— Brock Lesnar will be announced as a “Legend” for THQ’s WWE ’12 video game later this week.
UFC approved of Lesnar’s inclusion in the game on the condition that he was presented as a wrestler and not a mixed martial artist.
There are no plans for Lesnar to be further involved with WWE.
— The Miz celebrated his 31st birthday Saturday by invading WWE’s Raw brand house show in Loveland, Colorado. He and R-Truth ran through the crowd in street clothes to interfere in the WWE Championship Match between Alberto Del Rio and John Cena, causing a disqualification. They knelt down with their hands behind their heads in surrender, but Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston dove onto them from the top rope.
— Alberto Del Rio is featured on the cover of the latest issue of Inside Wrestling.
— Different countries have different artwork for THQ’s upcoming WWE ’12 video game and the original Sin Cara has been chosen for the cover in Mexico.
— Matches have been announced for WWE’s upcoming tour of Japan. November 30, 2011 at Yokohama Arena will feature John Cena vs. Alberto del Rio for the WWE Championship, Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston for the United States Championship, and Kelly Kelly vs. Beth Phoenix for the Divas Championship. December 1, 2011 at Yokohama Arena will feature John Cena and CM Punk vs. TBA, Big Show vs. Mason Ryan, and Dolph Ziggler vs. Evan Bourne for the United States Championship.
In light of news that WWE Chief Operating Officer Triple H has vowed to not step down from running the Raw Supershow, Christian has spearheaded an effort by various Superstars, Divas, referees, announcers and crew members to travel to Oklahoma City on Monday and stage a “Solidarity Rally” in the backstage parking lot of the Chesapeake Energy Arena prior to the show. The contingent, which consists of those who walked out on Triple H this past Monday night, tell WWE.com that they will not return to the Raw Supershow or step into the venue to perform until Triple H relinquishes control.
Triple H stated earlier in a video interview that John Cena, CM Punk, Randy Orton, Sheamus and Big Show will headline Monday night’s telecast.
“Beyond that, I might not have referees, I might not have announcers, I might not have cameramans. Quite frankly, I don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said. “We’ll see what we come up with on Monday. Hell, they might all show up and I won’t let anyone back in.”
— The official Twitter feed of WWE has announced a 12-Man Tag Team Match for tonight’s Raw SuperShow.
John Cena, CM Punk, Sheamus, Air Boom and Mason Ryan will face Alberto Del Rio, Christian, Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger and David Otunga.
— Shelly Martinez has posted a blog and photos of her appearance this past Saturday at Sign of the Times at the Marriott Los Angeles Airport. She caught up with former WWE Divas Ashley Massaro, Maria Kanellis and Angela Fong, as well as TNA stars Velvet Sky and Christopher Daniels.
— WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy Snuka has been added to The Big Event, which takes place November 11 and 12 at the Courtyard Marriott 9010 Ditmars Blvd. East Elmhurst, New York. Visit tmartpromotions.com for more information.
During an interview with Patrick Lennon of the UK’s Daily Star, WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin took a few shots at Alberto Del Rio – saying he’s not ready to be WWE champion just yet.
“Well I don’t think Del Rio is ready to carry that belt. It’s ok for a short period of time, give him his first mini title run and try to groom him. He’s still got another year or two to go before he learns the US system.
“He’s a good looking kid and I know he’s been around Mexico and MMA.”
Despite the fact that many WWE fans are sick of John Cena as the face of WWE, Steve Austin says Cena is the most polished performer in WWE and right man for the job.
“When I look at that company right now, John Cena is the guy who anchors it all. Some people get mad because they feel like WWE shove it down your throat, but he’s the main guy! Whether you love to hate him or you love to love him – you gotta respect him.
“I have a lot of respect for John – he’s been carrying the company for several years and he comes into work every day with a smile on his face and does all the promotional work and never complains.”
Austin put over John Cena’s track record of great matches and says he’s probably got several more years in him on top:
“I tell you John Cena has had some great matches with some great guys – sometimes his body of work gets overlooked, the guy has proven himself over and over again. I call a spade a spade and John has done a tremendous job and he’s got a few years left yet. He’ll keep riding that lightening bolt.”
For more from Steve Austin’s interview, check out DailyStar.co.uk.
– WWE has released referee James Maritato (aka Little Guido/Nunzio). He is taking independent bookings (as a wrestler) through Bill Behrens, who can be reached at ShowBis@aol.com.
– WWE champion John Cena weighed in on the very eventful night of baseball Wednesday night to conclude the MLB regular season and determine which teams are headed to the playoffs. After Cena’s hometown Boston Red Socks and the Atlanta Braves both lost their games in dramatic fashion to end their seasons, Cena tweeted:
“Smoking gun! What a night for baseball! Congrats to cards and rays. Atl and boston radio gonna be interesting tomorrow.”
