– As noted earlier, Monday’s RAW had just 3.44 million million viewers. The show did a 2.55 overall rating, down from last week’s 2.72. This was the lowest number for RAW in nearly 15 years for a non-holiday show.
– Reader Dave Wilson posted the following video on Youtube of what happened after Monday’s WWE RAW went off the air. CM Punk gets carried out of the ring after getting beat down by Ryback at the end of the show:
Viewership data is in for Monday’s 12/3 edition WWE RAW and the show lost almost a half million viewers from last week.
This week’s RAW averaged 3,437,000 viewers with the following hourly numbers:
Hour 1: 3,580,000
Hour 2: 3,370,000
Hour 3: 3,360,000
RAW’s overall viewership and the show’s final hour were the lowest they’ve been since RAW expanded to 3 hours on a weekly basis back in July.
NFL Monday Night Football on ESPN had over 16 million viewers this week, way up from last week’s 11 million viewers.
RAW’s best hour (Hour 1) ranked #8 on cable for the evening.
* Backstage Reaction To CM PUNK’s Surgery & How It Affects Storylines, CENA Working Sick & More
(Sources: PWInsider.com, TVByTheNumbers.com)
– Former WWE WWE Tough Enough contestant Jeremiah Riggs, who is now an MMA fighter and last fought for Bellator back on May 25th, noted on Twitter recently that he is still contracted to the promotion and will fighting for them again soon:
“@brianhallmma: @JeremiahRiggs What are you doing now man ?” Healing up about to get back in there early next year!
— Jeremiah Riggs (@JeremiahRiggs) November 29, 2012
Bellator MMA will premiere on Spike TV after TNA Impact Wrestling on Thursday, January 17th.
– While WWE Champion CM Punk’s knee surgery has been the big story of the day, he wasn’t the only top WWE superstar dealing with health issues this week. John Cena has been battling some sort of illness recently and worked this weekend’s live events and Monday’s RAW sick.
* Backstage News On How CM PUNK’s SURGERY Changes Upcoming WWE Storylines
(Partial Source: PWInsider.com)
WWE.com has provided another update on WWE Champion CM Punk undergoing emergency surgery earlier today.
Dr. Andrews successfully completed a scope of CM Punk’s left knee this afternoon and trimmed a cartilage tear in the knee. Dr. Chris Amann, a colleague of Dr. Andrews, issued this statement to WWE:
“CM Punk underwent knee surgery today to remove a piece of torn meniscus that had locked up his knee. The surgery, performed by Dr. James Andrews, went smoothly and CM Punk is expected to make a full recovery.”
WWE Hall of Famers Shawn Michaels and “Rowdy” Roddy Piper are among those to wish Punk a speedy recovery on Twitter.
Find Out If CM Punk Will Be Able To Wrestle At TLC Next Weekend
Tamara Sytch, famously known as Sunny, today requested in court to visit her former boyfriend (independent wrestler Damien Darling) after he filed a restraining order against her. Her request was denied, according to a report on TMZ.com.
In the fall, Sytch was arrested five times within the span of one month for violating a protective order filed by her former boyfriend, which stemmed from allegations of domestic violence.
She asked a judge to modify the standing protective order, explaining she needs time with him in order to sort out their problems and move forward.
Sytch lawyer Rob Serafinowicz informed TMZ that her request was denied and she is still banned from making contact with Darling.
Sytch has vowed to clean herself up as she is currently undergoing court-ordered rehabilitation.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog at JRsBarBQ.com with his thoughts about Monday’s WWE RAW. Here are some highlights of what JR wrote about:
The Shield: “Enjoying the evolution of The Shield. They are getting valuable TV time and seem to be maximizing their minutes smartly with aggression and physicality. All three men have a viable shot of becoming ‘special’ but it won’t happen over night nor will it happen at all if they don’t keep their foot on the pedal. I think that they will but there’s always the chance of human error IE stupid, immature, unprofessional mishaps that can curtail one’s progression in a competitive business. ”
Damien Sandow: “Good night for @TheDamienSandow especially on the mic. Sandow isn’t a finesse antagonist and brings aggression in a timely fashion. I remember one day in Tampa him looking at old, Dick Beyer aka The Destroyer, videos from Japan for most of one day studying the subtleties of one of the great, wrestling villains who ever lived. Guys that invest in study of that type of the greats seem to always benefit from it. ”
Antonio Cesaro & Wade Barrett: “@AntonioCesaro and @WadeBarrett are gaining momentum, as usual not as quick as some fans demand, but these two are going places or so it seems to me. Love their in ring presence, constant physicality and their effort plus their desire to get to the top. Just keep shoving others aside to get to your desired destination. The more one invests the more one earns and it’s not necessarily a popularity contest in the locker room on the road to main event status including headlining future WrestleMania’s.”
CM Punk & Paul Heyman: “@HeymanHustle and @CMPunk had good nights from my spot on the La-Z-Boy. Both are great, old school talkers who are natural extensions of their own personalities while on WWE TV. Key word…they are NATURAL.”
“Heyman’s value to enhancing Punk’s persona and perhaps others down the road is invaluable…somewhat Heenan-esque. That’s about as high a praise as I can bestow.”
* Backstage News On How CM PUNK’s SURGERY Changes Upcoming WWE Storylines
WWE broke the story today that WWE Champion CM Punk is undergoing “emergency” knee surgery today in Pensacola, FL. Immediately after last night’s RAW, Punk’s knee was examined Dr. James Andrews and the decision was made for him to undergo surgery today.
As for WWE’s upcoming Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view, where Punk is scheduled to wrestle Ryback in the main event, Punk’s status for the show is questionable at best.
Dave Meltzer of f4wonline.com is reporting that Punk’s knee was worse than originally expected and he won’t be competing. A reliable source we spoke to on Tuesday says he thinks WWE will keep Punk off the show and let him fully recover for his match against The Rock at the Royal Rumble. While it’s possible that Punk could work a gimmick match against Ryback just 12 days after surgery, expect to see changes to the TLC card.
WWE superstar Ryback recently spoke to ESPN.com to hype the new WWE ’13 video game. Here are some highlights of what Ryback said about:
Getting Advice From Legends “Everyone has advice, it’s up to me to cipher out the good from the bad and to take what can work for me. I keep a pretty close-knit crew of guys I take advice from, guys like Triple H, Arn Anderson, Michael Hayes, and William Regal are the top four guys who I deal with on a regular basis and who I have open ears for at all times. Traveling and whatnot, Daniel Bryan is a guy who I like to travel with when I travel with others, but I also like to travel alone. I like to have my own time in order to gather my thoughts, but when I travel with somebody, it’s Daniel Bryan.”
His Rumored Backstage Altercation with Brock Lesnar: “Somebody told me about that, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. I don’t know where that came from. Paul Heyman is all about making money, he’s a business man, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he started the entire thing just to get people talking and see if there was any interest in it. It’s definitely a match that I would love to happen. I don’t know how long Brock is going to be around for with the WWE, but if the opportunity for us to square-off in the ring presents itself, I welcome it with open arms.”
His Character Getting Over: I knew all along that this was going to happen. I’m very confident in myself and I’m very thankful for everything that has happened. It takes time, sometimes, to get things going, but I knew fairly early on that I was on the right track. I remember I was wrestling a fine local talent named Benny Camer, and when I clotheslined him, I flipped him back, and the reaction I heard from the crowd that night just from clotheslining him, I knew right then that we were on to something good here. It took a little bit of time for the people to digest and get with it, but hey, it’s all worked to a T. I’m very thankful for how far I’ve come, and I look forward to being a big part of WWE for years to come.”
His Dream WrestleMania opponent: “That’s easy. One of my goals, and I don’t know how many more he has in him, so we need this to happen soon, and that’s Undertaker. He’s the one man who is undefeated at Wrestlemania, and he’s somebody who I’ve had in my mind for a long, long time. I would love to be able to step into the ring The Dead Man and to be able to scream “Feed me more!” in his face would be quite the honor.”
– Monday’s WWE RAW had a Trendrr.tv social media score of 219,172, which was up just slightly from last week’s 204,000 (the least socially active RAW since the show went to 3 hours every week). RAW was once again #3 on cable for the night after NFL Monday Night Football on ESPN and “Catfish” on MTV.
– Here’s this week’s listing of “What Was Cut From WWE RAW On Hulu Plus,” courtesy of Kaleb Perkins:
* The backstage segment with John Cena and Sheamus.
* AJ Lee vs. Tamina
* Damien Sandow’s in-ring segment searching for his apprentice.
* Damien Sandow vs. Santino Marella.
* The backstage segment with Dolph Ziggler and Vickie Guerrero.
* Sin Cara vs. Alberto Del Rio
* The backstage segment with Mr. McMahon and random worker
The former Hart family Home in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where Stu and Helen Hart raised the famous Hart family and countless wrestling legends learned their craft in the legendary basement (the “Dungeon”) has been declared a heritage site that will be protected by the city for generations to come.
Mayor Naheed Nenshi said this about the Hart family home becoming a protected landmark:
“One is the quality of the building itself which is really something quite remarkable and the second of course is the place that building has played in local history.”
“It is, you know, in a city that has a short history as we do. It’s important to recognize what we do have and I understand that the current owners are completely on board with that designation.”
The home was purchased a decade ago and it has since been renovated. Calgary’s city council also approved a rezoning plan for the property that will allow the new owner to build nine new homes on the land, which will help pay for the renovation and preservation of the Hart home.
Stu and Helen hart originally bought the house in the early 1950’s and raised 12 children there.
(Source: Canada’s CBC News)
– Hulk Hogan’s latest legal efforts to get clips of his sex tape taken offline were shot down on Monday, when a judge ruled that Gawker.com does not have to remove the footage. Judge James D. Whittemore ruled on Monday that Hogan’s latest legal filing offered nothing new from his prior (unsuccessful) attempt to get the video offline.
The judge also stated that Hogan had not demonstrated that there were any grounds for an appeal and there was no proof of “immediate harm.”
– Earlier today, TMZ.com broke the news that Ric Flair’s fourth wife, Jacqueline, has filed for divorce, claiming Flair cheated on her with multiple women and owes her tens of thousands of dollars as a result of their recent separation agreement.
Pictures From Ric Flair’s 2009 Bachelor Party
Flair’s attorney has responded to the claims, telling TMZ.com that Flair “denies the claims, contends there was marital and other misconduct on her part, and looks forward to these issues being resolved in court.”
(Partial Source: PWInsider.com)
WWE Champion is currently undergoing surgery on his knee in Pensacola, Florida, the official WWE website has announced.
WWE states that after Ryback drove Punk through a table on Raw, The Straight Edge Superstar took a late night flight to Florida for an emergency consultation with Dr. James Andrews. A review of his condition resulted in Punk undergoing immediate surgery today.
WWE will continue to report on Punk’s state as more details become available.
UPDATE: More On CM PUNK’s Knee Surgery & What It Means For His WWE Title Reign
WWE AND E! TEAM UP TO EXCLUSIVELY BROADCAST ROLLING STONES LIVE PRE-SHOW LEADING UP TO THE ICONIC BAND’S
FINAL PERFORMANCE OF ITS 50TH ANNIVERSARY SHOWS
STAMFORD, Conn., December 4, 2012 – WWE (NYSE: WWE) and E! today announced “Live From the Rolling Stones” – a one-hour special event covering all the pre-show action and excitement from the Prudential Center the hour leading up to the Rolling Stones’ final performance of their 50th anniversary shows. The special airs at 8pm ET/5pm PT, prior to the pay-per-view event on Saturday, December 15 only on E!
E! will give fans behind-the-scenes access and exclusive interviews with rock ‘n’ roll icons Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood. With Terrence Jenkins anchoring the pre-show, Ross Mathews backstage and Alicia Quarles capturing all the arrival excitement, E!’s coverage will catch all the buzz and anticipation leading up to this huge concert event. Plus, Terrence will be joined by Viacom Music Group’s Bill Flanagan, who has produced countless music television specials, interviewed most every major rock-n-roll figure that has hit the scene, and is an expert on the Rolling Stones. He’ll bring his expertise to the pre-show with extensive information about the band, their history, and more.
The pay-per-view will be available on Saturday, December 15 at 9pm ET/ 6pm PT through all cable, satellite and telco providers. WWE, the world’s pre-eminent provider of pay-per-view programming, in partnership with Dainty Group and Endemol, will be distributing and marketing the pay-per-view event entitled One More Shot, the band’s final performance of its 50th anniversary shows. For additional information, please visit rollingstones.com.
Mickie James joined Washington Redskins defensive end Adam Carriker and former wrestling announcer, turned weight loss champion, Chuck Carroll on 4th & Pain (www.4thAndPain.com).
* Mickie and Chuck attended pro wrestling training school together in the late 90’s in northern Va.
* Mickie says she realized she had made it in professional wrestling when she captured the WWE Women’s Championship from Trish Stratus at WrestleMania 22.
* Chuck says her moment came seven years earlier when she hit him with the wrong side of a chair at a wrestling school.
* Mickie also talks about her transition from WWE into TNA and ultimately the music business.
* She credits Lita with helping her become a better wrestler and counts the Stratus among her dear friends.
* Her album is scheduled to be early next year and is already generating a buzz in country music circles.
WWE superstar Ryback recently spoke to Arda Ocal of The Score Television Network and the Baltimore Sun. Topics discussed include:
– The release of his new downloadable character (DLC) for the WWE ’13 video game.
– His frustrations during his previous stint in WWE as Skip Sheffield, a member of Nexus:
“I was going by a name I did not choose and did not like. It was not me.”
– Addresses suspicions that his “Feed Me More” chant came out of his season on Tough Enough where his cast-mates constantly remarked on his gigantic appetite:
“It’s actually not, but it pops me that this has become my catchphrase.”
– Provides his opinion on the incessant Goldberg comparisons that plagued him during his undefeated streak:
“It never bothered me. I knew that I would set myself apart from him as time moves on.”
– Finally Ryback gives his thoughts on who he’d like to face at Wrestlemania 29.
Here’s the interview:
– A new 2-hour WWE pay-per-view special, “WWE Presents: ECW’s Biggest Matches,” will premiere on January 7th.
– WWE has updated its Apple iPad app with new features, including the ability to purchase and watch WWE pay-per-view events on mobile devices via the app.
– After it was revealed that the results of last week’s RAWActive poll were rigged, Hashtagbattle.com shows that this week’s voting was legitimate. When the Fatal 4 Way match between Antonio Cesaro, Wade Barrett, R-Truth and Kofi Kingston was announced for Monday’s RAW, fans were asked to decide which of their title belts would be on the line. According to the HashtagBattle, “#WWEUS” had 582 votes and “#WWEIC” had 223 votes.
Cesaro and Kingston will wrestle again tonight (in a non-title match) at tonight’s WWE Main Event tapings, airing this Wednesday night on Ion.
– Former WWE superstar Umaga passed away on this day back in 2009.
– Today’s wrestling birthdays include TNA Knockout Miss Tessmacher (28) and former WWE wrestler Sylvester Terkay (42)
– Here is the latest edition of WWE’s Backstage Fallout, featuring backstage interviews from Monday’s WWE RAW.
“Does Randy Orton agree with The Shield’s mission? Hear what The Apex Predator has to say about the three NXT invaders in this Raw edition of “Backstage Fallout.” Plus, see how Antonio Cesaro “sticks it” to the WWE Universe”
– WWE will be holding television in North Charleston, South Carolina tonight at the North Charleston Coliseum. Advertised for this week’s episode of WWE Main Event is a Champion vs. Champion match, as United States Champion Antonio Cesaro faces Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston in a non-title match.
On SmackDown, the television main event will see Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett. WWE is advertising Big Show vs. Sheamus and Randy Orton vs. Alberto Del Rio as the dark match main events, but the Orton vs. Del Rio match might not take place since Orton is already wrestling in the main event of SmackDown.
– WWE wrestlers David Otunga and Natalya will attend a “Be A Star” rally today in North Charleston, South Carolina at the Mary Ford Elementary school. The event begins at 1pm local time.
– WWE Diva Kaitlyn is headed to Hanahan High school today in South Carolina to take part in an event with the South Carolina National Guard. She posted this video on Tout:
WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels recently spoke with Phil Strum of The Poughkeepsie Journal and talked about life after WWE and getting a second chapter of his career after being forced into early retirement due to injury. Here’s what Michaels said about:
Life After WWE: “I’m enjoying it immensely. It works for me. I’m a lazy person by nature, so retirement is right up my alley. I would have done it sooner, obviously, but apparently you have to work before you retire, so it would have been in my best interest to get that out of the way. I’m enjoying it very much.”
The Second Chapter Of His Legendary Career: “It was a gift. The first — I never said I retired the first time. I guess, in my mind, retirement is when you leave on your own terms. The first one, being told I was never going to wrestle again as the result of a back injury, obviously that’s not the way you envision your career ending. Having dealt with that and gone through it and having the opportunity for a second chance, and that the second chance, as you say, being almost a decade, was at first, honestly as much of a shock to me as it was to everybody else.”
“The genuine intention was to come back for one match and sort of see how everything did. To honestly feel like, holy cow, I feel like I can do what I used to do. I went with that until I felt that the peace within me that I could walk away again and it would be on my terms, my timing and all those things you wish and you envision being like. I got the opportunity to do that.”
Barbie Blank, formerly known as WWE Diva Kelly Kelly, recently spoke to Phil Strum of the Phil Strum of the Poughkeepsie Journal about what it’s like now that her seven year run with WWE is over. “It’s going good,” she said. “I’m just relaxing at home. It’s nice to take a break and just be able to live a normal life and being able to do whatever I want to do.”
Blank says she is enjoying “being able to live a normal life” but is still healing from injuries sustained during her career. Now, she’s focusing on non-wrestling projects.
“Yeah, I’m just kind of doing my own stuff under my real name. My calendar and my posters. Just getting stuff out that I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Getting into modeling. There’s a lot of things coming, so we’ll see what happens,” Blank said.
As for whether we’ll ever see her back in the world of pro wrestling, she replied, “You never know. Right now, I’m kind of healing my neck that was kind of a problem for a while. Just resting up and you never know.”
Ric Flair’s fourth wife, Jacqueline, has officially filed for a legal separation from the wrestling legend in Mecklenberg County, North Carolina.
She has accused him of “acts of illicit sexual behavior” and cheated on her regularly throughout their marriage. The legal documents obtained by TMZ.com explain, “Husband has had numerous intimate relationships with other women during the parties’ marriage, to the embarrassment and humiliation of wife.”
She maintains that she was “faithful and dutiful wife” ever since they got married back in 2009.
Not only was Ric Flair allegedly cheating on her with numerous other women, but she claims he’s also screwing her out of tens of thousands of dollars in spousal support. They apparently reached an agreement to separate back in October, with Flair agreeing to pay her $15,000 to cover her legal fees, $4,000 per month in spousal support and $14k in back payments from the time they actually split in July.
She claims Flair owes her over $35,000 in back payments and has not paid her a dime so far. She says Flair should have no problem paying her in full, because he makes more than a $1 million a year.
So far, no comments from Flair’s camp.
At 380 days, CM Punk has now surpassed John Cena’s longest WWE title reign and is officially the longest reigning WWE Champion of the past 25 years. Paul Heyman tweeted the following about CM Punk’s milestone:
#380 It's official. @CMPunk has tied @JohnCena as the longest reigning @WWE Champion of the modern era! pic.twitter.com/0hmZBaaY
— Paul Heyman (@HeymanHustle) December 4, 2012
#380 No matter what you think of this business, or HOW you think this industry works behind the scenes …
— Paul Heyman (@HeymanHustle) December 4, 2012
… #380 is simply an awe-inspiring achievement, an almost-impossible task in today's hyper-competitive, chew-em-up environment …
— Paul Heyman (@HeymanHustle) December 4, 2012
@CMPunk reaching #380 is like Ted Williams batting 400. You don't realize it while it's happening,but this won't happen again 4 a LONG time!
— Paul Heyman (@HeymanHustle) December 4, 2012
I am truly honored beyond words to be along for this ride. #380 @CMPunk @WWE Champion
— Paul Heyman (@HeymanHustle) December 4, 2012
– After Monday’s WWE RAW went off the air, WWE Champion CM Punk sold the effects of his beatdown for about 10 minutes before getting helped to the back. The advertised dark match with Ryback never took place.
– WWE.com caught up with John Cena backstage at Monday’s RAW after it was announced that he’ll get a chance to win Dolph Ziggler’s Money in the Bank briefcase at the upcoming Tables, Ladders and Chairs pay-per-view. After Dolph Ziggler attacked John Cena a few weeks ago in a bathroom on RAW, Cena has gotten the upper hand on Ziggler over the past couple weeks. Cena was asked where the feud is heading.
John Cena thanked Vickie Guerrero for making the match and giving him a golden opportunity to win the TLC briefcase again. Cena said not a day goes by that he doesn’t think about the fact that he’s the first person to fail to win a big WWE Championship back when he won Money in the Bank. Cena says he can’t wait to take Ziggler’s briefcase and challenge Big Show for the World Heavyweight championship.
Here are some tweets from around the WWE Universe reacting to Monday’s RAW:
John Cena: “Great crowd tonight in Greensboro! Steel horse on its way to Norfolk for my favorite time of year. #TTTT”
Jim Ross: “@antoniocesaro & @WadeBarrett will both be in WrestleMania main event level bouts in the near future. Why? They’re smart/aggressive/driven.”
Vickie Guerrero: “Ok…ok…everyone is upset with me…BUT at least my actions on RAW were pleasing to Mr. McMahon #CougarInCharge”
AJ Lee “I may have gotten lucky tonight @TaminaSnuka , but you should’ve been smarter. Never turn your back on a crazy chick.”
Wade Barrett: “Heaven knows I’m miserable now, but at #TLC, my mood will improve considerably. #NewICChamp”
Antonio Cesaro: “Despite the @WWEUniverse’s best efforts, I’m still the #USChampion #Superior”
Kofi Kingston: “BAD: Didn’t win the US Championship. GOOD: I’m still IC Champ, which means: champ vs champ match’s still on..Gonna get real UGLY. #MainEvent”
Ricardo Rodriguez: “Did you all see how @VivaDelRio destroyed @TheSinCaraWWE ?! #Lucha”
Scott Sanford: “Miz TV makes the Jerry Springer Show look like Dr Oz!”
WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin was recently interviewed by Inside The Ropes and spoke about his WWE ’13 sit-down interview with CM Punk (hosted by Jim Ross) and why he feels wrestling legend Bruno Sammartino has been so critical of the WWE product over the years. Here are some highlights, followed by audio of the interview:
His WWE ‘13 Sit Down Interview With CM Punk, Hosted By Jim Ross:
“It was a lot of fun going back and being a part of WWE 13 the video game, hang out with my good buddy Jim Ross and CM Punk, a young guy in the business I really like, I really like what he’s bringing to the table and what he’s doing. To go back and play The Rattlesnake character was a lot of fun. You know we pushed the envelope a little bit there but we played it straight down the middle, but I would’ve loved to ramp it up and go full bore Stone Cold on him, but it just wasn’t that time. Who knows if there will be a time down the road, but I enjoyed being that guy. It’s a dynamic part of my personality. I enjoy the adrenaline.”
Bruno Sammartino Being Closed Minded:
“Bruno is a legend in the business and his opinion is his opinion. I think he’s very closed minded about the Attitude Era. One thing I think he’s missing out on is the fact that it’s the entertainment business. Speaking from a Stone Cold standpoint, I went out there and I entertained and I pushed the envelope but when it came time to ring that bell in that 20 by 20 ring, I wrestled my ass off. I brawled and I fought and I gave the fans every bit of their moneys worth. Bruno’s opinion is what it is. When you look back at where the business was, it was a little slow. I can appreciate that, but you fast forward all these years and it’s a little faster and either you like it or you don’t.”
