*SPOILERS* WWE SmackDown Tapings Results For Friday

Here are some live notes from Tuesday’s WWE SmackDown tapings from Baton Rouge:

– Prior to any tapings, Dean Ambrose got another dark match win over popular independent wrestler Luke Hawx.

– The following matches were taped for this week’s NXT:

* Tyler Reks & Curt Hawkins vs. The Usos

* Tamina Snuka vs. Kaitlyn

* JTG, Johnny Curtis and Michael McGillicutty vs. Derrick Bateman, Percy Watson and the returning Justin Gabriel

– Matches taped for Superstars:

* Christian vs. Drew McIntyre

* Yoshi Tatsu vs. Jinder Mahal

– After the SmackDown tapings, John Cena defeated The Big Show, John Laurinaitis and David Otunga in a Handicap Match.

WWE taped  this week’s SmackDown from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Credit to SEScoops.com reader Amy for the following live results:

Dark Match:

* Dean Ambrose defeated Luke Hawkins.

SmackDown

The show opens with World Heavyweight champion Sheamus coming to the ring. He talks about his match with Del Rio at No Way Out. David Otunga comes out and demands Sheamus apologize running over John Laurinaitis two weeks ago on RAW. Sheamus refused and out comes Del Rio. Otunga announces that Del Rio pick an opponent for Sheamus tonight. Sheamus lays out Otunga with Brogue Kick and Del Rio ran away.

* Sin Cara returns with new red and white ring gear and new pyro during his ring entrance. He defeated Heath Slater in a decent match with no botched spots.

* Still to come tonight – WWE Title Match with Kane vs. CM Punk.

* Ezekiel Jackson comes out followed by Damien Sandow. Sandow cuts a promo and refuses to wrestle. He tried leaving but Jackson brought him back to the ring. They wrestled and Sandow won with his neckbreaker finisher.

* Backstage, Dolph Ziggler tells Alberto Del Rio he wants to be picked as Sheamus’ opponent. Del Rio agrees and Ziggler vs. Sheamus will happen later tonight.

* Ryback defeated two local wrestlers in a squash match.

* Dolph Ziggler came out with Vickie Guerrero and cut a promo on Sheamus.

* Sheamus defeated Dolph Ziggler with a Brogue Kick. Jack Swagger interfered, but it backfired and allowed Sheamus to get the win.

* Zack Ryder and Santino Marella defeated Darren Young and Titus O’Neil. Big Show came out after the match and beat up Santino on the stage, throwing him into the set. Show then beat up Ryder. Show went back to Santino and knocked him out with a punch to the face.

* Backstage, Daniel Bryan tells AJ Lee that CM Punk is using her.

* Cody Rhodes defeated Tyson Kidd in a quick match. Christian did commentary and had a confrontation with Rhodes after the match.

* CM Punk and Kane was called a double disqualification when Daniel Bryan interfered and attacked both men. Kane chokeslammed Bryan and Punk at the same time. John Laurinaitis came out and announced a three-way match for the WWE championship at No Way Out. AJ was in the ring with Punk and Bryan, but left by herself. Bryan slapped CM Punk in the face, but Punk fought back and hit Bryan with the Go To Sleep to end the show.

Video game publisher THQ’s official website has launched a new sub-section for the upcoming WWE ’13 video game.

First WWE 13 Screenshots & Official Video Trailer

The following is a look at the new features that will be in this year’s installment:

WWE Live: Bring the atmosphere, spectacle, and fervor of a raucous WWE Live event into your living room with awe-inspiring Spectacular Moments and a new audio system that delivers the most authentic and dynamic commentary, sound effects and crowd participation ever in a WWE game.

Relive The Attitude Era: It was a time when Stone Cold Steve Austin battled for supremacy against his maniacal boss, Mr. McMahon. An era where The Rock told opponents to “know your role, and shut your mouth”, where the Undertaker threw Mankind off the top of the Hell in a Cell, and D-Generation X broke all the rules. Now, for the first time, relive this groundbreaking era in an all-new single player campaign mode that will make you experience the Monday Night Wars like never before.

WWE Universe 3.0: The fan-favorite WWE Universe mode returns, giving you more control over WWE than ever before. Your choices determine your destiny as you dynamically shape your schedules, television shows, and rosters, and form alliances and make enemies on your way to the top.

Predator Technology 3.0: With new animations, transitions, and modified controls built on the Predator Technology™ game engine, WWE ’13 will deliver strategic, fluid, and fun WWE action that plays more smoothly than any prior WWE game.

