– After Monday’s RAW from Nashville went off the air, Roman Reigns cut a promo thanking the crowd for coming out and for supporting him. There was no dark match main event.
– Sheamus will be appearing on ESPN’s SportsCenter tonight for their weekly WWE segment. WWE’s new World Heavyweight Champion tweeted the following about Roman Reigns ahead of their TLC match in less than 3 weeks:
Reigns wont make it to #WWETLC… 3 long weeks away.
– Below is the WWE segment with Mark Henry, JBL and El Torito to promote the new Tex Mex Bacon Thickburger at Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. fast food restaurants:
WWE performer Mark Henry recently spoke with the folks at Philly Voice to promote WWE’s current campaign with the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
” On what he credits with his ability to recover from injuries throughout his career: “It’s hard work, man. It’s hard work and not accepting defeat. A lot of people, really anybody that’s ever had an injury, it’s always hard to rehab. It’s always hard to come back.
You know, I’m a product of the 80’s and seeing a guy get beat and seeing a guy get hurt and sucking it up and working hard to come back. That’s just a part of my being.”
On if he misses the Attitude Era: “I miss the Attitude Era to an extent. But just yesterday I was running around Philly and I went to a barber shop to get my head balded up, my beard trimmed, and a little kid walked up to me and said, ‘Mark Henry, I love you!’ I said ‘I love you, too, man. You keep watching!’ and he was jumping up in the air and everything. Turned to his mom and hugged her. That wouldn’t have happened during the Attitude Era.”
On how bad he wants to be on the WrestleMania card near his home next year: “That’s my home state, man. I’m getting long in the tooth, and each time I reach it [WrestleMania], I’m thankful for one more year. There may not be another one. So I’m definitely looking forward to it. I want to be there.
Mark Henry’s 20+ run with WWE is winding down, with the former World Heavyweight Champion looking to retire shortly after WrestleMania 32. Henry says he was ready to retire back in 2013, but somehow Vince McMahon talked him into signing one last contract extension. Henry told Philly.com:
“I don’t know how I let Vince [McMahon] convince me into signing another contract back in 2013. He did a bit of magic. He’s got that magic where you just go in the office and he’ll talk you into it. I won’t be signing any more contracts …
I’m 100 percent sure (this is my final contract). I’m leading toward WrestleMania and I’ll have a little time after that, but that’s going to be it for me.”
Even when he hangs up the boots, Henry says he’d like to work for WWE corporate, perhaps in the marketing department.
“I’m an elder statesman. This is a young guy business and I’m 100 percent for it. I love the marketing process. I love the international marketing. I love the talent development, but those are all things I’ll work with the company on to make sure that our business continues to thrive, but there’s a bunch of other stuff that I plan on doing. …
During another recent interview, Henry said he’d like to wrestle Daniel Bryan for his retirement match, but the results of Daniel Bryan’s next neurologist visit will likely determine whether that’s realistic or not.
During a recent interview with The Times of India, Mark Henry revealed that he is considering retiring from active competition next year – but it won’t be the last we see of him.
“I may retire next year,” Henry said. “It may be the swan-song of my wrestling career; but definitely not the end of Mark Henry!”
Henry, who made his first WWE television appearance back in March of 1996, says he’s already thinking about ways he can contribute to the business once he hangs up the boots once and for all.
“Well, I’ve done it all; won several championships. My ambition now is to be a part of finding the future talent of wrestling and open up the sport to countries like India.”
Henry also spoke about his work with the Special Olympics, being bullied when he was growing up for being “unusually big” and more.
– Cesaro, generally known as one of the toughest stars in WWE, recently spoke with FOX Sports Australia and revealed who he feels is the strongest athlete in WWE.
“Mark Henry,” said Cesaro. “They don’t call him the Worlds Strongest Man for nothing. I was in the gym a couple of times when he was in there too and the weight he eats is scary.”
– Former WWE announcer turned ESPN analyst Jonathan Coachman tweeted the following photos of himself with various WWE talents. Coachman has been conducting interviews with WWE stars for ESPN’s SportsCenter during WWE SummerSlam weekend.
WWE taped the following matches for this week’s edition of WWE Main Event prior to the WWE SmackDown television taping on Tuesday night in Portland, Oregon.
– Becky Lynch def. Sasha Banks in Divas action in a dark match taped prior to the start of the WWE Main Event television taping.
– Rusev def. Fandango in the first match taped for Main Event. This match basically amounted to a one-sided squash match, with Rusev picking up the “W” by way of his Accolade submission finisher.
– Jack Swagger def. Adam Rose in singles action in the second of three matches taped for this week’s broadcast. This match was given a little bit of time, but the crowd never really got into it.
– Stardust & King Barrett def. Mark Henry & R-Truth in tag-team action as the headline match taped for Main Event. There was more crowd heat for this match compared to the others taped for the show. After this match, the set was switched to prepare for the SmackDown television taping.
On Monday’s edition of WWE RAW in San Jose, California, a big match was announced for this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown.
In a six-man tag-team match that will be taped on Tuesday night, The New Day — Big E., Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods — will be taking on the trio of Mark Henry and the WWE Tag-Team Champions, The Prime Time Players — Titus O’Neil and Darren Young.
Make sure to visit SEScoops.com on Tuesday night for live WWE SmackDown spoiler play-by-play results coverage.
WWE Superstar Mark Henry has issued a statement regarding the racist comments made by Hulk Hogan that were posted online on Friday morning:
“Unfortunately, I’m getting hounded today by media regarding my thoughts and experiences with Hulk Hogan. I’d prefer not to be thrust into this, but as the requests have been significant I feel I have a responsibility to make a statement of some sort. At a minimum to ease my personal burden regarding this topic.
We all know that we have history as it relates to the company, me and this unfortunate subject matter of racial slurs and prejudices. I don’t want to and will not re-hash that, but I do want people to know that I do not condone racist behavior or speech of any manner. Again, I do not plan to speak on what happened in the past, but I would like to offer this statement about the current situation and events that hit the news today.
I’m disappointed in the comments made by Terry Bollea (Hulk Hogan). I’ve known Terry a very long time as both a work colleague and as someone I consider a friend. I’m hurt and offended that he expressed his feelings in the manner and tone that was presented on the tape. I am however, pleased that WWE took swift action in response to his comments and I support the position the organization is taking on this matter: a no tolerance approach to racism.”
– Lucha Underground star Johnny Mundo (aka John Morrison) is the guest on the latest edition of the “Steve Austin Show” podcast, which you can download right now at PodcastOne.com.
– On this week’s SmackDown Fallout videos, which you can view below, Kevin Owens predicts victory at WWE Battleground this Sunday, Neville calls Stardust a coward, Cesaro talks about defeating Rusev and Mark Henry offers advice to the WWE Tag-Team Champions, The Prime Time Players.
WWE Superstar Mark Henry recently spoke with the U.K. Mirror to promote the new WWE Attitude Era book. Below are some highlights from the interview.
On if Vince McMahon outlined the way business was changing when he was first hired by WWE: “Yes, absolutely. But first of all, I didn’t believe that it was actually him who phoned me, so I hung up on him! I thought it was one of my friends who was playing a joke. He did call me back and this time he said ‘what happened?’ and I was like, ‘is this really Vince McMahon?’ We talked for about five or 10 minutes and he appreciated the fact that as I’ve mentioned, I was a fan of the industry, and I was a winner. He thought I would be a natural at it.”
On the Nation Of Domination split and feuding with The Rock, and if he foresaw Rock becoming one of the best ever: “Most definitely. He is one of the most well-studied, flamboyant characters of all time. And people… there is nobody on earth other than maybe Vince McMahon who has a work ethic like his. He studies and works and studies and works and that is all he ever wanted to do, to succeed. It was an honour to be in the ring with him first and secondly to gain the win. We’ve had a few matches, four I think to be exact, and I may be the only person in history that is undefeated against him over that many matches!”
On his storyline with Mae Young and other crazy storylines: “I enjoyed my time working with Mae Young, she was one of the coolest, most respected people that I ever met in the industry. We both gave each other’s characters life and that is something that is hard for people to understand. There are thousands of wrestlers and there are thousands of really good ones, but to be able to join somebody that kind of fell off the map and both of you rise to the top of the card because of chemistry, and that last for not a week or two, but for a year, and here we are 16 years later still talking about it, it’s impressive. It’s unbelievable.”
On his favorite Attitude Era match or moment: “I think my favourite in-ring moment, it really didn’t have anything to do with me. One of my favourite in-ring moments was seeing Hulk Hogan and The Rock go face to face [at WrestleMania 18]. It gave me something because I felt the connection because The Rock was my brother and as a child I grew up idolising Hulk Hogan. It was the future and the past coming together. It was something where I just stood there in amazement, just like everybody else. It was like five or six minutes where they just stood there and looked at each other and the crowd cheered. That was one of my favourite moments.”
WWE taped this week’s edition of Main Event prior to the WWE SmackDown television taping on Tuesday night at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
Below are results of the WWE Main Event television taping, courtesy of ProWrestling.net
1. Fandango beat R-Truth. Truth was cheered loudly by the crowd.
2. Summer Rae defeated Emma. Side note. Ringside still has empty seats that they are trying to fill.
3. Mark Henry defeated Heath Slater. Henry won quickly.
4. Jack Swagger defeated The Miz. Swagger won with the Patriot Lock due to some funny mic work from Mizdow. This concluded the Main Event taping.
Tonight’s episode of Raw was held in Austin, Texas, and featured the fallout from last week’s epic post-WrestleMania show. Fans saw a new number one contender crowned, John Cena issue another open challenge, and Sheamus solidify himself as a heel. Without further ado, here are the pros and cons from this week’s Raw.
Pros
The Authority opening segment is something we’ve all seen a million times before, but it actually worked out well this time around. Rollins gloated about his win at WrestleMania, while Big Show put over the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Randy Orton quickly interrupted the segment, declaring his RKO at WrestleMania to be the “most spectacular RKO of my career.” Damn straight, it was. This also set up the first meaningful main event on Raw in what feels like ages, as it was announced that Orton, Ryback, and Reigns would compete in a triple threat match to determine the number one contender at Extreme Rules. (Although wasn’t it already announced that Orton and Rollins would compete in the main event this past week?)
Seth Rollins was scheduled to face an unnamed opponent. As soon as Neville’s music hit, this was pretty much guaranteed to be match of the night. This was fought at a frantic pace for the most part, with both superstars gaining the upper hand at times. Neville utilized a number of aerial maneuvers during the match, including an awesome dive to the floor that saw him land on his feet. Rollins was equally impressive and showed why he’s the champ, as he worked over the NXT newcomer while hitting all of his signature moves. It was funny to hear JBL slip up and say Adrian Neville before quickly correctly himself. (Sorry JBL, they don’t do first names in the WWE anymore.) This had a few amazing sequences near the end including a rollup from Neville and Rollins countering into a powerbomb into the corner in a match that made both guys look good.
There was nobody in the company in more need of a face/heel change than Sheamus. He was as stale as a year-old loaf of bread as a face and cheesy af. His promo tonight was good and he was definitely over with the crowd. He was talking smack and listing off his measurements (he almost made it to his shoe size) before being interrupted by the World’s Strongest Man. The contest itself was pretty entertaining – with Henry tossing Sheamus around to the delight of his hometown crowd during the opening moments of the match. Sheamus countered the World’s Strongest Slam into a stiff Brogue Kick to end an entertaining segment.
The Prime Time Players were humorous during their Ascension parody promo.
This week’s main event was a triple threat match featuring Orton, Reigns, and Ryback. All three superstars were victorious earlier in the night and the winner of the main event would have a chance to challenge Seth Rollins at Extreme Rules. Orton was the star of the show early, hitting powerslams on both Ryback and Reigns. Ryback then took over for a little while and nailed Reigns with a Meat Hook before countering an RKO into a spinebuster. His momentum was brought to a screeching halt after taking a spear from Reigns, however. The Authority approached the ring and Reigns leapt over the top rope to take everyone out. Big Show would make him pay for his actions by hitting him with the knockout punch. The Authority then focused their efforts on taking out the Viper, and Ryback would get rid of J&J before taking an RKO from outta nowhere and losing the match. Orton wouldn’t have any time to celebrate though, as Rollins quickly delivered a Curb Stomp and stood over Orton to end the show. Even if the outcome was never really in doubt, it was nice to see a main event that had some kind of implications on the storyline, and it did something to further the feud between Orton and Rollins, so this has to be considered a positive.
Finally, say what you will about John Cena, but I think putting the United States Championship around his waist was a great idea. We got a quality match with Dean Ambrose last week, and this week was no different with Stardust rolling out to answer the open challenge. These two went together like beer and peanuts and put on an entertaining match. Cena dominated the match for the most part, but Stardust had his moments, such as when he countered an Alabama Slam into a sunset flip early in the contest. Cena showed his strength on multiple occasions by countering Cross Rhodes into a big power slam. In the end, Cena retained by hitting the springboard stunner he’s been using lately and following it up with an AA. Overall, it was a good match and it’s nice to seeing the title being defended on a weekly basis.
The following matches were taped on Monday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California for tonight’s WrestleMania 31 “go-home” edition of WWE SmackDown.
– Cesaro vs. Jimmy Uso vs. Big E vs. Fernando in a four-way match
– AJ Lee promo
– Roman Reigns, John Cena, Daniel Bryan, and Mark Henry vs. Bray Wyatt, Big Show, Kane, and Seth Rollins in an eight-man tag match
During the WrestleMania 31 “go-home” edition of WWE RAW on Monday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, a big eight-man tag-team match was announced for this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown.
In what will be the final major television show before Sunday’s WrestleMania 31 pay-per-view, Roman Reigns, John Cena, Daniel Bryan and Mark Henry will team up to take on Bray Wyatt, Seth Rollins, Big Show and Kane in one of the main events of this week’s SmackDown.
Make sure to join us here at SEScoops.com on Tuesday evening for live WWE SmackDown spoiler results coverage.
Mark Henry recently spoke with Doug Mortman and Dave Lagreca on Busted Open to promote WrestleMania 31. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
His Favorite WrestleMania Moment:
“My match with Undertaker at WrestleMania 22 changed me. It made me believe that I belonged and boosted my confidence. That match propelled me to where I am today. When Roman Reigns has that moment of belonging that is when he’ll be great. However, you need time to pass for that to happen. It took me 18 years. It takes faster for some people and I believe Roman is ahead of the curve in that regard.”
Roman Reigns’ Push & Fans Not Fully Accepting Him:
“If Roman attacks Brock the way he attacked Daniel Bryan at FastLane, then he can do big things. People always run off at the mouth on what people should do. I believe people should sit back and enjoy and if they don’t like what they’re seeing, tune them out. Fans have to realize that as big of an impact that they have on the industry, they’re not calling the shots. They should just sit back and enjoy the show. When fans go to football games, they’re not the ones calling the plays. There’s a different mentality with the fan base nowadays where the fans are reacting before storylines even have a chance to play out. People are commenting before stuff even happens. There used to be a time where the anticipation grew so much and that anticipation superseded everything else. However, that anticipation has lessened in today’s day and age because of all the information and media surrounding the company. Roman Reigns can definitely be the next top guy in WWE but he has to have a thicker skin and not worry so much about what the critics are saying.”
You can hear Busted Open on SiriusXM 92 and on the SiriusXM app or at BustedOpenNation.com.
At Tuesday night’s SmackDown tapings, Daniel Bryan opened the show and announced he is entering himself in the Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match at WrestleMania. That brings the total number of participants to 7. With all the Sheamus promos that have been airing in recent weeks, he could also be added to the match.
Mark Henry also made a surprise return at the tapings and interrupted an in ring promo with Roman Reigns. Henry told Reigns that he still needs to earn the respect of fans and the wrestlers backstage, leading Reigns to lay him out with a spear and a Superman punch. It appeared they were setting up a match between the two of them on RAW.
Henry has been off television since the November 24th episode of RAW, when he lost to Ryback. He’s lost a lot of weight since his last WWE TV appearance and has been rumored for the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania.
Although he didn’t appear on camera, Mark Henry was backstage at Monday’s WWE RAW in Newark, New Jersey.
Henry, who has lost a ton of weight, is expected to return to television soon. It’s possible he will be factored into the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 31, although that has yet to be confirmed.
Also backstage at RAW was Eva Marie. Marie is expected to return on the road full-time starting this week.
– While his return is still in question, Mark Henry has apparently lost a ton of weight since the last time fans have seen him on television. In the past when talking about losing weight, Henry would eventually get unhappy about losing strength along with the weight, and due to his “strongest man in the world” mentality, it would ultimately hinder his ability to keep the weight off.
– Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock) recently noted that he expects the “Black Adam” character he is playing in the new “Shazam” movie to become a reoccuring role with several projects going forward with the character. Black Adam is a full-fledged heel in the upcoming “Shazam” film, but is expected to become a babyface character at some point in the future.
2K Games has released the new Hall of Pain DLC pack for WWE 2K15, a story-driven campaign that highlights the rise of The World’s Strongest Man Mark Henry between 2011 and 2013.
Henry hasn’t competed in a match since the November 24th edition of RAW, where he lost to Ryback in singles competition. The night before, Henry was part of Team Authority in their traditional elimination match against Team Cena at the WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view.
Regarding the Sheamus injury situation, the WWE Superstar apparently underwent surgery this past week, or at least gave off the impression that he did.
According to one source, the angle where Mark Henry slammed Sheamus through the announce table was done by design as part of a work that was going to result in him suffering an “undisclosed injury.”
WWE has not yet confirmed the injury, and all that was told to specific members of the media was that Sheamus suffered a “stinger,” which is a type of injury that generally doesn’t require surgery.
Additionally, there has been no follow-up from WWE regarding the situation, and usually when a talent undergoes an operation, especially a top name, they play that kind of stuff up pretty big.
Survivor Series is mere hours away at this point. This baby is totally free, so anyone paying for this pay-per-view is doing it all wrong. In total, there are five matches on the main card, including a traditional Survivor Series tag team main event. Without further ado, here are my predictions for tonight’s Survivor Series pay-per-view.
Fandango (with Rosa Mendes) vs. TBA
Although Fandango’s opponent has yet to be announced, I’d put my money on Adam Rose serving as the punching bag. The match will likely be used to further tension between Adam Rose and the Bunny, while also allowing Fandango to pick up a victory in his return to action.
Winner: Fandango by pinfall
Alicia Fox, Emma, Naomi, and Natalya vs. Paige, Cameron, Layla, and Summer Rae (Divas Elimination Match)
This will be similar to last year’s Divas elimination match in that it will be total waste of ten minutes (and if we’re really lucky, we might get to see it again on Raw tomorrow!). This could go in many directions, but my guess is that Paige’s team wins after last eliminating Natalya.
Winners: Paige, Cameron, Layla, and Summer Rae by pinfall
As seen in recent ads for WrestleMania 31, the WWE Superstars that are most prominently featured in the majority of those ads are Daniel Bryan, Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Roman Reigns, Mark Henry, Bray Wyatt and Dean Ambrose. Apparently the reason Henry is included among those guys is because the WWE advertising department were told to include an African-American in the main ads for the show.
Other ads for the show, such as those at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, where the show will take place next year, have Randy Orton and Bad News Barrett instead of Dean Ambrose and Daniel Bryan, and include Big E. as one of the big six.
The following are results of this week’s edition of WWE Main Event, which emanated from Knoxville, Tennessee and aired live on the WWE Network.
– The Usos def. Goldust & Stardust in tag-team action. The match was a non-title bout, which saw Uso hit a superkick and top-rope splash on Stardust for the 1-2-3.
– Alicia Fox def. Paige in Divas action. Paige dominated most of the action, however Fox rolled her up out of nowhere for the pinfall victory.
– Renee Young interviewed Adam Rose backstage. The Bunny was also there. Young shows footage of The Bunny humping Rose on RAW. Rose talks about finding The Bunny broke in Times Square. He tells The Bunny not to hump anymore, calls himself a god and says it’s his job to put his “creatures” back in their place.
– Tyson Kidd & Natalya def. Adam Rose & The Bunny in an interspecies tag-team match. The finish saw The Bunny accidentally bump Rose to the floor. Kidd slapped the Sharpshooter on The Bunny, Rose teased making the save, but instead backed off and watched as The Bunny tapped out. After the match, Kidd hit The Bunny with a cheap-shot, which Natalya didn’t like.
– Michael Cole provided an injury update on Sheamus. He said that after being put through a table by Mark Henry on RAW, Sheamus has a number of neck and nerve injuries, which are bad enough that he will not be able to compete at Survivor Series.
– Bray Wyatt cuts an in-ring promo. He talks about the match with Dean Ambrose this Sunday at Survivor Series. He said Ambrose turned his back on him and made a mockery of him, and said because of that, there will be repercussions. He says they could have ruled the world together.
– Bray Wyatt def. Jack Swagger in the main event of the show. It was a competitive match which saw Swagger hit a Swagger Bomb and lock in the Patriot Lock on Wyatt, but ultimately Wyatt fought his way out and nailed Swagger with Sister Abigail for the pin. Prior to hitting his finisher on Swagger, Wyatt yelled out “this is your fate, Dean Ambrose!”
