WrestlingFigs.com reports former WWE Superstar Virgil appears today through Sunday at WonderCon 2012 at the Anaheim Convention Center 800 West Katella Ave. Anaheim, California.
– WWE.com has published a photo gallery highlighting masked wrestlers from throughout history. Besides Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio, those featured include Avatar, Battle Kat, CM Punk, Dos Caras, El Santo, Golga, Great Sasuke, Jushin Liger, Kim Chee, La Parka, Max Moon, Mil Mascaras, Mr. America, Mr. Wrestling II, Psicosis, The Destroyer, The Patriot, Tiger Mask and Ultimo Dragon.
– Jim Ross was asked on Twitter if the feud between CM Punk and Chris Jericho feud is getting personal following Jericho’s harsh words on Monday’s Raw SuperShow. He responded“That’s what sells.”
— WWE has posted the fifty-eighth episode of Z! True Long Island Story starring Zack Ryder. Dolph Ziggler appears and comments on not having a match at WrestleMania XXVIII. Meanwhile, Ryder urges his Twitter followers to write to SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long about being on his team at WrestleMania XXVIII. He also reveals being stood up by Eve on Monday night.
— WWE released footage Thursday night of SmackDown ring announcer Lilian Garcia’s wardrobe mishap at Tuesday’s SmackDown taping in Columbus, Ohio—her shoe strap broke as she made her ring entrance. The video features audio of WWE announcer Michael Cole crowing hysterically at Garcia’s plight.
— Madusa, who formerly competed as Alundra Blayze for WWE, pondered Thursday night on Facebook whether she should attend WrestleMania XXVIII in Miami, Florida. She tweeted:
“Many celebs showing up for Wrestle Mania….I wonder if I should…………”
— Former WWE Superstar John Morrison appears at The Wrestling Guy?Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet/Space H5 13963 Alondra Blvd Santa Fe Springs, California 90670 on April 15 from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.
— The March 2012 issue of WWE Magazine appears to feature an inside reference concerning The Undertaker’s hair (which he no longer has because he is shaved bald). While explaining his near year long hiatus from WWE in their WrestleMania XXVIII feature, they wrote, “Despite (beating Triple H) by submission with the Hell’s Gate and extending his epic streak, The Deadman was unable to leave the arena on his own. And no one has seen hide nor hair of him for nearly an entire year.”
The Undertaker has not removed the hood covering his bald head during his appearances on Raw because WWE creative is saving the moment for his Hell in a Cell encounter with Triple H at WrestleMania XXVIII.
— WWE has announced that they will be holding Raw live events in Mexico this May. Dates and locations are as follows: May 24 at Multipurpose Centre in Hermosillo; May 25 at Monumental Bullring in Aguascalientes; May 26 at Vicente Fernandez Gomez Arena in Guadalajara.
— Former WWE star Billy Gunn wrote on Twitter regarding his one year of sobriety, “Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all the fans and specialy my wife for hanging in there for my one year sobriety.”
— Former Dragon Gate USA star Brodie Lee has reportedly signed a developmental deal with WWE, according to PWTorch.com. Lee is nearly 7 feet tall.
— There continues to be a lot of speculation regarding The Miz’s role at WrestleMania 28. Miz, who successfully defended the WWE title against John Cena in the main event of last year’s show, is rumored to be involved in this year’s Rock vs. Cena match in some capacity. WWE is said to have a storyline ready for The Miz after WrestleMania and his recent losing streak is part of the buildup to that angle.
— Former ROH star Chris Hero, now known as Kassius Ohno, made his debut on Florida Championship Wrestling television this weekend:
— Jim Ross says it’s ‘100 percent rumor’ that he will be handling announcing duties for the Hell in a Cell Match between The Undertaker and Triple H at WrestleMania XXVIII. The WWE Hall of Famer responded to a message on Twitter stating that Undertaker wanted him to call his match.
— Video has surfaced of Balls Mahoney vomiting after being hit in the head with a chair by Marty Jannetty during a match at Friday’s Pro Wrestling Syndicate Super Card 2012 event in Rahway, New Jersey.
— The Insider recently aired a “Five Things You Didn’t Know” segment about actor Sacha Baron Cohen and it was noted that he’s a huge wrestling fan and who is friends with John Cena.
Dolph Ziggler appeared on sportstalkNETWORK to discuss tonight’s Raw SuperShow in Cleveland, hosting WWE Download, Vickie Guerrero, The Rock returning to WWE and more. Highlights are as follows:
Being a WWE Superstar: “I’m never truly satisfied with anything and I never will be and that’s why I’ve been lucky to get this far but it is everything and even more… our roster and even guys not even on the main roster work so hard tirelessly to put on a great show for the fans and it never ends and there’s no off-season.”
If there is competitive rivalry between he and The Miz since they both hail from Ohio: “Absolutely and we love it! We’re buddies but we also bust each others chops and we push each other as much as we can. We both want to be ‘the next guy’.”
Backstage resentment of The Rock being in the main event at WrestleMania XXVIII: “I’m going to take advantage of that one way or the other and get some eyes on us that we normally wouldn’t have – we’re going to stretch out to different genres and different age groups of people who have seen The Rock in the movies or Disney and they don’t know what it’s like to see a WWE show and their going to see the greatest show and the biggest WrestleMania of all time. So I see that as a positive – as an opportunity – The Rock is coming back and give us somewhat of a rub and more eyes are going to see me steal the show at WrestleMania in Miami on April 1st.”
On Monday morning, WWE’s Board of Directors announced that WrestleMania 28 will feature a “Team Laurinaitis vs. Team Long” 12-man tag match – with the winning GM getting control of both brands.
Participants for both teams will be announced in the coming weeks, but here’s what we’re hearing for the two teams.
Team Laurinatis: Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, David Otunga, Christian, Mark Henry & Alberto Del Rio
Team Long: Kofi Kingston, R-Truth, Ezekiel Jackson, Santino, Great Khali & One more participant.
The final participant of Team Long could be Evan Bourne or Rey Mysterio (if he’s medically cleared to return).
– Evan Bourne will be cleared to return to WWE this Saturday, March 17th. He is finishing up his 60-day suspension for violating the company Wellness policy for a second time. Bourne will be released from WWE if he fails another drug test.
– According to WWE video game publisher THQ, the “WWE Brawl” video game that is being developed has been put on hold and will not be released this year. THQ will be focusing their efforts on completing the WWE ’13 game, which is due out this fall.
– Fan Mosaics has announced they are partnering with WWE to release a special line merchandise for WrestleMania 28. Fans can upload their photos to the Fan Mosaics website for inclusion in the WrestleMania Fan Mosaic. “It allows fans to be part of the big event in a unique way, taking them beyond the role of spectator by participating in and owning a special, personalized piece of WWE memorabilia.” Check out this video for more info:
A “memo” from the WWE Board of Directors was posted on the official WWE website officially confirming a rumored Wrestlemania 28 match.
Team Laurinaitis vs. Team Long has been signed – with each respective general manager having 6 of his brand’s top stars battling it out – with the winning General Manager gaining control of both RAW and SmackDown.
The participants will be announced over the next few weeks, starting tonight on RAW.
— WWE has announced that they will be offering pay-per-view streaming on the iPhone and iPad beginning with WrestleMania XXVIII.
“Attention, iPad and iPhone users! Coming soon, WWE pay-per-view streaming will be available for purchase online – just in time for WrestleMania XXVIII,” WWE states. “You can reserve your spot now by visiting https://www.wwe.com/ppv or https://www.wwe.com/shows/howtowatch using your Mac or PC. Check back soon for updates on streaming to your iOS device for The Biggest Spectacle of Them All, WrestleMania, on April 1.”
— The Bella Twins and Alicia Fox will appear on the syndicated entertainment news program Extra on Monday. The WWE Divas were filmed last Thursday at The Grove in Los Angeles chatting with Maria Menounos.
— Jerry “The King” Lawler will appear at the Salem Red Sox game taking place on July 28 at LewisGale Field 1004 Texas St. Salem, Virginia.
– Former WWE Champion Ultimate Warrior asked his Twitter followers on Sunday to name their favorite Ultimate Warrior moment at WrestleMania. WWE Champion CM Punk took part in the session and answered “Warrior vs Savage.”
– Madusa, who formerly competed for WWE as Alundra Blayze, revealed Saturday on Facebook that she was recently contacted by her former employer. Regarding this, both F4WOnline.com and PWInsider.com speculate that she was among the huge number of former talent invited to take part in interviews for upcoming WWE Network features. WWE will be filming several interviews in the week leading up to WrestleMania XXVIII in Miami, Florida.
– Former WWE Champion Ultimate Warrior asked his Twitter followers on Sunday to name their favorite Ultimate Warrior moment at WrestleMania. WWE Champion CM Punk took part in the session and answered “Warrior vs Savage.”
– Reports of Hunico appearing in place of Epico as Primo’s tag team partner at Friday’s Raw live event at Toronto’s Ricoh Coliseum are incorrect as SLAM! Wrestling published photos of Epico at the show.
– Two-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion Nunzio turns 40 years old Monday while former WWE Diva Nidia turns 33.
– The newly launched WWE.com features an updated 2012 pay-per-view event schedule and No Way Out is listed as taking place before SummerSlam. The event will take place on July 15 at the US Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Money In The Bank was scheduled for that night but it will instead take place on June 18 at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
– The April 2012 issue of WWE Magazine is the “ultimate guide” to WrestleMania XXVIII and features John Cena, CM Punk, The Undertaker, Randy Orton and Sheamus on the cover. The photo used for The Undertaker is two to three years old.
– WWE.com has updated their profile on Brodus Clay’s dancer Naomi with all new pictures. However, she, nor Cameron Lynn, are listed as members of either Raw or SmackDown.
– The term “#NewWWEcom” was a trending topic on Twitter shortly after the relaunch of WWE.com on Sunday.
– WWE Hall of Famer “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan will appear at the July 27 Frederick Keys game taking place at Harry Grove Stadium 21 Stadium Dr. Frederick, Maryland. Details are available here.
— WWE relaunched WWE.com on Sunday. Among the numerous features is a revamped Superstars section and a Classics section dedicated to the history of WWE, WCW and ECW.
The latest redesign had been planned for several months, to coincide with WrestleMania season. However, some company employees are not fond of the project due to the high cost and the fact that it was redesigned just a year ago.
— GameBandits.com has published an article on former WWE talent Angela Fong (a/k/a Savannah) and Harry Smith (a/k/a David Hart Smith) providing motion capture character portrayal for THQ’s WWE ’13 video game. Sean Morley (a/k/a Val Venis) and Cassidy Riley have also motion capture action.
— WWEShop.com has released a Wrestlemania XXVIII Cena vs. Rock Augmented Reality Adult T-Shirt.
— Raw Interim General Manager and WWE Executive Vice President of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis, who takes the reins as the board-appointed General Manager of SmackDown on Friday, teased a Steel Cage Match for the show via Twitter. He wrote Thursday afternoon,
“A U.S. Title rematch between @milanmiracle and @RealJackSwagger would make #SmackDown REALLY special. And I’ve always loved steel cages …”
— LocalBozo.com conducted an interview with Edge promoting WWE Studios’ latest release – Bending the Rules. The Rated-R Superstar provided insight into his current state of contentment in retirement, his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame and speech, whether he considers himself an actor now, whether he’ll work with WWE again and more.
— WWE.com has published a photo gallery of WrestleMania VIII, which featured Ric Flair defending the WWE Championship against “Macho Man” Randy Savage.
– The new Cosmopolitan Magazine features an article on Divas in pro wrestling and includes quotes from Eve Torres, Alicia Fox and former diva Torrie Wilson, who is now dating New York Yankee star Alex Rodriguez.
– WWE NXT began airing on the WWE website one year ago from today, 3/8/11. There is still no word on when the never-ending season of NXT: Redemption will conclude.
– Alberto Del Rio was backstage, but was not used at television this week after returning to the ring over the weekend.
Del Rio is expected to participate at WrestleMania 28 in the rumored Team Long vs. Team John Laurinaitis match. That match and its participants are scheduled to be announced on Monday’s RAW.
— TMZ.com reported Wednesday that a sex tape featuring legendary grappler Hulk Hogan has surfaced and is currently being shopped to a major adult film company. According to the website, the tape features the TNA Wrestling Superstar in a state of undress with an unidentified brunette female lying on a bed. The woman in question is not his ex-wife Linda Bollea or his current wife Jennifer McDaniel.
Ultimate Warrior went on Twitter to weigh in on his longtime rival’s video. He wrote, “HH sex tape? Don’t need more boring proof Terry is impotent with tiny, shriveled-up balls. And finding out he’s lesbian is 2 much 4 even me, he wrote.”
— Former WWE Intercontinental Champion Ahmed Johnson has been announced to appear at WrestleReunion 7 on March 31 and April 1 at the Miami Beach Deauville Resort 6701 Collins Ave. Miami, Florida.
— WWE.com has published a photo gallery of WrestleMania VII, which marked as the beginning of The Undertaker’s legendary “Streak.”
— WWE e-mailed a general schedule to people attending WrestleMania Axxess and former WWE Diva Lita will be among the stars on hand for the festivities. The former WWE Women’s Champion is advertised to appear at the event on WrestleMania XXVIII morning at 8:00 a.m.
— Matches taped Tuesday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut for this week’s episode of WWE Superstars are as follows:
* Heath Slater vs. Justin Gabriel
* Jinder Mahal vs. Ted DiBiase
— On behalf of ‘be a STAR,’ the anti-bullying alliance co-founded by WWE and The Creative Coalition, David Otunga spoke at an anti-bullying rally in Springfield, Massachusetts on Monday.
“Most people know me as being a WWE superstar in this larger than life character with muscles, larger than life, even arrogant character, but they don’t know that when I was a kid I was just like them,” Otunga told www.wwlp.com. “I was insecure, I was short I was picked on, I had thick glasses and I was smart, that didn’t help, because everyone called me a nerd.”
Shawn Michaels will referee Triple H vs. Undertaker at WrestleMania 28
– Shawn Michaels announced on Monday’s RAWe that he will be the special guest referee of the Hell in a Cell match at WrestleMania between Triple H and the Undertaker.
– Santino Marella is the new WWE United States champion after defeating Jack Swagger on RAW. John Lauranaitis, who was ringside with David Otugna, tried to overturn the title change, but Teddy Long came out had them removed from the building by security. Santino had an emotional celebration in the ring.
— Talk within WWE is that a stipulation may be added to the Cody Rhodes vs. Big Show match at WrestleMania XXVIII beyond the Intercontinental Championship being on the line.
— Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has already arrived in Boston, Massachusetts for tomorrow night’s Raw SuperShow at the TD Garden. He is staying at the same hotel as WWE talent.
Johnson posted a photo of himself on Twitter hanging out with a large group of fans.
— The March 3, 2012 episode of WWE Vintage Collection featured the following matches: Buddy Landel vs. Bob “Spark Plug” Holly (WWF Monday Night Raw – December 18, 1995), George “The Animal” Steele vs. Nikolai Volkoff (WWF Prime Time Wrestling – June 23, 1986), Batista vs. Tajiri (WWE Raw – May 10, 2004), “The Natural” Butch Reed vs. Tito Santana (WWF All American Wrestling – December 7, 1986), Cactus Jack vs. Dustin Rhodes (WCW Main Event – March 1, 1992), Bret Hart vs. Jerry “The King” Lawler (WWF Monday Night Raw – March 13, 1995), Harley Race vs. Pedro Morales (WWF live event – December 6th, 1986).
Trish Stratus appeared on George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight to discuss her WWE career and how yoga has changed her life. Two minutes into the interview, George Stroumboulopoulos asks the seven-time WWE Women’s Champion if John Morrison resented her appearance at WrestleMania last year. Her participation in the tag team match with Morrison and Jersey Shore star Snooki against LayCool and Dolph Ziggler reportedly upset Morrison and girlfriend Melina.
“I don’t know if he did… he might have said that,” she responds.
Stratus continues, “He’s entitled to his opinion. It was one of these things where we had an epic moment, it was WrestleMania, our biggest stage of them all, and I had been retired. So I’m out of the scene and suddenly I get to come back and be in the grandest stage of all, I get to be at WrestleMania. Well he thought “that’s not cool” because I guess his girlfriend is a women wrestler and so he thought maybe another girl deserved that spot. But, I had gone back to WWE television to do Tough Enough, which was a reality show they did to find the next WWE Superstar. They asked me to be back, we promoted that show, etc. He was a little resistant, like there were some moments where I was like, “Oh, he’s not meshing with me.”
Stratus then details the ‘famous cold shoulder incident’ where she was snubbed by Morrison during their post-match celebration at WrestleMania when she attempted to embrace him.
“We have a famous cold shoulder incident. Well, we’re on live television. We had a match, we won the match, we were victorious as a team and then I went to go like, we do that typical thing, you raise the hand, you point [and he went in another direction, leaving Trish hanging],” she explains.
“I just said to him, “Hey, what you’ve done now, is because your career is made up of moments, so now you’ve taken a moment from the fans, really.” Because they don’t care about backstage politics, they don’t care if you think your girlfriend should be in that spot or whatever it was. So he just denied the fans and himself and that’s that.”
Stroumboulopoulos then asks Stratus if Morrison would have snubbed her had she not been a woman.
“Probably wouldn’t have done that to me if I wasn’t a woman, yeah,” she responds.
Wade Barrett underwent surgery on his dislocated elbow earlier this week after suffering the injury during last week’s 10-Man Battle Royal on Raw SuperShow. WWE stated via company website that he would sidelined for at least six to eight weeks; the injury is more severe than the initial diagnosis. He is now expected to be sidelined for three to four months.
Barrett’s injury has caused change to the WrestleMania XXVIII card as a Money in the Bank Ladder Match was scheduled for the pay-per-view event with the English grappler pegged as the winner of the briefcase. With Barrett sidelined, the match has been scrapped altogether.
Meanwhile, Barrett stated Thursday on Twitter that he will be taking a break from the microblogging site.
“I am done with Twitter for now. See you in a few months,” he wrote.
— In response to rumors of backstage jealousy and resentment over Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson stealing the spotlight at WrestleMania XXVIII, former WWE Superstar Carlito went on Twitter to defend The Most Electrifying Man In Sports Entertainment against “the boys.”
“My opinion on The Rock is that everybody should be thankful that he’s back. Did he come back to save his movie career? Of course, so what? The Rock saved ‘Mania last year and this year too. Do any of u see any other wrestler right now that can sell out ‘Mania?” he wrote.
“The “boys” should be happy that ‘Mania will be a big success and fans shouldn’t even really care as to why Rock is back.”
— Former WWE star Diamond Dallas Page stated during the PWTorch Livecast this week that he was backstage at last week’s Raw live event at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California.
— Eve’s victory over Natalya on Friday’s SmackDown extends the third generation wrestler’s televised singles match losing streak to twelve consecutive losses. Her last win took place on the August 5, 2011 SmackDown, over A.J.
– The Undertaker’s time away from the ring has included surgeries on both his shoulder and hip. He was lighter than ever before when he showed up backstage at last week’s Raw SuperShow, estimated at 275 to 280 pounds. The belief that he would retire following his WrestleMania XXVIII encounter with Triple H is largely gone since it’s not being hinted. Peers expect him to continue wrestling for a few more years if he’s able to compete once annually.
– WWE officials have expressed interest in acquiring Jay and Mark Briscoe, but they are both under contract to Ring of Honor.
– Last Friday’s Raw live event at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California drew 9,000 paying $360,000. Saturday’s Raw show in Ontario, California drew a near sellout with 9,000 paying $275,000. Sunday in Eugene, Oregon drew 5,000 paying $165,000. Smackdown’s tour of Central America opened on Thursday in Tegucigalpa, Honduras with 2,500. Friday in Panama City, Panama drew 4,000. Saturday in Guatemala City, Guatemala drew 2,000.
At Tuesday’s SmackDown tapings, it was announced that Cody Rhodes will defend his intercontinental championship against Big Show at WrestleMania 28. This apparently puts an end to the rumored Big Show vs. Shaq and Cody vs. Goldust matches.
With Cody vs. Big Show set, here’s the updated card for WrestleMania 28:
John Cena vs. The Rock
WWE Championship Match:
CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho
World Heavyweight Title Match:
Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus
Hell in a Cell:
Triple H vs. The Undertaker
Intercontinental Title Match:
Cody Rhodes vs. Big Show
— During WWE’s press conference to announce that WrestleMania XXIX would be held in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Sunday, April 7, 2013, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson vowed to appear at the event and “electrify MetLife Stadium like never before.”
Sources within WWE have confirmed to the Pro Wrestling Torch that Johnson will be competing at the event.
— John Cena was interviewed by SPEED TV and talked about waving the green flag at today’s Daytona 500, the race field and facing Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson at WrestleMania XXVIII.
— Former WWE Superstar John Morrison has been announced to appear at the Chicago Comic Con taking place August 9-12, 2012 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Chicago, Illinois. WWE Champion CM Punk and former WWE Diva Maryse will also be appearing at the event.
