The following are highlights from a recent interview with WWE Superstar Dolph Ziggler:
On his first memory of watching WrestleMania: “WrestleMania IV when they had the tournament for the title (won by Randy Savage). I was cheering for Ricky Steamboat. I was a big fan of Steamboat as a kid.”
On his dream opponent for WrestleMania: “Shawn Michaels.”
On his favorite match in WrestleMania history: “Shawn Michaels vs. the Undertaker at WrestleMania XXV (won by the Undertaker). They could have just had a good match, and we would all still be talking about it. But they went out and had one of the best storytelling matches of all-time. I went into the crowd and just watched it.”
Check out the complete interview online at NOLA.com.
Following Friday’s edition of WWE SmackDown, some new items have been revealed for this coming Monday’s edition of WWE RAW.
RAW on Monday is scheduled to feature, among other things, an official contract signing between Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan for their Hell In A Cell match for the vacant WWE Championship at the WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view.
WWE Hall Of Famer Shawn Michaels, who will serve as the special guest referee for the aforementioned Orton-Bryan title match, will also be appearing on Monday’s RAW.
Also announced for RAW on Monday, as we reported previously, is Triple H “dealing with the Rhodes Brothers” for winning the WWE Tag-Team Championships from The Shield’s Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns on last week’s show, as well as more information on “The Game” stripping Big Show of his name.
Finally, WWE will follow-up on the storyline concussion that RAW General Manager Brad Maddox suffered after being on the receiving end of a Big Show knockout punch on Friday’s SmackDown.
On Monday’s live edition of WWE RAW, a new match with an added stipulation was announced for the WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view, which emanates from Miami, Florida on October 27th.
It was announced by RAW General Manager Brad Maddox that a “Beat The Clock Challenge” would take place to determine whether Paul Heyman or CM Punk would get to select the stipulation for Punk’s match against Ryback at the Hell In A Cell pay-per-view. Ryback would take on R-Truth, while Punk would take on Curtis Axel. Ryback defeated Truth at 5:44, while Punk defeated Axel at 5:33.
It had already been revealed earlier in the night by Heyman that if Ryback won, the match with Punk would be a two-on-one handicap match against both Ryback and Axel. Since Punk won, he decided to keep it a two-on-one handicap match, instead featuring Ryback and Heyman against himself in a Hell In A Cell match.
With that now known, here is an updated look at the official lineup thus far for this year’s WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view:
Vacant WWE Championship Hell In A Cell Match with Special Referee Shawn Michaels
-Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton
World Heavyweight Championship
-Alberto Del Rio (c) vs. John Cena
Hell In A Cell Handicap Match
-CM Punk vs. Ryback & Paul Heyman
Stay tuned to SESCOOPS.COM for further updates to the WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view lineup, and make sure to check back on Sunday, October 27th for the best live results coverage of the show on the internet.
WWE recently announced a WWE Tag-Team Championship match for tonight’s live edition of WWE RAW. Current champions, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns of The Shield, will defend their titles in a rematch from the WWE Battleground pay-per-view, as they take on Cody Rhodes and Goldust.
Also announced for tonight’s RAW, as previously reported, is the return of WWE Hall Of Famer Shawn Michaels, who will serve as the special guest referee for the upcoming WWE Hell In A Cell rematch for the vacant WWE Championship between Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan.
Make sure to check back here at the website at 8:00pm E.T. for detailed, live play-by-play results coverage of WWE RAW.
The official WWE website has released their “Five-Point Preview” for tonight’s edition of the show. In the preview, WWE.com confirms that the special guest referee for the Hell In A Cell main event between Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan, WWE Hall Of Famer Shawn Michaels, will be appearing on the show.
Regarding HBK’s appearance on RAW tonight, WWE.com wrote the following:
With WWE Championship Match special guest referee Shawn Michaels now confirmed by WWE.com to appear on Raw, what twists and turns lie ahead on the path to the place where rivalries are settled? WWE.com has five possibilities for Monday night’s Raw.
