tuesday

Speculation on John Cena’s Schedule After He Returns

As previously noted, John Cena will be making his return to weekly WWE programming on the July 4th episode of SmackDown Live and will be billed as a “free agent” moving forward. Dave Meltzer discussed Cena’s return on today’s installment of Wrestling Observer Radio and speculated what his schedule could be like when he returns to the company.

While none of this is confirmed, Meltzer presented a scenario that could see Cena work only RAW and SmackDown televised events on Monday’s and Tuesday. He would not work WWE Live Events later in the week. This scenario would leave Cena plenty of time to fulfill his non-WWE commitments and Cena would still have a strong presence on WWE programming. Cena would of course work both pay-per-view events for the RAW and SmackDown Live brands each month. So basically, he would work Sunday-Tuesday and have Wednesday through Saturday off.

Note on Picture-In-Picture Advertising on SmackDown Live

As many of you have seen recently. WWE is now doing picture-in-picture advertising on the SmackDown Live brand on Tuesday nights. This was apparently the USA Network’s idea as they plan on doing it for other shows. The idea is to keep the viewers from changing the channel during commercial breaks.

It’s worth pointing out that WWE is only doing the picture-in-picture advertising for the non-important matches and are still doing full-on commercials for their bigger matches. This past Tuesday on SmackDown they did normal commercial breaks for the AJ Styles vs. Dolph Ziggler match and other popular matches.

Backstage Update on the Mae Young Classic

As previously noted, WWE will head to Full Sail University on July 13th and 14th to tape the Mae Young Classic. Here are some notes regarding the show, courtesy of PWInsider:

WWE has already locked in a number of talents for the tournament. There is expected to be around 32-women total.
The WWE Network will feature a preview special for the tournament on August 20th.
The first round of the tournament will be released on VOD the following week.
The second round of the tournament will release the week after that, which is the first week of September.
The finals of the live special are expected to air on Tuesday September 12th. SmackDown runs that night in Las Vegas and it’s being speculated that they could hold the finals there, instead of Orlando.

Harley Race Breaks Both Legs

According to WWE, Hall of Famer Harley Race has broke both his legs in a fall this past week. Here is an excerpt from their report:

WWE Hall of Famer Harley Race has broken both legs after a fall in his home in Troy, Mo. on Tuesday, WWE.com has learned.

Race sustained a fracture to his right femur and suffered breaks in his left fibula and tibia, as well as a spiral break of his left ankle. The WWE Hall of Famer required emergency surgery to relieve the swelling in both legs late Tuesday night. He subsequently received four blood transfusions and underwent surgery on Friday to reset the fractures.

WWE wishes Harley Race the best on the road to recovery.

Possible Spoiler for the Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match

As seen on Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live, Shane McMahon announced the first-ever Women’s Money in the Bank ladder match that will see 5-women fighting for a chance to win a briefcase that allows them the opportunity for a shot at the Women’s Championship anytime they want. Those names include Carmella, Tamina, Becky Lynch, Natalya and Charlotte.

Dave Meltzer indicated prior to the announcement that the match would see only four competitors because there was expected to be two women matches at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view event. With the announcement of five competitors, it is very unlikely now that two matches will take place on the card.

Bryan Alvarez suggested on today’s installment of Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE may have changed it to five competitors because the winner of the MITB ladder match may cash it in later in the night. This could be the reason why the Women’s championship match isn’t being defend on the card now and the number of competitors was switch from four to five.

Chris Adonis Suffers Injury at Impact Tapings

PWInsider reports that Chris Adonis (former WWE Superstar Chris Masters) suffered an injury during Monday’s Impact tapings in Mumbai, India.

It’s being said that Adonis went to a local hospital to get an MRI but it’s currently unknown exactly what injury he had suffered. Due to the injury, he was unable to work the set second of tapings on Tuesday.

We will keep you updated if we receive an update on his condition.

Footage of CM Punk’s Heated Argument on The Challenge

Here is footage of Tuesday’s episode of MTV’s The Challenge: Champs vs. Pros in which CM Punk got into a heated argument with cast member Johnny Bananas.

In the footage, Bananas takes a shot at Punk’s UFC debut loss, which prompted Punk to respond, “I was going to either win gloriously or die a glorious death, and that’s something that someone like you is never going to understand because they wouldn’t let you in because no one would pay a dime to see your ass.”