Jim Cornette featured on a recent edition of the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast where he spoke about a number of topics including Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens.

On the topic of Kevin Owens, Cornette explained that he always knew he had what it takes to be a success in the WWE because he changed how he dealt with his employer asking him to do certain things relating to his job.

The only thing he was concerned about Owens was his attitude and mentioned a few examples including asking him to lose weight, coming back with a different look and push or even asking him to do a match in a particular way.

Cornette explained with Owens, there was quite a bit of arguing and or refusal to do certain things and that worried him when he went down to NXT adding that “either he, the WWE, or both, would need a psychiatrist within 90 days.”

He went on to explain to Roberts that despite all of that, apparently Owens is now doing what is asked of him rather than going into the business for himself or arguing about anything whether it be inside or outside of the ring.

Cornette also spoke about Sami Zayn and how he “was the second biggest pain in the ass” next to Kevin Owens adding that it must be something to do with being a French-Canadian in wrestling and that most of them, with the exception of a few, have been the same way.

He explained that Zayn got mad at him because he had always spoken about his selling, how he was an amazing athlete and how he was such a great babyface in the ring but Cornette wanted him to ditch the mask and the “goofy gimmick.”

Cornette went on to explain that he told him that he had to learn to speak and take part in interviews, and even get a tan and then told him that “then you will find mainstream success” and that didn’t sit well with Zayn who as Cornette said “thought I was crazy.”

If you want to hear the interview in full, you can do so by clicking this link.

In the video shown below, shared by Twitter user Jason Solomon, while taking part in the Mattel panel at Comic Con, Sami Zayn was asked by William Regal when he would return to the ring.

Zayn noted that he was no longer wearing his sling and revealed that while he doesn’t have an exact return date, he’s looking to get back into the ring at the end of 2015, early 2016.

While confirming that his recovery is going well, former NXT Champion Kevin Owens would mock Zayn by clapping along with the audience, before returning to his serious face.

Kevin Owens mocks Sami Zayn's medical update at #ComicCon today: http://t.co/mdRMoZPKB1

— Jason Solomon ⚡️ (@solomonster) July 10, 2015

Read: Finn Balor vs. Kevin Owens booked for NXT Takeover: Brooklyn

– WWE NXT Superstar Sami Zayn will be on next week’s episode to provide fans with an update on his health following a recent injury.

The WWE NXT Twitter account also confirmed that Jason Jordan will team up with Chad Gable while Sasha Banks will defend the WWE NXT Women’s Championship against Charlotte.

NEXT WEEK ON #WWENXT:@jasonjordanJJ FINALLY teams with @WWEGable @MsCharlotteWWE vs. @SashaBanksWWE @iLikeSamiZayn medical update!

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) July 9, 2015

– It was reported last night on social media that during the “Tough Enough” challenge for next Tuesday’s episode, an altercation broke out between contestants Mada and Patrick.

The following was shared on Instagram on the official WWE account highlighting the incident:

https://instagram.com/p/4453sQAFF5/

BREAKING: During today’s #ToughEnough challenge an altercation between Patrick and Mada took place

WWE taped another 4 weeks of NXT television on Thursday night from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. (Full Results).

Both Sami Zayn and Hideo Itami, who are out of action with shoulder injuries, commented on how long they’ll be out of action.

Hideo Itami said that he’ll be appearing live at WWE’s 4th of July special from Tokyo, Japan, but will be out of action for another 3-4 months. He also issued a challenge to the winner of the Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor NXT Championship match.

Sami Zayn cut a promo later in the show, calling 2014 the best year of his career but letting fans know that he’ll be out of action for the remainder of 2015. Zayn vowed to come back better than ever and says he plans to recapture the NXT Championship and get revenge on Kevin Owens.

WWE is currently discussing the possibility of bringing in additional part-time talent, such as Samoa Joe and Rhyno, for their NXT brand.

Internally, WWE is looking at their plans for 2016 lately and the feeling is most of their current top stars in NXT, such as Finn Balor, Sami Zayn, Hideo Itami, Tyler Breeze, Sasha Banks, Charlotte and Becky Lynch, by all rights should be on the main roster by then, meaning they will need to replace those top spots on NXT shows.

WWE is looking to secure enough high-profile independent talent to fill what is expected to be several open top spots to carry a full NXT card, which will be tough to do if the aforementioned talent move up to the main roster and the current trainees aren’t ready to move up within the developmental system.

According to one source, this is the reason that WWE has been negotiating with Evolve about a “feeder system” or a “farm league” system that would include merchandise deals and other business agreements that would help them avoid the situation they recently found themselves in with Kevin Owens’ recent Ring Of Honor merchandise.

• CM Punk Talks IN-DEPTH About The Passing Of Dusty Rhodes

(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

Although he has signed a new full-time deal with WWE, Samoa Joe is still scheduled to team with AJ Styles to take on Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels at the Ring Of Honor television taping in New York City.

According to the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, however, WWE has been pushing very hard for that match to not be taped for television, which was the original plan before Joe signed his new WWE deal. As of right now, the belief is that the match will not be taped for the ROH television show.

It’s said that ROH wanted Joe for more dates, but their new national cable television deal with Destination America is one of the factors that led to WWE offering Joe a full-time deal, which will likely prevent Joe from doing so.

Joe is no longer accepting independent dates past August 31st, as he is scheduled to begin working in NXT full-time in September. Until then, Joe will be working the big NXT live events and any other WWE Network specials.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter is also reporting that a name change for Samoa Joe and a main roster spot are reportedly still up in the air.

Another key factor in WWE bringing Samoa Joe in full-time to work in NXT is because of the perceived lack of depth of high-profile stars in the promotion. With Kevin Owens moving up to the main roster, and other top stars such as Sami Zayn and Hideo Itami on the sidelines, WWE felt the need to bring in another high-profile name to the NXT brand.

• PHOTO GALLERY: Ronda Rousey Looks HOT In New TV Commercial!

Former NXT Champion Sami Zayn is expected to be out of action until October as a result of his shoulder injury.

Zayn was spotted in Birmingham, Alabama last week, he might have been in town to see Dr. James Andrews. No word on whether he’s undergone rotator cuff surgery, but he’ll be going under the knife soon if he hasn’t already.

Zayn was written out of NXT storylines at the NXT TakeOver show when he was attacked by Kevin Owens.

(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

– As announced earlier this week, WWE is offering another free month of the WWE Network in June, the third month in a row that they have gone this route. Because the free month promotion seems to be a success in terms of subscriptions, it is believed that WWE will continue to offer free months on a pretty regular basis going forward, with August, January and the WrestleMania months as the likely exceptions.

– Following his surgery to repair his injured shoulder, former NXT Champion Sami Zayn is expected to remain on the sidelines until October. Whether or not he returns to the NXT brand or the main roster remains to be seen, as prior to his injury, WWE had plans to move Zayn up to the main roster. With the lengthy absence, it is expected that Zayn will return to NXT before moving up to the main roster.

• Photos: Ronda Rousey Turns Heads With Revealing Outfit At Entourage Premiere!

(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

The official website of the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens recently interviewed NXT star Sami Zayn about a number of topics. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.

On what made him pursue a career in pro wrestling: “As a kid growing up in Montreal, I wanted to become either a hockey player or a wrestler. Since my family didn’t have a lot of money, my parents never put me in a hockey league because it was so expensive. When I was 17 years old, I was given the opportunity to be trained as a wrestler. At the time, I never really thought about making it a career, I only saw it as a chance to do something that I always wanted to do. It’s similar to hockey when a kid who’s five years old can’t really say if he’ll become a professional hockey player. But, if you stay in something long enough and you keep doing something long enough and you enjoy it, one thing led to another and I kept going. I would have loved to make a career as a member of the Habs (laughs), but I think wrestling was more my thing.”

On his longtime rivalry with Kevin Owens and how it compares to the Habs vs. Bruins hockey rivalry: “That would be a good comparison. (laughs) It’s funny because if I’m not mistaken, Kevin’s dad is a Habs fan and his mom is a Bruins fan. From the time we started wrestling in Laval at Le Skratch up until today in WWE, every step of the way in our careers it’s always been sometimes friends, but the majority of the time enemies. In a lot of ways it’s like the Habs and the Bruins. No matter what, we’re destined to fight each other until the end of time. Fans seem to really like it.”

On being named NXT’s 2014 Superstar of the Year: “NXT changed so much since I got here two years ago. When I first got here, the culture was so different, it was about getting out of here as fast as possible. In my opinion, I noticed early on that it could make people go crazy. When I got there, I wanted to make NXT a better brand and make it grow. And, it did. But at the end of the day, my goal is to evolve and go above and beyond to make RAW or Smackdown! or the Pay-per-views better, or give Wrestlemania one more great match. I’m kind of split on this because NXT is my immediate goal, but my ultimate goal is to make RAW and make it better. Getting recognized with the Slammy Award for Superstar of the Year in NXT or finally winning the championship helped me and our brand. By the time I get on the main roster, I hope to be able to build up a lot of equity that way to show that I’m on the way to the top.”

Check out the complete interview at NHL.com.

• Ronda Rousey’s Next Opponent Goes Too Far With Suicide Comments!

Prior to getting injured, WWE’s original plans were to call former NXT Champion Sami Zayn up to the main roster after his match with Kevin Owens at NXT Takeover: Unstoppable..

Due to the recent injury Zayn suffered, WWE changed their plans and instead called current NXT Champion Owens up to the main roster.

As noted, Owens recently signed a main roster contract with WWE and will be working every RAW show going forward. Owens will also continue to work in NXT because he is the World Champion, so that his transition to the main roster will be a smooth one.

Additionally, there are apparently some big plans to call up the current number one contender to the NXT title — Finn Balor — to the main roster as well. What those “big plans” are, however, remain to be seen.

• Ronda Rousey’s Next Opponent Goes Too Far With Suicide Comments!

(Credit: F4WOnline.com)

NXT World Heavyweight Champion Kevin Owens recently spoke with TheWhig.com to promote this Sunday’s WWE Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. Below are some highlights from the interview.

On a conversation he had with Sami Zayn: “I remember a conversation I had with Sami Zayn, it must have been around 2003. We were travelling to a little show in Quebec City, which is about two hours from Montreal so we were somewhere between Montreal and Quebec City at a restaurant and he was telling me how wrestling for WWE was his dream. And I told him, ‘Yeah, well me too, but it’s not really a dream, it’s a goal.’ And he was like, ‘What do you mean by that?’ I said, ‘Dreaming of something is nice, but having it as a goal I think is different. I know it’s going to happen.’ I told him that. I said, ‘I know I’m going to get there.’ And he was kind of blown away by that perspective and that outlook on it.”

On his first day with WWE: “My first day was pretty interesting because I got the call that I was hired. I was going to start full time August 25 at the Performance Center, but my first day was actually before. A couple of weeks before, they brought me in so that I could visit the Performance Center, there was an NXT TV taping that week so I stayed for that. I had to find a house, so I found a house for my family to live in in Orlando. My first day was technically not an official first day, it was just more a bit of a sample of what I could expect. I got in the ring with Norman Smiley in his class. And of course there was the NXT TV taping, I saw that whole process. I met Triple H and I met Stephanie McMahon. It was just a really surreal experience because those are people I’ve been watching for years and years and years. To now get to see them and to get to talk to Triple H, who was basically welcoming me on board. He’s telling me, ‘Thanks for coming, thanks for accepting the invitation, thanks for coming on board.’ In my head, I’m like, ‘Well thank you for hiring me.’ That was pretty cool.”

On developing a relationship with Triple H: “You know, I feel like I’ve developed a bit of a relationship with Hunter throughout these last few months. It goes beyond the ring. We’ll talk about our kids, we’ll talk about life. He’s very good to me. To have him take time out of a very busy day, he’s busy on Raw, and he took the time to tell me to just make sure you are who you are. And I know that’s kind of the advice he gives everyone, but to hear it from him, it really means something because ‘Make sure you stay who you are’ means that who I am, he’s got faith in. That’s a big thing.”

“I wanted to make my kids proud, I wanted to make my wife proud, I wanted to make my parents proud, and I wanted to make Hunter proud because he took a shot on me. I’m not the typical WWE superstar. He hired me anyway and he saw something in me. And I want to deliver for him. I want to pay him back for that by delivering the way he thinks I can and I think I did.”

On facing John Cena on Sunday: “There’s no denying how big it is. There’s not a whole lot of people that walk into WWE, show up on Raw, lay out the top guy in the industry for the last 10 years and get to wrestle him two weeks later at a major event like Elimination Chamber, but I get to do that. That will literally never be taken away from me, no matter what happens from here on out.”

Check out the complete interview at TheWhig.com.

• VIDEO: UFC Champion MARKING OUT In The Crowd At WrestleMania 31!

– As noted earlier this week, Samoa Joe’s deal with WWE allows him to continue to work independent wrestling shows. According to F4WOnline.com, Joe has very few restrictions on where he can work and his deal was described as similar to the deal Rhyno has, only for a lot more money.

– Sami Zayn has resurfaced on Twitter for the first time since being taken out by Kevin Owens at the NXT Takeover: Unstoppable special on Wednesday. Zayn tweeted the following:

Rapid Decompression.

— Sami Zayn (@SamiZayn) May 23, 2015

– WWE Superstar Jey Uso continues to work on recovering from shoulder surgery. During his off-time as he prepares for his comeback, the former WWE Tag-Team Champion has grown a full beard, which you can see in the photo and clip below.

https://instagram.com/p/13NZvzhNlG

https://instagram.com/p/2_UcrIhNkJ

• Alberto Del Rio Makes Interesting Comments About Goldberg Fight Rumors!

NXT star Sami Zayn will be undergoing surgery next month to repair his injured shoulder, according to Dave Meltzer. Zayn was cleared to wrestle at last night’s NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable event, but Kevin Owens demolishing him at the end of the show prior to Samoa Joe making the save was done to write him off television.

WWE posted the following video of Zayn being checked out backstage after his match last night.

Former WWE, WCW & TNA writer Vince Russo has posted a new blog at the Chairshot Reality website talking about Vince McMahon forgetting how to create new stars, specifically as it relates to Kevin Owens’ WWE TV debut on Monday’s RAW.

Russo says that when Sami Zayn made his WWE debut answering John Cena’s US Championship Open Challenge, there was no impact – he was presented as “just another wrestler.” The Ascension’s debut was “so laughable you ‘almost’ have to think it was intentional” and Neville was in the same boat after his debut.

Russo explains why Owens didn’t come off as a star and Vince McMahon has lost his touch.

“Then of course, this week there was Kevin Owens. A guy who looked like he just came from Gleason’s Gym, where he was training to be a “rassler”. Owens didn’t look like a star, he didn’t smell like a star, as a matter of fact he looked like a guy that could have possibly jumped the guardrail. Which reminds me—I STILL REMEMBER Hillbilly Jim when he was “presented” as “somebody” the first time we saw him on WWE TV. And, Owens dropping Cena? That did nothing but make the 115th time World Champ look bad.

Save your hate mail. This isn’t a Kevin Owens thing, just like it wasn’t a Sami Zayn thing, just like it wasn’t a Adrian Neville thing, just like it wasn’t an Ascension thing. Those guys are strictly employees who get paid to do what the boss says to go out and do—that boss is Vince McMahon. Somewhere along the line, shortly after the Attitude Era (what a coincidence), Vince McMahon forgot how to make stars. He forgot how to create them, how to manufacture them, and how to getthem over. When you think about it, who has gotten over to SUPER stardom in the last fifteen years? I’m talking household names? In my opinion that list is quite small, as a matter of fact I’d put two people on it—-Kurt Angle and John Cena. OK, I’ll even allow you to put the beloved Daniel Bryan on there if you wish—but his success had NOTHING to do with creative, other than being given the platform to perform.”

He went on to say that over the past 15 years, we’ve seen lots of great performers in WWE, but none of them have gone on to reach the heights of Steve Austin, The Rock, Mick Foley, Undertaker, Shawn Michaels or Bret Hart. “What got CM Punk over to the level he was?,” Russo asked.  “Him sitting on the stage with a microphone and cutting a promo that only he could cut—there was no help there from Vince on that one.”

Samoa Joe made his NXT debut at the conclusion of Wednesday night’s NXT Takeover: Unstoppable live WWE Network special.

Kevin Owens was mercilessly beating down Sami Zayn as multiple referees and NXT GM William Regal getting involved. As Owens was getting ready to finish Zayn off with a chair, music began playing and out walked Samoa Joe. He was wearing a t-shirt that said “Samoa Joe” and the announcers referred to him as Samoa Joe, so he thankfully won’t be getting a new NXT name-generator ring name.

The crowd went apesh*t as Samoa Joe and NXT Champion Kevin Owens went face to face in what was truly a mark out moment. Owens eventually backed down, saying “not now” to a feud that could be the best thing WWE produces this year.

It’s worth noting that Triple H was asked about Joe signing with WWE earlier this week. He put Joe over as a tremendous performer, he said that he wasn’t sure if they would do business together or not.

• RONDA ROUSEY Worried About Nude Photos Of Her Leaking Online

– Nikki Bella will be defending the WWE Divas Championship against Naomi and Paige in a triple-threat match at the WWE Elimination Chamber pay-per-view on Sunday, May 31st in Corpus Christi, Texas.

– Following his conference call on Wednesday, Triple H will be hosting a Twitter Q&A this afternoon to promote tonight’s NXT Takeover: Unstoppable event.

– Speaking of tonight’s NXT event, NXT Champion Kevin Owens tweeted the following to hype his main event match against Sami Zayn.

https://twitter.com/FightOwensFight/status/601033711568756737

• Ronda Rousey BLASTS Floyd Mayweather Over His Past With Domestic Abuse!

Triple H noted during today’s conference call that Sami Zayn has been cleared and will face Kevin Owens on Wednesday night at the NXT Takeover: “Unstoppable” live special on the WWE Network.

“The Game” also noted during the call that Matt Bloom has officially been promoted to head coach, which we had already pretty much known, and that Sara Amato will be the number two trainer as assistant coach, as well as working as an agent and producer.

• Ronda Rousey BLASTS Floyd Mayweather Over His Past With Domestic Abuse!

– Brie Bella ended up working the WWE live event in Atlantic City on Saturday night, so apparently whatever injury she suffered during the Friday show wasn’t that bad, or she wasn’t injured at all and it was simply part of the match.

– WWE filed a trademark for former NXT Champion Sami Zayn back on May 12th.

– The new NXT head trainer Jason Albert tweeted the following message about NXT’s three live events outside of Florida this weekend. WWE ran two NXT events in Philadelphia and one in Albany, New York this weekend.

So very proud of all the men and women of #NXT. For 3 straight nights they all tore the house down and left it all on the line. #proudcoach

— Matt Bloom (@NXTMattBloom) May 17, 2015

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As of this week, WWE is still moving ahead as if Sami Zayn will be challenging Kevin Owens for the NXT Championship at Takeover: Unstoppable on May 20th.

Since NXT is taped several weeks in advance, the shows that have been airing up until last night were taped prior to the shoulder injury Zayn suffered on RAW during his ring entrance for his match with John Cena. It’s interesting to note that they shot an interview for RAW Fallout that night where Zayn said he was injured about 30 seconds into the match, which obviously comes off better than blowing your shoulder out before even stepping into the ring.

Zayn tweeted the following on Wednesday night, one week before the match:

Owens vs. Zayn II. One week away. #NXTTakeOver

— Sami Zayn (@SamiZayn) May 14, 2015

With all the things you can criticize WWE for these days, the company should be commended on doing an excellent job in elevating their secondary championships.

If you flashback to around this time last year, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship was virtually ‘on ice,’ only being defended on major pay-per-view events due to the champion at the time — Brock Lesnar — working under a special, limited-date contract.

Now, at the time, you could make sense of it, and even Vince McMahon himself did when asked about the topic during his interview on the short-lived “Steve Austin Show” live WWE Network podcast, as he pointed to the fact that having Lesnar defend the biggest title in the company on an infrequent basis made World Title matches feel that much more important.

Fast forward to the present day, and when it comes to championships in WWE — all systems are “go.”

First and foremost, we finally have a fighting WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Sure, the storyline surrounding Seth Rollins, the current world champion, is that he chickens away from ‘the big fight.’ At the end of the day, however, the bell eventually rings, the referee raises the golden belt up high, and two or more competitors end up vying for the richest prize in all of sports entertainment.

Now, move down one level to the two secondary championships. For the longest time, the WWE United States Championship and the WWE Intercontinental Championship, for all intents and purposes, were viewed as a total joke by the WWE Universe — and rightfully so.

Not anymore.

WWE came up with a great idea heading into WrestleMania 31 this year — put more significance behind their secondary titles. First, slap the U.S. title belt around John Cena’s waist. In a bit of irony, it was Cena who really launched his career off of his first U.S. title run, so in a story-telling fashion, his story comes full circle.

So, basically, WWE decided that now that they want to elevate some new blood into the top spots in the company, they decided to put one of their secondary titles — in this case the U.S. title — on arguably the biggest star in the company today.

On the flip side of the coin, when it comes to the WWE Intercontinental Championship, WWE decided to put that belt on the most popular wrestler in terms of the fans — the leader of the “Yes! Movement,” Daniel Bryan.

And that brings us to Monday’s WWE Payback ‘go-home’ edition of RAW.

After being unable to defend his WWE Intercontinental Championship against Bad News Barrett at the recent WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view as originally scheduled, WWE played the waiting game to find out how the latest round of the Daniel Bryan injury-bug would work out. As it turns out, whatever Bryan is going through is serious enough that WWE felt they had no choice but to have him surrender the Intercontinental Title on live television, much like they had him do shortly after he won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XXX last year.

The idea behind his forefitting of the title last night was where the plan regarding secondary titles in WWE remains in tact. The reason given by Bryan, delivered in a passionate way I should add, was that the WWE Universe deserves a fighting champion. A top contender who deserves the right to bust his ass day-in and day-out, city-to-city, state-to-state, country-to-country and even continent-to-continent, all for the right to try and earn what is now once again slowly being viewed as a title of importance. One of value. One worth fighting to obtain.

Where WWE goes next with the Intercontinental Championship in particular remains to be seen in terms of how far they are willing to go to try and elevate the perceived importance of the title.

Basically put, the company can go one of two ways, as I see it. You can follow the mandate that they have been following since this year’s WrestleMania, which is find the most over performer with the fans, give him the I-C title, and try and get the belt over that way, so that in the future, the belt can make the man, as opposed to the current formula, where the man makes the belt.

Their second option is to try and do the opposite. Put the title on an up-and-comer who has the goods to deliver, but just needs something to put him over the edge so he is viewed as a bigger deal than he already is. Names like Neville and Sami Zayn come to mind.

Zayn, depending on his injury, would make a great impact on the main roster by giving U.S. Champion John Cena all he could handle — with an injury no-less, in his first high-profile match on RAW since having his run as NXT Champion in WWE’s developmental system, and then go on to win the next high-profile match he is in and become the brand new WWE Intercontinental Champion.

Keep reading on Page 2 …

As of Saturday’s NXT live event in Orlando, WWE is still advertising a NXT Championship match between Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens for their upcoming NXT Takeover event on May 20th.

