A.J. Lee Returns To Raw, Wins Divas Championship

A.J. Lee has just made her return to Monday Night Raw and defeated Paige in an impromptu match for the Divas Championship.

A.J. is now a two-time WWE Divas Champion.

This segment/match seemed to turn Paige into a heel and A.J. into a babyface.

The Miz and Chris Jericho Return on Raw

As was advertised, a former WWE Champion has just returned to Monday Night Raw. After much speculation as to who this returning Superstar would be, it was revealed to be The Miz.

In a shocking turn of events, Chris Jericho returned to WWE Monday Night Raw immediately after the return of another former WWE Champion, The Miz. Jericho interrupted The Miz's mid-ring return promo.

After Jericho disposed of The Miz, The Wyatt Family appeared out of nowhere and attacked Jericho, finishing him off with a Sister Abigail from Bray Wyatt.

Bad News Barrett Update, Status Of I.C. Championship

Ringside commentators Michael Cole, Jerry "The King" Lawler and John "Bradshaw" Layfield just provided an update on Wade "Bad News" Barrett on Monday Night Raw. The four-time Intercontinental Champion will be out of action for a number of months after suffering a shoulder injury on this past week's episode of Friday Night SmackDown. The Intercontinental Championship is now officially vacant and the new Champion will be crowned through a Battle Royal at the upcoming Battleground pay-per-view.

Is something funky with the Funkadactyls? Total Divas' Naomi and Cameron may be breaking up soon

Update on the current status of Daniel Bryan

Daniel Bryan stating last night at the WWE Money in the Bank PPV that he may need a second surgery on his neck is said to be the truth according to a report by Mike Johnson. Bryan has not seen strength return in one of his arms since the initial surgery he had on his neck back in May and at times, that arm has seen its strength even weaken from where it was prior to the surgery. Bryan is currently undergoing physical therapy, but if the therapy is not enough and if Bryan needs to undergo a second surgery on his neck, Bryan could be at for at least another 6 months, depending on the procudere he undergoes.

source: pwinsider.com

Stephanie McMahon Praised Backstage After Raw Segment

F4WOnline.com is reporting that Stephanie McMahon was praised backstage by many WWE officials. It was said to be somewhat of the second coming of Vince McMahon, with how she reacted in the Vickie Guerrero segment.

Stephanie McMahon Says WWE Is Just Getting Warmed Up, Talks Vince, Connor's Cure, BU

The WWE is set to make history at the Garden tomorrow night. A new champion will be crowned in the main event of the “Money in the Bank” pay per view production, but the night will stand out for another unique reason. It’s a homecoming for Stephanie McMahon.

The 37-year-old McMahon, WWE’s Chief Brand Officer, spent much of her childhood in South Yarmouth.

“I actually grew up on the Cape,” she said. “My parents owned the Cape Cod Coliseum, which was the sort of the beginning of the WWE as we know it today, so I’m happy to be home.”

McMahon fell in love with Boston, and like her brother Shane before her, decided to study communications at Boston University. Over the past 15 years, McMahon has perfected her role as an on-air character, where she plays an evil boss, and credits BU as a big reason for her success.

“From film production to television production to creative writing to public speaking to marketing to advertising,” she said, “BU is basically a school to help prepare you for all of the many facets of WWE.”

McMahon graduated from BU in 1998, and still remains connected to the school. She is a member of the Distinguished Alumni of the School of Communication, and had the opportunity to teach a master’s class — “Being Your Own Brand” — last year.

She learned first-hand how to build a brand from her parents, Vince and Linda McMahon. Together, they transformed WWE from a regional wrestling promotion to a sports entertainment juggernaut, a global brand broadcast in 150 countries in 650 million homes worldwide. As a fourth generation McMahon promoter, she touched on her father’s contributions to the business.

“My father coined the phrase, ‘sports entertainment,’” said McMahon. “Vince let the world in on that, yes, this is actually predetermined and, yes, we are having fun. He was the one who created this live action-adventure soap opera.”

But Stephanie McMahon has also paved her own road in the family business.

She and her husband, WWE executive vice president Paul Levesque — better known to wrestling fans as “Triple H” — just announced the creation of their new fund, “Connor’s Cure.” The fund was named in honor of the late Connor Michalek, a devoted WWE fan who died at the age of 8 as a result of brain cancer.

“This is all about developing and donating for pediatric brain and spinal cancer research,” said McMahon. “We’re trying to help fund the research to help stop the cancer.”

McMahon is the proud mother of three girls.

“My favorite title is, ‘Mom,’” she said. “It’s what I’ve always wanted to be most, ever since I was a little girl.”

In addition to pay per view, tomorrow’s “Money in the Bank” card can also be watched on the WWE Network. While McMahon is proud of the company’s accomplishments, she cannot wait to unveil the future of the business.

“WWE continues to grow and expand at a rate faster than anyone can possibly imagine,” she said. “We have over 360 million social media followers, and we have over 12 million downloads of our app. But I have to say, even given all that, we’re just getting warmed up.”

source: bostonherald.com

Ambrose not just Good, he's great

Jonathan Good may be living a charmed life in professional wrestling nowadays, but life wasn't always easy for the man better known as Dean Ambrose.

Good, who grew up in the area known as the East End in Cincinnati, is evasive when asked if he had a rough upbringing.

"Who doesn't have their own story?" he asked. "I grew up in Cincinnati, the east side of Cincinnati. I don't really have any kind of heartbreaking sob story, just a regular old lower class American upbringing."

Turning the focus away from his formative years and onto the beginnings of what could some day be a hall of fame wrestling career, he described his beginnings."I started wrestling when I was 16 and (I spent) a lot of years on the road and a lot of years wrestling in every bingo hall and armory and bar and night club imaginable to get here," Good said, referring to his current wrestling home, World Wrestling Entertainment. "I've travelled the entire world, put my body through a lot of abuse, (gaining) a lot of experience in becoming the guy I am today."

Then the focus turns back to his early life.

"Mine might be a little bit different than most people, but everybody's got their own story and that's what makes you the person that you are."

One thing Good is comfortable talking about when it comes to his youth is his lifelong love for pro wrestling.

"For me, wrestling was like an escape," he answered when asked about what his earliest memories of the business are...More?

source: slam wreslting

Big WWE Signing Expected Next Month

Tokyo Sports in Japan is reporting that WWE will officially announce that former Pro Wrestling NOAH star KENTA has signed with the company during their tour of Japan next month with a press conference on 7/12.

The signing had been expected for some time.

"Celebrating Champions: 2014 Special Olympics USA Games" to Air on FOX Sports 1 This Monday, June 30 at 7 PM ET

The Rise & Fall Of Vince McMahon: Get Him Away From Daily WWE Content Decisions

NXT programming is becoming consistently better than WWE.

I can't call NXT competition because it's the developmental system, and those who run WWE can manipulate NXT if they wanted.

Many of the big names involved with the WWE main roster aren't controlling NXT week to week. Many who control NXT are guys who should be, but haven't been involved as much in the main roster of WWE.

That is the major advantage of NXT. Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn don't have their hands in NXT, which is huge.

McMahon has grown the WWE brand far beyond what anybody could have envisioned 30 years ago. A lot of people have made a lot of money on his watch. That can never be taken away.

However, while he can be king of the boardroom, I think he's lost a major touch in his abilities to lead the creative direction of specifics for his programming.

Dunn has been the executive in charge of WWE television for a long time. He's a driving force in aiding McMahon's questionable views of what is entertaining. I preach and remind a lot of people that WWE is an entertainment brand, with their main stage being what we know as a wrestling ring. Even I have to say Dunn's reputation of hating wrestling and loving anything else ridiculous he can fill the segment with often is out of control.

NXT is terrific to watch. It reminds me of an old-school territory in how intimate the crowd is and how many of them are repeat customers coming to so many of the shows at Full Sail University. It makes the talent have to work harder at getting over in front of the same live crowd.

NXT is like an indy show with a six-figure production budget.

Not everything we see on NXT will instantly succeed once it gets in the hands of McMahon, Dunn or the 15,000-seat arenas for RAW and SmackDown. Case in point — Adam Rose.

McMahon and Dunn stay away from NXT, but the street is two ways. There are guys who have more influence on NXT than they ever do the main WWE product that are secret weapons to have.

William Regal, Joey Mercury, Billy Gunn and Sara Del Rey are a few. Their knowledge stemming from foot work, timing, facial expressions and psychology of constructing a character is impossible to measure.

The sad reality of it all is it only matters so much.

Natalya and Charlotte had a phenomenal match on NXT. As great as it was to watch and as great as those two are, the rules of what succeeds on the main roster under the current decision-makers are much different.

As long as McMahon and Dunn run the show, we'll never see Natalya and Charlotte do that match on RAW, SmackDown or Main Event.

I can hear the creative meeting now — “Who wants to see two hot blondes in a back and forth wrestling match or 20 minutes? Somebody tell them they got three minutes bell-to-bell and then we're making them have a food fight.”...More?

source: triblive.com

Rumor Mill - Backstage Update on the WWE Network & Talent PPV Bonuses

One of the major questions coming out of the WWE Network launch back in February was how the Network would affect the PPV bonuses regularly given to the talents who worked the monthly events. This topic was said to be a major issue for CM Punk, and WWE's failure to inform talent as to how their pay may or may not change was one of the reasons why he decided to leave the company.

According to PWInsider.com, word coming from backstage in WWE is that nothing has been said to talents yet regarding their the Network and their pay. We are four months into the launch of the Network, and no one truly knows how PPV bonuses will work as it relates to PPV events airing on the Network.