Weekend Recap: Rock Missing 'Mania?, Kelly Kelly Upset, Khali's Surgery, Legends, Mysterio, More
Since weekends can be a little slow, we will be posting a "Weekend Recap" every Monday where we cover some of the major stories from late Friday through Sunday evening that you may have missed.
- The Rock appearing at next year's WrestleMania is still not a guarantee. As we reported earlier, his biggest movie of 2013 – GI JOE 2: Retaliation – opens nationwide on March 29th, a week before WrestleMania 29. WWE does a full media blitz in the week leading up to the event.
A source told me that Vince McMahon is optimistic that The Rock can balance his New York-related GI Joe media appearances on the east coast with WrestleMania. These appearances would be theoretically mostly in the New York metro-area towards the end of the first week of April, or the week before WrestleMania. WWE officials are hopeful that they can possibly piggyback The Rock promoting WrestleMania while hyping the movie, getting extra value out of his appearances. However, nothing is definitively set on this as of now.
- Kelly Kelly was at RAW's 1000th episode last Monday night and was scheduled to make her first televised WWE appearance since May. I can confirm that she was booked for a segment on the show, and she was not happy about her segment being cut. According to someone close to her, she was reluctant to make the appearance but ultimately decided to agree since WWE had been accommodating her request for a sabbatical to pursue her acting and modeling career. In addition to acting and modeling, Kelly is also looking to do some new web site related projects in addition to wwedivakellykelly.com.
- The Great Khali underwent surgery last week in Pittsburgh to remove a pituitary gland tumor that's caused his enormous size, which is the same condition that Andre the Giant had. ABC reports that the condition was discovered through WWE's Wellness Program. The article also asked if Khali's condition could have been a legal issue had WWE not acted, you can check out the full article by clicking here.
- ABS-CBNNews.com has an article about Rey Mysterio, who was doing overseas promotional work in the Philippines. During the article, Mysterio discussed almost wanting to quit the business after his most recent knee injury.
"This past year that I've been recovering from my surgery, I really thought about it (quitting wrestling)? And my family has been supportive from day one, especially my wife. She tells me, 'God is giving you the blessing to go out there and do it again.' All over [again]," Mysterio said. "My knee is good after the surgery and, you know, I'm just going to take this ride as long as it goes, until God says, you know, it's time to tap out now. Say [that] I quit. But that's not the time yet."
Mysterio also discussed his family life, visiting the Philippines and more. You can check it out by clicking here.
- The Wrestling Observer reported that WWE is considering making the "legends" segments on RAW a recurring feature. I've been told that the segment wouldn't be a dedicated or branded segment, but something where there's a constant issue that involves either one or two legends and a younger talent (i.e. Heath Slater). The belief is that this would help younger talent learn elements of the wrestling business that they typically wouldn't learn working with each other.
There's also discussion about bringing this concept on the road, but obviously some of the legends aren't capable of physically doing a regular schedule. The idea is still a work in progress, but Vince McMahon is leaning towards it and utilizing legends under a blanket legends deal.
"This would freshen up the arena cards and provide viewers watching at home a familiar face without requiring much additional investment as most legends are typically over the second their music plays," a source tells us. "The difficulty is getting an extended length of time out of this category of talent as nostalgia has typically proved to have a short shelf-life with even the biggest names."