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Brock Lesnar was recently featured on the front page of the Star Tribune out of Minneapolis, Minnesota in an interview which touched on his life with WWE. The article notes that Lesnar was paid $450,000 by the UFC for his fight with Randy Couture, and by the next day he was back on his 40-acre ranch in Alexandria, Minnesota where he farms corn. The article says he doesn’t own a computer and dislikes attention. Here are some highlights from the interview:

On deciding to sign with WWE: “Here I was wondering how I was going to buy myself a beer and a steak after the national tournament, reaching down and pulling out lint. It was pretty easy. Go with a sure thing. And the sure thing at the time was becoming a pro wrestler.”

On the WWE lifestyle: “You’re in a different city every night. You can be whoever you want to be. You can sit in your hotel room and rot to death or you can go out and … just use your imagination. And I didn’t use my imagination, I was living it. Really, I was a young man, 22 years old. Bank accounts overflowing and everything else.”

The article notes that Lesnar lives an extremely private life, and most locals know to leave him alone. The UFC champ reiterated this by saying “Our dream is just to go home and shut our gate.”

Christy Hemme’s band HEMME will be playing The Social in Orlando tonight.

As noted on Wednesday here on the site, Tony Atlas’ future with WWE is very much in doubt following the transfer of his associate, Mark Henry, to the Raw brand this past Monday. Company officials plan on pushing the “World’s Strongest Man” as a top babyface, which as a result, has left Atlas to fend for himself as he is not being brought alongside him. As of this week, he is still considered a member of the ECW roster, but creative has no idea on how to use him. His contract may be coming due as early as next week as he returned to the company on July 8, 2008 and signed a deal (more than likely a one-year deal) shortly thereafter.

Howard Finkel pointed out in his latest blog on the WWE Universe site that ECW General Manager Tiffany has dropped the “Interim” label from her title. He feels the length of “The Abraham Washington Show” should be shortened up a bit, but thinks the young star has promise.

Former WWE Diva Torrie Wilson was interviewed by Kevin Eck of The Baltimore Sun to discuss her second place finish in NBC’s I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here and she had some interesting things to say regarding World Wrestling Entertainment. Highlights from the interview are as follows:

Whether having a snake on her face was worse than kissing Vince McMahon: “Oh, making out with Vince, for sure [laughs]. I’ll take the snake any day.”

Embarrassed over taking part in the Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal: “I’m very mad at myself and embarrassed that I agreed to be a part of something like that. A lot of people in the audience didn’t even know that I was in that match because they didn’t even announce it. For me, that whole experience at WrestleMania was kind of like closure. I feel like maybe I’m not appreciated like I would have hoped. They just wanted all these girls there. Now I can understand why Trish [Stratus] decided not to do it; she was smart. Going into it I trusted them that they would use me in the right way and I should have known better. All in all, I learned a valuable lesson.”

Whether she thinks she’s done with professional wrestling: “I do. I just didn’t appreciate that experience and I felt very unappreciated after all of the years that I put in for them. You combine that with the fact that I asked them to do a little thing on wwe.com to “vote for Torrie” and they just ignored me. So, my feelings are hurt.”

SHIMMER Women’s Wrestling issued the following today:

Everyone at SHIMMER – WOMEN ATHLETES would like to congratulate Serena Deeb on officially signing a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment.

From the first day she stepped into a wrestling ring, it has always been Serena’s goal to earn a job with WWE. Serena moved from Virginia to Kentucky on her own dime for the sole purpose of enrolling in the Ohio Valley Wrestling training program several years ago, and she has been a mainstay in the OVW women’s division ever since.

Serena debuted for SHIMMER on May 21, 2006 as a last minute substitution when an opening on the lineup created an opportunity. During the three years that followed, Serena displayed tremendous drive, determination, and eagerness to constantly learn. She has always tried to improve her game, be it in SHIMMER competition, at OVW, or in her handful of appearances for Ring of Honor.

Despite OVW losing its status a WWE developmental territory last year, Serena remained focused on achieving her goal of impressing WWE officials enough to be given a chance. All of Serena’s hard work has now paid off, as she will soon be relocating to Florida to start with WWE developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling.

Personally speaking, I feel that Serena Deeb is one of the top three female babyface talents in North America today. She’s got unbelievable fire, and can project emotion better than most wrestlers of a similar age and experience level. These are essential attributes to go along with the sound athletic wrestling fundamentals which she also possesses. She’s a complete package, and is perfect for television.

Serena’s training at OVW not only prepared her quite well for professional wrestling in general, but also specifically for the style of wrestling which WWE is looking for. Serena’s continued instruction at FCW will only sharpen her existing skills, in preparation for the next stage of her career.

The three match series between Serena and Sara Del Rey were truly breakout performances for her as a wrestler. I feel those matches excellently displayed Serena’s unbelievable potential to become a star in this industry. In her outings several weeks ago at the SHIMMER Vols. 23-26 tapings in Chicago, Serena continued to show that she absolutely deserved the spot at the top of the card that she had worked her way into.

I’d like to thank Serena Deeb for all of her contributions to SHIMMER during the past three years. From all of the memorable matches, to sacrificing her car on the drive up for the SHIMMER Title Tournament weekend, Serena gave so much to our product. Though we’ll greatly miss her at future tapings, Serena has now been given the chance of a lifetime– to work her way to the top of her chosen profession.

Good luck, Serena… and congrats!

Serena Deeb photos are online courtesy of OVW. She looks like Dawn Marie a little bit!

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New Diva – Serena Deeb Pictures

Mick Foley recently updated his MySpace blog. Here are some highlights:

On Daffney: “Daffney’s got it going on. That’s what I think whenever I see her on TV, doing promos, in the ring, etc. Which is my way of saying that she’s really hit her stride; everything seems to be coming together simultaneously. I’ve always thought that anything that’s different is good, and man is this chick different. […] Plus, she’s read one of my novels like 4 times, and that’s a little scary. “

On a mistake he made at an iMPACT taping: “I am a big believer in doing promos that are not heavily scripted. Just a few bullet points and a little emotion, and I’m usually fine. Occasionally, however, these type of promos will yield a verbal faux pas that rolls off the tongue right before you can catch it – you know it’s wrong the moment you say it, but by that time, it’s too late. For example on an upcoming “Impact” episode, I state that it’s been 18 years since I’ve said “I Quit”, which is obviously not correct. I did in fact say those exact words three years ago in a match with Ric Flair. As a matter of fact, to make sure there was no confusion, I repeated the words five times. What I meant to say was that it had been 18 years since I’d tapped out, which is, to the best of my recollection, the truth.”

Foley confirms his opponent for Victory Road: “I hope everyone enjoys the buildup to “Victory Road”. I think there is some good stuff between me and Kurt to build up the match I’ve been dreading.”

According to a source, WWE Diva Rosa Mendes was told by management to slim down. Reportedly, she took the comment to heart and has dropped weight in recent weeks.

Former WWE diva Candice Michelle fell out of favor with WWE management because of her weight when she worked out in the ring last month in Los Angeles. Candice was rehabbing an injury and WWE officials apparently believe she showed up to TV out of shape and not looking “ready for TV.”

Any issues between WWE and Rey Mysterio in the last few weeks appeared to have calmed down. Although the issues may not be completely settled, he is not leaving and was reportedly on the verge of doing so at one point. This was described as a pretty big deal a week ago within WWE as there was a fear he would quit.

Although Mysterio is under a long-term contract with WWE he did bring up to them the idea that he thinks he could make more money in Mexico. Whether or not that is credible is not known as Mysterio has been making around $1.5 million with WWE and the belief is that he couldn’t make that much in Mexico. AAA had reportedly offered him a $1 million signing bonus and in excess of $1 million per year when his previous deal with WWE was expiring. He is believed to be among some on the WWE roster that are probably seeing a decrease in 15% in pay because of revenue streams being down.

Whatever issues he might have had with WWE appear to not be an issue at the moment and is said to be happy with his current program with Chris Jericho.

Taped last night in San Jose, CA:

Raw for 7/6

Ted DiBiase Sr. was in charge. He came out as a heel, but he actually got one of the best reactions of the night as people saw him as a returning legend. He came out with Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase Jr. so he’d get a heel reaction, but the people didn’t get it. Somewhere in the middle of the promo people caught on he was playing heel.

He announced Chris Jericho & Edge vs. Ted DiBiase & Cody Rhodes for the tag titles at Night of Champions. Apparently there is a moratorium as from next week forward there can be no title matches on television until the PPV. He also announced Rhodes vs. Mark Henry and DiBiase vs. Randy Orton. Neither were happy about that news.

Edge & Jericho b Colons in a non-title match. Not nearly as good as the match on TV tonight. Ref Marty Elias was distracted by Primo, and Jericho used the codebreaker on Carlito followed by a spear by Edge and Edge pinned Carlito. Carlito turned on Primo after the match, pounding on him and throwing him over the announcers’ table. Fans quickly realized Carlito was a heel.

Gail Kim & Mickie James b Maryse & Alicia Fox when Kim pinned Maryse after a kick to the face. Some really funny crowd reactions all night. Most of the people in my section at ringside were asking when did Gail Kim come from TNA. It was clear all night that a very small percentage of the fans here watch Smackdown, ECW or Superstars. Cody tried to pay off DiBiase to get him out of the match. That didn’t work. Somewhere in here Ted cut a promo about how he’s mad because Dusty Rhodes is in the Hall of Fame and he isn’t, and he was a hell of a lot better than Dusty. He also told Cody that he was going to put him in polka dota.

Mark Henry b Cody Rhodes via count out. World’s strongest slam and Rhodes walked out. Henry got no reaction coming out even though he got a good reaction not that much earlier pinning Orton. People did cheer him after winning but not like a star.

Randy Orton b Ted DiBiase with the RKO. Good match, clean pin in the middle.

MVP VIP Lounge with Jack Swagger to start a new feud. Funny line as Swagger was bragging about going to the University of Oklahoma and MVP said, “That’s because you couldn’t get into a better school.” MVP was all over Swagger for walking out of his match against Orton and that’s not something an All-American would do. Swagger said MVP attended Florida State, that is Florida state prison. He called him a phony and a fraud. MVP gave the speech about how he hung with the wrong crowd, made mistakes, paid his debt to society while Swagger acted all bored. MVP, who wasn’t over at all on the first show, took off his jewelry and the place got into him pretty big. He wanted a fight, but Swagger mentioned that he doesn’t fight criminals. Effective segment.

Ted DiBiase and his dad argued backstage. I didn’t get the gist of it, but probably Ted said he was trying to teach his son a lesson. Ted Jr. thought his dad set him up to fail and slapped his dad hard. This was good as well.

Evan Bourne b Kofi Kingston in a non-title match with the shooting star press. Post-match saw Big Show destroy both guys, spearing Bourne and putting the camel clutch on Kingston. Bourne-Kingston had some early athletic stuff but too fast.

John Cena did a backstage promo and was booed heavy.

HHH NC Cena to get the title shot. Cena in his promo said they would be doing a Wrestlemania match. They did a very good match, probably just under a PPV quality match. I’d say crowd was 75% pro-HHH, which was weird because in show one, HHH got a faded star reaction and Cena was the only guy in the first show who came off to the live crowd like they were a big star. Here the crowd was strong into the entire match and booed the hell out of Cena. As they were building the finish, Rhodes & DiBiase ran in to end it. Orton then said that since they both lost, he doesn’t have to defend against either. Ted Sr. then said he was wrong, as he saw it that neither lost and he was ordering a three-way at the Night of Champions.

After the taping was over, Cena did a promo telling the fans that they had just seen a great show and had just seen a Wrestlemania main event. He said people could remember that they saw the best match they had ever seen in their lives. I was about to throw up when he delivered that line. People were with him. He said Rhodes & DiBiase ruined Wrestlemania and wanted all three to come down and apologize. After calling them cowards, they got in the ring. Orton was in HHH & Cena’s face when DiBiase & Rhodes bailed out without Orton knowing. Show ended with an Attitude Adjustment by Cena and pedigree by HHH on Orton, and then Ted Sr. came back out and slapped Ted Jr. in the face.

SmackDown Diva Melina talked to the Philippine Daily Inquirer to promote WWE’s upcoming tour of Asia, which will hit Manila on Friday, July 10th at the Araneta Coliseum. In the interview, the former WWE Women’s Champion insists the Divas are more than just eye candy. “We’re not just girls who go out there [in skimpy clothes],” she said. “I have a lot of respect for what we do.”

WWE.com has posted a new photo set of Kelly Kelly.

SmackDown Superstar Ricky Ortiz talks about respect in this week’s edition of the “Ricky O. Rally Up Inspirational Thought of the Week on WWE.com.

As announced on Raw and here on the site last night, WWE World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk will battle one half of the WWE Unified Tag Team Champions, Edge, this week on WWE Superstars on WGN America. That has the potential to be awesome.

When John Cena and Triple H defeated The Miz and MVP, respectively, on Raw, they earned the right to face one another on next week’s show with the WWE Championship No. 1 contendership on the line. The winner of the tournament will then face Randy Orton at Night of Champions as we noted last night.

Event: WWE Monday Night RAW
Airdate: Monday, June 29th, 2009 (USA Network)
Location: The HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.
Results by

“Yes, sir, we promised you a great main event…”

-Live from HP Pavilion in San Jose, CA

-Hosted by Michael Cole & Jerry “The King” Lawler

-Mr. McMahon is out to start the show, and says if his friend Donald Trump was here tonight he’d be giving away the show for free and not having commercials. Vince asks the crowd if they want him to do the same thing, but he says he needs commercials to make money. He says can give them their moneyback however, but he’s not going to. He says Trump even orchestrated a fifteen superstar trade between ECW, Smackdown, and Raw that he has to live with. He says Trump also came up with this guest host idea that he has to live with. So I guess all of Trump’s decisions were final, and irreversible. That’s some contract. Vince announces that tonight he’s going to have a guest host who will shake things up, and introduces Batista as the guest host for the evening. Yes, that Batista. Batista says he’s excited, and we’re going to have some fun tonight. Batista announces a four man Night of Champions tournament to determine Orton’s challenger for the PPV. Batista announces the matches as Miz vs. Cena and MVP vs. HHH. Batista says when Vince first asked him to do this he said no way, because he’s a fighter not a guest host. Before he can finish his thought Legacy comes out, and in a stunning upset they are all wearing shirts! Orton tells him he shouldn’t have come back, and asks if he’s a glutton for punishment. Orton asks what he thinks is stopping them from coming down and tearing the rest of him apart. Batista says nothing is stopping them, except for that they even look at him the wrong way he’ll fire all three of them. Batista says he wasn’t ready to come back until he was ready to fight, but Vince promised him unlimited power. He can do anything he wants which means he can make Orton’s life a living nightmare. Orton reminds him that it already is a nightmare. He barely survived three stages of hell after getting hit with a sledgehammer. Batista makes crying noises, and again gives the folks over at the Wrestlecrap forums the gift that keeps on giving with a whining face that is sure to give them lots of photoshopping fun for this week. Batista says he’s not going to make Orton defend his title tonight, but he needs to worry about the trade that Trump made before he was fired. He says Raw acquired five new superstars, but Batista is only going to make him face three of them in a 3 on 1 gauntlet match. Batista says he knows how much Orton likes 3 on 1 fights so its about time he found out what its like to be on the other side of one.

Night of Champions Tournament Match One: Triple H vs. Montel Vontavious Porter
Im very intrigued at this, because one would think that either MVP is going to win here or Miz is going to beat Cena. No way in hell WWE is giving away Cena-HHH III on Raw. Poor MVP gets left to die on the entrance after Trips comes out. He basically gets a negative pop. HHH sells his knee at the outset, so MVP grabs a single leg but gets hammered down. MVP again goes for the single, and again gets a few right hands. MVP answers with a kick to the injured knee, and then wraps the leg around the ropes in the corner. MVP kicks the knee, and then drops an elbow down on it. HHH comes back firing back with right hands out of the corner, but MVP counters a spinebuster and chopblocks the knee. MVP locks in a figure four leglock. He’s ballin’ and proflin! MVP is able to break the figure four with a right hand, but MVP goes right back to it. This time HHH kicks off on the attempt, and then hits a knee lift. HHH goes for the pedigree out of nowhere, but again MVP clips the knee. MVP hits the ballin’ elbow for a two count, and then misses a drive by kick. Another pedigree attempt is countered into a backdrop, and this time the drive by connects for two. MVP sets up for the playmaker, but HHH counters and the pedigree finishes at 4:34. Odd match as basically MVP looked good for the majority, but only because Trips was injured. Then he gets caught with the pedigree out of nowhere and loses. Meh.
Winner: Triple H (Pinfall-Pedigree *1/2)

Unified Tag Team Championship: Chris Jericho & Edge © vs. The Colons
Jericho says despite his vow to never appear on Raw again, because of his massive talent and prodigious abilities he finds himself in front of all of us hypocrites once again. He says make no mistake about it that the only reason he’s here… Edge cuts him off and says the only reason he’s here is because he asked him to create a united front, because of inept management they were being held back. Now they stand in front of us as the Unified Tag Team Champions. Edge says that means they can appear on any show they want, and unfortunately that includes Raw. That’s one of those unintentional shoot comments isn’t it? Jericho starts out with Primo, and grabs a side headlock. Shoulderblock from Jericho connects, but Primo is back with a dropkick. Headscissor takedown from Primo is followed by a Legsweep. Edge tries a cheapshot, but gets knocked down to the floor. Primo then backdrops Jericho out on top of Edge, and then the Colons deliver a double baseball slide as we head to break.

Back from commercial with Jericho back in control of Primo. Primo comes back with a rollup, but Jericho hits an enzaguri for two of his own. Edge tags in and fires Primo into the top buckle. Primo gets an Irish Whip sending him crashing into the corner for two, and Jericho tags back in smacking Primo in the back of the head. Jericho goes for a running bulldog, but Primo counters sending Jericho crashing into the corner. That allows the hot tag to Carlito who comes in with a springboard dropkick. Swinging neckbreaker connects on Jericho for a two count, and then Carlito runs into a back elbow. Jericho goes for the lionsault, but Carlito moves and then hits a springboard moonsault of his own for two. Carlito goes for the backstabber, but Jericho sees it and counters into a Walls of Jericho attempt. Carlito blocks so Jericho slingshots him into the corner. Carlito is able to stop the momentum and hop onto the second rope delivering a shot to Edge in the process, and delivers a second rope crossbody for a two count. Carlito hits the ropes and runs into a forearm from Jericho allowing him to tag into Edge. Edge goes for the spear, but Primo is able to move Carlito out of the way from the floor. Carlito then hits the backstabber which looks to finish, but Jericho is in to make the save at two. Primo dropkicks Jericho to the floor, and then takes him out with a suicide dive. That leaves Edge and Carlito in the ring, and Carlito delivers a knee lift. Carlito goes for a springboard, but gets tripped up by Jericho on the floor. That allows Edge to hit the spear to retain the titles at 9:35. Great match, but what else would you expect out of these guys. Who says thrown together tag teams suck?
Winners: STILL Unified Tag Team Champions-Chris Jericho & Edge (Edge pins Carlito-Spear ***1/2)

-Orton is in the back complaining to his lackeys about the unfair treatment of Batista when he wanders in and lets them know that if Rhodes or Dibiase interfere he’s going to fire them on the spot.

-Recap of The Miz-Cena rivalry. Correction, an ABSURDLY LONG RECAP of the Miz-Cena rivalry

Night of Champions Tournament Match Two-John Cena vs. The Miz
So last night the IWC nearly exploded with fury after Cena defeated Miz in a glorified squash seemingly thinking he was heading back to FCW or something afterward. I thought I’d take a wait and see approach before shitting on it, and now they have a chance to redeem it a little bit. So we’ll see what happens. Miz takes control right off the bat with a series of knee lifts and right hands. Cena comes back with a back elbow, and a hiptoss. Elbow drop from Cena gets a one count, but then he charges into a boot in the corner. Miz mounts Cena with a series of right hands, and delivers a kick to the head. Cena comes back with a backdrop, and a fisherman suplex for two. Cena grabs a reverse chinlock, and backs Miz into the corner with it. Miz hits a cheapshot on the break, and connects with a suplex for two. Miz turns the table grabbing a reverse chinlock, and then delivers a kneelift. Neckbreaker from Miz gets a two count, and he follows that up with an elbow to the back of the head. Miz buries a shoulder into Cena in the corner, and then measures Cena with a pair of right hands. Cena goes for a running bulldog, but Miz counters, and drops Cena on the top rope. Swinging neckbreaker by Miz gets a two count, and then he continues working Cena over in the corner as we head to break.

Back from commercial and Miz is still in control with a reverse chinlock. Cena powers out of it, but misses a charge and gets hit with a clothesline for two. Miz mounts Cena again and delivers a series of right hands. Miz chokes Cena out with his boot in the corner, and then hits a running clothesline in the corner. Miz heads to the top rope, but gets caught by Cena who sets up for the Attitude Adjustment off the top. Miz is able to counter and deliver an electric chair drop for a two count. Miz drops a series of knees on the back of the neck of Cena, and then hits a legdrop. Running boot to the face by Miz gets another two count, and then he charges into a drop toehold from Cena. Cena goes for the STF, but gets kicked off by Miz who then locks in a sleeper. Cena backs Miz into the corner to break the hold, and then ducks a clothesline. Cena hits a pair of shoulderblocks and a protoplex. Five knuckle shuffle connects, and that is followed by a blockbuster from Cena. Top rope Rocker Dropper from Cena connects, and the STF finishes things at 13:51. Well that sets up a blockbuster main event on Raw next week. I’m SHOCKED they would give away Cena-Trips III on Raw. As for this match it is my feeling that this is the match they wanted to have last night, but couldn’t due to time constraints. This was far better, and actually elevated Miz a bit. Good job from the ‘E righting a wrong from the night before.
Winner: John Cena (Submission-STF ***1/4)

-Cody tries to talk down Randy, but Dibiase butts in and lets them know that everything is going to be alright because he just got off the phone with his dad and next week he will be the guest host on Raw. Orton asks how that is supposed to help him tonight.

Diva’s Fatal Four Way Number One Contender Match: Kelly Kelly vs. Mickie James vs. Rosa Mendes vs. Beth Phoenix

Beth attacks Rosa when she wants a piece of Mickie to show its every woman for themselves. Beth makes a cover on Rosa, but Mickie makes the save with a dropkick. The heels end up on the floor leaving Mickie and Kelly in the ring. Mickie takes her over with a headlock, but Kelly reverses into a head scissors. Its very hard to recap this because they keep cutting to Maryse talking. Not that I’m complaining. Beth comes in and gives a clothesline to the faces getting two counts on both of them. Beth starts dominating mounting Mickie and delivering a series of right hands. Rosa asks if she can help, but Beth runs her off. Mickie uses the quick distraction to lock in a dragon sleeper. Rosa hops on Mickie’s back with a reverse chinlock, and then Kelly hops on board with a sleeper.

Beth comes out and then drives all three women into the corner. Beth and Mickie trade blows in the ring, and Mickie gets the best of it going for a rollup. Beth elbows out, and then all the ladies roll each other up with a variety of near falls. Beth hits a powerslam on Rosa, but Kelly makes the save at two. The faces double team Beth taking her down with a series of forearms. Beth comes back to hit the glam slam on Kelly, but Mickie makes the save at two. Beth charges into an elbow from Mickie, who sends Beth to the apron with a hurracanrana.

Mickie dropkicks Beth off the apron sending her into the steps. Mickie then comes back to Rosa with a few forearms, and finishes things with the jumping DDT at 6:05. It was a disjointed mess of a match, but it was slightly more entertaining then your average diva match. Which means it was a step up from watching paint dry. Mickie and Maryse exchange words afterward.

Winner: Mickie James (Pins Mendes-DDT *)