– Cody Rhodes tweeted the following about his brother Goldust’s surprise return at the Royal Rumble, saying he had no idea Gldust was going to be in the match:
Watching TheRumble. Well handled secrecy, @WWEDustyRhodes didn't even smarten me up, didn't see Dustin the whole day, then I heard his music
Goldust posted the following message on Twitter this week, talking about his return at Sunday’s Royal Rumble:
“Man what a night! A lot of people ask me daily on twitter if i still get nervous before i go out of that curtain. Yes most def i still do and especially at the rumble when it was my turn to go out! Since i have been off of tv for some time i had no idea what kind of reaction i would get. You bet your ass i was nervous! Lol, my stomach was in knots! Asking myself how is goldie going to be received? Had no clue that the #8 entry in the royal rumble 2013 would be what it was! First let me say to the world ty from my heart for the chilling, shocking to me, response i got sunday night. Ty so much. Damn!!!!
As i am waiting my turn and the countdown has started 10,9,8, and my stomach was doing flips, and got down to 1 and my music hit and…… The wwe universe let me know right away that goldust will always be remembered as i received one of the most deffening pops that i have gotten in th 25 yrs in the biz! Holy hell what a road warrior pop! As i walked out of the entrance, all nervousness went away as it always does, and i stood there in all honesty feeling i was on the top of the world because of y’all, the fans, team goldie! The rr2013 is now the greatest moment i have had in the biz to date since wm12 with piper! To stand there and take off my wig and robe and charge cody and trade punches with my brother center stage cannot be topped! It most def was a wm moment for me!
My brother is the future of this biz as are many others but i want cody to succeed more than anybody else. The rhodes family has some serious wrestling jedi shit flowing through our veins. I know dad was at home marking out as much as cody and i were and the rest of the world with giant smiles on their faces. Even the haters were happy lol! One again i say thank you to wwe and the fans for that experience that is at the top of my list because of y’all letting me know by the pop you gave me! The world still remembers the name of goldust and will never forget it. And although cody won this battle, i dream still of wm with my brother cody rhodes.
Dont ever stop believing or dreaming because dreams do come true! You just have to go get them! Get with it and follow me on twitter at dustin_rhodes1 and my booking email is drhodesinc@gmail.com ! Ty for reading and please rt!
– WWE.com has published an exclusive video interview with Goldust, who talks about his surprise return in Sunday’s Royal Rumble match. Goldust says his beef with Cody is far from over.
– NXT trainer Bill DeMott tweeted the following about Bo Dallas’ performance in the Royal Rumble match:
“We are very proud of @TheBoDallas for representing #nxt but you might have pissed off @WadeBarrett.”
Wade Barrett replied:
“If you don’t teach these guys respect at NXT, i’ll do it for you.”
“If @TheBoDallas has any sense left, he’ll stay well clear of Raw tomorrow night and bugger off back to NXT where he belongs. #DumbKid”
As noted earlier, Bo Dallas is expected to be brought up to the main roster and it looks like he’s got his first feud established.
Cody Rhodes was interviewed by the Phoenix New Times this week to promote Sunday’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
Tag Teams In WWE: “When you talk about the overall, the renewal, I don’t know, I still want to see something from a lot of guys,” Rhodes said. “I think Damien (Sandow) and I stick out like sore thumbs because we’re very good at what we do. But we also have guys like The Usos, that’s a true tag team, they’re brothers, and I keep wondering when are they going to give themselves the kick in the ass to show us all what they can do because I know for a fact they’re extremely talented.”
Damien Sandow’s Secret Travel Schedule: “I tried to ride with him two weeks ago and he has this secret road agenda he’s up to that I’m like now curious about spying on to see what he’s doing. I have no clue,” Rhodes said. “But he basically ignored me for the first time in our long friendship because I’ve known him since OVW. So now I will never ask him again because now he offers every week, but I will never ride with him again because he’s up to something so I’ll let him get it out of the way.”
