– Per a huge announcement by SmackDown General Manager Booker T, Kane and Daniel Bryan will defend the WWE Tag Team Championship on Oct. 28 at Hell in a Cell against the winners of an eight-team tournament.
The bracket revealed on SmackDown showed the following first-round match-ups: Team Rhodes Scholars (Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow) vs. Jimmy and Jey Uso; Santino Marella and Zack Ryder vs. Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd; Kofi Kingston and R-Truth vs. The Prime Time Players (Darren Young and Titus O’Neil); and Epico and Primo vs. Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara.
– This week on “Backstage Fallout” for SmackDown, The Miz addressed the chaos on “Miz TV,” which resulted in the show’s host being punched in the face by World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus. Wade Barrett also boasted about his dominance after defeating Zack Ryder. Plus, Big Show talks about becoming the No. 1 contender to World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus at Hell in a Cell. (Watch)
– Edge is featured in today’s “Superstar Spotlight” on WWE.com.
– Former WWE Superstar Matt Hardy weighed in on Monday’s Raw via Twitter: “Good, solid Raw tonight. Kofi-Dolph was hot, nice to see King look so well, Punk-Foley promo, the Kane-Bryan skits were absurd but funny..”
– Former WWE Women’s Champion Candice Michelle stated on Twitter Monday that she is due to give birth in less than a month:
Less than a month for this baby to arrive! Already having contractions and pressure!… Oh and back killing me! Getting excited and nervous.
– In this week’s “Backstage Fallout” for Raw, Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara respond to The Prime Time Players’ attack from behind. Plus, Layla suspects Eve had something to do with Kaitlyn’s being viciously attacked at Night of Champions, Wade Barrett discusses his future plans and Kofi Kingston and R-Truth vow to regain the WWE Tag Team Championship from Daniel Bryan and Kane.
http://youtu.be/V-qgFn0xlUDcY
– The official WWE website announced last week that a new Bret Hart video title, Bret Hart: Unreleased Matches, will be released on March 5, 2013. The WWE Hall of Famer is giving input to the project.
He tweeted Tuesday, “Starting to review matches for the new “Unreleased Matches” DVD.”
– On SuperSmackDown LIVE: The Great American Bash, a fight between Damien Sandow and Zack Ryder left Eve—wearing a white dress—completely covered in punch. Backstage Fallout caught up with Eve to get her reaction to the party mishap. Tyler Reks also reacts to whether he feels guilty for Ryback’s massacre of Curt Hawkins. Also offering comments on SmackDown events are Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan and Sgt. Slaughter.
– Lilian Garcia will sing the National Anthem on Sept. 30 prior to the NFL game between the New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
– Former WWE announcer Todd Grisham is in Las Vegas, Nevada covering UFC 148</em. and will be interviewing company president Dana White for MMA Live on ESPN.
– Following his appearance on Raw SuperShow, Diamond Dallas Page has been added to the Alumni section on WWE.com.
– This week’s “RAW Backstage Fallout” video is now online. “CM Punk, Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler and more WWE Superstars share their thoughts about recent Raw events, including Mr. Laurinaitis’ last day as the Raw and SmackDown General Manager. #WWERAWFALLOUT”
– WWE Diva Kelly Kelly is advertised for Monday’s WWE Raw television show from Fort Wayne, IN. She is advertised for several upcoming television shows, including the 1,000th RAW and the next month’s Money In The Bank pay-per-view. She is not advertised for any non-televised live events.
– The WWE website has removed all references to NXT, so it does not appear that the re-branded NXT (taped at Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL) will be airing online.
WWE has already held two sets of tapings for the new NXT and those are expected to begin airing on the Brighthouse Network in Florida once the current season wraps up.
— Following Michael Cole’s humiliation on RAW at the hands of John Cena, WWE Hall of Famer tweeted the following message to Cole:
“After sleeping on it, sort of feel bad for @michaelcole. Humiliation is no fun, trust me. He’s got tuf gig.”
— Dolph Ziggler announced on Twitter today that the WWE Shop website will soon begin selling pink “stunner shades” sunglasses soon. You can see a preview picture of Ziggler ‘showing off’ the shades here.
— Here’s the latest RAW Backstage Fallout video featuring WWE tag team champions R-Truth & Kofi Kingston:
– Sin Cara returned to action on Friday night’s SmackDown, defeating Heath Slater. Sin Cara, who was trending worldwide on Twitter during the broadcast, debuted new red & white ring gear.
– Monday’s RAW had a social media score that was essentially even with last week’s. Trendrr.tv gave this week’s show a score of 146,775, up just a bit from last week’s post-Over The Limit show, which did 144,452. RAW’s social media activity ranked in at #2 on cable for Monday night, behind the Heat vs. Celtics NBA Playoffs game, which scored 566,379.
– The WWE website has a new feature up written by Howard Finkel looking at 10 superstars with ‘split personalities’, including Dustin Rhodes/Goldust, Mick Foley/Mankind, Hulk Hogan/Captain America and more.
– WWE has posted a new episode of Backstage Fallout from Monday’s RAW. The preview reads: “Does John Laurinaitis really owe his job to The Miz? The Awesome One thinks he does. What exactly does The Miz want from Big Johnny? Plus, AJ talks about her obsession … err, her feelings for CM Punk in the latest “Backstage Fallout.”
– WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin announced on Monday night that he completed filming in Mexico for his new reality game show, “Redneck Island.” The show will premiere on CMT on Saturday, June 9 at 10pm (Eastern).
– In this week’s Raw “Backstage Fallout,” Beth Phoenix tells the WWE Universe she’s taking the Divas Championship back from Layla. Plus, why is David Otunga looking so smug after a crushing defeat?
– In case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the latest promo video for WWE No Way Out featuring Daniel Bryan and AJ:
– Triple H will be appearing on Criss Angel’s CA Uncensored show at CrissAngel.com today at 3:30pm (EST) / 12:30pm (PST). He’ll be there to discuss Brock Lesnar, among other topics.
– WWE wants fans who attend live events to send in their photos from the shows to RawFanPhotos@gmail.com.
– WWE camera crews were filming at last night’s Rancid concert in Albany, New York. WWE Champion CM Punk was in attendance and Lars Frederiksen dedicated a song to him before Punk joined the band on stage to sing. The footage will be used on Punk’s upcoming DVD.
– Below is the latest episode of WWE’s Backstage Fallout from SmackDown featuring interviews with John Laurinaitis, Cody Rhodes, Kofi Kingston and R-Truth:
— The May 11 episode of WWE SmackDown garnered 1.7 cable rating, down from 1.92 the week before. It was the lowest-rated first-run Friday episode in 2012.
The program averaged 2,530,000 viewers, down from 2,710,000 last week. It was the least-watched first-run Friday episode since March 30.
— WWE Hall of Famer “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase has been announced to appear for Pro Wrestling Syndicate on June 1 at the Rahway Rec Center 275 East Milton Ave. Rahway, New Jersey.
– Santino Marella, Layla, Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger were interviewed backstage at Monday’s RAW for the latest Backstage Fallout video:
– Stating on July 2nd, WWE will be starting many of the weekly Monday night television tapings 90 minutes before RAW begins. Currently, WWE begins taping matches for Superstars 30-45 minutes before RAW goes live on the air. No word yet on why WWE is extending the Monday night tapings. (Thank to Devin Cutting)
– In the latest RAW Backstage Fallout video, Beth Phoenix tells the WWE Universe how she plans to make history, Maxine talks about her first appearance on Raw, and Cody Rhodes has words for Big Show:
– To follow up on the news of Ted DiBiase Jr. undergoing shoulder surgery today, the procedure went smoothly and DiBiase is recovering this afternoon.
– Beth Phoenix says she’s frustrated with WWE failing to push her like the star she is. She tweeted on Tuesday:
“Stewing in my thoughts. Im sick of being pushed aside and forgotten about. I am the Divas Champion and get ZERO respect. I should be featured in magazines, being a guest star. The entire WWE has it all backwards. I AM the face of the Divas. I am tired of having no competition and being pushed aside. Its time to do something about it.”
– The latest Backstage Fallout video is online, featuring backstage interviews from RAW with Brodus Clay, Jinder Mahal, David Otunga and Mark Henry:
– As we saw on RAW, WWE has licensed the Metallica song “The Memory Remains” to hype the The Undertaker and Triple H match at WrestleMania 28.
– Speaking of the Hell in a Cell match at Wrestlemania, there is a lot of speculation about how WWE is going to set up the structure, considering there is no roof on the stadium to hang the massive cage from. Jim Ross Tweeted the following about how WWE will make it happen:
“One can assume WWE is going to erect a massive structure outdoors at WM28 to not only hang the ring lighting but also the Hell in a Cell.”
– Santino Marella recently thanked the fans for supporting him as of late:
“I just want to say grazie to all the fans of late, it’s amazing what u can accomplish with the supports and couragement”
According to a WWE source, Santino’s recent “underdog” push is actually inspired by NBA breakout star Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks.
– WWE’s YouTube channel has posted the latest “Backstage Fallout” video, featuring post-RAW backstage interviews with R-Truth and Kofi Kingston, David Otunga, and Santino Marella.
– WWE has signed independent wrestler Chris Hero to a developmental contract. Hero was evaluated by the company in the fall and had an undisclosed medical issue that prevented WWE from signing him. Hero will join his former “Kings Of Wrestling” tag team partner Claudio Castagnoli (who wrestling as Antonio Cesaro) at WWE developmental in Tampa.
– WWE’s new YouTube channel has released the latest “Backstage Fallout” video featuring backstage footage from Monday’s RAW. This edition focuses on Daniel Bryan and A.J. following Bryan’s Raw match with Big Show, David Otunga talking about his match with Sheamus Tamina talking about winning the eight-Diva tag match for her team.
The official relaunch of WWE’s YouTube channel continues – with the debut of “WWE Backstage Fallout.”
Backstage fallout is similar to TNA Reaction, featuring in-character interviews with WWE superstars and divas following their segments from Friday’s Smackdown episode.
In the debut episode – Natalya, Sheamus and Cody Rhodes: