was much more cognizant than I was, but watching back I didn’t know that I was on the apron, I didn’t know that the doctor was tugging at my boots.”
When He Will Return To The Ring: “I am a quick healer and I can fight through pain, but I will not rush my return to the ring. There is no hard timeline for my return.”
WWE taped this week’s episode of WWE SmackDown on Tuesday night from Bossier City, Louisiana. Credit to prowrestling.net for these results:
John Cena came out. A replay from Raw was shown of his match with Dolph Ziggler. Cena made fun of Ziggler and his two minute title run. Alberto Del Rio came out to interrupt. Del Rio said Smackdown is his show. He said the last time they were in the ring together he destroyed Cena. Cena said he was interested in the main event, but since he was here he would have a match with Del Rio on the spot.
1. John Cena pinned Alberto Del Rio. Cena started off with an arm drag that threw Del Rio outside the ring. Del Rio snuck back in and kicked Cena. Del Rio dominated Cena early with punches and a suplex. Cena fought back and went for the AA, but Del Rio countered into an arm breaker. Del rio jumped from the top rope and missed, leading to the usual Cena moves and 5 Knuckle Shuffle.
Cena went for an AA, but Del Rio reversed into a Backstabber and a near fall. Cena reversed the armbar into the STF. Del Rio made it to the ropes. After more back and forth, Cena jumped from the top rope and hit the leg drop to the back of Del Rio’s head. Cena pinned him for the win.
As Cena was walking up the ramp celebrating, Dolph Ziggler came from behind and hit Cena with the Money in the Bank briefcase.
Cena and Booker T argued in the back because Cena wanted to attack Ziggler. Booker said Cena can do whatever he wants after Ziggler’s match with Sheamus.
2. The Great Khali (w/Hornswoggle) defeated David Otunga in 2:00. Not much of a match. Khali and Hornswoggle dancing in the ring was more entertaining than the match.
3. Kane, Daniel Bryan, and Kofi Kingston beat Wade Barrett and The Prime Time Players in 15:00. Kane started off with Darren Young. Titus O’Neil was tagged in and quickly flipped over the ropes to the outside. Bryan was tagged in and flew to the outside, hitting Titus with a knee in the process. Barrett and Kofi were tagged in. They went back and forth shortly and Wade tagged in Young.
Lot of action and more quick tags. Bryan was eventually in and the Players and Barrett kept him in their corner and grounded with submissions. Bryan eventually tagged Kane, who came in hitting all three opponents. Kane hit clothesline off the top and went for a pin. Titus broke up the count and Kofi knocked him to the outside. Kane chokeslammed Young, and Bryan applied the No Lock for the submission win. Very good match.
Damien Sandow came out and picked someone from the crowd to be his apprentice. The fan entered the ring and Sandow asked him some questions to test his intelligence. The guy answered the last question wrong and Sandow made him leave the ring. Very funny moment!!
4. Damien Sandow defeated Tyson Kidd in 3:00. Good pop from the crowd for Tyson. Sandow won, but a good effort front tyson. An entertaining short match.
5. Heath Slater and Jinder Mahal defeated The Uso Brothers in 3:00. The crowd was dead for this one. Mahal got the win with a Full Nelson Slam.
6. Sheamus beat Dolph Ziggler by DQ. Ziggler went to the outside early. He got back in and hit Sheamus with a clothsline, but Sheamus quickly attacked with punches in the corner. Sheamus was knocked outside. Dolph dove onto Sheamus, but Sheamus caught him and slammed him into the barricade. Ziggler eventually regained advantage and scored a couple close pinfalls. Sheamus fought back and went for the Brogue Kick, but Ziggler ducked and hit a DDT. Sheamus put Ziggler in the cloverleaf and Big Show ran down and got Ziggler DQ’d. They attacked Sheamus until Cena ran down for the save and cleared Show and Ziggler from the ring.
Dark match
1. Sheamus beat Big Show by DQ in a World Hvt. Championship match. Show hit Sheamus with a chair for the DQ. Show threw Sheamus in the ring to hit him with a chair, but Sheamus ducked and hit the Brogue Kick.
WWE taped this week’s WWE Main Event & Saturday Morning Slam shows from Bossier City, Louisiana. Here are the results:
WWE Main Event Taping
Michael Cole and JBL did commentary. Promo videos aired for John Cena and Damien Sandow. A Tout video from Cody Rhodes played hyping up his tag team partner.
1. John Cena defeated Damien Sandow via submission in 15:00. Sandow cut a promo before the match using big words and mocking Cena. Sandow tried leaving the ringside area early in the match, but Cena chased hi up the ramp. Back in the ring, Sandow got the upper hand and did his cartwheel. Cena fought back but was thrown outside the ring. Sandow did several cartwheels during the match. In the end, Sandow reversed the AA, but Cena made him tap out with the STF.
2. U.S. Champion Antonio Cesaro defeated Zack Ryder in 9:00. Cesaro hit Zack Ryder with his Swiss Death European uppercut outside of the ring, threw him into the ring and hit his finisher for the win.
Cesaro cut a promo about being the best champion in WWE, which brought out Intercontinental champion Kofi Kingston. Kofi challenged Cesaro to a match on Main Event next week, which was accepted.
Saturday Morning Slam Taping:
1. Kane defeated Jinder Mahal (w/Drew McIntyre, Heath Slater) in 5:00. 3MB tried to attack Kane, but Daniel Bryan came out to help. Kane won with a chokeslam off the top rope.
2. Daniel Bryan defeated Heath Slater in 10:00. Slater tapped out to the No Lock.
– As noted earlier, CM Punk tweeted that he was undergoing x-rays today. Punk has reportedly been working with an injured knee and has been seen limping around in recent weeks.
– With Vince McMahon still overseas visiting United States troops serving in the Middle East, Triple H was in charge at Mondays RAW. There was a much more laid-back environment at RAW, with fewer rewrites. The general feeling backstage was that things will be less tense behind the scenes when Vince McMahon eventually steps down and hands the reigns over to Triple H and Stephanie.
– WWE was very satisfied with The Shield’s first promo on Monday’s RAW, with Dean Ambrose standing out as the group’s best talker, Roman Reigns came off well but Seth Rollins still needing to improve his mic work.
– WWE was also happy with Ryback’s interview in the opening segment of RAW.
– Former WCW World champion Lex Luger is writing an autobiography titled “Wrestling with the Devil: The True Story of a World Champion Professional Wrestler – His Reign, Ruin, and Redemption.” The book is tentatively scheduled for an April 2013 release.
– There had been some concern that The Rock’s early-2013 movie schedule would limit his WWE television appearances during WrestleMania season, but he’s now locked in for at least 3 shows in the weeks following the Royal Rumble. As previously reported, The Rock is being advertised for WWE RAW on January 21st (the night after the Royal Rumble) and February 18th. The Rock will also be appearing at the January 28th RAW taping from Las Vegas, Nevada.
With The Rock’s movie “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” hitting theaters on March 29, 2013, there is talk of WWE working with Paramount Pictures to cross promote the film with WrestleMania.
– Based on statistics compiled by Hashtagbattle.com, Daniel Bryan actually won the RAW Active poll to determine who would wrestle CM Punk in the main event of the show. With less than 1,000 votes cast, #WWEBryan had 585 tweets, while #WWEKane had 408 tweets. Bryan tweeted on Tuesday:
Is this fair to Daniel Bryan? We think … NO! NO! NO!
– The first downloadable characters for the WWE ’13 videogame will be released on 12/4. The DLC pack includes Tensai, Ryback, AJ Lee, Antonio Cesaro, The Usos, Natalya and Damien Sandow.
– The WWE Studios DVD/Blu-Ray film, “Leprechaun: Origins” starring Hornswoggle is currently scheduled for a March 2013 release.
– WWE Champion CM Punk announced on Twitter Tuesday that he will be on hand for the December 11, 2012 SmackDown taping taking place in Bridgeport, Connecticut, at Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard. This is the final show before TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs.
Punk wrote, “I will however be at the Smackdown in Bridgeport CT on the 11th.I invite all jealous northeastern nobodies with irrational hatred towards me.”
– WWE has released an updated version of John Cena’s entrance video to coordinate with his recent change in attire.
– WWE will hold a SmackDown live event in Louisville, Kentucky, at KFC Yum! Center on Friday, February 10th, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. Tickets go on sale Saturday, December 15, 2012 at 10:00 a.m.
– WWE Champion CM Punk tweeted on Tuesday afternoon that he might be injured. Knowing his tweet would get websites like this one buzzing, Punk referenced Dave Meltzer in the tweet:
We can confirm that Punk is getting an x-ray on his knee. The WWE Champion has been working with a bad knee for several weeks now and has been seen limping backstage.
– WWE will be taping this week’s Main Event, Saturday Morning Slam and SmackDown shows tonight from Bossier City, Louisiana.
WWE Main Event will feature John Cena vs. Damien Sandow.
No matches have been announced for SmackDown, but we’ll see the next chapter in the ongoing Big Show vs. Sheamus feud over the World Heavyweight championship.
