– With Monster Jam holding events in Stafford Springs, Connecticut this weekend, WWE cameras followed Madusa (also known as Alundra Blayze) around at her job.

The 2015 WWE Hall of Famer and monster driver wrote Friday on Instagram, “What an amazing day!!! Did some filming today for @wwe thank you to the crew and staff at both the WWE and @monsterjamlive #Lifeisgood #AlundraBlayze #Madusa.

She added Saturday, “Great filming crew today @wwe had a blast cannot wait until it’s ready! Thank you.”

– Miss USA 2010 and one-time Tough Enough contestant Rima Fakih attended Saturday’s WWE live event at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California.

– Layla revealed Friday night on Periscope that she is engaged. The WWE Diva showed off her ring and told those watching that she is getting married.

Layla’s fiancée is Rich Young, who wrestled as Ricky Ortiz for WWE in 2008 and 2009. They have been dating since last year. The couple briefly worked together on the SmackDown brand in 2009, which included an in-ring skit and Layla appearing on Ortiz’ WWE.com show.

https://twitter.com/mslayel/status/624407053910421508

• Vince McMahon taught WWE wrestlers “how to be more black”

– Many people speculated that Miss USA 2010 Rima Fakih, who participated in Tough Enough last year and was brought in as a celebrity guest WrestleMania XXVIII week, would have a WWE contract waiting for her if she opted for a professional wrestling career. She, however, says that’s not the case.

When asked on Twitter whether she would be joining the organization again, she responded, “They don’t want me.”

– Billy Gunn, who appeared on Raw 1,000, is the newest addition to WWE.com’s Alumni section. WWE.com writes of the multi-time champion, “Whether he was a Smoking Gunn or a New Age Outlaw, Billy Gunn never let his mouth write a check that his butt couldn’t cash. Not down with that? The former Intercontinental Champion has two words for ya …” The bio does not acknowledge his “Badass” moniker.

WWE officials were reportedly impressed with Gunn and his interactions with Shawn Michaels on Raw 1,000 and the belief is he’ll receive at least one match on a future televised show. More recently, he evaluated WWE developmental talent two weeks ago at Florida Championship Wrestling headquarters.

– The Mummy Returns starring The Rock airs this Sunday at 1:30 p.m. on TNT.

– Madison Rayne claimed during a backstage segment on last week’s Impact Wrestling that she was once crowned Miss USA. Her kayfabe remark was brought to the attention of Miss USA 2010 winner and former Tough Enough contestant Rima Fakih, who upon seeing her picture, tweeted, “Well look at her pic u can tell she didn’t win.”

Rayne responded to Fakih, “….hmm, touché. But I’m still ‘tough enough’ to make it in this business… And I have a sweet ass crown. Boom!”

Rayne has since deleted the tweet.

– Chris Masters revealed on Twitter that he was not offered a TNA contract after participating in a dark match before the June 14 Impact Wrestling broadcast. However, he remains optimistic, as he believes it will come in due time.

– Garett Bischoff vs. Douglas Williams is this week’s featured match on TNA Xplosion.

— Prior to WrestleMania 28, 2010 Miss USA and former Tough Enough contestant Rima Fakih told German celebrity gossip website Promiflash.de that she was returning to WWE:

“You are the first to respond to me, but I can now tell you that I will definitely be part of WWE.”

According to sources in WWE, she has yet to sign with the organization.

Fakih was arrested of DUI back in December and struck a deal with Michigan prosecutors earlier this month just hours before she was scheduled to stand trial for the incident. Sentencing is scheduled for May 9 and she faces up to 93 days in jail.

— WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Jim Cornette are now columnists for the United Kingdom based Fighting Spirit Magazine, which covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Subscription information is available at www.fightingspiritmagazine.co.uk.

— WWE will hold live events in France this fall. Dates and locations are as follows: October 31 at Zenith Arena in Strasbourg (Raw); November 1 at Zenith Arena in Nantes (Raw), November 1 at Tony Garnier Hall in Lyon (SmackDown).

— Kharma attended the Cauliflower Alley Club’s annual banquet in Las Vegas, Nevada on Wednesday.

— Following the passing of legendary broadcaster Dick Clark on Wednesday, Jim Ross remarked on Twitter, “Since Dick Clark passed away, Jerry Lawler is now the oldest teenager in the United States.”

source: PWInsider.com

— “Miss USA” and Tough Enough contestant Rima Fakih has denied signing with WWE. She wrote Saturday on Twitter, “Not signed! #rumor.”

Fakih suggested last month during an interview with German celebrity gossip website Promiflash.de that she had signed a contract with WWE, stating, “You are the first to respond to me, but I can now tell you that I will definitely be part of WWE.”

— For the second consecutive night, WWE conducted an angle at a SmackDown live event where ring announcer Lilian Garcia nearly came to blows with Natalya during a heated confrontation. Fed up with the third generation wrestler’s shabby treatment of her, Garcia aggressively shoved Natalya’s jacket back at the SmackDown Diva following her loss to AJ at Saturday’s show in Manchester, England. Natalya was none too pleased with this.

“I didn’t appreciate Lilian Garcia’s attitude tonight throwing my jacket at me! Watch yourself ya little mutt!” she wrote on Twitter.

— WWE Hall of Famer Greg “The Hammer” Valentine appears at the Friendship Flea Market in Friendship, Indiana on June 9 and 10. Call 859-341-9188 for more information.

Former Miss USA Rima Fakih was back in court this morning and plead no contest to her DUI case just hours before her trial was set to begin. She plead no contest to misdemeanor ‘driving while visibly impaired’ – in exchange for prosecutors dropping the more serious charge of driving while intoxicated.

Sentencing is scheduled for May 9 and she is facing up to 93 days in jail. She said today:

“You learn, you pay your price for making mistakes and you move on. I’m very happy I can put this behind me.”

Fakih was arrested in Detroit back on December 3rd after cops saw her speeding and weaving through traffic. According to the police report, Fakih was “disoriented” and slurring her speech. Her blood alcohol level was more than double the legal limit and cops found a half-empty bottle of wine in the car.

(Source: TMZ)

– Despite speculation that his match at WrestleMania 28 might have been his last, the talk backstage at WrestleMania was how great the Undertaker looked in the ring. After undergoing two major surgeries in the past year, the belief is that Undertaker has several more matches left in him and will almost certainly work WrestleMania 29.

– There is a lot of buzz at Florida Championship Wrestling that Terry Taylor is being brought back to help with the new developmental project that will be located in Stamford, Connecticut.

– Former Miss USA and WWE Tough Enough contestant Rima Fakih is scheduled for court today in Michigan to address charges stemming from her recent drunk driving arrest. Recent online reports have stated that Fakih is returning to WWE soon.

– United States Senate candidate Linda McMahon will participate in Connecticut’s first Republican candidate debate on April 19th. McMahon will be joined by opponents Chris Shays, Brian Hill, Kie Westby and Peter Lumaj.

(Source: f4wonline.com)

– News broke over the weekend that Brock Lesnar was negotiating with WWE and arrived in Miami on Saturday with a large entourage. According to a report at pwinsider.com, Lesnar was not at WrestleMania, the Intercontinental Hotel where the WWE talent was staying  or any other WWE related events over the weekend.

For those people speculating that WWE leaked the news of Lesnar’s negotiations to spike the WrestleMania buyrate at the 11th hour, WWE tried hard to keep the deal confiential.

– It was also reported over the weekend that Tough Enough contestant and former Miss USA Rima Fakih was in Miami and was in talks to return to WWE. Fakih was seen with the WWE crew during WrestleMania weekend and is expected to return to the company soon.

2010 Miss USA Rima Fakih has been on hand for many of the WrestleMania week events in Miami, Florida, prompting speculation that she signed a contract with WWE. The beauty queen confirmed to German celebrity gossip website Promiflash.de that she is now affiliated with the sports entertainment organization.

When asked if she is under contract to WWE at Thursday’s WrestleMania Premiere Party at Sun Island, she responded, “You are the first to respond to me, but I can now tell you that I will definitely be part of WWE.”

The website notes that Fakih plans to wrestle for WWE after competing on WWE Tough Enough last year. She says she did not take the experience lightly.

“It was really hard. I probably had to fight the most, simply because everyone thought that I’m just a beauty queen,” Fakih says. She adds that she while she sustained numerous injuries during the competition, it meant too much to her give up.

Fakih was also asked which match she is most looking forward to at tonight’s WrestleMania. She says CM Punk’s match against Chris Jericho.

“Everyone wants John Cena to see The Rock, but I personally cannot wait to see CM Punk spanked Chris Jericho’s ass,” she says, “I love CM Punk. He has a very distinctive and colorful character.”

Pictures from Kane's Return

— The I.P.A. Network is now accepting autograph signing bookings for former WWE star John Morrison. Contact Steve Woolf at celebritysignings@sbcglobal.net (951) 780-9611.

• VIDEO: Morrison Talks About Life After WWE

— Tough Enough contestant Rima Fakih appears on MTV’s MADE Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.

— At the conclusion of the 2011 Slammy Awards, Kane reemerged, once again masked. The Big Red Monster locked his hand around the neck of John Cena and left him laying with a devastating chokeslam.

One reason for Kane resurfacing with a mask is because WWE officials are looking to set a new Guinness World Record for the “largest gathering of people wearing costume masks” at WrestleMania XXVIII in Miami, Florida. Original plans called for the record attempt to take place during a Rey Mysterio vs. Sin Cara match, but with both superstars currently injured, Kane is WWE’s next best bet.

The current record was set May 10, 2011 during a Major League Baseball game between the Los Angeles Angels and the Chicago White Sox at Angel Stadium of Anaheim when roughly 25,000 fans donned red Lucha masks during a designated ten minute time period.

— CM Punk stated Tuesday on Twitter that he was undergoing an X-ray examination today. He wrote, “Heading for X-rays, then gym. Because broke shit don’t stop me.”

He added, “Soon to be a dirt sheet headline: Punk gets X-rays.

“Going to go jump in a volcano then gym. Because hot lava don’t stop me.

“Soon to be dirt sheet headline: Punk jumps into volcano.”

— Tough Enough contestant and former Miss USA Rima Fakih is scheduled for a court hearing on December 21, 2011 in 30th District Court in Highland Park, Michigan due to her arrest Saturday on suspicion of drunken driving. If convicted, Fakih faces up to 93 days in jail, plus fines, court costs and the possibility of community service. (Article link)

— Lilian Garcia, SmackDown’s new, full-time ring announcer, has been added to the SmackDown Superstars page on WWE.com.

Miss USA Rima Fakih

Tough Enough contestant and former Miss USA Rima Fakih was arrested Saturday morning in Highland Park, Michigan on suspicion of drunk driving.

WXYZ.com reports Fakih took a breathalyzer and blew a 0.20, more than twice the state’s legal limit. She spent most of Saturday in jail.

Fakih has reportedly been in touch with Triple H in recent months discussing a potential return to WWE in 2012. This probably won’t help her chances of getting re-signed.

• Miss USA Says She’s In Talks To Return To WWE

Fakih originally tried to deny that she was arrested by stating on Facebook and Twitter that it was actually someone else with the same last name. The posts were removed late Saturday and her attorney, Donald Elder, confirmed the arrest.

Elder told the Detroit Free Press Fakih was “very saddened and very apologetic for the situation that she is in right now.”

Miss USA Rima Fakihm

Show: Running The Ropes
Host: Brian “Maveric” Bertrand 
Guest: Rima Fakih

This week, the guys at “Running the Ropes” were very honoured to welcome the lovely former Miss USA winner and Tough Enough contestant, Rima Fakih to the program.

You can listen to an MP3 of the appearance by clicking here.

During this very exclusive live-recorded interview, Brian “Maveric” Bertrand asked Fakih about making the transition from being Miss USA to her involvement with the WWE and then into Tough Enough 2011. She said:

“One of the things I like to do is break stereotypes and let people know that you can be beautiful and tough at the same time”

“It was a great adventure. I have to say that coming to the Tough Enough was not only a highlight of my reign but my Journey as Rima Fakih.”

When asked about the pageant’s reaction to joining the WWE:

“The reason, I think, was because I hosted Raw a couple of times and just thought that even though my organization and our (Miss Universe pageant) president, Miss Paula Shugart, was terrified when I told her ‘I can do it! I can do Tough Enough,’ everyone was kind of afraid for me.”

When going into the Tough Enough house, the guys at WWE started to tell her right away what was going to happen.

“When they find out you’re Miss USA, you’re going to be looked at as ‘What are you doing here? You’ll be like the piñata.’ I told them ‘Great! I love the challenge!’ … I just wanted to prove myself in the ring. Let my actions speak for me.”

Regarding her future with the WWE, Rima gave us a bit of exclusive news.

“Well I have been in talks with Triple H very recently. So I’ll definitely keep you updated.”

— Many people speculated that Miss USA 2010 Rima Fakih, who participated in Tough Enough and guest-hosted an episode of Monday Night Raw last November, would have a WWE contract waiting for her if she opted for a professional wrestling career. She, however, says that’s not the case.

Fakih was asked yesterday on Twitter when she would be going to WWE and replied, “WWE doesn’t seem interested in me maybe @TNA or mud wrestling might be LOL.”

— Sin Cara spoke to Nexos Latinos for a brief interview regarding his wrestling background and training regime. When asked why he wears a mask, he replied, “The mask adds a certain mystique to my image. It makes people wonder who I really am and gives additional interest to Mistico.” He adds that it’s difficult for him to see through the mask since he can’t see half the time.

The interview, which is in Spanish, can be accessed here.

— Tickets for WWE’s Raw live event on December 29, 2011 at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. go on sale September 24 via Ticketmaster.

Tough Enough contestant Rima Fakih appeared on Monday Night Mayhem, which airs every Monday at 7:00 p.m. via MondayNightMayhem.com. Highlights from the interview are as follows:

How she was approached by the WWE during her reign as Miss USA: “It happened that the Miss Universe pageant was going on, and there was people from the WWE backstage. I’m not sure if they were there for recruitment or something like that. It happened that out of the 95 girls that was competing, I was one of the girls interested in wrestling. I told them how big of a wrestling fan I was, and that made them very happy. They wanted to do something with me. The organization (Miss USA) said ‘We don’t know. Why would you want a beauty queen on your show?’ WWE said that I didn’t seem any other beauty queen. It went from me hosting, to me being on Tough Enough, which I was so excited to be a part of.”

The most important thing she learned from her time on WWE Tough Enough & what she feels was the best part of the experience on the program: “Fearlessness, never to be fearless. Being on ‘Tough Enough’ was one the highlights of my year. The best part of the experience was working with someone as great as Booker T, and Stone Cold’ (Steve Austin), and Trish Stratus. They’re more than just wrestlers. They so amazingly strong, smart, and so supportive. They know you can give more. They will keep after you until you do. Bill DeMott as well, even though he scares the heck out of me.”

Why she has not given up on her dream of being a WWE Diva, what she believes she can give to the company, & her reaction to being referred to as “the next Trish Stratus” by the former seven-time WWE Women’s Champion herself: “I would love to show them what a real Diva could be. Trish Stratus told me I was ‘the next her.’ That would be an honor for to think that I could be ‘the next Trish Stratus,’ and change the game, and make it look like hot girls can be wrestling fans, and wrestle & kick butt. I feel like I want to bring that confidence to women in the ring and outside the ring.”

– Regarding “The Language of WWE” memo that we posted a few weeks back, it should be noted that none of the banned words were given to the English language announcers nor have they been told that some of those words were banned. However, it is known by them to not use some words like “wrestling” and “wrestlers” but some of the words on the list still get used on English language broadcasts.

Check Out: “The Language Of WWE” – List Of Allowed & Banned Terms

– Tough Enough producers Shed Media and the USA Network were hoping for Miss USA Rima Fakih to win WWE Tough Enough, knowing her winning the competition would bring the show a great deal of mainstream media exposure and build momentum heading into the second season. As the show went on, it became clear that Rima had little chance of winning and she was ultimately eliminated last week.

Related News: Miss USA Talks About Her Tough Enough Elimination & Rib Injury

– Sin Cara vs. Sheamus for the WWE United States Title and Jerry Lawler vs. Jack Swagger with Michael Cole in his corner is booked for upcoming WWE live events.

– The idea right now is for Jim Ross to remain on WWE TV for as long as the Michael Cole angle goes on. JR’s segments have done very strong quarter-hour ratings so that may play a factor in WWE keeping him around longer. With that said, at least for now there are no plans for Ross to return to announcing full-time.

– Speaking of Jim Ross and Michael Cole, the injuries they sustained on Monday’s RAW will not prevent them from wrestling at Sunday’s Extreme Rules PPV, but JR’s hand injury may limit what he’s able to do in the match.

(Credit to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter for some of the info used in this report)

Eliminated Tough Enough contestant, Miss USA Rima Fakih, discusses her exit from the show, including exclusively revealing a rib injury that didn’t feature on the show that led to her being cut. Rima also talks about her fellow contestants, the trainers, shattering preconceived notions of a beauty queen and more. Plus, Miss USA reveals an incident in the house with Andy that led to her to throwing a drink in his face.