Cena grew up near Boston and is a big Red Socks fan – and currently lives near Tampa and also supports the local Tampa Bay Rays.
– “Former” WWE star The Miz explained on his 1st and Awesome Sirius satellite radio show this week exactly why he was fired by Triple H:
— According to the latest issue of WWE Magazine, John Cena’s next WWE Studios film, The Reunion, will be released in theaters on October 21.
A website for the film, which also stars Ethan Embry and Amy Smart, has been launched at www.thereunion-movie.com.
— The main event of tonight’s episode of WWE NXT on NXT.WWE.com features Jey and Jimmy Uso squaring off against Darren Young and JTG. Also scheduled is Yoshi Tatsu vs. Jinder Mahal and Percy Watson vs. Tyson Kidd.
— WWE is asking fans to vote on the WWE Greatest Matches Facebook page to help program the WWEGreatestMatches.com schedule for the month of January.
— Two additional matches have been announced for Sunday’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view:
* Christian vs. Sheamus
* Kelly Kelly vs. Beth Phoenix for the WWE Divas Championship
Also announced for the show are Mark Henry vs. Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship and John Cena vs. CM Punk vs. Alberto Del Rio for the WWE Championship.
— WWE Chief Operating Officer Triple H announced on Raw that Christian would face Randy Orton on this week’s episode of SmackDown.
— John Cena appeared in studio on The Johnny Dare Morning Show today to promote tonight’s Raw SuperShow at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
Cena teased during the interview that a cage would hang above the ring at the venue. He also discussed films, cars and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Cena stated that he does not want to turn bad because seeing the Make-A-Wish kids with his merchandise makes his day.
Meanwhile, the female sidekick auditioning for the morning show said she was former WWE announcer Jonathan Coachman’s roommate in college. She also claimed to have one night stands with former WWE talent John “Bradshaw” Layfield and Al Snow.
— The Miz and R-Truth “invaded” this past weekend’s Raw live events. The same scenario took place at all three shows; the heel duo would jump WWE Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne immediately following their victory over David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty. Company personnel would then escort the “fired” wrestlers away.
Ring announcer Justin Roberts announced at the start of all three shows that The Miz and R-Truth wouldn’t be on hand due to Triple H’s ruling last Monday on Raw.
John Cena closed in on Ric Flair’s record 16 World Title reigns with his victory over Alberto Del Rio Sunday night at Night of Champions. The master of the Five Knuckle Shuffle has now won 12 World titles; the WWE Championship a record 10 times and the World Heavyweight Championship twice.
Cena’s latest World Title victory has former WWE Superstar Chavo Guerrero steamed as the third-generation grappler has vowed to stop watching professional wrestling if he breaks Naitch’s legendary record.
He stated Monday night on Twitter, “If Cena brakes the great Ric Flair’s 16 time champ record, I will never watch wrestling again. I call a boycott of Cena matches if he does!”
Guerrero also asked his Twitter followers, “How many of u are tired of John Cena being champion? Don’t get all excited, it’s just a question.” He wrote moments later, “Wow…it’s an overwhelming “tired of Cena” response! It’s not me, it’s all the fans. I could literally retweet hundreds of tired responses!”
Guerrero continued, “Now, my opinion…Cena is better than me on the mike,but I could out wrestle Cena with my eyes closed and 1 hand tied behind my back! Truth!
“Some are saying that Cena is a great athlete. Really? C’mon. Are u blind? I know Cena & I could beat him in any sport except weight lifting!
“Golf, basketball, bowling, a race, tennis, horseshoes, hitting a baseball pitch, catching a football…anything!!!!
“Lol…some1 just said Cena is a better athlete than Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior! Lol are u retarded? No offense to a challenge person.”
WWE Studios held a focus group session yesterday in Buffalo, New York prior to Night of Champions. The group screened footage of the upcoming John Cena film The Reunion and were subsequently asked for feedback. The group was also asked to fill out a survey.
* One question listed the bulk of the WWE roster and asked participants to place a check mark next to the names of Superstars he or she would like to see in an upcoming film. Despite his recent rants of not being promoted enough by WWE, CM Punk was noticeably absent from the ballot.
* Mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano was listed on the survey three times. The survey asked participants if her name was recognizable and if he or she would want to see her in an upcoming WWE Studios film.
* Those attending the focus group session were paid $20.
— John Cena has now held the WWE Championship a record ten times following his victory over Alberto Del Rio last night at Night of Champions. He is followed by Triple H, who held the WWE Championship on eight occasions.
— WWE’s upcoming Steve Austin video release has been titled Stone Cold Steve Austin: Bottom Line on the Most Popular Superstar of WWE. The title will be be released on DVD and Blu-ray in November.
— WWE will be holding a Raw and Smackdown Supershow at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, Long Island, New York on Saturday, December 17, 2011. Bell time is 7:30 p.m.
— WWE Hall of Famer Gerald Brisco turns 65 years old today.
The official WWE website confirmed Friday evening that The Rock will be returning to the squared circle at the Survivor Series on November 20. He will be participating in a Traditional 5-on-5 Tag Team Match at the show.
Their statement reads: “WWE sources have confirmed that The Rock and John Cena will be a part of a Traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series Tag Team Match.”
The Rock indicated earlier in the day on Facebook that he would be aligning with Cena at the Survivor Series as he posted the promotional poster for the event with the headline reading: “The Rock and John Cena Join Forces. Never Before. Never Again.”
The Rock announced today on Facebook that he and John Cena will be joining forces at WWE Survivor Series on November 20th from New York City’s Madison Square Garden:
“I’m not waiting til Wrestlemania 28…
I’m coming to Survivor Series in November and ELECTRIFYING New York City like never before!
TEAM BRING IT – BOOTS TO ASSES.”
The recently released WWE Survivor Series Video Promo stated that The Rock would be in the house – but now it appears The Rock will actually be getting back in the ring. As reported here earlier this week, WWE has been pushing very hard to get The Rock to wrestle at Survivor Series.
Rock also posted a new version of the Survivor Series pay-per-view poster which reads, “The Rock and John Cena Join Forces: Never Before, Never Again.”
— WWE has changed the structure of their creative staff with a “home team” and “road team” initiative. Road teams will travel to each week’s television tapings while home teams will work at company headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut to develop future shows. WWE creative head Stephanie McMahon, a mother of three children, and Brian Gewirtz will reportedly stay at home to avoid going on the road on a weekly basis.
— The official website of the New Orleans Arena is advertising Edge for next month’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event taking place October 2: “Witness the Superstars of both Raw and Smackdown live under the same roof for a PPV extravaganza live event featuring: John Cena, Randy Orton, Alberto Del Rio, The Miz, Edge, Rey Mysterio, John Morrison, The Big Show and many more Superstars live!”
WWE paid tribute to the “Rated-R Superstar” following last night’s SmackDown taping in Toronto, Ontario with “Edge Appreciation Night.” He also hosted “The Cutting Edge” with World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton and Mark Henry during the taped show. He is also advertised for next Tuesday’s SmackDown taping in Dayton, Ohio.
— WWE has released a trailer on the making of Randy Orton: The Evolution of a Predator DVD, which features comments from “The Viper” and John Cena. Cena admits he was not too fond of the “old Randy.”
“I always joke around there’s old Randy and then there’s new Randy,” Cena said. “Old Randy was an asshole.”
Orton explains why he let fans into his world.
“Showing the WWE Universe, you know as much as I did, at first I was a little hesitant,” he says. “But, you know I thought, the WWE Universe, our fans, they have a right to know who I am. And I think the better that they get to know know me, the better they might accept me eventually, for those that don’t.”
— WWE developmental wrestler Naomi is on the road this weekend with the Raw crew. She appeared at last night’s event in Barrie, Ontario as the guest host.
— CM Punk is featured on the cover of the latest issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated.
As we’ve been reporting here on SEScoops.com this week, it’s being advertised in New York City that The Rock will be “returning to action” at WWE Survivor Series in November.
According to one of our WWE sources, contrary to what’s being advertised, The Rock is not currently scheduled to wrestle at Survivor Series. Expect The Rock to be heavily involved in the show and somehow get physically involved with John Cena, but he won’t be wrestling.
WWE is treating Survivor Series as the “kickoff” to the build towards WrestleMania 28. It’s been stated in recent months by both The Rock and Vince McMahon that Rock will be appearing at “several” upcoming WWE PPVs – including the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber.
The Figure Four Weekly Newsletter reports that there has been talk of doing a best-of-three series between The Rock and John Cena. It’s not official yet, but there’s a chance we’ll see Rock vs. Cena at WrestleMania and then two more post-Mania PPVs, including SummerSlam 2012 in Los Angeles.
– Stefan Gorges, who keeps a running list of WWE Superstar win-loss records, has provided some interesting statistics regarding John Cena and Jinder Mahal:
Many WWE fans think of John Cena as “Super Cena” who never loses any matches – but Cena is on his way to his longest PPV losing streak in yers. After losing to CM Punk at Money in the Bank and SummerSlam – if Cena loses to Del Rio at Night of Champions – it will be his longest PPV losing streak since 2008. In the Summer of 2008, Cena lost to Triple H, JBL and Batista at 3 consecutive PPVs.
Here’s another interesting stat .. Jinder Mahal and the Great Khali’s loss to Air Boom on RAW was Mahal’s first loss on WWE television. Prior to that match, Mahal had won his first 26 television matches.
– The WWE website had 12 million visitors in the July – its second lowest month in the past year (after June).
– If you ever wondered how much merchandise WWE sells online – the WWEShop website processed 452 orders per day in June
— Following the Eight-Man Elimination Tag Team Match on the Raw Supershow, John Cena chased Alberto Del Rio away to close the broadcast. CM Punk came down the aisle and harassed Ricardo Rodriguez, pressing him back to the ring before tossing him in. Punk and Cena stood on each side and Cena started a thumbs-up, thumbs-down game with the crowd. Rodriguez, however, escaped from the ring.
There was a long moment as Cena and Punk stared at each other and glanced to the crowd for direction. Cena offered Punk his hand, and as the fans encouraged them to embrace, they clasped hands and raised their arms together. Cena pointed at Punk and smiled to the crowd.
– In the opening segment of Monday’s Raw Supershow, WWE Chief Operating Officer Triple H fired Kevin Nash after Nash revealed that he had snuck into his office and sent a text to himself from Triple H’s phone, instigating his attack on CM Punk at SummerSlam. Nash was then shown leaving the venue with John Laurinaitis.
In accordance with the storyline, Nash’s profile has been removed from WWE.com’s Raw Superstars section. He is once again listed as a WWE Alumnus.
– WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes is advertised to appear at Florida Championship Wrestling’s Oct. 15 live event at the Suwanee County Coliseum 1302 SW 11th St. Live Oaks, FL. Belltime is 7:30 p.m. Visit FCWWrestling.com for more information.
For the past several years when WWE comes to the WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, WV, John Cena sings the John Denver song “Take Me Home, Country Roads” in font of the live crowd.
Cena continued the tradition on Sunday’s live event from Wheeling, WV – and was joined on the microphone by CM Punk.
Watch CM Punk and John Cena team up to sing John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads”:
— In the October 2011 issue of WWE Magazine, John Cena was asked if has his sights set on breaking Ric Flair’s record number of world title reigns.
Cena, who has amassed eleven world championships over the course of his career, replied, “Not at all. I think one day at a time. In this business, I don’t think about what I’ve done or long-term plans. If you think about what you’ve done, you become complacent. If you think too far ahead, your vision gets a little cloudy. You truly have to think about it one day at a time.”
— Former WWE Diva Maria Kanellis has teamed up with AfterBuzzTV.com to host a live aftershow on Raw Supershow.
The show will stream live every Monday night immediately following Raw on the USA Network at ustream.tv/afterbuzztv. The first episode will stream live on Oct. 3.
— Jerry Lawler is advertised to tag team with Dory Funk Jr. and Colby Weston at the Sept. 10 !BANG! TV taping in Ocala, Florida. Lawler will also referee a match between Hollywood Heather and Claudia Reiff.
— After missing last week’s WWE live events and this week’s television tapings, Alberto Del Rio’s work visa situation was resolved in time for this weekend’s Raw brand house shows in Puerto Rico. He appeared at Friday’s show in San Juan and defended the WWE Championship twice.
Del Rio beat CM Punk before losing to John Cena in the main event via disqualification. Punk appeared after the match to fend off a chair-wielding Ricardo Rodriguez. Cena then raised Punk’s hand and left. Punk stayed in the ring and posed with the Puerto Rican flag.
— The official WWE website has posted a photo gallery of former WCW Hardcore Champion Norman Smiley. He is currently signed to WWE as a trainer and an on–air authority figure for Florida Championship Wrestling. He worked several non-televised matches for WWE following their acquisition of WCW in 2001, but was never hired as a talent.
— WWE developmental wrestler Percy Watson appeared at Friday’s Raw live event in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He lost to Jack Swagger in the third match of the night.
— John Cena is pictured in WWE’s advertisement for tomorrow night’s SuperSmackDown special on Syfy.
Some cable outlets are advertising a match between Cena and CM Punk for the live broadcast. WWE has not announced the match yet.
The synopsis for the event, which will feature talent from Raw and SmackDown, reads:
“The astonishing Sin Cara challenges WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio and Christian battles Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship inside a steel cage.”
— The Miz announced on Twitter that he will debut a new T-shirt on tonight’s episode of Raw.
“Debuting the new Miz T-shirt tonight,” he wrote. “Buy it if your at the arena or go to wweshop.com. Cheap plug 2 of the night.”
— WWE stock closed at 9.59 today, up 0.53 from Friday.