WWE Studios has announced its latest film project, which they have dubbed a “smart and original” horror movie:
Pathe And WWE Partner on “No One Lives”
LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Pathe UK and WWE Studios today announce that they have partnered to co-finance and distribute NO ONE LIVES, written by David Cohen, and to be directed by visionary genre director Ryuhei Kitamura (THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN).
“WWE Studios maintains a flexible business model that allows us to seek out partners to co-finance, produce and distribute films of all genres to appeal to our fans’ wide array of film tastes”
The picture stars Luke Evans (THE THREE MUSKETEERS, IMMORTALS, THE RAVEN) and will begin principal photography in New Orleans on June 13th.
The producers are Elton Brand and Harry Knapp for Milk & Media and Kami Naghdi for Constance Media.
A ruthless criminal gang takes a young couple hostage and goes to ground in an abandoned house in the middle of nowhere. When the captive girl is killed, the tables are unexpectedly turned. The gang finds itself outsmarted by an urbane and seasoned killer determined to ensure that no one lives…
NO ONE LIVES is a smart and original horror movie with at its heart a killer in the grip of a dark and twisted love affair.
Cameron McCracken, Managing Director of Pathe UK, said: “It was impossible to resist Ryuhei’s passionate vision for this project and his desire to create an iconic anti-hero for our times. WWE Studios have been ideal partners and we look forward to many other shared ventures!”
“WWE Studios maintains a flexible business model that allows us to seek out partners to co-finance, produce and distribute films of all genres to appeal to our fans’ wide array of film tastes,” said Michael Luisi, EVP Business Development, WWE. “Teaming up with Pathe is the perfect example. We look forward to co-producing ‘No One Lives’ with one of the leaders in the industry.”
Harry Knapp, Producer, said; “We are thrilled at the prospect of working with Luke, one of the most talented actors of his generation. We know he is going to create a truly memorable villain!”
Pathé Distribution will distribute the film in France; and Twentieth Century Fox will distribute the film in the UK on Pathe’s behalf. Pathe International will handle international sales.
— After getting beat down by the Corre on last week’s episode of SmackDown, Ezekiel Jackson worked as a babyface at Saturday night’s SmackDown live event in Pensacola, Florida, teaming with WWE Tag Team Champion Kane. The oversized duo defeated Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater.
It appears that WWE is going through with the babyface turn that’s been rumored for Ezekiel Jackson for the past several weeks. As we’ve been reporting, the SmackDown brand is light on babyface talent, so Jackson breaking off from the Corre appears to be an effort to remedy that situation.
— Rosa Mendes, who has been portrayed as a babyface character in recent months, was reverted back to the dark side. She appeared as a heel character against babyface Natalya at last night’s SmackDown live event in Pensacola, Florida. The third generation wrestler beat Mendes via Sharpshooter.
Mendes’ sudden turn can be attributed to the shortage of heel Divas on SmackDown. Layla established herself as a babyface on Friday’s episode of SmackDown, leaving Alicia Fox as the lone heel on the brand. However, Fox suffered a shoulder injury at the television taping after taking a clothesline from Kharma and therefore is out of action. Meanwhile, Kharma is working this weekend’s Raw live event tour. This leaves Mendes as the lone active heel Diva on SmackDown.
— WWE launched a program between Sin Cara and Chavo Guerrero on Friday’s episode of SmackDown as the third generation wrestler shook Cara’s hand following his victory over Tyson Kidd. In their first match together, Cara beat Guerrero at last night’s SmackDown live event in Pensacola, Florida.
As we reported on Friday, former WWE star Shane Helms and his girlfriend Karen were involved in a motorcycle accident near their home in North Carolina. Various online reports stated that Helms suffered a broken leg, ankle and nose – and received over 200 stitches.
Helms posted the following pictures on Twitter of himself and his girlfriend Karen from the hospital.
Despite their serious injuries, Helms seems to be in good spirits .. One of the images, he included the caption, “Me vs. Manny Pacquiao” –
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross is back with another blog update, which you can read in its entirety over at JRsBarBQ.com. JR talked about a number of topics, including his recent visit to the Legends of the Ring fan convention in New Jersey.
Here are some highlights of what JR said about:
Hulk Hogan Back In WWE: “Do I think that Hulk Hogan will ever return to WWE? This is a classic, never say never answer IMO….BROTHER! Crazier things have happened BROTHER and one could theoretically see some sort of PR role for Hulk down the road. Who knows? Not something that I dwell on to be honest with you BROTHER.”
Randy Orton Defeating Christian: “Christian and Randy Orton had a great, TV match on Smackdown but I don’t buy into the ‘tragedy’ that some fans flooded us with here on our site due to Christian losing the World Title. It isn’t as if the loss ended Christian’s career and who’s to say that ‘Captain Charisma’ won’t regain the title at a later date? Those that truly understand the nature of the genre have a different mindset than those who are knee jerking themselves silly.”
Shane Helms’ Motorcycle Accident: “How’s Hurricane Helms after his near tragic motorcycle accident? Helms and his girl friend were severely injured in a motor cycle accident last week and seemingly just dodged a fatal bullet. My late father would never let me own a motorcycle and I assume situations like this are the reasons why. I wish Gregory Helms and his lady friend only the best in healing and regaining their health. They are both lucky from what I hear to still be with us.”
— An Austrian radio station advertised tickets going on sale for a SmackDown live event taking place in November in Vienna. The hosts interviewed Carsten Schaefer, the longtime announcer for WWE telecasts in Germany. The hosts mostly discussed Hulk Hogan, who Schaefer praised. Then it was announced that Hulk Hogan would be appearing on the show—which is not true.
— Randy Orton is featured on the cover of the June 2011 issue of WWE Magazine, which includes an interview with “The Viper.” Also featured is Edge’s “Final Interview.”
— WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes was unable to make his scheduled appearance at yesterday’s “Legends of the Ring 12” pro wrestling fanfest event due to a death in his family.
— TNA Wrestling co-founder Jerry Jarrett now hosts a radio show on The Zone 104.5F FM in Nashville, Tennessee. It airs every Saturday at 11:00 a.m.
If you didn’t see Friday’s episode of SmackDown, watch this video of Randy Orton defeating Christian to capture the World Heavyweight championship, ending Christian’s 5-day reign
WWE’s YouTube channel also posted this post-match video of Christian:
– To update the news of Hulk Hogan getting back in shape and planning to return to the ring, it’s being reported by the Wrestling Observer that doctors have advised Hogan against this. That said, Hogan is still determined to wrestle again.
– This past Thursday’s episode of TNA iMPACT scored a 1.15 cable rating, up from last week’s 1.10. The show averaged 1,567,000 viewers fro the two hour broadcast. The first hour did a 1.06 rating while the second hour did a 1.23. The 1.06 first-hour rating is the lowest first-hour rating of 2011.
Reader Stan sent word that iMPACT had just 23 minutes and 29 seconds of in-ring action, down from last week’s 31 minutes and 43 seconds.
– Matt Hardy has posted the following video on Youtube, providing an update on Shane Helms’ Friday motorcycle accident:
– For those of us still upset that WWE decided to take the WWE Championship off The Miz just 5 months into his first reign – we’ve got some good news about his standing in the company.
Unlike other young WWE stars who were given a top title and then had it taken away quickly (Sheamus, Jack Swagger), John Cena winning the WWE championship is not a sign that they’ve lost faith in The Miz as a main eventer. The company is very pleased with how he carried himself as champion.
In fact, WWE recently informed a number of their business partners that The Miz will remain one of the company’s top superstars in the coming year … and THAT … is awwweeesommme.
– Following the blockbuster success of WrestleMania 27, WWE is looking for The Rock to make more television appearances in the coming months. WWE is looking to have The Rock appear at SummerSlam (possibly as a guest referee in John Cena’s match) – because they’ve seen how much of an impact that The Rock’s involvement has on TV ratings and PPV buyrates.
– THQ announced during their conference call last week that the most recent SmackDown vs. RAW and the new WWE All Stars video games shipped over 4 million units total. By comparison, THQ’s most recent UFC Undisputed game shipped 3 million units.
THQ posted a $44.1 million loss in the fourth quarter of their fiscal year and a total loss of $136.1 million for the whole fiscal year.
– WWE is currently scouting talent in the UK – with an emphasis on big, muscular guys. (Shocker)
— The Great Khali and Ranjin Singh encountered Jinder Mahal last night in a backstage segment on SmackDown, with the newcomer once again saying that things will be a lot better due to him. Khali walked off and Singh said while it’s nice to see Mahal, Khali is his brother and he’s got his career on track. Mahal mentioned Khali wearing a tutu on Monday’s episode of Raw. Singh tried to defend Khali on the matter, but Mahal interrupted and said he wasn’t condemning him, just making a comment. He then patted Singh on the back and walked off.
The angle is scheduled to result in Khali turning heel since many people within WWE feel he’s become too soft as a babyface and no longer portrays a monster type character. This will result in Khali and Mahal working together as a heel tag team with Mahal carrying most of the work.
— WWE Hall of Famer Ricky Steamboat hosted last night’s Raw live event in Dothan, Alabama, but was interrupted by Alberto Del Rio upon his arrival. Del Rio attacked Steamboat, who was saved by Rey Mysterio. CM Punk then arrived on the scene, but was fended off by Kofi Kingston. Mysterio and Kingston beat Del Rio and Punk in a match later in the show.
WWE developmental wrestler Percy Watson also worked the show, beating Zack Ryder in a singles match.
sources: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Pro Wrestling Torch
— The official website of the Key Arena is advertising an I Quit Match between WWE Champion John Cena and The Miz for Over the Limit. The pay-per-view event takes place May 22, 2011 in Seattle, Washington.
Other WWE Superstars advertised for the event include Randy Orton, Christian, John Morrison, Big Show, Alberto Del Rio, “The All-American American” Jack Swagger, R-Truth, Kofi Kingston and “Highflying” Rey Mysterio.
— Promoting an upcoming SmackDown taping in Philadelphia, WWE Superstar Justin Gabriel discusses his past with the Soscia Network. The audio interview is available here.
— Today would have marked as Owen Hart’s 46th birthday. He died on May 23, 1999 when an equipment malfunction occurred during his entrance from the rafters of Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri at the Over the Edge pay-per-view event.
— Raw Superstar Skip Sheffield, who hasn’t appeared on television since breaking his leg and ankle on August 18, 2010 at a WWE live event in Honolulu, Hawaii, issued his first public comments since suffering the injury yesterday on Twitter.
“First and last update here since so many of you have been kind to ask. Things have been extremely complicated with the injury and it was much more than just a broken ankle and leg,” he wrote.
“It has been the most positive experience of my life and I promise you I will return very soon bigger and badder than anything you have ever seen. Nobody is going to stop me from achieving what I have set out to do.”
— The Undertaker, Triple H, Sean Waltman and members of WWE’s creative team were at Florida Championship Wrestling’s Tampa based facility on May 4 scouting talent.
— This week’s episode of WWE Superstars featured 19 minutes and 46 seconds of in-ring action, down from 26 minutes and 3 seconds the week before.
– In case you missed Friday’s episode of SmackDown, Randy Orton defeated Christian to capture the World Heavyweight championship. This begins the 8th championship reign for Orton and ends Christian’s 5-day championship reign.
– Ezekiel Jackson appears to be gone from The Corre after getting attacked by other members on SmackDown. Wade Barrett wrote the following on Twitter after the show aired:
“It’s been a pleasure working with you, Zeke. Zeke got too big for his boots. I hope he has learned a valuable lesson.”– As noted before, Alicia Fox suffered a shoulder injury after being clotheslined by Kharma on this week’s WWE SmackDown. There are already people backstage making comments about how rough Kharma is with the Divas.
– As we reported earlier this week, Alicia Fox suffered a shoulder injury after being clotheslined by Kharma at Tuesday’s SmackDown tapings. Kharma is already getting a reputation for being very rough with the WWE divas.
– Speaking of Kharma, she made her first appearance at a live WWE event last night at the SmackDown live event from Dothan, Alabama. Kharma continued her streak of attacking the WWE divas, this time beating the crap out of Eve Torres after she lost to Divas Champion Brie Bella.
After 20+ years as one of the top acts in pro wrestling, the end is near for the career of the legendary Undertaker.
The general feeling behind the scenes in WWE is that The Undertaker is effectively retired. After years of working a reduced schedule and working through lingering injuries, the Dead Man’s days as a regular in-ring competitor are over.
WWE officials are hopeful that The Undertaker has one more match in him, but he is said to be in much worse physical shape than previously thought. The idea has been pitched for The Undertaker to wrestle one more match at next year’s WrestleMania 28 and for him to retire after that match with his streak in tact at 20-0.
The recent retirement of the Undertaker’s wife Michelle McCool is a strong indication that the two of them are moving on from their roles as active competitors to start a family and begin the next chapters of their lives. Both The Undertaker and Michelle McCool have office jobs waiting for them if they are interested.
In an interview with IGN.com, wrestling superstar / heavy metal rocker / reality TV dancer / all-around sexy beast Chris Jericho spoke about when he’ll be stepping back into the ring. Jericho, who said he would return to WWE once he was done with DWTS, had this to say about returning:
“I don’t want to go back and do the same thing. And do the same character I was doing last time. You constantly have to reinvent yourself. It’s kind of a strange analogy but I think you’ll pick it up when I say it – I always consider myself to be the Madonna of wrestling. And what I mean by that is ‘constantly re-inventing yourself.”
“Every album Madonna does, she morphs into new styles of music and new looks. And when you work for the WWE, you work 52 weeks out of the year and on TV every week. You can’t look the same or act the same every week. It gets boring.”
“And I think that’s why I’ve had such longevity as a performer and was always the guy to watch because people wanted to see what I did next. I even did that on Dancing with the Stars. And you have to do that or else you become predictable. And that’s the worst thing you can become when you’re in show business.”
What do you think about Chris Jericho returning to WWE? COMMENT BELOW and tell us what you think..
Former WWE star Shane Helms and his girlfriend were in a motorcycle accident near their home in North Carolina on Thursday night. Matt Hardy, a close friend of Shane Helms, tweeted the following on Friday:
“Last night, Shane and his girlfriend Karen were in a very serious motorcycle accident. They were both seriously injured, but they’re both warriors”
Big Daddy Donnie of Tha O Show reports that Helms and his girlfriend had to be airlifted to a hospital and in addition to Helms suffering a broken leg and broken ankle, his nose is also broken, and his jaw may have been dislocated. Helms has received over 200 stitches. Donnie also reports that his girlfriend Karen broke her neck.
Our thoughts, prayers and hopes for a quick recovery go out to Helms and his girlfriend.
— Vince McMahon noted during yesterday’s quarterly conference call that WWE will be introducing “new live event programs” in the “not too distant future” with their current television partners. He added it “won’t be too difficult” to find a home for their expanded programming line-up.
Regarding WWE Superstars and WWE NXT, management noted in two separate instances during the conference call they’re evaluating the future of where to air those shows.
— WWE Hall of Famer “Bullet” Bob Armstrong is advertised to host tomorrow night’s SmackDown live event at the Pensacola Civic Center in Pensacola, Florida. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat will host Sunday’s Raw live event at the BI-LO Center in Greenville, South Carolina.
— The pre-sale password for the July 26 SmackDown taping in Philadelphia is SDPHIL. It is ongoing at Evenue.net.
The Miz and Maryse, his girlfriend, were featured on Thursday’s episode of TMZ on TV. The former WWE Champion played up his heel character as he responded to a segment on a show last week where a reporter took a swipe at him.
The couple was spotted in Los Angeles, where Miz responded to TMZ’s reporter, Charles, saying one WWE star — The Miz — had to die in a scripted movie hunting down Osama bin Laden—this was days before bin Laden was actually killed.
“Really? Am I the Spencer Pratt of WWE, Charles? I’m going to shave Charles’s head next time I see him,” Miz said while Maryse tried not to laught. “His dreadlocks are going away. If I’m the Spencer Pratt of WWE — the one person that has to die if I go overseas — let me tell you, I’m shaving Charles’s head.”
Charles replied from TMZ headquarters that he was writing a script for a movie. “He should be lucky he even got a role in the movie,” Charles said.
The segment can be seen here at the 3:00 minute mark.
Tonight’s episode of WWE SmackDown on Syfy will feature fallout from Sunday’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view, including the first title defense by new World Heavyweight champion Christian. Here’s a preview of what’s confirmed for tonight’s show:
* Christian celebrates his World Heavyweight title victory and defends the title against an opponent to be chosen by the live audience
* Sin Cara takes on Tyson Kidd
* Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan.
* WWE Tag Champion Big Show vs. Ezekiel Jackson
* Layla b. Alicia Fox.
If you haven’t heard by now, there’s some crazy stuff that goes down on tonight’s show. You can check out complete *SPOILER* results for tonight’s SmackDown by clicking here.
It was announced earlier this week that Kelly Kelly made Maxim‘s Hot 100 list, which is known as “the definitive list of the world’s most beautiful women.” Kelly is ecstatic over making the prestigious list as it is a dream come true.
“This has always been a dream of mine,” Kelly Kelly told WWE.com. “It’s something I wanted to strive to be on. When I got the announcement that I was going to be on it, I thought that this is such an honor and such a dream come true.”
The first person Kelly Kelly shared the big news with is with her mother.
“She was so happy. She knew it was something I always strived to be on, that it was a list I always wanted to be a part of. So she was always behind me 100 percent,” she said.
In her Maxim Hot 100 debut, Kelly Kelly ranked at No. 82. She’s hoping to continue her reign on the list for years to come, just as former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler has. Keibler is the only other WWE talent to ever make the list, and has been on it every year since 2006.
“Just to be on the Hot 100 with Stacy is exciting. She’s somebody I’ve always admired and I’ve always looked up to,” she said.
Kelly Kelly indicated she isn’t too worried about jealousy or backlash from the other Divas, except maybe for Kharma, who’s been attacking Divas since her debut on Sunday at Extreme Rules.
“It’ll probably give her even more ammo to come after me,” Kelly Kelly said.
WWE taped Friday’s episode of SmackDown on Tuesday night from the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. Credit to WrestlingNewsWorld.com for these results:
* World Heavyweight Champion Christian comes out to open the show. He cuts a promo about winning the World Heavyweight Championship at Extreme Rules. This leads to Mark Henry, The Great Khali and Randy Orton coming out. Teddy Long comes out and says he’s going to leave it up to the fans to decide who Christian faces tonight. The crowd goes with Christian vs. Orton.
* Backstage, The Great Khali is shown talking to Jinder Mahal.
* Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan. Winner via Brogue Kick, Sheamus.
* Backstage, Layla is shown talking to other Divas.
* Cody Rhodes comes out with two guys wearing suits. The two guys pass out the paper bags to fans in the front row. Rhodes cuts a promo but doesn’t work a match.
* Big Show vs. Ezekiel Jackson. Kane comes out during the match. Jackson wins with a clothesline after outside interference from The Corre. Kane was taken out prior to the finish.
* Layla b. Alicia Fox. Kharma makes her way down to the ring. Fox is destroyed with an Implant Buster.
* Backstage, dissension with Ezekiel Jackson and The Corre continues. A brawl erupts.
* Sin Cara vs. Tyson Kidd with Chavo Guerrero on commentary. Cara goes over with the Spanish Fly he’s been using.
* Backstage, Teddy Long discusses Christian vs. Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship later tonight.
* Randy Orton b. Christian to become the new World Heavyweight Champion. I’m told the match was outstanding and the crowd went nuts when Orton won the belt.
Check out this video footage of Randy Orton winning the World Heavyweight title from Christian:
Online reports of Brett DiBiase being released from his developmental contract with WWE are erroneous as he worked two matches as a referee at this evening’s Florida Championship Wrestling live event in Tampa, Florida, reports LordsofPain.net.
It was reported earlier this week that DiBiase’s profile was removed from the Florida Championship Wrestling website, which is often an indication that a talent has been released. Furthermore, Wrestling Observer Newsletter editor Dave Meltzer reported that the third generation wrestler was let go.
Meanwhile, new signee Jon Moxley made his FCW debut tonight under his real name, Jonathan Good. He participated in a battle royal and lasted through most of it before being eliminated by Erick Rowan.
The battle royal also featured the debut of Matthew Hannan, who previously competed in Pro Wrestling Ohio and International Wrestling Cartel under the name Matthew Justice. He also appeared on a May 2010 episode of WWE Superstars under the name Matt Busch, which saw him compete in a tag team match against Curt Hawkins and Vance Archer.
Following Osama bin Laden’s reported death on Sunday, WWE announced that it would celebrate patriotism on the May 2, 2011 episode of Monday Night Raw. The program kicked off with former WWE ring announcer Lilian Garcia singing “The Star-Spangled Banner,” who ten years earlier sang the U.S. National Anthem at the first public assembly following the September 11 attacks—the September 13, 2001 SmackDown taping in Houston, Texas. Just as ten years earlier, a thunderous “U-S-A” chant followed her rendition of the Anthem.
Garcia revealed during a post-Raw interview for AfterBuzz TV that her surprise appearance on Raw was due to numerous fans requesting to WWE on Twitter that she sing the Anthem—following a message she posted Sunday night concerning bin Laden’s death.
She explained, “When I tweeted about ‘my gosh, Osama bin Laden has been killed, this is justice finally for the families’, everybody started tweeting me, and they also started including @WWE in their tweets. And they kept saying, ‘Wow! We definitely wanna have Lilian singing and you gotta be there tomorrow night and everything’. I saw it, WWE saw it, and that’s how I got here tonight, because the idea got sparked by the fans on Twitter.”
Her appearance was on such short notice that she received a phone call from WWE about singing the Anthem on Raw the previous night at 9:30 p.m. PST—two hours following news of Laden’s death breaking. She hastily picked up a dress from Candice Michelle and with two hours of sleep, went on a cross-country flight from Los Angeles, California at 6:00 a.m. She arrived in Miami, Florida at 2:30 p.m. and managed to squeeze in a vocal lesson via Skype before arriving to the American Airlines Arena for the show.
Tough Enough Aftershow hosts Torrie Wilson and Candice Michelle asked Garcia, who parted ways with WWE in September 2009, whether she will be leaving them to return to the organization. She replied, “Do not worry about it!”
“I love the WWE, but the road, I’m just not ready for the road! She continued, “It was great coming back tonight, and it was great seeing everyone and being a part of it again, but I’m definitely a TLC’er.”
Garcia thanked fans in a message on her offical website for making her appearance possible.
“And thank you WWE Universe for all your tweets requesting me to sing!!! It is because of you that WWE & I heard you and made it possible!! It was a true honor for me and a night I will NEVER forget!”
* Warning: The following contains a MAJOR *SPOILER* for Friday’s episode of SmackDown:
Former WWE star Chris Jericho addressed fans’ criticism in regards to Christian dropping his newly World Heavyweight Championship to Randy Orton at Tuesday’s SmackDown taping in Orlando, Florida. Jericho tweeted on Thursday:
“Hey everyone bitching about (Christian) losing the title, have you ever thought that maybe it’s just the beginning of a bigger storyline?”
Meanwhile, new World Heavyweight champion Orton wrote the following on Twitter in response to fans angry with the title change:
“Biggest change from Raw to Smackdown…Ignorance x Jealousy + Spoilers = entertaining tweets!! Keep em coming!!”
WWE Hall of Famer Road Warrior Animal is speaking out about WWE’s Wellness Policy – saying there’s no chance in hell that 100% of the roster is clean.
In an interview conducted by Power Slam magazine prior to his WWE Hall of Fame induction, Animal was asked about how important the larger-than-life, steroid-enhanced physiques were to the image of The Road Warriors. He was also asked if the team would have been the same force had they debuted in the modern WWE era where performers are drug tested.
“Let’s be totally honest with people right now. Look at the guys that are in [WWE] now. If anybody thinks that everybody there is 100-percent clean, they’ve got be smoking something,” he replied.
“I know they get drug tested and they do catch people, and people do get suspended, but I really don’t believe that everybody gets drug tested on the same level. I know the look of a person who looks like they’ve been on or off [steroids].”
“When we took them, it was totally legal to carry them on you.”
Diana Hart, mother of WWE Superstar David Hart Smith, made a similar claim during an interview three years ago. She questioned wondered whether the same rules were being applied to all of WWE’s performers. This was based on WWE waiting close to two months in 2007 to publicize the results of a drug test her son had failed, and taking action only after promoting him to the main roster.
The last WWE superstar to be suspended as a result of using performance-enhancing drugs was Dolph Ziggler – two and a half years ago (October 10, 2008).
– Vince McMahon’s appearance on Monday’s RAW and the special video tribute that aired during The Rock’s birthday celebration were kept secret from The Rock.
– During today’s investor conference call to discuss first -quarter WWE earnings for 2011, Vince McMahon revealed that WWE will soon be unveiling two brand new “live event” TV programs “in the not too distant future”. McMahon also stated that finding a network for those shows “would not be a problem.”
– WWE is currently discussing a summer program between new WWE Champion John Cena and RAW newcomer Alberto Del Rio, with a match between the two stars planned for SummerSlam in Los Angeles.
– Matches booked for upcoming WWE RAW live events include John Cena vs. The Miz, Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio, R-Truth vs. John Morrison and CM Punk vs. Kofi Kingston.
– John Cena and The Rock will be using Twitter over the next 11 months to keep their feud heading into WrestleMania 28 next April.
– According to a WWE source, Sin Cara’s new merchandise is selling better than expected.