Superstars advertised for tonight’s tapings include John Cena, Randy Orton, Big Show, Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler, Team Hell No and SmackDown GM Booker T.
The advertised dark match main event is Big Show vs. Sheamus.
– MSNBC.MSN.com has an article up looking at NFL star Robert Griffin III’s cameo appearance from Monday’s RAW.
– During Antonio Cesaro’s match with Sheamus on Monday’s RAW, the United States champion hit the Irish superstar with an impressive overhead slam. The move is called the Alpamare Waterslide and it’s a move Cesaro has been using for years dating back to his days on the independent circuit. Here’s a clip of the move:
http://youtu.be/WBv_Vu8Gsoo
A source backstage at RAW told us that WWE officials were very impressed with Cesaro’s showing, saying that Cesaro showed that he can hold is own against WWE’s top talent and he will be a main event player sooner than later.
– With John Cena expected to wrestle Dolph Ziggler at next month’s Tables, Ladders and Chairs pay-per-view, PWInsider.com reports that there has been talk of putting either Dolph Ziggler’s Money in the Bank briefcase or Vickie Guerrero’s job on the line as a stipulation.
– Monday’s WWE RAW scored a Trendrr.tv social media score of 204,077, which was down 7% from last week. This was the lowest social media score for a live RAW since the 3-hour era began during the summer. RAW ranked #3 on cable for the night behind the Knicks vs. Nets NBA game and the MTV movie “Catfish.”
– After more public displays of affection with AJ Lee on Monday’s WWE RAW, John Cena says kissing her again was a mistake and we probably won’t see any more makeout sessions from him on WWE television:
Many mixed opinions of a kiss last night. My apologies, my emotions got the best of me and 1moment overshadowed a gr8 match. Never again.
– Last Thursday’s Thanksgiving edition of Impact Wrestling averaged 1,353,000 over the course of two hours. This is down from 1,187,000 the week before, which drew a 1.07 cable rating. The final rating will be released later this week.
– Hulk Hogan is looking forward to Thursday’s live Impact Wrestling broadcast. He tweeted on Monday night:
Great night with the first lazy home night in a long time, really looking foward to IMPACT Thursday with the best talent in the business. HH
Another member of Aces & 8s has been revealed: Garett Bischoff.
A fan with an eye for details spotted pictures of both Bischoff and a member of the nefarious group sporting the same wrist tattoo.
Bischoff may not necessarily be revealed as a member of faction. TNA has been rotating some workers who won’t be part of the group into the beatdowns to make it harder to guess who is in it. Here’s the picture:
With CM Punk now over one year into his historic WWE title reign, f4wonline.com reports that one of the main reasons Punk has held on to the championship for so long has to do with The Rock.
There have been several instances over the past year when WWE has strongly considered having Punk drop the title. However, Vince McMahon has repeatedly stuck with Punk as champion because The Rock agreed to wrestle CM Punk for the WWE Championship during the summer.
The Rock announced at RAW 1,000 that he wants to win the WWE Championship one more time before he retires. Since then, The Rock and CM Punk have been exchanging trash talk on Twitter and the feeling is that The Rock would not be happy if Punk dropped the belt and his WWE title match was against someone else.
– Last week’s 11/23 edition of WWE Smackdown on Syfy drew 2,572,000 viewers, down from the previous last week. The show aired during Thanksgiving weekend in the United States, which might have had an impact on viewership.
– Here’s a list of which RAW segments were cut from the Hulu Plus verison of the show, courtesy of Kaleb Perkins:
* Backstage segment with Rosa Mendes/Alberto Del Rio/Hornswoggle/The Great Khali.
* Alberto Del Rio vs. The Great Khali.
* Backstage segment with Vickie Guerrero/Paul Heyman/CM Punk.
* Alicia Fox vs. Tamina Snuka.
* Tensai vs. Kofi Kingston.
* Backstage segment with Alberto Del Rio/Ricardo Rodriguez/Rosa Mendes.
* Video package with some of the WWE wrestlers on the USS John C. Stennis.
* Damien Sandow vs. Zach Ryder.
* Backstage interview with Josh Mathews/CM Punk/Paul Heyman.
– WWE.com has a poll up asking fans, “Do you think The Shield is out to right wrongs and stop injustice in WWE?” With almost 4,000 votes cast, the current results are:
38% Yes. I believe they stand for honor.
62% No. They have malevolent intentions.
COMMENT BELOW and tell us what YOU think about The Shield’s intentions. Are they really here for justice – or are they just henchmen for CM Punk and Paul Heyman?
– The next Wizard World Comic-Con event takes place this weekend in New Orleans, with WWE Champion CM Punk and former WWE divas Lita, Maryse and The Bella Twins among the wrestling stars appearing.
– WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross was courtside at Monday night’s NBA game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Charlotte Bobcats.
JR watched RAW when he got home from the game and tweeted this about Wade Barrett’s commentary during Kofi Kingston’s match against Tensai:
England's @WadeBarrett stood out on commentary tonight on #RAW. Stellar..he gets it. Push comfort zone boys aside & go to the top. #WWE
Julie Hart and Earl Hebner both joined Inside The Ropes to talk about “The Montreal Screwjob” and their thoughts after 15 years.
The highlights from Earl Hebner’s chat are:
His thoughts when he heard Bret didn’t want to drop the belt to Shawn: “Bret had plenty of time to drop the belt. He could’ve dropped it in the United States. I didn’t know much about the deal with those two but he could’ve dropped the belt to anyone, hell he could’ve dropped it to me. But he had an ego and he didn’t wanna do it. Time was running out. If you’re leavin you drop the strap, he didn’t wanna do it. If you remember Alundra Blayze went down there and dropped the Womens belt in the trash. Now if you have a $3 million deal to go to another company, why would you even hesitate to drop the belt? I mean why? Your moneys already guaranteed when you get there. Just drop it and go. A lot of people put him over, made him who he is. So he’s gonna refuse to drop it and make those guys look like idiots? This business is a work.”
On him telling Bret he swore on his kids lives he wouldn’t let anything happen in Montreal: “I was sitting on a plane with Bret. His very words “Will you count me out?” I said “If you keep your shoulder up, I will not count you out” Which I didn’t count him out. Did he get pinned 1.2.3? You stop and think about my position. I’m thinking about the guys in the back. Austin, Undertaker, Rocky all the guys that put him over as being the Worlds Champion, we made him what he was, so he’s leaving us and he’s screwing us because he doesn’t want to drop the belt. So on my way to the ring, I’m thinking it’s not fair. Someone asked me, I won’t say who, about two minutes before I walked to the ring, I said I can’t tell you what I’m gonna do, but when I walked to the ring, I thought about all the boys back in the dressing room, so it wasn’t right for him to screw 25 guys because of his stubbornness, so thats why I did what I did. When McMahon and Sgt Slaughter came to the ring, whether I had done it or not, that bell was gonna ring. The only thing that made it more official is that I motioned for the bell.”
If he thinks Montreal was a work: “It could have been a work. McMahon, Bret, WCW could’ve all been in on it for all I know. I’m gonna go 50/50 on it. I think it was but I can’t say for sure, but look where Bret is now.”
In the rest of the chat, Earl talks about the relationship between Shawn and Bret, how Undertaker felt about the situation the next day, his conversations with Bret since Montreal, Bret’s 2010 return and whether he was contacted to appear by the WWE at WrestleMania 26 and more. Check it out below.
The highlights from Julie Hart’s Chat:
When Bret got suspicious that he might get screwed: “It wasn’t really till we got to Montreal. I remember someone came to Bret and told him that they’d saw Shawn getting into an elevator with Vince in his hotel and that kinda got Bret a little worried. That was earlier in the day. The kids and I had gone shopping and when we got back, Bret said he had to go talk to our lawyer who was in town with us as well. The source, I can’t tell you who it is, but the source had said what happened, so bret went over to our lawyer to talk about it and that’s when Bret really started getting nervous.”
WWE making Vince into the Mr McMahon character: “I thought that was horrible but thats what Vince does right? Thats how he markets things. I felt sorry for Bret because he was such a good person to Vince and I felt like “jeez why did you have to go and do that?” But you look at everything now and how things have played out. It was all about the business, and it’s still all about the business. Those things, I guess, shouldn’t have been taken so personal.”
Her reaction to people who think Montreal was a work: “Firstly, no it wasn’t work. It was as raw as…..you’d have to be there to experience the emotions that Bret went through. I can honestly say on my childrens head, that none of that stuff was set up. It was as real as you would ever get. That camera was in the place in the right time. It was never set up, it’s sad that people would think that. I know, I was there, my kids were there, I saw what it did to Bret emotionally, for our marriage after that, we were never the same…..”
To hear Julie’s full chat where she talks about how Bret was in 1997, who she saw backstage at Montreal, why she talked to Hunter after the match, why Bret wore a wire and much more, listen below.
– On Monday’s RAW, Big Show destroyed a steel chair on the RAW stage to intimidate his challenger at next month’s TLC PPV, Sheamus. In response to Big Show’s spectacle, Sheamus tweeted:
