– Honoring the 1,000th episode of Raw on July 23, Sycho Sid competed in his first match on the program in over fifteen years on Monday’s show. He easily defeated Heath Slater. Speaking to WWE.com, Sid explained how good of a feeling it was to return to Raw.
“Maybe two or three people could really know what this means to me. This is, and I’m not exaggerating, this is the greatest moment in my whole life right now,” he says. “I’ll let you know what I’ve been through, how long it’s taken to get back to where I’m at now. This is like going from playing a sandlot game to being in Major League Baseball. I have never been more happy in my whole life.”
– As a practical joke, Japanese wrestler Kota Ibushi tweeted a nude photo of Taka Michinoku from a locker room over the weekend. Michinoku competed for WWE from 1997 to 2001 and now wrestles for various Japanese promotions.
John Bradshaw Layfield had a near death experience on Monday during the first part of his Seven Summits mountain climbing adventure. While attempting to climb (Russia’s Mount Elbrus), the former WWE superstar encountered a huge snow storm that pushed them off the mountain.
JBL says he suffered frostbite and hypoxia (a condition where your body is deprived of adequate oxygen supply) and is “lucky to be alive.”
Prior to his attempt to climb Mount Elbrus, he tweeted:
Bad weather but suppose to get worse so…. GameTime!! Gonna be very cold and wet, see u in about 16 hours after I reach top of Europe!
WWE sent out the following press release on Tuesday detailing Charlie Sheen’s role as the special Social Media Ambassador for Monday Night RAW’s 1,000th episode celebration on July 23rd:
#SheenGetsRaw on July 23
STAMFORD, Conn.–(EON: Enhanced Online News)–WWE® (NYSE: WWE) today announced Charlie Sheen, star of the highly anticipated FX comedy series Anger Management, as the Social Media Ambassador for Monday Night Raw’s historic 1000th episode live on July 23 at 8/7C on USA Network.
Sheen will tweet during Raw, providing up-to-the-minute commentary on the night’s action to his 7.5 million Twitter followers. Sheen has more than 12 million fans combined on the social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. WWE fans and Sheen followers will be able to ask the actor questions during the broadcast via Twitter using the #SheenGetsRaw hashtag.
In Anger Management, Sheen stars as “Charlie,” a non-traditional therapist specializing in anger management. He has a successful private practice, holding sessions with his group of primary patients each week, as well as performing pro bono counseling for an inmate group at a state prison. Selma Blair, Shawnee Smith, Daniela Bobadilla, Michael Arden and Noureen DeWulf co-star.
The series premiere of FX’s comedy series Anger Management starts this Thursday, June 28 with the first two episodes airing at 9:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Follow Charlie Sheen on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @CharlieSheen. Follow WWE on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @WWE.
Maria Kanellis was displeased with being groped by a spectator at Saturday’s Ring of Honor Best in the World 2012 event in New York City. Following the event, she tweeted, “Thank you New York for coming to see Mike Bennett and myself. But the guy in the front row that grabbed my bum, I will have you thrown out next time. You are a pervert!!”
The former WWE Diva continued, “I am not to be touched, ever, by a fan weather I am working or not. It’s gross. I am not a toy. You pay to watch, so watch. Don’t touch. The only person that can touch is Mike Bennett. From now on you will get thrown out. thank you…”
Kanellis was asked late last night whether she misses WWE. She responded, “I’m the FIRST LADY in the greatest company in the world. No I don’t. I’m all grown up.” Hours later, she was made today’s spotlighted Superstar on WWE.com. She then wrote, “Thank you for the spotlight… WWE.com. A LADY deserves the spotlight…”
Posted June 26th, 2012 in News, WWE. Tagged: Maria.
– The new WWE Main Event show on ION Television scheduled to premiere on Wednesday, October 3rd will reportedly feature first run programming that will likely be taped on Tuesday nights prior to the weekly SmackDown tapings. It’s expected that the show will feature top WWE superstars and divas from both brands in action and will be treated as a bigger deal than Superstars.
– WWE diva Eve was scheduled to return at Monday’s RAW, but was not there. She has been off television for several weeks filming the new NBC reality competition, Stars Earn Stripes.
– The WWE-related terms that trended on Twitter during RAW included: Brock Lesnar, Vickie Guerrero, Sid, Kane, Jack Swagger, Santino Marella, Bob Barker, Charlie Sheen and Star Wars.
– WWE Champion CM Punk tweeted the following message this week about his upcoming DVD release:
Watching an early copy of my DVD. I'm pretty speechless. Very humbling…
– WWE Tag Team Champion Kofi Kingston will be appearing on the SyFy Network’s original series Fact Or Faked tonight at 9pm (Eastern).
– WWE’s new Best of Falls Count Anywhere Matches DVD and Blu-ray sets have officially been released and can be ordered now from Amazon.com.
