Rusev’s sidekick Lana will be missing a few weeks of television as she is currently involved in filming the WWE Studios movie Interrogation.
Lana’s absence was notably felt on Monday Night Raw yesterday as fans chanted “We want Lana” when Rusev showed up without her. She also missed the weekend non-televised live events but is expected to be part of the WrestleMania pay-per-view.
The WWE Studios Interrogation movie will feature Lana and WWE Hall of Famer Edge in the leading role.
Next week’s Monday Night Raw will feature appearances from American rapper Snoop Dogg and ESPN personality Bill Simmons.
This is not the first time that Snoop Dogg has appeared on WWE television. He is a big WWE fan and has also appeared at WrestleMania, serving as the Master of Ceremonies for the Playboy BunnyMania Lumberjack match, in which Maria and Ashley faced Beth Phoenix and Melina. After that match, Dogg got physical, hitting Santino Marella and then kissed Maria.
Just like Snoop Dogg, Bill Simmons is also a big WWE fan and has written several features on his website Grantland.com, where he serves as editor-in-chief. Simmons will join JBL, Cole, and Booker T as a guest commentator.
The current NXT champion Kevin Owens underwent a partial meniscectomy for a knee injury late last week, WWE.com has reported.
“I’m not the kind of person that lets things like this get in my way,” Owens told WWE.com. “I’m already walking around without crutches and doing physical therapy at the WWE Performance Center.”
It’s not known how long Owens will be sidelined for.
We are just 13 days away from WrestleMania! I’m really liking the card and it can definitely produce some match -of-the-year candidates. With less than two weeks, what will go down on Raw tonight?
With the Intercontinental Championship being passed around like a hot-potato lately, but yet always going back to R-Truth, who is going to end up with it tonight? Also, is Daniel Bryan the last one to be added to the Ladder Match at WrestleMania for the title, or is anyone else going to be entered?
Last week, we saw four teams trade wins, vying for the Tag-Team Titles. Will this lead to a Four-Corners match at ‘Mania? (I hope so!)
The Undertaker made his presence known for the first time since WrestleMania XXX, accepting Bray Wyatt’s challenge; will “The Deadman” be in person tonight? What is the next mind-game that either he or Wyatt have in store for each other?
To continue down the “Road To WrestleMania,” read on!
Monday Night Raw TV Report for March 16th, 2015 – “Idle Threats”
Introduction Segment: Video Promo
A montage of Randy Orton’s interview with Michael Cole form last week’s Smackdown! mixed in with his decimation of Seth Rollins from last week’s Raw starts off. In it, Orton warns that he is “going to spit in his face and challenge him to a match at WrestleMania.”
Segment #2: Arena Promo
Lillian Garcia welcomes The Authority (minus Triple H and Stephanie McMahon), who are already in the ring to open the show. “Mr. Money In The Bank” has the microphone first and calls Orton’s actions a “betrayal.” Rollins denies that it is comparable to when he betrayed The Shield, as “it was a business decision to secure my future.” Rollins says that Randy’s way was a “cold-blooded” way. He blames The Authority for being suckered-in to re-accepting into the group; The Big Show seems to struggle with Seth’s words, but admits he feels horrible about it and takes it upon himself too. Kane also apologizes, but Jamie Noble says he it saw it coming; however he is more concerned about both Rollins and Mercury. He hands the mike to Joey, who is too upset for words, so he hugs Show instead and Rollins takes the stick.
“Mr. Money In The Bank” threatens, “let me tell you something, Randy. You have never messed with anybody like me.” He will face Orton at WrestleMania, only if Randy faces him tonight.
Orton obliges and immediately walks to the stage. “The Viper” is also ok with taking on Rollins tonight, but notifies him that WrestleMania will be far worse.
Michael Cole, John “Bradshaw” Layfield,” and Booker T. run down what will happen on Raw; this includes a “controversial” sit-down interview with WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar and a contract signing between John Cena and United States Champion Rusev.
Up next, A.J. Lee is in action!
Commercials.
Match #1: Single – A.J. Lee (with Paige) VS. Divas Champion Nikki Bella (with Brie Bella)
Nikki begins to dominate over A.J., and even mocks A.J. by doing push-ups after shoving her into the corner. A.J. fires back, and both trade wrestling-holds before Nikki plants Lee to the canvas. A.J. counters a side-slam into a headscissors, and sends her to the outside.
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Nikki is back in control, tying Nikki up with an arm-lock. She drives A.J. to the mat face-first, and continues to wear her down with another arm-lock. She Irish-Whips Lee, but A.J. reverses into a Guillotine Choke. Nikki runs her into the corner to break the hold, but A.J. soars out with a Thesz Press. She is all over Nikki now, ascending the turnbuckle and flying off with a crossbody for two! Nikki nails A.J. with a knee-to-the-face, and as expected, it breaks down from here.
Paige and Brie get involved on the outside, which distracts A.J. Nikki takes advantage, knocking her out and planting Lee with the “Rack Attack” Torture-Rack Drop to get the victory!
Winner via Pinfall: Divas Champion Nikki Bella (with Brie Bella)
Post-match, Nikki and Brie pose over a downed A.J. and Paige.
Commercials.
Segment #3: Video Promo
Recap of the confrontation between Roman Reigns and “The World’s Strongest Man,” Mark Henry is shown.
Segment #4: Backstage Promo
Rene Young is with Director Of Operations Kane, who has made The Big Show be in Seth Rollins’ corner when he takes on Randy Orton later tonight. Show takes umbrage to Kane’s booking, and they argue. Rollins walks in and reminds them that their bickering got them sent out of the building last week. Kane gets in his face, saying that Stephanie can speak to them in that tone but not him. Kane says he chooses to do what he wants, and insinuates that Big Show “chooses” to be in Seth’s corner.
Ryback makes his entrance and will be taking on The Miz, next!
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Match #2: Single – Ryback VS. The Miz (with Damien Mizdow)
Miz is on fire right away with kicks and punches in the corner. Ryback press-slams him back, then drags Miz to the outside and taunts Mizdow to hit Miz. In the ring, Miz receives a spinebuster, the Meathook Clothesline, and the Shellshock to finish this one quickly!
Winner via Pinfall: Ryback
Post-match, Mizdow goes to console Miz, but is promptly driven down with the Skull-Krushing Finale. Miz walks to the back.
Segment #5: Video Promo
Recap of Cena and Rusev’s feud is shown.
Up next is their contract signing!
Commercials.
Segment #6: Video Promo
Sheamus’ return is impending.
Segment #7: Arena Promo
Michael Cole is in the ring, which is decorated in a black rug and a table that has both the U.S. and Russian flags on it, as well as the flags in two turnbuckle posts. John Cena is brought out first, and asked to sign the contract. He picks up both the papers and the microphone, and calls the contract “the most important.” He talks about who Rusev claims to be and who he is/what he’s done.
Cole now introduces the United States Champion. Rusev walks out, dressed-up in a suit, but with a dude this time; no Lana is in sight, much to the dismay of the crowd. The man is Rusev’s “attorney,” (complete with bad accent) and announces that Rusev has not agreed to the match, so it will not happen at WrestleMania. The “lawyer” shows footage that Rusev has not agreed, but that is was Lana who did it on his behalf. However, the “lawyer” says that if Rusev can read a statement, without Cena interrupting verbally or physically, then the match can go on. Rusev reads his words, which is another rant on American parents and American children, calling them, “failures.”
Rusev signs, then flips over the table. He and the “lawyer” back up the ramp, while Cena yells “I got this. (showing the contract) your ass is mine!”
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Match #3: Tag-Team – The New Day (Big E. and Kofi Kingston) (with New Day partner Xavier Woods) VS. Tag-Team Champions Cesaro and Tyson Kidd (with Natalya) (Non-Title)
(Note: Los Matadores walk out and watch from the stage.) Both teams go back-and-forth until Kofi catches Cesaro with a kick and crossbody. This one breaks down quickly, with Cesaro hitting Kofi from behind with an uppercut and covering for the 1 – 2 – 3!
Winner via Pinfall: Tag-Team Champions Cesaro and Tyson Kidd (with Natalya)
Post-match, Los Matadores engage in a brawl with The New Day and the Tag-Champs, coming out on top and posing in the ring.
Segment #8: Video Promo
Recap of The Undertaker’s response to Bray Wyatt.
Later tonight, Bray will retort himself.
Commercials.
Segment #9: Office Promo
Seth Rollins is ordering J & J to be there for him tonight; Noble reminds him that it was Seth himself who sent them to the back last week. This does not sit will with Rollins, as he and Jamie go at it. Rollins “fires” Noble and Joey follows.
Segment #10: Video Promo
“I was put on this earth to seek, and destroy, and to hurt people. Is that sadistic? Maybe to some people; not to me. I enjoy it; it’s what I do. That’s why I’m here. What does WrestleMania mean to Brock Lesnar? It’s a day that I get to show up, kick someone’s ass, and get paid to do so. The Undertaker did not stand a chance against me. What do I think about the people that were disappointed that I beat The Undertaker? I don’t care. Disappointment, surprise, I love every minute of it. Here’s my, here’s my take on my contract with the WWE. There’s one thing for sure: if I stay, I will be WWE Champion. If I go, I will be WWE Champion. Roman Reigns is not going to stand in the way of that. As a rookie I came in here against The Rock and sent him to Hollywood. Then they put me against The Undertaker; I end the streak. SummerSlam, John Cena, I suplexed his ass out of the main event. This is my world; I don’t need to ‘hunt,’ I need to ‘defend.’ And if you think Brock Lesnar in ‘hunt mode’ is crazy s**t (beeped), stay tuned for Brock Lesnar in defense mode. If there’s one message I have for Roman Reigns, it’s ‘you can think all you want that you can beat me. Dream, wish, because at WrestleMania, Brock Lesnar is going to kick your ass. And it’ll be unlike any other ass-kicking that you’ve ever received. This isn’t a fairytale, there’s not fairytale ending, there’s no “happy, feel-good moment.”’ At WrestleMania, I am going to ****-up Roman Reigns. The end.”
The Big Show makes his way to the ring and is going to wrestle next.
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Match #4: Single – The Big Show VS. Erik Rowan
Before the bell, Show is already assaulting Erik. He knocks him down then splashes/elbow-drops him from the second turnbuckle.
Winner: No Contest via No Official Start
Segment #11: Video Promo
The newest inductee into the WWE Hall Of Fame is former World Heavyweight Champion of the American Wrestling Association (AWA), Larry Zbysko!
Commercials.
Segment #12: Arena Promo
Kane is in the ring with Heath Slater, Titus O-Neil, Darren Young, Goldust, Jack Swagger, Fandango, Curtis Axel, and Zack Ryder. He wants to show everyone what will happen when he’s in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania. Mark Henry makes his presence felt and wins the battle royal.
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Segment #13: Arena Promo
Paul Heyman goes on a super-tirade about his client, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar, and how much of a beast he is and what he will to do Roman Reigns at WrestleMania, whether the WWE likes it or not!
Roman Reigns then joins him. He respects Paul E for being “possibly the best-talker ever in this business.” He says that while people think Heyman is degrading his family, Roman realizes that he is not and instead giving everyone a “warning” of where Roman comes from. He turns to the camera and wants to talk to Lesnar. “If you were here right now, I’d tell you face-to-face, but you’re not. But we finally see eye-to-eye, because I’m not going into this thing thinking there’s going to be a ‘happy-ending’ or ‘happy-ending,’ no man. I’m expecting a ‘fight,’ hoping for a ‘war,’ and I’m expecting from this ‘war’ to be carried out.” Reigns declares that he will be carried out by his family, with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship with him. “Right next to that championship is a huge chip on my shoulder, for people telling me ‘I can’t,’ people like these guys right here, (pointing to the crowd who are chanting ‘Daniel Bryan.’) people telling me I can’t. But Brock Lesnar, guess what? I’m going to beat your ass at WrestleMania. Not because I want to, not because I need to. Because I can, I will, and I believe that.”
Commercials.
Segment #14: Backstage Promo
Rene Young interviews Paul Heyman, who gives a semi-creepy-sounding talk. Heyman says that he will bring Lesnar to Raw next week so he and Roman Reigns can square off prior to WrestleMania.
Match #5: Six-Man Tag-Team – Intercontinental Champion Bad News Barrett, Stardust, and Luke Harper VS. Daniel Bryan, “The Show-Off” Dolph Ziggler, and “The Lunatic Fringe” Dean Ambrose (Non-Title)
(Note: R-Truth makes his way to the ring to watch this contest.) Ambrose and Stardust start out, while R-Truth goes to the commentary table with the I.C. Title clipped to his back. Bryan is tagged in and locks Stardust in a surfboard-stretch. He clotheslines Stardust over the ropes, then all six face-off.
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Ambrose and Harper are now going at it, with Dean spinning Luke around with a Tornado DDT out of the corner! Both then switch partners; Ziggler and Stardust now wrestle with Dolph getting the best of Stardust until Stardust hits Ziggler with a dropkick. Bad News comes in and dominates Dolph until “The Show-Off” takes out both him and Harper over the top rope. He goes to tag, but Harper and yank Dean and Daniel from the apron. Luke sit-down powerbombs Dolph for a two-count!
Commercials.
Bryan receives the hot-tag and is all over Bad News, then suicide-dives onto Harper while tagging Ambrose! He flies off the top turnbuckle with a crossbody, then chops away on Stardust! He hits a clothesline, but falls to a boot by Harper.
Luke also sends Bryan to the floor, but Ziggler kicks him down after. Bad News comes in and drops Dolph to the outside with Wasteland, but then turns around into the “Dirty Deeds” DDT by Dean for the victory!
Winners via Pinfall: Daniel Bryan, “The Show-Off” Dolph Ziggler, and “The Lunatic Fringe” Dean Ambrose
Post-match, another big brawl ensues over the I.C. Championship. Bad News finally gets his belt back, after levelling Ziggler, Bryan, and Ambrose with the Bullhammer Elbow! On the way up the aisle, he also nails R-Truth.
Segment #15: Office Promo
Seth Rollins walks in on Stephanie and Triple-H chatting; he wonders what they might do to help him out since everyone else has left him. Stephanie says that all this is his fault, but he blames her. HHH gets in his face, but Rollins accuses him of “playing hide-and-seek with Sting.” Stephanie advises Seth to take charge again and figure it all out, while “The Game” warns him to leave before his situation “goes from bad to worse.”
Up next, Bray Wyatt!
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Segment #16: Video Promo
Amid smoke from an urn, Bray Wyatt appears. “A memory is such a treasure. I remember the first time I ever saw Abigail sitting in that chair. She was so beautiful; not just her appearance, but in the things she said to me and the way she spoke. She told me about all the lies that this rotten world had been feeding me my entire life. She told me about people like you, Undertaker. Last week, you tried to use that memory against me. You tried to use this symbol to burn fear into my heart. The only thing you succeeded at doing is turning chair into dust. But here’s the big question, ‘Deadman.’ Everyone’s asking what is left of you? Is agony? Is it fear? Last year, we saw a broken streak, and a broken and deep soul. And now you’re afraid to show your face. Because you know that in that moment the eyes of the entire world were opened. We suddenly all feel ashamed of their nakedness. It’s such a shame what happened to you. Your destiny taken, it almost brought me to tears. But this is all your fault, and now you’re running out of time. Your fate is sealed. WrestleMania will be your requiem, your final resting place. But it will also be my coronation. And I’m going to make Abigail oh so proud of me, as she watches me destroy the mighty Undertaker, and take my place, my rightful place among the gods. While Undertaker is watcher of the light and the darkness, but after WrestleMania, no one is safe. Behold, the new faces of fear.”
