— Rosa Mendes beat AJ on Sunday’s episode of FCW Wrestling to become the new Queen of FCW. The New Jersey native had held the crown since February.
The SmackDown Diva denied AJ’s finishing maneuver attempt, the Octopus hold, and moments later garnered the three count. After the match, Mendes said it was her dream to become the Queen of FCW and continued rambling in Spanish.
In a trivia note, Mendes has yet to win a singles match on WWE television since joining the main roster two years ago.
— One day after appearing as a heel at WWE’s annual Tribute to the Troops event, Melina was back working as a babyface at last night’s Raw live event in Biloxi, Mississippi. She and Eve beat Maryse and Alicia Fox in a tag team contest.
— Rey Mysterio celebrated his 36th birthday Sunday.
Melina performed as a heel at this afternoon’s Tribute to the Troops event in Fort Hood, Texas as she teamed up with Lay-Cool and Alicia Fox in a Santa’s Little Helper Match against Divas Champion Natalya, Kelly Kelly and The Bella Twins. The babyfaces went over with Kelly claiming the pinfall.
It was reported earlier this week by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that creative planned to turn Melina heel and have her feud with Divas Champion Natalya. The idea was first conceived a few weeks ago and it is said that Melina garnered heat backstage because she was negative on becoming an on-screen villain.
Meanwhile, a renewed relationship with John Morrison recently teased on Monday Night Raw is considered a dead idea.
(Thanks to SPC McClouston, Patrick for show result)
Posted December 11th, 2010 in News, WWE. Tagged: Melina.
— The USA Network will reportedly air three WWE broadcasts on prime time in the days leading up to the Christmas holiday.
In addition to a live two-hour episode of Raw on Dec. 20, SmackDown will air live the following evening from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. A two-hour version of Tribute to the Troops is tapped to air the following night from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m.
— It was announced during Friday’s episode of SmackDown that the Alberto Del Rio vs. Rey Mysterio match at TLC would be a Chairs Match.
— Maryse and Melina revealed on Twitter that they will be on hand for Saturday’s Tribute to the Troops event in Fort Hood, Texas.
— Current creative plans call for Melina to turn heel and feud with Divas Champion Natalya. It’s expected to be a slow turn. The idea was first conceived a few weeks ago and it said that Melina garnered heat because she was negative about going bad.
Meanwhile, a renewed on-screen relationship with John Morrison which was recently teased on Monday Night Raw is considered a dead idea.
— Creative has devised long-term storyline plans for Randy Orton, The Miz, Sheamus, Edge, John Cena and The Nexus through February.
— The pre-sale code for the Jan. 31 Monday Night Raw taping at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island is ORTON. Tickets for the pre-sale are on sale now through Friday morning via Ticketmaster.com.
sources: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, PWInsider.com
– 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.
— The current Diva-exclusive season of NXT — coupled with an ongoing recruitment drive by WWE officials to hire more models, which it can train as professional wrestlers — indicate that cuts will be made to the female roster in due time.
According to the UK based wrestling magazine, Power Slam, the list of females whose jobs are considered safe in the company is limited to Michelle McCool, Layla, Beth Phoenix, Maryse, Kelly Kelly, Melina, and “possibly” Natalya and Eve Torres.
Those not listed are considered expendable by officials.
— Maxine, who was eliminated from NXT on Tuesday’s show, commented on why she believes she was expelled from the contest in an interview with nxt.wwe.com.
“The WWE Universe doesn’t always warm up to the bad girl. I think it’s much easier to really like somebody that’s overly perky and nice,” she stated. “I feel like I’m more of a leader, I’m not a follower. I make my own path and I think that’s the way to go.”
— Besides a few people who viewed the script for Monday’s Raw, former talent Lita’s surprise appearance was kept a secret until she walked into the Nassau Coliseum. (source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
— Melina posted a video entry on YouTube entitled “I’m OK!!!” in response to fan concerns of her lack of tweeting as of late as well as recent online rumors. It was reported earlier this week by www.f4wonline.com that she has heat with company officials and was soundly defeated on Monday’s Raw as a result.
“It’s easier to make up stuff or to say things and to kind of believe in the the worst than to just accept things the way they are,” she said in response to ‘rumors going around’. “Things just happen the way they do and you just got to take it with stride. You know, you can’t win them all and things can’t be perfect and awesome all the time. But, you can make the situation the best that you can.”
