— Triple H is tapped to return to the squared circle within the next few weeks and considered a lock for WrestleMania XXVII.

His return is being delayed now because creative has no plans for him to win an Elimination Chamber Match and thus felt there was no point in bringing him back.

Regarding his behind the scenes role as Vince McMahon’s Senior Advisor, he has been diligently studying all aspects of World Wrestling Entertainment’s business operations. He’s received much praise for his dedication to learn.

— The Tough Enough revival on USA will feature four trainers; “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Booker T and two yet to be announced names. It said that the two yet to be announced trainers are not active WWE wrestlers.

— Former women’s wrestling champion Madusa turns 47 years old today while Shelly Martinez turns 31.

source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

– It was announced this week that next year’s WrestleMania 28 will take place from Miami, Florida on April 1, 2012. Many cities were considered to host the event, with many expecting the event to tkae place from the Rogers Centres in Toronto, Canada.

– Rey Mysterio recently spoke to school students in Green Bay about the importance of getting a good education and working toward your goals. When one of the children asked him whether wrestling is real, Mysterio said:

“What do you mean by real? Do you get hurt? Yes, I’ve been punched, kicked and slammed. But it is entertainment; we’re not out to hurt ourselves.”

– Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packer Clay Matthews, who attended Tuesday night’s WWE SmackDown tapings from Green Bay wrote the following on Twitter on Wednesday:

“Started the day off right by eating breakfast w/ a few WWE superstars… Chavo Guerrero, Edge, Rey Mysterio, among others. Always a fan!!”

* VIDEO: Green Bay Packers Get Physical At SmackDown Tapings! (Direct Link)

(Credit to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter for some of the info used in this report)

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety at JrsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights of what JR said about:

WrestleMania Guest Host: “We’ve gotten a wide array of suggestions as to who folks think will be the Guest Host of Wrestlemania 27 that emanates from the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Bob Barker, Justin Beiber, ‘Arnold the Governor,’ The Rock, Stone Cold, Aaron Rodgers, Ted Turner, Dusty Rhodes, Mr. McMahon, the RAW General Manager revealed, etc. I’m happy that I don’t know who it is and will enjoy watching Monday Night Raw that much more to find out.

Brock Lesnar Hosting The Ultimate Fighter: “Brock Lesnar is reportedly doing an excellent job in his role as a coach for TUF that begins airing on Spike in a few weeks. This will lead into to the Lesnar-Junior Dos Santos fight later this year which will greatly enhance the UFC PPV headlined by these two heavyweights. Yes, ‘business is picking up’ for these two, talented heavyweights who are both looking for a title opportunity. Sources say Lesnar and his family and complete training camp are living in a luxury home in Vegas while TUF is being taped. This is a magnificent marketing opportunity for Brock’s upcoming book written with Paul Heyman not to mention Lesnar’s merch line ‘Death Clutch.’ In all due respect, I’d rather winter a few weeks in Vegas as opposed to Northern Minnesota but that’s must me.”

Green Bay Packers At SmackDown: “I hear that many of the Packers made quite the impact at the Smackdown TV taping in Green Bay Tuesday might. Star linebacker Clay Mathews has been tweeting about it. Congrats to all the Packer fans from a Steeler fan who freely admits that the better team won on Sunday in Arlington.”

• * VIDEO: Packers Star Clay Matthews Gets Physical At SmackDown!

MIAMI TO HOST WRESTLEMANIA XXVIII

February 9, 2011

MIAMI – The Miami-Dade Sports Commission, Miami-Dade County, Miami Dolphins, Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, and WWE announced Wednesday that Sun Life Stadium, home of the Dolphins and other world-class events, will host WWE’s annual pop culture extravaganza, WrestleMania XXVIII, on Sunday, April 1, 2012.

The announcement was made Wednesday at a press conference at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach. Miami-Dade County Commissioner and Chairman of the Miami-Dade Sports Commission Jose “Pepe” Diaz, Miami-Dade Sports Commission Executive Director Mike Sophia, Miami Dolphins CEO Mike Dee, former Dolphins Quarterback and NFL Hall of Famer Dan Marino, and Miami Dolphins limited partner and Grammy Award Winner Emilio Estefan, joined WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon and WWE’s Senior Vice President of Special Events John Saboor in making the announcement. WWE Superstars John Cena, The Miz, Mark Henry and Alberto Del Rio, and WWE Diva Eve were also on hand for the announcement.

“Miami has always been the home of first class events, and this event will add to that legacy,” said Jose “Pepe” Diaz, Miami-Dade County Commissioner and Chairman of the Miami-Dade Sports Commission. “Hosting WrestleMania is a huge coup for Miami.”

“On behalf of WWE, I would like to thank Commissioner Diaz and all his colleagues for their support, and the Miami-Dade Sports Commission for graciously rolling out the red carpet to bring WrestleMania to one of the world’s most cosmopolitan cities,” said Vince McMahon, WWE Chairman and CEO. “We look forward to adding WrestleMania to the list of prestigious events held at Sun Life Stadium.”

“For nearly 25 years, Sun Life Stadium has played host to South Florida’s world class events that provide economic benefit to the entire community,” said Dolphins CEO Mike Dee. “We applaud the efforts of Commissioner Diaz and the Sports Commission on attracting WWE, and look forward to an unforgettable WrestleMania in 2012.”

WrestleMania is not just a one-day event; it’s a week-long celebration, as visitors from around the world are expected to converge on Miami for WrestleMania Week. Activities will include the 2012 WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, WrestleMania Axxess, the finals of the WrestleMania Reading Challenge and a Celebrity Pro-Am Golf Tournament. The pay-per-view event will be televised to more than 100 countries.

Over the past three years, WrestleMania and the events surrounding it has generated nearly $150 million in cumulative economic impact for the host cities. Last year, 72,219 fans from all 50 states and 26 countries converged on the University of Phoenix Stadium for WrestleMania XXVI.

— WrestleMania 28 will be held on Sunday, April 1, 2012. The Miami Herald reported last night that the event will be held at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Florida.

— Former WCW World Heavyweight Champion Scott Steiner has been announced for WrestleReunion’s signing event on Sunday, April 2 at the Downtown Marriott in Atlanta, Georgia. Bruno Sammartino, WWE Hall of Famer “Cowboy” Bob Orton and TNA Knockout Winter will also be on hand for the event.

— WSVN-TV features a short piece on WrestleMania 28 coming to Miami, Florida. (Article link)

Arda Ocal sent the following highlights from Paul Bearer’s appearance on Right After Wrestling this week. You can hear the full interview at Radio.TheScore.com.

– Paul Bearer will appear during WrestleMania week, signing autographs at Fan Axxess events, and will be featured in the new WWE video game

– Keeping his return to WWE a secret: “I worked my butt off kayfabing. I hid out all day long – nobody knew I was even in the building. (When we rehearsed) I popped out of the casket and Teddy Long asked “Who’s in the Paul Bearer suit?” I had such a good time.”

– His latest run in WWE – “I had such a good time working with Undertaker and Kane. It took a little bit to talk me into it. They said it would only be a few shots…if it worked out I could stay a little longer and obviously it did. And then I got kidnapped by Edge – and working with Edge and Kane and all those vignettes were directed by Vince, himself. And I was so comfortable working with him right there. And I felt that last month was some of the best work I’d ever done. But that ball (that Edge threw at him in the vignettes) hurt like a bitch! ”

– Should Taker’s streak ever be broken: “NO! Absolutely not! Why should it be? It would never happen again. There’s no reason to break it. He’s certainly earned that spot – in his biography – as the Phenom. It’ll never happen again. I would be close to 80 if it ever happened again. Who even knows if he’ll be wrestling at WrestleMania? I don’t.”

– Memories of managing the Undertaker in his first match in pro wrestling in Texas before he was the Undertaker

– Talking about his son who is trying his hand at pro wrestling.

– Paul Bearer and the Hall of Fame – “I just say ‘why now’? I’m in no hurry. I worked my ass of and I think I deserve to be inducted one day. The biggest honour I could have is if I am inducted at the same time the Undertaker goes in. That would be the biggest honour for me. “

– On Monday’s RAW, we saw Randy Orton and CM Punk continue their on-again off-again feud, with Nexus beating down Orton in a segment that resulted in Orton bloodying Punk’s nose. During RAW, they showed a clip from Unforgiven 2008, when Randy Orton’s Legacy defunct group attacked Punk and cost him the World Heavyweight championship.

A source in WWE tells us that it was actually CM Punk who reminded WWE creative about the Legacy attack from Unforgiven 2008, which resulted in the clip being shown.

• Related News: Orton Injures Punk’s Nose On RAW

– Dolph Ziggler’s brother Ryan Nemeth captured the vacant OVW Southern Tag Team titles with his partner Paredyse at the OVW show this past Saturday night.

– T-Nation.com has an artichokecle up by trainer Joe DeFranco talking about how after Triple H injured himself while filming a movie and had to have his most recent surgery, the WWE Superstar contacted DeFranco about shoulder training. DeFranco worked with Triple H on a routine called “Shoulder Shocker.” DeFranco wrote:

“I’ve been using these guidelines with WWE wrestler Triple H. He trained like a bodybuilder for years with lots of overhead pressing, and it caught up with him. Today, he can’t believe how much better his shoulders are feeling and how much faster his rehab from surgery is going.

During our last training session he told me that his shoulders are just as good as they were when he was hammering away at them, only now they’re pain-free. He’s been using the Shoulder Shocker for the last four months.”

NFL Super Bowl champions the Green Bay Packers appeared at Tuesday’s WWE SmackDown tapings from Green Bay, Wisconsin. Packer player Clay Matthew got involved in the action during the main event match between World Heavyweight champion Edge and Dolph Ziggler, with Vickie Guerrero serving as the special guest referee.

Towards the end of the match, Vickie took a bump and got knocked out. Edge speared Dolph but there was no referee to count. Matthews appeared at the top of the ramp with a referee shirt on to a huge pop from the crowd. Matthews rushed down to the ring and counted the pin for Edge, allowing him to retain the World Title.

The reaction that Matthews got from the live crowd has been described as “ridiculous.”

SmackDown ended this week with Matthews celebrating with a replica World Title belt while Edge celebrates with his real World Title. After the tapings ended, Edge and the Packers celebrated more in the ring.

A fan who was at the tapings sent in this video – check it out:

— The promotional poster for WrestleMania XXVII has been released and it features John Cena, The Undertaker, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio and The Miz. The Undertaker’s inclusion on the poster looks to be a good sign he will be involved at the show in some capacity.

— A number of former ECW stars are scheduled to appear this Saturday at Baltimore Celebrity Fest 2011 (located at Best Western BWI 6755 Dorsey Rd. Elkridge, MD) including: Terry Funk, Axl Rotten, Balls Mahoney, Nunzio, Joel Gertner, Raven, Justin Credible, Blue Meanie, Chastity, Danny Doring, Mikey Whipwreck, Tammy “Sunny” Sytch, Shane Douglas, Gorgeous George, Judge Jeff Jones and Jimmy Cicero. The Headbangers, Gillberg, Baby Doll, Samantha Starr, Manny Fernandez, Nikolai Volkoff, Iron Sheik, Sonjay Dutt and Ox Baker will also be on hand for the event. Visit www.bmorecelebfest.com for more information.

— A Twitter account has been launched for Chris Jericho’s band fozzy.

– WWE Champion The Miz called out Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers on his Twitter last night. Miz wrote:

“Aaron Rogers congrats on the super bowl. Saw Letterman, the title fits u well come to Wrestlemania and earn the right to wear it.”

Speaking of The Miz, he was courtside for Tuesday night’s Miami Heat vs. Indiana Pacers NBA  basketball game.

– Former WWE writers Alex Greenfield, Chris DeJoseph and Court Bauer are working together on a new MMA reality TV show called Ungloved. It will feature Frank Shamrock working to get MMA legalized in the state of New York. (source: f4wonline.com)

– Former WWE star Ken Doane (Kenny Dykstra) responded to Bret Hart’s recent comments where he said today’s wrestlers are boring. Doane wrote on Twitter:

“love how the hitman calls todays wrestlers boring. LOL! this could be why i got fired. had too much fun. but he is right tho. i didnt meet the company standards i think. i drank ALOT of beers!”

— WWE World Heavyweight Champion Edge said last week in an interview with PostCity.com that he’s beginning to think about life after wrestling.

“Honestly, now I’m starting to think of things I want to do after. I want to train and make an attempt at Everest. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to do it, but I think it would be cool to give it a shot. I still love it, it’s the greatest gig in the world for me, but I know my body can’t keep up with what my mind is telling me.”

He hinted at Saturday’s SmackDown live event in Toronto, Ontario that his wrestling career was coming to the end, announcing to the audience, “I might only have a couple more of these visits left in me, and I want to end my career in Toronto. Maybe if Mania is here.”

— A Facebook app has been launched for WWE All Stars. (Link)

— Colin Delaney will be appearing at the USWO event in Nashville, Tennessee on February 11, 2011. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)

Former six-time World Champion, New York Times best-selling author, & the lead singer of Fozzy, Chris Jericho, was one of the featured guests on this week’s live edition (02/07/11) of the award-winning Monday Night Mayhem.

Chris Jericho Discusses His Response To The Rumors That His Return To The WWE Is Imminent After His Recent Comments To Fanhouse, Whether Him Or Fozzy Will Be “Performing” In Atlanta For WrestleMania XXVII, Why He Will Not Spoil The Surprise If/When He Does Return To The WWE, His Reaction To Those That May Believe That He Is The Mastermind Behind 2.21.11, Why He Feels He Has “No Unfinished Business” Left In The World In The World Of Professional Wrestling & Sports-Entertainment, The Release Of His Highly-Anticipated Second Book (“Undisputed”), & Why His Process For Writing Is Similar To Watching An Episode Of FOX’s “Family Guy”.

You can listen to an MP3 of the interview by clicking here.

Interview highlights courtesy of The Mayhem’s official correspondent, Paterson from New Jersey:

At what point that he decided he was going to pen the follow-up to “A Lion’s Tale” (in the form of “Undisputed”): “It’s quite obvious when you read ‘A Lion’s Tale’ that there would be a sequel. I ended off on a ‘cliffhanger’ if you were watching a movie. I had no guarantees that there would be a second book, but I wanted to write it, and I actually got the deal for the second book just as the first book was released.”

His response to the rumors that his return to the WWE is imminent after his recent comments to Fanhouse, his reaction to those that may believe that he’s the mastermind behind WWE’s 2.21.11, & why he will not spoil the surprise if/when he does return to the WWE: “What I said was misquoted. It’s not like I’m 90% ready to return to the WWE, or that it’s 90% done. There’s a contract that’s on the table and that has been on the table since September. It’s not done because it’s not signed, but because there’s other things going on. I could be returning tomorrow, I could be returning two or three years from now. I don’t know. People are asking when I’m coming back, and like anything else, if I was coming back and if I was the 2.21.11 guy, I wouldn’t tell anybody. All these things that are talked about have been talked about and are in the works, but as far as when they are going to happen, only I know, and I won’t say it until it happens, because it ruins the surprise.”

Why, despite the possibilities of a WWE return, he feels that he has no “unfinished business” left in the world of professional wrestling & sports-entertainment: “I have no unfinished business: That’s the difference between Jericho 2011 & Jericho 2005. When I left in 2005, I was kind of disenchanted with the wrestling business and wasn’t digging what was going on in, and had to find myself, and explore certain opportunities. I did that. This time, my contract expired, and I had a lot of other stuff in the works that I wanted to do, but I still love wrestling. I definitely left at the top of my game, and I think the last three years of my career was the best three years of my career.”

WrestleMania is heading to Miami.

World Wrestling Entertainment will officially announce today that Wrestlemania 28 will be held at the Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Florida, reports the Miami Herald.

Miami and Toronto had been the frontrunners in recent weeks, according to company sources.

Sun Life Stadium, home to the Miami Dolphins, can seat over 75,000 for the event.

— Dolph Ziggler’s NXT Rookie, Byron Saxton, was eliminated from the competition Tuesday night.

The remaining Rookies are Brodus Clay, Derrick Bateman and Johnny Curtis.

WWE has not announced the length of the season and there was no announcement made regarding the date for the next elimination.

— Matches taped Tuesday night at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin for this week’s episode of WWE Superstars on WGN America are as follows:

* Curt Hawkins vs. Tyler Reks

* Jack Swagger vs. Trent Barreta

— Percy Watson beat Chavo Guerrero in a dark match prior to Tuesday night’s television tapings.

source: PWInsider.com

— The January 31 episode of Monday Night Raw scored a 3.3 cable rating, down from the 3.5 the program posted the week before.

Raw averaged 4.93 million viewers over the course of two hours. The first hour averaged 4.89 million viewers while the second hour drew 4.97 million.

— WWE United States Champion Daniel Bryan commented on tagging with Jerry “The King” Lawler last night on Raw, writing on Twitter: “Did I just team with Jerry Lawler on Monday Night Raw or was that a dream? My life is surreal.”

— Big Show celebrates his 39th birthday today. Also celebrating a birthday is Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart, who turns 56 years old. Today would have also marked as WWE Hall of Famer Sherri Martel’s 53rd birthday.

source: PWInsider.com

TMZ.com reports that WWE management was so excited to see that Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers wore a replica World Heavyweight title belt after the game that they’ve invited the entire team to sit ringside at tonight’s SmackDown tapings from Green Bay.

The Green Bay packers that will be appearing include Donald Driver, Graham Harrell, Donald Lee, Brandon Jackson, Scott Wells, Chris Campbell, Tom Crabtree and Curtis Young. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers is not expected to be on hand.

The team is said to be very excited about attending tonight’s show. TMZ reports that the players and their families will be set up with a special meet and greet with the superstars … Plus,  each player gets an authentic replica championship belt.

— Former WWE Women’s Champion Chyna stated last week to TMZ.com that she is taking night classes at UCLA and studying to teach English as a second language to children in Japan. She also indicated that she wants to move on from TV.

Chyna clarified on Twitter that she’s “not retiring.” She added, “Working w/ Model House Talents agency. Learning Japanese to teach on the side. All my love. Health, happiness and love.”

— Babyface SmackDown Diva Kaitlyn partnered with Layla against Beth Phoenix and Natalya at SmackDown live events on Saturday and Sunday. Her action, however, was limited in both contests.

Kaitlyn has sparingly appeared on SmackDown since winning NXT season three.

— The Ticketmaster.com pre-sale code for the March 25 Raw live event at Assembly Hall in Champaign, Illinois is sdleil. Tickets officially go on sale this Saturday at 1 p.m.

source: PWInsider.com

— WWE creative has discussed breaking Jimmy and Jey Uso up.

— Layla appeared to have injured her ankle during the main event of last week’s SmackDown taping as a referee and WWE crew member rushed to check on her while the referee signaled the “X”. Michelle McCool assisted Layla to the back following the bout.

The SmackDown Diva went on Twitter and thanked fans for their concern, but stated that she is fine.

— Former WWE manager Paul Bearer has been announced to appear at WrestleMania Axxess in Atlanta, Georgia. He will also be the Grand Marshall for a Mardi Gras parade in Mobile, Alabama on February 19.

source: PWInsider.com

During one of the commercial breaks on Monday’s episode of WWE RAW, John Cena returned to his hip hop roots and took on Nexus leader CM Punk in a battle rap …

Check it out below – who do you think has the better skills on the mic?

– As we saw on RAW, Nexus leader CM Punk suffered a bloody nose during the segment where Nexus was beating down Randy Orton. Orton broke away from Nexus, lunged at Punk and inadvertently headbutted him in the face, injuring his nose and drawing blood. A few hours after RAW, Punk posted on Twitter regarding the injury:

“Just sneezed and now my pillow case is red. Lovely.”

– WWE congratulated John Cena on Twitter yesterday for becoming the first Superstar to reach 300,000 followers on Twitter.

– R-Truth apologized to the fans of Milwaukee, Wisconsin for mistakenly referring to the city as Green Bay on RAW. Truth wrote @RonKillings:

“I want to apologize to Milwaukee Wisconsin for MY screw up..no excuses,the truth is not perfect,again Milwaukee Im sorry.”

– Jim Ross speculated this week that Triple H will be the one to induct Shawn Michaels into the WWE Hall of Fame this year.

In related news, the next member of this year’s class is expected to be announced on next week’s RAW from Anaheim, California.

Thanks to Martin H. and PWInsider.com for the following recap of Kevin Nash on Monday Night Mayhem yesterday:

– Nash’s thoughts going forward with WWE: Nash said things were better than expected in terms of the response in Boston. Things went well and got in the ring with Cena and that was a blotch because Cena was supposed to be eliminated before he got in. He said it was a great experience.

– Reports of Nash signing a legends contract with WWE. His current status with WWE? Nash said the hosts’ guesses are as good as his. As far as whether he’d be wrestling, stuff with THQ video games, Nash just goes day-by-day.

– Nash says everything in the news gets spun. Responses to Dixie Carter’s reply to fans on tnawrestling.com saying Nash was under contract but was released for reasons she cannot disclose.

– Was Nash under contract for the past couple of weeks? Nash said he was! How close was he to going to TNA? Nash said basically up until he saw Kurt being attacked by Jeff Jarrett. Fortune beat Kurt, Abyss came down with a 2×4 nailed to his spinal cord. Abyss said that would be attempted murder and Abyss would be paralyzed from neck down. He mentioned Crimson said They are coming, Flair screamed back, Kurt cleared the ring.

– Nash said what reason was he coming in for? Kurt can beat them on his own so he didn’t see a reason for him coming in for. He said it was the end of his career. Nash said him coming in the following week, 800 people on Monday. Nash said if it was the last thing he could do, would he do that or go to Boston at the Rumble.

– Hosts mention that Nash was trending on Twitter even though he was in the ring for 2-3 minutes. Whether they would see a KLIQ reunion at WrestleMania weekend, Nash said he talked to Waltman. Nash said he’d be there.

– Nash’s opinion of Wade Barrett? He says what are the odds of Nash bashing Barrett on Twitter and getting eliminated at the rumble.

– AJ Styles and Robert Roode. Nash says Roode is a babyface, but plays a good heel. Nash says AJ is a great talent. Nash said it was the right move for him to finish where he started.

– Nash says Shawn Michaels was largely responsible for him getting into the WWE to begin with. He wished to have one last match with HBK, but he doubts that will happen. He says “Paul” (Triple H) is in the corporate side. He said WWE is moving with the youth movement and that nothing appears to be changing with that.

– A question is asked about Sting and whether Nash talks to him. Nash says he would selfishly love to see Sting in WWE. That would be a great headline match. Nash says Sting has done so much and he would like for him to work for WWE just to see how different it is to be there, to work for the machine. Nash said it’s the third time he’s with WWE. He says being in a WWE arena is like a Happy Madison movie because of the way Sandler would take care of you during the movies.

– He put over the big wrestlers when asked about which were his favorites: Sheamus, Jack Swagger, and a few others and elaborated on it.

WWE has released a new trailer for the upcoming release of the new WWE All Stars game .. The trailer features a teaser for WrestleMania 25 match we never got to see – Hulk Hogan vs. John Cena. Check it out:

It's Time To Play The Game

Former WWE champion Triple H has yet to return to television after taking several months off due to a biceps injury, but he continues to be advertised for upcoming live WWE events – indicating his return is imminent.

It was reported last week that Triple H is being advertised to appear at the final WWE RAW prior to WrestleMania. Now we’ve got word that he is also being advertised for two other live events at the end of march.

Triple H & John Cena will wrestle The Nexus in a handicap match at the WWE RAW live event from Newark, NJ on March 20th from the Prudential Center.

Triple H is also being advertised for the WWE Raw taping in Pittsburgh, PA on March 21st in a dark match main event with John Cena and Randy Orton, facing The Miz, CM Punk and Sheamus in a six-man tag team match.

Additionally, The Game is featured on the cover of the latest issue of WWE Magazine, which you can see here.

— John Cena and Randy Orton defeated CM Punk and The Miz in a tag team contest following Monday’s Raw broadcast.

— CM Punk broke his nose during the opening segment of Raw.

— Goldust (a/k/a Dustin Rhodes) was backstage at Raw.

— Former WWE Cruiserweight Champion Nunzio refereed a dark match between Zack Ryder and Percy Watson.

— Before David Otunga could hit the ring to face King Sheamus, Mark Henry’s music hit as “The World’s Strongest Man” stormed the ring. Otunga’s scheduled bout with Otunga was ruled a No Contest. Otunga was not injured as creative plans called for him to not actually wrestle.

— A number of people backstage were cracking up at R-Truth saying the wrong city by his mistake prior to his match with Mason Ryan.

— John Cena and CM Punk had a “battle rap” during one of the show’s commercial breaks.

source: PWInsider.com

WWE aired a second vignette tonight on Raw promoting “2 21 11”.

An empty cabin was shown with flashing lights, with the door then swung open. A mysterious individual donning a black trenchcoat and boots walked into the cabin, only to quickly disappear. “2 21 11” was displayed while the Johnny Cash song “Ain’t No Grave” played.

The song was used last year to promote The Undertaker’s match with Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XXVI.

The official website of the Save Mart Center, venue for the February 21 Raw, is advertising “The Return of The Undertaker” for the event.