– 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
— WWE developmental wrestler Richie Steamboat is advertised for Saturday’s SmackDown live event at the James Brown Arena in Augusta, Georgia. The son of WWE Hall of Famer Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat will be facing Drew McIntyre.
Promoting the show via interview, Natalya says she has made a name for herself in WWE through hard work and dedication rather than her ties to the legendary Hart family.
“I love the fact that I’m making history, but my family didn’t make me who I am today,” she says. “What I do is a dream fulfilled. Everything I’ve earned is on my own.”
— Dolph Ziggler has video of “Layla” marrying “CM Punk” in this week’s episode of WWE Download. He also receives a special visit from self-proclaimed Internet Champion Zack Ryder.
— Chris Jericho, who is currently serving a 30-day suspension for denigrating the Brazilian flag at a WWE live event in São Paulo, Brazil on May 24, has started a countdown on Twitter.
He wrote Sunday, “27-My Dads number when he played in the NHL. Also my ranking in the top 50 WCW superstars of all time. Also today’s date.”
He then wrote Monday, “Day 26 is an R&B group formed by P-Diddy in 2007. I was also 26 years old when I won the WCW Cruiserweight Championship for the first time.”
— WWE.com has published an article chronicling John Laurinaitis’ rise from a skateboarding ‘Dynamic Dude’ to undisputed figurehead of both Raw and SmackDown.
— Former WWE Women’s Champion Trish Stratus is today’s featured Superstar on WWE.com.
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.
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.”
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.
– 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:
– WWE announced on Friday’s SmackDown that Sin Cara will be making his long awaited return to television on next week’s broadcast.
– The Miz replaced Chris Jericho in the main event of Friday night’s RAW live event from Guayaquil, Ecuador, losing to WWE Champion CM Punk. John Laurinaitis and David Otunga opened the show with an announcement that Miz was replacing Jericho due to Jericho’s suspension.
– Eve Torres, Damien Sandow and others are featured in the latest episode of WWE’s Backstage Fallout from SmackDown:
– Mr. Long Island Iced Z is back with the latest installment of hte Z! True Long Island Story:
Alberto Del Rio became the #1 contender to the World Heavyweight championship on Friday’s SmackDown. He defeated Kane and Randy Orton in a three-way match to earn a title shot against Sheamus at next month’s No Way Out pay-per-view.
As of this weekend, only Sheamus vs. Del Rio and John Cena vs. Big Show are confirmed for the event.
It’s worth noting that local advertising for No Way Out states that John Laurinaitis will be in the Big Show’s corner for his main event match against John Cena. The stipulation has yet to be announced on television, but could be announced this Monday night.
TNA’s lawsuit against WWE has been picked up by The Associated Press and includes several new details not included in our original report.
To recap, TNA is suing WWE after former TNA employee Brian Wittenstein left TNA, was hired by WWE and provided WWE with sensitive company information, including details of TNA talent contracts. WWE released Wittenstein and contacted TNA about their former employee leaking information to WWE, however TNA feels WWE waited too long before contacting them (approximately 3 weeks).
The AP article states that TNA and WWE employee Brian Wittenstein had signed a non-disclosure agreement when he left TNA and agreed he would not pass on confidential information.
WWE lawyer Jerry McDevitt told the AP that WWE never asked Wittenstein to disclose any information about TNA and when he did, they fired him and then sent the information back to TNA. McDevitt told the AP:
“To us, it’s no good deed goes unpunished kind of thing. They sued us for doing the right thing.”
The AP tried to reach TNA’s lawyers and Wittenstein for comment but phone calls were not returned. The next hearing on the TNA vs. WWE lawsuit is set for June 11th.
Upon checking with reliable sources in TNA, we can report that basically, nobody’s willing to talk about it at this time.
– Former AWA Tag Team Champion Doug Somers is suing WWE, Vince McMahon and Linda McMahon over WWE using AWA footage of him without consent. The lawsuit, which was filed in Georgia but has since been moved to federal court, claims Somers unwillingly appeared on four DVDs, WWE Classics on Demand, books and other materials.
WWE and the McMahons have filed motions to have the case dismissed. Their defense is that WWE purchased the rights to the AWA’s tape library and intellectual property back in 2003 (for a seven figure sum) that allows them to use the AWA footage however they want.
– FCW Divas Champion Raquel Diaz (real name Shaul Guerrero, daughter of Eddie and Vickie Guerrero) debuted a new gimmick at Thursday night’s FCW TV tapings. She now has blonde hair and crazy makeup that fans in attendance have compared to pop singer Lady Gaga.
There had been talk last year of doing a similar gimmick on the main roster with current WWE Divas champion Layla.
Check out these pictures of the beautiful Raquel Diaz:
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross appeared on Sports Talk 1400 radio in Norman, Oklahoma on Friday and commented on Chris Jericho’s “indefinite suspension” from WWE.
Here’s what Jim Ross said about Chris Jericho’s actions:
“He was playing the part of a wrestling villain in an entertainment based entity,” Ross said.
“It’s not like he was at a sporting event like soccer and disrespected the flag, but rules are rules and they have strict rules regarding the flag in their company… He’s playing a character, did an ad lib, and unfortunately he stepped over the line for the local culture, so he’s been suspended indefinitely and hopefully it will work out.”
Jericho was nearly arrested on Thursday night after denigrating the Brazilian flag during his match with CM Punk at WWE’s first-ever event from Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Brock Lesnar’s legal representative Paul Heyman landed WWE on the front page of ESPN and their hot-as-hot-can-be TRENDING section with a surprise “Breaking News” edition of The Heyman Hustle. (ESPN.com)
Heyman, who was not live at Raw this Monday, but was in Las Vegas, interviewed WWE Hall of Famer Mike Tyson on the recent DUI arrest and fall from grace of UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon “Bones” Jones.
So Heyman, who is now back on WWE television in one of the company’s top storylines, got a scoop no other member of the MMA media did – interview Mike Tyson about Jon Jones.
Check out the video of Heyman’s exclusive interview with Mike Tyson:
As previously reported, WWE has suspended Chris Jericho for an incident that took place at Thursday night’s live event from Sao Paolo, Brazil that almost saw Jericho thrown in jail. During the main event match between Jericho and WWE Champion CM Punk, Jericho took a Brazilian flag from ringside and kicked it. Because denigrating the Brazilian flag is illegal in the country, police came to the ring and ordered Jericho to apologize or be taken to jail. Jericho apologized to the live crowd and the match continued.
Former WWE superstar John Bradshaw Layfield has posted a reaction on his Facebook page regarding the incident that occured involving Chris Jericho at Thursday night’s WWE live event from Brazil. As previously reported, Jericho was nearly arrested after denigrating the Brazilian flag during his main event match against CM Punk.
JBL, who had his own international incident several years ago for “goose stepping” at a live event from Germany, had this to say about Jericho’s incident:
“After seeing reports of Chris Jericho in Brazil-it was what I suspected–Chris trying to entertain and be a heel. Apparently a Brazilian Flag comes into ring and Chris grabs it and kicks it (or something to that effect). Compare that to Sgt Slaughter burning the flag or all the crazy stuff that has gone on. This is nothing. EXCEPT we are in a new era and now that isn’t acceptable.
Chris did what most old heels would have done, he reacted and a decade ago it would have been loved for the heat. However, times change and we have to as well-Chris acknowledged this and apologized. Chris is a wonderful person and one of all time great entertainers-there was no malice here from what I see and know about Chris. A mistake was made and is being dealt with.
As far as being illegal, please, if done in an entertaining arena it is considered as such. Like saying you can prosecute Anthony Hopkins for cannibalism because of his role in ‘Silence of the Lambs’. I understand the arguements, I went through same thing in Germany and it was never considered a problem in Germany-only over the Internet and the Internet reporters. Chris’ intent was to entertain not insult anyone in Brazil or the great Brazilian fans.
Times change and for the better. Chris did what a ton of older heels would have done and he reacted. He is being punished and he apologized. He is one of all time greats and a great friend, old habits are hard to change but we must.
Times change and we have to change with it, and we all will.”
– UFC heavyweight Roy Nelson is once again teasing that he’ll be joining WWE after his fight at Saturday’s UFC 146 pay-per-view. During an interview with MMA Weekly, Nelson was asked what’s next after Saturday. He replied:
“might just have to go to WWE because I might just have to call him [Brock Lesnar] out, go to WWE, and whoop his ass.”
UFC Legend Tito Ortiz Strongly Hints That He’s Joining WWE
– Alberto Del Rio turns 35 years old today.
– Ezekiel Jackson has launched a Facebook page at Facebook.com/BigZekeWWE.
– WWE has announced the next live SmackDown special will take place Tuesday, July 3rd from Corpus Christi, Texas. Superstars from both brands are being advertised for the show, including John Cena. This will likely be a 4th of July special.
Chris Jericho has commented on the “international incident” that took place at Thursday night’s WWE live event from Sao, Paulo, Brazil that almost landed him in jail.
In a statement he issued to the WWE website, Chris Jericho said:
“I made a bad judgment call in the course of entertaining [WWE] fans in Brazil. I apologized to the people in the crowd for showing disrespect. It was a bad move. I did it with [our] fans’ entertainment in mind and I’ll accept the consequences for that.”
Chris Jericho later tweeted the following message on Twitter:
“Just for the record I love Brazil and wish we could’ve spent more time here. Beautiful country!”