The Rock has provided an update on his injury status after tearing his abdominal and adductor tendons off his pelvis at WrestleMania. He tweeted this image (click to enlarge) of himself giving John Cena a Rock Bottom right after realizing he was injured:
My "Hmm.. I think I just tore tendons off my pelvis" face.
The former WWE Champion is scheduled to begin filming “Hercules” later this month and there was obviously some concern that his abdominal injury would delay production of the film.
Speaking of The Rock, he’ll be making his first public appearance tonight since WrestleMania. He’ll be doing a movie premiere for “Pain & Gain” in South Beach, Miami tonight at the Regal South Beach Stadium 18 theater. The red-carpet even starts at 6:30 p.m.
– WWEShop.com is selling new WWE Championship belt rings for $50, including John Cena’s new WWE Championship.
– WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley says the elbow drop he gave to Chris Jericho at the Hall of Fame ceremony was not scripted. Foley told Raj Giri of WrestlingINC:
“It came as a complete surprise to me, as did CM Punk coming out doing the very un-bad-guy thing with doing the three count and hugging me on stage. For that one night, there are no good guys and bad guys.”
– Several video game websites have picked up the story of The Rock appearing on the cover of the upcoming WWE 2K14 video game, due out this fall.
– The WWE In Your House DVD and Blu-Ray will be released on 4/30.
– CM Punk was kept off of Monday’s RAW to sell the effects of his match against The Undertaker. Paul Heyman announced on the show that Punk will be back next week.
– After losing the WWE Championship to John Cena at WrestleMania 29, it was stated on RAW that The Rock is the #1 contender by way of his rematch clause.
– On Monday’s RAW, Kane and Daniel Bryan saved The Undertaker from almost receiving a 3-on-1 beatdown at the hands of The Shield. The babyfaces chased the heels off and got a big reaction from the rowdy New Jersey crowd. When RAW went to commercial break, the 3 men exited up the ramp together, stopped on the stage, and all did Undertaker’s signature fist raise together.
There is said to be absolute chaos backstage at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, site of tonight’s RAW.
Former WWE Champion The Rock, who was scheduled to open the show and take part in a huge angle, reportedly flew home to Los Angeles this morning and will not be at the show. This is not part of a storyline – and WWE sources indicate that Rock’s departure caught the company completely off guard.
The original plan was for The Rock to cut a promo about WrestleMania 29, only to be interrupted by Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman. Lesnar was going to attack The Rock and plant the seeds for a rumored WrestleMania 30 main event between the two.
Vince McMahon and WWE writers and producers are busy re-writing the show.
There is reportedly another major angle planned for tonight to set up John Cena’s next title defense at Extreme Rules.
– The latest weather forecast for WrestleMania on Sunday is sunny with a high of 62 and a low of 49.
– The Miz was in Staten Island yesterday doing a Be A Star rally. Silive.com has video from the event as well as an interview with The Miz.
– Here is this week’s episode of The JBL & Cole Show featuring a special appearance from WWE Champion The Rock:
“In this edition of the “JBL & Cole Show,” The Rock makes a special appearance, Justin Gabriel pulls off some sick motorcycle stunts, and Damien Sandow returns!”
– WWE champion The Rock spoke to the Associated Press this week about criticism from the WWE locker room that he’s a part time star taking a top spot in the company.
“For the guys in the locker room, it has to be more than just, ‘I’m ready to carry the company.” he said. “It has to be, ‘I’m ready to carry the company and then I’m ready to carry the company to places it’s never been.’ That’s hard to do considering the precedent that’s already been set.”
– Triple H has reportedly reached out to the legendary Ivan Koloff about attending WrestleMania weekend. Koloff has a lot of history with Bruno Sammartino and is being considered for the 2014 WWE Hall of Fame class.
New York City’s Hot 97 DJ Peter Rosenberg got exclusive interviews with several WWE Superstars at this week’s WrestleMania 29 media press conference, including John Cena, CM Punk, The Rock and Mark Henry.
All of them have big expectations for this weekend’s WrestleMania 29 pay-per-view – and CM Punk has a special message for us “smart” fans.
John Cena spoke to the Associated Press this week to hype Sunday’s WrestleMania 29 pay-per-view. Cena complimented The Rock on his work ethic and in the process, took a shot at other Superstars who are complainers:
“I wish we had one guy with 10 percent of his vision and his aspiration,” Cena said. “When he gets a small opportunity, he kicks the damn door down and owns the horse. Often times here, we have Superstars that remind me of a hamster on the treadmill and those are the guys that usually complain. I don’t take too kindly to them. I’m fortunate Rock’s here and I’m glad he’s here. He can show up whenever he wants.”
Cena also said he gained even more respect for The Rock last year when The Rock announced his intentions to go after the WWE Championship.
“I always knew he loved the business,” Cena said. “He loves it so much now that he really is the busiest person in the history of the WWE. He’s everywhere at once. He can do everything and still compete as WWE champion.”
* WRESTLEMANIA 29 Results We Are Going To AXXESS, HOF & WM29 and Will Have Exclusive Photos From All The Events!
WWE Champion The Rock was interviewed by the Associated Press this week to hype WrestleMania 29 this weekend, calling it the biggest show of his career. Despite the fact that last year’s showdown was billed as Once In A Lifetime, The Rock said the re-match made sense because it was “still the biggest money-match the promotion could offer in the Super Bowl of sports entertainment.”
Despite the fact that he appeared at the WrestleMania 30 press conference and implied he’d be at that event, The Rock Johnson told the Associated Press that he’s unsure if he will wrestle again at next year’s WrestleMania. The AP reported: “Johnson said he hasn’t decided if he’ll participate in WrestleMania 30 next year in New Orleans.”
As for his crazy schedule of balancing WWE, movies, TV shows, commercials and promotional appearances, The Rock said, “I never feel that it’s too much, “because I’m aware of the plan. I put the plan together (laughs). But in that, comes really incredible challenges that require a lot of people to embrace the vision of it, to support it.”
* WRESTLEMANIA 29 Results We Are Going To AXXESS, HOF & WM29 and Will Have Exclusive Photos From All The Events!
– After his match against Fandango at Sunday’s WrestleMania 29 pay-per-view, Chris Jericho is scheduled for next week’s WWE RAW and SmackDown tapings before heading over seas to the UK to tour with his metal band Fozzy. Jericho is now advertised for the April 22nd WWE live event from the 02 Arena in London, England. That is the last date he’s scheduled for.
– WWE posted this video of Antonio Cesaro training for WrestleMania 29, even though he’s not booked for a match on the show:
Antonio Cesaro shows what keeps him the United States Champion with this epic work out.
– WWE has announced that The Undertaker will be replacing Ric Flair at Thursday night’s Axxess VIP signing. Undertaker’s original VIP signing scheduled for Friday night is still on.
– Here is the official description for The Rock’s new mobile video game, ROCKpocalypse:
“Studio 51, Hollywood, CA. The Rock is on set filming his latest movie when suddenly everything goes terribly, horribly wrong. People on the lot are changing – becoming infected with a mysterious pathogen that turns them into violent, angry beats. The Rock knows he is the only one who can end it and end it now – but to do so he must battle his way though the different sound stages to get to the source of the problem and save us all.”
– WWE superstar Sin Cara tweeted the following picture of his hotel room key for WrestleMania weekend. Based on the location of his Foursquare checkin, it appears the WWE crew will be staying at the The Westin Jersey City Newport hotel in Jersey City.
WWE has released the new “ROCKpocalypse” mobile game featuring WWE Champion The Rock. The game is a 3D open-world action game available for iOS and Android. You can download the game at the following links – and check out these screenshots –
– Last week’s 3/29 episode of WWE SmackDown drew a 2.0 cable rating with 2.85 million viewers. Despite an appearance from WWE Champion The Rock, this was down from last week (2.11 rating, 3 million viewers). SmackDown was the #3 most-watched cable show for the night.
– The Rock tweeted the following on Monday, stating that tonight’s RAW will be the most meaningful RAW of his career:
Eagle has landed – DC. Tonight will be the most meaningful @WWE RAW of my career. Honored its in our nation's capitol.. #BringIt
– WWE has released a video of Triple H training for his upcoming No Holds Barred match at WrestleMania 29. During the video, Hunter explains that he changed his workout program a few years ago to focus more on conditioning instead of having a bodybuilder physique.
– WWEShop.com has released new “Know Your Worth” t-shirts for the Prime Time Players.
– Forbes.com has an interview up with Kane, who talks about his Team Hell No tag team, WrestleMania 29 and the 2K Sports Video Game Challenge at WWE Axxess.
– G.I. Joe Retaliation took in over $130 million during it’s opening weekend, with around $50 million coming domestically and $80 million coming internationally. The decision to delay the movie’s release by 9 months to convert it to 3D (to charge higher ticket prices) has paid off quite nicely.
Paramount pictures has officially started work on a third G.I. Joe film, so The Rock has another blockbuster movie to add to his schedule.
– G.I. Joe: Retaliation looks to be having a strong opening weekend at the box office. According to Deadline.com, early data shows the movie pulled in $10.5 million on Thursday (including $2.5m from some Wednesday midnight screenings) and around $15 million on Friday. If they can keep up that pace, it will do around $45-50 million for the four-and-a-half day Easter weekend. Audiences gave it an A- CinemaScore, better than the first installment’s (B+).
– WWE has announced Gerrit Meier as new Executive Vice President of International, reporting directly to Vince McMahon.
– The Baltimore Sunhas an interview with Hacksaw Duggan, talking about his career, older wrestlers still performing and more.
– The official WWE website held a poll Friday asking who Divas Champion Kaitlyn should defend her title against. AJ Lee was the runaway winner, capturing over 70% of the vote. A member of The Bella Twins, however, pondered on Twitter whether Lee is even actually a “Diva,” while also taking the opportunity to slam her promiscuous behavior.
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WWE Champion The Rock appeared on Jimmy Kimmel last night to hype promote G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Although he did not have the WWE Championship belt with him, The Rock did speak about WWE during a good portion of the interview. The Rock talked about his crazy schedule, training and dieting for both WrestleMania 29 and the upcoming film Hercules at the same time.
Kimmel asked The Rock why he needs to focus on his match against John Cena at WrestleMania if the outcome is per-determined. The Rock laughed off the remark and said, “Here’s the thing. If I lose, ‘God, it’s phony. If I win, then it’s real.”
The Rock talked about starting with WWE back in 1996, when he had zero wrestling experience and showed up with “no trunks, no boots, no nothing.” Kimmel asked him if he had to wrestle naked. The Rock said he was then sent back to the minor-leagues and had to start from the bottom, wrestling in flea-markets, used-car dealerships, and barns, where fans threw batteries at him and cut him with exacto-knives. Kimmel said, “I guess it worked out.”
WWE Champion The Rock did a “Rock Talk” live chat with his fans on Twitter on Thursday evening and spoke about everything from WrestleMania 29, his movie career, his diet and more. Here are some highlights of what he said:
“My fav Wrestlemania moment will come April 7. Met Life Stadium. The greatest way I can give back to the @WWE. #RockTalk”
“My current diet is a 14 week prep to shoot Hercules. 7 meals a day. Protein/carbs/greens. Zero fat. It’s a bitch;). #RockTalk”
“Making #GIJoeRetaliation & playing Roadblock was a childhood dream come true. Super cool, plus Block’s a bad mofo! #RockTalk”
“Prep for #GIJoeRetaliation fight scenes was tough. Trained w Navy SEALs & fight choreographers. Had to look legit. #RockTalk”
“Working w/ Michael Bay & Wahlberg on PAIN & GAIN was solid. My boys. P&G will be unlike anything you’ve ever seen..;) #RockTalk”
“3 important things I learned for success: Stay hungry, humble & surround yourself w/ quality peeps. (And eat pancakes) #RockTalk”
“I want to play a Jedi, Space Cowboy & Evil Sith all rolled into one. Anything’s possible – calling JJ! #StarWars #RockTalk”
– CM Punk is still expected to be taking time off after WrestleMania 29, with many people in WWE expecting that he’s more banged up than he’s letting on. Punk has reportedly been at odds with WWE’s creative team in recent months, but he’s also burnt out from being one of WWE’s top work horses over the past two years.
With CM Punk out of action after WrestleMania, WWE has secured both WWE Champion The Rock as well as Brok Lesnar for May’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view. Even though the event is not considered one of WWE’s “A” pay-per-views, the star power of The Rock and Brock Lesnar as well as the 6-week buildup after WrestleMania are strong signs that the show will do a buyrate.
– The producers of the new Bruno Sammartino movie are interested in working with WWE Studios to fund and produce the project.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights of what JR wrote about:
Terry Funk Inducting Mick Foley:
“Great choice by Mick Foley to select Terry Funk to induct Mr. Foley’s baby boy at the 2013 WWE HOF induction ceremony. The Funker is Mick’s mentor and idol. I think it’s pretty cool when a Hall of Fame inductee can actually have their all time favorite wrestler, their father like figure within the business and their role model as it relates to in ring style and approach to the game induct them.”
Ric Flair’s Medical Situation:
“Got a text from Ric Flair early this morning and Naitch is feeling great and has been provided medication to dissolve the blood clot that is in his leg. The doctor’s are highly optimistic that the meds will do the trick and eliminate a potentially, dangerous issue. Ric and I will get together Wednesday evening in Jersey to catch up which is one of our WrestleMania traditions.”
Fandango vs. Y2J:
“Fandango is a lightning rod right now because many or perhaps a few vocal ‘fans’ don’t like the TV persona even though they have yet to see it fully on display in a match of significance. I’m of the persuasion that I’ll reserve my opinions until I actually see the talent get it on bell to bell. Chris Jericho is the perfect opponent to perform with Fandango at WM29 because Jericho is all about stealing the show ala the great @ShawnMichaels no matter Y2J’s role. Fandango can also expect Jericho to beat the hell out of him along the way. Believe that!”
The Rock vs. John Cena:
“Enjoying the serious nature that the Rock/Cena rivalry has taken the past few weeks and it is a departure from 2012 or so it seems to me. Closing a WrestleMania with such high expectations and having a ‘different’ match than last year are tremendous responsibilities notwithstanding the fact that the match is for the WWE Title which should be the primary issue. Cena vs. Rock is a target of varying levels of controversy from some fans but pales in comparison to what their own peers will place upon the show closers in their own matches at WM29.”
– WWE will be heavily promoting The Rock’s new movie “Pain & Gain” at WrestleMania Axxess, with several stars from the film making appearances at the fan fest.
Pictures Of THE ROCK’s Smokin’ Hot Girlfriend
– WWE champion “The Rock” Dwayne Johnson appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America” and “Live with Kelly & Michael” on Wednesday morning to promote the new “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” movie.
On Good Morning America, Rock talked about being a huge fan of G.I. Joe and Star Wars as a kid, his co-star Channing Tatum being named “World Sexiest Man” as well as his favorite part of getting into shape for the movies – his epic “cheat days.” They wheeled out a cart of what The Rock eats on his cheat days – including a dozen pancakes, double-dough pizza (2 pies on top of each other) and brownies that have peanut butter cookies inside of them.
On Live With Kelly & Michael, The Rock spoke a lot about WWE, including the significance of WrestleMania returning home to the New York Market and why he returned to WWE. He also presented host Michael Strahan with a replica WWE Title belt. Here’s video of the appearance:
– The dark main event after last night’s WWE SmackDown tapings in Hershey, PA saw Randy Orton, Ryback adn Sheamus defeat The Shield by DQ when they hit Ryback with a steel chair. The Shield was setting up Ryback for the 3-man powerbomb onto a chair, but Orton and Sheamus make the save and the babyfaces hit their finishers to end the show.
