– The Hall of Fame inductions for Edge, the Four Horsemen and Mike Tyson will be spotlighted on the one-hour special next Monday before RAW next Monday night. This year’s Hall of Fame ceremony will not air (live or on tape delay) on Saturday night, when the event takes place.
– WWE ran another promo during Monday’s RAW for the new Lord Tensai character, who will be played by Matt “Albert” Bloom. This week’s video showed another person with Tensai, played by developmental wrestler Sakamoto. Sakamodo, who currently wrestles at FCW, was trained by former WWE superstar Taka Michinoku
The WWE has website posted the following translations of the Japanese phrases that were shown during the vignette:
“It was said he would find himself in a faraway land.”
— Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson discusses how he overcame failure to become The Most Electrifying Man in All of Entertainment in a “Once in a Lifetime: The Rock vs. John Cena” exclusive video.
— WWE developmental wrestlers Antonio Cesaro, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Xavier Woods all mentioned on Twitter that they will be competing at next week’s WrestleMania Axxess in Miami, Florida.
— The March 23, 2012 episode of WWE Vintage Collection featured WWE Hall of Famers competing against each other. Matches that aired are as follows (thanks to Devin Cutting): Billy Graham vs. Curt Hennig (WWF Championship Wrestling – January 8, 1983), Paul Orndorff vs. Pedro Morales (WWF Prime Time Wrestling – March 2, 1987), Texas Tornado vs. “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase (WWF television taping – February 18, 1991), Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat vs. Terry Funk (WCW Clash Of The Champions – June 14, 1989), The Fabulous Moolah vs. Sherri Martel (WWF live event – August 28, 1987), “Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs. Eddie Guerrero (WWF SmackDown – November 16, 2000).
– Jim Ross and William Regal will be among the WWE personalities at tonight’s Florida Championship Wrestling show in Orlando, Florida.
Jim Ross teased on Twitter that he could do some announcing at the tapings. William Regal noted that he’s looking forward to seeing Dean Ambrose compete tonight:
“I can’t wait to get to FCW in Tampa tomorrow to see that dear boy,Dean Ambrose.For what I an about to do to you,may my children forgive me.”
— WWE Hall of Famer The Iron Sheik turns 69 years old today.
— The 1-hour Rock vs. John Cena preview show that will air on the USA Network on Monday, March 26th (prior to RAW) will be called, “Rock/Cena – Once In A Lifetime.” The show will replay the day before WrestleMania on Saturday morning, 3/31 at 9am EST.
– The “History Lesson” promos featuring The Rock that aired on Monday’s RAW were actually shot on Sunday, according to PWInsider.com. The Rock came arrived in Boston on Saturday and was backstage all day at the TD Garden.
– Rey Mysterio featured on one of the official Wrestlemania t-shirts, another indication he’ll be involved in the event in some capacity.
– Alberto Del Rio and developmental star Dean Ambrose were backstage at Monday’s RAW. Del Rio returned to the ring over the weekend and is ready to return to television whenever the creative team has something for him. Ambrose worked SmackDown’s live events over the weekend and is also waiting to get called to television.
(Props to pwinsider.com for some of the info used in this report)
McIntyre, who was fired by SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long last Friday on SmackDown, cut a promo prior to the match proclaiming that his lawyers had found a loop hole and a victory over his opponent would give him his job back.
— World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan stated the following on Twitter Sunday regarding Ring of Honor’s 10th Anniversary show in New York City: “Congratulations to Ring of Honor for celebrating their 10th Anniversary tonight… I wouldn’t be where I am today without the people there.”
— Smashing Pumpkins frontman and independent wrestling promoter Billy Corgan will appear on Chris Jericho’s Rock of Jericho show this Saturday at 5:00 p.m. on XM 164.
— Zack Ryder plans to release Z! True Long Island Story based action figures in the near future.
– Tonight’s WWE RAW Supershow takes place from the US Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona. It is the final RAW before Sunday’s 25th anniversary Royal Rumble pay-per-view.
Advertised locally are John Cena vs. Kane and CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler.
Injured stars Alberto Del Rio and Sin Cara are being advertised for tonight’s show, although it’s unknown whether they will actually appear. Sin Cara is expected to be out of action for several months and the latest we’ve heard about Del Rio is that he wouldn’t be back in time for the Rumble. The ad promoting Del Rio and Sin Cara also mentions Chris Jericho, so it’s not as if the ad is outdated, since Jericho just returned.
Randy Orton, who returned to action on Sunday, is also scheduled for tonight’s show.
– Developmental stars Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose impressed WWE officials and reportedly have spots on the main roster but have not been called up yet because of Triple H’s new policy that creative must have a longterm plan in place for new talent before they debut. (Credit: f4wonline.com)
– Former ECW star Lou D’Angeli (Sign Guy Dudley and Lou E. Dangerously) recently spoke about the end of wrestling at the old ECW Arena. Here is an excerpt…
“My take is this…move on. The Arena is a shell of amazing moments, personalities, and above and beyond all; fans. I will be forever grateful to not only have had my first ever show but my last ever show there. However, ECW was to wrestling what Nirvana was to music…did the Arena help that? Possibly. The Philadelphia Civic Center also helped the NWA and the Spectrum the WWF…every promotion had its staple venue…its staple city…and we all go down together in a blitz of fun memories, maybe violent also, possibly sexual, possibly scandalous and say “Hey, that was sick…that was a sick place…it was perfect…we are happy to have been part of it…”
– As we reported last week, WWE has registered the trademark “Fear My Name.” The catch phrase is expected to be used for new WWE star Dean Ambrose, who used the line several times during promos he cut prior to his matches at live WWE events
– Jim Ross has commented on a potential Cody Rhodes vs. Goldust match at WrestleMania 27, noting on Twitter that he would be surprised if it happened.
– Beth Phoenix posted an updated photo of her swollen face from Monday’s RAW. While the swelling has gone down, the Glamazon is now sporting a nice shiner:
– Haku’s son Donny Marlow debuted on Superstars last week as the mystery man alongside Hunico. He is seen to have potential, but at 33 years old, he’s not that young any more and WWE felt its time to take the training wheels off already.
– Seth Rollins is going on the road with WWE next week. He’s seen as the FCW star with the most potential, despite not being as polished as they’d like. The hope is that he learns to connect with the crowds better after getting experience working live events.
– While Seth Rollins is viewed as the developmental wrestler with the most upside right now, Dean Ambrose is right behind him and is a more well-rounded talent. Ambrose can talk and is a better worker than many of WWE’s main eveners.
– With CM Punk and and Daniel Bryan’s recent success as well as the potential of Rollins and Ambrose, the stigma behind being an “indy” worker is not as bad as it was even six months ago.
— WWE developmental wrestler Dean Ambrose wrestled a dark match prior to Monday’s RAW from Philadelphia, losing to Ted DiBiase via Dreamstreet. Prior to the match, Ambrose cut a promo making fun of the people of Philadelphia and warning everybody to stay out of his way when he’s in WWE.
— Matches taped on Monday night for this week’s episode of WWE Superstars include:
* Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston vs. Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks
* Alex Riley vs. Michael McGillicutty
— WWE will hold a Raw SuperShow on Monday, March 19, 2012 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Tickets go on sale Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. via ComcastTix.com.
Developmental wrestler Dean Ambrose (formerly Jon Moxley) wrestled his first series of WWE matches this weekend. Ambrose wrestled Daniel Bryan on Friday and Saturday night – and we’re hearing that the matches received rave reviews.
Video has surfaced of Ambrose’s match with Daniel Bryan from Friday night – check it out here:
Developmental wrestler Dean Ambrose (formerly Jon Moxley) wrestled his first series of WWE matches this weekend. Ambrose wrestled Daniel Bryan on Friday and Saturday night – and we’re hearing that the matches received rave reviews.
Ambrose is viewed as the wrestler with the most breakout potential at FCW and will be called up to the main roster sooner than later.
Ambrose along with former ROH Champion Seth Rollins (formerly Tyler Black) are said to be far and away the most talented wrestlers at developmental.
Many within WWE (as well as fans familiar with their work) have very high hopes that Ambrose and Rollins are the next crop of superstars and a sign of where WWE is headed with their style of wrestling.
– WWE developmental wrestler Dean Ambrose competed in his first match before a WWE crowd at Friday’s SuperShow in Fort Myers, Florida. He lost to Daniel Bryan in a comedy match.
The former Jon Moxley signed a developmental contract with WWE in April and is considered one of the top wrestlers in Florida Championship Wrestling. His series of matches with Seth Rollins this year have garnered rave reviews.
– John Cena indicated Friday on Twitter that he will not appearing at Sunday’s pay-per-view event, WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs.
“I will watch and enjoy TLC. Above all I am a fan,” he wrote during a Q&A session.
– Former WWE star John Morrison is advertised to appear at Frank & Son’s Collectible Show 19649 E. San Jose Ave. City of Industry, California on Saturday, February 18, 2012 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
– The Miz is scheduled to appear on Thursday night’s edition of Conan O’Brien’s late night TBS talk show to promote the upcoming “Tribute To The Troops” special. The Conan website previews The Mizs’ appearance:
“The last time WWE Superstar The Miz came by, he gave Conan the nickname ‘The Ginja Ninja.’ We have a feeling our nickname would be “The Delicate Hypochondriac.” Which is not intimidating at ALL. Check out the actually-intimidating Miz in action on the WWE Tribute to the Troops special.”
– To update the health status of Barry Windham, he’s said to be doing much better – but still has a long way to go before he gets back to 100%. Windham suffered a heart attack last month.
– Maria Menounos, host of the celebrity news show “Extra,” tweeted the following about her her training for her celebrity bout at the WWE Tribute to the Troops taping next week in North Carolina:
“Started training for WWE Thursday p.m. and a.m. So bruised and beaten up. Trained in an outdoor ring during our mini L.A. hurricane…Gotta work really hard if I’m going up against Beth Phoenix and the gang. Nervous…ok terrified…can’t turn back now, can I?… I went through the basics the other night – hip toss, arm drag. etc. Will learn more this week!”
– Two of the top talents at WWE developmental are set to be evaluated by WWE producers, as FCW standouts Dean Ambrose (Jon Moxley) and Seth Rollins (Tyler Black) will be appearing at live WWE events later this month.
Check out this match between Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins from the September 18th episode of FCW television – an FCW 15 Championship Match with a 30 minutes time limit.
CM Punk visited Florida Championship Wrestling over the weekend (10/21) for an autograph session with the fans – and got called out by FCW star Dean Ambrose (formerly Jon Moxley).
Not only did Ambrose call out Punk – he challenged him to a match, which turned out to be the main event of the show.
Check out these videos of Moxley calling out Punk and their match at Friday’s FCW show from Kissimmee.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. Ross spoke at length about Sunday’s Survivor Series pay-per-view. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
The Finish of the Main Event: “The conclusion of the Survivor Series seemed to provide more questions than answers regarding the focal point of the promotion, the free or fired stipulation put on John Cena. One has to assume that there will be significant follow up on this matter on Monday Night Raw from Orlando. Will we be surprised at what we hear on Raw? Will Cena indeed be leaving WWE? How could Cena be reprieved?”
Kaval vs. Dolph Ziggler: “Good to see Kaval compete in a WWE PPV bout after all his year’s of paying his dues. I like Kaval’s style and have always been a fan of Ziggler’s in ring work. Dolph had some excellent bouts with Rey Mysterio a year or so ago and I feel that Kaval could also really light it up versus Rey down the road.”
Morrison vs. Sheamus: “Morrison vs. Sheamus featured two men that WWE has seemingly advanced more at this time than some of the aforementioned athletes and Morrison upsetting Sheamus surprised me. I did not see that one coming which made the match end up being more enjoyable. IMO Morrison has a ‘touch’ of a young HBK in him in some shape, form or fashion and we can only hope that some day Morrison will be compared to the legendary Shawn Michaels in more detail. However, there are miles to travel before that might happen as performers like HBK come along once in a generation if we’re lucky. Nonetheless, the more physical Morrison is the better I personally like him as opposed to the more ‘finesse’ version of Morrison. John was very physical at Survivor Series.”
“Sheamus is a keeper, without question, whose best days are obviously still ahead of him even though Sheamus has had a taste of what it’s like to be WWE Champion. And, yes, I get the fact that Sheamus is the first “Irish born WWE Champion.” Got it. Check. 10-4.”