– The ratings are in for Monday’s WWE RAW Supershow – and the post-Vengeance show did a strong 3.31 rating – up a bit from last week.
This week’s show averaged 4.71 million viewers with 4.93 million viewers for Hour 1 and 4.64 million viewers for Hour 2.
RAW was #2 on cable for the night in the coveted male demograhpic (behind ESPN’s Monday Night Football). RAW was #1 this week in the Males 12-17 demographic.
– The @WWEInsider Twitter account is reporting the following regarding Triple H’s condition following Kevin Nash’s attacks on RAW:
“Triple H has spinal damage following Kevin Nash’s attack on Monday Night Raw.”
The WWE website has an article up saying Triple H has a fractured vertebrae and doctors say he will miss up to 6 weeks.
That said, it is expected that a Triple H vs. Kevin Nash match will take place at Survivor Series with some sort of stipulation to compensate for Nash’s in-ring limitations.
– If you thought WWE was going overboard with the amount of Twitter references on WWE television – you ain’t seen nothing yet. WWE has reportedly inked some sort of business relationship with Twitter and will be going into overdrive with the Twitter integration as we head into the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania season.
— WWE.com has posted an interview with Jim Ross backstage at Saturday’s Raw television taping in Mexico City, Mexico furthering his on-screen feud with interim Raw General Manager John Laurinaitis. He says Laurinaitis has changed a great deal since the “jobless guy” that he hired when WCW went belly up and that he’s disappointed in the human being he’s turned out to be.
Regarding his return to Raw, he thought that when he received a call from Laurinaitis’ office to appear at the show, he would be returning to announce, but instead found out he would be wrestling.
— Despite being advertised, Amy Dumas (a/k/a Lita), Tully Blanchard, Buddy Landell, Baby Doll and Tommy Rich did not appear on Awesome Wrestling Entertainment’s Night of Legends pay-per-view event Saturday night.
— Triple H is featured on the cover of the latest issue of Power Slam.
D-Generation X—Shawn Michaels and Triple H—reunited prior to the SmackDown portion of tonight’s WWE television tapings in Dallas, Texas by teasing that WrestleMania would take place at Cowboys Stadium, home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.
The largest domed stadium in the world has been speculated as a future home of the pay-per-view extravaganza since the stadium opened in 2009.
DX performed their trademark routine and cut a “non-PG” promo, according to a fan in attendance. Their celebration was interrupted by Vince McMahon.
The segment will not air on television since Michaels’ appearance was locally advertised.
Check out this picture of DX from Tuesday’s tapings:
— The official Twitter feed of the WWE Insider issued the following statement this afternoon: CONFIRMED: The Board has approved @WWERawGM’s request to have @CMPunk and Triple H face @MiketheMiz and @RonKillings at #Vengeance.”
The match has yet to be announced by WWE.com.
— Eve, Gail Kim, John Morrison, Kofi Kingston, The Miz and kids from the Boys & Girls Club of America appear on Nickelodeon’s “Family BrainSurge” Thursday at 6 ET/5 CT. WWE.com has published photos of their appearance.
— Former WWE Diva Ashley Massaro is advertised to appear at the Boston Super Megafest at the Sheraton Framingham Hotel 1657 Worcester Rd. Framingham, Massachusetts. The event takes place November 19-20. Visit www.supermegafest.com for more information.
— WWE’s next three-hour Raw event takes place November 14 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts and The Rock is advertised to appear. The venue’s official website is billing the event as “The Rock Reunion Party.”
The website’s advertising reads: “What will happen when the seven-time WWE Champion, “the most electrifying man in all of entertainment” The Rock and ten-time WWE Champion John Cena meet in Cena’s hometown?”
Also advertised for the event is a Six-Man Tag Team Match pitting John Cena, Triple H and CM Punk against The Miz, R-Truth and Alberto Del Rio.
— Former WWE Divas Lilian Garcia and Maria Kanellis hosted the second edition of their post-Raw show for AfterBuzzTV.com Monday night.
– You’ve probably noticed in recent weeks that RAW superstar John Morrison has been losing more matches than usual. There is strong talk going around WWE that John Morrison won’t be re-signed when his contract expires in the coming weeks.
We want to know – would WWE be making a big mistake by letting Morrison go? Has WWE gotten everything they can out of Morrison – or does he have the potential to be one of the companies top stars with the right push? Hit up the COMMENTS below and tell us what you think.
– Zack Ryder was not booked on RAW for the second week in a row now and wrote the following on Twitter regarding the situation:
“Pinned the US Champ @HEELZiggler 2 weeks in a row…& now I’ve been off Raw for 2 weeks in a row. #doesntmakesense”
“At least @LaRosaMendes was booked tonight… #RyderOrRiot”
– Several fans sent in word that Triple H’s line to John Laurinaitis on RAW where he asked, “Have you ever tried to pick up your teeth with broken fingers” came from the 1992 movie The Crying Game.
In case you missed it from RAW – video of Mr. McMahon informing Triple H that the Board of Directors has decided to relieve him of his duties as WWE COO:
In light of news that WWE Chief Operating Officer Triple H has vowed to not step down from running the Raw Supershow, Christian has spearheaded an effort by various Superstars, Divas, referees, announcers and crew members to travel to Oklahoma City on Monday and stage a “Solidarity Rally” in the backstage parking lot of the Chesapeake Energy Arena prior to the show. The contingent, which consists of those who walked out on Triple H this past Monday night, tell WWE.com that they will not return to the Raw Supershow or step into the venue to perform until Triple H relinquishes control.
Triple H stated earlier in a video interview that John Cena, CM Punk, Randy Orton, Sheamus and Big Show will headline Monday night’s telecast.
“Beyond that, I might not have referees, I might not have announcers, I might not have cameramans. Quite frankly, I don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said. “We’ll see what we come up with on Monday. Hell, they might all show up and I won’t let anyone back in.”
– Sirius XM Radio announced on Thursday that The Miz will host an exclusive fantasy football show heard nationwide on SiriusXM’s 24/7 fantasy sports channel.
First and Awesome will air Wednesdays (6:00-7:00 pm ET) during the NFL season on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio, channel 87 on XM and channel 210 on Sirius Premier (formerly known as “The Best of XM”).
– The WWE website posted a “worked” statement on Thursday announcing what to expect on Monday’s RAW Supershow:
WWE Chief Operating Officer Triple H vows to “absolutely not step down” from running WWE Raw SuperShow.
Triple H vows that John Cena, CM Punk, Randy Orton, Sheamus and Big Show will headline Monday night’s telecast, emanating from the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City.
Despite the walkout that took place on RAW, Triple H will continue day-to-day operations.
— The official roster for the upcoming WWE ’12 video game is currently being finalized and will be announced by THQ next week. The new WWE video game franchise will reportedly feature many “WCW Legends.”
— WWE COO Triple H will be on the cover of the next issue of WWE Magazine.
— Pro boxer Monte Barrett, who is friends with John Cena and has said publicly that he wants to become a WWE superstar, will begin training at WWE developmental later this month.
At one point, it was also discussed that Barrett wanted to fight former opponent David Tua in a boxing match at WrestleMania 28.
The official Twitter feed of the WWE Insider announced tonight that The Miz and R-Truth will be pressing charges against Triple H and WWE.
The Insider wrote, “Just heard news that @mikethemiz and @RonKillings are pressing charges against Triple H and @WWE. More details as they unfold.”
Moments after Alberto Del Rio regained the WWE Championship inside Hell in a Cell, everyone in the cell was brutalized by The Miz and R-Truth, who were arrested then pummeled by Chief Operating Officer Triple H.
The fired Superstars have issued a video apology to WWE fans for their actions at Hell in a Cell. The Miz reveals they have filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against WWE and pressed assault charges against Triple H for his unprovoked attack.
WWE COO Triple H “fired” The Miz and R-Truth last week after the duo attacked a referee during the main event of WWE’s Night of Champions pay-per-view. Since then, Miz and R-Truth have been coming up with ways to keep themselves on television and get back on the WWE roster.
The Miz wrote the following on Twitter last night after RAW – calling Triple H a hypocrite for firing he and R-Truth ..
“Triple H fires us for “savagely attacking a WWE official” I wonder if Triple H ever put his hands on a WWE Official. Let’s see.. #Hypocrite
Triple H vs Stone Cold No Mercy 1999 Triple H pushes ref. #hypocrite Triple H vs Y2J April 2000 Triple H beats up n pedigrees ref #hypocrite
And my favorite Triple H vs Kevin Nash Judgement Day 2003 Triple H “Savagely” hits ref with a SLEDGEHAMMER. Just to name a few. #hypocrite”
Sounds like The Miz has a point – what do you guys think? Hit up the comments section below.
Update: Maryse and John Morrison have responded on Twitter to the comments made by The Miz regarding the #hypocrisy of Triple H. Maryse wrote:
“@mikethemiz #phenomenal”
John Morrison, former tag team partner of The Miz, tweeted the following:
“@mikethemiz complaining about not getting enough attention- #hypocrite”
“@mikethemiz, you think you’re mad at Triple H now? Watch Inside Out… THEN let us knpw how you feel”
— Two additional matches have been announced for Sunday’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view:
* Christian vs. Sheamus
* Kelly Kelly vs. Beth Phoenix for the WWE Divas Championship
Also announced for the show are Mark Henry vs. Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship and John Cena vs. CM Punk vs. Alberto Del Rio for the WWE Championship.
— WWE Chief Operating Officer Triple H announced on Raw that Christian would face Randy Orton on this week’s episode of SmackDown.
WWE issued a video to mailing list subscribers of Shawn Michaels interrupting Triple H’s promotion of the Inside Out DVD. After teasing the movie’s plot of Triple’s character killing his best friend, Michaels questions the Chief Operating Officer’s decision making in a tongue-in-cheek manner.
He tells Triple H, “I just want you to know there’s no hard feelings ’cause of what you did to my friend, Kevin Nash. You fired him like a no-good S.O.B. and I’m sure you had a perfectly good reason even though it looks like you’ve changed an awful lot and you’re not the same guy you used to be.
“I’m not going to hold that against you. What anyone says that you’re a turncoat, backstabber—I don’t believe them.”
Michaels then tells Hunter that he may be seeing him soon, and leaves the room.
— John Cena appeared in studio on The Johnny Dare Morning Show today to promote tonight’s Raw SuperShow at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
Cena teased during the interview that a cage would hang above the ring at the venue. He also discussed films, cars and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Cena stated that he does not want to turn bad because seeing the Make-A-Wish kids with his merchandise makes his day.
Meanwhile, the female sidekick auditioning for the morning show said she was former WWE announcer Jonathan Coachman’s roommate in college. She also claimed to have one night stands with former WWE talent John “Bradshaw” Layfield and Al Snow.
— The Miz and R-Truth “invaded” this past weekend’s Raw live events. The same scenario took place at all three shows; the heel duo would jump WWE Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne immediately following their victory over David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty. Company personnel would then escort the “fired” wrestlers away.
Ring announcer Justin Roberts announced at the start of all three shows that The Miz and R-Truth wouldn’t be on hand due to Triple H’s ruling last Monday on Raw.
— Today marks the anniversary of the death of former WWE star Ray “Big Boss Man” Traylor, who passed away on September 22, 2004 at his home in Acworth, Georgia due to a heart attack. He was 41 years old.
Former WWE Diva Terri Runnels posted a message on Twitter remembering Traylor, her longtime traveling partner.
She wrote, “The anniversary of the passing of Big Bossman…my best friend, brother, father and yes, girlfriend! I miss you Ray!”
— Triple H is featured on the cover of the November 2011 issue of WWE Magazine, with the headline reading “IS HE REALLY IN CHARGE? THE GAME RESPONDS…” Features include: BEST OF THE ROCK – 15 Years of Layin’ The Smackdown!; SUPERSTAR CONSPIRACY THEORIES!; 10 BIGGEST NERDS IN WWE.
— A WWE Raw SuperShow is scheduled for Monday, February 20, 2012 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
– UFC held a press conference this afternoon to promote Saturday’s UFC 135 pay-per-view. During the media event, Triple H’s recent comments were brought up, where Triple H said that UFC needs to adapt to keep pace with WWE. After UFC’s Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones called HHH’s comments, “ridiculous,” UFC president Dana White then chimed in. While said that Vince McMahon is finally letting Triple H talk, and once he gets some more experience in his new role , Triple H “will learn soon not to say stupid things.”
– On Monday’s RAW, we saw WWE COO Triple H fire both The Miz and R-Truth, whose [storyline] releases were later announced on the WWE website. The Miz wrote on Twitter this afternoon that he and R-Truth will address WWE firing them on Miz’s Sirius radio show “1st and Awesome.” The show airs tonight on Sirius 210, XM 87 from 5-6pm CT.
— Rosa Mendes, who has not competed since the July 29 episode of SmackDown, stated on Twitter that she will be on hand for tonight’s taping in Dayton, Ohio.
— WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels is in Canada’s Yukon Territory this week filming episodes for MacMillan River Adventures on the Outdoor Channel. Part two of his gator hunting experience with Triple H airs tonight at 11:30 p.m.
— WWE referee Scott Armstrong underwent X-rays this morning for what he believed could be a broken, cracked or bruised rib after taking an errant kick from R-Truth during the CM Punk vs. Triple H match at Night of Champions. He later indicated on Twitter that he would be sidelined for a few weeks.
“No RAW OR SMACKDOWN for me for a couple of weeks anyway. Thanks To Miz and Truth!#a$$hol%s,” Armstrong wrote.
— The September 16 episode of WWE SmackDown featuring the return of “The Cutting Edge” garnered a 1.78 cable rating, down from 1.9 rating the week before.
SmackDown averaged 2.61 million viewers, down ten percent from the previous week’s score of 2.91 million viewers.
On cable television Friday night, SmackDown ranked twelfth in overall viewers
During a recent interview with MovieFone.com to promote his new movie Inside Out, WWE star Triple H was asked about the differences between pro wrestling and mixed martial arts. Specifically, he was asked, “How do you think WWE and pro wrestling needs to evolve as UFC and MMA grows in popularity?
Triple H answered with the following response, saying that it’s actually UFC that needs to evolve right now, not WWE:
“I don’t think we have to evolve. It’s two totally different things. I think now especially there’s this thing like, “oh it’s very similar.”
“I don’t see us needing to evolve to what UFC does because quite frankly sometimes the fights are long and boring, guys lying around and sometimes the fights are fast and over in five seconds. I’ve always thought one of the things about us, if you look at us solely from a sports standpoint, is that we always give you a good show. We’re never going to give you a crap game.”
“I think if anybody needs to evolve, it’s them. Give more of an entertainment standpoint. Give more form; they just have fighters who walk in in T-shirts and shorts and just stand there and then they fight and then they win and then they go “thanks, I’d like to thank my sponsors” and then they leave. The whole world was up in arms when Brock was flipping people off and was cussing at the beer company because they didn’t give him any money and everyone thought, “oh my god, he’s disrespectful,” — the whole world was talking about it. They couldn’t wait to see him get beat up. And then he did well, and he beat some guys and then people jump on his bandwagon going “Brock’s the greatest.” I’m good friends with Floyd Mayweather and Floyd would be the first to tell ya, “I make the most money in boxing and I have the biggest buyers because I have the biggest mouth.” He’d be the first guy to tell you that. That’s what it’s about. Sports is entertainment.”
Many people are shaking their heads at the ineptitude of Triple H’s remarks, including his Night of Champions opponent, CM Punk. Punk tweeted the following on Thursday:
“”@arielhelwani: RT @MMAFighting Triple H: UFC Needs to Evolve More Than WWE aol.it/qVzzuK” RIDICULOUS!!!!! Laugh out loud ignorance.”
DISCUSSION: What do you guys think? Is Triple H off his rocker when he says that WWE is doing just fine right now and it’s actually UFC that needs to alter its company strategy? Hit up the comments below and tell us what you think.
Video footage has been released of Shawn Michaels and Triple H hunting for alligators in Florida from “Shawn Michaels’s MacMillan River Adventures” show. The full episode aired earlier this week on Outdoor Channel and replays on Saturday night. Part 2 of the DX gator hunt airs on next week’s show:
During the interview, Triple H was asked about wrestling legend Ric Flair and his infamous partying ways. Triple H had this to say about Ric Flair, who is still going hard after all these years:
“Ric is one of my best friends. Ric doesn’t know when to walk away. Ric doesn’t want to be told to walk away. And Ric can’t afford to walk away. Ric has lived every day of his life like it’s the last for almost the fifty years he’s been in the business. In Ric’s mind, it’s still 1982, he’s on top of the world, he’s young, he’s got a lot of money. Ric has never questioned spending.”
“We have a term on the road where if you go out and you have a crazy night that you spent a ludicrous amount of money or you just lose it one day and you can’t go through another airport and you’re trying to get a jet instead, we call it ‘Naitching.’ Ridiculously spending money for no point is called ‘Naitching.'”
Triple H also spoke about the competition between WWE and UFC – which is leading many to say that Triple H is stuck in the “WWE bubble” and out of touch with reality. To read what Triple H had to say about WWE vs. UFC, hit the link below:
The Miami Herald has published Part 2 of their interview with Triple H, which you can read at MiamiHerald.com in its entirety. Here are some highlights of what Triple H said about:
His Future Inside & Outside Of The Ring:
“In the ring, listen, it’s a young man’s business. I love being able to get in there occasionally and still perform. We [WWE] have the greatest fan base in the world, the most rabid fan base in the world. Anytime I can get out in front of them and perform, as long as they still want to see me, I’m excited to do it, but at the same point, I don’t want to be doing it everyday.
I enjoy the [TV] role I have right now, with being able to go out on the show, but to be quite frank, I enjoy the behind the scenes just as much. To me, it’s just as thrilling to help a young guy like a Sheamus or a Miz or somebody like that, help them with something and then see them go out there and do it and be successful, see it click for them. It’s just as exhilarating to me as being out there and doing it myself. So that part of it is a thrill for me to be behind the scenes and hopefully watching the business continue to thrive.”
SmackDown Moving To Tuesdays?
“I’m sure if you ask Syfy, they would say, ‘Yes.’ I think that’s certainly on the board. The beautiful thing about WWE is we truly are a fluid product, because we’re live, and we can do it from just about anywhere. We can moves things around and switch things around, and it’s what makes us such a valuable partner to people and networks like USA and Syfy. If USA or somebody needs a number to help them get over the hump in the ratings war, we can do a special and put them over the top. We can do a Tuesday live show and give somebody a kick. We can do all these different things, and that’s a very valuable commodity. I’m sure they’re looking, as well as everybody else is looking, to use that commodity in the best possible way they can.”
The official website of the Air Canada Centre is advertising WWE Hall of Famer Bret “The Hitman” Hart and multi-time WWE Women’s Champion Trish Stratus for this Tuesday’s SmackDown taping at the venue.
Both Canadian stars are advertised for “special guest appearances.”
WWE announced Friday on SmackDown that former world champion Edge would appear on this week’s show, which emanates from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. According to the Air Canada Centre website, WWE will be paying tribute to the “Rated-R Superstar” with “Edge Appreciation Night.”
Also advertised for the event is a World Heavyweight Match between Randy Orton and Mark Henry. Overseeing the night’s action will be WWE Chief Operating Officer Triple H.
In a new interview with Chris Yandek of CYInterview.com, Triple H responds to his wrestling critics who believe he has received preferential treatment and greater opportunities on WWE TV, because he is married to Vince McMahon’s daughter, Stephanie. There have been claims that he held wrestlers down, keeping them from achieving more success in the WWE and receiving more opportunities to shine on the company’s television programs. Now working in creative and behind the scenes, he responds to the question if believes working in talent development is his chance to show he wants to see other guys get over.
“I know what I accomplished in this business. I know why I accomplished it. I don’t. Critics and what people say about this or that or my marriage [to Stephanie McMahon] or any of that stuff is crap. It’s mostly started by people that are either jealous or angry that they failed where other people succeeded. I mean, that’s a common, I was told it when I started in the business.
It’s a common saying in this business, you can make friends or you can make money. You can have buddies or you can get over. Which one do you want? You know, and they don’t come together. And I think, I don’t, I never look at it that way. I don’t have anything to prove to anybody. I’ll put my body of work up against anybody in the business. I’ll put my drawing power up against anybody in the business. That’s irrelevant. It’s people’s opinions”
Triple H follows up by stating what he believes the WWE Product lacks today with the newer wrestlers in the company. He explains what these guys need to be successful.
“We’re a victim of our own success. There’s no place for guys to go and figure out how to do this. We have to teach them kind of and get them up to speed to speak. Even when you get guys off the independent scene, they are very much independent wrestlers and then the independent scene will, so these guys are the greatest guys in the world and you bring them up and they flounder on the big stage. They can’t. They can’t. It’s a completely different animal and a completely different world and you have to, it’s relearning and re-teaching. That’s the biggest, I think, struggle we have is getting these guys there.
But listen, at the end of the day, you just have to find guys with the right charisma and they have to be the ones to put that charisma out there. Nobody told The Rock how to be The Rock…Work rate is important, guy’s skill in the ring is important, but at the end of the day it’s about charisma. It’s the ability to draw fans to arenas and the guy that draws the most fans to the arena for whatever reason, positive or negative, he’s the top guy.”
He does believe the WWE product could be bigger than the 7.0 ratings that were put up during the WWE Attitude Era:
“Do I think it can ever get that big again? History can repeat. I say without a doubt. I think it can be even bigger…What tomorrow brings, no one knows.”
Finally, Hunter talks about winning the majority of vintage wrestling auctions from his mentor “Killer” Kowalski. He says they are working on a real WWE Hall of Fame for people to see all the historic wrestling items.
“I think I was gone on the road for SummerSlam, but I had somebody at the office bid online and I got I think like 99 percent of everything wrestling-wise, which I’m glad I did. I just didn’t want that to go to somebody that just hid it away somewhere. I wanted the world to be able to see how great he really was. And do I think they’ll ever be a hall of fame? Yes. I think they’ll be a physical hall of fame. That’s something we’re working on. It’s definitely in the works. It’s just a matter of when, where. Is it a traveling hall of fame? Is it a permanent place? There’s a lot of questions and thoughts on it and we’re in the process of collecting things to put in there. But the Kowalski stuff for me was as much a legend in this business was also a very personal thing for me.”
You can read a write up and listen to the entire interview at CYInterview.com.