– In battle of competitors that squared off on the WrestleMania XXIX Pre-Show, The Miz takes on Wade Barrett on this week’s episode of WWE Superstars. A clip from the match is available (view the full episode at WWEOnHulu.com).
Also, Zack Ryder takes on Antonio Cesaro.
– The official WWE website has published an article recalling seven of the “wildest” and most “outrageous” individuals to appear for the World Bodybuilding Federation, a bodybuilding organization founded in 1990 by Vince McMahon that lasted through 1992. Among those profiled with accompanying photos and video are “The Flexing Dutchman” Berry de May, “The Giant Killer” Danny Padilla, “Dark Angel” Aaron Baker, “The Executioner” Johnnie Morant, “The Phoenix” Vince Comerford, “California Personified” Troy Zuccolotto and short-lived organization’s lone champion, Gary Strydom.
– Gambling lines for tomorrow night’s WWE Payback pay-per-view event have skyrocketed in recent days, with Alberto Del Rio being favored 17 to 1 to defeat Dolph Ziggler in the World Heavyweight Championship Match. Betting odds are also in favor of Curtis Axel claiming the WWE Intercontinental Championship from Wade Barrett in a three-way affair also including The Miz, as well as AJ Lee defeating Kaitlyn for the WWE Divas Championship. In the Three Stages of Hell Match, Ryback is favored to win the Lumberjack Match, with John Cena taking the Tables Match and subsequent Ambulance Match to retain the WWE Championship.
– WWE counts down The Shield’s most brutal attacks since the group’s inception in this “Top 10” video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT9hKBiIbWg
– Six years ago today, WWE Hall of Famer “Sensational” Sherri Martel died at her mother’s residence in McCalla, Alabama. A toxicology released later that year stated that she died of an overdose with multiple drugs in her system, including high amounts of oxycodone.
Former NWA World Women’s Champion Tiffany Roxx posted this message in remembrance of Martel, “RIP Sensational Sherri. You were one of my biggest inspirations and I’m still learning from your work.”
– WWE Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett spoke to WWE.com about The Miz’s return on Monday’s RAW. Barrett took credit for taking The Miz out of action for a month – and says next time they wrestle, he’ll be out for even longer. The Miz was away filming the WWE Studios film, “The Christmas Bounty.”
– WWE superstar Zack Ryder turns 28 years old today.
– Speaking of Ryder, he tweeted an “LOL” that the @WWEShop account has un-followed him.
– Former WWE star Nick “Eugene” Dinsmore was spotted at the WWE NXT live event in Tampa last week.
– The Undertaker is featured on the cover of the May edition of WWE Magazine.
– JBL has responded to fans chanting “One More Match” at him on Wednesday’s WWE Main Event broadcast during an in-ring segment with him and Mark Henry. He tweeted:
To those who chanted 'one more match', after standing in the ring with @TheMarkHenry I gotta say…NOT A CHANCE!! I'm retired, he's strong.
– In the latest installment of the WWE Youtube series “Behind the Match,” Wade Barrett analyzes his recent Intercontinental Championship win over The Miz:
– Antonio Cesaro spoke with WWE.com after losing the United States Championship on RAW. Cesaro said he is the answer to WWE’s problems and should be thanked for bringing honor back to the title.
– WWE Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett spoke with Matt Striker during a RAW commercial break in an interview that aired on the WWE mobile app. Barrett said the loss to R-Truth on RAW was the wake-up he needed and said he plans to give Truth a title shot.
– Also on the WWE app, Damien Sandow bet Cody Rhodes he could turn any WWE superstar into a sophisticated member of society by the end of the summer. Cody picked The Great Khali to be Sandow’s project, which apparently set up their tag team match on RAW.
– This week on WWE Main Event on ION Television, a Battle Royal will take place where the winner receives the opportunity to challenge Wade Barrett for the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
– On this week’s SmackDown Slam of the Week, Chris Jericho gets dropped by Big E Langston.
– On the latest edition of VH1’s Best Week Ever, a segment aired called “Panties on/Panties off, with a female comedian remarking “Panties off” for Fandango.
– The WrestleMania 29 DVD and Blu-ray will be released in the United States on May 14th, Australia on May 14th, Canada on May 21st and Europe on June 10th.
– Wade Barrett tweeted the following on Monday night after regaining the Intercontinental championship from The Miz on RAW:
Feels great to be the Intercontinental Champion once again. I'm battered and bloody, but have Gold Against The Soul. #BarrettBarrage
– WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair is home in Charlotte, NC after being hospitalized in Philadelphia on Monday night. Flair was scheduled to appear on RAW, but WWE doctors checked him out before the show and sent him directly to the hospital due to the blood clot in his leg. Flair will be seeing doctors today and was replaced by Booker T on RAW.
– The pre-sale code for WWE’s Money In The Bank pay-per-view on July 14th from Philadelphia, PA is WWEMoney.
– Wade Barrett tweeted the following about Triple H low-blowing him on RAW:
Great news: Doc just counted and they are both still there. In addition, I am STILL the IC-Champion. #CheapShots#Plums#MoreIce
– CM Punk has been pulled from all WWE live events through WrestleMania 29. Despite the fact that he’s been downplaying whatever nagging injuries he’s working through, WWE wants to make sure he’s rested up and healthy for his match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania 29.
– Jim Ross tweeted the following about an upcoming hunting trip with Shawn Michaels:
Can't wait to go feral hog hunting w/ @ShawnMichaels & #MRA crew hopefully in May on HBK's Texas ranch. I smell…bacon!! And a BBQ.#WWE
– Triple H announced on Twitter that he will be on RAW next week to respond to Paul Heyman’s challenge, where Triple H has to agree to fight Brock Lesnar without knowing what the match stipulations will be.
– The ToledoFreePress has an interview up with Wade Barrett. Here’s what he said about the buzz in the WWE locker room surrounding WrestleMania 29 – and not having a match yet on the show:
“It’s pretty tense, actually,” Barrett said, describing the WWE locker room. “Especially for me, because I obviously missed last year’s WrestleMania because of the injury I got just beforehand. Everyone’s looking at the card, it’s really starting to take shape — I think we’ve got two or three matches that are kind of set for WrestleMania — and everyone’s looking at that card and thinking, ‘I’ve got to get myself on there pretty quickly,’ because unfortunately, there are limited spaces on the WrestleMania card. It’s not like everyone is going to get on there.”
– Chris Jericho will be returning to action this Saturday at WWE RAW’s live event from Broomfield, Colorado.
– The new WWE Studios film Dead Man Down, featuring Intercontinental champion Wade Barrett, has been declared “Rotten” by review aggregation site RottenTomatoes.com. With 36 critic reviews in, the movie currently has a score of 39/100. Their quick review reads:
“While the fine cast keeps Dead Man Down watchable throughout, the film is weighted down by absurd plot twists and a slack pace.”
Pictures of Wade Barrett On The Set of Dead Man Down
– The WWE Old School RAW preview on the Dish Network program guide lists Ric Flair, Mean Gene Okerlund, Dusty Rhodes, Jim Ross and Hacksaw Jim Duggan as legends appearing on Monday’s show. Triple H and The Rock are also scheduled to appear.
– The Motley Fool website has an article up looking at WWE’s stock following the release of their Q4 2012 earnings report last week. The article states:
“While the company hasn’t had any significant revenue growth since 2007, it is a solid dividend stock, and as a digital content provider, it could be positioned to experience some growth as the demand for streaming content increases and prices rise.”
– WWE released the following video looking at the Los Angeles movie premiere of the WWE Studios film, “Dead Man Down.”
WWE Superstar and star of “Dead Man Down” Wade Barrett walk the red carpet in Los Angeles for the world premiere of the action thriller “Dead Man Down.”
– Today’s wrestling birthdays include NXT tag team champion Oliver Grey (26), TNA star Crimson (28), Brodus Clay (33) and Carlito (34).
– Following their match on Wednesday’s WWE Main Event broadcast, Titus O’Neil and Justin Gabriel have resumed their Twitter feud, with Gabriel tweeting:
My body still hurts after that match with @TitusONeilWWE. He's a strong dude with a mean streak. But numbers don't lie. 450 FTW
– Wade Barrett tweeted the following about his segment on RAW last night with Sheamus:
“I don’t know which pillock edited that #DeadManDown trailer together, but it seems he forgot about the film’s main star. Trust me, I play a pivotal role in the film and you will be blown away by my performance. In fact, you should make the most of me being in WWE while you can. Hollywood bigwigs will be clamoring for my signature after March 8th. Anyone else notice the jealousy in @WWESheamus’ eyes tonight? Some people just can’t handle others being more successful and better looking.”
“Fe Fi Fo Fum this is how I get it! I’m not yo typical run of the mill but I’m sick wit’it!! The Suntan Superman is back!”
– Sgt. Slaughter was backstage at Monday’s RAW.
– Today’s wrestling birthdays include ECW Original Danny Doring (39) and ECW’s “Queen of Extreme” Francine (41). Today would have been the 65th birthday of the late WWE Hall of Famer Big John Studd.
– The WWE RAW crew is flying overseas to Qatar today for two shows there this week. They will then be in Istanbul, Turkey over the weekend. RAW stars advertised for the tour include John Cena, CM Punk,Dolph Ziggler, Big E, Langston, Ryback, Mark Henry, R-Truth, Antonio Cesaro, Kane, Daniel Bryan and Zack Ryder.
– Injured WWE star Santino Marella was backstage at Monday’s RAW and took part in a backstage interview segment with Matt Striker for the WWE mobile app. Thinking it was “Presents Day” (instead of Presidents Day), Santino gifted Striker a copy of the new “Best of WCW Nitro” DVD.
– WWE’s decision to pull the plug on the Intercontinental Cup tournament idea less than 24 hours after promoting on RAW is just another example of the creative team changing direction on the fly. Wade Barrett will continue his feud with WWE newcomer Bo Dallas. WWE decided late last week to hold the NXT tournament at the Royal Rumble fan fest and picked Bo Dallas to win it and begin a program with Barrett.
– The USA Network won the cable TV prime time ratings race this past week, averaging 2.87 million viewers. USA beat out Disney (2.44 million) and TBS (2.17) million. to 2.44 million for Disney and 2.17 million for TBS. FX was No. 67 at 1.65 million. Last week’s 3 hours of RAW ranked 4, 5 and 9 as the most-watched hours of cable TV, which certainly helped USA.
– Tickets for the WWE RAW the night after WrestleMania 29 from the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, NJ will go on sale Saturday, February 9th. As usual, there will be an online sale a few days prior to the general ticket release.
WWE’s 8-man Intercontinental Cup was scheduled to kick off on tonight’s episode of Main Event, however, no matches for the Cup took place at Tuesday night’s WWE TV tapings from San Diego, California.
WWE Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett has been teasing a “major announcement” regarding the Cup, and here it is:
I am pleased to announce that I have managed to negotiate a complete cancellation of the #IntercontinentalCup tournament.
– WWE.com has published an exclusive video interview with Goldust, who talks about his surprise return in Sunday’s Royal Rumble match. Goldust says his beef with Cody is far from over.
– NXT trainer Bill DeMott tweeted the following about Bo Dallas’ performance in the Royal Rumble match:
“We are very proud of @TheBoDallas for representing #nxt but you might have pissed off @WadeBarrett.”
Wade Barrett replied:
“If you don’t teach these guys respect at NXT, i’ll do it for you.”
“If @TheBoDallas has any sense left, he’ll stay well clear of Raw tomorrow night and bugger off back to NXT where he belongs. #DumbKid”
As noted earlier, Bo Dallas is expected to be brought up to the main roster and it looks like he’s got his first feud established.
Starting next week, six WWE superstars will begin competing in a 3-week, “Intercontinental Cup” on WWE Main Event to determine the #1 contender to Wade Barrett’s Intercontinental championship. Barrett tweeted the following about the Cup:
Just been informed of the 'Intercontinental Cup' planned for @WWE#MainEvent over the next three weeks…
Barrett also had some choice words for his for former Nexus partners Heath Slater and Michael McGillicutty. McGillicutty tweeted Barrett saying that he wants to compete in the Intercontinental Cup. Barrett responded, “I’ll end your career again…” As for Heath Slater, he wrote:
I really hope @HeathSlaterOMRB enters the #IntercontinentalCup. If he got to the final, I'd pulverize him with all three moves.
– Former WCW star La Parka has been added to the Alumni section of WWE.com.
– WWE will be holding events on February 21st & 22nd, 2013 in Doha, Qatar at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex. Bell time for both events is 8 PM. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
– Paul Heyman’s Heyman Hustle blog has published an awesome video promo hyping Sunday’s WWE Championship match between CM Punk and The Rock.
– Gabe Sapolsky has published a new blog looking at “The Untold Toughness of Seth Rollins.”
– Wade Barrett tweeted the following late Wednesday night, revealing a possible surprise Royal Rumble entrant:
Just bumped into Papa Shango at Hooters. Told me he's entering the @WWE#RoyalRumble this year. Can't wait, one of my faves.
– While most people are expecting The Rock to end CM Punk’s 400+ day WWE Championship reign at the Royal Rumble later this month, there have been other scenarios pitched where Punk would retain the title in some controversial fashion.
There have been reports that The Rock has been guaranteed the title, so The Rock could lose to Punk at the Rumble, win the WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber and then defend against possible Royal Rumble winner John Cena at WrestleMania.
– FilmOFilia.com has posted a “first look” at the new WWE Studios film “The Call” starring Hally Berry and featuring a supporting role by David Otunga.
– Here is the official movie poster for the WWE Studios film Dead Man Down, featuring a supporting role by Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett (click to enlarge):
The following are the big news stories coming out of Monday’s RAW:
– John Cena announced that he is the first superstar officially entered into the 2013 Royal Rumble match. Cena vowed to become WWE champion once again in 2013.
– If WWE Champion CM Punk is not medically cleared to wrestle Ryback in a TLC match on next week’s live episode of RAW, Punk’s manager Paul Heyman will take his place.
– Wade Barrett defeated Kofi Kingston to capture the Intercontinental championship for the second time. Kingston will get a rematch on Friday’s SmackDown. Here’s video of the match, followed by a backstage Tout video of Barrett right after his win:
On Friday’s SmackDown, Wade Barrett guaranteed that the next time he wrestles Kofi Kingston for the Intercontinental championship – he’s going to win the gold. At Saturday night’s WWE RAW tapings from Washington D.C., Barrett delivered.
The stipulation for the evening was “Champion’s Choice” – with WWE’s champions getting to chose who they would defend against on the show. Kofi Kingston chose Wade Barrett, which turned out to be a very bad decision.
WWE.com has since posted an article announcing the spoiler, so it appears the company is using the news of a title change to give fans another reason to tune in on Monday night.
Check out these pictures of Wade Barrett celebrating with the Intercontinental championship after the match:
– Last week on WWE Main Event, the Prime Time Players (Titus O’Neil and Darren Young) defeated Team CoBro (Zack Ryder and Santino Marella). Prior to their win, O’Neal and Young had lost 11 televised matches in a row.
Speaking of losing streaks, Wade Barrett’s loss on last week’s Super SmackDown brought his televised-losing streak to 7 matches.
Wade Barrett was interviewed in the new issue of WWE Magazine. Here are some highlights from WWE.com:
The Night He Injured His Arm On RAW (2/20/2013):
“I remember Big Show picking up Dolph Ziggler and throwing him down on top of me. I’d guess Ziggler would be about 12 feet in the air being thrown down on me. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to catch him with both hands, so I figured I’d catch him with one hand because of the angle of his trajectory, so all that weight landed squarely on one of my arms, which just snapped at the elbow joints and, unfortunately, required surgery to fix it. It was initially diagnosed as a partially dislocated elbow, but after MRIs, we discovered it was completely dislocated, with additional tearing of two ligaments that go between the bones of the arm. They had been completely severed, which required surgery immediately. It looked fine initially, but I was aware how far out of place the bone was. Then obviously, my whole arm went numb. That’s when I realized I was going to be out for a long time.”
The Recovery Process & Being Away From The Ring:
“I took myself away from wrestling for a while. A lot of people think when you’re off you need to study wrestling nonstop. At that point in time, that was completely the wrong thing for me. The worst thing was being around wrestling. Such as, I had to go to WrestleMania this year and do a lot of signings and AXXESS, and I hated every second of it simply because I don’t want to be at WrestleMania unless I’m there to compete. I really was working on my rehab and doing a WWE Studios film, “Dead Man Down,” with Colin Farrell and Terrence Howard. That was a great thing to get involved with while I was out. But really, the whole time I was out, I was pretty furious about how things had happened.”
Seeing Other Nexus Members Advance While He Was Out Of Action:
“It doesn’t bother me at all. I’m actually a big supporter of the majority of the guys from The Nexus. Heath Slater has done a great job. I’ve always found him entertaining, so it’s not shocking to me. Justin Gabriel is a great performer, too. It comes as no surprise to me that I feel no jealousy, really. I was always very pleased to see their success.”
Is He Softening His Views On Heath Slater?
Barrett: I don’t know about changing my mind regarding The One-Man Band. I’ve always personally found him incredibly entertaining, which is one of the reasons why, in the past, I surrounded myself with guys like him. I think he’s a complete buffoon, don’t get me wrong, but personally, I find him very funny.
