— After falling in defeat to Team Johnny at WrestleMania XXVIII, Team Teddy captain Santino Marella and Theodore Long try to figure out what went wrong in this “WrestleMania hangover” edition of Foreign Exchange.
— The Great Khali appears in the upcoming French film Sur la piste du Marsupilami. The movie poster, which features the WWE Superstar, can be seen here.
— South Florida Sun-Sentinel has published an article on WrestleMania XXVIII. A columnist for the newspaper details his live experience at Sunday’s event at Sun Life Stadium.
— WWE has a three-hour Raw SuperShow scheduled for June 11 at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut. It is the final show before No Way Out on June 17 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. A three-hour Raw is also scheduled for April 23. (thanks to Devin Cutting)
— Shawn Michaels and Kevin Nash will participate in an autograph together on May 19 at the Frank & Son Collectible Show in 19649 San Jose, City of Industry, California. Additional details will be released soon.
— Jerry Lawler appears for USA Championship Wrestling on April 7 at the Old Burns Gym in Burns, Tennessee. The event begins at 8:00 p.m.
— Zack Ryder is the latest WWE Superstar to try out Diamond Dallas Page’s yoga program DDP Yoga (available at www.ddpyoga.com). Other WWE talent utilizing the fitness workout include Chris Jericho, Curt Hawkins, Daniel Bryan, Kane, Mick Foley, Santino Marella, The Miz, Titus O’Neil and William Regal.
Numerous WWE Superstars offered their take on tonight’s WrestleMania XXVIII pay-per-view event through Twitter.
Epico: “There it is! I walked in to #wrestlemania as tag team champion and I leave as tag team champion!!!”
Howard Finkel: “Another W’Mania in the books! Kudos 2 R superstars 4 their efforts, and kudos to all of u who watched 2nite! And for me: 28 in a row! YES!!!”
Joey Styles: “Congratulations to @TheRock for winning his “Once in a Lifetime” #WrestleMania match with @JohnCena. 78,000 people exploded in Miami.”
Michael McGillicutty: “I’m done sitting on the sidelines! I need to be involved with #WrestleMania. Let’s do this! #EndofanEra”
Natalya: “Well @TheRock has nice taste In submissions! #sharpshooter #WrestleMania”
Randy Orton: “Gonna be hard to top HHH/Taker……#WrestleMania28”
Santino Marella: “Rock just beat cena, I’m speechless for once in my life”
Vickie Guerrero: “Wrestlemania was incredible!!! Everyone worked hard and gave their heart! Thank you fellow superstars, production, and crew!!!”
Zack Ryder: “@EveMarieTorres ruined my #WrestleMania moment. I got a low blowski from a hoeski.”
— With Brock Lesnar heavily rumored to appear at tonight’s WrestleMania XXVIII pay-per-view event, it’s worth noting that friend and business partner Paul Heyman has been telling friends that he is not in Miami, Florida.
— The official Facebook page of WWE has posted photos in and around Sun Life Stadium as tonight’s WrestleMania XXVIII approaches. Among those pictured as Brie Bella, Vickie Guerrero, Santino Marella, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Mike Tyson and the white suit John Laurinaitis will don for the Team Teddy vs. Team Johnny match.
— Before tonight’s Raw SuperShow at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center, Interim Raw General Manager John Laurinaitis announced two new members of Team Johnny for WrestleMania XXVIII—Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger. They join captain David Otunga, Christian and Mark Henry. Announced for Team Teddy is captain Santino Marella, Kofi Kingston and R-Truth. Both teams will feature six WWE Superstars.
To view Laurinaitis’ video announcement, click here.
— Renowned rapper Flo Rida, whose hits “Wild Ones” and “Good Feeling are the official themes for WrestleMania XXVIII, will perform at the event in Miami, Florida. He will not be the only musical artist appearing at WrestleMania as John Cena invited Machine Gun Kelly (MGK) to perform his entrance theme at the event. (Article link)
— The announced attendance for tonight’s Raw SuperShow at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was a sellout crowd of 18,088.
— WWE.com reports John Cena has been cleared to compete on tonight’s Raw SuperShow after having been involved in a three-car accident in Philadelphia this morning. The SUV the WWE Superstar was traveling in was reportedly rear ended by a Honda Civic, which had been rear ended by a tractor trailer.
Cena is “a little shaken up,” WWE physician Dr. Michael Sampson told WWE.com.
“They were whiplash-type injuries that he sustained,” said Sampson. “He feels good today, but then a couple days later, that’s when you get the neck stiffness and the pain. He is cleared to compete tonight. We’re going to let him go, but we’re definitely going to keep an eye on him. We’re going to check him right before his match one more time, just to make sure he’s okay.”
— In conjunction with The Ryan Seacrest Foundation, R-Truth and Santino Marella made a special appearance today on a radio show hosted by children at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The story, photos and video are available here.
– The referee who officiated Eve’s match against Alicia Fox on Monday’s Raw SuperShow is Brian Nguyen. He has officiated in Florida Championship Wrestling for the past two years as Ryan Tran.
– WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart will appear Wilmington Blue Rocks game in Wilmington, Delaware on June 14, 2012. Details are available here.
– In Friday’s birthdays, Melina Perez turned 33 years old, Rick Steiner turned 52 years old and Nikita Koloff turned 53 years old.
– On this week’s webisode of Foreign Exchange, Santino Marella patrols the Texas border, rounding up WWE’s international Superstars including Natalya, Primo and Ricardo Rodriguez.
— Raw Interim General Manager and WWE Executive Vice President of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis, who takes the reins as the board-appointed General Manager of SmackDown on Friday, teased a Steel Cage Match for the show via Twitter. He wrote Thursday afternoon,
“A U.S. Title rematch between @milanmiracle and @RealJackSwagger would make #SmackDown REALLY special. And I’ve always loved steel cages …”
— LocalBozo.com conducted an interview with Edge promoting WWE Studios’ latest release – Bending the Rules. The Rated-R Superstar provided insight into his current state of contentment in retirement, his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame and speech, whether he considers himself an actor now, whether he’ll work with WWE again and more.
— WWE.com has published a photo gallery of WrestleMania VIII, which featured Ric Flair defending the WWE Championship against “Macho Man” Randy Savage.
— WWE creative had at one point planned last week to replace Kofi Kingston as R-Truth’s tag team partner with Santino Marella for comedic purposes. Though R-Truth and Marella partnered at weekend house shows, the idea has already been nixed.
— Wrestlers who participated in a recent talent evaluation with WWE were asked to write down the ten most embarrassing and humiliating things they think could possibly happen to them in the company. Steve Lombardi, who oversaw the evaluation with William Regal, then told them that odds are everything they came up with will occur at one point or another if they make it to the big show. They must therefore decide whether working for WWE at the risk of being humiliated is something they want out of life.
— Carlito has canceled his appearance on May 18 in Amersterdam, New York for In Your Face Wrestling. Another former WWE star in Lanny Poffo (a/k/a The Genius) will appear on the show.
— Mando Guerrero, brother of the late Eddie Guerrero, has a role in the Will Ferrell comedy film Casa De Mi Padre.
— With SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long taking control of Raw Supershow Monday night, he announced last Friday on SmackDown that David Otunga would face The Great Khali in a singles match. The match did not take place despite his announcement and being advertised on WWE.com. Instead, Otunga accompanied John Laurinaitis ringside for the United States Championship Match between Jack Swagger and Santino Marella while Khali squashed Curt Hawkins in a pre-show dark match.
— The Miz debuted a new T-Shirt on Monday’s Raw SuperShow prior to his encounter with Big Show. The shirt, which is labeled The Miz Onslaught of Awesomeness Augmented Reality Authentic T-Shirt, is available for purchase on WWEShop.com.
— WWE.com has published a photo gallery highlighting Lex Luger’s career with World Championship Wrestling.
— Former WWF star Killer Khan turns 65 years old Tuesday while former WCW United States Heavyweight Champion David Flair turns 33.
— Randy Orton will face World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan on this week’s episode of WWE SmackDown. The synopsis reads: “This Friday at 8/7 CT on Syfy, Randy Orton will return to SmackDown with his eyes locked on Daniel Bryan – just two weeks after the World Heavyweight Champion gave WWE’s Apex Predator a concussion that kept him out of the Elimination Chamber Match.”
— Matches taped Monday night in Portland, Oregon for this week’s episode of WWE Superstars are as follows:
* WWE Divas Champion Beth Phoenix vs. Alicia Fox in a non-title match
* Santino Marella vs. Curt Hawkins (accompanied by Tyler Reks)
No pre-show dark match was held.
— WWE Hall of Famer Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat turns 59 years old Tuesday.
— WWE.com has posted this week’s episode of WWE Superstars and it is highlighted by United States Champion Jack Swagger forcing Mason Ryan to tap out to the Ankle lock.
Ryan had not lost a televised singles match via pinfall or submission in nearly a year. His last such loss took place on the March 14, 2011 Raw to Randy Orton.
Other matches are Superstars include Aksana vs. Maxine and WWE Tag Team Champions Epico and Primo vs. Alex Riley and Santino Marella. The episode is available here.
— News of Chris Hero’s FCW ring name caused a surge online among wrestling fans Thursday as Kassius Ohno briefly trended on Twitter not to mention that the official Florida Championship Wrestling website slowed to a crawl for hours.
— WWE developmental wrestler Byron Saxton has resumed competing following shoulder surgery, reports the Wrestling Globe Newsletter.
— Matches taped Monday night at the Valley View Casino in San Diego, California are as follows:
* WWE United States Champion Jack Swagger vs. Mason Ryan
* Alex Riley and Santino Marella vs. WWE Tag Team Champions Epico and Primo (with Rosa Mendes)
Swagger’s match against Ryan is his third consecutive week on Superstars.
— Former WWE developmental talent Wes Brisco and independent wrestler J.D. Maverick were cast by the Alexa Modeling Agency for a financial intuition national television commercial being shot today and tomorrow.
— WWE has published the third episode of WWE Download. The synopsis reads: “Dolph Ziggler shares his hilarious insight on YouTube’s finest videos. Picking apart the digital disasters from an array of tools and fools who provide countless head-spinning moments for the world to share.”
— A press conference Thursday to kick off WWE’s first-ever live event tour in Abu Dhabi “turned chaotic” when Kane attacked John Cena, according to WWE.com. Cena, however, put The Big Red Monster through a table in front of members of the media.
Video and photos of the incident are available here.
— Through Twitter, Marco Corleone has been lobbying Alex Koslov (a/k/a Peter Orlov) to return to EMLL following his release from WWE last week.
— Matches airing on today’s episode of WWE Superstars on WWE.com are Johnny Curtis vs. Yoshi Tatsu, Heath Slater vs. Justin Gabriel, Jack Swagger vs. Santino Marella and tag team action pitting Epico and Primo against JTG and Michael McGillicutty.
— In today’s birthdays, Shelly Martinez turns 32 years old while Madusa turns 49.
— Matches taped tonight at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma for this week’s episode of WWE Superstars are as follows:
* Jack Swagger vs. Santino Marella
* WWE Tag Team Champions Epico and Primo vs. JTG and Michael McGillicutty
— Brodus Clay squashed WWE developmental wrestler Damien Sandow in a dark match at tonight’s Raw SuperShow taping in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Sandow was accompanied by Abraham Washington, who introduced him to the audience prior to the bout.
— A photo of Sheamus performing the High Cross on Chris Jericho at last week’s Royal Rumble is featured on the cover of the latest issue of Super Luchas.
— Zack Ryder has drawn complaints from fans over his YouTube show Z! True Long Island Story being transferred to WWE’s auspices under their revamped YouTube channel. The WWE Superstar took to Twitter to respond to fans saying he “sold out.”
“I’m confused…Doesn’t one need to receive money to “sell out”?” he wrote.
— WWE developmental wrestler Kenneth Cameron lost to Santino Marella in a singles matches at Friday’s Raw live event in Topeka, Kansas. Cameron is 6’3″, 216 pounds and billed from Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England.
— Spike TV will air The Marine 2 starring Ted DiBiase immediately following Impact Wrestling at 11:00 p.m.
— New Dolph Ziggler T-Shirts are set for release soon.
— Randy Orton, who has been sidelined since late December due to a back injury, returned to action at Sunday’s WWE live event in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He faced Wade Barrett in his return match.
Orton attacked Barrett upon his entrance. Epico, JTG, Kofi Kingston, Primo and Santino Marella then came out to defuse the situation. Orton RKO’d Epico, JTG, Kingston and Primo after Barrett ran off. Marella also ran away to avoid the devastating maneuver.
Orton is advertised to return to television on this Friday’s episode of SmackDown.
— Tamina stated on Twitter that she wants Vickie Guerrero—her frequent traveling partner—to assist her in her road to WWE glory.
The second generation grappler wrote, “It would be another step further to have Vickie Guerrero manage me, i like her style….”
— Chris Jericho, who returned to WWE at Monday’s Raw SuperShow, will be working a full-time schedule for the organization.
He is scheduled for this weekend’s Raw house shows in Tyler, Texas as well as the Raw live event tour in California the following week and then regularly shortly thereafter.
— Jerry “The King” Lawler will team up with fellow WWE Hall of Famer Dory Funk, Jr. in his return to Ocala, Florida and Funking Conservatory Wrestling’s !BANG! television taping on Saturday, January 21. They will be paired with Johnny Magnum and Cory “Wild” Weston in an eight man tag team match. Their opponents will be Chinese Champion, Shane Chung, Blain Rage, Fushicho Masuku and a mystery partner.
— Santino Marella announced that he will be appearing on this Friday’s episode of WWE SmackDown. He tweeted, “be sure to catch smackdown this Friday, i am smeared all over it, or maybe its all lathered up in me, hmmm.”
— The December 9, 2011 episode of WWE SmackDown drew a 2.24 cable rating, with 3.238 million viewers. This is up from the previous week’s live special, which drew a 2.0.
— WWE.com has announced that the first Slammy Award to be presented on tonight’s Raw SuperShow will be “Tell Me I Did NOT Just See That” Moment of the Year, by Booker T and Hornswoggle.
The nominees in this jawdropping category are as follows:
* Santino Marella almost winning the 2011 Royal Rumble
* The Miz hitting John Cena with a Rock Bottom while dressed like The Rock
* R-Truth losing a WWE Title Match due to “Little Jimmy”
— During CM Punk’s appearance on the latest edition of Colt Cabana’s Art Of Wrestling Radio podcast (available on WeLoveColt.com and iTunes), the reigning champion took a swipe at WWE’s Twitter initiative.
“I am on Twitter at CMPunk; that is my satirical way of making fun of how the WWE has beat the living shit out of Twitter in the last couple of weeks,” he said.
— With new allies Epico and Rosa Mendes in his corner, Primo earned an upset victory over WWE Tag Team Champion Kofi Kingston on this week’s episode of WWE Superstars. The episode can be accessed at WWE.com. Other matches broadcast include JTG vs. Santino Marella and Heath Slater vs. Ted DiBiase.
— Former WWE Diva Serena Deeb has been announced for K & S Wrestlefest, which takes place this Saturday at the Ramada Philadelphia Airport 76 Industrial Hwy. Essington, Pennsylvania.
— The promotional poster for the 2012 Royal Rumble has been released Santino Marella depicting a fortune teller.
The 2012 Royal Rumble takes place January 29 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri.
— Following the success of the Greatest Rivalries – Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart video release, WWE has a second volume highlighting Steve Austin vs. The Rock tentatively scheduled.
— SLAM! Wrestling conducted an interview with former WWE Diva Maryse which will be published this week. A teaser quote: “I’m ready for a new chapter in my life.”
– The new storyline for NXT Rookie Derrick Bateman is that Teddy Long has signed him to a temporary contract for the Smackdown brand.
Johnny Curtis is currently involved in a love triangle angle on NXT with Bateman and Maxine.
— “Awesome Truth” was split on last night’s Raw SuperShow in part to WWE creative’s plan to insert The Miz into the title picture over the next few months.
— Booker T handled broadcast duties during last night’s Raw SuperShow due to Jerry Lawler losing his voice.
— Sin Cara is believed to have undergone surgery today after suffering a patella tendon rupture when he jumped out of the ring during the Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Tag Team Match at Survivor Series.
— Santino Marella, who generally tweets in character, wrote the following this afternoon: “Stuck in DC airport since 730am and my flight leaves now at 5pm, so pissed.”
— The official website of Florida Championship Wrestling has added Jake Carter to their roster page. He is Jesse White, son of former WWE star Vader. He signed a developmental contract with WWE in April following a tryout at the organization’s developmental facility in Tampa, Florida.
White, 25, originally committed to the University of Oklahoma and was touted for the National Football League, but retired following a hip injury. He then followed his dad’s footsteps to the world of professional wrestling.
— Theodore Long kicked off Friday’s SmackDown by announcing that the first match of the night would feature 41 Superstars in the largest Battle Royal in WWE history. Interim Raw General Manager John Laurinaitis then revealed the winner would earn a title match against the champion of his choosing.
Randy Orton won the 41-Man No. 1 Contender’s Battle Royal, last eliminating The Miz. Battle Royal elimination order is as follows: 1. Cody Rhodes, 2. Johnny Curtis, 3. JTG, 4. Michael McGillicutty, 5. Derrick Bateman, 6. Yoshi Tatsu, 7. Titus O’Neil, 8. Matt Striker, 9. William Regal, 10. Percy Watson, 11. John Morrison, 12. Dolph Ziggler, 13. Trent Barreta, 14. Jey Uso, 15. Ted DiBiase, 16. Tyson Kidd, 17. Daniel Bryan, 18. Tyler Reks, 19. Curt Hawkins, 20. Drew McIntrye, 21. Justin Gabriel, 22. Mason Ryan, 23. Primo, 24. Santino Marella, 25. Alex Riley, 26. Kofi Kingston, 27. Zack Ryder, 28. David Otunga, 29. Jimmy Uso, 30. Ezekiel Jackson, 31. Heath Slater, 32. Sin Cara (Negro), 33. Christian, 34. R-Truth , 35. CM Punk, 36. Sheamus, 37. Wade Barrett, 38. Jack Swagger, 39. Jinder Mahal, 40. The Miz.
— Matches taped tonight in Dallas, Texas for this week’s episode of NXT: Redemption are as follows: A.J. vs. Maxine, Derrick Bateman vs. Percy Watson, Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso vs. Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks.
A match pitting former Corre teammates Ezekiel Jackson and Heath Slater was taped for WWE Superstars. Matches taped last night in Oklahoma City were Alex Riley vs. Drew McIntyre and JTG vs. Santino Marella.
— Want to have a cyber friend date with Shelly Martinez? Have something you been wanting to ask? Just want to get to know her in a more personal way? Buy some time and have her all to yourself!
Shelly is offering cyber friend dates through ShellyMartinez.org, which allows people to purchase time with the former WWE Diva. Those who book cyber friend dates for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for next week get a two-for-one special: Shelly and Amber O’Neal.