It was confirmed during the WWE Payback pay-per-view from Chicago on Sunday night that former WWE Champion Rob Van Dam will be returning to the company at the upcoming WWE Money In The Bank pay-per-view which will take place Sunday, July 14, 2013 from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The following is from an interview Van Dam did about his contract status in mid-April:
"RVD said 'anything is possible' regarding his contract status but said he had plans but is a skeptic by nature and until his name is not on the dotted line somewhere, it’s not for sure. RVD confirmed he hasn’t signed a contract with anyone but he couldn’t imagine going back to the same schedule he did before. He said a full-time schedule is not in his best interests."
With CM Punk expected to be back with WWE this summer, the writing team is currently working on different storyline plans for his return. One scenario being discussed is for Punk to be paired with Brock Lesnar upon his return, with Heyman and Lesnar eventually turning on him. Punk would turn and feud with a heel Brock Lesnar this fall.
WWE is currently planning Randy Orton vs. Sheamus for SummerSlam in August. There continues to be speculation that Orton is turning heel soon, with the WWE Payback promo video reinforcing this possiblity.
Speaking of Randy Orton, he brought back his skull punt at Extreme Rules during his match against The Big Show. The punt was phased out of Orton’s move set a while back due to it’s risk of causing concussions to his opponents. Orton will not be using the move on a regular basis – and was done to play into the “Extreme” theme of Sunday’s pay-per-view.
The Rock surprised his cousin, WWE Diva Tamina Snuka, with a new Lexus SUV. The following photo is from Twitter:
Dwayne Johnson
@TheRock
"Just surprised my cousin @TaminaSnuka w/ an SUV. Amazing woman w/ a heart of gold."
F'n awesome. #Love pic.twitter.com/iV1bpXU71Y
at 3:35 AM - 24 May 2013
WrestleMania 30 is still close to a year away, but early planning is already underway for the top matches at the historic anniversary show.
Despite the fact that WWE is running a storyline that Brock Lesnar has fulfilled his contractual obligations, Lesnar is still with the company and will once again be featured in one of top matches at WWE’s biggest show of the year.
A report at F4Wonline.com states that the two primary opponents currently being discussed for Lesnar at WM30 are The Rock and The Undertaker.
The Rock is WWE’s top choice for Lesnar, but the injuries he sustained at WrestleMania 29 (and the heat he got from Hollywood studio execs, who were already saying he shouldn’t be wrestling) have casted a shadow of doubt on his in-ring future.
The Rock and WWE are expected to meet after the summer to discuss whether The Rock will wrestle again, in what would almost certainly be his final run as an active competitor.
FOX Sports South has posted a new article looking at DDP’s work helping Jake “The Snake” Roberts resurrect his health and career.
“This is it. If you don’t get it done, you’re going to die,’” Roberts told himself before moving into DDP’s Accountability crib. “I mean, when you want to die, you can shut yourself down to that point. There’s no doubt in my mind I could do that to myself to die. Give up.”
The big news from the interview was Jake Roberts announcing he’ll be in the 2014 Royal Rumble:
“I’m announcing that right now. I’ll be in the Royal Rumble next year, count on it… I worked too hard in this business to go out that way. So I guess we’re going to have to take a victory lap. I’m definitely coming back.”
The Undertaker’s recent match against Dean Ambrose on SmackDown will be his last for a while, because the Dead Man is set to undergo surgeries on his right shoulder and his left hip. According to a report by WrestleZone.com, the Dead Man reportedly told WWE Chairman Vince McMahon that despite the procedures, he will in fact be wrestling at WrestleMania XXX – and already has a few potential opponents in mind.
“Taker would like to work with either John Cena or Brock Lesnar,” a writing team member told Wrestlezone.
“Taker also has some ideas regarding The Shield. The whole scenario on Smackdown played out great, and Taker sees big money in those three.”
Overall – The Undertaker came out of his recent matches in much better shape than he has in the past few years. Heading into WrestleMania 29, he was rested up and had changed up his diet and exercise routines. He also worked a smarter match with CM Punk – taking far fewer hard bumps than he did in his previous WrestleMania matches against Triple H.
