Plenty of Mania hype and interviews, Honky Tonk Man interview, Impact post-show, more Mania visitors, new name possibly involved in WWE's "finishing program", why participants in the 12-man tag were changed, Questions on Bryan/AJ, managers, the trashed Women's title, and Madusa in the Hall, Z! TLIS #60, new WWE tag team, Lesnar-WWE update, Sheamus does more anti-bullying work, WWE/YouTube relationship profiled, Impact rating, TNA-country music crossover, Mania pre-show match, and Cena talks bullying

WWE's YouTube page continues to feature quite a bit in the way of WrestleMania-related videos.

Here's a preview of an interview with the always-controversial Honky Tonk Man. He makes good points.

C.M. Punk was interviewed about Chris Jericho. I think he's right about the "the man" comments. Not that Jericho isn't immensely talented.

Mick Foley talked about his favorite WrestleMania moments and more. Good read.

Here's the post-show for Thursday's Impact Wrestling.

Terry Funk has had to pull out of AXXESS due to not being physically ready to travel after a second knee replacement surgery.

Add The Miz's girlfriend Maryse to those visiting at WrestleMania. Timbaland appeared at the Mania premiere party as well.

After the break, I go into everything else from Friday, including PWInsider.com's questions. Next up, Zack Ryder's interviewed.
Zack Ryder talked about the origins of his gimmick, social media, and more. This guy has the right attitude. He basically had a blank canvas on the ECW brand and made the most out of it. He made his own character and opportunities, even when WWE ignored him.

Former WWE, WCW, and TNA executive Terry Taylor was at FCW recently. His name is being tossed around to work with the new expansion to WWE's developmental program. Interesting. I don't know too much about what he'll bring to the table, though.

Alberto Del Rio was pulled from the 12-man tag to save him for a bigger return. Thank goodness they finally think of something like that. He should be important post-Mania, as he had a lot of momentum not too long ago.

Christian wasn't medically cleared to compete at WrestleMania. Maybe they should have checked that BEFORE putting him in the match?

USA Today promoted the childish banter between The Rock and John Cena.

On to my take on Friday's PWInsider.com's questions, linked to earlier:
1. I love how you pointed out Bryan's real name, that AJ's a WWE Diva, and that Nikki and Brie Bella are the Bella Twins as if we would have been confused if you hadn't. But, yeah, he'd be very disappointed in her and probably yell at her for losing, which AJ would sell amazingly and would get him some heat. On the flipside, I'd like to see Bryan help AJ become Divas' Champion down the line and take all the credit. Maybe even come to the ring with both belts himself?

2. I don't know exactly what JJ Dillon did in relation to the Horsemen, but generally they were just put in the role of manager. Ditto for some authority figures. It's generally just a role.

3. As they said, they're still doing DVDs. The company who distributed them to retail stores just got out of doing that.

4. There's a joke in here about "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan being a janitor character in WCW, but no... she still has it to the best of my knowledge.

5. I agree with their stance. They're interviewing her for something on the WWE Network, so there's not any major heat that would prevent them from putting her in.

Triple H had a Q&A ahead of Mania. That last question was hysterical.

John Cena talked about The Rock to MTV.

Here's episode #60 of Z! True Long Island Story. I wanted to see more of the Back to the Future parody. I could have done without seeing Justin Roberts tanning, though. Good stuff with Ziggler. I also want to know where Trent is. That creepy guy on the side of the road might have gotten him... I especially liked the Mania graphic at the end.

Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel have formed a tag team in WWE, vowing to chase after the Tag Titles. That's a great pairing.

C.M. Punk talked about punk music on Fuse.

Bret Hart offered his thoughts on Sunday's event. I agree with his thoughts. Very smart guy.

Machine Gun Kelly talked about his relationship with John Cena, WWE and more. No relation to Kelly Kelly.


John Cena talked even more about The Rock in Washington, DC. Good read/listen. While I was younger at the time and didn't appreciate his reasons for doing so, I was legitimately pretty upset that The Rock became "Dwayne Johnson" and came out with the "Rock is dead" interview. I remember an ad for one of his movies that aired during Raw where he referred to himself as "DJ" with no hint of being The Rock. I see why he did those things now, but at the time it felt like he kicked wrestling (and its fans) to the curb after their years of support.

Diamond Dallas Page and Hillbilly Jim are visiting at WWE's rented-out hotel in Miami.

Speaking of DDP, he talked about Rock not needing to beat Cena. I completely agree!

There's talk that WWE will announce a big match for WrestleMania 29 the day after this year's event. That's smart to sell tickets. I'm guessing another round of Cena vs. Rock, unless Punk challenges Austin or something (which I'd love to see). Or maybe Taker's last WrestleMania? Just throwing out ideas here.

Brock Lesnar has been talking to WWE. Start up those rumors again!

Here's a story on people taking bets on WrestleMania. Interesting picks. Some of the "no leaks" thing could have to do with the bookers changing their minds a number of times before showtime!


Cody Rhodes talked in-character ahead of Mania. Good read.

Sheamus showed what a good company face he is in a piece on anti-bullying.

Variety looked at WWE's use of YouTube.

Edge and the Four Horsemen talked ahead of going into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Edge also spoke at AXXESS. Very crazy seeing him with short hair after so many years of it being long. Good listen.

Batista is also in Miami, though this could easily be coincidence.

Impact Wrestling drew a 1.04 on Thursday. Note that this week was built on the Hulk Hogan/GM cliffhanger.

Here's another Cena interview, this time at AXXESS.

Rock also talked at AXXESS. It certainly sounds like he's hinting at getting back in the ring beyond Sunday.

James Storm and Jeff Hardy will be attending the Academy of Country Music Awards.

John Cena talked to Busted Open. Here are some highlights. Very good read to get inside Cena's head and why he does the things that he does.

Shawn Michaels also talked on Busted Open. Here's a clip.

Daniel Bryan makes three Busted Open clips in a row. I agree with his stance on why management (and some critics, myself included) weren't high on him until recently.

The dark match for this year's WrestleMania (which will stream online on YouTube and Facebook at 6:30 EST) will be Primo and Epico defending the Tag Team Championships against The Usos and the new team of Tyson Kidd/Justin Gabriel in a triple threat. Should be a good warmup/kick-off, though I wonder what happened to Kidd's team with Trent Barreta.

Chris Jericho talked at AXXESS.

As did Daniel Bryan and Sheamus.

Finally, John Cena talked about bullying and more. He's a strong man for not blocking some of those haters on Twitter.

That's all for Friday's news. More to come soon. Thanks for reading!