Credit to SEScoops.com reader Angelo for the following WWE SmackDown spoilers from tonight’s tapings in Dallas, Texas, airing this Friday night on SyFy:
Dark Match:
* Brodus Clay defeated another local wrestler in a squash.
SmackDown:
* Shawn Michaels and Triple H reunited as DX for an off-camera appearance and teased a future WrestleMania for Cowboys Stadium.
* Teddy Long opened this week’s show with the RAW General Manager, John Laurinaitis. They announced a 41-man battle royal for tonight’s show. The winner will get a title shot of any title they choose, similar to Money in the Bank.
* Randy Orton won a 41-man battle royal to earn a shot at any title. Miz and Orton were the final two men standing. Orton RKO’d The Miz from the apron and they both fell at the same time, the refs declared Orton the winner. Orton chose to face Mark Henry for the World Heavyweight Championship.
* Beth Phoenix defeated Kelly Kelly.
* Black Sin Cara Black attacked Blue Sin Cara Blue on the stage and removed his mask.
* Black Sin Cara (wearing Blue Sin Cara’s mask) defeated Justin Gabriel.
* WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio defeated Sheamus. Christian interfered and helped Del Rio get the win. After the match, Christian beat down Sheamus.
* Kofi Kingston and Zack Ryder defeated Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler.
* Randy Orton defeate Mark Henry by DQ when Cody Rhodes interfered and attacked Orton. Big Show runs out to make the save and chokeslams Henry. Orton got up and nailed Cody with an RKO.
— WWE.com has published an article asking what’s gotten into Kelly Kelly since the feisty competitor brutalized Divas Champion Beth Phoenix in a fit of rage on last week’s Raw SuperShow.
“They’ve been torturing me and making me miserable for the last few months,” she told WWE.com. “Losing the title [to Beth at WWE Hell in a Cell] just topped it off. The next night, I let my frustrations get to me and I just let out everything I’ve been holding back.”
Kelly has fought back against negativity and naysayers to earn the respect of not only WWE fans, but the Divas locker room and she’s not about to let her tormentors take that away from her.
“After five years, this is finally my time,” she said. “I’m going to take it and I’m going to show people that I’m not just a pretty face.”
— Shelly Martinez has begun training at Santino Bros Wrestling Academy in Southern California as she is looking to compete more frequently. The former WWE Diva shot footage of herself at the center yesterday. She is training with Disco Machine, a wrestler she broke in the industry with.
Former WWE superstar Mick Foley recently appeared on the Live Audio Wrestling show. You can download an MP3 of the show by clicking here. Here are the higlights, courtesy of Chris Maffei:
How He Got Involved with Stand Up Comedy:
“I had done a lot of speaking at colleges where a lot of my stories were humorous, but because I was never billed as a comic, they didn’t have to be funny, that was just kind of like the icing on the cake. When I did make the foray into comedy, I realized that you can’t just go out there with some ideas, even if the ideas do lead to good stories. I had essentially shrugged off comedy as something that’d be too difficult to get good at. The challenge I really had was trying to get the same people who would willingly wait two hours in line for me to sit down in a comfortable club and listen to me tell stories and do comedy for the same amount of time and for the same price. There was a disconnect, like “Comedy? No, no, we like you in a wrestling venue,” even if it’s a signing that has to do with wrestling. It was really frustrating to me, and I honestly didn’t think I would have the capacity to overcome that. I thought it would take too much time and effort.”
Whether His Comedy Is Geared Towards Wrestling Fans:
“I try to make it inclusive for everybody, without alienating the people who do like me for wrestling, which is most of the people there. I want it to be entertaining for everybody. I use wrestling as my jumping off point to go to other topics, and I’m kinda using trial and error to figure out how to get back to wrestling, and how to weigh everything out. I like to think of wrestling like the best education ever, if you just travel around the world with your eyes and ears open. I share stories that I learned along the way, and things that I learned about people through wrestling. There are some really good stories that anybody could appreciate as long as they are willing to be open to seeing a wrestler tell them.”
