Rumor Mill - Major name set to return to WWE during the 2/24 RAW

The Undertaker is scheduled to return to WWE during the 2/24 RAW taping in Green Bay, Wisconsin according to a report by Mike Johnson. This will be his first appearance on WWE television since the 4/26 Smackdown taping where he was put through the announce table by The Shield. Undertaker's return was described as being "locked in" within the last 48 hours and will take place on a huge night for the company coming off the Elimination Chamber PPV and the launch of the WWE Network later that night. His appearance is expected to kick off his build for another match at Wrestlemania 30 this year in New Orleans.

source: pwinsider.com

WWE Superstar John Cena Becomes Most-Liked U.S. Athlete on Facebook

WWE Superstar John Cena passed Kobe Bryant to become the most-liked active U.S. athlete on Facebook with more than 18.6 million followers.

Cena is the No. 7 most-followed athlete in the world on Facebook and has more followers than Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Roger Federer. Cena also has more Facebook followers than Kevin Durant, Michael Phelps and Tony Hawk COMBINED.

WWE has eclipsed 260 million fans through its global social media networks, further cementing its position as one of the most followed brands in the world. Currently, WWE has more than 172 million Facebook fans and 82 million Twitter followers across all of its networks. WWE’s network of Facebook pages has more followers than the NFL and its 32 teams’ pages combined.

Q&A with Mickie James

WWE Network to Edit Over The Edge 1999, Stephanie McMahon Comments on Benoit & Owen Decision

CBS Pittsburgh has published an article on WWE deciding to air the controversial Over The Edge 1999 pay-per-view on the WWE Network.

WWE issued the following statement on Friday:

“WWE Network will be airing the 1999 Over The Edge pay-per-view. However, portions of the event will be edited out of respect for Owen Hart.”

Before the Royal Rumble last month, CBS spoke with Stephanie McMahon about Over The Edge 1999 and she said they had not made a decision at that time. Stephanie did confirm that Chris Benoit matches will be on the Network.

In the video above, Stephanie said:

“They are incredible challenging decisions to make. At the end of the day, we try to do what’s right for our fans and we try to give them exactly what they want to see.”

Jim Ross Opens Up About WWE Departure

Josh Stewart of Newsday has a new piece featuring quotes from Jim Ross to promote his upcoming spoken-word tour that begins with two shows at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City on March 1, 2014. In it, JR sheds more light on the event that resulted in his departure from WWE.

The event was a “30 Years of WrestleMania” symposium by 2KSports to promote the new WWE 2K14 video game the night before SummerSlam on August 17, 2013. JR clarified it was 2KSports that hired him to moderate the Legend’s panel, not WWE. Below is an excerpt from the Newsday piece:

“I knew that when it was over, a lot of the top WWE officials were very anxious to get Ric Flair out of the facility,” Ross recalls. “So I knew there was some concern there, but I didn’t know that the concern involved me. A story started out of misinformation that I had been drinking with Flair all day. And the issue was that if they [WWE officials] had checked their schedule, I had been booked all day with WWE activities and SummerSlam that had nothing to do with Ric Flair.”

JR explained there was no script, no teleprompter and no producer. Making matters worse, Ric Flair, who was on the panel, was clearly inebriated.

“My job was to keep the rudder in the water,” Ross said. “I didn’t do that. And so, the decision was made that we part ways. And to be honest with you, and this is not looking back, or trying to cover somebody’s tracks, or cover my own [behind], I was really looking for an opportunity to move on. I wanted to get into the podcast business, I wanted to get into one-man show stuff . . . I wanted to look at other opportunities, like this Fox Sports thing that I’m doing now. And I knew I couldn’t do those things while I was under contract to the WWE. But to be honest, to be totally frank with you, I had such a loyalty to that company, and I still do, that after 20 years I didn’t know how I was going to say goodbye.”

KaBOOM! and WWE Team Up to Build Playground in New Orleans During WrestleMania Week

CHIKARA Announces Details of Return Event

CHIKARA released the following:

Tickets On Sale Right Now for 5.25.14 - Will You Be Admitted Free?

CHIKARA is back at last! Tickets are on sale right now for "You Only Live Twice" on 5.25.14, but you may not need one. Over the course of the last 9 months, fans from far and wide had the chance to take part in #IAmCHIKARA rallies and meet-ups organized by Icarus.

If you attended one of these, signed his petition and have the I Am CHIKARA shirt he gave you personally, make sure to wear it on 5.25.14...and you will be admitted to the event absolutely free!

Per CHIKARA tradition, all children ages 12 and under will get a FREE general admission ticket to this event, when accompanied by a paying adult. Tickets are already selling in record numbers for this landmark event - don't miss out! Order your advance tickets to "You Only Live Twice" today!

CHIKARA: You Only Live Twice
-Sunday, May 25th, 2014 @ 3:00 pm- @ Live at The Palmer Center
4100 Green Pond Rd :: Easton, PA 18045 Order Advance Tickets

WWE Creative Visits NXT Tapings, NXT: Arrival Poster

WWE NXT Women's Champion Paige tweeted a photo of the poster for WWE's NXT: Arrival event that airs on the WWE Network later this month:

Members of the WWE creative team attended last Thursday's NXT TV tapings at Full Sail University to evaluate some of the developmental talents, possibly looking to come up with debut storylines for some of them.

Listing of over 400 Pay Per View events on the WWE Network

WWE.com has released a list of over 400 WWE, WCW and ECW Pay Per View events that will be provided during the launch of the WWE Network beginning on 2/24.

To view the entire listing, click here.

The Next Guest Host Of Raw Is...

Betty White

Stephanie McMahon & John Cena to Present at SXSW

WWE's John Cena, Stephanie McMahon and Perkins Miller will be appearing at the annual South By Southwest (SXSW) convention in Austin, Texas in early March. They will appear on a panel on Sunday, March 9th at the Driskill Hotel in Austin. The trio will be talking about the WWE App and the WWE Network.

Ric Flair Replaces CM Punk at WrestleMania XXX Axxess Signing

CM Punk has been removed from the WrestleMania XXX Axxess lineup.

Fans who had purchased tickets for his April 5th VIP Autograph session were emailed and notified that Ric Flair would be replacing Punk. No explanation was offered to fans in the email, so apparently WWE is not ready to comment on the Punk situation.

Fans are given the option of taking a refund or exchanging their ticket for one of the other VIP sessions, or attending the session with Flair.