Messing With Damien Sandow: “I always try to use my little bit of seniority I have here to get under his skin. But that’s it, I really don’t rib anybody. I dress alone, I keep to myself. I’ve been there long enough I pretty much don’t like anybody,” Rhodes said. I say, ‘Such and such really hates that,’ like if he’s coming up with some sort of thought he’s going to go run by one of our producers or one of our bosses, I just try to get under his skin with a little inside politics stuff, but it’s never true.”
His Mustache: “I cannot shave it, because now it’s to the point of – I came back after 25 days from two very serious injuries. I had the foolish thought in my mind that I thought the crowd was going to maybe even react to me in a positive manner from this Rocky-like montage I had put together to get back, but instead they chanted ‘Cody’s mustache.’ So at this point I just am angry enough at everybody enough to continue to keep it,” Rhodes said.
Paying Homage To Rick Rude: “Bret Hart texted me and said, ‘Are you paying homage to Rick Rude?’ and I felt bad that it was such a long, stupid explanation for the mustache that I just said, ‘Yes.’ And now he’s really into it. I love Rick Rude. I’ve paid homage to Rick Rude in other ways.”
2nd Generation Wrestlers: “Honestly, when I hear, ‘Hey we signed such and such’s kid.’ I get a little trepidatious, because it’s so hard. It’s so difficult. It’s easy as can be when you have that legacy to get in the door, but my gosh, you have to do everything great.”
Michael McGuillicutty: “He’s like a hot button issue because he’s obviously really talented and he has his legacy and Mr. Perfect was who he was. I always looked at it and I think I’m wrong cause I don’t know anything other than what anyone else would know in this situation… It is such a bad name. But there is, certain guys have certain magic and I don’t mean to bring myself up on here but this crowd today is chanting Cody’s mustache. I feel like if my mustache is getting a certain reaction then I’m doing something right. And this type of thing when I think about Joe, if I had put together a stable of young second generations it would be Joe. I don’t, at this point, I don’t know if it will ever be Joe Hennig.”
– David Otunga is interviewed in the new issue of WWE Magazine and had this to say about the success of the former members of Nexus:
“I think everybody has been doing great. We pretty much are the new top guys of WWE. We’re all here now. Ryback just contested a championship match, and he’s got another one coming up. Daniel Bryan has been a champion before and Wade Barrett is well on his way. Heath Slater has his own crew now. I just filmed my first movie with Halle Berry. I think it all turned out better than we planned.”
– WWE superstars Cody Rhodes and The Miz exchanged some trash talk on Twitter following Monday’s RAW. Rhodes Tweeted:
Not mad. I'll still be competing at #RAW30 all while Yoshi will still be pretending to not speak English, Miz still learning the figure-four
– Cody Rhodes picked this week’s WWE Classics Five-Star Match of the Week. He selected Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich for the NWA World Heavyweight Title at the WCCW David Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions event (May 6th, 1984). Here’s what Cody said about the match:
“Fritz Von Erich actually said that David Von Erich himself was really close to being NWA World Heavyweight Champion. David’s untimely death put Kerry Von Erich [in the title picture], but Kerry would’ve become the most popular of the Von Erichs regardless of what happened just off sheer look alone. Nobody looked more like a star than Kerry Von Erich. Arnold Schwarzenegger wouldn’t take a picture with him because of that. What I remember about that match was not just Texas Stadium in Dallas being outdoors and the huge amount of people there. But the end of the match came with a simple backslide. It was a really, really beautiful thing.”
– Cody Rhodes continues to brag about how returned from 2 muscle tears and a blown AC joint after only 25 days. Cody thanked everybody who helped him get back in ring shape so quickly, tweeting:
2 muscle tears, 1 blown AC joint…25 days later HEALED. Rather miraculous…just getting started. #RhodesToTheFuture
– Next week’s 12/19 episode of WWE Main Event will feature WWE tag team champion Kane vs. Cody Rhodes in singles action.
– WWE will once again be running be running live events on Super Bowl Sunday (2/3/13), dubbed “WWE Pre-Game Pandemonium.” The shows start at 1pm in the afternoon, allowing fans enough time to get home and catch the Super Bowl.
WWE RAW Pre-Game Pandemonium (Ticket Info) takes place from Augusta, Georgia while WWE SmackDown Pre-Game Pandemonium (Ticket Info) hits Birmingham, Alabama.
– On Friday’s SmackDown, WWE US Champion mocked WWE Hall of Famer and NXT trainer Dusty Rhodes. Dusty tweeted the following in response to Cesaro’s remarks:
Fun once agin the dots show up for fun , Cesaro bad move , need to look at my body of work ,the other dream years . Old man kicks ass .
Cody published a video on Saturday documenting his training at WWE’s developmental headquarters in Tampa, Florida as he prepares for his upcoming return.
“Training camp on the road Day 2. Been my favorite drill since I was 15.”
– WWE.com has an article up looking at CM Punk passing John Cena’s 380-day WWE title reign, including an updated info-graphic showing CM Punk’s title reign compared to other champions of the past 25 years.
– Speaking of CM Punk, the WWE Champion was the #2 trending topic on Yahoo! on Tuesday night as a result of his knee surgery and the news that he won’t be wrestling at WWE’s TLC PPV next weekend.
– Injured WWE superstar Cody Rhodes tweeted a picture of himself with his dog Pharaoh. The usually-clean-shaven Rhodes is sporting a mustache in the image, which you can view below:
– WWE superstar Cody Rhodes and former WWE diva Eden Stiles (Brandi Reed) got engaged this week. Reed has launched her own swimwear collection at ConfectionSwimwear.com. Cody tweeted on Tuesday:
– Cody Rhodes tweeted the following message (and picture) late Sunday night, implying that doctors have cleared him to start lifting weights as he recovers from injury:
– After going on a Twitter rant on Sunday about John Cena and several other WWE superstars, Tyler Reks followed up with a few more tweets explaining why he felt the need to vent:
@rtking10 Sorry man. U can only bite a dog so many times before he bites back. Got bit again this week by WWE. Nose=still broken
– Brock Lesnar’s latest DVD set was the top selling sports DVD of last week.
– Tom Prichard is opening up a wrestling school in Knoxville, where he recently moved.
– Earlier this week, Cody Rhodes told WWE.com that he currently does not have a time table for his return. He probably will not need surgery, which is obviously a good thing. He’ll be checked out by doctors again in January, so he won’t be back before then.
WWE.com has a new interview up with injured superstar Cody Rhodes. Here are some highlights of what Rhodes said about:
The Extent of his Injury:”Well, honestly, the best way I’ve heard the injury described, is that I dodged a bullet. The trap tear is a grade two (on a scale of one to three), but I don’t need surgery — the tears will heal themselves over time with proper physical therapy. The separated shoulder is an old injury from amateur wrestling, and it’s basically the area that could have been considerably worse. I could have landed on my neck, but I turned just in time to land on my shoulder. The separated shoulder is where the most pain is and it’s the AC joint, but like I said, I dodged a bullet — no surgery.”
His Initial Reaction To The Injury: “I thought I broke my arm, and I was in a very bad position in the ring. You know, ring awareness is something I’ve always been fond of — having ring awareness, having mat awareness. Always knowing where I am at all times. Especially in a tag team situation, knowing if I’m on my side of the ring. I wasn’t. I was in enemy territory and Daniel Bryan had me wide open.”
“Actually, everything after Kane dropped me, I don’t remember. I remember hitting the mat one more time, and then I thought that I immediately tagged out, but watching back, there’s a whole period of a minute, a minute-and-a-half, where I faked out Daniel Bryan, who missed a headbutt and I just laid there. I didn’t know that — I thought I was much more cognizant than I was, but watching back I didn’t know that I was on the apron, I didn’t know that the doctor was tugging at my boots.”
When He Will Return To The Ring: “I am a quick healer and I can fight through pain, but I will not rush my return to the ring. There is no hard timeline for my return.”
Rhodes suffered a concussion and hurt his shoulder at Tuesday’s WWE Main Event taping in Cleveland, Ohio. His status for the Team Foley vs. Team Ziggler match at Survivor Series remains uncertain.
– This week’s WWE Classics On Demand programming updates are as follows: NWA Clash of Champions VII (6/14/89), Monday Night Wars: Nitro (7/7/97), Monday Night Wars: Raw (7/7/97), Tuesday Night Titans (8/23/85), NWA’s WCW on TBS (5/21/88).
Iron Sheik match airing are: NWF Heavyweight Champion Antonio Inoki vs. Hossein Arab – Madison Square Garden (12/17/79), The Iron Sheik vs. Caesar Pavon – AWA All Star Wrestling (2/10/79), The Iron Sheik vs. Tito Santana – WWF at Philly Spectrum (1/21/84), Sting vs. The Iron Sheik (NWA Wrestlewar ’89).
“Outrageous Personas” matches airing are: The Rock vs. The Undertaker vs. Kane vs. Big Show vs. Mankind – Raw (9/13/99), Cactus Jack, Big Van Vader, Abdullah The Butcher and The Diamond Studd vs. Sting, El Gigante and The Steiner Brothers (WCW Halloween Havoc 1991), The Godfather vs. Goldust (WWF Backlash ’99), Tajiri and William Regal vs. Hurricane and Rosey vs. The Heart Throbs vs. Maven and Simon Dean vs La Resistance (WWE Backlash 2005), Money Inc. vs. Randy Savage and Ultimate Warrior – WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event (11/14/92).
– Now that Linda McMahon’s US Senate campaign is over, there is some fear in WWE that the company will begin “future endeavoring” talent soon.
– Cody Rhodes underwent an MRI on his shoulder as well as several concussion tests yesterday. If he’s able to work Survivor Series, it will be a last-minute decision, with Tensai expected to be Cody’s replacement if he isn’t medically cleared.
– As reported earlier this week, The Miz is in line for a babyface push in the next few weeks and is currently scheduled to feud with Antonio Cesaro in early 2013. Other heel opponents discussed for The Miz are Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio and CM Punk.
– Speaking of The Miz, he accompanied his girlfriend Maryse at the launch event for her House of Maryse jewelry line this week in California. WWE Diva Eve Torres plus former Divas The Bella Twins were also in attendance.
– Damien Sandow appeared on Busted Open Thursday and was asked whether Rhodes Scholar peer Cody Rhodes will be healthy enough to compete at Sunday’s Survivor Series pay-per-view event after suffering a concussion and strained shoulder at Tuesday’s WWE Main Event taping in Cleveland, Ohio.
“He is recovering quite nicely,” said Sandow, who spoke in character during the interview. “I assure you that the appropriate actions are being taken to promote the best interests of both Cody Rhodes and Team Ziggler.”
Rhodes is scheduled for further evaluation Friday to determine if he can compete on Sunday.
– WWE will hold Raw in Las Vegas, Nevada at Thomas & Mack Center on January 28, 2013. The show takes place the night after the Royal Rumble.
– Former WWE Diva Maxine stated on Twitter Thursday that she is a spokesmodel for Artix Entertainment, a video game developer. She shot material for the company today.
– The controversial angle on RAW where Paul Heyman faked a heart attack to mock Jerry Lawler was planned several weeks ago. According to Bryan Alvarez of the Figure Four Weekly Newsletter, the angle was approved by all participating parties in advance, including Jerry Lawler.
– Former WWE divas the Bella Twins will be participating in a Twitter chat this evening as part of the New Orleans Wizard World Comic Con event. The chat takes place at 6PM PST (8PM CT). For more information, visit t.co/jnV1Qndc.
– Former WWE superstar Dustin Rhodes (Goldust) told a fan on Twitter this morning that his younger brother Cody is scheduled to undergo an MRI on Friday morning. Cody was injured at Tuesday’s WWE Main Event tapings and appeared to have injured his shoulder.
As noted earlier, WWE.com updated Cody’s condition this morning, saying that he suffered a “concussion and a strained shoulder.” His status for Sunday’s Surivvor Series will depend on the results of his upcoming medical examinations.
– At Tuesday’s WWE Main Event taping in Cleveland, Ohio, Cody Rhodes suffered a concussion and a strained shoulder, making his status for the Team Foley vs. Team Ziggler match at Survivor Series uncertain. In the event Rhodes is unable to compete Sunday in the Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Tag Team Match, Tensai is expected to be his replacement, according to PWInsider.com.
Rhodes is scheduled to undergo further testing Friday.
– SmackDown ring announcer Lilian Garcia suggested on Twitter Wednesday that she remains confined at her home after being struck by a car Oct. 27 in Los Angeles, California, resulting in multiple contusions and lacerations on the left side of her body. Former WWE Diva colleague Maryse Ouellet held a launch party in Hollywood for her jewelry line, and Garcia was unable to attend since she is still recovering from the ordeal.
“So wish I could have gone 2 ur party 2nite @maryse0uellet instead of @ home recovering. So proud of ur launch! Luv ya!” she tweeted.
Tony Chimel has been filling in for Garcia during her absence.
– An NXT Wrestling event scheduled for tomorrow at Minnreg Hall in Largo, Florida has been re-scheduled for Friday, Nov. 30.
WWE superstar Cody Rhodes appeared to be injured at Tuesday night’s WWE television tapings from Cleveland, Ohio. Rhodes competed in a match taped for this week’s WWE Main Event broadcast, teaming with Damien Sandow against WWE Tag Team champions Daniel Bryan and Kane.
During the match, Rhodes took a backdrop and landed awkwardly. Our live correspondent noted that it looked like Cody hurt his shoulder.
Later in the evening, during the SmackDown taping, there was a segment when the Team Ziggler Survivor Series team appeared – and Cody Rhodes was conspicuously absent.
We’ll follow up on this story when more details become available.
– Triple H will appear live in studio on Boomer and Carton in the Morning on WFAN in New York City Thursday promoting tickets going on sale for WrestleMania 29 on Saturday.
– WWE will hold a live event at Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland on April 18, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets go on sale next Thursday via AikenPromotions.com.
– Two matches were taped Tuesday in Birmingham, England for WWE Saturday Morning Slam
* Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso vs. Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd
* Ted DiBiase vs. Jinder Mahal
The commentators were Josh Mathews and R-Truth.
– In the following video, Cody Rhodes shows Wade Barrett a thing or two about how to play WWE ’13.
– The official WWE website has a poll asking who poses a bigger threat to WWE Champion CM Punk at Survivor Series; John Cena or Ryback? Ryback currently leads the poll 51% to 49%.
– Not only have RAW’s ratings been declining in recent weeks, delayed/DVR viewership is way down. The October 1st episode of RAW had 298,000 homes watching on delay, while October 8th had 305,000.
– As we reported earlier this week, WWE is solidly behind the Rhodes Scholars tag team. The heel duo is expected to get another title shot by the end of the year, possibly at December’s TLC PPV.
We know WWE is strongly behind Rhodes & Sandow, so it appears WWE is taking the slow build approach so their tag title win really means something when it eventually happens.
– On Monday’s WWE RAW, we saw Team Punk vs. Team Foley announced as the main event for Survivor Series. WWE has been looking for ways to feature Punk and Foley on television for quite some time.
At one point, there was talk of CM Punk vs. Mick Foley at TLC. No word on whether this is still the plan, but a hardcore stipulation match fits Foley’s gimmick perfectly and would allow him to take shortcuts, since he’s not able to work at the main event level anymore.
– On this week’s “Backstage Fallout” for Raw, Rey Mysterio addresses his and Sin Cara’s loss to Team Rhodes Scholars in the No. 1 Tag Team Title No. 1 Contenders’ Tournament to earn a title opportunity against Team Hell No at WWE Hell in a Cell this Sunday. Also, Alberto Del Rio reveals what he has planned for Randy Orton at Hell in a Cell and Dolph Ziggler offers his thoughts on Vickie Guerrero.
– Former WWE Women’s Champion Sable, 45, is now a grandmother. Her daughter, who is in her early 20’s, gave birth to a child in September, reports RenaLesnar.net.
– Heath Slater is featured in today’s “Superstar Spotlight” on WWE.com.