— The official Twitter feed of WWE has announced a 12-Man Tag Team Match for tonight’s Raw SuperShow.

John Cena, CM Punk, Sheamus, Air Boom and Mason Ryan will face Alberto Del Rio, Christian, Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger and David Otunga.

— Shelly Martinez has posted a blog and photos of her appearance this past Saturday at Sign of the Times at the Marriott Los Angeles Airport. She caught up with former WWE Divas Ashley Massaro, Maria Kanellis and Angela Fong, as well as TNA stars Velvet Sky and Christopher Daniels.

— WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy Snuka has been added to The Big Event, which takes place November 11 and 12 at the Courtyard Marriott 9010 Ditmars Blvd. East Elmhurst, New York. Visit tmartpromotions.com for more information.

At Sunday’s Hell in a Cell PPV, Intercontinental champion Cody Rhodes announced that he’s bringing back the classic IC title used in the late 80’s through the late 90’s. Rhodes pledged to return the Intercontinental title to its former glory and began this new chapter in the belt’s history by defending the gold against John Morrison.

To many, the classic Intercontinental championship reminds them of a time when the belt meant something and was held by some of the most legendary WWE superstars of all time, including Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat, Mr. Perfect, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Razor Ramon, Steve Austin and The Rock.

• We want to know – What does this belt mean to you? Could this be a real chance to rebuild its legacy? Comment Below and tell us what you think.

Check out these pictures of the WWE legends who have held this version of the Intercontinental championship:

— Though Randy Orton is presently involved in a program with Mark Henry, there is talk of building up another match against Cody Rhodes due to the amount of attention their match on Friday’s SmackDown garnered.

— Saturday’s Raw live event at the El Paso County Coliseum in El Paso, Texas drew a sellout crowd. Furthermore, John Cena was not advertised for the event.

— Former WCW talent Carmel Macklin (a/k/a Ms. Jones, Nitro Girl Chameleon) made her first wrestling related appearance in several years at Saturday’s Signamania wrestling convention in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania. In addition to acting, she now works as a Special Education Teacher in New York City.

source: F4WOnline.com

— WWE has had discussions of Booker T coming back to wrestle in a short program on SmackDown against an undisclosed opponent.

Booker T has competed in one match since assuming the SmackDown color commentator position in February. On the June 6 episode of Raw, Booker wrestled his first singles match for the organization in four years, gaining a victory over Jack Swagger via count out.

— Randy Orton’s gruesome post-match attack on Cody Rhodes on this week’s episode of SmackDown was eliminated from airings in the U.K. After The Viper strikes Rhodes with a rope-hung DDT, the international broadcast cuts to a backstage segment with Christian and Sheamus.

— WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes is scheduled to appear at Sunday’s WWE SuperShow in Lubbock, Texas. CM Punk vs. Alberto Del Rio and Mark Henry vs. Randy Orton are the top advertised matches.

source: F4WOnline.com

— Randy Orton caused Cody Rhodes to heavily bleed on SmackDown following an errant shot to the head with the ring bell. Cameras quickly cut to close-up shots of Orton’s face, with Rhodes’ back only being visible for the remainder of the segment. Personnel covered Rhodes’ head with a towel before Orton struck him with an RKO on the broadcast table.

The replay, however, showed blood streaming from the back of Rhodes’ head.

According to fans in attendance at Tuesday’s taping, pools of bloods were scattered around the ring following the segment.

— Florida Heavyweight Champion Leo Kruger was among the wrestlers gathered around the ring during John Laurinaitis’ address at the beginning of SmackDown. He worked a dark match prior to the taping, losing to Trent Barreta.

NXT talent also appeared ringside: Darren Young, Derrick Bateman, Maxine and Titus O’Neil.

— Matches scheduled to air on tonight’s episode of SmackDown are as follows:

* Sheamus vs. Heath Slater

* Justin Gabriel vs. Wade Barrett

* A.J. and Kaitlyn vs. Beth Phoenix and Natalya

* Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes

* The Great Khali vs. Jinder Mahal

* Daniel Bryan vs. Sin Cara

* Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston vs. Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso

* Mark Henry defends the World Heavyweight Championship against Christian in a Lumberjack Match

— The Miz announced this afternoon on Twitter that he has launched a YouTube Channel. He posted a video of his first words about being fired by WWE, which was filmed Wednesday during his new Sirius XM Radio show, First and Awesome.

