– Mark Henry recently announced on Twitter that he was undergoing surgery and would retire if he could not return to action at 100%. There was a lot of speculation that Henry’s surgery was for his nagging groin injury, but it was actually his shoulder that was operated on. If his physical therapy and recovery go as planned, Henry is expected to be back in action this summer.

– Justin Gabriel returned from injury on last night’s episode of WWE NXT. He teamed with Derrick Bateman and Percy Watson to defeat JTG, Michael McGillicutty and Johnny Curtis. Gabriel used a leaping tornado DDT as his finisher and looked to be in great shape in his return match.

– WWE employee Joey Styles is now taking independent bookings for personal appearances through WrestlingMarx.com.

(Partial Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

Alex Shelley is gone from TNA after allowing his contract to expire without signing a new deal with the company. According to sources close to Shelley, he has heard from WWE officials – but reports of him signing a contract or even agreeing to terms are premature.

When he made the decision to become a free agent, WWE was not even on his radar. Shelley has been talking with New Japan Pro Wrestling for weeks and was close to signing with the promotion before he heard from WWE.

(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

The following superstars and divas are confirmed for the upcoming WWE ’13 video game, in stores October 30th, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Several wrestlers are duplicated in both eras and will appear in the game as separate characters:

Modern Era: John Cena, Randy Orton, CM Punk, Undertaker, The Rock, Brock Lesnar, Triple H, Chris Jericho, Dainel Bryan, Cody Rhodes, Sheamus, Wade Barrett, Rey Mysterio, Zack Ryder, Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio, R-Truth, Kofi Kingston, The Miz, Jack Swagger, Santino, David Otunga, Kane, Kevin Nash, Christian, Mark Henry, Sin Cara, Epico, Primo, Hunico, Ted DiBiase, Great Khali, Heath Slater, Jinder Mahal, Justin Gabriel, Eve Torres, Kelly Kelly, Bella Twins, Kharma, Beth Phoenix, Alicia Fox.

Attitude Era: Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Eddie Guerrero, Edge & Christian, New Age Outlaws, Road Warriors, , X-Pac, Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Mankind, Dude Love, Cactus Jack, Trish Stratus, Lita, Big Show, Kane, Davey Boy Smith, Vader, Mark Henry, Ken Shamrock, Godfather and Big Bossman.

WWE ’13 will also feature a special celebrity character – WWE Hall of Famer Mike Tyson. Tyson signing with THQ to appear in the video game appears to be a factor in Tyson’s induction into the 2012 WWE Hall of Fame. Tyson also recently did a rare interview for Paul Heyman’s Heyman Hustle site talking about UFC star Jon Jones’ DUI arrest and it’s believed that interview was set up by THQ.

WWE ’13 Screenshots:

[nggallery id=16]

– With The Rock’s movie G.I. Joe: Retaliation now being released in March 2013 just 9 days before WrestleMania 29, it’s going to be extremely difficult for him to appear episodes of RAW leading up to the big show. The Rock is known for going all out promoting his movies, something that means a lot to Hollywood executives and the success of a movie’s opening box office numbers. Especially if the movie opens internationally around the same time, he’s going to be flying all over the world doing premiere events and media appearances.

New Pictures of The Rock Filming GI JOE: Retaliation

– WWE shipped 199,000 DVDs in April, down 11.6% from April 2011. The company’s top 5 selling DVDs, in order, are DVD sets from Steve Austin, The Rock and Randy Orton, Top 50 Oh My God Moments and the Bret Hart-Shawn Michaels Greatest Rivalries sit-down interview.

– The WWE website had 16.5 million unique viewers in April, up significantly from most months (due to WrestleMania 28), but down 1.2% from April 2011. WWE shop averaged 800 orders/day, up 9.1% from April 201.

(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

– When RAW goes to 3-hours every week starting July 23rd, the show will not air live in Canada on The Score. The time slot will be 9pm-midnight, which is late for viewers on a weeknight. The show will replay on Tuesdays from 4-7pm.

– Randy Orton’s recent Tweet about WWE banning his punt to the skull due to concussion awareness is believed to be legit, with the company looking to prevent injuries as well as potential legal liability from concussions.

– As previously reported, John Cena will be appearing at most SmackDown tapings through July. Even at SmackDown shows when Cena is not used on television and only wrestles in a dark match main event, the feeling is that Cena helps the shows draw more fans. SmackDown attendance has been struggling for a long time, with the recent Baton Rouge tapings only drawing 2,500 fans.

(Source: Wrestling Observer Newslteter)

United States Senate candidate Linda McMahon has been under attack in recent weeks due to her ties to WWE, with two newspapers comparing the wrestling product to pornography. Democrat Susan Bysiewicz, a prospective candidate for the same office Linda is running for, gave a speech last Thursday saying, “I’ll be damned if I let someone who sells sex and violence and pornography for a living be our next United States Senator. We have to send the right woman to Washington.”

The McMahon campaign quickly responded with a great deal of evidence showing Bysiewicz not only strongly endorsed McMahon in the past, but also worked directly with WWE and its superstars. When Bysiewicz was Secretary of State, she worked with Linda on the Smackdown Your Vote campaign and even spoke at high schools with along with WWE superstars. Bysiewicz had previously endorsed McMahon when she was running for the Connecticut Board of Education.

Moving forward, McMahon’s campaign strategy is to reach out to female voters, holding daily women-only meetings across the state.

Check out these recent pictures of the McMahon family at a recent campaign event for Linda:

[nggallery id=13]

(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

– WWE Hall of Famer “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan appeared on The Fight Club Chicago (listen here) to promote his autobiography, “Hacksaw, The Jim Duggan Story.” In the book, Duggan weighed in on former colleague Scott Hall.

“A lot of people feel sorry for Scott Hall. I don’t feel sorry for Scott Hall at all,” Duggan wrote. “I mean, Scott made his own bed, now he has to lie in it. The guy has had more opportunities. I wish I had an opportunity to make the money Scott Hall has had in this profession. For him to flush it down the toilet, hey good riddance.”

– WWE.com has added Paul Bearer to their Alumni section: “When the WWE Universe last saw Paul Bearer, he was chilling out in an industrial freezer. Now, the former manager of Undertaker and Kane is being thawed out as the latest addition to WWE.com’s Alumni section.”

— WWE Hall of Famer Tammy “Sunny” Sytch has been announced to appear at this Saturday’s Pro Wrestling Syndicate event taking place at Rahway Rec Center 275 East Milton Ave. Rahway, New Jersey. (Event Information)

WWE announced Wednesday that Randy Orton has been suspended for 60 days for his second violation of the company’s Talent Wellness Program. Though it is his third suspension by the organization, it is only his second suspension to be classified as a Talent Wellness Program infraction.

Orton was first suspended by the organization on April 3, 2006—for 60 days—for “unprofessional conduct,” which did not count as a Wellness Program violation. He smoked marijuana backstage at the March 28, 2006 SmackDown taping, which company employee Bruce Prichard discovered and reported to management. Orton addressed the matter during an interview published in the September 2006 issue of WWE Magazine.

When asked why he “always acting like such an ass,” Orton stated, “My problems came to a head when I decided to smoke a joint and someone smelled it and stooged me off. You know who you are, so if you’re reading this, thanks. But I also had a few outbursts of anger on the road. I get loud and verbally abusive. But I’ve nipped that part of me in the bud. I attended an anger management clinic in Atlanta. It cost 15 grand for a four-week stay. I had to live down there on the campus. The first week I was there, I was like, OK, I’ll do what I have to do to get out of here.” But then I started to realize, wow, I was wrong in a lot of these situations. I just got this reputation of being hard to work with, being a dick and everything in the book. But the truth is, I don’t flip out anymore.”

On August 30, 2007, WWE suspended eleven wrestlers (Booker T, Charlie Haas, Chavo Guerrero, Chris Masters, Edge, Funaki, Gregory Helms, John Morrison, Mr. Kennedy, Umaga and William Regal) based on information provided by the Albany, New York, District Attorney’s Office concerning contracted talent using online pharmaceutical outlet Signature Pharmacy to obtain performance-enhancing drugs and prescription drugs to clients who had not been examined by doctors. Both Sports Illustrated (article) and the Daily News of New York City (article) independently named Orton as a client of the Orlando based pharmacy, which Albany County and Florida law enforcement agencies raided in February 2007. Orton received somatropin, nandrolone, stanozolol between September 2004 and February 2007, which occurred after the “no drugs from online sources” rule was instituted in the Talent Wellness Program. However, he was the lone contracted performer not to be suspended by WWE. Wrestling Observer editor Dave Meltzer reported that WWE took no action against Orton because he had already been suspended in August 2006 (for failing a drug test for a steroid which he not have a prescription for), resulting in double jeopardy. The ruling appeared suspect since Orton continued to receive pharmaceuticals following the suspension. Dr. David L. Black, who administers the program, was asked about the matter on September 25, 2007 during an U.S. Congressional investigation into WWE’s business practices (document).

Brian Cohen, senior investigator and policy advisor for the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, asked Black, “There is another talent of Randy Orton who had be suspended in 2006, for not having—tested positive without a prescription, and he was mentioned in this article as well, and subsequently went to headline two pay-per-view events, but in the past month. I just wonder if that kind of—I know the policy would be suspended for 60 days; correct? Does that undermine your efforts when you see this happening, when you see a guy who has been in an article last week and then headlines these events?”

Black replied, “Oh, sure I would agree that that’s not good.”

WWE attorney Jerry S. McDevitt stated in a December 2010 letter to Concussion Inc author Irvin Muchnick that no action was taken against Orton because he was not on any Signature Pharmacy client list provided to WWE by the Albany, New York District Attorney’s Office. WWE, however, did not threaten Sports Illustrated nor the Daily News with legal action regarding the claim.

– Ratings are in for Monday’s RAW – and they’re not pretty. RAW drew a 2.7 rating with 3,915,000 viewers. The show did hours of 2.73 and 2.71.

– Dr. Tom Prichard was let go from WWE developmental today after working as a top trainer at Florida Championship Wrestling since it launched it 2007.

Back in ’07, Prichard took over the job of Bill DeMott, who was in charge of WWE’s previous developmental territory, Deep South Wrestling. Demott will be taking over Prichard’s duties at FCW.

The news of Prichard’s departure comes while WWE is in the process of revamping its developmental system, streamling it with NXT and relocating to Full Sail University.

(Source: PWInsider.com)

WWE has announced that Randy Orton has been suspended for 60 days effective Wednesday for his second violation of the company’s Talent Wellness Program.

Randy Orton suspended for 60 days

STAMFORD, Conn. – In accordance with its Talent Wellness Program, WWE has suspended Randy Orton for 60 days effective today for his second violation of the company’s policy.

Tensai failed to impress WWE officials in his pinfall victory over John Cena on the April 16 Raw SuperShow in London, England and was labeled “a flop” as a result. He was initially pegged to face Cena at the company’s Over the Limit and No Way Out pay-per-view events but his poor showing in the main event match led to his push being curtailed and Big Show taking his place. WWE also canceled plans for summer live events to be headlined by Tensai and John Laurinaitis vs. Cena, instead replacing the former tattoo artist with Big Show.

Though Tensai has yet to be defeated on television, he suffered his first pinfall loss before a WWE crowd in a dark match following Monday’s Raw SuperShow—to Cena. He is being largely relegated to WWE Superstars while his character is retooled. He has already undergone tweaks as he appeared sans robe, competed more aggressively and had his named modified within the past two weeks. More changes could be in the works as there was talk this past week of additional modifications.

source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

— Current creative plans call for The Undertaker to face Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XXIX.

Meanwhile, the latest issue of Inside Wrestling features Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker on the cover with the headline reading “SNEAK PEAK? The World Clamors for Lesnar-‘Taker At WrestleMania 29!”

— A Smackdown live event is scheduled for Sunday, August 12 at Linco Stadium in Taipei, Taiwan.

— SmackDown live event attendance figures: May 23 in Poughkeepsie, New York drew a sellout crowd of 2,500 paying $110,000. May 24 in Hermosillo, Mexico drew a sellout crowd of 3,000 paying $90,000. May 25 in Aguascalientes, Mexico drew 4,000 paying $90,000. May 26 in Guadalajara, Mexico drew 4,500 paying $125,000. May 27 in Lake Charles, Louisiana drew 3,000 paying $100,000.