-As previously reported, WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley will have WWE cameras present at his comedy show in Long Island, New York on November 17th. Apparently, the footage WWE is shooting is for a new documentary that is scheduled to be released in 2014. Foley noted on Twitter that in addition to the November 17th show, his show in New York on November 3rd will also have cameras present to film footage for the documentary.
-WWE is working on a new “Shawn Michaels WrestleMania Matches” DVD and Blu-ray set, which is reportedly scheduled for a WWE release in either February or March of 2014. According to HBK’s official Twitter account, he shot interviews for the DVD-set while he was in town for WWE RAW last Monday night.
-The following is a new interview with WWE Superstar Ryback. In the interview, Ryback speaks to members of the Abu Dhabi media, including comments about how he feels working with Paul Heyman in WWE is going to take him to the next level. He also talks about how he dislikes the internet.
-Apparently there were already plans in the works to bring back both Shawn Michaels and John Cena to WWE television prior to the Battleground pay-per-view situation. As noted in a report a few weeks ago, it leaked out during a radio interview that HBK was scheduled to return to WWE television. Additionally, Cena was in talks with the company about returning earlier than expected as well.
-Speaking of Cena’s return, many have questioned if his match at the upcoming WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view will be a one-time-only appearance. According to one source, Cena is returning full-time with the company, and his scheduled appearances in New York and on an upcoming overseas tour, both of which were reported weeks ago, will now include Cena working matches as opposed to simply appearing.
The reason WWE is stacking the deck so heavily at the upcoming WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view is due to reported concerns that they may have alienated their pay-per-view buying audience with the way they have handled the main event situation on the past couple of pay-per-views.
As noted previously, fans demanded refunds following the recent WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view due to the fact that they paid for a finish that was completely erased and overturned less than 24 hours later on the free WWE RAW television show that followed the next night. Additionally, fans were loudly chanting “refund, refund” after the non-finish to Sunday’s WWE Battleground pay-per-view in Buffalo.
Due to the fact that WWE has handled the main events, which are what pay-per-views are largely sold on, so poorly at their last few shows, the feeling in the company is they need to regain that trust with their pay-per-view buying audience at Hell In A Cell, which is why there seems to be such emphasis on guaranteeing a legitimate finish in the main event, as well as other major selling points to support it underneath. Basically, the company is stacking the deck so heavily that it pretty much guarantees that anyone who buys the show this time will get their money’s worth.
For those reasons, WWE has brought back John Cena earlier than expected for a match against Alberto Del Rio, as well as guaranteed a new WWE Champion in the third-straight pay-per-view main event between Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan. While they basically guaranteed a winner for the same match at Battleground, they are stressing that this match will be in a Hell In A Cell, which assures viewers that there will be no outside interference, and they have Shawn Michaels as a special guest referee to give further confidence to their fans that there will be a legitimate outcome this time around.
On Monday’s post-Battleground edition of WWE RAW, the main event for the October 27th WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view from Miami, Florida was announced.
In a move that should come as a surprise to absolutely nobody, it was announced that a rematch between Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan would be held in a Hell In A Cell match, where a new WWE Champion was guaranteed to be determined on the night.
Additionally, it was announced that the match would feature a special guest referee. RAW General Manager Brad Maddox announced that there would be three WWE Hall Of Fame candidates for the WWE Universe to vote for, with the man receiving the most votes being the official for the contest. The three options were Booker T, Bob Backlund and Shawn Michaels. The man who received the most votes, and will officially be the referee of the match, was Shawn Michaels.
So there you have it. Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan in a Hell In A Cell match at the next pay-per-view, with special guest referee Shawn Michaels.
SESCOOPS.COM reader Phil Johnson sent along the following:
Former WWE Superstar Antonio “The Promise” Thomas recently took some time to take part in a Q&A exclusively with PWMania.com. Thomas spoke on a number of topics from his time in WWE and still wanting to accomplish more with the company, wanting to wrestle Shawn Michaels, his indy career and more. Here are some highlights:
Tell us a little bit about your stint in WWE, how was that? “Being in WWE was a dream come true-you are with the best and on the biggest stage and, of course, the money isn’t bad either… I wish my time there was more than 2 years, but it gave me a chance to live my lifelong goal.”
Are you still in contact with anyone in WWE and is a return to WWE ever something you would consider if given the chance? “Yes, I am still in contact with people there. If it were right for the company and for me, I would definitely consider a return. I never wanted to leave and wanted to, and still want to, accomplish many things there.”
Is there any one wrestler that you would like to have a match with if given the opportunity? “The one wrestler I would want to work with, hands down, would be Shawn Michaels.”
You can read the interview in its entirety at PWMania.com.
WWE Hall Of Famer Shawn Michaels recently appeared on 810-AM sports radio in Kansas City alongside his television co-star Keith Mark. During the interview, the radio show host said, “And Shawn’s doing great, he’s going to be doing some really great things on Raw over the next couple weeks.” Michaels downplayed the comment and mentioned that he must be looking at “all those Twitter things.”
As noted previously, Michaels and Mark will be throwing out the ceremonial first pass at the upcoming NFL game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Dallas Cowboys at Arrowhead Stadium.
It should be noted that HBK is not in any of the official WWE advertising for upcoming RAW shows, although he would fit seamlessly into the current storyline between Triple H and Daniel Bryan, given his history with both guys.
The following are highlights from a recent Maxim interview with former WWE Superstar Chris Jericho:
You’ve always been fond of bringing comedy into the wrestling ring. If you had to choose between comedy, wrestling, and your band, Fozzy, how tough is that call to make?
If I had to drop one of them, I don’t know if I could do the other two, because they’re all kind of intertwined. It’s all show business, it’s all part of being a showman in the year 2013. You’re always going to have the sticklers and the haters that are like, “Yo, you’re a wrestler, you can’t do anything else.” And those are the people that, if that’s the way you feel, then fine, go f*ck yourself – if you don’t like it, step aside and let the people that do like it get a better seat.
As far as your wrestling career goes, who is the best opponent you’ve ever worked with?
Probably Shawn Michaels. I think he’s probably the best total package wrestler of all time – he could do it all, and was a big influence of mine when I was first starting. That storyline, the feud I had with him in 2008, that was one of the best programs not just in my career, but in the entire history in of the WWE. It’s always cool when you start out as a fan and then become an ally where you’re working together. It’s the same with music – Fozzy toured with Metallica, and it was like, “Here I am with the band that influenced me to get into music.”
Some WWE fans have complained in recent years that the company seems to really push huge guys that can’t actually wrestle all that well, at the expense of experienced all-rounders, like yourself. What’s your take on that?
I don’t see it that way. Wrestling is all about new talent and new turnaround of the stars. I could be the main event guy there for 20 years, but there’s going to have to be other guys that come into that picture or else it’s pretty boring and business will go really bad. There’s only so much Jericho or so much HHH or so much Rock people can take. So you try different guys – some of them are bigger and don’t really have the talent, they have more of the look. Some guys are small and go against the traditional WWE superstar, but yet are so damn good they make it to the top – I’m talking about guys like Eddie Guerrero, or even Shawn Michaels or Daniel Bryan right now. You have guys who would never be the typical WWE superstar, but because they were so damn good, they would rise to the top of the mountain. You have to realize that if you have 60 guys on the roster, the WWE is going to try and get every one of those 60 guys to world championship level. Some of them will make it, the majority won’t, but until you try, you just never know. Everyone’s got to get a full chance, if not, why are they even there on the payroll?
Check out the complete interview online at Maxim.com.
