— CBS Detroit features an article on CM Punk promoting tonight’s Raw and it’s noted that he’ll face John Cena at the event. It has not been disclosed whether the match will occur during the television broadcast.
— Some SmackDown talent are backstage at tonight’s Raw taping in Detroit, Michigan. The show was rewritten this morning.
— Recent Raw live events have featured WWE Champion The Miz defeating Randy Orton. Orton then gets his heat back by quickly defeating Alex Riley in a match ordered by the Raw General Manager.
– The Undertaker has been announced for the WrestleMania 27 Axxess event in Atlanta this year. Taker will be meeting fans and signing autographs on Saturday, April 2nd for VIP ticketholders.
Other stars who will be making VIP appearances include Edge, Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, John Cena, Rey Mysterio and The Miz with Alex Riley.
like he’s going to get that opportunity.
– John Cena and Triple H will be starring in two new WWE Studios films, set to be released later this year. Blood Brothers starring John Cena and Inside Out starring Triple H are both scheduled to be released between September and November.
– Speaking of Triple H, he will be interviewed for an upcoming episode of VH1’s Rock Docs show that will profile Motorhead lead singer Lemmy. Triple H and Lemmy are longtime friends and as many know, Triple H’s theme music is performed by Motorhead.
– Part of the reason WWE had Jim Ross do the off-air segment with Jack Swagger at Tuesday’s SmackDown tapings in Oklahoma was so that the crowd, Swagger’s home state crowd, wouldn’t boo Kofi Kingston in their match t hat followed the JR segment. The idea was to have Swagger put down Jim Ross, who they knew would get a big reaction.
– The pre-sale code for the WWE Smackdown taping in Charlotte, NC on Tuesday 4/5 is WWESD. This will be the first Smackdown taping after Wrestlemania 27. (Credit: Devin Cutting)
– WWE newcomer Mason Ryan got some mainstream media publicity this week in the UK, with BBC covering his RAW debut from Monday night.
— Regarding the report of Kimbo Slice making an appearance at WrestleMania XXVII, the mixed martial artist’s name has been internally brought up as a potential special enforcer for The Undertaker at the event.
— John Cena has been dealing with an assortment of injuries in recent weeks. In addition to his hip injury, Cena has also been working through an issue with his neck.
— Yoshi Tatsu vs. Tyson Kidd is the lone match advertised for tonight’s episode of WWE Superstars on WGN America. Other bouts scheduled to take place include David Hart Smith and Darren Young vs. Primo and Zack Ryder, Chavo Guerrero vs. JTG, and Chris Masters vs. Curt Hawkins.
— The website for the JQH Arena at Missouri State University, which hosts a Raw live event on Friday, March 11, is advertising a WWE Championship Match between John Cena and CM Punk. Furthermore, “Fandy Orton” is advertised to face The Miz in a non-title match.
— MVP clarified a fan’s Twitter comment regarding WWE owning the rights to the theme song he used at the conclusion of his tenure with the organization, Holla 2 The World. He wrote: “WWE owns the rights 2 my intro “VIP Ballin”. They DO NOT own the rights 2 “Holla 2 The World” or any other MVP projects.”
— The SmackDown taping on March 1 will be held at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Tickets go on sale January 29 via Ticketmaster.com.
– This year’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view takes place on February 20th from the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. A new promotional poster for the event has been released and it features World Heavyweight champion Edge.
– Add Paul Heyman and Bill Goldberg to the long list of people who congratulated Shawn Michaels on Twitter this week for his upcoming induction into the WWE Hall of Fame.
– A few SEScoops readers who were in attendance at last night’s RAW live event in Tennessee sent in word that that John Cena looked good in his match against CM Punk and The Miz, showing no signs of injury. As we reported on Friday, Cena is back on the road as of this weekend.
– John Cena returns to the WWE house show circuit this weekend, which is a good sign his leg injury is no longer an issue. Cena will be wrestling tonight in Chattanooga, Tennessee and on Saturday in Beaumont Texas.
– WWE has also begun promoting Triple H’s return to the ring, with his next scheduled match advertised for March. Triple H will be wrestling Sheamus in a Street Fight at the 3/19 Madison Square Garden show, so his return to television is imminent.
– With cable channel HDNet ending its relationship with Ring of Honor in April, a source within HDNet has informed us that there are no immediate plans to air another wrestling show.
– Starting in March, most of the WWE live events will be sponsored by KMART.
— John Cena issued an apology on Twitter for using the word “ass” on RAW, claiming he was fined for the non-PG language. Cena wrote on Twitter.com/JohnCena:
“Lots of posts about my language last night on Raw. I do apologize. It was out of line and I was indeed fined. If I have offended anyone it was not my intention.”
“I was very frustrated about being hurt and not able to compete. I lost my cool. I am sorry. Next time I will use something more creative like ‘whoop yer crap locker’ or ‘whoop yer dump box.'”
This is almost certainly a storyline and Cena actually being fined is highly unlikely.
Cena’s gotten a lot of criticism for his childish insults (such as using the word “poopie”) – so please John, let’s stay away from “crap locker” and “dump box.”
— When the rating is announced for last night’s episode of WWE RAW, it likely will not be pretty. Monday’s BCS National Championship game on ESPN (between the Oregon Ducks and the Auburn Tigers) drew a staggering 16.1 overnight cable rating, according to TVByTheNumbers.com. If that number holds up, it would make that game the most-watched show in the history of cable television. The record is currently held by an NFL Monday Night Football game on ESPN between the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings (10/5/09). That game did a 15.3 rating with almost 22 million viewers.
– WWE is now selling the new Nexus “Uprising” shirt that CM Punk and Nexus wore on RAW.
– Tyson Kidd’s bodyguard Jackson Andrews didn’t appear with him on RAW, the second week in a row that Kidd went to the ring alone. Andrews was with Kidd at this past weekend’s RAW live events, but it looks like WWE is unsure of whether to keep the two together.
– After Monday’s WWE RAW went off the air, John Cena made his return and looked to be in pretty good shape. Cena teamed with Randy Orton to beat The Miz and CM Punk. Michael Cole was the special ref. Cena didn’t take a lot of bumps but did hit all his signature spots. Towards the end of the match, Cole got knocked out and another referee came down to replace him. The ending of the match was said to be very exciting, Orton and Cena hit their finishers for the win.
– Several people in WWE have commented on Shawn Michaels being the first name announced for the WWE Hall of Fame’s Class of 2011.
Joey Styles: “Shawn Michaels is the best all around wrestler I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching. Calling his matches was always fun. Congrats Shawn.”
Jim Ross: “When I had dinner w/ hbk in okc few wks ago, shawn mentioned the wwe hof & how much it meant 2 him. Congrats Shawn & welcome 2 the club.”
Howard Finkle: “Congrats of your forthcoming induction into the WWE Hall of Fame! Welcome to the club, my friend!”
— On Monday’s RAW, Shawn Michaels was announced as the first inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame’s Class of 2011. No announcement was made regarding who would induct Michaels. This year’s ceremony will take place at the Phillips Arena from Atlanta, Georgia on April 2nd during WrestleMania 27 weekend. Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10:00 A.M. EST via Ticketmaster.
— An 8-Man Tag Team Match was taped tonight in Nashville, Tennessee for this Thursday’s episode of WWE Superstars pitting Yoshi Tatsu, David Hart Smith, Primo and Darren Young against Zack Ryder, William Regal and The Usos. Also taped was a match between Gail Kim and Alicia Fox.
— John Cena is featured on the cover of the latest issue of WWE Kids Magazine.
Social media news website Mashable.com has announced their “2010 Mashable Awards” winners, which recognizes “the very best of tech and the web.” With over 1.3 million votes cast, both WWE and John Cena were among the award winners, alongside Twitter, Google’s Android mobile operating system and Apple’s iPhone.
Here are the awards given to WWE for its “Stand Up for WWE” campaign and John Cena for his tremendous work helping sick children through the Make-A-Wish Foundation:
Most Creative Social Media Campaign: Stand Up For WWE:
“In an effort to “set the records straight” about inaccurate media portrayals, World Wrestling Entertainment launched the Stand Up For WWE campaign, using social media and video to gather support from its fans. It also posted a list lesser known facts about WWE and inaccuracies and corrections to media portrayals from across the web with facts accompanying the claims. The campaign included videos with its superstars as well as the likes of President Barack Obama.”
ohn Cena is a WWE personality and actor who leverages his social media presence and influence for good. He’s been heavily involved with the Make-A-Wish Foundation since 2004, granting the wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses. He’s earned the foundation’s highest honor, the Chris Greicius Award and was later named Wish Ambassador by the organization. He uses his online presence to encourage his fans to take part in the foundation’s mission to grant wishes, and most recently he is encouraging the donation of Delta frequent flyer miles, which he’s already contributed 3 million matching miles for.
– With Shane McMahon gone from WWE, Vince McMahon’s daughter Stephanie and her husband Triple H are seen as the successors to the WWE empire. Triple H has been a power player behind the scenes for years and many in the company see this year as a time when Vince will shift more responsibilities to his son in law. While Vince is not going anywhere any time soon, the overall feeling within WWE is that the company will be in good hands under Triple H and Stephanie.
– There’s still no word yet on the severity of John Cena’s hip injury or when he will be ready to return to action. Everybody is hoping that Cena will be healthy enough to compete at the Royal Rumble and he will be keeping a very light schedule until then.
– As we reported earlier this week, Rey Mysterio has been pulled from this weekend’s WWE live events and will be replaced by Big Show in matches against Alberto Del Rio. This is part of John Laurinaitis agreeing to give Mysterio an even easier schedule while he’s recovering from a shoulder tear. Rey will continue to work television and pay-per-view events, but like Cena, will be kept off live events for the time being while his injury heals.
(Credit to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter for the info used in this report)
— John Cena was reportedly “banged up” before he suffered an injury to his hip during a match with Wade Barrett at last Tuesday’s Raw live event in Philadelphia. It is the latest in a series of minor injuries the WWE Superstar is suffering from. Nonetheless, he is expected back any week now.
— With Tough Enough beginning the day after WrestleMania XXIV, there won’t be a three-hour episode of Raw during the ten-week run of the reality program. There has been a three-hour WWE Draft show following WrestleMania for the past four years.
— Jim Ross noted today on Twitter that he is meeting with retired NFL player and University of Oklahoma alumnus Marcus Dupree to discuss potential non-wrestling opportunities for himself. Ross added that a movie could be in the works.
— A graphic aired during tonight’s Raw suggesting that John Cena “may possibly return” on next week’s show.
— Jackson Andrews did not accompany Tyson Kidd for his match at tonight’s WWE Superstars taping in Phoenix, Arizona. He last accompanied Kidd at Thursday’s Raw live event in Washington D.C.
— WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011’s third downloadable pack, coming soon to Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, features new Superstar outfits for John Cena, CM Punk and Sheamus, as well as the brand-new WCW Nitro Arena. Click here to view game photos.
— Christian, who has been sidelined since September due a torn pectoral muscle, could return to the squared circle as early as next month. If not, he is expected back before WrestleMania XXVII.
— The Great Khali is expected to return to WWE airwaves by the end of the month. He reached the finals of the Bigg Boss reality show in India over the weekend. The season finale airs this Saturday.
— WWE issued an e-mail blast pushing fans to vote for John Cena for ESPN SportsNation’s 1st Annual Awesomest Dude Of The Year Award. The WWE Superstar was trailing American soccer player Landon Donovan by 20,000 votes on the Facebook poll when the e-mail was sent out. They asked fans to continuously vote for Cena.
— Melina claimed last night on Twitter that her account was hacked and that she and John Morrison are still a couple.
She wrote, “Peeps, I’m still in Vegas. Jomo & I R 2together, doing great! Hackers suck BizzALLS!
“All the supportive Tweets & Love. You guys R truly like family to me. My heart is so grateful. You have no idea. Thank u 4 being so caring.”
Messages were posted Saturday morning via Twitter for iPhone and text message (applications she has used within the past two weeks) indicating that she was dumped by Morrison on New Year’s Day and that he had left her for a man.
— Eve Torres said yesterday on Twitter that she filmed a project for her female fans.
“Was filming for 13 hours straight today!” Torres wrote. “Something good for the female Believers is in the works!”
— The newsstand edition of the January 2011 issue of WWE Magazine features a hologram cover. John Cena is pictured.
— The WWE website is pushing fans to vote for John Cena for ESPN SportsNation’s 1st Annual Awesomest Dude Of The Year Award. The WWE Superstar currently leads the poll with 47% of the vote, beating such sports stars as Landon Donovan, Cain Velasquez and John Wall.
— WWE announced on their official website Wednesday that John Cena is being evaluated on a day-to-day basis after suffering a hip injury at a Raw live event Tuesday night in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. In an update on the matter, while he won’t be wrestling much over the next few weeks, he is not expected to be sidelined for a lengthy period of time.
— Reigning FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion Mason Ryan, who worked SmackDown live events this week, is expected to be called up to the main WWE roster and receive a large push from the onset. Organization officials reportedly want to utilize the Welsh grappler similarly to former WWE Champion Batista. He notably bears a striking resemblance to “The Animal.”
— WWE officials have granted Rey Mysterio a less taxing road schedule. While he won’t be taking time off from the road entirely, he will be performing at less house show events from this point forward due to lingering injuries.
— WWE is offering refunds at all Raw live events to any fan dissatisfied with John Cena being unable to appear. Big Show is filling in for Cena in bouts against Wade Barrett.
— Florida Championship Wrestling has announced that their upcoming New Years Explosion event will feature three specialty matches; a TLC Match, a Generation X Rumble and a Lumberjill Divas Match. Participants of said bouts have yet to be disclosed. The event takes place Friday, Jan. 14 at the Port Charlotte Fairgrounds.
As we’ve been reporting, WWE creative is currently planning out what the top matches will be for WrestleMania 27 in April. As of late last week, WWE had a tentative WrestleMania line-up that included WWE Champion The Miz defending against John Cena and Randy Orton vs. CM Punk. We’ve had also heard that the new John Cena vs. CM Punk feud would result in a match at WrestleMania, so the company is currently discussing a few scenarios.
WWE had a major scare this week with John Cena suffering a leg injury at Tuesday night’s live event from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. While he is in a lot of pain and his condition is being monitored on a day-to-day basis, there has been no definitive word yet on whether he’ll be out of action for any significant amount of time.
There is still talk of having Wade Barrett vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania 27, if the Undertaker is healthy enough to return for a singles match. Based on what we saw on Monday’s RAW, it looks like Wade Barrett could be on his way out of Nexus, but there’s been no confirmation on his status. It’s possible he may end up on SmackDown. A babyface turn for Barrett has also been rumored, but that would likely take place after WrestleMania.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross is back with another blog, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights of what JR said about:
John Cena’s Injury: “I thought that John might have suffered a hip pointer which is a severe bruise. That speculation was erroneous on my part. He is day to day according to www.wwe.com. Knowing Cena he will be back in action much sooner than many, many others suffering the same injury. Athletic, hip injuries are hard to define or so they seem to be with football players. I certainly wish John a speedy recovery.”
CM Punk’s Popularity: “What do I feel is CM Punk’s attraction to the WWE Universe? IMO, it’s simply his overall talent. Punk is simply being himself which translates well on the TV screen. His skill set is unique and he is extremely confident in his abilities. The guy is a student of the game and will do what ever [sic] it takes to be the top guy in WWE. Plus, he has great verbal skills.”
Whether He Hates Michael Cole: “Of course I don’t ‘hate’ Michael Cole. He’s doing his job and has simply interjected more of his natural personality into his work than he did previously. Some folks like it and some don’t. People said the same thing about my announcing back in the day. My guess is that Cole doesn’t care what fans think of him. Cole is garnering more attention than ever before in his career so something must be working, right?”
As always, visit JRsBarBQ.com for JR’s delicious line of BBQ products.
The WWE website acknowledged John Cena suffering an injury at last night’s Raw live event in Wilkes-Barre, PA, claiming he has a ‘hip injury’. His return to action will be evaluated on a day to day basis.
Fans at tonight’s live event in Baltimore, Maryland were informed that Cena would not be appearing as advertised. Ring announcer Justin Roberts said Cena had suffered a “serious injury” and was “medically prohibited” from competing.
John Cena Suffers Leg Injury at 12/28 WWE Live Event
We’ve got more information on the leg injury that John Cena suffered at Tuesday night’s WWE live event from Wilkes-Barre, Pennstylvania.
During the steel cage main event between Wade Barrett and John Cena, Barrett hit his Wasteland finisher, which most believe is when the injury took place. Barrett began climbing the cage to escape but stopped as if he were waiting for Cena to come stop him. Cena used the ropes to get up as Barrett pretended to have his leg stuck in the cage wall. Barrett’s motions were described as slow motion as he waited for Cena.
As Barrett was on the cage, WWE trainers came down from backstage and were yelling into the ring. Barrett came down and Cena countered a punch, put him in a submission and Barrett tapped out immediately.
SEScoops reader Rick was at the event and sent in this recap of what happened:
“When Barrett was climbing the cage and Cena was down, the trainers came running down from the dressing area. I was on the far side and could see one of the trainers yelling into the ring. Right after that is when John hit Wade with the submission hold. Wade didn’t even last one second.”
SEScoops reader Dave, who was also at the show, wrote:
“I don’t know if it was a work but it looked pretty serious to me. In the main event of Cena Barrett, Cena looked like he may have suffered a very serious injury. My wife even said to me the refs are yelling end it end it. Cena could barely stand and even addressed the crowd at the end of the show.”
After the match, John Cena grabbed a microphone and told the live crowd that he suffered an injury but was going to walk out on his own and did not want to be carried. Fans who sent in live reports said that Cena looked to be in a lot of pain as he exited the ring.
John Cena suffered an apparent leg injury during last night’s Raw live event in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. He was working a cage match against Wade Barrett that was stopped abruptly.
Below is a reader account of the ordeal:
“The Main event was a steel cage match between John Cena and Wade Barrett. A back and forth match with Wade Barrett trying to get out and Cena stopping him. After about 20 minutes, Wade gets Cena in the Wasteland and puts Cena on the mat. Everything seemed to stop. The trainers came to the ring and were talking to both Wade and John. All the sudden John throws a Lebell Lock type of hold (it was not the STF) and Wade tapped out. Wade left the ring rather quickly.
The announcer came out and brought the mic to John. John said, “I got a little beat up tonight and if I need to take some time off I will but I will not be carried from the ring.” The injury appeared to be to one of his legs. He wasn’t putting any weight on it. We couldn’t tell if was a hip injury, or something to do with his leg.”
Here is video from after the match, where John Cena acknowledges the injury:
– As 2010 comes to a close, lots of statistics are coming in regarding WWE’s business performance throughout the year. One key indicator of the company’s business is live event attendance. WWE had 11 shows draw more than 15,000 fans this year – down from 2009, when 20 shows drew more than 15,000 fans. This year had the lowest number of events drawing over 15,000 fans since 2007. (Source: Wrestling Observer Newsleter)
– Former WWE and ECW star Nunzio worked Saturday night’s Madison Square Garden house show as a referee. Nunzio, who lives in the NYC area, was backstage visiting and was asked to fill in for the referees who didn’t make it to the show due to the snow storm that hit the North East this weekend.
– Former NXT Rookie Percy Watson participated in a battle royal at Sunday night’s SmackDown live event in Chicago with a shot at Dolph Ziggler’s Intercontinental Title on the line. Ezekiel Jackson, who was recently moved to SmackDown, also worked the battle royal. The other FCW talent who worked the Chicago live event was Naomi Knight, who teamed with Layla to lose to Natalya and Beth Phoenix.
– John Cena was recently purchased a black 1967 Chevrolet Camaro at the Jackson Car Auction in Las Vegas. Cena reportedly paid $50,000 for the classic muscle car. Check it out:
— Following his release from WWE earlier today, Low Ki indicated on Twitter that Kaval is ‘no more’.
“Regardless of the current situation, I only move forward,” he wrote. “Kaval is no more. The return of “The World Warrior” has begun.”
He also changed his Twitter handle to OneWorldWarrior.
— Newspaper ads for the Feb. 1 SmackDown live event at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York solely feature John Cena.
— WWE returns to the JQH Arena in Springfield, Missouri for a Raw live event on Mar. 11, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets go on sale Jan. 14, 2011 at 10:00 a.m.