8 MAN TAG MATCH ADDED TO WRESTLEMANIA

WWE also announced a 8-person mixed tag team match for WrestleMania 29 featuring Brodus Clay & Tensai & The Funkadactyls vs. Team Rhodes Scholars & The Bella Twins.

BIG SHOW TALKS ABOUT WRESTLEMANIA IN NEW YORK, NEW YORK FANS

Big Show discussed WrestleMania being held in the New York area during an interview with Sports Illustrated.

"New York and New Jersey fans are like no other fans anywhere in the world. It's funny because New York is known for being competitive. New York likes champions. If you're not pulling your weight, New York lets you know. Trust me: If you have a crappy match, New York fans will let you know right in the middle of it. They'll chant boring. They'll chant you suck. They'll chant you messed up. The pressure to do well is always a little bit higher in New York. But like anything, that pressure makes you better.

So the only thing that I'm a little concerned about is the weather. Because, you know, I'm not wearing much. I'm wearing Spandex. It's gonna be a little chilly out there."

JIM ROSS TALKS ABOUT MICK FOLEY, FANDANGO VS JERICHO, ROCK VS JOHN CENA, RIC FLAIR AND MORE

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has published a new blog entry on JrsBarBq.com. Here are some highlights.

Terry Funk Inducting Mick Foley: "Great choice by Mick Foley to select Terry Funk to induct Mr. Foley's baby boy at the 2013 WWE HOF induction ceremony. The Funker is Mick's mentor and idol. I think it's pretty cool when a Hall of Fame inductee can actually have their all time favorite wrestler, their father like figure within the business and their role model as it relates to in ring style and approach to the game induct them."

Ric Flair's Medical Situation: "Got a text from Ric Flair early this morning and Naitch is feeling great and has been provided medication to dissolve the blood clot that is in his leg. The doctor's are highly optimistic that the meds will do the trick and eliminate a potentially, dangerous issue. Ric and I will get together Wednesday evening in Jersey to catch up which is one of our WrestleMania traditions."

Fandango vs. Y2J: "Fandango is a lightning rod right now because many or perhaps a few vocal 'fans' don't like the TV persona even though they have yet to see it fully on display in a match of significance. I'm of the persuasion that I'll reserve my opinions until I actually see the talent get it on bell to bell. Chris Jericho is the perfect opponent to perform with Fandango at WM29 because Jericho is all about stealing the show ala the great @ShawnMichaels no matter Y2J's role. Fandango can also expect Jericho to beat the hell out of him along the way. Believe that!"

The Rock vs. John Cena: "Enjoying the serious nature that the Rock/Cena rivalry has taken the past few weeks and it is a departure from 2012 or so it seems to me. Closing a WrestleMania with such high expectations and having a 'different' match than last year are tremendous responsibilities notwithstanding the fact that the match is for the WWE Title which should be the primary issue. Cena vs. Rock is a target of varying levels of controversy from some fans but pales in comparison to what their own peers will place upon the show closers in their own matches at WM29."

RIC FLAIR TO APPEAR WITH MIZ?

Besides appearing in the Legends Q&A segment on Monday's RAW, WWE was also considering an angle for Ric Flair with The Miz. Flair was to be ringside for The Miz vs. Wade Barrett match.

CM PUNK PRAISES PAUL HEMAN, TALKS ABOUT FANS, UNDERTAKER

CM Punk was interviewed by Mark Madden earlier today. Here are some highlights from the interview.

You don’t need a win or a title to stay over with the fans. Is that a blessing or a curse?

I think it’s a curse. 

Madden said Punk is the “best talker out there” yet he’s paired with Paul Heyman, who is also a great talker. Madden asked how that’s not overkill.

Punk said he’s not sure if he’s the best talker out there and an argument could be made that Paul Heyman is the best. Punk said the friendship that he and Heyman have off-screen really shines through in their work together.

When you were in my studio years ago you agreed that you were not a wrestling lifer. Do you still feel that way or have you become a safer? 

No I don’t want to be a lifer. I just feel like I’m one of those guys that gets bored easy. So what’s the next mountain?

NEWS ON WWE'S CABLE NETWORK

 As noted the other day, WWE sent out a survey to fans seeking interest on potential new programming for the WWE Network, including moving pay-per-views to the channel. Here is the exact text from the survey, which provides a bit more insight into what might come of the network:

“Imagine a 24-hour cable network that was run by The WWE. It featured a mix of WWE-made programs, including new shows, repeats of Raw and SmackDown from USA and Syfy and “classic” or “historical” programs featuring shows from different promotions like classic WWE footage, WCW, ECW, NWA, AWA, etc. from years past.


It would have two new weekly WWE live in-ring shows (wrestling), but not SmackDown or Raw.


It would have a daily live in-studio viewer interactive show similar to SportsCenter.


Additionally, this network would include WWE’s “classic big 4″ pay-per-view events including WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Survivor Series and Royal Rumble to the lineup at no additional cost. Rather than having to pay for them, they would now be specials with the same match quality you’re used to seeing on pay-per-view for no additional cost. These 4 events would only be available on The WWE Network.


In addition to The WWE Network, you would receive approximately 30 additional channels including NFL Network, NBA TV, Biography Channel, Fox Business Network and Fuel TV.


How interested would you be in upgrading your service for an additional $7-$12 per month to a tier which would include the WWE Network described above?"

ROCK VS JOHN CENA 200 DAYS TO GO

 WWE officials are reportedly trying very hard to get The Rock to wrestle at the Survivor Series pay-per-view.

The original idea was for him to appear and do an angle but not wrestle until the match with John Cena at WrestleMania 28 but now they want him to wrestle in November. As noted before, there has also been discussion of doing a best of 3 series between the two.

Whether or not The Rock should wrestle or not at Survivor Series was a controversial topic of discussion within WWE this past week.

WWE ANNOUNCES WRESTLEMANIA SPECIAL MUSIC FOR TONIGHT

 “WrestleMania: The World Premiere” will air tonight on NBC at 9pm EST with the exception of several major markets where NFL pre-season games are pre-empting it. Tonight’s special will feature sit-down interviews with some of the WrestleMania 27 stars and highlights from John Cena vs. The Miz with The Rock, Triple H vs. The Undertaker and the six-person match with Snooki, Trish Stratus & John Morrison vs. Layla, Michelle McCool & Dolph Ziggler.

WWE has announced the following music for tonight’s special:

* Diamond Eyes by Shinedown
* For Whom The Bell Tolls by Metallica
* E.T. by Katy Perry
* Written In The Stars by Tinie Tempah
* Welcome All Again by Collective Soul

DANIEL BRYAN TALKS ABOUT SUMMERSLAM, WRESTLEMANIA AND MORE

WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan spoke with Phil Strum of The Poughkeepsie Journal this week. Here are some highlights:

Phil Strum: First of all, what are you doing at SummerSlam?

Daniel Bryan: Well, we have nothing announced right now, but I will be at SummerSlam in Los Angeles and I will have my Money in the Bank briefcase. What I’m hoping for is a match with Wade Barrett.

PS: You’ve said that you’re wrestling for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania in Miami. What does it feel like to have that opportunity?

DB: It’s an incredible opportunity that I’ve dreamed of since I was a little kid — to be in the main event of WrestleMania. I’m hoping this year that I can do it.

PS: You’re someone who can go out and have a great match with Tyson Kidd and then go out and still have an interesting and totally different match with The Great Khali. How do you view each match and how do you individualize them? What makes that possible?

DB: For me, I can adapt my style to anybody. My style is based on kicks and submissions. It works with big guys, fast guys. I can work with someone as strong as Mark Henry and someone as small as Sin Cara. There’s nothing I do that I can’t do to anybody.

PS: When you left last summer before you returned to WWE at SummerSlam, you spent a few months traveling around to various independent promotions. A lot of people liked that you brought attention to the indies. Is that what you were trying to do?

DB: That was actually my main focus. One of the really nice things about getting released by WWE is that they pay you for 90 days. I didn’t need to wrestle. Financially, I was fine. I’ve saved my money for years.


I wanted to capitalize on that opportunity to bring attention to where I was. I couldn’t go wrestle for places that had a television show, but I was really helping out friends who helped me out when I was on the independent scene.

PS: You mentioned before that you only take advice from a few people in wrestling? Who do you go to now?

DB: Who do I go to now? The main person I go to for advice is William Regal. He has been a mentor for me since the first day I stepped foot into developmental in February 2000 in Memphis.


In June 2000, William Regal was the main trainer there. Instantly, we had a connection. He saw that I was a hard worker and that I loved technical wrestling. Even when I got fired from them in 2001, I kept in contact with him. He was the main guy that got me work in Europe and England and he was the person who was constantly trying to get me into Japan, which eventually I did get into Japan. He was always telling me, ‘Send me your matches. I want to see what you’re doing.’ He would tell me his honest opinon of things that he liked and things that he didn’t like. It was nice to have an honest critique. On the independents, you don’t get that and it’s nice to have that guidance.

PS: I want to ask you a question about someone who’s local to the Journal’s coverage area, Michael Cole, who is from Northeastern Dutchess County. He’s constantly been ripping you on TV ever since you debuted. What are your thoughts on that?

DB: The interesting thing is that even though people dislike Michael Cole, they buy into his whole thing that I am a nerd. Recently at a show, Pat Patterson came up to me, and I said something and Pat said, “Oh what do you know about that? You’re just a nerd.” I said, “Pat, you do realize that it’s just Cole saying that and I’m not really a nerd?”


If you look at my life, there’s really nothing nerdy about it. I go out and I do grappling and kickboxing. I don’t own a TV and I don’t watch TV, so I don’t know how that’s construed as being nerdy. I have a very active lifestyle, so I’m not really sure how that construed into me being a nerd. I think it’s because I read a lot. I read a lot and I’m a vegan.

MATTEL TO RELEASE CENA VS ROCK ACTION FIGURE FOR WRESTLEMANIA

 Variety reports today that Mattel will be releasing a John Cena vs. The Rock set of action figures to commemorate their WrestleMania 28 match. They also note that during the first half of 2011, WWE action figures were the top-sellers beating out brands like GI Joe, Batman, Iron Man, Spider Man and others.

FUTURE PLANS FOR ROCK

 Provided his movie commitments don’t get in the way, WWE is going with the idea that The Rock will make an appearance at next year’s big three shows – the Royal Rumble and SummerSlam pay-per-views, and of course WrestleMania 28 to wrestle John Cena. Rock is also scheduled for a Survivor Series appearance this year and officials are hoping they can squeeze more appearances out of him.

STONE COLD TO HAVE A MATCH AT WRESTLEMANIA 28?

 The idea of Steve Austin having a role at WrestleMania 28 has been discussed a lot within WWE but those close to the situation say that the odds are against anything big happening, such as Austin wrestling a match.

STONE COLD WILL BE APPEARING ON AOTS , TALKS ABOUT MATCH WITH PUNK

 Pat Bailey sent word that WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin appeared on tonight’s episode of G4′s Attack of the Show to promote his new movie, Tactical Force, which officially hits stores tomorrow on Blu-ray and DVD.

Austin was asked about the rumors of him wrestling CM Punk at next year’s WrestleMania 28 pay-per-view from Miami, Florida.

Pat adds that Austin said he is a huge fan of Punk and if he did come back for another match, he would want it to be against the Straight Edge Superstar.

Austin would not say if the match will or won’t happen next year.

WWE PPV BUYS SO FAR THIS YEAR 2011

 WWE did a total of 1,598,000 pay-per-view buys in the second quarter of 2011, mostly due to the 1,059,000 buys from WrestleMania 28.

* Extreme Rules 2011 did 209,000 buys, up from 182,000 in 2010.

* Over the Limit 2011 did 140,000 buys, down from 197,000 in 2010.

