– WWE announcer Scott Stanford, who also works for PIX11 out of New York City, posted the above video clip that shows him meeting George Takei of Star Trek and Howard Stern Show fame.
– As noted earlier this week, Stardust was examined for potential fractures at a local hospital following Monday’s WWE RAW match against Jack Swagger. It turned out that Stardust did not have any fractures, but the injury was bad enough that it kept him off the WWE Tribute To The Troops taping on Tuesday night in Jacksonville, Florida. Stardust and his real-life wife, NXT ring announcer Eden, had the following exchange on social media this weekend about the injury keeping him off of the taping.
.@StardustWWE heard you had a great outfit for Tribute to the Troops. Injury kept you from wearing. Maybe you can wear it on #EdensStyle
– The story of Dean Ambrose almost being attacked by a fan after his match at Tuesday’s WWE SmackDown tapings in Providence is getting mainstream media attention. The fan jumped the ringside barrier and charged at Ambrose from behind but was quickly taken down by security.
– Tickets for the Survivor Series on November 22nd went on sale this weekend. Tickets are priced at $29, $54, $79, $94, $104, $354 and $404 for ringside with commemorative seats. The show takes place from the Philips Arena in Atlanta, GA.
– WWE.com is running a poll asking which celebrity wrestler most impressed them in the ring. The choices are Snooki, Stephen Amell, Jay Leno, Lawrence Taylor, Maria Menounos, Dennis Rodman, Seth Green, Kevin Federline and former World Heavyweight Champion David Arquette. With around 8,000 votes cast, Stephen Amell is leading the way with 74%, followed by Snooki at 6%, Seth Green with 5% and Menounos is tied with LT at 4%.
– WWE’s Scott Stanford is back as the host on “This Week In WWE” on the WWE Network.
– Bull Dempsey recently spoke with WWE.com about his new gimmick and his win over Elias Samson at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn. When asked about Bull Fit, he said “It’s about hard work and not being afraid to be yourself. The hardest thing to do is be yourself in front of people. If you can do that, there’s no obstacle you can’t overcome.” As for what’s next for him: “Bigger and better things. At one point, when I first came here, I promised I was going to be NXT Champion. After what people saw in Brooklyn, the sky’s the limit.”
WWE Hall Of Famer “Mean” Gene Okerlund spoke with WWE’s Scott Stanford about the passing of “Rowdy” Roddy Piper on PIX11 in New York City on Friday night.
Okerlund commented on his reaction when he got the news about Piper’s passing.
“Oh my god… totally devastated because Scott, this is the third in a row for me in the last six and a half weeks,” said Okerlund. “First of course Verne Gagne, secondly a few weeks back we lost “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes. This one hits hard like the other two, and all of the guys we’ve lost in recent years.”
“Mean” Gene also spoke about something we will always remember about “The Hot Rod.”
“I think the one thing that’s going to be a big part of his legacy, he kind of sheltered his family from the business, at least until recently,” said Okerlund. “He was a very good father. He had a son Colt and three daughters, and a lovely young lady by the name of Kitty, his wife and only wife. We hear about a lot of relationships going south in a big hurry but Roddy was very tight and loved his family dearly.”
– WWE Tag-Team Champions The Prime Time Players, Titus O’Neil and Darren Young, are working out at the NFL’s St. Louis Rams facility before tonight’s WWE Battleground pay-per-view event.
– The official WWE website has a Suplex City-themed poll today asking fans how many times they think Brock Lesnar will suplex Seth Rollins tonight at Battleground. The options are 5, 10, 17, more than anyone will be able to count or none at all. Leading the pack with 58 percent of the vote is “more than anyone will be able to count.”
– Scott Stanford noted via social media that a top player at tonight’s WWE Battleground pay-per-view will be calling into Monday’s RAW Pre-Show on the WWE Network.
While nothing is official yet, there is speculation going around that Sheamus could potentially make his WWE return on tonight’s edition of RAW from Newark, New Jersey.
Speaking of tonight’s RAW, the WWE Network is advertising Alex Riley to return to the RAW pre-show tonight, however that appears to be a case of the Network not updating their listings. As things stand now, tonight’s RAW pre-show is set to feature the usual trio of Scott Stanford, Corey Graves and David Otunga.
Part-time WWE performer Chris Jericho has launched an official t-shirt store at ProWrestlingTees.com. He tweeted the following about the store, which shows off some of the t-shirt designs.
– WWE’s new “The Destruction of The Shield” Blu-ray that is scheduled to be released soon will feature two deleted scenes that were originally reported as DVD extras — a look at the Dean Ambrose vs. William Regal feud, and a look at Roman Reigns in FCW as Leakee.
– WWE announcer Scott Stanford has been nominated for a New York Emmy Award in the “Daily or Weekly Sports Program” category for his work with New York City’s PIX11 Sports Desk program. Stanford was also nominated in the news anchors category. The awards will be announced on May 2nd.
– Vince McMahon recently tweeted out the following trailer for the movie “Trainwreck,” which features John Cena.
– The latest edition of Roddy Piper’s “Piper’s Pit” podcast, which is now available, features Luke, one-half of the former WWE tag-team, The Bushwhackers. The official description for the show reads as follows:
PP-Ep44 – Luke Williams of the Bushwhackers
“Luke Williams of the Bushwhackers makes a pilgrimage to Piper’s Pit this week to reconnect with his old friend and fans. Luke and Roddy talk about what it really takes to be part of a successful tag-team, Macho Man Randy Savage, Captain Lou Albano and why Roddy thinks that the next inductees into the Wrestling Hall of Fame should be The Bushwhackers and Cyndi Lauper.”
– Courtesy of the official WWE Instagram page, below is a photo of WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin backstage at Monday’s WWE RAW in Denver, Colorado.
– Speaking of RAW, below is the complete WWE RAW pre-show, which aired live on the WWE Network prior to this week’s show. This week’s RAW pre-show was hosted by Scott Stanford, Corey Graves and David Otunga.
– WWE broadcast team member Scott Stanford will be back on the official WWE RAW pre-show on the WWE Network tonight. Stanford will join the regular RAW pre-show hosts Byron Saxton and Alex Riley in place of the usual third member of the team, Booker T.
– Ryback posted the following tweet to follow up on the “firing” storyline from last Monday’s edition of WWE RAW.
– WWE will honor Hall of Famer Pat Patterson at the Sept. 10 Raw taking place at the Bell Centre in Montreal, QC. The event is being locally advertised as “Pat Patterson Appreciation Night.” The legendary grappler is a Montreal native.
– SmackDown Superstar William Regal noted on Twitter that he was interviewed by Colt Cabana for his Art of Wrestling podcast (available at WeLoveColt.com and on iTunes): “I finally got to do @ColtCababa pod thingy the other day.Had a great time talking British Wrestling.Looks like we will be doing part 2 soon.”
– WWE announcer Scott Stanford celebrates his birthday Thursday. The year of his birth is publicly unknown.
– Shinsuke Nakamura of New Japan Pro Wrestling threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Monday’s Texas Rangers game at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Former WWE Superstars MVP and Shelton Benjamin, who also compete for the Japanese promotion, attended the game too.
– The seventieth episode of Z! True Long Island Story features Zack Ryder overseas for the Raw brand’s tour of Spain. Plus, Scott Stanford consoles Ryder for losing on WWE Superstars and not appearing on Raw SuperShow.
– This week’s SmackDown marks the first time Lilian Garcia has traveled back to her hometown of Columbia, South Carolina since her return to the ring late last year.
“I was really excited when I found out we were coming here,” Garcia remarked to WWE.com. “We have come closer a few times, but to finally get to do this show here feels really good.”
“My parents are in attendance, as well as friends,” she added. “I’m even going to get to sing the National Anthem right before we go on the air, which is really special for me. It truly is a great honor.”
— In this week’s episode of Z! True Long Island Story, Zack Ryder laments his return to WWE Superstars. Also featured are cameos by Dolph Ziggler and Scott Stanford, the latest dig on Trent Barreta’s disappearance and a segment on Ryder’s new growth chart product line.
— Beth Phoenix competed at Friday’s Raw live event in Glens Falls, New York, losing to WWE Divas Champion Layla. It was her first match since losing the WWE Divas Championship to Nikki Bella on the April 23 Raw SuperShow.
— WWE Hall of Famer George “The Animal” Steele stated Friday on Twitter that he was released from the hospital following an extensive stay. He added, “Praise the LORD, GOD is so good.”
— Episode 61 of Z! True Long Island Story features footage of Zack Ryder at WrestleMania Axxess in Miami, Florida. Also featured is Scott Stanford pitching Dunkin’ Donuts’s “Bronuts” after Eve kicked Ryder below the belt Sunday at WrestleMania XXVIII. Dolph Ziggler and Tommy Dreamer also appear in the episode.
— Rosa Mendes continues to voice her displeasure with herself, Primo and Epico being left off Sunday’s WrestleMania XXVIII pay-per-view broadcast as well as this week’s episode of SmackDown.
She wrote on Twitter, “It’s amazing how “I called my Momma” and she asked me why Brodus Clay and his Mommas were on Wrestlemania when people would rather watch Primo and Epico wrestle and me dancing my salsa instead!!!”
Mendes added, “Epico, Primo with Rosa Mendes not on SmackDown! Funny how nobody is manning up against us! I can’t get angry! It’s pathetic!”
Wrestling Observer reports her Twitter rant is part of WWE’s initiative to integrate storylines on the microblogging website.
WWE.com has transferred John Cena’s profile from the Alumni section to the Raw Superstars section after he was rehired by Wade Barrett on Monday’s Raw.
Scott Stanford, who handles play-by-play commentary for Raw brand matches on WWE Superstars, has been added to the Raw Superstars page.
Josh Mathews has been added to the SmackDown Superstars section. He replaced Todd Grisham as the play-by-play commentator for SmackDown on last week’s broadcast.
The NXT Superstars section now lists Todd Grisham as an on-air talent for the brand. He nows calls NXT alongside Josh Mathews.
Ashley Valence, who has not appeared on NXT since Season 2, has been removed from the NXT Superstars section. She conducted the ring announcing for last week’s episode of WWE Superstars, but was not used this week. She notably announced Zack Ryder as “Ezekiel Jackson” during the Dec. 6 taping, which was dubbed for the taped broadcast.
Jack Swagger’s “Soaring Eagle” is considered an official WWE Superstar as the mascot is today’s “Superstar of the Day.”
