The following is a list of the current merchandise sellers at the arenas in WWE.
1. John Cena
2. Daniel Bryan
3. CM Punk (down on the list because he’s been off TV and hasn’t been at the arenas)
4. Batista
5. Sheamus
6. Hulk Hogan
7. Randy Orton
8. Brock Lesnar
On the official WWE website, the list of top merchandise sellers is as follows:
1. John Cena
2. CM Punk
3. Daniel Bryan
4. Hulk Hogan
5. The Shield
6. Steve Austin
7. Brock Lesnar
8. Undertaker
9. Randy Orton
Notably absent from the list are Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio, both of whom have been among the top merchandise movers, especially Mysterio, who has been in the top tier list for several years.
The viewership for Monday’s edition of WWE RAW in Memphis, Tennessee dropped from last week. The show, which featured both The Undertaker and Hulk Hogan, averaged 4.368 million viewers, down from the average of 4.576 million viewers from last week.
The hourly breakdown for this week’s RAW is as follows:
Hour One: 4.165 million viewers
Hour Two: 4.676 million viewers
Hour Three: 4.265 million viewers
– It was confirmed on Friday’s edition of WWE SmackDown that The Undertaker will be appearing at Monday’s RAW in Memphis to address Brock Lesnar. Also confirmed for RAW, as we reported a few days ago, is Hulk Hogan, who will be making a big WrestleMania XXX announcement.
– Colt Cabana recently spoke to The Chicago Tribune and spoke among other topics, about receiving a lot of e-mails regarding CM Punk. “It’s a lot. It’s wrestling websites and promoters who want to book him. I ignore a lot of them or just say he’s nowhere to be found,” said Cabana.
WWE Hall of Famer “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase Sr. recently took some time to participate in an exclusive in-depth interview with PWMania.com. DiBiase, now retired from active wrestling, serves the public as a minister for Heart of David Ministry and had a lot to say about his new profession, wrestling, his family and more including Vince McMahon, Steve Austin, The Undertaker, WCW and the attitude era. Here are some highlights from the interview:
Vince McMahon & The Million Dollar Man Character: “It all has to do with marketing. The greatest marketing is word of mouth. Nobody can disagree that Vince is extremely good at marketing. He has marketed WWE so well and even the name Wrestlemania is synonymous with events like the Super Bowl. Now, this past Super Bowl was terrible. But, it’s a brand, just like WWE is a brand. People will still watch that brand. Wrestlemania will sell out because of its strength as a brand.”
Grooming Steve Austin: “I was really happy for him. I told him when I managed him the reason Vince put me with guys is because he hoped I would groom them. I told Steve at the time to keep doing what he was doing because what it is believable. You may not get over as fast, but you will last longer than guys who get over real fast and then their popularity dies out. Once you get over, you can do whatever you want. I don’t think anybody expected his character would grow to be as big as it did.”
The Attitude Era & Steve Austin: “But, as far as still managing him if I was still there, I wouldn’t be with him. As a Christian, I had an issue with the Attitude Era. If Stone Cold’s character was the heel, I’d be okay with it. But because he was drinking beer, flipping the bird and cursing…and getting cheered for it? And he becomes a babyface? That sends a message to teenagers that it’s ok to do all those things. That didn’t sit well with me.. The same thing was true with the NWO because we were the bad guys. But the bad guys were becoming the cool thing to be. There are good guys and bad guys in wrestling and I feel the story that should be told is that the good guys in the end win. If we send that message to kids, we are sending the right message. The Million Dollar Man character always got his butt kicked in the end.”
The Undertaker’s WrestleMania Appearances: “Regarding his once-a-year Wrestlemania appearances, I can only think “Mark, how many times can you do this?” Every year I think he would be getting closer to the end. But the fact that he only makes this one-time appearance is great because fans of the Undertaker will be there and will look forward to seeing him. One of the reasons Elvis Presley was famous is because the only time you ever saw him was when he walked on stage. He would walk on stage, would perform and literally left the building. It adds to the mystique. The less you see something you like, the more you want to see it.”
“The Million Dollar Man” also spoke more on Steve Austin and Vince McMahon, his future plans, WCW, WWF/E, Ted DiBiase Jr., being a minister among several other topics. You can read the in-depth interview in its entirety at PWMania.com.
– As previously reported, despite being advertised, The Undertaker did not appear at Monday’s RAW, nor was he backstage at the show. According to one source, the decision for Undertaker not to appear on RAW must have been a last-minute change, as there was a version of the script for the show at one point that had a segment featuring a staredown between he and Brock Lesnar.
– Former WWE Diva Lisa Marie Varon (aka Victoria) posted the re-tweeted the following photo of herself backstage at Monday’s WWE RAW at the All State Arena in Chicago, Illinois:
– Former WWE Superstar Kevin Nash returned to his old basketball stomping grounds, as he appeared at the Tennessee college basketball game this afternoon to watch the retirement ceremony for his former teammate Dale Ellis.
– The latest WWE “Top 10” on YouTube features the best returns of The Undertaker. You can check out that video below:
– Both The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar have been added to the officially scheduled lineup for the March 24th edition of WWE RAW, which emanates from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. That will be the second-to-last episode of RAW leading into the big WrestleMania XXX event on April 6th.
– The following is a photo of former TNA Knockout So Cal Val at the NXT Arrival live WWE Network special on Thursday night in Winter Park, Florida.
VOC Nation sent along the following highlights of a recent interview with Kamala:
On becoming a wrestler: “I didn’t really want to be a wrestler. I liked watching wrestling and I couldn’t really find a (real) job.I was with Bobo Brazil and he started training me. I thought itwould be a quick way to make some money, get wealthy, and get rightback out of it. I never wanted to be a wrestler. If I had to do itall over again I wouldn’t be a wrestler.”
On his start and his gimmick: “My first match was with The GreatMaphesto; he broke me in and gave me my start. Jerry Lawler came upwith the Kamala idea. I used to live in Africa and I startedpainting myself back then.”
On working with Andre the Giant: “Andre wasn’t the friendly guy that he appeared to be. He was real temperamental and had a nasty attitude. When I first started working with him, he called me a (derogatory) name in the ring and I beat him up. After that, I never had another problem with him. A lot of (top guys had problems with Andre too). He would just go out and mop the floor with people. He treated (wrestlers) nasty, and the fans too. Andre would do it just about every night. Guys would watch through the curtain to see what he was going to do.”
On working with Hulk Hogan: “We had a lot of good matches and drew a lot of fans all over. Working with Hogan was easy and a treat. I loved working with him.”
On racism in the WWE: “In Summerslam 92, I had one of my biggest matches against the Undertaker. He made a half million dollars and I made 13 (thousand). There was a lot of racism in the WWE. I remember so many times when I was there, I would get there early and find me a nice dressing room; the agents would (kick me out and) let (the white stars) have the dressing room. When I went out to the ring, I was a superstar; backstage I was a nothing.”
On the Undertaker: “I love the Undertaker. If I see him on TV, I’ll stop and watch. I love his gimmick, and I like him. He’s a respectable man and I got along real good with him, and I love his work.”
On retirement and regrets: “I don’t miss it. I wish I had made money where I could have retired and enjoyed life. I worked so hard all those years and didn’t make any money. If I had made money, I would have done the right thing and invested it. I don’t watch wrestling today. If my friends are watching it, I’ll get up and leave. It brings back bad memories.”
On Vince McMahon: “Vince McMahon has certain people that he will pay. If you get along with Vince, do him sexual favors, you’ll get along good with him. But if you just (do your job and) mind your own business, then he doesn’t like you for some reason. There was a lot of men with men in those days and even men with boys. I know a lot of guys that (failed drug tests) and it was documented that they passed, and I know what they did.”
Check out the complete interview at VOCNation.com.
The Monday, February 24th post-Elimination Chamber edition of WWE RAW, which featured the return of Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker, drew a final cable rating of 3.31, according to Nielsen Media Research.
The 3.31 marks an increase from the 3.08 cable rating that RAW drew last week.
RAW averaged 4.66 million viewers, which was up from the previous week’s average of 4.36 million viewers. The hourly breakdown is as follows:
The following are highlights of a new blog on the official Facebook page of WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley:
On Monday’s RAW and Undertaker’s return: “About that RAW prediction? That “greatest RAW of the year” prediction? Well, it turns out I was wrong about that. As cool as it was to see The Undertaker, nonetheless, I was completely wrong.”
“Maybe it will all come together in the end. We’ll see. I’ll end this piece with some words from my post earlier today – a paragraph which apparently didn’t make much of a difference in the course of events.”
On WWE’s usage of Daniel Bryan: “But I think WWE needs to accept (PLEASE listen to me here, any WWE writer, exec, or power in charge) that the ability to turn the tide hinges on finding a way to make Daniel Bryan part of that main event. For me, personally, as a wrestler, a good feud was just as important as a title shot. But the WWE Universe has been on a personal journey with Daniel Bryan, and from the 1,000’s of messages I’ve read, not a single member of that Universe will feel that their journey is complete without Daniel getting a shot at the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania. PLEASE forget about the idea of Daniel Bryan vs Triple H, or Daniel Bryan vs Kane at Mania. They are both potentially great match-ups at a later time – but not for Mania. There are times when you really do need to give the people what they want…and this is one of them.”
After RAW went off the air on Monday night, Brock Lesnar, who was chokeslammed through a table in the ring by The Undertaker, remained laid out for several minutes. Lesnar sold the chokeslam as he remained in the broken table in the ring while WWE trainers checked on him.
Eventually, Lesnar got up and left under his own power, however he limped to sell the attack. Once he got backstage, Renee Young attempted to get a word with both he and Paul Heyman, but they ignored her and kept walking.
– According to reports, legendary manager Paul Bearer is expected to be announced as another inductee into the 2014 class of the WWE Hall Of Fame this coming Monday night on RAW.
Apparently The Undertaker, who has never appeared on-camera during the Hall Of Fame ceremony, is likely to be in attendance to personally induct his former manager.
– Speaking of Monday’s RAW, there are rumors floating around that claim a title change is expected to take place on the show.
One of the possible reasons WWE didn’t promote the big RAW show next Monday night was due to the fact that the company was focusing their promotional efforts on this Sunday’s Elimination Chamber and the launch of the WWE Network after next week’s RAW.
Apparently the feeling in the company was that they didn’t want to overshadow the Chamber PPV and Network launch with a RAW show, which was previously reported, is expected to feature the returns of both Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker. The show may also feature the announcement of Hogan as the host of WrestleMania XXX.
– As previously reported, WWE Hall Of Famer Adam “Edge” Copeland was the special guest on the second edition of the “30 Years Of WrestleMania” podcast, which is hosted by Renee Young every week at PodcastOne.com. During the interview, Edge noted that if he could have one more match in WWE, he would like it to be against Christian. He also spoke about his WrestleMania main event against The Undertaker being the highlight of his career.
You can check out the complete interview at PodcastOne.com.
– The following is a new official trailer for the upcoming second season of the WWE and E! reality show, “Total Divas.” The show returns on March 16th.
– As previously reported, Stephanie McMahon took part in a shoot for Prevention Magazine. You can check out a video of Stephanie doing “The 4-Minute Workout” above, or at Prevention.com.
– The big WWE RAW show in Green Bay, Wisconsin on February 24th, which is the post-Elimination Chamber edition of the show on the night that the WWE Network launches, has been officially sold out since this past Tuesday. As noted, WWE legends The Undertaker and Hulk Hogan are both expected to make their long-awaited WWE returns on the show.
The following are highlights from the new “30 Years Of WrestleMania” podcast interview with WWE Hall Of Famer Shawn Michaels:
On his “Mr. WrestleMania” name: “Honestly, the whole Mr. WrestleMania thing, it wasn’t anything that I said until WrestleMania 21, and it was just one of those silly lines you throw out there to just for the sake of sounding cool on a promo.”
On if Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak should end: “Oh, no. I think The Streak is The Streak. It can’t really be called The Streak if there’s a one in the loss column.”
On how he feels about Undertaker being the one to retire him: “I was thrilled about it, again, it’s certainly for me much like all of my career. There wasn’t a lot of planning, a lot of thought, the majority of what I did in my career was reactionary, because that’s when for me I hit the truest and most honest emotion out of myself. I think everybody in this industry loves to do everything in hindsight, and in hindsight everybody’s a genius, but the immediate reaction is what I go on. There was no planning that Undertaker would be the guy to end, none of those things were thought about. All of those things fell into place and I felt good about them and that’s what I based it on. I didn’t give it a lot of thought, it’s sort of like when you know something’s right you know it’s right and that’s how it was done.”
On his famous WrestleMania 12 ring entrance: “We wanted to start making my entrances a little grander, and I got a rope and I swung down from the top of the house that was on the entrance. And I vaguely recall Kevin Dunn mentioning that at WrestleMania we are gonna try and get you a pretty cool entrance and that’s all I knew of it. Then I got to the Anaheim Pond that day, and went walking out and Vince was standing there and said ‘You gotta try this!”
On who he would like to face at WrestleMania from today’s roster: “That’s an easy one for me, it would have to be Daniel Bryan. I’d throw in any of The Shield members. I think those boys are talented. Throw in (Dolph) Ziggler in there, throw in Damien Sandow, I think Bray Wyatt and the Wyatt Family are really good. There are a number of guys put in the right positions that you could just tear the house down with. And at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about, it’s going out there and having a whale of a time making people yell.”
The latest word going around is that Sting has yet to sign a contract with WWE. The feeling is that the delay in the signing is more on WWE’s end, as the company doesn’t consider him a priority. WWE is reportedly in no hurry to sign Sting in time for a match at WrestleMania XXX, although those close to Sting claim he was hoping to have a match on the show, specifically against The Undertaker.
Since Sting lives in the Dallas area, he was apparently willing to meet up with Undertaker and work out the match in advance, something that many of Taker’s past opponents at WrestleMania have done.
There is some concern in the company that Brock Lesnar may not be willing to spend all of that extra time working on the match with Undertaker, as many feel he’s only in the company because it’s a big money deal for a small amount of work.
WWE has begun looking ahead to the March 3rd RAW show in Chicago, Illinois, the hometown of CM Punk. There is said to be a considerable amount of concern within the company as to how the crowd will react at that show. With both Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker returning to RAW the week prior in Green Bay, there is some talk of bringing those two into the Chicago RAW as well, as a way to combat the Punk chants.
Despite the concern, there is said to be less than originally feared after Monday’s show in Los Angeles. Since the chants haven’t been too passionate or long-lasting, especially at the L.A. show, WWE feels that it may not be a situation that gets out of control like the recent Daniel Bryan hijacking fiasco.
Regarding the L.A. RAW, WWE feared fans would hijack the Randy Orton vs. John Cena main event, so they had Daniel Bryan go out twice. The idea was to bring Bryan out early, and again before the main event, as to let the fans get the chanting out of their system before the main event began.
The following are highlights from a new online Q&A update by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On if WWE could do more with rivalries in wrestling: “For the most part more can be done for all rivalries. It’s a time consuming process and many fans and decision makers have little or no patience in allowing issues to organically evolve. Too much is over thought.”
On who he considers to be the most “over” star in WWE today: “Daniel Bryan.”
On his thoughts of Big Show’s career: “He’s had a distinguished career. He’s an attraction talent who has been forced to be an every day player which is tough.”
On how many years The Undertaker has left as a performer: “I have no idea. Not as many as he has invested.”
On the Montreal Screwjob: “I’ve addressed this SO many times here at the Q&A’s and on many blogs, etc. I was not aware of what was going to occur in Montreal. I had no idea what was to go down. Don’t recall the talks about bringing Bret back as he had health issues and a significant financial deal with Time Warner.”
Check out more from JR’s new Q&A update at JRsBarBQ.com.
The following are highlights from the latest Q&A update by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On those who say the Steiner Brothers never hurt anyone in the ring: “They were physical guys and the business isn’t ballet. I loved the Steiner Brothers tag team.”
On what it was like to deal with Stevie Richards and The Blue Meanie: “Really good men. Wish we had more of them. Solid citizens.”
On how much creative input The Undertaker and Paul Bearer had in their characters: “An ample amount. Always in the loop.”
On if Batista should have been kept as a Royal Rumble surprise entrant: “Key word here is hindsight. That’s the easiest thing in the world to do when it comes to many things including booking ideas. I had no issue on how Batista was handled.”
The following are highlights of a recent SLAM! Wrestling interview with AJ Styles:
On his dream opponent: “Seriously, some (dream matches) for me are with guys that I may never get the opportunity to wrestle. I’d like to wrestle Rey Mysterio, I think he and I could really tear things up. There are definitely some guys in the Fed (WWE) that I think I could have good matches with, that would also be dream matches for the fans as well. But who knows if that ever comes or not.”
On Sting to WWE: “I hope to see Sting wrestle The Undertaker at WrestleMania. I don’t know if that’s going to happen, that may just be wishful thinking. But I can appreciate the (thinking).”
On TNA going out of business: “I’m not saying that they’re going under, but it sure does seem that way. They’re really saving a lot of money in places. If they’re so desperate to save money that they cut loose one of their top guys, the one guy that was known as the TNA guy, they must be hurting pretty bad. Either that or they think that loyalty means absolutely nothing to them, or they think I suck. I don’t know which one of those it is.”
Check out the complete interview online at Slam.Canoe.ca.
As noted, there have been a number of creative meetings in the past week regarding booking the card for WrestleMania XXX. At this point, the only match that is considered a lock is John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt.
According to one source, there is a lot of back-and-forth discussion regarding Brock Lesnar’s match on the show. The original plan was for Lesnar to face The Undertaker, however some are of the belief that there is something to the tease between Lesnar and Batista on RAW recently.
Additionally, there is a lot of talk about how to use Daniel Bryan on the show. Originally, Bryan was to work with Sheamus at WrestleMania. After the crowd hijacking at the Royal Rumble, there continues to be talk of featuring Bryan in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match.
– For those wondering, the word going around is that Brock Lesnar is not scheduled to wrestle another match for WWE until WrestleMania XXX in April, where he is scheduled to face The Undertaker.
– The following are some recent WWE attendance figures:
The WWE live event from State College, Pennsylvania drew approximately 3,500 fans.
The WWE live event from Canton, Ohio drew approximately 2,500 fans.
The WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania drew approximately 15,715 fans.
The following are highlights from the latest online Q&A update from WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On CM Punk’s WWE exit and if it will upset viewers if “The Authority” continues to misuse popular talent: “You’re mixing fiction w/ real life which isn’t a compatible combination. No one can make all of today’s fans happy.”
On if the door is open in WWE for Sting to come in to the company: “Door has been open for years. I assume that it still is.”
On Undertaker and his WrestleMania streak: “The Streak is as big an element to WrestleMania as any thing can be. Whoever fights Taker there will be in a key spot. I like the mystery and all the rampant speculation that comes with the topic. Once a decision is made as to who Taker will perform with then the next round of complaining will likely commence.”
On if Steve Austin will ever wrestle again: “This has been addressed dozens of times. I think that it is less than 50/50 Austin ever wrestles again. It’s been over 10 years and he’s moved on to other successful projects such as his podcast.”
On potential talent in WWE that can become a future champion: “Anyone of several talents that are young including Roman Reigns. WWE is seemingly working diligently to facilitate young talents to get over to the next level. It’s an exhausting process and many talents never make it.”
The following are highlights from Paul Heyman’s recent interview with Mark Madden:
On rumors of Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker at WrestleMania XXX: “If the Taker rumors are true, they’re very interesting. It’s the right year and right guy for Lesnar to walk away and crush ‘The Streak.'”
On how he feels Lesnar should be presented in WWE: “It doesn’t make sense for Lesnar to be presented as just another person. He should be set aside as distinct, different, and once-in-a-lifetime.”
Check out the complete interview online at 1059TheX.com.