– WWE originally had plans to do the John Cena vs. AJ Styles singles rematch at the 8/21 SummerSlam PPV in Brooklyn, according to Wrestling Observer Radio. No word yet on if that is still the plan but it’s expected. Cena will team with Enzo and Cass to face Styles and The Club at the 7/24 WWE Battleground PPV.
– For those who missed it last night, Shane and Stephanie McMahon did not appear, despite being advertised. Shane has not appeared as advertised several times since May.
– This RAW backstage video features Zack Ryder celebrating after his main event win last night. Ryder says 2016 is the best year of his career and he’s just getting started.
– NFL star Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots discusses a possible WWE career in this new interview with Access Hollywood.
– In Nielsen’s nightly Twitter TV ratings for series & specials, this week’s RAW had 146,000 tweets with 35,000 unique authors. The show ranked #1 for the night.
– Ad Week has named Stephanie McMahon to their 30 Most Powerful Women In Sports list. They included the following on her:
“Stephanie McMahon is the woman behind—and in front of—the curtain at WWE. Over the organization’s 36-year history, few executives have been as important to its growth than McMahon, who is the daughter of CEO Vince McMahon. After starting there as an account executive, McMahon now sits on the WWE’s board of directors, following a two-decade rise through the ranks that has put her hands into virtually every facet of the business, including creative, talent relations, digital and her current role overseeing WWE’s brand efforts and brand reputation among investors, media, business partners and advertisers. And with her dad now in his 70s, McMahon, along with her husband Paul Levesque (better known as “Triple H”), could be poised to inherit the keys to the powerful WWE kingdom.”
Stephanie McMahon e-mailed Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer after the terror attack at Pulse nightclub earlier this month and offered to “do everything we [WWE] can to help support you and your efforts to rebuild the constitution of your great city.”
WWE hosted RAW from Orlando just one day after the attack and Stephanie told Dyer that they consider the city a “second home” due to the Performance Center and NXT.
Stephanie also asked what the company could do to help the victims and the city: “We are already brainstorming ideas to help raise money for the OneOrlando fund, and I wanted to know if there was more we could be doing.”
Dyer replied: “Thank you Stephanie for your kind words and your generosity. Someone will be in touch with you.”
The attack left 49 people dead and 53 more injured.
Stephanie McMahon says Brock Lesnar is in one of the most unique positions of any WWE star. In an interview with Business Insider conducted last week at the Cannes Lions festival in France, Stephanie talked about Lesnar returning to the UFC octagon while still under contract with WWE.
Stephanie says the UFC and WWE are not competitors because one is competitive sport and one is entertainment. Stephanie says WWE is more like a Hollywood production than a sport, and WWE has an advantage as far as television goes because they can script their protagonists and antagonists.
“UFC, they can make a big star but the second that person loses, they lose credibility, and how do you continue to make that star rise?” Stephanie said. “So I think [WWE has] the best of both worlds and the opportunity to tell the stories in the way we want to tell them.”
Stephanie claims Brock fighting for UFC isn’t a promotional opportunity for WWE, and the company isn’t necessarily “supporting” the fight.
“In Brock Lesnar’s case it was really a special case that we are allowing him to do this fight [against Mark Hunt on July 9]. But like you said it’s not really a cross-promotional opportunity, but we are allowing him to participate in that fight,” Stephanie said. “We are not supporting the fight necessarily but, again, it’s not a competitor to us and the more that our superstars, that’s how we refer to our talent, the more they do outside of WWE, the more awareness it generates and the broader the audience can be that is then brought back into our properties. So we recognize the value of that.”
Stephanie McMahon and John Cena were at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity this week in Cannes, France. The two were there to represent WWE, and talked about how has connected with their audience over the decades.
In an interview with Ad Week, Stephanie said she wants to battle “preconceived notions” about WWE by teaching people about their brand at Cannes. She says one of her jobs as the company’s Chief Brand Officer is to educate people on their “misperceptions” about WWE.
“It still may not be someone’s cup of tea—I mean, we’re not going to appeal to everybody,” she said. “But it’s a heck of a lot of fun. If I can get someone to come to a show, that’s the best way for me to sell them on what we are because they experience it. That’s our company’s mission it to put smiles on people’s faces.”
She clarified that although on television she plays a villain, her off-screen job involves developing WWE’s brand and bringing in revenue. In an interview that same day with The Drum, she added that the company is looking at adding virtual reality content to their operation.
“We are definitely exploring that content because I have seen some of the early renderings and it is so cool,” Stephanie said of virtual reality videos. “I am a fan first and foremost – you have to be to be in our business and to be able to walk down the ramp and get in a ring and to see your opponent in the ring – it’s the most unbelievable experience. I can’t wait to see how that unfolds and of course we’ll be doing all of our due diligence and research and if it makes sense for us from a business stand point we will continue to evolve that model.”
– Alberto Del Rio was kept out of the ring on RAW last night so he could rest his leg. As noted, Del Rio had his knee examined after a possible injury at Money in the Bank on Sunday.
– Former NXT star (and Seth Rollins’ ex-girlfriend) Zahra Schreiber has left the wrestling business, according to a statement posted on Facebook by DEAMWAVE Wrestling. Schreiber had been working for the promotion and did not finish all of her booking commitments before retiring.
– Check back later tonight for our Live Coverage of this week’s SmackDown tapings from Tucson, Arizona at the Tucson Convention Center.
– Stephanie McMahon is currently in Cannes, France for the Cannes Lions festival, which is why she was not at RAW.
– Sunday at Money in the Bank, Natalya attacked her own tag team partner, Becky Lynch, following their loss to WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte and Dana Brooke. This was not WWE’s original plan.
Bryan Alvarez revealed Monday on Figure Four Daily that WWE had planned for Lynch to turn on Natalya. His claim was corroborated by Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com on Tuesday.
The angle was followed up on Raw last night as Natalya ambushed Lynch backstage. “The Queen of Harts” explained that she’s worried about just one person: herself.
– Stephanie McMahon was not at Raw last night because she is in Cannes, France for the Cannes Lions festival. The festival kicked off over the weekend, and she will be joined by John Cena on Thursday to talk about how WWE “has kept audiences engaged the past 50 years.”
– Stephanie McMahon is missing Raw tonight as she is currently en route to France.
She revealed her whereabouts this evening in the following Instagram post.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BG5QFQvhEYP/
– After serving a 60-day suspension for a violation of WWE’s Talent Wellness Program, Konnor returned to action at tonight’s WWE Superstars taping in Phoenix, Arizona.
Reuniting with Viktor, the duo known as The Ascension took on Golden Truth.
– As noted, WWE recently applied to trademark Legion of Doom, the name used by WWE Hall of Famers Paul Ellering and The Road Warriors, Hawk and Animal. Speculation was that Ellering would be bringing the name back for The Authors of Pain in NXT. However, WWE dropped the trademark application earlier this week.
– Triple H tweeted these photos from his visit to Shanghai, China last week for some business meetings and a WWE tryout camp:
Stephanie McMahon held a Facebook Live Q&A session on Wednesday to promote her memoir, which is due out later this year. She discussed a wide variety of topics, including why writing a book about her life, the toughest promo she’s ever cut, her favorite feuds and much more.
When asked if she ever plans to wrestle again, Stephanie said she would love to, but it’s not entirely her call.
“That’s up to the decision maker. But I would love to one day. Like I said, it’s something I truly just absolutely love. But again that depends.
As long as whatever I do helps develop somebody else and helps get them over, and I know that those of you watching understand what that means, but as long as it does help develop somebody else, that’s the ultimate goal of my character. Then it’s something I would absolutely love to do. Are you kidding? Who wouldn’t love to do that?”
She also revealed that if she wasn’t a part of WWE, she’d want to be a choreographer because she loves dance. She also might have gone into marine biology because a high school science teacher was a strong influence on her. You can check out the full Q&A session here:
The big news of the week is obviously WWE’s announcement that the brand split is returning, with SmackDown moving to Tuesdays and going live every week starting July 19th. Here’s the latest on what is planned for this summer, courtesy of Wrestling Observer Radio:
– John Cena is expected to be the top star for Smackdown while Roman Reigns is expected to be on Raw.
– There will most likely be ‘world champion’ for each brand. The IC & US titles will be defended on separate shows and plans are still being finalized for the Women’s and tag team titles.
– Vince McMahon and Triple H will still run WWE creative but head writers Ed Koskey and Ryan Ward will pick up more power as the two teams will have more control.
– Some in WWE want a hard split of the rosters while others are campaigning for a soft split with top stars making appearances on the other shows, making for more unique booking on TV and PPV.
– WWE is officially saying many key questions will be answered over the next few weeks.
With the news of Stephanie McMahon’s memoir coming later this year, PWInsider repots that WWE executives are using the book as a way to garner her mainstream publicity and public acceptance as one of the main faces of WWE. When the time does come for Vince McMahon to step aside, the company wants to ensure a smooth transition and an heir apparent that has already been groomed.
The book will be a big part of that goal as they have a major marketing campaign planned with publisher Regan Arts, including mainstream media appearances and a few book signings.
The memoir will be WWE’s way of really putting a mainstream spotlight on Stephanie.
Stephanie McMahon revealed Monday that she has been writing a book about her life growing up in WWE. The memoir will be released by Regan Arts on September 27th. Here’s WWE’s official announcement:
Stephanie McMahon to publish memoir
NEW YORK — Regan Arts has announced that they will publish a memoir by WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon. The book will provide an unprecedented look inside WWE’s incredible history and remarkably contemporary approach to media.
Stephanie’s inspirational memoir reveals her life growing up behind the scenes in WWE and the story of her journey to becoming Chief Brand Officer — including her successes and failures in the business world — and valuable advice for anyone working in a challenging industry today. She is also candid about balancing her family life with the instense schedule and demands of WWE.
“Growing up in the world of WWE has been an incredible journey that has really only just started,” McMahon said. “I’m thrilled to be able to fulfill a lifelong dream and share an inside look into WWE in my upcoming memoir.”
Judith Regan, CEO of Regan Arts said, “Stephanie McMahon is one of the great visionaries behind the continuing success of WWE and has navigated the entertaining, treacherous, and awe-inspiring world of Superstars, egos, and drama with style, tremendous skill and dynamic feminine force. And that’s just dealing with her family. That family encompasses everyone in the WWE family worldwide. Her story is Shakespearean in its drama and comedy, and she is in a unique position to share an inside view of one of the world’s most successful organizations. Her story will also motivate you to get off your butt and make magic happen. I love her and you will too when you read her book.”
– Former performer Hornswoggle (now known as ‘Swoggle’) has been added to the two-night JT Lightning Invitational Tournament. The event is hosted by Absolute Intense Wrestling in Cleveland to honor promoter James “JT Lightning” Haase, who passed away in 2011 due to cancer. Details on the event are here and tickets can be purchased here.
– Here is behind-the-scenes video from the UpUpDownDown Pizza Hut ad that aired on Raw with The New Day, Dolph Ziggler and Sasha Banks:
– Triple H and Stephanie McMahon tweeted behind the scenes photos from today’s Tapout shoot:
– A few quick notes for Extreme Rules. As you probably figured out by now, Intercontinental champion The Miz is scheduled to defend against Sami Zayn, Cesaro and Kevin Owens. There are also plans for a stipulation to be added to Dean Ambrose’s match against Chris Jericho. Extreme Rules takes place in less than two weeks on Sunday, 5/22 from Newark, New Jersey.
– No word yet on why Heath Slater was pulled from last Monday’s battle royal on RAW and then wasn’t ringside for Tuesday’s SmackDown tapings but he did not work this weekend’s house shows either.
– WWE tag team champions The New Day are now coming out with a giant box of Booty O’s at WWE live events.
– The WWE Cruiserweight Classic tapings were previously announced for the week of June 20 at Full Sail University but F4Wonline.com reports there may be changes made to the tapings schedule. We will keep you updated on any changes.
– Santino Marella tweeted these comments on his WWE career following his release from the company:
This August would've been 10 years with #WWE, not bad for a guy who had his first match at age 29, it took me 3 HARD yrs to get there
TMZ caught up with Stephanie McMahon in New York City this week and asked about whether or not we’ll see Chyna in the WWE Hall of Fame one day. Stephanie is very confident Chyna will be inducted at some point and emphasized the contributions Chyna made to WWE.
“I’m sure that we will see Chyna in the Hall of Fame at some point in the future. I’m not sure exactly what year that will be, but there’s no denying her contributions to WWE.”
It’s also worth noting that WWE.com has added a bio page for Chyna.
– NXT star Blake is currently sidelined with a MCL injury, according to PWInsider. It may have happened during the April 28th NXT TV tapings match with Murphy against Shinsuke Nakamura and Austin Aries.
– Stephanie McMahon tweeted these photos from Variety’s Entertainment & Technology Summit in NYC on Thursday. Stephanie spoke during a “Hunting for Millennials” panel.
Mr. McMahon announced last night at Payback that Shane and Stephanie McMahon will both be in charge of WWE moving forward, a compromise of sorts to see if the two can co-exist. There was no mention of Triple H having a formal role as part of this new regime, but there’s speculation that Shane and Triple H will eventually wrestle a match. The good news is that the era of The Authority’s death grip on RAW appears to be over and this new ‘checks and balances’ system will bring some much needed relief from completely overbearing authority figures.
Later in the show, Vince McMahon signed off on Shane McMahon’s suggestion that the main event of Extreme Rules should be AJ Styles challenging Roman Reigns in an Extreme Rules match. Stephanie agreed with Shane’s idea, so the two of them are starting off on the same page. We’ll see how long that lasts.
WWE Extreme Rues takes place in less than three weeks on Sunday, May 22nd.
Stephanie McMahon took part in a Q&A session last week for Quora.com to promote WrestleMania 32. Here are some highlights of what WWE’s Chief Brand Officer said about:
How she feels when fans react negatively to a big WWE event:
If we haven’t delivered a program worthy of our fans passion, then it is a huge disappointment.
Who received her best “Power Slap”
Hands down my best power slap so far was when I cracked The Rock last year at WrestleMania. I had so much adrenaline from the crowd and from the setup of where we were going with Ronda Rousey, that the slap may have had a little more sizzle than was originally intended.
What she would be doing if she wasn’t part of WWE:
News anchor, dance choreographer, marine biologist, or poet.
After WrestleMania 32, Triple H lost his WWE World Heavyweight championship to Roman Reigns in the main event. Thus, depleting the Authority of their resources.
To make matters worse for HHH and Stephanie McMahon, Vince McMahon gave the power to Shane McMahon last night on WWE Raw. Could this spell trouble for the WWE’s hierarchical power? Despite being advertised for WWE Raw appearances after WrestleMania, the Authority’s time on TV is ending.
Reddit user FalconArrow indicates that the Authority’s WWE television presence will end soon.
From what I know they are going bye bye for a while very soon.
Triple H or Stephanie didn’t appear on Raw last night, as they were presumably selling the “injuries” that Reigns gave them in the WrestleMania main event.
With Shane now in charge, at least for the foreseeable future, WWE programming should change slightly. Expect a confrontation between Shane and the Authority in the coming weeks, especially if FalconArrow is correct.
Stephanie McMahon says the new WWE Women’s Championship belt is a symbol of tradition. In an article she wrote for The Players’ Tribune about WrestleMania 32, Stephanie talked about the unveiling of the new Women’s title belt. Here’s what she had to say:
Lita made reference to all of the pioneers who have led the way for this transition, including “The Great” Mae Young, Fabulous Moolah, Wendi Richter, Sensational Sherri, Trish Stratus and recent Hall of Fame inductee Jacqueline. She spoke of her pride in the Divas Division, the evolution of the Women’s Division, and then she revealed the physical symbol of this transition: a brand new WWE Women’s Championship belt with the same aesthetics as the male WWE World Heavyweight Championship belt. This title belt represents the pinnacle of achievement, and that in WWE, it isn’t about gender, race or ethnicity — it is simply about being the best at what you do.
Charlotte successfully defended the WWE Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 32 on Sunday in Dallas, TX against Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks.