Forbes estimates that The Rock made over $36 million over the last 12 months – and it doesn’t specify if that includes the millions (and millions) he’s made from working with WWE and main eventing their pay-per-view of all time, WrestleMania 28.

The article states that movie producers love The Rock’s willingness to travel in order to promote his movie, which Rock crdits to his wrestling background.

“That’s the wonderful part about being in this business. I love knowing the audience and listening to the audience. Oh, and kicking a little ass, too,” Rock said.

Rock also noted he and his manager, ex-wife Dany Garcia, changed their approach to Rock’s wrestling background. “It reached a point where I felt that ­instead of me trying to conform to Hollywood, I needed to have ­Hollywood conform to me and ­embrace my past,” says Johnson.

The article states that The Rock’s former management team forced him to stop talking about wrestling – and his decision to return to WWE included firing those same agents.

– WWE has launched an official WrestleMania page on Facebook. Next year’s event takes place on April 7, 2013 in East Rutherford, New Jersey at MetLife Stadium.

– WWE will hold a Raw live event on August 11, 2012 at Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi. John Cena, CM Punk, Chris Jericho, Kane and Lord Tensai headline.

– The former Bella Twins have been announced to appear at the Wizard World Philadelphia Comic Con on Sunday, June 3. The event takes place at the Pennsylvania Convention Center 1101 Arch St. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

– Former WWE Superstars MVP and Chavo Guerrero have confirmed that lucha legend Konnan is now on Twitter via twitter.com/Konnan5150.

Konnan wrote, “i got to the twitter party late but i am finally here….No looking back now, looking forward to hooking up with old and new friends…Peace.”

– WrestlingFigs.com says Kevin Nash and Sean “X-Pac” Waltman will appear at Center Island Sports 101 Union Ave. Ronkonkoma, New York on Saturday, June 2 beginning at 6:30 p.m. A wrestling show follows nearby at 8:00 p.m. (Event Information)

– In a battle of former “Beautiful People” mates, Angelina Love faced Velvet Sky on Tuesday in Orlando, Florida for an upcoming episode of TNA Xplosion.

– Alex Silva, who earned a contract with TNA Wrestling as a result of the Gut Check Challenge, has been added to the company website’s roster page.

– This week’s featured match on TNA Xplosion pits Samoa Joe against Kazarian.

In the segment breakdown, the opener with Paul Heyman and Triple H started strong with a 3.32 quarter rating. CM Punk and Santino Marella vs. Cody Rhodes and Daniel Bryan plus the Beth Phoenix vs. Alicia Fox match lost 601,000 viewers. John Cena’s Make-A-Wish segment lost 370,000 viewers and did the lowest rated quarter in months with a 2.64 rating.

Kane vs. Big Show and John Laurinaitis firing Show gained 1,033,000 viewers for a 3.37 quarter rating. This was one of the best 10pm gains of the year for RAW. Brodus Clay, R-Truth and Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz, Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger lost 996,000 viewers.

Randy Orton vs. Chris Jericho gained 108,000 viewers and the closing segment with Cena and Laurinaitis gained 990,000 viewers for a 3.43 overrun rating. This was among the best overrun gains of the year.

In the Show-Laurinaitis segment that gained so well, Male Teens went from a 2.0 to 2.6 rating, Female Teens went from a 0.8 to a 1.0, Males 18-49 went from 2.2 to 2.9 and Women 18-49 went from a 1.0 to 1.3 rating.

In the Cena-Laurinaitis segment, Male Teens went from 1.3 to 2.1, Female Teens went from 0.7 to 0.9, Males 18-49 went from 2.5 to 3.3 and Women 18-49 went from a 1.1 to 1.3 rating.

DIRECT LINK: Flashback! Lots of Hot Revealing Michelle McCool Bikini Pics from Her WWE Days!

Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

* RAW on May 11th in Glens Falls, NY drew more than 5,500 fans for $230,000.
* RAW on May 12th in Syracuse, NY drew 5,500 fans for $195,000.
* SmackDown on May 12th in Newark, DE drew 3,200 fans for $105,000.
* RAW on May 13th in Rochester, NY drew 5,500 fans for $190,000.
* SmackDown on May 13th in Youngstown, OH drew 3,500 fans for $100,000.

- Regarding Kharma’s status, she has been ready to return for a while but with the recent change in Divas Title storyline, WWE creative currently has nothing for her at last word.

Big WWE Debut Revealed for SummerSlam + Must See Layla Lingerie Pix!

Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

TJ Perkins and the All Night Express defeated the Young Bucks and Mike Mondo in a six man war. This match was insane! TJ Perkins and Mike Mondo are so talented; it’s unbelieveable to see what they did in the ring with those two tag teams. This match had a lot more to it than what I was expecting.

Jay Lethal and Tommasso Ciampa wrestled an awesome match that ended with Lethal delivering ten backbreakers to Ciampa and ending the dominant male’s undefeated streak. This match was great from start to finish, and you have to wonder how long before Lethal will be challenging for the ROH World Title.

Lance Storm and Mike Bennett wrestled a style of match that was much different than their contest from Showdown in the Sun. Bennett actually controlled the pace of this match quite a bit and it was more of a brawl style contest than a technical one. I was surprised to see Bennett hold his own. The match just wasn’t filled with high spots like their last one; it was more about just beating the hell out of each other. Storm got the win with the superkick and the three count to finish Bennett off. Good match here. I can’t wait for the rubber match! Storm thanked the Toronto crowd after the match for their appreciation of the hard work tonight in the ring. He thanked ROH for still having honor in this sport. Class act.

Michael Elgin defeats Adam Cole with the 360bomb after the buckle bomb on Cole. This match was awesome too! Cole is a rising star, but Elgin is on his way to becoming a full time main eventer. He’s extremely talented for a guy with his physique. Again, this was just another great match on the card. Adam Cole superkicked Truth Martini for running his mouth after the match.

Fit Finlay and Roderick Strong wrestled a very solid technical contest with some impressive brawling outside the ring mixed in with it. Strong wins the match with a running kick to Finlay’s jaw as he retains the TV Title by getting the three count. This matchup was completely unique to the rest of the card in how it was worked. I thoroughly enjoyed this match.

WGTT defeated the Briscoes to become the new ROH World Tag Team Champions. Charlie Haas sprayed something on a towel and used it to choke out Mark Briscoe before picking up the three count. Before the screwy finish, these two teams wrestled an excellent tag team match for over fifteen minutes. The Briscoes showed why they are the best tag team in wrestling today, and WGTT just stole the belts back in sneaky fashion.

I’m surprised to say that this match was more of a brawl than an in ring matchup for the first six minutes or so. They used the ringside area a lot more than I expected in this one. The crowd was clearly against Davey with all of their f-you chants towards him. Steen was still able to hit most of his signature moves in this one. The crowd was hot with all sorts of chants throughout this match; they were just never quiet. Davey used the DR Driver on Steen and got a two count near the end of the match. Steen hit the F5 after an amazing exchange of blows and slaps and only got a two count. Steen then hits a moonsault off the top rope for another two count. Steen countered Richard’s ankle lock attempt and countered it into the sharpshooter, and then Richards countered back into the ankle lock when Steen’s knee buckled. Steen grabbed the turnbuckle and Davey pulled so hard that Steen ripped the turnbuckle off and Davey flew face first into the exposed turnbuckle when Steen was able to counter the hold. Steen then hit the sleeper suplex followed by the package piledriver and the three count to become the new ROH World Heavyweight Champion! Steen is hugged by Jimmy Jacobs and Steve Corino after the match. This match was great; it wasn’t what you would call a five star classic in terms of a technical matchup, but it’s a solid four plus stars for the story it told and the performance these two gave us.

Now THAT is how you deliver a great pay per view. I hope now that the first two pay per views of May have been good that the third and final(Over The Limit) delivers this coming Sunday. Thanks for checking this out and remember that you can view this show for only fifteen dollars on rohwrestling.com.

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Speculation:
Lightning and I both believe that Miz and Brodus Clay will wrestle an impromptu match, and we both believe Brodus’ squash run will continue at Miz’s expense. We also think Ryback will squash someone in a quick match as well. Lightning thinks his opponent could be Alex Riley; I think there’s a possibility they could randomly book him to face Cody Rhodes or Santino. Rhodes and Santino have a champion vs champion match on Smackdown this week, and it’s also possible that they could have a match again this Sunday.

Confirmed Card:

Preshow Match: Zack Ryder vs. Kane

JT: Kane will win. The misuse of Zack Ryder will continue. The match will be short.