It was recently announced that the G.I. Joe: Retaliation, which had been scheduled to be released on June 29th, has been pushed back to March 29, 2013. The original reason given was that Paramount wanted to convert the movie to 3D in post-production to maximize the film’s potential revenues. Box office competition from the new Avengers, Batman and Spiderman movies was also cited as a reason for the delay.

Deadline.com is now reporting that there is another reason why Paramount bumped the release date to March 2013 (after spending millions of dollars promoting the June 2012 released ate – including a Super Bowl commercial) – the movie tested poorly among ‘test audiences.’

Movies are typically shown to small test audiences so movie studios can get feedback from the public before a film’s official premiere date. Test audiences felt the best part of the movie was The Rock’s on-screen chemistry with actor Channing Tatum, who only appeared at the beginning of the movie in the version that was originally due out 6/29.

There was a great deal of concern that the movie was not ready for prime time, so the studio decided to delay it and now have the conversion to 3D as an excuse.

Check out these pictures of The Rock in GI Joe: Retaliation –

[nggallery id=18]

– According to WWE sources, the company’s new top priority are its various television products – namely, RAW and SmackDown. The change in direction has been in the works for some time now and comes straight from Vince McMahon.

WWE’s top priority for decades has been maximizing revenue from pay-per-view events. While PPV is still one of the company’s core profit centers, buyrates have been declining for years and WWE is now relying more than ever on its television rights fees from NBC Universal.

At a time when WWE’s pay-per-view buys are declining, the company is relying on television more than ever, as evidenced by the recent announcement that RAW is expanding to 3 hours. WWE will make several extra million dollars per year from RAW’s third hour on USA, which will offset losses from PPVs not selling as well.

– In an #AftermathRadio retro interview, WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin talks in depth with Arda Ocal and Jimmy Korderas about his infamous “double turn” match at WrestleMania 13 vs Bret Hart — where the Hitman became a villain and Austin became a hero in the same match. Austin also shares a laugh about ribbing referees in dark matches.

(Source: PWInsider.com)

Independent wrestler Ricky Reyes received a WWE tryout last week at the SmackDown tapings from Wilkes-Barre, PA. Reyes had a long match with Tyson Kidd that got rave reviews from the locker room and lost a squash match against Ryback on SmackDown.

A lot of people backstage talking about Reyes and how good he was, especially William Regal.  Don’t be surprised to see Reyes offered a developmental contract in the coming weeks.

In case you’re not familiar with Ricky Reyes, check out these pictures:

[nggallery id=17]

At WWE No Way Out on 6/17, CM Punk will defend the WWE Championship in a 3-way match against Kane and Daniel Bryan. The announcement was made at Tuesday’s SmackDown tapings.

*SPOILERS* SmackDown Tapings Results For Friday

With that match set, here’s the updated card:

Steel Cage Match
John Cena vs. Big Show

WWE Championship Match:
CM Punk (c) vs. Kane vs. Daniel Bryan

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Alberto Del Rio vs. Sheamus

– John Laurinaitis (“People Power” ring gear from Over The Limit) is rumored to be a playable character in the new WWE 13 video game, in stores October 30th.

WWE 13: First Screenshots & Official Trailer Video

– Former WWE Diva Lita will be a celebrity judge for “SugarSlam III: Batter Royal – The Most Delicious Championship in Sports Entertainment.” For more information on the wrestling-themed bake off, visit bakeanddestroy.net.

– Hornswoggle celebrated a birthday this week and it sounds like they had a celebration for him after Tuesday’s SmackDown tapings. He tweeted on Tuesday night:

“Thanks to @johncena for what you did after the cameras stopped rolling tonight! Never thought in a million years that I wouldve gotten that!”

– Shane McMahon’s China-based YOU On Demand company will begin publicly trading today on the NASDAQ stock market. The company, which McMahon founded shortly after departing WWE several years ago, has secured a 20-year contract with the Chinese government to run Video-on-Demand services in the country, a strong indication that the company’s revenue will remain steady for a long time. For more on the company going public, visit PaidContent.org.

– WWE Legend Jake “The Snake” Roberts turns 57 years old today.

– Evan Bourne wrote the following injury update on Tuesday:

“Took another xray today. Things are progressing as planned. Another step in the right direction! Might even be off these crutches soon!”

*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.

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.

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.”

[nggallery id=16]

– 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)