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

geeky

Mick Foley posted the following on his Myspace blog:

"Why?

About a week ago, I watched the Raw from New Jersey on DVR - the one where Triple H made the crack about Lillian Garcia showing up just to "horse around". And since that time, just keep asking myself "why"? Why does someone like Triple H, one of the most talented, well paid guys in the business, do something so shallow and mean? Why would a multi-millionaire, with millions of fans around the world, feel the need (several times over the years) to say something that is only meant to hurt? I don't get it. I don't get why it's done, I don't get why it's condoned, I don't get what possible satisfaction anyone involved gets from demeaning someone like Lillian Garcia. I just don't get it."


Perhaps, Mick, it's because he's a tool.

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Curt Hawkins and Vance Archer debuted their new tag team before the SmackDown tapings, defeating local wrestlers JT Talent and Chasyn Rance, of VH1 reality TV fame. The end came when Archer hit a reverse DDT finisher and Hawkins hit a flying elbow.

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Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is reportedly lining up a role in Fast & Furious sequel Fast Five.
According to Deadline, the actor has been in talks to star alongside Vin Diesel in the Universal action series's latest instalment.
Paul Walker and director Justin Lin are also slated to return for the sequel, which will take fugitives Dom Toretto and Brian O'Connor to Brazil.

D2D

Mickie James did a radio interview yesterday saying she was baffled by her release. "I really don't know what happened. I was doing interviews for the draft that morning (on 4/22) and then a couple of hours later, I got the phone call," she said. "I guess they just wanted to make a roster change." When asked about her crazy fan who threatened to blow up Titan Towers she hoped nobody would ever do that because she has friends in the office, but noted she appreciates all her fans, even the crazy one's. "Anger never solves anything," she said.

(credit: The Wrestling Globe Newsletter)

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SD vs. Raw 2011 confirmed
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Credit: The Wrestling Globe Newsletter

Robert "Kinji" Shibuya passed away last week in East LA at the age of 88. Shibuya was a major star during the 1960s and early 70s. He played a traditional Japanese heel famously teaming with Masa Saito in Roy Shire's San Fransisco and Lebelle's Los Angeles territories where they were billed as cousins. Ironically, Shibuya was originally from Utah, and would often joke that the closest he ever came to Japan was changing planes en route to Australia. He also had a lot of success as a tag team with Mitsu Arakawa. After retirement, he bought a home in Hayward, CA, and was known for farming Koi fish at a local Buddhist Temple.

The New York Times has posted a positive piece on the Raw guest host concept and WWE's PG programming. In it includes quotes from Ryan Phillippe, Maria Menounos, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. It can be viewed here

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A bunch of news here:

Credit: F4WOnline.com, Wrestling Observer Radio and the Wrestling Globe Newsletter

- Reportedly, some people on WWE's creative team have no idea where the Drew McIntyre firing angle is headed, let alone why it was done in the first place. It was originally speculated that he failed a drug test, but that's largely because nobody could figure out any other good reason for his storyline removal. If nothing else, his removal was clearly apart of an angle considering he worked the company's tour of Mexico last week.

It's been speculated that the angle could lead to Vince McMahon returning as an on-screen character to reinstate his "Chosen One" and perhaps fire Theodore Long. As recently as a few days ago, there was in fact talk of bringing "Mr. McMahon" back to television.

Further indicating that his removal from WWE is all an angle, Matt Hardy wrote the following on his Twitter account after last Tuesday's Smackdown taping: "As a favor to me, if ur a fan of mine-Let Drew McIntyre hear 'We want Matt' over & over again. This thing with him & I is just beginning. RT."

- The decision to put Vickie Guerrero on RAW last night was made this past Thursday. It was supposed to be a one-week deal but WWE were pleased with the heat she received and the talk now is that she may be brought back full-time for the role

- Jim Ross posted on his Twitter page:

Bret Hart just became a proud grandpa of a healthy baby girl named Kyra Beans..awesome name! Hope TO sells out nx wk 4 Hitman. Special nite.

- WWE has told their top stars to get on Twitter.

- WWE wants Betty White to host a future Raw.

- Apparently at the recent stock holders conference call, Stephanie McMahon said that hosting Raw is the newest cool thing to do for those in Hollywood and that celebrities are lining up to get the gig. WWE is enjoying the publicity the guest hosting spot is gaining them including yesterday's article in the New York Times.

- This week's Raw had roughly fourteen minutes of wrestling.

- As of the weekend, the plan was for John Cena to defend the WWE championship against Batista at the 5/23 Over the Limit PPV in a loser leaves town match. However, word reached the office that TNA is doing a career vs. title match with Tara vs. Madison Rayne, so apparently to avoid looking like they copied, WWE changed the match to an I Quit match.

- Jared Bartie, WWE's Executive Vice President and general counsel, has reportedly been fired due to a sexual harassment complaint placed against him over WrestleMania weekend.

- Jeff Hardy's trial on drug trafficking charges that was scheduled to start on Monday, has been moved to June 3rd.

- Kane suffered an ankle injury during last night's WWE house show event in Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico. The Wrestling Observer is reporting that the injury isn't believed to be too serious at this point.

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- This week's NXT did a 0.85 rating

- Nodq.com

It appears WWE's website team wrote their original RAW report this week off a script that was changed before it hit the air or they just got their information wrong. The following was a sentence written in WWE's official RAW report on Monday night before it was edited:

"The drama continued to unfold as the Rated R Superstar attacked the Viper while his former wife prepared to unleash a Cougar Splash on him. Happily for Orton he extricated himself from Edge and trained his fury on Guerrero."

- Credit: F4WOnline.com

According to Dave Meltzer, WWE's last "unofficial" offer to Jeff Hardy several months ago was a $750,000 downside guarantee. He would have only worked 65 dates a year, which would have given him a even lighter schedule than Shawn Michaels. Hardy ended up turning this offer down and went with TNA instead.

As reported months ago, Hardy was not happy about how WWE treated him following his arrest both behind the scenes and on television.

- The following is an excerpt from a recent interview with TNA star Kurt Angle:

Kurt Angle on how TNA house shows differ from WWE: "We (TNA) have a different mentality than the WWE. You know, Vince McMahon likes to keep his wrestlers away from the fans. He doesn’t want any fans in his little fantasy world. But I don’t blame Vince for that and that’s not a bad mentality to have. But we (TNA) have more of a Southern Hospitality. We invite our fans into our locker room, we invite them to meet all of the wrestlers, we let the fans get into the ring if they choose to do so. I think it’s worked really well too, because our house shows (attendance) have been up 30 percent in the past year. I attribute that to how TNA runs the house shows, and the fans really enjoy it. They (fans) go home happy, they get all of the wrestlers autographs, they get to take pictures with whoever was in the main event. I think it’s a really great idea and it’s done really well for us."

- Wrestling Observer says Anderson is on $2500ish a show and right now Sean Waltman is done with TNA, although that could change.

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In an interview with the UK Sun, RAW superstar Chris Jericho spoke about his love of music and what let to him perusing a full time career in wrestling over music. The most newsworthy item of the interview came when Jericho was asked about his future in WWE and whether he's be leaving the ring for the stage any time soon. Good news for Jericho fans, as he responded, "I think now is the time to stay for a couple of years to help those around me. I want to help the young talent."

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Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Brett DiBiase suffered a knee injury while wrestling in WWE's Florida Championship Wrestling developmental territory and will undergo surgery next week. DiBiase, along with Joe Hennig, were scheduled to be brought up to the Raw roster to be paired with Ted DiBiase Jr. to form a group titled "The Fortunate Sons." There is no word at this time whether or not they have gone with Carlito and Primo as substitutes for the time being.

- Melina stated recently on Twitter that she is targeting an in-ring return for WWE some time in late June.

- In an interview with Scrippsnews, Rob Van Dam commented on Jeff Hardy, Hardy's legal problems and more.

"When I talk to him about his life situation, the guy doesn't seem worried at all," said Van Dam, who himself is a longtime advocate of legalizing marijuana use. "He and I share the same outlook in that we don't let a lot get to us. We've always gotten along because we share the same optimism and sarcasm. ... I've gotten the impression from talking to him that things are going to be fine."

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Diva suffers bad injury, according to diva-dirt.com link:

Beth Phoenix is out for a possible 6 months with a torn ACL. Phoenix tore her ACL in a match against Rosa Mendez on WWE Superstars 2 weeks ago

Handsome Bob

Morale in TNA was said to be quite deflated after the announcement that Impact was being moved back to Thursday. Many of the roster members who don’t follow the history of the business had been convinced by talk a couple of months back that the move to Monday nights was going to turn the company around. Some are fearful that the Thursday ratings will not return to what they were in February, with the Monday experiment perhaps having run off a sizeable portion of the fanbase. In the past, the consensus has been that although the money in TNA was not as good as in WWE this was offset by a far more enjoyable atmosphere at work. Now, the general feeling is that TNA is still a less stressful environment than WWE but nowhere near as much fun as it was a few months ago. Some feel that this is attributable to Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan coming in without any knowledge of the product, storylines or characters and yet changing the dynamic regardless. Others go back farther and attribute it to Jim Cornette being let go in favour of Ed Ferrara. Cornette had been the one who took scenarios that seemed foolish on paper and performed major damage control on them, while Ferrara lacked such instincts.

This was said to demonstrate just how little Dixie Carter knew about the business and how easy she could be manipulated. At the moment, it is becoming clear to many that Bischoff has no fresh ideas about how to turn business around. The upcoming schedule should be quite revealing about the creative team. The Sacrifice PPV on 16 May will be followed by TV tapings for four straight weeks of Impact on the 17th, 18th and 19th, right up until the next PPV. This has been done in the past as a cost-saving measure, yet it led to segments being taped out of order on different days and numerous internal logic holes, such as some people being in different outfits for no reason on the same show. When such tapings were being written by Vince Russo the major plot points and directions of the script would be left intact. Under the new regime, there are far more last-minute alterations to major aspects of storylines. Kevin Nash & Scott Hall winning the TNA Tag Team Championships was a last-minute decision after somebody brought up that Nash still had a Feast or Fired briefcase to use for a tag title shot. Bischoff knew nothing about the concept, while Russo had long since forgotten about it. When the subject was brought up they decided to go ahead and use it for a title change. This screwed with the original Sacrifice line-up, where Matt Morgan and a partner were to face Ink Inc, while Hall & Nash would have been in a #1 contenders four-way with Beer Money, Team 3D and Motor City Machine Guns. Now they are having Hall & Nash defend the titles against Ink Inc, with the other tree teams perhaps having a three-way match instead. Morgan has nothing in particular planned, although a match with Samoa Joe is on the cards since Joe cost him the tag titles.

The original plan for Morgan was that Hernandez would return as a mystery partner for Homicide, who would have won a tag title shot, yet the entire LAX reunion idea has been forgotten about since the original Hernandez injury angle. Meanwhile, Homicide was confronted about his recent interview comments about his lack of faith in TNA, their current direction and Hulk Hogan’s involvement with the company. He claimed to have been misquoted and so Terry Taylor has asked for a copy of the interview tape.

Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter (subscribe here)

http://wrestling.insidepulse.com/201...sacrifice-ppv/

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WWE is still looking for their next big African American star and will be pushing Kofi, MVP, JTG and Shad on SmackDown with the idea being to see which one gets over the best. One source wouldn't be surprised to see Shelton Benjamin return to the company.

geeky

The Ultimate Wuh-ya returned to the blogging desk to offer his balanced and considered opinion on Ted Dibiase:
http://www.ultimatewarrior.com/blog/

Some Highlights:
"Truth is, it was I that lead you all around by the nose. In fact, I might be the best damn worker the business ever had in its whole history. Hell, I should get an induction into the HOF just for this alone. Ultimate Warrior can get his own separate induction, later. I worked circles around the “work” of the business so well, I succeeded at a greater level than anyone of you could even dream of. Not bad for guy who wasn’t born and raised in the business and had only ten hours of training before I set foot in a ring. Instead of being bitter about it, Teddy, you should be embarrassed."

"You’re [sic] hypocrisy is despicable."

"You used the incredible opportunity of your success to become weaker. I used my opportunity to become stronger. You developed lazy, destructive, mindless habits. I developed greater hunger. When you were drowning your payoff sorrows in booze and swapping spit with filthy whores, I was in the gym at 2 and 3 in the morning...You grew lazier, softer, less confident, and less creative during your run. I grew bolder, harder, more brazen, more imaginative."

"You, not Vince, were going to write the script of your career’s final chapter. No sir, no one was ever going to bring you to your knees. But when the time came, you and your equally experienced colleagues dropped quicker than a toothless, junkie prostitute."

ayatollah

Seamus discusses paddywhackery

waltersobchak

Partial Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter

-- WWE is said to be planning a "3D" experiment some time next year in conjunction with the Friday Night SmackDown! show when it debuts on SyFy. Smackdown debuts on the network this October.

-- WWE COO Donna Goldsmith said Monday at the JP Morgan Global Technology, Media and Telecom Conference that WWE has had talks with Nickelodeon about bringing an animated TV series to the network.

-- Goldsmith also said she recently talked with Vince McMahon about how WWE has walked away from their older audience in recent years and talked about new ideas to get that audience back. Goldsmith said McMahon suggested a “Legends” show featuring WWE superstars from the 80s and 90s.

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- According to Sky Sports highlights in July - Money In The Bank is on Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 1 HD :D:D:D

- Connecticut's Hartford Courant has published a lengthy article sent in by Michael Benoit, father of the late Chris Benoit, urging voters not to send Linda McMahon to the United States Senate in November. Benoit holds the McMahons responsible for the dozens of young wrestler deaths we've seen in recent years and says Linda has used blood money to fund her expensive campaign.

An excerpt from the article:

"My son, Chris Benoit, 40, was one of WWE's top superstars. In June 2007, our lives changed dramatically, when he tragically killed his wife, son and himself. The press jumped on steroids as the cause of his actions. But tests showed that brain damage in the form of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE, not steroids, was responsible for our loss. CTE, caused by repetitive trauma to the brain, can bring on serious disorders such as a loss of emotional control, addictions to drugs and alcohol, depression, aggressive and violent behavior.

Most people view wrestling as fake and the McMahon family pushed that theory to avoid regulation. But in its lust for higher ratings and dollars, WWE began demanding that performers use more weapons and dangerous stunts in wrestling matches. Although matches are rigged and scripted, the harsh physical abuse in the form of blunt force steel chair shots to the head and power bombs through tables onto cement floors are real. I believe that this change in the industry is responsible for the majority of deaths it experienced in the last 20 years.

Michael Benoit says that despite the fact that wrestlers are individuals who have to make their own choices in life, the McMahons have set up a "dirty and dangerous enterprise" where the deck is stacked against the men putting their lives on the line to line the McMahons' pockets.

"You might say that these young wrestlers make their own choices, and that is true. And the McMahons entice them with prospects for fame, wealth and glory that few achieve. If this were any other business or sport, there would be congressional hearings and laws passed to reform this dirty and dangerous enterprise. The McMahons have steadfastly held that wrestlers are just independent contractors and not entitled to health care benefits, pensions or unionization to represent their best interests.

This is how Linda McMahon made the money she uses for her Senate race. This is how she ran her business. This is the true character behind the fancy, Hollywood advertisements. I pray the people of Connecticut do not allow her to buy her way into the world's most distinguished legislative body."

- from Nodq.com

With Beth Phoenix out of action, WWE is desperately looking for a good female wrestler, not just a good looking Diva, to work on the Smackdown brand.

- This week's commercial-free RAW did a 3.4 rating. The number is up from recent weeks, but way down when compared to the 4.5 rating that last year's commercial-free RAW did.

- Credit: F4WOnline.com

According to Bryan Alvarez, WWE recently re-wrote Over The Limit and this week's TV shows. It's unknown at this point what changes were made.
In regards to the chances of Chris Hero coming to WWE, only a few people in high positions are said to know who he is and probably only one or two have actually seen him perform.

With three eliminations last week, it is looking like the current NXT season will be finishing up sooner than scheduled. It will likely end around mid-June. It is possible that WWE will do one more quick season before Smackdown moves to SyFy in September/October.
Speaking of NXT, the segment with the rookies doing the obstacle course went for 16 minutes while RAW that same week had 14 total minutes of wrestling on the two-hour show.

The idea behind the John Cena vs. Batista "I Quit" match is that it gives WWE the chance to write Batista out of the storylines but doesn't completely close the door in case he decides not to leave.

The CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio feud has been talked about being extended to Summerslam. If that's the case, Punk will likely win on Sunday and then finally lose his hair in August.

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WWE Champion John Cena posted a few messages on his Twitter page (Twitter.com/WWEJCena) this week regarding Randy Orton's shoulder injury, Batista "quitting" WWE, and Shawn Michaels's retirement. Here's what Cena said about:

Randy Orton's Injury: "I do not know Randy Orton's condition so I really don't want to speak on his behalf although I do hope he is well. I have said it time and time again about him, he is one of the best I've ever seen."

Batista "Quitting" WWE: "As for Batista, I never know how permanent 'quitting' really is. The only two I've seen quit, and truly not come back yet are JBL and HBK."

After a number of fans jumped on Cena's remark that Shawn Michaels "quit" WWE, Cena clarified his comment by saying, "Sorry, outpouring of tweets are correct. HBK did retire, which isn't as angry as quitting."

Podge2k7

PWTorch.com is reporting that WWE star Randy Orton has been telling people close to him that his current injury is not serious and that he fully believes he will be healed in time to compete at the Fatal Four Way PPV. Initially, Orton feared the worst when he re-aggravated the injury at the Over The Limit PPV, but he says that he feels confident now that it's not serious.

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The following is an excerpt from an article on Low-Ki, aka Kaval from the Miami Herald:

What you see is exactly what you get with the wrestling warrior Kaval.
He is pro wrestler with martial artist tendencies.
Kaval is no-nonsense, experienced, tough, and the clean shaven head gives him a more menacing look.
With controlled aggression, he can take it as well as dish it out -- whether working on the mat, going to the air or delivering martial arts style kicks.
Trained by TNA star Homicide and ECWA's Jim Kettner, Kaval has paid his dues, since debuting in 1998 in the Northeast. He's competed as Low Ki and Senshi (Japanese for warrior) in TNA, Ring of Honor, East Coast Wrestling Association, Jersey All Pro, Pro Wrestling Zero One, Pro Wrestling Noah, New Japan Pro Wrestling, before inking a developmental deal with WWE in 2008.
With a new name, the 5-8, 170-pound Kaval began training at Florida Championship Wrestling, WWE's feeder group in Tampa.
``The experience in FCW has been great,'' Kaval said. ``As for me, my beginning, being from the New York area, starting in LIWF, advancing through the ECWA and moving onto doing a lot of things on the indies, going to Japan and TNA, the road has been long for me, but I get here [FCW), and it's another challenge.
``That to me is a very important thing for any kind of professional. You need to keep challenging yourself to make sure your skills are shark, and at the same time, you're taking on a whole new skill set because every company is different, has different rules and is run by different people.''
Kaval, the persona, is similar to Kaval, the person.
``What they see in the ring is me,'' Kaval said. ``While wrestling under the Low Ki name, the Low Ki name is an extension of me. I'm not the attention grabber by coming into a room and making the loudest noise. I've subtle. I'm very quiet, but it's a whole different story when the bell rings.
``I gain my attention in another way. I gain my respect the traditional way by earning it.
''I think people misunderstand sometimes. They think that's a character, when in reality it isn't. It's a real part of who I am, and it really is me in the ring as a disciplined fighter.''
Does that help him?
``I think it does because it comes across more natural,'' Kaval said. ``It doesn't come across as me pretending to be something I'm not. Other people sometimes are either lost or confused with their character as far as how to perform in the ring or how to compete in the ring, and then it doesn't translate well to the people viewing it.''
Kaval's future
``The next goal for me is to challenge for the FCW championship,'' Kaval said. ``I like to do things in stages and earn my way from the ground up -- similar to a martial artist who begins as a white belt and works his way all the way up to black belt and eventually a grand master. I see myself as the ever-growing student of the game.
``I've been introduced to FCW. I want to conquer it as best I can, and then from that stage, move onto the next bigger stage, one of the brands in WWE.''

