Mick Foley appeared for WWE once again on the current European tour – with an appearance at the live event from Newcastle.
Check out this video footage of Foley and John Cena – with Cena ripping into his Survivor Series partner and WrestleMania 28 opponent – The Rock. Below that – a promo from Mick Foley.
The ratings are in from Monday’s RAW Supershow from Liverpool, England – and its a whole lot of bad news for WWE.
Monday’s RAW drew a 2.88 cable rating with just 4,015,000 viewers.
RAW continued the disturbing trend of losing viewers in the second hour. Hour 1 this week did a 2.94 rating (4.17 million viewers) while hour two did a 2.81 (3.86 million viewers). This is the 8th time in the past 11 weeks that RAW lost viewers in hour two – something that almost never happened prior to this year.
By comparison, the NFL’s Monday Night Football game on ESPN did a 12.32 rating – up nearly 40% in total viewers from the wek before – so RAW did have stiff competition.
Former WWE star Chris Jericho was interviewed by TheSuplex.com this week and addressed rumors that he’ll be returning to WWE at the Royal Rumble. Jericho said:
“Well, there’s been rumors that I’m coming back pretty much every week since I left… I still have no plans. I know people get mad at me when I say that. I’ve just been enjoying what I’m doing right now, and if other people don’t understand that I’m sorry. I apologize. I never said I wouldn’t go back to wrestling again.
“As of right now, we’ve been doing so much stuff with the band, and then when we’re done with this tour, I’ll have some stuff in Hollywood that I’ll be working on, stuff that kind of transpired from Dancing with the Stars. I’ve never considered myself just a wrestler. I’m an entertainer… It’s one of those things that when the time comes, if it comes, I’ll know it, and maybe I’ll have a really cool idea that no one has ever seen before, and when that happens then I’ll think about it.”
Jericho was asked whether there’s anything left for him to accomplish in wrestling. Jericho responded with a blunt, “No.”
“That’s the thing, f I never wrestle again, I’ll have no regrets… I could be done. I know some people don’t like that or understand it. I don’t want the big WrestleMania sendoff with the cheering and the thing, no f—ing way. I just want to disappear and never be seen again.”
Other items discussed include:
Here’s video footage of the interview:
Maxim Magazine has posted behind-the-scenes video from WWE diva Kelly Kelly’s recent photo shoot.
WWE taped this week’s NXT and another match for Superstars on Tuesday from Liverpool, England:
WWE NXT:
* Rookie Challenge opens the show. Johnny Curtis and Derrick Bateman vs. Percy Watson and Titus O’Neil is set for tonight.
* Tyson Kidd beat Trent Baretta in a great match.
* Jimmy Uso beat JTG.
Superstars:
* Daniel Bryan beat William Regal in the match of the night so far, exciting, fans into it and great.
Former WWE Intercontinental Champion Chyna appeared on The Howard Stern Show Monday to promote her first professional pornographic film, Backdoor To Chyna. She notably states during the interview that she recently wrote a letter to Vince McMahon regarding a possible return to WWE, which she last appeared for in 2001.
Chyna says, “It’s been a decade, right? (The fans are) like “Chyna we miss you, we love you,” it’s an incredible, this fan respect that I have, you know? So, they’re like “when are you going back?” and I was like “you know, that’s a good question.”
Stern chimes, “You wrote Vince and you said, “Vince, I want to come back to the WWE.” Chyna responds, “I didn’t say that.”
She explains, “I wrote him a legal letter, it was very professional instead of like the trainwreck, all over, like crazy. Had my stuff together and I wrote him a certified letter by lawyer and said, “Hey, are you ready to put everything aside personally, and would you like to do business with me?”
WWE responded, “We’re not interested at this time.”
Paul Heyman interviews “The Baddest Dude on the Planet” Brock Lesnar about THQ’s WWE ’12 video game in a video published Tuesday. His former manager asks, “Did you have a favorite opponent during that run, or a single moment that stands out in your mind?”
Brock responds, “I went through a lot of guys. I went through Ric Flair. I went through Hulk Hogan. I went through Undertaker. But there’s a guy that I didn’t get to go through. There’s a Hall of Famer, there’s a legend that I didn’t get to go through and there’s a guy that felt threatened by me at the time and there was a guy that felt that I had everything given to me.
“And that guy’s “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
“If that’s the match that I wanted to have and I look back and felt robbed by, that’s the one that I would want. That’s the one that sticks out the most in my mind. All these other matches, yeah, they were great. I was on top of the world and I was beating the Hall of Fame legends. I was the first legend killer.”
The interview concludes with Heyman asking Lesnar if he thinks we’ll see him pull off an F-5 anytime soon. He smilingly responds, “I think you can purchase the game and do it all you want.”
Lesnar also discusses Alistair Overeem, maintaining his personal life, being included in WWE ’12, his diet, and more.
— John Morrison says he will discuss his future following his final advertised appearance on tonight’s Raw SuperShow.
“I’ll post more about the future next week,” Morrison tweeted Sunday night. “Right now I’m planning on tearing the house down at RAW tomorrow in Columbia SC!”
— A Memphis Street Fight between Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler is being locally advertised for the January 2, 2012 Raw SuperShow in Memphis, Tennessee.
— Former WWE Superstar Rob Conway turns 39 years old Monday. He placed second in the Kentucky Bodybuilding Championships on November 5, thus qualifying for the NPC National Bodybuilding, Figure, Bikini and Men’s and Women’s Physique Championships in Miami, Florida.
source: PWInsider.com
The movie “Bounty Hunters” (formerly “Bail Enforcers”) starring former WWE diva Trish Stratus has been sold to MPI Media Group for U.S. distribution.
Slated for a Spring 2012 release, here’s the official press release from TrishStratus.com regarding the movie:
Santa Monica, CA /TrishStratus.com/ – Raven Banner Entertainment has sold U.S. rights to Bounty Hunters to MPI Media Group. Starring seven-time WWE champion and fitness icon, Trish Stratus, MPI plans a spring release for the film.
The deal was negotiated by Greg Newman, Executive VP of MPI Media Group and Michael Paszt and James Fler of Raven Banner Entertainment.
Other territories sold include: Canada (Anchor Bay), UK/Ireland (Lionsgate), Japan (Fine Films), France (Antartic), Australia/New Zealand (VM Distribution), Germany (MIG Film Group), Pakistan (Cine Entertainment), Thailand (M Pictures) and India (Star Entertainment).
“I’m looking forward to delivering Stratusfaction worldwide” stated the wrestling star, Trish Stratus.
Jim Ross has updated the Q&A section of his official website with numerous answers to fan questions. He gives his take on The Undertaker’s wrestling future, the status of Air Boom following Evan Bourne’s thirty-day suspension, whether Batista will return to WWE, and more.
Q: Hey JR, With Evan Bourne’s current suspension, do you feel that this may affect the Tag titles & Air boom’s status as a tag team, knowing there’s a ppv coming up or do you think they may not even have the titles defended at Survivor Series?
A: Won’t do them any favors. Not good…disappointing.
Q: Is the Undertaker a part time Wrestlemania preformer or is there a chance we will see him on a semi-regular basis?
A: What I love about Taker is his unpredictability. I see Taker back at WM28 w/o question. After that, I don’t know.
Q: To me the big money match WWE has had for the past few years is Undertaker vs John Cena at WrestleMania. Will it ever happen now and why hasn’t it happened yet?
A: Hard to predict. I’d say less than 50/50.
Q: Do you think that Dave Batista will come back?? because he is my favorite WWE superstar :) but please let him to come back if you can thanks you.
A: I’d never say never on Batista but I’d be shocked if he attempted to come back and compete as a full time wrestler.
Q: Do you think the Chris Benoit we enjoyed watching wrestle and who we knew as one of the greatest wrestlers of his generation will ever have any of his matches shown again, for example on the WWE On demand site?
