– Former WWE and World Heavyweight Champion Batista accompanied Filipino boxer Nonito Donaire Saturday night in Corpus Christi, Texas for his match against Mikey Garcia. The bout aired on HBO, which Rey Mysterio acknowledged via Instagram.
“My big #homey #Batista just popped up on HBO boxing with NONITO DONAIRE! It’s been a minute since I’ve seen him! Miss u my homey! #Philippinopride,” wrote the inactive WWE Superstar.
– Members of The Heenan Family reunited Saturday at the Big Event convention in Flushing, New York. Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, King Kong Bundy, Haku, The Barbarian and Paul Orndorff (sporting a curly moustache) took photo-ops together with fans.
– WWE Hall of Famer “Cowboy” Bob Orton turns 63-years-old on Sunday. Also celebrating a birthday is WWE developmental trainer Bill DeMott, who turns 47.
– WWE Diva and one of the stars of the Total Divas reality show, Eva Marie, continues to be a heat magnet in WWE these days. One wrestler who works for the company was recently quoted saying, “Eva has a real nice body. That’s all I can say nice about her.”
– As we previously reported, WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio is likely to remain on the sidelines until 2014 while he waits on his knee to strengthen. Unlike in the past in WCW and WWE, where there was heavy pressure put on him to return from injuries, Triple H is said to be patient with him this time. The WWE COO is reportedly telling Mysterio not to rush things and is putting no added pressure on him to return sooner than he should.
During a recent interview with the Miami Herald, WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio spoke about his plans for an upcoming return to the ring.
Mysterio actually wrestled last month during WWE’s live events tour of Mexico, but says he only got back in the ring to see how his knee felt:
“It was more of a let’s see how my body reacts and my knee reacts to being back in the ring,” Mysterio said. “Overall I felt good but still feel I need a bit more therapy, just from the damage I’ve done through the years to my knee. We are back to therapy and strengthening up that quad and hamstring, just making sure there are no mistakes this next time.”
Mysterio originally planned to be back in action this summer, but then delayed his plans for a full time return to “around Thanksgiving, maybe Christmas.” Now, it’s sounding like he won’t be back in action until 2014.
“I think if I don’t do it by the end of the year, then next year,” Mysterio said. “I would hate to push myself instead of taking my time. I want to make a good return, and not being absent shortly after my return. It’s something I’m still debating. I’m going to listen to my body.”
Despite the countless injuries he’s dealt with, Mysterio still feels the passion to compete in WWE.
“I’m definitely still motivated and feel the urge to be in the ring,” Mysterio said. “I’ve always told myself the day I don’t feel that anymore is the day I need to say, ‘That’s it.’ I still have some years inside me that I want to push forward, I want to go out and entertain. I miss it. I really do. I miss being out there and the interaction with the fans. I miss the applause and the 619 chants. I’m hoping that God still gives me a couple of more years for me to perform.”
-WWE Executive Vice President Stephanie McMahon revealed at New York City Television Week that WWE is targeting a 2014 first quarter launch of their highly anticipated WWE Netowrk. For more information, visit BroadcastingCable.com.
-Apparently the reason WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio’s return is being held off is because there are still concerns about his injury. The feeling is Mysterio is risking further injury if he does anything physical in the ring before his quadriceps in his leg fully strengthens.
-WWE’s current plan for Ricardo Rodriguez is to keep him off of television until they find a new role for him, which is why he has been tweeting recently about “learning to wrestle” at the WWE Performance Center. At one point, WWE talked about putting Rodriguez with Rey Mysterio when he makes his WWE television return.
-As previously reported, Vickie Guerrero is going back to college. Vickie’s first day back at college is today. She is studying for a degree in medical administration. Vickie recently mentioned on Twitter that she will be taking online classes through Herzing University.
-WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio made his WWE pay-per-view return on Sunday night as he working the Spanish commentary during the show. Other than doing commentary, nothing was done to set up a future storyline for Mysterio.
-WWE Superstar Kane made his official return to WWE on Sunday night as he made the save for The Miz during an attack from The Wyatt Family, and then chokeslammed Miz for no apparent reason afterwards. As noted, WWE is likely building towards a Kane vs. Bray Wyatt match at the upcoming WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view. The match was in jeopardy at one point, with Wyatt suffering a leg injury at a WWE live event, however all reports point to the fact that Wyatt should be ready to work matches again by the time the pay-per-view rolls around.
– Rey Mysterio was backstage at this week’s RAW in Memphis but not used. He was still scheduled to return on the show as late as Monday afternoon. The idea was that since he won’t be wrestling for a few more weeks, they decided against putting him on TV for an interview.
– WWE executives Stephanie McMahon and Triple H accepted an Impact Award on behalf of WWE earlier this week in Boston, MA for for the concussion work they’ve done in recent years. Stephanie tweeted the following messages, as well as a photo of herself and Triple H with former WWE Superstar Chris Nowinski of the Sports Legacy Institute:
Thank you @ChrisNowinski1 for the amazing work you and your team do to prevent concussions. Our @sportslegacy Impact Award belongs to you.
-The official WWE website recently ran an article on Rey Mysterio’s return. The website covered Mysterio’s appearance at the WWE live event in Tupelo, Mississippi on Sunday night, where he helped R-Truth during a post-match attack from World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio. The article did not, however, cover the fact that Mysterio worked an actual match at the WWE live event in Mexico during the week.
The article also contains a video of Mysterio’s return on Sunday night. You can check it all out online at WWE.com.
-Advertisements for the return of the WWE reality show, Total Divas, have begun. There have been a number of billboards in major cities put up recently, advertising the series return on the E! cable channel on November 17th.
-According to various reports, WWE Superstar Ryback is scheduled to have a program with the new babyface Big E. Langston following his current feud with CM Punk.
-During Sunday’s WWE live event in Tupelo, Mississippi, Rey Mysterio made an unannounced appearance. Mysterio made the save for R-Truth, who was getting beat up by Alberto Del Rio following his loss to the World Heavyweight Champion on the show. Mysterio and Truth both beat up Damien Sandow, who teased cashing in his Money In The Bank briefcase during all of the chaos.
Fans interested can check out a complete report from the WWE live event in Tupelo on the main page.
– Coming off the heels of Cody Rhodes and Goldust winning the WWE Tag Team Championship from The Shield at the conclusion of Raw on Monday, WWE counts down the grandest Raw finales in the history of the program.
– Prior to Friday’s WWE live event in Mexico City, Mexico, Rey Mysterio and AJ Lee appeared at an autograph signing together, drawing a large crowd. Lee remarked of the event on Twitter, “I may or may not have asked Rey for an autograph… for a friend…also named AJ.”
– The official WWE website has issued a poll asking fans which of the following WrestleMania matches they you like to see simulated in WWE 2K14: The Undertaker vs. CM Punk – WrestleMania 29 (42%), “Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs. The Rock – WrestleMania XV (35%), Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon – WrestleMania X (18%), Randy “Macho Man” Savage vs. “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase – WrestleMania IV (6%).
While we don’t have a lot of details at this point, WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio worked a full match at the WWE live event in Guadalajara, Mexico on Thursday night.
Mysterio teamed with Sin Cara to defeat Alberto Del Rio and Wade Barrett. It was Mysterio’s first official match back with WWE since March of this year.
We should have a full report from Thursday’s WWE live event in Guadalajara, Mexico later today.
-One of the key reasons Wade Barrett has not been featured on WWE television or at WWE live events in recent weeks is due to the fact that he is back in England dealing with visa issues. As noted previously, Barrett recently returned to action with the company during their current live event tour in Mexico.
-The new Rey Mysterio DVD produced by WWE is scheduled for a release in 2014.
-For those wondering, it indeed was Vince McMahon who made the call for Jerry “The King” Lawler to mention the “Goldberg” chants on Monday’s RAW and tie it into the current “Ultimate Goldberg Collection” DVD that was released by the company this week. Whether or not more transpires as a result, remains to be seen.
WWE is currently running a live events tour of Mexico, with the first show taking place last night from Querataro. Here are full results from the show, which featured a few returns:
* Los Matadores beat 3MB. As you can imagine, Los Matadors were very over in Mexico.
* Wade Barrett returned to action, defeating Zack Ryder with the Bull Hammer.
* Sin Cara also returned, losing to World Heavyweight champion Alberto Del Rio. The crowd was chanting “Dos” at Del Rio and “Mistico” at Sin Cara. Del Rio won with the armbar and refused to let the hold go after the match. This brought out Rey Mysterio, who attacked Del Rio and saved Sin Cara. Rey and Sin Cara celebrated together after the match.
* Divas Champion AJ Lee defeated Natalya.
* The Wyatt Family defeated The Primetime Players.
* Damien Sandow defeated R-Truth.
* In the main event, CM Punk defeated Intercontinental champion Curtis Axel in a non-title match.
Here are photos of Rey Mysterio, Sin Cara and Wade Barrett back with WWE (links open in new window at 24Wrestling.com):
When He’ll Be Back In The Ring: “With this new procedure, it’s been floating around in the air. There’s not that much time left before the end of the year. I’m hoping that either Thanksgiving comes a little early or Christmas comes a little early.”
The Injury That’s Kept Him Out Of Action: “What’s slowed me down in my career are [anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)] tears in my left knee. After the first one in 1997, they started happening one after another. We’ve used everything we could in terms of re-attaching my ACL [with ligaments from] my body. Now, we’ve gone into cadavers to reattach them. That’s what’s slowed me down, my left knee. My right one, knock on wood, is all good. The rest of my body, thank God, is all good.”
His Recent Visit To The WWE Performance Center: “Yes, I had the chance to go in the ring a couple of times. It’s an incredible place, definitely the top training center that I have been in.”
Getting Back In The Ring: “It always comes back to conditioning. No matter how much cardio you do — running or biking or whatever — it’s never the same as being in the ring. That was the first thing I felt.”
Having To Change His In-Ring Style: “After so many surgeries, I had to modify my game. I know what I can and can’t do in order to keep performing for a long period of time. It won’t be hard. I’ve done it in the past after my previous surgeries. I don’t think I realized it at the time, but I tend to modify certain moves and my landings, as well. I’m sure once I get back into the ring, it’ll all start coming back into place and it’ll feel normal to me. I definitely won’t be able to do certain things that I’ve done in the past, but there’s no way I shouldn’t be able to replace those moves with others.”
-WWE officially announced prior to RAW on Monday night that current WWE Divas Champion AJ Lee has been medically cleared to return to the ring following a concussion scare that saw her sent home from RAW last week. That would explain AJ’s physical presence in the ring on this past Monday’s edition of the show.
-WWE will be running live events in Mexico on Wednesday, October 16th, and Thursday, October 17th. WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio, who has been on the shelf for months recovering from injuries, is scheduled to return to the ring on those shows.
-WWE announced a return to St. Louis, Missouri, the site of Monday’s WWE RAW show, on January 17, 2014. The pre-sale for tickets is available right now with the code: WWELIVE.
-WWE will officially release their Night Of Champions 2013 DVD on Tuesday, October 15th.
– Fans interested in attending the December 26th WWE Live Event from Madison Square Garden can currently buy tickets on pre-sale using the code WWESOCIAL.
– Christian is scheduled to return to the ring this week. He and Alberto Del Rio will be at Thursday night’s WWE NXT tapings from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. He’ll return to the road for WWE this weekend for the live events from Rhode Island and Pennsylvania.
He’ll also be wrestling Del Rio at next week’s tour of Mexico, when WWE hits Querétaro, Mexico City and Monterrey.
– Following a lengthy string of injuries, Rey Mysterio is nearly recovered as he is hopeful to return to the squared circle by the end of October. The former WWE and World Heavyweight Champion is said to be determined to return strong and prove he is still as good as he was in 2007 and 2008.
– Whether he’s WWE Champion or not, Randy Orton is figured heavily into creative’s storyline plans through WrestleMania XXX.
– This Sunday, Dolph Ziggler takes on Damien Sandow in the free WWE Battleground Kickoff when it streams live at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT. The official YouTube account of WWE released the following video hyping the encounter.
-The latest Mark Trail comic strip, which was released today, featured a character named Dusty Rhodes.
-WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio posted the following on his official Twitter account today, revealing that he is currently training at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida:
SESCOOPS.COM reader Kevinadman sent along the following:
TV Wrestling Star Kevin Nash At Brick Elks Lodge This Sat. 10/5
He’s a former WWE & WCW World Heavyweight Champion… a member of some of the biggest groups in pro wrestling such as The New World Order and The Clique… set a record for the fastest World Heavyweight Title victory (seven seconds)… he’s the seven-foot “Big Sexy” Kevin Nash, and he will make his first ever Jersey Shore appearance for popular pro wrestling promotion Funkdafied Wrestling Federation this Saturday night October 5th at 7:35pm when FWF returns to their favorite Jersey Shore venue, the Brick, NJ Elks Lodge (2491 Hooper Avenue, just south of Route 70 and the Brick Plaza, minutes from the Parkway).
Plus this show will feature an FWF Heavyweight Championship match made at the last Ocean County show, as “Bounty Hunter” Johnny Ringo will finally get the opportunity he demanded, as he will face popular champion The Atomic Dog. And in another championship match coming out of the last Ocean County show, the veteran duo of Right To Party (Mike Dennis & “The Love Machine” Nicky Oceans) will once again challenge FWF Tag-Team Champions The 2 Rude Dudes (“Corrupted” Corey Havoc & “Rampage” Rogers).
There will also be appearances by FWF Cruiserweight Champion Fast Eddie, Team R.I.O.T. (Big Jeff Noyze & Vinny Cenzo), T.N.T, Lightning Bolt Johnson, “Mr. Entertainment” J.D. Smoothie, Slayer, “The White Urkel” B. Fehrm, Jersey Shore lunatic Slayer, “Ice-Fire” Steve Zapf, “Big 80’s” Donnie Victory, managers Captain Johnny Kool and Savannah, and more.
Tickets are priced at only $21 for adults and $19 for kids & seniors, and are available on-line at www.funkdafiedwrestling.com or by calling the FWF Box Office at (732) 725-1704
All major charge cards are accepted, and group rates are available. Remaining seats, if any, will go on sale at the door one hour before bell time.
– To promote Battleground on October 6 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York, the official YouTube account of WWE is celebrating the 23rd anniversary of Battle Kat (real name Dean Peters), a wrestler who donned a cat mask and utilized his gymnastics background to emphasize his “cat-like” agility. On September 19, 1990 at a WWF Wrestling Challenge taping in Flint, Michigan, Battle Kat won his televised debut match over enhancement talent regular Bob Bradley.
The masked grappler’s stint with the sports-entertainment company would be short-lived as he was gone by the end of the year, with his final television appearance resulting in a loss to the massive Barbarian. He later resurfaced unmasked in World Championship Wrestling as Brady Boone, where he appeared as a wrestler and later a referee. On December 15, 1998, while driving home to Tampa, Florida from a WCW television taping in Orlando, Florida, Peters died in an automobile accident.
– This week’s issue of ESPN The Magazine featuring Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton on the cover has an article on the many masks of Rey Mysterio.
– Today’s birthdays include former WWE and WCW wrestler Ricky Morton (57), former WCW announcer Scott Hudson (49), and journeywoman Ivelisse Velez (25).
-Recent plans have WWE talent Ricardo Rodriguez continuing to manage Rob Van Dam until RVD takes some scheduled time off from WWE in October. Once Van Dam is on hiatus, it is possible that Rodriguez may be put with the returning Rey Mysterio as his “personal ring announcer.”
-Expect stipulations to be added to the Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton and Rob Van Dam vs. Alberto Del Rio rematches scheduled for the upcoming WWE Battleground pay-per-view.
According to one report, there is discussion of the Bryan-Orton pay-per-view rematch being contested under “Iron Man” match rules. This would allow WWE to book the match in a way where it leads to another inconclusive finish, which could lead to the final showdown in a cell at the WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view.
WWE is back this weekend with their usual five-show live event tour, one show on Friday, two on Saturday and two on Sunday.
The weekend tour kicks off on Friday night in Lexington, Kentucky with Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton as the main event in a match that will not be for the WWE Championship, due to the title being stripped and remaining vacant until their pay-per-view rematch at WWE Battleground.
Also on Friday’s live event will be CM Punk, Rob Van Dam, Alberto Del Rio, Curtis Axel, Ryback, The Wyatt Family, Damien Sandow, Kofi Kingston and AJ Lee.
From there, the WWE roster will split into two, as part of the crew will head to Hidalgo, Texas for two back-to-back events at the State Farm Arena, including a “WWE Street Party” on Saturday, as well as a return appearance of injured WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio.
The other half of the roster will be heading to Indiana on Saturday and Illinois on Sunday.
If anyone attends any of the aforementioned live events, feel free to send in a live report to be published here on the website.
-The WWE stock closed today at $9.75, so it has basically leveled off following the big drop on Monday.
-As noted previously, WWE will be running two shows this weekend in Hidalgo, Texas. On Saturday, WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio returns. In addition, WWE will be holding a “WWE Street Party” on Saturday from 2pm to 6pm to kick off the 10-year anniversary of the State Farm Arena. Scheduled to appear at the “WWE Street Party” are WWE Superstars Sin Cara, Big Show, Brodus Clay, R-Truth and Alicia Fox.
-For whatever reason, currently sidelined WWE Superstar John Cena is still being mentioned in the local advertisements as appearing in the dark match at the upcoming WWE RAW television taping in Biloxi, MS on Monday, September 30th. Unless a miracle occurs, obviously Cena will not be wrestling on that show.
-As reported previously, WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio is advertised for this weekend’s WWE live event in Hidalgo, Texas. WWE will run Hidalgo on both Saturday and Sunday night, with the Mysterio appearance being billed as “one night only” on the Saturday evening show. The advertised main event for Saturday’s event in Hidalgo is Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton.
-Part-time WWE Superstar and hardcore legend-turned-comedian Mick Foley is scheduled to take part in a community event in Westport, Connecticut on Wednesday night. Apparently the city of Westport is celebrating 90 years of the Westport-Weston Family Y.M.C.A. For more information, visit Westport.DailyVoice.com.
-According to local advertisements, WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio will be appearing at the WWE live event this weekend in Hidalgo, Texas.
-WWE.com has added legendary pro wrestling manager and personality Jim Cornette to their official Alumni section.
-The latest edition of the “Heyman Hustle” has been added to the official Heyman Hustle YouTube channel, which features more coverage of the already infamous WWE 2K14 symposium. Fans interested in checking that out can do so directly below:
-The main event of the WWE live event in Fresno, California on Friday featured Randy Orton defending the WWE Championship against Daniel Bryan. The finish saw Orton nearly tapping to the “Yes! Lock” submission hold by Bryan until The Shield did a run-in, causing a disqualification. This led to Big Show and Mark Henry coming in to make the save, while Orton scurried off and escaped up the aisle while all three members of The Shield ate the finishing moves of Show and Henry. With John Cena on the shelf for the remainder of 2013, this will likely be the main event finish on the “A” live events from WWE going forward.
-Speaking of the WWE live event in Fresno, WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio made an appearance, as advertised, and announced during the show that he would be back to in-ring action in September.