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Credit: F4WOnline.com

The Undertaker suffered a busted nose on this week's Smackdown, thanks to Rey Mysterio's 619. Taker bled for a few minutes before the match ended and no trainer was sent out to stop the blood. It's interesting that this happened after two matches were hurt at Over the Limit due to trainers coming out to stop cuts.

Some people in the company figure that the no-blood rule is just a phase and blame it mostly on Linda McMahon running for office. One of the main reasons WWE has stopped wanting blood on TV is because agreements that have been made to attract a higher class of sponsors. The feeling is that if WWE's popularity goes way down then they would probably change the rule but Linda McMahon winning or losing the election won't bring any changes. Dave Meltzer believes that the PG rule will likely be in effect until either the license deal with Mattel runs out, which is years from now, or another company, such as TNA, takes away from WWE's popularity.

mr.mayo

I was listening to Wrestlecast with Ric Flair the last day and he seemed pretty sure Arn Anderson would be inducted into the Hall of Fame next year He also said he would be attending even if he doesn't receive an invitation

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Money in the Bank poster. MitB will be on Sky Sports HD1/1

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Early numbers for WWE's Extreme Rules pay-per-view have the show doing just under 200,000 buys.

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The very first details on the next WWE game have spilled out thanks to a blog by former announcer Jim Ross. The game, which he didn't specify by name, will feature WWE legends getting in the ring with the current roster of superstars with Ross on commentary alongside longtime broadcast partner Jerry "The King" Lawler.

Ross wrote on his blog (via IncGamers), "It looks like WWE has lined up a really cool, THQ video game for me to work on and that I will likely be broadcasting along side the King in the game where Legends compete with active Superstars. I'm not sure of the release date or the creative details, etc but the concept, as explained to me, was really cool. I hope to begin my voice overs in the next week or two. We're burning daylight on this one and need to get rocking. I'm ready!"

THQ released WWE: Legends of Wrestlemania in March of 2009 and featured only a cast of legends, although you could import the current WWE roster if you owned a copy of Smackdown vs. Raw 2009. Despite the novel concept of playing as the legends and taking part in their Wrestlemania feuds, the game was largely based around quick-time events and not the sort of real-time action the SvR games featured.

By the sound of it, it seems very likely that this new game is a sequel of some sort to Legends of Wrestlemania and not simply Smackdown vs. Raw 2011. Were it the new SvR, it's unlikely that Ross would be doing commentary, as he has been off television for some time now due to an incident with his Bell's palsy and a youth movement by the WWE brass.

Either way, let's hope WWE head honco Vince McMahon is feeling more charitable this time around and allows the "Macho Man" Randy Savage, who was a noteworthy omission from the first Legends game, to be in this newest title.

I'm looking forward to it already

JP Liz V1

Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter
It's being reported that WWE Smackdown star Kane is expected to receive a huge push in the coming weeks. One source within WWE says Vince McMahon was extremely pleased with his promo on Smackdown and the reaction he received. Although there were rumors regarding Kane’s disinterest in winning the world title, apparently those rumors were false and Kane himself denied the claims.

silvervixen84

Matt Hardy posted a very strange video on Youtube yesterday, a bit worrying really

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f1QAqD9b20

D2D

It is being reported that WWE will now hold the 24th annual Survivor Series this year from the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Fl. On February 11, 2010 WWE announced that it would drop the Survivor Series name and rebrand the event but decided not to because of backlash from fans.

glenjamin

Evan Bourne's push last week came partly because John Cena went to Vince McMahon and basically told him that the company was dropping the ball by not pushing Bourne. Another part of the reason was that with Daniel Bryan and Kaval coming up to the main roster, WWE wants to condition fans to accept a small guy as a main eventer.

Fair play to the chap.

D2D

silvervixen84 wrote: »

Matt Hardy posted a very strange video on Youtube yesterday, a bit worrying really

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f1QAqD9b20

He just posted this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KKNa4S05zk