Listen to the interview here. Here are some highlights of what Rima said about:

On her rib injury that led to her being cut:

“This is something that nobody knows yet: I was injured. Didn’t tell anybody about it and what hurt was my ribs. I was sore everywhere… everyone was, but my ribs were really, really in a lot of pain. When I had my one-on-one session with Bill DeMott, they called me back into the ring at 10.30 at night. I was in there for probably about two hours just going at it — bumps after running — and I wouldn’t complain. I didn’t want them to think that Miss USA was like, for example, Michelle, who’s going to quit and go home, or I don’t want them to say, ‘Miss USA can’t take it’ or ‘Miss USA doesn’t want this’. No, a beauty queen can be beautiful and tough like Trish Stratus. That night when Bill asked me to give him a roll, he went and he landed on the same spot where my ribs had been fractured during a wrestling move I had done the week before. I screamed really loud and broke out crying. After leaving the show, I realized Stone Cold was only looking after my best interests. Bill DeMott said something to me that night, he said: ‘You’re in pain there? Why didn’t you say anything?’ I go, ‘Because I don’t want to look like a quitter’ and he goes, ‘Look, there’s a difference between being tough and being stupid. You need to take care of yourself’. If you ask me, I’d rather have stayed, broke a lot more ribs than I already did and battled it out.”

Her candid thoughts on Michelle Deighton:

“I’m sorry to say that she annoyed me! First of all, you don’t have 11 years experience, it was 11 years ago. It didn’t seem like she wanted to be there. It seemed like she just wanted to be on TV. I know that I’m putting her down, she didn’t do anything to me. The other thing that I’d like to say is that the way I got my rib injury is because of Michelle. If you’re in the ring and you don’t know how to wrestle, you could injure the other person and Michelle, her problem is that she wouldn’t ask questions. She’d say, ‘I know, I know, I know’. Well you really don’t know. And that’s how my injury happened. She didn’t know how to roll back and she kept falling on my ribs.”

— Rima Fakih was eliminated from tonight’s episode of Tough Enough.

At the conclusion of the show, Steve Austin addressed the contestants to step forward. Rima was called forward first. Austin said he normally calls forward two other people, but not today. He said Rima has a lot of heart, but doesn’t think she’s ready. Rima responded that she needs to just get it down. Austin said she can do that, but not on Tough Enough.

Austin said off-camera there was no point walking her through the Bottom 3 again since she’s already gone through the process three times.

— Trish Stratus joins former WWE Divas Torrie Wilson, Lilian Garcia and Candice Michelle on tonight’s Tough Enough Aftershow on http://www.ustream.tv/afterbuzztv. It begins at 11:15 p.m., immediately following Raw.

— Rey Mysterio is the special guest on next week’s episode of Tough Enough.

source: prowrestling.net

— Rey Mysterio has denied online reports indicating that he requested his release from World Wrestling Entertainment.

“Confirming! Did not ask 4 release!” he wrote on Twitter. “Those that like me, u will have Rey 4 a good time&those that don’t, well life isn’t always sweet, 619 out!”

— It would appear that reigning Miss USA 2010, Rima Fakih, does not win Tough Enough as she said on her Twitter account yesterday that she was away shooting the USA Network program. Tough Enough trainers Trish Stratus and Bill DeMott have noted on their respective Twitter accounts that filming is currently ongoing for the reality series. Tough Enough contestants are reportedly prohibited from communicating with the outside world throughout the duration of their stay on the show.

— Tyler Reks vs. JTG was taped last night in Kansas City, MO for this week’s episode of WWE Superstars on WGN America.

source: PWInsider.com

– On Monday’s episode of WWE RAW, John Cena catpured the WWE tag titles and had a very brief title run with WrestleMania 27 opponent The Miz. It’s interesting to note that out of the four times that John Cena has held the WWE Tag Team Titles, every one of his title reigns has been with a partner that he’s feuding with at the time. with someone he was feuding with at that time.

Cena won the belts with Shawn Michaels in 2007, Batista in 2008, David Otunga in 2010 and The Miz this past Monday night.

Even more interesting is that each of Cena’s tag title reigns was shorter than the previous – two months with HBK, one week with Batista, one day with David Otunga and 12 minutes with The Miz.

– The upcoming season of WWE Tough Enough is being viewed as a chance to give a major push to Miss USA Rima Fakih. WWE sees the beauty queen as having tremendous potential as a WWE diva and the plan is to bring her up to the main roster as a babyface as soon as Tough Enough concludes, regardless of whether she wins the competition or not. Fakih is a big wrestling fan and has a legitimate interest in being a WWE Diva.

– While Evan Bourne is reportedly scheduled to return to the ring before the end of February, he might not be ready for action until late March or early April. Bourne is currently advertised to return at the March 14th RAW in St. Louis and RAW live events the following weekend, but it’s still depending on whether he’s healthy by then.

(Partial Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)