After RAW went off the air on Monday night, Brock Lesnar, who was chokeslammed through a table in the ring by The Undertaker, remained laid out for several minutes. Lesnar sold the chokeslam as he remained in the broken table in the ring while WWE trainers checked on him.
Eventually, Lesnar got up and left under his own power, however he limped to sell the attack. Once he got backstage, Renee Young attempted to get a word with both he and Paul Heyman, but they ignored her and kept walking.
The Undertaker will put his streak on the line once again when he faces Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XXX.
Undertaker returned to WWE at the conclusion of Monday’s RAW and confronted Lesnar, who was awarded an open contract to fight anybody at WrestleMania. Brock Lesnar signed the contract first and then gave Taker the pen. Paul Heyman told The Undertaker that to sign the contract if he wants the match. Undertaker took the pen and stabbed Lesnar’s hand with it, grabbed him by the throat and chokeslammed him right through the table that was set up in the ring. The crowd broke into a “holy sh*t” chant and Michael Cole said, “I take that as a yes.”
WrestleMania XXX takes place on Sunday, April 6th from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome from New Orleans, Louisiana.
– As previously reported, Kane mentioned in a recent interview that Brock Lesnar will be at this Sunday’s WWE Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. Apparently Kane misspoke, as Lesnar is not expected to be at the show. He is, however, scheduled to be at RAW. Paul Heyman is scheduled for Monday’s RAW as well.
– The Miz, Mark Henry and Rey Mysterio have been announced as the “expert panel” for Sunday’s WWE Elimination Chamber pay-per-view “Kickoff Show.”
– Dish Network has taken several digs at WWE since deciding to drop WWE pay-per-views as a result of the shows being available on the WWE Network.
Dish has now updated the Elimination Chamber page on their website to redirect to the TNA Lockdown page.
– WWE superstar Kane appeared on Minnesota’s KARE 11 (NBC) to promote Sunday’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. He went through the the usual kayfabe hype for the show and revealed that Brock Lesnar will be there.
When asked how Brock Lesnar fits into the Elimination Chamber picture, Kane hesitated. The hosts asked Kane if Lesnar is still with WWE and he responded that Lesnar is still under contract and will be at the pay-per-view this Sunday.
WWE is not currently advertising Lesnar for the PPV.
The latest word going around is that Sting has yet to sign a contract with WWE. The feeling is that the delay in the signing is more on WWE’s end, as the company doesn’t consider him a priority. WWE is reportedly in no hurry to sign Sting in time for a match at WrestleMania XXX, although those close to Sting claim he was hoping to have a match on the show, specifically against The Undertaker.
Since Sting lives in the Dallas area, he was apparently willing to meet up with Undertaker and work out the match in advance, something that many of Taker’s past opponents at WrestleMania have done.
There is some concern in the company that Brock Lesnar may not be willing to spend all of that extra time working on the match with Undertaker, as many feel he’s only in the company because it’s a big money deal for a small amount of work.
The following are highlights of a new Wrestling 101 interview with Jim Cornette:
On working with John Cena in OVW: “”In OVW here in Louisville between 1999 – 2005 we were the developmental territory for the WWE. A lot of guys came to OVW who weren’t signed by the WWE but became signed by the WWE, because they came here to train and they got good and they ended up getting offered contracts.”
“John came from California, we got him really early on in his career but you could tell he was a natural, I thought he would actually be this generations version of a Ric Flair. He was a heel then, and he was so cocky, arrogant and good looking – he had the physique and the genetics, he could talk but they decided to go a different direction with him and he got over just as big on the other side.”
On working with Brock Lesnar in OVW: “With Brock I’ll be honest with you, he was getting paid about four or five times more than everyone else in the developmental program because of who he was. You don’t come across an athletic specimen like that who won the NCAA Heavyweight Championship everyday. However he was not a natural wrestling fan, not a natural wrestling student, he was a bit boring in the ring to be honest because he wasn’t used to being a showman. Also for a world class athlete I didn’t think he was trying five times as hard as his salary.”
“I paired him up with Shelton Benjamin who was one of the most natural wrestling school students we ever had, picked up things instantly and was exciting, so I made them a tag team. Shelton would do all the work, he would tag Brock and Brock would make a comeback and throw everyone through the roof. When he hit the WWE he became instantly exciting, remember the shooting star press he did at WrestleMania, he would do that for us and I would tell him he was crazy and to save it for the big show at the Louisville Gardens when the WWE agents are there and not in the high school halls. He did it in front of the WWE agents and they signed him directly because of that, the time he did it at WrestleMania is the only time I’ve seen him miss it.”
Check out the complete interview at Wrestling101.com.
– While Brock Lesnar is not currently advertised for the upcoming Elimination Chamber pay-per-view on February 23rd, there is a lot of speculation behind the scenes that Lesnar will be there in some capacity.
The event takes place from Lesnar’s home town of Minneapolis, Minnesota. With Lesnar declaring himself the #1 contender to the WWE World Heavyweight championship, the rumor is that he will somehow take out one of the Chamber participants.
– CM Punk is not part of WWE’s advertisements for the upcoming RAW from Chicago on March 3rd. Brock Lesnar and Batista are among the wrestlers who will be appearing.
Here’s the promotional video for the March 3rd RAW from Chicago:
As noted, there have been a number of creative meetings in the past week regarding booking the card for WrestleMania XXX. At this point, the only match that is considered a lock is John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt.
According to one source, there is a lot of back-and-forth discussion regarding Brock Lesnar’s match on the show. The original plan was for Lesnar to face The Undertaker, however some are of the belief that there is something to the tease between Lesnar and Batista on RAW recently.
Additionally, there is a lot of talk about how to use Daniel Bryan on the show. Originally, Bryan was to work with Sheamus at WrestleMania. After the crowd hijacking at the Royal Rumble, there continues to be talk of featuring Bryan in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match.
– The official WWE website ran a poll recently asking fans who is the bigger success story to come out of the Evolution faction, Batista or Randy Orton. At last check, Orton was in the lead with well over 50 percent of the vote.
– Kid Rock’s song “Celebrate” will be used one of the themes for Wrestlemania XXX.
– The Wrestlemania XXX DVD and Blu-Ray sets will be released on 5/13, according to Amazon.com.
– UFC President Dana White was not happy about Allistair Overeem calling out Brock Lesnar at Saturday night’s post-show press conference. Dana White appeared on FOX Sports last night and said:
“It was a crappy performance by Alistair. Then, he calls out someone who doesn’t even fight in the UFC. It was not a great night for Overeem.”
The following are highlights from the latest Jim Ross blog:
On the CM Punk situation: “Getting lots of feedback on the blog that I wrote about the WWE and CM Punk matter. Your opinion is just as valid as mine but no issue can be resolved in any arena without communication and the desire to communicate.”
“I fully understand that Punk is burned out and frustrated but I personally and perhaps selfishly wish that he would perform and steal the show at WM30 before taking his leave and recharging his batteries. That’s just the fan in me talking.”
On his new PodcastOne.com podcast: “Steve Austin will be my first @PodcastOne guest when my new show debuts in a couple of weeks. I’m meeting Monday with the radio station that is going to handle our production and they are all set up to take calls of which I hope is a major part of our new podcast. More info to come.”
On a new WWE HOF inductee: “Got a tip of ‘leaked info’ from a non WWE source of who will be joining Warrior and Jake the Snake in the 2014 WWE HOF class. I choose to not spoil the surprise and divulge said info and let those who like to do the ‘spoiler’ thing handle that matter. Spoiler as in info we don’t need and not Spoiler as in the late Don Jardine who was one of the greatest masked wrestlers who ever lived.”
On Brock Lesnar/UFC rumors and WrestleMania XXX: “I can see why Brock Lesnar would love to fight in the UFC again because he’s a beast who feels he’s left unfinished business behind and he’s healthy….finally. I say the former NCAA, WWE, and UFC champion has nothing to prove by returning to the Octagon as he’s got a great gig in WWE working part time for what I’d think is substantial cash….and I’m a HUGE, UFC fan.”
“Lesnar sells PPV’s when he’s hot and it’s up to WWE to get Lesnar hot between now and April 6.”
“I could easily see Lesnar challenging The Undertaker and the STREAK for WM31 and letting that matter build for a year. Lesnar gets reborn as a beast and provides the most intense threat to the STREAK that, arguably, anyone has ever presented. Just a thought….”
Check out the complete blog online at JRsBarBQ.com.
– After last night’s UFC 169 pay-per-view, Dana White commented on the rumors of Brock Lesnar being interested in returning to the fighting promotion:
“Brock Lesnar is not coming back. Brock Lesnar is not fighting. I mean does he want to come back? I mean, we’ve talked about him wanting to come back. He feels like he wasn’t 100 percent while he was here and he feels like he sold himself a little short and all the stuff that I’ve told you guys before. But, no, he’s not (returning).”
– The latest WWE Top 10 Youtube video features “Championship Droughts.”
The New Age Outlaws fell in a small list of Superstars who went many years between championship reigns. What are the top 10 championship droughts in WWE history. #1 might surprise you!
Brock Lesnar is not being advertised for next month’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, which takes place in his home market of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Batista, who is not currently booked for a match at the PPV, is advertised to appear.
Triple H hinted in his weekly sit-down interview with WWE.com that Lesnar will probably be off television for a while and will be back in the weeks leading up to WrestleMania.
With Paul Heyman stating in recent weeks that Brock Lesnar is the rightful #1 contender to the WWE World Heavyweight championship, it will be interesting to see how and when Lesnar moves into the title picture, which already involves Batista, Daniel Bryan and the participants of next month’s Elimination Chamber match.
Sheamus will be replacing CM Punk on this weekend’s WWE live events, wrestling The Shield in 3-on-1 handicap matches.
Despite CM Punk reportedly walking out on WWE this week, WWE is still promoting him for Issue #2 of the WWE Superstars comic book, which was released this week. WWE tweeted on Thursday morning: ”
– For those wondering, the word going around is that Brock Lesnar is not scheduled to wrestle another match for WWE until WrestleMania XXX in April, where he is scheduled to face The Undertaker.
– The following are some recent WWE attendance figures:
The WWE live event from State College, Pennsylvania drew approximately 3,500 fans.
The WWE live event from Canton, Ohio drew approximately 2,500 fans.
The WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania drew approximately 15,715 fans.
WWE has added the latest sit-down interview between Triple H and Michael Cole. In the interview, “The Game” discusses a number of current WWE-related topics.
HHH spoke about Paul Heyman’s demands from Monday’s RAW that his “client” Brock Lesnar be given a title shot or number one contender match. Triple H noted Lesnar must earn his shot like everyone else.
Hunter announced Cody Rhodes and Goldust vs. The New Age Outlaws in a steel cage match for next Monday’s RAW, a match that we already reported earlier today.
Triple H also spoke about Jake “The Snake” Roberts being announced as a 2014 WWE Hall Of Fame inductee. HHH called Roberts one of his personal all-time favorites.
You can watch the latest HHH and Cole interview online at WWE.com.
WWE.com is reporting that Brock Lesnar was fined $10,000 for attacking a referee at the Royal Rumble.
The ‘storyline’ report states:
“Following his actions toward the referee at Sunday’s Royal Rumble event, WWE has fined Brock Lesnar $10,000. The ruling came down less than 48 hours after The Anomaly delivered an onslaught to Big Show at the pay-per-view in Pittsburg. The carnage continued to the next night on Raw when a furious Lesnar attacked former WWE Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes and Goldust.”
– WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin noted he will be addressing the Daniel Bryan crowd reactions at the Royal Rumble on his next edition of the “Steve Austin Show” podcast. Austin tweeted:
I will cover a few topics about #RoyalRumble on #steveaustinshow. Frustrated with lack of Daniel Bryan push? Questions@steveaustinshow.com
The following are highlights from Paul Heyman’s recent interview with Mark Madden:
On rumors of Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker at WrestleMania XXX: “If the Taker rumors are true, they’re very interesting. It’s the right year and right guy for Lesnar to walk away and crush ‘The Streak.'”
On how he feels Lesnar should be presented in WWE: “It doesn’t make sense for Lesnar to be presented as just another person. He should be set aside as distinct, different, and once-in-a-lifetime.”
Check out the complete interview online at 1059TheX.com.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has posted a new blog, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
Batista’s Return To WWE: “Monday Night Raw marks the return of Batista. Dave has been away from WWE doing film work, etc for around 4 years. His return is going to be perceived by the TV viewer/WWE fan only as big as it’s made to be tonight on live television. The pressures on. When will Batista be first re-introduced on the show? If it’s me, I’d consider doing it in the last segment of the broadcast.
Establish that Batista is in the arena and then facilitate him making a major impact on night one. Much like the slogan being utilized on the WWE Network, go over the top. Certainly Batista could be paraded out to the live audience earlier and then, later, have him do a heroic run on to garner another ‘pop’ as there are always multiple ways to do something the right way in the world of entertainment and in sports.
WWE’s Promotion of The Royal Rumble: “How WWE strategically produces tonight’s broadcast has me especially anxious to watch it. There are many stories to forward all the while getting one last shot on their franchise broadcast to sell PPV’s for Sunday’s Royal Rumble. One thing for sure is that the Rumble Match needs a lot of promotional love tonight.”
Brock Lesnar & Big Show: “Brock Lesnar is scheduled to be on RAW tonight and that rare appearance can’t be taken for granted and requires creating water cooler talk in some regard. Brock is too much of an investment and has too few dates to have a pedestrian appearance for Lesnar who’s preparing to face Big Show this Sunday. Brock vs. Show needs another log on the fire.”
CBS Sports 920AM personality Larry Nickel recently interviewed WWE Superstar Ryback about a number of topics. In the interview, Ryback notes that he would like to face either Brock Lesnar or Goldberg in the future because they would both be big money matches.
Additionally, Ryback reveals his bench-press is up to 580 pounds right now, and talks about his bully character in WWE.
– It was announced on Friday’s SmackDown that all 3 members of The Shield will be entrants in the 2014 Royal Rumble match. Here’s the updated list of confirm entrants (14 remaining):
– Batista
– CM Punk
– Roman Reigns
– Dean Ambrose
– Seth Rollins
– Alberto Del Rio
– Big E. Langston
– Goldust
– Cody Rhodes
– Rey Mysterio
– The Miz
– Bad News Barrett
– Kofi Kingston
– R-Truth
– Xavier Woods
– Fandango
As noted on Thursday, UFC president Dana White spoke about the possibility that Brock Lesnar may still return to fight in the UFC in the future at the post-fight media scrum for the UFC Fight Night event in Atlanta on Wednesday. Below is the quote from White about Lesnar:
“Do we talk? Yeah, me and Brock talk. I said recently (Brock) said he had some regrets with MMA because he wasn’t healthy, because he was going through those stomach problems the whole time he was here. So he has regrets. He told me he thinks a Brock Lesnar who was 100 percent could have done much better. I told him, `you’re out of your fucking mind. You came in here with one fight, and you became heavyweight champion.”
Speaking of Lesnar, he is now official for the WWE RAW show in February in Los Angeles, California.
WWE Hall Of Famer “Nature Boy” Ric Flair will serve as the Grand Marshall at the CRA Speedfest event on January 26th at Watermelon Capital Speedway in Cordele, Georgia. For more information, visit Philly.com.
Speaking of Flair, the legendary pro wrestler attended the UFC Fight Night event on Wednesday night and met up with UFC president Dana White. Below is the post-show media scrum with White where he talks about their meeting, a lot about the WWE Network and the possibility that Brock Lesnar may still return to UFC at some point in the future.