WWE RAW takes place tonight at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
The main focus on this week’s show is the first televised appearance by John Cena since he was destroyed by Brock Lesnar at WWE SummerSlam.
Also advertised for tonight is a Hall Of Fame segment, which will include Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels talking about the upcoming Lesnar vs. Cena rematch at WWE Night Of Champions.
Make sure to join us here on the website tonight for live WWE RAW results coverage.
The following are highlights of the latest blog by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On Monday’s announced RAW segment: “WWE announcing a Hall of Fame forum to kick off RAW this Monday that includes Flair, Hogan and Shawn Michaels. I guess I missed the call. LOL. I hope that the panel is hard hitting and thought provoking and refrains from eye ball rolling rhetoric as it’s a great opportunity to sell the Lesnar-Cena rematch coming in September. Let the talents use their old school promo skills and not how a writers rendition of what they ‘think’ these legends might say. Give them bullet points and turn them loose.”
On Mick Foley’s back: “My friend Mick Foley is talking major back surgery to help alleviate the pain that he is in 24X7 after a long career of taking extraordinary bumps. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mick also did not need knee and/or hip replacements sometime down the road as well. Riding in those rental cards thousands of miles each year on his tours doesn’t help matters either. Less may be more for Mick who I hate to see suffer simply getting out of a chair or walking from point A to point B. It almost seems as if Mick is working harder today than he has a certain times of his wrestling career. Mick is simply too nice a man and a friend to see suffer on a daily basis.”
On rumors of Steve Austin wrestling at WrestleMania 32: “Love the speculation on @steveaustinBSR talk of coming back to do one last match at WM32 if it is going to be held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The average fan has zero idea how long the odds are on that ever occurring but I assume it’s fun to speculate. No one would like to see it more than me but….”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
– KENTA’s endorsement company, PARCO stores, signed a deal with WWE to produce and sell historical t-shirts and merchandise, including the nWo, Andre The Giant, Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage starting on September 1st.
– The following is a new AfterBuzz TV interview with WWE Diva Cameron, who discusses the upcoming new season of WWE Total Divas and more.
– WWE Chairman Vince McMahon celebrates his 69th birthday today. McMahon was born on August 24, 1945.
– As noted earlier this weekend, WWE has announced a segment for Monday’s RAW that features Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels all commenting on the upcominng rematch between John Cena and Brock Lesnar at WWE Night Of Champions. One of the reasons WWE is loading up this Monday’s show is because it is the first time in history that WWE will be going up against the Emmy Awards on NBC.
As noted earlier today, WWE announced that a “Hall Of Fame” segment will open this coming Monday’s RAW, as Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels will comment on the upcoming WWE World Heavyweight Championship rematch between John Cena and Brock Lesnar at WWE Night Of Champions.
Hogan tweeted the following about the segment:
You can't bring legends together w/o me brother.Got some stuff to say about MY champ @JohnCena, see you Hulkamaniacs at #Raw on Monday HH
One of the themes of this coming Monday’s edition of WWE RAW will be a WWE Hall Of Famers discussion of the Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena match at WWE Night Of Champions for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Confirmed to be participating are Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels. Additional WWE Hall Of Famers may be involved in the segment as well.
“The WWE Universe is still buzzing about the brutal beating John Cena suffered at the hands of Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam. To kick off Raw, WWE Hall of Famers Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair will be in the house to weigh in on the upcoming Brock-Cena rematch at Night of Champions. And following a week of relative silence for the normally outspoken Superstar, Cena will be at Raw to address the WWE Universe. What else awaits? WWE.com offers some theories and predictions.”
WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan spoke to Brian Fritz of the Orlando Sentinel during SummerSlam weekend and revealed that he signed a 3-year deal with WWE back in January. Hogan admits that WWE could have used him more so far this year, but he believes Vince McMahon has a vision of how to use him long-term.
“I think they want to keep mystique and keep me more valuable than me standing there with the microphone and saying the same crap every week and it basically meaning nothing. I think they’ve got a plan and that’s what I’m praying for.”
Hogan said his in-ring work at the end of his WCW was “embarrassing” and called his one match in TNA a “nightmare.”
“The thing is, I watch the old tapes of myself, WCW, and it’s embarrassing because towards the end I was getting to where it was embarrassing to kind of like be in there and then I watch the TNA stuff and that was a nightmare,” Hogan said.
“I tried to get in there. I was in the middle of the back surgeries trying to keep up. The doctors would say, ‘You’ll be fine,’ but to watch it now is embarrassing.”
Hogan doesn’t want his TNA match to be the last thing fans remember about his in-ring career and is pushing hard for a grand retirement match in WWE. He feels that he’s healthy enough to compete, but he’ll have to convince Vince McMahon and Triple H.
“Not that Vince would want this, not that Triple H would want this but I keep telling everybody that my goal, because I’m not in pain anymore, that my goal would be to get back in there, not embarrass myself if that’s possible and have that one more match. And if that works, if that really were to work I would love to contribute and participate and do some stuff because I miss it so much,” Hogan said.
He added that he wants to face John Cena at WrestleMania 31 next year, but “if that’s unrealistic, I get it.”
The following are highlights of the latest Jim Ross blog:
On Brock Lesnar and Hulk Hogan: “Some one on an email here asked me if I thought Hulk Hogan was going to wrestle Brock Lesnar after Lesnar’s ‘Grandpa’ remarks during Hogan’s 61st B-Day celebration. My answer is ‘SURE’ and that will happen right after I fight Brock in the Octagon with one hand tied behind my back.”
On Impact Wrestling: “Enjoyed the @ImpactWrestling overall show Wednesday night especially the matches featuring Samoa Joe and Low Ki along with Gail Kim vs. Angelina Love. Also, I’m pleased that @SpikeTV extended Impact Wrestling until the end of this year and I;m hopeful that something can be worked out between the two. It would certainly help if all fans who can would watch Impact Wrestling on Wednesday nights so that it would give Spike more of a reason to continue to do business with Impact or encourage another USA cable TV entity to carry Impact. If one is truly a fan of the business then watching all of it that is feasible and being supportive of all organizations from WWE to the indies is a good thing.”
Check out the complete interview at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
Variety has a new article up revealing that actor Ken Jeong will be part of a WWE Studios comedy film with Hulk Hogan and David Hasselhoff, a movie that is currently set for a release at some point in 2015.
The working title of the project is Untitled Celebrity Death Pool, which will feature Jeong playing a struggling night club owner who racks up a large debt from a loan shark and then sets out to win a long running celebrity death pool by trying to kill Hasselhoff.
Hogan will be making somewhat of a cameo appearance in the film, as will additional celebrities.
Darren Grant, writer of Diary Of A Mad Black Woman, will be directing the film, while the script was written by Peter Hoare.
Thousands of fans stood bewildered following last night’s main event, as the WWE’s resident hero John Cena laid battered and beaten after his match with Brock Lesnar. Cena didn’t grab a microphone to offer up an excuse, nor did he attempt any sort of retaliation while both Lesnar and Heyman laughed in his face after seizing the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Instead, he simply walked away with the help of officials, with the crowd booing the face of the company while serenading him on his way out the door. Last night’s event felt like a transitional pay-per-view, and not simply because every title that was contested changed hands.
Lesnar was congratulated by Triple H after simply destroying John Cena last night.
The massacre fans witnessed last night for only $9.99 was perhaps the end of the PG era. The evil villain prevailed, the kids’ hero took the beating of a lifetime, and the company seems to finally be looking toward the future instead of the past. Fans have likely noticed in recent weeks that the product has become a bit edgier. Curse words are more frequent, men have assaulted women, and the next generation of superstars has dominated the old guard.
Last night’s event reminded me a bit of the 1993 King of the Ring, during which fans witnessed the death of Hulkamania. After years as the top superstar in the company, Hogan finally met his match in the form of Yokozuna. Hogan lost the title that night (with a little help from a camera man) and didn’t make any excuses. He simply faded away and left the company a few weeks later, not returning to a WWE ring for roughly a decade. This event was followed by a transition period that saw the company stray away from guys like Hogan, Savage, and Warrior in favor of the next generation in the form of Hart, Michaels, and Diesel.
That’s not to say that John Cena is bolting from the company any time soon, because that certainly isn’t the case, but his time as the top guy in the company is likely over. Otherwise, he probably wouldn’t have put Lesnar over in such convincing fashion, as Cena barely landed any offensive maneuvers throughout the over 15-minute main event.
– WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan and Sting recently took part in their first-ever joint autograph appearance. Photographer Bob Mulrenin got exclusive photos of the signing, which you can view here.
– The WrestleMania 31 ticket pre-sale that was originally scheduled for today has been postponed.
– TV personality Maria Menounos answered Vince McMahon’s “Ice Bucket Challenge” on Friday to raise awareness for the ALS disease. She nominated acress, Julian and Derek Hough, Tony Robbins and Stephanie McMahon to take the challenge next. Maria also wished Stephanie good luck in her match tonight and said she’ll be there in person at SummerSlam.
Hulk Hogan spoke to Dave Meltzer and Brian Fritz in Los Angeles, California this weekend and discussed a number of current newsworthy topics.
Hogan noted that while he is no longer dealing with back issues, he is suffering from some genetic arthitis, however his ultimate goal is to return to the ring for “one more match” in WWE.
Hogan mentioned that in a perfect world, he would like to lace up the boots one final time for a big match against John Cena at WrestleMania 31.
In response to some comments made by Hulk Hogan in a recent Grantland interview that we posted on the site a few days ago, the widow of the late Ultimate Warrior, Dana Warrior, posted the following statement via Facebook:
Statement from Dana Warrior
I’ve been really quiet since the passing of my husband and the father of my girls. Someone sent me what Mr Bollea had to say in video interview with Grantland yesterday and I would just like to ask him to stop.
He is the only person in the WWE Universe who did not give a call or send a card. My girls asked why he didn’t check on us like everyone else and I explained simply there isn’t a camera at our mailbox or in the house when we receive our calls.
I would ask respectfully Mr Bollea, for you to understand my girls hurt and just let some time pass before you say anything more.
– Ric Flair has been added to the “expert panel” for tonight’s WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view.
– As far as Hulk Hogan is concerned, at this point WWE has yet to announce a role for him of any kind, however he did leave San Jose immediately after the WWE live event on Saturday night to fly out to Los Angeles, which is where SummerSlam is taking place. The general consensus is that Hogan wouldn’t have been in such a hurry to travel to L.A. instead of his home in Tampa, unless he were going to be a part of either Sunday’s SummerSlam show, Monday’s RAW, or both.
In addition to the many current and former WWE Superstars, as well as other mainstream celebrities that have taken part in the ALS “Ice Bucket Challenge,” Vince McMahon is the latest person to join the list.
Earlier this week, McMahon’s son-in-law Triple H took part in the challenge, which includes the person who does it challenging three other people to do it next. HHH’s three challenges were to Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan and McMahon.
Prior to dousing himself with ice water, McMahon extends the “Ice Bucket Challenge” to Donald Trump, Maria Menounos and Kermit The Frog.
Check out the video above to watch Vince McMahon take part in the “Ice Bucket Challenge.”
The following are highlights of a new Yahoo! Sports interview with WWE Hall Of Famer Hulk Hogan:
YS: How close were you to coming to tears during Monday’s birthday tribute video during Monday Night Raw?
HH: That was brutal, dude. They do things at WWE sometimes because I’m what they call a “veteran.” Vince [McMahon] trusts me and he doesn’t let me in on all the secrets like at WrestleMania XXX when I’m out in the ring and here comes The Rock and Stone Cold [Steve Austin]. It could have been an explosive situation. I didn’t know what these two were up to, but Vince thought that was really, really funny. It’s kind of like when I went out on Monday for my birthday and they gave me a little sheet that said you’re going to go to the ring and “Mean” Gene [Okerlund] is going to play a package.
I didn’t think about what they were going to do but the package was so compelling. It just really rocked me because it showed all these WrestleMania moments. These high points in my career like my son, Nick, and my daughter, Brooke, when I was getting inducted in the Hall of Fame. Thank goodness I had my yellow sunglasses on, bro, because they had me really off balance with that deal. I wasn’t expecting that package to be so compelling.
YS: Despite all the clashes with Vince McMahon in the past, you always find yourself back with the WWE. Is this final run the proper closure you need to end your career?
HH: Yeah, this is the period at the end of the sentence. This is where I need to be. Vince McMahon and I have always been good friends. On a personal level he would do anything for me, for you, for anyone he loves. He would give you the shirt off his back. On a business level? He’s a different animal. Cut and dry. Black and white. Sometimes I would wobble between the lines and mix up business and personal. If anyone kind of defected over the years, it was me. So for me to be back with him — I did start with his dad in the late ’70s, Vince McMahon Sr. — and for me to come full circle and Vince and everybody to be gracious enough to let me end my career where I started my home in the WWE is really a great way to wind things up and just put a period at the end of the sentence. I’m really glad to be back.
YS: John Cena, who was sporting the red and yellow t-shirt on Monday Night RAW. Did you sign off on that?
HH: Don’t get me started.
YS: In a recent interview, Steve Austin said he’s a bigger legend than Hulk Hogan. What are your thoughts about that?
HH: I think that’s in his own mind. My career was twice as long as his. I’ve been a main eventer since 1978 when we sold out Shea Stadium. I just totally disagree with him. I know he had a good run when he was in the Attitude Era. I don’t know how long the Attitude Era was — four years, eight years — I don’t know how long it was. That’s where we totally disagree. Maybe he and I should lock up and figure this thing out. That would be a nice match.
YS: Do you think we will see Sting in a WWE ring?
HH: Sting and I last talked when he made his appearance at Comic-Con and they announced he was part of the WWE Universe and that his dolls were coming out. We had a long talk on the plane and I said, “Brother, you have got to wrestle. I mean, I don’t care what kind of deal you signed, I said you can still go. You’ve never made a mark in the WWE.
I was begging you to come here in the ’80s and the ’90s and now you just show up out of nowhere. You’ve got to wrestle.” So, I hope it happens really soon. And I think by the time I beat on him for the three hours from Los Angeles to Dallas that I think we were on the same page and he knows that he needs to get in that ring and leave his mark in the WWE and make a huge statement. I hope it happens sooner than later.
– On Saturday night, WWE will hold one of their biggest live events in a while, as the crew heads to San Jose, California for a show that features both Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair. Also scheduled for the show is John Cena, Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, Dean Ambrose and Chris Jericho.
– In addition to Triple H, who we posted about earlier today, CM Punk also took part in the “Ice Bucket Challenge.” You can check out a video of Punk getting a cold bucket of ice water splashed on himself below.
This morning, outside of Staples Center in Los Angeles, site of this weekend’s SummerSlam, Triple H answered the “Ice Bucket Challenge” from Pittsburgh Steeler Ben Roethlisberger. In turn, he challenged Stone Cold Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon.
– The woman who played Daniel Bryan’s physical therapist on RAW, Megan Miller, was independent women’s wrestler Chelsea Green, who trained one time under Lance Storm in Calgary.
– After the RAW cameras went off the air, Vince McMahon came out and joined the Hulk Hogan Birthday Celebration, which was shown on the WWE Network.
– Aside from the wrestling legends who will be appearing on tonight’s WWE RAW to celebrate Hulk Hogan’s birthday, there are also several celebrities who have recorded video messages for Hogan that will air on tonight’s show.
According to Justin LaBar of WrestleZone.com, LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neil, Flo Rida and Florida Georgia Line are among the celebrities who will be wishing Hogan a happy birthday.
The Iron Sheik was invited to RAW for tonight’s celebration, but was not feeling well enough to make the trip from Atlanta.
– Several members of the WWE creative team were cut last week, including WWE Senior Vice President of Creative Eddie Feldmann. It’s believed that 3-5 members of the creative staff were let go.
Tonight’s WWE RAW from Portland, Oregon will feature a special Birthday Celebration for Hulk Hogan, who turns 61 years old on Monday.
WWE has been teasing big surprises for the show and we’ve learned several wrestling legends will be appearing on the show.
It looks like we’ll be getting an nWo reunion, as Scott Hall and Kevin Nash are both booked for the show, according to a report at PWInsider.com. This will be Scott Hall’s first WWE RAW appearance since 2002 and will be the first time the original nWo will be together on WWE television since WrestleMania 18.
Ric Flair, Jimmy Hart and Paul Orndorf will also be celebrating Hogan’s birthday, along with a few more surprises.
– Despite recent speculation, as of this weekend, Sting has not been officially booked for Monday’s “Hulk Hogan Birthday Celebration” at WWE RAW in Portland, Oregon.
– Roman Reigns is featured on the latest edition of WWE’s “30 Seconds Of Fury.” You can check that out below.
WWE TO CELEBRATE HULK HOGAN’S BIRTHDAY ON MONDAY NIGHT RAW
STAMFORD, Conn., August 7, 2014 – Fans are invited to join a birthday bash for WWE legend Hulk Hogan during Monday Night Raw on August 11 at 8/7C on USA Network. From backstage parties to surprise guests, the arena will be rocking with birthday love for Hogan.
No one in the storied and star-studded history of sports entertainment has a more massive presence or took part in more defining moments than Hulk Hogan. Universally known, he set the standard for what a WWE Superstar should be. Hogan headlined the first-ever WrestleMania, slammed the 500lb. Andre the Giant in front of a WWE-record 93,173 fans at WrestleMania 3, and won multiple WWE Championships during his career. He was the first WWE Superstar to achieve mainstream success and global popularity, appearing in movies, television shows, and even his own animated series; all the while, becoming one of the most recognizable people on the planet.
Fans are invited to participate in the celebration by sending Hogan birthday messages using #HBDHulkHogan from their social media platforms.
Monday Night Raw is the longest-running, weekly episodic program in U.S. primetime TV history and is the most-watched, regularly scheduled programs on cable, airing live every Monday night on USA Network. Each week, it is rated one of the most socially active shows on cable television and continues to be a “must-stop” for celebrities to reach WWE’s TV audience and its more than 385 million social media followers.
As noted earlier today, Hulk Hogan mentioned in a radio interview that his goal is to perform once again in a WWE ring, noting that he is training hard and is in the best shape of his life.
The mentality within WWE is that Hogan is a retired wrestler and is a contracted company employee that has a guaranteed money public relations and brand ambassador type contract that calls for a specific amount of dates per month, but leaves him not exclusive to the company, meaning he can call his own shots or outside endeavors.
WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan recently appeared on The Matthew Aaron Showpodcast and continued to tease a return to the ring.
Hogan, who says he’s in the best shape of his life, says he no longer has any back pain and has been “training like crazy” for another match:
“Brother, my goal is to perform in the ring again, it’s not if, it’s when, I’ve been training like crazy, my back doesn’t hurt at all, my back’s perfect, now I’ve finally got by back straightened out and I’m really trying to get myself into shape because if you step inside that WWE ring you better bring it, and last time I brought it they begged me to take it back.”
“If I get in there I want to make sure I’m ready to go and I give them something to remember me by, so my goal in life is to perform again in that WWE ring.”
When asked if he will ever drop the leg again, Hogan said:
“That’s the question, people always ask me if their was anything I would ever change about my career and I’ve always said no but then I started to think about it, I was such a dummy, I didn’t even know how to work my own gimmick, I’ve got the largest arms in the world why wouldn’t I use the sleeper hold, duh, you’ve got the largest arms in the world and your dropping the leg drop, what does that mean. If I’d have used the sleeper hold the last 40 years I’d have had no back surgeries.”