A: I’d be shocked to see Benoit’s career have much exposure on any platform going forward.
– Evan Bourne, who is currently serving a thirty-day suspension as a result of his first violation of WWE’s Talent Wellness Program, took a dig at the organization’s constant shilling of Twitter during television broadcasts. Bourne tweeted:
“I wonder if WWE ’13 will have our twitter handles, random tweet pop ups and Cole talking tweets? Might make gameplay as annoying as viewing.”
“My guess is WWE 13: “The Network”. You are Vince and control the WWE with a WWE “Univers(e)al” Remote. Create history and earn money!”
– Kelly Kelly announced on Twitter that she has set up a page on Google+.
– Monday’s Raw saw Mason Ryan quickly defeat JTG. The appearance marked as JTG’s first match on the show since being transferred to Raw in April via the Supplemental Draft.
Former WWE star Sean Waltman says he would love to join his friends Kevin Nash and Triple H back on WWE television, but he doesn’t think it will be happening any time soon.
During Monday’s RAW, Waltman wrote a few messages on Twitter talking about why Vince McMahon isn’t ready to bring him back just yet.
“I would love to one day return home to WWE. I still need more time doing well. Not long ago I attempted suicide. I understand Vince’s fear.”
He also thanked WWE for saving his life and spending tens of thousands of dollars on sending him to multiple stints in rehab.
“You can thank WWE’s Wellness Policy for me being here tweeting with you. They spent almost as much on me as they have on Scott.”
Stephanie McMahon Says WWE Has Spent Over $100,000 Sending Scott Hall To Rehab
Former WWE superstar Chris Jericho was interviewed by LeftLion.co.uk to promote his metal band Fozzy. Here are some highlight of what WWE’s first Undisputed champion said about:
His Ability To Come and Go From Wrestling:
“It wasn’t a conscious decision. I’ve always had other things I wanted to do, and I always had an opinion, which can be a dirty word with certain people. I stopped wrestling for no other reason than my contract ended in 2010, and there was a huge glut of Fozzy opportunities, so I moved on to the next thing that was happening for me. Hey, I love wrestling, and I never say never about going back – but right now I wanna see Fozzy as big as we can get it, and that’s my goal.”
Whether He’s Surprised About Shoot Videos:
“Not at all. When you’re a fan, you love hearing insider talk. Personally, I’d never do the three-hour sit-down shoot video; I’d write a book about it instead.”
Many Of His Friends In The Business Dying:
“It sucks. I was watching Raw earlier, and Hunter (HHH) was talking about how lucky he was to have all these friends in the business and he gave a list, and I thought, fuck, my friends died. It’s not happened in recent times, thank God, but there was a period not so long ago where guys were going down one after the other. It is a very tough business, and I feel so lucky that I never got into the drugs and pills. I was always a drinker – I still am to this day, and I can probably drink more than most, but if I want to go a week or two between having those drinks, I can. I don’t know, man. Maybe because of the music side of my life, and because I didn’t have all my eggs in one basket, wrestling wasn’t the be all and end all.”
The State of the Wrestling Industry:
“Its an experience thing. I think my generation of guys was one of the best because we were going around the world learning their craft before we ever got to the WWE. Now there’s a lot of guys there who have less than five years experience. And I don’t think I really, really knew exactly what I was doing until I came back in 2008 when it came to manipulation of a crowd. I had great stuff before that, don’t get me wrong – but it wasn’t until then that I felt on certain nights that I was the best in the world. It takes years to become truly great at anything, and the guys there at the moment haven’t had five years experience, never mind ten or fifteen.”
Check Out: CM Punk Calls Out Chris Jericho Last Week & Jericho Responds
– WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross says he will be returning to television at next Monday’s 3-hour Raw from Boston. After two weeks of delays, Ross willfinally take the Michael Cole Challenge. Ross tweeted during Monday’s RAW:
“I’ll be in Boston next week for the 3 hour Raw & I will take the Michael Cole Challenge whatever it that is. Is it a setup? Does it matter?”
