Miscellaneous WWE News Thread.

[Y 2 Jake]

I thought this might be a good idea. It will work as kind of an archive as well. Post WWE news in here that wont necessarily lead to discussion. Although feel free to discuss anything. Dont just make thing's up state you're source.

Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

WWE recently hired Dr. Death" Steve Williams and former Rock 'n' Roll Express member Robert Gibson as trainers. However, Jim Ross mentioned Dr. Death's role as a trainer/coach in developmental in a recent blog.

Former WWE Superstar Giant Silva (formerly of the Oddities) defeated Akebono by submission in a quick fight at K-1

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Wrestlingattitude.com

The in-ring promo Bobby Lashley did on the 12/19 ECW show, which did him no favors, is another example of rushing talent. Lashley, from a promo standpoint, is nowhere close to being ready for a main event spot. One person in the middle of all this said, "Bobby is another casualty of the preposterous expectations that creative has in terms of workers. He doesn't have experience or confidence in his own promos yet, yet he's in the top slot. Way too premature. Then again, most decisions these days are becoming increasingly impulsive."

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Reports are indicating that WWE may hire Marty Jannetty back as a trainer for the company.

Rey Mysterio's contract expires in 2008 and not 2007 as previously reported.

There are plans to move Gene Snitsky to ECW. If in fact that does happen, they would want him to shave his head bald and make him an ECW version of a heel Kane. This gimmick is almost 100% confirmed.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Wrestlingattitude.com

Regarding the WWE future of Joey Mercury, he is scheduled to be a full-time "jobber to the stars" singles wrestler on SmackDown upon his return, which is scheduled for February. He appeared to have lost his push during the Heyman/Lagana transition. Furthermore, Mercury was actually on the verge of being released from the company, but Heyman wanted to push him in ECW. Head ECW writer Dave Lagana isn't too interested in using him, so he let SmackDown have him. Also, Lagana wants Gene Snitsky in the spot Joey Mercury was supposed to have in ECW.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

WWE is trying to get Batista to try and talk more jive during his interview segments.

Regarding Barry Windham and his road agent status, he was first offered the job a year ago and agreed to join the company. However, he then said no, then yes, then no again. Windham said that he needed to care of his father, Blackjack Mulligan. There was something of a standing offer that if he wanted to go back on the road, he would be considered if there was an opening.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Partial Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Robert Gibson will be joining Steve Williams as a part-time trainer for WWE. The general schedule for them is to spend one week per month in either OVW or DSW and teach the students there hands-on. Also, if they do well in their roles, they'll be under consideration for jobs as road agents if spots open up. Mike Bucci (Simon Dean) pushed for the idea of using veterans who worked in several different places to come to development to teach the younger wrestlers.

On the 12/22 SmackDown, Vladimir Kozlov did a babyface routine by acting like the character Latka from the movie "Taxi" as the naive, lovable, funny immigrant, which was played by the famed wrestling personality/actor Andy Kaufman. The idea is that Kozlov will start off acting like Latka, but either the fans turn on him, or something happens and he snaps, thus turning him heel. Basically, this would be similar to what they did with Eugene. Also, WWE expects Kozlov to be a main event-level heel at some point.

Regarding the story on WWE hiring a bunch of bikini models, John Laurinaitis and the company want to sign and bring up as many as 20 new women for roles on television over the next three months. This has led to them trying to teach the men and women newcomers in Louisville where most (but not all) of the new women live and work, about wrestling history. Mike Bucci (Simon Dean), who is running the program, gave them a list of names to learn.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Partial Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter

WWE has hired someone to scout professional and college athletes across the country (and world) for potential developmental deals. Jim Ross was among several people who had pushed for years for McMahon to get more proactive in finding stand out athletes nearing the end of their run in various sports and recruit them to be trained by WWE.

