Industry News & Notes:

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Celebs Confirmed For WrestleMania XXV, Next WWE HOF Announcement
By Daniel Pena
Mar 24, 2009 - 12:39:15 AM

-- WWE has announced that Kid Rock and lead Pussycat Doll, Nicole Scherzinger, will be performing at WrestleMania XXV on April 5 in Houston. Scherzinger is scheduled to open the show with America the Beautiful. Later in the show, Kid Rock will play a medley of his songs including Cowboy, Bawitdaba, Rock N Roll Jesus and So Hott. (Kid Rock and Nicole Scherzinger to perform at WrestleMania)

-- As announced on Raw, the final inductee for this year's Hall of Fame class will be announced on tomorrow night's edition of ECW on Sci Fi. As reported last week, the final inductee is expected to be longtime ring announcer Howard Finkel.

-- The Score in Canada will be airing the WWE Hall Of Fame Ceremony on April 5th, 2009 at 5 PM (ET). Go to http://prowrestlingevents.tk or http://prowrestlingevents.webs.com for info about upcoming wrestling shows worldwide. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)

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Vince McMahon Says TNA Does Some "Reprehensible" Things On Impact
By Daniel Pena
Mar 25, 2009 - 12:17:32 PM

The Hollywood Reporter has an interview with Vince McMahon today promoting Wrestlemania XXV. Here are some highlights from the interview:

If UFC and other mixed martial arts programming has had an impact on WWE: "Most people thought at one point that we would be competitors. But it turns out they are not competition to us at all, or hardly at all. They are sport, we are entertainment; it's a huge difference. The revenue they have cut into is that of boxing."

If it's okay to show Triple H invading Randy Orton's home with a sledgehammer: "Right. What we try to do in situations like that is use things that you can't find around the house. You will never see us use a baseball bat. You don't find folding metal chairs around the house. We are very selective. You can go up to the line. It's storytelling; that's how our business thrives. If you have well-defined characters and put them in the right story line against other characters, people care about their welfare."

If he's concerned with the ratings in recent weeks: "Quite frankly our TV ratings have been very good. We averaged over a 4, I think, three weeks ago. Last week and the week before it was a bit less so because of a number of factors: how many people watched TV and one-off events. What you have to look at is our overall reach in the course of a week. On TV, we reach over 15 million people each and every week, 52 weeks a year."

Whether he is concerned with rival promotion TNA Wrestling as competition: "My concern with TNA is not in terms of competition. My concern with TNA is that they are TV-14, and we are PG. They have to change with the times. I think some of the things they do on television are reprehensible, but it is a TV-14 rating. That's the only bone I have to pick with them. Their TV ratings are a fraction of ours."

McMahon also discusses using celebrities at WrestleMania, how the business has changed since the first WrestleMania, how his company has diversified itself, and more. Click here to read the interview in its entirety.

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HHH Talks About Working With Vince, Stephanie, more (Interview)
By Brad Ingles
Mar 20, 2009 - 4:21:20 PM

In a rare interview with Dave McCoy from MSN TV, Triple H talks about his relationship with Vince McMahon, prefers being a heel, crazy storylines, and more.

On WWE's grueling schedule:
Sometimes people say, "It's so rough, it's so rough." It's not that bad. It used to be a lot worse. But I have two kids and I am home three days a week. But when you do go on the road, it's hectic. You're in a different city every day. You fly in to a new town, you do a show, you go to the next town, you sleep, you wake up and do it again. It's basically just a series of transportation, to the gym, to the arena, to the plane.

What keeps fans coming back:
Entertainment. Sometimes I watch TV and I think, "Who watches this crap?" It's OK, but it's not exciting, it's not entertaining -- and I'm not saying we're everyone's cup of tea. I think there's a large section of our population -- more than people want to believe -- that know what we are, want to be entertained. It's like live comic books. You've got good guys and bad guys, good looking women and good looking men, music and pyro and you live out your fantasies with it. There's this big anti-aggression sentiment, but when you're a kid, that's what you think about. You don't think about picking daisies when you're a 12-year-old boy; you think about being Batman or Spider-man, or John Cena or Triple H. From there, the story lines meld that all together and keep people involved and interested. Sometimes people look at the stories we do and say they are wacky, but it's no more wacky than "Desperate Housewives." I remember when that show first came on and hearing all about it. My wife was watching it and I sat down to watch a few minutes. I was like, "Are you kidding? This is the big rage? And they give us at hard time?"

Decision to reveal his marriage with Stephanie McMahon in storyline:
For story lines and business, we try to keep that stuff separate. But people knew and we joked about it when I was in DX [comic wrestling tag team formed with fellow superstar Shawn Michaels]. The only reason I was apprehensive is where do we go on the flip side of it. Look at it like this: There is the real world and the WWE Universe. So the cat is now out of the bag in the WWE Universe and it now exists there. So anything that has to do with me story-line-wise, you have to be conscious of the fact that I am married into the McMahon family. That throws a different curve into it. So my only concern was it tainting future story lines. Say something happens, and it's like, "Well, why doesn't he get that change through his father-in-law?" [Laughs.] We have created a wrinkle in the fabric of the WWE Universe.

Working for his father-in-law Vince McMahon:
Well, the good thing is I had a really good relationship with him before I even met Steph. We had a great relationship not only from a talent standpoint, but I used to work a lot with Vince hand-in-hand to create story lines behind the scenes, not just for myself but other guys. But if you have ever met Vince, he's a complex man and it can be trying. There are times he wants to choke me and there are times when I want to choke him.

On Vince taking his ideas:
Let me put it this way: When I come up with a good idea in the back, there's not 70,000 people standing up and cheering. Usually when I have an idea in the back, it is dismissed and Vince will bring it up later and pretend it is his idea.

On being a heel:
I love being a heel. If I had my way, I'd have been a heel my whole career. I compare it to Darth Vader by the second or third movie, when he came on, you started saying, "Yeah!" Even though he was trying to kill Luke Skywalker... he was just cool. There was a point in time with my character where I had been here a long time, I had a certain amount of respect [from the fans] and ... you know, I beat up a lot of people and caused mayhem, and to teenagers and kids, that is cool. It just became a cool character and we were struggling ... the worse things we thought I was doing, the louder the audience would cheer me for it. I was coming out and drilling a guy with a sledgehammer and people would go nuts. So I had no choice as people basically turned me. If I thought it would work, I'd turn back in a minute.



Posted in: WWE
WWE
Official Predicts 1 Million Buys For WM, Snuka DVD, 12 Rounds
By Daniel Pena
Mar 21, 2009 - 2:54:54 PM

-- Despite the difficult economic environment, a WWE executive expects WrestleMania XXV to generate around 1.0 million pay-per-view buys.

Peter Clifford, WWE's senior vice president of distribution and affiliate marketing, made the bold prediction to Multichannel News and says WWE will be mailing out over a million pieces of direct mail to previous PPV buyers to encourage them to buy the annual pay-per-view spectacular.

The company has also expanded its marketing effort to achieve the lofty goal, most notably by spending $10 million in advertising spots on ESPN, MTV, and USA Network.

To read the article, click here.

Last year's event drew 1,058,000 buys for $23.8 million, which is less than the 1.2 million buys and $24.6 million the company earned for WrestleMania 23. If WrestleMania XXV experiences the same percentage drop as the 2009 Royal Rumble did (23 percent), the number would be around 800,000 buys.

-- As reported earlier, WWE has plans to release a DVD on "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka. According to the calender section of the latest issue of WWE Magazine, Superfly: The Jimmy Snuka Story hits shelves on Tuesday, April 14th. WWE's Greatest Stars of the 90's DVD will be hitting shelves the same day, although it's not listed on the calender. However, WWEShop.com has started taking pre-orders for the Greatest Stars of the 90's DVD, while there's nothing on the Snuka DVD. Amazon.com doesn't have anything on the Snuka DVD either. It was reported a few weeks ago that production had recently started on the Snuka DVD, and that it was scheduled to be released at the end of the year.

-- On Monday night after Raw, the USA Network will air a special, never-before-seen sneak peek of 12 Rounds, according to WWE.com.


McMahon's Reaction To Script Leaking Online, WWE Superstars, More
By Daniel Pena
Mar 23, 2009 - 3:27:00 PM

source: www.f4wonline.com

As expected, Vince McMahon was infuriated over the script for a recent edition of Raw (March 2, 2009) leaking online (the script was initially leaked to this very website). One source believes John Carle, a creative team writer who was let go just before the script hit the net, is responsible for the sheets going online.

"No coincidence that it's published the same day [creative team member] John Carle is dropped and that apparently has gotten back to Stephanie and Vince," the source said. "Apparently, they had creative sign some absurdly one-sided addendum in late 2007 where if you do something like this after being terminated, they have all sorts of legal action against you. Given the timing and circumstances, he shouldn't be surprised to get a nice legal notice from Stamford shortly. Vince is on a warpath and was mega hot over this so I'm thinking someone is going to be made a legal example of."

It should be noted that Carle was not the only member of the creative team fired three weeks ago as another individual was let go as well, although we don't have his name. The source believes the person who leaked the script felt safe to leak it as it would be hard to pinpoint one guilty party.

For those wondering why more scripts haven't leaked online, it is because the performers don't actually get to handle them for the most part, as the scripts go to the producers of a segment, who then go over the script with the talent.

Another source added his take on the script: "So I took at look at the RAW script that was leaked. That is the real deal -- and from the looks of it was an early draft (most likely PRE-Agent meeting). The show hasn't been timed yet (the time for the breaks are in but not the actual timing of the show). The producers are in, but not the writer assignments. This might have even been the draft that was brought on the plane for Vince to review before RAW. It's funny to look at the amount of crap that has been jammed into those scripts over the years. The live attendance box was added so they can know what the last two dates at the building. The side boxes next to the matches are the announcer notes (that announcers hated and would make fun of). The 'not working' list allows them to see who they 'missed' on not putting on the show. As you can see, the amount of detail that goes into the promos that are written and why these talents have not grown at that art of promos. Though this is what demanded of the creative team to write for Vince. A script can not be turned in without that detail. It's become so rigid a process."

-- As noted earlier, WWE Superstars is set to debut on Thursday, April 16 at 8:00 p.m on WGN America. "The biggest WWE Superstars" from all three brands will compete on this new one-hour show. Unfortunately, a number of wrestling fans don't seem to know if they have WGN America — or if they do, what channel it's on. To see if you get WGN America in your area, click here

-- Amarillo.com has a story on Terry and Dory Funk going in the WWE Hall of Fame next month. Terry described the Hall of Fame as "the Academy Awards of professional wrestling." He added, "I'm elated. (The induction) is in Texas, and what better place to have it? And what better place to have grown up than in Amarillo? That makes it mean even more to me." Click here to read the article.


WWE's Reaction To Not Mentioning Test, Original Big Show WM Plans
By Daniel Pena
Mar 23, 2009 - 4:22:55 PM

sources: 1Wrestling.com, Wrestling Observer Newsletter

-- A number of people are wondering why WWE didn't bother to acknowledge the passing of longtime wrestler Andrew "Test" Martin on any of their shows last week. Regarding this, 1Wrestling's Bill Apter attempted to get an answer from his numerous sources within the company, but all he could get was "no comment." (ASK APTER -- ABOUT TEST'S DEATH NOT MENTIONED ON WWE TV)

-- Big Show was originally earmarked to take part in the Money in the Bank Match at WrestleMania XXV, but pulled after the decision was made to include him in the World Heavyweight Championship bout. Company officials then decided between Mark Henry and R-Truth as his replacement for the match, with Henry winning out.

-- John Bradshaw Layfield has posted a blog acknowledging Rey Mysterio's challenge to him at WrestleMania. "Got brand new boots for Wrestlemania, first time to wear them," Layfield wrote. "Not sure why Rey Mysterio is so stupid to challenge me on such a historic occasion, but he will be the one that suffers.


Angle Talks About His Drug Addiction, McMahon, MMA & More (Recap)
By Daniel Pena
Mar 25, 2009 - 12:45:12 PM

(Thanks to Jonathan Pine)

Kurt Angle appeared yesterday on Opie & Anthony. Here's a recap:

They talk about the wrestling organization that he is in now, TNA, and his falling out with the WWE . He mentions that he went to Vince for help with his drug addiction and Vince pretty much told him to fix it while he was on the road. He claimed it took about 5-6 months to fully get off the pain pills.

Opie asks Kurt more about what went down with his problem he had with pain pills after one of the five times that Kurt broke his neck. I believe he said that he took upwards to 20+ pills a day. Kurt talks about the addiction that he had to them and says that he won't take them anymore even if he needs them for something else. Kurt talks briefly about the drug policy that TNA and WWE have. Says that Vince has made it possible for former stars to go to rehab at no cost. Also stresses that BOTH companies need to be around for everyone to succeed, and touches on the number of guys that have gone back and forth between the two companies, mentioning Christian by name.

Opie then asks Kurt about steroids which they talk about for a little while. They talk about MMA and Kurt's opportunity to get into it - he says that he will get into it but wrestling will remain his top priority. He says that he already has had some MMA training. Kurt talks about the few people from WWE whom he still keeps in touch with. The Rock and Stone Cold are two guys he wishes still stayed in touch, but understand they are busy with other projects and movies.

Opie asks "Primetime" Sam Roberts of NYSWF fame if they covered everything they should with Kurt and Sam asks Kurt about Internet rumors of someone Kurt dated. Kurt tells them about his divorce and kids, and how this is the third time he has split with Karen. They goof around about Mick Foley a little, Jim Norton asks Kurt what he thought about The Wrestler movie he loved it and felt that they took a lot of Jake the Snake and put it into the movie, and they end by goofing about Vince McMahon a little.


Vince McMahon Says TNA Does Some "Reprehensible" Things On Impact
By Daniel Pena
Mar 25, 2009 - 12:17:32 PM

The Hollywood Reporter has an interview with Vince McMahon today promoting Wrestlemania XXV. Here are some highlights from the interview:

If UFC and other mixed martial arts programming has had an impact on WWE: "Most people thought at one point that we would be competitors. But it turns out they are not competition to us at all, or hardly at all. They are sport, we are entertainment; it's a huge difference. The revenue they have cut into is that of boxing."

If it's okay to show Triple H invading Randy Orton's home with a sledgehammer: "Right. What we try to do in situations like that is use things that you can't find around the house. You will never see us use a baseball bat. You don't find folding metal chairs around the house. We are very selective. You can go up to the line. It's storytelling; that's how our business thrives. If you have well-defined characters and put them in the right story line against other characters, people care about their welfare."

If he's concerned with the ratings in recent weeks: "Quite frankly our TV ratings have been very good. We averaged over a 4, I think, three weeks ago. Last week and the week before it was a bit less so because of a number of factors: how many people watched TV and one-off events. What you have to look at is our overall reach in the course of a week. On TV, we reach over 15 million people each and every week, 52 weeks a year."

Whether he is concerned with rival promotion TNA Wrestling as competition: "My concern with TNA is not in terms of competition. My concern with TNA is that they are TV-14, and we are PG. They have to change with the times. I think some of the things they do on television are reprehensible, but it is a TV-14 rating. That's the only bone I have to pick with them. Their TV ratings are a fraction of ours."

McMahon also discusses using celebrities at WrestleMania, how the business has changed since the first WrestleMania, how his company has diversified itself, and more.

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TNA President Dixie Carter hits back at WWE Chairman McMahon
By Patterson, Emma
Mar 27, 2009 - 10:39:40 AM

TNA President Dixie Carter has hit back at WWE Chairman Vince McMahon in an exclusive interview with The Sun.

Earlier this week Vince - who is trying to make his company more "family friendly" - said that he found some of the things on TNA television "reprehensible".

Carter blasts rival, saying what happens on the PG rated Raw is WORSE than Impact!

To read the full story, click on the link below -



McMahon Shoves SmackDown Aside, Cena Off Shows This Weekend, More
By Daniel Pena
Mar 27, 2009 - 1:59:42 PM

source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

-- Original plans called for the Big Show vs. Edge match to main event last week's edition of SmackDown, but Vince McMahon pulled it from the show and put it on Monday's Raw instead. McMahon then had a blow up because head SmackDown writer Michael Hayes wanted to make last week's SmackDown a loaded show, but told him there are more important things going on right now than the 500th episode of SmackDown. Hayes wanted to do a major Raw vs. SmackDown interbrand match on the 500th episode of SmackDown, but McMahon nixed it as well.

-- John Cena is off this weekend's slate of house shows because he's doing the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice awards tomorrow night as a presenter.

-- Live event business continues to look strong as this Sunday's house show in Hidalgo, Texas is already sold out. Furthermore, next Monday's television taping is expected to sellout. Ticket sales for next's month's European tour are also strong with the Raw and Smackdown television tapings in London both nearly sold out.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...cle2344951.ece


Posted in: WWE
WWE Legend Looking To Confront Flair, Cena Uses A Ton Of Water
By Daniel Pena
Mar 26, 2009 - 1:18:35 PM

-- In a post on his newly launched website, www.HonkyTonkMan.net, The Honky Tonk Man is looking to confront Ric Flair before or at the WWE Hall of Fame on April 4 in Houston for the things he said about the longest reigning Intercontinental Champion of all-time in his 2004 book release, Ric Flair: To Be the Man.

"For the things he said about me in his book, I will finally get a chance to confront him in Conn. this coming Friday night," Honky said. "If he dodges me, I will confront him on Sunday night in Mass. If he dodges me again, I will confront him at HOF, and if he skates on me there I will catch him at Mania."

Honky is upset with Flair saying he was only a main-eventer in WWE because of Hulk Hogan.

"I want to know why he says I would be nothing without a Hogan rub when I spent 12 years working main events before I went to WWE without a Hogan rub and Flair knows that," Honky said.

To read his post, click here.

This is in response to the following excerpt: "Other guys were just lucky to be working for the company. With Hogan headlining the show, anybody wrestling on the card shared his glory. Where would the Honky Tonk Man have been if he hadn't been employed by Vince McMahon?"

-- The St. Petersburg Times has a story listing John Cena as one of the biggest water users in the Tampa Bay area — third to be exact. According to the article, his mansion in Land O'Lakes, Florida used 2 million gallons of water last year despite a drought. In comparison, the average family uses 7,500 gallons of water per month — or 90,000 gallons per year. Click here to read the article. WTF

-- Despite the declining trend of ratings, the WWE website issued a statement touting Monday's Raw for being the number one show on cable television once again. They wrote: "With a 3.5 rating, Raw was the most-watched cable program for the sixth consecutive week reaching more than 3.4 million households and 5.1 million viewers. This includes drawing twice as many men as the World Baseball Classic on ESPN."


Originally Proposed Winner For Money in the Bank, Chat With Cena
By Daniel Pena
Mar 26, 2009 - 12:48:25 PM

source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

-- As reported earlier, Big Show was originally earmarked to take part in the Money in the Bank Match at WrestleMania XXV, but Vince McMahon decided to put him in the World Heavyweight Championship bout instead. Mark Henry ended up taking place in the bout. Had Big Show stayed in the match, he was expected to win the briefcase.

McMahon felt they had done John Cena vs. Edge way too many times before, so he changed the bout to a three-way match by adding Big Show to it. Although, weeks worth of angles between Cena and Edge were shot before he came to this decision.

-- Fans will be able to chat with John Cena next Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. on Comcast.net. Nicole Alexander sent in the following... I just wanted to share this information with you for all of your wrestling fans: If they aren't lucky enough to actually be at the Reliant Center for the most anticipated wrestling event of the year - The 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania - they can watch it on Comcast Pay-Per-View. Be sure to catch this milestone event, a quarter-century in the making on April 5th at 7PM EST/4PM PT. Leading up to the match Comcast has profiles of WWE superstars including The Rock, Bret Hart, Triple H and Edge available On Demand in the "Movies & Events" folder under "WrestleMania Icons." You can also chat live with John Cena on April 1st at 3PM EST/12PM PT at www.comcast.net/wrestling.


Bret Hart Coming To The WWE HOF?, John Cena On ESPN Today, More
By Daniel Pena
Mar 26, 2009 - 3:23:14 PM

source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

-- Dory Funk, who is set to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 4 alongside his brother Terry, recently called Bret Hart to ask him if he could induct him. Hart actually accepted, but it should be noted that WWE makes the decisions and they plan on having Dusty Rhodes induct both Funk brothers into the Hall of Fame.

-- As a reminder, John Cena will be appearing on ESPNews today sometime after 3:00 p.m. He will then join ESPN2's NASCAR Now at 5 p.m. ET. The program replays at midnight.

-- NewsDay.com has an article giving praise to the new WWE Encyclopedia. (How to read the new WWE encyclopedia)


Ricky Steamboat Talks About His Return To The Ring (Interview)
By Michael Bluth
Mar 26, 2009 - 12:57:40 PM

Slam! Wrestling recently interviewed Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat regarding his upcoming return to the ring at WrestleMania 25 on April 5th. To read the entire interview, visit Slam.Canoe.ca. Here's what Steamboat had to say about:

His Return to the Ring: "I haven't changed my preparation that much," Steamboat said regarding the handicap match against Chris Jericho. "I still get into the ring and work out with the guys, I have been since 1994, I know I am not the Dragon that I was 15 years ago, I am probably about 80 percent of what I was."

Steamboat added, "I can still move pretty good and hit the ropes and come off the top. I feel good about myself. I've been asked about being embarrassed but I am very comfortable. I don't know long I will be able to go in this match, thank goodness I have help from Snuka and Piper, but personally I feel good about it."

Flair Inducting Him into the Hall of Fame: "That was a great choice for me personally having 'The Naitch' induct me. He is going to induct a guy who he has wrestled against so many times. When people talk about the two of us, every time I am asked about him, it is about the respect we have brought to each other. We brought each other along early in our career when we were young back in the 1970s. What a fitting moment for him to induct me."


Posted in: WWE
WWE Switches PPVs, 12 Rounds Not Being Screened For Critics, Punk
By Daniel Pena
Mar 26, 2009 - 12:11:25 PM

-- According to the upcoming pay-per-view schedule on WWE.com, the Great American Bash will be taking place on June 28 in Sacramento with Night of Champions taking place on July 26 in Philadelphia.

-- 12 Rounds, which is set to open tomorrow in theaters, is apparently not being screened for movie critics. Unlike the three other movies opening tomorrow — Everlasting Moments, The Haunting in Connecticut and Monsters vs. Aliens — there are absolutely no movie reviews online regarding 12 Rounds. This isn't the first time WWE has done this as they would not allow See No Evil, The Marine and The Condemned to be screened for critics.

-- In an interview with the Chicago-Sun Times, CM Punk is asked about the possibility of starring in a movie like John Cena.

"Not any time soon, probably," Punk said. "I don't think I'm a Hollywood property. If it's offered, I won't shoot it down. I'll consider it, but it's not something I'm actively pursuing. I'm a wrestling guy."


Update On WWE Divas Special, Finkel Reveals His WWE HOF Inductor
By Daniel Pena
Mar 25, 2009 - 8:18:17 PM

sources: www.f4wonline.com, Wrestling Observer Newsletter

-- At last word, the All-Divas episode of ECW originally scheduled for last night is now scheduled for this coming Tuesday.

-- WWE's Voices CD was No. 199 this past week on the Billboard charts, selling 2,735 copies to bring the total sales to 58,563.

-- In a blog on the WWE Universe, Howard Finkel said he will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by fellow Hall of Famer "Mean Gene" Okerlund the night before WrestleMania XXV. "The Fink" said he's glad to be recognized by the company for the passion he brought to his job as a ring announcer.

"It is an elite honor to be recognized for what I have brought to the table, as it relates to the ring announcing that I have done through the years," Finkel wrote. "I love what I do in the ring, am passionate about it, and continue to enjoy it today when the opportunity presents itself."

WWE announced his induction into the Hall of Fame on last night's episode of ECW, which was followed by a video package showcasing his humorous antics in the company.

"Everything else that has happened to me from a standpoint of 'ha-ha' ...was what it was," Finkel wrote. "That was all just a part of being 'The Fink.'"

To read his blog, click here

[wolfgang187]

Posted in: WWE
WWE
Offers To Help Former Talent With Drug Problems, Cena, Benoit
By Daniel Pena
Mar 25, 2009 - 7:52:58 PM

-- World Wrestling Entertainment posted a letter on their corporate website yesterday offering rehabilitation assistance to all former WWE contracted talent. This past month, more than 535 former talent letters were sent out. To date, 3.1% of former company performers have accepted assistance (approximately 16 talents in all).

FORMER TALENT REHABILITATION ASSISTANCE

March 24, 2009

Beginning in September 2007, WWE distributed its first rehabilitation assistance offer to all former WWE contracted talent. The goal of the initiative is designed to help any former talent that may have a substance-related dependency problem. The WWE distributes an annual letter to all former talent notifying them of the program and relevant details. In March 2009, more than 535 former talent letters were sent out. The WWE has a confidential hotline where former talent may call and seek admittance to a certified treatment center, with all expenses covered by WWE. In addition, the WWE maintains regular contact with talent who have entered a rehab program or reached out for WWE assistance. To date, 3.1% of former talent have accepted assistance.

You can read Vince McMahon's letter at the following link.

-- As a reminder, John Cena will be appearing on MTV3's Entertainment as a Second Language tonight at 9 p.m. ET. He will be appearing on the Fox News Channel's Hannity at 9 p.m. ET as well. His appearance on the program was pushed back from yesterday to tonight. You can also catch a replay of Cena's appearance on ESPN2's NASCAR Now earlier today at midnight.

-- WWE 24/7 Classics On Demand is currently airing the March 29, 2001 episode of SmackDown. The original broadcast featured a tag match pitting Chris Benoit and Test against Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle, but it has been edited out of the airing on WWE 24/7 as a result of the company's edict to cut out all matches involved Benoit. For the record, Benoit and Test beat Angle and Guerrero when Guerrero submitted to Benoit's "Crippler Crossface" maneuver. Other matches featured on the show include X-Pac and Justin Credible vs. The Acolytes, Matt Hardy vs. Rhyno, Big Show and William Regal vs. Chris Jericho and Kane, and a Trish Stratus vs. Ivory "Bra and Panties Match." (Thanks to Robert Lokotar)


Chris Jericho Won't Face Charges, "Legends of WM" Reviewed
By Michael Bluth
Mar 25, 2009 - 4:38:36 PM

-- TimesColonist.com reports that no charges will be filed against Chris Jericho after last month's altercation where the WWE superstar was swarmed by heckling fans and accused of punching a woman. After Victoria police interviewed several witnesses and watched hours of video recordings of the incident, police spokesman Sgt. Grant Hamilton says no charges will be filed beceause there were conflicting stories and "It's hard to determine who provoked who."

-- IGN.com has posted their official review of the new "WWE Legends of WrestleMania" video game and it's not pretty. The game was given a 6.5/10 rating, which they deem as "passable." Reviewer Greg Miller's review summary reads, "WWE Legends of WrestleMania is kind of just there. The historic videos are great, Road to WrestleMania is an interesting idea and who doesn't love seeing the Ultimate Warrior back in the ring? Still, the actual gameplay falls short in this one. The matches aren't that exciting, the controls are lacking, little nuances are missing and this just doesn't feel like a solid WWE offering." You can read Greg's full review at IGN.com.



Can Cena Overcome The Odds?, Hottest Divas Countdown, Name Change
By Daniel Pena
Mar 27, 2009 - 4:39:13 PM

sources: PWInsider.com, Wrestling Observer Newsletter

-- The big day has finally arrived as WWE's Studios's much anticipated 12 Rounds movie starring John Cena opens in theaters today. Unfortunately for Cena and WWE, the flick will face a tough challenge to win the opening weekend as it's slated to open in only 2,321 theaters — the fewest among the new movie releases this weekend.

The Haunting in Connecticut will open in 2,600 theaters whereas DreamWorks's Monsters vs. Aliens opens in 3,500 theaters.

In another comparison, The Marine opened in 2,545 theaters during its opening weekend, generating $7,138,774.

-- In related news, Hollywood's "A-list" will be most surely be out in full force tonight as the red carpet premiere for 12 Rounds is scheduled to take place in Los Angeles.

-- WWE developmental wrestler Taylor Rotunda is now going under the name Duke Rotundo. He previously went under his real name as well as Tank Rotundo.

-- Last night's episode of Attack of the Show featured a countdown "counting down the ten hottest Divas in the WWE." Here is the list in its entirety:

10. Beth Phoenix
9. Candice Michelle
8. Mickie James
7. Michelle McCool
6. Alicia Fox
5. Maria
4. Maryse
3. The Bella Twins
2. Kelly Kelly
1. Eve


Cena Talks About His Next Movie Project & Retirement (Interview)
By Michael Bluth
Mar 27, 2009 - 4:46:15 PM

John Cena, whose new film "12 Rounds" opens today in theaters, could miss several months of action this summer to film yet another action movie for WWE Studios.

In an interview with ShowbizCafe.com, Cena said "If everything goes well, we should be shooting from July to September. It's in pre-production. It's another action movie. If it comes back all right, there will not be a girl in jeopardy." For those wondering what the "girl in jeopardy" comment is about, Cena has been criticized because his last two films "The Marine" and now "12 Rounds" feature very similar plots in which Cena fights the bad guys who have taken his woman.

Cena also addressed concerns that he'll pull a Dwayne Johnson and leave the wrestling industry if his movie career takes off.
"They should all worry because of what people before me have done. I can say it until I'm blue in the face that I'm not going anywhere; I'll still be on Monday Night Raw. As much as I say it, everyone will worry. I will be the first to be successful on the big screen and keep my dedication to the loyal fans of WWE."


Austin Lands Movie Role, Cena Denies Steroid Use, ECW Streak Ends
By Michael Bluth
Mar 26, 2009 - 12:04:43 PM

Source: PWInsider.com, Prowrestling.net

-- In a radio interview to promote his new movie "12 Rounds," John Cena repeated to Booomer and Carlton of WFAN AM Sports Radio his claim that he's never done steroids.

-- Stone Cold Steve Austin, who recently finished shooting scenes for the movie "Damage", has signed on for yet another movie role. Moviehole.com reports that Austin will star in "The Stranger," an action film described as similar to "The Fugitive" and "The Bourne Identity." The movie will be directed by Rob Lieberman (Dexter) and production is set to begin in late May. Aside from Damage and The Stranger, Austin also recently joined the mega-cast of the Sylvester Stallone film "The Expendables" alongside Mickey Rourke, Jet Li, and Jason Statham.

-- ECW's 25-week streak of being the top rated program on the Sci-Fi Channel has come to an end. The 3/24 edition of "ECW on Sci-Fi" show drew a 1.3 rating with 1.7 million viewers. The series finale of "Battlestar Galactica," which aired on Friday night, drew a 1.7 rating.


Jericho Mocks Obama, Hardy News, Brooke Hogan Pole Dancing Update
By Michael Bluth
Mar 26, 2009 - 1:55:18 PM

-- TMZ.com cameras caught up with Chris Jericho this week, who had some choice words for President Barack Obama. When asked, "You're a wrestler, so do you think you have better abs than Barack Obama?", Jericho responded, "As of right now I have better abs ... but pretty soon he's gonna take 65% of my abs away from me and give 'em to somebody else." Jericho also said he plans to pull Mickey Rourke over the guardrail at WrestleMania and punch him in the face in front of 70,000 people. You can see the video clip at TMZ.com.

-- One former WWE creative team member tells the Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter that the Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy feud will likely be a short one. The source said, "The fact that they're doing a gimmick match (at WrestleMania 25) tells me that this is it," he said. "They won't be going to SummerSlam like Bret and Owen (Hart)."

-- Earlier this month, we reported that Brooke Hogan performed at a music festival in Miami, Florida and was shown dancing on a stripper pole. Hulk Hogan, who attended the performance, recently spoke to Life and Style magazine about the performance: "I try to make it to as many of Brooke’s performances as possible. I support her and everything that she does. I’d watch my daughter perform no matter what she does."


Fan Report Of "Legends Tour" In Germany Featuring Past WWE Stars
By Daniel Pena
Mar 26, 2009 - 2:28:12 PM

(Thanks to Jenny Meyer

This past weekend there was a two-day "Legends Tour" through Germany with more than ten former WWE superstars and some of Europe's best wrestlers. More than 1,000 fans turned up to see the stars. Unfortunately there was a no show by Greg Valentine. Robbie Brookside was injured, but he showed up to meet the fans. Valentine was replaced by DWAs (one of the seven promotions who promoted this tour) Martin Nolte. Brookside was replaced on Saturday by Leon van Gasteren and on the second day they had only five matches with a 3-way. There was also an announcement for a second tour in 2010 headlined by non other than "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase.

On Saturday in Rotenburg they had a Meet & Greet with some sort of pre show. They had two photographers in the ring, who were doing digital pictures with the stars & the fans, which where printed out and signed by the stars later. A great alternative to the very expensive Polaroid thing. They also had four offer matches by some of the promotions:

(1) Freestyle Championship Wrestling (http://www.fcw-wrestling.nl) presented:
Mot van Kunder beat Bernd Föhr

(2) Deutsche Wrestling Allianz (dwa-wrestling.de) presented:
Lazio Feé & Ken Mahler beat The German Suicide Squad (Craig BC & Machine)

(3) Flemish Wrestling Force (fwf-wrestling.be) presented:
FWF Heavyweight Title Match: Rob Raw beat Dr. Gangreen (c) – New Champion

(4) Catch Wrestling Norddeutschland (catchwrestling.de) presented:
One Knight in Paris (Michael Knight & Pierre Le Prestee) beat Haero Magnusson & Masterpiece Marsellus

The Fourth match of the meet & greet was definitely the best match. Match three was a lot of fun with the crowd work. After a break they started the evening show:

(1) Eugene beat Big Vito
>>> super entertaining and great wrestling, a perfect start into such a night, right after the main event the second best match of the night

(2) Karsten Kretschmer beat Doink the Clown (with Dink)
>>> a bit of a letdown, only plus for Dink. I don't know who was under the mask of Doink, but he definitely don't know what Doink was about in WWE.

(3) Joe E. Legend beat Jim Powers
>>> WOW! The body of Jim Powers looked better than ever! A bit of ringrust on his part, but a strong performance from both guys. Legend is one of the best wrestlers over here (although he's from Canada, but he lives here in Hannover) and he showed why.

Intermission with a special appearance by Adam Bomb, who was the special guest for the meet & greet, but showed up here too.

(4) Marty Jannetty beat Leon van Gasteren
>>> What can I say? He's rockin' as always. Really good match.

(5) Demolition (Ax & Smash) beat The Honky Tonk Man & Martin Nolte
>>> Too see Rhythm 'n' Blues would have been great, but after what Honky said at the meet & greet it was all Valentines fault, not the promoters, so blame him for it. Nolte is a big man so he fits into this match and he did very well. Old School match and after the finish Honky turned on Nolte and smashed the guitar over his head.

(6) DWA World Heavyweight Title: Tatanka (c) beat Doug Williams
>>> Unbelievable!!! Tatanka ist DWA champion since late 2007 and wrestled every big DWA show since then and this was his strongest showing! Unbelievable 40 minutes of action and what a reaction for the Native American. He's some sort of regular over here (I think, this was his seventh stay in the last 1 ½ years) and he always gets the biggest reaction of all stars. Oh yeah, European legend Tony St. Clair was special referee for this match.

That show really proved, that there are legends shows with good ringwork. The combination of stars of the WWF era, the WWE days and European Stars was perfect and made a perfect day.

I only visited the Saturday show here in the north, but here are also the results of the show in the south. The ring broke, so no pre show, but for the main show everything worked fine, but I've heard the matches weren't nearly as good as Saturday.

(1) Eric Schwarz beat Big Vito
(2) Marty Jannetty beat Martin Nolte
(3) 3-Way: Honky Tonk Man beat Eugene and Doink the Clown
(4) Tatanka beat Jim Powers
(5) Joe E. Legend & Doug Williams beat Demolition via DQ (Special Referee: Tony St. Clair)

Announced for the next tour is one date are one date and five stars, here is the promo poster: http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/i...d70908ef74.jpg



More On Former WWE Star's Drug Test Failure, Weber vs. Giovanni
By Daniel Pena
Mar 27, 2009 - 12:48:00 PM

-- As reported earlier, former WWE wrestler Mike Brendli (Mikey from the Spirit Squad) failed a drug test this past Saturday at an Ohio Valley Wrestling event in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. The former WWE World Tag Team Champion tested positive for THC, the main ingredient in marijuana, and was suspended by the Kentucky Boxing and Wrestling Authority as a result.

A spokesperson for the Kentucky Boxing and Wrestling Authority told The Sun: "The KBWA can confirm Mr. Brendli has been suspended, dating back to March 21, 2009. The KBWA board will be meeting next month to review the suspension and until that time, we cannot release the reasons behind the suspension."

Drug suspensions such as in this case have ranged from six months to one full year with fines up to $500. This past June, Brendli was released from his WWE contract following a Driving under the influence charge in Florida.

-- As reported earlier, Big Vision Entertainment has plans to release a DVD based on former WWE SmackDown Divas Joy Giovanni and Amy Weber wrestling each other. The website promoting the upcoming release is up, which you can be seen at www.AmyvsJoy.com. It's still under construction, but features the DVD cover as well as a photo of a Weber putting Giovanni in the Camel clutch.

-- Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson will be hosting Kids' Choice Awards, which airs tomorrow night on Nickelodeon at 8:00 p.m. In an interview with Nick Magazine, Johnson said, "I can hold my own when it comes to burping. I've got a good feeling that I could win a championship." Click here to read the full interview.

[wolfgang187]

John Cena Challenges The Rock To A Match At WrestleMania 26
By Michael Bluth
Mar 28, 2009 - 11:03:17 AM

Source: MTV.com

Over the past year, John Cena has been very vocal about his feelings towards Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and how he's turned his back on the wrestling industry. Cena has called The Rock out on several occasions, saying The Rock has gone back on his word that he'd always remember the fans who made him a star. Now, Cena wants to settle their score in the ring.

In an interview with MTV, Cena said he wants to wrestle The Rock Dwayne Johnson at WrestleMania 26 for a one-night-only showdown of action stars. "I've been trying to wrestle him," Cena told MTV's Josh Horowitz. "It's not that he won't accept the challenge. He truly has a full plate."

Cena then set a date for the possible showdown and revealed that he's not even that confident that he could beat the Great One. "What a better showdown .. Dwayne Johnson, or The Rock, or whatever he wants to be called .. versus John Cena at, let's say, WrestleMania 26. I'm not even saying I'm going to win. He's a hell of an athlete. God-given ability. One of the nicest people ever to grace a WWE ring. I'd just like to get him back for a night."

[wolfgang187]

WWE's Lowered Expectations, Latest Plans For Raw, 12 Rounds Demos
By Daniel Pena
Mar 29, 2009 - 6:40:50 PM

source: www.f4wonline.com

-- As reported earlier, WWE Studios' latest feature film, 12 Rounds, is estimated at doing $5.3 million for the weekend. This is far below what WWE executives had initially projected.

Going into the weekend, internal expectations were at a $10.1 million opening. The film's distributer, 20th Century Fox, then lowered WWE's expectations to a more realistic figure — $7.5 million. Following opening night, expectations were lowered once again — to $5.5 million. Then yesterday's numbers came in and the movie is projected to finish with a $5.3 million weekend.

-- As reported earlier on the official website of the American Airlines Center, John Cena is scheduled to take on Big Show tomorrow night on Raw. The WWE website confirmed the match over the weekend, so it will not be a mere dark match. Here is the official preview: "Days after knocking out World Heavyweight Champion Edge, Big Show issued a challenge to his other WrestleMania opponent, John Cena. The "12 Rounds" star accepted and the two collide live on Monday Night Raw."

The only other thing announced so far for tomorrow night's show is a match between Chris Jericho and Jerry "The King" Lawler.

Also, here is the TV Guide preview for tomorrow night's show: New, HD, (TV-PG,V), A live WrestleMania kickoff featuring Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Randy Orton and John Cena. (Pro Wrestling), (V=Moderate Violence).

-- HollywoodReporter.com revealed the type of audience that saw 12 Rounds over the weekend. According to them, the John Cena-centered film drew audiences comprised 57% of males, with 53% of patrons aged 25 and older.

Movie executives said exit polls showed patrons responded positively to the WWE feature film, which in their eyes, could bode well for its word-of-mouth prospects over the next two weekends.

"Hopefully, we have momentum to play through Easter," Fox Senior VP Distribution Bert Livingston said.

[wolfgang187]

Did Cena Beat Rock At The Box Office?, Styles On Twitter, Linda
By Daniel Pena
Mar 29, 2009 - 5:48:28 PM

-- WWE Studios' 12 Rounds starring John Cena will gross an estimated $5.3 million this weekend, which is nearly $2.0 million less than the opening weekend for Cena's first movie, The Marine. The official number will be released tomorrow.

12 Rounds will finish at No. 7, behind Race to Witch Mountain in its third week out, which is estimated at $5.64 million for the weekend. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's movie came from behind on Saturday as a result of better matinee business.

12 Rounds pulled in an additional $2,100,000 at the box office yesterday. The film drew $1,775,000 on Friday, so it currently sits at $3,875,000. The movie is estimated at doing $1.4 million today.

Click here to see the weekend's box office results.

-- Speaking of Dwayne Johnson and John Cena, both former WWE Champions were at Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards last night. There was no interaction between the two on the show.

-- WWE CEO Linda McMahon spoke to CNN this past week about how World Wrestling Entertainment continues to thrive in a struggling economy. Click here to see the full interview.

-- Joey Styles now has an account on Twitter. Click here to visit his page.

[wolfgang187]

Sting Considered For WWE HOF This Year, "Macho Man" Randy Savage
By Daniel Pena
Mar 28, 2009 - 5:55:46 PM

source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

-- TNA wrestler Sting's name actually came up this year regarding a possible induction into the WWE Hall of Fame.

The reigning TNA World Heavyweight Champion got support because a number of people involved in the company's creative and producing process that were asked for input were not even aware he was working for the competition.

Sting is on good terms with Vince McMahon, so the company will likely produce a DVD based on the WCW footage they own and consider him in conjunction for the Hall of Fame when his time in TNA comes to an end.

-- Comcast on Demand is currently airing a WWE special entitled WrestleMania: 25 Stories, which consists of the year-by-year WrestleMania video packages the company has been running on television in recent weeks. It's interesting to note that the special features two video packages that have yet to air on WWE programming — WrestleManias IV & V at the Trump Plaza as well as WrestleMania X featuring Bret Hart. The video package on WrestleManias IV & V centers around "Macho Man" Randy Savage's title win, the break-up of "The Mega Powers," and subsequent title loss. For some reason, WWE has yet to air the Randy Savage-themed package on television, so it should be interesting to see whether WWE airs it or not in the final week building towards WrestleMania.

-- As noted earlier, a recent episode of G4's Attack of the Show featured a countdown of their top ten WWE Divas. In case you missed it, you can see the video at the following

[wolfgang187]

More On 12 Rounds' Disappointing Start, Khali Talks WrestleMania
By Daniel Pena
Mar 28, 2009 - 5:26:01 PM

-- As reported earlier, WWE Studios' 12 Rounds opened yesterday with a disappointing $1.75 million in ticket sales, finishing in sixth-place. As a result, the movie looks to be on its way to generating the second-least amount of money on a per-theater basis in the history of WWE film releases as it's only ahead of The Condemned thus far. The Condemned was a financial disaster for the company as they had to write off $15.0 million from their financial statement due to its poor performance.

Opening in 2,331 theaters, 12 Rounds averaged $751 per theater - the second-least amount of money ever generated by a WWE film on a per-theater basis on opening day in company history. Comparably, The Condemned drew $1.33 million on opening day and averaged $577 per theater (in 2,310 theaters); Cena's first movie, The Marine, drew $2.36 million on opening day and averaged $930 per theater (in 2,545 theaters); and See No Evil drew $1.68 million on opening day and averaged $1,338 per theater (in 1,257 theaters).

Internally, company officials were hoping the movie would do $10 million during opening weekend, but unless business picks up today, they will fall well short of their goal.

The movie's currently projected to do between $5 and $6 million for the weekend.

-- The Great Khali recently joined WorldBand Media for an interview. During the interview, the SmackDown Superstar said he was involved in the filming of a movie starring Sean Penn and Brad Pitt, which is now in post-production. Khali also added that he went to India a few months ago and missed his opportunity to be written into a major storyline for Wrestlemania XXV. Click here to listen to the interview, which was conducted in Hindu. (Thanks to Jatinder Dhoot)

-- ECW Superstar The Miz recently talked to BuddyTV.com for their audio podcast. Miz discusses WrestleMania XXV, the origins of "The Dirt Sheet," differences between building a persona for reality television and WWE, and more. Click here for the interview.

[wolfgang187]

WWE Hall Of Fame Announcer Jim "JR" Ross on the Pain Clinic Recap
By Rich "Cashman" Jones
Mar 28, 2009 - 3:51:03 PM

WWE Hall Of Fame Announcer Jim "JR" Ross on the Pain Clinic 3/28 recap
www.feelthepain.net

Jim Ross joins the show and we immediately get into Oklahoma Sooner's win last
night against central New York's Syracuse Orange in the NCAA Sweet 16.
We talk about Oklahoma's phenom Blake Griffin. JR thinks he could be a great
wrestling star.

JR updates us on his recent pneumonia diagnosis and how he's feeling. He's
asked about what kind of work load he has this upcoming week and if he gets
any enjoyment or is it all business.

We ask about the barbecue in Houston and JR plans on sampling some. He brings
up our local barbecue highlight the Dinosaur Bar-b-que. This leads into our food
network segment and on to a discussion of the Cracker Barrel.

JR talks about next week's Smackdown show and the format of it. It's going
to have a few matches but also Fan Axxess footage. He's excited about it.

This leads into a question about why the Wrestlemania 25 card took so long
to be solidified. JR said it sold over 40,000 tickets before there was even a
card. JR talks about what he is most excited for this coming Wrestlemania
weekend. He loves the card and really thinks it's not predictable.

We talk about matches on the card and what will be the main event or last
match on the card. JR thinks this cards has multiple main events. He thinks
a title match will be the last match on the card. He takes a guess which match
that will be.

JR talks about the induction of the Von Erich family and Funks in the WWE
Hall of Fame. He discusses going in as groups over individuals. This leads
into who he thinks will be on the USA Hall Of Fame Special the Saturday
before Wrestlemania 25.

We ask JR about My Network's recent change in programming philosophy
and what the WWE thinks about it. JR thinks that the WWE is the anchor
of the network and it should be all good.

JR talks about the "Rise and Fall of WCW" DVD set being produced by WWE
and he talks about the focus of the new DVD set.

We let him go soon after. He was an awesome interview!
You can check it out at www.feelthepain.net.

Rich "Cashman" Jones
Producer/Host
The Pain Clinic
Sportsradio 1280 WHTK

[wolfgang187]

"12 Rounds" Off To A Poor Start, Title Match On SmackDown, More
By Daniel Pena
Mar 28, 2009 - 1:46:27 PM

-- According to Box Office Mojo, John Cena's 12 Rounds did an estimated $1,750,000 at the box office last night, putting it in sixth place on the current movie list.

In comparison, The Marine drew $2,366,981 on its opening day, finishing with $7,138,774 for the weekend; See No Evil drew $1,681,241 on its opening day, finishing with $4,581,233; and The Condemned drew $1,333,622 on its opening day, finishing with $3,807,595.

Based on these past numbers, the movie's projected to do between $5 and 6 million for the weekend.

On the plus side, 12 Rounds beat out Dwayne Johnson's Race To Witch Mountain by an estimated $250,000.

Click here to see yesterday's box office chart in its entirety.

-- As announced during last night's SmackDown, Shelton Benjamin will be getting a rematch for the United States Championship against MVP on next week's show. MVP has won his second United States Championship on the 500th episode of SmackDown.

-- ECW color commentator Matt Striker will be signing autographs today from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Park City SportsFest in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

[wolfgang187]

    
NEWS > WWE >

Posted in: WWE
Mickey Rourke
Reveals Why He Backed Out Of WM25 Match (Interview)
By Michael Bluth
Apr 6, 2009 - 12:28:46 PM

Mickey Rourke apoke to the Baltimore Sun over the weekend and revealed why his rumored match with Chris Jericho at WrestleMania fell through.

Rourke said, "After I got done with the movie, I really started liking this sport a lot. And I believe it was through Vince [McMahon's] people who said, 'Would you like to come and do WrestleMania and wrestle?' And Jericho’s name came up and I said, 'Yeah, I want to do it.' To be real honest with you, because I had left acting for six years to go back to professional fighting, my agents said it would be detrimental to my career."

He continued, "If I took time off at this point in my career and did the wrestling, I wouldn’t be taken seriously in the acting world again. I’ve always enjoyed sports a lot more than I have acting, but they just advised me not to do it. I was kind of disappointed."







backstage Reaction To Mania, Rourke Hangs Out With Diana Hart
By Daniel Pena
Apr 6, 2009 - 2:35:00 PM

source: PWInsider.com

-- Most everyone backstage felt the Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels last night at WrestleMania tore the house down. There was also a lot of talk backstage on how great Ricky Steamboat looked for his age in his match with Chris Jericho.

The other big topic backstage was on how poorly the Randy Orton vs. Triple H main event match came off, both in the ring and with how it was booked. Although, many feel the creative team has something planned to get the title onto Orton tonight.

In closing, the mood was said to be good overall and company officials were quite pleased with the show's attendance and gate.

-- While staying at the WWE hotel this past weekend for Wrestlemania XXV, Mickey Rourke was cordial with the wrestlers and said to be approachable to everyone from the company. He spent a lot of time with Ric Flair, Afa "The Wild Samoan" and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, but was approachable to everyone from the company. It's also being said that he spent a lot of time with Diana Hart, mother of WWE developmental wrestler DH Smith, who was on hand for the festivities this past week.

-- MMA fighter Frank Shamrock could be seen sitting next to Mickey Rourke last night at Wrestlemania XXV.










Hogan Offered Reality Dating Show, SmackDown/ECW Preview & More
By Michael Bluth
Apr 7, 2009 - 11:05:06 AM

-- Tonight's WWE Smackdown and ECW tapings take place from Austin, Texas. The advertised main event of the show features a 6-man tag match with John Cena, Triple H, and Jeff Hardy teaming together to face Randy Orton, Edge, and Matt Hardy. This could be a dark match.

-- Last week's SmackDown, the "go-home" show before WrestleMania, did a 1.9 broadcast rating. (Source: PWInsider.com)

-- In an interview with celebrity gossip site PopEater.com, Hulk Hogan says he was recently approached by VH1 to star in a reality TV dating show similar to Bret Michaels' "Rock of Love" and Flavor Flav's "Flavor of Love." Although both shows have drawn big ratings for the cable channel, Hogan, who split with wife Linda back in 2007, said, "I passed on it. That's not my deal brother. It'd have to be 'Hulk Hogan: 55 and Still Alive on Viagra' or something."









Dwayne Johnson Laughs At John Cena's Challenge (Interview)
By Brad Ingles
Apr 7, 2009 - 2:24:04 PM

While taking to the media for the "Race to Witch Mountain" UK tour, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was asked when we would see him in the wrestling ring again.

Reporter: When will we see you in the ring again?
Johnson: No. Probably not. I retired quietly 5 years ago.
Reporter: John Cena at WrestleMania possibly?
Johnson: *laughs* That's very funny, he's funny.














Announcer Returning To WWE?, Sim Snuka In Disguise, WM Record Set
By Daniel Pena
Apr 7, 2009 - 2:50:37 PM

source: PWInsider.com

-- DirecTV's preview for the premiere of WWE Superstars on WGN America next week simply reads: "With Kevin Kelly."

We haven't heard anything on Kevin Kelly returning to the company, although company officials were scrambling to find commentators for the program. If so, he would be returning to the company after a six year absence. It could be a mistake on the part of DirecTV, but it would be a really strange mistake to make.

-- Some have speculated that the cameraman on the receiving end of Undertaker's insane dive spot at WrestleMania XXV was actually Sim Snuka in disguise. According to one source, it was indeed the Raw Superstar, although it is not 100% confirmed.

Snuka was brought in for WrestleMania weekend as he squared off against Dolph Ziggler at the Axxess event earlier in the day. This could also explain why he was not used in the Lumberjack Match to unify the WWE Tag Team Championship and World Tag Team Championship.

-- Following his bout against Chris Jericho this past Sunday, WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka is now the oldest performer to ever wrestle a match at any Wrestlemania event.

[wolfgang187]

Update On Randy Savage, Obama Watches "The Wrestler", Lashley
By Daniel Pena
Apr 8, 2009 - 4:46:04 PM

-- According to the official website of "Macho Man" Randy Savage, www.MachoMadness.com, Columbia Pictures have requested Savage's permission in regards to using his trademark "Macho Man" likeness in a brand new television pilot.

-- There is an article today revealing U.S. President Barack Obama's wide range of tastes across the television and film spectrums. In a passing mention, it is revealed that the Obamas have seen The Wrestler. (Obama Loves His "Entourage")

-- Former WWE Superstar Bobby Lashley has relaunched his online supplement store at www.LashleyNutrition.com.




Jim Ross Takes Shot At Heath Ledger?, Ricky Ortiz Weekly Segment
By Daniel Pena
Apr 8, 2009 - 1:23:52 PM

-- In case you missed it, while Rey Mysterio was making his ring entrance for his match against John Bradshaw Layfield at WrestleMania, Jim Ross apparently took a dig at deceased actor Heath Ledger.

During Mysterio's entrance, Jerry Lawler asked if he was paying tribute to Heath Ledger's Joker — due to the design of his mask. Ross replied, "At least Rey's career is alive and well."

-- Ricky Ortiz has a new weekly segment on WWE Mobile on AT&T. Each week, the ECW Superstar will offer the WWE Universe his "Ricky-O Rally Up: Inspirational Thought of the Week." (WWE Mobile on AT&T: Ricky Ortiz)

-- Yahoo.com's "OMG" section has photos from WrestleMania XXV.


 


Candice Michelle Return Update, Vickie Guerrero Gets Raw, More
By Daniel Pena
Apr 8, 2009 - 1:43:43 PM

-- In an update on Candice Michelle's ankle injury — which has kept her sidelined since mid-February — she was telling fans at WrestleMania Axxess over the weekend that she was three weeks away from returning to the ring.

-- As announced this past Monday, Vickie Guerrero said that WWE
's Board of Director's had told her that she would have to choose one show to run. Promising to bring her own unique vision to the program, Guerrero revealed that she would be running Raw. In an update, Guerrero's profile has been moved to the Raw section.

-- WWE.com has released a statement touting Raw's 3.9 cable rating this past Monday. WWE claims it was the most-watched Raw the night after WrestleMania since the March 19, 2002 show, which had 6,513,000 viewers. Monday's show drew 5,946,000 viewers. (Raw scores big ratings)




Batista-WWE-Wolverine Crossover, Striker & Grisham, MSG Classics
By Daniel Pena
Apr 8, 2009 - 1:55:47 PM

source: PWInsider.com

-- An upcoming issue of WWE Magazine features Batista on the cover doing a takeoff of Marvel Comics' Wolverine character undergoing his Weapon X experiment. This is a takeoff of the upcoming Wolverine movie, which hits theaters in May.

Additionally, reader Koz Million sent in the following:

"WWE Superstar Batista's martial arts trainer is Marrese Crump. He is a well-known martial artist who recently launched a social network for martial artists at www.CrumpDojo.com where special news about Batista and his training might be released first.

It is rumored that Dave Batista will be on the cover of an upcoming issue of WWE Magazine when he makes his comeback from injury. The concept is entitled "I've Created A Monster" and will have Batista in a laboratory inside a "Wolverine-like" water tank with monitoring pads on his body, as well as trainer Marrese Crump standing by and monitoring his progress with a clipboard. This seems fitting for the training Batista has received from Crump that has aided him after his last injury and successful comeback. It is also rumored that when Batista makes his comeback, he will be on the road to uniting the Heavyweight and WWE Championship Titles next year at Wrestlemania. Marrese Crump is rumored to possibly sign with the WWE as well and accompany Batista to the Ring as his manager."

-- In perhaps their final announcing duty together, Matt Striker and Todd Grisham called the Lumberjack Match to unify the WWE Tag Team Championship and World Tag Team Championship prior to the WrestleMania XXV pay-per-view. The match will be featured in the upcoming WrestleMania XXV DVD release.

-- WWE's Madison Square Garden Classics series will return to the MSG Network on Wednesday, April 22nd for another round of episodes.



Edge Wants To Feud With Christian, Hogan's New Energy Suppliments
By Michael Bluth
Apr 8, 2009 - 2:51:56 PM

-- In the latest issue of WWE Magazine, the Rated R Superstar Edge says he's excited that Christian is back in WWE and is eager to step in the ring with his "brother." When asked whether he'd be willing to team up with Christian for another TLC match against the Hardy Boyz, Edge said "I’d love to face those guys in another TLC match. It’s fantastic having Christian back in WWE. But I’d much rather oppose him in the ring than team up again. Hopefully, someday soon I’ll get my chance."

-- As previously reported, the June 15th edition of WWE Raw from Charlotte, North Carolina will be a special 3-hour show. The show is rumored to feature a 1-night tournament to crown a 2009 King of the Ring. The pre-sale password to get tickets early (they went on sale this morning) is "CENA".

-- Looking for a quick boost of energy, brother? Since drinking energy beverages out of a can is apparently a hassle, WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan is now selling his own line of Extreme Energy Granules. Now you can "feel awake, alert and productive for hours" and gain "immediate mental clarity and focus" by letting the Hulkster's citrus-flavored powder dissolve in your mouth. Visit HulkHogan.com to learn more about Hogan Energy Granules and sign up for a free trial of 20 packets.



Edge Heading Back To Raw?, WWE Releasing DVD On Tag Teams, Long
By Daniel Pena
Apr 8, 2009 - 5:20:53 PM

-- World Wrestling Entertainment has plans to release a DVD compilation set on the greatest wrestling tag teams of all-time this summer. The DVD is actually being named after the short-lived tag team that consisted of Lex Luger and "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith for eight months in 1995 - The Allied Powers. Allied Powers: The World's Greatest Tag Teams will be officially released on Tuesday, July 14, 2009. Click here to see the product page on Amazon.com, although information on the DVD has yet to be released.

-- The WWE website has an article looking at Vickie Guerrero becoming the new General Manager of Raw and what plans she may have in store for said brand. The article also speculates that Edge could be moved back to Raw in next week's draft.

"Working on Raw also provides a benefit that many in the WWE Universe probably don't think about. For you, SmackDown is the most exciting two hours on network television, but for those on the show, it's a challenging, difficult (albeit exciting) job," the article reads. "By moving to Raw, Vickie will have her Friday nights free for whatever she likes. If her hubby Edge gets drafted to Raw, then we'd suggest using the time for marriage counseling."

The article also adds that Burn Notice star Bruce Campbell reminds them in no small way of "The Rated-R Superstar" what with his "imposing chin" and "smarmy charm." The article speculates it being part of Guerrero's master plan to get closer to the cast of USA Network's original series.

Click here to read the article.

-- As announced on last night's episode of ECW on Sci Fi, Theodore Long will be returning to SmackDown as the brand's General Manager, with his assistant Tiffany replacing him on ECW. Long's profile has been moved to the SmackDown roster section.


Diva Starring In Movie Opening This Week, Candice On Disney Show?
By Daniel Pena
Apr 8, 2009 - 5:52:23 PM

-- Royal Kill, an independent movie starring Gail Kim, opens this weekend in select theaters. The SmackDown Diva filmed scenes for the movie during her tenure in TNA Wrestling.

The former TNA Knockout cornerstone was initially pegged for a small role in the film as a villain, but her role was expanded after impressing the film's makers with her performance, not to mention that focus groups said they wanted to see more of her character in the movie.

"Gail Kim in the whole movie had the strongest reaction to her," director Babar Ahmed said. "Her role is extremely impactful, extremely."

SmackDown Superstar Jimmy Wang Yang has a small cameo in the movie, playing the role of a cop.

"Jimmy has a very small but very impactful role. He comes, there's carnage, then he leaves," Ahmed said. "Jimmy was actually crucial because some of the moves that Gail does, she could only have done with Jimmy. It was very important that he was there so we could up the level of the stunts in the movie."

Click here to read SLAM! Wrestling's article on Royal Kill. If you have not see the trailer for the movie, you can do so here.

-- According to www.AceShowBiz.com, WWE Diva Candice Michelle will be making a guest appearance on an episode of the Disney Channel show Wizards of Waverly Place. The episode is set to air on Sunday, April 19th. Although, the website also has her listed for an episode that aired this past Sunday and we haven't heard any reports on her appearing.

-- A columnist for MSN TV has an article detailing his WrestleMania weekend. (WrestleMania 25: Weekend Diary)







Trish Stratus' WrestleMania No-Show, Undertaker Ailing, Christian
By Daniel Pena
Apr 8, 2009 - 6:32:05 PM

source: www.f4wonline.com

-- According to a company source, Trish Stratus was in negotiations with WWE to take part in the 25-Diva Battle Royal at WrestleMania this past Sunday, but only if she won the match. Once she was informed Santino Marella was going over, she rejected the offer.

-- It's being said that Undertaker largely kept to himself during WrestleMania weekend. Multiple sources are saying he stayed in his hotel room and was constantly icing his knees. While he's in rough shape these days, he can still obviously perform at a high level. However, he plans on taking some time off over the next year — as does Shawn Michaels.

-- WWE recently pulled Christian from appearing in a movie.

[mass 04]

Sim really let himself go..

[chaos]

Sim really let himself go..

Any shots of when he's closer to the ground or right at impact?

[Karl Kox]

According to a company source, Trish Stratus was in negotiations with WWE to take part in the 25-Diva Battle Royal at WrestleMania this past Sunday, but only if she won the match. Once she was informed Santino Marella was going over, she rejected the offer.

Good for her

[wolfgang187]

"Superstar" Billy Graham's WWE Termination Notice Posted Online
By Daniel Pena
May 2, 2009 - 3:02:24 PM

As reported earlier, World Wrestling Entertainment recently released "Superstar" Billy Graham from his contract in a cost-cutting measure. The Hall of Famer was collecting $2,000 per month from the company as a consultant.

As you would imagine, Graham is upset over their decision to release him from his contract. Perhaps as retribution, he asked Georgiann Makropoulos of WrestlingFigs.com to post the letter WWE sent him two weeks ago informing him of his release from the company. You can see a scan of the letter at the following link.

WWE is apparently claiming the rights to the "Superstar" Billy Graham name and his character's trademark likeness as the letter specifies that he is forever precluded from "using any names, likeness, costumes, props, gimmicks, gestures, routines, themes, personalities, or caricatures, which refer or relate to, or which are confusingly similar to those [he] used while bound by the contract."

They are also requesting that Graham return any property belonging to the company prior to the termination date of his contract, citing championship belts and costumes.

He is also informed that he is prohibited from appearing at any wrestling-related events through the termination date of his contract on July 19, 2009.


Legal Setback For Hulk Hogan, Santino Wets The Bed, Classic Trish
By Michael Bluth
Apr 30, 2009 - 5:01:19 PM

-- WWE.com has posted a new photo gallery featuring classic pictures of former Diva Trish Stratus, which can be viewed here.

-- In the latest episode of Santino's Casa over at WWE.com, Santino and "girlfriend" Beth Phoenix visited a relationship counselor. During the episode, Beth reveals that Santino wets the bed when he drinks too much "Yoo-hoo" chocolate milk.

-- A judge in Pinellas County, Florida has denied Hulk Hogan's request for Linda Hogan's 19-year-old boyfriend Charlie Hill to be prohibited from driving Hogan-owned cars. Hulk argued that his assets would be at risk if accident-prone Hill got into an accident while behind the wheel of one of Hulk's cars. While the judge did state that "it would appear to be exceedingly imprudent" to keep Charlie from behind the wheel, the request was still denied. Hulk Hogan's attorney told TMZ.com, "This issue certainly isn't over... clearly from [the judge's] statement from this hearing that in principal he agrees with our position but legally does not feel he is able to grant an injunction." To view the legal documents, visit TMZ.com.



Buff Bagwell Discusses Shooting His Father, Torrie Wilson's Pay
By Daniel Pena
Apr 29, 2009 - 9:53:29 PM

-- Former WCW star Buff Bagwell is working on an autobiography entitled Gladiators Don't Cry.

"I've got a story that is completely off the chain. It's crazy, literally, it really is. I shot my father when I was 18 years old for beating my mom up. So, way beyond wrestling my life's been crazy. He's still alive and now we're best friends," Bagwell said. "I've led a pretty crazy life outside of wrestling, but that too. In wrestling it was just wide open."

In an interview with the Coshocton Tribune, the five-time WCW World Tag Team Champion discusses his numerous tag team partnerships, working indy shows, meeting the fans, and more. (Buff Bagwell to headline OCW show)

-- Former WWE Diva Torrie Wilson stands to earn $70,000 for her participation in NBC's upcoming reality television show, I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here!, reports The Sun. The winner of the show will donate $100,000 to a charity of his or her choosing.

In it, a cast of nine celebrities live in jungle conditions with few comforts and have to earn human essentials. The show premieres on Monday, June 1st and will air Monday through Thursday nights for the entire month.

-- Former wrestling manager Percy Pringle has issued a statement regarding the passing of former Pringle Dynasty member "Playboy" Buddy Rose, who was found dead by his wife yesterday afternoon at their home in Vancouver, Washington. Pringle managed Rose in the Florida Championship Wrestling territory in 1985. You can read his statement here.



"12 Rounds" On Its Last Legs, Buddy Rose Remembered, Sim Snuka
By Daniel Pena
Apr 29, 2009 - 10:16:19 PM

-- 12 Rounds, starring WWE Superstar John Cena, is on its last legs as the film was carried in a limited number of theaters this past weekend — 223 to be exact.

According to www.BoxOfficeMojo.com, 12 Rounds brought in an additional $100,484 last weekend, bringing its five week total to $11,492,383. In comparison, The Marine was at $17,945,427 by the same point, drawing an additional $705,576 in it's fifth weekend out.

-- WWE.com has uploaded a tribute photo gallery honoring former WWE Superstar "Playboy" Buddy Rose (real name Paul Perschmann), who was found dead by his wife yesterday afternoon at their home in Vancouver, Washington. The gallery features images of Rose from his cup of coffee stint in the promotion in 1990.

-- Seldom seen Raw Superstar Sim Snuka (in his plain black T-shirt gimmick) is today's "Superstar of the Day" on WWE.com. Snuka has not been seen since the January 12, 2009 episode of Monday Night Raw where Ted DiBiase betrayed him and Manu.



    
NEWS > WWE >

Posted in: WWE
SmackDown
Draws Record Low Rating, WrestleMania 27 Location, More
By Daniel Pena
Apr 29, 2009 - 11:30:42 PM

source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

-- WWE probably won't be issuing a press release this week as last week's episode of Friday Night SmackDown drew a 1.6 rating with 2.7 million viewers, setting a record low number for the program on myNetworkTV. The show was headlined by Batista and Shane McMahon vs. Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes.

-- At the moment, WWE is leaning toward holding WrestleMania 27 in Indianapolis. However, nothing will be decided until early next year.

-- WWE plans on keeping all three brands apart from this point forward. For the most part, WWE managed to stay true to their new directive as announcer Josh Mathews and United States Champion Montel Vontavious Porter were the sole talents to cross brands following Backlash. It was noted on commentary during last week's episode of SmackDown that MVP's title defense against Dolph Ziggler on this week's show was signed prior to the Draft.



Linda Hogan Looking To Cash In On Hulk's "O.J. Simpson" Comments
By Michael Bluth
Apr 28, 2009 - 4:36:29 PM

Earlier this month, Hulk Hogan made tabloid headlines when he told Rolling Stone magazine that after the latest round of divorce proceedings, he empathizes with O.J. Simpson. Hogan told Rolling Stone, "I could have turned everything into a crime scene, like OJ, cutting everybody's throat. You live half a mile from the 20,000-square-foot home you can't go to anymore, you're driving through downtown Clearwater and see a 19-year-old boy driving your Escalade, and you know that a 19-year-old boy is sleeping in your bed, with your wife . . . I totally understand OJ. I get it."

Now, TMZ.com reports that Linda Hogan is looking to cash in on Hulk's poor choice of words. This afternoon, Linda filed papers in Pinellas County, Florida claiming she is in "imminent danger of becoming a victim" and needs an additional $8,200 a month from Hulk so she can move "thousands of miles away" from him.

Linda is also asking for $24,000 for "advanced rent and security deposits" so she can find a new home in California - where, as TMZ points out, O.J. allegedly killed his wife.





Site Meter
      
NEWS > WWE > TNA >

Posted in: NEWS
Bret Hart Interview: Forgiving HBK, Taking Wrestling Too Serious
By Michael Bluth
Apr 27, 2009 - 12:12:05 PM

WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart was interviewed by Sky Sports in Great Britain while on his overseas book tour. You can read the entire interview at SkySports.com. Here's what the Hitman said about:

Writing His Book: "In a lot of ways the writing was really cathartic for me. I tried to let it take its own course. I never rushed anything. I found myself putting a full day just into writing a whole page."

The Montreal Screwjob: "For me I don't really have much issue with it anymore. If you asked me that up until probably about a year ago I'd have probably said something different. But I've cooled off a bit now. I don't want to carry it around anymore. If [Shawn Michaels] wanted to apologize I would accept it. I'd move on but I wouldn't forget it."

Inducting Shawn Michaels into the WWE Hall of Fame: "Maybe if he wants to make himself feel better about it he should have the guts to pick up the phone and apologize. Then we'll see after that.

Did He Take the Business Too Seriously?: "Maybe I did take it all a bit too serious. But that's what made me special and hopefully makes people remember me as someone who was passionate about what I did and what I thought wrestling was really all about."



Eric Bischoff Rejects Working With WWE, GAB Poster Released, More
By Daniel Pena
May 2, 2009 - 2:17:52 PM

-- Via Twitter (twitter.com/EBischoff), a fan asked Eric Bischoff if he'll be taking part in WWE's upcoming "Rise and Fall of WCW" DVD release — which Jim Ross noted was in production in a recent blog post. Bischoff responded with the following:

"They called and asked me to be a part of it and I declined. No desire to give credibility to their revisionist hist."

Bischoff later added the following in response to another fan:

"Chose not to participate in WWE's latest revisionist history initiative for many reasons including the obvious one."

-- in DEMAND has released the promotional poster for the upcoming Great American Bash pay-per-view, which features Batista. You can see the poster here. Although, the poster appears to be a placeholder poster.

The Great American Bash will be taking place on Sunday, June 28 as its date was switched with Night of Champions.

-- The Bella Twins are featured on the latest edition of "Diva Shorts" on WWE.com.



Dwayne Johnson Lands Another Starring Movie Role With Disney
By Michael Bluth
May 4, 2009 - 10:59:45 AM

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has signed on to star in yet another Disney motion picture. Johnson will play Captain Nemo in a planned remake of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The film is slated to film later this year in Australia.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the film is about "a fugitive whaler who teams up with a naturalist, a mysterious woman and a captain of a futuristic submarine to search for a lost underwater civilization that holds libraries of vast knowledge and a weapon with the power to destroy mankind."

This will be Johnson's third project with Disney. He previously starred in The Game Plan and Race To Witch Mountain, both of which were box office hits and helped solidify him as a bankable leading man. Johnson scored major points with Disney executives by going above and beyond the call of duty to promote "The Game Plan."



Reid Flair Resurfaces, News On Roddy Piper's Son's MMA Career
By Michael Bluth
May 4, 2009 - 11:11:02 AM

-- MMAJunkie.com features an article about up and coming MMA fighter Colt Toombs, son of WWE Hall of Famer Rowdy "Roddy" Piper. The 19 year old fighter is 3-0 and trains with Team Quest, coached by UFC regular Matt Lindland.

"I did a lot of boxing growing up with my dad, and I also did other various martial arts, including wrestling and training with ("Judo") Gene Lebell," Toombs said. Although he's been successful so far in his young career, Toombs admits that he's already thinking about making a name for himself in the MMA world. "I'd like to have at least a couple more fights for experience," Toombs said. "But being a kid, of course I want to jump in there with the top guys right now."

Toombs' father does have some influence over his career, but Piper told MMAJunkie that his son "goes by his Christian name, Colten Toombs, because he doesn't want to ride off his fathers name. He wants to make it on his own."

-- Over the weekend, Reid Flair made his first public appearance since being arrested for DWI and heroin possession on 4/26. At a wrestling show in Shelby, North Carolina to raise money for the police department's youth prevention programs, Reid teamed up with his brother David in the main event against Buff Bagwell & Rikki Nelson. Bagewell and Nelson got the win after Ric Flair was removed from ringside by police. For more on the appearance, visit ShelbyStar.com.



Bret Hart To ROH, Batista-Pacquiao Video, Mayweather Boxing Again
By Michael Bluth
May 4, 2009 - 11:50:21 AM

-- WWE superstar Batista accompanied Manny Pacquiao to the ring over the weekend for his boxing fight against Ricky Hatton. You can see video of at Youtube.com. Batista and Pacquiao share Filipino heritage and are two of the country's biggest celebrities. For those who missed it, Pacquiao dismantled Ricky Hatton and scored a knockout victory at the end of the second round.

-- The other wrestling-related news coming out of the Manny Pacquio vs. Ricky Hatton fight was that Floyd Mayweather, Jr. came out of retirement to announce his return to boxing. Mayweather "fought" Big Show at last year's WrestleMania 24 in Orlando and is rumored to be next in line to fight Manny Pacquiao.

-- Ring of Honor announced this morning that WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart will make a special appearance for the company on July 24th in Toronto, Ontario. Hart will be on-hand for a special autograph signing prior to the scheduled ROH event, as well as making an appearance during the show. It will be Bret's first ROH appearance. For ticket information, visit ROHWrestling.com.



    
NEWS > WWE > TNA >

Posted in: NEWS
WWE
Hall of Famer Compares Wrestling Promoter To Adolf Hitler
By Daniel Pena
May 3, 2009 - 3:16:27 PM

"Superstar" Billy Graham is — or was — quite upset with Karl Lauer, the Executive Vice President of the Cauliflower Alley Club.

Last weekend, Graham sent a threatening e-mail to Lauer, likening him to Adolf Hiter and saying he should get "666" tattooed on his head. Graham forwarded the e-mail to a number of people with one person receiving it sending it to me.

The WWE Hall of Famer was upset over teaching a seminar at the annual convention in Las Vegas a few weeks ago and not being paid. Apparently, he was going to send his payoff for the event to a nine-year-old girl by the name of Shiloh. However, it should be noted that the Cauliflower Alley Club is a non-profit organization.

Here is his e-mail in its entirety:

Mr. Lauer,

Please return Paulette Nordmann from the Bronx, NY her income tax refund check of $200, that she wanted to donate to Shiloh. Ms Nordmann has set an example that you would have been wise to follow. She gave all she had to help this handicap child. But you, a filthy rich cattle baron has not given that child a penny. I know people with almost nothing that have given something, to this handicap child. I would urge you, you worthless piece of dung to go out and hang yourself and then send us all a postcard from Hell. You are a pure dictator and your middle name should be Hitler. You walk up to me and tell me, that I have a seminar at 10 AM the next morning. You do not ask, you tell, you order, you demand. You are nothing more than a mark whore for this business and the numbers 666 should be tattooed across your forehead. I have been told by more than one person that you were the worst pay off promoter in this disgusting business. You stole and robbed money from wrestlers as a wanta be promoter. You promoted a silent auction? It was so silent that know one even knew about it. You comped me a fold up table worth $150? So what, you should have, would you have the nerve to have charged Hulk or Ventura for a gimmick table? Or, charge them $100 for a plate of mashed potatoes? Or charged them $32 per night in a white trash hotel? Dont you get it? You comp people that will bring marks and add prestige to your event. But you are whining you multi millionaire fool who did not give a handicap child a penny? Fuck you, you worthless pile of dung. I hate your guts Mr. Hitler. The CAC board of good and decent folks need to vote you out, burn in Hell please.

SUPERSTAR BILLY GRAHAM

Shiloh (Pepin) is the nine-year old "Mermaid Girl" that was featured on a Discovery Channel special last year. She's a huge WWE fan who Graham has been raising money for in recent months. He tried to convince Vince McMahon to bring her in as celebrity at this year's WrestleMania, but he refused.

Graham's official MySpace account (www.myspace.com/superstargraham) notes a statement from the official website of the Millennium Wrestling Federation, www.BostonWrestling.com, thanking him for raising enough money for Shiloh and her family to attend the Backlash pay-per-view in Providence, Rhode Island last week. The statement notes that Shiloh was personally presented with a WWE Women's Championship by John Cena himself.

It would appear that Lauer gave in to Graham's request as he is also credited with helping raise money for the Pepin family to attend Backlash.

[wolfgang187]

Brooke Hogan Talks About Dating Girls, Linda's Drug Use
By Michael Bluth
May 8, 2009 - 12:56:30 PM

Source: FoxNews.com

In an interview with Fox News, Brooke Hogan revealed that she's been on a date with another woman. "The girl was really awesome and we had a blast," Brooke said. "Then it got to the point where she was wanting to kiss me. Everyone knows I do not go there.” Brooke went on to say that she understands how people can "fall in love with anyone," yet she maintains that she "naturally migrates toward men first."

Brooke also spoke about her mother Linda and her relationship with 19-year-old Charlie Hill. Brooke says she doesn't approve of Charlie, who she calls a "bad influence" on Linda. "We are totally different women. I’m straight laced, don’t do drugs, stick to my regimen. It’s different there."

Brooke said she's more comfortable with her father’s new girlfriend and looks up to Hulk for the lessons he's taught her in life, including love and physical fitness. "I feel great at this weight, but I’ve started sticking to a diet again. People should know, I’m only doing the diet for the entertainment business. It’s not really what you’re supposed to look like in real life."




PPV Buyrates Released, New WWE Videogame, Cena's Movie Career
By Michael Bluth
May 7, 2009 - 12:46:17 PM

-- In an interview with Vindy.com, John Cena was once again asked about whether his budding movie career will take away from his time in WWE. Cena said "I’m going to be the first guy to work two full-time jobs. I’m certainly not going to leave wrestling anytime soon, but I’m not going to do movies as a hobby. I really want to devote 100-percent effort into any project I get involved with."

-- In its quarterly earnings call with stock holders on Wednesday morning, THQ, developers of World Wrestling Entertainment's video games, announced that they are developing a new game called WWE Online. At this point, not much else is known about the title aside from the fact that it's being developed in Asia. WWE's video games are one of THQ's main profit centers, although sales of this year's SmackDown vs. RAW were down 25% from the 2008 edition.

-- WWE released first quarter 2009 financial results and the buyrates are in for this year's Royal Rumble and No Way Out. The 2009 Royal Rumble drew 450,000 buys, down from 533,000 in 2008. No Way Out 2009 drew 272,000 buys, down from 329,000 in 2008. It should be noted that unlike last year, this year's WrestleMania took place in WWE's second fiscal quarter, so we'll have to wait until August before seeing the final buyrate. During the investor conference call this morning, Vince did state that WrestleMania drew over 70,000 fans and is on track to doing close to 1 million buys.


WWE Releases First Quarter 2009 Financial Results
By Michael Bluth
May 7, 2009 - 12:02:33 PM

STAMFORD, Conn., May 7, 2009 - World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:WWE) today announced financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2009.

* Revenues totaled $107.8 million as compared to $162.6 million in the comparable prior year quarter.

* Operating income was $16.7 million as compared to $27.1 million in the prior year quarter.

* Net income was $10.3 million, or $0.14 per share, as compared to $19.5 million, or $0.27 per share, in the prior year quarter.

For a complete breakdown of WWE's first quarter financial results and how this quarter compared to Q1 2008 (including data on live events, merchandise, PPV buyrates, revenue by region and more), visit Corporate.WWE.com [PDF file].




Billy Graham Calls McMahon 'Evil' & Says He Will 'Burn In Hell'
By Daniel Pena
May 6, 2009 - 9:11:39 PM

As reported earlier, "Superstar" Billy Graham was recently informed that World Wrestling Entertainment would be releasing him from his $500 a week contract not to mention prohibiting him from using his trademark moniker in any capacity related to wrestling any longer.

As you would imagine, he was initially furious over their decision to retain all rights to his stage name and character as he had been using the "Superstar" Billy Graham persona long before he joined WWE. Fortunately for Graham, WWE made a clerical error by sending him a form letter release as the terms on the letter don't apply to him.

The issue between Graham and WWE has since been resolved as company officials told him on Monday morning that he owns all rights to his three wrestling names — Wayne Coleman, Billy Graham and "Superstar" Billy Graham — and is free to use them at wrestling related events without interference.

However, before Graham resolved things with WWE, he was apparently going on a mini-crusade online to get back at the company. First, he had his termination paper posted online — something's he's prohibited from doing. A few days later, he forwarded an e-mail condemning Vince McMahon, calling him an "evil man" and saying he will "burn in Hell" for trying to prevent him from using his wrestling name.

We managed to get a hold of Graham's e-mail. Here is what was written in its enirety:

"One more thought concerning not being able to use my wrestling name of Superstar Billy Graham in any capacity related to wrestling once my contract is up. What if I wanted to paint a portrait of a dead wrestler, my dear and precious friend, Eddie G. And I wanted to sell this painting of Eddie for his memory to and for wrestling fans and wrestlers alike. I would not be able to sign my wrestling name of Superstar Billy Graham to a portrait I just painted of Eddie? Vince will indeed burn in Hell for trying to stop me from using my pro wrestling name, because he doesn't want me to, let him burn, he is one evil man."  "GOD DAM WHAT A CRAZY OLD MAN"



Batista Retirement Update, Developmental Talent Getting Called Up
By Michael Bluth
May 5, 2009 - 3:03:59 PM

-- WWE developmental talent Sheamus O'Shaunessy has been called up to the main roster and will be working some WWE house shows in the coming weeks. There's also been some talk of calling up Eric Escobar, according to PWInsider.com.

-- WSOC-TV channel 9 news in Charlotte, NC has posted an article about the recent increase in black tar heroin use in the area. The article, which you can read here, notes that according to police, "21-year-old Richard Fliehr crashed his car and had black tar heroin inside."

-- We reported yesterday that Dave Batista is considering retiring from WWE when his contract expires next year. Batista was interviewed today by the UK Sun and once again brought up the prospect of retirement. "I realize that I am closer to the end of my career than I am to the beginning. It's something I’m really going to have to take a look at. I don’t want to hang around past my welcome. I also don’t want to hang around to the point where I’m so beat up that it’s hard for me to get out of bed. I don’t want to be that guy." Batista's WWE contract expires next Spring. To read the interview, visit TheSun.co.uk.



Hardcore Holly Threatens Current WWE Star Over Incident Last Year
By Daniel Pena
May 5, 2009 - 3:32:47 PM

RF Video recently conducted a shoot interview with former WWE wrestler Hardcore Holly and he holds nothing back while discussing his 15-year tenure in the company.

Perhaps the most notable portion of the interview concerns Holly's explanation for being let go from World Wrestling Entertainment back in January. He has some choice words for a certain wrestler in the company to say the least — that person being Raw Superstar Mr. Kennedy. Holly believes Kennedy is responsible for his ultimate release from the company and is angry with him to this day, so much so that he issues a personal threat to him during the interview.

Courtesy of RFVideo.com, here is a synopsis of what you can expect to hear from Holly concerning his issue with Kennedy in the shoot interview:

"I got a call from Bob today when he was boarding his plane and he told me what he wanted to talk about on the shoot. He asked me point blank can he say what ever he wants and I told him that this is his day. This would be his platform to do what ever he wanted. He went off on a 5 minute promo on how he wants to beat the hell out of Ken Kennedy on the phone and told me about his major heat with him. This is not a work at all and on the interview, Bob goes into what happened to get these two once best friends into a bitter battle. You will hear right from the mouth of Bob, how Kennedy told Bob to go into his bag and get something out of it for himself. I do not want to get to graphic here because it makes the shoot. You have to watch this as soon as you can, as Bob sends a private message to Ken on this tape. I would not want to be in the shoes of Mr. Kennedy!!!"

Here is another synopsis on the subject, noting Holly making a threat "that is sure to get the WWE's attention":

"The highlight of this interview is Bob talking about his WWE release. How did someone once so close to the boss get released? Bob sends a clear message to a current WWE superstar and calls him out by name. What is this wrestler's culpability in Bob's firing? Bob will tell you a story that will shock even his biggest detractors. No names are protected and nobody is innocent as Bob makes a threat that is sure to get the WWE's attention. What happened between Bob and his former friend? You will hear about it all from the horse's mouth in this classic RF Video Shoot Interview."

Reportedly, Holly was caught stealing pain pills from another wrestler's bag this past summer, hence his sudden disappearance from television. He was immediately taken off the road, sent to a rehabilitation facility, and ultimately released.




WWE Signs New Superstar, Another Movie For The Rock, WCW DVD
By Michael Bluth
May 7, 2009 - 4:42:09 PM

-- WWE's upcoming DVD set for World Championship Wrestling will be titled, "The Rise and Fall of WCW." It will be a 3-disc set and will be available on August 25th. As reported last week, several big names from WCW's heyday have turned down invitations to be part of the project, including Eric Bischoff and Ted Turner.

-- ComingSoon.net reports that CBS Films is in final negotiations with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to star in "Faster," an action drama that will be directed by Phil Joanou (Gridiron Gang). Johnson will play "an ex-con bent on avenging the death of his brother, murdered 10 years earlier when the two were double-crossed during a heist." Shooting begins in August.

-- WWE has signed independent wrestler Fred Sampson, who wrestles in New Jersey based ECWA as "Frederick of Hollywood", to a developmental deal. Sampson has done some enhancement work for WWE in the past, including posing as a police officer for several on-air segments. (Credit: PWInsider.com)






Bret Hart Interview: HBK-Taker, Passing The Torch, Cena, Drugs
By Michael Bluth
May 7, 2009 - 6:46:28 PM

WWE Hall of Famer Bret "The Hitman" Hart was recently interviewed by the UK Sun's WrestleCast radio show, which you can listen to here. Some highlights:

HBK vs. Undertaker: "I’ll be the first to say that I thought Taker v Shawn was the best match at WrestleMania, maybe one of the best matches I’ve seen in years. To a certain degree, I was proud of both of them. I never take away the fact that Shawn was a great wrestler and he did a lot of great stuff. I’ve always been really proud of the match we had in Anaheim, when I dropped the title to him.”

Passing the Torch: "If you look back when I first won the title, too many guys – Warrior, Hogan, Jake Roberts – didn’t pass the torch back. When I left the business I had a lousy ending, but I would have loved to have wrestled Steve Austin one more time at the end of my career and really put him over – or Shawn. I would have loved to have given back. I didn’t end up being able to pass the torch back, that was an honour I would have liked to have done."

John Cena being a company guy: “When Chris Benoit died he was on Larry King and somebody asked him if wrestlers need a union – and he shot that down and said 'no'. The truth is only an idiot would say wrestlers don’t need a union, because we do! But it is hard not to take that company position and be a company guy when you’re on the team later. I was in his shoes and you try and do the best you can. As far as his career and how they’re using him – he’s better off working with them and doing everything the way he’s doing it."

Wrestlers dying young: "I don’t understand why so many of them are dying from the prescription pill problems and downers and things like that. There’s an addiction I don’t understand, as I was never addicted to anything like that and never had any desire to tranquilize myself after the matches. I couldn’t understand why these guys would take pills all the time. Back then it was stupid, but now they’re all dying. There have been so many who died that shouldn’t have. Curt Hennig, Miss Elizabeth, Davey Boy, Test and Crush should all be alive. But I think it’s unfair to pin this epidemic of wrestlers dying on Vince McMahon. It’s the wrestlers who need to clean up their act."



WWE Reaches Out To Ted Turner, Tyson Kidd & Natalya vs. Tiffany
By Daniel Pena
May 5, 2009 - 11:49:52 PM

-- Eric Bischoff noted on his Twitter page (twitter.com/EBischoff) that Ted Turner — Vince McMahon's arch nemesis — declined World Wrestling Entertainment's offer to take part in their upcoming "Rise and Fall of WCW" DVD.

Bischoff also notes speaking to former TBS president Bill Shaw, who helped him rise to power in World Championship Wrestling in the early-1990s. He says Shaw declined to participate in WWE's project as well.

-- WWE may be doing a wrestler vs. General Manager angle on ECW.

Following his loss to Evan Bourne on tonight's episode of ECW on Sci Fi, Tyson Kidd and his associate Natalya launched a number of complaints towards ECW interim General Manager Tiffany. (WWE Mobile on AT&T exclusive video: Tyson Kidd & Natalya and Tiffany)

-- In today's birthdays, WWE Diva Eve Torres turns 25 years old whereas WWE Hall of Famer "Cowboy" Bill Watts turns 70 years old.

[wolfgang187]

JR Comments On Batista Retiring, Update On The Rock's Next Movie
By Michael Bluth
May 6, 2009 - 2:42:37 PM

-- Yesterday we wrote about a news story reported by entertainment industry publication Production Weekly about Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson being selected to star in the upcoming Disney remake of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." It turns out that news is false. During a phone interview conducted on Monday with SciFiWire.com, "20,000 Leagues" director McG was asked about the Dwayne Johnson report and said, "I don't know where that came from. I've never spoken to Dwayne Johnson. You can be the first to report that I have no idea where that came from. I wish him every success, but I never spoke to Dwayne about this." McG reiterated, "I like him. He's great. He's a wonderful human being and an excellent screen presence, but we have not spoken about 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Not a word." He added that he'd like to have actor Will Smith play the lead.

-- In his latest blog over at JRsBarBQ.com, Jim Ross has addressed the online reports that Batista is considering retirement next year when his WWE contract expires. Heres what Ross said:

"Been reading where Batista may retire in a year or so but I'd bet that won't happen. Unless Batista has saved a boat load of cash I say he stays in WWE and makes more of those big pay days and 7 figure years. Big Dave likes the good life, who doesn't, but the "good life" isn't facilitated w/ coupons. Dave's value to WWE, considering especially the overall lack of main event depth may never be greater. I know I thoroughly enjoy my paychecks even thought I feel I'm underpaid (who doesn't?)and hope to successfully negotiate a new contract w/ WWE when the time comes later in 2009. Hey, we ALL feel like we're under paid, right?"




WWE Legend Trashes Mickey Rourke, Brooke Hogan Turns 21
By Michael Bluth
May 6, 2009 - 2:00:52 PM

-- Brooke Hogan celebrated her 21st birthday yesterday in Las Vegas with her father Hulk and family friend Eric Bischoff.

-- Hacksaw Jim Duggan has posted a blog on his WWE Universe page (link) and he tells a story about getting into a confrontation with Mickey Rourke during WrestleMania weekend in Houston. Duggan wrote:

"BUT, my one high spot of the night, I went up to the top floor to check on my girls and on the way back downstairs I saw three guys coming toward me in the hallway. The top floors of the hotel have security, so I figured they must be someone I knew. As we get closer, I step to the right and two of the other guys do also, but one guy takes up the whole hallway, even though he is not all that big. I don't have on my glasses, so I can't really tell who he is, but anyway, as we pass I say " you got enough room there Mack" and keep walking. The other guy stops and says "What did you say to me?" So I told him again, but with a few adjectives. He says " You don't talk to me that way" now, as I start to focus in on the guy, I can see it is Mickey Rourke. The other two guys step in and break up the war of words. But, I was disappointed to see someone like that, act like he was a big shot. After of years of meeting real Movie stars, musicians, sports stars and other true big time celebrity's, I was not going to let that ruin my night."




Update On HHH's Return To The Ring, Batista Shooting Movie, More
By Daniel Pena
May 6, 2009 - 1:22:33 AM

sources: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, The Sun

-- In an update on Triple H's eventual return to the ring, he is currently booked to appear on house shows following Judgment Day.

-- Alongside Rob Van Dam, Batista will be in Louisiana this week to begin shooting for a movie entitled Wrong Side Of Town. The wrestlers' roles in the film have yet to be disclosed.

The movie is about a former Navy Seal by the name of Bobby Kalinowski who accidentally kills a mob boss. The brother of the mob boss puts a bounty on Kalinowski's head and must escape Los Angeles while being pursued by every criminal, wise guy and thug in the city.

To read the synopsis for the film. click here.

-- A new special edition issue of WWE Magazine has hit newsstands. Entitled the Big Book of Wrestling, the magazine is a composition of dozens upon dozens of lists and rankings rating subjects such as the greatest champions of all-time, the most downloaded Divas photos in WWE.com history, the funniest blunders you were never meant to see, the 25 most mind-blowing finishers, the 10 worst ring outfits in WWE history, the 7 most bizarre Superstars in WWE history, the 12 most stunning moments in WWE history, and much, much more.



Backstage Update On Carlito, Shane Douglas Visits WWE Show, More
By Daniel Pena
May 6, 2009 - 8:46:39 PM

sources: www.pwtorch.com, Wrestling Observer Newsletter

-- While he can still be quite moody at times, Carlito has been telling friends that he's enjoying his job much more now because his brother Primo is working and traveling with him.

Officials put the two brothers together in hopes that it would light a fire under the former WWE Intercontinental Champion, who has a reputation for getting frustrated and lazy when he's unhappy with his standing in the company.

-- Shane Douglas was backstage at last night's SmackDown/ECW taping as they were in his home city of Pittsburgh.

-- Last week's SmackDown/ECW taping drew just over 12,000 paid for a gate of $500,000. The morale at the show was strong, especially among the younger wrestlers as the SmackDown brand typically doesn't sell out big arenas.



Raw Rating Continues To Stumble, WWE Changes PPV Locations, More
By Daniel Pena
May 7, 2009 - 12:30:45 PM

source: www.pwtorch.com

-- Monday's episode of Raw scored a 3.3 cable rating, down from 3.4 the week before.

Raw was seen by an average audience of 4.6 million viewers, a drop of 18.5 percent compared to the previous five weeks of the program.

In the key Male 18-49 demo, the show declined to a 2.6 rating, its worst performance in that demo since the December 22, 2008.

-- WWE announced at Tuesday night's SmackDown taping that Cyber Sunday will be held at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh on October 25th, 2009. The original plan was for Pittsburgh to host No Mercy with Cyber Sunday taking place at the Izod Center in New Jersey. No word yet on the new location for No Mercy. Go to http://sportsentertainmentevents.tk or http://prowrestlingevents.webs.com for info about upcoming wrestling shows worldwide. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)

-- Linda McMahon will be on the Fox Business Channel today at 12:40 p.m. ET. to discuss WWE's earning results from the past quarter. (WWE CEO on Fox Business Channel today)




"12 Rounds" Shows Signs Of Life, WWE Divas Up For Award, MVP
By Daniel Pena
May 7, 2009 - 2:49:44 PM

-- 12 Rounds starring WWE Superstar John Cena garnered $297,333 at the box office this past weekend, an increase of 195.9 percent. As a result, it's box office total was brought to $11,812,067 through its sixth weekend out. The movie played in 159 theaters.

