Daniel Bryan spoke with GQ.com before Tuesday’s live SmackDown in Hampton, Virginia. Here are some highlights:
The Popularity Of His “YES!” Chant& The Night After WrestleMania:
“I thought the whole thing was unreal, that all these people were getting behind me. Or maybe they weren’t getting behind me. Maybe it’s just fun to chant “Yes!” But it was really cool. I came out and did a post-show [non-televised] dark match, and there was a really special moment where they were behind me 100%.”
UFC veteran Tito Ortiz was interviewed in Sweden over the weekend by Karyn Bryant of MMAHeat.com. Tito talks about being interested in a WWE career once his current contract with UFC expires.
Ortiz begins talking about WWE around the 6-minute mark – and says he might be the next man to follow in Brock Lesnar’s footsteps to WWE.
Years ago, there were often rumors about Ortiz being interested in working for WWE, but it never happened. Tito has made more comments about joining WWE during media interviews this week.
– Earlier this week, we reported that early PPV buyrate data suggested that WrestleMania 28 was on track to do approximately 1.1 million buys. More data is coming in – and right now, it’s looking like like WrestleMania 28 drew approximately 635,000-700,000 buys in the United States alone. This does not include PPV buys in Canada. Last year’s show drew 679,000 ‘domestic’ buys, but that includes US, Canada and Puerto Rico.
While the numbers look promising that WWE will soundly break 1 million buys, these are all first-week estimates. WWE is not expected to release the final numbers until the end of May.
– WWE officials are looking to hold a live Tuesday SmackDown 2 days after next year’s WrestleMania 29 pay-per-view. WWE is looking to capitalize on the WrestleMania momentum, and the feeling is that the show will be hot enough that WWE can get away with holding live television shows on the two consecutive days following Mania.
Hall’s lawyer Loredana Nesci tells TMZ that he did NOT choke his girlfriend, even though his girlfriend Lisa Howell told police at the time that Hall grabbed her by the throat and tried ripping her out of her car. Police observed multiple signs of injury on Howell, including red marks around her neck, so Hall was arrested.
Hall’s lawyer still denies that her client got violent, telling TMZ:
“The police arrested Mr. Hall against the wishes of Ms. Howell, who insisted that the argument did not result in violence. Ms. Howell claims that there was no physical abuse.”
Hall’s girlfriend refused to press charges, but police saw the marks on her neck, which were grounds for an arrest.
Hall’s lawyer maintains that he and Lisa Howell have a [wait for it] “peaceful and amicable relationship.”
As we reported earlier this week, former WWE wrestler John Morrison recently shot a commercial with actress Jessica Alba. E! online did a video feature looking at the commercial – but did not say what the commercial was for (or mention Morrison by name). Here’s the video:
Former Miss USA Rima Fakih was back in court this morning and plead no contest to her DUI case just hours before her trial was set to begin. She plead no contest to misdemeanor ‘driving while visibly impaired’ – in exchange for prosecutors dropping the more serious charge of driving while intoxicated.
Sentencing is scheduled for May 9 and she is facing up to 93 days in jail. She said today:
“You learn, you pay your price for making mistakes and you move on. I’m very happy I can put this behind me.”
Fakih was arrested in Detroit back on December 3rd after cops saw her speeding and weaving through traffic. According to the police report, Fakih was “disoriented” and slurring her speech. Her blood alcohol level was more than double the legal limit and cops found a half-empty bottle of wine in the car.
– At the press conference that took place just hours before WrestleMania 28, The Rock named Brock Lesnar as one of the people he’s looking to wrestle.
– Christian is being advertised for the upcoming SmackDown live event from Salisbury, Maryland on June 9th. Christian will get a shot at the Big Show’s Intercontinental title. The main event for the show will see Daniel Bryan challenge Sheamus for the World Heavyweight title in a Last Man Standing Match. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
– The next 3-hour RAW Supershow will take place on June 11th from Hartford, Connecticut. Tickets go on sale this Friday.
-WWE writer Ed Koskey is the creative force behind the Mick Foley vs. Dean Ambrose feud – and was there in person when Ambrose confronted Foley at a hotel in Miami during WrestleMania weekend [Video]. WWE is using the feud to introduce Ambrose to the WWE Universe in preparation for his imminent television debut.
– During an interview with MMAHeat.com producer Karyn Bryant to promote UFC’s live event this weekend from Sweden, MMA legend Tito Ortiz teased that he is considering a career with WWE once his UFC contract is up.
– SmackDown newcomer Damien Sandow worked another dark match prior to Tuesday’s live SmackDown special from from Hampton, Virginia. He defeated Yoshi Tatsu.
Matches for today’s WWE NXT include Tyson Kidd vs. Michael McGillicutty and Percy Watson vs. Johnny Curtis.
– Bobby Lashley will face James Thompson on May 6th for the Super Fight League in New Delhi, India. Lashley is rumored to be fighting Fedor Emelianenko later this year.
News broke on Tuesday that former WWE superstar Scott Hall was arrested (again) last week for allegedly choking his girlfriend after being drunk for days.
Hardcore legend Mick Foley forged his legendary reputation by putting his body on the line, sacrificing his well-being and taking bumps that most men wouldn’t dare attempt. You might think that Foley is enjoying his time away from the ring, but the Long Island native recently had a ‘vision’ – and wants to take one more big bump. Foley tweeted this week:
“I believe I do have one more big bump left in me – delivered on my terms, with a @WWE Superstar who respects what I’ve done”
“My final bump came to me as a vision. I know exactly what I want to do, where I want to do it, and who I want to do it with.”
Considering the fact that developmental star Dean Ambrose has been calling out Mick Foley for “destroying a generation” with his envelope-pushing bumps, one has to wonder whether Ambrose will try to make a name for himself by fulfilling Foley’s vision and ending him once and for all.
Foley also revealed that he spoke to WWE officials prior to WrestleMania 28 and requested that he and Jim Ross do commentary for the Hell in a Cell match between Triple H and the Undertaker:
“Wish I’d been a small part of HIAC. I asked @WWE early on about me and JR doing commentary; I guess they liked half of the idea.”
– Despite speculation that his match at WrestleMania 28 might have been his last, the talk backstage at WrestleMania was how great the Undertaker looked in the ring. After undergoing two major surgeries in the past year, the belief is that Undertaker has several more matches left in him and will almost certainly work WrestleMania 29.
– There is a lot of buzz at Florida Championship Wrestling that Terry Taylor is being brought back to help with the new developmental project that will be located in Stamford, Connecticut.
– Former Miss USA and WWE Tough Enough contestant Rima Fakih is scheduled for court today in Michigan to address charges stemming from her recent drunk driving arrest. Recent online reports have stated that Fakih is returning to WWE soon.
– United States Senate candidate Linda McMahon will participate in Connecticut’s first Republican candidate debate on April 19th. McMahon will be joined by opponents Chris Shays, Brian Hill, Kie Westby and Peter Lumaj.
– While official numbers are not yet available, early indications from cable companies show that WWE’s WrestleMania 28 drew approximately 1.1 million PPV buys.
WWE was initially hoping for 1.3 million buys, but lowered their expectations to 1 million by WrestleMania Sunday.
– Today’s wrestling birthdays include Dustin “Goldust” Runnels (46), ECW original Balls Mahoney (40) and WWE Hall of Famer Harley Race (69).
– Chris Jericho will be appearing on Adam Carolla’s podcast this Friday at AdamCarolla.com.
After his recent arrest in Florida for “doctor shopping” and attempting to illegally obtain close to a thousand powerful prescription pain pills, TMZ.com reports that former WWE superstar Maven Huffman will be entering a WWE-sponsored rehab program.
James Flynn, the attorney representing Maven Huffman, told TMZ:
“Yes, Maven is planning on working with the WWE and he was really impressed by their gesture to assist him. It is Maven’s sincere hope to use his experience to aid in the prevention of substance abuse and serve as an example to his fellow wrestlers and community at large. Maven would also like his supporters to know that he is humbled by the outpouring of support he has received over the past week and he sincerely apologizes to any of his family members, friends, and fans who have had to read the press surrounding recent events.”
Flynn said that Huffman will cooperate with authorities, but is not admitting to any crimes.
Posted April 11th, 2012 in News, WWE. Tagged: Maven.
– Monday’s RAW Supershow drew a 3.1 cable rating and averaged 4.29 million viewers. This is down from last week (3.43 rating with 5.01 million viewers) and has to be a disappointing number, with the show heavily focused around the Brock Lesnar vs John Cena feud.
– FCW star Dean Ambrose tweeted a photo of scars on his back and said he met with WWE doctors on Tuesday morning –
“Fun morning trying to explain gross barbwire scars and excessive nerve damage to #wwe doctors,#thanksmick”
Ambrose has been feuding with Mick Foley since WrestleMania weekend when he confronted Foley at a Miami hotel [VIDEO] and got in his face, blaming him for badly damaging the wrestling industry and its competitors with his hardcore style. Ambrose has been ranting about Foley on Twitter – click here see what he wrote.
Comment below and tell us what you think about the Ambrose – Foley feud.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights of what JR said about:
Week 2 of the Brock Lesnar – John Cena Feud:
Hottest start to a Monday Night Raw that I can remember in years. The show opening brawl between Brock Lesnar and John Cena was shocking and physical. These two wasted no time verbally lambasting the other and ‘passed go’ and went right to the smashmouth, literally, aspect of the rivalry.
Lesnar has ‘it’ and his presence is stark/sobering. When the former WWE and UFC champion makes his way to the ring, all eyes are on him.
John Cena is tough as a $2 steak. No hyperbole just fact. Cena’s former coach at Springfield College told me that John was a physical, workhorse who anchored their offensive line as an All American center and was the hardest worker on the team. Cena getting a busted lip had him smiling. That was awesome.
Lesnar’s interview with Josh Mathews was excellent.
Young Talent Like Brodus Clay, Dolph Ziggler & Cody Rhodes:
“At my stage of the game, I enjoy watching these young guys evolve and I have the patience to allow such to occur in a natural, organic manner. Unfortunately, younger fans want instant gratification much like they want their pizzas delivered in 30 minutes or less. I’d rather enjoy the aroma coming from the kitchen for hours before enjoying that great meal.”
As always, you can (and should!) purchase Jim Ross’ amazing line of BBQ products at WWEShop.com.
The recent confrontation between WWE developmental wrestler Dean Ambrose and WWE legend Mick Foley from WrestleMania 28 weekend in Miami has been a hot topic in the wrestling world over the past week.
To recap, Dean Ambrose confronted Mick Foley at the Intercontinental hotel (where the WWE crew was staying) and called him out for the destructive effect that Foley’s hardcore style of wrestling has had on the industry. The idea behind the program is to build the angle as if it was a legitimate confrontation and use the buzz from the confrontation to kickstart Ambrose’s character.
Ambrose and Foley have been exchanging words on Twitter over the past few days, with Foley acting like he doesn’t know who Ambrose is:
“Having a blast with my kids at Disney. Not really concerned about some guy I’ve never heard of.”
“Three months ago,people asked me about facing TAKER at Mania – now, it’s a guy from FCW. TITANIC 3D isn’t the only ship sinking this week.”
Dean Ambrose responded with the following rant about Mick Foley and the damage that his hardore style of wrestling inflicted on the wrestling industry:
“Must be nice to be so arrogant and oblivious. Guilt free family funtime. Just great. Good for you. @realMickFoley”
“Nah, In a perfect world id rather see his house repoed and his family starved than see Mick make another dime off wrestling”
“#wwe I Just watched Edge’s full Hof speech. Big fan of Edge, too bad he had to retire so young #ThanksMick”
“He raised the bar of stupidity so high everyone ruined themselves tryin 2 get 2 it”
“#wwe Atleast Edge got to have a hof career. Alot of people didnt even get the chance to have one at all #thanksmick”
“#wwe likes to pretend Mick Foley never existed. Wwe is still apologizing for him by sterilizing the product. #raw”
“Btw..I have zero fear of reprisals from the office for wat ive said about mick foley cuz nobody high up in #wwe has any respect for him”
– The WWE RAW crew is headed overseas today for the company’s annual post-WrestleMania European tour. This year’s tour will include WWE’s first-ever live event in Moscow, Russia, with WWE already looking to return to Russia in 2013.
Approximately 6,000 tickets have already been sold for Wednesday’s show and WWE is hoping for a sellout. As previously reported, Triple H is being advertised for this week’s live event from Moscow – a sign that WWE is really trying to make an impact in the market prior to their return next year.
– WWE made several references to UFC on Monday night, something the company was reportedly against just a few weeks ago.
Before RAW went on the air, the USA Network aired a cut-in from the Verizon Center where Michael Cole told viewers that RAW would be going live in a matter of minutes – and mentioned former UFC Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar is in the house. During RAW, both Cole and Brock Lesnar mentioned Lesnar’s UFC past. It is unknown at this time what led to the change in policy regarding mentioning UFC on WWE television.
As we saw on RAW, the storyline behind Brock Lesnar’s return is that John Laurinaitis brought Lesnar in to bring “legitimacy” back to WWE and take out John Cena once and for all.
UFC and WWE have worked together before as it relates to Brock Lesnar. WWE allowed UFC to use WWE footage of Lesnar when Lesnar first entered the UFC. UFC also gave WWE the green light to feature Brock Lesnar in the WWE ’12 video game.
– WWE is planning to release talent in the coming weeks. As of this weekend, the latest talk is that WWE has decided on who will be released – but the releases will not be made public until everything is finalized and talent has been notified.
– WWE sent out an e-mail last night telling customers that Daniel Bryan’s new “YES!” t-shirt is on back-order after being on sale for just 3 days.
WWE officials are expecting the chants to die down, but there were still many “YES!” signs and chants at Monday’s RAW from Washington, D.C.
– WWE-Careers.com has a new job listing up for a new Editor-In-Chief of WWE.com.
– WWE announced last night that RAW will return to Washington, DC on Saturday, December 29th for TV tapings. They’re taping on Saturday night due to the New Year’s holiday. The pre-sale begins this morning and the password is WEEDC.
– John Cena wrote the following message on Twitter after Monday’s RAW:
“Interesting #raw tonight. Make sure u check out @Syfy #DreamMachines tomorrow after #smackdown.”
– RAW General Manager John Laurinaitis tweeted the following after RAW, playing into the storyline that he is the person responsible for bringing Brock Lesnar back to WWE:
“Bringing #BrockLesnar back to WWE was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. He personifies what the era of #PeoplePower is all about.”
– After petitioning for a match with Lord Tensai on Twitter, Yoshi Tatsu got what he wanted on RAW – so to speak. Tatsu, who got squashed by Tensai so badly that the referee stopped their match, wrote:
“I don’t want to have an excuse. I couldn’t do anything today. But I have a reason to have to win to Lord Tensai !!! #YoshiRevolution”
“Thank you for cheering last night. Lord Tensai is too strong for me so far. But I will never give up like @JohnCena !!! #YoshiRevolution”
– WWE Tag Team Champion Epico Tweeted the following about being left off RAW again:
“Well, the tag team champs were left off #Raw for another week…… But this time we’re not gonna cry…. We’re just gonna take matters into our own hands…”
The Bella Twins are leaving WWE when their contracts expire at the end of this month, according to reports on several reliable newsletter sites.
They reportedly have given their notice to WWE and do not plan to renew their contracts. The Bellas have been with WWE since 2007 when they signed developmental deals and have worked as wrestling divas and company spokeswomen.
They are already being advertised for an autograph signing on May 19th in City of Industry, California – and are listed as their real names, Brianna & Nicole Garcia.
The belief is that the Bellas simply want to move on to do other things.
They tweeted on Monday night:
“Don’t believe what you hear #! Tune into WWE Superstars this week you won’t be disappointed Besos! B&N #WWE”
“Don’t believe what you hear #BellaArmy How about that Cena and Brock fight?!! Wooaaahhhhhh! #RAW”
– WWE will present a special live edition of SmackDown tonight on SyFy at 8pm from the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia. The show will feature an “Old School” theme, with the following WWE Legends booked to appear:
Gene Okerlund, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Dusty Rhodes, Ted DiBiase Sr., Mick Foley, Sgt. Slaughter, Tony Atlas, Pat Patterson, Hillbilly Jim, Howard Finkel, Jimmy Hart, Mae Young and Roddy Piper.
No matches have been announced for the tapings, but WWE says punishment is in store for World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus after he hit referee Chad Patton with a Brogue Kick last week. WWE is teasing that John Laurinaitis may strip Sheamus of the title and award it to the #1 contender, Alberto Del Rio. Chad Patton told the WWE website over the weekend that he doesn’t believe that Sheamus has been punished enough yet for his attack.
The dark match main event is advertised as Mark Henry, Daniel Bryan and Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton, Sheamus and Big Show.
– After Monday’s RAW from Washington, DC went off the air, Dolph Ziggler came out and started talking trash to John Cena. Cena gave him an Attitude Adjustment and left Ziggler on the mat to end the show.
– It was announced on RAW that next week’s show will feature CM Punk defending the WWE Championship against Mark Henry in a match with no disqualifications and no count outs. The stipulation is a result of CM Punk facing Henry on the past 2 weeks of RAW and the match ending without a conclusive result.
– The WWE RAW crew is headed overseas for a two-week tour today. Triple H is advertised for WWE’s first show in Moscow, Russia this Wednesday.
– Damien Sandow wrestled a dark match prior to Monday’s RAW from Washington, D.C. The SmackDown newcomer cut a heel promo before defeating JTG via submission.
– Friday’s SmackDown drew a 1.93 cable rating with 2.72 million viewers.
– Matches taped on Monday night for this week’s Superstars were Kofi Kingston vs. Curt Hawkins and Brie Bella vs. Kelly Kelly.
Brock Lesnar will wrestle John Cena at WWE Extreme Rules in less than three weeks on April 29th. John Laurinaitis announced the match at the start of Monday’s RAW. Lesnar came out and thanked John Laurinaitis for having the wisdom to bring legitimacy back to WWE.
John Cena’s music then hit and he entered the ring. Cena slapped Brock Lesnar in the face. Lesnar charged him, taking him down and pummeling him before the WWE officials and wrestlers hit the ring to keep the men apart. Cena’s mouth was bloodied in the scuffle and a replay showed Lesnar nailing Cena square in the face with a nasty punch.
The ring was full with people separating Lesnar and Cena, but the two broke free several times and brawled on the ground.