– WWE.com has published a new feature looking 5 things John Cena has not yet accomplished yet in his career, including an IC Title reign, winning King of the Ring, matching Ric Flair’s 16 World Title reigns and more.
– After Tuesday night’s SmackDown tapings from Lafayette, Louisiana, Dean Ambrose defeated Bray Wyatt with Dirty Deeds.
– Rusev continues to taunt Lana on Twitter. She posted an update on her ankle and Rusev replied with the following:
– The final 40 contestants for the new season of WWE Tough Enough are flying to Orlando today to begin filming at the WWE Performance Center. Talents were informed that the cameras will be rolling as soon as they arrive. The filming that is going on today will be included in the WWE Network special that will air on the show next week.
– WWE is scheduled to return to New Orleans, the site of last night’s edition of RAW, for another RAW show on January 11, 2016. A pre-sale for tickets is going on right now with the password: WWERAW.
– Following last night’s RAW angle where Rusev caused Lana to suffer an ankle injury, Rusev has taken to social media to taunt and threaten Lana. Check out Rusev’s tweet from Tuesday morning below.
– The Rock’s new movie “San Andreas” finished number two at the box office this weekend, earning an estimated $26.44 million, trailing the opening of Spy, which drew $30 million. Entourage, which features WrestleMania 31 performer Ronda Rousey, opened at number four with $10.42 million. Pitch Perfect 2 with WWE Diva Lana, earned $7.7 million in its’ fourth week out.
– WWE Hall Of Famers Jim Ross and Edge, along with former WWE Diva Beth Phoenix, will be appearing at Ingles Store #7 on Tunnel Rd. in Asheville, North Carolina on Wednesday, June 10th.
– The latest edition of WWE Fury, which you can view below, looks at 31 “pulverizing powerbombs.”
WWE taped the following matches for this week’s edition of Main Event prior to the SmackDown television taping on Tuesday night in Houston, Texas.
– Dolph Ziggler def. Adam Rose in singles action to kick off the show. Lana was in Ziggler’s corner and Rosa Mendes was in Rose’s. Jimmy Uso was on commentary for this one. In the end, Ziggler picks up the “W” after blasting Rose with a superkick.
– Paige def. Alicia Fox in Divas action. It’s worth noting that Jimmy Uso was still on commentary for this match. Paige picked up the win with the PTO.
– King Barrett def. Jack Swagger in the final match of the show. R-Truth was on commentary for this one. Truth distracted Barrett a few times by stealing and wearing his crown, however in the end, Barrett managed to score the pin after hitting Swagger with his Bull Hammer Elbow.
– The Rock’s new movie, San Andreas, grossed $18.2 million on Friday. Variety is estimating that the film will draw $47 million for its’ opening weekend, which would be the biggest opening for a Rock film, not including the Fast & Furious franchise.
– The official WWE website published a “Best Of” gallery featuring the best photos of WWE Diva Lana. Lana is promoting the gallery with a little contest on social media. She tweeted the following earlier today:
– Paul Heyman promoted his appearance on the “Stone Cold Podcast” with Steve Austin, which is scheduled to air on the WWE Network immediately after Monday’s post-Elimination Chamber edition of RAW. Heyman tweeted the following on Saturday:
Although Lana turned babyface and sided with Dolph Ziggler on television recently, she is still working alongside Rusev at non-televised WWE live events.
At the WWE live event on Friday in New Hampshire, Lana tried to assist Rusev during his steel cage match with John Cena, which Rusev ultimately lost. Lana ended up walking out on Rusev and he started yelling at her. At one point, Lana did help Rusev by slamming the cage door in Cena’s face, but in the end, she left him high and dry.
Lana and Ziggler had no interaction at the live event to follow up their television angle, as Ziggler is working a different live event tour this weekend.
In terms of the Lana/Ziggler storyline, WWE is teasing that we will find out what is next between the two on Monday’s WWE Elimination Chamber “go-home” edition of RAW.
It appears that Rusev is returning to his Bulgarian roots. WWE.com has released a new entrance video for the former United States champion and all references to Russian Federation have been replaced with his native country, Bulgaria.
Rusev broke into WWE as the Bulgarian Brute, but soon shifted his allegiance to the Russian Federation. Now that Rusev has parted ways with Lana in WWE storylines, we’ll see if he continues to parade the Russian flag and the Hero of the Russian Federation “Gold Star” medal.
– Roman Reigns, who did not appear on RAW, teamed with John Cena after RAW went off the air to defeat Seth Rollins and Rusev in the dark match main event.
Reigns returns to TV this Thursday on SmackDown to address coming up short at WWE Payback.
– Last night on RAW, Rusev and Lana finally parted ways, with Rusev firing his former spokeswoman after she quit on his behalf at Payback. After screaming at Lana for several minutes, she eventually slapped Rusev in the face.
– Following his attack of WWE U.S. Champion John Cena on RAW last night, NXT Champion Kevin Owens wrote the following on Twitter about their upcoming Elimination Chamber match.
– In this week’s RAW Fallout videos, which you can see below, Dolph Ziggler reacts to kissing Lana and Neville comments on being attacked by Bo Dallas, as well as the Kevin Owens-John Cena situation.
Reddit user “addictedsc2” has provided a translation of what Rusev was yelling in Bulgarian during his “I Quit” match with John Cena at Sunday’s WWE Payback pay-per-view.
When Rusev ordered Lana to sit in a chair near the announcers after the fans started cheering for her, Rusev said the following:
“This way! Get up from there! Get over here, this is where you will sit. Just don’t let me hear you!”
When Rusev was stuck in the STF with Cena at the end of the match, this is what Rusev was saying up until Lana grabbed the microphone and quit on his behalf.
“Ahhh no…ahhh I give up! Next time we will crush you! I give up! Stop! I told you! I’ll crush you Cena! Damn your old mother, Cena! I will crush you! That’s enough, I told you!”
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross updated his official website blog on Tuesday afternoon, posting a number of thoughts on Monday’s edition of WWE RAW. Below are some highlights.
On Dean Ambrose: “I like the fact that Dean Ambrose returns to more relevancy as he’s now in the main event of Payback along with Seth Rollins, Randy Orton and Roman Reigns in a WWE Title bout that will feature the three former members of The Shield which speaks well to the productivity of WWE NXT. I’d love to see this be an elimination rules four way but it’s likely to be a traditional Fatal Four Way where the first man to score a pin or submission is declared the winner which means that the WWE Title holder has no championship advantage and cannot retain the title via disqualification or count out. These bouts can be feast or famine but have the potential to provide adequate drama in the expected Payback show closer.”
On The New Day: “Hopeful that New Day really studies some of the great wresting villain groups IE the Freebirds and others to ?begin to acquire the traits that will propel them to the next level. Opportunity is here for these three and with out of ring preparation and study they can become much more valuable to WWE as they are already easy to dislike which bodes well for antagonists. I’m much more encouraged by their current positioning than them being fan favorites but they n eed to learn a variety of villain nuances.”
On Lana’s rumored push: “Curious to see how this Lana/Rusev business plays out. Lana has ‘it’ and may end up being a bigger star than Rusev as stranger things have happened….see Sable and Marc Mero. I still like Rusev’s upside no matter his present creative role.”
On Bret Hart and Sami Zayn: “Thought the utilization of Bret Hart in Montreal was spot on as he gave Sami Zayn a magnificent “rub.” Zayn and John Cena had an excellent presentation that the fans genuinely cared about and it seemingly suspended the audience’s disbelief and the fans emotionally invested in their home towner who made his RAW debut. It played well on TV. Good booking.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
– With WWE going forward with their plans to push Lana after splitting her away from Rusev, there’s a lot of speculation that she will quit for Rusev and cost him the “I Quit” match against John Cena at this month’s WWE Payback pay-per-view.
– Diamond Dallas Page noted that former UFC fighters Phil Baroni and Kamal Shalorus are using DDP Yoga to help make the transition from MMA fighting to professional wrestling.
– Chris Jericho noted on social media that his rock band Fozzy’s single “Tonite” will be the official theme song for his “Live with Chris Jericho” podcast on the WWE Network.
There are storyline plans in place for Lana to become the new “female face of WWE” as part of a huge babyface push that will be kicking off in coming weeks.
We’ve already seen the tension growing between Lana and Rusev over the past month. Following AJ Lee’s retirement, Paige taking time off to film a WWE Studios movie and Naomi turning heel, there’s an opening for a new top babyface Diva and fans seem ready to fully embrace Lana.
Vince McMahon in particular is a strong supporter of the Ravishing Russian, with the current storyline plans set to reveal that she’s actually American. While she’ll most likely continue using the Lana name, there has also been talk of using the name “C.J.,” as her real name is Catherine Jo Perry.
Lana was known as CJ Perry prior to joining WWE and of course there’s the tie-in with Pamela Anderson’s “CJ” character from Baywatch.
– WWE announced during the Extreme Rules pay-per-view on Sunday that at the upcoming Payback pay-per-view on May 17th there will be an “I Quit” match between WWE United States Champion John Cena and Rusev. Lana noted that this will be the final chapter in the Cena-Rusev feud.
– WWE announced an attendance of 14,197 for last night’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view, which took place at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois.
– Kofi Kingston posted the following photo of The New Day celebrating with their new WWE Tag-Team Championships backstage at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view last night.
WWE performers Rusev and Lana attended the NHL playoff game between the Nashville Predators and the Chicago Blackhawks. The Predators went on to win the game 5-2. Rusev and Lana, who are a couple in real life, recently purchased a home in the Nashville area.
Lana tweeted the following photos of the couple at the game.
As it turns out, Rusev and Lana weren’t the only pro wrestlers in attendance at the game. In addition to the two WWE performers, several other notable names attended the game, including Jeff Jarrett, Eric Young, Rockstar Spud and Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Below are some photos of them at the game as well.
– Following the retirement of AJ Lee, Lana and Eva Marie are in line for pushes. Eva Marie has been training with Brian Kendrick and WWE officials expect her to be a more well rounded performer when she returns to action.
– Samoa Joe should be starting in NXT in June. Joe booked an independent show on May 23rd for AIW Wrestling in Cleveland, Ohio. No word on if he’s signed a WWE contract yet.
Corey Graves’ new WWE Network show Culture Shock premieres tonight immediately following NXT. On this week’s show, Graves will tour the headquarters of Marvel Entertainment. (more…)
– ECW Original Stevie Richards is featured in a new commercial for the DDP Yoga backpack. You can check it out below.
– Lana re-tweeted the graphic for the Divas Battle Royal on Monday’s RAW this weekend and noted that fans want her in the match. That led to the following back-and-forth between Lana and Paige:
. @RealPaigeWWE I know everything there is to know in life. I'm perfect #Wewantlana
– Tonight’s WWE SmackDown taping from Dallas, Texas will feature Daniel Bryan & Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus & Bad News Barrett. Join us here later for live coverage of the taping.
– WWE will have a strong presence the USA Network’s “upfront” presentation today in New York City. John Cena, Nikki Bella and Titus O’Neal will be attending before they head overseas for the European tour.
– Finn Balor will be joining the WWE crew in Europe for this week’s tour.
– Lana tweeted the following photo with WWE Hall of Famer Edge on the set of the WWE Studios film, Interrogation.
– Steve Austin is the guest on the latest edition of Jim Cornette’s “The Cornette Experience” podcast. You can download the show right now by clicking here.
– Austin is also one of the guests, along with “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan and comedian Will Sasso, on this week’s edition of Roddy Piper’s “Piper’s Pit” podcast. That show is available right now at PodcastOne.com.
– Lana posted the following in-character tweet on her official Twitter account, warning John Cena about Rusev:
– Vince McMahon is reportedly very high on Lana’s talent. According to one source, McMahon has big plans for Lana in the near future.
– The “camera man” who took F-5’s from Brock Lesnar on Monday’s post-WrestleMania 31 edition of WWE RAW was a California independent pro wrestler named Dylan Drake.
– NXT wrestlers Enzo Amore, Drake Younger and Solomon Crowe were among those portraying soldiers during Triple H’s special “Terminator” entrance at WrestleMania 31 on Sunday. Below is a photo of the guys in their gear.
– The reason Lana was not at Monday’s post-WrestleMania 31 edition of RAW was because she is back filming the WWE Studios film “Interrogation” with WWE Hall Of Famer Edge.
– In this week’s RAW Fallout videos, which you can see below, Neville takes about making his RAW debut, Sheamus talks about his WWE television return and John Cena and Ryback comment on the rowdy fans in San Jose, California.
– You can expect to see Lana by Rusev’s side when he defends the United States Championship against John Cena this Sunday at WrestleMania 31. Sandra Gray, a seamstress for WWE, mentioned on Twitter that she was making an outfit for “The Ravishing Russian” for the event.
She was asked on Twitter who she was making gear for the event and responded “stardust goldust Lana dolph.”
Lana has not appeared on television since the March 9 episode of Raw as she’s been off filming WWE Studios’ new film, Interrogation with WWE Hall of Famer Edge.
– Due to the recent death of her father, Trish Stratus will not be traveling to California for this weekend’s WrestleMania festivities. She was scheduled to appear at WrestleCon on Friday and Saturday and at WrestleMania Axxess on Sunday.
Due to her father passing away @trishstratuscom has informed us she will not travel to California and will not be @wrestlecon
– Lana is currently off television because she is filming the WWE Studios movie ‘Interrogation’ with Edge. No word yet on her status for WrestleMania.
– NXT Champion Kevin Owens successful knee surgery last week to repair a meniscus tear. He’s expected to be out of action for 4-6 weeks, so he won’t competing at the NXT live event from San Jose, California during WrestleMania weekend.
Speaking of that show, NXT women’s wrestler Becky Lynch says ticket sales are through the roof for what will be NXT’s biggest live audience yet:
4100 tickets sold in 2 hrs for #NXTSanJose ! Ready to bexceed and bexpectations.
