WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross is back with another blog update, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are highlights of what JR said regarding the following questions from fans on Twitter:
“Is the Rock taking Cena and WM28 seriously?”
“Be assured of one thing about @TheRock…he wants…he needs to steal the show in Miami. There’s no way that Dwayne comes back to the bright lights and big stage to perform against @JohnCena, who is WWE’s biggest star, just for the hell of it. Wrestling is in Rock’s DNA and he has the motor and mind set to electrify…if you will. I’m intrigued by this match and it seems to be boiling down to a simple matter of respect and appears to be getting more personal by the Tweet.”
“Ironically, Rock and Cena were both products of organized athletic programs at the collegiate level plus they were both life long fans of sports entertainment which, in my opinion, are great places to start when one’s recruiting potential stars.”
“What is one thing that is missing w/ some of today’s young wrestlers?”
“They aren’t hungry enough or willing to challenge a top star for their spot on the roster. Too many talents are content to not make ‘waves’ and to live quietly and somewhat financially comfortable within their comfort zones. I can assure you that the comfort zone complex is the kiss of death in most organizations and businesses and is not exclusive to sports entertainment. “
The National Newspaper posted these video of John Cena, R-Truth and CM Punk at Thursday’s WWE press conference from Abu Dhabi, UAE, including footage of Cena giving Kane an Attitude Adjustment:.
WWE taped this week’s Smackdown on Tuesday night from the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Here are the results from Brooks Oglesby of WrestlingNewsWorld.com:
* Sheamus opens the show with a promo to remind the crowd that he is waiting until after the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view to decide which title he will challenge for at WrestleMania XXVIII. He is then interrupted by Wade Barrett, who boasts about his future victory in the Elimination Chamber. Cody Rhodes interrupts Barrett shortly after and says the same thing, and Big Show comes out to do the same. This ended up turning into a four-man brawl with Sheamus and Big Show clearing the ring of the heels. A tag match between the teams of Big Show & Sheamus and Wade Barrett & Cody Rhodes is announced for tonight.
* The Great Khali b. Jinder Mahal with the Punjabi Plunge.
* Teddy Long is backstage discussing the ongoing suspension of Mark Henry before being interrupted by Daniel Bryan, who implores Long and the audience to become vegans.
* Beth Phoenix b. Alicia Fox with the Glam Slam. Phoenix continued to assault Fox after the match, but Tamina ran down to make the save for Fox. Tamina then stared Phoenix down.
* Natalya is backstage with Tyson Kidd. Kidd ends up farting and Hornswoggle blames it on Natalya.
* Big Show & Sheamus b. Wade Barrett & Cody Rhodes. Sheamus got the pin after hitting a Brogue Kick.
* Michael Cole interviews AJ in the ring about her condition following her injury caused by The Big Show. Cole says that everyone thinks that Daniel Bryan set her up to get injured, which causes Bryan to interrupt. Bryan yells at Cole, saying he’s had enough of those accusations and threatens to break Cole’s arms. He then goes on a tirade about being vegan, saying he’s better because he didn’t partake in the meat-eating while watching the Super Bowl last weekend. He says that he’s taking AJ home right now. Teddy Long interrupts and tells Bryan that if he leaves the arena now, he’ll automatically forfeit his World Heavyweight Championship.
* Ted DiBiase b. Hunico
* Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton is the main event, and The Big Show is on commentary. During the match, Bryan grabs his title and attempts to leave, but Big Show grabs him and throws him back into the ring. Orton then hits an RKO and pins Bryan, but the referee calls for the bell before the pin is counted. Since Big Show interfered, Daniel Bryan wins by disqualification. Orton gets mad at Show and they start arguing, which ends in Show knocking Orton out. Orton is helped to the back by officials as the show ends.
As reported earlier this week, WWE is expected to hold off until after Elimination Chamber before announcing the final members of the WWE Hall of Fame’s Class of 2012.
WrestleZone.com broke the news last month that former WWE champion Yokozuna will be inducted this year.
Ron “DAMN!” Simmons, recognized as the first African American World champion (WCW), is also scheduled to join the Hall this year.
With those names set, here is the updated roster for this year’s class, including the inductors:
– The Four Horsemen (To be inducted by Triple H & Shawn Michaels)
– Edge (To be inducted by Christian)
– Mike Tyson (To be inducted by Steve Austin)
– Mil Mascaras (To be inducted by his nephew, Alberto Del Rio)
– Ron Simmons (To be inducted by JBL)
– Yokozuna (To be inducted by The Rock)
The 2012 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony takes place the night before WrestleMania on Saturday, March 31st from Miami, FL.
The March 2012 issue of WWE Magazine is now on sale, featuring four different “WrestleMania” covers – featuring The Undertaker, Triple H, John Cena and The Rock.
As if Triple H and Undertaker on the covers was not a strong enough sign that this match is all but official, the headline for the Triple H cover reads “Can The Game End The Deadman’s Reign?” while the headline for the issue bearing The Undertaker reads “Will “The Streak” Survive?”
The Undertaker cover was apparently designed to conceal his lack of hair, as his head is surrounded by photoshopped fire, with no hair visible.
Many people have speculated that the iconic wrestler donned a wig in his return to television last week after a photograph surfaced online last summer in which he appeared bald.
We have independently confirmed that that The Undertaker had indeed shaved his head.
SEScoops.com reader Mahmood Ebrahim sent in the following live report from WWE’s live event from Abu Dhabi, UAE:
1- Alex Riley def. Drew Mcintyre
2- Tag Team Match : Primo & Epico def. Mason Ryan & Santino
3- Michael Mcgillicutty def. David Otunga
4- Kofi Kingstone def. Chris Jericho , after the match Y2J attacked Kofi
5- Triple Threat Match for US Title : Jack Swagger def. The Miz and R-Truth
6- John Cena def. Kane by DQ after Kane used a chair, then AA on Kane.
7- WWE Title Match : CM Punk def. Dolph Ziggler. The match end with double count out , but John John Laurinaitis
came out and help Ziggler to enter the ring and restart the match while Punk is out. The refree count up to 9 before Punk
enter the ring and beat Ziggler with GTS.
* They Announce that tomorrow’s match between Cena anf Kane will be No DQ.
— Updated advertising for the March 12 Raw SuperShow at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio confirms a bout pitting The Undertaker and Triple H at WrestleMania. The description on the official website of the Quicken Loans Arena says, “What will HBK have to say about the confrontation between his long-time friend (Triple H) and WrestleMania foe (The Undertaker)?”
— Former WWE performer Dave Bautista (a/k/a Batista) will be playing the role of Diaz in the upcoming Chronicles of Riddick 2 movie starring Vin Diesel, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He will appear in “9/10ths of the film” once filming and editing is complete.
— Christian wrote the following on Twitter about an individual claiming to be Edge for a scheduled appearance in New York later this year:
“If ur planning on going 2 meet Edge @ autograph session @ Omega Sports, Queensbury, NY Apr 21 he WON’T be there..Unfortunately owner of store was fooled by someone claiming to represent Edge.. Hopefully something like this doesn’t happen again.”
— A press conference Thursday to kick off WWE’s first-ever live event tour in Abu Dhabi “turned chaotic” when Kane attacked John Cena, according to WWE.com. Cena, however, put The Big Red Monster through a table in front of members of the media.
Video and photos of the incident are available here.
— Through Twitter, Marco Corleone has been lobbying Alex Koslov (a/k/a Peter Orlov) to return to EMLL following his release from WWE last week.
— Matches airing on today’s episode of WWE Superstars on WWE.com are Johnny Curtis vs. Yoshi Tatsu, Heath Slater vs. Justin Gabriel, Jack Swagger vs. Santino Marella and tag team action pitting Epico and Primo against JTG and Michael McGillicutty.
