“Diamond” Dallas Page said during an interview with the Pro Wrestling Torch Livecast that the only wrestler he would come out of retirement to wrestle would be WWE Superstar Randy Orton. Otherwise, he has no interest in returning to the ring as he does not want to risk the quality of his life at the age of 55.
“That’s the only match I would come out of retirement for. I would put my body on the line only to be able to show I could still go. I would take my body to the limits I never thought I?could at this age only for that angle, but that’s not going to happen because he’s already beat up all the old men. The only thing I’ll hook him with is he’s killed all the legends but he ain’t killed me yet,” says Page.
The former WCW World Heavyweight Champion considers The Viper the best worker in wrestling today and loves that his finishing maneuver, the RKO, is a variation of the Diamond Cutter. Pages credits John Laurinaitis with introducing him to the Diamond Cutter since the WWE executive was performing the Ace Crusher as his signature maneuver in Japan in the 1990s.
Page also gives his thoughts on John Cena vs. The Rock, his chances of being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, Jake “The Snake” Roberts’ influence on his career, Zack Ryder’s character and push, if he stays in touch with Eric Bischoff and more. The audio interview is available here.
— Raw Interim General Manager and WWE Executive Vice President of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis teased at the conclusion of Friday’s SmackDown that Kane would face Aksana, SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long’s assistant, in a match on next week’s show. WWE’s Board of Directors announced Tuesday that Laurinaitis will be in charge of SmackDown next week, while Long will control Raw SuperShow.
— WWE is attempting to file a trademark for the term Kayfabe. It is for merchandise use as the organization released a line of T-shirts last week labeled Kayfabe Tees.
— SmackDown Superstar Justin Gabriel turns 31 years old Saturday.
— Rey Mysterio appears at Chicago World of Wheels at the Donald E Stephens Convention Center 9301 W Bryn Mawr Ave. Rosemont, Illinois on Saturday from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
— The official Twitter feed of Raw Interim General Manager and WWE’s Executive Vice President of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis posted a message suggesting a rematch between WWE Champion CM Punk and World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan on Monday’s Raw SuperShow.
The statement reads, “Mulling rematch for @CMPunk & @WWEDanielBryan on #Raw. Unlike @GMSmackDown, Mr. Excitement will give WWE Universe what they want.”
It would be their third encounter in four weeks. Bryan won the first match by disqualification while last week’s bout on SuperSmackDown LIVE! was ruled a draw.
— SBNation.com reports Brock Lesnar will join John Cena at Sunday’s 2012 Daytona 500 as he is one of four UFC fighters slated to appear at the event promoting UFC programming on the network. The WWE Superstar will wave the green flag at the race.
— Former WWE talent Dave Finlay appears in Sittingbourne, England on Sunday for IPW:U.K.’s No Escape show. He will face Martin Stone.
— WWE’s Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and Interim General Manager of Raw John Laurinaitis’s campaign to not only become the permanent Raw General Manager, but take over Theodore Long’s job as General Manager of SmackDown is expected to culminate with a winner takes all match at WrestleMania XXVIII in Miami, Florida.
The Wrestling Observer reports that a Laurinaitis captained team of heel WWE stars will likely face a babyface team captained by Long at the pay-per-view extravaganza with the winning captain becoming General Manager of both Raw and SmackDown. There is also talk that the bout would replace the Money in the Bank Ladder Match.
— On behalf of ‘be a STAR,’ the anti-bullying alliance co-founded by WWE and The Creative Coalition, David Otunga paid a visit to German Valley Elementary outside Rockford, Illinois today to speak with students about the dangers of bullying.
– Chris Jericho was knocked out during Sunday’s Elimination Chamber match. Later in the show, he was shown backstage getting checked out by medical personnel and looked to be totally out of it. The WWE website posted the following update on Chris Jericho’s condition:
“The WWE Universe is buzzing about what Jericho has to say regarding his departure at the hands of The Straight Edge Superstar. Although he was unable to comment earlier, WWE.com is attempting to locate him in Milwaukee’s Bradley Center tonight to get his thoughts on the Raw Elimination Chamber Match and CM Punk.”
– WWE Divas Champion Beth Phoenix wore white wrist tape and a plaid belt at last night’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view to pay homage to WWE Hall of Famer Roddy Piper.
– The “Major Announcement” that John Laurinaitis was teasing for Elimoination Chamber turned out to be the surprise returns of Alberto Del Rio, Mark Henry and Christian. All three Superstars returned to show their support of Laurinaitis and suggested that he become the permanent General Manager for not just RAW, but SmackDown as well.
An article on the WWE website is teasing that we may find out if Laurinaitis will get the job of permanent General Manager tonight on RAW.
— The official Twitter feed for Raw Interim General Manager and WWE Executive Vice President of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis says he will making a huge announcement tomorrow night at Elimination Chamber. The statement reads,:
“FYI: I plan to make a HUGE announcement at Elimination #Chamber tomorrow. It might stop the show, and will certainly be a Game changer.”
Let the speculation begin. “Game” changer could have something to do with Triple H. “Stop the show” sounds like it involves the “Show Stopper” – Shawn Michaels. We’ll find out Sunday night.
— The official Twitter feed of Chris Jericho’s heavy metal band Fozzy wrote on Friday:
“Just got confirmation for some HUGE gigs this summer!!!! Stay tuned friends..”
— Tickets are still available via Ticketmaster.com for tomorrow night’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Jay Bradley, who briefly competed as Ryan Braddock on SmackDown in 2008 and 2009, spoke with Steven Muehlhausen of SportsTownChicago.com about his time with WWE.
On WWE’s Executive Vice President of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis, Bradley said, “John is a master politician. He is a very good, cunning businessman. He runs WWE like it’s his company. Which I think is why Vince has him around for so long. Because he’s good at what he does. He takes the heat off of Vince. I couldn’t answer what he’s doing on TV, but if he’s playing a bit of a jerk, yeah its probably close.”
Bradley was also asked what WWE needs to do to recapture a “boom period.”
“Blow up Vince McMahon’s jet with him in it,” he laughingly says. “The whole upper echelon of WWE, which pretty much dictates this industry, needs to go.”
The former WWE Superstar also discusses joining Chicago based promotion Resistance Pro Wrestling. The entire interview is available here.
— Shawn Michaels returns to Raw tonight as a guest of Interim Raw General Manager John Laurinaitis, and according to “Mr. Excitement” via WWE.com, the WWE Hall of Famer is coming with a message for Triple H.
WWE.com states in an article: “Although the WWE Universe remains in the dark as far as what Michaels will tell The Game, the timing of his arrival is conspicuous, coming as Triple H wards off The Undertaker’s challenge for a WrestleMania rematch. Given the volumes of history shared by these three Superstars, it would make sense for The Showstopper’s words of advice to pertain to his friend’s involvement with The Phenom, and his legendary WrestleMania Streak.”
— GulfNews.com has published an article on WWE’s debut at the United Arab Emirates last week. The company plans to tour the country once per year going forward.
— The February 21 WWE SuperSmackDown Live special will air live in Canada on The Score at 8:00 p.m.
The WWE website has issued the following announcement regarding John Laurinaitis’ future as the Interim GM of RAW:
“Following John Laurinaitis’ presentation on Monday, the WWE Board of Directors has decided that the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations will remain as Interim General Manager of Monday Night Raw.”
Laurinaitis was moments away from being fired on the January 30th episode of WWE RAW, but Triple H was interrupted by The Undertaker last week. On this week’s show, Laurinaitis made the case for keeping his job and the Board of Directors were apparently satisfied with his defense.
— Michael Cole announced tonight on the Raw SuperShow that WWE’s Board of Directors will render a decision on the future of John Laurinaitis’ position as Interim Raw General Manager on Tuesday morning. The decision will be announced on WWE.com at 10:00 a.m. EST.
— John Morrison will be heading to the Middle East in April to wrestle, according to his booking agency, The I.P.A. Network. He will be wrestling for Qatar Pro Wrestling on April 26-28, 2012.
