The following are highlights from a recent Rob Van Dam interview with the official website of Marvel Comics.
Marvel.com: What’s it like being back in WWE?
Rob Van Dam: It’s awesome. I predicted that this return to WWE might be the most impactful part of my entire career. It has a lot to do with timing, and a lot to do with being RVD because I have so many years of experience. But it’s all positive. All the time I’ve spent. There’s no downside. I don’t have that a.g.e. factor that seems to affect a lot of other people. Honestly, my body feels as good as it ever did. Sometimes my back bothers a little bit, but it bothered me even more when I was 23. Sometimes my knee bothers me a little bit. It bothered me even more when I was 30. I feel great. And obviously it shows when I’m in the ring. And the fan response has been off the hook. And, by the way, my position in the company, considering the other wrestlers that are there, versus the wrestlers that were there before, again, works in my favor because all the other guys that were ahead of me that were getting all the attention, all the TV time, well they’ve dropped off, they’re outta the scene; a good time to be the whole damn show.
Marvel.com: Your return during Money in the Bank was amazing, and now you’re headed in to arguably the second biggest show of the year with SummerSlam. What is it about the energy of SummerSlam that you think really gets you and fans excited?
Rob Van Dam: Well a lot of it has to do with the amount of promotion put into it. I mean everybody knows that WrestleMania is compared to the Super Bowl of wrestling. They do a pay-per-view every month, and a lot of them don’t get so much attention. But they’re all getting bigger and bigger. They’re all growing every year as the fan base grows. SummerSlam is like the big party of the summer, and everybody looks forward to that now, just like they look forward to WrestleMania.
For me, I’m excited that it’s right here in Los Angeles, which is where I reside. I grew up in Battle Creek, Michigan, but I live out here in Los Angeles. So I’m on my own home turf here. It’s where a lot of scores are settled. It’s where a lot of storylines are kicked off. It’s where a lot of people are tuning in all over the world. So the pressure’s on for all the wrestlers to be at their best. So that’s where somebody sets up the great combination of the matches. I’m looking forward to getting in the ring. To be honest, it doesn’t even matter who I’m in the ring with. I still will steal the whole show.
Check out the complete interview online at Marvel.com.
-Daniel Bryan, Rob Van Dam and Randy Orton vs. The Shield is currently the advertised dark match main event for the upcoming WWE SmackDown television taping on September 17th in Cincinnati, Ohio.
-Former WWE referee Jimmy Korderas will make his professional wrestling in-ring debut for Smash Wrestling at The E-Zone in Toronto on Saturday, August 17th. The card Korderas debuts on will also include Brian Kendrick, Paul London, Matt Cross, Johnny Gargano, Player Uno, LuFisto, Gregory Inn and Tyson Dux.
-Currently injured WWE Superstar Sheamus will be appearing at the Wizard World Ohio Comic Con from September 20th through September 22nd in Columbus, Ohio at the Convention Center.
-Former WWE Superstar Chris Jericho will be appearing at the Montreal Comic Con at the Palais de Congres on September 14th. Also that night, his rock-and-roll band Fozzy will perform at the Corona Theater in Montreal.
According to one source, an angle is likely going to be shot during the Dean Ambrose vs. Rob Van Dam WWE United States Championship match during the WWE SummerSlam Kickoff Show on Sunday night prior to SummerSlam.
The report claims that the angle will either lead to a trios match featuring The Shield against Big Show, Mark Henry and Rob Van Dam, or a regular tag-team match between Show and Henry and Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins.
Regardless, all of the aforementioned WWE Superstars have been informed that they will be working on the actual SummerSlam pay-per-view card itself.
-WWE Superstar Rob Van Dam has posted a new audio blog online. In the blog, RVD talks about his first month back in WWE and why he feels his in-ring work has improved during his current WWE run. Van Dam also takes a few shots at the TNA Impact Wrestling roster. Check it out online at iPadio.com.
-“Stone Cold” Steve Austin has posted the latest edition of the “Steve Austin Show” online. The latest edition features the return of Kevin Nash to his show. On this episode of the program, the focus is mainly on the end of Nash’s WWE career, as well as a lot of nWo and WCW discussion. Check it out online at PodcastOne.com.
The official Xfinity website recently posted an interview with Paul Heyman. While most of the interview is Heyman answering questions completely in-character, below are highlights where Heyman is somewhat candid in his responses.
On the significance of his role in last year’s WrestleMania: “It’s huge. Nothing short of it. And probably even bigger than that adjective. It’s exhilarating for me because you have the most unique, the most gifted athlete in the history of the WWE, or UFC, or college athletics in Brock Lesnar, going against a wrestler who probably has more heart, more determination, and the ability to overcome the odds better than anybody else that I’ve ever come across in my entire career in CM Punk. It’s a fascinating match-up. It won’t be over in 30 seconds. This is going to be an all-night affair. There’s an old expression in the professional wrestling business; “This match will be worth the price of admission.” I humbly suggest that Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk is worth the price of admission alone.”
On Brock Lesnar telling him to ‘say something stupid’ on RAW recently: “He wanted me to say something stupid! Brock Lesnar is a man who thinks in a far different way than your average beast walking down the street. This is a once-in-a-lifetime athlete. Brock made his point, he told the world, “I, Brock Lesnar, am better than CM Punk.” So, what else is there for us to say?”
On his thoughts about Daniel Bryan: “I’m not done recruiting Daniel Bryan. I think Daniel Bryan is a fascinating performer who has put on arguably the most consistent string of best matches of the past year. The striking thing about Daniel Bryan is the best is yet to come with him. Daniel Bryan still has more to offer. And having seen footage of him dating back to when he was wrestling in VFW halls and very small arenas and high school gymnasiums, he still has so much more that the WWE Universe hasn’t seen. I’m admittedly, and I will confess to this, a huge fan of Daniel Bryan.”
On his thoughts about John Cena: “I think there’s a streak going involving John Cena that both the WWE Universe and the media have failed to pick up on. The glory days of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin lasted two, maybe two-and-a-half years. That was the peak of his run. He came back as General Manager, but day-to-day, going to every city, main eventing every Pay Per View, the focal point of Monday Night Raw…Steve Austin’s peak was two-and-a-half years. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s peak was along the same lines. John Cena has been the focal point of WWE since 2005. For eight and now going on nine years, John Cena has not only main evented all the Pay Per Views, been the major attraction on Raw. John Cena has gone to every city, main events all the live events, and yet he still makes all these media appearances, he’s done more Make-A-Wish Foundation visits than anybody in history…and he’s a tireless workhorse. And he shows up last Monday with his elbow…looking grotesquely…is that a word? His elbow was so messed up and yet he says, “Wrap me up, I’m going out there to perform because the people are counting on me.” There is a work ethic to John Cena that is to behold.”
On his thoughts about Bray Wyatt: “It’s an emotional presentation, and it sets him apart from everyone else which means that Bray Wyatt will stand out. Whether it’s in WWE or UFC or Major League Baseball or the NBA or the NFL or television or movies…any genre that is star-driven has the need for unique personalities. And Bray Wyatt is as unique as they come.”
On how TNA Impact Wrestling handled Rob Van Dam: “I don’t mind getting into detail. I think TNA squandered the opportunity of exploiting the talents of Rob Van Dam. And I don’t think that’s a mistake the WWE is going to repeat.”
Check out the complete interview online at Xfinity.com.
It was announced on Monday’s edition of WWE RAW that the winner of a 20-man Battle Royal match would earn the right to challenge WWE United States Champion and leader of The Shield, Dean Ambrose, at Sunday’s WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view. Later, it was announced that the title bout would be the featured match on the SummerSlam Kickoff Pre-Show.
Rob Van Dam won the Battle Royal on RAW, which means you can officially pencil in Rob Van Dam vs. Dean Ambrose for the WWE United States Championship this Sunday during the SummerSlam Kickoff pay-per-view pre-show.
Also announced for the Kickoff show, as we reported earlier, is a panel featuring WWE Hall Of Famers Shawn Michaels and Booker T, along with WWE Diva and Total Divas star Natalya, who will also compete against Brie Bella in a Divas match on the show.
-The cast of WWE’s Total Divas reality show on the E! cable channel will be appearing on the E! show, “The Soup” this coming Wednesday night.
-UFC heavyweight prospect (who will be moving down to Light Heavyweight following his next fight against Roy “Big Country” Nelson) Daniel Cormier was in attendance at the WWE live event on Sunday night in Oakland, California.
-WWE Superstar Rob Van Dam noted on Twitter recently that he would be appearing at the upcoming WWE NXT television tapings in September.
-According to reports, one potential reason Rob Van Dam has had random matches on television upon returning to WWE, as opposed to being locked into an actual feud with one specific wrestler, is because of the terms of his new WWE contract.
Van Dam’s current deal with WWE calls for him to work for 90 days before taking an unspecified amount of time off, before returning back to action for the company.
-The following is the official preview for the third episode of WWE Total Divas, which airs on Sunday night at 10pm on the E! cable channel:
“Naomi and Jon Uso come face-to-face in the ring. JoJo ends up giving her boyfriend an ultimatum. Nikki disagrees with Brie’s decision to move to Phoenix.”
This week’s WWE SmackDown and Main Event television shows will be taped before a live audience at the BHO Harris Bank Center in Rockford, Illinois this evening.
Already confirmed for the show, as announced on Monday’s WWE RAW show, is a MizTV segment with special guests Big E. Langston and AJ Lee.
The advertised dark match main event is Sheamus, Randy Orton and Rob Van Dam vs. The Shield. However, for whatever this is worth, the advertised dark match main event for RAW between John Cena and Alberto Del Rio never took place on Monday night.
Make sure to check back here on the website later this evening for live WWE SmackDown spoiler results.
-WWE is advertising a dark match main event of Randy Orton, Sheamus and Rob Van Dam vs. The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns) for Tuesday’s WWE SmackDown and Main Event television taping.
-As previously noted, the WWE RAW dark match main event for tonight’s show in Green Bay features John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio in a “Champion vs. Champion” match. Starting with next Monday’s RAW, the dark match main event will feature John Cena and Mark Henry taking on all three members of The Shield in a Handicap Match.
-For whatever this is worth, WWE is no longer advertising Brock Lesnar for the post-SummerSlam edition of WWE RAW. Lesnar is still scheduled for tonight’s RAW and next week’s RAW, the final two editions of the show leading into the annual SummerSlam pay-per-view.
-WWE is advertising the following lineup for the live event on September 22nd in Hidalgo, Texas:
–John Cena vs. Dean Ambrose [Champion vs. Champion Match]
–Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton [Special Challenge Match]
–Mark Henry vs. Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns [2-On-1 Handicap Match]
-There is currently a pre-sale available for tickets to the WWE “Battleground” pay-per-view event, scheduled for October 6th at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York. The password for the pre-sale, which runs through Friday night at 10:00pm E.T., is JOHNCENA.
-The following are some new combined tweets from the official Twitter page of WWE Superstar Rob Van Dam. Van Dam makes some comments about the growing legalization of marijuana in the United States and internationally. RVD wrote:
“FYI Last week, N.H. Became 19th state to adopt medical marijuana. Yesterday, Uruguay became first country to legalize pot. Today, Illinoise became 20th state w/ medical marijuana program. Joke all you want but your truth is changing, so is tomorrow’s education. Put that in your pipe. When the time comes to say “I told you so”…I will rise above.”
– WWE has announced four additional matches for tomorrow night’s Raw broadcast through the Raw Five-Point Preview on the company website.
It was announced on last week’s show that WWE Champion John Cena will take on Ryback in a Tables Match, with former WWE Tag Team Champion partners Daniel Bryan and Kane meeting in a singles match. Also announced for the program are Rob Van Dam vs. Fandango, Divas Champion AJ Lee vs. Kaitlyn in a non-title match, World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio vs. Christian in a non-title match, and Mark Henry and The Usos vs. The Shield.
Tomorrow night’s episode was filmed last Tuesday in Laredo, Texas, at the Laredo Energy Arena.
– The series premiere of Total Divas takes place tonight on E! at 10:00 p.m. Previewing the episode, the official website of WWE states, “Watch The Bellas, The Funkadactyls and Natalya prepare for WrestleMania, as two new Diva hopefuls, Eva Marie and JoJo, arrive, ready to make a name for themselves in WWE.”
Vince McMahon promoted the show on his Twitter account. He wrote, “Total Divas get personal this Sunday night #TotalDivas.”
Meanwhile, WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus asked her Twitter followers today whether they are looking forward to the show. She added, “Wishing all the girls good luck + my gal @NatbyNature – represent girls!” Natalya responded, “Thanks!!! Super excited…I’m so grateful to be a part of something that taught me SO much about myself.”
– Lilian Garcia, who rarely appears at house shows in the United States, appeared as the ring announcer at Friday’s and Saturday’s events in Georgia.
– Expect Rob Van Dam to grace WWE airwaves for the next few months as he is notably advertised for the company’s upcoming pay-per-view event at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York on October 6. Other WWE Superstars advertised for the event are John Cena, CM Punk, Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan, Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler and The Shield.
– Continuing its SummerSlam promotion, the official YouTube account of WWE has posted highlights of the 1992 version in a 60-second video. This show took place in London where Bret Hart defends the Intercontinental Title against England’s own British Bulldog.
– Nick Jackson of The Young Bucks turns 24-years-old on Sunday.
– On Friday’s SmackDown broadcast (taped Wednesday in Corpus Christi, Texas), Rob Van Dam lost in under a minute to Alberto Del Rio after the ECW Original was distracted by the match official, leading the World Heavyweight Champion to strike him with brutal kick to the face. The reason for the match outcome was because Del Rio had broken a rib or ribs the night before in a match against Sheamus and was therefore unable to properly compete.
– WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley was quite impressed with Bray Wyatt and Damien Sandow’s performances on Friday’s SmackDown broadcast.
“OK, good night for real this time. By the way, @WWEBrayWyatt is my new hero…with all due respect to @RRWWE. Intoxicating stuff, bro,” Foley wrote on Twitter following the show. “I HAVE MADE A MISTAKE! With all due respect to @WWEBrayWyatt, following the end of #Smackdown, it is @TheDamienSandow who is my true hero.”
“The Hardcore Legend” then wrote on Saturday, “I’ve been laughing to myself all day – thinking about @TheDamienSandow on #Smackdown last night. Can’t wait to see that match at #Summerslam.”
– WWE Hall of Famer George “The Animal” Steele is scheduled for an autograph singing today beginning at 2:00 p.m. at Barnes & Noble 1565 Niagara Falls Blvd. Amherst, New York, as he signs copies of his autobiography Animal. Call 716-837-7209 for more information.
-WWE Superstar Rob Van Dam is listed as a voice of a character in the new Saints Row IV video game. Van Dam will provide the vocals for a character named “Bobby.” You can check out the full list of voice-overs, which includes celebrities such as Neil Patrick Harris, at SaintsRow.com.
-WWE Superstar Triple H celebrates his 44th birthday today. “The Game” was born on July 27, 1969.
-The following is the latest “Backstage Fallout” for Friday’s edition of WWE SmackDown:
– Randy Orton suffered a low-grade concussion during his match against Alberto Del Rio at last week’s SmackDown taping. He’s not expected to miss any in-ring time. He is still advertised for this weekend’s live events in Georgia and next week’s tour in South Africa.
Del Rio reportedly has some heat with the WWE locker room, because Orton is not the first person he’s injured. Several people on the roster think that Del Rio is careless in the ring.
– WWEShop.com is selling a new Limited Edition signed photograph of Paul Heyman and Rob Van Dam from 2006’s ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view from the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan, New York.
– MTVHive.com has an article up about 21-year-old rapper Milo, who says he’s a huge fan of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
“Hands down, my favorite wrestler was the Rock. He was just everything to me and I loved the fact that he was kind of not really a good guy. He’s constantly the sh*t-talking character and does the good thing after sufficiently busting someone’s balls.”
– WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin noted on Twitter that he’ll be recording for comedian Jay Mohr’s podcast, “Mohr Stories” tonight.
– Amid uncertainty surrounding Rob Van Dam’s longterm schedule in WWE, the ECW original will be with WWE through at least September. WWE is advertising RVD for the September 17th SmackDown tapings from Cincinnati, Ohio. Tickets for that event go on sale at 10am this Saturday.
– Here’s the official pay-per-view poster for WWE’s upcoming Night of Champions pay-per-view, which takes place on 9/15 from the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, MI:
-WWE Superstar Wade Barrett’s mouth was busted open during his match with Rob Van Dam on Monday’s edition of WWE RAW. The blood was likely drawn from a stiff kick from RVD. RVD has always had a reputation of working stiff, and many times opponents get banged up when working with Van Dam.
-CM Punk mentioned the staples in his head as well as his ribs, arm and ankle as injured parts of his body during his promo on Monday’s edition of RAW. Punk listed the nagging injuries to sell the beatdown he suffered at the hands of Brock Lesnar the previous week. According to reports, the injury list was a shoot, as Punk is pretty banged up from head-to-toe lately.
– Former WWE Diva Kharma tweeted that she’s “preparing for a fun return to television.” No word on whether this has anything to do with pro wrestling.
– WWE Hall of Famer Antonio Inoki was elected to the Upper House of the Japanese House of Councilors on Sunday. Inoki won by a landslide and now holds an at-large national seat.
– Rob Van Dam will be appearing at the Look & Listen Clearwater Mall in Roodepoort, South Africa on August 3rd at 10am. The signing is open to the first 400 fans only.
Speaking of Rob Van Dam, he appeared on the latest “On Your Mark” Youtube show and was among the wrestlers giving advice to undefeated backyard wrestler Mark E. Xtreme:
-The following is the latest edition of Backstage Fallout for this week’s WWE SmackDown:
-You can officially pencil in Rob Van Dam for the upcoming WWE live event on July 26th in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as the July 27th event in Macon, Georgia.
-WWE Champion John Cena recently posted a tweet in response to the TMZ article that showed a Total Divas clip where he and girlfriend Nikki Bella talk about marriage:
Thanks @TMZ 4 showing ‘challenging’ clip from #totaldivas 4 more make sure to check out @eonline @ENews E! July 28 10pm est
– Curtis Axel spoke to the Phoenix New Times this week to promote that August 26th episode of RAW from Phoenix. In response to criticisms that his promo work needs improvement, he said:
“I don’t know where that comes from. I just never really have a chance to talk. Now that I’m shown more on TV, I’ll have more of an opportunity. People say what they want just from one little rumor, so I don’t pay attention to any of that crap, what people say about me. I just do my thing and I know what I can do and I do well, and I don’t let that stuff worry me.”
– Former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler will appear on tonight’s “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” on NBC. Also on the show tonight are Jeff Bridges and John Stamos, who will be reuniting his band “Jesse and The Rippers” from the TV show Full House.
– Rob Van Dam is being advertised for the first two episode scheduled for the first two WWE RAW shows after SummerSlam (8/19 from Anaheim, CA & 8/26 from Phoenix, AZ). He’s also booked for WWE’s upcoming live events tour of Australia, so he appears to be working a pretty active schedule.
– Rob Van Dam revealed on Twitter that he just wrapped up some voice-over work for the upcoming “Saints Row 4” video game. He is reprising his role as Bobby from the 3rd installment of the series.
“@mezzanine76: “@TherealRVD: Done” Not buying that you're done.” That was in reference to voiceover work I did for Saints Row 4
– Billy Kidman is no longer working as a trainer at WWE developmental. Kidman has been working as a producer at WWE live events, working with talent on the pacing of their matches and interview segments.
– The Miami Marlins will host “Legends of Wrestling” night on August 24th when they play the Colorado Rockies. Wrestlers in attendance will include Bill Goldberg (throwing out the opening pitch), Bret Hart, Mr. Anderson, Wes Brisco, Garrett Bischoff, the Nasty Boys, Brutus Beefcake, Jimmy Hart, Koko B. Ware, Lanny Poffo, Jim Neidhart, Harry Smith and more.
Here is some additional information regarding several recent TNA releases:
– Former TNA Knockout Tara was released as a cost cutting measure. She was by far the highest paid female wrestler on the roster and the feeling was that TNA would be better off cutting that expense.
– Former Aces & Eights member DOC’s contract negotiations had been underway for a while, but a deal was never finalized. Bruce Prichard, TNA’s head of Creative and Talent Relations, is rumored to be departing as a result of the way DOC’s contract situation was handled.
– As for Rob Van Dam’s release earlier this year, a source in the company says TNA stopped responding to Van Dam’s phone calls and were not using him enough.
More TNA releases, as well as some restructuring of TNA management, are expected in the coming weeks.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights of what JR wrote about:
Fandango vs. Randy Orton from RAW: “Fandango made a nice showing vs the MITB winner Randy Orton. Summer Rae’s ringside work adds to Fandango’s TV persona. Fandango’s best days are ahead especially as Summer Rae continues to develop while @RandyOrton is at the top of his game.”
RVD vs. Chris Jericho from RAW: “Loved the Jericho-RVD match. Generally a cold match featuring two, fan favorites challenges the crowd to emotionally invest as the rule of thumb is that the fans don’t want either man to lose. These two men put on such a great performance that it embraced all that were in Brooklyn live and that emotion translated well on TV. In 48 hours, RVD is already more relevant than he was the entire time that he was away from WWE.”
Daniel Bryan vs. John Cena at SummerSlam: “John Cena picked the only man that he should have logically picked, in my opinion, for the main event for the WWE Title bout at SummerSlam and that was the red hot Daniel Bryan. I will not be surprised if DB beats Cena in LA as that outcome would be HUGE in WWE-land and significantly re-shuffle the deck. Plus, MITB winner Randy Orton is obviously and largely in play no mater the main event’s outcome as Orton could realistically leave Summer Slam as the WWE Champion no matter who wins the Cena-Bryan match.”
-Monday’s WWE RAW show shot up 24.5 percent in social media activity as compared to last week’s Money In The Bank “go-home” edition of the show.
RAW scored 355,138 in social activity, according to Trendrr.TV. The number marks the highest score since the post-WrestleMania edition of RAW. RAW topped the annual average by 24.3 percent.
-The following is this week’s RAW Backstage Fallout, which features Rob Van Dam, The Real Americans and the Prime Time Players:
