– The official WWE website has published an article ranking the 15 greatest ring entrances in sports-entertainment history.
“What’s more impressive, pulling up in an expensive sports car or walking through hellfire?” WWE states. “A calm walk through darkness or a mad dash to the ring?”
The list ranks 15. Ultimate Warrior, 14. Goldust, 13. Alberto Del Rio, 12. Glacier, 11. The Sandman, 10. The Rock, 9. Rey Mysterio, 8. Gangrel, 7. Goldberg, 6. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, 5. Hulk Hogan, 4. Kane, 3. Chris Jericho, 2. Triple H, 1. The Undertaker.
– Matches taped Monday in Birmingham, England for this week’s episode of WWE Superstars were Jimmy Uso vs. Jinder Mahal and Justin Gabriel vs. Tensai.
In a pre-taping dark match result, Tyson Kidd defeated Michael McGillicutty.
– WWE developmental Briley Pierce turned 28-years-old Sunday. He is the younger brother of WWE Superstar Dolph Ziggler.
– On Monday’s RAW, it was announced that the main event of Survivor Series will be a traditional 5 on 5 elimination match featuring Team CM Punk vs. Tem Mick Foley. Mick Foley won’t be wrestling, but will bei n the corner of his team. Paul Heyman and Ricardo Rodriguez will be in the corner of Team Punk. To read WWE’s official match preview for Team Punk vs. Team Foley, visit WWE.com.
– The United States Marine Corps. are trying to block WWE’s trademark for the upcoming WWE Studios film, “The Marine: Homefront.” The Marines were very outspoken when Randy Orton, a former Marine that was dishonorably discharged after going AWOL, was originally cast as the lead character. The Marines were granted a 90-day extension to file an opposition back on September 4th and have until December 12th to file the opposition.
– As reported last week and over the weekend, WWE was tossing around a lot of ideas regarding how to book the finish of CM Punk’s Hell in a Cell title defense against Ryback. One proposed scenario would have been for Brock Lesnar to make a surprise appearance and cost Ryback the match. This idea was nixed because WWE is still planning for a Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H rematch and did not want to set up a Lesnar vs. Ryback feud with the Triple H angle still in play.
– Paul Heyman, who is gaining more creative influence within WWE, recently proposed a faction consisting of WWE Champion CM Punk, Brock Lesnar and Antonio Cesaro, according to SuperLuchas.net.
– World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus appeared on WPRI-TV’s morning show Tuesday promoting the evening’s SmackDown event in Providence, Rhode Island at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. Video of his appearance is available here.
– Triple H is featured in today’s “Superstar Spotlight” on WWE.com.
– WWE has no live events scheduled before Sunday’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
– The preliminary pay-per-view buys estimate for WWE’s Night of Champions pay-per-view event on September 16, 2012 is 189,000 worldwide. This is up from 161,000 buys for last year’s show headlined by WWE Champion CM Punk vs. Triple H.
The break down is 100,000 domestic buys (53 percent) and 89,000 international buys (47 percent).
The event was headlined by WWE Champion CM Punk vs. John Cena.
– Ringside Collectibles hosted former Raw General Manager AJ Lee at Ringside Fest 2012, the ninth annual Ringside Fest. She discussed the event, her first ever Mattel WWE action figure and more.
– Former WWE Superstars John Morrison and Melina have canceled their advertised appearances at “Chiller Theatre” this weekend at the Sheraton Parsippany in Parsippany, New Jersey.
Aside from the creative team shakeup that took place at Monday’s RAW, there have been several WWE corporate employees who have left the company recently:
– Nicole Dorazio left after working in talent relations for over a decade. She had been the assistant to both Jim Ross and John Laurinaitis when they were in charge of talent relations. No word yet on why she’s no longer with WWE.
– Ann Russo-Gordan, previously in charge of WWE’s Wellness and rehab programs, resigned due to burnout and health issues.
– WWE live event head Raphael Morffi has been let go. He had been promoting WWE’s live events in the Northeast. Longtime WWE employee John Porco is now filling that role. Porco was close with Shane McMahon back when Shane was still with WWE and has a strong reputation.
Triple H and Stephanie McMahon are working on bringing in new executives that have experience with major sports organizations.
Following Monday’s Raw broadcast in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, a Champion vs. Champion match took place, replacing the advertised match between CM Punk and John Cena. Cena did not appear at the show since he is still recovering from arm surgery two weeks ago.
World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus faced WWE Champion CM Punk. The Celtic Warrior won by disqualification after being struck by Punk with the WWE Championship.
After the match, Vince McMahon appeared before the live audience to resume Jim Ross Appreciation Night. The WWE chief kindly spoke of Ross, dubbing him the best announcer ever, “including Gordon Solie,” and noted his dedication to the business, from recruiting talent to “joining a certain club” in Oklahoma City.
Triple H then appeared and made remarks similar to McMahon. He stated that “every boy in the back” wants J.R. to call his match. He then brought out Danny Hodge and Bill Watts, who spoke kindly of their friend. Pre-recorded messages from Jerry “The King” Lawler and University of Oklahoma football head coach Bob Stoops then aired on the TitanTron.
Triple H was then joined by the locker room, who gave Ross a standing ovation. Sheamus presented Ross with a glass sculpture declaring Ross as the “Voice of WWE.” The crowd chanted “Thank You J.R.” and he became teary-eyed.
Ross gave a speech about being a fat kid from Oklahoma who worked nineteen years to get to the top of his game and encouraged all kids staying out late on a school night to follow their dreams and passionately do what they love.
WWE Executive Vice President of Talent and Live Events Triple H recently spoke with the Miami Herald about the NXT tapings at Full Sail University in Florida. Here are some highlights of what Triple H said about:
Why They Chose Full Sail for NXT: “We did some events here. We turned them into TV. We got the idea to do the show here. The show took off. We didn’t want to have no value for tickets, so we started charging a little for tickets. Then it was like, ‘You know what. Let’s take that money and give it back to the school. Let’s make a scholarship fund and give it to the students.’”
“We have our developmental as it exists now in Tampa, and the television experience there was very small. It just aired in Central Florida. I wanted to bring it into that facility [Full Sail Live] with the ability for [WWE NXT superstars and divas] to learn how to do WWE television — even if it’s on a smaller level but on the same professional platform. When I saw this facility, my visionary, Spidey senses went off, and I said, ‘This is exactly what I was looking for.’ We started to explore it further and brought some execs in to look at it and started to think about it some more and started to hash out this idea about potentially putting on a show here, and we did. We put on a show.”
“Then I started to think, I can take NXT off the road and turn that into developmental because that show wasn’t doing anything, but it was sold internationally. It can open up some time for us on the road to shoot a different show; same point and time I can shoot a really good quality show out of here and take these kids, instead of then learning out of a two-camera warehouse shoot that went no where, I can teach them on a four or five or six camera shoot with real live TV production on a smaller but same platform WWE does everywhere.”
Working With FSU Students: “We have our exec team coming down here and lecturing their students quarterly. Our marketing people come down to talk about marketing. Our digital people come down and discuss digital strategies and social media initiatives. We give them real world corporate vision and experience they can’t get anywhere else. It’s a really great working opportunity, and this place is like a huge think tank for WWE in a way. So it’s a win-win for everybody.”
NXT Possibly Airing In The US: “Certainly. When I say we’re scratching the surface, there’s a lot of things potentially. Could we do other shows here? ‘Yeah, they have studio facilities all over this campus. They’ve got green screen facilities. Right now we’re working with them at Full Sail Live, producing a show out of here that goes internationally — hopefully soon domestically; that’s a spoiler — but there are so many other things that we can very easily begin to do out of Full Sail that synergistically works for us and works for them.”
During a recent interview with Jim Varsallone, Triple H talks about Jerry “The King” Lawler’s heart attack on RAW from 2 weeks ago:
“How many times in life are you sitting five feet from your doctor… when something like that happens? I think that in any other place at any other time, Jerry Lawler was no longer with us. Dr. Samson, our doctor, [is] to me a hero, a life saver.
To see the remarkable recovery that Jerry has made, to see him home and to see him walking around like nothing happened to him, is mind-boggling to me because it is not what I was witnessing that night… Somehow, for some reason, Jerry Lawler is still with us, and that to me is nothing short of a miracle because I don’t think anybody that was there that night — that was backstage or that was privy to what was going on — would have never, never imagined this outcome.”
– Kelly Kelly is expected to be back full-time with WWE later this year.
– With Beth Phoenix expected to leave WWE next month, she’s reportedly interested in getting into acting. She is leaving WWE on good terms and could be back in the future.
– Ted DiBiase worked in the heel role at Sunday’s SmackDown live event in London, Ontario, Canada, losing to Kofi Kingston. DiBiase was busted open early in the match after taking a dropkick to the face.
– Washington.CBSLocal.comhas an article up featuring an interesting quote from NFL player Adam Carriker of the Washington Redskins. After tearing his right quadriceps tendon and collapsing to the ground during a game this weekend, the first thing he thought about was pro wrestling.
“I’m laying there on the turf at the Edward Jones Dome and there’s one thing going through my mind and it’s the image of Triple H tearing his quad tendon off his knee in the ring. Why I’m thinking about that, I don’t know,” he said. “I think that’s because it’s exactly where I felt it in my leg.”
– After sustaining a season-ending injury during last Sunday’s game against the St. Louis Rams, Washington Redskins defensive end Adam Carriker immediately thought about Triple H.
“I’m laying there on the turf at the Edward Jones Dome and there’s one thing going through my mind and it’s the image of Triple H tearing his quad tendon off his knee in the ring,” Carriker said on 4th & Pain. “Why I’m thinking about that, I don’t know… I think that’s because it’s exactly where I felt it in my leg.”
Like Carriker, the WWE Superstar tore his left quadriceps muscle in May 2001 and suffered a similar injury at a pay-per-view event in January 2007. The full story is available here.
– The top two matches advertised for Saturday’s SmackDown live event in Sarnia, Ontario did not take place. Originally scheduled for the event were Sheamus vs. Wade Barrett vs. Dolph Ziggler in a Triple Threat Match for the World Heavyweight Championship and Daniel Bryan and Kane defending the WWE Tag Team Championship against Kofi Kingston and R-Truth. Instead, Sheamus defended the belt against Alberto Del Rio in a singles match, Dolph Ziggler faced Tyson Kidd, Wade Barrett took on Yoshi Tatsu, Kofi Kingston wrestled Ted DiBiase, and Kane and Bryan faced The Prime Time Players.
– WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler’s miraculous recovery from a heart attack on the Sept. 10 Raw is featured in a full page story in the latest issue of The Globe tabloid.
– F4WOnline.com published a report clarifying rumors of WWE’s handling of Monday’s Raw show after broadcaster and wrestler Jerry Lawler suffered a heart attack while commentating.
According to a WWE employee backstage at the event, it was a very chaotic scene but he did not see any pray groups. Contrary to speculation, there was never any talk of halting the show.
WWE chief Vince McMahon was not at Lawler’s side during the entire ordeal, as reported. He briefly checked on the backstage commotion during a commercial break before resuming his producing duties at Gorilla Position. Rather, Paul “Triple H” Levesque directed orders backstage.
All of broadcaster Michael Cole’s on-air verbiage concerning Lawler was directed by McMahon word-for-word.
WWE has announced its WWE Home Entertainment 2013 DVD/Blu-ray release schedule, which confirms several rumored titles. In addition to pay-per-view events, the sports-entertainment organization will be releasing compilation videos on WCW Monday Nitro, Bret Hart, Mick Foley, In Your House, Goldberg, ECW, War Games, WWE Divas, Triple H, Money in the Bank and Raw, among others. A History of WWE title is also scheduled.
WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs 2012 – 01/15/13
Best of Raw & SmackDown 2012 – 01/29/13
The Best of Nitro Volume 2 – 02/12/13
Royal Rumble 2012 – 02/26/13
Bret Hart Unreleased Matches – 03/05/13
Elimination Chamber 2012 – 03/19/13
Mick Foley Biography – 04/16/13
The Best of In Your House – 04/30/13
WrestleMania 29 – 05/14/13
Top 25 Rivalries – 05/28/13
Extreme Rules 2013 – 06/18/13
Goldberg – 06/25/13
TBD PPV – 07/16/13
ECW Unreleased Vol. 2 – 07/30/13
Money In The Bank 2013 – 08/13/13
Best of MSG – 08/27/13
Best of War Games – 09/10/13
SummerSlam 2013 – 09/17/13
Top 20 Divas Countdown – 09/24/13
Triple H Biography – 10/08/13
Night of Champions 2013 – 10/15/13
Money In The Bank Anthology – 10/29/13
Over the Limit 2013 – 11/05/13
History of WWE – 11/19/13
Hell in a Cell 2013 – 11/26/13
Raw 20th Anniversary Box Set – 12/03/13
Survivor Series 2013 – 12/24/13
Best WWE PPV’s – 12/31/13
– Stephanie McMahon, Executive Vice President of Creative for WWE and mother of three girls, will be participating in New York Fashion Week tonight walking the runway for Strut The Fashionable Mom Show, according to TheMoms.com.
– According to WWE.com, the first Raw of 2013 will take place at Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa, Florida on Monday, January 7. The on-sale date has not been made yet.
– WWE.com has published a photo gallery highlighting wrestlers besides Santino Marella who have been “charmed by snakes.” Those highlighted include CM Punk, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Sgt. Slaughter, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, Randy Orton, The Cobra and Hulk Hogan.
– Triple H is featured on the cover of the latest issue of Power Slam.
– WWE.com posted an article about Wade Barrett’s return in “Superstar Spotlight”
“Barrett has always remains unchanged in his perpetual search for domination. As long as there is authority, Wade Barrett will be there to not only challenge it, but also uproot it and attempt to take its place. As long as this bare-knuckled Brit is on the prowl, the world of WWE is just a little less safe than it once was.
Following a partially dislocated elbow that kept him out of action for nearly seven months, a reinvigorated Barrett made his intense return to WWE. The English Superstar used his downtime to get back to basics and “reignite the flame” – presumably through participation in the sort of bare-knuckle boxing he took part in early in his past. Picking up a microphone, he served notice to the WWE Universe that he was “open for business.” Whatever that meant, it was sure to spell disaster for anyone who stepped in his way.”
– Several WWE superstars have been using the hashtag #RollinsvsRhodes to give their predictions for the upcoming match between NXT Champion Seth Rollins and WWE Superstar Cody Rhodes. The match takes place at the upcoming NXT live event on September 14th from Ft. Pierce, Florida. Here are some highlights of what the following superstars have said:
Daniel Bryan: “I love good wrestling… which means I can’t wait to see my old rival @WWERollins square off against @CodyRhodesWWE on NXT #RollinsVSRhodes”
Ted DiBiase: “Heard about #RollinsVSRhodes coming up. Should be a great match up, however, my bets are on Rhodes.”
NXT Star Big E. Langston: “#RollinsVsRhodes 9/14. Should be held in the yard at Ft. Leavenworth w/ each combatant in prison garb a la “Life,” but Ft. Pierce will do.”
Tyson Kidd: “Looks like poor @CodyRhodesWWE can’t handle others like @WWERollins making a buzz. Maybe Blackout time?? #rhodesvsrollins”
– To commemorate 10 years since WWE re-introduced the World Heavyweight championship, the WWE website has ranked the Top 15 WWE World Heavyweight Champions of All Time.
15. Goldberg
14. Daniel Bryan
13. Randy Orton
12. Kane
11. CM Punk
10. Chris Jericho
9. John Cena
8. Mark Henry
7. Rey Mysterio
6. Sheamus
5. Booker T
4. The Undertaker
3. Edge
2. Batista
1. Triple H
– Following WWE’s announcement this week that the company will be holding it’s first-ever live events from Egypt later this year, PWInsider.com repoerts that WWE actually ran a few shows in Egypt back in the 1980’s.
– WWE.com has picked up the story of Triple H cutting off all his hair – and speculates whether this means that his days in the ring are in fact over. They also have a poll up asking who had the best haircut of 2012 – Triple H or his WrestleMania 28 opponent, The Undertaker.
The name has been the same, but that attitude, quite different. Triple H recently cutting off his trademark long hair, clearly indicates he is committed to this new chapter of his life. We want to know your opinion! Which version of Triple H do you prefer the best? Give us your answer, then leave a comment below!
TMZ has announced and WWE has confirmed that WWE Executive Vice President of Talent and Live Events, Paul Levesque AKA Triple H has cut his trademark long hair. TMZ has released a photo of Hunter and fans posing in front of WWE Headquarters showing off his look. Check out these pictures, courtesy of TMZ:
PatriotNewspaper.com has published an article on Kenn Doane, 26, who appeared in WWE as Kenny and Kenny Dykstra from 2006 to 2008. The former Spirit Squad member enrolled in Nichols College in Dudley, Massachusetts this semester and made their football team as a tight end after not playing the game since he was 18-years-old.
“I have always loved football and I always set goals for myself. My first dream was to get to the WWE and I set that and my second goal after wrestling was to get a degree and play college football,” he said.
With his opportunity, Doane plans to take full advantage of it. “I can make my own schedule and I can slow things down work-wise with wrestling, and financially I am set. I can take 10 weeks, 12 weeks, however long the season is, into this and go full force. That is where I at now.”
Doane also discussed his road to WWE and what it was like working with fellow Killer Kowalski trainee, Triple H.
“Triple H is a very smart. Any time I had a question, whether it was personal, business, whatever, I would ask him,” Doane said.
On November 10, 2008, WWE announced that Doane had been released from his contract. He explains, “because they were going through a lot of different layoffs and a lot of us were getting paid a lot of money and they didn’t have a storyline for me at the time, plus my body was breaking down; traveling 270 days a year is really hard.” Following his release, he continued to wrestle independently, and still does on occasion.
Doane left with some words of wisdom. “Life is always a journey, it’s always going to throw curve balls at you, I am not looking four years down the road right now, I have to get through today and do the best I can do today, and then tomorrow I have to compare myself to yesterday and make sure tomorrow that I am better than I was yesterday.”
– As we reported earlier this week, WWE is currently looking for Triple H’s next match to take place at WrestleMania 29. While things could change between now and next April, the current plan is for Triple H to get his rematch against Brock Lesnar at the show.
– One of the wrestlers that received a tryout with WWE last week was NWA Hollywood wrestler Nick Madrid, who was trained by Lance Storm. WWE has already signed six other students from Storm’s wrestling school to developmental contracts.
– Chris Jericho will be appearing at J&R Records in New York City tonight with his band Fozzy from 5:30-6:35pm. The band will be signing copies of their new album, “Sin and Bones.”
Jericho posted the following video on Tout last night promoting the appearance:
– Following online reports that WWE is planning a Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H rematch for either Survivor Series in November or Hell in a Cell in October, f4wonline.com is now reporting that the talk backstage at RAW was that WWE is going to hold off on Triple H wrestling again until WrestleMania 29.
Triple H’s emotional speech on RAW was booked because WWE felt fans did not fully buy into Triple H’s retirement tease at SummerSlam.
– Former WWE Champion JBL has posted his latest Wrestling God video blog with his thoughts on Monday’s WWE RAW:
Mick Foley posted the following message on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon, setting the record straight on his relationship with Triple H and stating that he is very happy being a WWE Ambassador:
“Can I clear up this rumor about me not getting along with Triple H?
Triple H is the man responsible for bringing me back to WWE. I am very happy in my role as WWE Ambassador, and have a variety of WWE projects due out in the next few months: a children’s book, a set of cards that I did the writing for, and the WWE13 game that I am apparently featured prominently in. I am hoping to use the release of the book to become a much larger part of WWE’s “Be A STAR” campaign.
WWE has gone out of their way to clear considerable chunks of time for me, including the Montreal and Edinburgh comedy festivals and the upcoming Singapore Writer’s Festival (more on that in a few days) and February tour of Australia.
And if I ever feel like I need a quick Foley fix; like I absolutely need to hear thousands of people chanting my name? Well,pretty much any house show I want to appear at is just a phone call (or text) away.
There is no higher form of flattery for me than showing up on another WWE Superstar’s highlight video. I was thrilled to be there three times for Triple H.
Bottom line: I’m happy. I’m part of the company I love, and I get to try things on my own. Thank you, Triple H, for bringing me back to WWE.”
The WWE website caught up with several superstars following Monday’s RAW, including Triple H, Daniel Bryan and WWE Champion CM Punk.
– Following his attack on Jerry Lawler, Punk said he needed to get staples in his head to close a gash in his head that took place during the steel cage match. Looking forward to Night of Champions, Punk said he had the pleasure of beating John Cena in his home town last year (Chicago) and will have the pleasure of beating Cena in his own home town of Boston next month.
– Daniel Bryan talked about the shouting match he got into with a fan at ringside that cost him his match against R-Truth. Bryan insisted he doesn’t have anger issues and says Kane is really the one that needs professional help. Bryan also talked about his new nickname – “Mr. Small Package.”
– After his emotional speech from RAW, WWE.com cameras tried to get a word with Triple H, but he kept walking by without making a statement.
– Richie Steamboat is this week’s WWE NXT Superstar of the Week and Audrey Marie is the NXT Diva of the Week.
– Ashley Flair’s profile has been added to the NXT website. As previously reported, she’s now known as Charlotte in NXT, with no references to the Flair name. She is listed as the daughter of “one of the greatest Superstars of all time” who looks to change the face of the Divas division. Her bio also mentions that she was an accomplished cheerleader and volleyball player in high school.
– Mick Foley thinks that Triple H’s comments on RAW about not wanting to be a guy who “hangs around too long” and destroys his body might have been directed at him. Foley tweeted:
After WWE’s SummerSlam pay-per-view, it was reported that WWE was planning to book a rematch between the two men at Survivor Series on November 18th.
As of this weekend, there is now talk of having the Lesnar vs. Triple H rematch take place at October’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view.
Brock Lesnar’s current WWE deal is expected to run through WrestleMania 29, with many people expecting them company to offer Lesnar a contract extension before then. Lesnar is said to be very happy with his current deal, which gives him an unprecedented amount of money for so few appearances.
After the pay-per-view buyrate for Extreme Rules (Lesnar’s return match) came in below expectations, the SummerSlam buyrate will play a big factor in how much WWE is willing to offer Lesnar for another year.