Coincidence or not, DX have stopped doing comedy bits since the VKM angle on TNA mocking them has become more prominent. That won't disappoint Shawn Michaels, who has been outspoken against the skits at production meetings and with agents. Kevin Dunn is among those in power who have found the skits hilarious, so Michaels has been in effect a reluctant, embarrassed participant.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Wrestlezone.com

Talent head John Lauraintis received heat for the way the Amy Zidian situation played out. He went to bat for her with creative, and ultimately she was fired for roughing feathers with the divas (including Layla, Kristal and Vickie Guerrero), and apparently didn't even recognize Stephanie McMahon.

Speaking of Lauraintis, he sold 1,900 shares of WWE on 12/12 for about $32,400. He still has 42,472 shares worth more than $713,000.

Mark Henry is said to be ahead of his rehab schedule and hopes to return sooner than expected from his torn patella tendon injury.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The creators of the animated series "Assy McGee" have a filed a lawsuit against WWE over the "Mr. McMahon's Kiss My Ass" cartoon, which debuted recently on WWE.com. "Assy McGee" is an animated sitcom featuring Assy McGee, a vigilante police officer who is literally a walking pair of buttocks. The series premiered on November 26, 2006 for the Cartoon Network's late-night "Adult Swim" block.

Michael Cole, who oversees WWE.com, asked one of his staffers to come up with a creative idea that Vince McMahon would like. Whoever came up with the idea decided to rip off the Adult Swim show. Furthermore, a few of the storylines used for the McMahon cartoon were blatantly stolen from "Assy McGee." To make matters worse for McMahon, the Cartoon Network is owned by Turner Broadcasting, his old rival. Also, they can't even really take this to court since they've got no defense whatsoever.

Regarding Vince McMahon's original thoughts on the cartoon, McMahon thought it was the best thing ever because it was a cartoon about his own buttocks. However, when he found out about the lawsuit, he became infuriated to say the least. Michael Cole, who had hired a separate Flash animator to produce the cartoon full-time, and was also working on t-shirts, claimed he'd never even heard of "Assy McGee." This didn't fly too well because it appears that WWE will have to pay for the mistake in the form of cash to Turner.

Due to this incident, Michael Cole is said to be in serious trouble and there is a chance he'll be fired as head of WWE.com. However, his Smackdown announcing job is not in jeopardy.

Another issue Michael Cole has is that he hired his own writing team to script wrestling angles and write articles for WWE.com. However, Cold hired "nice kids straight out of college, with limited wrestling knowledge at best." They have been getting a negative reaction due to their lack of product knowledge, not to mention that they don't seem to understand as to how to talk to the wrestlers. Anyways, all of this doesn't seem to sit well with one Stephanie McMahon.

We have also just learned that there is an intellectual property infringement case facing WWE from the creators of the Cartoon Network show "Assy McGee." The artwork of the McMahon character is too much like the Assy McGee character in their eyes.

Michael Cole is in tremendous hot water over all of this. Also note, Ted Turner is no longer affiliated with Turner Broadcasting.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

WWE fired Ring of Honor star Claudio Castagnoli last week, even before he reported to Deep South Wrestling. Castagnoli dropped the ROH Tag Team title recently with the idea he would be reporting to Georgia soon to honor his WWE developmental deal. According to Dave Meltzer, WWE had told Castagnoli to attempt to honor his previous bookings. Castagnoli did cancel a Japanese tour anyway to start with Deep South.

Apparently more WWE firings are coming.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

After Raw went off the air, John Cena posed a little more and then goes up to K-Fed, who was still on the ground. Cena lifted him up and slammed him for another F-U.

The Associated Press has a story about Kevin Federline's defeat of WWE Champion John Cena from last night's Raw.

WWE also gained some big press from Kevin Federline's Raw appearance and "debut" match as MTV.com ran a huge story entitled, "Kevin Federline Pins WWE Champ John Cena In Debut Match."

ABC Local covers the story saying that Federline, through his appearance, is now immortalized alongside Mr. T, Cyndi Lauper and Andy Kaufman.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Rob Conway's WWE profile was quickly removed from WWE.com last night after Vince McMahon "fired" him. No word yet on what his WWE future holds.

Jim Ross commented on the rap song on YouTube about him in his latest blog. Ross said, "I did see the rap song about my ass and thought it was funny. There is a lot of free time out there it would seem. I assume who ever created this piece of 'art' is not a J.R. fan. Neither is my ex-wife." J.R. also comments on Tony Schiavone, Chris Masters, Luger & Jeff Jarrett, and more.

Lance Storm has a new commentary up where he talks about giving respect to the Divas and how Smackdown announcer Michael Cole doesn't even give them respect.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Lance Storm has a new column up where he talks about the lack of respect that is being shown toward the Divas by the WWE.

WWE.com has added a DX fan site.

The Ultimate Warrior is trying to sell the normal and variant versions of his Classic Superstars series 12 figure on ebay for $300.00. The same figures can be purchased in any store or online for between $10 and $15 each.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Bobby Lashley vs. Rob Van Dam for the ECW Title will headline ECW On Sci-Fi tonight. The show will air live from Lakeland, FL.

Smackdown will also be taped tonight in Lakeland, FL.

Last night was scheduled to be the final WWE appearance of Kevin Federline for now. Obviously the door is open for him to return in the future if its something he wants to do.

Morale was very high among wrestlers during the Christmas week due to the big crowds that came out to the house shows.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

There is talk of the "fired" Rob Conway reforming the tag team La Resistance with Sylvan on Smackdown.

We received several e-mails noting that Jonathan Coachman ripped on TNA during the New Year's Revolution press conference on Tuesday afternoon, but WWE's web site removed the line from the archived version of the webcast.

Former WCW and WWE superstar Diamond Dallas Page will be signing autographs and participating on the panel for his new movie "Driftwood" from January 5 to 7th at Fangoria's Weekend of Honor in San Jose, CA.

Rey Mysterio Jr. is scheduled to appear on 1/6 in Boston, MA at the World of Wheels Bayside Expo Center.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

From Martel Loomis: I was watching the ABC soap General Hospital, and noticed that the character is being nicknamed "Stone Cold" by another character.

TNA's Impact finished up 2006 with an average cable rating of 0.89

ECW on Sci Fi averaged a 1.88 cable rating in 2006.

WWE hall of famer Sgt. Slaughter is slated to appear at the New Mexico Scorpions evening game on 1/6 in Rio Rancho, New Mexico.

Jim Ross has posted his first blog entry for the year. In the entry, JR addresses his Oklahoma Sooner's loss in Monday night's Fiesta Bowl, Ric Flair's future as a wrestler, Undertaker vs. Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania, and much more. As always, JR provides an interesting read.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Sources inside WWE claim that Shawn Michael's reference to wanting to meet the "greatest in ring performer of our generation" who happens to be jerking the curtain someplace else, was indeed a shot to Kurt Angle. The reference was specifically scripted for Michael's promo on Raw this week by WWE's creative team, thus Vince McMahon.

It is likely that WWE is taking note that TNA's pay-per-view buy rates have increased since Angle has jumped to the company. This is not the first shot WWE has taken to Kurt Angle, as they have previously done it inside their magazine, and most recently on their website within their top ten stories of the year.

WWE.com has a story on how New York Yankee's center fielder Johny Damon was in attendance at last night's Smackdown and ECW tapings in Lakeland, Fla. Recent rumors have indicated that the WWE is interested in having mainstream individuals attend their events. WWE.com promoting the Miami Heat players at Raw the other night and now Damon certainly does back up those rumors.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Stacy Keibler will appear on seven episodes of ABC's What About Brian? starting February 5th (Monday). She will also be making two appearances on The George Lopez Show on January 31st (Wednesday) and February 21st (also Wednesday).

Many media outlets continue to give minor coverage to the Kevin Federline/John Cena match from RAW. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and CNN Showbiz Tonight are among the latest to mention the incident.

Johnny Damon of the New York Yankees was at the Smackdown/ECW taping in Lakeland, FL last night.

Vickie Guerrero ended up selling the house her and Eddy bought in 2005, and has moved back to El Paso. At the time of Eddy's passing the mortgage was believed to be in the amount of $630,000. With property taxes and other fees, there is a good chance she lost money on the sale.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Claudio Castagnoli has been fired by WWE. He never officially reported to Developmental. Claudio was not forthcoming about his VISA issues, and Mike Bucci (former Simon Dean and Head of Developmental right now) took him at his word and in the end, there were problems with his paperwork. Bucci had some heat on him for not looking into things better, but in the end Claudio was punished as he was just released.

Victor Koslov, the big Russian that has been appearing on all WWE programs in the crowd, has been working the house show loop with Val Venis to get Koslov prepared for the main roster. The matches are getting solid reviews.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

WWE has spent $1,635,000 in total on wrestling film libraries in the last half of 2006.

Mickie James recently got her A.A. Degree in Biusiness Administration. She has been taking courses online and hopes to open a horse farm and a coffee shop.

Stephanie McMahon is looking to push Daniel Rodimer similar to how Diesel (Kevin Nash) was pushed back in the WWF days. Right now the plan is to have him aligned with Edge and Randy Orton.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

The "ECW Extreme Rules" DVD is scheduled to be released on 1/30.

CM Punk did his first blog of the new year. To read it, visit ECW.com.

The internet rumors regarding Claudio Castagnoli's WWE status are indeed true as he is no longer affiliated with World Wrestling Entertainment. Castagnoli was fired before he ever even worked one day for the company. His dismissal seems to be due to some visa issue as he is from Switzerland. Castagnoli was not exactly forthcoming about the issue, and head of developmental Mike Bucci (Simon Dean) also got heat for assuming that a guy from Europe would have all of his legal papers squared away when he really didn't.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

For anyone that missed it, in a recent blog, Jim Ross admitted that he watches TNA. J.R. wrote, "Yes, I occasionally watch TNA. I am a wrestling fan and watch all the product I can when I have the time. Is that so wrong??" Also, J.R. posted a new blog earlier today, not to mention one yesterday. He commented on the Oklahoma/Boise State game, Brock Lesnar, TNA's six-sided ring, his feelings on Hogan, Warrior in the HOF, Eric Bischoff, and more.

Apparently, World Wrestling Entertainment got wind of the news post linking to a flight tracking website showing the WWE Jet's live flight track. WWE ordered the website to take the page down. Lets be honest, how long did you think that would actually last after I posted it here before WWE saw it.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Kevin Federline is getting a lot internal praise for his attitude backstage. Unlike many outsiders WWE brings in, K-Fed eats with the wrestlers and hangs out with them in the locker room. Furthermore, he was asking for advise from the boys over what he could do with his angle.

The frontrunner for the location of Wrestlemania 24 in 2008 is Orlando, Florida. It was originally planned to be in Las Vegas, Nevada.

WWE and the Cartoon Network have worked out a deal where WWE.com can continue doing the "Mr. McMahon's Kiss My Ass" cartoon.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

IGN.com has an interview up with Roddy Piper where he talks about fighting cancer, getting back into the ring recently with new talent, Vince McMahon and more.

WWE Films' "See No Evil" starring Kane has now grossed over $13.5 million in DVD rentals. Based on those figures, the DVD is now on track to gross more in video rentals than it did in theaters.

PJStar.com has a Q&A up with CM Punk where he talks about the origins of his name, going to Iraq recently, if he will be jumping to the Raw brand and more.

The latest Billboard Recreational Sports DVD Sales charts have been released. WWE holds spots at #2 with "Hulk Hogan: The Ultimate Anthology", #5 with "The History Of The WWE Championship", #7 with "Born To Controversy: The Roddy Piper Story", #9 with "The Spectacular Legacy Of The American Wrestling Association" and #10 with "Cyber Sunday 2006."

 

[Y 2 Jake]

For the first time ever, the WWE has signed a third generation female talent, Nattie Neidhart. Nattie, of course is the daughter of Jim Neidhart and granddaughter of Stu Hart. It seemed to be only a matter of time before she would eventually be signed after being evaluated at Deep South Wrestling last year. For more information about her, you may visit her at her official website at www.nattieneidhart.cjb.net/