— After R-Truth and The Miz were fired on this week’s episode of WWE Raw SuperShow, WWE.com transferred their respective profiles to the Alumni section.

— WWE has announced that Cody Rhodes will defend the Intercontinental Championship against Ted DiBiase at Night of Champions.

— Following SmackDown, Matt Striker caught up with Christian to get his thoughts on the now-rocky relationship with his former best friend Edge. Instead, the Toronto native promoted his Twitter account and called on fans to start a campaign to make him the No. 1 contender to the winner of the Randy Orton vs. Mark Henry World Heavyweight Title Match at Night of Champions.

The video can be accessed here.

— Jim Cornette turns 50 years old today while Masahiro Chono turns 48.

— Following last night’s SmackDown live event in Moncton, New Brunswick, Randy Orton, Sin Cara, Mark Henry, Christian, Sheamus, Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett were told to head to tonight’s Raw SuperShow in Ottawa, Ontario.

— Shawn Michaels is asking fans on Twitter to “Like” the Activision Hunts page on Facebook and say in a post they were sent by him. One person will win a chance to hunt with the WWE Hall of Famer this week in New York City as he promotes Activision’s Dangerous Hunts video game.

— The death of midget wrestling star Little Tokyo (Shigeri Akabane) will be mentioned in this week’s issue of Sports Illustrated. He died last Tuesday of a heart attack in St. Joseph, Missouri at the age of 71.

source: F4WOnline.com

— Cody Rhodes captured the Intercontinental Championship from Ezekiel Jackson last night on SmackDown.

After numerous head butts with his protective face mask and a key distraction by his associate Ted DiBiase, Rhodes executed a springboard kick on Ezekiel Jackson. The second generation wrestler then finished off Jackson with the Cross Rhodes to capture his first singles title in WWE.

— The Sin Cara character returned to WWE programming last night on SmackDown with developmental talent Hunico donning the mask. Hunico carries more body fat than the original Sin Cara, who was suspended last month due to a violation of WWE’s drug testing policy.

The SmackDown broadcast team made note of the noticeable physique change, with Josh Mathews saying it appeared Sin Cara put on some weight during his hiatus. The character was temporarily written off television via an injury angle at Money in the Bank.

— Johnny Curtis – winner of WWE NXT season four – was squashed by Mark Henry in his debut match on SmackDown.

— A commercial aired during tonight’s episode of NXT: Redemption promoting next week’s episode of Raw as the first show of the “post-McMahon Era.”

Also advertised is the final round of the WWE Championship Tournament as Rey Mysterio and The Miz will face off to determine the new title holder.

— Two days past his title victory over Randy Orton, Christian defeated The Viper once again in a dark match at tonight’s SmackDown taping in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The eight minute long championship match concluded with Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase distracted Orton, allowing Christian to roll up his opponent.

— Former WWE talent Sean Waltman stated last night on Twitter that the final few minutes of Triple H and Vince McMahon’s segment on Raw was “the real deal.” Waltman has since clarified his remarks.

— The July 16 episode of A.M. Raw on the USA Network garnered a 0.67 cable rating, with 821,000 viewers overall.

source: PWInsider.com

— WWE.com has announced that Ezekiel Jackson will defend the Intercontinental Championship against Cody Rhodes on this week’s episode of SmackDown.

The synopsis reads: “After competing in a brutal Money in the Bank Ladder Match, Cody Rhodes takes on Intercontinental Champion Ezekiel Jackson for his title this week on SmackDown. Can Rhodes seize the opportunity, or will the “Personification of Domination” prevail?”

— Randy Orton will participate in a live radio interview with the 93X Half-Assed Morning Show Tuesday morning at 8:30 a.m. CT. The former WWE World Heavyweight Champion will be promoting the evening’s SmackDown taping at the Target Center. Fans can listen live at 93x.com.

“The Viper” made several controversial remarks during a radio interview last month as he candidly discussed his past drug abuse, knocked the actresses who have portrayed his wife on television, claimed The Rock needs a teleprompter to cut his promos and besmirched Divas Champion Kelly Kelly.

— WWE will be holding a SmackDown live event at the Bilbao Arena in Bilbao, Spain on Thursday, November 3, 2011.

— Sin Cara suffered his first WWE loss last night on SmackDown as he was downed by Christian following the spear. Sin Cara picked up thirteen consecutive victories on television and pay-per-view prior to the loss.

— The Great Khali’s brother Ranjin Singh revealed on SmackDown that Jinder Mahal is their brother-in-law.

— Cody Rhodes pinned Intercontinental Champion Ezekiel Jackson in a non-title match on SmackDown, ending his ten match winning streak on television and pay-per-view.

— Wade Barrett lost to Kane last night on SmackDown, extending his losing streak to twelve consecutive losses on television and pay-per-view.

— Ted DiBiase lost to Daniel Bryan last night on SmackDown, extending his losing streak to seven consecutive losses on television.

— WWE.com is advertising the following for tonight’s episode of SmackDown: “The relentless brutality of Mark Henry comes face-to-face with World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton tonight on SmackDown. Has The World’s Strongest Man become something that even The Viper can’t stop?”

Other matches taking place include Daniel Bryan vs. Ted DiBiase, Sin Cara vs. Christian, Ezekiel Jackson vs. Cody Rhodes and Kane vs. Wade Barrett.

— Dolph Ziggler took to Twitter to comment on online reports that he took adult film star BiBi Jones on a date after meeting her at a Britney Spears concert last week.

He wrote, “Wow! To anyone it may concern: no, i am NOT dating anyone! and YES I do frequently listen to Britney Spears!”

— Yoshi Tatsu celebrates his 34th birthday today. In yesterday’s birthdays, Alicia Fox turned 25, Cody Rhodes turned 26 and WWE Hall of Famer Terry Funk turned 67.

– Bret Hart is rumored to be returning to WWE television in the near future. The Hitman is booked for several upcoming SmackDown shows and creative is discussing possible storyline ideas for him.

– There has been talk of the USA Network airing a new ‘preview’ show on Monday nights prior to WWE RAW, similar to what the NFL does with its pre-game show for Monday Night Football.

– Despite several botched attempts at establishing Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase as a viable tag team, WWE officials are said to be committed to getting them over on the SmackDown brand. The dynamic between The Miz and Alex Riley is being seen as a blueprint for what WWE will do with DiBiase and Rhode, with DiBiase doing Rhodes’ dirty work for now and then eventually turning babyface and feuding with Rhodes.

– Tough Enough winner Andy Leavine got screamed at backstage at RAW the night of the Tough Enough season finale. A top WWE official ripped into Leavine for about five minutes due to the way he didn’t sell the slap from Mr. McMahon and Steve Austin’s Stone Cold Stunner. Leavine was told that he’s a piece of crap who doesn’t respect the business and will never amount to anything in WWE.  As previously reported, Leavine will be heading to developmental to sharpen his skills in the coming months. Considering the heat on him, it will be interesting to see if he ever makes it out of FCW.

(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, f4wonline.com)

— Shares of WWE stock closed at $9.39 per share on Friday, hitting a new 52-week low for the third consecutive day. WWE’s stock price closed at $10.01 per share Tuesday before sliding 6.2 percent over the course of three days.

WWE stock traded as low as $9.33 per share on Friday before closing at $9.39 per share.

WWE’s stock price has continuously plummeted since the organization announced in April that their dividend price would be slashed. One year ago, WWE stock was valued at approximately $16 per share.

— SmackDown Superstar Cody Rhodes explained in an interview with WWE Magazine why he does not use the social networking site Twitter.

“I don’t want to give followers or adversaries insight into who I am. I’m thinking of having my next T-shirt read, “Cody Rhodes” on the front and, “Not On The Internet” on the back. I think Twitter is ridiculous,” Rhodes said.

“If you have time to Tweet about what you’re eating, I don’t think you’re working hard enough. I may be a workaholic—and I know I’ve been accused of that before—but I can’t see myself Tweeting to members of the WWE Universe about how I wanted my eggs over easy and they came scrambled instead. I’ll go on the record: The day Tom Hanks gets a Twitter account is the day I’ll get a Twitter account.”

The magazine editor then notes that Tom Hanks does have a Twitter account.

— Rey Mysterio and Cody Rhodes are advertised to wrestle at this weekend’s SmackDown live events since Sin Cara is touring with Raw in Mexico and Mysterio isn’t.

— THQ held their first meetings yesterday regarding plans for the WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2012 video game.

— Alberto Del Rio is scheduled for a rare autograph signing at the Best Buy in Davie, Florida on Friday, June 24 at 6:00 p.m.

— WWEShop.com has released a new WWE Divas Bling T-Shirt, a retro Raw is Waw T-Shirt and a retro WCW hat and T-Shirt.

Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes has been announced for WWE’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view event, which takes place May 1.

The WrestleMania XXVII rematch will be Falls Count Anywhere Match.

The updated line-up for Extreme Rules is as follows:

WWE Championship Triple Threat Steel Cage Match
The Miz (c) vs. John Cena vs. John Morrison

World Heavyweight Championship Ladder Match
Christian vs. Alberto Del Rio

Last Standing Man Match
Randy Orton vs. CM Punk

Falls Count Anywhere Match

Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes

Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross vs. Jack Swagger and Michael Cole

SmackDown star Cody Rhodes was interviewed this week by CLATL.com to hype his WrestleMania 27 match with Rey Mysterio. Here are some highlights of what Rhodes said about:

Wrestling Rey Mysterio At WrestleMania: “I haven’t had the opportunity to say this much, but I’m only 25, so at the time that Rey Mysterio was in World Championship Wrestling having these marathon excellent matches with Dean Malenko, I was a kid sitting on the floor watching. There’s a time to be a fan and a time to be a professional, and I’ve tried to remain professional as we move forward. But if I sit back and think about it, regardless of any personal feelings I may have about it, it’s a real privilege to be in there with Rey Mysterio. He’s one of the staples of the WWE and a staple of WrestleMania.”

Whether Dusty Will Be In His Corner At WM27: “I hope that he will mentally be in my corner, but my dad likes the young talent to shine. It was really nice to have him in Sacramento when he came out on “SmackDown,” but he’s stayed out of things moving forward, and I think that’s the way he wants it. He might be in the front row, he might be backstage, but he will probably be there in spirit.

There’s sort of an underlying thing at WrestleMania this year that not a lot of people are talking about. You’re seeing a lot of veteran superstars, Rey Mysterio included, a lot of WWE greats, most of whom are going to be Hall of Famers themselves, against new talent. It’s a younger crop of talent when you look at the Miz vs. John Cena, Alberto Del Rio vs. Edge and myself vs. Rey Mysterio. So, [my dad] is respecting that night as well. It might be a changing of the guard at WrestleMania XXVII and that would be a really special thing.”

Plans To Unmask Rey Mysterio: “Thank you for asking a question that has not been asked of me as I’ve done multiple interviews heading toward WrestleMania. I’m going on record and making a Muhammad Ali-style guarantee that, yeah, I am going to take his mask off at WrestleMania. I genuinely am going to remove his mask. I am making that known now. It is an unbreakable vow for me and I will follow through with that.”

In case you haven’t seen Rey Unmasked from his WCW days, here’s his face:

— The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has published an article on WrestleMania XXVII featuring quotes from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, as well as SmackDown Superstar Cody Rhodes. The Rock reveals his plans for the event.

“What I can guarantee in Atlanta is that I will put my boot to candy [rear-ends] live in front of 75,000 strong members of Team Bring It,” Johnson told the newspaper.

— The official website of the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. is listing Capitol Punishment in place of Fatal 4-Way. The pay-per-view event takes place Sunday, June 19. (Event page)

It’s worth noting that John Cena is not advertised for the event. Advertised are Edge, Randy Orton, The Miz, Big Show, Rey Mysterio and the WWE Divas.

— Head SmackDown writer Michael Hayes celebrates his 52nd birthday today. Today also marks as the 24th anniversary of WrestleMania III.

— WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin is being advertised to appear at the March 7th episode of WWE’s Monday Night RAW from the American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas.

As the host of the new season of Tough Enough, which premieres the night after WrestleMania 27, it’s expected that the Rattlesnake will be making a few WWE television appearances (including WrestleMania) to promote Tough Enough’s return.