Up next, the main event!
Commercials.
Match #6: Single – “The Viper” Randy Orton VS. “Mr. Money In The Bank” Seth Rollins
Prior to the bout, Rollins stands. He reveals that his disagreements with The Authority were all a ploy; the entire faction walk out and approach a lone, chair-welding Randy in the ring. Rollins directs Kane, J & J, and Show while Triple H and Stephanie watch on. Suddenly, a crow sounds and the lights go out. They come back on and Sting is in the ring! Both he and Orton remove the rest of The Authority while Triple H and Rollins stare them down.
Winner: No Contest due to No Official Start
The show closes with Sting swinging a bat and standing tall with Orton in the ring!
End Of Raw.
Reporter’s Rumblings – By Moe Tapp
This was 50-50 Raw; great promos, almost all bad matches. Onto the analysis:
Excellence: Promos by Roman Reigns, Bray Wyatt, Seth Rollins, Paul Heyman, John Cena, Rusev, and Brock Lesnar. As usual, all showed passion and heart, really hyping up their respective WrestleMania matches.
Really loved the video that Lesnar was in, mixed with his matches, and the “attitude” he brings. I liked Reigns’ response; it was intense and made me “believe” in him even more.
As always, Bray’s and Paul’s stand-out the most for their “ways with words.”
Loving the Cena/Rusev rivalry; very old-school “good guy VS. bad guy” mentality, both verbally and physically. If Rusev continues this way, he can be a big star (more on him next week in my predictions; teaser!)
Although predictable with the ending, still really cool to see Sting again. Glad he is not on every week, as when he makes appearances, it feels special, like tonight. Great ending too!
Bogus: when the best match of the night is the Divas, everyone else has a problem! Seriously, A.J. and Nikki seemed to put in hard work and have a pretty-solid match, while the rest of the guys’ bouts were too short or not-at-all! Plus, there were two Smackdown rematches, also not necessary.
All-in-all, a fantastic promo-Raw, but horrible wrestling-Raw. Hopefully they step up the wrestling for the “go-home” to WrestleMania; it is much-needed! Until then, where I will also hopefully remember to make my WrestleMania picks, Be Excellent Wrestling-Online Readers and Wrestling Fans!
PWInsider.com is reporting that Sting is in Des Moines, Iowa, the site of tonight’s Monday Night Raw and will be appearing live and in person on the show.
Sting’s appearances on television so far have been very, very limited and this will only be his fourth one on WWE TV, with two of his previous appearances coming on pay-per-view, and once on Monday Night Raw.
The former WCW champion has so far not uttered one single word when appearing as Triple H has done all the talking in the build-up to their WrestleMania match.
WWE just announced that the “Living Legend” Larry Zbysko will be the next inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2015.
The 63 year old Chicago native had a long professional wrestling career which started in 1973 working for the then WWWF, and then WWF until 1981.
In 1981, Zbysko moved to the NWA before joining the American Wrestling Association in 1984 and starting a long feud with Sgt. Slaughter. Zbysko flip flopped between the NWA and the AWA up until 1990 after which he joined – and stayed with – WCW. He transitioned from a wrestler to a member of the broadcast team on Nitro and pay-per-views in the mid 90s and eventually left WCW at the end of the year 2000.
He started working for TNA in 2003 and two years later was given the role of Director of Authority and even wrestled a few times. He lost a loser leaves TNA match against Eric Young at Bound For Glory in 2006 which was his final gig in TNA.
In 2003, Zbysko signed a WWE Legends deal and will now be a member of the WWE Hall of Fame.
Kevin Nash is expected to be the last person to be announced for the class of 2015.
It’s been a good weekend for WWE ticket sales as after a fast SummerSlam sell out, the NXT live event on the Friday before WrestleMania was also sold out just minutes after tickets went on sale to the general public earlier today.
NXT will be holding the third live event outside the state of Florida on March 27 in San Jose at the San Jose State University, just a couple of blocks up the road from where Axxess will be held. The show will have a start time of 10PM to allow fans enough time to check out Axxess before heading to NXT.
The Event Center Arena at the San Jose State University holds around 5,000 spectators and is the home of the SJSU Spartans men’s and women’s basketball teams.
The New York Post is reporting that a Bentley which is owned by Vince McMahon and was stolen several months ago in Connecticut was recovered in The Bronx.
It’s still unclear how the $189,000 charcoal-gray Bentley Continental Coupe ended up there and the Post didn’t report how the police recovered the expensive vehicle or who stole the car in the first place.
Let’s just say that we’re sure Vince McMahon did not walk to work during the months his car was jacked!
WWE.COM has announced that a former World champion will be announced as the newest inductee in the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2015 tomorrow on Monday Night Raw.
Rumors are that it will be Kevin Nash going in, joining fellow Kliq members Scott Hall and Shawn Michaels in the Hall of Fame. The WrestleMania 31 magazine that is out on newsstands apparently has an article on Nash joining the Hall of Fame.
Whoever it is will be joining Randy Savage, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rikishi, The Bushwhackers, Alundra Blayze, and Warrior Award recipient Connor Michalek for this year’s class.
Tickets for the NXT live event during WrestleMania weekend in San Jose will go on sale to the general public tomorrow at 9AM PST although Ticketmaster.com is running a pre-sale with the code WWENXT.
Tickets are selling for $15, $25, $50, and $75, plus additional fees. The pre-sale might already be out of tickets as search on Ticketmaster for any of the available tickets come up empty. The pre-sale was for those who purchased a WrestleMania 31 travel package.
The show will take place at the Event Center at San Jose State University on Friday, March 27, at 10PM.
If you’re interested in attending SummerSlam this year there’s some bad news, and even worse news.
The bad news is that the show is officially sold out. The last few remaining tickets which went on sale to the general public yesterday were virtually gone as soon as 10AM hit. WWE sold the majority of the tickets during the pre-sale last week.
The worse news is that while you still can go, it’s going to cost you, a lot. Ticketmaster.com is selling official platinum tickets with the cheapest tickets going for $1,000 for a pair, and up to $2,000 for a pair as well. These tickets don’t go further back than row 6 and the $2,000 ones are in row 1.
SummerSlam will take place from the Barclays Center on Sunday, August 23. Originally the show was scheduled to be held at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, put the arena was shut down in January.
Former Raw General Manager Brad Maddox returned on the road with WWE yesterday, appearing at a live non-televised event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The 30 year old wrestled – and lost to – Zack Ryder in his first match with WWE since October of last year. Funny enough he lost to Zack Ryder as well back then.
Maddox vanished from WWE in early 2014 and then resurfaced six months later at a live even. During his absence from WWE, he put several self-shot weird videos on YouTube as part of his “Real Brad Maddox Experience.”
CM Punk’s first outing as an official member of Team Roufosport at a UFC event wasn’t a very pleasant one as his teammate, Anthony Pettis, lost his UFC Lightweight title yesterday to Rafael dos Anjos.
The former WWE champion accompanied Pettis to the cage, carrying the Puerto Rican flag along with other members of the team.
Earlier in the night, Punk supported the other Pettis, Sergio, who made his Octagon debut and suffered a loss to Ryan Benoit. Punk sat cage side to see the younger Pettis and sported a Chicago Blackhawks beanie hat. In the back, Punk posed with the rest of the Roufosport team, standing next to one of his earlier critics, Ben Askren, all wearing a Team Pettis shirt.
You can see some photos of Punk at UFC 185 below.
TNA returned to Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, yesterday to tape a few weeks worth of Impact Wrestling television shows over the next few days.
The most notable news from last night’s tapings was the situation involving the tag team champions, The Wolves. One half of the champions, Eddie Edwards, suffered a broken heel last month during the tapings of one of TNA’s One Night Only pay-per-views and will be out of action for a few months.
Due to the injury, the tag team titles were vacated during one of the tapings, with both of The Wolves present for the segment. It was not announced what’s going to happen now with the titles but one can assume there will be some kind of small tournament to determine the new champions.
The latest WWE 8-K filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission reveal that the company has entered into a new agreement with three of their most powerful executives, Michelle D. Wilson, Chief Revenue & Marketing Officer, George A. Barrios, Chief Strategy & Financial Officer, and Kevin Dunn, Executive Producer & Chief, Global Television Production.
The new deals provide for special grants of 174,095 performance share units – at $14.36 per share – and will be based depending on the Company’s performance during 2015 and every year after till 2018. Each executive can earn between 18% of that and up to 200%, based on their performance and targets reached.
The new deal also has a 12 month no compete clause where none of them can work for another professional wrestling company within the United States of America or in other countries in which WWE delivers television programming or other audio video materials or performs live events.
The no compete clause also extends to developing or assisting in developing any sports and/or entertainment programming or live events with anyone engaged in a competitive activity.
The full filing is at http://ir.corporate.wwe.com/Cache/c28349485.html.
Tickets for this year’s SummerSlam pay-per-view went on sale to the general public this morning at 10AM. Only a few tickets remain available apart from the Platinum tickets, which sell for up to $2,000.
The one week pre-sale was very successful and WWE sold out of all the allocated tickets. Tickets are being sold for $30.50, $50.50, $75.50, $95.50, $180.50, $305.50, $480.50, and $530.50 excluding fees.
This year, SummerSlam will be held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
CM Punk will be walking with his teammate and UFC Lightweight champion Anthony Pettis tonight at UFC 185 as Pettis defends his title against Rafael dos Anjos.
While Punk will be walking him to the cage, the former WWE Heavyweight champion will not be cornering him for the fight. “Yes, he will be walking with me out to the cage,” Pettis told Ariel Helwani at MMAFighting.com. “He’s not going to corner me, obviously. He still has some stuff to learn.”
Pettis praised Punk’s work ethic and his desire to learn earlier this year after Punk joined the Roufosport team in Milwaukee. Pettis said that having as much people he knows around him will make him feel like he’s back at home. Pettis described Punk as very cool and a very humble guy.
WWE Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin appeared on AXS TV’s Inside MMA yesterday for an interview with host Bas Rutten.
Right out, Rutten asked Stone Cold about CM Punk in the UFC and Austin said that he likes what CM Punk brings to the table as he’s very precise, has great microphone skills, and has great psychology as well. He would have liked to wrestle him but even though they don’t know each other much, he wished him well in the UFC and is excited to see his MMA debut.
When asked if he would have been great at MMA himself, Austin said that if the sport had evolved to the level it is now back in the day when he had that killer instinct, who knows, maybe, but that doesn’t mean he’s saying he could have been successful as he doesn’t know if he would adapted. He said he found the right calling though in professional wrestling.
Austin also mentioned that Kurt Angle and The Undertaker would have made great MMA fighters in their early days.
You can see the interview below.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWIqL-7VpqE&w=700]
DISH has so far not decided if it will carry WrestleMania 31 on traditional pay-per-view this year, with the company not carrying any WWE pay-per-views since last year’s WrestleMania XXX.
“DISH continues to consider the value of WWE pay-per-view on an event by event basis and has made no announcements regarding the carriage of WrestleMania as of this date,” said a DISH Corporate Communications executive when replying to our question.
DirecTV has not replied to our request for comment regarding WrestleMania as of this writing. Both companies severed ties with WWE after the company introduced the WWE Network.
Do you smell what The Rock is cooking? The folks at Saturday Night Live sure do as the former WWE champion has been tapped to host the popular SNL show on March 28, the day before WrestleMania.
This will be the fourth time that Johnson will be hosting the show. His first time was in 2000 when WWE was flying high and Triple H, The Big Show, and Mick Foley also appeared on that particular show.
Johnson has two massive movies coming out in April and May. Furious 7, where he reprises the role of DS Special Agent Luke Hobbs, comes out on April 3, while San Andreas, the 3D disaster movie where he plays an LAFD rescue helicopter pilot, comes out on May 29.
