— RAW superstar John Morrison and WWE diva Melina had a little too much fun celebrating Melina’s birthday on Wednesday night in Los Angeles – and got “banned for life” from a popular nightclub in the process. Morrison wrote on Twitter:
TheRealMorrison
… Security doesn’t like confrontation… @realmelina and I are banned for life from Skybar… And… I DON’T CARE
TheRealMorrison
Skybar! Why would you have a pool if you didn’t want us to jump in? It’s Melina’s birthday! … C’maaaaan!!!
TheRealMorrison
Haha! They called the cops but we took the got the Brain Surge limo outta there! @MATTHARDYBRAND: Nitro! That’s f*cking rawsome bro!
Melina wrote on Twitter:
RealMelina
“@TheRealMorrison: Happy Birthday @RealMelina ” I LOVE YOU Honey Bunny! We r like 2 Fonzies! & what it is Fonzie like? XD
She also posted these pictures of her and Morrison out for her birthday:
— Wrestling Observer editor Dave Meltzer stated during yesterday’s episode of Wrestling Observer Radio that there has been absolutely no contact between Steve “Sting” Borden and World Wrestling Entertainment officials.
— John Morrison noted today on Twitter that he plans on releasing his own workout DVD, Out of Your Mind Fitness. The Raw Superstar said he will be filming it soon.
— Kent State alum Dolph Ziggler appears next Friday at 7:00 p.m. at Kent State University at the Mac Center in Kent, Ohio. He will be participating in an autograph signing following the wrestling meet.
— The January 31 episode of Monday Night Raw scored a 3.5 cable rating, the program’s highest rating since August 30. Last week’s show drew a 3.29.
The program averaged 5.3 million viewers over the course of two hours, up from 4.9 million viewers last week.
The rating improved on the average number for Raw in January, a 3.2.
— John Morrison’s performance at the Royal Rumble impressed a number of people in WWE, including those who have criticized him in the past. WWE superstars are expected to “step up” and show what they can do on big shows like the Rumble – and the feeling is that Morrison knocked it out of the park on Sunday.
— A pre-sale for the March 28 Monday Night Raw taping at the Allstate Center in Rosemont, Illinois kicks off tomorrow morning via Ticketmaster.com. The password is CHIRTV.
— Bret Hart revealed to Right After Wrestling that John Morrison once apologized to him backstage for handing out his sunglasses to children before his matches.
“He came up to me, John Morrison did, and he apologized to me, he said he felt bad and made references to stealing my gimmick,” Hart said.
“But the fact that he even addressed it was flattering to me. I don’t think it’s any different than Rey Mysterio giving stuff to the kids. It’s gotta keep moving on, and if there’s any kind of connection between his giving the sunglasses away and my giving the sunglasses away years ago, between an old fan and a young fan, I think that’s beautiful, I have no problem with it at all.”
— A SmackDown brand match pitting Trent Barreta against Tyler Reks was taped last night in Cincinnati, Ohio for this week’s episode of WWE Superstars.
— The Nexus has changed their Twitter handle to @NewNexusWWE.
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 JR said about:
Miz vs. Morrison’s Match From Monday’s RAW:
“Great start to Raw with Miz vs. Morrison. These are two of the individuals that WWE is counting on to be big time players in the future. They both put forth great effort in the falls count anywhere match for the WWE Title. I enjoyed their hard work and the overall physicality of the contest. Both men likely want to be known not only as successful, main eventers, first and foremost, but also tough, physical wrestlers, as well. Each took positive steps forward on that goal.”
“Miz is establishing that he is a talented, charismatic WWE Champion who can be beaten on any given night. That combo has worked for ages.”
“Morrison can wow any discerning fan with his athleticism and his physicality is becoming more prominent in his matches and I like that trait with any wrestler.”
The Elevation Of Wade Barrett & Sheamus:
“Some of the exchanges between Wade Barrett and Sheamus were physical and both men showed intensity and a gear change. Both Barrett and Sheamus have definitive up sides and both fit into the same category with Morrison and Miz as men that WWE needs to get to the next level and to stay there. Again, this is no simple feat and the ascension is a process that takes varying amounts of time depending on the individual along with being at the right place at the right time with all the stars surrounding the process being aligned properly.”
Reports That Awesome Kong Has Signed With WWE:
“I don’t know if WWE has signed female star Awesome Kong or not but if they have then I think it is a smart hire. After meeting her at the Cauliflower Alley Club (CAC) function a year or so ago in Las Vegas, I wrote that I thought she would be a nice fit in WWE because Kong is so unique. If she does sign, I’d bet a case of BBQ sauce that her name changes. If the Kong rumor is true, and this is just my two cents, I hope that Kong NEVER wrestles a man in WWE.”
As always, visit JRsBarBQ.com to check out Jim Ross’ delicious line of BBQ products!
— 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.
Following John Morrison’s win over Sheamus in the #1 Contender’s match at Sunday’s Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view, the main event of January’s Royal Rumble event is expected to be Morrison challenging The Miz for the WWE Championship.
Many within WWE saw his match against Sheamus at TLC as a star-making breakout performance. Some compared it to the TLC match that put the Hardy Boyz, Edge and Christian “on the map” as top-tier performers. Despite his impressive performance, it really does come down to how WWE management pushes him and it’s not a sure thing that he will be treated as a main eventer in the long term.
On Tuesday’s special live edition of SmackDown, we saw a continuation of the Edge vs. Kane feud, so it appears that will be the likely World Heavyweight title match at the Rumble.
WWE has yet to announce anything for the Rumble on January 30th. However, they have added a basic preview for the 30-Man Royal Rumble match on the company website.
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.'”
— Both John Morrison and Edge are under consideration for heel turns over the next few months. However, the main holdup with Edge turning heel is that babyface side on SmackDown lacks depth. The Undertaker is out and Rey Mysterio is working while hurt.
— The Miz is receiving high marks from WWE officials for how hard he’s worked since becoming WWE Champion. He is being compared to John Cena with the amount of media appearances he’s doing, never complaining about the load, not to mention that he performs well on television.
— WWE has a Raw live event scheduled for the PNE Agrodome in Vancouver, BC on Feb. 11. Insurance regulations caused WWE to cancel its last planned event in the city.
– Monday’s episode of WWE Monday Night RAW scored a 3.3 cable rating and averaged 4,850,000 viewers. The show did hours of 3.26 and 3.34 and is up a bit from last week.
– WWE was very happy with the live crowd at Monday’s RAW from Orlando, Florida and regards the city as one of the best in the country. The city hosted WrestleMania 24 a few years ago, has a great relationship with WWE and is one of the front runners to host the discussed WWE Hall of Fame facility.
– The backstage segment on RAW between John Morrison and Melina that resulted in Melina slapping Morrison’s butt was an acknowledgment of the couple’s real life romantic relationship.
– Roddy Piper and his Piper’s Pit segment have been added to WWE’s return to Madison Square Garden on December 26th.
— Former WWE, WCW and AWA talent Mike Enos (also known as Blake Beverly of the early 1990s tag team The Beverly Brothers) was released from the Tampa, Florida based Hillsborough County Jail last Monday after spending four days incarcerated on charges of contempt of court after failing to appear for a Deposition in small claims court.
Enos retired from professional wrestling in 2000 and currently owns a business, Enos Painting. He is best known for his various partnerships with Wayne Bloom, which included The Destruction Crew, The Minnesota Wrecking Crew 2 and The Beverly Brothers.
— Kaval recently stated on Twitter that he could longer maintain his longtime official website, www.low-ki.com, and would thus declare a fansite as his new official source. He announced today that Kaval-Source.com has been chosen as his new official site.
— Today is John Morrison’s birthday. He turns 31 years old.
– Matt Hardy posted the following on Twitter today:
“I hope everyone is doing great today, all is good on my end. Things are happening in a way that will make me happy. Be well my friends! :)”
– MVP wrote today on Twitter he will be getting new entrance music soon, but did not announce when it will debut.
– Richie Steamboat, son of WWE Hall of Famer Ricky Steamboat, will challenge Florida Championship Wrestling champion Mason Ryan for the title tonight. The match will take place at the FCW show in Orlando and will be a lumberjack match.
– We’ve gotten several emails about John Morrison’s warm-up exercise segment from RAW. For those who missed it, Morrison was shown running around backstage jumping on, over and under various objects in a controlled, fluid way. This style of workout is commonly known as “parkour” or “freerunning.” According to WWE sources, Morrison does in fact practice this activity in his regular training routine.
For those who missed it, you can check it out here:
— Former WCW performer Scott “Flash” Norton suggested to TNA president Dixie Carter last week on Twitter that she bring him in as her bodyguard.
The former New World Order member wrote, “I really think you need a bodyguard & that I would be the perfect candidate 4 the job!”
Norton, who is now 52 years old and resides in Nashville, does not consider himself retired. He is currently accepting booking requests for independent gigs through his Facebook page.
— Brutus Magnus has joined Twitter. Fans can keep up with the infrequently seen TNA star’s whereabouts at twitter.com/NickAldis.
— Melina has tweeted an image of herself, John Morrison and former WWE performer Gregory Helms hanging out with TNA star Samoa Joe at San Diego Comic-Con International.
Warning: The following article contains a *Spoiler* for next Monday’s RAW:
Melina made her return to WWE programming during Monday’s television taping in San Antonio, Texas. She performed a run-in following a Six-Diva Tag Match pitting Alicia Fox, Jillian and Tamina against Eve, Gail Kim and Natalya, attacking the Divas Champion. Her return will be televised during next Monday’s episode of Raw.
It was her first appearance inside a WWE ring since she underwent surgery for a torn ACL suffered last December. She spent the past few weeks at the company’s developmental facility in Tampa, Florida training for her return.
WWE creative brass initially planned on inserting Melina into the ongoing John Morrison vs. Ted DiBiase program as means to feature mixed tag matches, but said plans were nixed last week. Instead, she will going after Fox’s Divas Championship. A three-way feud between Melina, Fox and Eve is tentatively planned, though Maryse may be put in the mix.
Meanwhile, Maryse and DiBiase’s “power couple” placement is an offshoot of plans initially tapped for the French beauty and The Miz last year. Plans were changed when Maryse took a hiatus to recover from knee surgery and Miz got over well enough with the audience that she was no longer needed by his side. Maryse was ultimately placed with DiBiase in an effort to get him over.
Credit to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter for some of the info used in this report
— Former TNA personality Jonny Fairplay congratulated fellow reality television alum Mike “The Miz” Mizanin on winning Raw’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match in a Facebook post Sunday night. He followed up his post Monday morning with a remark TNA Wrestling official Jeff Jarrett made a few years ago concerning The Miz.
“Is remembering back to 2004 when Jeff Jarrett told me there was no money in The Miz,” Fairplay wrote. “Thanks, Jeff.”
At the time, Mizanin was working independent wrestling shows in California for Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW). He would catch a break a few months later when he landed a spot on the fourth season of Tough Enough. Despite losing the reality based contest to Daniel Puder, Mizanin piqued the interest of WWE officials and was eventually offered a developmental contract.
— Chris Jericho’s rock band Fozzy has released a music video for the song “Let the Madness Begin.” The video can be viewed here.
— John Morrison and Eve are advertised to appear at the Daytona Lagoon Water Park in Daytona Beach, Florida on Saturday, July 31. The meet-and-greet begins at 3:00 p.m.
— WWE announced on its website this afternoon that Randy Orton has joined Twitter. His account is located at twitter.com/RealRKOrton.
Following Orton’s Triple Threat Match victory over Chris Jericho and Edge last night on Raw, “The Viper” was the No. 1 most-popular trend on Twitter for more than 15 hours. During this time, John Cena persisted Orton to join the social networking site.
“CeNation. I have told Randy about the overwhelming demand 4 him on Twitter. What he does now is up to him,” Cena posted this morning. Later that afternoon, Cena tweeted, “The Viper lurks. [Orton] is seriously considering joining very soon.”
— Regarding the John Morrison vs. Ted DiBiase program, it is expected to be prolonged through at least September as tentative creative plans call for the two Raw Superstars to face off at Night of Champions.
— WWE has added a third show to it’s upcoming tour of Puerto Rico. The event takes place on September 4, 2010 at the Jose Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in Hato Rey. Tickets go on sale July 31, 2010. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
— There is talk of pairing Melina back with John Morrison upon her return from injury. This would lead to the two feuding with Maryse and Ted DiBiase.
— Madison Square Garden in New York City is advertising these matches for it’s Smackdown house show on September 25th, 2010 (thanks to Devin Cutting):
* Rey Mysterio vs. Kane for the World Championship
* The Hart Dynasty vs. CM Punk and Luke Gallows for the Unified Tag Team Championship
* Kofi Kingston vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental Championship
* Christian vs. Jack Swagger
* Kelly Kelly and Tiffany vs. Lay-Cool
Also appearing are Big Show, Matt Hardy, MVP, Alberto Del Rio and Dolph Ziggler.
— Last night’s edition of WWE Superstars on WGN America scored a 0.74 cable rating, with 795,000 viewers. The midnight replay drew a 0.24 rating, with 214,000 viewers.
-John Morrison graces the cover of the latest Muscle & Fitness magazine, which has a feature on his daily training routine. Right now on WWE.com, there is a video from the magazine shoot where former WWE champion The Rock makes a brief cameo. To watch the video, click here.
-NXT Season 2 rookies Kaval and Michael McGillicutty captured the FCW Tag Team Titles at the group’s show last night. They defeated Los Aviadores, the team of Tito Colon and Hunico. This is Kaval’s first title run since signing his WWE developmental deal and the former Joe Hennig’s fourth run with the tag belts.
-Regarding rumors of TNA having an interest in JBL, he is definitely not going there. He and Dixie Carter are friendly, and they had previously courted the former WWE champion prior to their Monday night debut earlier this year, but Layfield has been happily retired since losing to Rey Mysterio at WrestleMania 25 in 2009.
Here are some newsworthy items from this weekend’s WWE live events:
– WWE RAW superstar John Morrison returned to action this weekend after being away from the ring for several weeks due to an ankle injury. Morrison worked the live events this weekend, facing The Miz and R-Truth in Triple Threats for the United States Title. At Saturday’s event, Morrison defeated Miz in singles action.
– After teaming with John Cena (and getting the pin for his team) in the main event of last week’s WWE RAW, Evan Bourne’s push continued over the weekend. Bourne teamed with Cena again against Sheamus and Edge in the main events of the weekend shows and fan reports indicated that Bourne was put over strong.
– The Uso Twins worked the RAW live events over the weekend, losing to The Hart Dynasty. The Uso’s received mixed reviews from WWE’s agents, according to f4wonline.com.
– Finlay, who returned to WWE TV on this past Friday’s SmackDown, worked the SmackDown live events this weekend, defeating NXT season 1 Rookie Heath Slater.
– WWE Hall of Famer Mae Young was ringside at Sunday’s RAW live event from Columbia, South Carolina, but was not announced to the crowd.
(sources: Pro Wrestling Torch, PWInsider.com, www.f4wonline.com)
— John Morrison is currently nursing an ankle injury, thus explaining why he has not been featured on television as of late. It remains unknown the injury occurred, but he headed into the May 16 Raw live event in London, Ontario injured. That night, he worked a brief match with Vladimir Kozlov and was noticeably limping on his way to the backstage area. He was also favoring the ankle while signing autographs after the show.
There is no word yet on when he’ll return to action, but it doesn’t appear serious. He was backstage at Monday’s Raw taping and was said to be moving around well.
– The tentative title for WWE’s planned DVD release on Randy Orton later this year is Randy Orton: The Viper Uncoiled.
— It was Natalya’s birthday yesterday as she turned 28 years old.
— On Twitter, Melina noted watching the season finale of Lost with John Morrison. When asked if they are dating, she admitted yes.
She responded “Jomo or Duct Tape? Hee hee. John Definitely is.” to the following queries: “@marywwefan “are you two dating?” @ApexPredatorKM “so he’s your constant? Desmond and Penny with pyro?”
— As seen this past Monday night on Raw, Batista announced he was quitting WWE after refusing to take part in Fatal 4-Way qualifying match against Randy Orton. His profile has since been removed from the Raw roster page and placed in the WWE Alumni section. WWE has yet to make an official announcement concerning his apparent departure from the company.
— In other roster moves, WWE has added Bret Hart to its Raw roster page. Also, Carlito was removed from the page Wednesday, days after his release from the organization.
– Since his match at WrestleMania with Batista, WWE Champion John Cena has been suffering from back and knee problems.
– In addition to the neck problems Triple H is suffering from right now, one of The Game’s surgically repaired quads is giving him trouble. Right now, Triple H is scheduled to work only television and PPV events. He was kept off WWE’s European tour to rest up for his Street Fight with Sheamus at Extreme Rules.
– Rey Mysterio had to be assisted leaving Tuesday’s television taping in London, England following his show closer dark match with CM Punk.
– John Morrison may have suffered an injury during the company’s ongoing tour as he did not work Tuesday’s SmackDown taping. However, it should be noted that it is not 100% confirmed.
— WWE.com confirmed this week that Ezekiel Jackson underwent successful surgery to repair his torn quadriceps. According to WWE, the recovery process could sideline the final ECW Champion for up to six months. Tough break for the young star.
— Injuries continue to mount for WWE as Rey Mysterio had to be assisted leaving last night’s television taping in London, England following his show closer dark match with CM Punk. Meanwhile, John Morrison may have suffered an injury during the company’s ongoing tour as he did not work last night’s SmackDown taping. However, it should be noted that it is not 100% confirmed.
— It has been confirmed that Beverly Mullins, who briefly appeared as a backstage announcer for ECW under the name Courtney Taylor, has been released from her WWE developmental contract. Her image was quietly removed from the official website of Florida Championship Wrestling last week, which often indicates that a performer has parted ways with WWE.
Mullins took time off following her debut on ECW and never returned to the main roster as Savannah ended up in her former role.
— The WWE Raw house show on November 10th, 2010 will be held at the Municipal Hall in Graz, Austria. Tickets go on sale April 30th, 2010.
During a live chat on the Arizona Republic website, John Morrison was asked how long he thinks it will take before he arrives onto the main event scene. Morrison listed John Cena as the current WWE champion and called him ‘boring’.
“Who’s champion now? Cena? Ugh. Boring. Yeah, I think my time is coming,” Morrison said. “I’m rounding the corner right now in the main event parking garage, where all the spots have been taken for a really long time. I think some of the cars in the main event parking lot are about to be ticketed and towed after WrestleMania. There should be some spots available.”
When asked which WWE Divas is the best performer on the roster, Morrison adamantly answered Melina. He then criticized the other Divas as he feels the majority of them are unable to convey authentic emotion to the audience.
“Melina is potentially the strongest character on the roster, with even more passion and emotion than a lot of the guys,” Morrison said. “A lot of the Divas can do some pretty impressive moves, but when I watch them I don’t feel anything, I don’t empathize with a lot of them. I don’t think they understand what they’re doing. But when I watch Melina, I get excited, or I feel sad, or I want to cheer. And I think that’s the key to sports entertainment.”
— Raw’s annual post-WrestleMania tour of Europe have John Cena and Triple vs. Sheamus and Big Show, and Randy Orton vs. Christian as the advertised top matches in most cities, with Triple H vs. Randy Orton and John Cena vs. Sheamus headlining other cities. On the SmackDown side, Chris Jericho vs. Edge, and Rey Mysterio and Kane vs. CM Punk and John Morrison, are being advertised as the top matches in most cities, with Edge vs. Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk and Kane vs. Drew McIntyre in the remaining venues. (source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
— Former WWE Diva Lilian Garcia is auctioning off several newly listed WWE items from her closet including an outfit and bra worn for a WWE Magazine photo shoot, a bikini, ring worn outfits and more. You can view the auctions here.
— Yesterday was Melina’s birthday as she turned 31 years old. On her Twitter account, she posted a number of messages chronicling her special day. Also, she noted over the weekend that she is walking again after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ACL in January. She is targeting July for her return to the ring.
— Skip Sheffield has posted a blog regarding his experience this past Monday night on Raw accompanying William Regal for his match against Evan Bourne.