— In today’s birthdays, Shelly Martinez turns 32 years old while Madusa turns 49.
WWE Hall of Famer “Rowdy” Roddy Piper told MiamiHerald.com this week that he’ll be at WrestleMania 28 on April 1st.
“I’ll be at WrestleMania.” he said. “Let’s just put it that way.”
Piper has been campaigning for months to host a special edition of Piper’s Pit with John Cena and The Rock as his guests. Piper tells the Herald that “Piper’s Pit with Cena and The Rock would get huge ratings” and “It would help WrestleMania 28 itself, but more than that, with the exception of me who started 14 years before the WWE, everyone in that ring has been made by wrestling.”
Piper says he wants to feature The Rock and John Cena on Piper’s Pit because it’s a chance to showcase to the world what WWE is all about:
“Why Cena and The Rock? Well, you can bring things they’ve done outside our industry back into our industry during the Pit. It’s a statement I’m looking for. The statement is WWE is right up there with every other entertainment group in the world or better. That is the statement I would like to come out of that Piper’s Pit. It’s not for me. I have had a lot of Piper’s Pits. I look at the roster, and I can really make that roll.”
“I thought that alone would show the strength and prestige that WWE has come up to from where we started,” Piper said. “The entertainment value alone with all of us in there, there is no downside to it. It would make a huge statement to the entertainment business all around the world of how strong we really are.”
— Dave Bautista revealed an altered appearance in a brief video published Wednesday evening on Viddy.com. The former WWE Superstar is currently in Montreal filming the movie Chronicles of Riddick 2, which also stars Vin Diesel.
— Jim Ross stated on Twitter that he was backstage at Monday’s Raw SuperShow in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma working on an undisclosed project with Jerry Lawler. The Wrestling Globe Newsletter reports Ross spent the afternoon working with THQ on their next WWE video game, WWE ’13. Ross and Lawler will be providing commentary for the game.
— PWF Northeast Pro Wrestling will present their tenth anniversary show on February 18 at the West End Rec Center in Providence, Rhode Island. The Nasty Boys—Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags—and Steve Corino are scheduled to appear.
– The Miz has fallen out of favor with WWE management in recent months – and the Survivor Series buyrate and R-Truth’s botched move from RAW are not the only reasons.
Miz was a big favorite of several influencial decision makers a year ago around the time he won the WWE Championship because of the way he handled media appearances and represented the company.
The feeling now is that Miz has regressed, both in the ring and on the microphone. The feeling is that when Miz was booked as a mid-carder before, he was hungry and forced officials to make him a headliner. Miz is now relegated back to mid-card status and isn’t giving WWE much motivation to elevate him again.
– WWE recently signed 21 year old UK wrestler Andre Tyson to a developmental deal. He wrestled in the UK as MVK Valkabious and is expected to start at FCW soon.
– As previously reported, WWE has signed former ROH star Chris Hero. The medical issue that prevented WWE from signing him sooner is now believed to be his naturally elevated testosterone/epitestosterone levels. It took months and many rounds of testing to prove that the high testosterone level was natural.
(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
Posted February 8th, 2012 in News, WWE. Tagged: The Miz.
CNN.com published an interview with The Rock this week where The Rock talked about what he looks for in a woman.
“Here’s what you’ve got to do: you’ve got to be independent, and you’ve got to have a sense of self,” Johnson says. “You’ve got to have a great sense of humor.”
But the true test? “You’ve got to laugh at my jokes,” he says. “Like, that’s the key.”
Johnson, who is currently dating a 27-year-old singer, added that he has no plans to re-marry.
In a separate interview with the Belfast Telegraph, he said, “I was so fortunate to have fallen in love once. To fall in love again? That’s a hard thing to do twice in the position I’m in. I’m one lucky son of a bitch.”
Check out these pictures of The rock and his girlfriend:
Busted Open Interview: Chris Nowinski
Hosts: Doug Mortman and Dave LaGreca
Busted Open can be heard Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 2-4 ET on Sirius 94 XM 208
Chris Nowinski talked about if he ever lied about his concussions to the WWE: “The idea that I was going to sit out for a headache while we got guys out there with broken bones, guys out there with fused necks, guys out with much more pain than I am, looking at me and going “ok we have to adjust the card tonight, because you have a headache?” That was the conversations that were had. So no I was not going to put myself in that position. It’s funny, just to fast forward a guy like Randy Orton just didn’t buy into it, and I ran into him in March, and he started talking about his concussion experiences and he was like ‘Gosh I didn’t know it was that bad.’ He is an advocate for himself now to take time off and so it’s interesting to see this turn. We all thought guys with concussions were soft back then, I did too.”
Chris Nowinski on Chris Benoit: “We incorporated Sports Legacies ten days before the Benoit tragedy. A year prior to that I sat down with Benoit when I was still working for the company for the Smackdown Your Vote in the locker room in Manchester, New Hampshire and he just started asking me questions about the book. ‘So what are you finding that is happening long term?’ Things like that. He was more interested than any other wrestler which helps me realize that he actually knew there was something wrong with him. He asked me about how many concussions I had and I asked him and he said ‘Well I had more concussions than I can count.’ If you knew Chris, you knew he wouldn’t take a day off for anything. So because he told me that and then he told me to give him a call.
“I remember months later, I was intimidated by him because he was champion and I was young and then I called him and he acted like he didn’t know why I was calling after he gave me his number. So I thought maybe there was a memory thing or maybe a mood thing going on. So when it happened , I was sure that is why it happened. Knowing how other guys died from this disease had similar falls from grace and knowing what a great guy he was when he was in his prime or when I met him at 35. So I knew I had to contact Michael Benoit, his father. So I tracked down Michael Benoit and I said, ‘Llisten I’m not telling you an answer, but this may have played a role and we need to find out what the answer is.’ Mike, thank God, agreed and helped put this whole thing in perspective.”
Chris Nowinski on Chris Benoit’s last year of his life: “Chris was a different guy emotionally. You talked to the guys who were on the road with him over the last year and he would break down crying for no reason, paranoia about someone kidnapping his son so he moved homes, different routes to the airports just in case someone was following him. He was really losing it because his brain had this pattern of cell death that left a lot of cognition, but destroyed emotions and impulse control.”
Chris Nowinski on finding answers about Benoit: “We are trying to understand why it happened so it could be prevented in the future. People can see the warning signs in these people and there are plenty of warning signs. We can change what we do so the disease doesn’t form in the first place. We can raise awareness so we can develop a treatment for it. People have to be accountable for their actions. But the other side is when people get a brain disease, they are not accountable. Verne Gagne killed a man in an Alzheimer’s home. He is not being prosecuted for murder cause he didn’t know what happened. CTE is different because it’s a slow progressing disease and in your forties no one is going to say “did he know what he was doing?. Was he in control?” It’s much much more difficult but certainly Verne is not considered a murderer for that. It’s a tough situation, I rather work on prevention.”
— The Rock is advertised for the Raw SuperShow following WrestleMania taking place April 2, 2012 at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. The advertised main event is an Eight-Man Tag Team Match pitting John Cena, CM Punk, Randy Orton and Big Show against Chris Jericho, Daniel Bryan, Kane and Mark Henry.
— Raw Superstars are advertised to appear at the April 3, 2012 SmackDown taping at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. The advertised main event is a Ten-Man Tag Team Match pitting John Cena, CM Punk, Randy Orton, Big Show and Sheamus against Chris Jericho, Daniel Bryan, Kane, Mark Henry and The Miz.
— Steve Austin says Jake “The Snake” Roberts is worthy of the WWE Hall of Fame. He wrote the following after reading Roberts’ thoughts on entering the Hall:
“JAKE THE SNAKE ROBERTS DEFINITELY DESERVES TO BE IN THE H.O.F. AND THAT’S THE BOTTOM LINE. One of my fave all time workers.”
— This week’s WWE Classics On Demand updates are as follows: Extreme Championship Wrestling (January 20, 1998), WWF Mania (January 9, 1993), World Class Championship Wrestling (February 18, 1984).
– Fans of Christian and Alberto Del Rio should be excited to hear that both superstars are scheduled to return to action very soon.
Christian has been advertised for a match against Sheamus this weekend at WWE’s SmackDown live event from the Cow Palace in San Francisco. The Cow Palace’s preview has since been updated, with Alberto Del Rio now scheduled to face Sheamus in a special “RAW vs. SmackDown Challenge match.”
Del Rio is also advertised for Sunday’s SmackDown live event from Bakersfield, California.
As for Christian, it’s unclear whether he’ll be returning to action this weekend, but multiple sources have confirmed he’s ready to return.
– The WWE RAW crew has landed in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. for the company’s first international tour of 2012. The company will hold a press conference prior to their three-show tour, which begins on Thursday and ends Saturday. The RAW crew will then return to the US, heading to San Diego, California for RAW on Monday.
– Former WWE developmental wrestler Peter Orlov (Alex Koslov) confirmed his WWE release on Twitter:
“It is true. I have been granted free agent-ism. John (Laurinaitis) confused me when he used a variation of his infamous ‘future endeavored” line.”
– The Associated Press has issued a negative review of The Rock’s new movie Journey 2. AP movie writer David Germain wrote the following about The Rock’s performance:
“[Journey 2] lacks the likable goof factor of Brendan Fraser, who starred in the first movie but isn’t back for the second. Dwayne Johnson steps in this time, and while he tries to yuck it up amid the nonstop action, he’s just not a goofball on the order of Fraser, who somehow can make extreme silliness palatable with that big, simpering grin of his. Johnson, on the other hand, merely simpers.”
“Johnson stars as ex-Navy guy Hank, stepfather to troublesome teenager Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson, reprising his role from the first “Journey”).”
“Size matters to the filmmakers here, which might be why they signed up Johnson, a co-producer as well as star, who strains for some laughs with an overdone gag about his massive pectoral muscles.”
Overall, the reviewer said the film is hampered by weak dialog and over-the-top gimmicky 3D effects. “If only the movie had the hint of a brain.”
– Former WWE wrestler Batista (Dave Bautista) has signed on to star in the third installment of the Riddick film series. The movie also stars Vin Diesel, Karl Urban, Jordi Mollà, Matt Nable and Katee Sackhoff.
The film was delayed at one point due to financial issues but Universal Studios announced that principal photography has begun. Batista is said to have a major role in the movie, which will mark his highest-profile project to date.
Batista recently wrapped production on Russell Crowe’s latest film, Man With the Iron Fists, which is the directorial debut of hip-hop artist RZA of the Wu Tang Clan.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety over at JRsBarBQ.com.Here are some highlights of what JR wrote about:
New Projects In The Works: “The King and I spent about 2+ hours working on a new project that we will continue to work on over the next month or so. More info on it when the time is right.”
“I also worked on a new, DVD project, unaware of the release date, on the Top 50 Finishing Moves in Wrestling on Monday. That should be an interesting DVD and as is customary with ‘lists’ or ‘top ten’s, etc” it will likely be controversial to some fans. Nonetheless I had fun doing it and it brought back some cool memories.”
Whether He’d Like To Buy TNA: “Lord, no. I have no desire, or the funding, to attempt to manage or own any wrestling company at this stage of my life. There are too many headaches and I’m not into sports psychology or managing a day care center for wrestlers.
Does He Hate TNA? “Hell, no. Why would I hate TNA? That makes no sense. It provides fans with more product to enjoy and more importantly, to me, provides wrestlers with another place to live their dream and earn a living. Same goes for ROH or any other promotion. The healthier those companies are the better it is for the overall genre. Any one who thinks that I ‘hate’ other wrestling organizations is 100% Pet Coon Goofy.”
Will Jeff Hardy Ever Return To WWE? “I have no way of answering that question other than to speculate that answer would be a ‘not likely.’ I have no way of knowing if Jeff would even be interested or if WWE would be interested. If Jeff is happy in TNA, then my suggestion to him as a friend would be to enjoy the ride and save your cash.”
As always, check out WWEShop.com to purchase Jim Ross’ amazing line of BBQ products.
– The dark match that took place after Tuesday’s SmackDown tapings from Tulsa, Oklahoma saw Randy Orton defeat Wade Barrett in a Street Fight. During the match, Daniel Bryan came down to double team Orton. Big Show made the save which allowed Orton to get the win on Barrett. Orton ended the event by hitting the RKO on Big Show.
– Dolph Ziggler’s new “It’s Not Showing Off” t-shirt is now on sale at the WWEShop website.
– Shawn Michaels was asked on Twitter if he knows of any WWE superstars that WWE could give a career boost toby having them end The Undertaker’s streak. Michaels, who tried twice to end the streak, responded, “I do not.”
– SEScoops.com reader Andy Ravens sent along the following video clip from the opening of Tuesday’s WWE SmackDown tapings.
During an interview with Moviefone.com to promote his new movie Journey 2, The Rock spoke about a number of wrestling-related topics. Here are some highlights of what The Rock said about:
Finding Time To Train For WrestleMania While Shooting Movies:
“You fit it in, that’s what you do. I make sure there’s a ring on location with me, anywhere that I shoot. I had a ring down in New Orleans, when I was preparing for the Madison Square Garden event. I have a ring down in Florida, a ring down in Louisiana; there’s always a ring close by. In order to prep for WrestleMania, it’s a lengthy training camp that requires daily work inside the ring because you can’t simulate the physicality of professional wrestling.”
Whether John Cena Is In Trouble At WrestleMania:
“The only trouble he’s going to have is removing my size 15 boot from his ladyparts.”
Being Excited About Returning To WWE:
“That’s right — I’m excited about all the projects you just mentioned. I’m excited about WrestleMania; to be able to go back, team up with Vince [McMahon] and make a big vision like that come to life and create the biggest match-up of all time is very special to me. There’s countless matches that have moved me and inspired me, and we’re going to do something very special down in Miami, my hometown, sold-out Sun Life Stadium. Boots to John Cena’s ass.”
What It Would Take To Get Him Into Politics
Right now the best way that I can impact the world is through entertainment. One day, and that day will come, I can impact the world through politics. The great news is that I am American, therefore I can become President. But don’t forget: I am G.I. Joe.
Wrestling legend Jake “The Snake” Roberts was a guest on Wrestling Voice Radio this week and spoke about a number of topics, including the WWE Hall of Fame, today’s wrestlers having their promos scripted out for them and more. Here are some highlights of what Jake said about:
What a WWE Hall Of Fame Induction Would Mean To Him:
“A lot. A lot, because I did make a lot of mistakes in my career but if they would acknowledge what I did and what I accomplished by putting me in there, it would be something I could give to my Grandchildren, for everything I did right, I know I belong in there, a lot more than others that are in there but I don’t care about that, the WWE was very good to me. I didn’t understand a lot of things, I was not a good business man. Vince would call me say we need an idea for this and I’d give him an idea and we’d just rock and roll with it, I didn’t know I’d to go in there and fight for my money and my place and the bottom line is the squeaky wheel gets the grease and I should of recognized that. I should have done the right thing and been squeaky.”
Whether he Thought Steve Austin’s “Austin 3:16” Promo Would Take Off Like It Did:
“Oh absolutely, I told Vince from the get-go that Steve was going to be his next super-superstar and Vince said he’d ‘never be better than third or fourth match’ and I said ‘Vince, it will take him longer to get over, but once he gets over he will get so far above everybody else, you will not believe it!’, and what happened?”
Whether Scripted Promos are Good or Bad:
“Nobody knows my character like me, but the problem today is these guys don’t have any characters, they don’t know what they are, hell, they all do the same damn thing and nobodies selling anything. Never say anything and not do it, because you’ll destroy your own credibility, most important thing about that is if you ever destroy your credibility to a fan he will never believe you again, today they’re going out there and doing all this crap nobody sells anything in the ring, and the reason is these guys have not learned they’re trait. In my day you had to progress, you had evolve, to change to keep your job, there’s a little initiative to get you going and that’s the difference.”
— Matches taped tonight at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma for this week’s episode of WWE NXT Redemption are as follows:
* Derrick Bateman vs. Heath Slater
* Darren Young vs. Percy Watson
* Trent Barreta vs. Tyson Kidd
* Kaitlyn vs. Maxine
* Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks vs. Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso
— Brodus Clay squashed WWE developmental wrestler Damien Sandow in a dark match at tonight’s SmackDown SuperShow taping in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Sandow was accompanied by Abraham Washington.
— The February 4 episode of A.M. Raw garnered a 0.59 cable rating, with 723,000 viewers.
— The location of next year’s WrestleMania 29 is expected to be officially announced by WWE in the next few weeks.
The frontrunner to host the event the Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, which is just outside of New York City. AXXESS and other WrestleMania events leading up to the pay-per-view would take place in and around city.
— Monday’s RAW Supershow drew a 3.25 cable rating, with 4.62 million viewers, down from last week’s 3.55 and 5.22 million viewers.
The first hour opened with 4.80 million viewers and then dropped off to a 4.44 million viewers in the hour two.
RAW’s numbers remain stronger than the recent average, with the past 2 weeks doing the best ratings since early November. On the other hand, 15 out of the past 16 RAW shows have lost viewership in hour two.
– WWE has signed independent wrestler Chris Hero to a developmental contract. Hero was evaluated by the company in the fall and had an undisclosed medical issue that prevented WWE from signing him. Hero will join his former “Kings Of Wrestling” tag team partner Claudio Castagnoli (who wrestling as Antonio Cesaro) at WWE developmental in Tampa.
– WWE’s new YouTube channel has released the latest “Backstage Fallout” video featuring backstage footage from Monday’s RAW. This edition focuses on Daniel Bryan and A.J. following Bryan’s Raw match with Big Show, David Otunga talking about his match with Sheamus Tamina talking about winning the eight-Diva tag match for her team.
WWE star The Rock was the featured guest on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno on Monday night. Rock talked about returning to WWE at Survivor Series, his upcoming match with John Cena at WrestleMania 28 and of course, his new movie, Journey 2. Rock also busted out the ukulele and sang a song for the live audience, which they loved.
— CNN.com published an article on what Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson looks for in a woman.
“Here’s what you’ve got to do: you’ve got to be independent, and you’ve got to have a sense of self,” Johnson says. “You’ve got to have a great sense of humor.”
But the true test? “You’ve got to laugh at my jokes,” he says. “Like, that’s the key.”
Johnson, who is currently dating a 27-year-old singer, added that he has no plans to re-marry. In a separate interview with Belfast Telegraph, he said, “I was so fortunate to have fallen in love once. To fall in love again? That’s a hard thing to do twice in the position I’m in. I’m one lucky son of a bitch.”
— WWE Hall of Famer Bobby Heenan will be making a rare public appearance this Saturday at Frank & Son Collectible Show 19649 San Jose Ave. City of Industry, California. Other talent scheduled for the event include “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, Angelina Love, Missy Hyatt, Tatanka, Cowboy Bob Orton, Debra McMichael, One Man Gang and Paul Orndorff. Event information is available here.
— Super Crazy will be touring with Japanese wrestling promotion Pro Wrestling NOAH on February 25-28. He will face Ricky Marvin, Atsushi Aoki and Lance Bravado in separate bouts.