TNA President Dixie Carter announced on Twitter this morning that WWE Intercontinental Champion Christian will be appearing at TNA Slammiversary this weekend:
“On a plane headed to Dallas for the big PPV this weekend. Very excited @Christian4Peeps is joinin us for the night. He’s one of my favorites”
When TNA allowed Ric Flair to appear at WWE’s Hall of Fame ceremony earlier this year, it was rumored that in return, TNA requested that Christian do a sit-down interview with TNA. That footage would be used for future TNA DVD releases. It’s unknown whether Christian will be appearing on camera this Sunday at Slammiversary of he’ll be there to film that interview.
Dixie Carter’s announcement could also be a sign that Christian will be the first person announced for the TNA Hall of Fame at the pay-per-view, but that is just speculation at this point.
– WWE’s 1,000th RAW will feature cameo appearances from many former WWE superstars. WWE has reportedly reached out to 20-30 legends to appear on the 3-hour July 23rd episode, which will kick off the new 3-hour interactive era of RAW.
For much more on what WWE has planned for the RAW 1,000th Episode Celebration, check out our RAW 1,000 news page.
– The WWE website has a new article up looking at Christian recently capturing the Intercontinental title – and how far he’ll go to stay champion. The article speculates that Christian, who has wrestled as a heel for a good portion of his WWE career, might resort to heel tactics:
“Considering a history of jealousy and other nefarious traits, what might Captain Charisma do to stay on top after injuries and setbacks kept him from it for so long?”
For now, the WWE Universe can merely trust that this Christian really is for the Peeps. And, if the signature smile proves to be a signal of another con job during his current title run, all we can do is simply grin and bear it.”
– Matt Striker replaced Lilian Garcia as announcer at weekend live events because Garcia was dealing with a family situation in South Carolina. She tweeted the following great news:
“In SC w my dad celebrating the fact that his test results came back negative 4 Cancer. Been a rough few months waiting 4 results! #OverJoyed”
– Christian returned to action at Sunday’s WWE Over The Limit pay-per-view, winning the People Power Battle Royal to earn a shot at either Santino’s United States title or Cody Rhodes’ Intercontinental title.
After first picking Santino’s belt, he later changed his mind and challenged Cody title and defeating him to capture the Intercontinental championship. This is Christian’s fourth reign as IC champion.
– WWE had approximately 50,000 people watching the Over the Limit pre-show on simultaneously YouTube.com, which saw Kane defeat Zack Ryder.
– The WWE website had a storyline article up during Over The Limit where the Board of Directors denied a last minute appeal from John Laurinaitis to lift the stipulation that any Superstar who interfered in his match against John Cena would be fired.
– The WWE website has begun hyping the 1,000th episode of Monday Night RAW – which will take place on July 23rd. Leading up to the milestone show, the WWE website will be looking back at RAW’s most memorable moments and interviewing past and present WWE superstars about the big show.
It’s worth noting that based on WWE promoting August 23rd, 2010 episode of RAW as the 900th episode – the July 23rd show will actually be episode #999, not 1,000. It’s unknown how WWE arrived at July 23rd as the 1,000th episode – but keep in mind, this is the same company that hyped WrestleMania 25 as the “25th Anniversary of WrestleMania” (WrestleMania 25 was actually the 24th anniversary).
– Florida Championship Wrestling sent out a press release day announcing that Christian will be appearing at Friday night’s FCW show from Orlando. Christian, who is currently off WWE television, is being advertised for a “once-in-a-lifetime meet and greet autograph/photo session.”
Recent FCW graduates and SmackDown roster members Antonio Cesaro and Damien Sandow will be in action. For more information, visit FCWWrestling.com.
– WWE video game publisher THQ has released its quarterly earnings report for for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended March 31, 2012 – including sales data for the WWE ’12 video game. From THQ’s press release:
WWE ’12 has shipped more than 2.2 million units since its launch in November 2011. The successful rebranding of this annual franchise has led to higher sell-through to date, which is up approximately 20 percent on like-for-like platforms in North America versus the year-ago title.
The stock market is not reacting well to THQ’s year-end report – down almost 12% today.
– Today’s wrestling birthdays include Colt Cabana (32) and Nasty Boy Brian Knobbs (48).
– Christian returned to action this weekend at a SmackDown live event from Asheville, North Carolina, defeating Yoshi Tatsu. Christian played the heel and told the live crowd before the match that he wants “one more championship match” – a sign that his career might be winding down.
– Bo Rotunda, son of Mike “IRS” Rotunda, also worked the live event from Asheville, defeating Drew McIntyre with a roll-up. Drew McIntyre had wrestled (and lost to) the Great Khali earlier in the night.
– Bo Rotunda’s brother, Husky Harris, returned to action at Friday night’s RAW live event from Huntsville, Alabama. Wrestling as his new “religious” gimmick Bray Wyatt, he defeated Zack Ryder in what was said to be a good match. Live correspondents who were at the show said Wyatt looked to be in much better shape than the last time we saw him on WWE television as a member of Nexus.
Check out this video of Bray Wyatt’s debut promo and first match at Florida Championship Wrestling:
— Domestic violence charges against Scott Hall have been dropped after he allegedly choked his girlfriend while intoxicated last month. Hall will not face any jail time.
Hall’s told TMZ.com that charges were “dismissed and/or rejected by the prosecutor due to insufficient evidence.” After originally telling police that Hall had been drinking for days and tried pulling her out of her car by her throat, she later changed her story and said Hall never got violent with her and they have a happy, healthy relationship.
— SmackDown star Christian has yet to return to WWE television, but is advertised to challenge Sheamus this weekend for the World Heavyweight championship. During an interview with Citizen-Times.com to promote this weekend’s live event from Asheville, North Carolina, he spoke about working through WWE’s tough travel schedule:
“We just got back from a two-week tour of Europe where we wrestled every night. It is what it is. It’s not for everybody. No matter how tired you get, when you get in that ring and hear that crowd road, everything will go away.”
– Remember The Miz? While the former WWE champion has been lost in the shuffle in recent months, his spot on the WWE roster is safe and there is virtually no risk of him being released any time soon.
– Christian was advertised to return to SmackDown this week – but he did not appear at Tuesday’s tapings. No word yet on why he was not brought back to television this week, but there are plans to feature him in the World Heavyweight title picture after Extreme Rules.
– WWE Tag Team Champions Primo and Epico will be defending the titles at an upcoming WWC Event in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico on April 28th. They will defend the WWE tag titles against a masked team called Los Enmascarados Misteriosos. Primo and Epico’s WWE contracts allow them to work a few shows a year for WWC owner Carlos Calon, who is also WWE’s local promoter in Puerto Rico.
– Christian will be returning to SmackDown at Tuesday’ tapings from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Christian returned to the ring at the European tour that just finished.
– Rey Mysterio and Kelly Kelly were at the Sarasota Film Festival in Florida this weekend, for the premiere of the WWE Studios film, “The Day.” The movie was screened twice this weekend but received no awards.
Rey Mystrio Reveals When He Can Wrestle Again
– Linda McMahon will release her 2011 income tax return soon after her campaign initially turned down a request from opponent Chris Shays. McMahon filed for an extension on her tax return this past week but “intends to make it public once the paperwork is complete.”
– Christian, who returned to the ring this week, is interviewed in the latest WWE Magazine and said this about his future with the company:
“My work here isn’t done by any stretch of the imagination. Even though I’m a veteran, I still have a lot to strive for and a lot to work for. I haven’t gotten a lot of things, or done some of the things that I feel I need to do yet.”
– Three Stooges actor Sean Hayes appeared on Conan’s late night TBS show this week and said he was embarrassed to host WWE RAW earlier this month and said he would never attend a WWE event.
– Here are some recent WWE attendance figures from this week’s European tour, courtesy of f4wonline.com:
– RAW on April 11th in Moscow, Russia drew 6,500 fans
– RAW on April 12th in Gdansk, Poland drew 7,000 fans
– RAW on April 13th in Stuttgart, Germany drew 6,000 fans – a sellout
– SmackDown on April 14th in Manchester, England drew 10,000 fans
– RAW on April 15th in Nottingham, England drew 8,000 fans
– RAW on April 16th in London drew 10,000 fans
– SmackDown on April 17th in London drew 7,500 fans
Christian made his long-awaited return to the ring this week during WWE’s ongoing tour of Europe. At this week’s SmackDown show from Sheffield, England, Brodus Clay and Booker T defeated the team of Christian and Mark Henry.
Christian sprained his ankle several months ago and has been out of action ever since. He was booked to compete in the Team Johnny vs. Team Teddy match at WrestleMania 28, but the decision was made to pull him from the match and give him a few more weeks to heal up.
– At the press conference that took place just hours before WrestleMania 28, The Rock named Brock Lesnar as one of the people he’s looking to wrestle.
– Christian is being advertised for the upcoming SmackDown live event from Salisbury, Maryland on June 9th. Christian will get a shot at the Big Show’s Intercontinental title. The main event for the show will see Daniel Bryan challenge Sheamus for the World Heavyweight title in a Last Man Standing Match. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
– The next 3-hour RAW Supershow will take place on June 11th from Hartford, Connecticut. Tickets go on sale this Friday.
— Christian is being advertised to face Big Show for the Intercontinental Championship at SmackDown house shows in June.
Also advertised for the events is Sheamus defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Daniel Bryan in “Last Man Standing” bouts.
— Rosa Mendes, manager of WWE Tag Team Champions Epico and Primo, continues to voice her displeasure with the group being treated unfairly. She wrote on Twitter Tuesday afternoon in regards to not Epico and Primo not competing in a match on Monday’s Raw SuperShow, “We didn’t grace the #usa network last night!!! I love the fact that my alpha male partners are undefeated!! Champions 4 life!”
— WWE will hold a Raw live event on June 23, 2012 at the WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, West Virginia. The event begins at 7:30 p.m. WWE Superstars advertised for the event include John Cena, CM Punk, Kane, The Miz, Dolph Ziggler and Kofi Kingston.
— Two matches are advertised for tonight’s episode of WWE SmackDown on Syfy as Alberto Del Rio will face World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus while Randy Orton battles Kane in a WrestleMania XXVIII rematch. If Del Rio can defeat The Celtic Warrior, he will earn a chance at the World Heavyweight Championship.
Other matches airing include R-Truth vs. David Otunga and Mark Henry in a Handicap Match and Divas Champion Beth Phoenix vs. Nikki Bella. Also slated is the SmackDown debut of Ryback, who formerly competed as Skip Sheffield.
— WWEShop.com has released a Daniel Bryan Yes Authentic T-Shirt.
— Christian appears for Florida Championship Wrestling on May 18 at Orlando Armory 2809 S. Ferncreek Ave. Orlando, Florida. Belltime is 7:00 p.m.
– Following his World Heavyweight championship win at WrestleMania 28, WWE officials are reportedly planning a lengthy title run for Sheamus.
– Christian is in line for a World Heavyweight title shot after Team Laurinaitis was victorious over Team Long at WrestleMania. Christian was pulled from the match due to injury, it remains to be seen if he will still get the title shot.
– WrestleMania 28’s Trendrr.tv Social Media Activity score was 1,419,160 – the most social television show on Sunday night by far. To give you an idea of why WWE was touting WrestleMania as the “Social Media Event Of The Year” – January’s Royal Rumble scored a 230,974 social media score.
– There was heat on The Rock among some of the Legends and talents in Miami this week for not attending the Hall of Fame ceremony on Saturday night. No word yet on why he didn’t attend.
– There was a push in Miami this weekend for WWE to begin pushing some of the younger talents on the Road to WrestleMania 29 next April.
WWE sources have confirmed that Christian was pulled from the WrestleMania 28 Team Laurinaitis vs. Team Long match because of issues with his ankle. There was hope that he’d be able to compete with the injury, but the decision to pull Christian from the card was made on Monday.
As for why Alberto Del Rio is not booked for the show, he was originally booked to be a member of Team Laurinaitis, but WWE officials felt the match was “below him” and not fitting for a former WWE champion in line for a big push in the coming months. That said, it’s worth noting that former champions Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger and The Miz are all in the match.
WWE is planning a dramatic return for Alberto Del Rio after WrestleMania and Randy Orton has been discussed as his next big feud.
Despite being pulled from the 12-man match, both Del Rio and Christian will be in attendance this Sunday and will likely appear on camera.
— On Monday’s RAW, WWE ran an angle where CM Punk finally snapped as a result of Chris Jericho’s taunting and delivered a devastating beatdown on Christian. It was announced during RAW that Christian was injured and “was medically ruled out” of the Team Laurinaitis vs. Team Long match at WrestleMania 28. WWE.com is reporting that Christian re-aggravated his neck injury and cannot compete this Sunday.
No word yet on whether Christian is legitimately injured, but the fact that he’s been pulled from WrestleMania just days before the show is an indication he is indeed injured.
Drew McIntyre will replace Christian on Team Laurinaitis.
— Vince McMahon is said to be “fired up” as WrestleMania 28 approaches this weekend.
McMahon apparently made several revisions to the RAW script on Monday and has not been indecisive at all. One source backstage described him as “energetic.”
Vince also apparently struck up several random meetings with talent backstage to talk about their storylines, which is unlike him.
4 new chapters from former Barbaric Wrestling Radio host Brett Buchanan’s The Genesis of TNA free e-book have been released on BarbaricWrestling.com and TNAbook.net. The new chapters are about Christian Cage’s TNA run, Samoa Joe, Scott D’Amore booking committee (which includes a story about a TNA employee leaking news), and TNA’s scramble to find a TV deal in the summer of 2005. You can read all 18 chapters that have been released thus far simply by entering ‘The Genesis of TNA’ section on BarbaricWrestling.com. New chapters are released every Monday. Also check out some free shoot interviews with many wrestlers and MMA fighters including Rob Van Dam, Samoa Joe, Rampage Jackson, Jay Lethal, and many more to come on Barbaric Wrestling Radio’s YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/BWRofficial. Below is an excerpt from The Genesis of TNA ‘Chapter 18: Christian Cage’ about Christian’s TNA run and the reason he left.
LARRY ZBYSZKO: I liked Christian, but again here’s the deal with guys like Christian. Christian I think is a great talent in terms of working and watching him on TV but he’s not a big money draw. What TNA was doing is they would get guys that every wrestling fan knows is a mid card guy and they try to put him off like a superstar. So all they’re basically doing is saying hey we’re TNA and we’ve got all of Vince’s left over guys that you don’t care about anymore. They really should have made their own stars and forget bringing in Christian, bringing in other guys maybe outside of a couple. Or if you do it do it right bring Christian in and have the TNA guys beat him and then get Christian out of there, so it looks like the TNA guys are great.
In November 2008 Christian decided to leave TNA and return to WWE when his contract expired. Many rumors spread that he was frustrated with Jeff Jarrett’s creative vision of TNA and that he was upset with the way he was being used, stories spread regarding this as far back as 2007. Despite this, the main reason Christian left TNA was because WWE were simply offering him more money.
RUDY CHARLES: I was really disappointed when he left, I think I’m not sure what the whole situation was, probably came down to money is my opinion. He probably wanted X amount, and there was a bidding war between TNA and WWE and WWE won. He was a professional, even when he knew he was going out the last thing you saw of Christian Cage on TNA was getting beat down by the Main Event Mafia but he was a pro to the end. He went out and did his job and helped get those guys over, I think he’s a true professional.
PETEY WILLIAMS: I remember when he left [in 2008], at that point it was a whole different locker room morale than when we first got down to Orlando, what was that 2004 or something. It was just totally different, I don’t know if you could just see the change because I’m one of the few guys who had been there from 2004 to that point. It was like a whole different company, it didn’t seem like everybody was on the same page. It almost felt like everybody was out for themselves. I think they were, I think Christian did the right thing he was looking out for himself. He’s probably like this isn’t for me I’m going to go back. Honestly I know he took a big pay cut to come to TNA, he was making way more in WWE. I think he just wanted to have a change really, see if he could elevate this company. He had a lot of great matches and stuff like that did a lot of great things for TNA, that’s what I’m thinking now that he decided that he did as much as he could with TNA and I’m going back. I’m going where the money is.
SONJAY DUTT: I heard it was over pay, but if you put yourself in this guys shoes if he’s got an opportunity to go back to Vince [McMahon] and make the money that he was making compared to what he’s doing in TNA. Also man a lot of the time for guys it’s not just about the money but it’s about being presented in a bigger light, and he wanted to do other stuff I think he wants to do acting and stuff and maybe WWE is the ticket to jumpstart himself into other ventures and stuff. Guys that have been there and done that and then come to TNA they sometimes at a point, I think you kind of realize the ventures I want to do, maybe this isn’t the catapult that I need to get into those other things and he went back. I think it’s pretty much cut and dry.
BILL BEHRENS: Christian honestly was pretty happy. One of the primary reasons Christian didn’t renew with TNA had very little to do with him being unhappy with how well he was being used and all that kind of stuff, it had a lot to do with the financial crisis and the fact that Christian has a really nice expensive house and even though he had been wise and invested his money, he invested his money. All of the sudden the nest egg didn’t become as big a nest, and another run with WWE where you can make real money became a better idea. TNA wasn’t going to belly up to the bar and give Christian the same kind of money that he has as an upside in a WWE deal. The reality of the WWE deal is not your downside, but what you can make on the upside. I was talking, for example, to a recently released talent who just got his commission check from a video game and the commission check was for $20,000. There is no one at TNA right now on an entire commission check from all merchandise that makes that much, on a quarterly basis it just doesn’t happen. That’s the dramatic difference between the two. Jeff Hardy had as little as $150,000 downside at WWE, when he left had made well over 1 million dollars in the previous year, which is one of the reasons Jeff Hardy can sign with TNA and make considerably less money, dramatically less.
Extreme Pro Wrestling Radio with Edge
Hosts: Big D, Crisco, and Road Warrior Animal
Available at KFAN.com.
Edge on his actual retirement plans:
“I was going to get through WrestleMania 27 and then wrestle through the year and call it quits after WrestleMania 28. So I was planning on sticking around for another year.”
Edge on whether it was easy to retire knowing that if he continued it could affect his quality of life:
“I had no choice. The WWE medical staff kept a real close eye on my health and the situation with my neck and we knew it could be anytime now. They wouldn’t clear me to compete so it was pretty easy.”
Edge on who is inducting him into the Hall Of Fame:
“Christian. The WWE asked me the other day and it wouldn’t make sense to have anyone else. I mean if I showed up and Sarge (Sargent Slaughter) was inducting me, I’d be like, ‘I love ya’ Sarge, but why you?”
Edge also confirmed the release of his DVD set the first week of April.
— Before tonight’s Raw SuperShow at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center, Interim Raw General Manager John Laurinaitis announced two new members of Team Johnny for WrestleMania XXVIII—Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger. They join captain David Otunga, Christian and Mark Henry. Announced for Team Teddy is captain Santino Marella, Kofi Kingston and R-Truth. Both teams will feature six WWE Superstars.
To view Laurinaitis’ video announcement, click here.
— Renowned rapper Flo Rida, whose hits “Wild Ones” and “Good Feeling are the official themes for WrestleMania XXVIII, will perform at the event in Miami, Florida. He will not be the only musical artist appearing at WrestleMania as John Cena invited Machine Gun Kelly (MGK) to perform his entrance theme at the event. (Article link)
— The announced attendance for tonight’s Raw SuperShow at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was a sellout crowd of 18,088.
– Friday’s SmackDown will feature Christian hosting the Peep Show with special guests Teddy Long and John Laurinaitis.
– On Monday’s RAW, the Undertaker made an error during his in-ring promo with Shawn Michaels, incorrectly stating that WrestleMania is taking place on April 21st.
– Next week when RAW Supershow takes place from Philadelphia, John Cena will wrestle Mark Henry. Triple H, Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker will have an in-ring confrontation and The Rock will also be there.
— WWE.com has raised speculation that Christian will be appearing at tonight’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event after the WWE Superstar tweeted a postcard last night from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the location of the event. In an article, the website ponders whether he will appear on the show.
Greg Adkins writes, “Is he actually in Wisconsin’s largest city? Or is he pulling another prank on the WWE Universe? If he is there, will he compete at tonight’s Elimination Chamber? And what would his arrival signal within the ranks of WWE?”
He continues, “To find out if Christian will indeed reemerge to shock the WWE Universe, be sure to watch the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view live at 8 ET/ 5 PT.”
— A photo has surfaced online of Lilian Garcia on the set of her upcoming music video for Ur Girl (Til the End of the World). The video is set for release on March 1.
— Tuesday’s SuperSmackDown LIVE! will air live in the United Kingdom at 1:00 a.m. on Sky Sports 3.
— Late Saturday night on Twitter, Christian teased a return at tonight’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event emanating from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He tweeted a picture of a postcard reading “Love from Milwaukee,” which WWE retweeted.
— Goldust is campaigning for WWE to release a DVD set highlighting his career.
“Come on @WWE ….the @WWEUniverse wants a goldust greatest hits dvd….make it happen or ill come to stanford for #shattered dreams,” he wrote on Twitter.
— “The Queen of Extreme” Francine turns 40 years old today Sunday while former fellow ECW alumnus Danny Doring turns 38. Gavin Spears, who briefly appeared on WWE’s ECW brand, turns 31.
— Eve appears at the National Guard Armory in Milwaukee, Wisconsin today at noon for an autograph session.
— Updated advertising for the March 12 Raw SuperShow at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio confirms a bout pitting The Undertaker and Triple H at WrestleMania. The description on the official website of the Quicken Loans Arena says, “What will HBK have to say about the confrontation between his long-time friend (Triple H) and WrestleMania foe (The Undertaker)?”
— Former WWE performer Dave Bautista (a/k/a Batista) will be playing the role of Diaz in the upcoming Chronicles of Riddick 2 movie starring Vin Diesel, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He will appear in “9/10ths of the film” once filming and editing is complete.
— Christian wrote the following on Twitter about an individual claiming to be Edge for a scheduled appearance in New York later this year:
“If ur planning on going 2 meet Edge @ autograph session @ Omega Sports, Queensbury, NY Apr 21 he WON’T be there..Unfortunately owner of store was fooled by someone claiming to represent Edge.. Hopefully something like this doesn’t happen again.”
– Fans of Christian and Alberto Del Rio should be excited to hear that both superstars are scheduled to return to action very soon.
Christian has been advertised for a match against Sheamus this weekend at WWE’s SmackDown live event from the Cow Palace in San Francisco. The Cow Palace’s preview has since been updated, with Alberto Del Rio now scheduled to face Sheamus in a special “RAW vs. SmackDown Challenge match.”
Del Rio is also advertised for Sunday’s SmackDown live event from Bakersfield, California.
As for Christian, it’s unclear whether he’ll be returning to action this weekend, but multiple sources have confirmed he’s ready to return.
– The WWE RAW crew has landed in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. for the company’s first international tour of 2012. The company will hold a press conference prior to their three-show tour, which begins on Thursday and ends Saturday. The RAW crew will then return to the US, heading to San Diego, California for RAW on Monday.
– Former WWE developmental wrestler Peter Orlov (Alex Koslov) confirmed his WWE release on Twitter:
“It is true. I have been granted free agent-ism. John (Laurinaitis) confused me when he used a variation of his infamous ‘future endeavored” line.”