FastCompany.com has an interview with WWE’s Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon which is titled, “Mom, Chief Brand Officer, TV Villain: WWE’s Unbreakable Stephanie McMahon.”
The interesting interview tackles quite a few subjects including how hard she slaps people, breaking character on Raw, social media guidelines for WWE Superstars and Divas, playing a character on TV, dealing with celebrities on WWE TV, the WWE Network, and much more.
WWE will once again be teaming up with the Special Olympics as they become the promotional partner for the 2015 Special Olympics World Games which will take place through Los Angeles from July 25 through August 2.
“There are no bigger fans of WWE than our athletes and we are thrilled to be part of the organization’s growing commitment to Special Olympics around the world,” said Patrick McClenahan, President and CEO of LA2015. “We thank the McMahon Family, WWE Superstars and Divas for sharing the World Games’ mission of acceptance and inclusion with its worldwide audience of fans.”
This is not the first time that WWE has teamed up to help the Special Olympics. Last year, WWE was a founding partner for the 2014 Special Olympics USA Games, and the company served as the official production partner, producing daily recaps of all competitions with WWE Superstars and Divas attending to help out. The company also produced a one hour TV show for Fox Sports 1 about the Special Olympics last year.
“WWE is proud to continue our support of Special Olympics through this new partnership with the 2015 Special Olympics World Games, and use the power of our global brand to shine a light on these inspirational athletes, as well as the message of acceptance and inclusion,” said Stephanie McMahon, WWE Chief Brand Officer. “The passion and dedication of each athlete motivates WWE Superstars and Divas, and people all around the world. We look forward to cheering them on in Los Angeles this summer.”
I have been a wrestling fan since 1988. I was 8 years old at the time and will never forget the first time I saw WWE (or WWF at the time) on television. It was the Big Boss Man along with Slick taking on some jobber, I believe Tom Stone, on either Superstars or Challenge.
Throughout the years I always dreamt of attending a show live in person. Living on an island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea made it just a bit more difficult. In 1998, 10 years after I first saw wrestling on television, I traveled with my dad and a friend to watch a UK-only WWE pay-per-view, Capital Carnage. It was a great experience and once I got a taste of it, I wanted more.
Between 1999 and 2000 I flew to the UK for different shows, mostly pay-per-views. Hell I even went to see an episode of Nitro in the UK. But my plan was to one day make it to WrestleMania at least once. Working with a low salary didn’t help things but I decided to stop going to these UK-only pay-per-views and save enough money to go to a WrestleMania.
The plan was to go to WrestleMania X8 in Toronto, Canada. I was waiting for the WWE travel packages to come out and the minute they were available I purchased the highest-priced package. I figured if I have to travel halfway across the world I might as well get the best seat in the house or stay home. I was the 11th person who got the travel package and was rewarded with the best seat in the house – front row!
Attending my first WrestleMania was a truly remarkable experience. I did the whole thing, different sessions of Axxess, autographs, Raw, and Smackdown as well. I was in awe just being there with thousands of other wrestling fans who spent their hard earned money to travel and watch WrestleMania. I remember a friend of mine, Jeff, tagged along for the ride and he decided to come to Raw as well in Montreal. I flew from Toronto to Montreal. He drove in a snow storm and took quite a few hours to get there, more than usual.
I checked-in in this shit hole of a hotel somewhere in Montreal close to the arena and Jeff joined later. It was one of the worst hotels I’ve ever been to. But I had no cash to spare. From Montreal I flew to Ottawa for Smackdown and then back home.
It was supposed to be a one time thing. Man I was wrong. After that, I was doing pretty good on advertising and this Jamaican-based online gambling website was sending me checks which pretty much funded the next WrestleMania – 19 in Seattle.
WrestleMania 19 was somewhat uneventful for me, to be honest I don’t remember much from that trip. I did Raw and Smackdown as well and then traveled to Las Vegas for a few days to chill.
I was really looking forward to WrestleMania 20 being in New York and at Madison Square Garden. I have been to New York before…as a baby, so I obviously didn’t remember one single thing.
I traveled with another friend from home and two of my online friends, Ian from England, and Jason from Canada, both of whom did work for Wrestling-Online.com throughout the years.
While I got another front row seat for WrestleMania 19, I had row 3 for WrestleMania 20. By then, the WWE Travel Package people pretty much knew who I was, mostly due to tons of e-mails exchanged being the annoying person I was.
We went to see Ring of Honor that weekend, something which I really didn’t want to be honest. That’s where I saw AJ Styles, Samoa Joe and CM Punk for the first time. They were in New Jersey so we took the train. I bitched and moaned all the way for different reasons (I was hungry, and my burger and fries getting cold is still a running inside joke between us) but the show was pretty good. We also met Chris, another W-O staffer at the time, who came to see ROH with us and scolded a young fan who was screaming obscenities during the show. Priceless.
Going back to New York from New Jersey at night was a total bitch and I remember we froze our asses off waiting for the train. Heading to the room at the Westin Hotel in Times Square felt good that night. Speaking of the Westin Hotel, beautiful place, but super expensive.
We also did Boston for Smackdown that week, a very bad experience which started with us missing the flight and then getting stuck in snow. Montreal and Boston don’t rate very high on my list, not sure if it’s because of the snow, but there’s something about those two cities!
But WrestleMania XX was great, one of my favorites. It’s too bad that the ending has been forever deleted from WWE television. The sight of Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero both with the world titles in the middle of the ring at MSG still gives me goosebumps.
By the way, to go to WrestleMania XX I ended up doing a very dumb move – sold all my WWE stocks I had at the time to fund the trip. Yeah, never do something like that to go on a vacation. It’s stupid, believe me. And you’ll regret it. I was young and stupid back then. Now I’m just old and stupid.
I missed WrestleMania 21 in Los Angeles. I was just starting a new job two months before and didn’t want to take a week or two off just to go watch WrestleMania and make a bad impression at work. But nothing was going to stop me from going to WrestleMania 22 in Chicago.
I traveled to Chicago with a few friends as well but it was a forgettable weekend. I was so sick that I barely saw any of the city and only managed to get out of bed on WrestleMania Sunday for the breakfast event that was part of the travel package and then of course for WrestleMania. This was the first time I didn’t do Smackdown after a WrestleMania and after Chicago I headed back to Vegas for a holiday and to lose more money. (See the pattern here?)
Cash problems prevented me from going to WrestleMania 23 in Detroit. Besides that I thought what the hell am I going to see in Detroit! Pass! (No offense to those living in Detroit!) I didn’t go but then during that week I received an e-mail from a reader of Wrestling-Online.com who told me I was in a story in the Detroit News. Uh huh!?
There was a story about how people from all over the world travel to WrestleMania every year and Bob Collins, who was in charge of everything that has to do with WrestleMania at WWE at the time, told the newspaper that someone was missing.
“Usually, we sell one ticket in Malta, but apparently that person isn’t coming this year. I’m really disappointed. I hope they’re OK,” he said.
Well, that was me alright. I never met or spoke to Bob Collins before although I knew what his job was. So I sent him an e-mail the following day just to introduce myself and he was super excited that I reached out. I promised that I’ll be at WrestleMania 24 the next year and he promised to meet me.
WrestleMania 24 was the start of my 7 year run at WrestleMania. I didn’t miss one going all the way to WrestleMania XXX. That’s a lot of air miles, hotel nights, and thousands of dollars.
I found myself being quoted in two different stories in the Orlando Sentinel for WrestleMania 24. One of them was how fans will pay higher tickets for WrestleMania in Orlando thanks to a facility fee which was introduced on top of the ticket and other taxes and fees. “What do you think about it?” I was asked. “I think that’s called abuse,” I replied. The next day after the article was published, Bob Collins, the WWE guy I was meeting in a few days at WrestleMania e-mailed me and he told me that we’re quoted in the same article… and the additional fee was his idea! Oops!
I had front row once again and possibly my best seat of all WrestleManias. I was on TV most of the show as I was facing the main camera. Bob Collins, true to his word, called me and said he’ll come say hello at the Hall of Fame ceremony. He did, we only talked for a few minutes and then he said he’d see me at WrestleMania. As we waited for the show to start on Sunday, he came to ringside and we talked wrestling and travel. Cool guy. He eventually retired from his WWE job a few years later and was replaced by John Saboor who still holds that position to this day.
I went to WrestleMania 24 with a bunch of friends from England and Australia. It was another massive plan. I remember me and my friend from Malta flew to Miami, drove to Orlando and then met the rest of the group there. We had this fantastic idea to all go to Miami afterward and we rented a 12 passenger van to carry all six of us and our luggages. After Raw ended with the farewell for the Nature Boy, we hit the road in pitch black. I was the designated driver for the whole road trip and thankfully I had Red Bull and Gatorade next to me as the other five passengers all slept. Such good friends!
Apparently we were doing the same trip like all the rest of the WWE crew going to Smackdown in Miami. We stopped at what I think was a McDonald’s and Mark Henry was there downing some burgers with some other Superstars who I can’t remember at the moment. We didn’t even dare to go and talk to them as Mark looked like he was pissed off and ready to eat the whole joint.
WrestleMania 24 was also the last time I took a travel package for WrestleMania as starting with 25 in Houston, I started dealing with hotels directly to get deals for the website.
You’d think WrestleMania 25 would have been memorable but to be honest I don’t really have much recollection of how my week went. All I know was that I sold a ton of rooms for the hotel we partnered with and everyone was happy. I went solo for this event and spent most of my time inside the hotel working on the website. Didn’t really see any of Houston, which I regret.
WrestleMania 26 in Phoenix was a total blast. I hooked up once again with my friends from two years earlier and we partied at the Ritz-Carlton in Phoenix. That was the start of the cool relationship between The Ritz-Carlton and Wrestling-Online.com. The folks at the hotel in Phoenix heard what we did at WrestleMania 25 and reached out to host us almost a year before. I never stayed at The Ritz before so after a few e-mails here and there we made the deal.
Once again I was in the newspapers that week, with the Arizona Republic calling for comments regarding WrestleMania. It was about people coming from all over the world and my comments made it to print.
We rode to WrestleMania in style with a Hummer limo which had a pretty cool female driver. She was badass and drove like a boss. Too bad there was no alcohol in the back.
Me and my buddies got a private tour at the US Airways Center, the home of the Phoenix Suns, thanks to two friends and W-O readers who work (one still is, hey Jeramie!) at the Suns. We got all the behind the scenes stuff and visited the Suns offices and walked away with some free merchandise as well. It was pretty cool to get the tour and it was one of the highlights of the trip.
Atlanta was next with WrestleMania 27. We stayed at The Ritz-Carlton once again, another beautiful property in downtown Atlanta next to a Hooters and a Hard Rock Cafe. Only my friend from Australia made it this time but I did have the opportunity to meet a bunch of W-O readers at a dinner at the Hard Rock before the Hall of Fame that weekend. We also had Ric Flair and his family staying with us at the same hotel. We saw him at the bar once and we were tempted to go and hang out but we decided not to disturb him. The day after Mania we went to Stone Mountain and met Hacksaw Jim Duggan and his family. He was nice enough to pose for a photo after my friend went up to him. I didn’t really want to bother him, but since my friend did the dirty work, then why not! Hoooooooo! USA! USA!
I love Miami so I was thrilled that WrestleMania 28 was going to be held there. Miami hotels were a bitch to deal with and we ended up making a deal with a Marriott property in Biscayne Bay. Not really walking distance to Miami Beach, but that was the only decent place that took us. Everyone else was trying to rip us off.
The thing I hate the most about stadiums are that they are often in the middle of nowhere and the Sun Life Stadium was no different. Getting a taxi back from the show was somewhat of a mission impossible.
Me and a few other guys walked, and walked, and walked, and walked towards the main road and after an hour I decided to jump in the middle of the road and stop a cab. He didn’t want to take us as he said he had some guys waiting for him at the stadium. But just like the Million Dollar Man always said, everybody has a price. I used my negotiating skills and we paid the taxi driver $125 for 5 people to take us back to the hotel. Yeah it’s a lot of money, but I was ready to pay more to get the hell outta there and back to the hotel. It was brutal.
The driver was impressed with my skills after I convinced him to take us and little did we know that we were going for the ride of our lives. I saw my life flash before my eyes a couple of times as he was driving like a lunatic to take us back as quickly as possible to go pick the other party up. I was up front and my friend, who was in the very back seat of the taxi van was texting me telling me we are going to die. All of this while listening to Mariah Carey or Celine Dion – forgot who it was – on the radio. Good times.
I nearly didn’t make it to WrestleMania 29. The plan was not to go and then the full lineup of the Hall of Fame was announced and I decided to bite the bullet. I had enough miles with United Airlines to go all the way from Malta to New York and back for free. I booked I think two months before Mania and paid a lot for a hotel in Times Square. New York hotels proved to be more difficult to deal with than Miami ones and after months of negotiations with different properties I gave up. It was the only time we didn’t do any hotel deals.
WrestleMania 29 was largely disappointing for me. The show sucked in my opinion but the Hall of Fame made up for it. Plus it was a good excuse for another short holiday in New York. I moved to a New Jersey hotel on WrestleMania Sunday to avoid the issue with taxis and public transport and while it was nothing close to New York, it saved me a lot of headaches. I didn’t even bother going to Axxess or any other events apart from the HOF and Raw.
There was no way I was going to miss WrestleMania XXX in New Orleans. A strike by Lufthansa nearly made me miss the whole weekend. Just 3 days before I was scheduled to fly, Lufthansa canceled my flight – and a gazillion others – due to a strike. I called Expedia to change my ticket and they did. I called the next day to confirm my new flight with United and they told me I was never issued a ticket and the booking fell through.
After countless of e-mails and hours on the phone waiting for the horrible customer service at Expedia I was told I was booked on a new flight, going from Malta to England with a stopover in Houston before another flight to New Orleans. My ticket wasn’t issued until very late and on the way to the airport at 5AM I was still not sure if I was going to be allowed on the plane as I couldn’t do any online check-ins due to some restrictions. I think I grew a few grey hairs in those three days.
I was joined by two of my friends who came to Mania before and we stayed at the beautiful Ritz-Carlton hotel right off Bourbon Street. It was the third Ritz property we dealt with and we sold all our rooms in our block. It was simply the nicest hotel I’ve ever been to. Amazing property. If you can afford the $500 a night price, I highly recommend it. First class service, wonderful staff, and it’s in a perfect location.
I loved New Orleans, the nightlife is off the hook. I thought nothing could beat Vegas but New Orleans probably did. Plus you had 80,000 wrestling fans in the city which made things more interesting. I went to buy at CVS the night I arrived and I turn around and nearly bumped into Erick Rowan. The dude is freakin huge. I saw a bunch of Superstars and Divas just walking by in the street all getting mobbed by fans. Me and one my friends went to eat at Hard Rock Cafe on Bourbon Street and Bray Wyatt was there having dinner and so was Heath Slater with his family next to us. Thankfully no one bothered them.
I also got (I think) roofied at a strip club. So the story goes like this.
After leaving my friends at stupid-o’clock in the morning to go to sleep, this pretty attractive lady standing outside the Stiletto strip joint on Bourbon Street convinced me to go in. It was a sausage fest inside with more males than strippers, but it was funny watching everyone in wrestling shirts trying to chat up strippers.
I love people-watching, so I grabbed a Jack Daniels with Coke, found a table, and just observed. After a while, this beautiful brunette comes over and starts talking with me. I realized she was a Brit just from her accent and she realized I’m not an American and when I told her I’m a fellow European, we hit it off.
We talked about everything apart from lap dancing and then I offered her a drink, she said yes (of course) and I gave her the money and she went to buy one. She also got me one, no idea what it was, but she told me to drink it. Now before that I was in complete control of myself. I’ve never got drunk in my life (true, not bullshitting) and knew my limit but after I drank this shooter, that’s when the alarm went off.
After a few minutes, she asked if I want a lap dance. Well, I’m in New Orleans right, so why not? I had this funny feeling which wasn’t funny at all thinking about it and she asked for 50 bucks. Opened my wallet, and all I had was $5 left. Great, no problem, use my credit card. Wrong idea! Thankfully, the guy collecting all the money said they were not accepting cards that day so I had to go and pull money from an ATM.
At that point, my head was spinning, my co-ordination was off and my ability to continue a decent conversation was out of the window. This stripper led me out of the door and walked with me almost all the way to the ATM and then a lightbulb came on in my head. “WHAT THE F ARE YOU DOING, COLIN?”
Somehow, someway, I forgot all about the ATM and walked, sort of, to my hotel. I slept and woke up at 1PM, tried to go to McDonalds, almost fainted waiting in line, walked back to my room, and slept till dinner time. Awful experience.
Moral of the story? Never go to a strip joint alone.
I had the best time in New Orleans for WrestleMania XXX. It was a great weekend topped off by a great show. Just being there to see the Ultimate Warrior getting inducted in the Hall of Fame was surreal, and it was even more surreal when we found out he passed away the day after Raw.
Sadly I am missing out on WrestleMania 31. Usually that’s the only holiday I really look forward to every year. As a wrestling fan, being there among thousand of other fans for WrestleMania weekend is a great and unique experience. Yes I know it’s a very expensive holiday but if you’ve never done one, trust me, you will not be disappointed.
I’ve been lucky to say that I’ve seen some of the greatest Superstars and Divas being inducted into the Hall of Fame. Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, Ultimate Warrior, Steve Austin, Trish Stratus, and others. I look forward to the Hall of Fame as much – if not more – than WrestleMania itself. Axxess is nice if you’ve never been to one before and if you’re into autographs. But if you’ve been before, you’ve seen one, you’ve seen it all.
I can’t really be bothered with autographs and I’m not the kinda guy who will stay in line. It’s cool if you want to go buy merchandise from their store but usually the rest of the attractions are the same every year.
Another plus to going to WrestleMania and doing our own hotel promotion is I get to meet several readers of the website. There was this lady with her kid who I met inside the elevator of The Ritz in Phoenix who kept thanking me for getting such a sweet deal as she’s never been to The Ritz before. I had lunch with different readers, but two different families stand out the most, one family consisting of the dad and his four kids who flew all the way from Australia, and one from Illinois, a special family who almost joins us every year.
I am a wrestling fan and WrestleMania week is special to me. It involves a lot of hard work for the website but it’s all worth it. Once you get your own WrestleMania experience, you’ll know what I’m talking about.
The WrestleMania Kickoff show has just got a match, a fatal four way for the WWE tag team titles.
The Kickoff show starts streaming on the WWE Network at 5PM EST and the match will have Tyson Kidd and Cesaro defending the WWE Tag Team titles against Big E and Kofi Kingston, Los Matadors, and The Usos.
This is the second year in a row that the Kickoff match will feature a fatal four way. Last year, The Usos, Los Matadores, and Cesaro were also part of that match.
Five of WWE’s finest will be representing the company at the 15th annual Wizard World Philadelphia between May 7 and 9.
The Pennsylvania Convention Center will host this Comic Con which will be attended by Sting, Roman Reigns, Dolph Ziggler, Randy Orton, and Paige.
Reigns and Paige will appear on Thursday, May 7, greeting fans, signing autographs, posing for dual and solo photo ops and conducting a dual Q&A panel.
Ziggler, who will conduct a solo Q&A panel, and Orton will attend on Friday, May 8. Sting is scheduled for Saturday, May 9, and will make a rare appearance in face paint.
“We have rolled out our largest WWE guest list ever for Wizard World Comic Con Philadelphia,” said John Macaluso , Wizard World CEO. “This very special appearance by Sting in face paint is what makes the WWE guests so unique to Wizard World. What an amazing collection of talent under the same roof!”
It will be the first Wizard World appearance for Sting. “I am excited to see all my longtime fans for the very first time at Wizard World,” said Sting. “And to commemorate this, I’ll be appearing in face paint. This appearance will be truly something special.”
WrestleMania week brings along several community outreach programs and this year in the San Francisco Bay Area it will be no different.
On Wednesday, Sin Cara, The Usos, Cameron, and Eva Marie will be visiting the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford and Ronald McDonald House at Stanford. Mattel will donate WWE action figures for the WWE Superstars and Divas to distribute to the patients at these two facilities.
On Thursday, Sheamus, Hornswoggle, and Rosa Mendes will visit the Horace Cureton Elementary School where over 100 students will participate in a reading celebration.
Also on Thursday, WWE’s Be A STAR campaign takes center stage at the Joseph George Middle School with Stephanie McMahon, The Miz, Damien Mizdow, Darren Young, Layla, and Renee Young attending along with representatives from GLAAD and Facebook.
The Fairmont San Francisco hotel plays host to a WrestleMania 31 media event on Friday at 11AM. Stephanie McMahon, John Cena, Roman Reigns, and Daniel Bryan will be in attendance and afterwards, Titus O’Neil, Darren Young, The Usos, Jerry Lawler, and Rosa Mendes will be touring the city via cable car stopping at several San Francisco landmarks.
On Friday as well there will be a Veteran Employment Panel and Networking Event at the 49ers Museum at Levi’s Stadium, with WWE, 49ers, Twitter, Hire Heroes USA, LinkedIn, and Orion International executives in attendance. Jack Swagger, Goldust, Tamina, and Lilian Garcia will be there to meet veterans.
John Cena will be hosting the annual Make-A-Wish pizza party at the Tech Museum in San Jose on Friday where he will induct 25 wish kids in the WWE’s Circle of Champions.
And finally on Saturday, WWE will be visiting the Peterson Middle School for an exhibition basketball game with Special Olympic athletes. Kofi Kingston and Cameron will serve as honorary coaches and The Fink will be the commentator.
WWE announced yesterday that Skylar Grey, Kid Ink and Travis Barker, will be performing live at WrestleMania 31 from the Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA.
A medley of the WrestleMania 31 theme songs, “Rise” by David Guetta featuring Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Skylar Grey and “Money and the Power” by multi-platinum rapper, Kid Ink, will be performed by Skylar Grey and Kid Ink, both joined by legendary drummer, Travis Barker.
No one has been announced for the singing of America The Beautiful, which has been a tradition for WrestleManias so most likely Lilian Garcia will be singing if they do it at all. WWE skipped this tradition for the past two WrestleManias.
This Sunday is WrestleMania! Can you feel it? I’m pretty sure we all will after tonight’s Raw, the last one before the “Granddaddy Of Them All!” Tonight, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar and his challenger Roman Reigns will face-off before they “dance” at ‘Mania. Let’s hope this sets up their showdown perfectly! Also, we should get all the final details and business taken care of before Sunday, as well as my picks, so read on to find out!
Monday Night Raw TV Report for March 23rd, 2015 – “WrestleMania”
Introduction Segment: Welcoming
The regular Raw video plays and the pyro explodes in the Staples Center of Los Angeles, California. Michael Cole greets us and informs us about the Reigns/Lesnar confrontation, as well as Snoop Dogg/Lion and ESPN Journalist Bill Simmons being on the show.
Segment #2: Arena Promo
The lights darken and a crow crocks. Sting’s video and music plays, and the main himself walks out to an ovation! In the squared circle, “The Stinger” has the microphone. “So this is what it feels like to kick of Monday Night Raw?” Sting says he was a WCW-loyalist for 13 years, but now is ready to “take Triple H down.” This has nothing to with WCW; instead it is because “The Game” has used “manipulation” to get to the top.
Before he can go further, Stephanie McMahon walks out. She joins him in the ring and welcomes him to the “big league.” In return, Sting says she is a “spoiled little brat who had everything handed to her without feeling what it’s like to earn it.”
Stephanie reminds him that it was Triple H who “single-handedly eviscerated your career.” She calls him “nothing more than a face-painted freak.” Sting “woos” in response and winks, then Steph goes to slap him but Sting catches her wrist and holds it until Triple H’s music blares and he charges down. He faces Sting then goes to check on his wife.
HHH takes off his suit-coat and hops up on the apron. Stephanie reaches under the ring and pulls out the sledgehammer. Sting matches this with the baseball bat and swings away. The two intimidate each other then Triple H and Steph walk to the ramp. Sting now drops the bat and his trench coat, enticing “The Game.” Steph holds her husband back, telling him to “save it for WrestleMania.”
The announcer’s let us know that we can vote who Randy Orton will take on tonight; Kane, The Big Show, or Seth Rollins and J & J Security. Also, Nikki Bella will put her Championship on the line against either Paige or A.J. Lee later. Dean Ambrose’s music plays and he walks to the ring, teaming up with R-Truth to take on Stardust and Luke Harper, next!
Commercials.
Match #1: Tag-Team – “The Lunatic Fringe” Dean Ambrose and R-Truth VS. Luke Harper and Stardust
(Note: Intercontinental Champion Bad News Barrett is on commentary.) Truth and Stardust start-out, but Stardust is distracted by Bad News at ringside. He tags in Luke, who now goes at it with Ambrose. They trade holds then Ambrose fires up with punches and kicks. He hits a front-dropkick and rolls him in a Majistral Cradle for two! He and R clear the ring for a break.
Ads.
Stardust is now control of Ambrose, wearing him down with a grounding neck-stretch. Stardust plants him with the Alabama Slammer for a near-fall, then continues to work over Dean. Harper is back in, slugging away and rolling him around. He catches Dean off a run with a Tornado-Sideslam! 1 – 2 – Ambrose gets the shoulder up! Stardust back in and tries to suplex Ambrose from the top turnbuckle. Dean and Harper end up on the floor, but back in the ring, Ambrose spins Luke around with a Tornado-DDT out of the corner!
R-Truth gets the hot-tag and is all over Stardust! He almost takes this bout after a front-face-suplex, but thanks to help from Ambrose taking out Harper, does gets the victory after a twisting-flying-elbow!
Winners via Pinfall: “The Lunatic Fringe” Dean Ambrose and R-Truth
Commercials.
Segment #3: Arena Promo
Rene Young is on stage with the Special Olympics participants and the President of the Special Olympics. She puts over the Special Olympics World Games, which will take place in Los Angeles, Summer 2015.
Segment #4: Video Promo
A replay of Roman Reigns’ interview with Byron Saxton from last week is aired.
Up next, ESPN Journalist Bill Simmons will be out. First, The Miz and Damien Mizdow make their entrance for a 10-Man Tag-Team and a video of their interview with Will Farrell and Kevin Hart from WWE.com is shown, with Miz belittling Mizdow.
Ads.
Match #2: Ten-Man Tag-Team – The Miz, Damien Mizdow, The Ascension (Connor and Viktor), and Adam Rose VS. The Primetime Players (“The Big Deal” Titus O’Neil and “Mr. No Days Off” Darren Young), Zack Ryder, Erik Rowan, and “The Big Guy” Ryback
(Note: Bill Simmons is on commentary and knows his wrestling/is a huge fan.) Miz teases a tag at first with Mizdow, but takes on Titus instead. Darren comes in and Miz goes for switch with Damien again before he pulls another fast one and slaps hands with Rose. Young and Rose wrestle, then Ryder comes in and gets hot until a clothesline from Adam. Connor of The Ascension is tagged in and punishes Ryder for a while.
Mizdow is tagged in by Rose, but Miz orders him to tag-out. Ryder then makes the hot-tag to Ryback, who demolishes the heels until Miz comes back and boots him. This doesn’t last long as Ryback nails him with a resounding Meathook Clothesline, following up with a Shellshock Marching Samoan Drop for the 1 – 2 – 3!
Winners via Pinfall: The Primetime Players (“The Big Deal” Titus O’Neil and “Mr. No Days Off” Darren Young), Zack Ryder, Erik Rowan, and “The Big Guy” Ryback
The commentary team review last week’s Raw ending, and up next, Randy Orton will face The Authority.
Commercials.
Match #3: Single – “The Viper” Randy Orton VS. ???
The voting reveals, by a percentage of 77%, that it is Rollins, J & J. They walk out all pleased, as Orton measures them up. Joey Mercury begins, getting slammed to the canvas right off the bat. All Orton wants is Rollins, but Joey doesn’t give him Seth, as he tags in Noble, who gets totally messed around with.
Throughout this, Orton tries to get at Seth, but “Mr. Money In The Bank” manages to avoid him. Orton drives both Mercury and Noble to the mat with a double-slingshot-DDT! He measures them for the RKO, but Seth runs in for a Curb Stomp. He misses and runs away again, but Orton hits the RKO on Jamie to take this one!
Winner via Pinfall: “The Viper” Randy Orton
Segment #4: Backstage Promo
AJ and Paige have a conversation about who deserves the Divas Title Match more. Paige calls AJ “crazy,” but quickly hugs her to make up for it. She walks away, with AJ contemplating.
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Match #4: Single for the Divas Championship – Paige (with AJ Lee) (Challenger) VS. Nikki Bella (with Brie Bella) (Champion)
After formal introduction (nice touch now for all championship matches!), they lock up and struggle back-and-forth. Paige tackles Nikki and punches away, then knees her against he ropes. She then headbutts her, but Nikki sweeps her up and does push-ups to make fun of her. Paige trips Nikki back, then dives off the apron onto Nikki! Back in the ring, Nikki knees her then rams her knee into Paige’s face for a two-count.
Commercials.
Nikki has Paige locked in a grounding chinlock, but Paige elbows her way out. She runs off the ropes but is planted with a spinebuster for a near-fall! Both women clothesline each other, then Paige gets the momentum back with three clotheslines herself! She runs at Nikki in the corner, but Bella elbows her and nails a springboard-kick for two!
Paige ducks a clothesline and kicks Nikki hard, then covers. 1 – 2 – Nikki gets the shoulder up! Paige attempts the Ram-Paige DDT, but Nikki reverses into an inside cradle for two! Nikki slams her with an Alabama Slam for another near-fall, then tries the Rack Attack, but Paige elbows. She plants her with the Ram-Paige. 1 – 2 – Nikki still kicks out!
Nikki kicks Paige off, then they both tumble to the floor. AJ takes out Brie, but also Paige by mistake. Nikki capitalizes with the Rack Attack Drop to retain her title!
Winner via Pinfall and STILL Divas Champion: Nikki Bella (with Brie Bella)
Post-match, AJ is beside herself until Paige takes her down and they brawl. The referee separates Paige and AJ, then Paige walks off.
Replays of Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler’s contest from the Gauntlet Match on Smackdown is shown, then it is announced they will wrestle again, with a Special Referee to be named from the rest of the Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match participants.
Up next, Snoop Dogg will be out.
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Segment #5: Arena Promo
Snoop Dogg is welcomed by Lillian Garcia, and makes his entrance with Rosa Mendes, Summer Rae, Cameron, and Alicia Fox. In the ring, Snoop talks about himself and WrestleMania. This brings out Curtis Axel, who wants everyone to know about “Axelmania.” Dogg doesn’t take too kind to this, so he invites the original ‘Mania to join, Hulkamania. Hulk Hogan makes another return, and he and Axel have words. Snoop and Hogan get the better of Curtis and celebrate with the fans.
Match #5: Six-Person Inter-Species Tag-Team – Los Matadores and El Torito VS. Tag-Team Champions Cesaro and Tyson Kidd and Natalya (Non-Title)
(Note: The Usos (Jimmy and Jey) are on commentary and it is made known that they will be a part of the Four-Way for the Tag-Team Championship at WrestleMania Kick-Off, also featuring El Matadores, and The New Day)
Cesaro and one of the Los Matadores start, then El Torito is tagged in, so Natalya has to come in. before they go at it, Tyson tags himself in and another Los Matadores matches. He dives and hits the ropes, which gives Kidd and Cesaro time to control. Los Matadores get the hot-tag and the match breaks down until Torito pins Natalya with a Sunset-Flip! (Yes, I really just typed that!)
Winners: Los Matadores and El Torito
Segment #6: Locker Room Promo
Bad News Barrett is admiring his Intercontinental Championship when Director Of Operations Kane walks in. He has to take the title from Barrett, to be hung above the wring for WrestleMania. Barrett disputes this, but Kane informs him that he will be stripped of the championship if he doesn’t follow the order. Bad News gives it over.
Commercials.
This week on Smackdown, it will be Eight-Man Tag-Team action as Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan, John Cena, and Randy Orton will take on Kane, The Big Show, Seth Rollins, and Bray Wyatt!
Match #6: Single – United States Champion Rusev VS. “The Real American” Jack Swagger (Non-Title)
This is actually a pretty great back-and-forth contest before Rusev nails Swagger with a stiff kick and forces him to tap to The Accolade.
Winner via Submission: United States Champion Rusev
Post-match, Rusev continues to hold onto The Accolade until John Cena hurries down. He and Rusev brawl, but Rusev gets the better by shoving him into the barricade and ramming him into the ring post. He chucks him with ease over the announce table, and Cena lands hard on the leather chair. Cena appears hurt, but Rusev continues the punishment. He kicks Cena hard then tears apart the table and slams Cena on it. On the table, Rusev pulls Cena up and clamps on The Accolade. Referees are able to finally break them apart and Rusev poses in the ring with the U.S. Title as the Russian Flag falls from the lighting rigs above the ring.
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Segment #7: Arena Promo
Bray Wyatt makes his way to the ring amid cell-phone lights. “Why, oh why do people hid from the truth? Is it because you’re afraid? Is it because you’re embarrassed to show the world who you truly are? But I understand that, I do. Reality can be a very, very difficult pill to swallow. But that does not change the fact that each and every single one of you are guilty You’re guilty. Because the truth is that somewhere there deep down, you hate the person that you have become. The truth is you hate your job because now the only thing you can see is the color green. The truth is that you wake up every morning, you look in that mirror, and you don’t like the person that is staring back at you. So you cover your face with make up; as if that’s gonna heal the sores and it’s going to cover up all the inconsistencies and ugliness that is inside of you; but it does not change the fact that you are all liars! But me, I’m different. I’m not like you. I am not a liar. And I may be a lot of things, but I am not liar. As a matter of fact, my tongue is the sword of truth, and it cuts through the deception of everything in your world. I speak the truth that you all so desperately try to hide yourself from. And if it’s the truth you all want, it’s the truth that I will give you.”
“The Undertaker is just like you. The Undertaker is a ‘liar.’ He tries to hide the fact that he’s lost. And he tries to deny the fact that he wants so desperately for his soul to be set free. But don’t you worry about a thing Undertaker. Because luckily, the angel with the bird wings has been sent to take you back to the other side.” The lights begin to flicker and thunder resounds in the arena. “And you see, there is that ‘mystical aura that you’ve all become so addicted to. Can you feel it, man? Can you feel it? Can you FEEL IT? For these spirits no longer operate by your command. These spirits belong to me now. As a matter of fact, everything belongs TO ME NOW! I control the light and the darkness; and these ‘demons,’ they all march to my command. I am the judge. I judge the dead. I judge the living. And Undertaker, I have judged you; YOU ARE GUILTY! At WrestleMania, there will be no redemption. There will be no shield for you to be carried out on. The only thing that you will receive is your fate sealed by Sister Abigail’s kiss. And then, against your will, and against everything that you stand for, I will take my rightful place among the gods as the ‘New Face Of Fear.’ At WrestleMania, you get the mercy that you’ve been so desperately begging for. At WrestleMania, Undertaker, you can finally ‘Rest In Peace.’” Wyatt kneels and stretches out his right arm, just like ‘Taker.
Commercials.
Segment #8: Video Promo
The last inductee for this year’s class is revealed to be Kevin Nash, also known as Diesel. A montage of his career, both in WWF/E and WCW is shown.
Segment #9: Locker Room Promo
Tag-Team Champion Tyson Kidd is eating Burger King food and Natalya is getting ready with makeup. Pushing the “Attitude Era” envelope, he makes some innuendos about Burger King, which Natalya thinks is about her. When she sees him munching away on the chicken fries, she takes them, and after eating one, also insinuates her “love” in the “attitude” way.
Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler make their entrances, then Booker T. reveals that it will be Dean Ambrose refereeing, next!
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Match #7: Single – Daniel Bryan VS. “The Show-Off” Dolph Ziggler (with Dean Ambrose as Special Referee)
Both Bryan and Ziggler trade mat-wrestling holds and techniques as Ambrose calls it down the middle. Ziggler gets fired up and slugs away in the corner, then drops an elbow on the mat. He slaps Daniel in the corner, which infuriates Bryan. Both engage more fierce hits, then Daniel “skins the cat” and dumps Dolph to the outside with a headscissors. Bryan follows with a running front-dropkick, but is clotheslined into the timekeeper’s section.
Commercials.
Back in the ring, Dolph has Daniel locked in a sleeper. Daniel gets out of it and rolls-up Ziggler for two, then gives him a German-Suplex for two as well! Ziggler crotches Daniel on the turnbuckle, and attempts a top-rope superplex. Bryan fights him down, but Ziggler leaps back up and plants Daniel with a facebuster! He reverses Bryan’s backslide into one of his own, then his nailed with a kick-to-the-head by Bryan! 1 – 2 – Dolph gets the shoulder up!
Bryan kicks away in the corner, but eats a superkick and a Zig-Zag from Dolph! He is covered as Dean counts 1 – 2 – 3!
Winner via Pinfall: “The Show-Off” Dolph Ziggler
Post-match, Ambrose raises Ziggler’s hand, then quickly DDT’s him. He pulls a ladder from under the ring and goes for the I.C. Title. Everyone else involved in the match runs out for a big brawl, and no one gets their hands on the title. Unfortunately, Luke Harper may have been hurt as the ladder landed on his leg.
Backstage, Paul Heyman knocks on Brock Lesnar’s door and tells him “it’s time.”
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Segment #10: Arena Promo
“Ladies and Gentlemen ….. my name is Paul Heyman, and I am the advocate for the reigning, defending, undisputed WWE Heavyweight Champion Of The World, Brock Lesnar!” Heyman gets to the point fast, saying he doesn’t need to say much more for us to watch Reigns VS. Lesnar at ‘Mania.
“One man will be ‘the winner’, one man will be ‘the loser.’ One man will be the successful; the other man will be a failure. And ladies and gentlemen, Brock Lesnar makes ‘failures’ out of everyone who steps in front of him. Last year at WrestleMania, I said ‘Brock Lesnar VS. The Streak.’ You said ‘he can’t and he won’t.’ And so I said ‘he will’ and he did. Last year, at SummerSlam, I said ‘Brock Lesnar will give John Cena a “prison beating” and suplex him out of the main-event of WrestleMania.’ You said ‘he can’t and he won’t.’ I said, ‘he can’ and so he did. Because John Cena is not in the main-event of WrestleMania this year, Brock Lesnar is! John Cena is not ending this show, Brock Lesnar is! And here’s a little secret for Roman Reigns. Because Roman Reigns wants tot take that title from Brock Lesnar. And Roman Reigns is making Brock Lesnar out to be some sort of cold-blooded cyborg.” Heyman calls his client “an intensely-passionate competitor who loves being WWE Champion almost as much as he loves sadistically beating the ass of any man that tries to take that title away from him. Brock Lesnar takes that title personally.” Paul E. makes an analogy that if Roman was to win the championship, then he would take over Lesnar’s entire life.
“That’s a conqueror and Brock Lesnar conquers everything that stands before him. And this Sunday, Brock Lesnar conquers the main-event of WrestleMania.” “Roman Reigns, you say ‘I can and I will.’ This Sunday at WrestleMania, the reigning and defending undisputed WWE Heavyweight Champion Of The World says ‘you can’t.’ And therefore, Roman Reigns, you won’t.”
Roman Reigns now answers, walking through the fans to the ring. He gets in Lesnar’s face, and as Brock holds up the title, Reigns yanks it away, then they both pull on the championship as the show closes.
End Of Raw.
Reporter’s Rumblings – By Moe Tapp
This was a pretty decent Raw, finalizing some storylines well while leaving more on the table for others before the big show. Onto the analysis:
Excellence: Promos by Sting, Stephanie, Wyatt, and Heyman. Sting’s first single oratory on Raw was short and sweet, and much like his old-self from W.C.W. He hasn’t lost a word on the mike; let’s hope he hasn’t lost a step in the ring! Stephanie spoke her role just fine, and Heyman and Bray’s were filled with passion and really backed up the reasons for their respective bouts nicely.
Fantastic match for the Divas Championship; this “give Divas a chance” movement has really built steam and I’m glad WWE listened. Once again, still loving the Rusev/Cena rivalry; it is straight-up good VS. bad old-school and one where the fans aren’t split for once (other than Lana!) I hope it continues past ‘Mania.
Bogus: I was expecting more from a lot tonight, especially since this is the last Raw before ‘Mania. For starters, Orton/Authority’s encounter fell flat. A promo by either side (just one, though!) would’ve “spiced it up” a little more. Also, where was Big Show? Miz/Mizdow should’ve had a face-off a the end of the match to leave us speculating what will happen at ‘Mania between the two. Even though I loved the match, it didn’t make sense for A.J. and Paige to turn on each other tonight. I think Paige should’ve won the title, then A.J. turn on her at ‘Mania, setting up a finale to their feud. This would’ve also lit a little more of a fire under The Bellas for revenge, and made their tag-team match suspenseful.
Speaking of Tag-Teams, I’m really disappointed that the Four-Way is on the pre-show. They have actually made the Tag-Titles a bit more prominent lately and I have enjoyed the teams “stepping it up,” so to have them on the pre-show is kind of a “slap-in-the-face” on all the hard work the teams have done. Plus, why were New Day not included somehow in tonight’s match. While they wrestled good, I thought Bryan/Ziggler could’ve been longer.
Lastly, I was also hoping for a brawl or “one-upsmanship” of moves between Lesnar and Reigns to test each others strength; the ending for them/Raw was also dull and a “that’s it?” It would’ve been more effective to have them show each other what the other can do and build more for their bout.
WrestleMania Predictions: I can actually see an upset, so I’m picking Matadores for Tag-Title win; Bellas over A.J./Paige; another upset I’m going for is R-Truth to take the I.C. Title – I think he could have a good run with it, as he can wrestle and has a great personality/ability on the mike; as much as I want Rusev to win, after Cena’s demolishing tonight, “super-Cena” will rise again and give the U.S. Champ his first loss; Orton wins and steals/captures (if it ends up being on the line) the MITB briefcase, and challenges my winner for the WWE Heavyweight Title shortly down the road; Undertaker wins by count-out/dq to continue feud with Wyatt, where Bray could get a clean win on a lesser stage; (Although, I would like Bray to win all-out and really become a big star from that “rub.”); Sting over Triple H, no question; I see Reigns winning, end WrestleMania on a “happy note” again, and with it being in his family’s home-area. Then I can see him cutting a major heel promo the next night on Raw, ripping on the fans (rightfully so!) for not “believing” in him, and now he has a plethora of past-champs who are legit faces (Orton, Bryan, Sting, Ziggler, Ambrose) to dominate for the year and get back his “steam.” Then Lesnar could come back anytime between SummerSlam and the Rumble to a big face reaction and get his rematch and another bout with a bad-guy Roman while Brock is another super-face. I would really like to see the story play it out this way; it would be very interesting and provide months of great rivalries.
Until next week, where a “new year” in WWE begins, Be Excellent Wrestling-Online Readers and Wrestling Fans!
The final push for WrestleMania comes tonight on Monday Night Raw with both Sting and Brock Lesnar set to make a live appearance from the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California.
Lesnar will have a face to face encounter with his WrestleMania opponent and number one contender Roman Reigns after Heyman promised such encounter on last week’s episode. Sting has come out on top every time he has appeared opposite Triple H so it would not be surprising if the former WWE champion gets the apprehend tonight going into Sunday’s show.
Tonight’s broadcast will also have American rapper Snoop Dogg and ESPN’s Bill Simmons on the show. Both are big WWE fans and Snoop Dogg will be there to promote his latest album while Simmons will be joining JBL, Cole, and Booker for some commentary.
The funeral for Perro Aguayo Jr., was held yesterday in Guadalajara, Mexico as the world of lucha libre is still in shock over what happened during the weekend in Tijuana.
While his famous father did not talk to reporters at the funeral, his mother released a statement which was published by the Associated Press. “We, as relatives of Pedro, want to thank all of you for the affection and respect you have shown for Pedro, and you will understand that we are in no condition to comment with respect to the death of Pedro,” Luz Ramirez said.
Dave Meltzer of the Observer said that a press conference held yesterday in Tijuana by the Tijuana Boxing and Wrestling Commission stated that Aguayo Jr., suffered a cardiac arrest in the hospital and died after arriving there at 1:30AM. That conflicts with the autopsy report which said that he died of trauma to the neck and a cervical fracture.
It’s an exciting week if you’re a WWE fan however if you’re a Superstar or Diva or are just part of the company, this week will be a very, very busy one with long working hours and not much sleep.
WrestleMania week officially kicks off today with everyone in Los Angeles, California for tonight’s Monday Night Raw live show. Some matches for Smackdown will also be taped tonight with other footage from Axxess and other events used to make up the final show which will air on Thursday night.
All the talent will be arriving in the Bay Area tomorrow morning while the road crew drives away after the STAPLES Center is dismantled. Hundreds of workers have been at the Levi’s Stadiums in Santa Clara for a few days already beginning the construction of the WrestleMania 31 set and converting the stadium for WWE use.
A lot of Superstars and Divas will have several media appearances throughout the week as well as appearing in Bay Area communities to promote the Be A Star and reading campaigns as well as help out the local communities, visiting hospitals, and more.
On Thursday, Axxess kicks off with one session, followed by another session on Friday, three sessions on Saturday, and one session on Sunday. NXT will have a show on Friday night and then the Hall of Fame will take place on Saturday night.
Sunday is the busiest day of them all with WrestleMania, four hours of live pay-per-view plus two hours before for the pre-show for a total of six hours of continuous live television. After the annual WrestleMania after-party, everyone is back to bed to get ready for Monday Night Raw, an important show that kicks off a “new season” so to speak.
Triple H and Stephanie McMahon were the only two WWE officials who acknowledged the death of AAA Lucha Libre Star Perro Aguayo Jr., through two tweets on their respective Twitter accounts.
“RIP El Hijo del Perro Aguayo. My condolences go out to his family, friends and fans,” wrote Triple H. Stephanie McMahon wrote her message completely in Spanish which translates to, “#RIPElHijoDelPerroAguayo. My deepest condolences to the Ramirez family.”
WWE as a company has opted to stay away from the incident, probably for the better considering the media is quick to associate them with every wrestler death even though some never worked for them or haven’t worked for them for a very long time.
Kevin Nash, the former WWE and WCW champion and founding member of the nWo, will be entering the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2015 later this week with the announcement video to be played on Raw tonight. Rolling Stone got the “exclusive” this time around and announced Nash for the Hall of Fame with an article and interview on their website today.
“I’ve been called just about everything, but this is the first time I’ll be called a Hall of Famer. It’s nice,” Nash laughs. “It’s been a long 25 years, but this business has been great to me. Without wrestling, there’s no way I’d be where I am today. I’d probably own a strip club someplace.”
Nash will be going in as Kevin Nash rather than Diesel according to Rolling Stone, which confirmed it with a WWE spokesman after the interview.
Kevin Nash made his WCW debut in 1990, first as part of a tag team and then getting repackaged as Oz. In 1992, Oz left the building and Vinnie Vegas entered the scene, later joining a stable led by DDP and then tag teaming with DDP himself.
In 1993 WWE came calling and Nash signed a contract and given the name Diesel. He was Shawn Michaels’ bodyguard at first but quickly started to make an impact of his own. In 1994, he won the WWF title for the first time from Bob Backlund in just eight seconds.
Nash stayed in WWE until mid 1996 when after WrestleMania XII, he left for the big money in WCW and along with Hall and Hogan, he created the nWo, one of the best angles in professional wrestling history at the time. Nash stayed in WCW till the company was sold to WWE.
In 2002, he returned to the WWE and stayed there till January 2004 before moving to TNA Wrestling where he spent 7 years with the company. From 2011 onwards he made several appearances on WWE television including a feud with CM Punk which was aborted.
During his time in WWE, he won the WWE title once, the Intercontinental title once, and the Tag Team title twice. He was a five time WCW champion and a 9 time WCW Tag Team champion, and in TNA he was the Legends champion twice and won the TNA Tag Team title once.
Variety is reporting that as part of the new marketing initiative between WWE and NBCUniversal, Paramount has signed up to promote its new Terminator: Genisys movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger during WrestleMania, and will also utilize WWE and NBC properties though the movie’s July release.
One of the new advertising opportunities which Paramount has selected to take is that during WrestleMania, Triple H will be making a huge entrance for his match against Sting using imagery from the movie. Coincidentally – or not – enough, Schwarzenegger will be inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame the night before by Triple H himself.
Today, WWE and NBCUniversal announced a brand campaign titled “For The Hero In All of Us” which will air across NBC’s network including cable, network, and over 50 digital properties as well as on all WWE platforms.
In addition, WWE is also giving an unprecedented access to its Superstars and Divas for the creation of custom on-air campaigns, in-show integrations, and social campaigns to its advertisers.
“WWE is one of the biggest, family-friendly, year-round programming opportunities on TV,” said Dan Lovinger, Executive Vice President, Advertising Sales, NBCUniversal. “We wanted to bring all of WWE’s brands, properties and platforms together so advertisers can more easily benefit from the massive and passionate audiences its live entertainment attracts. Our teams are excited to develop unique marketing campaigns for our partners in conjunction with the WWE.”
Michelle Wilson, WWE Chief Revenue & Marketing Officer, said, “Our new campaign illustrates all that is great about the WWE brand from our charismatic and athletic Superstars to our multigenerational and multicultural audience, and our commitment to giving back. In partnership with NBCUniversal, we now have unprecedented opportunities for advertisers to engage our fans and Superstars while leveraging all of our platforms, including television, live events, digital and social media.”
Four key, tentpole marketing opportunities have been created for advertisers to take advantage of by utilizing WWE’s powerful engagement at scale:
The Road To WrestleMania: a 32-day build up to the Super Bowl of sports entertainment; The Slammy Awards: an amped up version of WWE’s annual awards show that moves to first quarter in the heart of the red carpet season; Champions of Fatherhood: a special series which turns the spotlight on America’s unsung heroes; and Heroes of Tomorrow: a way to highlight WWE’s legion of young fans.
Fox Sports Wisconsin did an interview with former WWE champion CM Punk at the post UFC 185 media scrum which contained some interesting quotes regarding him and wrestling.
When asked how many programming has he seen since he left WWE in January 2014, he said, “None. I don’t watch wrestling anymore. I’ve tried to, but I have an aversion to it.” He did say though that he does watch what his wife AJ Lee is doing but he thinks she only tells him to watch when she’s excited about something.
He said that he had no regrets about his WWE run which started back in 2005 and although he would’ve liked to punch one or two people in the face, he wouldn’t change a thing about it. During the eight year run with the company, Punk spent 434 straight days as WWE champion and when quizzed about what he remembers the most about being a champion, Punk replied, “Working with Paul Heyman. That was the only thing that kept me sane. It was like a condition of, we get to work with each other because we don’t like anybody else. So, working with him!”
Punk once again was asked about the chances of him ever working with WWE again. “Zero,” Punk replied in a very short and sweet, but direct answer.
The death of Lucha Libre star Perro Aguayo Jr., has been picked up by the mainstream media including stories running on CNN, NBC News, Los Angeles Times, Yahoo News, BBC, UK’s Daily Mail, and a bunch of other news websites which ran the piece written by the Associated Press.
The most interesting news is that the state prosecutor’s office has said that it has opened an investigation into possible manslaughter, putting everyone who was in the ring in jeopard, especially Mysterio who was the one who hit Aguayo Jr., last with a dropkick after he came back in the ring.
The autopsy concluded that Aguayo Jr., died in the ring after trauma to the neck and a cervical fracture.
The website Vice.com has a very cool article about Sandra Gray, the WWE seamstress who pulls miracles for the men and women who compete in the ring when it comes to their gear.
Gray has been working for the WWE for over 20 years now and got her start when a certain young woman walked in her shop in Marietta, Georgia, one fine day asking for an urgent spandex costume for her boyfriend at the time, Marc Mero. That young woman turned out to be the artist formerly known as Sable.
Gray is now in charge of all in-ring gear for the WWE Superstars and Divas and can be seen sometimes on the Total Divas show, dealing with the young Divas and their often complicated and revealing costumes. You can read the full article at http://www.vice.com/read/meet-sandra-gray-the-veteran-seamstress-of-the-wwe-689.
WWE will be having a screening of The Marine 4: Moving Target, for fans in San Jose during the WrestleMania weekend.
The screening will take place at Camera 12 Cinema on 201 S. 2nd St. in San Jose on Friday, March 27, at 7PM PST. There will be an introduction by Damien Mizdow and following the movie there will be a Q&A with The Miz and Summer Rae, the two leading stars in this WWE Studios movie. The event will be over by 9PM.
If you are interested you can get passes for the event at http://bit.ly/1FPLIXO. No one will be allowed in without a pass at the door. The Marine 4: Moving Target comes out on Digital HD April 10 and on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD April 21.
The doctor who treated Perro Aguayo Jr., at ringside and backstage said that the cause of death is due to a cervical spinal injury according to the El Mexicano newspaper.
“I was with him for about an hour trying to revive him. He had an MRI to rule out anything else,” Commission doctor Ernesto Franco said.
Aguayo Jr., stayed motionless in the ring for several minutes before EMTs decided to show up, something which Franco is defending, shooting down the idea of malpractice. He said that there were two other wrestlers injured backstage receiving medical care when afterwards they noticed something’s wrong with Aguayo Jr.
Franco said that there were two ambulances at the show but both stretchers were being used which is why they decided to use a plywood board to carry Aguyao Jr., from the ring to the back area so they get him to the hospital as quickly as possible. He was eventually transferred to a proper backboard and stretcher in the tunnel backstage.
Franco added that they tried resuscitation for nearly one hour before declaring him dead at 1AM at the hospital.
