Author Topic: Industry News & Notes: (Read 757043 times)

mass 04 · « **Reply #1625 on:** January 28, 2012, 05:44:01 PM »

Hulk Hogan recently spoke to Examiner.com in an attempt to clarify his controversial comments about Bobby Roode “not being ready” to hold the TNA World title, days before Roode was set to headline TNA’s biggest PPV of the year, Bound For Glory. Hogan said that he didn’t think Roode had what was needed as a babyface and needed to go heel to get that extra edge:

“It was my opinion, and it was a simple gut feeling to do what was best for the company I was sitting watching Roode’s parents saying what a great son he is and his wife saying what a great husband he is and his kids saying what a great dad he is. He’s the ultimate good guy. He’s going to win the belt! But, then what? Who does he wrestle? So, I sat back and thought, ‘You guys have just done one of the best old school wrestling angles I’ve ever seen.’”

“[Turning Roode heel] give him that extra spice – then he’ll have everyone to work with, rather than throw him out there and set him up for failure.”

“It was just me trying to take a step back, throwing in my two cents. They didn’t have to do it – I didn’t make anyone do anything. It just makes sense.”

Hulk Hogan also took a few shots at the Ultimate Warrior during an interview with the UK’s Sports Vibe , calling Warrior an “idiot” who was never one of the “boys” and was in the business strictly for the money. Regarding Warrior, Hogan said:

“.. You can’t do business with him, he really never loved this business, some of us have the business in our veins like Ric Flair, Vince McMahon, Macho Man and myself. That’s what we are, we can’t move without this business. I think the Ultimate Warrior came in just to make money and he only lasted a couple of years, then when he left, he tried to do independent things but would screw the promoter’s over.”

“He’s really not what we would call one of the boys. The last time I saw the Ultimate Warrior, he was at my house spending time with my family, having a great time. Then all of a sudden I haven’t seen him for 10-years and I see all this crazy stuff he was putting on Twitter. Someone must of hit him in the head with a brick or something.”

“You just have to ignore him because he’s an idiot and you can’t do business with him. I can just pray for him and feel sorry for him, the guy is messed up, so there isn’t going to be a Twitter wrestling match between me and him because he might not show up or he might do something crazy. I’m into doing positive good things, I don’t need that crap.”

mass 04 · « **Reply #1626 on:** January 29, 2012, 02:42:01 PM »

Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Update on the demographic breakdown of WWE's current audience by age.

* 22% are between the ages of 2-17.

* 23% are between the ages of 18-34.

* 26% are between the ages of 35-49.

* 30% are 50 and older

*35% of audience is female

Montague · « **Reply #1627 on:** January 29, 2012, 05:27:22 PM »

Quote from: mass 04 on January 29, 2012, 02:42:01 PM

Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Update on the demographic breakdown of WWE's current audience by age.

* 22% are between the ages of 2-17.

* 23% are between the ages of 18-34.

* 26% are between the ages of 35-49.

* 30% are 50 and older

*35% of audience is female

Certainly not what I would have guessed.

mass 04 · « **Reply #1628 on:** January 30, 2012, 09:10:20 AM »

There was a WWE creative plan that was listed for John Cena to win Royal Rumble according to F4Wonline.com.

The report noted that if John Cena were to win the Rumble, the storyline would be based around him having to choose between a WWE title match or his match with The Rock.

mass 04 · « **Reply #1629 on:** January 31, 2012, 04:26:07 PM »

The Wrestling Observer reports that Bushinroad Group Publishing, a popular card game company, has purchased 100 percent of the stock of New Japan Pro Wrestling from previous owners Yukes, a video game company in a transaction that was announced earlier today.

mass 04 · « **Reply #1630 on:** January 31, 2012, 04:30:41 PM »

John Laurinaitis revealed exclusively to WWE.com the Superstars who will compete for the WWE Title in the Raw Elimination Chamber Match: WWE Champion CM Punk, Dolph Ziggler, Chris Jericho, R-Truth, The Miz and Kofi Kingston.

gerweck.net

If you wondered why John Laurinaitis wore a sleeveless WWE referee shirt last night at the Royal Rumble to officiate the CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler WWE title match, well, it was a rib since Laurinaitis has skinny arms.

Montague · « **Reply #1631 on:** January 31, 2012, 04:41:15 PM »

Quote from: mass 04 on January 31, 2012, 04:26:07 PM

The Wrestling Observer reports that Bushinroad Group Publishing, a popular card game company, has purchased 100 percent of the stock of New Japan Pro Wrestling from previous owners Yukes, a video game company in a transaction that was announced earlier today.

Ha-ha...
Supposedly, Bushiroad bought it for 500 million yen.

How much is a "yen" in USD, anybody know?
Tim?
You travel.

mass 04 · « **Reply #1632 on:** February 02, 2012, 03:26:39 PM »

PWInsider.com is reporting that WWE plans to develop a new show for the debuting WWE Network which will be centered exclusively around cruiserweights. The report notes that WWE has been searching the indy scene for talents weighing in at around 200 pounds for the show.

As previously reported, WWE filmed a test pilot at Florida's Sunlife University back in December, reportedly loved the feeling of the pilot, and plans to use the venue as the location for the cruiserweight-based show.

mass 04 · « **Reply #1633 on:** February 02, 2012, 03:28:48 PM »

Linda McMahon’s Senate campaign reported raising $326,646 in the fourth quarter (Oct 1 – Dec 31) last year from 1085 individual donors. “We view our new donors as shareholders eager to help share Linda’s positive message of job creation and economic recovery. The members of Team Linda agree that what Connecticut needs now are job creators, not more professional politicians,” McMahon’s campaign manager, Corry Bliss, said in a press release. “These 1,085 new shareholders join our growing grassroots organization of Team Linda members who have contributed their time, energy and effort to spreading our positive message of getting Connecticut back to work. Team Linda is energized and working hard toward our goal to knock on half-a-million doors and make one million phone calls. They are volunteering as Town Coordinators, endorsing our campaign, sharing our plan to help small business owners on social media, joining a rapidly growing coalition of more than 200 women and even contributing as little as $10.” The latest figures do not include a $770,000 loan that Linda made to the campaign. During her failed 2010 Senate campaign she spent around $50 million of her own personal fortune.

(Source: Wrestling Globe Newsletter)

mass 04 · « **Reply #1634 on:** February 02, 2012, 03:31:17 PM »

pwtorch:
WWE champion C.M. Punk has revealed WWE will be releasing a three-disc DVD on his career and life. "My three-disc DVD has been green-lit and I get to tell my story," Punk said on the latest "Art of Wrestling" podcast with Colt Cabana. "It's the old documentary slash life story slash follow-me-around-with-a-camera. I get to pick a bunch of matches to put on there and who I want to be interviewed. I was told I'm in charge. I've already made a lot of people angry with a lot of decisions I've already made. They told me what they wanted and I went and watched a couple of them (other WWE DVDs), then I immediately sent this ridiculously-long email about what I wanted." Included in his request is hand-selected music.

mass 04 · « **Reply #1635 on:** February 02, 2012, 03:33:26 PM »

Sinclair Broadcasting has brokered a deal with Opus Distribution for the international distribution rights to Ring of Honor's new weekly syndicated TV show.

Opus will be presenting the ROH series to potential international buyers at the MIPCOM marketplace in October. Opus president Ken DuBow noted in a press release that "several countries have already made inquiries regarding syndication."

Joe Koff, the new ROH COO, said, "ROH wrestling has no language barriers, and we are expecting to see growth internationally. In brokering this deal with Ken DuBow, we’ve accelerated that plan and are glad to have someone so experienced to bring ROH to the rest of the world.”

mass 04 · « **Reply #1636 on:** February 02, 2012, 05:21:42 PM »

f4w:
Miz hasn't won a singles match since the end of November, and there are people who believe he's the one who is taking the blame for the godawful Survivor Series buyrate with the return of the Rock.

mass 04 · « **Reply #1637 on:** February 03, 2012, 06:16:36 AM »

gerweck.net

The heel injury to Sting is believed to be a ruptured plantar fascia–which a painful tear in the largest ligament in the foot. That’s great news considering as Sting first feared he had torn his Achilles which would have likely ended his in-ring career. His doctor advised him to rest 4-6 week’s but with the pay-per-view next Sunday he may work through the pain.

Montague · « **Reply #1638 on:** February 03, 2012, 02:36:23 PM »

Quote from: mass 04 on February 03, 2012, 06:16:36 AM

gerweck.net

The heel injury to Sting is believed to be a ruptured plantar fascia–which a painful tear in the largest ligament in the foot. That’s great news considering as Sting first feared he had torn his Achilles which would have likely ended his in-ring career. His doctor advised him to rest 4-6 week’s but with the pay-per-view next Sunday he may work through the pain.

He needs to go old-school on this one and revist his 80's roots: pop a few percs and Somas with a little bit of speed.
Hell, snort a few lines while you're at it; makes for great promos!

Montague · « **Reply #1639 on:** February 04, 2012, 06:31:26 AM »

Quote from: cheftim on February 03, 2012, 09:13:20 PM

Did anyone watch Orton vs. Barett tonight on Smackdown? Punk is not the best in the World Orton is. If they go into another Attitude Era he will be the Federations top guy. He looked so good tonight. He did such a great job with the crowd and did every move so smoothly unfortunately he really made Barett look terrible. Renegade Orton can easily be the superstar of 2012. Timmys favorite move has always been the standing drop kick. I love seeing anyone do that move and Orton is getting really good at it. He really looked terrific tonight.

It's been said that Orton would be like the "next Austin" should the Attitude Era be rebirthed.
I was never a big fan of the Orton character, but his ring work is undeniable. Apparently, there are enough fans who dig him.

The standing drop kick is a beautiful thing to watch. Lance Storm used to get incredible height, able to kick most guys in the face. (He attributed his vertical leap to high-rep squats.)
Curt Hennig also executed a great SDK, which was even more impressive when you considered that he went about 230-255lbs. for much of his career.

njflex · « **Reply #1640 on:** February 04, 2012, 07:33:30 AM »

Quote from: cheftim on February 03, 2012, 09:13:20 PM

Did anyone watch Orton vs. Barett tonight on Smackdown? Punk is not the best in the World Orton is. If they go into another Attitude Era he will be the Federations top guy. He looked so good tonight. He did such a great job with the crowd and did every move so smoothly unfortunately he really made Barett look terrible. Renegade Orton can easily be the superstar of 2012. Timmys favorite move has always been the standing drop kick. I love seeing anyone do that move and Orton is getting really good at it. He really looked terrific tonight.

guy is always in top shape,,never too bulky just enough size ..panther like long arms ,legs and moves good in ring.has the stare and persona for the mike down pat,,,

funk51 · « **Reply #1641 on:** February 07, 2012, 01:19:38 PM »

if your sick of the new stuff they call pro wrestling wahlmarts have a special on dvd's 6 disc sets for 10 bucks some great titles in these two packs.

GraniteCityDon · « **Reply #1642 on:** February 16, 2012, 08:11:25 AM »

LOP:

As noted before, The Rock is scheduled for the April 2nd RAW Supershow - the day after WrestleMania 28. This isn't confirmed but it's believed that Rock will start a build for SummerSlam that night, schedule permitting. The idea all along has been for The Rock to do more than one big pay-per-view in 2012.

Great news, this leads me to think of 2 things:

1. Cena turns heel and gets a dirty win, perhaps with outside assistance from Kane?! It makes sense folks........

2. Rock turns heel in another pathetic attempt to get Cena over with the crowd that dont want to cheer him regardless.

Montague · « **Reply #1643 on:** February 16, 2012, 08:30:12 AM »

Quote from: GraniteCityDon on February 16, 2012, 08:11:25 AM

…this leads me to think of 2 things:

1. Cena turns heel and gets a dirty win, perhaps with outside assistance from Kane?! It makes sense folks........

2. Rock turns heel in another pathetic attempt to get Cena over with the crowd that dont want to cheer him regardless.

This is pure speculation on my part, but I’m leaning more towards something resembling the first scenario. I suspect they’d use an angle this huge to push the Cena character full-throttle in the desired direction. In my opinion, I don’t think it’s possible to get Cena over as a face any more than he already is at this point. A heel turn, to me, seems most logical right now.

Secondly, I doubt they’d bring Rock back in this capacity to work heel. He’s kind of in that “celebrity outsider” zone - I say “kind of” because he was a full-time wrestler for quite a number of years before making the jump to movies, which in my mind, puts him about halfway between outsider and wrestler. Most celebs who work guest spots do so as faces, but I think that Rock's aforementioned position makes it harder to predict how they’ll use him.
However, I suspect one reason he returned is to tap into that wonderful cross-over market, attracting a new (the current) generation of wrestling fans to watch his movies. If that is the case, I predict he would want to stay baby face.

Again, this is all pure conjecture on my part, and I may be completely wrong.
I’ve always enjoyed the Rock character, I have an amount of respect for both him AND John Cena, and I’m looking forward to watching their Mania match on Youtube.

funk51 · « **Reply #1644 on:** February 21, 2012, 10:54:26 AM »

wade barrett out dislocated elbow paid the price for big slow overshooting the target with dolph ziggler. the ref gave the dreaded x sign designating a real injury. also on raw undertsker getting disrespected by fans i guess it's time to let mark callas stay home for good. HHH saved the segment but it was going badly up until he came out fans yelling you suck , overrated, and the dreaded what, what when indertaker was talking...

Montague · « **Reply #1645 on:** February 21, 2012, 11:35:37 AM »

Quote from: funk51 on February 21, 2012, 10:54:26 AM

wade barrett out dislocated elbow paid the price for big slow overshooting the target with dolph ziggler. the ref gave the dreaded x sign designating a real injury. also on raw undertsker getting disrespected by fans i guess it's time to let mark callas stay home for good. HHH saved the segment but it was going badly up until he came out fans yelling you suck , overrated, and the dreaded what, what when indertaker was talking...

I wonder how many of those fans know even a third of Taker's WWE history.

It makes me think of a scenario involving fans who only started watching the shows last month booing someone like Bruno or Thesz during a guest appearance.

monopoly19 · « **Reply #1646 on:** February 21, 2012, 02:02:56 PM »

You could tell barrett was pissed off, they bleeped him a couple of times I think. Then to top it off the next person who got thrown out landed on his arm, had to laugh at that one!

Taker did not look or sound good on the mic by himself IMO, was tough to watch!

Montague · « **Reply #1647 on:** February 21, 2012, 06:12:30 PM »

Quote from: cheftim on February 21, 2012, 05:42:58 PM

Lawler said something like "I think Barrett broke his arm for real?" the next guy that got thrown out landed right on his arm!

I'm not discrediting these guys, and accidents do happen, but...

Being thrown out of the ring was one of the earliest things they taught us in "wrestling school."
Although, that may have been because the asshole promoter was short a couple of guys for a battle royal.
Prick.

Nonetheless, there's not much to being thrown out of a ring. Most of you could practice and learn it in a few minutes.
Just watch a guy do it; not last night, but most other times.

What you see them do is exactly how it's done.

leonp1981 · « **Reply #1648 on:** February 21, 2012, 07:40:23 PM »

We were never shown how to be full-on flung out of the ring, but we got shown the face-first-one-hand-on-the-apron method almost the first night of training I think. As you say as well, probably to fill spots in future battle royals, which we had at the end of every session.

Unfortunately, last nights botch was all Show's fault with the throw, and then I couldn't tell if Santino knew about the legit injury, as he kinda landed and then lost his balance before falling on Wade. I'd already heard about the injury, and actually winced when I saw Santino land on the arm!

GraniteCityDon · « **Reply #1649 on:** February 22, 2012, 05:23:04 PM »

LOP:

It was reported last week that Brodus Clay was removed from television due to Vince McMahon's unhappiness with the voluminous grappler's ring work. To add further detail, the WWE head believes he's unsafe and reckless in the ring; he doesn't want him competing until his ring work is brought up to par.

Eyebrows were raised backstage about McMahon pushing forth talent safety since Mark Henry and Cody Rhodes competed on this week's Raw SuperShow hurt