– WWE has officially announced that CM Punk will face Ryback at the upcoming Hell in a Cell pay-per-view.
– During last night’s SmackDown taping, Los Matadores faced the tag team of El Locales, which was Riccardo Rodriguez and Tyson Kidd working under masks.
– Today would have been the 46th birthday of the late Eddie Guerrero. Eddie’s wife Vickie and his nephew Chavo Guerrero tweeted teh following messages remembering Eddie:
-According to various reports, WWE Superstar John Cena was actually cleared by WWE’s doctors to return to in-ring action at the October 27th Hell In A Cell pay-per-view. That, along with details in our previous report about concerns within WWE that they have alienated their pay-per-view buying audience, is the reason Cena is returning to action so much sooner than originally planned.
-As of Tuesday, the plan for the WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view is for only one match to be contested in an actual Hell In A Cell match. That match is the WWE Championship main event between Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan
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.
The following are highlights from the latest online blog by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On John Cena’s early in-ring return to WWE: “John Cena returning so soon from his latest surgery surprised me. It’s a no brainer why WWE needs their top star back as quickly as possible but is Cena returning too soon? Perhaps Del Rio travels to Florida and takes Cena out prior to the HIAC but not likely. Sounds like an old, Watts angle.”
On Stephanie McMahon and Big Show: “Thought the opening segment was a hit. Stephanie McMahon had control of her promo and it did not sound un-organic. Talents who memorize their ‘lines’ and then present them as such ruins it for me. Yep, I might be too old school for today’s product but I tune out and disconnect when I feel someone is talking to me from any place other than their heart.”
On CM Punk and Paul Heyman: “Significant albeit surprising opportunity for R Truth tagging with CM Punk vs. Heyman’s duo. Yes, it sets up a match for Smackdown but what else down the road? I don’t feel Punk’s angst toward Heyman was much as I did a few weeks ago. Is that just me?”
Check out the complete blog online at JRsBarBQ.com.
In a shocking announcement made on Monday’s edition of WWE RAW, John Cena will be returning to in-ring action earlier than expected, as he will compete with Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship in the next pay-per-view, which will emanate from Miami, Florida on Sunday, October 27th.
The announcement was made during the third and final hour of RAW, as Vickie Guerrero selected Ricardo Rodriguez as Del Rio’s opponent for RAW. Before the match could begin, however, Guerrero revealed that Del Rio would be facing Cena at the Hell In A Cell show, which led to Rodriguez upsetting Del Rio in the RAW match.
-It was announced on a very news-filled edition of WWE RAW on Monday night that one of the main events for this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown, which will be taped on Tuesday night, will be another WWE Battleground rematch, as WWE Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel will defend his title against R-Truth.
-Also announced on RAW was the news that John Cena, who will be returning to challenge Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship at the WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view on October 27th, will be a special guest on “Good Morning America” on Tuesday morning.
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.
-WWE Superstar John Cena posted a tweet on his official Twitter account in reaction to the news that he will be facing Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship at the upcoming WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view on Sunday, October 27th in Miami, Florida. Cena wrote:
You heard it on #RAW, @WWE Universe. Hell in a Cell vs. @VivaDelRio for the WHC. The Champ is… Back! #EvenStronger
-As previously reported, WWE Divas Champion AJ Lee was sent home from RAW on Monday night due to concussion symptoms. According to one source, Lee was originally scheduled to face Kaitlyn at the show, but due to the fact that she was sent home, the match was changed to Kaitlyn vs. Tamina Snuka and moved over to the WWE Superstars taping, which was held prior to RAW.
-The official WWE Tout website featured a backstage interview with WWE Hall Of Famer Bob Backlund, who appeared on the show as one of three WWE Hall Of Fame candidates selected as potential special referee’s for the upcoming WWE Hell In A Cell main event between Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan. You can check out the Tout interview with Backlund online at Tout.com.
– This Sunday, Daniel Bryan will face Randy Orton for the vacant WWE Championship at the inaugural WWE Battleground pay-per-view event. It appears likely that at least one more match between both wrestlers will take place as some people in WWE believe the Battleground finish will lead to a bout at Hell in the Cell on Oct. 27.
Regardless of the final outcome, current creative plans call for Big Show to return to the main event scene in a feud with “The Viper” in November and December.
– WWE.com has released a video playlist highlighting the most awkward moments in the company history. Some of the footage posted includes Theodore Long being ordered to rub oil on Antonio Cesaro during a photo shoot, D-X interrupting a yoga session between Trish Stratus and Triple H, Kurt Angle giving “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Vince McMahon a present, the debut of Mr. Socko, William Regal dancing with Cryme Tyme, and the ratings bonanza “The Rock, This Is Your Life” segment from 1999.
– Former WWE announcer and Raw General Manager Mike Adamle turns 64-years-old on Friday. He currently as a sports anchor and reporter at WMAQ-TV in Chicago, Illinois.
-Recent plans have WWE talent Ricardo Rodriguez continuing to manage Rob Van Dam until RVD takes some scheduled time off from WWE in October. Once Van Dam is on hiatus, it is possible that Rodriguez may be put with the returning Rey Mysterio as his “personal ring announcer.”
-Expect stipulations to be added to the Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton and Rob Van Dam vs. Alberto Del Rio rematches scheduled for the upcoming WWE Battleground pay-per-view.
According to one report, there is discussion of the Bryan-Orton pay-per-view rematch being contested under “Iron Man” match rules. This would allow WWE to book the match in a way where it leads to another inconclusive finish, which could lead to the final showdown in a cell at the WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view.
-The Friday, August 16th edition of WWE SmackDown scored a final cable rating of 1.83, according to Nielsen Media Research. The 1.83 final draw marks a decrease from last week’s 1.90 rating. The number is the lowest for SmackDown in the last month. The episode averaged 2.400 million viewers, also the lowest in the last month.
-WWE Diva AJ Lee recently tweeted about reaching the milestone of one million followers on her official Twitter account. AJ wrote:
“If there’s any lesson I want to leave my female fans, it’s this: I have over a million followers without posting one damn selfie… Seriously though, thank you everyone. Over a million is pretty darn cool.”
-Tickets for the WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view officially go on sale this Saturday at 10:00am ET. The pay-per-view event itself will take place on Sunday, October 27th at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. For more information, visit Ticketmaster.com.
-The aforementioned Maria Menounos & Natalya vs. Brie Bella & Eva Marie match at SummerSlam Axxess will take place on Sunday afternoon. No official time for the bout has been given, although it is a lock to be part of Sunday’s Axxess festivities.
-“The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry was recently interviewed by The Miami Herald as part of his promotional duties for this Sunday’s SummerSlam pay-per-view. You can read that interview online at MiamiHerald.com.
-Tickets for the WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view, which is scheduled to take place on October 27th in Miami, Florida, will officially go on sale on August 24th.
-Upon hearing the news that WWE changed the name of their upcoming October pay-per-view show to “Battleground,” many fans had speculated that the old “War Games” match from WCW would be used at the event. While such a match would seem to be an organic fit on a show called Battleground, it appears that there will not be a War Games match on the card.
The seating chart for the building that the event will be held in was recently released, and did not include a set-up that would accomodate two rings. Additionally, the WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view takes place after Battleground, on October 27th, and the idea of having two gimmick-matches in a steel cage on back-to-back WWE PPVs is highly unlikely.
-The Monday, July 29th taped-edition of WWE RAW scored a final cable rating of 2.87, according to Nielsen Media Research. The 2.87 final draw is down from last week’s 2.94 cable rating.
– August 18 at SummerSlam, Daniel Bryan will challenge John Cena for the WWE Championship. Through its YouTube account, WWE has posted a WWE ’13 simulation of their upcoming encounter, with the following notice: “Will WWE ’13 correctly predict this year’s SummerSlam?”
– Tickets for WWE’s fifth-annual Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event officially go on-sale Saturday, August 17 via Ticketmaster.com. A pre-sale will take place a few days prior to the official on-sale date. The event takes places Sunday, October 27 in Miami, Florida, at American Airlines Arena.
– The official WWE website has released this video previewing next Sunday’s episode of Total Divas on E!. Notably, Stephanie McMahon threatens to terminates Eva Marie’s affiliation with WWE for a conduct violation.
– In the latest edition of Behind the Match, Kaitlyn reveals her strategy in the Triple Threat Match for the WWE Divas Championship at last year’s Hell in Cell pay-per-view event.
– David Otunga appeared on Between the Ropes to promote the release of The Call—the highest-grossing WWE Studios film of all-time—on DVD, Blu-Ray and digital download. The WWE Superstar discussed acting alongside Halle Berry, the sports-entertainment organization’s ongoing youth movement, former tag team partner Curtis Axel, finding a colorful coffee thermos and the clothes to match it, the George Zimmerman court case and more. To listen to the interview, click here.
– Former WWE talent Serena Deeb turns 27-years-old on Saturday. She is now recovered from a serious concussion suffered in late-2011 and has resumed competing for various independent organization.
WWE released its Monthly Business Figures on Wednesday, including data on live event attendance, home video sales, WWE.com traffic and WWEShop orders. You can view the full report at Corporate.WWE.com (.PDF). Also included is the buyrate for October’s WWE Hell in a Cell pay-per-view.
WWE Hell in a Cell 2012, headlined by WWE Champion CM Punk vs. Ryback, drew approximately 200,00 buys. 152,000 buys (76%) were domestic and 48,000 were international (24%).
This year’s show, which had a 5-week buildup following September’s Night of Champions PPV, had a buyrate that was in between the prior two years. HIAC 2011 drew 190,000 buys, while HIAC 2010 did 210,000 buys.
Despite Ryback’s loss at WWE Hell In a Cell, WWE is still committed to pushing him as the company’s new main event babyface monster.
Following his controversial loss to WWE Champion CM Punk at Hell in a Cell, new details have come out regarding what WWE had originally planned for the match finish.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that the original plan was for Ryback to pin CM Punk in the middle of the ring clean and win the WWE Championship. Ryback would then hold the belt through Survivor Series and would eventually drop the belt in a multi-man gimmick match at TLC, where he wouldn’t have to be pinned or submitted. This was the scenario Vince McMahon had settled on until Thursday 10/25, just 3 days before Hell in a Cell.
The following day (Friday), Vince made the call to keep the belt on CM Punk because Punk’s long title reign was more important than Ryback’s undefeated streak, which isn’t really necessary to portray him as a monster. WWE has spent so much time focusing on CM Punk’s long title reign that it would be better to keep the belt on him past the 1-year mark so his eventual match with The Rock at the Royal Rumble would have higher stakes.
Once the decision was made to keep the belt on Punk, WWE spent the entire weekend figuring out how to cost Ryback the match while keeping him strong. WWE considered a wide range options before settling on crooked referee Brad Maddox, including run-ins from Brock Lesnar, Big Show, Mark Henry and even Vince McMahon himself.
– The official WWE website announced Wednesday evening that suspended official Brad Maddox will have to answer to a Board of Inquiry at WWE Headquarters Thursday morning in response to his actions at Sunday’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event.
As the storyline goes, Maddox assisted CM Punk in retaining the WWE Championship by delivering a low blow to Ryback, allowing Punk to pin him. Maddox’s actions prompted Ryback to assault him. The following night on Raw, Punk denied any affiliation with Maddox.
– SmackDown ring announcer Lilian Garcia will miss WWE’s European tour kicking off today and concluding on Nov. 10 after being struck by a car Friday in Los Angeles, California. When asked on Twitter Wednesday whether she will be on the tour, she responded, “No, and I’m really sad about it. Def there in spirit!”
Garcia did not offer a timetable regarding her return to WWE. She did, however, state, “Thk u all 4 the loving, supportive tweets that keep pouring in. I am doing my best 2 get better quickly so I can return. Love u so much!”
– A television show for independent promotion Canadian Wrestling’s Elite premieres Friday night at 9:30 p.m. and 10:30 a.m. Saturday on UWF Manitoba Ch. 30, Westman Communications Cable 12, CBS-TV Ch. 30 and on Bell Express Vu in Manitoba beginning Nov. 29.
We’ve got an update on several more WWE superstars speaking to WWE.com cameras after Sunday’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view.
– Following their disqualification victory over Team Hell No, Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow bragged about still being undefeated and teased that a rematch could be in the works for Friday’s SmackDown.
– The Miz commented on coming up short against Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston, saying that Kofi’s win was a fluke and he will do whatever it takes to get his title back.
– WWE United States Champion Antonio Cesaro says that Justin Gabrel got exactly what he deserved during their match and said the fans are to blame for Gabriel’s loss. He also tweeted:
What happened to @Justin__Gabriel tonight is the fault of all the people who were tweeting for him to wrestle the #USChampion. #HIAC
– Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio both debuted new “team” masks at Hell in a Cell, with Mysterio’s mask featuring Sin Cara’s design on the back and Sin Cara’s mask featuring Mysterio’s design on the back.
– Among the celebrities in attendance at WWE Hell In a Cell were singer Chili (TLC) and Oakland A’s baseball player Josh Reddick.
Former wrestlers in attendence included Robert Gibson, Dave Taylor and Ron Simmons.
– WWE officials were not very happy with the crowd reactions at Hell in a Cell. Overall it was a weak crowd and the feeling was that the lack of excitement took away from the action.
Dolph Ziggler made headlines a few weeks ago when he “guaranteed” that he would be cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase at Sunday’s WWE Hell in a Cell pay-per-view. After Big Show defeated Sheamus for the World Heavyweight title in a physical war that left both men very banged up, it appeared as if the stage was set for Ziggler’s music to hit and for the Showoff to challenge a vulnerable Big Show just minutes into his title reign. However, it never happened.
WWE.com caught up with Ziggler after Money in the Bank and asked the Showoff why he did not cash in, as promised:
“I’m not a dummy like John Cena where I’m going to announce to the world when I’m going to cash it in. I do this when I want.”
“Now there’s a brand new champion Big Show and he has to look over his shoulder every single living minute of his day. I do what I want when I want. And anyone who believed me, you’re sheep like everyone else.”
WWE announcer JBL has posted a blog update on Facebook.com hyping tonight’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view. Here’s what JBL said about:
Tonight’s PPV From Atlanta: “Great cardio session this morning getting ready for PPV tonight in Atlanta. Hard to believe during the ‘Attitude Era’ that we would be here in Atlanta and WCW would be no more, especially the year they were beating us in ratings.
The Attitude Era: “Loved the ‘Attitude Era’ but also enjoying being back, I think the shift to a more PG product is good for business. Was easy in ‘Attitude Era’ to take shortcuts and now one has to think harder to get an edge and get ‘over’. I like the challenge, but I’m just an announcer-those that respond to the challenge will do very well.”
Ryback’s First PPV Main Event: “Huge challenge tonight for many, especially Ryback-I think he will do great, but you never know until it happens. A HUGE difference between wrestling top guys and closing a PPV. This is truly baptism by fire. My bet? I think Ryback does well, he’s out there with ‘the best in the world’ so expectations are very high. Sink or swim, lights are on bright.”
– The announce team for tonight’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view is expected to be Michael Cole, Jim Ross and JBL.
– WWE is running a promotion with the social media site GetGlue where fans can “check in” to tonight’s pay-per-view and win a Ryback WWE Zombie sticker. For more information, click here.
– After speaking with a reliable WWE source on Saturday, we can report that WWE has been going back and forth over the past few days regarding the finish for the CM Punk vs. Ryback WWE Championship match.
WWE came up with several scenarios as to how to finish the match – and we’ll find out what was decided in a matter of hours.
– In this SmackDown edition of “Backstage Fallout,” Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston explains why he won’t lose his title to The Miz this Sunday, while Kaitlyn shares her “extraordinary” gameplan to winning the Triple Threat Match at Hell in a Cell.
– Beth Phoenix, whose WWE run is reporting drawing near, tweeted Tuesday that she will be on hand for Monday’s Raw in Charlotte, North Carolina.
– John “Bradshaw” Layfield is featured in today’s “Superstar Spotlight” on WWE.com.
– Zack Ryder will be signing copies of WWE DVDs at the FYE store in Levittown, New York on December 28 at 3:00 p.m.