– Both Triple H and Dolph Ziggler celebrate birthdays Friday. WWE’s Executive Vice President of Talent and Live Events and part-time wrestler turns 43-years-old while “The Showoff” turns 32.
– The Great Khali, whose real name is Dalip Singh, is underwent surgery Thursday in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to remove a pituitary gland tumor that’s caused his enormous size, which is the same condition that Andre the Giant had. The story was featured on the front page of Yahoo.com Friday morning, which also notes that he is recovering well and expected to be released over the weekend.
– Trish Stratus, who appeared in a backstage segment on Raw 1,000, is today’s featured Superstar on WWE.com.
– Hailing from one of the more storied and successful families in the pro wrestling history, Chavo Guerrero, Jr. made his TNA Impact Wrestling debut on Thursday. After lauding the Guerrero family legacy and proclaiming that it was his time to shine in TNA, he was attacked by Gunner and Kid Kash, who took exception to his remarks. Guerrero’s aunt Vickie, who appears for WWE as the mouthpiece of Dolph Ziggler, congratulated her nephew’s debut for the Nashville-based wrestling promotion.
“I am proud of @mexwarrior with his debut on TNA!! A true professional Miss him and his family xxoo,” she wrote on Twitter.
Don’t expect Vickie to ever join Chavo in TNA. She stated last year in a Twitter message that she would never turn her back on her WWE family: “I would never go to TNA…no disrespect to anybody…WWE is my family…period.”
– WWE.com has released a poll asking fans to choose their favorite all-time team of D-Generation X—Shawn Michaels and Triple H or Triple H, X-Pac, Road Dogg and Billy Gunn. Chyna, who partnered with both D-X gangs, was omitted from the poll.
– SmackDown ring announcer Lilian Garcia has posted a new photo shoot on her official website, LilianGarcia.com. The website also features her WWE theme song, which is solely played off-camera at events.
WWE Started off RAW 1000 with a new “Signature” featuring the following Superstars Divas and Events:
Wrestlemania 28, Miami, John Cena, Andre The Giant, Triple H, The Rock, Fans, Chris, Jericho, Vincent J. McMahon, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Bobby Heenan & Gorilla Monsoon, The Miz, The Undertaker, Natalya & David Otunga, Sheamus, Kane, John Cena, Shawn Michaels, Kelly Kelly, Ric Flair, Bret Hart, Undertaker (Bad Ass) Hall Of Fame, Various Wrestlemania’s, Then, Now, Forever
View the New Signature:
http://youtu.be/6nxrspDWOGw
– Video has been posted showing The Rock and John Cena after Raw 1000 went off the air:
WWE has announced the following attractions for the 2012 SummerSlam Fan Axxess event:
The Main Event – Live matches and Q&As featuring WWE Superstars, plus a ton of contests where you can win prizes.
Superstar Signings – Get an autograph with your favorite WWE Superstar or Diva at stations located throughout SummerSlam Axxess.
VIP Superstar Signings** – Get the full VIP experience at Axxess: exclusive ringside access at Main Event and a special autograph and professional photo with a top WWE Superstar of your choice, including John Cena, Triple H, CM Punk, Rey Mysterio and more!
WWE Studios Walk of Fame – NEW FOR 2012! Strike a pose on our star-studded red carpet and immortalize the moment with a photo souvenir!
Money in the Bank Photo Shoot – NEW FOR 2012! Here is your shot at the Money in the Bank briefcase and winning a future WWE Title bout — take a photo and share with your friends and family!
Roaming Tattoos – The world is divided into two kinds of people; those who have tattoos and those who are afraid of people with tattoos; which one are you? Get a WWE-themed airbrush tattoo from one of the many roaming tattoo artists!
Rise Against Hate Climbing Wall – Show your strength and see if you can climb this 26-foot-tall wall!
WWE Championship Titles – Get up close and personal with these memorabilia displays. Fans will check out past and present WWE Championship titles.
National Guard – National Guard is the proud presenting sponsor of SummerSlam Axxess 2012!
Mattel’s WWE Action Figure Headquarters – Experience the exciting action of WWE with the newest Mattel toy line, WWE Brawlin’ Buddies.
“WWE ’13” Video Game Zone Presented by THQ – Check out “WWE ’13,” the ALL NEW WWE video game from THQ featuring epic storylines from the Attitude Era and the largest roster of WWE Superstars, and Divas, past and present to date! Be one of the first to play the game at the “WWE ’13” Game Zone! (In-store Oct. 30, 2012!)
Be on the Cover of “WWE ’13” – WWE fans, now is your chance to be on the cover of “WWE ’13”! Take a picture and take home your custom “WWE ’13” cover. Upload and share with your friends on Facebook and Twitter instantly!
THQ Roster Reveal – Who made the cut this year for the “WWE ’13” roster? Find out as the roster of Superstars, Divas and Legends are announced LIVE in the ring!
Promoting this coming Monday’s historic 1000th episode of Raw, Paul Levesque, also known as Triple H, addressed a number of topics including Randy Orton’s ongoing sixty-day suspension for his second violation of WWE’s Talent Wellness Program.
Orton, who hails from St. Louis, Missouri, the site of Monday’s show, will be unable to appear due to the suspension. Though Levesque won’t divulge what Orton did wrong, he notes “The Legend Killer” will be back once the suspension concludes.
“It is important to remember that all of our wrestlers are human but they also have to be accountable,” Levesque says of Orton’s suspension.
As WWE’s Executive Vice President of Talent and Live Events, Levesque’s corporate role is to discover tomorrow’s Superstars. He admits it’s a struggle.
“We’re trying to teach them to be the Stone Colds and the Undertakers of tomorrow, but the one thing we can’t teach is charisma,” said Levesque. “You can teach people to do moves and create story lines and the psychology of what we do, but you can’t teach someone to be the Rock. It’s an innate ability to walk into a room and have everyone pay attention. Put aside the athleticism and what happens in the ring, what our business is really about is connecting with people emotionally. If you are emotionally connected to your character, then people will want to see you. It’s true in Hollywood and movies. You don’t have to be the best actor, just be a presence.”
Triple H, The Rock and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin created on-screen personas “fans loved, hated or loved to hate” on Raw in the late ’90s. Levesque feels they were the first stars of reality television.
“Every guy we have, whether it’s me, whether it’s the Undertaker, whether it’s John Cena playing the character John Cena, is a performer,” said Levesque. “What we did is very much the beginning of reality television. ‘Jersey Shore,’ whether people want to believe it or not, is a scripted kind-of show. They don’t give them every single word, but they give them premises and they set things up. It’s not a documentary where you follow them around brushing their teeth. And that’s what we are — we blur that line and that’s what people find intriguing.”
Levesque also offers insight on The Rock and Kane’s on-stage personalities, WWE’s decision to make their shows “PG” television, critics denouncing wrestling as “fake,” and more. Read more here.
– Kenn Doane, who appeared as Kenny Dykstra for WWE, was asked on Twitter whether WWE Champion CM Punk is the “Best in the World” as he so often proclaims. The former WWE World Tag Team Champion says no, and that the “Best in the World” tag belongs to “The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment” or possibly even “The King of Kings.”
“#bestintheworld is The Rock. He draws, talks, not a good wrestler, but 2/3 isn’t bad,” Doane wrote. “Or HHH #bestintheworld draws, talks, wrestles. CM Punk is up there but I wouldn’t say the best.”
He was then asked about “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and responded, “Austin isn’t wrestling so I didn’t qualify him. Only those still active. Number 1 is The Rock.”
– WWE Hall of Famer Tammy “Sunny” Sytch, who checked into a rehabilitation program sponsored by WWE on Monday after consuming a “dangerous” amount of vodka, addressed her current progress via Facebook.
“I know i have to do this.. getting myself mentallly in gear. its hard,” she wrote Thursday.
Sytch then noted, “ok// over the next 28 days, im going to need some visitors and support… who is up for the challenge???”
– Former WWE talent Shawn Stasiak turns 42 years on Saturday. He is retired from professional wrestling and now works as a chiropractor. Today also marks as the forty-ninth birthday of Giant Silva of “Oddities” fame.
Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana is offering a discount on tickets for the Tuesday, July 31 SmackDown taping due to sluggish ticket sales. The venue issued the following notice to regular customers: “For a limited time, purchase a ticket and get upgraded to the next price level at no extra cost. That means if you purchase a ticket for $35, you’ll be upgraded to a $45 seat.”
Since last fall, multiple SmackDown events have drawn poor ticket sales, particularly in the Midwestern United States. There have been several instances where almost all of the camera side of the host venue has been tarped off, along with a large part of the upper bowl. One show in Toledo, Ohio was among the worst attended WWE events in years, drawing approximately 3,200 fans with only 1,600 paying. Raw Superstars John Cena and Triple H were added to several shows this summer to alleviate the disappearance of top SmackDown talent Randy Orton following his sixty-day suspension for his second violation of WWE’s Talent Wellness Program.
Both Cena and Triple H are advertised to make special appearances in Indianapolis, Indiana. It will also mark as the SmackDown return of Orton.
– The latest directive from WWE Executive Vice President of Talent, Triple H, is for title reigns to last longer to build up the significance of the championships. Both WWE Champion CM Punk and World Heavyweight champion Sheamus retained their respective titles at Money in the Bank and are expected to hold on to them for the foreseeable future.
– CM Punk tweeted the following about his upcoming WWE DVD set:
Just had an advanced screening of my DVD for a select few family members. So proud of it. Working on a lot of cool things for its release.
– The decision for John Cena to win the RAW brand’s Money in the Bank match was reportedly made within the last few weeks. At one point, John Cena was going to be given the pay-per-view off.
Former WWE creative writer Court Bauer recently spoke with Steven Muehlhausen about the upcoming [unconfirmed] Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar match at SummerSlam. Bauer, who worked with Triple H during his time with the company, thinks Triple H is the wrong opponent for the former UFC Heavyweight champion:
“He’s (Lesnar) a top a draw. It’s just how you apply a talent like that. Its kind of like, you look at movies. Everyone lays an egg, a rotten egg. But there’s still a lot of box office power behind them. You just gotta find the next one. The followup is critical for his success in WWE. I don’t feel Triple H is the right matchup for a lot of reasons both mechanically in the ring and in terms of long term investment.
If they (WWE) are really paying Brock Lesnar five million dollars for 20-25 dates and they brought in Paul Heyman for dollar X for X amount of dates. Do you believe that’s helping the company’s future by having Triple H beat him or lose to him when there’s so many, so many young talent that could use that TV exposure, could use that win if they are going to beat Brock Lesnar or even losing to Brock Lesnar look better? Triple H is not even a part-time wrestler at this point. So you really have to question the decision making going on there.”
– Last night’s 7/16 WWE Monday Night RAW drew a 3.44 (3.4) cable rating, with 4.88 million viewers. The first hour drew 4.72 million viewers, the second hour drew 5.03 million viewers. The show was #3 for the night on cable TV, behind TNT’s programing, and #1 in all adult demos, all adult male demos, and all teen viewers. It was the highest rating of the year among males 12 – 17 and increased in males 18 – 34 & 18 – 49.
– Local advertising is promoting Rey Mysterio will be returning to the ring in a dark match at the SmackDown tapings tonight in San Diego. Mysterio will team with John Cena in tag team main event against Big Show and John Laurinaitis.
Footage of Triple H giving The Miz a Pedigree during a raw commercial break aparently aired in international markets:
– Triple H made a special appearance during a commercial break at Monday’s RAW Supershow from Las Vegas. After Daniel Bryan and AJ’s wedding announcement, The Miz came to the ring and demanded that an authority figure come out and explain why he is always overlooked. Triple H’s music hit and the place went crazy. Triple H hit Miz with a Pedigree and left.
– WWE has released the first 5 volumes of their “WWE: The Music” theme music collection on iTunes. The collection includes 10 bonus tracks.
– WWE Hall of Famer Road Warrior Animal has been telling his Twitter followers to petition WWE for him to appear at RAW 1,000.
– Shawn Davari and women’s wrestler Jazz have been added to the debut show of Tommy Dreamer’s new House of Hardcore promotion on 10/6 from Poughkeepsie, New York.
– Randy Orton, who is currently serving a 60-day suspension for his second violation of WWE’s Talent Wellness Program, is scheduled to compete in a future World Heavyweight Championship Match. On September 18 at the SmackDown taping at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he will face Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio in a Triple Threat Match for the belt.
WWE Chief Operating Officer Triple H is advertised to make a special appearance at the event.
As we’ve been reporting in recent weeks, Randy Orton is expected to return to the SmackDown brand’s main event scene upon his return. Despite WWE’s typical reluctance to push wrestlers with two Wellness strikes against them, WWE’s lack of roster depth will likely result in Orton’s return to the the top SmackDown cards.
– Former WWE developmental wrestler Marcus Owens stated on Twitter that he will be filming a new reality series for VH1 next month in Atlanta, Georgia. He was released from his contract with the wrestling organization earlier this year.
– Evenue.com is holding a pre-sale for the September 11 SmackDown taping at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The passcode is SHEAMUS.
– Triple H is being advertised for WWE RAW from the Save Mart Center in Fresno, CA on August 20th. He’s also advertised for the following night’s SmackDown taping from the Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield, CA.
– InsideHalton.com has an interview with WWE United States Champion Santino Marella.
– WWE Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston and R-Truth will be appearing at an upcoming Florida Championship Wrestling live event from the Charlotte Harbor Event Center in Punta Gorda, FL on Friday July 13th. As part of the FCW Summer Slamarama Tour, Kingston and Truth will be signing autographs and taking pictures with fans.
– With the news of Sara Del Rey joining WWE, there is speculation that she could be hired to help train WWE divas, but that news is not confirmed.
Wrestling legend Bruno Sammartino spoke to PWInsider.com this week to discuss Triple H recently calling him and trying to get him to accept WWE’s offer to enter their Hall of Fame next year. Here are some highlights of what Sammartino said about Triple H’s phone call to him:
– They spoke for a while. Triple H was a gentleman and impressed him. Triple H tried to open the lines of communication between Bruno and WWE, since Bruno and Vince McMahon have been on bad terms for decades.
– Triple H thinks that Bruno Sammartino being inducted in the NY/NJ area would be a great idea since he wrestled most of his big matches at Madison Square Garden. The Garden was named as a possible location for the Hall of Fame ceremony.
– Bruno turned down the offer because he still has issues with WWE and doesn’t feel right changing the position he’s had for so long. Sammartino said he appreciated everything Triple H and WWE offered but he simply cannot accept the offer.
– Bruno doesn’t like the fact that WWE does not have a physical building for the Hall of Fame and the fact that many non-wrestlers inducted.
– Bruno said he has no interest in working with WWE in any capacity as long as Vince McMahon is part of the company.
– Sammartino believes Triple H wants to do the right things for the business. Triple H told him that WWE has moved away from some of the aspects of the product that turned Sammartino off.
– This week on WWE Inbox, Alicia Fox, Darren Young, Dolph Ziggler, Ezekiel Jackson and Titus O’Neil reveal what they would be doing if they weren’t affiliated with WWE. The WWE Superstars also discuss their favorite WrestleMania.
– WWE.com announced Wednesday details for SummerSlam Axxess taking place Saturday, Aug. 18 to Sunday, Aug. 19 at the Nokia Plaza at L.A. LIVE. Among those scheduled for VIP appearances include CM Punk, Sheamus, Triple H, Randy Orton, John Cena and Rey Mysterio, who has not returned to television following the expiration of his 60-day suspension for his second violation of WWE’s Talent Wellness Program.
– Former WWE talent Bobby Lashley and Harry Smith are advertised to appear at the Fighting Back – Wrestling With Cancer show taking place Friday, Aug. 17 at Tudor Hall 3750 North Bowesville Rd. Ottawa, Ontario.
– Bruno Sammartino’s rep Sal Correnete has issued the following statement regarding online reports that Sammartino was “not impressed” with Triple H and his efforts to convince Sammartino to join WWE’s Hall of Fame next year:
“It has come to our attention that someone has claimed that Bruno was unimpressed with Triple H. That is an absolutely false statement Bruno had no issue what so ever with Triple H. He liked Triple H and enjoyed their conversation but for reasons personal to Bruno he has decided not to accept the induction in NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM IS THE REFUSAL A REFLECTION ON TRIPLE H or his presentation or conversations with Bruno”
– Monday’s RAW Supershow saw a 17% drop in social media activity and finished #4 for the night on cable, according to Trendrr.tv. RAW’s social media score was 154,111, down from 186,954 for the June 25th show. This week’s show was down 6% from the 2012 average.
As previously reported, WWE recently reached out to wrestling legend Bruno Sammartino about headlining next year’s WWE Hall of Fame class. Sammartino’s camp issued a statement to the Wrestling Observer on Monday night confirming that Bruno was contacted – and is not interested.
The Observer is now reporting that Triple H recently called Bruno Sammartino and tried convincing him to accept the offer. Because Sammartino has bad blood with Vince McMahon, Triple H told him to not worry about Vince and to think about his legacy and educating today’s audience about his legendary career.
Bruno was reportedly not impressed with Triple H’s efforts.
– WWE.com has a poll up asking what will Brock Lesnar’s response be to Triple H’s SummerSlam challenge tonight on Raw.
As of Monday afternoon, 75% think Lesnar will accept the challenge while 25% think he will reject the challenge due to his ongoing storyline lawsuit against WWE.
– Randy Orton is featured on the cover of the latest issue of Power Slam magazine.
– WWE talent will be at San Diego Comic-Con on July 12th along with Mattel toy designers Bill Miekina, Derek Handy and Mattel’s director of marketing Enrique Ruvalcaba.
– John Cena attended a New York Mets MLB baseball game last week.
– Triple H appeared in front of the live crowd at Monday’s RAW during a commercial break.
After Santino Marella defeated Jack Swagger, Triple H came out and hit Swagger with a Pedigree.
– After RAW went off the air, a dark match main event took place: John Cena vs. Big Show and Tensai in a handicap match. Believe it or not, John Cena won after hitting Tensai with the AA.
John Laurinaitis then hit the ring and attacked Cena with a steel chair. Cena got fired up and hit Laurinaitis with the AA to end the show.
– Triple H appeared off-camera at Tuesday night’s SmackDown tapings in Baltimore, Maryland. After Jack Swagger cut a cocky heel promo in the ring, Triple H’s music hit and he came to the ring and Pedigreed Swagger before leaving.
– The dark main event that took place at Tuesday’s SmackDown tapings saw John Cena defeat Big Show and David Otunga in a Handicap Match (Cena pinned Otunga).
After the match ended, John Laurinaitis hit the ring and tried hitting Cena with a steel chair. Cena ducked and laid Laurinaitis out with an Attitude Adjustment to end the show.
– Despite Brock Lesnar’s rocky relationship with WWE, plans are still in place for him to fight Triple H at SummerSlam in August.
One scenario discussed for the match would be for Vince McMahon to be in Triple H’s corner and John Laurinaitis to be in Lesnar’s corner. This would involve John Cena defeating Big Show at No Way Out and Vince McMahon firing Laurinaitis at the pay-per-view. Laurinaitis, with the backing of WWE’s Board of Directors, would then return with Brock Lesnar as his enforcer to take out Triple H, who would be aligned with Vince McMahon.
– In recent months, we’ve seen several UFC fighters express interest in wrestling for WWE after their MMA careers are over, including Tito Ortiz and Roy Nelson. Add another big name to the list of UFC fighters willing to step into a WWE ring – Frank Mir.
Frank Mir, Brock Lesnar’s arch nemesis in the UFC, was recently asked by the Chronicle Journal about the possibility of following Brock Lesnar to WWE when he retires from the Octagon. Mir replied:
“Not opposed to the idea. I can’t do a back flip or anything.”
Wrestling Observer editor Dave Meltzer was asked by a reader during his radio show (available here) why WWE has not utilized Mick Foley on television more frequently since his return to the organization last November. He said this is due to wrestler/executive Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque’s lobbying, who is resentful of “The Hardcore Legend.”
Meltzer reports Levesque deprecates Foley whenever his name is broached in creative meetings. While Brian Gewirtz, WWE’s Senior Vice President of Creative Writing, feels Foley is creative and a good performer, Levesque thinks otherwise. He says Foley ‘doesn’t look tough’ and can’t be taken seriously as an in-ring performer.
A former WWE creative writer told Power Slam in 2008 under the condition of anonymity that Levesque would disparage Foley whenever he appeared for the company, and in the process, diminished his value in the eyes of Vince and Stephanie McMahon.
“Foley is an out-of-shape nobody,” Levesque was reported as saying by the writer. “No one cares about him at all. Funaki puts more asses in the seats than Foley does. He should pay us for coming on our shows.”
Meltzer believes the real reason Levesque still holds Foley in contempt is because he gets irritated over the consensus of his closest co-workers that his memorable matches with Foley in 2000 ‘made him a star.’
Foley has criticized Levesque in the past; he took several veiled shots at ‘H in his 2007 autobiography The Hardcore Diaries. He also took issue online with Levesque belittling ring announcer Lilian Garcia with a remark he felt was hurtful during an April 2010 episode of Raw. Foley acknowledged then that he may have cost himself professionally for speaking out against Levesque, but felt he had to stand by his principles.
– John Laurinaitis no longer officially serves as WWE’s Executive Vice President of Talent Relations; his bio has been removed from the WWE Corporate website’s index of executive officers. Therefore, the former ‘Dynamic Dude’ is solely an on-air performer for WWE. However, he is still branded as the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations in his WWE.com Superstars profile and on his Twitter account.
Laurinaitis had overseen the Talent Relations department since April 2004, when he replaced Jim Ross. He was hired as a road agent after the sport entertainment organization’s acquisition of certain assets of World Championship Wrestling in March 2001.
Paul “Triple H” Levesque, who oversees the talent relations and talent development departments, has been added to the website.
– Counting down to twelve days remaining on his thirty-day WWE suspension due to an irresponsible act of denigrating the Brazilian flag at a WWE live event in São Paulo on May 24, Chris Jericho tweeted Monday, “I was 12 years old when I started my first band, The Amplifiers. Our song was called ‘Cop Shop’. I still remember how it goes!”
– Triple H is today’s spotlighted WWE Superstar on WWE.com.
– An interesting note about the “local talent” that Ryback has been squashing each week. As a way of giving Ryback an extra edge to get him over with live audiences, WWE has been announcing that the jobbers hail from the rival city of where the event is being held. For example, when WWE was recently in Columbia, South Carolina, it was announced the jobbers hailed from Clemson, South Carolina. Clemson is a rival school of the University of South Carolina in Columbia.
– More on Ryback’s latest victims from RAW, Arthur Rosenberg and Stan Hansky (indy wrestlers Kirby Mack and Stoney Hooker). Prior to being sacrificed to Ryback, they read a poem together, which was meant to be a rib on Lanny “The Genius” Poffo, brother of the late “Macho Man” Randy Savage.
The belief is that Poffo was ribbed because of his recent comments about Randy Savage refusing to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame unless the entire Poffo family (including their father, Agenlo Poffo) was inducted as well.
– Today’s wrestling birthdays include hardcore legend Mick Foley (46) and WWE Hall of Famer Howard Finkel.
– Triple H has been added to next week’s WWE SmackDown tapings (6/12) from the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire. Triple h appeared at this week’s SmackDown tapings and laid out Drew McIntyre with a pedigree in a segment that won’t air on television, so it’s possible he’ll have a similar role at next week’s tapings.