Create & Share Your WWE: WWE ‘13’s industry-defining creation suite returns to give more ability than ever to create Superstars, arenas, entrances, finishing moves, storylines, and more! Go online and upload your creations to share them with the WWE Universe and download creations from others to add to your own experience.

As for the roster, THQ is touting the “biggest roster” ever in a WWE game. So far, confirmed players include: Steve Austin, The Undertaker, CM Punk, Sheamus, Mankind, Big Show, Mark Henry and Chris Jericho. The THQ website says the game will feature 77 playable characters – 38 Superstars, 7 Divas and 32 Attitude Era Legends.

– TNA star Matt Morgan was asked by a fan on Twitter if he’ll be at Thursday’s live Impact from Orlando. Morgan replied, “Nope!”

TNA has reportedly used up Morgan’s contracted dates and there has been talk of him jumping to WWE.

– Last week’s 5/24 episode of Impact Wrestling drew a 1.01 rating with 1,434,000 viewers.

– The TNA website has announced that Mr. Anderson is the second potential opponent to challenge Devon for the Television title on Thursday’s live Impact Wrestling show. Rob Van Dam was named on Monday. TNA will reveal two more potential challengers (one Wednesday, one Thursday) and then fans will be able to vote on Thursday who will face Devon that night for the title.

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross is back with another blog update, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights of what JR wrote about:

Redneck Island: “Talked to @steveaustinBSR last week. Steve spent approximately 30 days in Mexico taping ‘Redneck Island’ for CMT. He seemed pleased with the project which debuts in mid June on CMT. It’s tapped for a 10 week run. This could be the first of multiple projects with Steve and CMT in the future. Steve will be shooting some scenes for ‘Grownups 2’ starring Adam Sandler and others in July.”

Dolph Ziggler Returning To Singles Action: “Seems like Dolph Ziggler is about to embark on his own or so it appears from watching RAW. Whether Ziggler reminds one of Billy Gunn, Curt ‘Mr Perfect’ Hennig or anyone else from the days of yesteryear, the former college wrestler is main event bound in my view. @HEELZiggler can be a big time player and I would only encourage him to take the ball away from someone and run with it until someone forces him to change course.”

WWE 13: “I’ve put many hours into this project and it’s going to have multiple storylines that come with some bona fide attitude … Amazing that some people actually think that Laurinaitis is/was going to be on the cover of WWE13 from THQ. CM Punk got the deserved nod.”

WWE 13 Screenshots & Video Trailer

John Cena Not Appearing On RAW: “John Cena not being on Raw live was a sound move. Cena is far and away WWE’s top star right now and giving one’s bell cow a respite from additional TV exposure is a good thing. Cena is a valued commodity in WWE and not over exposing him is good for the Cena TV persona and also provides other stars the opportunity to ‘maximize their minutes’ and be more impactful.”

As always, you can (and should) check out Jim Ross’ amazing line of BBQ products at the WWEShop website.

– Paul Heyman has been getting some buzz on Twitter today, including some cryptic responses from WWE Champion CM Punk. Heyman tweeted on Tuesday afternoon, “It’s going to be one wild F’n year!”

Shortly after, WWE Champion CM Punk responded to the tweet by saying, “They have NO idea.” When asked by a fan if they could have a “clue” about what Paul Heyman and CM Punk were talking about, to which Punk replied, “Colonel Mustard.Conservatory.Pipe.” – a reference to the board game Clue.

Punk was asked by another fan, “@CMPunk will you be working with @HeymanHustle in the WWE this year?” Punk replied, “Last time we did that one of us quit!”

– BusinessWeek.com has confirmed our recent report about WWE filing for new trademarks associated with the “RAW Active” interactive elements that will debut on the 1,00th episode of RAW (July 23rd):

“(WWE) has filed three applications to register ‘Raw Active,’ and ‘#Raw Active’ as trademarks. According to the database of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, WWE plans to use the marks in connection with fan-oriented online chat rooms and social networking. The applications were filed May 17. “

– Monday’s RAW had a social media score that was essentially even with last week’s. Trendrr.tv gave this week’s show a score of 146,775, up just a bit from last week’s post-Over The Limit show, which did 144,452. RAW’s social media activity ranked in at #2 on cable for Monday night, behind the Heat vs. Celtics NBA Playoffs game, which scored 566,379.

– The WWE website has a new feature up written by Howard Finkel looking at 10 superstars with ‘split personalities’, including Dustin Rhodes/Goldust, Mick Foley/Mankind, Hulk Hogan/Captain America and more.

– WWE has posted a new episode of Backstage Fallout from Monday’s RAW. The preview reads: “Does John Laurinaitis really owe his job to The Miz? The Awesome One thinks he does. What exactly does The Miz want from Big Johnny? Plus, AJ talks about her obsession … err, her feelings for CM Punk in the latest “Backstage Fallout.”

Picture Of CM Punk On The Cover Of WWE ’13

THQ has released the first batch of screenshots and the official trailer for the upcoming WWE ’13 video game, in stores October 30th.

“With WWE ’13 you can relive the fan-favorite, ground-breaking Attitude Era like never before with WWE LIVE, featuring completely revamped, realistic audio and jaw-dropping Spectacular Moments like ring breaks and barricade crashes. Play as legendary Superstars including “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Undertaker and Mankind, or present-day icons like cover Superstar CM Punk, Sheamus and Chris Jericho. The revolution has begun.”

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– We reported earlier today that John Cena is booked for most upcoming SmackDown tapings through July. WWE Champion CM Punk will also be appearing on a lot of those shows.

While Cena and Punk will help add some needed star power to SmackDown, there is concern that both men (especially Cena) are being overworked. This has been discussed a lot behind the scenes lately, that WWE has been working its top performers harder than ever.

– A commercial aired on RAW for the new ECW DVD release that featured a voiceover from Paul Heyman. Heyman recorded his voiceover several weeks ago, possibly even before he agreed to return to WWE as Brock Lesnar’s legal representative.

Heyman was recently at WWE headquarters filming scenes for the new CM Punk DVD, so it’s possible he worked on the ECW DVD commercial then.

(Source: PWInsider.com)

– Some of the WWE-related terms that trended worldwide on Twitter on Monday night were: Big Show, Randy Orton, Alberto Del Rio, WWE ’13, Alex Riley & ECW.

– The WWE ebsite is reporting that several superstars were injured on RAW at the hands of the Big Show. According to storylines, WWE tag team champions Kofi Kingston and R-Truth both suffered “multiple contusions” to various areas of their bodies.

Brodus Clay suffered a concussion and several bruised ribs from Big Show’s attack. The WWE.com article states that Dr. Chris Amann advised Brodus Clay to visit the hospital for further evaluation, but he declined. Clay left the New Orleans Arena with Naomi and Cameron around 11:45pm (central time).

– WWE Superstar CM Punk is scheduled to appear at the upcoming Wizard World Philadelphia Comic Con event, which takes place on May 31st at the PA Convention Center from 2-6pm.

* VIEW HERE: CM PUNK On The Cover of WWE ’13

One of the major stories over the weekend was Brock Lesnar making an unannounced appearance at Saturday night’s UFC 146 pay-per-view. UFC President Dana White announced at the post-fight press conference that Lesnar texted him and said he wanted to meet with him face-to-face. White smiled every time he was asked about what Lesnar was doing there and said it was a possibility that Lesnar could return to the UFC for another fight.

VIDEO: Dana White Talks About Lesnar Returning To UFC

There has been a lot of speculation about Lesnar’s meeting with UFC, including how much WWE knew in advance, with some people believing the whole thing was a work and part of the “Lesnar has left WWE” storyline.

WWE sources have indicated that WWE had nothing to do with the meeting. Lesnar told WWE officials afterwards that he met with Dana White at the show, but nothing came of it. Lesnar reportedly pitched the idea of “doing something” with UFC while still working with WWE, but Dana White turned him down because he’s very cautious about mixing “sports entertainment” with legitimate MMA competition.

Even if Lesnar does not fight in the UFC prior to WrestleMania 29 (or ever again), he still got people buzzing about his appearance and added further “legitimacy” to the WWE storyline that he’s no longer under contract with them.

(Source: PWInsider.com)

As seen on RAW last night, CM Punk was confirmed for the cover of the new WWE ’13 video game, in stores October 30th, 2012.

THQ’s game developers noted on Twitter this week that the character models look a lot better in this year’s game and they created modified versions of Punk’s shoulder tattoos for this year’s installment.

Here’s the official cover photo:

Chris Jericho, who is currently serving out a 30-day suspension, was not at Monday’s RAW. Following his incident in Brazil last week, many talents in the WWE lcoker room are said to be “walking on eggshells” and not wanting to do anything to get in trouble with management. The feeling is that the whole incident was blown out of proportion and Jericho, a veteran wrestler, got into trouble for just doing his job.

Speaking of last week’s WWE tours, both the RAW and SmackDown crews are still recovering from the hectic week. The RAW crew in particular had a very rough time with traveling due to the missed flights that caused last week’s Brazil show to be rescheduled. The missed flights created more problems with the hotel rooms booked for the wrestlers – with several veterans stepping up and helping the younger stars coordinate their reservations.

(Source: PWInsider.com)

WWE will tape this week’s SmackDown and NXT shows tonight from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

It was announced on RAW thatFriday’s SmackDown will feature a rare WWE title defense in the main event – with CM Punk defending against Kane.

Also announced for the show are the return of Sin Cara and a “special appearance” from Randy Orton.

The advertised dark match main event is John Cena vs. John Laurinaitis & Big Show in a handicap match.

We’ll have live spoilers on the site later tonight, make sure to check back for those.

As reported on Monday, longtime TNA employee Don West is finishing up with the company.

The main reason behind West’s departure is that he was presented with an “offer he couldn’t refuse” – to be the new General Manager of the Wenatcheee Wild minor league hockey team based out of Wenatchee, Washington. As General Manager, West will be involved in all aspects of the hocky team’s operations.

No word on whether West will be an “evil” general manager and attempt to have his top players injured on purpose.

West is leaving TNA on good terms and it’s believed that he’d be welcomed back in the future.

(Source: PWinsider.com)

– As seen on RAW last night, Dolph Ziggler is breaking away from his tag team partner, Jack Swagger. After their team failed to capture the Tag Team Championsihps from Kofi & R-Truth, Ziggler stormed off and said, “I’m better than this, I’m Dolph Ziggler!”

Later in the show, Ziggler was shown backstage with Vickie and told her he wants her to help him get back into singles matches.

Ziggler wrote the following on Twitter, teasing that he’ll be at SmackDown:

“I looked great on raw again&we lost,whatevs @excusemewwe make something happen on smackdown #ImBetterThanThis”

– John Cena is being advertised for all WWE SmackDown television tapings through the end of July, excluding next week’s 6/5 tapings from Columbia, South Carolina. In place of John Cena, Triple H is being advertised for the Columbia show.

– This week’s WWE ratings will be delayed due to the Memorial Day holiday. Friday’s SmackDown rating will come out later today while the RAW rating will be released Wednesday afternoon.

– Today’s wrestling birthdays include Hornswoggle (26), Brian Kendrick (33), Steve Corino (39), Pete Gas (42) and Samu (49).

John Cena vs. Big Show at No Way Out will take place inside of a steel cage. The announcement was made on RAW.

At this time, the only other match confirmed for the show is World Heavyweight champion Sheamus defending against Alberto Del Rio.

Daniel Bryan a WWE title shot on RAW by defeating CM Punk. Another CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan match is rumored for No Way Out, but has not been officially announced yet.

WWE had been building to a Randy Orton vs. Chris Jericho match, but with Jericho suspended for 30 days and Randy Orton giving The Miz an RKO on RAW, it appears The Miz could be filling in for Jericho and wrestling Randy Orton at the pay-per-view.

Here are some live notes from Monday’s WWE RAW Supershow tapings from New Orleans:

– Dean Ambrose defeated Tyson Kidd in a dark match to start the show.

– Beth Phoenix vs. Alicia Fox and Tensai vs. Alex Riley were taped for this week’s WWE Superstars.

– It was announced to the live crowd that Elimination Chamber 2013 will take place from there on February 17th. The pre-sale for tickets is underway and runs through Friday. The password is ECNO.

– After RAW went off the air, Brodus Clay was stretchered out to sell the Big Show’s knockout punch. After Clay was gone, the dark match main event took place. John Cena defeated Tensai and John Laurinaitis a handicap match.

– Puerto Rico’s World Wrestling Council promotion has announced that WWE Superstars Primo and Epico will wrestle former WWE superstars Shelton Benjamin and John Morrison at the June 30th Anniversario show from Bayamon, Puerto Rico.

– WWE is looking to hire a new Creative Director for the upcoming WWE Network. A job listing posted at EntertainmentCareers.net lists the following job description:

“The WWE is launching a new TV Channel. We are looking for a Creative Director to help define and create the new Network’s brand identity, positioning and programming promotion. This position is a newly created role reporting to the Vice President.”

“He/she works closely with the VP to develop concepts and ideas to be used for promoting the Network and various WWE programs.”

“The Creative Director will be manage a team and oversee the day-to-day On-Air creative team and provide creative guidance and assistance to the Managers, Producers, and Associate Producers.”

Longtime TNA employee Don West has given notice that he’s leaving the company, according to PWInsider.

West had been with the company since it was founded in 2002 and served as a lead announcer along with Mike Tenay until he was replaced by Taz. He has also been the head of TNA’s merchandise department since 2009, a role West was so good at that TNA sources have said will be nearly impossible to find somebody to fill his shoes.

