– On Monday’s RAW, we saw Ryback destroy the set of The Miz’s new talk show, MizTV. Ryback is scheduled to fight The Miz at next month’s Hell in A Cell pay-per-view.
– It came out this week that Matt Morgan signed a new contract with TNA approximately two months ago and has been “working” fans with his cryptic online posts about which company he should sign with. We can confirm that Matt Morgan did have some talks with WWE back in June, but ultimately decided to stay with TNA.
– The Big Show, who has been off television since SummerSlam in August, will be returning to action at this weekend’s live events. Big Show has been on vacation after requesting time off.
Show was originally scheduled to return next week, but is returning early to fill in for John Cena, who is recovering from elbow surgery.
– According to an account backstage at tonight’s Raw show in Bridgeport, Connecticut, John Cena is walking around fine after rolling his ankle last night at Night of Champions. As of 4:00 p.m., he was scheduled to compete on the show.
– Before World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio squared off last night at Night of Champions, SmackDown General Manager Booker T reinstated the Brogue Kick, which aided The Celtic Warrior in retaining his title. According to F4WOnline.com, Sheamus is moving on to a new opponent on television as Big Show is scheduled to confront him tonight on Raw. This will lead to a match at Hell in a Cell on Oct. 28.
– Zack Ryder is featured on the cover of the latest issue of WWE Kids Magazine. The Raw Superstar excitedly tweeted a photo of the issue.
– John “Bradshaw” Layfield addressed his appearance on Raw tonight at the announce booth via Twitter: “Yes back on @wwe raw with my burden, @MichaelCole ! Like Usain Bolt having to run with crutches being with Cole!”
– CM Punk bleeding on RAW has been a hot topic of conversation this week amongst WWE talent. His tweet about paying a $500,000 fine for bleeding on RAW was [obviously] fictional, as there were no fines levied for the apparent blade job.
Punk bleeding on RAW and repeatedly referring to himself as a “wrestler” has led to some optimisim that RAW is getting edgier.
– John Laurinaitis is said to be recovered from his recent injury and is back working live events. Laurinaitis did a run in during the CM Punk vs. John Cena vs. Big Show main event in Brisbane, attacking John Cena with a steel chair before catching an Attitude Adjustment.
– Speaking of the Big Show, he is sporting a new look on WWE’s tour of Australia. He is now clean shaving after shaving his trademark goatee.
– WWE Diva Rosa Mendes is also back on tour with WWE after her recent domestic violence spat with former WWE wrestler Jackson Andrews. Rosa has been appearing with Epico and Primo and lost to Divas Champion Layla at Thursday’s live event from Brisbane, Australia.
The Big Show is sporting a new look on WWE’s live events tour of Australia. Show is now clean shaven after shaving off his trademark goatee. Check it out:
– Ever wondered how much WWE Superstars have to eat to look the way they do on television? Australia’s Herald Sun newspaper has an article up looking at the diets of various WWE superstars.
Big Show enjoys “a 20-egg omelette, milk, juices and a tub of ice cream” for breakfast.
“I tend to over-eat when the food is good, but I’m not a glut. I don’t drink, though an occasional glass of beer makes me happy.
“The thing is to be hungry all the time. But I’ve got the power to keep my hunger under control.”
John Cena takes down eight eggs and oatmeal for breakfast. At lunch, he has two chicken breasts, fresh vegetables and brown rice, and for dinner, grilled fish or chicken, brown rice, vegetables and salad.
– Here is the latest episode of Backstage Fallout with The Miz, Kofi Kingston & R-Truth, Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow reacting to events from Monday’s RAW:
– As reported Monday, Brodus Clay and Damien Sandow, who have been feuding on WWE programming in recent weeks, were scheduled to face off at SummerSlam but their match was nixed due to time constraints. Both the WWE Championship and WWE Tag Team Championship bouts were shortened due to time constraints because the production team wanted to make sure there would be enough time for the aftermath of the Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar bout since The Game’s farewell scene will play a vital role in storylines going forward.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, multi-platinum recording artist Kevin Rudolf’s performance of the pay-per-view theme song, “Don’t Give Up,” caused the program to have timing issues. Regarding the performance, some of the fans shown dancing were plants.
– WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz is currently on a promotional tour in London, England. He will be off television two weeks while touring the country and apparently other countries. He noted via Twitter, “Follow my Tout for the next 2 weeks and you will follow me around the world. #MizAroundTheWorld.”
– Brock Lesnar, Triple H, Big Show, CM Punk and John Cena are featured on the cover of WWE’s 2012 SummerSlam DVD and Blu-ray release, which hits stores on September 18. To view the cover, click here.
– Brodus Clay and Damien Sandow, who have been feuding on WWE programming in recent weeks, were scheduled to face off at SummerSlam but their match was nixed due to time constraints.
Both the WWE Championship and WWE Tag Team Championship bouts were shortened due to time constraints because the production team wanted to make sure there would be enough time for the aftermath of the Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar bout since The Game’s farewell scene will play a vital role in storylines going forward.
– According to a fan account of WWE’s SummerSlam Axxess festivities in Los Angeles, California on Saturday, EMTs tended to numerous attendees who had fainted or collapsed at the event due to the extreme heat. There were few shaded areas and WWE did not provide water.
– Mike Tyson, who was on hand for the SummerSlam festivities to promote THQ’s upcoming WWE ’13 video game, was noted by a WWE talent as the happiest person at the events. The boxing great considers himself a huge wrestling fan, as he reveals in this article.
– World Heavyweight champion Sheamus retained his title in controversial fashion at WWE SummerSlam. After hitting Alberto Del Rio in the head with Ricardo Rodriguez’ shoe, Sheamus pinned Del Rio 1-2-3. Del Rio had his foot on the ropes – but the referee didn’t see it and Sheamus was awarded the victory.
Del Rio has now filed a formal complaint with SmackDown General Manager Booker T. The WWE website spoke with referee Mike Chioda and he admitted the mistake. Booker T will address the situation on Friday’s SmackDown, which will likely lead to a rematch.
– Santino Marella tweeted the following message after losing the WWE United States title to Antonio Cesaro at SummerSlam:
Simple put, I let my fans down, I'm sorry and need to digest what happened before I figure out what I do next
– WWE caught up with the Big Show after he came up short in the Triple Threat match for the WWE championship at SummerSlam. Big Show said it was unfair that CM Punk and John Cena double teamed him and says he wants a singles match for the WWE title.
– CM Punk’s WWE Championship victory over John Cena and Big Show Sunday at SummerSlam extended two pay-per-view streaks. His win marked as his ninth consecutive successful title defense on pay-per-view. However, despite his reign atop WWE, it was the eighth consecutive pay-per-view in which he did not defend the title in the main event.
– WWE Universe members didn’t waste any time in chanting “Kobe Bryant” during the WWE Tag Team Championship Match between Kofi Kingston, R-Truth and The Prime Time Players at SummerSlam in response to The Players’ manager A.W. being released following a Kobe Bryant rape joke on Raw weeks ago. A.W. was informed of the chants on Twitter and responded, “To all the fans that showed their support with the chants and tweets I really want to say “THANK YOU”!!! You guys are truly.. #UNSTOPPABLE!”
A.W. also reacted to WWE confiscating a sign at SummerSlam Axxess today that featured a printed screenshot of WWE chief Vince McMahon distorting his face in a backstage segment on Raw two months ago to ridicule Jim Ross’ facial paralysis: “That really sucks! People pay their hard earned money to show their support for @WWE and that’s how they get treated. #Bully.”
– Jim Ross took a swipe at WWE’s past pay-per-view efforts Sunday via Twitter, writing, “SummerSlam has been a ‘clean’ show devoid of bad attempts at humor or endless non wrestling content. Big money matches merit big $$ effort.”
– Big Show is featured in a public service announcement promoting the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s anti-drunk driving campaign, “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.”
– Donald Trump congratulated former WWE chief executive Linda McMahon on her triumph in the Connecticut GOP Senate primary on Tuesday.
The eccentric billionaire wrote on Twitter, “Congratulations to Linda McMahon on her victory in the Connecticut Senate primary. She is an amazing woman–smart as you get!”
– Former WWE Superstar Edge is today’s featured Superstar on WWE.com. The WWE Hall of Famer is free to appear for any wrestling organization since he is no longer under contract to WWE.
After WWE unceremoniously terminated A.W.’s contract Friday for what a company spokesman said was due to his continued use of offensive and inappropriate comments on live television and on social media after uttering a rape joke on the July 30 episode of Raw, the All World Promotions chief posted a barrage of vitriolic messages on Twitter blistering his former employer for what he perceives are double standards.
A.W. strongly feels it is unjust that he’s now out of job when Big Show made a similar remark referencing NBA player Kobe Bryant’s sexual assault case, Vince McMahon reneged WWE’s anti-bullying campaign two months ago on Raw by ridiculing Jim Ross’ facial paralysis, CM Punk told a fan on Twitter to kill himself, Triple H simulated mock sex with a mannequin in a casket, McMahon used a racial epithet on national television, and the company showcased a character making light of mentally challenged individuals, among other unsavory events. Fans comments he posted include: “VINCE MCMAHON CAN SAY THE “N” WORD ON NATIONAL T.V. BUT @AWPromotions CAN’T TELL A JOKE………….whats wrong with this picture???”
“McMahon is a hypocrite! It’s cool for him to mock JR’s Bells Palsy, & you aren’t cut any slack for one joke? #BeAStarVince.”
“I hope Vince hasn’t forgot How he mocked @JRsBBQ on #RAW live, and @AWPromotions gets released for one joke?”
“@if only you had strangled someone with your tie, you’d be back within 6 months lol.”
“so Dx can tell everyone to suck it but u can’t make a joke?”
“@CMPunk told one of his twitter followers to kill themselves. biggest double standard in the world.”
“@kane has sex with a dead girl but @AWPromotions makes a kobe joke and gets fired.”
“Vince can kick the leg out from under a one legged kid, wrestle women, mock The mentally retarded and he fired you!!!”
A.W. feels he is a casualty of Linda McMahon’s Republican pursuit of a United States Senate seat in Connecticut, which many have speculated has led the sports-entertainment organization to take action on any matter deemed controversial so as not to affect her campaign.
He tweeted to Linda, “Creates jobs my ass!! I’m fired thanks to you and your campaign.”
– After Raw went off the air, John Laurinaitis hit the ring with a steel chair tapped for John Cena. Cena, however, ducked and hit the former Raw General Manager and Executive Vice President of Talent Relations with the Attitude Adjustment. Big Show then tried to attack Cena, but was put to rest with the Attitude Adjustment.
– In her first night as Raw General Manager, AJ was referred to as AJ Lee. It is the alias she used in WWE developmental league Florida Championship Wrestling from 2009 to 2010. When it was announced in August 2010 that she would be part of the third season of WWE NXT, the last name was dropped and she was simply referred to as AJ. However, she maintained the AJ Lee name on her Twitter account.
– John Laurinaitis turns 47-years-old Tuesday. WWE.com announced Monday that Laurinaitis had resigned from his position as Senior Vice President of Talent Operations, citing “burn out.” He will continue to work for the company as a producer assisting talent with their matches as well as performer.
– CM Punk will defend the WWE Championship against John Cena and Big Show in a Triple Threat Match at SummerSlam on August 19. The match was determined on Raw after the Cena vs. Show bout resulted in No Contest due to interference from Punk. Raw General Manager AJ Lee then announced the match, which led to Punk scolding her as Raw went off the air.
– The July 27 episode of WWE SmackDown averaged 2,834,000 viewers over the course of two hours—the final rating has not been released. The prior week’s show drew a 2.04 cable rating, with 2,964,000 viewers.
– Chris Jericho, who is not advertised to appear at tonight’s SmackDown taping in Kansas City, Missouri, issued a Tout message this afternoon stating that he was cruising down the highway to the event.
– Despite his character’s removal from television weeks ago, John Laurinaitis continues to work non-televised matches. A Handicap Match featuring the former Raw General Manager and Big Show versus John Cena has been announced to take place at the September 24 Raw taping emanating from Times Union Center in Albany, New York.
Talent advertised to appear at the event include CM Punk, Randy Orton, Sheamus, Kane, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Christian, Kofi Kingston, Cody Rhodes, Sin Cara and Santino Marella.
– WWE will hold a SmackDown live event at the Civic Center in Anderson, South Carolina on December 2. The event starts at 5:00 p.m.
– After WWE’s milestone 1000th episode of Raw went off the air, The Rock and John Cena double-teamed Big Show. Cena hits Show with the Attitude Adjustment, which placed him into position for a People’s Elbow. The Rock, however, didn’t have an elbow pad, so Cena gave him his “Cenation” armband. The Rock spoke on the microphone and said Cena must use headbands as arm bands since no one’s arms are that huge. The Great One then hit The People’s Elbow on Show as Cena left up the ramp. The Rock thanked everyone and posed with a few fans. Show remained in the ring as the house lights come on.
– Former WWE Diva Torrie Wilson turns 37-years-old on Tuesday.
– Sean Mooney, the first person to appear on the premiere episode of Raw in 1993, resurfaced on Monday’s show as he conducted a backstage interview with Daniel Bryan. Zack Ryder reacted to his return on Twitter: “I met Sean Mooney tonight…#SSSIIICCCKKK.”
– James Yun, who appeared as Akio and Jimmy Wang Yang for WWE, weighed in on Monday’s milestone addition of Raw. He tweeted, “I really enjoy the 1000 episode of #raw tonight I find it really cool that i can say I was on that show a few times.”
– The Undertaker, who reunited the Brothers of Destruction on Raw, is today’s featured Superstar on WWE.com.
– At 5PM EST Sunday (3 hours before Money-In-The-Bank Pay-Per-View went live), CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan was penned in to close the show. WWE changed things at the very last minute with the RAW Money-In-The-Bank match.
– Zack Ryder tweeted the following last night, teasing a possible WWE departure. New York Wrestling Connection is an independent group that and Curt Hawkins Zack Ryder competed in previously.
– The Big Show’s entrance theme was played for St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Matt Holiday, during the MLB All-Star Game. Holday, has been coming up to bat to the song for most of the season.
WWE taped this week’s episode of SmackDown on Monday night after RAW from Denver, Colorado. This was due to the cancellation of their event in Colorado Springs.
Sin Cara vs Alberto Del Rio
Primo vs Darren Young
U.S. champion Santino Marella & IC champion Christian. vs Dolph Ziggler & Cody Rhodes
Big Show vs The Great Khali
Ryback beat Tyler Reks
Justin Gabriel vs Damien Sandow
World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus vs Chris Jericho (Non-title)
WWE Superstar the Big Show recently spoke to AZCentral.com to hype Sunday’s Money in the Bank pay-per-view. Here are some highlights of what Big Show said about:
Is He Like His WWE Character?: “I think my persona when I’m a bad guy is me in a bad mood on a bad day amplified. I don’t run around like I do on TV; if I did, I’d be in a lot of trouble ( laughing). Sometimes my family and my wife will see me on TV and say, “I’ve seen that mood before, like the time you went for the jelly and the jar was empty.”
“One beautiful thing about being a WWE superstar is that you may have things going on in your life that are stressful and weighing on your mind. For 15 or 20 minutes, you’re in front of the crowd and you can let off all that steam and all that pressure. It’s like therapy.”
His Long Career & Turning 40: “I’ve had an 18-year career, and physically and mentally, I feel fantastic. I have too much fun doing what I’m doing to stop. Barring injuries, I plan on doing this a while longer. Obviously, the sun sets on every athlete at some point, but I don’t think that time is near.”
“Forty is a little bit hard for a man. It’s like, “Where the hell did it go? I remember 30 like it was yesterday!” But after going through the birthday, I was able to mellow out and calm down and realize it’s just another year, and you’re still doing what you love, so don’t worry. But there were probably about two days there where I was freaking out.”
Advice To Young Wrestlers: “(Laughing) Well, back when they used to talk to me, I would see a lot of the younger guys were frustrated. Everybody wants to be Undertaker or Triple H or John Cena. But Rome wasn’t built in a day. It’s consistency, consistency, consistency. You have to go out there every night and deliver, and when the opportunity is presented to you, it’s up to you to come through.”
– Kane bled under his mask on Monday’s Raw SuperShow after receiving an errant strike during the tag team match against Big Show and Chris Jericho. The mishap was not serious and he was able to finish the bout.
– Former WWE Superstar Bobby Lashley indicated on his Twitter account that he attended Monday’s duel Raw SuperShow and SmackDown event in Denver, Colorado. He tweeted two hours before the show, “Heading to the shows in Denver tonight!”
Lashley, who parted ways with WWE in 2008 and moved to the world of mixed martial arts, announced last week that he is hitting the wrestling circuit gain and accepting offers for upcoming events, autograph signings and other appearances via LashleyBookings@yahoo.com.
– The July 7, 2012 episode of A.M. Raw garnered a 0.33 cable rating, with 383,000 viewers.
– Tag team action is slated for Sunday as Kofi Kingston and R-Truth will defend the WWE Tag Team Championship against Camacho and Hunico in the Money in the Bank Pre-Show, which streams live on WWE.com, YouTube.com/WWE and Facebook.com at 7:30 ET/4:30 PT.
– Despite his removal from WWE programming last month, John Laurinaitis is slated to compete at live shows through at least September. The advertised main event for the Saturday, September 22, 2012 Raw live event taking place at the Westchester County Center in White Plains, New York has ‘Big Johnny’ teaming up with Big Show to take on John Cena in a Handicap Match.
– The Raw SuperShow taking place on Monday, September 17, 2012 at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut will feature John Cena vs. Big Show in a Steel Cage Match.
– WWEShop.com is selling a Brodus Clay Fedora for $29.99.
– WWE has reached out to Hall of Famer Tammy “Sunny” Sytch in the last week about making an appearance building to or for the historic 1000th episode of Raw.
– Brutus Beefcake is advertised to appear for Abbotsford Agrifair in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada on August 4 and 5, 2012.
– Amy “Lita” Dumas appears on the debut album of JD & the FDCs as a guest vocalist for the song “From the Shadows.” Additional information is available here.
– Big Show is today’s Superstar of the Day on WWE.com.
– Today’s wrestling birthdays include WWE Divas Champion Layla (34) and Damien Demento (54).
– The WWE Shop website is selling new sunglasses for various WWE superstars.
– Lilian Garcia did some charity work over the weekend, appearing at the 10th Annual LOPen Charity Golf and Concert. She noted on Twitter over the weekend that the event raised over $100,000 for Ohio’s Akron Children Hospital, with WWE donating $14,000 for the cause:
What an amazing magical wkend. We raised over $100,000 for @LopenCharity 2 benefit Akron's Children Hospital in OH! #GreatCause
– After his feud on RAW with John Cena, there has been talk of moving Big Show to the World Heavyweight title picture on SmackDown.
– Among the WWE related terms that were trending worldwide during RAW were Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman, Cyndi Lauper, Roddy Piper and Chris Jericho.
– WWE ring announcer Tony Chimel will be taking some time off this weekend.
– Abraham Washington tweeted the following about his new Primetime Players team walking out on their match against his former clients, Primo and Epico:
WWE Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and Raw and SmackDown General Manager John Laurinaitis stated on Friday’s SmackDown that if John Cena lays his hands on him and if Big Show is victorious Sunday night at No Way Out, he will fire Cena. It was announced on Monday’s Raw SuperShow that Laurinaitis will be fired by Vince McMahon if Big Show loses.
The announced card is as follows:
* John Cena vs. Big Show – Steel Cage Match
* World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus vs. Dolph Ziggler
* WWE Champion CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Kane – Triple Threat Match
* Intercontinental Champion Christian vs. Cody Rhodes
* Divas Champion Layla vs. Beth Phoenix
* United States Champion Santino Marella vs. Ricardo Rodriguez – Tuxedo Match (Non-Title)
— SmackDown stars Daniel Bryan and the Big Show will be joining the RAW brand for its European tour that kicks off on Wednesday in Seville, Spain and runs until Saturday in Barcelona, Spain.
Daniel Bryan is replacing Chris Jericho in WWE title matches against CM Punk and Show will team with John Laurinaitis in handicap matches against John Cena.
Cena tweeted on Tuesday afternoon that he’s “off to spain” today.
— The social media activity score for Monday’s RAW was down a sharp 18% from last week’s Memorial Day episode. According to Trendrr.tv, RAW had had a score of 119,420, its third-lowest of the year. The show ranked #6 on cable for the night was down 28% from its 2012 average.