— Former WWE star Jim Neidhart was arrested yesterday for driving without a license and for operating an unregistered vehicle after being pulled over at 1800 Orient Road in Tampa, Florida. He was released after paying a $750 surety bond.
— Former WWE Divas Champion Jillian Hall returns to the ring for Family Wrestling Entertainment in Brooklyn, New York on May 14 at St. Finbar’s Gym. She will face TNA Knockout Winter in her return match. Tickets are on sale at fwewrestling.com. Eric Young will also be on hand for the event.
— Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson” appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! tonight on ABC.
— WWE is holding an event on November 11, 2011 at the O2 Arena in London, England. Tickets go on sale April 20, 2011.
– It was announced over the weekend that The Rock will be returning to Monday Night RAW on his birthday, May 2nd, when RAW returns to his home town of Miami. The Rock tweeted over the weekend:
“It’s official: I’m celebrating my birthday on RAW! In my home town Miami on May 2nd. THE PEOPLE’S BIRTHDAY! A historic ROCK RAW…”
– Speaking of The Rock, he’ll be making the late-night television rounds this week to promote his new movie Fast Five. Rock will appear on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel show Tuesday night (4/19) and on TBS’ Lopez Tonight on Wednesday (4/20).
– Regarding The Rock’s return to WWE RAW on 5/2, Mick Foley teased on twitter that he might ask TNA for permission to appear on the show. In response to fans asking him if he’d appear at The Rock’s upcoming birthday celebration – Foley tweeted:
“Is @therock really having a birthday party on Raw? Maybe they’ll show a clip of th pardookie I threw him in ’99. Think Yurple will show up?”
“I just received 57 messages in the last 2 min -The people WANT the Mick @therock ‘s party, they NEED the Mick @therock ‘s party!”
Foley added moments later, “And 62 new ones in the last two minutes as well. Guess it couldn’t hurt to ask for a one day furlough from TNA to help @therock celebrate.”
-Foley also announced on Twitter that he has raised $30,000 for the RAINN charity.
The American Airlines Arena in Miami, FL has announced that The Rock will be on hand when the arena hosts WWE Monday Night RAW on May 2nd – which also happens to be The Rock’s birthday.
SEScops.com will also be there live in person! We’ll be posting lots of exclusive pictures and videos here and on the SEScoops facebook page, so stay tuned for that as well.
Here is the American Airlines Arena’s official announcement:
KMART PRESENTS WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW
MONDAY, MAY 2, 2011-8:15PM
THE PEOPLE’S CHAMPION- DWAYNE ’THE ROCK” JOHNSON -RETURNS TO HIS HOMETOWN OF MIAMI- LIVE AT THE AMERICANAIRLINES ARENA TO CELEBRATE HIS BIRTHDAY!
BE THERE LIVE IN MIAMI FOR THE ’BIGGEST BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION ON TELEVISION!”
WWE Champion The Miz spoke with The Miami Herald this week and had this to say about the following topics:
Fans’ reaction to him: “The fans always cheer me at events like Axxess or the press conferences. Then at live events they boo me, but show me the respect I deserve. They didn’t do that three years ago, when they literally hated me and couldn’t stand me. They changed the channel, when I was on TV. Now I think I’m starting to earn their respect, which is good.”
The Rock: “The Rock was my favorite growing up. He has always been my favorite. I was able to get in there and upstage him and literally show him that I’m better. It’s like when you see an icon or someone you idolize when you are younger. Then you are in the ring with him and are able to show him up. To show everyone you are better than your idol, there is nothing better than that.”
WrestleMania 28 in Miami: “I will still be the main event. I plan on still being the WWE champion. I plan on being the longest reigning WWE champion of all time. It’s just the type of person I am. I am always aiming to be number one and the best. So I will be the champion, the main event and everything everyone else isn’t.”
Credit to SEScoops.com reader Kevin McGuffy for this recap of The Rock on Ellen:
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was a guest on the Ellen DeGeneres show today. She began by asking him, “Is it Dwayne or are you still The Rock.” He said both, “I will always be The Rock but I am Dwayne too.”
They talked about Wrestlemania 27 Rock says it was incredible because he had 70,000 people chanting “If you smell what The Rock is cooking.” Rock says there is no other platform to get that kind of response.
Ellen asked since it had been 7 years were you rusty. He said no it is just like riding a bike you slip right back into it. There is nothing like performing in front of a live audience.
She mentioned you are getting in the ring again, he said in his hometown of Miami next year at Wrestlemania 28 he will be kicking ass and taking names. The funny thing is he never mentioned John Cena.
They showed a clip of Snooki and he said celebrities always want to be a part of Wrestlemania but she took it seriously and trained her butt off.
She asked about Team Bring It, he explained the concept behind it saying Regardless of whatever challenge you face, you always take it head on and never be afraid. Ellen read three responses from Rock’s Twitter says how the Team Bring It had helped them
After a commercial they talked briefly about Fast 5 and then played a True or False game.
Question 1: I am afraid of spiders, roller coasters and miniature horses- Ellen said False and the answer was True
Question 2– I appeared in an episode of Star Trek- Ellen said False but again that answer was True
Question 3– I appeared in the first video of Lady GaGa- Ellen said False and it is False
Question 4– I wanted to join the FBI- Ellen said True and it is True
Question 5– I am fluent in both French and Hebrew- Ellen said False and it is False. Although Rock said he does kiss that way.
Question 6– I can tap dance- Ellen said True, however the card said False but Rock said of course he can tap dance.
Question 7- I am a New York Times Best Selling Author- Ellen said False and of course that answer is True.
Question 8: I can make my pecs dance- Ellen said Yes and Prove It. So Rock does just that. (Video below)
Overall great interview where they actually talked more about wrestling than his new movie.
Check out this video clip of The Rock’s appearance on Ellen:
– WWE Tough Enough will move to it’s permanent timeslot tonight at 8PM (Eastern) on the USA Network, one hour before RAW. John Cena will be featured on tonight’s show, which is titled “Five for Flinching.”
Steve Austin wrote on Twitter over the weekend that Bill DeMott “totally destroys everthing in his path” on tonight’s show.
– Tonight’s episode of WWE RAW takes place from the Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, Connecticut. As of early Monday afternoon, no matches have been announced yet for the show. With WWE’s next pay-per-view, Extreme Rules, just 3 weeks away, there’s a good chance we’ll find out that show’s RAW brand main event tonight.
The advertised dark match main event will see John Cena and Randy Orton teaming up against WWE champion The Miz and Nexus leader C.M. Punk.
WWE United States Champion Sheamus likely will not be on RAW tonight, as he was overseas in Qatar on Sunday promoting WWE’s upcoming show there. Considering the WWE crews are flying out for Europe later this week, it would be unlikely for them to make him fly back from Qatar to the United States for RAW tonight and then back out to England this week.
Unfortunately for fans of The Rock, he won’t be at RAW tonight, as he’s currently in Brazil promoting his new movie, Fast Five.
– The Rock is scheduled to appear on Jimmy Kimmel on April 19th.That night’s show will also feature that week’s eliminated contestant from ABC’s Dancing With The Stars show – so there’s a chance that Chris Jericho could be appearing on that same show with The Rock, should he be eliminated that week.
– Hulk Hogan tweeted on Monday that former WWE star Chris Jericho will be appearing onNBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Wednesday night. Hogan wrote:
“HULKAMANIACS watch Chris Jerhico Wednesday night on the Tonight Show he’s going to tear it up.”
– NFL star and former RAW guest host Ben Roethlisberger tells Pittsburgh’s Post-Gazette.com that is looking for a new place to host his wedding reception after unsuccessfully trying to rent the Consol Energy Center – due to a live WWE event being booked for the venue that same day.
– The Hollywood Reporter has posted a review of the latest WWE Studios film That’s What I Am, starring Ed Harris & Amy Madigan, and featuring Randy Orton in a supporting role. Regarding Orton’s big screen debut, THR wrote:
“The film was produced by WWE Studios, which explains the casting of third-generation wrestling personality Orton in a decent acting debut as Carl’s manipulative dad. That this meathead is such an able negotiator, even with someone as sharp as Madigan’s principal, stretches plausibility. Too often, Pavone’s screenplay slaps contemporary perspective onto characters whose behavior doesn’t seem entirely true to their time.”
– John Cena wrote the following on Twitter over the weekend regarding his announced match against The Rock at next year’s WrestleMania:
“CeNation. This is a new year. From 26 to 27 wasn’t exactly a banner year. Which means it time to dominate the whole f+cking game. NEVER GIVE UP. Miz. Id watch yourself if I were you. It may not be tomorrow …but u will NOT defeat me again.”
– WWE reached a milestone on Facebook this weekend – as the company’s official fan page has over 5 million “likes.” Less than 50 companies have that many fans “liking” them on Facebook.
5 million followers .. big friggin’ deal – we’ve got almost 5,000 fans on Facebook! If you are not already a fan of the SEScoops Facebook page,click here and join the SEScoops Facebook revolution!
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 said about:
The Rock vs. John Cena at WM28:
“No…I do not think that @TheRock vs. @JohnCena should happen before Wrestlemania 28. Let’s put that matter to bed. It isn’t going to happen before WM28 in Miami. As comedian Ron White would say, “Let it go.”
“Love how many crystal ball possessing, wrestling creative valedictorians already know that the long range plan for Rock-Cena isn’t a good idea. For you that have this all figured out, can you also provide me some lead pipe cinch, stock tips or the National Champion of College Football winner for the upcoming season?”
Paul Heyman:
“I guess one should never say never, but I never see @HeymanHustle returning to the pro wrestling world on a full time or regular basis. Never. I get asked this question weekly it seems.”
Wrestling Territories – A Thing Of The Past:
“No…wrestling territories are dead and will likely stay that way. The key to a territories success is getting local, strong TV clearances with a slick produced TV show that airs weekly. That isn’t going to happen. It’s not affordable nor does the majority of fans want to see largely unknown wrestlers. Most investors, who haven’t lost their sanity, would never invest in obtaining TV clearances and upgrading TV production values notwithstanding funding a wrestler payroll. Weekly territories are a thing of the past and will never be seen again to the level that they once were or even close.”
“On the flip side, having viable, successful territories did more to develop main event level talents than any thing ever and nothing that can be created in today’s marketplace will ever supplant that concept. New talents can and will be developed but it will have to be in a much different way than back in the territory days where a different audience could be utilized to watch a gambit of wrestlers evolve and learn their craft. Being able to relocate to a variety of territories with differing creative philosophies and audiences/fans helped many wrestlers become stars. “
— Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson revealed on his Twitter account that he’s flying to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil tomorrow morning. The worldwide premiere of his latest film, Fast Five, takes place in the city next Friday, which would indicate that he won’t be on hand for Monday’s Raw.
Fast Five will be released in the United States on April 29.
— WWE will hold three-hour episodes of Monday Night Raw on June 13 and June 20. The June 13 show will be held in Long Island, New York, while the June 20 show is set for Baltimore, Maryland.
— Former WWE Women’s Champion Lita is scheduled for an autograph signing tomorrow from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at George’s Cards & Collectibles 7755 New Falls Road Levittown, Pennsylvania. Visit www.GeorgesCollectibles.com for more information.
It’s worth noting that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Shawn Michaels, who long harbored animosity towards each other, crossed paths during WrestleMania weekend. WWE.com published a photo of Johnson and Michaels sharing a laugh shortly after HBK had appeared on stage at WrestleMania XXVII to commemorate his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame. According to F4WOnline.com, their past animosity was actually settled in 2008 when Johnson inducted his father, Rocky Johnson, and grandfather, High Chief Peter Maivia, into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Johnson’s issues with Michaels dated back to when he was a teenager. He long harbored animosity towards Michaels because he felt he was disrespectful to his maternal grandmother (Lia Maivia) at a wrestling show she was coordinating for Polynesian Pacific Pro Wrestling. His disrespect towards her incensed Johnson, and nearly led to an altercation.
Their issues persisted several years later when Johnson was a rookie starting out in WWE. Bret Hart wrote in his 2007 autobiography, Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling, that Michaels and Triple H disliked Johnson “intensely.” Both resented him because he was talented and Hart, a political foe, had taken a shine to him. Many believe they were out to sabotage Johnson so that Hunter would ascend to the top before him, since they were both viewed as the future of the company at the time.
Michaels and Hunter conspired to obstruct Johnson’s push in March 1997, who was the Intercontinental Champion at the time. Michaels suggested to Vince McMahon that Johnson lose the title to Hart on an episode of Raw. Meanwhile, Hunter insisted to Hart that he beat Johnson. Their suggestion would serve two purposes — sabotage Johnson’s push and take Hart out of the world title scene. Hart, however, refused to beat Johnson. Hart felt it wouldn’t build heat for his newly launched heel turn, not to mention that it would undermine Johnson. Instead, Hart insisted on a DQ finish, which infuriated Michaels and Hunter.
By 1999, Johnson had ascended to the top of WWE, going beyond nearly wrestler, including Hunter. Meanwhile, a back injury had forced Michaels to retire and he was relegated to sporadic appearances. Nonetheless, Michaels attempted to politically undermine Johnson by lobbying to McMahon that he be replaced by Hunter in the main event at WrestleMania XV. His suggestion fell on deaf ears.
Johnson stated years later in a 2005 interview with WWE.com that he never had interest in working with Michaels — when asked if he would have liked to.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Tuesday night to promote his new movie Fast Five and had a lot to say about his return to WWE.
They showed some clips from The Rock’s biggest movies, including The Scorpion King, The Tooth Fiary, Faster and Fast Five, the latest installment of the Fast and Furious series, co-starring Paul Walker and Vin Diesel.
The Rock talked about his decision to return to the ring at WrestleMania next year in a dream match against John Cena. The Rock said he and Vince McMahon have remained very close since he left the ring seven years ago and said the two of them have been discussing ways for The Rock to do something special for the fans. Jay Leno joked that The Rock should wrestle Charlie Sheen and said The Rock has really “let himself go” since leaving the ring and has a belly now.
Leno asked The Rock to do his trademark People’s Eyebrow, which he did, to a loud ovation from the crowd.
Overall a great segment, the audience was very into The Rock and he came across as the big- time movie star that he is.
— Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi told TMZ.com during an impromptu interview that her wrestling career is over. She said she has way too much going on in her life to focus on WWE.
Polizzi won her debut match at WrestleMania XXVII Sunday, defeating Michelle McCool following a series of aerobatic maneuvers.
— WWEShop.com has released three merchandise items on Sin Cara including a replica mask, a Bienvenido Authentic T-Shirt and a Basics T-Shirt.
— Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is scheduled for tonight’s episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
In a fantasy bout for the ages, John Cena will face Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson next year at WrestleMania XXVIII, emanating from The Great One’s hometown of Miami, Florida.
The match-up WWE is advertising as “the match the world wants to see” was announced at the conclusion of Raw during a confrontation between The Rock and John Cena. The Rock accepted Cena’s challenge for a match, but said it would be at WrestleMania XXVIII.
The Rock extended his hand to Cena, which he shook. Following their handshake agreement, the two were jumped by The Corre. Cena and Rock fought the group off and two shook hands again to conclude Raw.
— Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is teasing an announcement for Raw tonight.
“Team Bring It – I have a very special announcement tonight on Raw,” he wrote on his Twitter account. “The People’s Champ to The People.”
WWE is advertising The Rock to interact with WWE Champion The Miz and John Cena after his role in the finish of their match at WrestleMania XXVII.
— DirecTV’s feed of last night’s WrestleMania XXVII pay-per-view event halted during the Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole match.
— In the following video on WWE.com, Michael Cole proclaims himself the new “Mr. WrestleMania” after his victory over Jerry Lawler last night at WrestleMania XXVII.
— Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson came through on his promise to award WrestleMania XXVII tickets to lucky fans.
At noon Central time, he tweeted, “Go to corner of Northside and Ivan Allen – Exxon gas station. Go to the entrance door and shout “I Bring It”.. I’ll see you and come out..”
Within minutes he was swarmed by fans. He posted a photo of himself with the lucky winners here.
— Former WWE Women’s Champion Lita appeared at yesterday’s WrestleMania Axxess session on behalf of Project 9-6-1, an Atlanta based radio station. According to a fan who met her, she didn’t appear too happy to be there — unlike the other stars who appeared.
“She was clearly not happy about being there,” a fan who met her wrote. “While she smiled for pictures you could just tell she was ready to get out. When it was my turn I asked her if she missed this and she said ‘not really.”
— Following Vladimir Kozlov’s victory over Tyler Reks yesterday at WrestleMania Axxess, The Corre attacked the Raw Superstar. The faction used the steel steps to crush The Moscow Mauler’s shoulder against the ring post.
Via WWE.com, SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long announced that – as a result of the assault – Kozlov would not be able to compete in the Eight-Man Tag Team Match at WrestleMania XXVII. Instead, Kofi Kingston will assume his position.
— Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will be personally giving away free tickets to WrestleMania XXVII. He posted a clue last night on Twitter for fans to be around the Georgia Dome today at noon. He will be releasing more clues in the morning.
— Mark Henry beat Primo this morning at WrestleMania Axxess.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson says he’s “very open” to wrestling again after returning to World Wrestling Entertainment last month.
The host of WrestleMania XXVII appeared on Piers Morgan Tonight tonight on CNN. Piers Morgan asked Johnson whether he plans on wrestling again.
“I’m open to it,” Johnson said.
Morgan asked, “You are?”
“Very open to it. Sure. I’ve always been open to it,” he replied.
“When I left wrestling seven years ago, at that time, two things happened. I accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish in wrestling and I also wanted to become a good actor. In order to do that, I felt, I needed to concentrate solely and commit myself to acting.”
The approximate 30 minute interview, which was taped two days earlier in New York City, featured Johnson reflecting his life, career and future aspirations. It opened with a discussion of Johnson’s background and his connection to United States President Barack Obama due to both sharing similar backgrounds. A clip of Johnson portraying “The Rock Obama” two years ago on Saturday Night Live aired.
Johnson was asked to comment on running for a political office in the future and he said he could see it happening in the future after his career in entertainment.
The second segment focused on Johnson’s careers in professional wrestling and film. A clip of Johnson’s return promo to WWE aired with Johnson shown watching it.
Johnson reflected on his future aspirations in the third segment. He discussed his family upbringing, repairing his relationship with his father, and setting new goals for himself, such as winning an Academy Award.
WWE star The Rock was interviewed by MTV News this week to hype WrestleMania and said we can expect to see him get physical this Sunday night:
“I’m going to take my fist and lay it across somebody’s lips and take my boot — which is a size 14, so it’s a big boot — and stick it straight up somebody’s ass.”
When asked who he might get phyiscal with he said, “Like with any show, like with any movie, you want to make sure the final five, 10 minutes of the show are worth every penny.”
You can watch the full interview below, courtesy of MTV News:
WWE is hoping that the addition of The Rock and Snooki to WrestleMania 27 will help them break 1 million pay-per-view buys. They’re also hoping that the use of social media like Facebook and Twitter will influence people to order the show.
In an interview with Multi-Channel News this week, WWE’s Chief Marketing Officer Michelle Wilson said that WWE is firmly behind the idea of using social media (specifically Facebook and Twitter).
Wilson said they were trying to bring back former fans with The Rock and new fans with the Snooki storyline.
Wilson talked about fans being able to go to The Rock’s Facebook page for his response to what John Cena did to him on RAW.
She said, “That allows us to continue the storyline even after we’re off the air. It’s really a 24-hour engagement that our fans have with the WWE going into WrestleMania.”
WWE has posted a video clip [WWE Youtube Channel] of the final minutes of Monday’s RAW, featuring part of the epic showdown between The Rock, John Cena and The Miz. Don’t forget to comment below and tell us what you thought about it.
— WWE.com has posted exclusive footage of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson recovering from John Cena’s Attitude Adjustment at the conclusion of Raw.
— Dolph Ziggler will be on the road for most of the next month as the Raw Superstar said tonight on Twitter that he is going on a WWE promotional tour of Turkey alone from April 6 to April 9. He is advertised for a Raw taping two days later in Bridgeport, Connecticut and immediately following that is Raw’s annual spring European tour, which takes place April 13-21. Following that is a Raw taping on April 25 in Raleigh, North Carolina.
— Tickets for the WWE Money In The Bank pay-per-view event at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois go on sale via Ticketmaster on Saturday, May 21 at noon. A pre-sale takes place between Monday, May 16 at 10 a.m. and Tuesday, May 17 at midnight with the password MONEY.
— The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has published an article on WrestleMania XXVII featuring quotes from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, as well as SmackDown Superstar Cody Rhodes. The Rock reveals his plans for the event.
“What I can guarantee in Atlanta is that I will put my boot to candy [rear-ends] live in front of 75,000 strong members of Team Bring It,” Johnson told the newspaper.
— The official website of the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. is listing Capitol Punishment in place of Fatal 4-Way. The pay-per-view event takes place Sunday, June 19. (Event page)
It’s worth noting that John Cena is not advertised for the event. Advertised are Edge, Randy Orton, The Miz, Big Show, Rey Mysterio and the WWE Divas.
— Head SmackDown writer Michael Hayes celebrates his 52nd birthday today. Today also marks as the 24th anniversary of WrestleMania III.
— The main selling point for tonight’s episode of WWE RAW from Chicago is a live in-person appearance from WM27 guest host The Rock. The Rock arrived in Chicago last night and stayed at the same hotel as the rest of the WWE crew. The Rock was approached by several WWE fans at the hotel and was said to be very “accessible” – taking pictures and talking to people who came up to him.
— During a recent interview with The Wrestling Minute radio show, former WWE wrestler/manager “The Genuis” Lanny Poffo had some big news about his brother, “Macho Man” Randy Savage. Poffo said, “I’m not going to reveal his big secret because I am afraid of what he’ll do to me if I do, but keep watching, in the next month or so Macho Man will be doing something BIG!”
— The WWE website has once again changed the WrestleMania line-up and now lists WWE Champion The Miz vs. John Cena as the main event. Previously, Triple H vs. Undertaker had been hyped as the main event. Over the weekend, WWE was still going over different scenarios as to which match will end the show.
With WrestleMania 27 less than 1 week away, we’ve got some news on what WWE has planned for The Rock, the Corre, Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan and Christian.
– The Rock’s current involvement with WWE has already turned out much better than either side expected. The Rock agreed to guest host WrestleMania earlier this year, but he’s enjoyed being back on WWE television so much that he’s now willing to get back in the ring for a few more matches. WWE is keeping a very tight lid on exactly what The Rock will do at WrestleMania, but most people within the company expect The Rock to eventually wrestle both The Miz and John Cena – with Miz likely being his first opponent.
– The original plan for Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 27 was to have The Bella Twins in Sheamus’ corner and Gail Kim in Bryan’s corner, but it doesn’t look like that will be happening anymore.
– The Corre had been scheduled to face Big Show, Kane, Kofi Kingston and Christian at WrestleMania, but WWE changed gears on this and Christian will now be involved in Edge and Alberto Del Rio’s World Heavyweight title feud.
One angle that’s been discussed would be for Christian to be in Edge’s corner at WrestleMania, turn heel and then cost Edge the World Heavyweight title – setting up an eventual 3-man match between Edge, Christian and Del Rio.