-- The Bella Twins were nominated in the category of Hottest Twins in Spike TV’s "Guy Awards." The WWE Divas are facing off against MTV's the Ikki Twins. To cast a vote, click here. (Bella Twins go for "Hottest")

-- In case you missed it, you can see video of MVP's brief appearance on The View here.



Reason For WWE Cuts, New Talent Being Called Up Soon, Zack Ryder
By Daniel Pena
May 7, 2009 - 3:44:50 PM

source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

-- The reason WWE continues making cuts (even those that save very little money such as "Superstar" Billy Graham's $500 a week deal and less talent being brought on the road) while the company remains profitable is because the feeling in Wall Street is that stock isn't a good buy at the moment as their profits aren't coming close to meeting the dividend.

Company officials don't want to give up the dividend, feeling it gives them a niche as an attractive buy because of the payout. However, leading market analysts that were bullish on WWE's stock have gotten off the bandwagon.

The company's arena business is far stronger than expected in North America right now and television revenue will increase in light of their deal with WGN.

On the negative side, there is a feeling that video game revenue is on the downswing because that particular sector is weakening. DVD revenue is also on the downswing and likely not turning around anytime soon because they've released DVDs on pretty much every big name in wrestling history that would generate big numbers. The upcoming Randy Savage DVD may be the last DVD release to generate big numbers for a while.

Most of all, many people are pointing at the significant decrease in pay-per-view revenue as it's been the largest profit center of the company for the past decade.

Coming out of today's financial report, WWE missed analyst expectations by $12.5 million as their first quarter revenue total of $107.8 million was significantly below analysts' expectations of $120.3 million.

-- Company officials have described the next few months as a rebuilding period because they hope to push new talent to the top even if the ratings slip a little. They also plan on calling up more talent from Florida Championship Wrestling within the next few months and giving them a purpose as opposed to putting them on television and having them flounder. However, the question remains as to who those people are.

Another detail in light of the extra hour of television being produced every week is that more and more, the ideas for entertainment will be put on Raw with ECW, SmackDown and Superstars generally focusing on wrestling.

-- You can follow ECW wrestler Zack Ryder on Twitter at twitter.com/ZackRyder. This was confirmed through WWE's account.

[mass 04]

Partial source: F4Wonline.com

- It seems like a long shot considering they might not waste a third generation debut on something like this, but a person who works down at WWE's developmental territory in Tampa, Florida Championship Wrestling, says that a rumor going around the place is that Joe Hennig, son of the late Mr. Perfect, is set to be called up to the main roster as the tag team partner of The Brian Kendrick on the RAW brand.

As seen on this week's RAW, Kendrick said he was going to seek out "the tag team partner" and become the WWE Unified Tag Team Champions.

Joe was trained by his late father and WWE Hall of Famer Harley Race, making his pro debut in 2007 in a tag match with Ted DiBiase Jr. for Race's WLW promotion. Joe was signed to a developmental deal by WWE in 2008 and held the FCW Tag Team Titles with Heath Miller. Recently, he won the FCW Heavyweight Title but surrendered it in March of this year after it was announced that he was injured.

We haven't heard any update on Hennig's injury or when he is supposed to return, but this is the rumor down in Florida. I figured that they would pair someone bigger with Kendrick and Hennig at 6'3 and 235 pounds, fits the bill. Stay tuned for more


http://impactwrestling.com/Content.aspx?ID=26547

- According to a fan who attending a voiceover session in Los Angeles this past weekend for WWE's SmackDown vs. RAW 2010 video game, the following names are set to be included in the next game. Keep in mind that more names than these will be in the game, but these are just the ones they recorded chants for this past weekend. The person attending the voiceover session was verified by ProWrestling.net. The person, who remains anonymous for confidentiality reasons, says they read about eight pages of chants and stuff for the matches and wrestlers. The guy running the voiceover session was the former ring announcer for MTV's Wrestling Society X promotion. Indy wrestler The Human Tornado was also there and they had to chant "Tornado" for the create-a-wrestler nicknames.

Here are the names:

* Ricky Steamboat, possibly Bruiser Brody ("Bruise em up, Bruiser, Beat em up" was the chant so this is assumed), Evan Bourne, Vladimir Kozlov, Trish Stratus, Ted DiBiase Sr., Dusty Rhodes, Christian, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, Santina Marella, Goldust, The Brian Kendrick, Primo, Carlito, Randy Orton, MVP, Maryse, Big Show, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, John Cena, Edge, Chris Jericho, The Great Khali, Mike Knox, Ezekiel Jackson and most interesting of all, "Macho Man" Randy Savage.

Regarding Savage, the person assumes Savage will be in the game because the chant they had to record was "Let's go Macho, let's go."

http://impactwrestling.com/Content.aspx?ID=26546

[wolfgang187]

WWE Selects An Arena To Host Next Week's RAW
By likuidm5
May 20, 2009 - 5:31:18 PM

One of the biggest WWE news stories of the week has been that the May 25th edition of Raw was bumped from Denver's Pepsi Arena in favor of Game 4 of the NBA's Western Conference finals. The "Denver Debacle" has gotten WWE a lot of mainstream media attention with most commentators agreeing that WWE was treated unfairly and probably has legal grounds to go after the arena for damages.

NBC news affiliate KNBC in Los Angeles has announced that WWE has selected LA's Staples Center to host next week's show. The network is reporting that WWE will hold a press conference this evening announce the move. According to KNBC, Staples Center representative Michael Roth has confirmed the decision.

The Staples Center will also host SummerSlam 2009 on August 23rd.

There's still no word on how WWE will handle the ticket situation, but fans who purchased tickets for RAW at the Pepsi Center will likely get refunds. WWE will have just 5 days to sell tickets for Monday's show.

[wolfgang187]

Vince To Sue Nuggets Owner? Denver SD/ECW & House Show Cancelled
By Michael Bluth
May 20, 2009 - 9:57:34 PM

-- Denver, Colorado's 9News.com reports that aside from Monday's Raw no longer taking place from Denver, WWE has also canceled Sunday's Loveland, Co house show as well as Tuesday's Smackdown/ECW tapings from Colorado Springs.

-- Vince McMahon spoke to 9News and once again seems to be considering legal action against Denver Nuggets and Pepsi Center owner Stan Kroenke. McMahon said:

"It's really unfortunate because if he were just a regular business man and picked up the phone and said, 'Vince, you know, we're throwing you out but I want to make it right, what can we do?' I never heard from Kroenke, I don't know if anyone else has either, by the way, he's somewhat of a Howard Hughes guy I understand. I think our company has been damaged severely from a financial standpoint and from a psychological standpoint as well. You don't treat people the way Kroenke's management treated us. I'm not a litigious kind of guy, but quite frankly when we have a contract and we have over 10,000 tickets sold and you just say: we're out, and we're not going to do anything for you, you know we're not going to make any restitution. We may pay for your additional expenses, that's it. There could very well be a lawsuit down the road."

-- In related news, TMZ.com has picked up the news that Raw is moving to Los Angeles and writes, "Vince isn't moving out of the kindness of his heart, he and the Nuggets struck a settlement -- but the terms of that deal haven't been made public yet."
















Latest On Shawn Michaels' Future In Wrestling, Heat On Announcer
By Daniel Pena
May 20, 2009 - 4:17:20 PM

source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

-- Shawn Michaels recently told company officials that he's looking to take more time off than originally planned. He believes he's financially set for life and his children are at a certain age where they like him around, and he knows that's a very short window.

Original plans called for Michaels to return at SummerSlam, but he's looking to hold his return off until late this year or early next year for a good WrestleMania storyline. Although, this could change depending on his mood or if any of the major Superstars come down with an injury. If you recall, two years ago, Michaels talked about not coming back for a long time as a result of knee problems. Then John Cena tore his pec and his wife joked that he would be getting a phone call soon. He received the phone call the next day and was back in the ring sooner than initially hoped.

Michaels appears unsure about his long-term future in wrestling as he's made noise about retiring next year at WrestleMania, but he also feels he can still make appearances at big shows well into his fifties like Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair. He also said that once his children become teenagers, being at home won't be as much as priority anymore as his kids won't want to hang around him as much. At that point, he'd be more open to spending more time on the road.

-- Vince McMahon was said to really be on Michael Cole's case at last week's Raw taping.

-- WWE hauled in the steel cage for last night's SmackDown/ECW taping, but the Edge vs. Jeff Hardy dark match following the tapings lasted a mere four minutes.

[wolfgang187]

10th Anniversary Of The Death Of Owen Hart, Manu Available, More
By Daniel Pena
May 24, 2009 - 11:37:05 PM

 
-- Saturday marked the ten year anniversary of the death of Owen Hart. He was the youngest of twelve children to Helen and Stu Hart.

He fell to his death in Kansas City, Missouri on Sunday, May 23, 1999 during the World Wrestling Federation's "Over The Edge" pay-per-view event when a stunt where he was supposed to be lowered into the ring from the rafters went wrong. Hart fell 78 feet (24 m) into the ring, landing chest-first on the top rope, approximately a foot from the nearest turnbuckle, throwing him into the ring.

Owen had just celebrated his 34th birthday a couple weeks before, and is survived by his wife and two children. (Thanks to Ryan Mawhinney)

-- Afa Anoa'i, Jr.'s (a.k.a. Manu) ninety-day no-compete clause as a result of his release from World Wrestling Entertainment on Monday, February 23, 2009 has expired, so he is now free to work anywhere at his discretion.

-- Today is WWE Hall of Famer Sgt. Slaughter's birthday, who turns 61 years old.





Update On Ric Flair's Pro Wrestling Status
By Brad Ingles
May 25, 2009 - 2:58:28 PM

 
As of this writing, Ric Flair will be working for WWE without a contract. Flair's status with Ring of Honor is uncertain, as he stated publicly that one of the main reasons he agreed to appear for ROH is to make a path for Reid Flair to join the company. ROH has no interest in Reid following his recent arrest for possession of heroin. Flair is still scheduled for future appearances with ROH and that does not sit well with WWE officials since ROH recently made their debut on HDNet.

Ric Flair is currently negotiating an international tour with several promoters to do a 30-match tour starting in July through March in Europe, South Africa, China and Egypt. Those close to Flair overheard him say the deal is too huge to turn down. Some question the international tour, as the feeling is that it will not be successful without some top name opponents.

Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter






Three Cage Matches Announced For SD, David Hart Smith, Backlash
By Daniel Pena
May 25, 2009 - 5:48:17 PM

 
-- WWE announced that there will be three cage matches held at tomorrow night's SmackDown/ECW taping at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles. The matches are as follows:

* Edge vs. Jeff Hardy for the World Heavyweight Championship

* John Cena vs. Big Show

* Randy Orton vs. Batista for the WWE Championship

Click here for more information on tomorrow night's event.

-- Last month's Backlash pay-per-view event will be released on DVD tomorrow. You can order it here.

-- WWE.com has changed David Hart Smith's profile page to reflect his new heel persona.















WWE Ticket Sales Problems, Serena Deeb Update, Eddie's Daughter
By Daniel Pena
May 25, 2009 - 6:06:11 PM

 
source: The Sun

-- As a result of such short notice, this week's WWE tapings at the STAPLES Center are being heavily papered. Furthermore, WWE's even offering a coupon where fans can get 20% off any priced ticket to either night's event. You can see it here, which is a PDF file.

-- In an update on independent women's wrestler Serena Deeb's status with World Wrestling Entertainment, she has not signed a contract with the organization, but has been offered one and is expected to come to terms.

-- Eddie Guerrero's 18-year-old daughter Shaul Marie sat at ringside for WWE's SmackDown/ECW live event on the campus of New Mexico State University on Saturday night.








WWE Monday Night Raw Results 5/25/09
By PainLord
May 25, 2009 - 11:15:15 PM

 
Report by Richard Trionfo and PWinsider.com

Tonight’s show starts off with a tribute to those people who sacrificed their lives for our freedom.

We are live from Los Angeles, California and your announcers are Jim Ross and Michael Cole.

‘E. Stan Kroenke’ comes to the ring. We see the footage from the coverage of the issues between Raw and the NBA playoffs on the same night.

‘Stan’ sees ‘Jack Nicholson’, ‘David Stern’, and ‘Jerry Buss’ in the front row. Stan introduces himself to the Los Angeles crowd and they are not big fans of his. He says that he cannot stand the WWE or its fans. He says that he does not care about screwing thousands of WWE fans and calls them ‘you people’. He points out that he is a billionaire. He says that he has been made fun of by the WWE, the media, and everyone in Los Angeles. We see the graphic that has been all over WWE television this week where he is depicted as the devil. Stan says that he is no devil and Vince is no angel.

Cue the music and Vince does his walk to the ring. Vince takes the mic while ‘Stan’ backs off. Vince says that he is announcing the formation of a new basketball league. It will be called the XBA. Vince says the league will be a total miserable failure. That is because he will have ‘Stan’ and his staff run it. Vince tells ‘Stan’ that this did not have to happen. Vince tells ‘Stan’ that he could have said that he screwed up and did not expect to have a team in the playoffs. Vince says that they are going to have fun. Vince comments on Stan’s name. He says that he does not trust anyone with an initial as a first name. Vince says that he thinks he knows what the ‘E’ stands for. Vince says that it stands for Enos. Vince says that Enos rhymes with some words and mentions Venus. Vince says that it also rhymes with genius, but that isn’t the case with him. Vince says that ‘Stan’ has Enos envy. Vince says that ‘Stan’ disrespects WWE fans. Vince says that ‘Stan’ cannot push around the WWE Universe because they push back, and Vince pushes ‘Stan’.

The Miz comes out and he says that he does not want to come out to interrupt Vince. He has something important to say to the WWE fans. Miz says that he became a huge television star in Los Angeles, the home of the Lakers. Miz says that everyone in the building thinks they are going to be the NBA Champions. Miz says that he is from the city where the future NBA Champions reside. Miz reveals a Cavaliers’ jersey and says that he is from Cleveland. Miz says that the Cavs are down 2 games to 1 but they will overcome the odds because they are awesome. He says that Cena is an overrated phony poseur, just like Kobe Bryant. Miz says that he will run John Cena out of this town just like Kobe ran out Shaq. It will be more painful than Magic Johnson’s talk show. Miz says that he will make it 6-0 against John Cena.

John Cena comes out and he is attacked from behind by Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes. Batista comes out to help Cena and Batista with a round of spinebusters. Big Show comes to the ring and he attacks Cena and Batista. Jerry Lawler comes out in Lakers colors and he punches Show. Show with a head butt and Lawler goes down. Cena and Batista clothesline Show over the top rope to the floor.

Kelly Kelly is stretching in the back and then she walks in split screen with Maryse as we go to commercial.

We are back with the WWE Rewind: Kelly Kelly getting her title match by winning a battle royal.

Match Number One: Kelly Kelly versus Maryse for the Divas Title

Maryse does her pose for no reason before they lock up and then Kelly mocks her. Maryse with a spear and then she punches Kelly. Maryse with an uranage back breaker for a near fall. Maryse slams Kelly’s head into the mat and then she yells at her. Maryse tells off the referee before returning to Kelly. Maryse with a punch to the back of the head. Kelly with an Irish whip and a splash in the corner. Kelly with a clothesline followed by an Irish whip. Kelly with a handspring back elbow and drop kick for a near fall. Kelly punches Maryse and then they roll around the ring. Maryse goes out of the ring and Kelly follows. Kelly is sent onto the announce table and then Maryse pushes Kelly over the announce table as Maryse returns to the ring, but the referee has disqualified Maryse.
Winner: Kelly Kelly

After the match, Kelly attacks Maryse in the ring but Maryse leaves the ring.

We go to commercial.

We are back and the Bellas are walking with ‘Jack Nicholson’. Goldust is there and he says that he is a big fan. Hornswoggle jumps into the scene. Goldust was hoping for some acting lessons because they have a scene to do for him. They do the courtroom scene from A Few Good Men and it looks like Hornswoggle learned some new words and Goldust’s Tourette’s might be coming back.

We go to footage from last week when Ric Flair told Randy Orton that he would be facing Batista again at the next big pay per view and they will be inside a steel cage.

Ric Flair and Batista are in the locker room. Flair says that he is going to call out Randy Orton tonight because he is Ric Flair. Batista wonders if it has to be tonight. Batista says that he has Orton in a cage in two weeks. Batista wants Flair to wait until after the cage match to call him out. Flair says that he can handle himself. Flair is going to walk out tonight and call out Orton. He tells Batista if he does not want to see it, don’t watch it.

We go to commercial.

Match Number Two: Match Number Two: Matt Hardy versus William Regal versus Kofi Kingston in a Number One Contenders Match for the United States Title

Kofi kicks Hardy and then Regal goes after Kofi. Regal with knees to Kofi while Hardy is on the floor. Regal with a punch to Kofi followed by an Irish whip and a forearm for a near fall. Regal with an uppercut and then he tries to throw Kofi out of the ring but he bounces off the ropes and then hits a monkey flip. Kofi does laps around Regal and then he is grabbed by Hardy on the floor. Regal and Kofi with clotheslines and Hardy tries for near falls on both men. Hardy with a hard Irish whip and then he sends Kofi into the turnbuckles.

MVP comes to the ring to watch as we go to commercial.

We are back and Regal has Kofi in a full nelson and then Regal hits a half nelson suplex. Hardy stops a cover with a sunset flip for a near fall. Regal works on Hardy’s injured wrist. Kofi with a shoulder to Regal from the apron and then he tries for a sunset flip but Regal stays up. Hardy throws Regal out of the ring. Hardy with a neck breaker to Kofi. Regal with a chin lock and arm bar. Regal and Kofi exchange forearms and Regal with a side head lock. Hardy with a clothesline in the corner followed by a punch to Kofi. Regal works on Hardy’s wrist again. Kofi with an Irish whip and then he is sent to the apron. Kofi goes up top and hits a missile drop kick for a near fall but Hardy stops the cover. Kofi with a stunner and chops followed by a drop kick. Kofi with a leaping clothesline and then it is time for the Boop Boop Leg Drop for a near fall. Kofi with the leap into the corner for punches but Regal pulls Kofi off and hits an Exploder Suplex on Kofi. Hardy with a Side Effect to Regal for a near fall. Hardy with a Side Effect to Regal for a near fall. Regal counters the Twist of Fate with a belly-to-back suplex. Regal pulls down the knee pad but Kofi with Trouble in Paradise but Hardy breaks up the cover. Hardy misses with the cast but Hardy falls victim to Trouble in Paradise for the three count.
Winner: Kofi Kingston

After the match, Kofi goes to the announce table and goes to MVP... and MVP says that he is looking forward to facing Kofi next week for the title.

Ric Flair is walking as we go to commercial.

Ric Flair comes to the ring. Flair points out that Randy Orton sucker punched him and had his way with him. Flair says that all he could think about was what Jericho did to him and that is not going to happen again. Flair was thinking that he is a sixteen time World Champion. Randy Orton is the current World Champion. He wants Orton to try to beat him up and do it to his face. Flair takes off his jacket and he wants Orton to come to the ring.

Randy Orton comes out very methodically and he has a mic with him. Orton asks Flair what he thinks will happen if they get in the ring and fight. Orton says that he would love to fight Flair and beat him down on principle alone. He cannot do it because he lowered himself to punching a sixty year old man. Flair says that he wants Orton to do it again. Orton and Flair talk over each other. Orton says that it is over for him and it has been over for him. Six years ago, it was over for Flair in Evolution. Triple H kept Flair around because he felt sorry for Flair. Orton says that he is starting to feel sorry for Flair and so are the fans. Orton tells Flair that it is over.

Orton gets face to face with Flair and he says that it is over. Flair slaps Orton and then Orton punches Flair and Orton leaves the ring when he sees Batista coming to the ring. Batista has to hold Flair back. Orton tells Batista to waste his time watching after Flair. After he gets done with Batista at Extreme Rules, Batista will be just like Flair because it will be all over for him.

Ken Kennedy’s music plays and he comes out. The microphone comes down from the ceiling. Kennedy says that Orton looks a bit surprised. He asks Randy if he thought it was over because it is just getting started. It is just the beginning. Tonight is the official return of a man who will very shortly be the WWE Champion as well as the final man in the main event. That man happens to be Mr. Kennedy.

We go to commercial.

Match Number Three: Santino Marella and Mickie James versus Chavo Guerrero and Beth Phoenix with Rosa Mendes in a Winner Gets to Choose the Stipulation for Santina’s match against Vickie Guerrero in their Extreme Rules Match

Chavo attacks Santino as the bell rings and he connects with a Latino uppercut. Chavo with a Saito suplex for a near fall. Chavo chokes Santino in the ropes. Chavo punches Santino in the corner and then Beth chokes and punches Santino while Chavo distracted the referee. Beth tags in and Santino gets out of the ring. Mickie with a forearm to Beth followed by a drop kick for a near fall that is broken up by Chavo. Chavo charges at Santino and Santino moves and Chavo goes to the floor. Mickie with a crucifix for the three count.
Winners: Mickie James and Santino Marella

After groping Mickie after the win, Santino gets the mic but Vickie Guerrero comes out and excuses herself a few times as she waves regally. Vickie congratulates Santino on his victory, but she tells him that she will not be worried because Chavo will be in her corner. Santino says that he has a number of match ideas in his head. He says that he will choose a hog pen match.

The Miz sees Big Show in the hall and Big Show tells Miz that he does not like him and nobody likes him. Show says that he does not have any problem with Miz being in the ring with John Cena, but he will not be pinning John Cena. Show says that nobody will be pinning John Cena. He will make John Cena tap out tonight. Show walks away and Miz asks rhetorically if it was just like at Judgment Day. Show asks Miz if he said anything and Miz says that he didn’t say anything.

We go to commercial.

The Colons are at the announce table to join Cole and Ross. We see footage from the Colons’ victory over The Brian Kendrick and Goldust.

Match Number Four: Goldust and Hornswoggle versus The Brian Kendrick and Festus

Festus comes to the ring in a Clippers jersey.

The bell rings and Festus goes after Goldust and Hornswoggle tags himself in. Festus is confused by Hornswoggle’s size. Hornswoggle with a baseball slide to Kendrick. Kendrick wants to be tagged in and he tosses Hornswoggle around and gets a near fall with an inside cradle. Kendrick kicks Hornswoggle but Hornswoggle with a DDT and Goldust is tagged in. Goldust with a clothesline and a reverse atomic drop and clothesline. Goldust with a drop down uppercut. Kendrick with a drop kick and Festus refuses the tag and Kendrick slaps him. Goldust with a power slam and Hornswoggle with a frog splash and Goldust hits the Final Cut for the three count.
Winners: Goldust and Hornswoggle

After the match, Kendrick yells at the catatonic Festus and then he brings in a chair. Primo gets up and he rings the bell before Kendrick can use the chair. Kendrick leaves the ring before Festus can get him.

We go to commercial.

We are back and it is time for Jim Ross and Michael Cole to talk about the Extreme Rules pay per view.

We have the Lakers’ PA Announcer and it is time for the announcements of the Nuggets (Heels). They are followed by the Lakers (faces)

Match Number Five: The Miz, Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase, Big Show, and Randy Orton versus John Cena, MVP, Ken Kennedy, Batista, and Jerry Lawler

Lawler and Rhodes start things off and they lock up and Lawler with a punch and a slam. Batista is tagged in and he sends Rhodes into the corner and connects with shoulders and a clothesline followed by another shoulder. Batista with a snap mare and a running boot to the head. MVP is tagged in and he punches Rhodes. MVP sends Rhodes into the turnbuckles and then he punches Rhodes. Rhodes with a kick and then he hits a clothesline and then he tags in DiBiase who kicks MVP and punches him. DiBiase with a kick and MVP with a back body drop but Orton made the blind tag and Orton hits a back breaker. Show with a clothesline on the floor as the referee was distracted. Orton with a near fall as we go to commercial.

We are back and DiBiase with a reverse chin lock on MVP. MVP with a jawbreaker and Miz stops MVP from making the tag. Miz with a kick and a rear chin lock. MVP punches Miz but Miz with a knee. MVP with an overhead belly-to-belly throw and both men are down. MVP tags in Kennedy and he punches Miz. Kennedy with a clothesline. Kennedy with a kick to Miz in the corner and then he hits a roundhouse kick for a near fall after missing a kick a few seconds earlier. Rhodes and DiBiase pull Kennedy out of the ring and they send Kennedy into the ringside barrier. Miz gets a near fall on Kennedy. Orton tags in and he punches Kennedy. Orton with a kick to the ribs and then he stomps on Kennedy’s abdomen. Orton with a knee to Kennedy’s head. Show tags in and he kicks Kennedy in the chest. Show with a head butt to Kennedy followed by a slam and elbow drop for a near fall. Show with a forearm to the back and a chop to the chest.

Rhodes tags in and he kicks and punches Kennedy. DiBiase is tagged in and he kicks Kennedy in the chest. DiBiase with a punch and then he tags Rhodes back in. Kennedy gets double teamed by DiBiase and Rhodes and then Rhodes gets a near fall. Miz tags in and he kicks Kennedy and follows that with a leg drop. Miz with a reverse chin lock. Kennedy punches Miz but Miz backs Kennedy into his corner and DiBiase is tagged back in. DIBiase with punches and knees followed by a near fall. DiBiase asks who wants Kennedy and Orton tags in. DiBiase holds Kennedy for Orton and Orton gets a near fall. Orton with a reverse chin lock. Orton with a drop kick to Kennedy for a near fall but Batista breaks up the cover. Kennedy with a belly-to-back suplex and both men are down.

Rhodes and Cena tag in and Cena with the flying shoulder tackles and then he hits the Blue Thunder Bomb. MVP tags in and it is time for a double barreled Five Knuckle Shuffle and Ballin Elbow. Lawler with a vintage punch to Miz. MVP with the Playmaker on Rhodes for the three count.
Winners: John Cena, MVP, Ken Kennedy, Batista, and Jerry Lawler

After the match, DiBiase hits the Million Dollar Dream Slam on MVP. Kennedy with the Mic Check to DiBiase. Orton with an RKO to Kennedy. Cena and Batista with a double suplex to Show. We go to credits...

[wolfgang187]

Ken Kennedy Injured, RAW Dark Match, Bob Sapp Taps Out & More
By Michael Bluth
May 26, 2009 - 11:00:09 AM

 
-- Ken Kennedy made his in-ring return on Raw last night after being out of action for several months with a shoulder injury. Kennedy was a surprise participant in the "Lakers vs. Nuggets" 10-man tag match, but his return may be short lived. PWInsider.com reports that Kennedy injured his wrist during the match while taking an RKO from Randy Orton. There's no word yet on whether he'll miss any time, but this is another tough break for the fragile superstar. Kennedy has been injured for a considerable portion of his 4-year WWE career, missing 2 out of the last 4 WrestleManias.

-- Although the Los Angeles times reports that almost 9,000 fans attended Raw, several fans have emailed in saying WWE gave away a ton of tickets to the show around town.








Undertaker Has Surgery, Identity of Kroenke Impersonator & More
By Michael Bluth
May 26, 2009 - 4:26:48 PM

 
-- The Undertaker has undergone hip surgery, according to ProWrestling.net. He had been suffering from hip and back pain for several months and the hope is that the surgery will eliminate the pain in both areas.

-- Ric Flair will be special guest referee for the ROH World Title match in New York City on 6/13. ROH champ Jerry Lynn will defend against Austin Aries. Nigel McGuinness will be ringside to watch the match.

-- The man who played Denver Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke last night on Raw was Troy Stone, an NWA ring announcer. (Source: PWInsider.com)


-- After Raw went off the air, John Cena defeated The Miz in a dark match.

-- Bob Sapp, the MMA fighter who will compete against former WWE Superstar Bobby Lashley on June 27th, fought at the Yokohama Arena in Japan over the weekend at the DREAM 9 event. Sapp lost his fight after Japanese fan favorite Ikuhisa Minowa made him tap out with an Achilles lock. Also on the card, former MLB slugger Jose Conseco made his MMA debut against 7’2" Korean giant Hong Man Choi. Conseco lasted only 76 seconds before Choi got him on the ground and smothered him with punches, causing the referee to stop the fight.









 NEWS > WWE > 

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Posted in: WWE
John Cena Insults WWE Critics, Still Wants The Rock (Interview)
By Michael Bluth
May 26, 2009 - 12:35:52 PM

 
The UK Sun has published a new interview with John Cena, which can be read in its entirety at TheSun.co.uk. Here are some highlights of what Cena said about people who are critical of WWE's product, a possible match with The Rock at WrestleMania next year and certain people within WWE who want him to leave the company:

Critics of WWE: "I've had to fight that battle my entire career. "Vince McMahon has been fighting that battle since he took the company global. It's personal ignorance. People don't know how good we are as entertainers. They don't know how good we are as people in the media. The only way we can silence those voices is by putting together a good product. We've done that with 12 Rounds."

The Rock: "Selfishly, I miss him in the ring. I wish he would come back. He is physically in his prime. One of the greatest sports entertainers we've ever had. But he's an actor now. The trouble is, here I am telling everybody I love the business - it's the same thing Rock said then went out and made movies. He's basically made my life tougher. I'd love to have him back. I'd love to have a WrestleMania match with him - maybe next year. I would love that. That would be great."

People In WWE Wanting Him To Leave: "In WWE, there's a lot of folks who like me and a lot who don't, and those that don't are just waiting for me to leave. What gets to me is people questioning my resolve. People who think I'm in WWE as a stepping stone and don't think I'm telling the truth. The only thing I can do is keep doing what I'm doing."
 






Candice Michelle Backstage At Raw, Natalya Remembers Owen Hart
By Daniel Pena
May 26, 2009 - 5:19:41 PM

 
-- Candice Michelle said on her Twitter page (www.twitter.com/DIVACANDICEM) she was backstage visiting friends at Raw last night. Candice wrote: "Backstage at raw, great seeing everyone!"

-- Natalya posted a blog over the weekend in remembrance of her uncle, Owen Hart, who tragically passed away ten years ago Saturday.

"Sometimes when you lose people you love, you try not to think about them because it's too painful. With Owen, we think about him all the time. We are reminded of what a remarkable person he was, every single day," Natalya wrote. "I have to say, that I have never met a person, who met Owen, and wasn't touched by him."

You can read her blog in its entirety at the following link.

-- The WWE website has posted new photos of Maryse.











Match Announced For ECW, Last Week's ECW Rating, The Hart Trilogy
By Daniel Pena
May 26, 2009 - 5:37:11 PM

 
-- Evan Bourne will be making his much anticipated return to the squared circle on tonight's episode of ECW on Sci Fi as he squares off again "The World's Strongest Man" Mark Henry.

-- Last week's episode of ECW scored 1.1 cable rating, up from the previous week's atrocious 0.93 rating. The show featured a lengthy contest between David Hart Smith and Finlay. (credit PWInsider.com)

-- Click here to see some posed photos of The Hart Trilogy from a few months ago, taken by photographer Robert Beukema. You can see a look they had in mind, but ultimately decided against.










When Taz Will Be Able To Join TNA, Kong Comments On Victoria
By Daniel Pena
May 26, 2009 - 6:16:35 PM

 
-- For those wondering, Taz will not be able to join TNA Wrestling until at least July when his 90-day no-compete clause with World Wrestling Entertainment expires.

-- When asked to comment on former WWE Diva Victoria's impending arrival to TNA Wrestling, Awesome Kong replied with the following on her Twitter account (www.twitter.com/awesomekong): "Fresh meat?"

-- As noted last week during TNA Wrestling's important announcement to wrestling fans in Colorado feeling burned by WWE canceling shows, president Dixie Carter made a formal invitation to the Denver Nuggets players and staff to attend this Friday's TNA live event in Pueblo, Colorado. Unfortunately, they will not be able to attend the event as a result of their win over the Los Angeles Lakers last night at the Pepsi Center. They evened the series and have Game 6 scheduled for Friday night at home.

-- Today is former TNA wrestler Pat Kenney's birthday. He turns 41 years old.