WWE Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler was a guest on the debut episode of the new “This Is Awesome Wrestling Show” podcast.
– He talked about him and the announce team not knowing about The Rock coming back on Raw and how they thought when his music hit, it was going to be the Big Show dressed as The Rock. He mentions you see how much The Rock is still relevant and compares to stars now.
– The King also talks about possibility stepping back into a WWE ring. He also talks about a possible John Cena heel turn, which he says “never say never”.
– He also talks about announcing back in the Attitude Era vs. now, his jokes he used back then and now. How Triple H and other higher ups asked Jerry about Kevin Steen, who Jerry wrestled before Kevin signed with WWE.
Also, he talks about the crowd at Raw in Brooklyn, and even mentions when the crowd started chanting “This is Stupid” and says, hey, I was thinking the same thing.
The Lawler interview starts around the 21 minute mark; it lasts 30 minutes.
Former WWE Superstar Brian “Grandmaster Sexay” Christopher, who is the son of Jerry “The King” Lawler, has released a new rap album via iTunes, which features cameos from a few wrestling personalities.
A press release for the CD reads as follows:
“This CD consists of several hilarious song parodies plus some great original music. Included on his CD are the songs ‘Going Down’ which Brian uses as he makes his grand entrance into the ring. ‘Puppies’ featuring Hall of Famer, Jerry (The King) Lawler. ‘Memphis Thang’ a tribute song written by Brian about classic Memphis wrestling. Plus, Brian’s good friend Rikishi makes several cameo appearances on the CD. Brian Christopher not only performs all the songs on this CD but also co-wrote most of them. This CD is a ‘must have’ for any wrestling fan. You can download yours today or purchase one through CD Baby or at any wrestling event where Brian is appearing.”
– Memphis wrestling legend Lance Russell was backstage at Monday’s RAW. Prior to the start of the show, Jerry Lawler, who worked closely with Russell throughout much of his career, brought him out in front of the crowd for a quick segment.
– For whatever this is worth, during part one of the WWE 2K15 roster reveal after RAW on the WWE Network on Monday night, the reaction to CM Punk was muted on the broadcast. Steve Austin and Renee Young, who hosted the event, would reveal various Superstars as being part of the game, each of which would get varying reactions from the fans in attendance, however when Punk was shown, there was absolutely no reaction.
– Legendary Memphis wrestling announcer Lance Russell will be in attendance at Monday’s RAW and is rumored to appear before the live crowd to introduce fellow Memphis legend Jerry Lawler before the cameras start rolling. Lawler, however, reportedly wants to walk out to the announcing table with Russell.
– Below are some recent WWE attendance figures:
September 12th in White Plains, NY drew 3,400 fans
September 13th in Springfield, MA drew 4,500 fans
September 13th in Jackson, MS drew 4,500 fans
September 14th in Boston drew 4,500 fans
September 14th in Monroe, LA drew 4,800 fans
September 15th in Lafayette, LA for RAW drew 7,000 fans
September 16th in Biloxi, MS for SmackDown drew 3,500 fans
– During Monday’s WWE Night Of Champions “go-home” edition of RAW, the commentary team of Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and JBL promoted the “Steve Austin Show” podcast, noting that Kevin Nash will be on his show this week. They actually messed up the plug, however, as they sent fans to “Podcast.com,” when it’s actually PodcastOne.com.
– The Friday, September 12th edition of WWE SmackDown scored a final cable rating of 1.95, according to Nielsen Media Research. That marks a decrease compared to the previous week’s show, which delivered a final rating of 2.02. The show averaged 2.821 million viewers last Friday, also down from the average of 2.758 million that tuned in the week before.
The following are highlights from the latest Jim Ross blog:
On WWE Night Of Champions: “WWE’s Night of Champions PPV in a few weeks headlined by Lesnar vs Cena in the rubber match for the WWE title is by far the strongest match on the card which provides Sheamus vs. Cesaro US Title bout and/or Ziggler vs. Miz IC Title bout a dark horse chance to over achieve what is expected of them and turn heads. Their only enemy is to be saddled with not enough time to tell a viable story.”
On Jerry Springer and Michael Sam: “So, Michael Sam is out and Jerry Springer is in next week on RAW. Nice payday and exposure for the 70 year old talk show host who actually tapes his TV show in Stamford, Ct. Unfortunately some fans will ‘damn’ this segment before it even airs which isn’t fair but it’s reality.”
On pro wrestling announcing: “As I said on a recent Ross Report Podcast, I’m of the mindset that WWE would serve its self well if they had separate announce teams for RAW and Smackdown. I’ve expressed this sentiment for months. I’m reluctant to talk announcing because it’s often times thought that I’m angling for work which is laughably ridiculous. It’s just my opinion that WWE shows need different sound tracks to give each program some exclusive identity. I’d have @MichaelCole anchor the flagship RAW broadcast with @JCLayfield and @JerryLawler and utilize @WWETomPhillips to anchor Smackdown perhaps with @ReneeYoungWWE before another network nabs her. Adding a third member of the Smackdown crew would be fine too as it’s good to experiment to see where the chemistry exists.”
“Again, I honestly say that @MichaelCole is much better suited to navigate today’s sports entertainment presentation than I ever was. I was a wrestling play by play guy of which there’s little demand for these days on the biggest stages. Times change and it’s challenging for some WWE broadcasts to sound more like an infomercial than an entertaining, ‘sporting’ event with so many agendas and masters to serve.”
“I sincerely wish all the talents broadcasting wrestling in today’s world the best because those days were the best of my life within the wrestling biz but, again, I will reiterate that I have no desire to re-engage. Just too many new, irons in the fire. Nonetheless, someone will turn what I’ve said here into some sort of covert message or accuse me of not being truthful but don’t waste too much of your time on that concept and finish your homework or jump back on the internet.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
It was announced on this week’s edition of WWE RAW, which took place in Des Moines, Iowa, that on next week’s show an invitation has been extended to Michael Sam to appear.
Michael Sam is the first openly gay player in NFL history, a player that was cut recently from the league. The announce team of Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and JBL noted during Monday’s RAW that if Michael Sam accepts WWE’s invitation to appear on RAW, they will give him an “open mic” and allow him to tell his side of the story.
Next week’s edition of WWE RAW emanates from Baltimore, Maryland.
– As far as the SummerSlam panels are concerned, the VIP tickets for Steve Austin are the only ones that have sold out thus far, however, it is expected that the regular sale will end up selling out as well.
– The following is a new interview with Jerry Lawler setting up his match with Kevin Steen on August 2nd. “The King” still has it.
The following are highlights of a recent Rodolfo Roman interview with Jerry Lawler:
On his son Brian Christopher returning to NXT with Scotty 2 Hotty: “I was really happy for him. Brian and Scotty are doing quite a few appearance across the county. There’s so much wrestling going on all over the place, independent shows around the country. Scotty, Brian and Rikishi, they are busy every single week doing something. He’s not on WWE TV but he’s available all the time. They might bring him back. Who knows? He’s staying real busy which is good.”
On bringing his Memphis Wrestling library to the WWE Network: “We’re in negotiations. They’re sending a crew down next week to Memphis to evaluate the tapes, see what they want and what is still useable. We produced a 90 minute wrestling show every Saturday morning live for 21 straight years so there’s a lot of footage, a lot of tape out there. Hopefully one of these days we will have it on the WWE Network. So many of the stars you’ve seen in WWE over the years either started or came through Memphis Wrestling at one point.”
– The official WWE website has a new video interview up where Jerry Lawler speaks to Eden about his health following a heart attack in Montreal — where RAW took place from on Monday night — a few years ago. You can check out the interview at WWE.com.
– The Business Insider website has a new article up looking at WWE offering another free week trial of their WWE Network subscription service. The article notes that this is a strong indication that WWE is having a difficult time reaching the 1.4 million subscribers they need for the Network to be a profitable venture. You can check out the article at BusinessInsider.com.
Tonight’s episode of Raw took place in Montreal, Canada and featured a total of eleven matches, including a first ever one-on-one meeting between the WWE World Heavyweight champion John Cena and Money in the Bank briefcase holder Seth Rollins.
Canadian icon and WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart graced the WWE Universe with his presence and cut a promo. Of course, he brought up the Montreal Screw Job, but it was a nice moment. Also, WWE continued to promote current on-going storylines leading up to Battleground.
Last week’s episode of Raw was one of the best and most exciting in recent history. Did this edition live up to last week’s high standards? Without further ado, here are highlights, lowlights and my random thoughts on the 7/7/2014 edition of Monday Night Raw:
BEST MATCH: The opening bout between the Usos and the Wyatt Family was the best match of the night. There were two other matches that could have stolen the show, but they failed to do so for a couple of reasons. First, Randy Orton and Dean Ambrose gave it their best effort, but it was clear to see that the two didn’t have very much chemistry, at least when it comes to singles action. Also, the Dean Ambrose botch wasn’t a crowd-pleasing moment.
Chris Jericho vs. the Miz could have been special, but the match didn’t last as long as I hoped. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins had the most promise, but they weren’t given enough time to do anything memorable and the obvious interference by Kane and Randy Orton ruined the match for me.
What was your favorite match of the night?
WORST MATCH: AJ Lee/Paige vs. Naomi/Cameron was the worst match of the night. Aside from the main event and the tag team match between the Usos and the Wyatt Family, there weren’t any real standout matches. However, this bout stood out for all the wrong reasons and it was a poor showing amongst the four Divas involved. Bo Dallas vs. El Torito was a close second for the worst match of the night award because at least the crowd was somewhat into it.
The worst segment of the night was the Nikki Bella/Alicia Fox disaster, but I don’t think there was an opening bell and nobody was declared the winner. Therefore, Idon’t consider this to be a match; otherwise, it would have won the award.
UPSET OF THE NIGHT: Kofi Kingston defeating Cesaro was the upset of the night. I know that Kofi defeated Cesaro last week on Raw, but I didn’t expect him to do it again and I don’t think the fans/crowd did either. I see Cesaro winning the Intercontinental Title at Battleground and Kingston falling into obscurity once again, but at least Kofi is living in the moment now.
To quote the great Mike Adamle, Kofi be Jamaican me crazy.
MOST SHOCKING MOMENT: I expected Randy Orton to defeat Dean Ambrose in their match tonight, but I was anticipating Seth Rollins to screw Ambrose over, resulting in Ambrose losing cleanly. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Ambrose has been really hot as of late and Rollins costing him the match would have protected Ambrose a bit more. Also, it would have spiced things up and furthered the Ambrose/Rollins feud.
Jerry “The King” Lawler got busted checking out WWE Divas Champion Paige’s butt on RAW. There’s no shame in Lawler’s game, as the King tweeted a photo of himself caught in the act. However, this animated .GIF shows Uncle Jerry in all his glory:
Paige saw Lawler’s tweet and responded in the best way possible:
– Jim Ross posted his first blog since getting out of the hospital this past week on his official website. In the blog, JR noted that while he was in the hospital, he received calls from Vince McMahon, Steve Austin, Jerry Lawler and others. You can read the full blog at JRsBarBQ.com.
– The official WWE YouTube channel recently added the following video looking at the most barbaric moments in history.
– The original Sin Cara worked an indie event in Mexico City this past Saturday night. He worked as “Sin Cara.”
– During an interview with BleacherReport.com, WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler revealed that he’s currently negotiating with WWE to bring the Memphis Wrestling tape library the WWE Network.
The following are highlights of the latest Jim Ross blog:
On where he feels WWE will end up on cable TV: “WWE should be so lucky as UFC has been with Fox when WWE signs their new, broadcast rights deal in America of which I fully expect to be an enhanced deal with NBC/Universal which will see RAW/Smackdown stay where they currently are. I do think that USA Network and their affiliates can do more to help promote WWE. I’d like to see Smackdown moved to Tuesday and go live. Going live with Smackdown on Friday night isn’t financially feasible or schedule friendly for WWE whatsoever.”
On having no desire to return to a weekly announcing gig: “I have no desire to return to weekly, pro wrestling announcing any where and especially where announcer’s are heavily produced and cannot be themselves. I don’t miss the travel or the politics. I also know that @MichaelCole @JCLayfield @Jerry Lawler don’t get the credit that they deserve under the philosophy currently utilized for their roles.”
On the fallout from Undertaker’s streak ending: “The Streak is dead. It isn’t being resurrected. Now the key is how WWE addresses Lesnar’s situation going forward and any future plans for Taker including when and where he goes into the WWE HOF. Those that are still in shock simply need to get over it and move forward. I did not like it either but I can see where the Streak ending can create unique opportunities on multiple, creative fronts.”
On the boxing documentary he narrarated for FOX Sports 1: “The video feature that I narrated for @FoxSports1 will air Monday night after their boxing event. It’s about the journey that the late, Tommy Morrison’s son Trey has embarked upon in pro boxing. The young, Oklahoman is attempting to follow in his dad’s footsteps. Many will recall that Tommy Morrison appeared in Rocky 5 and also defeated George Foreman to win the WBO heavyweight Title before lifestyle decisions helped end his career and eventually his life at the age of 44.”
Check out the complete blog online at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
Near the end of last year, it appeared the WWE would once again focus on promoting its tag team division. After the championships were practically ignored and bounced around between random teams that were comprised of young talent for over a year, Team Hell No helped legitimize the titles once again.
Kane and Bryan held the titles for nearly a year before eventually dropping the straps to Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. The division picked up even more after the Shield got their hands on the titles and was straight up stacked for months. At one point the company was even relying a lot on six-man tag matches just to get as many guys as possible on the broadcast.
Team Hell No helped spark fan interest after a dull period in the tag division.
Near the end of last year, the Rhodes Brothers, the Shield (Rollins and Reigns), the Wyatt Family (Harper and Rowan), the Real Americans, the Usos, the Prime Time Players, and the New Age Outlaws were all in contention for the Tag Team titles at some point.
Since then, nearly every one of those teams has fallen off the face of the Earth, save the Usos who are now the champions. The Rhodes Brothers are barely competing together, the Shield is beyond competing for the championships at this point, the Wyatt Family has been involved in other affairs, both the Real Americans and Prime Time Players have split, and it appears the New Age Outlaws do not want to exercise that rematch clause after all.
The dissolution and promotion of various teams has resulted in the tag team division entering into a transitional state where the company needs to develop new teams or promote others from NXT. Think about the current teams on the roster. We have the Usos who are obviously champions, but who are their challengers? The only other teams even on the roster are Los Matadores, Ryback and Axel, and 3MB, unless I am forgetting someone.
– According to one report, WWE Hall Of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler has nearly straightened out all of the issues regarding the Memphis video library, and is looking to finally sell it off to WWE.
– Rapper Machine Gun Kelly posted the following tweet on Wednesday, talking about his performance at WrestleMania 28:
– WWE has apparently contacted several major names to be part of their milestone 30th edition of WrestleMania. As one report described, “every mega-draw” of the past several decades that are still alive were contacted to at least make a cameo appearance of some kind during the show.
– Chris Jericho will be a guest on IGN’s “Up At Noon” this coming Monday at 12pm EST.
– As previously reported, Dolph Ziggler, The Bella Twins, Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and JBL all filmed a WWE-themed edition of the E! talk show, “The Soup.” That episode is scheduled to air on Wednesday, April 9th.
– As previously reported, the early estimates have this year’s WWE Royal Rumble selling 445,000 pay-per-views. The breakdown is 285,000 domestic (North American) buys and 160,000 international buys.
We also noted that this year’s WWE Elimination Chamber sold 203,000 buys on pay-per-view. The breakdown for that show has 156,000 domestic buys and 47,000 international.
– In a bit of a small “where are they now?” type of update, former WWE Diva Stacy “The Kat” Carter, who was at one time the real-life wife of WWE Hall Of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler, is now working as an insurance agent at Florida, Life, Health and Annuities.
– WWE personalities JBL, Michael Cole, Jerry “The King” Lawler, The Bella Twins, Titus O’Neil and Dolph Ziggler recently filmed a WWE-themed edition of the E! talk show, “The Soup.” There is currently no official word on when the show will air.
– Speaking of JBL and Michael Cole, here is the latest edition of “The JBL & Cole Show,” which features the latest drama in “Wrestler’s Court.”
The following are highlights from the latest Q&A update from WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On why WWE didn’t immediately sign Sting when they bought WCW: “I’ve answered this numerous times. You can search for this info here. Sting was owed big money by Time Warner plus he was uncomfortable at the time with the TV14 programming.”
On the three-man commentary team of JR, Jerry Lawler and Vince McMahon: “It was the best three man team that I ever worked with and loved interacting with Vince and heel Lawler.”
On Ultimate Warrior vs. Ryback rumors for WrestleMania XXX: “I don’t expect to see Warrior wrestle at WM30 but I don’t know. I will not be at the HOF but will watch it on the WWE Network.”
On what CM Punk could do to headline WrestleMania in the future: “I’d suggest settling his differences w/ WWE mgmt would help him reach his goals. I’m WAY out of the loop on that matter.”
Apparently the reason WWE took a shot at Jim Ross during commentary on the March 3rd edition of RAW was because of JR going public with the Vince McMahon “sharting” story during his Opie & Anthony radio appearance.
During the RAW broadcast, JBL was talking about his love for Vince McMahon as an announcer, which led to Jerry Lawler asking him to compare McMahon’s announcing to JR’s. JBL noted that he preferred McMahon, because he could speak English, and then noted that comparing the two is like comparing horse manure to ice cream (an old Bobby Heenan line).
– The latest edition of the “30 Years Of WrestleMania” podcast, which features Renee Young interviewing Mick Foley, is now available at PodcastOne.com.
– WWE is advertising a steel cage match between John Cena and Randy Orton, as well as Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio, for the company’s return to Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, New York on March 22nd.
– The shirt that Jerry “The King” Lawler wore on RAW last night in his hometown of Memphis was said to be a hot topic of discussion backstage during the show. Lawler tweeted the following about the shirt after the show:
My Raw shirt tonight in Memphis was a tribute to Elvis & his gold lame’ suit. From the Graceland gift shop! pic.twitter.com/nuX4aDuhAR