– WWE has announced that The Undertaker will make his SmackDown television return next Friday night.

– Vickie Guerrero was “fired” on Friday’s SmackDown, after she teamed with Drew McIntyre and lost to Edge and Kelly Kelly. Vickie’s career was on the line, as announced by Teddy Long.

– No new matches were added to WrestleMania 27 on SmackDown, however there was a new development in the Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio storyline, which appears to be leading to a WrestleMania showdown. Cody Rhodes’ father Dusty appeared on the show and helped his son attack Mysterio.

It was reported Sunday that Rey Mysterio is working through an injury to his rotator cuff. He suffered the injury while working the SmackDown brand’s most recent tour overseas. Doctors advised him not to fly due to an inner ear infection he was suffering from at the time but company officials asked him to work the tour anyway, assuring him that wouldn’t have to work any matches. However, he was asked to wrestle while on tour, and complied, only to suffer an injury to his rotator cuff. There was much acrimony over the circumstances that led to the injury, to the point that creative had no ideas for him when his feud with Alberto Del Rio conclude.

Company officials tried make things up to Mysterio by allowing him to handpick his next opponent, which turned out to be “Dashing” Cody Rhodes. Current plans call for the storyline to continue through WrestleMania, with a likely encounter between the two.

Due to the injury, officials are limiting his in-ring work at television and pay-per-view events, as well as house shows. He’s contained in tag matches when he does work non-televised events. Mysterio is said to be hopeful that he can avoid surgery through rehabilitation.

source: Pro Wrestling Torch

— While it was THQ’s call to feature Randy Savage in the WWE All-Stars video game, WWE has to approve any character they want in the game. The video game company approached Savage on their own, as well as Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior, and had Vince McMahon approve all three character proposals.

As the game’s promotional tagline “Two Generations. One Ring.” implies, the game features current and former WWE Superstar competing in fast-paced wrestling matches.

— “Dashing” Cody Rhodes, who is being portrayed on television as though he suffered a broken nose due to Rey Mysterio, has been wearing a band-aid in public to sell the storyline injury.

— Jennifer Hudson, fiancé of David Otunga, was backstage at Sunday’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view event in Boston.

source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Rey Mysterio is presently working through a rotator cuff injury. The injury occurred during SmackDown’s most recent overseas tour and company officials have been limiting his in-ring work at television and pay-per-view events, as well as house shows. He’s contained in tag matches when he does work non-televised events.

Meanwhile, Mysterio handpicked Cody Rhodes to work his current storyline with. Current plans call for the two to face off at WrestleMania XXVII.

Mysterio is said to be hopeful that he can avoid surgery through rehabilitation.

(source: prowrestling.net)

— Cody Rhodes cut a promo at last night’s SmackDown live event at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois saying he hates Mexicans. He subsequently lost to Chavo Guerrero.

Video of the promo has surfaced online and can be accessed here.

— Jacques Rougeau (a/k/a The Mountie), who held both the Intercontinental Championship and Tag Team Championship in WWE, has decided to conclude his legendary 33-year wrestling career and concentrate his efforts on his wrestling school in the Montreal borough of Laval. At the age of 50, he now feels it is time to pass the torch. Before he hangs up his boots for good, however, he will be holding a four-show retirement tour, which kicks off tomorrow night at the Verdun Auditorium.

More information on the tour can be found here.

Rougeau doesn’t feel it’s luck that he managed to avoid major injuries throughout his career. “I wasn’t better than anyone else, just more careful,” he theorized.

— The Nov. 29 episode of Raw drew a 3.1 cable rating with 4,760,000 viewers over the course of three hours.

The show’s usual time slot garnered a 3.4 cable rating with 5,125,000 viewers. Raw drew hours of 2.65, 3.35 and 3.41.

— The Nov. 27 broadcast of A.M. Raw scored a 0.56 cable rating with 714,000 viewers.

— Layla cryptically confirmed on her Twitter account last week that she is dating fellow SmackDown Superstar Cody Rhodes.

She wrote, “I have to say I’m the most thankful to have the love of my life bf Cody In my life ….”

She also posted a photo of Rhodes’ dog Dozer, noting, “The true mr.D So thankful for him.”

source: PWInsider.com