Some of Todays Wrestling News and Rumours (Possible spoilers) ***NO CHAT***

waltersobchak

Chris Masters was on the new Nickelodeon series "Big Time Rush", as the class teacher "Mr. Masterpiece." :pac:

waltersobchak

According to Variety, Vince McMahon is taking control of WWE films. WWE has cut ties with Lionsgate and 20th Century Fox, and have signed new deals with Samuel Goldwyn Films to oversee theatrical releases, while Vivendi Entertainment will handle films across various home video formats in North America.

The company plans to produce a total of 9 films through 2012, while they also are hoping to retain the rights to all the films. This is because WWE still has designs on their own TV channel, and the films would be a part of the programming.

The article also mentions that WWE Films will focus on family films and comedies, instead of films like The Marine 3.

Endaaaagh

according to IMDB Chris Jericho, Kane, Big Show, MVP, The Great Khali and Mark Henry will be appearing in the upcoming McGyver parody McGruber (based on the SNL sketch)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1470023/

D2D

- Randy Orton, who will be facing a court hearing on charges that he assaulted a 15-year-old male at the Kowloon restaurant near Boston last week, recently spoke out about the alleged incident on his website.

"I walked out of Kowloon’s Friday night around 12:30-1 a.m. with Santino and a police officer escort. As I was being rudely hounded for pictures and autos (I had a 6:40 a.m. flight through Minni to Lincoln, then a drive to Omaha, a match, a drive back to Omaha, then a charter to Minni, and a driver to Rochester for the next show the next day, btw), I was confronted by an older women who said: ‘Hey Randy, you spit on my handicapped son a few years ago at a show, what do you have to say about that?’ My replay...`So Sue me.’

Then I proceeded to my car, with Santino and the cop and drove back to our hotel by the Boston airport. I know I have been a bit of a hothead in the past, but I DID NOT spit gum and call names to any child. The women is claiming I called her son a `ret***’ 3 times, and spit gum in his face. Come on people, even at my worst temperament, I would never call a handicapped child something awful like that. I’ll actually sign anything for any child with any disability. I heard just today from WWE attorneys that this women filed assault charges against me 4 days later?

Hmmm, oh, and what about the dozens of cops at the restaurant that were there for crowd control since there were over 100 wrestling fans there? Not to mention the cop that escorted me to my freaking car. I’ll be happy when this is over. I guess if I’ve learned anything from this, it is not to ever challenge anyone to sue me."

D2D

The Wrestling Observer is reporting that The Undertaker was hurting badly at WWE house show events last weekend. The hip surgery Undertaker had last year was considered the last hope before getting a full hip replacement. The belief at this point is that his appearances will become more and more limited after WrestleMania 26 this year. Keep in mind that this kind of belief or discussion has been taking place in WWE for the last 10 years meaning he has been working that long in pain.

waltersobchak

Heres The Rock talking about a future return to WWE on Letterman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuhB99U2EsA

waltersobchak

It would appear that the latest D-Generation X run is coming to an end as Shawn Michaels said during an interview with the KISS-FM radio station out of San Antonio this past week that DX will "probably disband" following the Royal Rumble so they can focus on their respective matches at WrestleMania.

When asked if he had any plans on retiring, Michaels said: "Well, that's always the million dollar question. I'd like to go on record as saying I have been trying to retire for the last three years... [WWE] makes it very difficult, you know, Vince McMahon is nuts. I try to walk away then WrestleMania comes up, they put me in a match, I do well, and [Vince] doesn't make it very easy."

Also it would appear that he had zero input in selecting matches for WWE's upcoming DVD release on him, Shawn Michaels: My Journey. He responded with the following: "They found my 25 greatest matches?"

It had been rumored that Michaels would handpick his favorite twenty-five matches of his career for the DVD release.

waltersobchak

During an interview with Live Audio Wrestling last night, Dwayne "The Rock Johnson said he would return to WWE for a guest-hosting role or to wrestle a match on the sole condition that he can "rip up" the writing for the current television product and tap into the "Attitude Era" with an edgier product.

"I want to use the platform as a host to literally rip things open. There's so much stuff we can do," Johnson told John Pollock. "We're going to create an incredible show, an incredible Raw. I'm doing another movie, but after that, we're going to create something special, unique, something badass for the fans. Talking to Vince (McMahon), whenever that's going to be, we're going to have a great time."

Johnson echoed what he said last week during an interview with ESPN in that he wouldn't rule out actually wrestling, but only if he can turn the product upside down and create a compelling storyline leading to a match.

"I accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish in wrestling, so I wouldn't rule out going back," Johnson said. "If the match was right and we could create something really unique and cool for the fans and for my opponent and for the company, I would do it in a second."

Johnson once again said he has no interest in wrestling John Cena, but talked about what it would take for him to work a program with one of WWE's premiere stars.

"I've never been interested in wrestling John Cena. The guys I wrestled in the past - from Goldberg to Hogan to Austin - were guys who I've really wanted to wrestle. If it can be done creatively but not only that, it's very important if I do back is that the writing has to be ripped open and really be pushed," Johnson said. "I came from a time in the Attitude era where we trail-blazed a lot and were fearless in the things we said and did."

Johnson added: "There are a lot of restrictions now on the product, which by the way, I understand, and I enjoy some of the stuff I see and I know some of the writers and they're challenged every week, but if in fact I do go back, it would be an interesting collision of an Attitude time that I loved and the time now, but I'm sure we can always infuse things to make it work."

D2D

- According to AOLTV.ca, WWE is working on a sitcom that will star Santino Marella. It seems that Beth Phoenix and Vladimir Kozlov will also take part in the sitcom. Phoenix will protray his girlfriend while Kozlov will play his best friend. When asked about the sitcom, Marella had this to say:

"In two weeks, we're filming the first three episodes," he added. "It will air at first on the dot com, then after that we will get it to a network television."

For more information, click here.

D2D

- The Wrestling Observer Newsletter is reporting that Randy Orton signed a long-term contract with World Wrestling Entertainment, one report has it as a ten-year deal. He also received a $600,000 WrestleMania payoff this year.

waltersobchak

Rob Van Dam knows TNA wants a piece of him and said once again the "ridiculous never-ending" WWE schedule will play a factor in which company he decides will wrestle for. Van Dam told Alex Marvez of Scrippsnews.com "I do have some interest right now in what's going on with the big companies. I know (Hulk) Hogan would like to have me. Eventually, (TNA) may start to wear me down and my 'no thanks' will become 'well, maybe.' I have some interest, but I don't know what's going to happen. I don't see myself going back to the full-time, ridiculous never-ending WWE schedule. I couldn't wait to get away from it before." Aside from the brutal WWE schedule, Van Dam still has sour grapes about how WWE handled the "new" ECW: "WWE destroyed that and made it very symbolic. They wanted everyone to know ECW was dead and this new group happened to be called ECW. That was the last cycle of frustration for me."

Gambra

From Gabe Sapolskys Twitter:

Effective immediately Davey Richards has been removed from all DGUSA and EVOLVE events. I have been advised not to make more comments now.
We apologize for the lineup changes and will do our best to make it up to you. We wanted to get word out now so we don't false advertise.

WWE developmental? Or ROH acting like dicks?

D2D

- "WWE The Music 10: A New Day" is the number 1 album on Amazon.com in the Rock and Soundtrack categories. The tracks include:

The Legacy – It’s a New Day
Dolph Ziggler – I Am Perfection
The Miz – I Came To Play
Christian – Just Close Your Eyes
Bret Hart – Return The Hitman
Sheamus – Written In My Face
Tiffany – Insatiable
Ezekiel Jackson – Domination
Evan Bourne – Born To Win
Primo – Oh Puerto Rico
Zack Ryder – Radio
The Hart Dynasty – New Foundation
The Bella Twins – You Can Look (But You Can’t Touch)
Big Show/ Chris Jericho – Crank The Walls Down

For more information, click here.

D2D

- Dave Meltzer reports that there is talk within WWE of making RAW three-hours each week if TNA moves to Monday nights for good. There has also been talk of keeping the guest host storyline booked if TNA goes to Mondays.

Apparently the USA Network is high on RAW going to three-hours but Vince and Stephanie McMahon are both said to be against it. Word is that this is something being talked about a lot among some in the company.

waltersobchak

Dare_2_defy wrote: »

- Dave Meltzer reports that there is talk within WWE of making RAW three-hours each week if TNA moves to Monday nights for good. There has also been talk of keeping the guest host storyline booked if TNA goes to Mondays.

Apparently the USA Network is high on RAW going to three-hours but Vince and Stephanie McMahon are both said to be against it. Word is that this is something being talked about a lot among some in the company.

Bonnie Hammer the president of USA Network has been asking for years for 3 hours of RAW but Vince is dead against it thank god.. 3 hours of Nitro was one of the factors that led to the downfall of WCW


Source: Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com

Ring of Honor has filed a lawsuit against Ric Flair, alleging that Flair owes the company over $40,000. The suit was filed this past Thursday in Bucks County, PA.

ROH says that Ric Flair was signed to make five appearances for the company, at $10,000 per appearance. Flair did not make the appearance in Montreal in July of 2009, and failed to repay the $10,000 that was paid to him for the event. Also, the suit alleges that Flair came to terms with the company to appear in an authority figure role on the ROH TV show. Flair was paid $35,000 for the TV appearances and only made one appearance. The second taping is when Flair showed up, and made a brief announcement to the crowd that he was resigning due to his relationship with WWE.

The belief was that Flair was going to use his relationship with ROH so that his son Reid could work there and continue his pro wrestling education. Those plans never happened, due to Reid being arrested on several drug charges last year. At this time, ROH has made no official comment on the deal.

You have to ask yourself - what is TNA paying him if ROH was paying that much?!

D2D

- WWE.com has an interview up with Beth Phoenix, talking about being only the second Diva in WWE history to compete in a Royal Rumble. It is an "in character" interview, talking about how she eliminated Great Khali and her performance in the match. However, it includes a LOT of shots at Chyna, who was previously the only woman to have competed in the match. A sample of the venom from Phoenix: “I am WWE’s Glamazon. Chyna was WWE’s Ninth Wonder of the World … mostly called so because people wondered whether she was a man or a woman. I often wonder this, myself.”

D2D

- According to PWInsider, former WWE Tag Team Champion Joey Mercury is set to return to WWE. Mercury won the WWE Tag Team Title along with John Morrison (then Johnny Nitro) as they were part of the team "MNM." Mercury was released by WWE in March 2007.

- WrestleMania 27 will be held in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta Georgia on Sunday, April 3rd, 2011. The Georgia Dome can hold around 70,000

D2D

- According to The Figure-Four Newsletter, the guest host concept on WWE Monday Night Raw was originally slated to go until WrestleMania and then reevaluate if they want to keep it or drop it. Were told the company is leaning towards keeping it post-WrestleMania and even more so if TNA ends up going live every Monday later this year.

- There remains lots of talk within WWE about the future of the ECW brand and how some major changes could be in store. While nothing is official regarding the actual changes, the belief is that they could be dropping both the ECW name and championship completely. According to Prowrestling.net, the new version of the show is being rumored to launch following WrestleMania 26 and have a focus with much more young talent with a few veteran talent involved.

- TMZ posted an update on the arrests of Chris Jericho and Greg "Hurricane" Helms.

According to the report, "a search of Helm's purse revealed one white round pill" which cops say was a Soma -- the generic version of the muscle relaxer Carisoprodol and a "schedule four narcotic."

waltersobchak

Movie website Cinematical.com features a fan rant questioning the success of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's movie career. The article flashes back to Johnson's 2003 action movie "The Rundown," which featured a cameo from Arnold Schwarzenegger, who told Johnson to "Have fun" in a symbolic passing of the "action hero" torch. Since then, Johnson has only done two other action movies (Walking Tall and Doom) and has settled into a career of comedies and kids movies. The author questions whether the era of action movie stars is over and suggests that The Rock's upcoming return to WWE is a result of his movie career not taking off as he had hoped.

D2D

PWInsider is reporting that Bret Hart was seen having dinner with several people who work for TNA, including Jeremy Borash at Bailey's in Nashville, TN.

D2D

Credit: F4WOnline.com

-This year's Royal Rumble match was the third shortest Rumble match ever at just over 49 minutes long. The 1988 and 1995 Rumbles are the other two shortest.

- The original ending for the 30-man Royal Rumble match on Sunday had Edge eliminating Chris Jericho to get the win. WWE decided to change the finish and have Edge eliminate John Cena last.

The Hartford Courant reports that Linda McMahon has already spend $6.5 million on her campaign to win the US Senate. They note that she has loaned $6 million of her own money to the campaign and spent $525,000. She has received at least $11,582 in small contributions.

- Bret Hart was spotted having dinner with a number of TNA officials including Jeremy Borash last night at Bailey’s in Nashville after his appearance on RAW. Borash confirmed this on his Twitter page with a photo.

- During WWE’s live RAW chat on their website last night, there was a fan poll about Wrestlemania 28 in 2012. The choices fans could vote on for where they would like to see the event were:

* Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, LA
* Metro Dome in Minneapolis, MN
* Carrier Dome in Syracuse, NY
* Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada
* Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN

D2D

- Updated Raw Hosts up to the week before Wrestlemania

8 February: Carl Edwards (Nascar)
15 February:Jerry Springer
22 February: Jewel and Ty Murray
1 March: Cheech and Chong
8 March: Criss Angel
15 March: Stone Cold Steve Austin

D2D

- According to a report by The Wrestling Observer, there may be no official plans for the future of the ECW Championship once the brand ceases to exist in the next few weeks. There is said to be a chance that Christian will be pushed to a different brand, with Smackdown being the most likely of the two. The new WWE "NXT" show debuts on February 23.

D2D

- - One creative idea discussed for Joey Mercury is for him to return on the Smackdown side as part of CM Punk's Straight-Edge Society. The idea would be to play off his well documented pain killer addiction that contributed to his release in 2007. (credit: The Wrestling Globe Newsletter)

JP Liz V1

F4WOnline.com is reporting that Smackdown star John Morrison might be turning heel in the near future. WWE is still very high on Morrison, but many in creative feel that he works better as a heel than a face. With news that his former tag team partner Joey Mercury is returning to WWE, there's always the possibility that MNM could reform, although that has not been confirmed in anyway.

JP Liz V1

UltimateDwayneJohnson.com is reporting that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson recently did an interview with Boston's Mix 104 and had the following to say concerning a possible return to WWE Raw this summer: "How I would come back is a different capacity than what Hulk Hogan did or I believe Ric Flair is doing. Those guys are coming back to actually wrestle. I don't want to wrestle; I have no intention of wrestling a match. I do have intention of going back and Hosting the show. Hosting a show like that would give me the opportunity to get on the microphone, rip open the writing, and invite guests on to come host with me. We wanted to create something cool and big and fun for the audience."

waltersobchak

During this morning's investor conference call, WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon says he is planning to launch WWE's upcoming television network by next summer. He said WWE is already working on the project:

"Right now, we're continuing along the lines of a formula in which we will soon be presenting and taking the next steps. We think there is tremendous opportunity," he said. "If things happen as we hope, it will be a really big game-changer. There is huge opportunity as it relates to domestically and internationally. We are pursuing that and taking the next steps."

McMahon does not think WWE's current television partners will mind WWE promoting their own network during current WWE programming and compared their strategy to how the NFL promotes their own NFL network during NFL games on CBS, ESPN, etc. He also said WWE plans to keep RAW on the USA Network for many years to come, while SmackDown's future is less certain.

"The strategy will be maintaining the broadcasts, therefore, keeping Raw on USA Net for many years to come and find a really strong home, whether it be MyNet or someone else, for Smackdown," he said. "We don't see any interruption for Raw or Smackdown. The new network could tie-in to Raw and Smackdown and enhance the two brands."

D2D

Ratings in the UK

For the month of January (BARB rushed out a month's worth of data it seems)...

From Bravo:

Impact for December 31 - airing on January 2; drew 57,000 viewers
Impact for January 7 - airing January 9; drew 68,000 viewers (+11,000)
Impact for January 14 - airing January 16 drew 103,000 viewers (+25,000 on the prior week)
Impact for January 21 - airing January 23 drew 83,000 viewers (-20,000)
Impact for January 28 - airing January 30 drew 103,000 viewers

So Dixie Carter's Tweet about record ratings in the UK in January wasn't a load of BS. For once. Now, comparing against WWE on Sky...

Raw from December 28 - drew 51,000 viewers in Thursday evening's replay (December 31)
Raw from January 4 - drew 105,000 viewers in the LIVE timeslot (early Tuesday morning), and 69,000 viewers in the Thursday replay (+18,000)
Raw from January 11 - drew 74,000 viewers in the LIVE timeslot (-31,000) and 35,000 viewers in the Thursday replay (-34,000)
Raw from January 18 - drew 80,000 viewers in the LIVE timeslot (+6,000) and 35,000 viewers in the Thursday replay (no change)
Raw from January 25 - drew 114,000 viewers in the LIVE timeslot (+34,000)

SmackDown from January 1 - drew 139,000 viewers in its first airing on New Year's Day
SmackDown from January 8 - drew 101,000 viewers in its first airing (-38,000)
SmackDown from January 15 - drew 75,000 viewers in its first airing (-26,000)
SmackDown from January 22 - drew 90,000 viewers in its first airing (+15,000)
SmackDown from January 29 - drew 90,000 viewers in its first airing (no change), with replays on Saturday drawing 55,000 and 56,000 viewers.

ECW from January 12 drew 54,000 viewers on January 14's first airing.

So overall, TNA vs Raw - TNA lost the "Monday night war" in the UK, but won every other week bar January 25... whereas SmackDown was beating it for the first two weeks of the year, until TNA came over strongly.

Finally Impact is getting decent numbers on Bravo, so I have no idea why they are even hinting at leaving that station.

waltersobchak

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter

There was discussion this past week of highlighting September's Bragging Rights pay-per-view with a five-on-five match WarGames match, a gimmick match used originally in the National Wrestling Alliance and later held annually in World Championship Wrestling, usually at their Fall Brawl pay-per-view event in September.

Money in the Bank qualifying matches are scheduled to begin on next week's episode of Monday Night RAW.

D2D

As reported on earlier, Jeff Hardy is currently shying away from any wrestling committments until his trial was over. Hardy, who goes to trial on March 17, was contacted by an international wrestling promotion and told him that due to his indictment he was not allowed to leave the country until his legal issues were resolved. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter is reporting that Hardy has decided to go to TNA full-time once he clears up these issues. Were told one of the reasons he made this decision to return to TNA instead of a return to WWE was for both the easier schedule and the fact that WWE had CM Punk do certain segment on TV mocking him after he had been arrested.