— 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:
Google has released data for the most-searched for pro wrestling and mixed martial arts personalities of 2010. Here’s the list:
1. John Cena
2. Brock Lesnar
3. Georges St. Pierre
4. Anderson Silva
5. Edge
6. Jeff Hardy
7. Batista
8. Randy Orton
9. Hulk Hogan
10. Triple H
11. BJ Penn
12. Kimbo Slice
13. Cain Velasquez
14. Shane Carwin
15. Rey Mysterio
16. Shawn Michaels
17. Matt Hughes
18. Chuck Liddell
19. Rampage Jackson
20. Undertaker
21. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
22. Tito Ortiz
23. Steve Austin
24. Dana White
25. Rashad Evans
26. Randy Couture
27. Bret Hart
28. Frank Mir
29. Chael Sonnen
30. Fedor Emelianenko
31. Big Show
32. Gina Carano
33. Urijah Faber
34. The Miz
35. Herschel Walker
36. Chris Jericho
37. Jon Jones
38. Lyoto Machida
39. James Toney
40. Ric Flair
41. Dan Hardy
42. Matt Hardy
43. Sheamus
44. Forrest Griffin
45. Rich Franklin
— 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.
Below are various Twitter reactions to Kaval’s release from World Wrestling Entertainment today:
John Cena: “CeNation. Behind as always. I guess wwe has released kaval. I have no clue why but this close to holiday would probally mean……. That it is pretty serious business.”
Jim Ross: “Kaval’s release from WWE surprised me. Don’t know the circumstances. Kaval won’t have any issues finding work. I wish him my best.”
Jeremy Borash: “Very grateful to be working for a company that gives out bonus checks at Christmas instead of walking papers.”
Shelton Benjamin: “I guess my question is would you rather see him as a jobber for Wwe or the Indy phenom that he had been.”
— According to WhatsPlaying.com.au, John Cena is being considered for a television adaption of the James Cameron film True Lies, which is currently being developed. The report doesn’t indicate that the WWE Superstar has been approached, just that he is on the production company’s radar.
— There had been some discussion regarding the health of WWE producer Dean Malenko, but his wife posted on Facebook that he suffered a heart attack. He had a stent placed in his heart, but many in WWE denied he suffered a heart attack.
— Last Saturday’s airing of Tribute to the Troops on NBC drew a 1.45 broadcast rating and 2.34 million viewers overall. The number is similar to last year’s show, which was a 1.43 rating and 2.39 million viewers.
The show finished in last place among the four networks by a wide margin, even with ABC and CBS airing rerun programming.
— Half Pint Brawlers, which aired on Spike TV a few months ago, has been picked up by MTV Australia. The program debuts next month.
— The conclusion to John Cena’s lengthy program with Wade Barrett was moved up from the Royal Rumble to Sunday’s WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view due to injuries sustained by Randy Orton, which limited his availability.
— The Los Angeles Times has a story on the surging popularity of Reby Sky, a 24-year-old Playboy model who hosts Lucha Libre USA: Masked Warriors on MTV2 and pro wrestling talk show Busted Open on Sirius 125/XM 241.
Sky wrote last week on Twitter that she had rejected a contract offer from World Wrestling Entertainment, which caused a spike in online searches related to her. Searches pertaining to Reby Sky broke the top 20 in Google Trends twice this week. The spike in interest caused her website to shut down due to capacity issues.
The tweet, which has since been deleted, indicated that she could not accept WWE’s offer due to her contract with MTV.
— John Cena is being advertised to appear at several upcoming SmackDown live events.
— JTG filled in for R-Truth as Johnny Curtis’ WWE Pro on last night’s episode of NXT. The Raw Superstar wrote last night on Twitter that he is “back in action,” after being sidelined since last week due to a health scare.
— The Dec. 18 episode of A.M. Raw. scored a 0.23 cable rating, with 282,000 viewers.
— As we saw on Monday’s RAW and Tuesday’s live SmackDown, WWE has begun a new feud between John Cena and CM Punk. Original creative plans called for the Cena/Punk angle that kicked off on last night’s Raw to begin next month, but was bumped forward because the “Straight Edge” wrestler returns to action this weekend. The current plan is for the feud to continue through the Royal Rumble, with CM Punk getting the best of Cena, with the feud culminating at WrestleMania XXVII in April.
— Former WWE star Sean “X-Pac” Waltman commented last night during Raw that Michael Cole’s heelish persona isn’t really an act. He wrote on Twitter:
“Cole was such a whiney, smug, aloof person when I was there. I can only imagine how he is now.”
— Former WWE Diva Savannah is accepting appearance bookings and inquiries via angelafongdirect@gmail.com.
— Triple H will reportedly be more involved behind the scenes at television tapings in the coming weeks, a role took on during the company’s tour of Europe last month. The backstage environment was said to be far less stressful with him in charge than Vince McMahon. (source: f4wonline.com)
— Ted DiBiase, Maryse and Brodus Clay vs. Chris Masters, Byron Saxton and a mystery Diva has been announced for tonight’s episode of NXT. The Rookie Challenge will be a Wheelbarrow Race.
— John Cena is featured on the cover of the January 2011 issue of WWE Magazine, with the headline reading: “John Cena’s Biggest Year Ever?”
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety at JrsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights of what Jim Ross said about:
CM Punk vs. John Cena: “The issue that started tonight between John Cena and C.M. Punk has my curiosity. I think that these two will have some stellar bou”ts when they finally wrestle. Punk is very hungry to re-establish himself as a dominate, singles performer. Punk and Cena can also carry the verbal load of this main event level issue.”
John Morrison: “The evolution of John Morrison continues. As many have pointed out over time and of which I agree, John has some young HBK tendencies/mannerisms but his biggest step, in this fan’s eye, is recently demonstrating more physical toughness in the ring. It reminds of when HBK added another layer to his body of work many years ago on PPV against Mick Foley aka Mankind in what was essentially a physical war. Some ‘experts’ on Twitter feel that Morrison’s verbal skills are an issue but I don’t.”
Booker T: “It seemed to me that Booker T was in excellent shape when we spoke on Sunday afternoon in Houston. That statement will likely fuel ample speculation and I’m not saying that Booker wants to or ever will step back in the ring but, as always, one never says never in this biz. With two beautiful twin children just coming into this world, I don’t ever see Booker T going back on the road full time. Nonetheless it was great seeing him and his lovely wife Sharmell. Ol Book did quite well in the wife department, much like yours truly, as he ‘out punted his coverage.’”
WWE.com has transferred John Cena’s profile from the Alumni section to the Raw Superstars section after he was rehired by Wade Barrett on Monday’s Raw.
Scott Stanford, who handles play-by-play commentary for Raw brand matches on WWE Superstars, has been added to the Raw Superstars page.
Josh Mathews has been added to the SmackDown Superstars section. He replaced Todd Grisham as the play-by-play commentator for SmackDown on last week’s broadcast.
The NXT Superstars section now lists Todd Grisham as an on-air talent for the brand. He nows calls NXT alongside Josh Mathews.
Ashley Valence, who has not appeared on NXT since Season 2, has been removed from the NXT Superstars section. She conducted the ring announcing for last week’s episode of WWE Superstars, but was not used this week. She notably announced Zack Ryder as “Ezekiel Jackson” during the Dec. 6 taping, which was dubbed for the taped broadcast.
Jack Swagger’s “Soaring Eagle” is considered an official WWE Superstar as the mascot is today’s “Superstar of the Day.”
— John Cena announced on his Twitter account this morning that World Wrestling Entertainment terminated their contract with Juan Cena last night at approximately 9:00 p.m.
“CeNation. Wwe reports that last night at approximatley 9pm est. It terminated its contract with cousin of john cena, juan,” Cena wrote. “The wwe wishes juan the best of luck in his future endeavors.”
— WWE announced the “WWE Week” schedule on their website last night. Due to SmackDown airing on the USA Network on Tuesday night from 9:00 pm. to 11:00 p.m., WWE NXT will instead air at 11:00 p.m. on WWE.com.
— The Dec. 10 episode of SmackDown drew a 1.77 cable rating, with 2,635,000 viewers. The previous week’s show drew a 1.67 cable rating.
— Current creative plans call for Melina to turn heel and feud with Divas Champion Natalya. It’s expected to be a slow turn. The idea was first conceived a few weeks ago and it said that Melina garnered heat because she was negative about going bad.
Meanwhile, a renewed on-screen relationship with John Morrison which was recently teased on Monday Night Raw is considered a dead idea.
— Creative has devised long-term storyline plans for Randy Orton, The Miz, Sheamus, Edge, John Cena and The Nexus through February.
— The pre-sale code for the Jan. 31 Monday Night Raw taping at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island is ORTON. Tickets for the pre-sale are on sale now through Friday morning via Ticketmaster.com.
sources: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, PWInsider.com