Arda Ocal sent the following highlights from Paul Bearer’s appearance on Right After Wrestling this week. You can hear the full interview at Radio.TheScore.com.
– Paul Bearer will appear during WrestleMania week, signing autographs at Fan Axxess events, and will be featured in the new WWE video game
– Keeping his return to WWE a secret: “I worked my butt off kayfabing. I hid out all day long – nobody knew I was even in the building. (When we rehearsed) I popped out of the casket and Teddy Long asked “Who’s in the Paul Bearer suit?” I had such a good time.”
– His latest run in WWE – “I had such a good time working with Undertaker and Kane. It took a little bit to talk me into it. They said it would only be a few shots…if it worked out I could stay a little longer and obviously it did. And then I got kidnapped by Edge – and working with Edge and Kane and all those vignettes were directed by Vince, himself. And I was so comfortable working with him right there. And I felt that last month was some of the best work I’d ever done. But that ball (that Edge threw at him in the vignettes) hurt like a bitch! ”
– Should Taker’s streak ever be broken: “NO! Absolutely not! Why should it be? It would never happen again. There’s no reason to break it. He’s certainly earned that spot – in his biography – as the Phenom. It’ll never happen again. I would be close to 80 if it ever happened again. Who even knows if he’ll be wrestling at WrestleMania? I don’t.”
– Memories of managing the Undertaker in his first match in pro wrestling in Texas before he was the Undertaker
– Talking about his son who is trying his hand at pro wrestling.
– Paul Bearer and the Hall of Fame – “I just say ‘why now’? I’m in no hurry. I worked my ass of and I think I deserve to be inducted one day. The biggest honour I could have is if I am inducted at the same time the Undertaker goes in. That would be the biggest honour for me. “
WWE aired a second vignette tonight on Raw promoting “2 21 11”.
An empty cabin was shown with flashing lights, with the door then swung open. A mysterious individual donning a black trenchcoat and boots walked into the cabin, only to quickly disappear. “2 21 11” was displayed while the Johnny Cash song “Ain’t No Grave” played.
The song was used last year to promote The Undertaker’s match with Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XXVI.
The official website of the Save Mart Center, venue for the February 21 Raw, is advertising “The Return of The Undertaker” for the event.
– When WWE legend Shawn Michaels is inducted into the Hall of Fame during WrestleMania weekend, he reportedly wants longtime friend Ric Flair to be at the ceremony. While there’s no word yet on whether Flair will appear, feeling is that WWE would have no problem with Flair attending, but they likely would not show him on camera. It remains to be seen whether TNA would have a problem with Flair attending a WWE event.
– Michelle McCool was back on the road for WWE live events this past weekend, indicating that The Undertaker is doing well recovering from surgery.
As noted earlier this week, it’s now expected that he will work WrestleMania 27 this year. McCool had been given time off from live events to stay at home and tend to her husband, The Deadman.
Earlier this week, UFC heavyweight fighter Brock Lesnar set the record straight on his involvement at WrestleMania 27, telling Yahoo! Sports that there was no truth to the rumors that he was interested in working the show.
During a media session that took place on Tuesday to promote the new season of The Ultimate Fighter, commented on the Undertaker attending his most recent fight and their face-to-face confrontation that sparked the WrestleMania speculation.
“The other fellas that wanted to come, like Stone Cold and The Rock, and Goldberg, those guys had all said, ‘I’m coming to watch you, good luck.'”, Lesnar said. “This guy (Undertaker) shows up every time I seem to lose (laughs) so he’s like my black cloud. And we’ve got some history. I’ve worked with him, but I don’t really care for him.”
There’s more to it – check out the interview with Lesnar below:
Many have attributed Michelle McCool’s high-ranking status in World Wrestling Entertainment to her real-life relationship with The Undertaker. The two, who are now married, became a couple in late 2007 and she has been arguably the most spotlighted — and criticized — female competitor in the organization ever since. McCool herself is well aware of her critics as she frequently brushes them off on Twitter.
John Piermarini, a former writer with WWE, recently started a blog recalling numerous behind the scenes stories which occurred during his two year stint with the organization. He reveals that he was the exclusive writer of Lay-Cool and adamantly denies McCool receiving preferential treatment due to her relationship with The Undertaker.
Piermarini wrote, “Vince McMahon appointed me the exclusive writer for LayCool. Not because she got that special privilege but because we asked for it. Let me take this time to say Michelle McCool gets zero favors because she is married to Undertaker. Michelle McCool accomplished everything she got because she was the best.
“If you need to blame someone you need to blame me because I was the one who would push hard for anything Michelle got on TV. Michelle could wrestle and Michelle could talk, a lot of MALE Superstars can’t do that and Michelle would have been successful with or without Undertaker. There were a lot of people who wanted to see Michelle fail and she fought that the entire time I was there.”
— The Undertaker has been announced for this year’s WrestleMania Axxess event in Atlanta, Georgia. “The Deadman” will be participating in an autograph session on Saturday, April 2 for VIP ticketholders.
WWE has added an exclusive VIP signing for each AXXESS session to the $75 VIP ticket, as opposed to the $35 general admission fee.
Other Superstars scheduled for VIP signing appearances include Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Edge, Randy Orton, John Cena, Rey Mysterio and the combination of WWE champion Miz and Alex Riley.
— Triple H was interviewed for VH1’s Rock Docs episode on Lemmy of Motörhead. The episode premieres Friday, February 11.
— The pre-sale code for the WWE SmackDown taping in Charlotte, North Carolina on Tuesday, April 5 is WWESD. This will be the first SmackDown taping after Wrestlemania XXVII. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
– The Undertaker has been announced for the WrestleMania 27 Axxess event in Atlanta this year. Taker will be meeting fans and signing autographs on Saturday, April 2nd for VIP ticketholders.
Other stars who will be making VIP appearances include Edge, Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, John Cena, Rey Mysterio and The Miz with Alex Riley.
like he’s going to get that opportunity.
– John Cena and Triple H will be starring in two new WWE Studios films, set to be released later this year. Blood Brothers starring John Cena and Inside Out starring Triple H are both scheduled to be released between September and November.
– Speaking of Triple H, he will be interviewed for an upcoming episode of VH1’s Rock Docs show that will profile Motorhead lead singer Lemmy. Triple H and Lemmy are longtime friends and as many know, Triple H’s theme music is performed by Motorhead.
– Part of the reason WWE had Jim Ross do the off-air segment with Jack Swagger at Tuesday’s SmackDown tapings in Oklahoma was so that the crowd, Swagger’s home state crowd, wouldn’t boo Kofi Kingston in their match t hat followed the JR segment. The idea was to have Swagger put down Jim Ross, who they knew would get a big reaction.
– The pre-sale code for the WWE Smackdown taping in Charlotte, NC on Tuesday 4/5 is WWESD. This will be the first Smackdown taping after Wrestlemania 27. (Credit: Devin Cutting)
– WWE newcomer Mason Ryan got some mainstream media publicity this week in the UK, with BBC covering his RAW debut from Monday night.
— Regarding the report of Kimbo Slice making an appearance at WrestleMania XXVII, the mixed martial artist’s name has been internally brought up as a potential special enforcer for The Undertaker at the event.
— John Cena has been dealing with an assortment of injuries in recent weeks. In addition to his hip injury, Cena has also been working through an issue with his neck.
— Yoshi Tatsu vs. Tyson Kidd is the lone match advertised for tonight’s episode of WWE Superstars on WGN America. Other bouts scheduled to take place include David Hart Smith and Darren Young vs. Primo and Zack Ryder, Chavo Guerrero vs. JTG, and Chris Masters vs. Curt Hawkins.
— Providing that The Undertaker is healthy enough to compete in a singles match at WrestleMania XXVII, there has been talk of “The Deadman” facing his opponent at WrestleMania X-Seven, Triple H.
Shawn Michaels as the bout’s special guest referee has also been discussed. He recently stated that he reached a new contractual agreement with WWE, but would not be returning the ring as a wrestler. He did not, however, rule out special appearances or becoming an on-air character at some point.
— It was reported yesterday that the website for the JQH Arena at Missouri State University, which hosts a Raw live event on Friday, March 11, was advertising a WWE Championship Match between John Cena and CM Punk. “Fandy Orton” was also advertised to face The Miz in a non-title match. Information for the event has been corrected as Orton will face The Miz in a WWE Championship Match while Cena will face Punk in a non-stipulated match. Orton’s first name was also corrected. (Thanks to Shahin Najafipour)
— Former WWE referee Scott Armstrong has launched an account on Twitter.
* Warning: The following contains a spoiler for Friday’s SmackDown:
SmackDown star The Undertaker, who has been out for several months following shoulder surgery after Survivor Series, made a surprise appearance backstage at Tuesday’s WWE SmackDown tapings from Alabama.
Taker was mainly there to visit his wife Michelle McCool, but also was there to watch the segment where Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel and Ezekiel Jackson joined Wade Barrett in a new Nexus faction.
Both Jackson and Barrett have been talked about as possible WrestleMania 27 opponents for Taker, with Kane also being named as a candidate. Jackson and Barrett are likely opponents if due to his health, Taker can’t perform like he has in recent years with Shawn Michaels.
If the Undertaker is healthy enough to compete at Mania, and at this point it’s looking good, the main objective is to have him continue the streak. There are no expectations for him to have a classic match, as we’ve seen the past two years.
— To update The Undertaker’s health situation, the dead man began physical therapy following recent rotator cuff surgery. He was backstage at the TLC pay-per-view last month and was said to be in good spirits and good physical shape.
WWE and The Undertaker remains optimistic about his chances of working WrestleMania 27, although him being healthy by then is a “best case” scenario. As has been discussed before, the possibility exists of the Undertaker working in a tag match if he’s not able to wrestle singles.
— Last week’s episode of WWE Smackdown on SyFy drew a 1.95 cable rating and averaged 2,845,000 viewers for the 2-hour broadcast.. That is the show’s best rating since moving to Syfy.
– Former WCW World Television Champion Arn Anderson is now considered a lock to be inducted individually into this year’s WWE Hall of Fame class WrestleMania weekend in Atlanta, Georgia. WWE officials previously contemplated inducting him into the Hall as part of a group with the Four Horsemen, but the idea is now considered dead.
— The Undertaker has began physical therapy for his shoulder and is said to be doing all he can to be healthy enough to compete at WrestleMania XXVII.
— Todd Grisham was officially removed from the SmackDown announce team last week in favor of Josh Matthews. The move isn’t considered a surprise as Vince McMahon has been unhappy with his work in recent weeks. It was suggested to Grisham that he apply for a full-time position with the Fox Soccer Channel — his other job — because it would come across better that he ask to work full-time and give up wrestling while still on the air than after.
The Undertaker had words with Brock Lesnar following the main event of last month’s UFC 121 pay-per-view event, with their brief exchange caught on camera and designed to get people talking in case a potential WWE match took place. WWE officials want Lesnar to appear in a featured role at WrestleMania XXVII, but the scenario appears highly unlikely due to UFC President Dana White insisting that Lesnar is prohibited from wrestling. Nevertheless, the idea was more than a fantasy proposition to those in WWE.
Vince McMahon was heavily invested in the idea in mid-October as he knew ahead of time that there would be a confrontation between the former wrestling rivals, though the number of people who were previously aware was small. Nobody on creative knew there would be a confrontation until after the pay-per-view, and within a few days, sans a possible referee assignment, it was believed to be a dead idea once White publicly said that Lesnar is prohibited from wrestling.
McMahon feels it will be difficult for WWE to score a grand pay-per-view buy figure for WrestleMania XXVII and therefore concocted at least three different major out-of-the-box ideas, one of which involved Lesnar. The other two ideas, while known to some in WWE, have not been reported yet.
At this point, company officials are actively pursuing individuals not involved with the professional wrestling industry and doing an outsider angle to headline the show.
— Kevin Nash, a former WWE Champion, remarked the following on Twitter regarding The Miz winning the WWE Championship on Raw:
“WWE told the world that there sh*t is a work with the Miz as champ,” he wrote on Twitter.
— Former WWE stars Haku and Harvey Wippleman were backstage visiting colleagues last night in Orlando, Florida.
— This week marks the twentieth anniversary of the day The Undertaker debuted in World Wrestling Entertainment. WWE.com salutes his two decades of destruction with the following feature.
— Those released last week by WWE were informed they were victims of budget cuts across the organization.
The confirmed list of those cut is as follows: Shad Chad Javier Romane Chittick Gaspard (a/k/a Shad Gaspard), Andrew Hankinson (a/k/a Luke Gallows), Kris Pavone (a/k/a Caylen Croft), Lance Hoyt (Vance Archer), Jillian Faye Farole (a/k/a Jillian Hall), Taryn Nicole Terrell (a/k/a Tiffany), creative write Christopher DeJoseph (a/k/a Big Dick Johnson), and referee Aaron “Goose” Mahoney.
— Today marks the twentieth anniversary of the official on-camera debut of The Undertaker. At the 1990 Survivor Series, he was introduced as the mystery partner of “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase’s “Million $ Team.”
— The term “John Cena fired” was the fifth most searched for term on Google.com last night, with “Survivor Series” placing in thirteenth.
Former WWE star Shawn Michaels was forced into retirement after losing his WrestleMania rematch against The Undertaker back in March and he’s been very firm that his days in the ring are over.
Michaels returned to the road last week promoting ticket sales for WrestleMania XXVII in Atlanta, Georgia. Both he and Triple H made numerous public appearances throughout the city, with HBK addressing his current WWE status in interviews. Michaels said he was happy with his career and that he went out on top. He was asked to help promote the event since most of the top WWE stars were overseas touring.
Company officials want to continue utilizing Michaels as they are hopeful he returns at the event to appear as a special guest referee for a match involving The Undertaker. Creative has a storyline in mind where Michaels would have the opportunity to gain revenge on The Deadman by ending his undefeated streak at WrestleMania. However, said plans are extremely tentative due to the SmackDown star recently undergoing shoulder surgery. It’s said to be touch-and-go on whether he’ll be healthy enough to compete in a singles match at the event.
Creative has a worst-case scenario in place which would involve him teaming with Kane in a multi-man tag team match against The Nexus where he could be protected.
– The Undertaker underwent shoulder surgery in the past week to repair his torn rotator cuff. Obviously the hope is that he’s healthy in time for WrestleMania, but it’s not guaranteed and it will depend on how his recovery goes.
– CM Punk, who injured his lower back at WWE’s Bragging Rights pay-per-view, opted not to have surgery because a doctor told him he’d be able to rehab what’s believed to be a torn muscle tendon. Punk will be out of action until at least January, but will be healthy in time for WrestleMania season.
– Sheamus has a real nasty bruise on one of his legs and was seen limping around backstage at television this past week. He’s not expected to miss any ring time.
— Divas Champion Michelle McCool was given off from WWE’s ongoing tour of Europe to tend to The Undertaker after undergoing rotator cuff surgery this past week.
— There has been much talk amongst WWE officials in recent weeks to induct Theodore Long into next year’s Hall of Fame class since it’s taking place in his home city of Atlanta, Georgia. Matt Striker is often mentioning the SmackDown General Manager over commentary in conjunction with it.
— There has been a change in WWE’s creative process as it’s said that they “want to push the envelope” on company programming. It is also said that they want the commentators making more inside jokes.
– As we reported earlier, there is a great deal of concern in WWE over the current talent situation, with so many superstars injured (Read More). Two of the top stars in WWE who are injured and will likely require surgery in the coming weeks are CM Punk and The Undertaker.
Punk will be having surgery this week to repair a torn tendon in either his hop or lower back. There is still a good chance that Punk will be healthy in time for WrestleMania, but we’ll have a better idea of his recovery time following surgery. There had been plans for a feud between CM Punk and WWE United States champion Daniel Bryan – which has the potential to be a great program.
As for the Undertaker, he likely needs shoulder surgery .. Of course, the big concern is that he’s healthy in time for WrestleMania.
– WWE will tape this week’s episodes of NXT and Friday Night SmackDown tonight from The Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Confirmed for tonight’s NXT is the wedding of Aksana and Goldust … Will Ted DiBiase and Maryse get involved? Also, a Rookie Diva will also be eliminated on tonight’s show. Naomi Knight has immunity from elimination.
On SmackDown, Edge vs. Alberto Del Rio has been announced as the main event. Advertised locally are Kane, Jack Swagger, Big Show and Rey Mysterio although Rey Mysterio wrestling is highly unlikely due to his ear injuiry.
Wade Barrett is not the only WWE superstar who was scheduled to win gold at Sunday’s Bragging Rights PPV only to have the plans changed.
Related News: WWE Nixes Wade Barrett Title Win Plans at Bragging Rights
According to f4wonline.com, The Undertaker was originally scheduled to win the World Heavyweight Title in his Buried Alive match with Kane. Those plans were changed recently when it was found out that he will need surgery to repair his nagging shoulder injury, which is rumored to be a torn rotator cuff. The Undertaker is going to be checked out this week and everybody hopes he won’t require surgery.
Instead of the originally planned finish of Taker choking out Kane and burying him alive, WWE instead went with Nexus coming out and attacking Taker, allowing Kane to get the win. Kane needing Nexus’ help to defeat the Dead Man was a way to protect the Undertaker, who had lost the two previous matches between the two of them (No Holds Barred at Night of Champions and the Hell in a Cell match last month).
Speaking of injuries, it was also that CM Punk may have injured his hip or back last night, but he was okay after walking around backstage following his match.
The Undertaker, his wife Michelle McCool, Paul Heyman and “Rowdy” Roddy Piper among the wrestling personalities in attendance at UFC 121: Lesnar vs. Velasquez on Saturday night. After Lesnar was knocked out by Cain Velasquez, he was walking through the crowd and had a confrontation with former WWE rival The Undertaker. (Video)
Taker was being interviewed by MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani when Lesnar walked right by him. ‘The Dead Man’ asked Lesnar, “Do you want to do it?” The two men had a brief staredown but Brock kept walking without responding to Undertaker’s challenge. When asked about the brief exchange, Undertaker admitted that it was personal but wouldn’t go into specifics.
Check out this video of the confrontation:
Later in the evening, UFC President Dana White responded to the confrontation and addressed rumors that WWE is pushing hard to have Brock Lesnar face The Undertaker at WrestleMania 27. Dana White denied knowing anything about Lesnar returning to WWE.
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, WWE has already contacted Brock about wrestling at WrestleMania, but Lesnar’s current UFC deal does not allow him to wrestle for WWE.
— The Wrestling Observer Newsletter speculates that due to The Undertaker’s health, matches pitting “The Deadman” against Kane for WWE’s tour of the U.K. next month have been changed to Triple Threat bouts with the inclusion of Big Show.
— In an update on the condition of Patrick Henry, older brother of WWE Superstar, Mark Henry, doctors have taken him off the medication that was keeping him in a coma and he is expected to be revived today. Henry had several surgeries to stop the bleeding and pressure on his brain caused by the stroke he suffered on Oct. 3.
— Both Maryse and The Miz walked the red carpet at last night’s Jackass 3D premiere in Los Angeles, California.
— Based on the initial advertisement that was cut for Bragging Rights, the original plan was for John Cena and Big Show to be the respective captains of Raw and Smackdown.
— It is said that creative writer Michael Hayes brainstormed the finish to The Undertaker vs. Kane match at Hell in a Cell, which saw Paul Bearer turn on “The Deadman” by using the mystical urn’s “mysterious incandescence” to weaken him. The portly manager then handed the one-time dentist the object, which he then used as a weapon against Booger Red.
— In attendance notes, Saturday’s Raw live event in Stockton, California did 4,500, while Monday’s Raw television taping in Seattle, Washington drew 8,500. Last Wednesday’s SmackDown live event in Hidalgo, Texas drew a sellout crowd of 7,000 fans.
(sources: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Pro Wrestling Torch)
– RAW superstar Sheamus is well-liked by many backstage in WWE, including influential power players Triple H, John Cena and Randy Orton. Each of them had feuded with Sheamus and gave his his in-ring work and overall attitude high praise. The belief is that he’s one of the true success stories of WWE’s recent youth movement and he’ll be a main eventer in WWE for a long time.
– WWE officials are already discussing who will wrestle The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVII. As of last week, the top pick to face the “Dead Man” next April is Sheamus. John Cena has also been discussed as a possible opponent.
– One of the biggest stories of the year has been the steady decline of WWE PPV buyrates. Many say there are too many PPV events, they’re too expensive and the gimmick-based shows just don’t work. WWE is working on ideas to help buyrates, but none of them address these issues. One idea being tossed around within WWE recently is to go back to holding a live pre-game show to push late buys for the event. The company used to do this for years (Sunday Night Heat0 and later dropped it when it wasn’t considered to be cost effective.
– The Journal Inquirer has an article about WWE hiring APCO World Wide to come up with ways to make their promotion more acceptable to the mainstream media and politicians. You can check that out at https://www.journalinquirer.com/
(Credit to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter for some of the info used in this report)
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross is back with another blog update, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights of what JR wrote about:
Undertaker Retiring: “Where are all the rumors coming from regarding the retirement plans of the Undertaker? Some emailers are contacting us as if these rumors are fact and are etched in stone. These are the same, unfounded rumors that begin making their rounds after each Wrestlemania. My take on this matter is that Undertaker isn’t retiring after WM27 in Atlanta. I can easily see the Deadman competing for another three years or so if his schedule is well managed. If forced to speculate, and that’s all I’m doing, wouldn’t calling it a day after, say, Wrestlemania 30 make more sense? Bottom line is that Taker will retire when he’s damn well ready to retire plus I still stand by what I have always said that he will never lose a match at Wrestlemania.”
What He Thinks of TNA: “People ask me all the time to critique TNA which is a no win situation for me. First of all I don’t watch TNA regularly so for me to act as if I do and make across the board judgments of the brand would not be fair nor accurate. Secondly, I work for WWE so any thing I say good, bad or indifferent about TNA will be looked at as a biased opinion. Let it be known that I hope TNA becomes very profitable some day and wish them well. They have a nice, talent roster that needs to wrestle more and talk less but that could be said about the majority of pro wrestling entities over the past decade or so. Bad acting is simply bad acting no matter what show it appears on.”
Batista Getting Into MMA: “Batista fighting for Strikeforce is a big deal if made such by the promotion and the network. Parlaying Dave’s global name identity and overall look can pay dividends if done throughly and with a big picture game plan. It seems that the former WWE Champion and the promotion are not exceptionally close on money as of yet based on how I interpreted a recent Batista interview. I actually don’t know if a Batista vs. Bobby Lashley bout is the best for both fighters as each man seems to have viable marketability and one beating the other only forward one man as a rule. MMA insiders say that Lashley is at a career crossroads and if that is true then that theory will be validated if Strikeforce signs Batista vs. Lashley for Batista’s first fight. If CBS/Strikeforce promotes a MMA contest between Batista and Lashley like another day at the office then my theory that the network doesn’t know how to properly promote a major fight is accurate. That’s akin to NFL legend Herschel Walker not fighting on Showtime or CBS during the NFL season so that Strikeforce can be promoted on CBS’s NFL games. Perhaps the pending December, Walker fight will make CBS air on their coverage of the National Football League.”