West, who first got national television exposure as the zany pitchman for the Shop At Home network, brought his unique brand of sales skills on the road with TNA, where he’d set up a merchandise table inside the ring and other unique offers.

If you are not familiar with West’s work on the Shop at Home network, it’s absolutely legendary. You will NOT be ABLE to BELIEVE the INSANE deals he offered – selling everything from signed Barry Bonds baseball bats to MUST HAVE Beanie Baby collections. Here’s a classic clip from Don West on Shop At Home:

Following Chris Jericho’s Brazilian flag incident last week, the feeling in the WWE locker room was that his co-workers were shocked and upset at how it played out – but Jericho was simply playing the role of a wrestling heel.

Ringside VIDEO Of Jericho’s Flag Incident In Brazil

As a public company breaking into a new international market, WWE was obligated to take action and suspend Jericho for a serious violation of a law in Brazil.

Jericho continues to imply on Twitter that he’s done with WWE. When asked by a fan whether he’ll be turning his suspension into a storyline when he returns, he replied,
“Haha! Why bother ?? Im done”

Whether or not Jericho does return to WWE television after his 30-day suspension expires at the end of June, his metal band Fozzy is going on tour overseas shortly after.

WWE’s recent “Top 25 Masters Of The Mic” list continues to generate a lot of discussion online.

In his latest blog, Jim Ross spoke about the list and summed up his thoughts with, “The best talkers, without fail, on the list were all from the generation of instinctual speakers who would select the appropriate bullet points and take it from there.”

View Here: WWE’s “Top 25 Masters Of The Mic” List

One man who agrees with Jim Ross about the best interviews being ‘unscripted’ is WWE Hall of Famer “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, who came in at #2 (behind Steve Austin). Piper tweeted the following message about his spot on the list and why he deserves to be ranked higher than John Cena, The rock and even Steve Austin:

“I don’t know if this is true. Told the WWE put out a book of greatest mic men. Told I was not no.1. Lost the last piece of respect & cred. LOL..Before this petty who is best goes to far, cause I love them all. Imagine if the WWE would let Rock, Austin,Piper, Cena do a Pit! Magic. Simple. All there interviews were scripted! There lay the difference! “#2. The book is full of Sh*t. And everyone, including all the boys know it!”

WWE Champion CM Punk, a longtime Roddy Piper fan, says it’s a joke that Steve Austin was ranked above Piper:

“that list is a joke because Piper isn’t number one. Typical WWE revisionist history/political favoritism.”

– Mick Foley worked last night’s WWE SmackDown live event in Lake Charles, Louisiana. As he’s been doing at several recent live events, Foley served as a special enforcer, this time for the United States title match between Santino Marella and Jack Swagger. Santino got the win and Foley gave Swagger a taste of Mr. Socko.

– Triple H and WWE Hall of Famer Arn Anderson are being advertised for the upcoming June 5th SmackDown taping from Columbia, South Carolina. Anderson will serve as the special enforcer for the Sheamus vs. Kane vs. Alberto Del Rio cage match at the event.

– Speaking of Triple H, WWE is advertising that he’ll be appearing at the August 13th RAW Supershow, the final RAW before WWE’s SummerSlam pay-per-view.

There continues to be talk of Triple H and Brock Lesnar’s match taking place at SummerSlam.

– Tonight’s WWE RAW Supershow takes place from the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, LA. Tonight’s RAW will focus around John Cena’s main event feud with the Big Show, as well as CM Punk’s ongoing program with Daniel Bryan.

WWE will also address the fallout from Chris Jericho’s incident in Brazil last week. WWE started a new rivalry between Jericho and Randy Orton last week, but will need to come up with something new for Orton at No Way Out due to Jericho’s 30-day suspension.

Matches advertised locally for the lve crowd inclue John Cena vs. Big Show and John Laurinaitis in a Handicap Match and WWE Champion CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan.

SEScoops.com will have the CHAT ROOM open tonight during RAW.

– This weekend featured several wrestling birthdays, including WWE Diva Natalya (30) and Eric Bischoff (57) on Sunday. Today’s birthdays include Headbanger Mosh (41) and WWE legend Kamala (62).

– WWE is selling new John Cena “Salute the Cenation” youth t-shirt.

– WWE will debut at the new Barclay Center arena in Brooklyn, New York (new home of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets) on December 16th for this year’s Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)

– In the latest WWE Are You Serious video, Road Dogg and Josh Mathews return with more “garbage juice” for the WWE Universe, including a clip of the electric guitar playing Superstar, Man Mountain Rock: