– For the first time in years, Jerry Lawler will not be hosting the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony this year. According to PWInsider, Eva Marie will be hosting. The change has already led to major backlash among fans on social media as most seem to feel Eva shouldn’t be hosting. This has also led to Eva trending worldwide on Twitter this afternoon.
Cause Of Death Revealed For Perro Aguayo Jr.
After much speculation, ABC News is reporting the cause of death of Mexican wrestling star Perro Aguayo Jr.
Aguayo fractured three vertebrae, according to deputy prosecutor Gilberto Cota Alanis. Staff at the medical facility attempted for an hour and a half to revive Aguayo, to no avail.
Aguayo passed away following a match in Mexico involving Rey Mysterio and TNA star Manik. He was rushed to the hospital where several reports state was still showing vital signs, but was later pronounced dead. In the ABC News report, it’s said that he was dead by the time he reached the hospital.
Video of the incident spread across the internet like wildfire, quickly becoming a worldwide story. Alanis also said that an investigation, and the other four wrestlers in the match would be questioned. In addition to the wrestlers, wrestling commission members and medical workers will also be questioned.
Aguayo was one of Mexico’s biggest stars, with his merchandise revenue often exceeding the money he made actually wrestling. His father, Perro Aguayo Sr is one of the most important wrestlers in the history of lucha libre.
WWE NXT Tournament Reminder, Sheamus Appears At WrestleMania Event, Undertaker, More
– We noted before that today’s episode of WrestleMania Today on the WWE Network will feature WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton and Seth Rollins. Triple H will also be appearing. The hosts for WrestleMania Today will be Ric Flair and Booker T, among others.
– WWE’s website has a new poll asking fans who will have the most memorable WrestleMania 31 entrance – John Cena, Sting, Bray Wyatt, Triple H or The Undertaker. With 10,000 votes, Taker is leading with 48% while Sting is next with 34%.
– As a reminder, WWE NXT stars Tyler Breeze, Hideo Itami, Finn Balor and Adrian Neville will compete in a tournament at WrestleMania 31 Axxess today. The winner will earn a spot in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Stay tuned for news and notes from Axxess later today.
– Sheamus, Hornswoggle, Rosa Mendes and some of the San Francisco 49ers hosted a WrestleMania Reading Superstar event with kids from the Alum Rock Union Elementary School District in San Jose today. Below are photos:
Reading with @WWESheamus @wwehornswoggle @LaRosaMendes and @WWECommunity to support kids and @FirstBook @FirstBook pic.twitter.com/140YjS6uVs
— Adam Ray (@AdamRaySF) March 26, 2015
Proud to celebrate reading with WWE Superstars & Divas and SF49ers! @FirstBook @WWECommunity @49ersCommunity pic.twitter.com/18pemA8bBU
— Diana Peacock (@diapea) March 26, 2015
Undertaker Plans, WWE Loading Mania 32 With Legends, Bryan On Stealing The Show At WrestleMania
Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter
– It will be interesting to see what happens with The Undertaker at WWE’s WrestleMania 31 on Sunday. WWE has wanted to have his retirement match at WrestleMania 32 in Dallas next year but that will likely depend on what happens creatively Sunday and Taker’s overall health.
WWE officials are looking to load WrestleMania 32 up since they want to fill Cowboys Stadium and break attendance records. The idea is that any talent who is a Legend and can still perform, besides the retired Ric Flair of course, will probably get asked to work the show.
– This week’s sitdown interview with Michael Cole features Daniel Bryan, as seen above. Below are highlights:
* Bryan says he feels good going into the Intercontinental Title Ladder Match at WrestleMania 31. Bryan said 7 of the hungriest WWE Superstars will be fighting for the title and he’s a little concerned about his neck. Bryan says he’s been getting better and better but the ladder match puts him in a situation that he hasn’t been in since surgery. Bryan says he’s come to peace with it and whatever happens, happens.
* Bryan says he’s used to having large obstacles in his matches and the ladders are no different. Bryan talked about how anything can happen with guys like Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler and Luke Harper in the match. Bryan says you have to expect the unexpected and expect that the match will be crazy.
* Bryan talked about never holding the Intercontinental Title and that being the only title in WWE he hasn’t held. He says the people he looked up to when he was a kid were the Intercontinental Champions who stole the show at WrestleManias like Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat, Shawn Michaels, Razor Ramon, Bret Hart and Roddy Piper. Bryan says he doesn’t want people to be talking about Sting, Brock Lesnar or The Undertaker after WrestleMania, he wants them to be talking about the ladder match.
* Bryan says he will do just about anything he can physically do to win the title on Sunday. Bryan predicts he’s going to win and hopes that’s how any of the other competitors would predict the match. Bryan believes he will walk out of WrestleMania 31 as Intercontinental Champion with 70,000 people chanting “yes!” after the match.
Spoilers: WWE Smackdown Results For 3/26/15
WWE is taping matches for this week’s SmackDown tonight after RAW due to the WrestleMania week schedule changes. Thanks to Randy for the following spoilers:
* Jerry Lawler got a big pp when they did the switch to SmackDown but fans are leaving the arena.
* Fernando vs. Cesaro vs. Big E vs. Jimmy Uso in a Fatal 4 Way is first. Uso got the win by pinning Cesaro.
* AJ Lee came out and cut a promo on The Bella Twins, calling them the Kardashians. Paige came out and the two have made up since RAW. The Bella Twins interrupted and fired back at them on the mic. This was described as a very good and somewhat lengthy Divas promo segment.
* Daniel Bryan, John Cena, Mark Henry and Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt, Seth Rollins, Kane and Big Show is next. For their entrances, Cena and Reigns actually got booed more than they did on RAW compared to what’s left of the crowd but the boos didn’t last. Bryan ended up getting the win for his team and they all celebrated. SmackDown ended with Bryan’s music playing and a few “yes!” chants.
Brock Lesnar Taking A Paycut? Rumor On WrestleMania Main Event Plans, Roman Reigns – Lex Luger
Reddit user MetsFan4Ever, who is a former WWE backstage worker that has broken several WWE stories in the past and uploaded show scripts on Reddit, reports that Brock Lesnar’s new WWE deal is reportedly for $3 million / year for 3 years. This would be a notable pay cut from the rumored $5 million / year he has been rumored to have been making since returning to the company in 2011.
We noted last week that MetsFan4Ever stated that with Roman Reigns not receiving the type of crowd reaction that the company had expected, Triple H had been pushing the idea of having Lesnar retain the WWE Championship at WrestleMania this Sunday to Vince McMahon. The idea would be for Lesnar to continue to make limited television appearances while holding the title. WWE would also elevate the U.S. and Intercontinental titles at WrestleMania by putting them on John Cena and Daniel Bryan, respectively. Those titles would headline house shows and pay-per-views where Lesnar is not scheduled.
MetsFan4Ever now says that Vince is on board with Lesnar retaining, Cena winning the U.S. title and either Sheamus or Daniel Bryan winning the Intercontinental title. Dean Ambrose is apparently in line to get a big push heading into SummerSlam.
He also said that he was told that Reigns is being compared to Lex Luger and his WWF push in 1993 and early 1994. Luger received a huge push and was pencilled in to win the WWE title at WrestleMania X, however he failed to get over as a top babyface and was moved to the mid-card with Bret Hart going on to win the belt.
Once again, take this as a rumor for now. Even if it is true, as we’ve seen with other company plans, they can literally change at the last minute.
John Cena Appears On Jimmy Kimmel: Cuts Great Promo On Rusev, Talks Getting Beat Up Before WWE
John Cena appeared on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live to talk about his upcoming match with Rusev at WrestleMania. Cena and Kimmel touched on several subjects, including Cena’s work before getting in to pro wrestling. The highlights are below:
* Kimmel said that Cena worked as a bouncer at a bar in which he frequented. John Cena said he was a jerk back then and apologizes to people he was mean to. He said his manager pressured him to not let people too young in. He said he wouldn’t let 60 year-olds without ID in.
* Cena says he was in his fair share of brawls while working there, and lost plenty of fights.
* Cena said that he would go to a pizza place next door to his old job that allowed you to have a giant pizza for free if you could eat it all. He said this happened so much the manager just started offering free pizza.
* Cena said he’s been training for a big match on Sunday, so his diet is intense. He says he’s drinking straight American beer.
* Kimmel and Cena bring up his match with Cena. Kimmel shows a picture of him and says that he’d let him in the bar whether he had an ID or not.
* Cena says he buys a shotgun, a lawnmower, a sixteen pound ham, and sets off fireworks while humming the national anthem.
* Cena says Rusev can blow him….a bunch of balloons that he’ll drop from the ceiling after he wins for America. The crowd absolutely erupts. The Mexican band member says “God Bless America.”
* Kimmel asks about Cena’s sex scene in Trainwreck, Cena says they gave him a prop to use, but at WrestleMania he does his own stunts.
Stats On How Much Wrestling Is At WrestleMania, WWE Star Expecting, The Soup, More
– Jack Swagger’s wife noted on Twitter that she’s expecting their second child.
– The Wall Street Journal has an article looking at how much in-ring action is at WWE’s WrestleMania events. They found that in the past 4 WrestleMania events, singles matches have averaged 17 minutes and 47 seconds. They also found that during those singles matches, only about 9 minutes and 36 seconds, or 54%, of each match involves actual wrestling. Recent WSJ studies found only 11 minutes of action in a NFL game and around 18 minutes of action in a MLB game.
– As noted, WWE’s annual takeover of The Soup on E! will air Friday. Below is a photo from filming on Wednesday:
Friday—@TheSoup salutes @wwe!! w/@mikethemiz @natalieevamarie @wwedanielbryan @Naomiwwe @JerryLawler @MichaelCole pic.twitter.com/ky40znaxQI
— Joel McHale (@joelmchale) March 26, 2015
– A reminder that The Rock will be hosting SNL this weekend, during recent commercial promos he tells some jokes and reveals that his porn name would be “Dusty Summit”.
