-Jim Ross recently responded to allegations that WWE is promoting bullying with the recent direction of characters such as Stephanie McMahon and Triple H, as well as Ryback. JR noted, “Anyone who interprets being a TV wrestling villain to real life bullying is embarrassingly misguided.”

-WWE Hall Of Famer “Rowdy” Roddy Piper’s son Colt is currently taking part in a campaign called “Warrior Dash” to help the St. Jude Children’s Hospital. For more information, visit WaysToHelp.StJude.org.

-WWE Superstar Justin Gabriel and WWE Diva Layla will be signing autographs this Sunday, September 8th, at the Connecticut Women’s Expo at the Connecticut Convention Center at 11:00AM.

-WWE Superstar Ricardo Rodriguez was at the WWE Performance Center today.

2 HUGE Stars From WWE’s Past CONFIRMED For WrestleMania XXX [FIND OUT WHO >>]

The following are highlights from a recent WWE.com interview with WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin:

On if he sees himself in Daniel Bryan: “No, I didn’t see too much ‘Stone Cold’ in [Daniel Bryan], but I saw a young man who could work his ass off in the ring, who had a lot of fire and passion for the business. With that being said, he’s dealing with a very worthwhile adversary in Triple H, a guy with physicality and intelligence on top of that, and of course, he’s got some advice coming from Vince.

“Vince is the ultimate third-generation promoter. He’s been there and done that in every situation that’s ever been done in the history of sports-entertainment. Triple H is gonna lean on him for some resources. Young Daniel Bryan must stay the course and maintain his intensity.”

On Daniel Bryan’s battle with authority and Triple H/The McMahon’s: “It’s a complete parallel, and obviously a decade removed with two cats in these different roles … but it’s a complete parallel with what went on between myself and Vince. Still, he isn’t expecting Bryan to break out a beer hose so much as use his unique opportunity to cement his place as a top-tier performer against the most powerful of enemies.

“I know what [Triple H’s] mentality is, and he’s been hanging around Vince for so long. Right now, he’s playing the ultimate game with young Daniel Bryan … I look for similarities in situations and setups, but also for [Daniel Bryan] to push the envelope and come out of the box strong.”

On his thoughts on Triple H’s rise through the ranks in WWE: “Man, I’ll tell you what: Back in the day when we were having heated battles in the ring, all over the world, and hell no, I didn’t see it coming. But just goes to show they didn’t call him The Game for nothing. He’s a smart S.O.B.

“I think the guy loves the business enough that he didn’t want just any hand in it, he wanted to be at the top and planned his ascent accordingly. I think he was looking way farther down the road than a lot of guys do.”

On advice for Daniel Bryan: “If I could offer any advice to Daniel Bryan, I would tell him to be aggressive. Trust your gut instincts. The best defense is a good offense, and always be on the attack. But, sometimes, lay in wait. I think Triple H’s ego may mirror Vince’s ego. Sometimes, as cerebral as he is, his ego may get the best of him and you’ll be able to spring an attack on him.

“With all these corporate shenanigans going on, he has to stay true to himself. Whether he gets the title back or overthrows the regime, that’ll come out in the wash. He must remember to stay focused about who Daniel Bryan is: A fiery competitor who loves the business and continues to make a name for himself; the guy who [supposedly] didn’t have the ‘It’ factor, wasn’t big enough, wasn’t good-looking enough. … He’s gotta stay the course and prove that — yes — he’s all that and more.”

Check out the complete interview online at WWE.com.

REPORT: Steve Austin vs. CM Punk Is “99% Likely” For WrestleMania XXX [READ >>]

WWE RAW emanates live from Des Moines, Iowa tonight for the Labor Day edition of the show.

The main focus of tonight’s show will be on the Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton feud, with all of the outside involvement from Triple H, as well as Vince and Stephanie McMahon. Also, heavy focus will remain on the storyline involving CM Punk and Curtis Axel/Paul Heyman.

There will be more follow-up on the World Heavyweight Championship program, which features champion Alberto Del Rio and his former manager Ricardo Rodriguez, who is now with Del Rio’s opposition, Rob Van Dam. They will continue the build to their title bout at the upcoming Night Of Champions pay-per-view.

The full talent roster advertised for tonight’s show in Des Moines is as follows: Orton, Bryan, Punk, Heyman, Axel, HHH, Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Del Rio, Van Dam, Rodriguez, Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, Wade Barrett, AJ Lee, Kaitlyn, The Shield and The Wyatt Family.

The scheduled dark match main event for tonight’s show is The Shield vs. Rob Van Dam, Mark Henry and The Big Show. With Henry being injured, plans for that match may be off the table.

WWE.com Update: 2 Big Matches Confirmed For Tonight’s RAW

– Since 2011, WWE has been heavily promoting the anti-bullying campaign ‘Be a STAR,’ which carries a mission to “ensure a positive and equitable social environment for everyone regardless of age, race, religion or sexual orientation through grassroots efforts beginning with education and awareness.” The program, however, has drawn great criticism as many of the sports-entertainment organization’s on-air scenes and storylines tend to counter the goals of the campaign, such as Ryback’s bullying persona and numerous instances of Jim Ross being ridiculed. Stephanie McMahon, Executive Vice President, Creative, addressed criticism of the campaign in a Twitter message on Wednesday.

A fan asked McMahon, “What do u say to those fans who say @WWE is going against their own Anti-Bullying campaign w/ showing HHH & Ryback bullying?” In response, she said the bullying that occurs on WWE programming should be strictly viewed as entertainment.

“No diff than bullying in a movie,” wrote McMahon. “WWE is Entertainment @beaSTARalliance is real.”

– This week’s episode of WWE NXT is now available on Hulu.com. Four matches take place on the show, including Adrian Neville vs. Conor O’Brian, Enzo Amore vs. Scott Dawson, Emma vs. Summer Rae, and CJ Parker vs. Tyler Breeze.

– The official Tumblr account of WWE reveals five things you didn’t know about Kaitlyn.

– Stephanie McMahon has offered her thoughts on AJ Lee’s scathing tirade from Monday’s Raw on the stars of Total Divas.

When asked by a fan on Twitter how impressed she was with Lee’s promo, McMahon remarked, “AJ owned it…I was very impressed #DivasChamp.”

According to F4WOnline.com, Lee’s remarks will be a featured storyline on an upcoming episode of the E! series.

– The official WWE website has released an updated version of Triple H’s entrance video.

– According to WrestlingFigs.com, WWE Hall of Famer Rocky Johnson will appear at Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame 30 East Main St. Amsterdam, New on Saturday, September 28, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Call 518-842-0022 for more information.

WWE RAW emanates from the US Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona tonight for the first full-show without the John Cena.

Expect heavy focus tonight on the build to the Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan WWE Championship match at the upcoming WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view in September.

Confirmed for the show tonight is a non-title match between WWE Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel, with his manager Paul Heyman, against CM Punk. Regarding the title, there are rumors that the Axel-Punk match will indeed be for the I-C Championship.

Also on tonight’s show is the latest drama from the McMahon Family Takeover, as Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon and Triple H are all advertised to appear this week.

Additional talent advertised to appear in Phoenix tonight includes Alberto Del Rio, Rob Van Dam, The Shield, Mark Henry, Big Show, Ryback, The Wyatt Family, Dolph Ziggler, Big E. Langston, AJ Lee and Kaitlyn.

Advertised for the live crowd in Phoenix as the dark match main event tonight is both Punk vs. Axel and Heyman in a Handicap Match, as well as The Shield vs. Henry, Show and Van Dam in a Six-Man Tag Match.

More Confirmed RAW Matches & Segment *SPOILERS* For Tonight […]

Celebrity-gossip website TMZ.com has an article up about WWE Superstar Triple H and his wife, Stephanie McMahon, doing some boxing training this week in New York City.

The article notes that the married couple trained with the same guy who taught Hilary Swank how to box for the Oscar winning film, “Million Dollar Baby.”

HHH and McMahon worked out in the ring at the world famous Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn, where they trained and hit the pads a bit for “Protein Fight Club”, a campaign to promote milk.

TMZ has video footage of the two sparring in the ring. The guy putting them through the motions is Hector Roca, who has trained other celebrities to box, such as Wesley Snipes, John Leguizama and Jennifer Lopez.

The funniest part of the story is that after working with the two, Roca told TMZ that Stephanie showed “real flashes of promise” in the ring. However, when it came to HHH’s “Sweet Science” skills, Roca said, “boxing is not really his sport.”

UPDATE: Stephanie McMahon Considering Pro Boxing Career? [READ MORE >>]

Follow SESCOOPS.COM journalist Matt Boone on Twitter @MBoone420 for breaking news updates!

The following are highlights from a recent Grantland.com interview with WWE’s Triple H:

On his role as head of talent relations for WWE: “Everything that has to do with talent, from the legends to the developmental system, to the live events and all of its operations and the towns we book, to where the pay-per-views are, all of it. Obviously I have a massive team that does all that, but they report to me.

“I started in the office full-time a few years ago. Vince had been bugging me for a while, saying ‘When are you going to stop messing around in the ring and come get a real job?’ So one time when I was injured, I shadowed him in the office for three months. I did everything he did. When I finally started full-time, he was like, ‘Take a few months. I want you to dig into everything. Have meetings with finance, dig into every part of this company and see what you think needs work.’

“And the thing I came back to him with was we have this huge global marketing juggernaut, but we’re a victim of our own success. We’ve shut down all the other territories. There’s almost no place for guys to go learn, and when they do, they’re learning how to work in a junior high in front of 50 people. It’s a completely different thing than working in front of 10,000 or a million on TV with a camera in your face.

“So I started this little division called talent development. It was basically to build a bridge between creative and the developmental wrestlers. Now, other than Vince saying, “OK, you can have that amount of money,” he doesn’t have anything to do with it. Honest to god, he hasn’t even seen the Performance Center yet. He’s supposed to go next week.

On Stephanie McMahon’s role in WWE: “Technically, creative reports to Steph, but Steph is kind of the aggregator. Her office does everything from the magazine to digital to the shows, so it’s funny when people will say, ‘Oh, Steph and the creatives.’ She really doesn’t have anything to do with the day-to-day. I mean, she’ll weigh in on something if Vince asks or if the writers ask her what she thinks before they bring something to Vince.”

On a physical WWE Hall Of Fame building: “Halls of fame are not a lucrative business. But here’s the bigger reason: If and when the time is right to do a Hall of Fame, it’s not just going to be a place where you walk in and say, “Oh, look, there’s a pair of trunks.” If we do it, it’ll be an immersive experience. With technology the way it is, a 4-D experience, whether it’s a ride, or, picture this: You walk into a locker room, lights go down, smoke comes out, and Andre the Giant walks out in a hologram and stands there and talks to you. That’s what it has to be. But is the Hall of Fame the priority? Absolutely not. It’s out there someplace in the stratosphere. But if we do it, it takes a lot of research because we want to do it right.”

On what is written about him on the internet: “I wish I had the brainpower and the wherewithal and the drive to be as maniacal and devious as people f—-ing think I am. I’d be f—ing Darth Vader. I’d run the Empire, and I guess maybe that’s how some people see it, right? They’d say ‘Oh, he went in there and he buried this guy,’ and it’s like, f—, I had nothing to do with that. I didn’t even know he was coming in until I saw him that day.”

Check out the complete interview online at Grantland.com.

24WRESTLING.COM

– Stephanie McMahon revealed on Twitter that she and Triple H will be at Gleasons Gym in Brooklyn, New York, today to announce “a huge partnership” with the milk industry.

“@TripleH and I on our way to @GleasonsGym in Bklyn to annc a huge partnership w Milk!” she wrote. “Got Protein? #MilkWins.”

– In the following video, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Dolph Ziggler and Paul Heyman weigh in on the authenticity of the upcoming WWE 2K14 video game—scheduled for release on October 29, 2013 in North America and November 1 in Europe.

– Diamond Dallas Page is currently featured in the “Superstar Spotlight” on WWE.com.

-According to reports, there is talk of an angle being shot during the SummerSlam Axxess match between Maria Menounos & Natalya vs. Brie Bella & Eva Marie that will lead to something in some form or fashion on the main SummerSlam pay-per-view.

-Sources are reporting that while Randy Orton may not cash in (although he very well could) he is expected to be involved in the finish of the John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan WWE Championship main event at SummerSlam on Sunday.

-While this comes as no surprise to anyone, there is expected to be some sort of storyline shot in the finish of the Cena-Bryan match, involving Triple H and/or the McMahon’s, that will lead to a major storyline going forward.

As is the case with all major WWE shows, due to last minute changes by the creative team, all of this is obviously subject to change.

WWE SummerSlam Spoilers

[Credit: F4WOnline.com]

-WWE Superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson recently tweeted a new video clip from the set of his upcoming movie, “Hercules.” Johnson tweeted:

Shot this vid a few hours ago from set. Don’t let this beast grab you.. #UBecomeMyLunch #HERCULESMovie http://instagram.com/p/dFphUzIh3l/

-Currently “#WWE2K14” is trending number one overall worldwide on Twitter.

-Speaking of the WWE 2K14 video game, WWE executive and on-air character Stephanie McMahon confirmed she will be available as a playable character in the game during an interview at the SummerSlam Kickoff Party in Los Angeles, California on Thursday. You can watch the Stephanie McMahon interview below:

WWE SummerSlam Spoilers

-Current WWE Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Michelle Wilson recently sold approximately one-quarter of her shares of WWE stock on Friday, August 9th. Wilson sold 27,600 shares just four days after Stephanie McMahon sold two-thirds of her WWE stock. For more information on this story, visit DailyPolitical.com.

-WWE Hall Of Famer “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase was recently interviewed by the Pougkeepsie Journal during an appearance he made at the Planet Wings establishment in the local area. In the interview, DiBiase talks about some of his upcoming projects, as well as his career in WWE. You can watch a video of the interview online at PoughkeepsieJournal.com.

-Former WWE Superstar Gene Snitsky will be working for the Canadian Wrestling’s Elite promotion as the headliner for their events in Neepawa, MB on Thursday, October 10th, Winnipeg, MB on Friday, October 11th and Selkirk, MB on Saturday, October 12th. For more information, visit CWECanada.ca. (Thanks to Danny Warren for sending that in.)

WWE SummerSlam Spoilers

– As recently as a few weeks ago, WWE had been planning for Stephanie McMahon and Triple H to turn heel at SummerSlam, but those plans may have changed by now.

– WWEShop.com has released the first t-shirt for The Wyatt Family.

– Speaking of the Wyatt family, Bray Wyatt tweeted after last night’s RAW segment with Kane:

“Sunday, fire in the City of Angels. Burn, Burn, Burn #TheAshesOurNewHome #RAW”

– DirecTV recently interviewed Kaitlyn to promote the WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view:

* Backstage Plans For JOHN CENA vs. DANIEL BRYAN This Sunday & How VINCE & ORTON Will Be Involved

The SummerSlam “go-home” edition of WWE RAW emanates from the Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento, California on Monday, August 12th.

The top match confirmed for this week’s show is CM Punk vs. Paul Heyman in a “man-on-man fight,” as the “Evil Genius” himself revealed on last week’s RAW.

WWE will also wrap-up the final hype for the John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan WWE Championship match at SummerSlam. Hyping up the McMahon’s involvement in the match will be Vince McMahon, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, all of whom are advertised to appear on the show.

Also confirmed to appear on the show this week is “The Beast” himself, Brock Lesnar.

The full roster officially being advertised for the show are John Cena, Daniel Bryan, Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman, Curtis Axel, CM Punk, Alberto Del Rio, Christian, The Shield, Randy Orton, Dolph Ziggler, Big E. Langston, AJ Lee, Kaitlyn, Mark Henry, Rob Van Dam, Kane, The Wyatt Family and The Miz.

The dark match main event advertised for the live crowd in Sacramento, according to SleepTrainArena.com will be a two-on-one handicap match featuring John Cena and Mark Henry teaming up for the first-time-ever to take on the trio of The Shield.

WWE RAW Spoilers

According to reports, the storyline on episode two of the WWE Total Divas reality show this past Sunday where Eva Marie lied about her background as a dancer in the hopes that she’d be selected as Fandango’s on-air dancer, was almost completely scripted.

It is widely known that Stephanie McMahon is almost impossible to get a hold of on Monday’s, due to her WWE behind-the-scenes responsibilities. However, Stephanie claimed she would make time if the Total Divas crew came up with a good storyline for the show. This led to her involvement in the aforementioned Eva Marie/Fandango dancing drama, where she scolded Marie for lieing during a sit-down office meeting filmed for the show. According to reports, Eva Marie didn’t know Stephanie was in character during the meeting, which resulted in the real tears we saw on the show.

It’s interesting to note that while WWE talent are aware that Total Divas is scripted, word from Monday’s RAW this week following the airing of episode two is that Eva Marie is “passionately hated.” Apparently the only person on the Total Divas cast that is viewed as coming off worse than Marie is Ariane, who performs under the ring name “Cameron” as one-half of the Funkadactyls in WWE. One source inside WWE said, “Cameron is an idiot, but everyone in the company already knows that so it’s nothing new.”

Total Divas *SPOILERS* For This Season + What’s Scripted & What Isn’t?? **CLICK HERE**

[Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter]

– Stephanie McMahon has sold more of her Class A Common Stock, according to a new filing at the Corporate.WWE.com website. She has been selling her stock regularly since May and has been the most active seller of WWE stock in recent months.

– The Rock has posted a new photo of himself on the set of the new Hercules movie:

No 'over-intellectualized actor speak'. Straight gut talk..bring it on motherf*cker. #EpicWar #HERCULESMovie pic.twitter.com/DKUohPb2QY

— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) August 9, 2013

-According to a recent filing with the SEC, WWE executive and on-air talent Stephanie McMahon has sold another 276,055 shares of her World Wrestling Entertainment Class A Common Stock on the open market since August 1st.

The sale has netted Mrs. Levesque a reported $2.9 million.

You can check out the SEC filing online at SEC.gov.

-WWE Hall Of Famer recently posted the following tweet on his official Twitter account:

“The late, Lou Thesz widow, Charlie, is selling some of Lou’s memorabilia. For a list of items email her at WCTHESZ@aol.com. I’m in!”

How much money is Stephanie McMahon worth? **FIND OUT HERE**

WWE issued the following press release today:

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. : WWE® Names Michele Martell VP of Kids Entertainment

WWE (NYSE: WWE) today announced the appointment of Michele Martell as Vice President, Kids Entertainment. Martell, who will report to WWE Executive Vice President, Creative, Stephanie McMahon, will be responsible for overseeing the strategic development, execution, and promotion of WWE’s kids entertainment strategy. Martell will focus on production, digital media, consumer products, marketing and fan engagement as well as identifying opportunities for external partnerships, acquisitions and community events, all on a global basis.

Prior to joining WWE, Martell held the position of Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel for SD Entertainment, where she oversaw the acquisition strategy and execution for entertainment products with an emphasis on children’s brands. Her focus was on the building and expansion of all kids, family and lifestyle entertainment products, digital distribution, marketing, consumer engagement and licensing negotiation. Before SD Entertainment, Martell was Chief Operating Officer of the Entertainment Group for Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp, and was the co-founder of leading digital cinema distribution company The Bigger Picture, which theatrically released more than 200 films and events, as well as its long-running family matinee program, Kidtoon Films.

Martell has also held positions including Vice President of Business Affairs and Business Development at The Jim Henson Company; Senior Counsel of Legal Affairs for Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.; and was an attorney in private practice with the entertainment firm Hill Wynne Troop & Meisinger.

Martell graduated with a Juris Doctor from UCLA School of Law and with a Bachelor of Arts from Pamona College.

About WWE:

WWE, a publicly traded company (NYSE: WWE), is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family friendly entertainment on its television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing platforms. WWE programming is broadcast in more than 150 countries and 30 languages and reaches more than 650 million homes worldwide. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, London, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Istanbul and Tokyo.

Additional information on WWE (NYSE: WWE) can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com. For information on our global activities, go to https://www.wwe.com/worldwide/.

Trademarks: All WWE programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.

Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks relating to maintaining and renewing key agreements, including television and pay-per-view programming distribution agreements; the need for continually developing creative and entertaining programming; the continued importance of key performers and the services of Vincent McMahon; the conditions of the markets in which we compete and acceptance of the Company’s brands, media and merchandise within those markets; our exposure to bad debt risk; uncertainties relating to regulatory and litigation matters; risks resulting from the highly competitive nature of our markets; uncertainties associated with international markets; the importance of protecting our intellectual property and complying with the intellectual property rights of others; risks associated with producing and travelling to and from our large live events, both domestically and internationally; the risk of accidents or injuries during our physically demanding events; risks relating to our film business; risks relating to increasing content production for distribution on various platforms, including the potential creation of a WWE Network; risks relating to our computer systems and online operations; risks relating to the large number of shares of common stock controlled by members of the McMahon family and the possibility of the sale of their stock by the McMahons or the perception of the possibility of such sales; the relatively small public float of our stock; and other risks and factors set forth from time to time in Company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results could differ materially from those currently expected or anticipated. In addition, our dividend is dependent on a number of factors, including, among other things, our liquidity and historical and projected cash flow, strategic plan (including alternative uses of capital), our financial results and condition, contractual and legal restrictions on the payment of dividends, general economic and competitive conditions and such other factors as our Board of Directors may consider relevant.

BREAKING NEWS: Major LAST-MINUTE Change To SummerSlam CONFIRMED! **CLICK HERE**

– August 18 at SummerSlam, Daniel Bryan will challenge John Cena for the WWE Championship. Through its YouTube account, WWE has posted a WWE ’13 simulation of their upcoming encounter, with the following notice: “Will WWE ’13 correctly predict this year’s SummerSlam?”

– Tickets for WWE’s fifth-annual Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event officially go on-sale Saturday, August 17 via Ticketmaster.com. A pre-sale will take place a few days prior to the official on-sale date. The event takes places Sunday, October 27 in Miami, Florida, at American Airlines Arena.

– The official WWE website has released this video previewing next Sunday’s episode of Total Divas on E!. Notably, Stephanie McMahon threatens to terminates Eva Marie’s affiliation with WWE for a conduct violation.

(source: PWInsider.com)

The following contains a *Spoiler* for tonight’s RAW:

According to a source who is currently backstage at the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia, WWE executive Stephanie McMahon is at the arena and is scheduled to appear on tonight’s RAW.

Stephanie is expected to confront her husband, Triple H, who is disobeying her and Vince McMahon’s demands by competing against Curtis Axel.

* Backstage News On 2 Big Matches Planned for WWE SummerSlam

– Monday’s RAW episode scored Trendrr.tv social media score of 198,827, making it the 4th most socially-active show for the night.

– Ring of Honor star Prince Nana received a WWE tryout prior to last night’s RAW taping in Hartford, CT. Nana did some enhancement work for WWE in the early 2000’s and has lost a lot of weight in recent year.

– Prior to his surprise return to television on Monday’s RAW, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon ordered the creative team to re-write the entire show just hours before it was set to begin.

Speaking of Vince, he and Stephanie’s returns have been in the works for weeks – but were originally scheduled to take place later this month. It’s believed that the stiff competition WWE faced against Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals was the reason they returned so soon.

As noted earlier, Vince & Stephanie’s returns didn’t do much to help RAW’s viewership. RAW drew less than 1/3 the audience of the NBA playoff game.

* Storyline Plans For CM PUNK’s Return, When The WYATT FAMILY Will Debut & More

(Partial Source: F4wonline.com)

– During Monday’s RAW, it was announced to the live crowd that WWE returns to Hartford, CT at the XL Center for a WWE Live Event on Friday, December 27th. The pre-sale code is WWELIVE.

– After her husband Triple H was prohibited from competing on RAW against Curtis Axel, Stephanie McMahon tweeted the following explanation about why he was pulled from the match:

I know canceling @TripleH match tonight was unpopular. I'm just trying to do what is best for him, our company, and our family. #RAW

— Stephanie McMahon (@StephMcMahon) June 4, 2013

* Storyline Plans For Ziggler/Langston/AJ, Kaitlyn’s Secret Admirer Revealed & More

TNA President Dixie Carter recently spoke with the UK’s Sky News Radio about meeting Stephanie McMahon and Triple H at the funeral of Reid Flair’s:

“It was actually a very sad meeting. We met at the church at Ric Flair’s son’s funeral. She and Hunter were there, and the three of us had never met before. I was there with Sting and we were just kind of put in this back room waiting for each other.

 

It was a very interesting meeting. They’re lovely people; I just wished them luck personally. They had a big weekend with WrestleMania coming up, and I did so publicly. Look, I have a different philosophy than maybe other people do. I think competition is healthy; I think to not want to have competition is absolutely ludicrous.

 

I think it’s better for the fans, it’s better for the product and it makes us all work harder. And if we want to grow wrestling to be as big as it can be globally, I think that’s important. So, she did respond. I think there were a lot of tweets between the fans, but she did respond in a very kind manner.”

– In response to Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar making a surprise appearance at WWE Headquarters earlier today (and Lesnar destroying Triple H’s office) – Stephane McMahon tweeted the following on Monday afternoon:

@HeymanHustle @BrockLesnar #Cowards

— Stephanie McMahon (@StephMcMahon) May 6, 2013

Photos: Brock Lesnar & Paul Heyman Terrorize WWE Headquarters

– Jake Roberts re-tweeted the following message from Hulk Hogan today:

I saw Jake the Snake in NJ 2weeks ago and he looks like he did 20yrs ago,he looks awesome and I guarantee he can still tear it downbrotherHH

— Hulk Hogan (@HulkHogan) April 26, 2013

Speaking of Jake, he tweeted Triple H today saying that he’ll be watching RAW tonight and thanked WWE for supporting him over the years:

@TripleH will be watching tonight. Thank you and WWE for all you have done for me. Found out the hard way but appreciate it more now.

— JakeSnakeDDT (@JakeSnakeDDT) May 6, 2013

Triple H and Stephanie McMahon attended Saturday night’s Floyd Mayweather vs. Robert Guerrero boxing fight in Las Vegas.