ML: We have nothing relevant for the Big Red Machine to do right now, so we’ll book him against a guy who he really hasn’t feuded with but has been involved in a few of his storylines. This match has no buildup but will conclude a “feud” that has gone on since Ryder and Cena were “BFFs.” There really isn’t much more to say about this match.
Predicton: Kane

Divas Champion Layla vs. Beth Phoenix

JT: Layla just came back, and she’s been on a role. If you want to talk about some bringing legitimacy, I’m going to have to argue that Layla has helped make the divas division legitimatte. This should be a good match, and I hope it’s given 8-10 minutes for these two to tell a good story. I don’t think Beth will get the title back just yet; it’s more fun to watch her chase it. I’m predicting that Layla retains her title.

ML: So, the “injury” angle where Beth lost the title to Nikki Bella wasn’t about Kharma. It was about Layla? That doesn’t make much sense to me. My guess is, Nikki Bella winning the Divas Title was to try and lure the Bella Twins into re-signing with the company. When that failed, Layla made her return to win the title. That way Nikki didn’t beat Beth without an “injury,” and if the Bellas did re-sign, Nikki could hold the title for a period of time before losing it. That’s my theory on the whole thing, especially considering now that Kharma hasn’t returned. So, they scrapped the injury angle and Beth is back in the picture.
Prediction: Layla to retain the Divas Championship

WWE Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston & R-Truth vs. Jack Swagger & Dolph Ziggler

JT: Kofi and Truth just won the titles. I don’t see them dropping them this soon. This match has the potential to be really entertaining if it’s given a fair amount of time. I predict Kofi and Truth to retain their titles.

ML: With AJBP(Air Jimmy Boom Proof), my name for them, winning the tag titles on Raw a few weeks back, they were thrusted immediately into singles match against Ziggler and Swagger. With the singles matches being split between the two, it set up this Tag Match. This match, if they’re given enough time to showcase what tag team wrestling is about. Considering 3 of the 4 guys in the ring, should be competing for some sort of World Title, a tag team title match will have to do. It is nice to see some sort of gold around the waists of Truth and Kofi. Ziggler needs to break away from Vickie and Swagger, and move into the World or WWE Title pictures.
Prediction: Air Jimmy Boom Proof to retain the Tag Team Championships

John Cena vs. John Laurinaitis

JT: Lightning is right about this match. Big Show will probably help JL score the victory. If not Big Show, then it will be Lesnar. If not Lesnar, then it will finally be Batista. There’s better odds on Big Show at this point. Even if JL wins the match like I’m predicting, it will be a lot of fun to watch Cena kick his ass for a short while. This won’t be match of the night, and it won’t even be memorable, but you know it’s going on as the main event to close the show.

ML: I’m not sure how many people have linked this match to some of the other storylines going on, but I made a connection last night that I have only shared with one person, Joe Thunder. Before, I get to that connection and reveal what I think wll happen, I’m going to comment on how bad I believe this match is going to be. JL wasn’t a very good wrestler in his “prime”….and now that he’s older, it’s going to be worse. Also, the fact that this match is going to be the Main Event, royally pisses me off, because I feel like we’re not going to even get a 2-Star match out of it. Now, that I’ve done my ranting and raving about this match…..here’s my theory.
Prediction: John Laurinaitis

QuickNote: John Laurinaitis is going to win this match with help from BIG SHOW. Yes, that’s right, Big Show. Think about it for a moment….Big Show gets fired on Raw, he had to beg for his job. If anyone on the WWE roster interferes duing the match, they’re fired. With Show being fired on Raw, he’s TECHNICALLY NOT part of the WWE roster anymore. He helps JL win the match, and the next night, gets re-hired, but he’ll be heel and on JL’s team. BOOM! You have another GIANT to feud with Cena, while Cena has to contend with Tensai, as well. That’s my theory and I’m sticking to it.

World Heavyweight Championship Fatal 4-Way Match: Chris Jericho vs Sheamus vs Alberto Del Rio vs Randy Orton

JT: This should be a really good match. Jericho and Orton add a lot of star power to a match that I honestly thought would be dull if it were just Sheamus and Del Rio one on one. I don’t think Jericho or Orton will win the title right now, and I don’t think WWE has enough belief in ADR as a top heel to be the champ either. I’m picking Sheamus to win this match. If Sheamus were for some reason to not retain the title, then I would actually expect Jericho to be the surprise winner that nobody expected.

ML: I don’t believe Randy Orton and Chris Jericho were added to this match because one of them are going to win. I believe they were added to the match because WWE lost confidence in the idea of Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio 1-on-1 for the World Title. That should make Sheamus feel really good about his abilities. So far, Sheamus has defended against Daniel Bryan, an amazing wrestler who can carry anyone. Then, in his next 1-on-1 match, the WWE adds too top notch wrestlers to the mix in Jericho and Orton. Hmm….if I’m Sheamus, I’ve lost confidence in myself. If this match is done properly, it could be one of the best Fatal Four-Way matches we’ve ever seen. Either way, this match should be fun to watch.
Prediction: Alberto Del Rio to become the NEW World Heavyweight Champion

QuickNote: It doesn’t really make much sense to have Sheamus lose the title already, but the addition of Jericho and Orton, does concern me. I feel like the WWE officials may have lost confidence in Sheamus, already. I’m not sure what would have caused that to happen, but it seems fishy to me. I suspect that Sheamus and Jericho will feud from here, considering they were the last two Royal Rumble participants and that Del Rio and Orton will start the feud I thought was going to happen back before Mania.

WWE Champion CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan

JT: The first WWE ppv meeting between the two best performers in the company happens this Sunday at Over the Limit. As long as these two get at least twenty minutes, this match will make the show worth paying for. I hope this is the start of a long rivalry that goes all summer like Orton/Christian in 2011. I could almost see the title changing hands here with the help of AJ, and then seeing Punk chase Bryan for the title over the next couple months. However, I’m predicting AJ’s involvement in this match will cost Bryan his shot and that Punk will retain the WWE Title.

ML: If there ever was a match that screamed “HEY! I COULD BE A 5-STAR MATCH!”….it’s this one. These two are both awesome wrestlers and absolutely amazing to watch. The lack of buildup for this match makes me believe that we could see a DBry and CM Punk feud. If you remember correctly, CM Punk and Chris Jericho’s feud didn’t really start off fast either. And with the backstage segment of AJ and CM Punk this past Monday, it makes me further think that this feud wll develop further. I’m hoping the WWE doesn’t book AJ to get involved in this match, this match alone can be the best match of the year. Intereference or distractions would only kill what this match is capable of delivering.
Prediction: CM Punk to retain the WWE Title

QuickNote: If the WWE does decide to book some sort of interference or distraction in this match from AJ, I actually suspect that AJ could get involved to HELP Daniel Bryan win, to try and gain approval from DBry. So, if AJ does get involved, look for a Daniel Bryan victory.

Lightning is up by four matches in our prediction challenge for the year. We predict for WWE, TNA, and Ring of Honor ppvs. Over the Limit should be an interesting show this Sunday, and I hope for all of our sakes that the outcome is not as predictable as we made it sound here. Thanks for reading!

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Paul Heyman’s return: “Paul Heyman’s return is one of the more positive things to occur in WWE in a good while. As I have said over the years, Heyman’s TV persona is an easy one to dislike. We’ve had some classic on air disputes but none compare to some of the one’s that we have had off the air especially when we were teaming in Atlanta while working for WCW.

“What makes Heyman so effective is that he doesn’t play the ‘role’ of a villain who has litigious tendencies. Plus, Heyman is a life long fan who now has the chance to essentially reinvent himself with this unexpected return to the genre. It will likely be his last return to the business if I had to make a wager.

“I thought Heyman’s interaction with HHH Monday night was the highlight of the broadcast while it kicked off the show as nothing really could follow that compelling first segment of the night.”

Potential Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar match: “Lesnar will get what he has coming to him was a great line by The Game. It could mean many things including a possible match between HHH and Lesnar if we fans are lucky. Time will tell on that but this particular issue has my interest and, more importantly, has me thinking of all the potential ‘moments’ that the HHH/Heyman/Lesnar issue might provide.”

- Florida Championship Wrestling issued a press release detailing Christian’s FCW appearance Friday in Orlando. Christian, who has not returned to WWE TV, is not advertised for in-ring action at the FCW show, but is advertised for a “once-in-a-lifetime meet and greet autograph/photo session.”