– Following a meeting with the WWE Board of Directors at the company’s headquarters, AJ Lee announced on Raw Monday that she had decided it was best to resign as brand General Manager following accusations she’d been “fraternizing” with an undisclosed Superstar (she denied the accusations).
After rejected Paul Heyman’s plea to become the new General Manager of Raw, Vince McMahon introduced Vickie Guerrero as “Managing Supervisor” of the program. Guerrero then alleged that Lee had an affair with a Superstar, and following more taunts, the two came to blows.
Later in the show, Cena was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with Lee, which led to her resigning as Raw General Manager.
– Two matches were taped Monday night in East Rutherford, New Jersey for this week’s episode of WWE Superstars:
* Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso vs. Darren Young and Titus O’Neil
– Silvervision has released WWE’s promotional trailer for its upcoming nWo DVD and Blu-ray release, nWo: Revolution. The video features soundbytes from Booker T, Arn Anderson, Dusty Rhodes, Eric Bischoff, Sean Waltman, Big Show, Cody Rhodes, Kevin Nash and “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase weighing in on the rise and fall of the group.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=216wbicjYzs
The title will be released in North America on Tuesday, Nov. 6.
– The official WWE website has announced that John Cena will appear as a guest on “The Chew” and cook with Chef Michael Symon. The program airs Wednesday, Oct. 24 at 1 p.m. ET.
– Tickets for WWE’s SmackDown taping on Wednesday, Dec. 19 in Rochester, New York at Blue Cross Arena go on sale this Friday via Ticketmaster. (Ticket Information)
– “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, who writes a column for Fighting Spirit Magazine, offered his opinion on reigning World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus during a recent issue while discussing WWE’s World Titles and how their importance level has never been lower. Though Austin considers the Irish grappler talented, he doesn’t feel Sheamus is ready to be champion.
Austin wrote, “Sheamus is a big talented dude, no doubt about it. Can he get to where the company wants him to go? That remains to be seen, and there’s a lot of work required from both him and the company in order to jump to that superstar level. He’s doing fine for the amount of time he’s been in the business, and there is no disrespect intended, but there are so many aspects that go towards making a guy draw money with the title.”
Austin also remarked that the WWE Championship and World Heavyweight Championships should be unified as soon as possible. An article on Austin’s comments is available here.
– John Cena, who is currently nursing an arm injury after undergoing surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow on Sept. 18, tweeted Thursday on whether he will take part in WWE’s tour of Europe kicking off Oct. 31 in Strasbourg, France.
“And to all the @wwe folk wondering if I am traveling with #raw to Europe, I most certainly AM. See u there!” he wrote.
– WWE.com has released video of Jerry Lawler’s return to WWE at Tuesday’s SmackDown tapings from Memphis, Tennessee. Lawler was interviewed by Michael Cole in the ring and said he feels fully recovered from his heart attack (aside from his scratchy voice) and hopes to return to RAW soon.
– John Cena tweeted on Thursday that he’s headed to Arizona for a Make A Wish conference:
– Former WCW United States Champion and Four Horsemen member Steve “Mongo” McMichael turns 55 years old today.
– Former WWE announcer Todd Pettengill is the subject of the latest “Where Are They Now?” feature at WWE.com. Pettengill is on his 22nd year doing the “Scott & Todd” morning radio show in the New York area. He also runs Pettengill Productions, a company that films reality TV shows, commercials and more.
– THQ has released the official list of attribute scores for the upcoming WWE ’13 video game. The best-ranked player is John Cena (96), followed by CM Punk, Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin and “Attitude Era” Undertaker, who all had 95’s. The full list can be seen at THQ.com.
WWE.com has an article up questioning whether John Cena “passed the torch” to Ryback on Monday’s WWE RAW by leading the crowd in a “Feed Me More” chant and endorsing Ryback as CM Punk’s opponent at Hell in a Cell:
“Ryback, who has been nothing short of a force of nature since his arrival in April, now carries the weight of the WWE Universe on his broad shoulders. Handed to him by Cena — a 10-time WWE Champion — Ryback also carries with him the hopes and dreams of an entire locker room. Whether it’s because Cena isn’t yet healthy enough to do battle, or perhaps because the Cenation leader sees something special in the rising Superstar, the burden is now on Ryback to answer the call.
Few have been afforded the opportunity to challenge for WWE Championship gold; fewer still have claimed it. Standing now at the precipice of greatness, when Hell in a Cell descends on Ryback and Punk come Oct. 28, will Ryback live up to the enormous expectations thrust upon him by Cena and carry that torch to a title reign?”
DISCUSSION: Comment below and tell us what you thought about John Cena putting Ryback over on Monday’s RAW. Is it too soon to put the WWE Championship on Ryback, is that exactly what he needs to complete his monster push and establish him as WWE’s top new babyface?
– WWE RAW General Manager AJ Lee was recently interviewed by Trentonian.com to promote next week’s RAW from New Jersey. AJ, a New Jersey native, once again stated that she hopes to wrestle in front of her home town crowd next April at WrestleMania:
“I’d like to still be general manager and put myself in a match. I’m loving every second of (being general manager), but I really want to wrestle in New Jersey.”
AJ said she’d book herself in a Divas title match against Eve Torres.
Larry King interviewed several WWE superstars backstage at last week’s RAW from Sacramento for his new Hulu series, including John Cena, CM Punk, Zack Ryder, Big Show, and Miz.
One of the more noteworthy quotes from the interview came from John Cena, who talked about feeling better [physically] now than at age 20 and said he’ll wrestle until age 60 if he can. Larry King asked Cena who his favorite opponent is and he answered, The Rock. Cena says “He’s my favorite opponent because I really want to beat him.” Larry King asked Cena if The Rock is a good guy and Cena hesitated, then laughed. He said The Rock was a great football player, he’s a great actor and entertainer, “.. but I want to beat him.”
A rematch between John Cena and The Rock has been rumored for WrestleMania, with The Rock expected to win the WWE Championship from whoever he faces at the Royal Rumble.
Comment below and tell us if you want to see ROCK vs. CENA II.
– WWE’s creative department wrote two different scripts for tonight’s Raw. According to F4WOnline.com, one script is contingent upon John Cena being medically cleared to compete at Hell in a Cell on Oct. 28 after undergoing surgery on his arm. The other script will be used if he is not able to compete at the pay-per-view event.
– The 1989 cult classic No Holds Barred, featuring Hulk Hogan in his first starring role, has been digitally remastered and is now available on DVD at Walmart. WWE has released a promotional video advertising its release at the department store.
– According to WrestlingFigs.com, Sheamus appears at the Colonial Honda 225 State Road North, Dartmouth, Massachusetts on Oct. 23 beginning at noon. Call 508-985-6350 for more information.
– Adam Copeland stated during a radio interview in his native Ontario, Canada that he is no longer permitted to use the “Edge” name for public appearances since he is no longer affiliated with WWE.
“For me, Edge was just a character. I never introduced myself as (Edge). I never really worried about what people can advertise me as. It doesn’t really matter to me. I’ve always just introduced myself as Adam Copeland. I never really thought too much about it”, Copeland said in the interview.
“I think if I would have wrestled another five or seven years, I would have regrets. At this point, the rest of my body feels great. Once I get the surgery and they take the pressure off of my spinal cord, I’m going to feel like a million bucks. I feel better than most wrestlers my age; most of those guys are walking like Boris Karloff, while I’m able to run laps! I kind of look at it and go, ‘Yeah, I think this happened for a reason.’ From a physical standpoint, this is the healthiest I’ve ever felt.”
Visit FightingSpiritMagazine.co.uk for more information.
– Beth Phoenix, who is expected to part ways with WWE this month after giving notice, is no longer advertised for any upcoming events on the company website (with the exception of the Royal Rumble, which was posted months ago and has not been changed).
– John Cena is featured on the cover of the latest issue of the newsstand magazine Inside Wrestling.
– Zack Ryder noted on Twitter that he submitted Episode 88 of his Z! True Long Island story and if WWE doesn’t edit the episode, it’s going to blow our minds. A couple hours later, he followed up with another tweet saying WWE rejected his submission and thus, this week’s episode “will suck.”
– John Cena will be the honorary team captain for the NFL’s New York Jets this Sunday when they play the Indianapolis Colts at MetLife Stadium (home of WrestleMania 29). Cena is still rehabbing his elbow injury and won’t be appearing at this weekend’s WWE live events.
– Speaking of Cena, WWE.com has an article up explaining the black “Kinesio Tape” we saw on his elbow on RAW. Chris Arrigo of Advanced Rehabilitation told WWE:
“It basically does two or three main things. It helps reduce pain … eliminate swelling under the skin and helps support the muscles and joints for improved, pain-free movement. The tape lifts the skin to promote the flow of lymphatic fluid, which helps reduce associated swelling.”
– John Cena was in New York City last night at the 10th Annual 2012 IMG Sports Marketing Symposium at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. He was there representing WWE and spoke about the importance of social media and fan interaction.
– John Cena’s surgically repaired elbow is recovering slower than expected, according to PWInsider.com. After returning to RAW on Monday, he’s now back on television full time.
If Cena is unable to wrestle CM Punk at Hell in a Cell, it’s been discussed that he could could be the guest referee of Punk vs. Ryback.
CM Punk’s matches with Ryback that are taking place at this weekend’s WWE live events would be a run-through of what their Hell in a Cell match would be.
– Mick Foley will be doing stand-up comedy tonight at the Comedy Factory in Baltimore, Maryland at 8pm.
– MMA fighter Gilbert Melendez was backstage at Tuesday’s WWE SmackDown tapings in San Jose, California as a guest of Paul Heyman.
– As we noted earlier this week, Ryback will be wrestling WWE Champion CM Punk at this weekend’s WWE live events. Ryback is filling in for John Cena until Cena is ready to return from injury. This includes the main event of WWE Hell in a Cell, which will be CM Punk vs. Ryback if Cena isn’t healthy by then.
– As for John Cena’s recovery from elbow surgery, he still has very limited use of the arm. The surgery was more extensive than originally expected.
Cena is doing everything he can to be ready for Hell In a Cell and a decision will be made this week as to whether he will be ready in time.
WWE is currently planning out the top matches at WrestleMania 29.
SmackDown writer Michael Hayes has reportedly been pushing for a John Cena vs. The Rock rematch at WrestleMania 29, despite last year’s dream match being billed as “Once in a Lifetime.” This scenario would involve The Rock defeating CM Punk for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble and then defending against Royal Rumble winner John Cena in April.
Not everybody is on board with the idea of Cena vs. Rock II. While The Rock is committed to work at the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania 29, it’s unknown if he’ll ever wrestle again after that – and WWE might be better off using The Rock for another high-profile match against a fresh opponent to get the most out of him.
Overall, WWE is really looking to make the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania blockbuster events.
– The Rock noted on Twitter that he’s back in the US continuing his work on Fast 6 this week.
– As of Monday night, WWE officials still don’t know if John Cena will be healthy enough to compete at Hell in a Cell in less than two weeks. The angle on RAW where Vince McMahon said Punk’s opponent will be named next week was partially done to give WWE another week of seeing how Cena’s physical rehab is going.
– Below is the latest episode of WWE Backstage Fallout from RAW:
Main Feature
A New Day
Spaceboy
Backyard Fame
Taking to the Road
Launching Pad
Constantly Learning
Dark Cloud
Not the Prototype
Outcast Champion
Having Fun
A Challenge
Saving Society
Frustrated Beyond Belief
Hometown High-Pressured Situation
The MAN
Special Features
High School Sports
CM Punk – the Name
Skull Fracture
OVW vs. Albright
From Extra to Champion
December to Dismember
1st Impressions
In-Ring Style
It’s Clobbering Time
The Hat
“The Most Insulting Thing You Could Say To Me”
A Conversation with Lars
Title in the Fridge
Natalie’s T-Shirt
“Teenage Anarchist”
DISC 2
Finals Match in the OVW World Heavyweight Championship Tournament
Brent Albright vs. CM Punk
Ohio Valley Wrestling 1st March, 2006
CM Punk vs. Justin Credible
ECW 1st August, 2006
ECW Championship Last Chance Match
CM Punk vs. John Morrison
ECW 4th September, 2007
Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Chris Jericho vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. John Morrison vs. Carlito vs. CM Punk vs. MVP vs. Mr. Kennedy
WrestleMania XXIV 30th March, 2008
World Tag Team Championship Match
CM Punk & Kofi Kingston vs. Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase
RAW 27th October, 2008
No Disqualification Match for the Intercontinental Championship
CM Punk vs. William Regal
RAW 19th January, 2009
DISC 3
Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match for the World Heavyweight Championship
Jeff Hardy vs. CM Punk
SummerSlam 23rd August, 2009
Rey Mysterio Joins the SES vs. CM Punk’s Hair
Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk
Over the Limit 23rd May, 2010
WWE Championship Match
John Cena vs. CM Punk
Money in the Bank 17th July, 2011
WWE Championship Match
CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho
WrestleMania XXVIII 1st April, 2012
WWE Championship Match
CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan
Over the Limit 20th May, 2012
BLU-RAY EXTRAS
No Plan B
Saxophone
Easter Greeting
Chicken Wings and Apple Pie
Most Recognizable Tattoo
Fish Tattoo
Traveling with Ace
No Microphone
ECW Arena Match
Hanging with Eddie Guerrero
Trainer
Driving Away With the Title
Wrestling Camp
“They’re Gonna Hate Me”
Six People, One Room
I’m a Paul Heyman Guy
The Marathon
@CMPunk
The Bus Tour
Kofi’s Challenge
WrestleMania Day
A Day at the Ball Field
True Respect
Finals Match in the Intercontinental Championship Tournament
Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk
Armageddon 14th December, 2008
– At the conclusion of Raw Monday, Vince McMahon presented WWE Champion CM Punk with an ultimatum: at Hell in a Cell, he would either face John Cena or Ryback. And if Punk hadn’t made up his mind in seven days, The Chairman said he would make it for him.
– The finals of the WWE Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contenders’ Tournament will be determined next week on Raw as Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara take on Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow. On Monday’s show, Mysterio and Cara defeated The Prime Time Players while Team Rhodes Scholars beat Santino Marella and Zack Ryder.
– WWE has released a promotional video hyping a match between Randy Orton and Big Show this Wednesday on WWE Main Event on ION Television. (Watch)
– The October 5, 2012 episode of WWE SmackDown drew a 1.74 rating, down from 1.83 the week prior. It marks as the second-lowest-rated first-run Friday show of 2012.
The program averaged 2.39 million viewers over the course of two hours, the lowest number for a first-run Friday episode this year. SmackDown has lost 19 percent of its viewership (567,000 viewers) since the first episode of September.
– A special guest on Monday’s edition of Live with Kelly and Michael, John Cena joined Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan to help raise awareness for WWE’s partnership with Susan G. Komen for the Cure during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The official WWE website has released video of his appearance.
– John Cena has announced via Twitter that he will be kicking off Raw tonight with his first Monday night appearance in two weeks. The official WWE website notes, “Tune in at 8/7 CT sharp to find out what John Cena has in store for CM Punk and the WWE Universe!”
– The official WWE website has published an article looking back at twenty of the most shocking discoveries in the history of professional wrestling. WWE makes note of Rikishi running down “Stone Cold” Steve Austin with a car, Hornswoggle revealing himself as the Anonymous Raw General Manager, Ric Flair alleging that he had a relationship with Miss Elizabeth before “Macho Man” Randy Savage did, Hulk Hogan joining forces with Scott Hall and Kevin Nash to form the nWo, Shane McMahon gaining ownership of World Championship Wrestling and Vince McMahon revealing himself as the source of The Corporate Ministry’s power, among others.
– WWE Champion CM Punk noted on Twitter that he will debut a new T-Shirt tonight on Raw and has more “fun announcements” on the way.
– This week’s WWE Classics On Demand updates are as follows: WWWF at Madison Square Garden (March 17, 1975), Rise and Fall of ECW, ECW Hardcore TV (May 12, 1998), WWF Mania (February 7, 1993), World Class Championship Wrestling’s Parade of Champions (May 3, 1987).
– For the first time, Ryback will go one-on-one with WWE Champion CM Punk at this Friday’s Raw and SmackDown SuperShow in Jonesboro, Arkansas at the ASU Convocation Center.
The match was announced after WWE revised its event card for the show. John Cena was originally scheduled to face Punk at the show, but company officials told KAIT-TV Region 8 that he will be unable to appear after he underwent surgery last month to remove bone chips in his elbow. At the beginning of the show, WWE will announce that refunds are available to anyone who bought a ticket to see Cena.
Also announced for the event is a World Heavyweight Championship Match between Sheamus and Big Show. Kane, Daniel Bryan, The Miz, Kofi Kingston, R-Truth Santino Marella, Sin Cara, Cody Rhodes, Brodus Clay and WWE Divas are also scheduled to appear. (Event Information)
– WWE will hold a SmackDown taping on Tuesday, January 22, 2013 in Sacramento, California at Power Balance Pavilion. Ticketmaster.com will hold a pre-sale following tonight’s Raw at the venue.
– Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is featured in today’s “Superstar Spotlight” on WWE.com.
– Injured WWE superstar John Cena will appearing on this morning’s “Live with Kelly & Michael” talk show. Cena filmed his appearance on Friday in New York and will be at tonight’s WWE RAW from Sacramento, California.
– NXT wrestlers Dean Ambrose and Xavier Woods continued working weekend WWE live events.
– Yoshi Tatsu was working as a heel at weekend WWE live events. Tatsu teamed with Darren Young and Titus O’Neil to face Justin Gabriel and The Usos at Saturday night’s SmackDown live event in Anaheim, California. Following the match, Tatsu tweeted the following:
– John Cena will indeed be live at Monday’s RAW from Sacramento, California. Cena has announced a Monday morning appearance on syndicated talk show “Live with Kelly & Michael.” Cena posted a Tout video that indicated his interview for Kelly & Michael was pre-taped this weekend. No word yet if that’s the case but if not, he will have to fly from New York to California on Monday.
F4Wonline.com reports that Cena originally was going to miss RAW this week but that changed when the low RAW rating came out last week. As noted, Vince McMahon’s return is another direct response to the low rating.
– Hornswoggle revealed on Twitter that he has been off the road for a few weeks after having his gallbladder removed.
Who needs a gall bladder anyway? As much as I miss home at times when on the road, these 4 weeks home have gotten me anxious! #brutal
– Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara vs. Titus O’Neil and Darren Young in a tag team tournament match will take place on this Monday’s RAW from Sacramento. The other semi-finals match will likely take place on next Friday’s SmackDown – Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow vs. Zack Ryder and Santino Marella.
– John Cena confirmed Friday via Twitter that he will be at Monday’s Raw in Sacramento, California, despite recovering from surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow two weeks ago.
“Still not medically cleared but @wwe @CMPunk I WILL be at #raw THIS MONDAY in Sacramento #nevergiveup #riseabovecancer,” he wrote.
Cena also responded to a request to appear on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to spread breast cancer awareness: “Hey @TheEllenShow as long as it’s not Monday. I’m going to Sacramento for #RAW.”
– Joey Styles posted a lengthy blog on Facebook explaining why he’s the proudest “Paul Heyman Guy.” The Vice President of Digital Media Content for WWE.com credits Heyman for seeing potential in him that no one else did.
“Put simply, Paul Heyman was the only one in professional wrestling to have seen enough potential in me to even give me an audition. He didn’t even bother asking permission of his boss, ECW Owner Tod Gordon (who ended up asking me who the hell I was and what I was doing in his locker room while catching me in my underwear changing into my suit),” Styles writes. “Regardless of that humiliating incident that was the reason I switched from “tightie whities” to boxer briefs, three months later, when Paul became the Creative Director and Executive Producer (we used the term Booker back then because there was an actual book of upcoming wrestling cards that was constantly updated), the first thing he did was make me “The Voice of ECW.”
“That’s right, Paul started his dream career as a professional wrestling Booker with the entire industry watching him and most people routing for him to fail by letting an unknown 21 year old announcer host his weekly television show.”
– John Cena participated in the 10th annual 2012 IMG Sports Marketing Symposium in New York City on Wednesday, speaking about WWE’s use of social media. Cena was not wearing a sling, but had his elbow wrapped up in a black cloth.
– During an interview with Empire Magazine, director Brett Ratner said that his upcoming Hercules movie starring The Rock will be unlike anything either of them has ever worked on:
“There’s no definitive Hercules film. This will be the definitive Hercules. I promise you that. It’s starring The Rock. And it’s different than anything he’s ever done and it’s different than anything I’ve ever done.”
– WWE Hall of Famer Sunny tweeted that she’s writing her autobiography and is looking for a publisher:
writing my autobiography.. who wants first dibs to publish it???
– Shaul Guerrero (a/k/a Raquel Diaz), daughter of Eddie and Vickie Guerrero, has not been released from her developmental contract with WWE after attempting to quit the organization last week. According to F4WOnline.com, company officials are refusing to release the 21-year-old at this time. One person with knowledge of WWE developmental matters noted to the publication that in recent weeks, she become distant and “seemingly very bitter about the wrestling business.”
– Ticketmaster.com will hold a pre-sale on Thursday for WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, which takes place Dec. 16 in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center. The passcode is WWETLC. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Saturday at 10:00 a.m.
– Tonight’s debut episode of WWE Main Event on ION Television is being heavily promoted today in the New York market on ESPN. The advertisements are centered around John Cena, who is not appearing on the show.
– WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy Hart is featured in today’s “Superstar Spotlight” on WWE.com.
– At Monday’s WWE RAW, the feeling backstage was that John Cena has a 50/50 chance of being healthy enough to wrestle at Hell in a Cell later this month. One scenario would be for Cena to wrestle the Hell in a Cell match against CM Punk and then take additional time off following the match to finish healing his elbow.
It’s also possible that WWE will call an audible and have somebody else step up to wrestle Punk, but that decision would need to be made in the next week.
– John Cena is advertised for next week’s RAW from Sacramento. After that, Cena is advertised for the WWE SuperShow event in Jonesboro, Arkansas on October 12 and WWE RAW live events after that date.
– WWE posted the following video of Mick Foley reading passages from his new book that is available now – “A Most MIZerable Christmas.” ( Only $11 at Amazon.com)