– Cameron’s new single “Bye Bye” is now available on iTunes. You can check it out at iTunes.Apple.com. Her remix, “Chingle, Chingle,” is also available on iTunes. You can also check that out at iTunes.Apple.com.
– The following is a new video promo from John Cena promoting WWE and the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s involvement in National Women’s Health Week.
– The following stars are scheduled to miss this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown, as they will be leaving for the company’s tour of Europe immediately after Monday’s RAW: Daniel Bryan, Kane, Randy Orton, The Shield and Big E.
Names that are scheduled for SmackDown this week include John Cena, The Wyatt Family, Sheamus, Cesaro, Dolph Ziggler, Big Show and Alberto Del Rio.
– WWE recently added the following talents to the official NXT roster page on WWE.com: Veronica Lane, Wesley Blake, Tye Dillinger, Marcus Louis and Bull Dempsey.
– According to latest reports, WWE has yet to contact anyone who took part in the March tryout camp at the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. That is the tryout that had all of the top Ring Of Honor stars, such as Kevin Steen, Roderick Strong and ACH.
– As far as interest levels on the internet for the characters involved in WrestleMania XXX this year on the day after the show, Undertaker blew away everyone involved, with triple the level of interest of Brock Lesnar, six times the interest of Daniel Bryan and ten times the interest of John Cena.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
John Cena recently spoke with the Washington Post while in Washington, DC for this weekend’s Susan G. Komen race. Here are some highlights of what Cena said about:
His Charity Work: “When you walk down this career path — you say I’ve been doing this close to a decade — your goals change as your career goes on. You want to spend your time making a difference after you’ve become successful. I guess that’s the easiest way to say it. With this, early detection is the way to fight and beat this thing. D.C. has the highest mortality rate in breast cancer. So to be able to grand marshal the Global Race in D.C., it makes a difference. Hopefully it will help save some people’s lives.”
WWE’s Occasional Bad Publicity: “I think that bad news is relative. You hear bad news through all of sports, in all of life. It’s not just entertainers or athletes. There are people with problems in life. The way I stay on top of that is, honestly, regularly scheduled check-ups, listening to my body, making sure I push myself to the limit and not beyond. You can only do what you handle.”
WWE’s Efforts To Improve Talent Wellness: “With the addition of impact testing, the addition of drug testing, the formulation of developmental territories where these younger WWE superstars are getting the best medical attention, the best financial advice, getting future advice — the company has literally leaps and bounds improved the work environment to the best it’s ever been. Being a WWE superstar is now a greater achievement and a greater luxury than it’s ever been.”
Getting Negative Crowd Reactions: “Dude … On April 6 we just celebrated the 30th anniversary of Wrestlemania. I distinctly remember Wrestlemania 22 in Chicago, hearing the loudest one-sided reaction opposite me I’ve ever heard. Since then it’s been like that. It’s been eight years now. That stuff doesn’t transfer. The few audience members that it does transfer, they don’t have a proper sense of what’s going on.”
– WWE talent has the weekend off as they will officially begin their European tour during the middle part of next week. Current WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan will be part of the crew that leaves after Monday’s RAW for the tour.
– For the second week in a row, top WWE Superstar John Cena is scheduled to appear at the SmackDown television tapings, which take place on Tuesday night in Greensboro, North Carolina.
– Below is the latest “Action Figure Showdown” video from the official WWE YouTube channel. The latest installment features Bray Wyatt and John Cena.
– R&B star Ray J is scheduled to make an appearance on this week’s edition of WWE Total Divas, which airs on E! this Sunday night. You can check out a video preview for this Sunday’s show below.
Fans were spared from having to sit through the same John Cena promo that we have all seen a million times last week on Raw. Instead, he was shipped to the WWE Network exclusive program Main Event in an attempt to increase viewership and attract new subscribers.
Since becoming a Network exclusive, Main Event has received a lot more attention. Prior to re-launching online, the program typically featured two matches that were nothing more than garbage, throwaway contests. However, since becoming a Network program, there have been a few title matches and they have at least made an attempt to have top stars appear (Cena and Hogan immediately come to mind).
The company has placed more emphasis on Main Event since making it a Network exclusive in a trend that will likely continue.
Although the immediate goal of placing more emphasis on Network-exclusive programs it to reach one million subscribers, I also believe there is a larger goal involved: the company is testing the waters to see if it can cut all ties with cable providers.
The idea of taking all WWE content to the WWE Network makes sense on one hand. It already appears this is going to happen in the near future with pay-per-views. Cable providers Dish and DirectTV declined to carry this month’s pay-per-view because they were undoubtedly upset that they were losing profits because the WWE chose to circumvent them by starting their own network. It is likely only a matter of time before the others tap out and wrestling fans are forced to subscribe if they hope to (legally) watch the pay-per-view each month.
Taking Raw to the Network would be a bit more challenging, however. Their contract with USA is expiring at the end of this year and a new deal has not yet been reached. If a new deal is not reached, one of the highest rated programs on television will be finding a new home come fall. They would definitely not attempt to move the program to the Network immediately, but if the next deal falls through, it seems hard to imagine that they would not at least consider doing so.
After all, there are already reports that they are going to advance storylines on both the Raw Pre-Show and Backstage Pass programs, essentially meaning that Raw has been extended to four hours, with one hour airing exclusively on the WWE Network.
– According to one report, when Sheamus kicked Dean Ambrose during the WWE United States Championship battle royal on Monday’s RAW, it was supposed to be the beginning of his heel turn. Apparently fans haven’t quite caught on to that fact yet, so it will be interesting to see if they make it more apparent this coming Monday, or if they continue a slow-build sort of heel turn for “The Celtic Warrior.”
– It’s being said within WWE that John Cena has made it clear that he would like to work with Big E. at some point, possibly after this year’s SummerSlam pay-per-view.
– Speaking of Cena, he recently hit a new social media milestone, as he now has 25 million friends on his official Facebook page.
(Credit: F4WOnline.com)
WWE Superstar John Cena offered his advice to prospects involved in tonight’s NFL Draft in a new tweet posted on his official Twitter account on Thursday afternoon.
Cena tweeted the following:
A message 2 Mr. Clowney and all #NFLDraft you have been given a chance Potential without application is disappointment Work hard stay hungry
— John Cena (@JohnCena) May 8, 2014
– John Cena was kept off Monday’s episode of RAW, but instead appeared on Main Event the following night on the WWE Network. This was done because WWE’s top priority right now is to hit 1 million subscribers for the Network by the end of the year. Cena on Main Event raises the show’s profile and WWE is hoping that will encourage new subscribers.
– There continues to be a lot of talk about a second season of Legends House on the WWE Network. Season 2 would feature a new cast of stars. Around the time of WrestleMania, Hulk Hogan was discussed as the top star that would appear on he show. More recently, Ric Flair is also being considered – and there’s nothing preventing both legends from appearing.
WWE officials have been very satisfied with the viewership for Legends House, which has consistently ranked as one of the most-watched shows on the WWE Network since it premiered. There’s also talk of moving the show from Palm Springs, California to somewhere in Florida.
(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
WWE has changed some of their originally intended plans for the future. Originally, Randy Orton was going to switch to a baby face, as the company had even informed their merchandise department to work on some baby face items for Orton for down the line. That appears to be off the table at this point, with the current plan having Orton staying heel for the time being.
WWE is looking at the following four stars — in order — to be the top four singles baby faces for down the line: John Cena, Daniel Bryan, Cesaro and Sheamus.
As far as Sheamus is concerned, while the original plan was to push him as one of the top baby faces in the company, it appears that they are starting a slow build towards an eventual heel turn for him.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
The most recent internal list in WWE for down the line had Randy Orton, Batista and Roman Reigns near the top for future baby faces, right behind John Cena and Daniel Bryan. As previously reported, however, Orton is apparently going to remain a heel going forward.
Also as noted earlier, it looks like the company is going to keep The Shield as a unit for a longer period of time than originally intended. Based on some several-month-out projections, including suggestions made to the marketing division for items that won’t hit the marketplace for several months, The Shield is apparently going to remain a baby face group.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
As of right now, WWE is pushing the following four retired wrestlers, in order, the most: Hulk Hogan, Undertaker, Steve Austin and Ultimate Warrior. Warrior was higher on the priority list a few weeks ago, but that was due to the fact that he tragically passed away.
For the month of April, more people purchased Warrior merchandise on the internet than anyone else in the company, including John Cena.
The latest internet merchandise numbers, in order, were Cena, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, The Wyatt Family, The Shield, Evolution and Hulk Hogan.
The latest arena merchandise numbers, in order, were Cena, Bryan, Randy Orton, Warrior, Rob Van Dam, Brock Lesnar, The Wyatt Family, Batista and Sin Cara.
It’s worth noting that Cena was head-and-shoulders above the rest of the top sellers at the arenas, with the second highest person on the list (Daniel Bryan) not even coming close to his sales figures.
– On next week’s edition of WrestleMania Rewind, which will air Tuesday night on the WWE Network, the show will be centered around the historic showdown between the “Mega Powers,” Hulk Hogan and “Macho Man” Randy Savage.
– John Cena has been announced for the upcoming Wizard World convention at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas on Sunday, August 3rd.
– WWE has added the following video of Adam Rose and “The Exotic Express” to their official YouTube channel:
– As previously reported, CM Punk shot a puck before a recent Chicago Blackhawks NHL playoff game. You can check out a photo of Punk backstage at the game below.
– In the latest WrestleMania Rewind Extra, John Cena recalls watching “The Show of Shows” as a kid. You can check that out below.
– John Cena’s feud with. Bray Wyatt feud is expected to continue for some time, past the June 1st WWE Payback pay-per-view.
– Another independent wrestler that was part of Adam Rose’s entourage on RAW was “Portugal’s Perfect Athlete” Shanna, who was previously a TNA Gutcheck contestant.
– As noted earlier, a version of the RAW script that was changed on Monday afternoon featured Daniel Bryan wrestling Batista instead of Kane. Another version had Batista wrestling Roman Reigns, with Reigns getting the victory. WWE announced on Monday afternoon that Evolution would be guest timekeepers during the Wyatt Family vs. The Shield main event, however that idea was nixed as well.
(Partial Source: f4wonline.com)
– After Monday’s RAW from Albany went off the air, Evolution got on the microphone and talked more trash about The Shield.
John Cena then came out to a very mixed reaction. Cena mocked the crowd for not being loud enough during the show, which got a lot of heat. He talked about how great getting a mixed reaction was. The scheduled dark match main event between John Cena and Bray Wyatt then took place.
John Cena defeated Bray Wyatt by disqualification after the Wyatt Family interfered. Cena eventually made a comeback and hit the Wyatts with a series of Attitude Adjustments and celebrated to end the show.
– The following are this week’s RAW Fallout videos:
Adam Rose Comments On His RAW Debut:
“Dolph Ziggler, Santino, Zack Ryder, Kofi Kingston and Rybaxel comment on losing the United States Championship Battle Royal”
– It was announced on Monday’s post-Extreme Rules edition of WWE RAW that on WWE Main Event this week, John Cena will be on hand live to respond to Bray Wyatt’s promo from RAW. WWE Main Event airs live on the WWE Network at 8pm EST tomorrow night.
– WWE added the following “WWE Mashup” to their official YouTube channel, which features Rikishi vs. The Real Americans.
The following are highlights of a recent Jim Ross Q&A update:
On the reason WWE is so overprotective of John Cena: “Protecting someone in Cena’s position isn’t something that is new but one could argue in hindsight that WWE might have gone too far with it on Sunday night.”
On the Daniel Bryan vs. Kane match at Extreme Rules: “Both men really worked hard and if one likes stunts and special effects of a match they provided it.”
On the team of Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas: “Very good in ring team who arguably were underutilized in hindsight.”
On whether or not guys like Triple H & CM Punk were pushed by WWE because they aren’t drug addicts: “It’s a common sense and professional matter….abusing drugs simply makes no sense and the unprofessional and childish behavior of the party boy group never helped any company. HHH was a model locker room talent from day one.”
Check out more JR Q&A updates at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
– John Cena arrived late to the Times Union Center in Albany, New York, the site of tonight’s WWE RAW. Cena didn’t show up to the building until around 5pm EST. because he was in New York City filming his segment on The View earlier this morning.
– Tickets for WWE RAW on July 7th at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada go on sale at 10am EST. this Saturday. Advertised for the show are John Cena, Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton and The Shield.
– The kid who played “Little Johnny” during the Bray Wyatt vs. John Cena steel cage match at Sunday’s WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view was the son of Jameson, a former WWE character who at one point co-hosted the “Bobby Heenan Show” on the USA Network.
– Short Sleeve Sampson apparently received massive heat from WWE for posting a photo on his official Facebook account prior to last night’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view. The reason is because the photo had John Cena with Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan in the background going over their match.
(Credit: F4WOnline.com)
– The Friday, May 2nd WWE Extreme Rules “go-home” edition of WWE SmackDown averaged 2.271 million viewers, which was down from the 2.670 million viewers who tuned in the previous week.
– The “John Cena sucks” singing chants broke out again at the WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view on Sunday night. You can check out footage of the chants, as well as the fans clapping along to The Wyatt Family’s entrance below.
http://youtu.be/e2kmrS-NPuM
On paper, last night’s card seemed like nothing to write home about. After all, Daniel Bryan was defending his title against a superstar who peaked a decade ago, Bray Wyatt and John Cena were meeting in a rematch from WrestleMania, and other than Evolution vs. the Shield, the rest of the matches seemed like they could turn out to be throwaway contests. The event was basically the furthest thing from a throwaway, however, as it was a well-executed pay-per-view that was filled with worthwhile matches.
The Hounds of Justice stole the show during the match of the night.
Evolution vs. the Shield was the clear highlight of the night, as expected. Each superstar involved in the match put on an excellent show, but the star of the match was without a doubt Seth Rollins. While Triple H, Randy Orton, and Dean Ambrose were battling in the crowd, Rollins dove from the top of the entranceway to take out his Evolution foes, allowing for Roman Reigns to handle Batista in the ring and secure a Shield victory. The match was perfectly executed and is an immediate match of the year contender.
The main event between Daniel Bryan and Kane greatly exceeded expectations. This one seemed like it could be forgettable, as the outcome was never really in doubt and Kane is not exactly a main event superstar anymore. However, both superstars performed well together and the backstage spots were something that resembled contests from the Attitude Era.
In the end, the match even involved a flaming table, although the crew botched this spot a bit by running in with the extinguishers before Kane was even on fire, but hey, what can you do? Overall, it was a great culmination to the night and certainly much better than I was anticipating.
The following image has been circulating around, showing John Cena and the Wyatt Family ringside before last night’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view.
– Today’s wrestling birthdays include WWE referee Chat Patton (38) and WWE Hall of Famer “Cowboy” Bill Watts (75).
?
?- WWE star John Cena will be appearing on the daytime talk show ‘The View’ this morning to promote his BodyChange fitness program.
– Rob Van Dam got pretty banged up at last night’s Extreme Rules PPV, receiving a cut on his cheek after hitting the Five Star Frog Splash on a trash can. He also had some bruising and swelling on the left side of his face, which was evident during his appearance on the post-show press conference that aired on the WWE Network. Here’s an image of RVD being tended to backstage after his match:
