John Cena will be out of action four-to-six months, at least until the Royal Rumble pay-per-view (PPV) and had surgery done to repair injured tricep and elbow. Cena has been working through the injury long enough to make it to the SummerSlam main event but will now take time off to take care of his injuries.
WWE's Dr. Michael Sampson stated that, "John has been dealing with a large left elbow bursitis. We did an MRI, which showed a partial triceps tear. Being the warrior that he is, he did not want to have surgery [forcing him to cancel his SummerSlam match]."
Sin Cara injured his finger, Monday night, dislocating it as he attempted a Suicide Dive during his match against WWE World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio. Doctors believe Sin Cara could continue working with a splint on his finger. Sin Cara's latest injury is drawing heat from management, who view the luchador as injury-prone throughout his stint with WWE.
Ric Flair may have blown an opportunity for a job with the WWE after his actions at the WWE2K14 symposium, during the pre-SummerSlam WWE Axxess event, having shown up tipsy while making disparaging remarks about Daniel Bryan as well as mentioning TNA Wrestling at a WWE event.
Ric Flair said, on the Steve Austin podcast, that "[WWE] told me to entertain 'em and I did, but apparently it wasn't received the way it was supposed to be. The people who are running the game loved it, but the problem is corporate WWE gets mad at me, number one, which upsets me because I love the company and respect them so much."
Santa Clara and Philadelphia are pitching the WWE to host Wrestlemania 31. Santa Clara will try to sell the WWE on the San Francisco 49ers new venue, Levi Stadium, as a possible site for the event. "It really is the wrestling world's Super Bowl," said Santa Clara mayor Jamie Matthews.
No heat is expected against CM Punk after he dared a fan, who kept heckling and interrupting him during his promo against Paul Heyman, to step into the ring against him. The rant was not planned and Punk was described as being "in a grumpy mood" before hitting the ring and taking out his frustrations on the obnoxious fan.
WWE is considering dropping the Hell In A Cell PPV, keeping it as a specialty match to be used as needed, as opposed to revolving a PPV around the match.
TNA Wrestling (TNA) star A.J. Styles teased going to the WWE via his Facebook account, as the former Ring of Honor (ROH) star is at the end of his contract with TNA. "Where do fans want AJ Styles to be? TNA? WWE? ROH? Japan? Lots of options. Tough decisions," Styles wrote to fans. Changes in management has TNA has forced the company to work under a tighter budget, and Styles - who has been with the company for 10 years and has been one of the popular wrestlers for the company - may being heading into a "free agency" period. Considering the success of ROH alumni in the WWE (CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Seth Rollins, Antonio Cesaro), Styles will likely attract interest from the WWE.
Bill Goldberg has shut down rumors that he will be a part of Wrestlemania XXX telling a fan on Twitter simply "nope" as far as a possible appearance.
Non-Spoiler Match List For Friday Night Smackdown
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Steel Cage Match: Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett
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Non-Title Match: Alberto Del Rio vs. Christian
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Non-Title Match: Curtis Axel vs. Cody Rhodes
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Handicap Match: Mark Henry & Big Show vs. 3MB
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Darren Young vs. Antonio Cesaro
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Dolph Ziggler vs. Big E. Langston