Returning To WWE and Wrestling Again:
“First of all, I’d really have to start working out and conditioning. I should really do that now, in case some of these rumors turn out to be true. They’re all rumors that I started, by the way, so it’s nice to know that form of communication is still viable. I’m having fun, I think most people know I’m joking when I use the words, “I’ll show Hugh Jackman how it’s done when I show up as the SECRET special guest referee at Hell in a Cell,” and then about a minute later, “WHOOPS! Disregard that, I was trying to direct message Michael Cole. A lot of people took me seriously, and were disappointed when I wasn’t there, so I’m gonna try not to spread rumors. With that being said, I do think that I’ll be showing up in WWE sometime soon. Sometime.”
Former WWE superstar Batista and former UFC star Kimbo Slice will be appearing in the new straight-to-DVD film, “The Scorpion 3” – the latest installment in the movie that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson starred in back in 2000.
The following is the official press release for the movie followed by the video trailer:
Former WWE World champion Dave Bautista will be teaming with former UFC star Kimbo Slice in the new film “Scorpion King 3 – Battle for Redemption”, which will be released via DVD and Blu-Ray on 1/17/12.
The film “brings the heroic, larger-than-life saga of the dethroned king Mathayus to face some of his fiercest demons and most vicious rivals—both real and supernatural—ever.”
In the film, Mathayus (the role originally played by Dwayne Johnson, now played by martial artist Victor Webster), since losing his kingdom, now works as an assassin for hire, defending a king and his land from the king’s evil brother, who has amassed an army of ghost warriors.
Beyond Bautista and Slice, the film stars Billy Zane (Titanic), Ron Perlman (Sons of Anarchy, Hellboy) and Temeura Morrison (Green Lantern, Star Wars prequel trilogy) with stunts designed by Kawee “Seng” Sirikanerut (Ongbok, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Cradle of Civilization) and Supoj “Jimmy” Khaowwong (Batman Begins).
The DVD will feature a number of extras, including a montage of deleted scenes, a behind the scenes making of the film, a featurette on Victor Webster preparing for his role as Mathayus, a commentary track with Director Roel Reine and more. There will be additional features for the Blu-Ray version as well.
Posted October 13th, 2011 in News, WWE. Tagged: Batista.
Hornswoggle's new Muppets Tattoo (click to enlarge)
– With Disney’s The Muppets set to guest star on the October 31st Halloween edition of WWE RAW, the creative team has been working on the script for that show this week.
As if WWE’s resident muppet Hornswoggle wasn’t already going to be featured on the show, his new Muppets tattoo virtually makes him a lock for the Halloween RAW.
– The Associated Press is reporting that Linda McMahon is looking to better engage women in her 2012 Senate bid. Exit polling data in 2010 showed that 42% of female voters were less likely to vote for McMahon because of her association with WWE because of WWE’s portrayal of women and violence.
As with her last campaign, Linda is also looking to distance herself from WWE.
– The recent Sin Cara vs. Sin Cara match at WWE’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view got overwhelmingly negative feedback by fans here on SEScoops.com – and WWE officials were also unhappy with the match, namely, how WWE’s agents/producers booked the match. While most would assume that two luchador wrestlers would stick to the style they know best (lucha!), many were expecting more of a grudge match-style fight, due to the nature of the HIAC event.
– WWE officials were disappointed at how the crowd reacted towards some of the bigger stars participating in the walkout angle, and the fact that two of the people the crowd reacted to the most were Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler. You know it’s a bad sign when your announcers are more over than most of the wrestlers on your roster.
– Felipe Barerra, a Texas high school football coach, received a one-week suspension after being caught doing a DX crotch chop to the opposing team as his team was celebrating their win this week.
(Sources: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, f4wonline.com)
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some hilights of what JR wrote about:
Will Brock Lesnar Ever Wrestle In WWE Again?:“In my opinion, not any time soon but he is in the WWE12 video game which means that he makes more money off his WWE reputation just as he has done in UFC. Good deal for Lesnar. If Brock comes back to WWE it will likely be for a one time deal after his MMA days have ended as he doesn’t like travel or the overall mentality of the wrestling locker room or so it seems based on what Brock’s said. Plus, his ‘controversial remarks’ directed at Undertaker and Steve Austin merely create awareness and is good marketing. Too many fans take these types of comments as gospel.”
His Firing On RAW: “WWE upper management made the call to remove me from weekly TV and that is their choice. It’s the WWE’s team and I simply am playing on it. Being a team guy, I run the plays that are sent in whether they make sense or not. Like my Dad taught me, if you accept a man’s money then do the work that the man wants. When one can’t handle the work or the silliness any longer, stop taking the cash and stay home and do something else. I’m not ready to leave the team that I helped build especially considering the vulnerable state the company was in when I took over Talent Relations.”
Will WWE hire Samoa Joe Some Day? “I don’t know as I’m not in that loop which should be obvious by some of the signees in recent years. 2. How does anyone know Joe wants to come to WWE? Personally, I like Joe’s work and his unique look which means he likely won’t be signed. Just saying…but you need to ask John Laurinaitis as he seems to be the genius of the week.”
JR also spoke about whether The Undertaker will wrestle Mark Henry at WrestleMania 28 next April, working on future episodes of WWE’s Legends Roundable series and more more. To read the full blog and links to where you can purchase JR’s amazing line of BBQ products (the Main Event Mustard is a must), head on over to JRsBarBQ.com.
Tuesday’s WWE SmackDown tapings from Dallas, TX featured a DX reunion. Although Shawn Michaels’ return to a WWE ring will not be broadcast on Friday’s SmackDown – we’ve got footage of the reunion here.
HBK wrote the following on Twitter regarding the DX reunion:
“I’ve lost my voice. I can no longer yell for a promo & not lose my voice. The ol’ yelling vocal cords are out of practice:-)”
“Was great to see everybody at WWE & of course a big thank you to the folks of Dallas.”
“As I’ve said before. I will not be on Smackdown. It was just DX doing their silly stuff for the live audience which requires screaming.”
After calling out Steve Austin earlier this week for ducking him back in 2002 when they were supposed to work together in WWE, Lesnar intensified his comments about Austin during an interview with IGN.com:
“There’s a guy that’s been on a winning streak for a long time that somebody needs to step up to the plate and finish the winning streak. But then there’s another side of me that says if there was a chance for me to come back to fight a guy, it would be the guy that I was supposed to fight that chicken-sh**ted out on me and didn’t show up, and that would be “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin chicken-sh**ted out on me and walked away and didn’t want to participate because he thought that I was getting something too fast too soon and he felt threatened by me.”
Austin, showing patience and self control we didn’t always see during his beer-swilling hell-raising WWE days, responded to Lesnar on Twitter:
“At a bit of a crossroads here. on one hand go after @DCBROCKLESNAR after his comments..on other hand deer season is very near. #decisions
Just called my taxidermist…got two quotes on shoulder mounts… #decisions”
COMMENT BELOW: Could we actually see an Austin vs. Lesnar match in WWE at some point?
In case Brock Lesnar forgot what happens when you get in Steve Austin’s face, here’s a reminder:
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross spoke to Yahoo! Sports this week and gave new details as to whether he knew he’d be fired on Monday’s RAW. Ross maintains that he had no idea he’d be fired prior to entering the ring and acknowledges that being fired in front of his hometown crowd and his wife at ringside was embarrassing;
“No, no idea whatsoever. It came as a complete surprise. My wife, we’re celebrating our eighteenth anniversary today, none of us knew. It took me completely by surprise.
“It was one of those embarrassing moments you endure and move on. It’s like anything else in life – when you get faced with a challenge or an uncomfortable situation, you have to make some choices on how you handle it.”
When asked whether the firing was legitimate or just part of WWE’s storyline, Ross replied:
“If it is, no one has told me about the storyline. I just think WWE upper management has made the decision, again, to go with a different presentation at the announce position and I’m not in the plans. So, we move on.”
In case you missed it on RAW, here’s the video of Jim Ross being fired:
– WWE kicked off their tour in Monterrey, Mexico last night with a RAW brand show. Here are the results:
Alex Riley defeated David Otunga.
Mason defeated Def. Primo.
Zack Ryder defeated Drew McIntyre.
Air Boom (Evan Bourne & Kofi Kingston) retained the tag titles against Jack Swagger & Dolph Ziggler
Beth Phoenix retained the Divas title against Kelly Kelly
CM Punk & John Morrison defeated R-Truth & The Miz.
John Cena defeated WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio by disqualification after interference Ricardo Rodriguez. Cena hit the Attitude Adjustment on Del Rio and Rodriguez to end the show.
– It’s worth noting that WWE is taking extra precautions with their tour buses this week for fear of crime from Mexico’s drug cartels.
– WWE moved the SmackDown! live event in Veracruz, Mexico on October 15th up to 1pm so the top SmackDown stars are able to appear at the RAW TV tapings at 8pm that night in Mexico City.
– There was some speculation that the SmackDown stars may not be appearing on next week’s RAW because of the scheduling. The RAW stars will still be able to appear on SmackDown if needed because their scheduled don’t conflict when SmackDown tapes on Sunday.
This week, we reported on the news that UFC fighter Brock Lesnar will be one of the playable characters in the upcoming WWE ’12 video game, the first time Lesnar has worked with WWE in over 7 years.
As the man who has Brock Lesnar under contract, UFC President Dana White was instrumental in making Lesnar in WWE ’12 possible. Here’s what White said about why he didn’t have a problem with Brock working with WWE again in this capacity:
Following Monday’s Raw in which John Morrison was defeated by Christian in approximately a minute and subsequently assaulted by Dolph Ziggler, Christian and Jack Swagger, a man wrote to Melina on Twitter accusing her of killing his WWE career.
He wrote, “Will you stand trial for killing your bf’s career? #prayforJoMo.”
The former WWE Diva responded via private message, “The WWE did it. I never did anything but stand by him through thick & thin. We should all be so lucky as to have someone like that in our lives.
“John worked his ass off and did EVERYTHING he was told. The blame shouldn’t be put on me. Blame the WWE.”
Many internally believe that Morrison will soon part ways with WWE. Company personnel speculated to Wrestling Observer editor Dave Meltzer that while Morrison has not upset management, he, like Drew McIntyre, is paying the price for his significant other’s actions.
Former WWE Diva Maria Kanellis made similar allegations during last week’s Raw discussion show for AfterBuzzTV.com after co-host Lilian Garcia pondered why McIntyre and Morrison are not receiving greater pushes.
Maria said of McIntyre, “I have a feeling he’s paid for someone else’s sins, problems, because Drew’s really good. I’d love to see him do more stuff, but it’s unfortunate that that happens.”
Maria then said of Morrison, “I think it’s a lot of complications of outside stuff. I think that a lot of times they go with who’s going to be there, who’s always going to be there, who’s going to be the easiest. He’s very easy and I love him to pieces, but I think it’s outside complications. I think that’s why.”
John “Bradshaw” Layfield published a blog on his official website stating that he has no plans to appear for WWE or TNA Wrestling.
“The question is whether I will return to WWE television. NO. The answer is NO. I have no plans, I have no contact with WWE. No one has mentioned this, no one has brought it up,” he wrote.
“Will that NO change to a YES. I don’t know. I love performing. I am actually healthy right now, I have lost a ton of weight getting ready for NYC marathon and am in the best shape of my life. But would I risk that to return, no I would not. However, is there a hybrid that I would be interested in-I never rule out anything.”
Regarding TNA, he wrote, “My best friend Bruce Prichard is head of talent relations for TNA-I love him, I love many of the folks there and the talent. I have no plans of going there.”
He then posted on Twitter, “IF i returned IF, I would want to be RAW gm and have some fun! I could do wonders there-great talent, just needs someone to play off of!”
Contrary to WWE’s short-term booking as of late, WWE currently has plans in place for the next several pay-per-view events all the way up to the Royal Rumble and beyond.
Aside from the big Survivor Series main event that will see The Rock and John Cena teaming up, there will be a Scramble match involving Randy Orton, Mark Henry, Big Show, Sheamus, Christian and Kane.
For December’s Tables, Ladders and Chairs PPV, a TLC match between Mark Henry and the Big Show has been discussed.
As for the Royal Rumble, it’s said that WWE has already picked the winner – and the superstar is from the SmackDown brand. We heard several weeks ago that Randy Orton was favored to win the Rumble, but that has yet to be confirmed. While the Royal Rumble winner typically gets a title shot at WrestleMania, WWE is planning to have the Royal Rumble winner win the World Heavyweight title prior to WretleMania (likely at Elimination Chamber) and then defend against Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania.
– In a piece of news that can’t be seen as good for TNA, Spike TV senior vice president Brian Diamond is no longer with the network. Diamond’s official title was “senior vice president of sports and specials for Spike TV.” Diamond was a strong supporter of TNA Wrestling. Jon Slusser has been named as Diamond’s replacement.
– TNA star Hulk Hogan appeared on the Howard Stern show this morning and addressed rumors of him having homosexual relationships with wrestlers:
Batista appeared at the premiere for The Thing movie last night in Universal City, California. He will be appearing at another red carpet event tonight: a pre-launch party for the Saints Row: The Third video game.
The former WWE Champion has tweaked his appearance in recent weeks as he now sports a mohawk and covered his entire back with tattoos.
Check out these pictures of Batista’s new look:
Posted October 12th, 2011 in News, WWE. Tagged: Batista.
After getting relieved of his announcing duties by John Laurinaitis on RAW, Jim Ross wrote the following on witter status with WWE:
“Let’s get something straight. I hired Laurinaitis in WWE when he had NO job. I helped him prep 4 his job & I remained an EVP in another dept
I’m not going to Smackdown or PPVs. I’m done as best that I know. Might do some Roundtable type stuff. My services aren’t required weekly.
1 more time..I’m fired from wk’ly tv. Our products are still being sold at WWEshop.com because it’s good business. Thx 4 support.”
As we reported on the site earlier this week, Jim Ross did not know he was going to be fired prior to it happening on live television in front of his wife who was at ringside and his hometown crowd in Oklahoma.
While Jim Ross is off television, he’ll still be working with the company. He is headed to WWE headquarters next week to tape the next edition of the Legends Roundtable show.
It was confirmed earlier this week that former WWE superstar and UFC heavyweight fighter Brock Lesnar has signed on to appear in the upcoming WWE ’12 video game.
It’s widely expected that former WWE superstar Mick Foley will be returning to the company in the next few weeks, with Foley himself even teasing his return in recent interviews and on twitter.
According to a source in WWE, there’s been a lot of talk behind the scenes this week about Foley’s return taking place around Survivor Series.
With Foley’s longtime friend The Rock returning to the ring at Survivor Series and appearing on the final RAW before Survivor Series on November 14th, it’s expected that Foley will make several appearances on WWE television leading up to and after the big event.
Additionally, there’s been talk in recent days that former WWE superstar John Bradshaw Layfield could also be brought back to the company, but the JBL return is just talk at this point.
During an interview with ESPN.com earlier this week to promote his inclusion in the new WWE ’12 video game, former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar was asked about who he’d like to wrestle if he does return to WWE one day. Like CM Punk, Lesnar’s got his sights set on the biggest star in WWE history – “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Lesnar told ESPN:
“Ironically it’s probably the guy that walked out on me. The guy that took his ball and went home. A guy that I was supposed to face and I think that he was just plain downright scared to get in the ring with me because he was one of those guys that was on top and saw a huge threat in Brock Lesnar at the time. That’s “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. I worked with everybody and anybody that was anybody there and if I came back, I think the guy that I would come back to fight is “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.”
Lesnar’s beef with Austin stems from a legitimate incident that took place back in 2002. Brock Lesnar was a rising star in WWE and company officials wanted Lesnar to squash Steve Austin on RAW en route to winning the 2002 King of the Ring tournament. WWE officials tried making the match on very short notice (we’re talking 2-3 days) – and it’s said that Steve Austin refused to take part in such a big money angle with no buildup. Austin didn’t have a probably putting Lesnar over in a big way, but to do it in such a haphazard, shortsighted way showed Austin that WWE creative was spinning out of control even back then. Austin “took his ball and went home” as a result of this incident.
Steve Austin, not one to sit on the sidelines when somebody’s running their mouth about him, has responded to Lesnar’s comments. Austin tweeted on Tuesday night:
“So @DCBROCKLESNAR was talking trash about me…very interesting. Gonna finish my beverage and mull this one over…catch y’all tomorrow.”
Later in the evening, it was clear that Lesnar’s words were getting to the Texas Rattlesnake. Austin followed up with another Tweet before bed:
“Trying to go to sleep..but this @DCBROCKLESNAR thing is winding me up a bit… relax…. breath… relax…breathe…. no use..to be continued..”
While there’s still a possibility that both Brock Lesnar and Steve Austin have at least one match left in each of them, the chances of their final WWE matches being against each other are unlikely.
What do you think – should Austin wrestle Brock Lesnar if he returns to WWE for one last match, or should he wrestle CM Punk? Or somebody else? Hit up the COMMENTS below.
– After Tuesday’s WWE SmackDown taping from Dallas, Texas went off the air – WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio defended the belt against RAW star John Cena. Cena won via DQ, then sent the crowd home happy with the Attitude Adjustment on Del Rio.
– Prior to the SmackDown tapings, the DX reunion took place as advertised – with Shawn Michaels and Triple H hitting the ring and entertaining the crowd with their typical edgy DX routine. Shawn Michaels teased that a future WrestleMania, rumored to be WrestleMania 29 in 2013, could take place from Cowboys Stadium in Dallas. Cowboys Stadium is the newest, nicest stadium in the United States and has the capacity to hold over 100,000 fans.
D-Generation X—Shawn Michaels and Triple H—reunited prior to the SmackDown portion of tonight’s WWE television tapings in Dallas, Texas by teasing that WrestleMania would take place at Cowboys Stadium, home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.
The largest domed stadium in the world has been speculated as a future home of the pay-per-view extravaganza since the stadium opened in 2009.
DX performed their trademark routine and cut a “non-PG” promo, according to a fan in attendance. Their celebration was interrupted by Vince McMahon.
The segment will not air on television since Michaels’ appearance was locally advertised.
Check out this picture of DX from Tuesday’s tapings:
— Matches taped tonight in Dallas, Texas for this week’s episode of NXT: Redemption are as follows: A.J. vs. Maxine, Derrick Bateman vs. Percy Watson, Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso vs. Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks.
A match pitting former Corre teammates Ezekiel Jackson and Heath Slater was taped for WWE Superstars. Matches taped last night in Oklahoma City were Alex Riley vs. Drew McIntyre and JTG vs. Santino Marella.
— Want to have a cyber friend date with Shelly Martinez? Have something you been wanting to ask? Just want to get to know her in a more personal way? Buy some time and have her all to yourself!
Shelly is offering cyber friend dates through ShellyMartinez.org, which allows people to purchase time with the former WWE Diva. Those who book cyber friend dates for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for next week get a two-for-one special: Shelly and Amber O’Neal.