— NBC announced their lineup of holiday programming for 2011 and it’s noted that WWE’s annual Tribute the Troops special will air Saturday, December 17 from 9:00 to 10:00 p.m. EST.
The press release states: “The network will once again honor the United States armed forces as World Wrestling Entertainment in conjunction with NBC, will air the fourth annual holiday special ‘WWE Tribute to the Troops.'”
— Big Show is currently in Japan promoting WWE’s upcoming Raw live events at the Yokohama Arena. He participated in an interview with wwe.co.jp and discussed his return to the ring, whether he prefers competing as a singles wrestler or in a tag team, his favorite Japanese food, and more.
— WWE Hall of Famers Pat Patterson and Tito Santana have been added to K & S Wrestlefest, which takes place Saturday, December 3 at the Ramada Philadelphia Airport 76 Industrial Hwy. Essington, Pennsylvania.
— Different countries have different artwork for THQ’s upcoming WWE ’12 video game and the original Sin Cara has been chosen for the cover in Mexico.
— Matches have been announced for WWE’s upcoming tour of Japan. November 30, 2011 at Yokohama Arena will feature John Cena vs. Alberto del Rio for the WWE Championship, Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston for the United States Championship, and Kelly Kelly vs. Beth Phoenix for the Divas Championship. December 1, 2011 at Yokohama Arena will feature John Cena and CM Punk vs. TBA, Big Show vs. Mason Ryan, and Dolph Ziggler vs. Evan Bourne for the United States Championship.
In light of news that WWE Chief Operating Officer Triple H has vowed to not step down from running the Raw Supershow, Christian has spearheaded an effort by various Superstars, Divas, referees, announcers and crew members to travel to Oklahoma City on Monday and stage a “Solidarity Rally” in the backstage parking lot of the Chesapeake Energy Arena prior to the show. The contingent, which consists of those who walked out on Triple H this past Monday night, tell WWE.com that they will not return to the Raw Supershow or step into the venue to perform until Triple H relinquishes control.
Triple H stated earlier in a video interview that John Cena, CM Punk, Randy Orton, Sheamus and Big Show will headline Monday night’s telecast.
“Beyond that, I might not have referees, I might not have announcers, I might not have cameramans. Quite frankly, I don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said. “We’ll see what we come up with on Monday. Hell, they might all show up and I won’t let anyone back in.”
— Big Show will be returning to WWE at tomorrow night’s SmackDown taping from Biloxy, MI. When the announcement was made on RAW, WWE announcers questioned what would happen when Big Show goes face to face with World Heavyweight champion Mark Henry.
Mark Henry said on RAW that Big Show’s return will be “short lived.”
As of Sunday, creative plans were in place for Big Show to appear at tonight’s Raw.
Big Show has been sidelined since Money in the Bank due to storyline injury: a distal fracture of the fibula. The fabricated injury occurred moments after Henry secured victory at the July pay-per-view event, when he wrapped a chair around Big Show’s ankle, ascended the ropes and brought all of his weight down on his opponent’s leg.
— WWE will reportedly no longer air WWE Superstars via WWE.com and YouTube.com. Company officials pulled the program due to poor viewership. The series will continue to air internationally.
— Big Show, who was written of television at Money in the Bank, is advertised to appear at Nickelodeon’s Worldwide Day of Play tomorrow night. According to WWE.com, he will join Lebron James, Donovan McNabb, Abby Wambach, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony as one of the coaches for their Battle of the Nick Stars. The Raw Superstar will be paired with a team of Nickelodeon Stars to prepare them for a big obstacle course which will air in a 30-minute primetime special that evening.
— Referee Scott Armstrong stated on Twitter that he will be sidelined for at least one more week after suffering an injury to his ribs at Night of Champions.
— WWE has changed the structure of their creative staff with a “home team” and “road team” initiative. Road teams will travel to each week’s television tapings while home teams will work at company headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut to develop future shows. WWE creative head Stephanie McMahon, a mother of three children, and Brian Gewirtz will reportedly stay at home to avoid going on the road on a weekly basis.
— The official website of the New Orleans Arena is advertising Edge for next month’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event taking place October 2: “Witness the Superstars of both Raw and Smackdown live under the same roof for a PPV extravaganza live event featuring: John Cena, Randy Orton, Alberto Del Rio, The Miz, Edge, Rey Mysterio, John Morrison, The Big Show and many more Superstars live!”
WWE paid tribute to the “Rated-R Superstar” following last night’s SmackDown taping in Toronto, Ontario with “Edge Appreciation Night.” He also hosted “The Cutting Edge” with World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton and Mark Henry during the taped show. He is also advertised for next Tuesday’s SmackDown taping in Dayton, Ohio.
– 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.
Coordinating with angles involving Big Show and Sin Cara last night at Money in the Bank, WWE stated this afternoon that both Superstars suffered “substantial injuries.”
As a result of Henry’s brutal assault following their match at Money in the Bank, initial reports from medical technicians treating Big Show reported that Henry’s vicious actions have left the star of Knucklehead with a distal fracture of the fibula that will keep him out of action for six to eight weeks.
The injury occurred moments after Henry secured victory, when he wrapped a chair around Big Show’s ankle, ascended the ropes and brought all of his weight down on his opponent’s leg. WWE.com also discovered if his injury had been more serious than originally thought, Big Show could have been sidelined for up to four months.
Regarding Sin Cara, WWE says he suffered an injury during SmackDown’s Money in the Bank match, when Sheamus viciously powerbombed the masked grappler from the ring apron through a steel ladder. The SmackDown Superstar was quickly stretchered to the back by paramedics. According to WWE, early medical reports have concluded that Sin Cara suffered a posterior fractured rib and will be out of action for at least four weeks.
Coincidentally, WWE announced this morning that Sin Cara was suspended for 30 days due to a Wellness Policy violation.
— The July 11, 2011 episode of Monday Night Raw did a 2.9 rating, up from 2.40 on July 4 but down from 3.13 on June 27. The program drew hours of 2.86 and 2.96.
The program averaged 4.387 million viewers over the course of two hours, down from 4.40 the week before. Raw was also 12 percent below the 2011 average of 5.0 million viewers.
Raw faced strong competition as the Home Run Derby on ESPN averaged a 4.64 cable rating from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m.
— Joey Styles stated on Twitter that both Big Show and Mark Henry refused medical treatment after both individuals fell off the stage last night on Raw. He added, “if either is injured, they’re not saying so!”
— Eve is featured on the cover of the July 2011 issue of Muscle & Performance (available at Vitamin Shoppe) and discusses her training regimen, working out on the road, and more. The WWE Diva is giving away ten personalized, signed copies of the issue. Click here for details.
— Michael Tarver was removed from WWE.com’s Raw roster page on Wednesday after being released last week. He took to Twitter to comment on his immediate future:
“Thanx for the kinds words guys but im just getting warmed up wwe was just the beginning ,,,,,,,,GOD HELP US …..stay tuned…”
“Whats going on family ,fyi im about to go H.A.M. all over the web starting this sunday night ,you havent seen my potential yet ,stay tuned..”
“Im cancerous so when I dance you wouldnt want to bomb either if you responded back with a battle rap you wrote for JOHN CENA ,stay tuned… Having some fun ,,,,,stay tuned…”
— Diamond Dallas Page and Kevin Nash are advertised to appear at the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo this weekend in Calgary at the BMO Centre.
— Big Show appeared as the Intercontinental Champion for a match against Alberto Del Rio at a Raw live event last week in Spain. Wade Barrett currently reigns as the Intercontinental Champion.
– WWE is planning a feud between the Big Show and Alberto Del Rio that will begin on next week’s 3-hour “All Star” edition of RAW. The two are slated to have a singles match at Capitol Punishment on June 19th.
– Dolph Ziggler tweeted that he will be doing a “very special” photo shoot at next Monday’s RAW.
– After Tuesday’s SmackDown tapings from Roanoke, VA concluded, Randy Orton was attacked by Sheamus and Christian. Orton eventually got the upper hand and took out the heels. Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes also ran in to attack Orton but got beat up worse than Sheamus and Christian.
– A few fans who attended Tuesday’s SmackDown taping said that almost half of the seating in the Roanoke Civic Center was ‘blacked out’ and covered with tarps. Attendance for the lowest it’s been at the Civic Center in several years.
– Reader Stan sent word that Monday’s episode of RAW featured 32 minutes and 23 seconds of in-ring action, a bit more than the previous week.
Following NBA star Shaquille O’Neal announcing his retirement earlier this week, WWE is teasing that Shaq could be returning to the company to rekindle his feud with the Big Show. Shaq was the celebrity guest host of an episode of RAW back in July 2009 and had a memorable confrontation with Show.
The following was posted on the WWE website on Friday:
“WWE Universe member Shaquille O’Neal has had the world abuzz since announcing his retirement from the NBA. After his tussle with Big Show as Raw guest star, WWE fans might wonder if the 15-time All-Star will now look to settle his one-night rivalry.”
Earlier this week, Dragon Gate USA booker Gabe Sapolsky wrote a blog in which he suggested that WWE Chairman Vince McMahon reach out to Shaq. Sabpolsky wrote over at HeymanHustle.com:
“It’s no secret that wrestling .. errrr … sports entertainment needs something to shake it up,” Sapolsky wrote. “WWE gained a great boost recently with the return of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Now they need that one hook for the mainstream public like Mike Tyson was in 1996.
“‘The Answer’ just quit his job and became a free agent. His name is Shaquille O’Neal. Shaq is on the market. It’s well documented he loves wrestling. He understands how to entertain and perform. He has size and athletic ability. The best part is he could now make a long term commitment and he’s looking for something new to do.”
COMMENT BELOW: Would YOU want to see a Shaq vs. Big Show special attraction match in WWE – possibly at WrestleMania next April?
Check out this video of Shaq & Big Show’s confrontation from the night Shaq hosted RAW:
— Alicia Fox appears as a guest on tonight’s episode of The Mo’Nique Show at 11:00 p.m. on BET. The former Divas Champion will chat with the Academy Award-winning comedienne on the critically acclaimed late night talk show.
— Michael Cole returned to NXT: Redemption last night for a one-night-only appearance. He filled in for William Regal on commentary, who was absent.
— WWE will be airing the documentary portion of the February 2011 DVD release The Big Show: A Giant’s World beginning July 4.
— Former WWE star Big Bully Busick celebrates his 57th birthday today.
In a new interview with John Pollock of The Fight Network, WWE legend Kevin Nash says he is hoping for a match against the Big Show at SummerSlam.
Nash revealed that there were talks of him having some kind of match with Big Sho at WrestleMania, but acknowledged that it wouldn’t have been fair for him to get a match on the show and take the spot of another young WWE star who worked all year to work their first WrestleMania.
Regarding his WWE return at the Royal Rumble earlier this year, Nash his brief few minutes as part of the Rumble was better than anything that happened to him during his five years with TNA.
Nash also talked about WWE’s revamped developmental system and how he and other WWE legends like Shawn Michaels might get involved and help Triple H locate and groom the superstars of tomorrow.
— One night after Big Show and Kane retained the WWE Tag Team Championship against CM Punk and Mason Ryan at Over the Limit, the colossal due dropped the straps to other two members of Nexus, David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty.
WWE then coordinated an injury angle for Big Show which would indicate that he’s taking time off. Frustrated, he ran into the garage parking lot where he his leg was run over by a car driven by Alberto Del Rio’s personal ring announcer, Ricardo Rodriguez.
— Matches taped Monday night in Portland, Oregon for this week’s episode of WWE Superstars are as follows:
* Santino Marella vs. Zack Ryder
* JTG vs. Curt Hawkins
— In a rare occurrence, no dark match took place at last night’s Raw taping.
– New World Heavyweight champion Christian’s first title challenger is expected to be Mark Henry.
– WWE will tape this week’s episodes of NXT and SmackDown tonight from the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. The dark match main event that’s being advertised locally is Randy Orton and Christian vs. Sheamus and Wade Barrett.
– The Big Show will be making a guest appearance on the USA Network’s hit show, Burn Notice. Show will be playing villain Griffin Black on the fourth episode of the upcoming season.
– The Rock tweeted the following last night after his RAW birthday celebration:
“U have all help make my birthday one of the greatest days of my life.. strong love and thank u.. standing tall tonight and proudly lead America with the Pledge of Allegiance was a dream come true.. ELECTRIFYING.”
– Layla wrote the following on Twitter regarding her win over Michelle McCool at Extreme Rules:
“That was the hardest thing I ever had 2 do @McCoolMichelleL I will always have respect, gratitude & love for U! Our memories will stay with me. forever Flawless love ya.”
– Next week’s episode of Tough Enough will feature a special appearance from John Morrison and a “shocking” double elimination. Here’s the official preview:
“Next Monday, Tough Enough is all new and the contestants are on the ropes — literally! But who’s really hanging by a thread? There’s only one thing more heartbreaking than a dreamer losing the fight, and this is it: Get ready for a shocking double elimination you won’t believe! WWE Superstar John Morrison guest stars.”
— The title for WWE’s upcoming DVD release on Rey Mysterio is Rey Mysterio: The Life of a Masked Man. It is scheduled for release on July 12. The synopsis is as follows:
“For the first time ever, Rey Mysterio sits down and reviews his historic career, reflecting on his greatest matches and moments. This all-new interview features exclusive and candid comments from the Ultimate Underdog on his Sports Entertainment path through ECW, WCW, and WWE; his rivalries with Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho, CM Punk; his thoughts on battling men almost twice his size, and his emotional Cruiserweight, Intercontinental, and World Championship runs.”
— Big Show appears on Supah Ninjas tonight at 8:30 p.m. on Nickelodeon.
— WWE has a live event scheduled for Stockton, California on Sunday, August 7.
— Ezekiel Jackson celebrated his 33rd birthday yesterday.
— Big Show and Kane grabbed championship glory together for the second time in their careers, triumphing over Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel on SmackDown to capture the WWE Tag Team Championships.
The match concluded with Big Show chokeslamming Slater to the canvas for the victory.
— John Cena celebrates his birthday today as he turns 34 years old. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, his opponent at WrestleMania XXVIII, wished him a happy birthday on Twitter.
He wrote, “Happy Birthday @JohnCena – I’m 5 yrs older than you which means I will always be your daddy bitch!”
— Chris Jericho appears on this Monday’s episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
— WWE has hired Tom Casiello, a soap opera writer, for a position on the creative team.
Casiello writes for The Young and the Restless. He won Daytime Emmy Awards for Best Writing in 2001 and 2002 while he held the position of Breakdown Writer for As the World Turns.
Casiello posted numerous comments on his Twitter account in regards to crossing over from soap operas to WWE.
— Weeks ago on Twitter, Big Show asked fans for suggestions on an official title for his finishing maneuver, the right-handed knockout hook. He announced Saturday that the knockout punch is called the W.M.D., which stands for Weapon of Mass Destruction.
— Dolph Ziggler announced that his “I Am Perfection” T-Shirt will be available on WWEShop.com beginning on Tuesday.
— Tonight on Raw, WWE will officially announce an Eight-Man Tag Team Match for WrestleMania XXVII with The Corre going up against Big Show, Kane, Kofi Kingston and Christian.
It was reported earlier that the source code of the front page of WWE.com disclosed the bout. The code was removed shortly after the report.
— WWE Champion The Miz appears on tonight’s episode of Attack of the Show on G4. The episode replays tomorrow at 1:00 a.m., 4:00 a.m. and noon.
— Big Show has been announced to appear at the 2011 Kids Choice Awards. It airs this Saturday at 8:00 p.m. on Nickelodeon.
— Big Show suffered a minor injury at Tuesday’s SmackDown taping during an angle involving Ezekiel Jackson. He was supposed to be thrown through a table by the Corre member, but the table didn’t break, resulting in a huge bruise on his forearm. He was scheduled to wrestle in the show’s dark match main event, but didn’t.
— One WrestleMania XXVII match that was changed was Kelly Kelly being replaced by Snooki as the tag team partner of John Morrison and Trish Stratus against Dolph Ziggler and LayCool. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter speculates that Kelly would appear in the babyface corner to counteract Vickie Guerrero in the other corner.
— Advertised for tonight’s episode of WWE Superstars on WGN America is an Eight-Diva Team Match pitting Divas Champion Eve, Tamina, Natalya and Gail Kim against Melina, Alicia Fox and The Bella Twins. The show will also feature Tyler Reks vs. JTG; Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov vs. Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso.
WWE star Big Show was interviewed by the Miami Herald this week as part of WWE’s media rounds this week to announce the city hosting WrestleMania 2012. Top read the full interview, visit MiamiHerald.com
With WWE legend The Rock being from Miami, many are speculating already that he’s a perfect candidate to lead next year’s WWE Hall of Fame Class. Regarding that, Big show asid:
“You look at the impact The Rock had on our industry from the short time he has been in the business to the megastar he is today,” Show said. “I think if anyone deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, I’m sure The Rock does.
“That is a guy who is legendary and deserves every bit of his success. Plus, Dwayne Johnson is one of the finest and nicest people I met in my life. There are a lot of guys that you meet in this business. There are people you don’t like and people you do like. I have incredible respect for Dwayne and his entire family. I respect the man and the character he has. He’s awesome.”
Big Show also commented on fellow former NWO member Kevin Nash and his recent return to WWE.
“I learned a lot from him, when I was in the NWO,” said Show. “When I was a greenhorn, he helped me out a lot. I’m a little bit more of a seasoned veteran now, so if he wants to dance one more time as a partner or opponent, I’ll shake his hand in the middle of the ring, and we will lock horns. I have no problem with that what so ever.”
— 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.
— There was some confusion surrounding Alex Riley and his elimination during the Royal Rumble last night because he was not supposed to go out when he did. He was supposed to hang on to the ring ropes when he was thrown over. This explains why the announcers were asking about him after he had been eliminated. They didn’t call his elimination.
— As Kevin Nash was getting up from the ground following his elimination from the Royal Rumble, a referee told him something. He then stared down Big Show as he was exiting the arena. It’s thought that this may have been a backstage audible due to the crowd’s receptive reaction to him and WWE planning something for him going forward.
— The song used during the video promoting Randy Orton’s match against The Miz at the Royal Rumble is “Machine Gun Blues” by Social Distortion.