– Following up on the news that WWE has trademarked the phrase “RAW Active” for the interactive elements that will be added to RAW once the show goes 3-hours every week this summer, WWE has also registered the phrase “#RAWACTIVE” to be used on clothing and other apparel.
– John Laurinaitis has been walking on crutches in public this week to sell the injuries he sustained at the hands of John Cena at Sunday’s Over The Limit pay-per-view.
Several WWE fans noted on Twitter that Laurinaitis was using crutches at an airport in Virginia on Wednesday.
– Dolph Ziggler has issued a challenge to any WWE Superstar to an Iron Man Match at the 1,000th episode of Monday Night RAW on July 23rd:
“i challenge ANY @WWE #wwe SUPERSTAR to an #IronManMatch July 23rd! #3hourRaw #ShowStolen #AnyTAKERs?”
What a showoff…
– Former ROH World champion and WWE developmental star Seth Rollins (formerly Tyler Black) made his NXT debut at Thursday night’s first-ever tapings from Full Sail University. Rollins tweeted the following about his debut:
“New era of NXT kicked off with a bang tonight. Thanks to Full Sail and everyone in attendance for making it a special night.”
– Zack Ryder is back with Episode 67 of the Z! True Long Island Story. This week’s show features footage of Dolph Ziggler attacking him at a recent live event, Ryder complaining about not being featured on RAW for the 3rd week in a row, the debut of his show’s new mascot and more. and more:
– Zack Ryder, who celebrates his twenty-seventh birthday today, lost to WWE developmental wrestler Dean Ambrose in a pre-Raw SuperShow dark match in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Matches taped for WWE Superstars were Lord Tensai vs. Tyson Kidd and Alex Riley vs. Heath Slater.
– To correct an earlier report, Jim Ross is not in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for tonight’s Raw SuperShow. Rather, his wife is on hand for the event.
– Maria Kanellis has been announced to appear at Legends of the Ring 14 on Saturday, June 2 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Monroe, New Jersey.
— The latest episode of WWE’s “Are You Serious?” webisode features clips of the “Donald Trump” vs. “Rosie O’Donnell” match on Raw, Josh Mathews attempting to dance, Road Dogg singing and Lilian Garcia’s shoe malfunctioning in the “Fail of the Week.”
— In this week’s episode of Z! True Long Island Story, Zack Ryder laments his return to WWE Superstars. Also featured are cameos by Dolph Ziggler and Scott Stanford, the latest dig on Trent Barreta’s disappearance and a segment on Ryder’s new growth chart product line.
— Beth Phoenix competed at Friday’s Raw live event in Glens Falls, New York, losing to WWE Divas Champion Layla. It was her first match since losing the WWE Divas Championship to Nikki Bella on the April 23 Raw SuperShow.
— WWE Hall of Famer George “The Animal” Steele stated Friday on Twitter that he was released from the hospital following an extensive stay. He added, “Praise the LORD, GOD is so good.”
— WWE Superstar and host, Santino Marella shares with Michael McGillicutty and the WWE Universe just how dirty he will get to prove he’s a diligent worker.
— WWE developmental wrestler Dean Ambrose faced Zack Ryder at Friday’s Raw live event in Glens Falls, New York. Ambrose was disqualified after he removed the turnbuckle pad and whipped Ryder into it.
— Former WWE Superstar Billy Kidman turned 38 years old on Friday. He is currently a producer on WWE’s Raw brand.
— WWE Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston and R-Truth are advertised to appear at Aaron’s Rental & Sales in Mobile, Alabama on Saturday, June 2 beginning at 4:00 p.m.
– Zack Ryder is back with a new episode of the Z! True Long Island Story. On this week’s show, Ryder accepts Dolph Ziggler’s challenge to wrestle for Ryder’s Internet Championship at WrestleMania 29 next April –
– WWE developmental talent DT Porter, who is currently out of action with a knee injury, posted the following message on his Facebook account. Based on what he’s writing – one has to question his mental stability and whether he has what it takes to make it in the business:
“Guys, I don’t know how much longer I can handle this. Every day is a constant struggle to keep my sanity. I love wrestling and it’s all I ever wanted to do. Already going crazy since I’ve been for like ten months now, but it gets worse. Every day a trainer goes out of his way to rib or disrespect me in front of the boys because I’ve been out so long. I can’t clear myself. I wanna wrestle more than anything, but I don’t even know who I am anymore. It’s so fucking hard. I just feel it just building inside of me and I don’t know how much longer I can contain it. I have daydreams of just fucking everyone up on some real shit. I’m not a kid. I’m a fucking man. But what do you do when the people in charge of helping you get to the main roster are the ones making your life the hardest. I’ve been drinking almost every day. It’s to the point to where I keep Vodka and Gin in my trunk. Help me!”
– The Miz is currently in Brazil doing promotional work for WWE’s upcoming live tour. WWE will hold its first-ever event from Brazil later this month at Ginasio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo on May 23rd.
– This week marks 5 years since Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins made their WWE television debuts on ECW as The Major Brothers, defeating the team of Matt Striker and Marcus Cor Von. They would later go on to be Edge’s “Edge Heads” sidekicks before going their separate ways.
– John Hennigan, formerly WWE superstar John Morrison, is the star of a new 4-minute short movie titled, “The Negotiator.” Hennigan plays “Officer Rexy, LA’s finest Negotiator deals with a man who wants to shoot himself.” The clip, which was produced by the Curtain Jerks wrestling podcast, can be seen here:
— Beth Phoenix and Sheamus spoke to SportsTownChicago.com last week promoting Extreme Rules. In the ranks of WWE Divas over the years, The Glamazon is asked where she would rank herself.
“I would have to rank myself absolutely number one because I am. I’ve achieved more than any other WWE Diva in the past,” she says. “I’m a four-time champion. The second female to ever compete in the Royal Rumble, amongst many, many other accolades… Diva of the Year. You name it, I’ve done it, so I would put myself number one.”
Sheamus also reveals how he plans to stay on top with his latest title reign.
— Matches taped Monday night in Dayton, Ohio for this week’s episode of WWE Superstars were:
* Dolph Ziggler vs. Mason Ryan
* Michael McGillicutty vs. Zack Ryder
WWE developmental wrestler Dean Ambrose beat Alex Riley in a pre-show dark match.
– WWE Diva Beth Phoenix posted a photo of her at a doctor’s office for an MRI this weekend witht he caption, “More tests, fingers crossed.” Sources still insist that the injury is all part of the storylines. She tweeted about her Extreme Rules match:
“I have been given my rematch this Sunday. Even if I have to wrestle on one leg, I can STILL beat @thebellatwins and win my title back.”
– Zack Ryder tweeted that WWE has once again censored his Z! True Long Island Story show:
“@WWE censored me again! WTF!!!”
Shortly after Ryder’s tweet, Eve Torres responded that she is the person responsible for Ryder’s show being censored for the past two weeks.
– The Rock posted a shout out to WWE staffers on Twitter this weekend:
“To all @WWE corporate & production employees: THANK YOU. #ThatsAll”
– Lord Tensai’s claw finishing move has been modified for safety precautions. The hold now comes from the standing position, giving the opponent the ability to land back-first. The move originally started from Tensai’s knee, which caused the point of impact to be the back of his opponent’s head.
– Zack Ryder’s complaints that WWE edited his Youtube show and censoring him are likely just part of storylines.
– DigitalTrends.com has an article up looking at video game publisher Electronic Arts being on the lookout for acquisitions of gaming studios. With THQ in major financial trouble, they speculate that EA could take them over – which would give them the rights to the WWE video game franchise.
– MVP has posted a 30-minute discussion with fellow former WWE superstar Carlito. The two discuss their time in WWE, backstage heat, how working for WWE completely takes over your life and a lot more. Check it out:
Woo Woo Woo – Mr. Long Island Iced Z is back with Episode 63 of the Z! True Long Island Story. Ryder has tweeted a few message about his latest show being edited by WWE . He says even though “the best two minutes” were removed by WWE, fans should watch it anyways.
He has also been telling fans to stop chanting “hoeski” at Eve Torres. Not because he’s forgiven her, but he doesn’t want to be associated with her anymore.
— Following CM Punk’s victory over Chris Jericho at Sunday’s Raw live event in Nottingham, England, the Straight Edge Superstar, John Cena, Zack Ryder, Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger appeared ringside to celebrate Vickie Guerrero’s birthday—she turns 44 years old on Monday. After Cena led the Capital FM Arena audience in singing “Happy Birthday To You” to Guerrero, Punk snuck up on the birthday girl by smashing her in the face with a chocolate cake. She then broke kayfabe by posing in the center of the ring with Punk and Cena.
Guerrero was taken by surprise by the moment. She wrote on Twitter, “My birthday is tomorrow the 16th!!!! The RAW crew surprised me tonight at show! It was so much fun! I showered the cake out of my hair and down my back….that was the sweetest shower ever!!!!”
— Rey Mysterio, who has been sidelined since August due to injury, is heading to Japan next month to promote the SmackDown brand’s upcoming tour of Tokyo. WWE will hold shows at Sumo Hall on August 9 and 10.
— WWE will hold two shows in Germany this November: at the O2 World Arena in Hamburg on November 2 and Arena Leipzig in Leipzig on November 3.
— Episode 61 of Z! True Long Island Story features footage of Zack Ryder at WrestleMania Axxess in Miami, Florida. Also featured is Scott Stanford pitching Dunkin’ Donuts’s “Bronuts” after Eve kicked Ryder below the belt Sunday at WrestleMania XXVIII. Dolph Ziggler and Tommy Dreamer also appear in the episode.
— Rosa Mendes continues to voice her displeasure with herself, Primo and Epico being left off Sunday’s WrestleMania XXVIII pay-per-view broadcast as well as this week’s episode of SmackDown.
She wrote on Twitter, “It’s amazing how “I called my Momma” and she asked me why Brodus Clay and his Mommas were on Wrestlemania when people would rather watch Primo and Epico wrestle and me dancing my salsa instead!!!”
Mendes added, “Epico, Primo with Rosa Mendes not on SmackDown! Funny how nobody is manning up against us! I can’t get angry! It’s pathetic!”
Wrestling Observer reports her Twitter rant is part of WWE’s initiative to integrate storylines on the microblogging website.
— WWE has a three-hour Raw SuperShow scheduled for June 11 at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut. It is the final show before No Way Out on June 17 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. A three-hour Raw is also scheduled for April 23. (thanks to Devin Cutting)
— Shawn Michaels and Kevin Nash will participate in an autograph together on May 19 at the Frank & Son Collectible Show in 19649 San Jose, City of Industry, California. Additional details will be released soon.
— Jerry Lawler appears for USA Championship Wrestling on April 7 at the Old Burns Gym in Burns, Tennessee. The event begins at 8:00 p.m.
— Zack Ryder is the latest WWE Superstar to try out Diamond Dallas Page’s yoga program DDP Yoga (available at www.ddpyoga.com). Other WWE talent utilizing the fitness workout include Chris Jericho, Curt Hawkins, Daniel Bryan, Kane, Mick Foley, Santino Marella, The Miz, Titus O’Neil and William Regal.
— Sunday night at WrestleMania XXVIII, Eve accompanied Zack Ryder to the ring for the match between Team Johnny and Team Teddy. Eve subsequently distracted Ryder, costing him and Team Teddy the bout. She added further insult to injury after the match by hitting Ryder below the belt, thus completing her heel turn. Eve explained the next night on Raw that she used Ryder to get her “WrestleMania moment.” She added further on Twitter, “I feel on top of the world right now and don’t feel the need to explain myself to anyone.”
She also responded to The Miz taking credit for Team Johnny’s victory at WrestleMania XXVIII, writing, “Your welcome.” Eve wrote minutes later, “So sorry… my uneducated assistant wrote that last tweet for me. Last time I let that happen. *You’re welcome!*”
— SmackDown ring announcer Lilian Garcia kicked off Sunday’s WrestleMania XXVIII pay-per-view event with a stirring rendition of “America the Beautiful.” With her performance at the show, she surpasses Aretha Franklin for most musical performances at WrestleMania with three. The WWE Diva took to Twitter to thank fans for their amazing support.
“Reading all ur amazing tweets has literally brought tears to my eyes. U will never know how much it has meant 2 me! Luv u!!” Garcia wrote.
— Live Audio Wrestling reports former WWE Superstar Chris Nowinski was among those in attendance at Saturday’s WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.
— Evan Bourne sustained a midfoot fracture dislocation in an undisclosed accident last week as his foot was broken in four spots and dislocated in five. According to the official website of Silverman Ankle & Foot Practice, his injury, also known as a LisFranc fracture dislocation, is a career threatening injury to athletes, even when treated well.
The website says, “It is unknown whether or not Bourne will return to wrestling after this injury but one thing is certain – it’s going to be a long road to recovery.”
— The Miz’s victory over Zack Ryder on Monday’s Raw SuperShow snapped his eleven match losing streak in televised singles bouts. His last prior singles victory took place on the December 5 Raw in a count-out win over Randy Orton.
— Bret Hart headlines UCW’s Summer Explosion III event at the Halifax Forum in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on June 30. Other talent appearing include Leo Burke, “The Genius” Lanny Poffo, Hurricane Helms, Chavo Guerrero, JP Simms and “Wildman” Gary Williams.
Numerous WWE Superstars offered their take on tonight’s WrestleMania XXVIII pay-per-view event through Twitter.
Epico: “There it is! I walked in to #wrestlemania as tag team champion and I leave as tag team champion!!!”
Howard Finkel: “Another W’Mania in the books! Kudos 2 R superstars 4 their efforts, and kudos to all of u who watched 2nite! And for me: 28 in a row! YES!!!”
Joey Styles: “Congratulations to @TheRock for winning his “Once in a Lifetime” #WrestleMania match with @JohnCena. 78,000 people exploded in Miami.”
Michael McGillicutty: “I’m done sitting on the sidelines! I need to be involved with #WrestleMania. Let’s do this! #EndofanEra”
Natalya: “Well @TheRock has nice taste In submissions! #sharpshooter #WrestleMania”
Randy Orton: “Gonna be hard to top HHH/Taker……#WrestleMania28”
Santino Marella: “Rock just beat cena, I’m speechless for once in my life”
Vickie Guerrero: “Wrestlemania was incredible!!! Everyone worked hard and gave their heart! Thank you fellow superstars, production, and crew!!!”
Zack Ryder: “@EveMarieTorres ruined my #WrestleMania moment. I got a low blowski from a hoeski.”
– In part two of CM Punk and Chris Jericho’s WWE.com WrestleMania diaries, Jericho defends his use of DDP Yoga, which Punk said was a joke and “not real yoga” earlier this week:
“All I know is that DDP Yoga works for me. It’s the best training I’ve had in my life and it’s funny how I’ve been wrestling 10 years longer than CM Punk, but he’s the one who’s always walking around with more ice on him than an eskimo in February. I’m pain-free.”
– Zack Ryder was interviewed by the The Miami Herald this week and said this about his “Broski” character:
“This character, if you look at the Internet and the colanders, was way before ‘Jersey Shore’ hit TV. It was probably even before ‘Jersey Shore’ was auditioning or casting for their first season. This wasn’t a ‘Jersey Shore’ rip-off. This was Long Island, where I grew up. I thought it would make me different and stand out. Everyone needs to be different. Maybe I was a little goofy behind the scenes or backstage, but once that bell rang, it was no joke.”
John Cena berating Lilian Garcia’s ring announcing ability at Tuesday’s SmackDown taping in Newark, New Jersey has drawn the ire of numerous fans of the veteran Diva online as they feel it contradicts “be a STAR,” WWE’s heavily promoted campaign to put an end to bullying. A former WWE talent agrees with the sentiment.
Sinn Bodhi, who formerly competed as Kizarny for the sports entertainment organization, posted the following user comment on Twitter Friday slamming their anti-bullying campaign: “I can’t take the #WWE Be A Star Campaign seriously when it’s known what they said about Lilian Garcia and @SiNNbODHi #Hypocrisy.”
The incident was the latest example of WWE publicly ridiculing Garcia following her decision to leave the company in 2009. She took note of the heavy fan support following this latest mockery and went on Facebook and Twitter to write a thank you message.
“Hey my Lil Rockers, just want to tell you that I LUV YOU, I LUV YOU, I LUV YOU!! You are the BEST fans in the world!! Thank you for being there for me!! Xoxo ;):” she wrote following Friday’s SmackDown broadcast on Syfy.
Following the conclusion of Tuesday’s show, Cena belittled Garcia in front of the Prudential Center audience for mistakenly introducing Zack Ryder earlier as “Long Island Iced Z, Jack Swagger” for his match against Jack Swagger, saying “she looks absolutely beautiful but doesn’t know what the hell she’s doing.” He had a street clothes dressed Tony Chimel brought out to properly introduce Ryder since he’s a professional and “knows what he’s doing.”
Following Zack Ryder’s rally prior to Monday’s Raw SuperShow in which he lobbied to become part of Team Teddy at WrestleMania XXVIII, Long Island Iced Z informed SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long that if he was accepted onto the team, The Great Khali would join as well. Long agreed, with Hornswoggle named the team’s mascot.
The updated card for the pay-per-view event taking place April 1 in Miami, Florida is as follows:
* The Rock vs. John Cena
* The Undertaker vs. Triple H (Hell in a Cell Match with Shawn Michaels as the special referee)
* Team Teddy vs. Team Johnny (Kofi Kingston, R-Truth, Santino Marella, The Great Khali, Zack Ryder and TBA vs. Christian, David Otunga, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Mark Henry and TBA)
* WWE Champion CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho
* World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus
* Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes vs. Big Show
* Randy Orton vs. Kane
* Kelly Kelly and Maria Menounos vs. Divas Champion Beth Phoenix and Eve
— Road Dogg revealed on Twitter that the New Age Outlaws will be featured in THQ’s WWE ’13. When asked about the upcoming video game, which is rumored to focus on “Attitude Era” stars, he responded, “Already did the voiceovers.” He added that Billy Gunn was involved with the process.
— Watch the Photos of a Bella Twin’s wardrobe malfunction of Backstage Fallout, and find out what Sheamus really thinks of his WrestleMania opponent’s girlfriend. Plus, learn the real reason why Eve blew Zack Ryder off. Also featured are The Bella Twins and Jack Swagger.
— WWE is holding a Raw live event tonight at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Bell time is 8:00 p.m. Meanwhile, a SmackDown event will be held at the E. A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
– John Cena will be appearing on the ABC’s talk show “The Chew” this Wednesday at 1pm (eastern). The show featuring Cena will be about “hungry guy meals.”
– The Ryder Revolution strikes again. After getting his fans to protest WWE for blocking comments on his Z! True Long Island Story YouTube videos, WWE has given the people what they want. Comments are now enabled beginning with yesterday’s video. Woo Woo Woo.
– There has been talk of getting more Divas involved in the WrestleMania 28 match of Eve Torres and Beth Phoenix vs. Kelly Kelly and Maria Menounos.
– Speaking of Maria Menounos, don’t look for her to be appearing on RAW in the weeks leading up to WrestleMania. She is competing on the new season of Dancing With The Stars, which premiers this Mondy night.
– The Rock wrote the following on Twitter as he readies for WrestleMania 28:
“Rogers. Sammartino. Backlund. Hogan. Austin. These iconic @WWE champions paved the way – Thank You. 16 days away.. #WM28?
– Jim Ross and William Regal did commentary at Thursday night’s Florida Championship Wrestling TV taping from Orlando. Regal tweeted this about the experience:
“A huge honour for me tonight getting to announce with JR Jim Ross at FCW.He was the first person to interview me on USA TV 19 years ago.”
– Zack Ryder tweeted the following regarding this Monday’s RAW Supershow from Philadelphia:
“I got something Zacktastic planned for my Broskis in Philadelphia this Monday! I’ll keep you posted…
– Chris Jericho recently tweeted that WWE won’t be releasing a new t-shirt for him. Knowing Jericho’s affinity for working fans online, that probably means WWE has a whole line of Jericho shirts coming out.