The multi-time champion also shows off a very large bag of Skittles sent to her by the confectionery company and discusses her Halloween costume.
— Adam Atherton, who performed as Rudy Parker in WWE’s developmental promotion Florida Championship, wrote on his Facebook page that he asked to be released from his contract earlier this month because he was denied a raise by organization officials and was therefore unable to afford to pay back his student loans.
— This week’s episode of WWE Superstars scored a 0.53 cable rating, with 528,000 viewers. The midnight replay drew a 0.2 cable rating, with 163,000 viewers. (source: www.pwinsider.com)
Posted October 30th, 2010 in News, WWE. Tagged: Melina.
– 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.
— WWE has nixed the previously scheduled Countdown to SmackDown special and will instead air a replay of Tuesday’s episode of NXT before the premiere of SmackDown tonight on Syfy.
— It would appear that the NXT Rookie Divas will be on hand for tonight’s live SmackDown in Oklahoma City as Maxine wrote on her Twitter account Thursday that she was preparing for the evening’s Florida Championship Wrestling live event only to say two hours later that she suddenly had to catch a flight.
— WWE Diva Melina has launched a YouTube channel and has posted her first introductory video blog. We’ll post Melina’s videos here at SEScoops, here’s episode 1:
– New WWE Divas champion Melina, who just returned from injury, had a scare last night at SummerSlam where it appeared she had injured her knee. She wrote on Twitter today:
“Im still overwhelmed. Reading all these tweets from all of u. Thank u! U guys r the best. My knee is ok. Just a tweak. Thank U 4 ur concern.”
– TMZ.com caught up with Triple H over the weekend in Los Angeles at an event for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, which he is now working with. Triple H told TMZ that back in 2005 when WWE was overseas in England, the WWE crew got into a big brawl with a group of drunken kickboxers. Triple H says when the WWE superstars got back to their hotel, the kickboxers were waiting for them and wanted to fight. Local newspapers reported on the story in the days after the incident and wrote that the WWE superstars destroyed the kickboxers – which Triple H says is absolutely true.
– WWE sent out the following press release on Monday announcing that it has teamed up with Burger King for an in-restaurant promotion, beginning Monday, August 23 through Sunday, September 12 in close to 10,000 Burger King locations across the world. Triple H, John Cena and the Undertaker will be featured on more than five million exclusive Superstar plush toys inside BK(R) Kids Meals.
“WWE is very excited to team with BURGER KING, a globally recognized brand that reaches millions around the world,” said Michelle D. Wilson, WWE Executive Vice President, Marketing. “WWE’s family-friendly product, which is seen in 145 countries, is a great fit with the BURGER KING brand.”
Posted August 16th, 2010 in News, WWE. Tagged: Melina.
— 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.
– The following matches were taped last week for tonight’s “Rookie Challenge” episode of WWE NXT:
* Kaval vs. Husky Harris
* Alex Riley vs. Percy Watson
* Michael McGillicutty vs. Lucky Cannon, with the winner facing The Miz in the main event.
– Former WWE stars Stacy “The Kat†Carter (the ex-wife of Jerry Lawler) and Nick “Kizarny†Cvjetkovich were married over the weekend. Congratulations to those two.
– Following her return to WWE RAW last night, Melina was a worldwide trending topic on Twitter.
– WWE is currently working on several books for children that will be released next year. The projects include an Ultimate Guide to WWE, Mad Libs and books on the Brothers of Destruction (Undertaker and Kane), among others.
Posted August 3rd, 2010 in News, WWE. Tagged: Melina.
— At Wednesday’s SmackDown television taping in Laredo, Texas — airing next Friday — Dolph Ziggler defeated Kofi Kingston to become the new Intercontinental Champion. Though the title switch has yet to be officially acknowledged by WWE, Ziggler is nonetheless working as the belt’s holder during the company’s ongoing tour of Australia. The former Spirit Squad member retained the championship against Kingston at last night’s SmackDown live event in Sydney.
— During a sequence taped last Monday in San Antonio, Texas, Melina made her return to the squared circle — her first appearance inside a WWE ring in seven months. 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. The attack culminated with Fox being laid out by the multi-time champion’s finishing maneuver, the Sunset Split.
SuperLuchas.net has posted images of Melina’s return to the ring, which will be televised this Monday night on Raw.
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 WWE Womens and Divas champion Melina made her return to WWE television at last night’s WWE RAW tapings from the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas.
.The return can be seen on next Monday’s edition of RAW on the USA Network. She returned at the conclusion of Alicia Fox, Jillian & Tamina vs. Eve, Gail Kim & Natalya, taking out Alicia Fox.
— 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.
Melina spoke to Brian Fritz of Fanhouse.com to comment on her upcoming return to the ring. At the time of the interview, she was planning on having her first match back at Wednesday night’s Florida Championship Wrestling live event. She later backtracked, stating on Twitter yesterday afternoon: “Bad news peeps. I was just told I couldn’t wrestle tonight. My heart dropped. I’m sorry. But I will still be there & keep you posted.”
Here are highlights from the interview:
On her rehab: “Everything has been really tough. It’s been strenuous. I always get worried because I’m thinking I’m not getting better quick enough. But after a while, I’ve just accepted the fact that it’s going to take as long as it needs to take and I was really worried coming back this week to see what I can do.”
On her character shrieking: “I admit, back in the MNM days when I would do that scream, I loved it… Seriously, I don’t realize how much I do it. Sometimes, I annoy myself. It’s just a natural thing. When I do really put something into it, I really do just kind of scream. It’s just the way I throw a punch, like take this! I don’t know why I do it.”
On increasing her arsenal: “I’ve been brainstorming on certain things. I thought that this time around I’ll have a couple of new stuff but at the same time whenever someone asks me ‘what do you want to do’ I’m thinking I have so many things. (laughs) And I keep adding and adding and adding. I have in my arsenal so much that I can never put it all into a match.”
Posted July 15th, 2010 in News, WWE. Tagged: Melina.
Melina will be competing in her first match in seven months at tonight’s Florida Championship Wrestling live event at the Orlando Armory. She has been sidelined since December due to a torn ACL suffered during a WWE live event.
The multi-time Women’s Champion has spent the past week at FCW’s headquarters shaking off ring rust. She tweeted the following on Monday concerning her return to the ring:
“This tweet is about my day at fcw. Everyone thinks I’m wrestling right now and I have to do some wrestling style therapy to see what I can actually do and if it’s safe for me. The wwe doctor still needs to talk to my doctor in LA, then get back to the fcw therapist. I admit, certain moves scared me. I’m not sure if what I feel at times is bad, normal or all in my head. We just have to wait and see. I will keep you posted each day.”
She is also scheduled to take part in an autograph signing before the show. For more information on the event and autograph appearance, click here.
Posted July 14th, 2010 in News, WWE. Tagged: Melina.
— Melina is presently shaking off ring rust at WWE’s developmental promotion, Florida Championship Wrestling. The multi-time WWE Women’s Champion is expected to make a return to the main roster “anytime.” Meanwhile, Beth Phoenix is roughly two months away from returning to the ring. She is recovering from ACL surgery. (source: PWInsider.com)
— As seen at the top of Monday’s Raw broadcast, WWE debuted a modified montage video. Among the changes were “Classy” Freddie Blassie, Buddy Rogers, Gorgeous George and Harley Race being added, but the most striking change was the removal of the voice of Jim Ross in favor of Raw announcer Michael Cole.
Concerning the modified video, Ross wrote on Twitter: “While @ gym got messages my voice was removed from Raw show open. If it matters, that’s news 2 me. Been nice 2 have been informed. Oh, well.”
— WWE’s DVD set chronicling the Elimination Chamber Match, Satan’s Prison- The Anthology of the Elimination Chamber, is officially released today. The trailer for the DVD can be viewed here.
— There’s a feeling among some within WWE that Triple H will be the one to “save” the company from the NXT Rookies.
— Vince McMahon showed up at recent television taping sporting two black eyes as well as a cut on his forehead. For fear of consequences, employees were only “whispering” speculation, and those who found out what happened were not telling anyone. However, the feeling now is that he may have undergone plastic surgery.
— In a potentially bad political move, Melina posted a fan’s comment poking fun at Triple H last night on Twitter.
“I heard if you say HHH three times in a mirror he appears and squashes you,” the fan wrote.
She responded, “Ha ha ha! That was good!”
