— On Monday’s Raw, Eve made her way to the ring ready to battle Divas Champion Beth Phoenix, but instead of The Glamazon’s entrance theme playing, the arena went red and Kane’s music played. United States Champion Zack Ryder ran to the ring to try and help her escape to his car, which suspiciously had a flat tire. The segment lost 544,000 viewers to score a 2.39 cable rating. F4WOnline.com adds that it marks as the lowest-rated quarter hour for a non-holiday episode of Raw “in perhaps a decade.”
— Former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler is scheduled to be a guest on Friday’s edition of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The talk show program airs at 12:35 a.m. Eastern/11:35 p.m. Central on NBC.
— WWE Hall of Famer “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase appears alongside Mickie James at Frank & Son Collectible Show 16549 San Jose Ave. City of Industry, California on January 14 from noon to 2:00 p.m.
— Triple H attended New York Giants’ practice Wednesday as they prepared for their NFL Playoff game against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. According to PopTheCrowd.com, Triple H was in town with WWE officials to finalize a deal to bring WrestleMania 29 or WrestleMania 30 to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
— CM Punk has been announced to appear at Wizard World’s Philadelphia Comic Con on June 2, 2012 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Former WWE Diva Melina, WWE Hall of Famer “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase and TNA Women’s Knockout Champion Gail Kim are also scheduled to appear at the event.
— The 16th annual ECWA Super 8 tournament takes place on April 7, 2012 at the Greater Newark Boys and Girls Club in Newark, Delaware. Tommaso Ciampa won last year’s event.
— WWE is cracking down on Twitter accounts parodying their employees as many have been shut down. Twitter, however, has a rule where they permit parody accounts as long as it is stated that the account is a parody in the description. Nonetheless, two popular accounts remain active: twitter.com/DumbKellyKelly and twitter.com/crankyvince. The account parodying Kelly upset her as she recently blocked it.
— Molly Holly has been announced as the special guest referee for a match pitting Jillian Hall against TNA Knockout Traci Brooks at Women Superstars Uncensored’s show on January 21, 2012 in Stirling, New Jersey. The event will be released on DVD.
— The WWE SmackDown taping on January 31, 2012 will be held at the Century Link Center in Omaha, Nebraska.
— WWE Hall of Famer “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase has been announced for New Orleans Comic Con taking place January 28-29. 2012.
— Santino Marella returned to action on tonight’s Raw SuperShow as he made quick work of Jinder Mahal. He defeated the SmackDown Superstar in approximately thirty seconds.
Marella suffered a separated left shoulder following a car accident September 1 in Toronto. “My car flipped sideways and the trunk hit a light pole, it completely crushed in,” Marella said of the accident to WWE.com. “The airbags deployed, and all I could smell was gunpowder. There was broken glass everywhere, and I tried to open the passenger door, but it was stuck. Luckily, there was still power in the car. I opened the sunroof and crawled out.”
— The Paisley Daily Express has published an article on “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase. The WWE Hall of Famer, a born-again Christian, gave teenagers at Paisley’s Castlehead High School words of warning on how to steer clear of life’s temptations after overcoming his own demons. DiBiase reveals that after his wife Melanie discovered his adultery, he was left with a stark choice – change his life or lose his family.
“He wasn’t very nice to people but now he wants to share that story with people. He stressed how he can’t blame the circumstances they find themselves in and neither should they. He told the kids to take responsibility for their own actions,” depute headteacher Liz Harris said of DiBiase’s inspirational talk. “He told the kids how important it is for them to make the right choices in life and they listened intently to his message. I think they all took a lot from the talk. It was a very positive message.”
— WWE Hall of Famer “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase stated during an interview with the Poughkeepsie Journal that his son Brett will be released from his developmental contract with WWE at the end of the month. The third generation talent was forced to bow out of competing earlier this year after suffering multiple knee injuries and is now unable to continue working as a referee.
“When he realized he couldn’t wrestle without being in pain, well maybe we can go the referee route. Well, then we have a fourth knee surgery. I got to thinking about that and referees are actually up and down even more than wrestlers. Usually when we go down, we’re going down on our back. When they go down, they go down on their knees,” DiBiase said. “Brett will really officially be released at the end of this month. He’s come home now. He’s in great spirits. He’s sad that it hasn’t worked out for him. But on the same token, he was very frustrated and the frustration’s over. We got closure.”
To read the full interview, click here.
— WWE announced the following on Twitter fifteen minutes prior to tonight’s Raw: “Triple H has invited @RealKevinNash back to @WWE #Raw to discuss “textgate” Who’s telling the truth? Find out LIVE at 9/8 CT @USA_Network!”
— Jey and Jimmy Uso, who are twin brothers, celebrate their twenty-sixth birthday today.
— Recently released WWE talent Harry Smith, WWE Hall of Famer “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase and Necro Butcher are advertised to appear at Collector’s Realm 44 Raymond Ave. Poughkeepsie, New York this Saturday from 1:00 p.m to 3:00 p.m.. Visit www.collectorsrealm.iwarp.com for more information.
— Former WWE talent Shelly Martinez is featured in the comedy web series The Megan and Miley Show. The latest episode, entitled “Lamp”, has been posted online.
— A rumor surfaced last week that former WWWF World Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino had passed away has been proven false. After the report surfaced, Sal Corrente of WrestleReunion, LLC confirmed on Sammartino’s behalf that he is alive.
The wrestling legend is scheduled to make one final personal appearance outside the Pittsburgh area at next year’s WrestleReunion event in Toronto.
— WWE Hall of Famer “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase accidentally double booked himself for the Wizard World Philadelphia Comic Con and a series of appearances in St. Louis next weekend. DiBiase will appear in St. Louis and not Philadelphia.
— Jon Moxley, who signed a developmental contract with WWE last month, has been issued his ring name.
According to the official website of the organization’s developmental promotion, Florida Championship Wrestling, his ring name is Dean Ambrose.
— WWE Hall of Famer “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase guest hosted last night’s SmackDown live event at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin. He kicked off the show by announcing that there would be a battle royal for a shot at the Intercontinental Championship—won by Daniel Bryan, who subsequently beat Wade Barrett via disqualification.
DiBiase held the “Million Dollar Challenge,” which was a dance contest between four people. A child won the contest and was able to go backstage to meet the SmackDown Superstars.
WWE Hall of Famer “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase, a long time colleague of “Macho Man” Randy Savage, appeared on Monday Night Mayhem, which airs every Monday at 7:00 p.m. Highlights from his interview are as follows:
His reaction to Savage’s passing and how he always saw himself identifying with Randy throughout his career:
“I identified with Randy a lot. We both had a lot in common, in that we were both buys who grew up in this industry whose fathers were wrestlers. I’ve always believed that for kids who that grew up in the industry that it’s not just a job, but it’s something they fell in love with and something they’ve known all their lives. There’s a certain camaraderie there. In a word, Randy was charismatic. He’ll be very missed, and it’s sad.”
What he will personally and professionally remember the most about Randy, both inside and outside the ring:
“It was his professionalism. He was all business. He would laugh, and cut up, and have fun too, but for the most part, he was a consummate pro. He took his job and his work very seriously, and I always admired that. He was incredibly dedicated.”
— WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart commented on the passing of Randy Savage hours after learning of the news.
“He was so loved and respected by everyone, especially the ones that worked with him,” Hart said of his former colleague. “I think we’re all feeling a real deep sense of loss. He was such a good man and somebody that we all loved and cared about so much. Randy was a real one-of-a-kind guy.
“I don’t know how much you can explain how much of a loss this is to the wrestling world. We’ve lost so many wrestlers over the years and in this case at least, I feel a little better knowing God checked Randy out rather than something like drugs or something like that.”
— A Mixed Tag Team Match pitting Lay-Cool and Dolph Ziggler against Trish Stratus, Kelly Kelly and John Morrison is being discussed for WrestleMania XXVII.
— “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase is profiled this month on WWE Classics On Demand with the following matches: WWF World Tag Team Champions Money Inc vs. Nasty Boys (Wrestlefest 1992), Ted DiBiase vs. One Man Gang (Sam Houston Coliseum 6/7/87) Ted DiBiase vs. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper (World Tour 1991), WWF Champion Randy Savage vs. Ted DiBiase (Boston Garden 7/9/88), Ted DiBiase vs. Hosssein Arab (a/k/a Iron Sheik) (WWF Championship Wrestling 11/13/79).
Also airing this month on WWE Classics On Demand: WCW Great American Bash 1995, Legends of Wrestling Roundtable: “Rowdy” Roddy Piper & Terry Funk, Tuesday Night Titans debut (5/29/84), Wrestlemania’s Greatest Hits video release, Wrestlemania IV, Hulk Hogan’s Unreleased Collector’s Series Part 5, Extreme Championship Wrestling (8/12/97), Monday Night Wars: Raw (6/1/98), Monday Night Wars: Nitro (6/1/98) and Prime Time Wrestling: (2/6/89).
— WWE returns to the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville, North Carolina on June 4, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
— Prior to the match pitting Mark Henry and The Great Khali against Jimmy and Jey Uso on Raw, The brand’s General Manager switched the bout to a dance-off. The World’s Strongest Man and The Punjabi Playboy notched the victory with their unorthodox dance moves.
Former WWE star Rikishi, father of the Uso brothers, took to Twitter to express his unhappiness for the angle.
“My thoughts on my sons’ dance off? Didn’t really need it,” he wrote. “Creative Team WTF!! Its not that hard to figure in talent.”
He added, “Tag Teams in the WWE are not really the focus as we can see. Soon Usos will be in singles.”
— All March on WWE Classics, the legendary career of the “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase will be spotlighted. WrestleMania IV, which featured DiBiase vs. Randy Savage, will also be featured.
— Word amongst those in WWE is that Jerry Lawler was unable to appear in Manchester, England for today’s Monday Night Raw taping due to an injury that prevented him from making the trip overseas.
A company source believes the WWE Hall of Famer suffered a knee injury.
Michael Cole and Josh Matthews called the show that will air tonight.
— Two matches were taped today in Manchester, England for this Thursday’s episode of WWE Superstars: Ezekiel Jackson vs. Primo (with AJ), and Yoshi Tatsu vs. Zack Ryder.
— The Nov. 5 episode of WWE SmackDown drew a 1.82 cable rating, with 2,772,000 viewers. It is the second highest rating for the program since moving to Syfy.
— According to WWEDVDNews.com, WWE has plans to release a multi-disc DVD set on Hall of Famer “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase next year. The title is currently in production.
— Today is Raw Superstar Ted DiBiase’s birthday. He turns 28 years old.
— The latest rumored name for induction into this year’s WWE Hall of Fame class comes in the form of “The Million Dollar Man.” Ted DiBiase is heavily rumored to be inducted this year, though nothing has been confirmed. (source: WrestlingFigs.com)
— Candice Michelle noted on her Twitter account yesterday she’s taking breastfeeding classes. The former WWE Women’s Champion recently announced she will be giving birth to a baby girl in May.
— Lilian Garcia is auctioning off a few bikinis she wore for photo shoots during her time in WWE, as well as a pair of boots. You can view the auctions at the following link.
— In today’s wrestling birthday, former WCW cruiserweight wrestler Silver King turns 41 years old. In yesterday’s birthdays, former WWE Women’s Champion Bull Nakano turned 42 years old while Bushwhacker Luke turned 62.