Former WWE head writer Alex Greenfield recently spoke to John Pollock of The Fight Network this week to discuss a number of WWE related topics. Below are highlights from their discussion:
On Vince McMahon wanting to censor Christian’s face on TV with a blue dot: “Right before I started, there was a big show, I think it might have been in Toronto. Christian was just so completely over, and everybody thought he was going to get a push at, I think it was the World Heavyweight Championship at that point. We were on the plane one time shortly after I started, and Vince was just like “God damn, I just don’t like his face. His face really bothers me.” I was like, “He’s ugly, Vince?” “No, it’s not that he’s ugly, it’s just, I don’t know, it’s ratty! You know what we should do? That Kennedy gimmick.” And we’re all like, “What?” Some see-on of the Kennedy fortune I guess got arrested for rape in the 1990s at some point. When the woman who was accusing him was on the stand, all of the networks put a blue dot over her face. Vince was like, “God damn, you know what we should do? We should put a blue dot over his face whenever he comes out.” It was the flight to Sheffield, England, also the flight where the Spirit Squad idea was invented. This was a whole flight of bad ideas.”
On a backstage segment Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels had in 2005: “I always found Shawn to be an entitled prick. He tried this s*** with Angle one night; Angle wasn’t having it, and threw him around like a rag-doll. I remember I was supposed to do some sort of stand-up interview, a backstage deal with Angle afterward, and Shawn comes up like a house of fire, like “You were taking liberties!” And it’s because Shawn was booked to lose a match and started his overselling nonsense, because that’s the kind of thing he always did because he’s a guy who hated losing. I don’t argue with anyone that, when he’s working with friends in exactly the way he wants, yes, he’s one of the best performers of all time. That doesn’t mean you’re one of the best performers of all time, though, if you can’t do it with people who aren’t your friends.”
The following are highlights from a recent WWE.com interview with WWE Hall Of Famer Shawn Michaels. The interview focuses on HBK’s former student, Daniel Bryan.
On whether or not he saw Daniel Bryan having a future in WWE due to his size: “I always tried to be honest with him. I knew he was talented. And I knew he was going to face the same uphill battle that every guy his size does, myself included, and it was simply a matter of if he had the patience and the ability to adjust in areas where other people thought he needed to adjust — as far as personality, character, things of that nature.
“I saw him as a young man who had a very good blueprint for how he wanted to work out his career as far as the order in which he wanted to progress, which was learning his in-ring skills and honing them to a point where he felt very secure in his ability and could then build on that incredibly solid foundation. And he was always very open and excited. It certainly wasn’t very tough to get him to go to Japan the first time. When that opportunity came, he was still at our school. I knew he was one of the guys that we wanted to send and he was thrilled about it and he fell in love with it. I think that was one of his building blocks, certainly, in establishing the phenomenal in-ring ability that he has today.”
On his work prior to WWE in Japan and Ring Of Honor: “Well, I kept up a little bit with the things in Japan. I would get updates on him from guys I corresponded with, and then certainly when I came back to work in WWE on a full-time basis, I always heard things through the grapevine. Then, obviously, he came in on a number of occasions for tryouts. And through, again, other guys in the locker room, I always heard how he was progressing in Ring of Honor.
“But honestly, I was never really concerned about checking up on him. In my opinion, I knew it was only a matter of time. Every time he came in for a tryout, so to speak, I would ask him how it went and then I would sort of say, ’It’s really up to you whenever you want to leave what you’re doing and come here. And when you come here, it will still be an uphill battle.’ Not to imply in any way, shape or form that I called him years ago and I take any credit for anything, because I don’t.”
Check out the complete interview online at WWE.com.
-John Cena missed the WWE live event on Sunday in Oakland, California, the only house show on the books for WWE this past weekend. While no reason for his absence was given, WWE ring announcer Justin Roberts did tell the live crowd that refunds would be available for those who requested them. We will have a full live report from the WWE show in Oakland, which also featured the in-ring return of The Big Show, later today.
-WWE Hall Of Famers Dusty Rhodes, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat and a special APA reunion are all scheduled as the headline attractions for the Legends Of The Ring convention in Monroe, New Jersey this October. For more information, visit LegendsOfTheRing.com.
SESCOOPS.COM reader Carl Dantes sent along the following:
Meet Shawn Michaels and his MRA team at the Field and Stream Shop Grand Opening in Cranberry Township, PA on Friday August 16th from 3-5pm and Michaels will be signing autographs and taking pictures plus a Q&A session and you could also win a dinner with him & his MRA co-host Keith Mark. Yes, it’s free.
August 16, 2013
3pm-5pm
Field & Stream Shop
1000 Cranberry Square Drive
Cranberry Township, PA 16066
Also on Saturday August 17th, Michaels will be at the Cabelas in Hamburg PA.
August 17, 2013
10am-12pm
Cabela’s Retail Store
100 Cabela Drive
Hamburg, PA 19526
And on Sunday August 18th Michaels will be at the WWE’s SummerSlam Axxess – tickets available now.
August 18, 2013
1pm-3pm
WWE SummerSlam AXXESS
Nokia Plaza L.A. LIVE
800 W. Olympic Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90015
WWE Superstar and the number one contender to the WWE Championship at SummerSlam, Daniel Bryan, recently spoke with the official DirecTV website to promote the upcoming SummerSlam pay-per-view. Below are highlights from the interview:
On finding out he’d be facing John Cena for the title at SummerSlam: “It was incredible and humbling. I have been wresting for a long time and most of the time it was in front of very small crowds who couldn’t care less about who was coming out there. I have wrestled in front of 13 people! And just hearing the reaction of the people in Brooklyn who were shouting “Yes! Yes!” – it was very surreal. Like ‘is this really my life?'”
On his relationship with CM Punk: “It’s interesting because CM Punk and I have a lot in common personally, yet we are very different. He is very brash and kind of says whatever he feels. I’m more laid back and not the most outgoing person. But we have a certain respect for each other. I have been on shows that Punk drove 14 or 15 hours for from Chicago to get paid 100 bucks. We’ve done those shows in front of 30 people together. It’s a long road for guys like us to get here. I’m always astounded. There was that December PPV when I had cashed in my Money in the Bank contract to beat Big Show for the World Heavyweight Championship and Punk had retained his WWE title that same night. We used to work on the indies together and then there we were, both champions. No one really thought we could do it. It’s very cool and surreal.”
On his pro wrestling training: “I ended up training with Shawn Michaels. He’s the best. I left the night I graduated from high school, drove to Texas and trained with Shawn for a year. When I look back, I was so poor – I mean living on 20 dollars a month for groceries. I couldn’t fathom that now. It was tough but it was a lot of fun.”
On his idols: “I loved Dean Malenko and Eddie Guererro. Bret Hart was always one of my favorites. I’m also a big Seahawks fan and the guy who I really loved was a wide receiver named Steve Largent, who ended up being a politician in Oklahoma. He was always so respectable and was never about himself, he was about the team. A lot of people like the brash players but I like people who focus on the team and downplay what they do.”
Check out the complete interview online at DirecTV.com.
-WWE Superstar Triple H recently put over his best friend, Shawn Michaels, in a new tweet posted on Sunday afternoon. A fan commented to “The Game” about his match with HBK at SummerSlam back in 2002, calling it “such a classic match.” Hunter replied to the fan by saying, “After 5 yrs off… There is only one @ShawnMichaels.”
-According to a new tweet, Matt Hardy was stopped and searched by airport security on Sunday because he had too much cash in his bag. The former WWE Superstar wrote on Twitter, “I got stopped & searched by TSA airport security today because I had too much cash in my bag. What a hassle! ;-)” The tweet was accompanied by a photo of Hardy holding up a sign that sarcastically read, “You don’t understand how hard it is to be Matt Hardy.”
-“WrestleMania” trended worldwide during the airing of the WrestleMania 29 special on NBC on Saturday night. “WrestleMania” reached as high as the number two spot, trailing only “#UFC163,” which trended worldwide at number one throughout most of the entire UFC pay-per-view show from Brazil on Saturday night.
-Also trending worldwide on Twitter, peaking at the number three spot, was “#RedneckIsland,” the CMT reality show hosted by WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Austin encouraged fans to help him get the show trending, as he wrote on Twitter just before the start of the season finale of show, which aired on Saturday night, “Come on, folks. Lets get #redneckisland trending. RT like a sumbitch and hash tag redneck island.” Austin then proceeded to post nearly 50 tweets himself with the hash tag, “#RedneckIsland,” many of which were complaints about commercials and comments about how much beer he was drinking while watching the show.
WWE held their Bret Hart Appreciation Night festivities after last night’s RAW in Calgary. Here is a report courtesy of WrestlingNewsWorld:
* Jerry Lawler welcomes everyone watching. Lawler says today was declared “Bret Hart Day” here in Calgary. Lawler says if you’ve ever wondered how to have an entire day named in your honor, this is how it’s done.
* Bret Hart career highlight video is shown.
* Lawler introduces WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart to the ring. Hart comes out to his theme music to a tremendous pop. He’s wearing the same teal shirt that he had on during the broadcast. Michael Cole and JBL stand at announce to honor him.
* Lawler reads from a card and runs through Hart’s massive career accomplishments. He says Bret Hart is the best technical wrestler in the history of WWE. Lawler says Hart has held 32 titles in his career and 17 between WWE and WCW. He puts over Hart being voted one of CBC’s “Greatest Canadians” and of course his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame. Lawler announces that May 27, 2013 is Bret “The Hitman” Hart day in Calgary and hands him the plaque.
* Bret gets on the mic and says he hasn’t done one of these in a long time. He says it’s a huge honor and he can feel his father, his brotherOwenandThe Bulldogwatching. The crowd breaks out in an “Owen” chant. Hart says this is as proud of a day as he could have and he’ll remember every Calgarian that came there today. He says this goes beyond wrestling titles, this came from the people of Calgary and that means a lot to him. He reiterates he can feel the presence of his family there. Hart thanks his kids for putting up with him being gone for 23 years. He starts to choke up and says his kids are out there somewhere in the crowd. The camera shows them, who are also tearing up.
* Hart puts over people from his past including The Dynamite Kid. He said when he first started in WWE most Americans didn’t know where Calgary was. Ten years later they knew exactly where Calgary was and what kind of men came from there. He namesMr. Perfectand British Bulldog as people that helped him. Hart thanked every single wrestler that stepped in the ring with him one time. He thanked his wife Stephanie and “The King” Jerry Lawler. He said he always remembers Lawler as one of his biggest adversaries. Hart tells a story about Owen telling him they needed to go to Jerry and tell him to lighten up on their family. Bret said when they got home his mother was enjoying Jerry’s work so much, she actually became a wrestling fan. He says if you knew his mom, you would know how much that took. Hart called Lawler one of the greatest villans he’s ever worked with
* Hart regrets he didn’t have more matches in Calgary and just wants everyone to know that Calgary guys can wrestle. Lawler says there are more people here that want to show their love for you tonight. Pat Pattersonis the first to come out and honor Hart.
* Hart puts over people from his past including The Dynamite Kid. He said when he first started in WWE most Americans didn’t know where Calgary was. Ten years later they knew exactly where Calgary was and what kind of men came from there. He namesMr. Perfectand British Bulldog as people that helped him. Hart thanked every single wrestler that stepped in the ring with him one time. He thanked his wife Stephanie and “The King” Jerry Lawler. He said he always remembers Lawler as one of his biggest adversaries. Hart tells a story about Owen telling him they needed to go to Jerry and tell him to lighten up on their family. Bret said when they got home his mother was enjoying Jerry’s work so much, she actually became a wrestling fan. He says if you knew his mom, you would know how much that took. Hart called Lawler one of the greatest villans he’s ever worked with
* Hart regrets he didn’t have more matches in Calgary and just wants everyone to know that Calgary guys can wrestle. Lawler says there are more people here that want to show their love for you tonight. Pat Pattersonis the first to come out and honor Hart. Patterson says he’s going to make this short. He’s been in the business for 55 years, he’s a Canadian and he’s going to say it. Bret, you will always be the best wrestling Canadian of all time. Hart says when Pat starts getting on his knees, he starts getting scared. Lawler makes a joke about Patterson getting on his knees for his matches (although Hart may have beenreferringto something else).
* Chris Jerichois out next. He says it’s really cool to come out and stand one-on-one with Bret Hart in the ring for the first time ever. He says while he never got the chance to wrestle Bret, he wrestled him thousands of times in his head. Jericho said his two heros growing up in Winnipeg were Owen and Bret Hart. He wanted so bad to say one day that he got to wrestle with one of them. Jericho said in 1995 there was a Stu Hart birthday show and he wasn’t booked because he wasn’t good enough or something like that. He said Bret was asking for a finisher for an upcoming pay-per-view and Jericho recalled how he told Bret that he had something.
* Jericho saysSean Waltman(X-Pac) was there [and helpeddemonstrate and Hart said it was interesting. Jericho said two days later that Hart used his move on pay-per-view. He said it was one of the coolest and classiest things that the world champion would take advice from a nobody. He thanked Bret and said he’s one of his top two favorite wrestlers of all time and he deserves this night.
* Shawn Michaelscomes out next to the introduction of Jerry Lawler explaining the Montreal Screwjob of 1997. Shawn grabs the mic and pauses before speaking. He thanks the fans, saying it wasn’t too bad and he was expecting a lot worse tonight. Michaels says everyone great hero needed an arch enemy. HBK ran through super hero villans and told Hart he was honored to be his Lex Luthor (Superman’s villan). Michaels said it was an honor my friend and shook his hand.
* Lawler introduces Vince McMahon. McMahon struts to the ring, completely in his Mr. McMahon character. Vince says how fitting that you started your career here in Calgary and here you are being honored tonight. He called Stampede one of the greatest promotions ever. McMahon says Hart established his own era to WWE and that he brought a certain level of legitimacy and in-ring skill to the promotion that it never had before. He said Hart brought an in-ring skill the promotion often overlooked and he became champion the old fashion way, by earning it. McMahon says Hart was the excellence of execution. He says Hart should rightfully behonoredtonight as the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be.
* Vince says you’ve done so much for the city of Calgary, when are you going to leave this cow dung pile city. He says he’s just ribbing but he’ll be leaving on his private plane in about thirty minutes. Vince says there are millions of fans watching on the WWE App and they want to say something that he wants to say two words right now – thank you.
* Bret says they got off to a shaky ending, it was a little fuzzy but he had so many great memories in WWE. He says if it wasn’t for what WWE did for him for all those years that no one would ever know who Bret Hart was. Hart says he really enjoys being a Calgarian hero and recognized around the world. He says he can honestly say he owes it all to Vince. Hart puts over Shawn and says he really appreciates him coming out. He puts over everyone in the ring, as guys that spent a lot of time with him in a lot of dressing rooms across the world.
* Hart thanked everyone and said he will continue to try and be one of the best old heros in Calgary. Hart jokes with the crowd that now would be a good time to “get ‘em both” if they really wanted too. He thanked everyone and Lawler wrapped it up. Bret hugged everyone in the ring as his theme music played.
* The locker room cleared and came out on the stage to honor him. John Cena visibly leading the pack. Natalya and Tyson Kidd came down and got in the ring with him.R
WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels was recently interviewed by the Miami Herald. Here are some highlights of what HBK said about:
Being Retired & Wrestling Again
“I certainly don’t get the itch. That is something that does not happen to me. I think I do get satisfied when I get to go back to do an appearance and get to be a special referee or just an autograph session. Things like that, which is something I really enjoy. Certainly, I don’t stay on the sidelines longing to be in the spotlight, but the time that I am, it’s always a great deal of fun.
“I still try to do a good job and try not to phone it in. It’s almost like two different parts of your life. The first part of your life is geared toward one direction, and the second part of your life is more geared toward another. I’m guessing that is sort of where I’m at, but not forsaking or forgetting the first part by any stretch. I’m appreciative for it and thankful for it.”
CM Punk Saying That He Would Have Made It On TV Back In 1993 When RAW Had Its First Episode:
“I certainly understand the point he was trying to make. It was a different time, and there was a different attitude toward us guys, but because he is a fighter and doesn’t take a lot of guff from folks — for the same reasons that he is on now and the same reason he accomplished what he has in his career now, which is a testament to him — for all of those reasons, all the good reasons and positives because he is a fighter, I think he would have been on the first show.
“I think I understand the point he was trying to make. It was a different time. There were stereotypes that needed to be broken back then, and thankfully, it was done. Hopefully, it has made a difference for Punk and the others. I think because of the type of dude he is, I don’t think he would have had anything to worry about.”
Jerry “The King” Lawler, recently spoke with The Miami Herald, regarding the origin of the line “puppies” he had used for many years doing the Attitude era.
“I actually got to give credit to a guy who I think will be returning on the 1,000th episode. It was a member of DX, Road Dogg (Jesse) James. I believe he was talking to Sable at the time. DX was in the ring, and Sable was in the ring, and somehow I believe Road Dogg said, ‘Hey, show us your puppies.’ It kind of floated by. No big deal at that point and time, but then I started using the word a couple of weeks later, and it just stuck.”
– Rumors are going around that The Rock is concidering competing in a match or two before WrestleMania XXIX on April 7, 2013 in New Jersey. The Rock returns to RAW for July 23rd’s 1000th episode. The last time The Rock was on Raw was the night after he defeated John Cena at WrestleMania XXVIII, on that night he promised “Team Bring It” he will become WWE Champion again.
– Another video of Shawn Michaels has been posted, introducing his new special edition watch from Deuce Brand Watches.
This past weekend Shawn tweeted “Another Dude obsessed w/my hair #homo” in response to a fan query concerning his hairline on Thursday. He subsequently deleted the tweet after garnering negative feedback.
– AJ Lee tweeted following her participation at MITB
Personal feelings aside, it was an honor to be in the ring with the two absolute best in the world, @CMPunk & @WWEDanielBryan . I'm lucky.
– Dustin Runnels aka Goldust returned to the ring this past weekend in Hollywood, Florida for the NWA Ring Warriors promotion. He lost to Vordell Walker via DQ when “Iceman” Buck Q interfered in the match.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can (and should) read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. Some highlights:
WWE teasing Bret Hart will host RAW: “The teasing of Bret Hart potentially hosting Raw was cool. That was the first that I had officially heard of any sort of ‘Hitman’ return but it’s always good to see Bret in any forum and one would think that the WWE HOF’er would enhance the ratings for Raw when and if Bret does make an appearance. Could that particular appearance occur on January 4? Your guess is as good as mine.”
Shawn Michaels challenging Undertaker: “Shawn Michaels challenging the Undertaker for a match at WM26 captured my imagination. These two created magic in Houston at WM25 and the question will be asked if both future WWE HOF’ers can recreate such a moment one more time. I will always consider being a part of the broadcast team for WM25 and being a small part of the HBK-Taker presentation as one of the greatest experiences that I’ve had in this business.”
His own health and WWE contract status: “Yours truly is awaiting some important, medical test results that I hope to have sometime this week. I am of the belief that they will provide good news and refuse to believe any thing else. It goes without saying that I sincerely appreciate all the get well wishes and prayers from so many of you. Since making many, overdue life style changes I have been feeling great the past several weeks as I await the aforementioned medical test results and the facial nerve to kick start. With my personal health still my most important issue, I am not stressing about any contractual issues or negotiations and nothing has changed on that front or my mindset regarding such since I last addressed this matter. All my contractual issues are still in motion and being discussed.”
