– WWE is advertising CM Punk vs. The Shield in another 3-on-1 handicap match for the December 26th WWE Live Event from
– On Monday’s RAW, Vince McMahon pulled a “rib” on President Obama by having WWE announcers JBL, Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler take “selfies” during the show. F4wonline reports that the “selfies” were done in response to the negative media attention President Obama received for taking a selfie with British Prime Minister David Cameron and Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt at Nelson Mandela’s funeral last week.
– Nikki Bella took a nasty superkick to the face from Tamina during the Divas tag match on last night’s RAW:
Nikki posted the following photo on Instagram of a blood-stained towel she used to tend to her face after the kick:
– Despite several appearances at last night’s WWE TLC PPV, Vince McMahon is not being advertised for tonight’s RAW.
– As seen last night at TLC, the top title in WWE is now known as the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. The “big gold” World Heavyweight Championship has been added to the “Retired Championships” section of WWE.com.
– WWE.com is running a poll asking fans which deserves to be the first challenger to Randy Orton’s WWE World Heavyweight Championship. The The options are Daniel Bryan, Bray Wyatt, Big E Langston, Brock Lesnar, CM Punk and Roman Reigns. Here are the current results, as of 12 noon (Eastern) on Monday:
The following are highlights from a recent interview with former WWE Diva Maria Kanellis:
On working with Paul Heyman in OVW in the past: “I’m kind of an underground Paul Heyman girl and he is what really inspired the ditsy character, he really inspired me to do the things that I did at WWE. I’m an admirer of his work, I think what he has done with so many guys and throughout ECW was incredible.”
When I was in OVW I just watched him as he helped CM Punk every day, Punk was already incredible but then Paul Heyman kind of pushed him over the edge and gave him that opportunity on ECW to be who he is today.”
On what Vince McMahon is like as a boss: “He was great with me, I know he can be very tough with other people but with me he wasn’t, he was like a father figure to me, I really enjoyed working for Vince.”
On her opinions of the Total Divas reality show: “I’ve watched a few of the episodes of Total Divas and I think it is a great show. There is a lot of tremendous talent in WWE’s women division at the moment, I think AJ Lee is incredible, I’ve always been a fan of Natalya. There are also some great women down in NXT like Paige, there are a lot of great talented women that are a part of that company at the moment.”
On whether or not we could ever see her and Mike Bennett in WWE or TNA: “TNA called me twice this year, I think they’re a great company but I’m loving my time in ROH and I’m definitely happy with my fiancée. Who knows if that will ever change, but I wish TNA all the best in the world, I think the girls there are tremendous.”
WWE called me earlier this year and for whatever reason that fell through, would I go back there eventually, sure. I loved my time there I loved traveling the world and the people that I worked with. I’m sure Mike will be in the WWE very soon and it will be great to join him there.”
Check out the complete interview online at Wrestling101.com.
As previously reported, WWE is set to make a “major announcement” at the 2014 International CES trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 4th.
Along with Vince McMahon, who will be on hand to make the announcement, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Triple H, John Cena and Shawn Michaels will also be in attendance.
In the invitations sent out to those scheduled to attend, WWE is promising a “groundbreaking announcement,” which is rumored to involve the WWE Network.
– Mexican wrestling legend Konnan continues to take shots at current talent on the WWE roster, most recently setting his sights on the current WWE Divas. Konnan noted that, “they suck. Only Tamina, Natalya and AJ can ‘go.'”
Konnan also tore into new TNA character Ethan Carter III, tweeting, “You couldn’t be a star if you were thrown by a Ninja. #BOOM.”
– WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin noted on his podcast on Tuesday that Vince McMahon is interested in coming on his show. Austin said that he and McMahon are looking to find a mutually viable time to record an interview.
As noted on Tuesday, the official logo for WrestleMania 31 features a red “play button” type centerpiece. WWE CEO Vince McMahon announced during the official WrestleMania 31 press conference on Tuesday that the button within the logo represents Sillicon Valley’s “tech prowess.”
Additionally, McMahon claimed WrestleMania 31 would “rival, if not supersede, the Super Bowl.”
– According to a new filing with the SEC, WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon gifted 8.5 million shares of ‘Class B’ WWE stock to his wife, Linda McMahon, for “estate planning purposes”. The stock was gifted through the new “Vincent K. McMahon 2013 Irrevocable Trust.”
Vince will continue to beneficially own 39,272,641 shares of Class B stock.
For more information, visit Corporate.WWE.com.
– Monday’s Slammy Awards edition of WWE RAW 4.159 million viewers, up from last week’s 3.541 million viewers. Here’s the hourly viewership:
Hour 1: 4.218 million
Hour 2: 4.177 million
Hour 3: 4.082 million
The final rating should be around a 3.0.
By comparison, the NFL Monday Night Football game on ESPN drew 16.19 million viewers.
RAW has now lost viewership during each consecutive hour for 3 weeks in a row.
– One of the most frustrating things about WWE over the past few months has been the handling of Daniel Bryan’s character. According to a backstage source in WWE, source, when it comes to Daniel Bryan’s push, it’s not that the WWE creative team didn’t want him to get revenge, win the WWE title or even gain some sort of symbolic win – it’s that no one on the creative team has the type of influence that Vince McMahon or Triple H have, who ultimately make the final call.
– Apparently the reason WWE promoted a match featuring “CM Punk vs. a member of The Shield on SmackDown” on RAW this past Monday night was because at around 10pm on Monday, Vince McMahon had yet to make up his mind on which of the three members of The Shield would be the best opponent for Punk.
The following are highlights from a Baltimore Sun interview with WWE Hall Of Famer Sgt. Slaughter:
On the way WWE is treating Daniel Bryan: “I don’t think he’s being treated fairly. [The people at WWE] are making him work awfully hard to be successful and he’s not letting them down. He’s working harder than ever. He’s like a giant slayer. He takes on the biggest and the best. Kind of like Dolph Ziggler — he’s another talent I thought he wasn’t being used right, and I brought it up in several production meetings that they shouldn’t do his character as they were.”
On Randy Orton’s rise through the ranks: “…A guy like Randy Orton, there wasn’t much to teach him inside the ring. I wrestled his grandfather and his father. All the teaching for him was done outside the ring. He was a tough nut to crack. He had a mind of his own, and still does. He’s another talent that exceeds and has so much ability.”
On helping name The Undertaker in WWE: “We would have meetings after shows to talk about what happened and plan things out creatively. The topic turned to Mark [Calloway] and Vince [McMahon] said he had an idea for a character name and he brought up the name Paul Bearer. The next day I went to Vince and I said I didn’t really care for that name for Mark in particular. I thought he looked different than that, and Vince said ‘like an Undertaker?’ and I said yeah! Maybe we should do Paul Bearer as his manager.”
Check out the complete interview online at BaltimoreSun.com.
WWE issued the following statement recently regarding the creative process in the company now that they have made many recent changes to WWE Corporate:
“Creative Writing now reports to Paul Levesque, EVP Talent and Live Events. In addition to Stephanie McMahon’s expanded responsibilities as Chief Brand Officer, she will continue to maintain a presence on TV.”
Basically, Triple H is now in charge of the creative team, although Vince McMahon still has the final say in every part of the company.
Currently in WWE when it comes to power and decision-making within the company, there are several people involved in the process, however the only real key decision makers are Vince McMahon and Triple H.
Regarding a lot of changes that takes place during WWE RAW, which is the company’s top priority presently, they don’t even begin talking about what they are going to do on SmackDown until late Monday afternoon.
Apparently around 6pm on Monday’s, Vince McMahon will ask the writing team to give him a main event for SmackDown so that it can be promoted during RAW. At that point, writers begin scrambling for ideas for a big match. Apparently that is the reason why WWE SmackDown and WWE Main Event matches announced on RAW frequently change.
As previously reported, WWE began sending out media invites on Tuesday to a “special event” on Wednesday, January 8th at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
That same week is also the 2014 International CES, which is an international consumer and electronics trade show that WWE has had a regular presence at. Last year, WWE showcased their new WWE App, which debuted a few months prior to the 2013 CES.
The media invite for the trade show in January announced that Vince McMahon himself would be in attendance. This is interesting to note because McMahon rarely attends these type of events. In most cases, George Barrios or Stephanie McMahon would represent WWE at these kind of events, so it seems as though something big is planned this time around.
While it is still unofficial at this point, many are speculating that this could be the announcement of the official launch of the highly anticipated WWE Network.
We should have an update on this story on Wednesday afternoon.
The build-up to the WWE TLC pay-per-view in two weeks continues on Monday night as WWE RAW returns live from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
No matches or segments have been announced in advance, however the focus will remain on the Randy Orton vs. John Cena match at TLC, which is being billed as a “unification match.”
Included on RAW will be The Authority, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, who along with Vince McMahon, is being advertised locally for the show.
WWE will also begin setting up the undercard for the WWE TLC pay-per-view, which is likely going to revolve around The Wyatt Family kidnapping Daniel Bryan and The Shield targeting CM Punk last week.
Additional talent advertised for RAW this week include Alberto Del Rio, Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, Ryback, Goldust, Cody Rhodes, AJ Lee and even Paul Heyman, who has not appeared on RAW in a few weeks.
For the live crowd in Oklahoma City on Monday night two post-show dark matches are benig advertised. John Cena is scheduled to defend his WWE Championship against Alberto Del Rio, while Randy Orton is slated to defend his World Heavyweight Championship against Big Show.
– Vince McMahon’s “Million Dollar Mania” giveaway, which saw the WWE Chairman give away his personal wealth to Raw viewers for three weeks in 2008, is now considered a misfire by WWE.
The official WWE website is polling fans on the greatest catastrophes in the history of professional wrestling and McMahon’s ratings-drawing strategy is listed as an option. Other choices include The Shockmaster’s debut, Papa Shango’s voodoo curse on Ultimate Warrior, the hiring of Mike Adamle, the Kennel from Hell Match, Sycho Sid speaking on the mic, the lights going out during the May 1996 In Your House 8: Beware of Dog pay-per-view, the Brawl for All tournament, the formation of The Dungeon of Doom, and Scott Steiner speaking on the mic.
– Yahoo! TV UK has published article speculating on The Undertaker’s return to WWE airwaves and what his involvement may be. Sam Moore feels the obvious choice involves the Wyatt Family.
“Bray Wyatt proclaims to be controlled by the Devil and it would make perfect sense if The Undertaker was indeed the higher power orchestrating everything,” wrote Moore. “The move would not only integrate the deadman into WWE’s most interesting storyline but also be a massive boost to The Wyatt Family who desperately need to be made to look as legitimate as possible. This role could also work well for The Undertaker because he wouldn’t have to get physical a great deal, just talk and put over some of the younger guys.”
– WWE Hall of Famer Greg “The Hammer” Valentine has been announced to appear at the Kentucky Flea Market taking place Dec. 28-31 at the Kentucky Expo Center 937 Phillips Lane Louisville, Kentucky.
WWE CEO Vince McMahon technically made his return as a character at the WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view. After the show went off the air, McMahon got involved in a post-show angle of sorts.
You can check out video footage of everything that went down at Survivor Series after the cameras stopped rolling by watching the following off-air videos:
“The McMahon’s” are once again being advertised for an upcoming WWE television taping. The latest advertisement is for the December 2nd edition of WWE RAW in Oklahoma City. Obviously the last few times Vince McMahon has been advertised for a WWE event he has ended up not showing up on the show, so take these advertisements with a grain of salt.
Vince McMahon is still scheduled to return to WWE television as a regular character in the near future. The company apparently wants to delay McMahon’s television return as long as possible in order to build up heat on Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.
WWE Superstar Ryback recently spoke with CBS Sports in a promotional interview for this Sunday’s WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view. The following are highlights from the interview:
On his role at Survivor Series: “The open challenge [I’ll be holding at Survivor Series] is for anyone out there. I’m kind of a bully. I like a good fight and I like picking on people. If it’s someone bigger than me so be it.”
On Vince McMahon: “He [Vince] is the Roman emperor, and we are all his gladiators. And I want to be the biggest, baddest gladiator.”
On Bill Goldberg: “I have a great amount of respect for Bill Goldberg, but I’m not going to beat around the bush and say I wanna be best friends with the guy. I’d like to face him in the ring. I’ve heard him say he’s not happy with comments I’ve made about him, if he has a problem with it let’s settle it at Wrestlemania.”
Check out the complete interview online at CBSLocal.com.
– Local advertisements for next week’s post-Survivor Series edition of WWE RAW are promoting “The McMahon’s, Triple H and more.” Whether or not this is another case of early advertising, or “The McMahon’s” meaning Stephanie McMahon and Triple H, even though it’s plural, remains to be seen. If you go by WWE advertising, it appears as though Vince McMahon will be back on RAW next week. He has been rumored to return for a while now, although his return continues to get pushed back each time it’s scheduled to happen.
– Also announced for next week’s RAW are dark matches featuring John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship and Randy Orton vs. Big Show for the WWE Championship, both of which will be Survivor Series rematches by that point.
– The latest edition of the “Steve Austin Show” podcast is now online. This week’s first show features Steve Austin interviewing veteran pro wrestling journalist Wade Keller. You can check out the show online at PodcastOne.com.
The following are highlights from a recent VOC Nation interview with former WWE Superstar and Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura:
On what it would take for him to run for President of the United States: “Two things would need to be met; I don’t run to lose, I run to win. I would have to have ballot access in all 50 states, and I would need a guarantee that I would be allowed in the debates. If you’re not allowed in the debates you have no chance of winning. You wrestling people could do that for me; just go out and get Jesse Ventura ballot access in all 50 states. All it takes is leg work to sign petitions. Every state is different; you’re going for a Federal office – shouldn’t it be the same in every state? That’s so Independent’s like me have trouble getting on the ballot. (Right now the chances of a Presidential run) are 50/50.”
On Barack Obama: “Barack Obama does not bring any change. People don’t understand that change isn’t going to happen by switching from Republican to Democrat. The only time you will really get change is to stay away from Democrats or Republican.”
On whether or not pro wrestling hurts his credibility: “If we truly want to go back far enough, Abe Lincoln was a wrestler. I don’t see where I’ve broken any new ground. Wrestling is a business; I was pretty good at it and I made a great living at it. Where did it ever say that you need to go to law school to serve? When I wrestled, I paid a lot of taxes.”
On critics of his WWE appearances while serving as Minnesota Governor: “I gave all of the money that I made to a scholarship fund. (the media) knew it. I used the money to create the Roosevelt High School Scholarship fund, and I’m proud of that.”
On his exit from WWE in 1990: “It was over a video game. Vince signed a contract with (Nintendo) and told me that I couldn’t sign an endorsement deal with another company (Sega). I told Vince that he didn’t own me; I wasn’t working under a contract at that time.”
On his relationship with Vince McMahon: “It was good until Linda McMahon ran for office. I said in the media that I wouldn’t endorse her because she ran on the Republican ticket, and I heard that Vince got mad at me because I said that publicly. I don’t endorse any Republican or any Democrat. If I he gave me as much money as he gave her to run for her elections, I would be the President. Why would you spend your own money to get a job in public service?”
On his relationship with Hulk Hogan: “I haven’t spoke to him or seen him at all since I left the WWE in 1990.”
On his relationship with Eric Bischoff: “Last time I saw him was when I was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004 and I don’t care for him.”
On wrestling vs. commentary: “Commentating hurt a lot less, and by the time I started to commentate, I was making as much more more than I made wrestling. The business had switched to (being based around) television. Why would I go in there and beat myself up when I can make just as much money commentating? People can say what they want about pro wrestling, but at one point in my career I actually wrestled 63 days in a row. It hurts. Wrestling is ballet with violence. Nobody looks at a great Russian ballet dancer and questions their athleticism do they?”
Check out the complete interview online at VOCNation.com.
– It was reported on Thursday that Major League Baseball was giving Cy Young Award winners Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer WWE-style replica belts in honor of their respective achievements. MLB shared photos of the new Cy Young Award championship belts on Twitter, which appear as WWE Championship belts re-designed with a baseball theme.
WWE head Vince McMahon caught wind of the news and subsequently issued a message on Twitter stating that his company would send both men “the real thing.”
– Former WWE Women’s and Divas Champion Mickie James, who is training WWE’s developmental female talent at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida this week, attended Thursday’s WWE NXT live event in Tampa, Florida.
“The show was great! Proud of my girls this week. See you at 8:30am sharp miss ma’am!” James remarked on Twitter to Lana.
Bayley said of James’ involvement this week, “It’s been schweet training w/ @MickieJames this week! I think I’m winning her over. ?? #HUGLIFE.”
This week on Bauer & Pollock, former WWE creative writer Court Bauer shares his thoughts on the passing of Eddie Guerrero eight years ago this month and reveals plans the sports-entertainment organization had for the legendary grappler at the following year’s WrestleMania pay-per-view event in Chicago, Illinois. Bauer also squashes the rumor of Guerrero being scheduled to win the World Heavyweight Championship from Batista during their feud.
Bauer recalls, “It was twenty-four hours before he passed away, I believe. Twenty-four hours, forty-eight hours, something like that. We had a call with Vince at home, and we were talking about the preliminary plans for WrestleMania. I know there’s this romanticized story about how Eddie was going to get the title, and that was the plan that he was going to get it that night or at Survivor Series. That wasn’t the plan. I think Stephanie said that, or alluded to it on the air, and that was not the plan. The plan was that he would lose, and I think they were going to return in December. We had talked about a fascinating idea; I’m not the biggest Bruce Prichard fan, but to his credit, I believe it was Bruce Prichard who pitched putting Eddie Guerrero at WrestleMania against Shawn Michaels and doing the parallels of their careers. Being the heartthrob in Mexico and this mercurial figure south of the border, and the American version being HBK.
“They had never really worked, and you would’ve had such a great dynamic between the two with heel Eddie versus Shawn. That’d be your “tear the house down,” high quality match at WrestleMania 22 in Chicago. Vince was like, “God damn, that’s really appealing. We could parallel their careers. What kind of footage of Eddie do we have outside of WCW? We could really do some impressive packages.”
In 2005, Bret Hart worked with WWE for the first time since the infamous “Montreal Screwjob” by contributing interview footage and selecting matches for a DVD highlighting his career. With Hart in bed again with WWE, Vince McMahon proposed that they fight at WrestleMania 22.
Bauer recalls, “We talked a lot of matches, and the other match at WrestleMania 22 was going to be Vince versus Bret in a street fight, that they would do in a convoluted manner several WrestleManias forward. Bret had just come back into the company in a very informal way. He had just agreed to do the home video release. (Vince) literally, on that call, got Bret on the other line and pitched him doing the match. Bret was uneasy, but was thinking he could possibly do it as long as there were no hits to his head. We’re sitting here like, “Holy sh*t, we didn’t think we’d be talking about a Bret/Vince match!” Vince pitched that match and said, “What do you guys think?” Everyone was like, “Yeah, no sh*it! Of course! Bret versus Vince, yes! That’s huge.”
Bauer continues, “A week or two later, Vince said that match was no longer an option. I think it had to do with something on Bret’s end.”
(Transcribed by Chris Maffei)
The full show is available at FightNetwork.com, and The LAW: Live Audio Wrestling and MLW feeds on iTunes. Bauer & Pollock airs every Wednesday at LiveAudioWrestling.com and MLW.com.
WWE Hall Of Famer and legendary play-by-play man Jim Ross has reportedly been in intermediary discussions with the top Mexican pro wrestling promotion AAA about taking a job as an announcer. AAA, which will begin airing on the El Rey Network in 2014, is apparently seeking an English-speaking announcer for their television broadcasts.
The impression given to the promotion is that Ross had a lengthy non-compete clause in his WWE contract, which Vince McMahon would have likely pushed for due to the fact that he didn’t want JR commentating for TNA any time soon after his parting of the ways with WWE.
As previously reported, WWE made some drastic changes to the executive staff at WWE Headquarters last week. These changes resulted in the release of Peter Leone and Randy Helms, both of which were Triple H’s top assistants. Nobody seems to know why they were released, especially in the case of Leone, who was Triple H’s top confidante in the company.
Leone was Triple H’s right-hand-man, to the point that he was almost always on the telephone with him if he wasn’t traveling with him and working with him directly. Leone was responsible for organizing all of Triple H’s travel arrangements, including scheduling his business meetings and handling security.
The other top executive who was released, Randy Helms, was mainly responsible for coordinating the schedules for both Triple H and Vince McMahon.
Jane Geddes, who many WWE fans have seen in a number of appearances on the Total Divas reality show, formerly worked as the Senior Vice President and Head of Talent Relations, but is now Triple H’s new key assistant. Sean Clearly, who used to work as the Senior Vice President of Human Resources, has replaced Geddes in her previous role of Senior V.P. and Head of Talent Relations.
Apparently Clearly has virtually zero knowledge of the product, and is basically a typical clean-cut younger looking executive type that WWE likes to hire. The idea behind moving Clearly into the role is to capitalize on his general business knowledge, and have Triple H teach him his style of wrestling as he works his way into the new role.
– WWE Hall Of Famer “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes posted an interesting tweet on his official Twitter account on Tuesday afternoon. Rhodes wrote the following, “If the dots were all that matter[ed], then I wasted 44 years. Where would The Rock be, any many others? Statement made!”
Rhodes is referring to the infamous polka dots he wore during his WWE run in the early 1990s. The ring attire was considered a “rib,” or an inside joke by Vince McMahon to Rhodes, as Rhodes competed against WWE for so long in the original NWA. Rhodes saying, “where would The Rock be?” was apparently a statement regarding the influence his infamous “bionic elbow” had on The Rock, who later popularized his own “People’s Elbow” as a finishing move in many of his WWE matches. Evidence of this can be seen in the conversation following the tweet, as a fan replied by saying, “The ‘People’s Elbow’ [was] inspired by ‘The American Dream’ brotha!” to which Rhodes replied, “so true.”
You can view Rhodes’ initial tweet below:
@WWE If the dots were all that matter then I wasted 44 years , where would The Rock be and many others . Statement made !
– WWE is looking to hire a Vice President of Digital Video Strategy, according to a new tweet posted on the official WWE Twitter account on Tuesday afternoon. WWE tweeted the following:
