WWE debuted a new set at this week’s live events, check out these pictures of the setup:
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Layla In Line For Major Push, Ref Undergoing Surgery
— Layla is slated to enter the Divas Championship picture upon her return from injury due to the feeling that Beth Phoenix’s feud with Kelly Kelly and Eve Torres has worn out. Natalya is also expected to vy for the title in 2012.
— WWE referee Justin King will undergo undisclosed surgery in a few weeks and is expected to be sidelined for several months. The surgery is not related to any injuries on the job.
— Will hold a Raw SuperShow at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan on April 23, 2012. Tickets go on sale February 25, 2012.
— WWE ring announcer Justin Roberts turns 32 years old Thursday.
source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Ross Expects Morrison To Return To WWE, Keibler’s Booking Fee
— Jim Ross believes John Morrison will return to WWE next year after parting ways with the organization in November.
He tweeted, “Morrison didn’t renew his contract. Taking time off to heal, rest, train. He’ll likely be back sometime in 2012. Smart move.”
Morrison, whose real name is John Hennigan, claimed in an online video earlier this month that he is taking time off to heal and re-train for a return to wrestling.
— Stacy Keibler now receives $25,000 per appearance due to her relationship with George Clooney and prominence in celebrity gossip pages.
source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter
TNA Knockout Mocks Asian Woman, Joe Competes On Xplosion
— Rosita posted several messages on her Twitter account Wednesday mocking an Asian woman she rudely encountered the night before at a Fuddruckers restaurant in Connecticut following her twenty-first birthday party. The TNA Knockout claims the woman tried to cut in line. She then posted a picture of her, calling her “Kung Foo Panda.”
She tweeted, “THIS IS KUNG FOO PANDA.. PERFECT PICTURE TO DESCRIBE HER IGNORANCE. http://yfrog.com/kicpkdzj.”
She then wrote to Velvet Sky, “You sooo shoulda been there! King foo panda was allllllll ready! Offered to order the bitch bamboo sticks but she wasn’t having it..”
— Samoa Joe faces Kazarian in a Maximum Impact tournament match on this week’s episode of TNA Xplosion (video available here). The winner of the eight-man tournament will receive a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship during TNA’s tour of the U.K. in January.
— Bobby Roode and Mickie James appear at the Poughkeepsie Galleria (located at 2001 South Road Poughkeepsie, New York 12601) this Friday from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Jesse Neal Comments On TNA Departure, Food Stamps, Toxxin
Jesse Neal appeared on the Running The Ropes podcast (interview available here). Highlights are as follows:
* Neal says that Christina Von Eerie (a/k/a Toxxin), his girlfriend, was never under contract to TNA Wrestling. Her status with TNA remains unknown following Neal’s departure from the organization.
* Neal says the widespread rumor that he received food stamps earlier this year isn’t true. He does, however, admit that he was almost evicted from his small one bedroom apartment three times this year because he couldn’t afford to pay rent.
* Neal says he rejected TNA’s request to move to Louisville, Kentucky and train at Ohio Valley Wrestling because the money they were offering “wasn’t anything close to live on.” Management told him to get a sidejob if he needed money, but felt that with three shows per week and training six days out of seven he wouldn’t have the time.
* Neal says he spoke to company president Dixie Carter over the phone regarding his situation and was promised it would resolved. He adds she was gracious to him on his final day with the company and was sure she’d see him in TNA again one day.
* Neal praised creative writer Vince Russo, who encouraged him with his promos.
Rating For Monday’s Raw, Morrison Appearing At Flea Market
— The December 26, 2011 episode of the Raw SuperShow garnered a 2.93 cable rating, up from 2.92 the week before. It is the fourth consecutive week in which Raw has drawn below a 3.00 cable rating.
Monday’s show averaged 4,460,000 million viewers overall, up from 4,290,000 the week before. It also snapped an eight week streak of viewership declining during the second hour.
The first hour of Raw averaged 4,330,000 viewers during the first hour and 4,590,000 in the second. Monday’s show drew the most second hour viewers since November 21, 2011, the night following Survivor Series.
— John Morrison is scheduled to appear at Middletown Indoor Flea Market 128 Dolson Ave Middletown, New York on March 11, 2012 from noon to 1:00 p.m. Contact [email protected] for more information.
source: Pro Wrestling Torch
New Video From Matt Hardy: “Learning And Growing”
Matt Hardy has posted a video message wishing everybody a happy holiday season. Hardy says he understands he can no longer talk about how great he’s doing or how his life is going to improve – he has to show us. Here’s the video and Matt’s description of the video:
“As we are faced with adversity and struggles in life, we can either continue our downward spiral, or learn from our mistakes. I start my journey on my second chance at life very enthusiastically. ”
Cena’s Drawing Power, Cole Burying Talent, Big Changes Made
– John Cena was booked to appear in the 10pm and 11pm segments of Monday’s RAW Supershow, because WWE is still not comfortable with CM Punk’s ability to draw ratings. While WWE appears to be teasing a potential heel turn for Cena, there are no plans for a full turn any time soon.
– Upon a recent look at WWE’s ratings, it’s been determined that only a handful of WWE’s top stars are able to draw fans and keep them tuned in. It’s been acknowledged that Michael Cole’s commentary (specifically, the burying of midcard talent) could be hurting ratings.
– WWE has reportedly changed creative plans this week for several top stars including CM Punk, The Miz, Dolph Ziggler and R-Truth. No word yet on exactly what changed, but it likely affects what was planned for these stars through the Royal Rumble.
(Source: f4wonline.com)
Jeff Hardy Rumor Killer, Regal-Retirement, Hall-E:60 & More
– Mexico’s Super Luchas Magazine is reporting that TNA star Jeff Hardy, who is set to headline the upcoming Genesis pay-per-view, is the man behind WWE’s cryptic January 2nd, 2012 promos. This report is completely false. Update: Today is “Innocents’ Day” in Latin America, which is similar to April’s Fools Day here in the United States, so that’s the origin or this story. Move along, nothing to see here.
– WWE Magazine is now available on the iPad.
– ESPN’s E:60 documentary piece on Scott Hall from earlier this year is nominated for Sports Illustrated’s “Best News Feature on a Sports Program” award.
– William Regal has once again addressed rumors of his retirement. Regal tweeted on Wednesday:
“Can I please make this clear.I have never said I’m retiring.Not at the O2 last year nor this week.Not wrestle as much,yes,but not retire.”
“Nor have I been removed from NXT or the WWE.Not been in trouble either(shock I know).”
Friend Of John Cena’s Reveals His Feelings On Being Booed
With a helping hand from John Cena, 40-year-old heavyweight boxer Monte Barrett participated in a week long training camp with WWE’s developmental league Florida Championship Wrestling in late October/early November. As a close friend of Cena’s, Barrett has personal insight on the WWE Superstar. He commented on the hostile reaction Cena receives from grappling fans on a weekly basis to Power Slam.
“We talked about that on [November 14, 2011] and I asked him. A lot of the fans say, “John’s not great, and he’s only got a certain amount of moves,” Barrett says.
“The Rock [left WWE] and John took over. He just told me, “I don’t take it personally, so you don’t either. It’s a job.” Me, I was bothered because the people booed him to death [on Raw]. Rock got a standing ovation. Who knows? John might take a back seat for a while.
“People got tired of Michael Jordan always winning, the Green Bay Packers too. They want different champions, like Lennox Lewis in boxing. It’s our nature to want a changing of the guard. Maybe [Cena] needs to take a back seat, then rise up again in a year or two.”
*Spoiler* Randy Orton Injury Upate
WWE broke the news on Twitter on Tuesday night that Randy Orton was injured at the SmackDown tapings from Indianapolis, Indiana. We are hearing conflicting reports as to whether the injury took place during Orton’s Falls Count Anywhere match on SmackDown with Wade Barrett, or if it was a previous injury.
The match ended when Barrett threw Orton down a flight of stairs, a sign that Orton had pre-existing injury and the angle was used as a way to write Orton off television. Several readers have noted that Orton has not wrestled much in previous weeks, another sign that it’s been a nagging injury.
As noted before, Sheamus will be taking Orton’s place in SmackDown live events this week against Barrett. There’s talk that one of the RAW brand live event matches will be moved over to the SmackDown tour to add more talent in Randy Orton’s absence.
Barrett Comments On Orton’s Injury, Preview WWE’s New Set
– Wade Barrett has commented on the injury suffered by Randy Orton at Tuesday night’s SmackDown tapings, which took place during their street fight (airing this Friday night). Barrett tweeted:
“Look, what happened at the taping was tragic. However, there are inherent risks in our profession. Play with fire, you get burned.”
– As Vickie Guerrero alluded to on Twitter this morning, WWE is set to debut a new stage at tonight’s live event. WWE champion CM Punk has posted (an admittedly crappy) preview picture of the set. Punk just tweeted:
“A horrible sneak peek picture of the new house show…er…LIVE EVENT set. Looks much better in person.”
Check out this preview of the new stage .. We’ll post a better quality picture when it becomes available:
Pictures: Stone Cold’s New “Broken Skull Ranch” Title Belt
WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin has a new blog up on his official website, BrokenSkullRanch.com. Austin recently had a custom Broken Skull Ranch Championship Belt created, which was made by Dave Millican Belts. Austin noted on his blog that he wanted to pay homage to the classic Intercontinental title – the first belt he won in WWE.
Here’s what Austin said about the belt’s design:
“First off, I wanted the shape of the belt to pay homage to the old WWF Intercontinental Championship. The old IC belt is one of the coolest belts of all time and some of the greatest workers in the history of professional wrestling have held this title. I have the IC title I won from Owen Hart in Meadowlands NJ in my safe. It is one of my prize possessions. Anyway…that’s how the belt got its shape. The main plate features the BSR, of course, and the skull in a barb wire circle artwork was created by artist and friend Joe Romero. The state of Texas features three towns–Austin, my birth place…Victoria, my former home town, and where I was from as Stone Cold Steve Austin…And Tilden, where the BSR is located. The plate with the whitetail buck is a deer taken by me in 2010 here at the ranch. His name was Stomper and he scored 181 gross B and C points. He was the first trophy buck taken here at the ranch and was the one of the cornerstones of our deer management program. He also represents my passion for hunting. The other plate is a Texas plate with the same three towns on it. I’m proud to be from the great state of Texas. The belt tip is obviously my signature, and is a nice finishing touch to a super belt. Rico knocked this one out of the park. Great job.”
Check out these pictures of the Broken Skull Ranch championship belt:
Video From After RAW: John Cena Puts Over CM Punk
Check out this video from after Monday’s RAW from Chicago. John Cena puts over CM Punk big time in front of Punk’s hometown crowd:
*Spoilers* 2 Title Matches On The First SmackDown Of 2012
At Tuesday’s WWE SmackDown tapings results from Indianapolis (airing this Friday, 12/30), two PPV-caliber matches were announced for the first SmackDown of 2012.
The January 6th episode of SmackDown, which tapes 1/3 rom Little Rock, Arkansas, will feature:
Daniel Bryan vs. Big Show for the World Heavyweight championship
Cody Rhodes vs. Booker T for the Intercontinental championship
MITB At WrestleMania, New WWE Stage, Sheik-Legends House
– WWE is currently discussing bringing back the Money in the Bank match at WrestleMania 28. If the match does return to WrestleMania, it’s a good sign the Money in the Bank themed pay-per-view could be rebranded in 2012.
– Jim Ross noted on Twitter that he’s not on WWE TV because WWE is not high on his look, plus company officials really like Michael Cole.
– After much speculation, we’ve heard that WWE legend The Iron Sheik will not be a part of the upcoming WWE Legends House reality show on the new WWE Network.
– WWE is set to debut a new stage at their live events. Vickie Guerrero tweeted this morning:
“Flying to Pittsburgh!!! I can’t wait to see the new stage setup tonight. See all of you there”
(Source: f4wonline.com)
Live Notes From MSG: FCW Champ Wrestles, Foley & More
Here are some live notes from Tuesday night’s WWE live event from Madison Square Garden in New York City:
– John Cena defeated Kane by DQ in the main event, their first match since Kane’s return. The match did not last long and was called off when Kane hit Cena with a chair. Kane left the ring, returned and got hit with the Attitude Adjustment.
– FCW Heavyweight Champion Leo Kruger was in action and lost a match to Aalex Riley. Kruger worked as a heel. The match was described as boring, not a great sign for the developmental star.
– Mick Foley was the official host for the night and wound up getting physical – giving Jack Swagger a taste of Mr. Socko after his match with Jerry Lawler.
– Among the notable names in attendance were rapper Run from Run DMC, Betty Skaaland (widow of WWE Hall of Famer Arnold Skaaland and Zack Ryder.
– WWE returns to Madison Square Garden with a Supershow on Sunday, March 18th. Tickets go on sale January 7th. The pre-sale begins January 4th and the code is WRESTLEMANIA.
Orton Injured At SmackDown, Superstars & NXT Matches Taped
— The official Twitter feed of the WWE Insider reported the following Tuesday evening:
“BREAKING: @RandyOrton injured at #Smackdown in Indianapolis tonight. More details to follow on WWE.com as they become available.”
*SPOILERS* WWE SmackDown Tapings Results For Friday
— Matches taped Tuesday night in Indianapolis, Indiana for this week’s episode of WWE Superstars were: Darren Young vs. Trent Barreta; Tyson Kidd vs. Yoshi Tatsu.
Matches taped for this week’s episode of WWE NXT were: Heath Slater vs. Justin Gabriel; Percy Watson vs. Tyson Kidd; Derrick Bateman vs. Johnny Curtis.
*SPOILERS* WWE SmackDown Tapings Results For Friday
Thanks to SEScoops.com readers D.J. Metro Dee, Luis and Ariane for sending in these results from tonight’s Smackdown taping in Indianapolis, IN:
SmackDown opens with Booker T coming to the ring for a promo. Booker T enters the ring and talks about how 2011 was a great year for him and thanks the fans. He’s interrupted by Cody Rhodes, who proceeds to insult the fans in Indianapolis and several Colts players, who are sitting at ringside. Rhodes then congratulated Booker for beating him on RAW and shakes his hand. He then tells Booker that his fantasy is over, and his in ring career is over. He tells him that he is washed up and is a joke as an announcer and as a person and he should leave WWE.
Goldust comes out in a suit with no makeup or costume. Goldust tells Cody that he knows better than to insult a legend. Cody goes on to insult his brother. Booker defends “Goldy” and said that they should have a rubber match for the title tonight. Cody agreed, but for next week. Booker promises to become the new U.S… before catching himself and saying Intercontinental champion next week. Booker T then left the ring, and Cody attacked Goldust. Cody ran off as Booker returned to the ring to tend to Goldust.
Jinder Mahal defeated Ted Dibiase via submission with the camel clutch.
Teddy Long and Aksana are backstage, but are interrupted by Drew McIntyre, who is now once again a SmackDown star. Long tells McIntyre that he makes too much money and has lost his passion. Long told him that if he doesn’t beat Ezekiel Jackson later tonight, he may have to look for a new job.
Alicia Fox and Kaitlyn defeated Natalya and Tamina in a bad 30 second diva match. After the match, Tamina attacked Natalya and laid her out with a super kick and a Superfly splash from the top rope.
A promo with Daniel Bryan and AJ is cut short when Big Show interrupted and said that giants don’t need saving. Teddy Long comes out and says that the tag team match scheduled for later tonight is off because David Otunga wants a piece of the Big Show. Now Show will face Otunga with Mark Henry in Otunga’s corner. Bryan then said that maybe giants do need saving.
Hunico (with a bodyguard) defeated Justin Gabriel with a swanton bomb. After the match, Hunico and his bodyguard double-teamed Gabriel.
The Big Show defeated David Otunga via pinfall. During the match, Daniel Bryan came down to ringside and hit Mark Henry with the World title belt, prompting Henry to chase him to the back. Show proceeded to hit Otunga with the WMD to get the win.
Ezekiel Jackson defeated Drew McIntyre with a roll up while holding the tights.
Backstage McIntyre is complaining to Teddy Long about his loss. Long tells McIntyre that he can’t stand losers who complain. McIntyre leaves Long’s office upset.
Sheamus is coming out for a promo. He said that he’s going to win The Royal Rumble regardless of what number he draws. Hornswoggle comes out. Sheamus asked him who will win the Rumble. Hornswoggle grabbed the mic and goes crazy saying “Hornswoggle” repeatedly while running around. Heath Slater interrupts and insults Hornswoggle. Visit Wrestling Inc. Slater talks about Bushwacker Luke and the Brooklyn Brawler having dreams of winning a Royal Rumble and never doing it. Slater then tells Sheamus that he’s the best redhead on SmackDown, not Sheamus. After some more talking, Sheamus ends up throwing Slater over the top rope.
Lilian Garcia announces that Sheamus will face Heath Slater tonight.
Sheamus defeated Heath Slater with the Brogue kick.
Daniel Bryan and Big Show promo with Teddy Long. Bryan calls himself Big Show’s good luck charm. Show says that he doesn’t need a good luck charm and is getting tired of Bryan coming out to help him. Long announces Daniel Bryan vs. The Big Show for the title for next week on Smackdown which makes Show happy. Bryan states that even if he loses next week, his title reign was longer than Big Show’s 45 second reign.
Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett in a falls count anywhere match is next. Orton threw Barrett in the crowd and the referee gets knocked out. they fight to the backstage area and brawl like they did last week. Backstage an elevator door opens and they fight in an elevator where there’s an elevator cam set up. Later, Barrett threw Orton off a set of stairs. The show ends with Orton in extreme pain after being pushed down the stairs. The crowd is not happy as they were not sure if the match was over or not.
Dark Match Main Event:
Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett vs. Big Show for the World heavyweight title with Booker T as guest referee ended in a minute after Show hit Barrett with the WMD. Show then ran at Bryan, who pulled down the top rope causing Show to fall out. Bryan then quickly covered Barrett for the win. Booker T gets the mic and asks Daniel Bryan to hold up. Booker T and Daniel Bryan do spinaroonies to end the show.
Ryder Reportedly Demoted Due To Low Rating, Chimel Resurfaces
— Dave Meltzer stated on the Dec. 27 edition of Wrestling Observer Radio that Zack Ryder being placed in a romance storyline with Eve Torres and away from the main event scene stems from the staggeringly low quarter hour rating for last week’s Raw SuperShow main event, which saw Long Island Iced-Z, CM Punk and Daniel Bryan stand tall against The Miz, Alberto Del Rio and Dolph Ziggler.
The main event garnered a 2.67 cable rating (2.55 for the first half of the bout), which was the lowest-rated main event on Raw in 2011 and possibly the lowest since Dec. 8, 1997 for a non-holiday show in its regular time slot. The overrun gained 59,000 viewers, which is considered terrible.
The Ryder/Torres storyline is slated to continue for at least a few weeks.
— Tony Chimel resurfaced at Tuesday’s WWE television tapings in Indianapolis, Indiana as the ring announcer for WWE NXT and WWE Superstars. He takes over for Eden Stiles, who parted ways with the organization last week. Chimel was removed as SmackDown ring announcer earlier this month due to Lilian Garcia’s return to the company.
JR Blog: Austin Wrestling Again, Sting-WM28, Lesnar-Overeem
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross is back with another blog update, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. In this update, Ross talked about Monday’s RAW, the incredible amount of talent at Florida Championship Wrestling and answered a bunch of questions from fans on Twitter. Here are some highlights of what JR said about:
Brock Lesnar’s Fight This Friday:I’m a sentimental, Lesnar lean in a fight that will undoubtedly, in my view, end via knockout or stoppage. I’ve predicted Lesnar to win via stoppage in round two. Many of my MMA friends think that Overeem will knock Brock out. Two, big, heavy hitting heavyweights wearing four ounce gloves won’t have a stylistic fight but one of the Slobber-Knocker variety. If Lesnar fails to take Overeem down with bullrush type upper body lockups and if Brock hasn’t improved on his striking defense, Overeem wins. Nonetheless I’m a Brock Lesnar fan and hope that he prevails.
Also, speaking of the former WWE Champion, IF Brock ever returns to WWE it will be for one, big mega event ala a Wrestlemania. Lesnar will NEVER go back on the road on any thing that even remotely resembles a part time schedule.
Sting Appearing at WrestleMania: “Another unique and somewhat unbelievable trend I’ve seen lately via Twitter and emails to this website are fans wondering if Sting will be at WM28 AND be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2012. Apparently, those fans don’t understand the concept of a contract and the obligations that go along with said document. Fantasy bookers can be genius-like when they don’t have to contend with existing contracts or with the fact that some former stars are simply done with wrestling and want to do other things with their professional lives.”
Steve Austin Wrestling Again: “I casually mentioned on Twitter about a possible Steve Austin one more match scenario. I did this to answer a question and as a follow up to what Steve himself said in a recent interview. It would have to be the right guy at the right place and right time according to the Texas Rattlesnake. My suggestion was that the right time ‘might’ be at Wrestlemania in 2013. Nonetheless nothing is guaranteed and the decision is up to Steve and not any one else. However, doing it anywhere but Wrestlemania doesn’t make sense to me.”
Punk Denied Entry To MSG, Seth Rollins Debuts, SD Rating
– This week’s RAW ratings are delayed a day due to the Christmas holiday.
– WWE Champion CM Punk was denied access to New York City’s Madison Square Garden, the site of tonight’s WWE live event and the venue where he captured the title at November’s Survivor Series pay-per-view. Punk tweeted on Tuesday evening:
“Sellout the Horizon on a Monday, refused entry to the Garden on Tuesday. My life is awesome. Some serious Larry David shit.”
– Former ROH World champion Seth Rollins (formerly Tyler Black) made his WWE debut in a dark match prior to tonight’s SmackDown TV tapings from Indianapolis. Rollins wrestled as a heel against Skip Sheffield, who won the match.
– Friday’s 12/23 edition of Smackdown did a 1.97 rating with 2,742,000 viewers.
New Ring Ka King Promo Videos, Impact Rating
– Last Thursday’s 12/22 edition of TNA Impact Wrestling drew a 1.0 rating.
– New promo videos have been released hyping TNA’s new Ring Ka King promotion, based out of India:
Pope In New Batman Movie (Pic), Hogan’s Game Trashed Again
— After being named the Worst Game of the Year by the official XBOX Magazine, Hulk Hogan’s Main Event has won another “worst of the year” award.
ScrewAttack.com has awarded Hogan’s XBOX 360 Kinect game a SAGY award (Sh–ty Ass Game of the Year). Congrats to Hulk!
— TNA star D’Angelo Dinero has a small role in the upcoming blockbuster Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises.
The Pope will be playing a henchman of the film’s main villain, Bane. Themancavedaily.com has released the following picture of Bane’s goons – you can spot Dinero in the front row wearing a hoodie.
The Miz Injured At RAW, Lots Of Live Notes From Chicago
– Long before Monday’s RAW from Chicago went live on the USA Network, fans at the arena were chanting CM Punk’s name. They were also chanting, “Cena Sucks.”
During a video package that aired before RAW, The Rock received some boos when he was shown on the screen.
– A lot of signs were confiscated at Monday’s RAW, including signs for Colt Cabana, Cliff Compton and Cabana’s Art of Wrestling podcast. Cabana, a close friend of CM Punk, is also Chicago native.
– The Miz suffered a nasty bruise on his shoulder during tonight’s RAW when R-Truth threw him into the steel steps. He’s not expected to miss any ring time, but his entire shoulder is black and blue.