The following are highlights of a new Wrestle Reaction interview with Vince Russo:
On the Nikki Bella backstage segments and storyline: “It’s difficult for me to criticize people, but I try to do it in a nice way. Nikki Bella is not a good actress. Now, you have to understand, these people are wrestlers. Acting isn’t their forte. You’re asking them to be good wrestlers and good actors. Some people are just good wrestlers and not good actors; those are the people you have to work with more. When they first started doing those backstage segments tonight, my first thought is “good”! They’re protecting Nikki Bella. They know she’s not a good actress. They’re putting her in a pre-taped situation where, if it’s bad, they can shut it down and do it over again. Then what do they do? They put her out there in the ring, in front of the people, on a live show where there is no net, no protection, and she’s not a good actress. Something like that makes absolutely no sense! Look at the time we spent on that in-ring segment and at the end of the segment all we got was a shove. If the idea of that segment was for Stephanie McMahon to give Nikki Bella a Diva’s Title shot, well then when she’s in the back with Triple H, call Nikki into the office and do your business back there in 30 seconds. It doesn’t warrant a 12 minute in-ring segment where nothing happened and you made your Diva’s Champion Paige, the most valuable person in that ring, a supporting actress in the background. There was no point to that. At the end of the day, it was a waste of time!”
O the current WWE creative mindset: “When Ed and I were writing for WWE, we were not of the wrestling world. We were fans like you guys. So, we weren’t “The Bookers” who had 25 years of experience in the wrestling business and did things only one way. We were fans, we came in fresh. We were writing from a fan perspective and what the fans wanted. That had a lot to do with the success of the Attitude Era. The minute Ed and I left to go to WCW, WWE went back to what they know and what they know is “wrestling”. They have people working backstage, in their training facility, who have been wrestlers for years and years and that’s the product that they put out there. Unfortunately, and Glenn Gilberti (The Disco Inferno) said it best on my show, “Wrestling does not draw”. At the end of the day, the matches do not draw. It’s everything else in between that draws. They don’t know how to do that anymore. They’re just doing what they know how to do and that’s “wrestling”.”
On Vince McMahon wanting The Rock vs Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31: “This is my opinion. I’m the biggest fan from the guys from my era and generation. I mark out when I see Shawn Michaels come out last week. When I see The Rock, I mark out. But, there has to come a point in time, in my opinion, where the WWE stops relying on that older talent to get a boost in the ratings. They have enough talent now. The talent is there. They have some guys that are unbelievable! That article I wrote for PyroandBallyhoo.com, where I talked about Rollins and the Shield, the fact that they split up the Shield and made stars out of all three is unbelievable! That is a great accomplishment by the WWE. They’ve got those guys, they’ve got Bray Wyatt, the talent is there. At some point, you have to start going with what you have and build that up. You have to stop relying on Hogan, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, as much as we love to see them, you gotta bring Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins to that level. I think Vince is out of his mind to go with Brock Lesnar vs The Rock. At some point, the future of the WWE has to be now! It can’t be the Attitude Era, it has to be now!”
– The official WWE website is currently running a poll asking fans who they feel will be the next WWE Divas Champion. The options are Alexa Bliss, Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks, Bayley, Tamina Snuka, Summer Rae, Rosa Mendes, Eva Marie, Naomi, Emma, Charlotte and Cameron. With over 10,000 votes cast, Naomi is leading the pack with over 30 percent of the vote. Trailing Naomi are Charlotte, Eva Marie, Summer Rae, Emma and Tamina Snuka, respectively. You can vote on the poll at WWE.com.
– As noted earlier today, The Rock’s ex-wife and manager, Dany Garcia, won at the IFBB Championships this past weekend. The Rock congratulated her on Twitter, tweeting the following on Sunday:
– Former WWE talent Ricardo Rodriguez wrestled his first post-WWE match on Sunday night at the Team Vision Dojo in Orlando, Florida. Rodriguez wrestled under the name “Chimaera” and wore a mask.
– WWE Diva Tamina Snuka noted on Twitter that The Rock’s ex-wife Dany Garcia won at the 2014 International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IBFFF) Championships this past weekend. Tamina tweeted the following:
– The movie “Guardians of the Galaxy,” which stars Batista, finished number one at the box office yet again in its’ fifth weekend, earning $16.31 million for the weekend. The Rock’s movie “Hercules” is now down to 337 theaters and earned an estimated $600,000.
– Alberto Del Rio is currently being advertised to appear at the AAA events in Puerto Vallarta on September 13th and 14th.
After much hype and anticipation, the new The Monday Night War program finally hit the WWE Network this past week. Thus far, the original pilot episode that aired a few weeks back and two new episodes are available for streaming on the Network.
After announcing the launch of the WWE Network, this program was probably the most hyped original piece of programming to hit the Network. In fact, they purposely saved it in order to entice the initial round of subscribers to stick around for another six months.
The second episode of the series was very similar to the nWo DVD that was released a few years back.
So, after all of the hype and build for the newest WWE original series, was it worth the wait? After flying through the first three episodes, unfortunately it does not seem to add much to the Monday Night War discussion.
There are a few shortcomings that are immediately apparent. Most importantly, it seems to gloss over an entire era in just under an hour. The first episode was off to a great start, with Ted Turner’s acquisition of WCW serving as an adequate launching point. It was a quality pilot for the series and it was expected that the company would take a slow, in-depth look at the era.
However, episodes two and three of the series quickly took the wind out of the sails. The nWo episode, while entertaining, provided nothing that was not already available on the nWo DVD that was released a few years back. In fact, nearly all of the commentary that was featured on the Monday Night War episode was directly lifted from that release.
The same held true for the third episode, which discussed the Attitude Era. Instead of offering a fresh perspective, it basically took the same approach as the DVD box set that was released a few years back. This episode also relied on commentary that is many years old.
My question after watching the first three episodes is simple: Where do they go from here? At the end of episode three, they were already to the end of the Attitude Era and discussed the acquisition of WCW, basically glossing over the entire feud in a little less than an hour.
The following are highlights of a new Alternative Nation interview with Hornswoggle:
On a backstage conversation he had with The Rock: “I told him, ‘I met you backstage the night you came back in [Anaheim], when you were revealed as the guest host for WrestleMania, and you thought I was a Make a Wish kid. You tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Did you have a good time tonight buddy?’ Then you walked off and you realized it, then you said to Big Show, ‘Hornswoggle thinks I thought he was a Make a Wish kid, and I did think he was.’”
On the Vince McMahon son angle: “I did that for about three months, where I was his son, maybe longer, and there were days in the beginning where I would go, ‘Oh my god, I’m working with the most powerful man in wrestling.’ Then I realized that he’s joking around, he’s playing ribs on guys more than I am. You just realize that he is this billionaire, but still just loves this business. When it comes to wrestling, I use that word instead of sports entertainment, I use wrestling all the time, because I am a wrestling fan. CM Punk once said this is still wrestling to us, this isn’t sports entertainment to us, because we grew up on wrestling.”
On Finlay: “My old buddy, my ‘Dad’ Dave Finlay. He’s still working backstage as an agent and producer, and he has helped me more than anybody else in this company. He has gone to bat for me more times that he probably wanted to, and that’s because he literally cares about me as a son.”
– Part-time WWE Superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was at HBO Studios this week to work on his new sports-comedy series, “Baller$.” Rock noted that production for the show is expected to begin in the near future.
– Below is the intro for WWE’s new “The Best Of Sting” DVD and Blu-ray video.
There are many people within WWE who are under the impression that as the “Guardians of the Galaxy” film continues to enjoy more and more success, that the chances that Batista will ever return as a full-time performer in WWE decreases.
When “The Animal” left a few months ago, the belief among many was that he would be back as soon as his media obligations were done for the film, however those same people have been changing their tune as of late.
Apparently, the topic of Batista was a big one backstage at this past weekend’s WWE live events. The feeling is that he will receive a lot more offers from Hollywood after the success of “Guardians,” which much like The Rock, means he’s likely not to work as much in WWE for fear of getting injured and ruining his chances at working in more movies.
There have been some rumors going around that claim Vince McMahon “isn’t on board” for a Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar main event at WrestleMania 31. As we noted in multiple reports over the past week or so, all indications point to the fact that Reigns will be the guy to finally end Lesnar’s streak of dominance at the Santa Clara-based event next year.
Apparently, some people are under the impression that Triple H is pushing for Reigns vs. Lesnar, while McMahon would rather secure The Rock for a big WrestleMania main event again and have Rock vs. Lesnar headline the show.
According to one source, whether or not that was the case at one point, McMahon and HHH are apparently both on the same page now, with Reigns vs. Lesnar being the current working plan for the main event of next year’s biggest event.
Batista’s movie “Guardians of the Galaxy” finished number one again in its’ fourth week at the box office, earning $17.63 million this weekend, bringing its’ total to $251.88 million.
By comparison, The Rock’s “Hercules” film, which is in its’ fifth week, did not place in the top 15 this weekend, expected to earn $830,000 for a domestic total of $69.92 million.
In Australia, “Guardians of the Galaxy” finished at number one as well, while The Rock’s “Hercules” finished at number five.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has confirmed that he will either play the hero role of Shazam or the villain role of Black Adam in an upcoming DC Comics film project.
Forr more information about the film and the aforementioned characters, visit ScreenRelish.com.
The Rock also took to Twitter to thank fans for their support of “Hercules” in its’ Mexico City premiere. Rock tweeted the following:
The following are highlights of a new Yahoo! Sports interview with WWE Hall Of Famer Hulk Hogan:
YS: How close were you to coming to tears during Monday’s birthday tribute video during Monday Night Raw?
HH: That was brutal, dude. They do things at WWE sometimes because I’m what they call a “veteran.” Vince [McMahon] trusts me and he doesn’t let me in on all the secrets like at WrestleMania XXX when I’m out in the ring and here comes The Rock and Stone Cold [Steve Austin]. It could have been an explosive situation. I didn’t know what these two were up to, but Vince thought that was really, really funny. It’s kind of like when I went out on Monday for my birthday and they gave me a little sheet that said you’re going to go to the ring and “Mean” Gene [Okerlund] is going to play a package.
I didn’t think about what they were going to do but the package was so compelling. It just really rocked me because it showed all these WrestleMania moments. These high points in my career like my son, Nick, and my daughter, Brooke, when I was getting inducted in the Hall of Fame. Thank goodness I had my yellow sunglasses on, bro, because they had me really off balance with that deal. I wasn’t expecting that package to be so compelling.
YS: Despite all the clashes with Vince McMahon in the past, you always find yourself back with the WWE. Is this final run the proper closure you need to end your career?
HH: Yeah, this is the period at the end of the sentence. This is where I need to be. Vince McMahon and I have always been good friends. On a personal level he would do anything for me, for you, for anyone he loves. He would give you the shirt off his back. On a business level? He’s a different animal. Cut and dry. Black and white. Sometimes I would wobble between the lines and mix up business and personal. If anyone kind of defected over the years, it was me. So for me to be back with him — I did start with his dad in the late ’70s, Vince McMahon Sr. — and for me to come full circle and Vince and everybody to be gracious enough to let me end my career where I started my home in the WWE is really a great way to wind things up and just put a period at the end of the sentence. I’m really glad to be back.
YS: John Cena, who was sporting the red and yellow t-shirt on Monday Night RAW. Did you sign off on that?
HH: Don’t get me started.
YS: In a recent interview, Steve Austin said he’s a bigger legend than Hulk Hogan. What are your thoughts about that?
HH: I think that’s in his own mind. My career was twice as long as his. I’ve been a main eventer since 1978 when we sold out Shea Stadium. I just totally disagree with him. I know he had a good run when he was in the Attitude Era. I don’t know how long the Attitude Era was — four years, eight years — I don’t know how long it was. That’s where we totally disagree. Maybe he and I should lock up and figure this thing out. That would be a nice match.
YS: Do you think we will see Sting in a WWE ring?
HH: Sting and I last talked when he made his appearance at Comic-Con and they announced he was part of the WWE Universe and that his dolls were coming out. We had a long talk on the plane and I said, “Brother, you have got to wrestle. I mean, I don’t care what kind of deal you signed, I said you can still go. You’ve never made a mark in the WWE.
I was begging you to come here in the ’80s and the ’90s and now you just show up out of nowhere. You’ve got to wrestle.” So, I hope it happens really soon. And I think by the time I beat on him for the three hours from Los Angeles to Dallas that I think we were on the same page and he knows that he needs to get in that ring and leave his mark in the WWE and make a huge statement. I hope it happens sooner than later.
The following is an excerpt from a new Facebook blog by Afa the Wild Samoan. Afa talks about the rough week he and his family have had with Ata and Lina being involved in an automobile accident with a drunk driver.
“The last two weeks have been very difficult for me and my family. The world now knows about the terrible car accident that happened just after our 6th Annual Usos Foundation Fundraising Banquet in Minneola, FL on August 2nd. The event was beautiful and heartfelt. There was a lot of love in the room, as there is each and every year. After our event, we were heading to a local Clermont restaurant to continue our celebration, and we were in a convoy of cars, which included my family, students, WXW Wrestlers, and Foundation supporters. Due to a drunk driver’s carelessness, one of our cars was struck. My cousin Ata Maivia-Johnson and niece Lina Fanene were the driver and passenger in the car that was struck head-on. It could have been my daughter a few cars ahead, it could have been my own vehicle with my wife, son Jaye, and grandchildren, it could have been any one of my students or wrestlers.
Just when the accident happened, the car immediately in front of them, containing my student, WXW Superstar Noah Kekoa, called me to alert me that Ata had gotten in an accident. I thank God that she had such a strong, safe vehicle, because they survived what could have been a fatal tragedy. There was so much chaos at the scene of the accident, police threatening to arrest us, as we all jumped out of our cars to help them. My only thought was to get to Ata’s side and see her with my own eyes. I was so relieved when I heard her voice, as she told the First Responder “Call Dwayne! Call my son!” Everyone in our group except for myself and Noah was forced to wait at a gas station across from the scene, waiting in helpless panic, not knowing the extent of the injuries.
We all headed to the Emergency Room, and there were so many of my family, wrestlers, students, and foundation supporters, including former Minneola Mayor and dear family friend David Yeager, all waiting there with us, praying, refusing to leave our side. I can’t express enough how comforting it was to have everyone there during this terrifying time. I was the first one allowed to go in to see Ata and Lina in the emergency room, and they were also very thankful that we were all there for them. Ata asked me to send them all home, because it was well after midnight at this time. She was concerned about them driving home. Imagine, after such a terrible ordeal, being concerned about everyone else. That’s just the kind of person Ata is.”>
– Jim Ross has debuted a new FOX Sports editorial on John Cena on Monday, which looks at why he is such a polarizing figure that many fans don’t embrace. You can check out the feature at FOXSports.com.
– TMZ has coverage of The Rock’s mother and cousin being involved in a drunk-driving accident. The celebrity-gossip website is reporting that the female driver who fled the police and then collided with a car driven by Ata Maivia-Johnson and Lina Fanene in Clermont, Florida has been charged with a DUI. You can check out their coverage at TMZ.com.
The Rock posted the following on Instagram on Sunday, addressing his mother and cousin being struck by a drunk driver.
“My mom & cousin @linafanene were struck head on by a drunk driver this week – they lived. First reaction is to find the person who did this and do unrelenting harm to them. But then you realize the most important thing is my family lived thru this and we can hug each other that much tighter these days. Hug your own family tighter today and be grateful you can tell them you love them. #BearHugsAndGratitude #100PercentPreventable #ChoicesMatter”
Below is Rock’s Instagram post, which features a photo of the accident:
The following are highlights of a new Interview Magazine interview with The Rock:
What he eats for breakfast: “My typical breakfast: Seven oz. filet, two whole eggs, four oz. of plain oatmeal, two English muffins, one-half cup of blueberries.”
His beauty secrets: “Exfoliate, eat smart, train hard, stay hydrated and have amazing gorilla sex—in terms of heat and aggression, not sex with an actual gorilla.”
Does he get nervous? “When I was in my very early 20s, my parents had a tumultuous relationship, and when my phone would ring in the middle of the night, it usually meant I would hear my mom crying on the other end. I hated that. It made me nervous. They’ve since divorced and are good friends. Not much makes me nervous these days.”
What is he reading right now? “Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, and after watching a documentary about him, I just picked up Pimp: The Story of My Life by Iceberg Slim.”
The movie “Guardians of the Galaxy,” which features Batista in a significant role, opened up with $37.8 million for its’ first day, easily beating The Rock’s “Hercules” film, which didn’t draw as much in its’ entire opening weekend.
To be fair, however, Batista’s film opened up in 500 more theaters than “Hercules.” Additionally, Batista has been receiving great reviews for his work in the film.
– The Rock’s new film “Hercules” did $29,800,263 in its’ opening weekend, finishing second behind “Lucy,” which brought in $43.9 million. While the “Hercules” number isn’t spectacular by any means for an opening of a $100 million budget movie, it was higher than industry projections.
– As noted recently, WWE has added some additional dates to the schedule of Brock Lesnar. As far as the build to SummerSlam is concerned, while Lesnar is only scheduled to appear one more time on RAW, the “go-home” edition of the show on August 11th, there is a chance that he may appear on next week’s show as well.
Yesterday, WWE.com published an interview with Curtis Axel, who spoke about helping The Rock and Brock Lesnar get back into ring shape prior to their WWE returns in recent years.
The article failed to mention that former WWE Superstar Curt Hawkins was the one who primarily helped The Rock prepare for his WWE return match against John Cena at WrestleMania 28.
Curt Hawkins caught wind of the article and responded on Twitter:
He also re-tweeted a photo of The Rock giving him a Rock Bottom, joking that “Curtis Axel’s hair looks fantastic” – since it was actually him in the picture:
Curtis Axel spoke to WWE.com this week about his experience training with The Rock and Brock Lesnar prior to their respective WWE returns. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
Why WWE Picked Him To Work With The Rock:
“I think that I gained some trust within the WWE organization, and they picked me because they had faith in me being safe, not injuring him and really making him step up his game to get his wind ready, and his body back in shape for all the strenuous activity he was about to endure at WrestleMania. So I think they just had trust in me, and I think that’s what it boiled down to. Plus, we both come from a pedigree. Me and Rock have always had that bond, just because of the generational thing. So I think that had something to do with it. He trusted me, and WWE trusted me, so that’s how all that came about.”
What He Learned From The Rock:
“Just how to gauge crowd reactions, after you do something just to live in that moment and have the people eat it up. It’s just timing, stuff that a lot of people watching at home don’t realize. The facial expressions, when to take your time with things. Don’t rush things. Just little, tiny things that you don’t think about when you’re starting out. I’m still improving in that aspect, so I watched The Rock and I listened to The Rock when I was there. Just those little details, the timing and getting the crowd’s reaction and stuff like that. It really helped.”
What It Was Like Training With Brock Lesnar:
“Nonstop. I mean, we would wrestle a half-hour without a break, just going back and forth and basically doing a whole match. There was a moment, and he might get mad at me for saying this, but there was a moment where we stopped for a second and he said to me, “I’m going to beat your ass all the way to the corner, and then I’m going to take a step back. And when I come back to you, I want you to beat my ass all the way back to the other corner. And if it’s not up to my standards, if it’s not sufficient enough and I don’t think you’re aggressive, you know what’s going to happen to you.”
During a recent Reddit A.M.A. chat, The Rock spoke about his plans to start a one-man show. The Rock said the following:
“Funny (not literally) you asked. One of our 7 Bucks Entertainment prod goals for 2015 is to start the development for a “Rock One Man Show” live. Comedy, singing (w/ my Willie guitar of course), stories and anecdotes, audience interaction and how to rock a fanny pack without looking too much like a buff lesbian.”
Speaking of The Rock, below is a new interview with him from The Buzzer.
WWE legend and Hollywood megastar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson appeared on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday night to promote his new movie Hercules, which hits theaters this Friday.
In the first clip, The Rock and Jimmy talk about Hercules and the photo The Rock posted on social media last weekend of himself from the mid-90’s sporting a turtleneck and fanny pack. When asked what exactly he kept in the mysterious fanny pack, he gave a classic “Rock” answer. He’s also presented with a “special” limited edition Hercules action figure.
In the following clips, The Rock and Jimmy show did a sketch of themselves portraying semi-famous fitness duo called, “The Fungo Brothers.”
– In addition to “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” The Rock will be appearing on Kelly & Michael on Tuesday and Conan O’Brien on Thursday to promote the release of his new film, “Hercules.”
– WWE added the following video to their official YouTube channel today, which features a behind-the-scenes look at United States Champion Sheamus’ guest-starring role on the USA Network series “Royal Pains,” which premieres Tuesday night.
The Rock will be teaming up with DC Comics to star in a new super hero movie. During an interview to promote Hercules, The Rock said there’s a major announcement coming soon regarding the role.
The Rock has been rumored to be starring in movies starring comic book characters Lobo or Green Lantern, but it looks like he’ll be portraying Shazam.
Originally known as Captain Marvel, Shazam is the story of a young boy, Billy Batson, who is granted the power to transform into a Superman-like superhero by simply saying the word ‘Shazam’.
The Rock is coy about the identity of the role, but teases that he’s like Superman and says, “Just say the word.”