– C.M. Punk’s specialty “Go To Sleep” pizza is will be returning to a Chicago pizzeria around Thanksgiving time, according to the Chicago Tribune..
The “GTS Pizza,” which features smoked turkey leg, sliced potatoes, swiss cheese, and onions, will be available at Ian’s Pizza from November 21-27.
Punk visited Ian’s Pizza over the summer (along with Beth Phoenix and Colt Cabana) and created the pizza himself.
Dark Match:
* The Usos defeated Trent Baretta and Derek Bateman.
WWE RAW (Airing Tonight on USA)
– John Cena came out to open the show. Cena hyped The Rock’s appearance on RAW next and hyped that this is the first time ever RAW has taped from Liverpool.
The Miz and R-Truth interrupted Cena and talked about how they will defeat him and The Rock at Survivor Series. It was revealed that Awesome Truth will fight Cena and a partner tonight on RAW. Cena bragged that his mystery partner for tonight is a future WWE Hall of Famer.
Miz and R-Truth charged the ring to attack Cena, but Zack Ryder came out and made the save.
– John Morrison defeated US Champion Dolph Ziggler in a non-title match.
– Mason Ryan defeated JTG in a quick match.
– Zack Ryder had a brief exchange with The Bella Twins backstage.
– WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio defeated Kofi Kingston with the cross arm breaker. Ricardo Rodriguez introduced Del Rio. After the match, Del Rio put Kofi back in his arm breaker submission holds – which brought out C.M. Punk to a massive pop.
Punk and Del Rio went back and forth on the mic – with Del Rio calling Punk a coward. Del Rio told Punk they should call off their match at Survivor Series – but Punk refused and the two started to brawl. Punk hit Ricardo Rodriguez with a Go To Sleep.
– Jack Swagger defeated Santino Marella.
– Jerry Lawler came out and introduced Kelly Kelly. Kelly plugs her new Maxim cover and spread (view here). Beth Phoenix and Natalya came out and interrupted her. The Divas of Doom threaten to beat up Kelly Kelly until Alicia Fox made the save. Kelly and Alicia revealed Kelly’s Maxim magazine cover.
– John Laurinaitis came out and introduced Kevin Nash, who walked to the ring to the old NWO theme music. Nash talked about how he should have buried Triple H back in 1995, but he let Hunter into the Kliq as a favor to Shawn Michaels. Nash said Hunter would be nothing without him and complained about his legends contract. Nash said he could be world champion today if he wanted to – and that he showed everyone “how to play the game.”
– John Laurinaitis and David Otunga were shown walking around backstage, when CM Punk bumped into them and said he’ll be the next WWE champion. Punk started to fight with Otunga but was attacked by Alberto Del Rio.
– The Miz and R-Truth defeated John Cena and Zack Ryder in what was said to be a really good match. Awesome Truth got the win after The Miz pinned Cena while R-Truth held Cena’s legs down.
Dark Match Main Event
– The Miz defeated John Cena after R-Truth held Cena’s feet down while Miz pinned him once again. Dolph Ziggler came out after the match and the heels beat down Cena and Zack Ryder. Out came CM Punk to even the odds. CM Punk and John Cena took turns beating up Dolph Ziggler – with fans cheering for Punk’s attacks and booing Cena’s. Zack Ryder hit Dolph Ziggler with a Rough Ryde and CM Punk hit Ziggler with the Attitude Adjustment to end the show.
This afternoon, we reported that WWE has added a traditional 5-on-5 elimination match to the upcoming Survivor Series pay-per-view.
Now – we’ve got another match that’s been made official: United States champion Dolph Ziggler will defend against New York’s own Zack Ryder.
With those two matches set, here’s the updated card for WWE Survivor Series, which takes place on November 20th from New York City’s Madison Square Garden:
The Rock Returns To The Ring:
John Cena and The Rock vs. The Miz and R-Truth
United States Title Match:
Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. Zack Ryder
WWE Championship Match:
Alberto Del Rio (c) vs. CM Punk
World Heavyweight Title Match:
Mark Henry (c) vs. The Big Show
TEAM ORTON vs. TEAM BARRETT 5-on-5 Match:
Randy Orton, Sheamus, Mason Ryan, Kofi Kingston and Sin Cara vs. Wade Barrett, Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes, Christian, Jack Swagger and Hunico.
— IndiaToday.com reports The Great Khali has been offered a role to appear in one of Bhojpuri superstar Manoj Tiwari’s films. Tiwari’s publicist Shashikant Singh said Khali was considering the Bhojpuri film offer.
“So far, he has neither accepted nor declined the offer,” Singh said. “Tiwari had offered him a Bhojpuri film last year too, but Khali left for the US immediately after coming out of the Bigg Boss house.”
— WWE has launched a page on Google+. Google’s latest social network effort launched in June.
— Eve is advertised to appear at Central California Auto Show on Saturday, November 19 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. The event takes place at the Fresno Convention & Entertainment Center 848 M Street Fresno, California. Click here for more information.
Announced exclusively on WWE.com, Survivor Series will feature one of its signature bouts when Team Orton takes on Team Barrett inside the World’s Most Famous Arena, Madison Square Garden, on Sunday, Nov. 20.
Orton will lead Sheamus, Mason Ryan, WWE Tag Team Champion Kofi Kingston and Sin Cara into battle, while Barrett brings Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes, Christian, Jack Swagger and Hunico.
Other matches scheduled for the event include:
* John Cena and The Rock vs. The Miz and R-Truth
* World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry vs. Big Show
* WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio vs. CM Punk
WWE will be taping tonight’s RAW Supershow this afternoon from Liverpool, England.
SEScoops.com will have detailed spoiler results for tonight’s RAW this afternoon, so check back later for those.
Here’s what we’ll see tonight on RAW:
– Kevin Nash will make his return to WWE television after being “re-hired” by interim RAW GM John Laurinaitis.
– Brodus Clay will make his return to WWE television tonight as well.
– The Michael Cole Challenge match between Cole and Jim Ross that was supposed to take place last week was bumped to this week’s show. However, it’s worth noting that Jim Ross wrote on Twitter over the weekend that he is not booked for today’s taping, so we’ll see if that actually occurs.
– Despite an injury angle that will keep him out of action for up to 6 weeks, Triple H is advertised for the dark match main event. He will team with CM Punk against The Miz and R-Truth.
– There are no SmackDown stars advertised for tonight’s RAW “Supershow” – as the SmackDown crew has their own live event scheduled for tonight in Birmingham, England.
WrestleMania(R) Sets Record
STAMFORD, Conn., Nov 07, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) — WWE(R) announced today that first day ticket sales for WrestleMania XXVIII in Miami resulted in a record gross of $6.3 million, shattering the previous first day record of $4.8 million for the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania.
Tickets went on sale this past Saturday, November 5 for WrestleMania XXVIII, which takes place Sunday, April 1, 2012 from Sun Life Stadium in Miami. The main event will feature The Rock(R) challenging John Cena(R) in the most highly anticipated main event ever in sports entertainment history. The event will be broadcast on pay-per-view and viewed in more than 100 countries.
“We are thrilled that WrestleMania XXVIII has already made WWE history in such dramatic fashion,” said John Saboor, Senior Vice President of Special Events for WWE. “Coming off the momentum of last year’s record breaking event in Atlanta, we fully anticipate that this year’s WrestleMania in Miami will be our largest and most successful ever.”
WWE, a publicly traded company , is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family friendly entertainment on its television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing platforms. WWE programming is broadcast in more than 145 countries and 30 languages and reaches more than 500 million homes worldwide. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Istanbul and Tokyo.
CM Punk was captured on camera engaging in an argument with a fan who jeered him at Friday’s Raw World Tour event in Amneville, France.
Following his victory over WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio in the main event, Punk slapped hands of ringside area fans. One fan, however, greeted The Straight Edge Superstar with boos. An agitated Punk belittled the fan by making “crybaby” motions and calling him a “Cena fan.” When the fan said he hated John Cena, Punk wagged his finger and sniped, “I bet you watch TNA, don’t you?!”
The fan said he doesn’t, to which Punk retorted, “Your friend does!” Punk then sarcastically says of TNA “It’s good!” while displaying Cena’s trademark “O” hand gesture.
Punk’s latest swipe towards TNA Wrestling comes days after he said on Twitter that he misses working for the Orlando based wrestling promotion like he misses high school. He competed for TNA in 2003 and 2004 before quitting the league following a dispute with management over his ability to simultaneously appear for Ring of Honor.
Here’s the video:
Darren Young’s thirty-day suspension for his first violation of WWE’s Talent Wellness Program expired on Friday. Therefore, he is now eligible to resume performing for the organization.
WWE announced on October 6, 2011 that the NXT contestant had been suspended for thirty days due to his non-compliance with their drug testing policy. On the subequent episode of NXT, program host Matt Striker implied that Young had been eliminated from the competition due to his infraction as he referred Derrick Bateman and Titus O’Neil as the final two competitors.
Two other wrestlers are currently serving drug related suspensions with WWE: Heath Slater and Evan Bourne. Slater is eligible to resume performing on November 16, 2011 while Bourne can on December 1, 2011.
— Kelly Kelly and WWE Hall of Famer Sgt. Slaughter appeared on Miami’s 560 WQAM Sports Radio Friday promoting the on-sale date for Wrestlemania XXVIII tickets. Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Irvin, who co-hosts the show, recalled watching Dusty Rhodes when he was growing up in Florida. The segment concluded with Kelly explaining her how ring name was created.
“My first day, my wrestling name was going to be Kelly. Then, I came back the next week and Vince (McMahon) had this wonderful idea, ‘Let’s call her Kelly Kelly. Let’s just give her two first names; we’ve never done that before,” she said. “So, there you go.”
— The legendary career of WWE Hall of Famer “Rowdy” Roddy Piper is highlighted on the latest episode of WWE Vintage Collection. The episode featured clips from the following matches and segments:
“Rowdy” Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff vs. Hulk Hogan and Mr. (WrestleMania), “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and “Cowboy” Bob Orton vs. Paul Orndorff and Andre the Giant (WWF live event – August 10th, 1985), Piper’s Pit vs. The Flower Shop (WWF Superstars – September 27th, 1986), “Rowdy” Roddy Piper destroys The Flower Shop (WWF Superstars – October 4th, 1986, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper vs. “Adorable” Adrian Adonis (WWF live event – February 15th, 1987), “Rowdy” Roddy Piper vs. Bret Hart (WrestleMania VIII), “Rowdy” Roddy Piper vs. Bret Hart (WCW Monday Nitro – February 9th, 1999), “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and Ric Flair vs. The Spirit Squad (WWE Cyber Sunday – November 5, 2006), “Rowdy” Roddy Piper rescues Bret Hart from The Mountie and Jimmy Hart (WWF live event – January 17th, 1992), “Rowdy” Roddy Piper vs. The Mountie (WWF Royal Rumble – January 19, 1992).
— Shawn Michaels and Triple H appeared on CBS Miami’s morning show Friday promoting the on-sale date for Wrestlemania XXVIII tickets. The Heartbreak Kid was asked if he’s coming out of retirement for event, to which he jokingly replied, “No. All right, next question!”
He continued, “In this line of work, everyone says, ‘Never say never,’ so I’m not saying never, but never. My home will always be with WWE and I always tell everyone all they need to do is shine the bat signal and I’ll be there.”
— WWE.com published a photo gallery of last Wednesday’s Raw live event in Dublin, Ireland and Mick Foley, who appeared at the event, is not featured in any of the images.
Foley cut a promo and was confronted by The Miz and R-Truth, which led to him officiating a match later in the evening between Awesome Truth and John Cena and John Morrison.