– Former WWE Diva (and wife of Brock Lesnar) Sable has joined Twitter and can be found at@RealSable.
– The “big surprise” that Lilian Garcia was hyping for Monday’s RAW was that she worked as ring announcer for the show, her first time announcing RAW since returning to the company.
– WWE announced on RAW that a permanent General Manager for RAW and SmackDown will be announced in 4 weeks at the 1,000th RAW Celebration on July 23rd.
– Joey Styles is encouraging fans on Twitter to purchase the new ECW Unreleased: Volume 1 DVD/Blu-Ray set if they want to see a Volume 2 released in the future. So far, we’ve heard sales have been strong for the first installment.
– Brodus Clay tweeted the following on Monday night after RAW after losing to the Big Show, which officially ended his winning streak:
Funkateers Thank u all! lil dizzy and icing my knee see what dr says in am
Speaking of Brodus Clay, he’ll be doing an autograph signing with Naomi and Cameron at Steiner Sports Store in the Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City, New York on 9/22 from 1-3pm.
It was announced on Monday’s RAW that Brock Lesnar will respond to Triple H’s SummerSlam challenge on next week’s show.
During the show, local commercials aired in St. Louis promoting an appearance by Brock Lesnar at the upcoming 1,000th episode celebration on 7/23 from the Scottrade Center.
The commercial stated that Lesnar would be in St. Louis and questioned, “but what part will he play?”
Lesnar is also advertised for the August 13th edition of RAW, the final show before SummerSlam.
No word yet on whether Lesnar will be at RAW next week to answer Triple H’s challenge in person.
– Triple H appeared in front of the live crowd at Monday’s RAW during a commercial break.
After Santino Marella defeated Jack Swagger, Triple H came out and hit Swagger with a Pedigree.
– After RAW went off the air, a dark match main event took place: John Cena vs. Big Show and Tensai in a handicap match. Believe it or not, John Cena won after hitting Tensai with the AA.
John Laurinaitis then hit the ring and attacked Cena with a steel chair. Cena got fired up and hit Laurinaitis with the AA to end the show.
— Despite being advertised for Monday’s RAW, Kelly Kelly was not there. She Tweeted a message from Cabo, where she is vacationing with her boyfriend, NHL hockey player Sheldon Souray. Kelly is taking time off from WWE.
— The upcoming The Rock vs. John Cena: Once In a Lifetime DVD set will be released on September 11th, 2012.
— The main event of Friday’s Smackdown show will be Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Dolph Ziggler in a Triple Threat match for the World Heavyweight championship. The show will be taped on Tuesday from Evansville, Indiana.
– Friday’s episode of WWE SmackDown did a 2.0 cable rating, with 2.97 million viewers. Those numbers are both up big from last week’s rating and viewership and were the most for both since March 9th. The show ranked #1 among the adult male demographics, #2 among male teens and was up bigin all key demographics, according to PWInsider.com.
– It was announced on RAW that WWE will present a special Super SmackDown Live: Great American Bash show next Tuesday night July 3rd at 8/7c.
– WWE Champion CM Punk will defend against Daniel Bryan at next month’s Money in the Bank pay-per-view.
– In a dark match that took place prior to Monday’s RAW went on the air, FCW wrestler Bray Wyatt (former NXT wrestler Husky Harris) defeated Alex Riley in approximately 5. Our live correspondent said that Wyatt got “tremendous heat” from the crowd and Riley got a good reaction as well.
– The following matches were taped for this week’s WWE Superstars, airing this Thursday online:
* WWE Tag-Team Champion Kofi Kingston vs. Michael McGillicutty
Actor Charlie Sheen will be attending WWE’s 1,000th RAW Celebration on July 23rd and will serve as the “Celebrity Social Media Ambassador” for the three hour broadcast.
During RAW, Sheen will give his unique perspective in 140 characters or less about the action. WWE.com wrote about Sheen’s role:
“During the three-hour milestone event July 23 at 8/7 CT on USA Network, the “winning” actor will entertain his 7.5 million Twitter followers and the WWE Universe all night long with his unique 140-character analysis of the action.”
Sheen will be promoting his new show, Anger Management, which premieres this Thursday on FX.
– Chris Jericho’s metal band Fozzy will be playing at Pop’s Nightclub in Sauget, Illinois on August 21st. According to Poprocks.com, fans who have ticket stubs for the Uproar Festival will get free admission to the Pop’s Nightclub show on 8/21.
Fozzy is booked for several dates on the Uproar Festival, but will not be playing on Sunday, 8/19, the day of SummerSlam.
Jericho, who returns to WWE tonight after serving a 30 day suspension, is advertised for SummerSlam.
It’s been widely speculated that Morgan is interested in returning to WWE when he is contractually able to do so. No word yet on the nature the “business” Morgan conducted while in town, but we’ll post an update on this story when it’s available.
– As reported earlier, WWE is teasing that Paul Heyman will be at RAW tonight to react to Triple H punching him out last week.
Heyman’s current deal with WWE runs through SummerSlam and he’s expected to be a regular on WWE television through then as a representative of Brock Lesnar.
Former WWE SmackDown head writer Alex Greenfield appeared on the MLW Radio show over the weekend and says he almost got into a physical altercation with Vince McMahon after a disagreement over a proposed SmackDown storyline.
Here’s what Greenfield said about the incident:
“We’re standing right outside the arena. There are fans way back behind the fence wondering what Mr. McMahon is yelling at this little Jewish kid for. I just refused to back down. I was like, my way is the right way. You did it wrong. He said, Damnit, I wish you were 6′ 7″ and I said, I’m not, but I’m standing right here.”
“And there was a moment in that conversation where I thought he was just going to haul off and punch me in the face. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking like a badass here like I would have won this confrontation necessarily. He probably would have broken my jaw.”
“But he really thought about it. I’m convinced to this day that he thought about knocking the [expletive] out of me.”
Part 1 of the MLW Radio interview with Alex Greenfield can be heard here (.MP3).
Kenn Doane, who appeared as Kenny of the Spirit Squad and Kenny Dykstra for WWE from 2006 to 2008, blames an affair between John Cena and Mickie James for ruining his relationship with the former Diva and sabotaging his once promising career. He stated on Twitter that he has received nothing but positive feedback from those in the professional wrestling industry, including WWE employees, for speaking out against the Cenation leader online.
“Thanks for tweets from positive to negative Nothing but positive from those in the ‘biz’ and in the know,” he wrote Sunday night. “Alot of text messages saying all positive things. ‘Goodjob, thank you, ect’ stuff like so. And that’s from WWE employees and non employees.”
Former WWE star Shad Gaspard agrees with the assessment that Doane’s career was ruined due to backstage politics.
He tweeted, “Kenn Doane is a great guy and worker who was held back. Some of the best guys get shitted on for no good reason.”
Doane stated to SEScoops.com that he we wanted to bury the hatchet with Cena at a WWE show last November, but was blown off. He also explained why he’s speaking out now.
“When I was there in November I was actually excited to talk with John and I wanted to bury this all. He walked by I put my hand out and said hey you got a minute? He didn’t shake my hand and said “for you, absolutely not.” So I was like “really OK John, that’s cool,” he recalls. “So to all you people that disagree with me bringing this up now it’s merely to clear my name of having a bad attitude.”
He continues, “Another thing people claim my timing is bad on this and maybe you’re right. John is going through a divorce right now and I really wish him and Liz a peaceful divorce. But if anyone of you lost your job, personal life and then got stuck with a bad reputation, you’re gonna honestly say you wouldn’t do the same thing? Let’s get real people.”
— WWE is launching a new weekly one-hour show called “WWE Main Event” that will air Wednesday nights (8/7 central) on ION Television. In a press release sent out on Monday, WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon says:
“WWE looks forward to this new partnership with ION Television. We are excited about producing this new television show, WWE Main Event, and bringing our fans to ION Television every Wednesday.”
WWE Main Event debuts on October 3rd and will feature “a big arena experience with live audiences like current WWE weekly programs from both RAW and SmackDown.” There is no mention of the show featuring first-run programming, so it might be a highlights show.
For more on WWE Main Event, visit Zap2It.com.
— WWE Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston & R-Truth will be doing an autograph signing this afternoon from the Glenbrook Dodge dealership in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
— ECW original Tommy Dreamer is launching a new promotional called “House of Hardcore” (the same name of the former ECW training academy). The first HoH show will take place on October 6th from the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York.
Below is Tommy Dreamer’s official announcement of the new company:
– Jerry “The King” Lawler stated on Twitter that he will be on hand for Tuesday’s SmackDown taping in Evansville, Indiana for a match against Michael Cole. It is unclear whether the bout will a dark match or televised since the official website of The Ford Center does not have it advertised.
– In this edition of WWE Download, Dolph Ziggler celebrates summer by sharing some of the season’s most humiliating clips he could find.
– The former Bella Twins stated on Twitter that they attended the premiere of Magic Mike over the weekend: “It’s a must see! @RealKevinNash was awesome! Besos!”
– FCW Diva Raquel Diaz (daughter of Vickie & Eddie Guerrero) is now the longest-reigning Divas Champion in FCW history. The previous record holder was WWE Diva Naomi, who now dances with Brodus Clay.
Diaz captured the gold back in December 2011, when she defeated Audrey. Diaz, who worked this weekend’s WWE SmackDown events as ring announcer, tweeted the following about her milestone: