— Multiple WWE stars are battling injuries, according to a report on PWInsider.com.

NXT contestant Connor O’Brian is nursing a knee injury as he was icing it a lot at last week’s television tapings.

The Great Khali is also hurt, which has hindered his mobility—moreso.

Kane is dealing with various minor injuries, although he’s not letting it effect his in-ring work.

— Last night on Raw, Zack Ryder appeared on stage following David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty’s victory over Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov. Ryder delivered his trademark catchphrase. Regarding the cryptic appearance, WWE.com wrote: “Speaking of oddballs, The New Nexus’ victory celebration was cut short by Long Island Iced Z himself, Zack Ryder. The self-proclaimed “Internet Champion” left Otunga & McGillicutty with a cryptic warning as only he can deliver: “Woo woo woo, you know it.” Just what are they supposed to know?”

— Jerry Sags of The Nasty Boys turns 47 years old today while Hillbilly Jim turns 59.

— Sin Cara suffered his first WWE loss last night on SmackDown as he was downed by Christian following the spear. Sin Cara picked up thirteen consecutive victories on television and pay-per-view prior to the loss.

— The Great Khali’s brother Ranjin Singh revealed on SmackDown that Jinder Mahal is their brother-in-law.

— Cody Rhodes pinned Intercontinental Champion Ezekiel Jackson in a non-title match on SmackDown, ending his ten match winning streak on television and pay-per-view.

— Wade Barrett lost to Kane last night on SmackDown, extending his losing streak to twelve consecutive losses on television and pay-per-view.

— Ted DiBiase lost to Daniel Bryan last night on SmackDown, extending his losing streak to seven consecutive losses on television.

— WWE.com is advertising the following for tonight’s episode of SmackDown: “The relentless brutality of Mark Henry comes face-to-face with World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton tonight on SmackDown. Has The World’s Strongest Man become something that even The Viper can’t stop?”

Other matches taking place include Daniel Bryan vs. Ted DiBiase, Sin Cara vs. Christian, Ezekiel Jackson vs. Cody Rhodes and Kane vs. Wade Barrett.

— Dolph Ziggler took to Twitter to comment on online reports that he took adult film star BiBi Jones on a date after meeting her at a Britney Spears concert last week.

He wrote, “Wow! To anyone it may concern: no, i am NOT dating anyone! and YES I do frequently listen to Britney Spears!”

— Yoshi Tatsu celebrates his 34th birthday today. In yesterday’s birthdays, Alicia Fox turned 25, Cody Rhodes turned 26 and WWE Hall of Famer Terry Funk turned 67.

WWE issued an apology via WWE.com to those who participated in Raw’s “Power to the People.” The tabulating provider’s overloaded system reported several inaccurate results, prompting WWE management to follow WWE.com’s Live Chat Poll for the night’s final vote.

Text Voting Inaccurate in Raw’s Power to the People

WWE would like to apologize for technical difficulties that occurred during the “Power to the People” edition of Raw on Monday night.

The interactive event aimed to give the WWE Universe the ability to choose what they wanted to see on their television screens. Unfortunately, uncontrollable difficulties created by an influx of heavy voting traffic resulted in not every one of the more-than 697,000 recorded votes to be properly counted.

During Monday’s Raw broadcast, WWE fans were given the option to text A, B or C to 46993 (GOWWE) in order to decide what they wanted to happen on the show. Things went perfectly at first when text votes selected Kelly Kelly (option B) to take on Brie Bella for the Divas Championship. However, our vote tabulating provider’s system became overwhelmed, causing these votes to definitively affect the following contest, in which Mason Ryan (also option B) was voted into a match against Evan Bourne — even though, as it was later discovered, Sin Cara had received 90 percent of the total votes in WWE.com’s Live Chat poll, and should have been Bourne’s opponent.

Votes for the third poll’s bout — Kane vs. Mark Henry in an Arm Wrestling Contest — were counted correctly. However, problems began to occur again during the next poll determining a match stipulation between United States Champion Dolph Ziggler and Kofi Kingston. At this point, so many text votes were received that the system overloaded, crashed and had to be restarted.

With little information to work from, WWE management selected to follow the system’s earliest projections, which determined that the 2-out-of-3 Falls Match had been the people’s choice. It was not until later that it was discovered that “Vickie Guerrero Banned from Ringside” was actually the top vote getter.

Restarting the tabulating system allowed for things to run smoothly with the voting for the Triple Threat Match to determine a No. 1 contender for the WWE Championship going off without a hitch.

Regrettably, technical difficulties occurred once more leading up to the night’s Six-Man Tag Team Match main event, when it became apparent to WWE management that text votes were again not being tabulated properly. At this time, a decision was made to turn to WWE.com’s Live Chat Poll for the official judgment. With the power still in the hands of the people, the WWE Universe selected the Elimination Match (option C) by an overwhelming 87 percent, leading to this stipulation being enacted.

— One night after Big Show and Kane retained the WWE Tag Team Championship against CM Punk and Mason Ryan at Over the Limit, the colossal due dropped the straps to other two members of Nexus, David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty.

WWE then coordinated an injury angle for Big Show which would indicate that he’s taking time off. Frustrated, he ran into the garage parking lot where he his leg was run over by a car driven by Alberto Del Rio’s personal ring announcer, Ricardo Rodriguez.

— Matches taped Monday night in Portland, Oregon for this week’s episode of WWE Superstars are as follows:

* Santino Marella vs. Zack Ryder

* JTG vs. Curt Hawkins

— In a rare occurrence, no dark match took place at last night’s Raw taping.

source: ProWrestling.net

— Zack Ryder’s online promotional efforts have not gone unnoticed by WWE officials as he is expected to receive an increased presence on television going forward.

— K&S Wrestlefest will be holding a women’s wrestling themed convention on Saturday, August 28 at the Ramada Philadelphia Airport Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Names announced thus far for “Hot Summer’s Night” are WWE Hall of Famer Wendi Richter, former WWE Women’s Champion Rockin’ Robin, Isis the Amazon and former TNA Knockout Sojo Bolt. Former WWE star Finlay will also be on hand for the event as a vendor guest. More information is available at www.kandswrestlefest.com.

— Kane is scheduled to appear the Kmart located at 13200 Aurora Avenue North in Seattle, Washington this Sunday beginning at 10:00 a.m.

source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Brock Lesnar reveals in his autobiography Death Clutch that he was envious of Kane during his time in WWE because he wrestled with a mask on, which allowing him to maintain his privacy outside the ring.

An excerpt from the book is as follows: “I like to stay home, spend time with my family, and be left alone. My life is my life. It’s nobody’s business what goes on in my house, or with my wife or my children. I won’t intrude on your private life. Don’t intrude on mine.

“That’s why, in some ways, the WWE character I envied the most was Kane. He had the greatest gig ever, because he was a big star who wore a mask on TV. When he went home, he’d get to take off the mask and live a normal life. Nobody knew what he looked like, and no one ever bothered him when he went about his personal life. He must have had about as normal a life as you can have in professional wrestling.”

Lesnar continued about wanting privacy when he’s not out performing.

“When I’m on the job, in the ring, at the arena, I’m there to entertain you. I understand that. You paid to see me, and I owe it to you to make sure your money was well spent. But when I’m not on the job, I don’t think I owe anything to anybody. If you’re a plumber, and you’re out to dinner with your family, would you like it if the waiter walked up and said, ‘Hey, the toilet just backed up, can you come in the back and fix it?’ Probably not. You are there to eat, not to fish tampons out of the drain pipe. When I’m enjoying some time with my family, I’m not at work. I’m not ‘on.’ I’m not there to entertain anyone.”

He also noted his frustration with WWE’s strenuous road schedule.

“My first year on the main roster in WWE was a blur. My second year was even worse,” he wrote. “The money was great, and I was buying a lot of nice things, but I had no time to enjoy any of it. That touring schedule just eats you up. I just kept thinking that there has to be a better way to make some real money.”

Excerpts from the book, which was co-written by Paul Heyman, are available here. It is scheduled for release on May 24.

— The May 6 episode of WWE SmackDown, featuring a World Heavyweight Championship Match, scored a 1.73 cable rating. The number is down 12 percent from the previous week, a 1.94.

It is the lowest rated episode of 2011. The show drew 2,793,000 viewers overall.

Smackdown ranked No. 10 in total cable television viewers for the night. It also ranked No. 7. in Males 18-34 and No. 5 in Males 18-49.

— In an update on former WWE talent Gregory Helm’s motorcycle accident on Thursday, he suffered a broken ankle, jaw and nose. He also suffered some fractures and reportedly needed 200 stitches. His girlfriend suffered a broken neck. Both remain hospitalized in Raleigh, North Carolina.

— WWE.com has posted a photo gallery for the new Masked Kane Mattel Ringside Collectibles Exclusive figure. The figure is available for pre-order here.

sources: Pro Wrestling Torch, PWInsider.com

— Big Show and Kane grabbed championship glory together for the second time in their careers, triumphing over Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel on SmackDown to capture the WWE Tag Team Championships.

The match concluded with Big Show chokeslamming Slater to the canvas for the victory.

— John Cena celebrates his birthday today as he turns 34 years old. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, his opponent at WrestleMania XXVIII, wished him a happy birthday on Twitter.

He wrote, “Happy Birthday @JohnCena – I’m 5 yrs older than you which means I will always be your daddy bitch!”

— Chris Jericho appears on this Monday’s episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

source: PWInsider.com

— The January 3, 2010 edition of Monday Night Raw scored a 3.06 cable rating. The rating is slightly down from last week’s show, which scored a 3.06.

— WWE talent Glenn Jacobs (a/k/a Kane) and Mises Institute faculty will be participating in an “Economics in One Lesson: High School Seminar” in Knoxville, Tennessee on February 11. The seminar is being sponsored by the Tennessee Liberty Alliance. Click here for more information.

— WWE’s forthcoming three-disc DVD set on Big Show, Big Show: A Giant’s World, is set for release on February 22, 2011.

(source: Pro Wrestling Torch)

— WWE posted tonight’s episode of SmackDown prematurely as it was available for viewing for a few hours today on YouTube prior to its national airing on Syfy. The video has since been set to private.

— Kane appeared on The Wease Show on radio station 95.1 in Rochester, New York on Tuesday and notably remarked that he was disappointed that his program with The Undertaker was cut short due to injury. He also commented on Paul Bearer’s return to WWE and subsequent departure from television. The interview can be accessed here.

— Dutch Mantell, who is credited for launching TNA Wrestling’s women’s division in 2007, took to Twitter to congratulate former colleague Awesome Kong on signing with World Wrestling Entertainment.

“Congrats to Awesome Kong for her WWE signing,” he wrote. “She was always one of my favorites…glad to see her in a position to make some real money.”

— The Dec. 27 Monday Night Raw taping in Albany, New York drew 6,000 fans. Sunday’s SmackDown live event in Chicago, Illinois drew 8,500 fans paying $320,000, while the following night’s show in Pittsburgh garnered 9,000 fans.

— NorthJersey.com conducted an interview with Kane promoting next Thursday’s SmackDown live event at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey. He discussed his mask, how long it took him to be comfortable to cut promos, his political blog, and more.

When asked if he missed working in a mask, he responded: “Oh sure. In fact I just was talking to someone the other day, a fan, and they were talking about how they thought the mask was cool. They hit it right on the head because [they said] it added a definite air of mystery, which is very true. Right now, we have Rey Mysterio with a mask. And up until Rey won the world championship, I think I was the only masked wrestler to ever win the world championship. … I definitely think it’s a trade-off. Certainly there were things about wearing the mask that were unique.”

— In an update on former WWE star Rico, he is currently working as an Airport Control Officer for the Nevada Taxi Cab Authority in Las Vegas. He retired from the wrestling industry in July 2005.

— Jamie Noble, who now works with WWE in a backstage capacity, turns 34 years old today. Also celebrating a birthday is The Great Muta, who turns 48.

— As reported earlier, the Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio match scheduled for Sunday’s WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view was canceled and both men were moved into the World Heavyweight Title bout because they wanted all the major matches on the show to have adequate time. It has since been disclosed that WWE officials felt the Kane vs. Edge storyline “wasn’t clicking,” and would thus lead to a bad pay-per-view match.

— David Hart Smith has deleted his Twitter account.

— Matt Hardy will be the guest live tonight on In Your Head. Listen live starting at 8PM EST 5PM PST at www.inyourheadonline.com and www.justin.tv/jackiyh. To call in and talk to Hardy, dial 1-508-644-8503 between 8:30 and 9:00 PM EST.

source: f4wonline.com

– Local advertising in Miami, Florida is hyping that Kane will defend the World Heavyweight title against Edge at Survivor Series on November 21st.

– RAW Diva Melina is not very popular with WWE officials recently, according to f4wonline.com. No word yet on what caused the heat on her.

– SEScoops reader Carl Dantes sent in the following up date on Shawn Michaels:

Shawn Michaels and Keith Mark of MacMillan River Adventures will be at Devils Lake, North Dakota all week filming an episode for The Outdoor Adventure Foundation, Inc. They will also be hunting with a few children and young adults with cancer and other life threatening illness and disabled veterans.

Check Out: Shawn Michaels & Wife Appearing On Hunting Show (Pictures)

– Blood Brothers, the next WWE Studios movie starring John Cena just began production in New Mexico.

Blood Brothers is an action adventure movie, with Cena playing a character named Sam.  TheGovMonitor.com gives the following description of the plot:

“[Brothers] Sam and Leo have grown up hating each other and neither likes their juvenile delinquent kid brother, Douglas, to whom they’ve only recently been introduced.  The sons share the same father, a womanizing drunk, but all have different mothers. Their father died a rich man and when they’re brought together by their sister Nina (played by Amy Smart) to learn which of them will inherit the old man’s fortune, they are handed an unpleasant surprise.”

— Regarding World Wrestling Entertainment promoting a “one time only” appearance by Triple H at their Fan Appreciation Day Supershow in Hartford, Connecticut on Oct. 20, some took it to mean he is “coming out of retirement” for the day. To clarify, they used the wording of their advertisement to signify that “The Game” was not returning to a regular schedule at this time, but rather merely making an appearance. That said, no one in the company broached on the subject believes he is retired. Everyone is under the impression that he is rehabbing his arm injury and will return to the squared circle sooner or later. (source: PWInsider.com)

— Kane is featured on the cover of Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s annual “Greats of the Game” issue. Visit www.pwi-online to view it.

— While WWE has yet to officially acknowledge Jamie Keyes’ departure from the organization, the company’s Twitter account has unfollowed her.

— The Wrestling Observer Newsletter speculates that due to The Undertaker’s health, matches pitting “The Deadman” against Kane for WWE’s tour of the U.K. next month have been changed to Triple Threat bouts with the inclusion of Big Show.

— In an update on the condition of Patrick Henry, older brother of WWE Superstar, Mark Henry, doctors have taken him off the medication that was keeping him in a coma and he is expected to be revived today. Henry had several surgeries to stop the bleeding and pressure on his brain caused by the stroke he suffered on Oct. 3.

— Both Maryse and The Miz walked the red carpet at last night’s Jackass 3D premiere in Los Angeles, California.

source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

— Based on the initial advertisement that was cut for Bragging Rights, the original plan was for John Cena and Big Show to be the respective captains of Raw and Smackdown.

Read More: Team SmackDown Members & Buried Alive Match Confirmed

— It is said that creative writer Michael Hayes brainstormed the finish to The Undertaker vs. Kane match at Hell in a Cell, which saw Paul Bearer turn on “The Deadman” by using the mystical urn’s “mysterious incandescence” to weaken him. The portly manager then handed the one-time dentist the object, which he then used as a weapon against Booger Red.

— In attendance notes, Saturday’s Raw live event in Stockton, California did 4,500, while Monday’s Raw television taping in Seattle, Washington drew 8,500. Last Wednesday’s SmackDown live event in Hidalgo, Texas drew a sellout crowd of 7,000 fans.

(sources: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Pro Wrestling Torch)

— The official website of the Target Center is advertising a Buried Alive Match between The Undertaker and World Heavyweight Champion Kane at Bragging Rights.

— FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion Mason Ryan made his WWE in-ring debut at last night’s Raw live event in Anaheim, California. He beat Zack Ryder in the second match on the card.

— The Miz celebrated his birthday yesterday as he turned 30 years old.

– Reader Bradley Webber sent in word that a new trailer for the upcoming film entitled “Lemmy” has been posted on the Download Festival Facebook page. Triple H is listed as one of the stars slated to be featured in the film. Lemmy is the lead signer of the heavy metal band called Motorhead who sings Triple H’s theme song. You can view the video here.

– Paul Bearer announced on his Twitter account that is going to be a grandfather — again.

“Just found out before I took off from DFW that I’m going to be a grandpa again,” he wrote. “My oldest son and his wife are pregnant.”

He then noted that his first grandchild passed away, and that he has two granddaughters, 2 1/2 and 6.

– Rey Mysterio is featured on the cover of the latest issue of WWE Kids Magazine.

— WWE’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view taking place on February 20, 2011 will be held in Oakland, California at the Oracle Arena. Reports of the event taking place in New York City are incorrect. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)

— Beginning with SmackDown’s move to Syfy, WWE has been using static images and patterns on the Titantron rather than entrance videos. (source: PWInsider.com)

— Today marks the thirteen year anniversary of the Kane character, who made his WWE debut at Bad Blood: In Your House. Paul Bearer introduced the character, who proceeded to cost The Undertaker a victory against Shawn Michaels in the first ever Hell in a Cell match.

— WWE has discussed tying the 20th anniversary of the debut of The Undertaker character with November’s Survivor Series. One of the ideas being discussed is a Buried Alive Match between The Undertaker and Kane.

There has been talk of it being Undertaker’s final run with the company and they wanted him to conclude his career with his longtime manager, Paul Bearer, by his side.

— Regarding WWE’s overall reaction to less than stellar television ratings in recent weeks, many are not worried. However, a number of people are butting heads over the company’s creative direction through the end of the year, as well as what to do with certain characters.

— While nobody expects Nexus to be disbanded, it has been noted that the faction’s merchandise sales have been poor. WWE officials expected the group to get over as anti-heroes, but its merchandise has failed to significantly move.

source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

– There’s been talk of a major heel turn taking place at tonight’s SummerSlam pay-per-view and the WWE superstar moving to the “dark side” may surprise you. According to sources who have been a part of recent WWE creative meetings, the idea has been brought up several times of John Cena turning heel on Team RAW during the main event.  Cena turning heel is far from confirmed, but its one of 3 possible scenarios being discussed for the finish of the main event. Cena turning heel has been brought up in the past, but it has not gotten this much consideration in quite some time.

– Several ideas are being talked about for the Kane vs. Rey Mysterio match at SummerSlam. We’ve reported here for weeks that WWE plans to have  The Undertaker appear on the show in some capacity. One idea under discussion was for a casket to be brought to ringside and at the end of the match when either Kane or Rey was about to be thrown in, Undertaker would come out and attack Kane to kick off their feud. There are plans for The Undertaker and Kane to wrestle at Night of Champions in September and then again at Hell in a Cell in October.

(Partial credit to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

– Monday’s episode of WWE RAW scored a 3.3 cable rating and averaged 4,660,000 for the 2-hour taped broadcast. The show did hours of 3.17 and 3.39.

– There is talk of having the Undertaker wrestle Kane at Night of Champions on September 19th and then a rematch at October’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view. The Undertaker has been out of action for several weeks and is expected to appear at SummerSlam next weekend.

– Randy Orton posted a message on Twitter last night saying that he may be appearing on an upcoming episode of the  TLC reality TV show “LA Ink” and get a tattoo from Ms. Kat Von D.

– This week’s Friday Night SmackDown will be pre-empted until 11pm in New York City due to the Yankees game.

Credit to f4wonline.com for some of the info used in this report

— Seven wrestlers released by World Wrestling Entertainment on April 22, 2010 are now free to join TNA Wrestling (or any wrestling promotion for that matter) as their respective 90-day no-compete clauses have expired. Among those let go that fateful day were Mickie James, Shelton Benjamin, Katie Lea Burchill, Jimmy Wang Yang, Slam Master J, Kung Fu Naki and Mike Knox.

The contractual clause was put in place to prohibit wrestlers from immediately competing with nationally televised promotions following their release.

— It was announced during Friday’s episode of SmackDown that Layla would be defending her Women’s Championship against Tiffany on this week’s show.

— World Heavyweight Champion Kane tops WWE.com’s latest POWER 25 chart. He is trailed by Sheamus and Randy Orton, among others.

-If you thought the guest host concept was dead, think again. WWE has announced two new hosts, both appearing on Raw this October. Actor Bobb’e J. Thompson will host Monday Night Raw on October 18th in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Thompson stars in the upcoming WWE Film’s release Knucklehead with Big Show, set for release October 22nd.

In addition, WWE also announced that country singer Toby Keith will guest host on October 25th, the night after the Bragging Rights pay-per-view, in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Keith is a huge wrestling fan who has appeared on TNA television in the past.

-Tommy Dreamer, presently entrenched in the ECW invasion storyline with TNA, posted a message of congratulations on his Twitter page yesterday to the new World Heavyweight champion, Kane: “Congrats to Kane. If anyone ever deserved being a world champion it is him. Even without knees. He is 1 of the best.”