– WWE developmental wrestler Dean Ambrose was back in action at Sunday night’s WWE RAW live event from Alabama. He worked as a heel, and cut a promo before his match with Alex Riley, which he lost .
– Cody Rhodes has responded to a recent report by SuperLuchas.net that stated he failed a Wellness Policy test but was not suspended because he was able to provide a valid prescription for the substance in question. He tweeted on Monday:
So apparently some luchas site was curious in my physical growth…working harder than my gen is not cheating. Never failed, never will.
– Three matches were taped Tuesday night in Indianapolis, Indiana for this week’s episode of WWE Superstars: Tyson Kidd vs. Heath Slater, WWE Divas Champion Layla vs. Natalya and Justin Gabriel vs. Cody Rhodes.
In a pre-taping dark match, Brodus Clay squashed a local wrestler whose name was not announced.
– WWE will hold a SmackDown taping in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the Consol Energy Center on December 18.
– Trish Stratus will appear at the Boots and Hearts Music Festival on August 11 in Bowmanville, Ontario. The festival boasts a star-studded line-up of over thirty country music artists including Tim McGraw, Kid Rock, Carrie Underwood, Lionel Richie, Alabama, and Big and Rich. Additional details are available here.
– It was announced on Raw that WWE Chairman Mr. McMahon will appear on this Friday’s episode of SmackDown to announce the new SmackDown General Manager.
– Cody Rhodes defeated Zack Ryder in dark match prior to Raw at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio,
Just prior to showtime, there was a minor incident involving the show’s pyrotechnics and as a precaution, the limited number of people in the venue during the incident were evacuated. The fire marshal issued safety clearance for the show to proceed as scheduled at 8/7 p.m. CT. However, due to time constraints, no WWE Superstars matches were held.
– Via Twitter, Jim Ross weighed in on Daniel Bryan’s Street Fight against World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus on Raw: “Does Daniel Bryan ever have a bad match? $2 steak tough. He’s a product of hard work & desire. Same can be said for Sheamus. Physicality!”
In his first match since flooring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson with a clothesline and subsequent Go to Sleep on Raw 1,000, CM Punk appeared as a babyface at Saturday’s SmackDown live event at Freedom Hall Civic Center in Johnson City, Tennessee. He retained the WWE Championship in a Triple Threat Match against Daniel Bryan and Kane. Attendees largely ignored his apparent heel turn on Monday as he was loudly cheered throughout the match.
Chris Jericho rekindled his partnership with Christian as the duo took on Cody Rhodes and Dolph Ziggler. Ziggler donned a Jericho “WANNA-BEE” T-Shirt, which Jericho ripped off during the contest. The match concluded with Jericho striking Rhodes with the Codebreaker.
Drew McIntyre appeared as a babyface on the show as he rushed the ring to aid Ted DiBiase from an attack courtesy of Camacho and Hunico—after DiBiase defeated Hunico due to interference from Camacho. The third generation wrestler then proposed they have a tag team match, which all agreed to. The match concluded with DiBiase escaping Hunico’s sleeper attempt and hitting him with Dream Street.
Other match results were Kaitlyn over Natalya, Jinder Mahal over Percy Watson, Justin Gabriel over developmental wrestler Leo Kruger and World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus over Alberto Del Rio in a Last Man Standing Match.
– Former WWE wrestler Dustin “Goldust” Rhodes is now on Tout and posed a video stating that he wants to wrestle his brother Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 29.
During a recent interview with the Pro Wrestling Torch livecast, Rhodes revealed that he pitched the idea of a match vs. Cody at WrestleMania 28 to WWE management earlier this year, but it was squashed by Vince McMahon. In the same interview, Goldust expressed interest about appearing at RAW 1,000, but said it was unlikely since he was released not too long ago.
– A hearing is set for November 16th in Bridgeport, Connecticut regarding WWE’s motion to dismiss the remaining allegations brought by Martha Hart and the Owen Hart estate. Both Vince and Linda McMahon are being sued personally as part of the lawsuit.
– Former WWE star Shane Helms wrote that Amy “Lita” Dumas and WWE Champion CM Punk went out of their way to alienate themselves at the San Diego Comic Con this past weekend.
Punk and Lita have been romantically linked for several months and have made many public appearances together (including WWE’s Hall of Fame Ceremony earlier this year).
Check out these pictures of Punk and Lita together at a restaurant last week:
– It’s being speculated that Val Venis will make a cameo appearance on tonight’s Raw SuperShow since the program emanates from his billed hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada and the official WWE website posted several videos on Sunday highlighting his career. When asked via Twitter whether he would appear for the organization again, he responded, “Not so long as they support sopa/cispa.”
– Alex Riley announced on Tout that he will be facing former Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes tonight in Las Vegas, Nevada and wanted fan feedback on what strategy he should use to defeat him. Riley, however, did not indicate whether the match will be dark, or take place on Raw SuperShow or WWE Superstars.
– Fozzy release a brand new single “Sandpaper,” via iTunes Tuesday. The single is taken from Fozzy’s upcoming new album, Sin and Bones, which is due out August 14 via Century Media Records.
– Former WWE Diva talent Maria Kanellis stated on Twitter that AfterBuzzTV.com’s recap show for Raw SuperShow will return next Monday night.
During a recent interview on the Pro Wrestling Torch Livecast, former WWE wrestler Dustin “Goldust” Runnels confirmed online reports that there were plans for him to wrestle his younger brother Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 28 – and revealed why the match never took place.
Goldust said he pitched the angle to Triple H and WWE’s writing team and got good feedback on the idea. When it was presented to Vince McMahon for approval, the WWE chairman declined. Goldust was disappointed but understood it’s their choice.
He is adamant that the encounter “could have been money” and would still like the match to occur should he return to WWE in the future.
A live caller said there would be no Attitude Era without Goldust, but Rhodes said he has not been contacted to appear at the 1,000th RAW Celebration. He is currently recovering from recent shoulder surgery and still hopes to win the NWA World Heavyweight championship, the belt his father held, before he retires.
– Cody Rhodes announced Wednesday via Twitter that he will wrestle Kane at Thursday’s WWE NXT taping at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. The WWE Divas are also scheduled to appear and WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross will call all the action. (Event Information)
Rhodes noted that this will be his first encounter with The Big Red Monster.
– Former WWE talent Dave Bautista (a/k/a Batista) stated on Twitter that he will be appearing at this week’s San Diego Comic-Con to promote The Man with the Iron Fists, a film he appears in. He will be tweeting announcements regarding the movie in the ensuing days.
– WWE will hold a Raw live event at the Westchester County Center in White Plains, New York on Saturday, September 22 at 7:30 p.m. Ticketmaster.com is holding a pre-sale through Friday at 11:59 p.m. with the passcode WPWWE. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Saturday at 10:00 a.m.
– Former WWE talent Shane Helms (a/k/a The Hurricane) turns 38 years old on Thursday.
– On SuperSmackDown LIVE: The Great American Bash, a fight between Damien Sandow and Zack Ryder left Eve—wearing a white dress—completely covered in punch. Backstage Fallout caught up with Eve to get her reaction to the party mishap. Tyler Reks also reacts to whether he feels guilty for Ryback’s massacre of Curt Hawkins. Also offering comments on SmackDown events are Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan and Sgt. Slaughter.
– Lilian Garcia will sing the National Anthem on Sept. 30 prior to the NFL game between the New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
– Former WWE announcer Todd Grisham is in Las Vegas, Nevada covering UFC 148</em. and will be interviewing company president Dana White for MMA Live on ESPN.
– Following his appearance on Raw SuperShow, Diamond Dallas Page has been added to the Alumni section on WWE.com.
– There was talk in recent weeks of Cody Rhodes winning the SmackDown brand’s upcoming Money in the Bank match. Cody did not qualify on Friday’s SmackDown, but he is currently protesting WWE’s Board of Directors for a spot in the match. With more qualifying matches taking place on Tuesday’s live SmackDown special, expect to see Rhodes qualify tomorrow night.
– As reported earlier in our RAW preview, expect to see at least one more wrestler added to the RAW brand’s Money in the Bank match. WWE.com is teasing:
“Thus far, John Cena, Big Show, Chris Jericho and Kane are the only competitors announced for the contest, but we’d be surprised if a former champion or two didn’t rear his head from an unexpected location and throw his hat (so to speak) into the mix.”
– WWE Tag Team Champion R-Truth hinted on Twitter over the weekend that he could be on RAW tonight. Due to an injury, Zack Ryder replaced R-Truth and tagged with Kofi Kingston at this weekend’s live events.
– Cody Rhodes is 27 years old today. He was born on June 30, 1985.
– Cody Rhodes says he is quitting Twitter after his 100th tweet because he does not like using the social media service. He currently has 98 tweets.
– Cody Rhodes told WWE.com that after he and David Otunga failed to qualify for the SmackDown brand’s Money in the Bank match, he plans to file a formal protest with WWE’s Board of Directors.
– With WWE featuring legends on recent episodes of RAW (Vader, Sid), there has been talk that Diamond Dallas Page will be brought in for Monday’s show to wrestle a match.
– JBL’s Seven Summits adventure has begun. The former WWE superstar left for Russia yesterday with the WWE flag he plans to plant at the top of Mt. Elbrus, the highest peak in Europe.
– The debut episode of Steve Austin’s new Redneck Island reality show on CMT this past Saturday drew a 0.42 cable rating with 665,000 viewers. It was the highest rated CMT show for the day. Austin tweeted the following about the show’s successful first week:
“It’s a damn crying shame that Canada, Australia, England, and other great countries cannot get CMT Redneck Island. A damn shame. Spreading Redneck Island around the globe is my newest task. Yes…To provide quality entertainment and content across the globe. #CMT #BSR”
– Cody Rhodes was asked on Twitter this week who (or what) has helped him improve his mic skills in recent years. Rhodes replied:
“speech therapy CDs, then realizing we all can’t talk like news anchors and burning said CDs. Bogart…”
– Cody Rhodes is the latest WWE superstar to get the attention of Paul Heyman on Twitter. After re-tweeting several messages from the former Intercontinental champion, Paul heyman wrote the following about the second generation superstar:
“#NowFollowing @CodyRhodesWWE Hey, don’t follow him. Be stuck in the past. ‘Cuz the future will be Living Out The Dream!”
– After even more flight delays, the WWE RAW crew finally arrived in Brazil around 3am Eastern time early Thursday morning. WWE will hold its first-ever show in Brazil tonight from Sao Paul before heading to Ecuador for a live event tomorrow night.
– Jim Ross mentioned on Twitter that he was interviewed this week for the upcoming CM Punk DVD project that’s in the works.
– In a ruling that will affect WWE, TNA, UFC and boxing, Oklahoma’s state Attorney General ruled this week that the state PPV tax is unconstitutional. Up until the ruling, a percentage of every pay-per-view buy was taxed by the state.
Earlier this week, news broke that WWE had strongly considered having Daniel Bryan defeat CM Punk for the WWE Championship at Over The Limit. Punk walked out as champion, but the fact that he almost dropped the title could be a sign that Punk stock was on the decline. This is not the case, as we can confirm WWE is firmly behind keeping the Chicago native at the top of WWE for months to come.
Punk will be continuing his feud with Daniel Bryan at least through No Way Out next month. After Daniel Bryan, WWE has been discussing feuding Punk with former Intercontinental champion Cody Rhodes.
Rhodes indicated earlier this week on Twitter that he is taking “time off.” Despite Rhdoes’ tweet, he will appear on Friday’s SmackDown and will confront the man who defeated him for the gold at Over The Limit – Christian.
It’s possible that Cody Rhodes will take time off soon, but a WWE title feud with CM Punk could take place this summer.
— Cody Rhodes appears to be taking a hiatus from the squared circle after losing the WWE Intercontinental Championship to Christian on Sunday at Over the Limit. He stated Monday afternoon via Twitter, “Time off.”
— Rosa Mendes thanked fans for their support after she was involved in a multi-car accident in Las Vegas, Nevada Friday evening. She stated via Twitter:
“Just want to thank everyone for their texts, messages, and phone calls. Its nice knowing I have people that care me.”
Released from the hospital late Friday night, Mendes suffered serious whiplash but no other major injuries were reported.
— To promote the Mattel WWE Legends King Kong Bundy action figure (available exclusively at MattyCollector.com), WWE.com has released a video package on the man known as “walking condominium.” (View)
— WWE Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes revealed on Twitter that he will partner with Daniel Bryan tonight on Raw SuperShow in a tag team match against WWE Champion CM Punk and United States Champion Santino Marella.
— Syfy will air SmackDown live on Tuesday, July 3; the event takes place at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. Ticketmaster.com is holding a pre-sale this Thursday at 10:00 a.m. with the password SMACK.
— Monday’s broadcast of Inside Edition featured a piece on Jennifer Hudson and fiancée David Otunga visiting Six Flags in Illinois 24 hours after the songstress’ former brother-in-law was convicted Thursday of murdering her mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew.
— Former WCW and WWE talent Robert Fuller (a/k/a Col. Robert Parker, Tennessee Lee) turns 61 years old on Monday.
— Pro Wrestling Torch reports that during an autograph session Saturday afternoon at Delaware Army National Guard, WWE Intercontinental champion Cody Rhodes teased that he may be jumping ship to the Raw brand when WWE holds their annual Draft.
— The Miz hosted a ‘be a STAR’ anti-bullying rally for Woodlawn School students in Schenectady, New York on Friday. The WWE Superstar shared his experiences about being bullied and advised students to never laugh at bullies and to show tolerance and respect. (Article)
— WWE Magazine has released a limited edition “2012 Roster” issue featuring profiles and pictures of all of the WWE Superstars.
— Trendrr.TV reports that last night’s episode of WWE SmackDown saw a slight increase in social media activity with a score of 53,839. Last week’s show scored 50,470.
– With WWE building towards a Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H match at SummerSlam, it’s been confirmed that plans for Lesnar to feud with Randy Orton have been scrapped.
– Another employee from WWE corporate has departed. International media distribution sales manager Marcos Milanez recently left WWE for a position in Turner Broadcasting.
– The feud over the Intercontinental championship between Cody Rhodes and the Big show is expected to culminate at next Month’s No Way Out pay-per-view.
WWE’s angle on RAW this week with Cody Rhodes running away from the Big Show and getting counted out is setting the stage for a cage match where Cody can’t escape and has to go toe-to-toe with the 7 foot giant.
(Sources: Figure Four Weekly, Pro Wrestling Insider)
WWE Intercontinental champion Cody Rhodes recently spoke with the Toledo Free Pressand spoke about a number of topics, including what it was like growing up the son of Dusty Rhodes, starting off his career as a referee and what he’s learned from John Cena. Here are some highlights of what Cody said about:
Growing Up The Son of Dusty Rhodes:
“For me, I didn’t really pick up on the fact that he was, like, Dusty Rhodes, until about the time that I was in middle school. For me, he was always just dad. He was retired, not really as heavily involved. We got outside of the suburbs a little bit, and through other friends of mine’s parents I figured out how much that he’d done in the wrestling industry. I’d been to a lot of shows where he was a prominent figure, but I didn’t know how much he had done, especially in the late ’80s.
Being a Wrestling Fan As A Kid:
“I was a fan, but I don’t think I knew how much of a fan I was.”
His Decision to Become a Wrestler When he was a Teen:
“It was hard for my mother to take, because I never explored the options of doing anything else. It was just like it was set in stone. I think that’s what made it worse for even her — she couldn’t even say anything to change my mind.”
Starting out as a Referee in Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling:
“For me, it was just as exciting as being the one wrestling. The referee has a lot of control that I don’t think a lot of people realize in the ring. And I got the same rush performing as I did as a referee, especially as a teen.”
Getting Experience At Ohio Valley Wrestling:
“I also got a very firm grasp on how big of a fan I was. I was told when I was going to Louisville that you’re gonna eat, sleep and breathe wrestling. And I thought I’d have some outside interests. And from the time I entered, I never had any outside interests. When we weren’t at [training], we were at somebody’s apartment, watching WWE 24/7. And when we weren’t there, we were eating, and I was learning about diet and training — that was something I never had any access to. My dad was not a body guy. And in this day and age, when a company has evolved to where a lot of the specimens you see on TV are carved from stone, that was all new to me.”
Learning from John Cena:
“I spent a year driving Cena around when I was on the Raw brand. The goal was to learn a lot about him, what he does in the ring, how he has gotten where he has gotten, but also to learn a lot about merchandising and marketing, pretty much all the things he does. And I’d say I learned a great deal on what it takes outside of the ring. He’s noted as being one of the most hard-working people in entertainment, and he is. If you want his job, you have to work as hard as he does. And it is much easier said than done.”
