– Kofi Kingston will be appearing at the National Guard Gala in Washington, DC on February 26th at 6pm.
– Zack Ryder’s “Hoeski” single broke the Top 100 Pop chart on iTunes the first day it was released. The song, which sells for $1.29, currently has a 4.5/5 star rating. Various WWE superstars, including John Cena, have been encouraging fans on Twitter to download the song.
– Tamina Snukka spoke to Matt Striker backstage at Monday’s RAW for the WWE app and said last week’s Vegas Showgirls match was a joke. Tamina added that she’s not our average Diva and that WWE has a huge problem. Tamina said next time she’s one-on-one with Kaitlyn, she’s going to make a statement.
– Following his return to WWE on RAW, Mark Henry spoke to WWE.com and says he’s charged up and ready to make his mark on the WWE Universe again. Henry said he’s been beating people up for 17 years and anybody that gets in the ring with him will be destroyed.
– WWE superstar Cody Rhodes and former WWE diva Eden Stiles (Brandi Reed) got engaged this week. Reed has launched her own swimwear collection at ConfectionSwimwear.com. Cody tweeted on Tuesday:
– We reported several weeks ago that WWE was interested in pairing John Cena with AJ Lee for a mixed tag program against Dolph Ziggler and Vickie Guerrero. With the recent return of Tamina, WrestleZone.com reports that the new plan would be for her to team with Dolph instead and for Vickie to be in their corner.
At one point there was talk of having the match take place at TLC, but the feeling is that a John Cena vs. Dolph Ziggler singles match is more of a draw and better for Ziggler’s push.
It’s possible WWE could feature the Cena & AJ vs. Ziggler & Tamina match on an upcoming episode of RAW to build more interest in the Cena vs. Ziggler PPV match.
– Dolph Ziggler will be doing several media appearances this morning in the Dayton, Ohio area to promote tonight’s WWE RAW. He tweeted on Monday morning:
#ShowOff will be all over DAYTON, Ohio TV & radio for @WWE Monday Night Raw Media Day! last stop Wright State University
– Following his appearance on Monday’s WWE RAW [via satellite], WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels says he’s leaving the spotlight once again and is looking forward to returning to his private family life:
Well, the upside is this…the noisy trucks are gone & tomorrow I go back to my life of ranching,family & #MRA…one handed for a while!!:-)
– Speaking of the Divas Battle Royal, it’s worth noting that Kelly Kelly and Beth Phoenix were featured on the preview graphic for the match, despite the fact that neither of them was at RAW.
– Rory McAllister, who appeared for WWE from 2006 to 2008 as a member of The Highlanders, was asked via Twitter about WWE ‘criminally’ disregarding Drew McIntyre. He responded, “Drew has all the tools to be a player but has to grow a set and not be “happy to have a job.” He’s better than that!”
The WWE Superstar who Vince McMahon predicted would be a ‘future World Champion’ has languished since being drafted to the Raw brand in April 2011. He was largely confined to dark matches, WWE Superstars and putting over talent before transferring back to SmackDown late in the year, where the trend continued.
– WWE’s second- and third-generation talent celebrate Father’s Day this weekend by taking a trip down Memory Lane and explaining what it was like growing up with a grappling father. Those sharing stories include Ted DiBiase, Alberto Del Rio, Tamina, Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso and Cody Rhodes. Natalya, daughter of Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart, did not take part in the feature. (Article)
– Netflix has added three WWE titles to their streaming service: The Best of WCW Clash of the Champions, The Best of Raw and SmackDown 2011, You Think You Know Me? The Story of Edge.
— WWE aired a vignette on Monday’s Raw Supershow promoting a character by the name Lord Tensai. The person in question is Matthew Bloom, who previously competed for the organization as Prince Albert, Albert and A-Train. Bloom achieved great success in Japan after parting ways with WWE in 2004, having won the IWGP Tag Team Championship with Karl Anderson on two occasions as well as the GHC Tag Team Championship in Pro Wrestling NOAH.
Through Twitter, Bloom denied online reports over the weekend that he had signed a contract to return to WWE.
— Matches taped Monday night in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for this week’s episode of WWE Superstars are as follows:
* Alex Riley and Mason Ryan vs. Epico and Primo (accompanied by Rosa Mendes)
* Natalya and Tamina vs. Beth Phoenix and Eve
Brodus Clay beat Michael McGillicutty in a pre-show dark match. The bout lasted approximately two minutes.
– Early estimates for the 2012 Royal Rumble pay-per-view are around 250,000-285,000 buys in North America. Hard numbers will be out in early March.
– With the WWE Network launch delayed, there has been talk of the Legends House reality series airing on Syfy starting Tuesday, April 17th. Many people have found it surprising the company could not get USA Network to carry Legends House.
— 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….”
– Next Monday will be a very hectic one for the WWE crew. RAW takes place from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California – one day after the Professional Bull Riders will hold an event at the venue. The Bull Riders event takes place at 2pm Sunday afternoon – and all of the dirt that is brought into the arena won’t be removed until 1pm on Monday afternoon The RAW crew typically starts setting up for shows early in the morning – so they’ll have way less time to get ready next week.
– Antonio Cesaro from FCW teamed up with Michael McGillicutty again at last night’s RAW live event in Texas. They lost to the team of Mason Ryan and Alex Riley again. One reader sent word that the matches haven’t been squash matches as previously reported but the heels, Cesaro and McGillicutty, actually controlled most of the match before losing.
– Both Wade Barrett & Ted DiBiase have hinted at getting new theme music on their Twitter accounts. Barrett, who is using the “End of Days” theme that was used by Corre, posted the following:
“New entrance music: Imminent.”
DiBiase responded to a fan on Twitter that suggested getting a new theme from a band called Son Soul with the following:
“They just did! Not finished yet tho.”
— There was speculation on SmackDown Diva Tamina’s heel or babyface status after she recently turned on Natalya during a SmackDown episode. Tamina has been working WWE live events as a babyface Diva so it looks like that’s the role she’s playing after turning on Natalya.
WWE’s website has a new article up looking at their fathers – Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka and Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart, and how they relate to the Tamina vs. Natalya feud.
— WWEDVDNews reports that WWE has removed the planned Triple H feature from their internal DVD release schedule. The set was previously confirmed for a March 13th release and even assigned catalog/UPC numbers plus a synopsis but for some reason, it looks to be canceled or postponed for the second year in a row.
Friday’s episode of SmackDown saw Alicia Fox drop Natalya with a Scissors Kick for the decisive win. Then with Natalya still reeling, Tamina blasted her own partner with a kick to the face, followed up by a Superfly Splash from the top rope. Former Diva Cherry, a close friend of Natalya’s, was alarmed by WWE’s shabby treatment of the third-generation grappler.
She tweeted, “WWE have lost their minds! I have no idea what the hell they’re doing to Natalya! You’re wasting the talent of one of the best wrestlers you’ve got!”
Regarding the loss, Natalya wrote, “It’s not how hard you get hit, but how Many times you get hit, get up and keep on fighting. That’s hart…I mean heart.”
— The official website of the Izod Center is advertising a Santa Claus Little Helper Diva Tag Team Match pitting Kaitlyn and Tamina against A.J. and Alicia Fox for the December 30, 2011 SmackDown live event.
Following weeks of dissension, Kaitlyn attacked her long time partner at last week’s SmackDown taping and aligned herself with Beth Phoenix and Natalya. The angle, however, was scrapped as it did not air during the show broadcast. WWE has not followed up on their relationship since then.
— Vickie Guerrero made a special appearance Friday at an El Paso, Texas fire station for a good cause. The hometown native was on hand for “Operation Super Hero,” a food and toy drive organized by “Operation Hope.”
KTSM News Channel 9 was on hand for the event. The story is available here.
— Steve Austin will launch his official website, BrokenSkullRanch.com, on Sunday.
— The October 31 episode of the Raw SuperShow garnered a 3.1 cable rating, down two-tenths from 3.31 the week before. Overall viewership was also down, from 4.71 million viewers to 4.49.
For the second consecutive week, Raw’s rating declined during the second hour, from 3.21 to 3.00. Overall viewership decreased by 236,000. The first hour of last week’s show averaged 4.93 million viewers before declining to 4.50 in the second.
— Matches taped tonight in Greenville, South Carolina for this week’s episode of WWE NXT were: Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso vs. Johnny Curtis and Tyson Kidd; Kaitlyn vs. Tamina; A.J, Percy Watson and Titus O’Neil vs. Derrick Bateman, JTG and Maxine.
— The October 29 episode of A.M. Raw scored a 0.69 cable rating with 792,000 viewers.
— Last Tuesday’s SmackDown taping in Toledo, Ohio was one of the worst attended WWE events in years as it drew 3,200 fans, with only 1,600 paid.
Following the event’s poor advance, WWE only sold tickets facing the camera so the Huntington Center would appear full on television. SLAM! Wrestling columnist Matt Bishop, who attended the event, described the venue’s appearance: “Tuesday’s tapings of WWE Smackdown, Superstars and NXT wasn’t notable because of what happened in the ring, but rather because of what was happening outside the ringside area. Or more appropriately, what wasn’t happening.
“Toledo’s second WWE show of 2011, this time at Huntington Center, was notable because of the lack of fans inside the facility, with almost all of the camera side tarped off, along with a large part of the upper bowl, including all of the seats in the end zone.”
— Tamina responded to her critics in her first message on Twitter.
“Thanks to my fans but to the haters and losers alike today is a special day in your miserable lives,” she wrote Saturday. “Today The Goddess Tamina has tweeteth.”
source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Posted September 11th, 2011 in News, WWE. Tagged: Tamina.
SHIMMER Champion Madison Eagles has earned the number one position in Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s fourth annual “PWI Female 50” list, which ranks the top 50 women’s wrestlers in North America from July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011. She succeeds Michelle McCool, who ranked No. 1 in last year’s list.
Pro Wrestling Illustrated attributes their decision to ranking Eagles as the top women’s wrestler in North America with the following: “This year’s list was unlike any other in the four-year history of the “Female 50.” For one thing, there was no obvious frontrunner in either WWE or TNA. Last year’s number one, Michelle McCool, retired after a few lackluster months. The WWE Divas title dropped in prominence and was held for a significant amount of time by Brie Bella who, while improved, doesn’t exactly conjure thoughts of Sensational Sherri or Trish Stratus.”
Mickie James and Madison Rayne were also considered for the top spot, but for a variety of reasons, were ultimately deemed not worthy.
“So we made a bold decision. We looked to the indies. Two possible candidates were SHIMMER champion Madison Eagles and WSU champion Mercedes Martinez. It was a difficult choice to make,” the magazine explains. “Fortunately for us, Martinez and Eagles faced off in March for Eagles’ SHIMMER title. Eagles managed to win a terrific match, which proved to be the deciding factor in our decision.”
PWI also explains how the “Female 50” was determined: “To determine this list, we evaluated each woman’s innate wrestling ability, accomplishments during the past year, physical strength and conditioning, quality of opposition, charisma, and title success.”
Some women’s wrestlers contracted to WWE and TNA, such as Nikki Bella, Rosa Mendes, Tamina and Brooke Tessmacher, were left off the “Female 50” because PWI felt they did not earn a spot over some of the independent talent listed. The magazine explains, “While being on WWE’s or TNA’s global platform helps your chances, it doesn’t mean you get a free passage onto the “Female 50.”
1. Madison Eagles
2. Mercedes Martinez
3. Mickie James
4. Natalya
5. Madison Rayne
6. Cheerleader Melissa
7. Beth Phoenix
8. Tara
9. MsChif
10. Sara Del Rey
11. Eve Torres
12. Angelina Love
13. Layla
14. Sarita
15. Kelly Kelly
16. Serena Deeb
17. Velvet Sky
18. Ayako Hamada
19. LuFisto
20. Winter
21. Brie Bella
22. Angel Orsini
23. Melina
24. Daizee Haze
25. Nikki Roxx
26. Gail Kim
27. Jazz
28. Maryse
29. Christina Von Eerie
30. Portia Perez
31. Rosita
32. ODB
33. Nicole Matthews
34. Rachel Summerlyn
35. Jessicka Havok
36. Brittany Force
37. Kellie Skater
38. Tina San Antonio
39. Melanie Cruise
40. Cherry Bomb
41. Sassy Stephie
42. Tasha Simone
43. Alicia Fox
44. Amber O’Neal
45. Allison Danger
46. Kacee Carlisle
47. Brittany Savage
48. A.J.
49. Melissa Coates
50. Jessica James
— It was announced tonight on Raw that a #1 Contender’s Diva Battle Royal will be held on next week’s show to determine the #1 contender to the Divas Championship. The winner will face Kelly at SummerSlam.
— The Miz is advertised to appear on MTV’s The Challenge: Rivals After Show this Wednesday night at 11:00 p.m.
– Matches taped tonight in Hampton, Virginia for this week’s episode of WWE Superstars are as follows:
* Jack Swagger vs. Alex Riley
* David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty vs. Chris Masters and Santino Marella
Participants are as follows: A.J., Alicia Fox, Beth Phoenix, Brie Bella, Eve, Gail Kim, Kaitlyn, Maryse, Melina, Natalya, Nikki Bella, Rosa Mendes and Tamina.
— Dolph Ziggler debuted a remixed version of his theme song, “I Am Perfection,” tonight on Raw prior to his match against Evan Bourne.