— Apparently, the trailer for WWE Studios’ upcoming John Cena film, Legendary, was prematurely released as it has since been removed from www.imdb.com — the original source of the video. WWE also had the trailer removed from YouTube.
— Wrestling legend Ox Baker and John Cena, Sr. were on hand for last night’s Raw telecast in Bridgeport, Connecticut as both watched the show amongst the audience. Both were also backstage visiting prior to the live taping.
— Melina is being advertised to appear at Florida Championship Wrestling’s live event taking place at the Orlando Armory on Wednesday, July 14. She will be taking part in a meet and greet before the show. Click here for more information.
In an update on when she expects to return to the ring, she wrote the following on her Twitter account last night: “I truly don’t know when I will be back. One step at a time. I just want to focus on better mobility in my knee and building strength. Next is running. Hopefully I can hit my mark for getting cleared but if I don’t, then I just have to keep working at it. We shall see when I got to FCW in a few weeks.”
— Beth Phoenix said last night during a chat on WWEUniverse.com that she is three to five months away from making a full-fledged return to the squared circle. “The Glamazon” has been sidelined since early May due to a torn ACL.
— WWE is working on a DVD release profiling Hall of Famer Bobby “The Brain” Heenan. The DVD set is scheduled for release on December 18. (source: PWInsider.com)
— WWE’s upcoming three-disc DVD set on Chris Jericho has been officially titled Chris Jericho – The Highlight Reel. This title is set for release on September 21.
— 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.
— On Twitter, Melina indicated she has two months of physical therapy left before she can return to the ring. She also asked her fans what the “latest gossip” is on her comeback, to which they replied she was being advertised for the Jun. 5 Monday Night Raw taping in Miami. She said she was unaware of any such appearance as no one in WWE told her about it, writing:
“You never know, maybe I can be there for that Raw show… I surely can walk, talk and slap some people. :D I could still be there! But I haven’t heard from anyone though. :( so who knows if I’m supposed to be in Raw or SD. I’m in the dark like all of you. Maybe more so :p”
– Though Layla and Michelle McCool came to the ring wearing matching Women’s Titles on Friday’s episode of SmackDown, according to WWE.com, they are merely “self-proclaimed” co-Women’s Champions. Officially, Layla is the WWE Women’s Champion. McCool is not an official holder of the belt.
– Speaking of Melina, she will be appearing on tonight’s Over The Limit live chat on WWEUniverse.com. Tonight is “Divas Night” as the winner of the Divas Championship Match between Eve Torres and Maryse will appear during the session. Also scheduled to appear is former Women’s Champion Beth Phoenix. Click here for more information.
— Plans as of early last week was that the Drew McIntyre firing angle would be held off until after Sunday’s Over The Limit pay-per-view with Matt Hardy insisting Theodore Long rehire McIntyre so he could beat him up. It was also indicated that WWE would utilize Twitter with Hardy asking his fans to spread his message. (source: f4wonline.com)
— Goldust, Cody Rhodes and Dusty Rhodes were originally scheduled to team up for the first time together at a Florida Championship Wrestling live event on Jul. 9, but plans have changed. Instead, Goldust and Cody will team up together, with the WWE Hall of Famer accompanying his sons to the ring. All three will be taking part in a meet and greet before the show.
— Sunday’s Over The Limit live chat on WWEUniverse.com will be a “Divas Night” as the winner of the Divas Championship Match between champion Eve Torres and Maryse will appear during the session. Also scheduled to appear are former Women’s Champions Melina and Beth Phoenix. Click here for more information.
— Jim Ross, a play-by-play commentator for WWE since 1993, has been removed from the company website’s SmackDown roster page.
While his talent contract with WWE has expired, he remains employed to the organization in a talent relations capacity.
“My WWE ‘talent contract’ has ended after a 17+ year run with the company,” Ross wrote in a recent blog. “Obviously, I would have liked to have had the ability to do a ‘farewell broadcast’ but that opportunity never occurred.”
— Melina is currently featured on Undateable, a five-part series currently airing on VH1 counting down the “Top 100 gaffes guys make that repel women.” You can catch the entire countdown tonight starting at 6:00 p.m. The series will air throughout the next week.
— A number of former WWE performers are on hand for this weekend’s Motor City Comic Con in Novi, Michigan including Amy “Lita” Dumas, Lilian Garcia, Molly Holly, Raven and Kevin Thorn. Click here for more information.