– Triple H announced on Monday’s RAW that fans have not seen the last of the Undertaker in a WWE ring. While the natural assumption is that the Undertaker will be defending his undefeated streak at WrestleMania 29, Jim Ross says that’s not a done deal just yet. A fan tweeted JR saying, “taker returns to fight again at wrestlemania.” JR replied:
Unconfirmed. We all hope so. “@chrisallan57: @JRsBBQ taker returns to fight again at wrestlemania” @WWE
– Last week’s 12/14 episode of WWE SmackDown scored a 1.74 cable rating with 2.63 million viewers.
– As seen on Sunday night, WWE Diva Naomi won the Divas Battle Royal match to earn a title shot against Eve at TLC, which she lost. The decision for Naomi to win the battle royal and wrestle Eve was made within the past week after AJ Lee was pulled from the match. WWE officials are impressed with Naomi’s athleticism, but the feeling is that she needs to work on her ring work.
– Wade Barrett tweeted the following after attacking Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston on RAW:
Felt great to wipe the smug grin off Kofi's face at #Raw. That Bull-Hammer was the sweetest I've ever thrown.
– Funkadactyl Naomi tweeted this after winning the “Santa’s Little Helpers” Divas Battle Royal on the TLC online pre-show, but then losing to Eve Torres on the pay-per-view:
Wow! What a night! Though I won the "battle" and not the war I'm proud…the funkadactyls showed that we are ready for more action;)
– After the Brooklyn Brawler made a surprise in-ring appearance at TLC, Joey Styles thinks the Brawler is owed another big moment in New York this April:
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights of what JR wrote about:
Possible WWE Hall of Fame Candidate: “Another 2013 HOF candidate for consideration….@RealKKBundy who was a major player in WWE in their breakout, national expansion years and was one of the best super heavyweights ever in the business. “King Kong Tonnage” as Ernie Ladd used to call Bundy, is hilarious to follow on Twitter.”
Barrett, Bryan & Kingston: “I’m encouraged by the on going development of such talents as @wadebarrett, @wwedanielbryan. @TrueKofi, among others. WWE is doing a nice job of continuing to build some new, foundation players for the future which, as I’ve often said, simply takes time. ”
The Shield “Enjoyed the Shield presentation Monday night on RAW. Not sure what I would have changed. I liked the succinct, cut to the chase interview and particularly liked the fact that it was pre-taped in a controlled environment.”
“@thedeanambrose, @wwerollins, and @romanreigns are have unique qualities that they bring to the dance as was somewhat illustrated Monday night. Bottom line is that they all ‘want it’ and seem to be willing to continue to work harder than many of their young peers in accomplishing their goals. They are not at a place where they can essentially take a ‘day off’ of preparation. I know these three to be aggressive, in ring talents and that trait alone will help them on their journey. All three are totally different personalities which is a positive but I love the fact that they are all young and are being provided an opportunity to push others already on the main roster aside on their way to main event status.”
– WWE.com has a poll up asking fans, “Do you think The Shield is out to right wrongs and stop injustice in WWE?” With almost 4,000 votes cast, the current results are:
38% Yes. I believe they stand for honor.
62% No. They have malevolent intentions.
COMMENT BELOW and tell us what YOU think about The Shield’s intentions. Are they really here for justice – or are they just henchmen for CM Punk and Paul Heyman?
– The next Wizard World Comic-Con event takes place this weekend in New Orleans, with WWE Champion CM Punk and former WWE divas Lita, Maryse and The Bella Twins among the wrestling stars appearing.
– WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross was courtside at Monday night’s NBA game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Charlotte Bobcats.
JR watched RAW when he got home from the game and tweeted this about Wade Barrett’s commentary during Kofi Kingston’s match against Tensai:
England's @WadeBarrett stood out on commentary tonight on #RAW. Stellar..he gets it. Push comfort zone boys aside & go to the top. #WWE
– WWE.com has posted a series of exclusive backstage interviews from Sunday’s Survivor Series pay-per-views. CM Punk & Paul Heyman, Wade Barrett, Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler, Antonio Cesaro and Vickie Guerrero among the stars interviewed.
– Following his disqualification win over the Big Show at Survivor Series, Sheamus grabbed a chair at ringside and attacked the champion. This was done to set up a Chairs Match between the two at December’s TLC pay-per-view.
– Wade Barrett’s new elbow smash finisher has been renamed. After being dubbed the “Souvenir” (because the effects of the strike stay with you for a while), the move is now known as the Bull Hammer.
– Randy Orton going for the punt kick in the Team Foley vs. Team Ziggler match at Survivor Series was done to tease his upcoming heel turn.
– Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson addressed the record breaking ticket sales for WrestleMania 29 ticket sales via Twitter: “NY/NJ – @WWE #TeamBringIt breaks all time tix sale record! @Giants @nyjets #MetLifeStadium #WrestleMania2013 #HomeOfTheRock.”
Tickets for WrestleMania 29 went on sale to the general public last Saturday and sold out almost immediately. All told, WWE sold 52,029 tickets, which broke the record set in 2002 for first day sales, which was at 51,620, according to the Wrestling Observer. The company also broke the record for the biggest gate in pro wrestling history, as the show has topped $10 million already.
– This week’s “Backstage Fallout” for SmackDown is online. Here is the synopsis: “Does Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston trust his Team Foley teammate The Miz? In this edition of “Backstage Fallout,” find out if “The Wildcat” can leave the “past in the past” and work with The Awesome One at Survivor Series. Plus, Wade Barrett tells the WWE Universe what they can expect from him at this weekend’s pay-per-view.”
WWE Superstars Wade Barrett and William Regal spoke to DigitalSpy.com to promote WWE’s ongoing UK tour. Here are some highlights of what they said about:
Is it harder to get the big chances and big title bouts as an Englishman?
Regal: “I don’t think it’s any harder than for anyone else once you get yourself over there. Getting over there is the hard thing. If you’ve got the talent it’ll shine through. I went over there when there was no-one there. It was difficult. But I think it helps if anything, just to be English, just to be a bit different. It definitely helped me. I was the only English character at the time. Obviously there was the Bulldog, but he was his own entity – he was a completely different thing away from what I was doing. It gave me a bit of a boost really.”
Barrett: “I think increasingly WWE is a global company – as much as they can they want to push out into new markets like Europe. I think it’s definitely been a help in a sense that I’m English. But again it’s ultimately down to talent. Being English helped me get a foot in the door, but ultimately it’s down to my talent and hard work in trying to get to that top level.”
What would you love to do or see at WrestleMania XXX in 2014?
Barrett: “Personally I’d love to be in one of the title matches. Obviously we’ve got two main titles in WWE – the World Heavyweight Championship and the WWE Title. We’ve never had an English winner of those. In my opinion we should have had the British Bulldog as World Champion. Mr Regal next to me should have been a World Champion. It has never quite never happened for Mr Regal yet, although it still could.”
Regal: “Don’t hold your breath.”
Barrett: “I’d love to be the first English World Champion. When you look at the history of English professional wrestling and all the things that have gone on in the past, going back decades, it’s incredible we’ve never had a recognized World Champion here. I think that needs to change and obviously I’d love to be the first one.”
Regal: “I’m just happy being there at WrestleMania. I’ve never had a big role at any WrestleMania, but I’ve been at 11-odd. Just to be there is special. The week beforehand and all the promotions and stuff. I don’t really think about the big events, being in them any more. I’m 44, so it’s my autumn years of my career, so I’m just happy to be there to be honest. What I’d like to see? It’d be nice to see Wade and Sheamus in a main event. It’d be nice to see Daniel Bryan in a main event, just because of the time I’ve spent with him in the last 12 years.”
What is it that people have always loved about the WWE?
Regal: “People from the beginning of time have always loved to watch two people in competition with each other. You go back to the gladiatorial shows, there’s just something about it. You can go into a village in the world where they’ve never seen wrestlers, two young boys will be rolling around in headlocks. It’s just a natural thing to do and to watch and that basically captures people’s imaginations. A lot of the time they can’t do it themselves but they like to see other people doing it. If it’s packaged in the right way they’ll come to watch… there’s just something about the whole spectacle.”
Barrett: “For me personally, when I was 10 years old, I remember watching it and just being attracted to the fact that these were real-life cartoon characters. It sounds a bit of a cliché to say it. I think it was only when I was about 19 years old when I read a book by Mick Foley, his first book Have a Nice Day, and it kind of deconstructed the whole story of pro-wrestling to me – what happens behind the scenes.
“It was only at that age that it kind of clicked for me that these were real-life human beings who grew up with regular families, who came up and decided they wanted to do that. That was really the trigger for me to decide that I wanted to do that too. When I was a kid it was just like watching a real-life cartoon with these crazy characters and that’s what drew me in at first. The longer I stuck with it the more aspects of it I discovered and the more I liked, and I ended up here.”
– After recovering from his heart attack in September, WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler returns to the Raw announce table this Monday at 8/7 CT on USA Network. The legendary grappler addressed his return in a Twitter message Wednesday.
“Really excited about returning to Raw this Monday night in Columbus, Ohio!! I’ve missed everyone!” he wrote.
– WWE has released online the Wade Barrett video package that aired on Wednesday’s episode of WWE Main Event.
– Mick Foley appears on Imus in the Morning Thursday to promote his new holiday children’s book, “A Most Mizerable Christmas,” The show is syndicated on radio, and also airs on the Fox Business Network from 6:00 a.m. to 9:20 a.m.
– Two matches were taped Tuesday in Birmingham, England for WWE Saturday Morning Slam
* Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso vs. Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd
* Ted DiBiase vs. Jinder Mahal
The commentators were Josh Mathews and R-Truth.
– In the following video, Cody Rhodes shows Wade Barrett a thing or two about how to play WWE ’13.
– The official WWE website has a poll asking who poses a bigger threat to WWE Champion CM Punk at Survivor Series; John Cena or Ryback? Ryback currently leads the poll 51% to 49%.
– The main event of tonight’s WWE Super Smackdown special is Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett in a Falls Count Anywhere match. The show airs at 8pm (EST).
– WWE ran an angle after Monday’s RAW where Big Show attacked Sheamus at a pub, with William Regal trying to break it up. You can see video of the fight at WWE.com.
– On Monday’s WWE RAW, it was announced that the new main event of Survivor Series will be CM Punk vs. John Cena vs. Ryback in a Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship and had Dolph Ziggler replace CM Punk as the captain of the heel team in the traditional 5 on 5 team elimination match.
According to f4wonline.com, the changes were made because WWE wasn’t satisfied with the fan response to the original Team Punk vs. Team Foley match.
– Chris Jericho told a group of fans at a Journey concert this past weekend to “stay tuned” when he was asked about returning to WWE.
– “The Beautiful People,” Angelina Love and Velvet Sky, will face Jessie Kaye and Niya at Maryland Championship Wrestling event taking place Saturday, Oct. 27 at 2401 North Point Blvd. Dundalk, Maryland. The former TNA Wrestling talent will also participate in an autograph signing. (Event Information)
– Wade Barrett tweeted the following in regards to his match with Sheamus on Raw: “My face is a tad sore after the cheap-shot, but i’m not complaining as i’m not a big girl’s blouse like most are. FYI, I can fight dirty with the best of ’em. I just choose not to. #RealMan”
– El Generico, who Ring of Honor teased over the weekend would be returning to the promotion as an opponent for Kevin Steen, has not signed a contract. His status with Dragon Gate USA remains unchanged.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has posted a new blog entry, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights of what Ross said about:
CM Punk vs. Vince McMahon: “Closing moments of Raw felt like some of the great moments during the Attitude Era. Table destroyed, monitors out, bodies hitting the floor, stiff shots, and a crazed crowd. Great nite at the office .. Mr McMahon was amazing especially at his age and lack of recent ring time. I’m not kissing butt but just stating a fact. @cmpunk is special. Controversial? Yes…but damn special.”
Sheamus vs. Wade Barrett: “Sheamus and Wade a arrest literally beat the hell out of each other much like I’ll see in Dallas Saturday when OU battles Texas .. Second week in a row that Wold Champ Sheamus rose to the occasion, last week it was against Damien Sandow .. Barrett has returned from injury a different man as it relates to aggression & physicality. That mindset will get one places.”
WWE Tag Team Division Picking Up: “WWE tag team biz is becoming viably relevant. Opportunity awaits several duos. Will they realize such and seize the fleeting moment?”
– As seen Monday on Raw, Wade Barrett complained to program General Manager AJ Lee about not competing on the show. He did wrestle earlier as he faced Tyson Kidd in a match taped for this week’s episode of WWE Superstars.
In a second match taped for the show, David Otunga took on Michael McGillicutty in a battle of former Nexus members.
– As reported earlier, one of the theme songs for WWE Hell in a Cell is “Sandpaper,” the lead single off of the Chris Jericho–fronted metal band Fozzy’s latest album, “Sin and Bones.” The song’s music video premiered tonight on WWE.com.
– WWE ring announcer Lilian Garcia appears on The Nick and Artie Show tonight, which airs at 1:00 a.m. on DirecTV’s Audience Network.
– Mexican professional wrestler and WCW alumnus El Dandy turns 50-years-old on Tuesday.
– Per a huge announcement by SmackDown General Manager Booker T, Kane and Daniel Bryan will defend the WWE Tag Team Championship on Oct. 28 at Hell in a Cell against the winners of an eight-team tournament.
The bracket revealed on SmackDown showed the following first-round match-ups: Team Rhodes Scholars (Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow) vs. Jimmy and Jey Uso; Santino Marella and Zack Ryder vs. Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd; Kofi Kingston and R-Truth vs. The Prime Time Players (Darren Young and Titus O’Neil); and Epico and Primo vs. Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara.
– This week on “Backstage Fallout” for SmackDown, The Miz addressed the chaos on “Miz TV,” which resulted in the show’s host being punched in the face by World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus. Wade Barrett also boasted about his dominance after defeating Zack Ryder. Plus, Big Show talks about becoming the No. 1 contender to World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus at Hell in a Cell. (Watch)
Barrett also agreed with a follower who asked, “Is it because the impact is so devastating , it stays with you permanently?”
– WWE.com has an article up looking at the Top 15 Hometown Victories, with CM Punk’s WWE title win at Money in the Bank from Chicago topping from the list.
– WWE posted a video of John Cena talking about the new partnership with Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
– WWE Games has released the following new WWE ’13 video featuring D-Generation X:
– After sustaining a season-ending injury during last Sunday’s game against the St. Louis Rams, Washington Redskins defensive end Adam Carriker immediately thought about Triple H.
“I’m laying there on the turf at the Edward Jones Dome and there’s one thing going through my mind and it’s the image of Triple H tearing his quad tendon off his knee in the ring,” Carriker said on 4th & Pain. “Why I’m thinking about that, I don’t know… I think that’s because it’s exactly where I felt it in my leg.”
Like Carriker, the WWE Superstar tore his left quadriceps muscle in May 2001 and suffered a similar injury at a pay-per-view event in January 2007. The full story is available here.
– The top two matches advertised for Saturday’s SmackDown live event in Sarnia, Ontario did not take place. Originally scheduled for the event were Sheamus vs. Wade Barrett vs. Dolph Ziggler in a Triple Threat Match for the World Heavyweight Championship and Daniel Bryan and Kane defending the WWE Tag Team Championship against Kofi Kingston and R-Truth. Instead, Sheamus defended the belt against Alberto Del Rio in a singles match, Dolph Ziggler faced Tyson Kidd, Wade Barrett took on Yoshi Tatsu, Kofi Kingston wrestled Ted DiBiase, and Kane and Bryan faced The Prime Time Players.
– WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler’s miraculous recovery from a heart attack on the Sept. 10 Raw is featured in a full page story in the latest issue of The Globe tabloid.
– A new WWE announcer made his debut at Thursday night’s WWE NXT tapings. His name is Tony Luftman and he can be found on Twitter @TonyLuftman.
Luftman previously worked as the lead announcer for St. John’s TV network at St. John’s University. He has also worked with the NBA’s Portland Trailblazers and Memphis Grizzlies.
– In response to an article at WWE.com about whether Wade Barrett would ever reform Nexus, Wade Barrett tweeted this about his Nexus spin-off group, The Corre:
“I certainly wouldn’t reform The Corre, Mr. Journalist. In fact, ‘The Corre’ is my greatest regret in almost 9 years of wrestling at every level. I’d burn the history books if I could. “The Corre are equals” they cried. Kiss my English backside, you clowns. #BarrettBarrage”
– In this week’s “Backstage Fallout” for Raw, Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara respond to The Prime Time Players’ attack from behind. Plus, Layla suspects Eve had something to do with Kaitlyn’s being viciously attacked at Night of Champions, Wade Barrett discusses his future plans and Kofi Kingston and R-Truth vow to regain the WWE Tag Team Championship from Daniel Bryan and Kane.
http://youtu.be/V-qgFn0xlUDcY
– The official WWE website announced last week that a new Bret Hart video title, Bret Hart: Unreleased Matches, will be released on March 5, 2013. The WWE Hall of Famer is giving input to the project.
He tweeted Tuesday, “Starting to review matches for the new “Unreleased Matches” DVD.”
– Tonight’s WWE SmackDown tapings will take place from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. As previously reported, local commercials are teasing whether Dolph Ziggler will cash in his Money in the Bank contract tonight.
The advertised dark match main event is a Triple Threat match featuring World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Randy Orton.
– Wade Barrett tweeted this about his new elbow finisher:
Promoting tonight’s SmackDown taping at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Ontario, Wade Barrett addressed his hiatus from the squared circle due to injury, which coincided with WrestleMania XXVIII.
“(Being away from WWE) takes you out of the goldfish bowl and you’re able to look at the aspects of your own work. You can critique yourself,” said Barrett. “There’s a saying that it’s never a good time to get injured. We were four weeks from Wrestlemania. It was very disappointing. It’s a huge relief to get back on TV. I’ve been doing live events for the last four weeks. But it was great to get back under the cameras and bright lights.”
Now that he’s back, fans can look for a more aggressive version of Barrett after his character was depicted as having returning from the underground arena of bare-knuckle fighting.
“I’m going to be doing things to entertain myself. It’s a new style. There’s a lot more brawling, a lot more strikes,” said Barrett. “I’ve always been a fairly physical guy. You just have to look at my nose to see what kind of lifestyle I led … sports and fisticuffs. I’m a contact kind of guy. Ninety-nine percent of the time, I’m pretty laid back and relaxed, but I can get very intense quickly. I think it’s inevitable if you’ve been off the road and injured that you build up anger – things that I have to get out of my system.”
– WWE.com posted an article about Wade Barrett’s return in “Superstar Spotlight”
“Barrett has always remains unchanged in his perpetual search for domination. As long as there is authority, Wade Barrett will be there to not only challenge it, but also uproot it and attempt to take its place. As long as this bare-knuckled Brit is on the prowl, the world of WWE is just a little less safe than it once was.
Following a partially dislocated elbow that kept him out of action for nearly seven months, a reinvigorated Barrett made his intense return to WWE. The English Superstar used his downtime to get back to basics and “reignite the flame” – presumably through participation in the sort of bare-knuckle boxing he took part in early in his past. Picking up a microphone, he served notice to the WWE Universe that he was “open for business.” Whatever that meant, it was sure to spell disaster for anyone who stepped in his way.”
– WWE.com announced Sunday afternoon that Randy Orton will face Dolph Ziggler in a singles match next Sunday at Night of Champions.
Following their scuffle on Friday’s SmackDown, an irate Ziggler confronted SmackDown General Manager Booker T’s Senior Advisor Theodore Long to demand a third match with The Viper. Orton pinned Ziggler on the prior week’s show while The Showoff overcame Viper in a re-match on Raw.
– Toronto Star has published an unfavorable review of WWE Studios’ No One Lives, which debuted Friday night at the Toronto International Film Festival.
“While parts of it are deliberately campy, the low-budget production veers onto the amateurish and some of the jump cuts make it look like it was edited with a switchblade. Or make that a butter knife,” Tony Wong wrote.
The reviewer wrote that No One Lives should find an audience with WWE fans, or die hard followers of director Ryuhei Kitamura.
– Wade Barrett is featured in today’s “Superstar Spotlight” on WWE.com. Click here to view his photos and videos.
– Wade Barrett was advertised to face Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus in the main event at Saturday’s SmackDown live event at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario but the match was changed to a Street Fight between Sheamus and Del Rio the World Heavyweight Champion won. Barrett instead faced Ted DiBiase, who he defeated.
– Future Endeavors (www.future-endeavors.com) celebrated its two-year anniversary Wednesday with a nearly two-hour interview with Gabe Tuft, known in WWE as Tyler Reks. Subjects broached include:
* How he broke into the professional wrestling industry
* How CM Punk misled him before the 2011 Royal Rumble
* The secret to Ryback’s non-existent pyro
* How his recent stripper gimmick had actually been years in the making with a story he said he has never told before
* The rise and fall of the Mid Card Mafia cartoon and its possible return
* His opinion on independent wrestlers that come into WWE
* His opinion on many WWE superstars and officials including HHH and his former partner Curt Hawkins, who he describes as a young Shawn Michaels