— Torrie Wilson is scheduled to appear at Collectormania on April 15, 2012 from noon to 2:00 p.m. The event is located at 59 Syracuse State Fairgrounds Syracuse, New York.
— The Yukes video game company has sold 100% ownership of Japan’s New Japan Pro Wrestling promotion to Bushinroad Group Publishing, card game company). The sale reportedly took place on December 31st and will go into effect this week. It is believed NJPW was sold for approximately $6.5 million (US).
— THQ is set to release Brodus Clay for WWE ’12 via DLC today. The download will be free via THQ.com.
— While doing the media rounds in Mexico last week to promote his new Journey 2 movie, The Rock posed with Mexican wrestler Blue Demon Jr. for a photo, which was picked up by numerous local media outlets.
— The short-sleeve referee shirt worn by John Laurinaitis at the Royal Rumble was a rib by Vince McMahon, who recently poked fun at Laurinaitis for his “flabby, skinny arms.”
According to a trusted source in the company, WWE Champion CM Punk will have a match this year against John Laurinaitis, and Vince McMahon is counting on it being “a very big deal.”
We were exclusive told “The Punk vs Laurinaitis match will happen in 2012, no doubt about it,” and that “if Jericho didn’t sign with WWE, Vince was actually considering holding off Punk vs Laurinaitis for Wrestlemania!
“We were also told the idea of a Punk vs Laurinaitis match became a definite once WWE determined Kevin Nash’s in-ring career had to end, and Punk was left without a weekly adversary on tv.
“Despite some reports, Vince (McMahon) likes Punk’s work, and think he’s breaking through and slowly attracting a new audience,” we were told. “Vince feels that if built properly, Punk vs Laurinaitis can really be a springboard to Punk becoming a major drawing card this year.”
After exiting last week’s Raw SuperShow without addressing the Memphis crowd, Chris Jericho is slated to speak on tonight’s program. Brodus Clay, is also scheduled to make his much anticipated Raw debut, which has been continuously delayed by Interim Raw General Manager John Laurinaitis.
The official Twitter feed of Laurinaitis made the following announcement concerning the show: “I hope you’re all excited for #Raw tonight…Brodus will be debuting, and @IamJericho will be speaking. It’s like a redo from last week.”
WWE.com is also advertising a non-title match pitting World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan against Kofi Kingston. Regarding the bout, Laurinaitis’ Twitter feed states, “@WWEDanielBryan just asked me if he and @TrueKofi could have a non-title match on #Raw tonight. I said yes. #MrExcitement.”
– Next Monday will be a very hectic one for the WWE crew. RAW takes place from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California – one day after the Professional Bull Riders will hold an event at the venue. The Bull Riders event takes place at 2pm Sunday afternoon – and all of the dirt that is brought into the arena won’t be removed until 1pm on Monday afternoon The RAW crew typically starts setting up for shows early in the morning – so they’ll have way less time to get ready next week.
– Antonio Cesaro from FCW teamed up with Michael McGillicutty again at last night’s RAW live event in Texas. They lost to the team of Mason Ryan and Alex Riley again. One reader sent word that the matches haven’t been squash matches as previously reported but the heels, Cesaro and McGillicutty, actually controlled most of the match before losing.
– Both Wade Barrett & Ted DiBiase have hinted at getting new theme music on their Twitter accounts. Barrett, who is using the “End of Days” theme that was used by Corre, posted the following:
“New entrance music: Imminent.”
DiBiase responded to a fan on Twitter that suggested getting a new theme from a band called Son Soul with the following:
“They just did! Not finished yet tho.”
— There was speculation on SmackDown Diva Tamina’s heel or babyface status after she recently turned on Natalya during a SmackDown episode. Tamina has been working WWE live events as a babyface Diva so it looks like that’s the role she’s playing after turning on Natalya.
WWE’s website has a new article up looking at their fathers – Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka and Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart, and how they relate to the Tamina vs. Natalya feud.
— WWEDVDNews reports that WWE has removed the planned Triple H feature from their internal DVD release schedule. The set was previously confirmed for a March 13th release and even assigned catalog/UPC numbers plus a synopsis but for some reason, it looks to be canceled or postponed for the second year in a row.
“@IAmJericho Helluva kick ass return. Welcome back my friend. Look forward to having some fun w you.”
Jericho’s longtime friend Lance Storm says he helped train Jericho in recent weeks at his Storm Wrestling Academy in Canada to prepare for his return. Storm wrote:
“Since he’s back yes @IAmJericho did come back and train with me at SWA. We spent a couple days in the ring including a 17 min match #norust”
Former WWE Champion JBL wrote:
“The @Iamjericho return to WWE? Loved it. This is going to play out well over the next couple of months. The audacity of the return is gold!”
Interim RAW General Manager John Laurinaitis said:
“We are now stalking @IAmJericho to see what all that silence was about.”
My staff and I aren’t pleased, for those of you who follow this and want the real scoop. We hope to have answers from @IAmJericho soon.
It has been a little over a year since MVP announced he would be leaving WWE. A good amount of soul searching and discontent with his position in the organization led to his final decision.
“I guess more than anything it was that my contract was coming to a close,” he tells the Miami Herald. “I had a year left on my contract. John Laurinaitis was coming to me to re-sign like he had a number of times. I had actually been avoiding him because I hadn’t made my decision yet. I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I hadn’t come to terms with my decision. “On a professional level it was a culmination of a lot of things. I just wasn’t happy anymore and felt I wasn’t being given the opportunities that I had been given previously. It was time for me to make a decision, and I didn’t want to re-sign. I asked if I could be out of that final year so I could go and pursue my original dream of wrestling in Japan.”
WWE’s Executive Vice President of Talent Relations respected his decision. MVP feels he receives unnecessary flack.
“I have to say John Laurinaitis gets a bad rap from a lot of people,” MVP said. “He is in a really crappy position. His job makes you very unpopular. He and I had a good relationship. He was the guy that hired me and gave me my first opportunity. John Laurinaitis, a.k.a. Johnny Ace, spent 10 years in Japan with the All Japan [Pro Wrestling] promotion. He and I would talk about Japanese wrestling all the time over beers.”
MVP also discusses his passion for Japanese wrestling and life after WWE. The full article is available here.
– It was announced during a commercial break at RAW that the 14,804 was the announced attendance for last night’s sold out RAW Supershow in Chicago.
– WWE Tag Team Champions Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston now have a joint Twitter account at @TrueAirBoom.
– Beth Phoenix, who did not appear on RAW, tweeted the following after the show:
“Great. to see @NatbyNature and @KiddWWE lookin’ vicious on Raw…where was I? Wouldnt u all like to know ;) #secret”
– TNA Knockout Tara clarified earlier reports of her being backstage at tonight’s RAW in Chicago. After stating that she would be hanging out with WWE diva Eve on Monday night, she followed up with a tweet saying that Eve Torres may be stopping by her home for a visit but she was not at RAW. We apologize for the error.
Check out these pictures of Tara and Eve together from Monday nigh:
— WWE developmental wrestler Seth Rollins, who was scheduled to work this week’s Raw house show tour, will instead appear on SmackDown events this week.
— WWE officials have given thought to John Laurinaitis competing in a wrestling match in the near future. WWE’s Executive Vice President of Talent Relations was previously a professional wrestler under the ring name Johnny Ace, and wrestled for such promotions as the National Wrestling Alliance and All Japan Pro Wrestling. He is credited as the inventor of the “Cutter” maneuver, dubbed by Laurinaitis as the “Ace Crusher.”
— Commercials in the Boston, Massachusetts area are advertising John Cena vs. Kane for the March 5, 2012 Raw Supershow at the TD Garden. It was also announced that CM Punk would be defending the WWE Championship.
— The Bella Twins appear at Don Beyer Kia located at 7416 Richmond Highway Alexandria, Virginia 22306 this Thursday beginning at 2:00 p.m.
Interim RAW General Manager John Laurinaitis was interviewed backsage after RAW and said Morrison’s days in WWE are over.
“I truly wish you the best,” he said. “Your contract was coming up in the next couple weeks anyway, and, looking at your win/loss record, I really wasn’t going to sign you anyway. That being said, it’s kind of a win/win for WWE and John Morrison. I hope you take some time to get your mind and body in order. Get well soon.”
Laurinaitis stated that The Miz will not be punished for his brutal attack on Morrison due to their match’s “falls count anywhere” stipulation and gave a big smile and thumbs up to the camera at the end of the segment.
– Interim RAW General Manager John Laurinaitis was scouting talent for WWE this past Saturday night at the High Velocity Wrestling show in Henderson, NC.
– Hardcore legend Mick Foley will be returning to Long Island, New York for the December 17th Supershow. Foley will be the special referee for CM Punk vs. John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio. Mark Henry vs. Big Show is also being advertised.
– On Monday’s RAW, we saw the latest video promo hyping Kane’s upcoming return to WWE.
The WWE website has a storyline-driven article up looking at Zack Ryder’s failed petition to get a United States title shot at Survivor Series.
John “Funkhouser” Laurinaitis explains why John Morrison was awarded the title shot instead of Zack Ryder, which Ryder has dubbed, the #NewYorkScrewjob:
“I think I’m being very generous because John Morrison was on a losing streak which he seemed to have broken with a victory over Dolph Ziggler in a match last week. I’m all about giving talent opportunities and I feel that John Morrison has earned an opportunity to compete for the United States Championship.”
“As far as Zack Ryder’s twitter petition goes, no General Manager in WWE history is more about social media than I am. However, I feel he is going to have to gain many more than 15,000 signatures before I consider giving him an opportunity to compete for the United States Championship. Again, I’m all about giving talent opportunities … when I feel they have earned them.”
— Tammy Sytch fell down an escalator last week, resulting in a trip to the hospital for stitches. She suffered cuts on her nose, forehead, wrist and foot. She may have also broken her nose. The WWE Hall of Famer stated Monday on Facebook that she is starting to heal slowly.
— High Velocity Wrestling has announced that John Laurinaitis, WWE’s Executive Vice President of Talent Relations, will attend their November 26, 2011 show in Hendersonville, North Carolina to evaluate talent.
— WWE will hold a live event at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah on Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 1:00 p.m. The event takes place “Super Bowl Sunday.“
– John Cena and CM Punk paid tribute to the late Eddie Guerrero at Saturday’s WWE live event from Minehead, England.
“RIP Eddie Guerrero” was trending on Twitter this weekend and several current and former WWE stars paid tribute to the late superstar.
Guerrero passed away on November 13th, 2005.
– WWE Hall of Famer Superstar Billy Graham was released from a hospital this weekend after battling pneumonia for several days. The former WWWF World Heavyweight Champion has been sent home with some strong antibiotics to continue the healing.
– As noted before, WWE is now selling a “Future Endeavors” t-shirt for John Laurinaitis. Former WWE Diva Cherry wrote the following on Twitter regarding the new shirt:
“I have 2 say that t new “Future Endeavor” tshirt is pretty hurtful for me at least! A lot of dreams were crushed w that statement. Not cool”
— WWEShop.com has released a John Laurinaitis Future Endeavored T-Shirt (view here).
The 100% cotton shirt reads “Future Endeavored” on the front and “John Laurinaitis Executive Vice President, Talent Relations Interim General Manager, Monday Night Raw” on the back.
The product description reads “When their run has ended, some go out with a bang, some with a whimper, but all are…Future Endeavored.”
— Recently released WWE talent Harry Smith (a/k/a David Hart Smith) appears on Over The Top Radio tonight at 9:00 p.m. He’ll discuss growing up in the Hart Family, his wrestling career in Canada, Japan and WWE, as well as his mixed martial arts aspirations. The show takes place here.
— WWE returns to the Bank Atlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida on Saturday, December 3, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. and the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida on Sunday, December 4, 2011 at 5:00 p.m.