WWE holds their fourth annual Extreme Rules pay-per-view event tonight at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. The following seven matches have been announced for the show:
* John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar (Extreme Rules Match)
* World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan (2-out-of-3 Falls Match)
* WWE Champion CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho (Chicago Street Fight)
* Randy Orton vs. Kane (Falls Count Anywhere Match)
* Intercontinental Champion Big Show vs. Cody Rhodes
* United States Champion Santino Marella vs. The Miz
— WWE.com is advertising a Six-Man Tag Team match for tonight’s episode of SmackDown on Syfy as World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus, Randy Orton and The Great Khali will join forces against Cody Rhodes, Daniel Bryan and Mark Henry. Other matches airing include AJ vs. Natalya, Brodus Clay and Hornswoggle vs. Camacho and Hunico, Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso vs. Darren Young and Titus O’Neil, Ryback vs. James Lerman and Big Show vs. Alberto Del Rio.
— Brodie Lee, who recently signed a developmental contract with WWE, will report to Florida Championship Wrestling shortly. He concluded his independent wrestling commitments over the weekend.
— WWE Hall of Famer “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase has changed his Twitter handle to twitter.com/MDMTedDiBiase.
— Former WWE star Johnny Stamboli turns 35 years old today.
— Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson wrote on Twitter that he has a surprise in store for Monday’s Raw SuperShow in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
He wrote, “PHILADELPHIA! Damn good to be here – been too long. I have a little surprise for you on RAW. #EyeOfTheTiger.”
— Going against his word, Cody Rhodes is now on Twitter at codyrhodeswwe. His first message is a video post in which he states that unlike Big Show’s record of wins at WrestleMania, his mind can change.
— This week’s episode of WWE Vintage Collection highlights WWE Hall of Famers. Matches and segments are as follows (thanks to Devin Cutting): Road Warriors WWE Hall Of Fame induction video and speech; Road Warriors vs. Doom (WCW Power Hour – February 23, 1990); Dusty Rhodes WWE Hall Of Fame induction video and speech; Dusty Rhodes vs. Big Boss Man (WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event – November 25, 1989); Edge WWE Hall Of Fame induction video; Edge vs. John Cena vs. Rob Van Dam (WWE Monday Night Raw – July 3, 2006).
– With WrestleMania 28 just over two weeks away, Intercontinental champion Cody Rhodes is said to be working through a few nagging injuries. According to a report at f4wonline.com, Cody has been seen limping around backstage at recent live events and was noticeably in pain backstage the past two weeks.
This time of year is especially rough on the WWE crew, with everybody working extra hard during the buildup to WrestleMania. Despite his overall soreness, Cody will be able to wrestle Big Show at WrestleMania and is expected to retain the Intercontinental championship.
– We reported earlier this week that Jim Ross is in Tampa, FL evaluating WWE’s developmental talent at Florida Championship Wrestling. Former intercontinental champion Goldust is also at FCW this week. He tweeted on Tuesday:
“Thanks to chris hero and xavier woods for the great workout at fcw…..”
“Great to see fcw boys today and @JRsBBQ ….love passing on my knowledge to to future of the business”
– Many WWE legends will be appearing at the WrestleMania weekend festivities, including Roddy Piper, Terry Funk, Dory Funk Jr., Jimmy Hart, Gerald Brisco, Hacksaw Duggan, Paul Bearer, Tony Atlas, Gene Okerlund and Hillbilly Jim.
– Seth Rollins, a WWE developmental wrestler, challenged Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental Championship at Sunday’s SmackDown live event in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was a back and forth match which concluded with Rhodes hitting Cross Rhodes on Rollins for the pinfall victory.
Rollins is touring with the SmackDown roster this week. He beat Drew McIntyre the previous night in East Lansing, Michigan.
– Chris Jericho stated on Twitter that his light-up jacket malfunctioned at Sunday’s Raw live event in Buffalo, New York. He wrote,
“Great show and crowd in Buffalo tonight! No casualties either…except for my jacket. Time to call in the electronic pit crew at #raw….”
– Former WWE manager Paul Bearer has been announced to appear at Wizard World Philadelphia Comic Con, which takes place June 1-3 at Pennsylvania Convention Center 1101 Arch St. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is being advertised under his real name, Bill Moody.