WWE SmackDown on Syfy

WWE taped this week’s episode of SmackDown on Tuesday night from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Credit to Wrestling News World for this live report:

* Triple H came out to open the show and said he re-signed CM Punk to a WWE contract on Monday night. When he talked about the state of the World title, World Heavyweight Champion Christian came out and cut a promo. Hunter announced he’ll defend the title against Randy Orton in a No Holds Barred Match at SummerSlam.

* R-Truth comes out and starts talking conspiracy and little Jimmy’s. Hunter informs him that he will face Randy Orton tonight. He also said that Christian will face John Morrison and that match is up next.

* World Heavyweight Champion Christian vs. John Morrison. Winner via Kill Switch, Christian.

* Wade Barrett comes out and cuts a promo on Daniel Bryan. Bryan comes out and says Heath Slater cut the same promo last week and he made him tap out. Barrett punches him and taunts him with his own Money in the Bank briefcase. Daniel eventually counters and puts Barrett in the LeBell Lock.

* Backstage, Teddy Long is talking to Zack Ryder. Mark Henry walks up to them and Ryder tells him that he will find him an opponent.

* AJ, Natalya & Kaitlyn vs. Tamina, Alicia Fox & Rosa Mendes. Winners after Alicia Fox pinned AJ, Alica Fox, Tamina & Rosa Mendes.

* Mark Henry b. Bobby Howard (local worker) w/Zack Ryder. Teddy Long comes out and says no one wants to fight Henry. Sheamus comes out and says he’ll fight him and grabs a chair. Henry fleas as Sheamus comes at him.

* Backstage, Triple H makes Zack Ryder Teddy Long’s assistant.

* WWE Tag Team Champions David Otunga & Michael McGillicutty vs. The Uso’s. Winners after the McGillicutter on Jey Uso, David Otunga & Michael McGillicutty.

* Backstage, Johnny Curtis says he will make his Smackdown debut next week.

* The Raw Rebound airs showing Rey Mysterio Winning the WWE Championship, Jim Ross returning, John Cena vs. Mysterio, Cena winning the WWE Championship and CM Punk returning.

* Backstage, Matt Striker interviews R-Truth. R-Truth says a good R-Truth is a bad R-Truth. He says he’s like an eagle swooping down and grabbing a snake like a viper.

* Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase b. WWE Intercontinental Champion Ezekiel Jackson in a handicap-match after Rhodes hit Cross Rhodes.

* Jinder Mahal and The Great Khali cut a promo in Punjabi from the second level of the arena. “USA” chants fill the arena.

* Randy Orton vs. R-Truth. I’m told Truth had a lot of heat on him. World Heavyweight Champion Christian comes out to watch the match from the top of the ramp. R-Truth gets the win via disqualification when Orton uses a chair. After the match, Orton hits an RKO on R-Truth on the announce table. The crowd goes crazy as he hits it again.

Dark Match Main Event:

* Zack Ryder comes out and announces World Heavyweight Champion Christian vs. Randy Orton for the title in a Street Fight. Christian wins after a roll-up after interference from Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase. Orton gives them all three RKO’s to end the taping. As they walk up the ramp the referee gives DiBiase a wedgie.

— WWE announced Thursday evening via Twitter that CM Punk will speak this Monday on Raw.

Their announcement reads: “BREAKING NEWS: “BREAKING NEWS: This Monday on #Raw, @CMPunk will make his first official statement since his shocking return to WWE.”

It was advertised during WWE Superstars that Triple H will have to resolve “one unprecedented controversy” with Punk and John Cena holding two versions of the WWE Championship.

— Former WWE talent Shane Helms (a/k/a The Hurricane) has released an app for the iPhone. The app, which was developed by Figure 4, includes the following features: access to all of Helms’ social media; a soundboard of original, thoughtful quotes; his upcoming schedule; take a photo with Helms.

More details on the app are available here.

Eve Torres took part in an interview with the Peoria Journal Star promoting tomorrow night’s Raw live event at the Peoria Civic Center in Peoria, Illinois, which she will guest host. She was asked whether she finds working with WWE head Vince McMahon intimidating.

“Vince has always been so hands-on, and that’s why WWE does so well. You hear it straight from the horse’s mouth,” she said. “He teaches us what it means to be a sports entertainer and how to captivate (an audience). He has given me personal feedback. Is it intimidating? Heck, yeah, it is. It’s kind of hard to break the ice with him when you’re first starting here. But eventually you feel a little more comfortable. It’s a family feel, the WWE.

She also responded to criticism that the quality of the Divas division is lacking.

Torres said, “We have to work basically in a man’s world. I definitely, without sounding like I’m complaining, will state that we have it the hardest in the WWE. You don’t see much of us (on TV programming).

“When it comes to the live events, you get to see great Diva matches you don’t see on Monday Night Raw. We have great fun and some awesome, kick-butt matches. There are a lot of liberties we take (during live matches) we can’t take on TV. I’m proud of the Diva division. We’re in a struggling place right now in terms of TV time, (but) I know what each of us are capable of.”

She also reveals which past Diva she most emulates, transitioning from a dancer to WWE, and more. To read the full interview, click here.

Mr. Long Island Iced Z is back with Episode 24 of the Z! True Long Island Story:

— Among those within WWE, the most notable thing about CM Punk’s return on Raw is that he got Vince McMahon to do what he’s had a policy in most cases against doing—pay royalty rights to use popular songs instead of WWE-created music.

— Diamond Dallas Page, who hosts WWE’s recently released The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro, stated on Twitter that it is the company’s second best-selling DVD of the past two years. He also urged fans to start “hammering WWE” for a sequel.

— Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is in New Orleans, Louisiana today to begin filming the G.I. Joe sequel Cobra Strikes. He plays Roadblock.

— WWE concludes filming today for their upcoming Steve Austin video release at the Hall of Famer’s ranch in Tilden, Texas.

(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

Former independent wrestler Devon Nicholson has filed a 6.5 million dollar lawsuit in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice against Larry Shreve (a/k/a Abdullah the Butcher), a WWE Hall of Famer.

The lawsuit stems from a 2007 match in Ottawa, Ontario, where Nicholson alleges that Shreve cut him with a razor blade without his permission. Nicholson alleges that Shreve’s blood mixed with his own and gave him Hepatitis C.

Nicholson learned of his infection in mid-2009. That September, WWE rescinded their three-year contract offer to Nicholson, allegedly on the basis of his disease.

According to Nicholson, his lawyer met with Shreve in September 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia, and agreed to provide blood work. Yet, the suit alleges, Shreve never provided the promised sample or result.

The source of the report is available here.

Shreve posted this note on his Facebook page on July 17: “I received my medical reports; I have NO hepatitis, or AIDS and anything. My blood tests are ALL negatives then these fools will be prosecured in justice… Hannibal, Billy Graham and especially New Jack, the most vulgar Boy whom business knew!”

– According to TMZ.com, reality TV star Jessie “Mr. Pec-Tacular” Godderz (“Big Brother”) has signed a deal with TNA Wrestling. Godderz, a former body builder, has been training at Bully Ray’s wrestling school in Florida and is expected to debut later this year.

– A rough estimate on pay-per-view buys for TNA’s Destination X last month would be between 8,000 and 8,500, which is a slight decrease from the prior month’s Slammiversary pay-per-view.

– Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff’s Micro Championship Wrestling will debut on TruTV on September 14th at 10pm EST. The series is currently slated to run for six episodes.

– TNA star Jesse Neal announced on Twitter last night that he and girlfriend wrestler Christina Von Eerie are engaged and will be getting married in Vegas:

“It is official guys me and Christina r engaged! She is the love of my life and we r happier then ever!!!!!”

WWE Superstar The Miz appeared on TBS’s Lopez Tonight with George Lopez on Wednesday to promote WWE’s SummerSlam pay-per-view in Los Angeles.

The WWE superstar explains what happened when he tried to take his pants off at a PGA tournament, and when he caught his own father forging his autograph for fans. Plus, George gets “The Miz” to audition for “DWTS,” using an audience member as his dance partner.

Here’s the video:

The latest trailer has been released for WWE’s new WWE ’12 video game franchise – which is due out on November 22nd, two days after WWE’s Survivor Series pay-per-view.

The trailer features video footage and in-game footage of The Rock, who announced earlier this week that he’ll be appearing at Survivor Series to confront John Cena.

Video game publisher THQ’s stock took a major beating this week – falling over 15% after the company slashed its annual earnings forecast for the year. THQ’s game sales were way below expectations for the first half of the year – which CEO  Brian Ferrell called “Clearly, a disappointing performance.”

During an investor conference calls this week – executives stressed the company would thrive in the third quarter, when it expects to generate the most revenue and earnings per share in the company’s history – with the new WWE ’12 game being a big part of that plan.

Here’s the new trailer for WWE ’12:

Arda Ocal (@arda_ocal) of the Score Television Network has a fun and light chat with WWE stars John Morrison and Melina. Highlights include:

– John’s injury and his return on RAW
– The famous “Royal Rumble 2011 elimination save” that kept Morrison in the Rumble
– Parkour and how often he thinks about doing it around rooms
– Both share their favourite “Vince McMahon” moment
– Checking out the “Air Guitar Championships” and what song they enjoy rockin’ out to the most (and who would play “pec drums” in their air band)
– Does John ever rock out to his own theme song?

Here’s the video of the interview:

Tyrone Evans (a/k/a Michael Tarver), who was released last month from his contract with WWE following several months of inactivity, posted a bizarre diatribe on his Twitter account today accusing John Cena of feeling threatened by his talent and intentionally fracturing his arm with a chair during a pay-per-view event last year to put him out of commission. The founding Nexus member also alleges that Cena laughed in his face afterwards.

Here is his post in its entirety:

“Family im a baaad man YAHWEH NISSI ,, soooooooo stop me if you heard this one for starters I went from sleeping in a car to being on 2 Wrestlemanias fun fact there soooooo this guy has a dream job but an adv he meets his dream girl assn db on his dream job he was to be away From his kids so he makes it work while spendiing 3 years trying to get his daughter to tampa to live him away from addcict mother

“Now during this dream job he fights trains show crazy potential on the mic regarded as one the best ever in developmental so he moves on ,,,To nxt and raw where he is burried on tv treated like trash back stage to the point where a certain top superstar takes notice of this Guy building steam with his promos back stage and begins to feel threatend so one night on a ppv the champ purposely fractures this Persons arm with a chair and after.the match backstage laughs in his face about it and walks off you know im talking about you just cant see See him anyway he takes out threats to his throne back stage to the point where the even get released from their dream job and ironicaly This guys dream wife leaves him tthreatening to take everything from him a month later on the se day his daughter was to move in with With them now his daughter is hysterical beyond help and has to be sent back home after three years of fighting and one week there

“Hmmmmm makes you wonder is it worth it because in your opinions WHO DO YOU KNOW WHO IS BAD.ENOUGH TO SCARE A BILLION DOLLAR COMPANY So I saw to all things mention ME ,,,,,,,,IM THAT BAD MAN ,,,,,,,,,,,YAHWEH NISSI”

— WWE officials went to great lengths to keep the arrivals of both CM Punk and Jim Ross a secret before they aired on Raw. Both talents were hidden from almost everyone in the organization. They were sent to different hotels from everyone else in fear that someone would see them and relay it online. Neither came into the Hampton Coliseum until they were given the cue to appear, both being sequestered somewhere on the premises. They were not even on the sixth and final script for the show and aside from those who had to directly interact with them on television, all performers weren’t aware of either of talent being in Hampton, Virginia. Ironically, the arena itself was advertising Punk for the event.

— Tyler Reks, who has portrayed a heel character since debuting last October on the SmackDown brand, went on Twitter to defend himself for congratulating Rey Mysterio on his WWE Championship victory on Monday’s Raw.

Reks wrote, “Lotta talk about me celebrating Rey’s win with everyone last night. Bottom line is that Rey is my friend & I wanted to say congrats. No crime in that.”

— WWE Hall of Famer Harley Race is advertised to host SmackDown live events on August 27th, 28th and 29th in the state of Missouri as WWE stops in Cape Girardeau, Springfield and St. Joseph.

source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

– Former WWE champion Mick Foley was backstage at Tuesday’s WWE SmackDown taping from Philadelphia – and we can now confirm that Foley is in negotiations to return to the company.

Foley was asked today by a fan on Twitter whether he would consider working for WWE again. Foley responded:

“Sure, I would – I’m considering it right now.”

– SmackDown star the Big Show is taking a few months off to rest his body. At 39 years old, Big Show is at the point where he can prolong his career by taking time off every now and then for the benefit of his long term health.

– There have been talks of turning Sheamus babyface and having him heel with Mark Henry this fall.

– Here are some recent WWE attendance figures:

* RAW on July 22nd in Springfield, MA drew 4,000 fans for $120,000.
* RAW on July 23rd in Wildwood, NJ drew 6,000 fans for $195,000.
* SmackDown on July 23rd in Pittsburgh, PA drew 4,300 fans for $156,000.
* RAW on July 24th in Upper Marlboro, MD drew 3,300 fans for $112,000.
* SmackDown on July 24th in White Plains, NY was a sellout of 4,300 fans for $180,000.
* Monday Night RAW on July 25th from Hampton, VA was a sellout with 8,000 fans.

(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

Over the past several months, there have been various reports claiming that Royal Rumble and Money in the Bank winner Alberto Del Rio has been slated to win the WWE championship a few times this year. Thus far, those plans changed each time and he has yet to capture WWE’s top prize.

As noted in an earlier report, WWE’s original plan for Summerslam was for Alberto Del Rio to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase and challenge John Cena for the WWE title at SummerSlam. With SummerSlam taking place from Los Angeles, WWE saw dollar signs in their top heel Mexican star wrestling for the WWE title at a major pay-per-view in a strong hispanic market.

Additionally, WWE had discussed the idea of Del Rio holding the WWE championshpi heading into the company’s tour of Mexico in October.

Plans for Del Rio at Summerslam changed when the decision was made to bring back CM Punk sooner than expected.

According to Dave Meltzer, this is at least the 4th time Del Rio had been scheduled to win the WWE or World Title and it didn’t end up happening.

(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

Monday’s RAW featured Triple H’s first night in charge as well as the surprise return of WWE title holder CM Punk.

According to Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there were actually six different scripts written for RAW – one of which would have resulted in Triple H laying out CM Punk with a pedigree.

Although the obvious scenario would be for WWE to capitalize on CM Punk’s recent popularity and push him to the moon, most of the scenarios presented for Monday’s RAW were not to get Punk over, but to emphasize Triple H’s new role as Vince McMahon’s successor.

Prior to WWE settling on what we saw unfold on Monday night, the original plan for CM Punk’s return was for him to get attacked and pedigreed by Triple H. Alberto Del Rio then would have come out, cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase against John Cena at SummerSlam.

While this would have certainly put Triple H over as a major heel and led to an eventual program with a babyface CM Punk cooler heads prevailed and the angle of Punk getting squashed on the night of his return was scrapped.

(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

CM PUNK appeared on the BS Report radio show this wee, hosted by ESPN’s Bill Simmons. You can listen to audio of the interview at ESPN.com. Here’s a recap of what CM Punk said about:

His new theme song “Cut of Personality“:

He’s a big advocate of wrestlers changing their characters – their look, their music, etc. It was time to change. It probably cost WWE a lot of money to license the song and he’s worth it.

* LISTEN HERE: “Cult of Personality” Music Video

Why he returned so soon:

It would be cool to stay off television for a while but SummerSlam is now and he wanted to capitalize on the momentum of the angle. He enjoys working with John Cena and likes their feud. He still loves what he does.

Wrestlers boring him:

He grew very bored of pro wrestling and still is at times. Certain guys on the roster do the same thing day-in and day-out and that’s not him. He questions everything and tries new things – and whatever he’s doing right now is working.

His epic shoot promo on RAW several weeks ago:

He knew WWE would cut him off at some point – but he wanted to push the envelope as much as he could. It was not scripted – everything he said was from the heart. He understood certain things are off limits – and he did go too far with a few of his comments.

Whether he was really leaving WWE:

His mind was made up to leave WWE. He made the decision to stay in WWE the day of the Money in the Bank pay-per-view. He wasn’t playing games or trying to get more money from WWE – he was very burnt out and spent a lot of time weighing his options.

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross is back with another blog update, which you can read in its entirety over at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights of what JR wrote about:

His Return To RAW This Week: “It was very exciting Monday night getting a shot to work back on Monday Night Raw which was my broadcast home for so many years. I felt a little rusty at times but getting a strong main event with time in which to invest, Mysterio vs. Cena, was helpful and was also really fun to call.”

“I arrived at the Hampton Coliseum after the matches had started Monday night and stayed on a TV crew bus until just moments before I was introduced by HHH. Sort of flew by the seat of my pants for the broadcast which keeps one of their toes. Bottom line is that I had a blast and can’t wait to do it again next week even though I fully realize that Michael Cole won’t make things easy at the announce table.”

CM Punk vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin: “Do I think an Austin vs. Punk match would ever happen? Same old story, never say never. Punk would love it and Austin likely would as well if all the pieces fell into place such as Steve’s professional schedule, etc. I don’t know the answer but right now I’d say it’s somewhat of a long shot. ”

Austin Wanting Samoa Joe In WWE: “Do I share in @steveaustinBSR take on Samoa Joe? I like Joe’s in ring work and his potential plus he has a unique body type that I feel is an asset.”

— Multiple sources believe Claudio Castagnoli and Chris Hero, who perform as The Kings of Wrestling for Ring of Honor, will conclude their obligations with the organization next month and join WWE immediately thereafter.

Though they are advertised for the August 13th Ring of Honor television taping in Chicago Ridge, Illinois, one source says it’s possible they will debut for WWE—bypassing developmental—before the end of the month. There are also rumors that they could be involved in CM Punk’s current storyline.

— A profile on John Laurinaitis, WWE’s Executive Vice President of Talent Relations, has been added to the Alumni section on WWE.com.

Contrary to CM Punk’s derisive remarks concerning the corporate executive during a pseudo-shoot promo last month on Raw, Laurinaitis is referred as “a respected WWE employee” in his bio. His previous life as “a successful sports-entertainer” in both Japan and the United States is also acknowledged.

source: ProWrestling.net

— Photos have surfaced online of Mick Foley purportedly leaving last night’s SmackDown taping at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Hardcore Legend was asked on Twitter earlier this week if he would be returning to WWE. Foley replied, “VERY soon, but just as a fan. I’m taking my kids to a show this summer – they are HUGE fans.”

— The Miz has landed a guest starring role on the USA Network detective comedy-drama series Psych. The former WWE Champion plays Mario, who is described as a “bros before hoes” type of gentleman.

— Dolph Ziggler celebrates his 31st birthday today.

source: PWInsider.com

— WWE’s Capitol Punishment pay-per-view event featuring R-Truth vs. John Cena drew approximately 200,000 buys, according to business figures released for the month of June 2011 on their corporate website.

The preliminary figure is up from 143,000 buys for the previous June’s pay-per-view event, Fatal 4-Way.

Capitol Punishment was also up from the previous month’s pay-per-view, Over the Limit, which drew approximately 150,000 buys. Cena was also featured in the main event, but against The Miz in an “I Quit” Match.

— Sin Cara, who is currently serving a 30-day suspension due to his first violation of WWE’s Talent Wellness Program, is advertised for an event WWE.com has just listed; a SmackDown taping in St. Louis, Missouri taking place September 27.

Regarding the masked grappler’s status with WWE, many employees are under the impression that management “had decided to cut bait on him.” Creative wasn’t informed until a day or two prior to Money in the Bank that he needed to be written off television and were also told to not “put any thought into any scenarios for him going forward.” A final decision regarding his immediate future has not been made.

– WWE’s “new CEO” Triple H turns 42 years old today.

– Reader Stan sent word that Monday’s RAW featured 40 minutes and 6 seconds of in-ring action, up a bit from the week before.

– The Miz will be on MTV tonight hosting “MTV’s The Challenge: Rivals.” After that, at midnight (EST), Miz will be appearing on George Lopez’ late night TBS show, Lopez Tonight.

– Following CM Punk’s return to WWE on Monday’s RAW his new theme song “Cult of Personality” skyrocketed on the iTunes sales charts, breaking the Top 200.

• LISTEN HERE: Punk’s New Theme Song – “Cult of Personality”

– Tyler Reks wrote the following on Twitter last night in response to fans that commented to him about an apparent babyface turn this week after he was seen celebrating with Rey Mysterio on RAW:

“Lotta talk about me celebrating Rey’s win with everyone last night. Bottom line is that Rey is my friend & I wanted to say congrats. No crime in that.”

Sean “X-Pac” Waltman posts a backstage video of Billy Gunn laying out a match with two indy workers. It’s an interesting look at how matches are put together.

Kevin Nash is the latest WWE personality to give praise to CM Punk, offering the former WWE champion his protection services:

“Still up trying to unwind from todays shoot.2-3 days left on Rock of Ages. Enjoying Raw, Punk doing a great job. Punk if you want back up you got my number. Your worth me going back on the road full time. Offer stands understand if you want to go it alone.”

He added that he misses that rush he felt when he made a surprise appearance at the Royal Rumble.

Nash is currently filming the big-screen adaptation of the Broadway show Rock of Ages, which stars Tom Cruise, Mary J. Blige, Russell Brand, Catherine Zeta-Jones..

WWE diva Maryse Ouellet has filed for a permanent restraining order against an “extremely disturbing and delusional” fan who she claims is obsessed with her and has threatened to “take her to heaven” with him.

• Check Out: Backstage PICTURES of MARYSE Looking VERY Hot

According to a report on TMZ.com, the freakshow in question is 61-year-old Lee Silber, who Maryse claims has sent “numerous terrifying letters to my home and left more than 50 voicemails on my personal cell phone all of which are extremely disturbing and delusional.”

Maryse tells the  L.A. County Superior Court that she fears for her life and wants the stalker kept away from her at any cost.

She’s due back in court on August 3rd to follow up on the restraint order request.

Alberto Del Rio has once again been victimized by WWE’s haphazard booking as his long planned match with John Cena at SummerSlam was nixed hours before last night’s Raw telecast in Hampton, Virginia.

Creative overhauled the match line-up for SummerSlam Monday afternoon after deeming their creative plans for CM Punk for the event as “awful.” Del Rio was effectively removed from the title picture as a result. WWE’s braintrust felt that had Punk not been slotted in the title match, his much talked about storyline would extinguish.

Though Del Rio had the rug pulled out from under him once again, creative has the 34-year-old pegged for a title run this fall. WWE announced today they will present a landmark tour across Mexico this October and a number of high ranking officials feel the countryman returning as a conquering hero will garner a great deal of media attention.

Meanwhile, The Miz was at one point scheduled to reign supreme in the WWE Championship Tournament on Raw. Creative later changed their mind and the WWE Championship was awarded to Rey Mysterio, who got to hold the belt for approximately an hour and a half.

source: F4WOnline.com