* Capitol Punishment 2011 scored 170,000 buys, up from Fatal 4 Way doing 143,000 in 2010.

Comparing the 2011 pay-per-views in this quarter, minus WrestleMania 27, up against the 2010 events, the 2011 pay-per-views did 519,000 buys compared to 522,000 in 2010.

BREAKING NEWS: ROCK VS JOHN CENA AT WRESTLEMANIA 28 MIGHT NOT HAPPEN

Speaking of The Rock and John Cena, Dave Meltzer reports that their WrestleMania 28 match may be in jeopardy as one high-ranking WWE employee with lots of influence is against the big showdown in Miami next year. While this official doesn't want the match to happen, most feel that it still will take place.

WWE LOOKING TO GO OLD SCHOOL WITH LONG TERM BOOKING PROCESS

 WWE is looking to go “old school” with the booking process in the sense that they will be planning several months out and working backwards. Expect to see lots more long-term planning from here on out. WWE is very happy with how they announced John Cena vs. The Rock for WrestleMania 28 in advance and how both Superstars have managed to keep the feud alive online.

BACKSTAGE NEWS ON VINCE MCMAHON

 The long-term plan for Vince McMahon to lighten his WWE duties in real life was for his current run to end around WrestleMania 28, with Triple H taking over the day-to-day activities. Even then, Vince will still oversee everything and won’t be going anywhere.

This marks the fifth straight year that Vince has written himself off WWE TV in some form or fashion. In 2007 he was blown up in a limousine, 2008 saw the RAW set fall on top of him, in 2009 he sold WWE to Donald Trump in the storylines but still appeared some and last year, he was beat up by Nexus and put in a coma.

ROCK BEGS WWE NOT FIRE JOHN CENA

The Rock wrote the following on Twitter tonight:

“@WWE please don’t fire John Cena. You owe it to the WORLD and GOD to have my boot go right up his phony ass at Wrestlemania 28.”

CM PUNK WANTS STONE COLD AT WRESTLEMANIA 28

 It’s being reported that CM Punk wants to face Steve Austin at WrestleMania 28 in Miami next year. While Punk dropped a hint on last Monday’s RAW that he wanted the main event at WrestleMania 28, it’s said that the chances of Punk vs. Austin happening next year are slim to none.

ALBERTO DEL RIO TALKS ABOUT HIS CHARACTER, WRESTLEMANIA 28

WWE star Alberto Del Rio spoke with the Miami Herald this week to promote next year’s WrestleMania 28 pay-per-view. Here are some highlights of what Del Rio, who now resides in Tampa, Florida, said about:


The Origin of His Character: “Alberto Del Rio is something Vince McMahon and I created,” he said. “We created this character. He came up with the idea of the scarf, the cars and everything. However, I developed the character from guys from the movies like ‘Scarface’ and ‘The Godfather’ or guys who I hated during my life.”


“I was like this before WWE,” he added. “I wore these kinds of clothes. I like to have nice cars when I was in Mexico, and in the United States, it’s the same. It doesn’t matter that I have a character on TV. Of course I don’t have as many cars as Alberto Del Rio, but the way I handle myself is somewhat similar.


Adjusting To The WWE Style: “A lot of people helped me adjust to the style, including Steve Keirn, Dusty Rhodes, Norman Smiley. Those guys helped me in FCW because in Mexico we wrestle on the right side, and here we wrestle on the left side. That was the main issue because, essentially, wrestling is the same everywhere. That particular area and transition were kind of hard, but in the end everything worked out well.”


WrestleMania 28: “It is going to be great,” Del Rio said. “This WrestleMania [27] was incredible, but I’m pretty sure next year’s WrestleMania [28] will be awesome. All the things we have here in Miami, it’s going to be a great event. They are going to be bringing in guys like The Rock and superstars from the past. So it’s going to be great.”


“I’m going to be defending my WWE title at WrestleMania because I see myself as champion in a few months. John Cena, I’ve worked with him in the past. I’ve never had a program with him. I think that is the way I’m going now.”