WWE is not expected to officially announce Zayn’s status for the show until after next Wednesday’s NXT episode.

Zayn, as noted earlier this week, suffered an injury while hyping the crowd up prior to his match with John Cena at Monday’s edition of WWE RAW.

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– More likely than not, WWE will not be officially announcing the injury to Hideo Itami, or the official status of Sami Zayn, until after the May 13th episode of NXT television. As things stand now, both Itami and Zayn are still advertised to work the NXT Takeover event on May 20th, although one would assume that one or both of the guys will not be able to compete as scheduled due to their respective injuries.

– WWE Hall Of Famer Hulk Hogan recently took some time to praise an up-and-coming talent in WWE’s developmental system in NXT. Here’s what “The Hulkster” had to say about upcoming NXT star Colin “Big Cass” Cassady:

@WWENXT fish or cut bait,please ,it's Fish this big guy is just a big dollar sign,wish I had a heel like him during my run brother. HH

— Hulk Hogan (@HulkHogan) May 6, 2015

• Mayweather-Pacquiao PPV Buys Revealed + How Much Did They Get Paid?

– “The Lunatic Fringe” Dean Ambrose Chris Jericho’s guest on this week’s Talk is Jericho podcast, which you can listen to over at PodcastOne.com.

– Former WWE writer Court Bauer of MLW Radio is Steve Austin’s guest on this week’s Steve Austin Show: Unleashed at PodcastOne.com.

– Former WWE, WCW and TNA writer Vince Russo is back with his latest blog. In his latest online piece, Russo takes aim at Sami Zayn, ranting and raving about why he feels Zayn will not “equal ratings.”

“RAW is a television show and Sami Zayn is NOT a television star—nor—will he be anytime soon. Sami is an exceptional wrestler on a wrestling show, and the only people who care about him are those die hard wrestling fans who are looking for 5-star matches that the massive don’t give a !@#$% about.

That’s why as champion Seth Rollins isn’t drawing no matter how hard they push him. Seth Rollins is a great wrestler, who only appeals to those purists who watch RAW for quality matches. The casual masses don’t care about that. What they care about are characters and storylines that ENTERTAIN them like the other TELEVISION shows they watch.

RAW wasn’t a GREAT show because Sami Zayn was on it—and the numbers clearly back that up.”

Russo admits Zayn is one of the best wrestlers on WWE’s roster, but “wrestling doesn’t draw.”

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NXT star Sami Zayn spoke to WWE.com this week about the shoulder injury that he suffered on RAW prior to his match against John Cena.

Zayn underwent an MRI on Tuesday. While WWE has not provided a formal update on his status, it’s believed to be an injury to his rotator cuff.

Here’s what Zayn said about his situation:

“I’m an easy-going, take-things-as-they-come kind of guy, not just in the ring, but in life. Experiences like this make you realize that a lack of certainty can be very unnerving. Not knowing what the future has in store for you can be unsettling, especially when you’re riding that momentum. In the blink of an eye, things change.

That’s the nature of the industry we work in. It can be frustrating, but you have to keep your chin up and not get too down on yourself and believe that in some way that it’s all for the best. A lot of fans have been really supportive and have commended me. In a weird way, it could be the worst thing that ever happened to me or the best thing that ever happened to me. One way or another, it will all work out. You keep going forward and you get ahead.

I’m not going to let this destroy me, so you take it as it comes. You deal with it, see what you can do, do your best and it will all be OK. I’ll keep driving forward.”

NXT star Hideo Itami is out of action with a bad shoulder injury and is expected to be out of action for the remainder of 2015, according to reports at F4wonline.com & PWInsider.com.

Itami was scheduled to compete in a 3-way bout against Tyler Breeze and Finn Balor at NXT Takeover: Unstoppable at May 20th.

Earlier this week, fellow NXT star Sami Zayn suffered a shoulder injury on RAW. Alex Riley is also undergoing knee surgery today.