Miscellaneous WWE News Thread.

[Y 2 Jake]

As reported earlier, Dusty Rhodes is now on the creative team for ECW. ECW head writer Dave Lagana wanted Rhodes on the team so that he could help him. The only other writer helping him was a person by the name of Pantelis Ypsilantis. Rhodes' move to ECW had nothing to do with ECW because it happened before anyone realized that WSX was going head-to-head with ECW on Tuesday nights.

Until/If Rob Van Dam signs a new contract with WWE, he'll often be doing jobs to the likes of Hardcore Holly on ECW.

For those that missed it, CM Punk lost to Kevin Thorn of all people at Saturday night's SmackDown/ECW house show. His push is pretty much dead now due to a number of issues with some of the road agents backstage.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Monty Brown is now Marcus Cor Von because WWE wanted the rights to the name. They'll still be pushing his legit sports background and the like. There is a movement to ensure in the future that they have the rights to everyone's name.

In Tommy Dreamer's latest column on ECW.com, he remembers Doug Gentry, who recently passed away. Gentry was at every ECW show and was the originator of the ECW Fan Cam. He also let some of the foreign wrestlers such as Tajiri, Super Crazy and Masato Tanaka stay at his home while they spent time in ECW.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Source/Credit: PWInsider.com

Earlier today, WWE issued a press release in Canada promotion Donald Trump appearing on WWE RAW tonight in Portland, Oregon. The show will not air in the US until Thursday. Donald Trump appeared on Howard Stern this morning for about an hour and did not mention his appearance on WWE RAW.

Former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler will debut on ABC's What About Brain series tonight at 10PM Eastern.

 

[A.J.]

PWInsider is reporting that one of the reasons why WWE made a decison over the weekend to pull the scheduled Four Way Ladder Match for the WWE Tag Team Titles at the No Way Out PPV this Sunday (a rematch from the Armageddon PPV in December) was because Vince McMahon no longer wants The Hardys and MNM teaming right now.

McMahon wants to keep Jeff Hardy, Johnny Nitro, Matt Hardy and Joey Mercury in singles roles on their respective brands right now and putting them together as a tag team off and on isn't something they would like to continue. Well, we say this now as they could change their mind at any moment seeing how quickly this one was made over the weekend.

It should also be noted that another reason for making the decision was that the feeling internally was that having a Four Way Ladder Match for the tag titles was meaningless, so they decided to put the new Deuce & Domino tag team in the spotlight to challenge Paul London & Brian Kendrick for the titles this Sunday at No Way Out instead. Again, WWE may still put The Hardys and MNM back together in the coming weeks or months, but as of now that is the plan they are going with.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

In an update to yesterday's report, Andrew "Test" Martin has in fact been suspended by World Wrestling Entertainment for violating the WWE Wellness Policy. His suspension will run for 30 days. He's eligible to be on television should WWE need him, but as a general rule, suspensions are really only for house shows. That explains why he hasn't appeared on the most recent weekend house show events. Also, Test won't be paid during his suspension.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

As announced on Smackdown last week, WWE Diva Ashley Massaro will be revealing her Playboy cover this week on Friday's Smackdown! on the CW Network. All the WWE Divas who appeared on Playboy had their cover unveiled on either RAW or Smackdown! and the most memorable one was probably a few years ago when Torrie revealed her cover and was interrupted by the returning Sable during the post WrestleMania Smackdown! (thanks to Colin Vassallo)

 

[A.J.]

WWE has adopted a new policy for house shows in which wrestler's are no longer allowed to check in at the building, leave and go to the gym, and then return.

Apparently Donald Trump has agreed to appear on multiple RAW television shows leading up to Wrestlemania 23.

WWE hall of famer Pat Patterson recently performed as a singer at CanadaFest in Hollywood Beach, FL.

 

[A.J.]

According to Mike Johnson, it is possible that The Great Khali will wrestle ECW Champion Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania. The talk within the company now is that Donald Trump would appear in Lashley's corner while Vince McMahon would be in Khali's corner.

This is still up in the air, and may change several times. As of late, it was expected that Lashley would wrestle Hardcore Holly at WrestleMania. Before being moved to Raw, Khali was originally expected to wrestle Lashley at WrestleMania.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

A press release was issued this morning in Canada promoting Donald Trump's appearance on Monday Night Raw tonight in Portland, Oregon. Raw will still air tonight in Canada on The Score, while fans in the United States will get to see the show this Thursday night. It should be noted that Donald Trump appeared on Howard Stern earlier this morning for around an hour and made no mention of his appearance at the Raw taping tonight.

Adam Lebow sent this in: Was over on the Rogers Sportsnet website and noticed that Sportsnet is running a feature on the hottest female athletes in Sports and Trish Stratus was ranked #14 on the list.

RAW will air tonight as scheduled in Canada.

Trump appeared on the Howard Stern Radio Show today but did not mention WWE.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

It's being reported that at tonight's RAW tapings in Portland, Oregon the main event will be: John Cena, Shawn Michaels, Batista & Undertaker vs. Randy Orton, Edge, MVP & Mr. Kennedy Just a reminder that RAW will not be airing tonight (in the United States) on the USA Network due to a dog show. The show will air Thursday night for U.S. viewers.

WWE Smackdown Brand Presents WWE Judgment Day 5/20 on PPV from St.Louis, MO at the Scottrade Center. Tickets goes on sale 4/14. Prices are $175, 80, 60, 40, and 20. It's the first WWE PPV in St. Louis since 2000.

WWE's web site news. Viscera's Superstar page has yet to be updated ...On WWE's Entrance Videos section, they still have Beth Phoenix, Big Show, Danny Doring, Jazz, Paul Heyman, Rob Conway, Spirit Squad, Sylvester Terkay, Tatanka, The Rock's Entrance Videos still up & Mark Henry's Entrance Theme is still its original music instead of his new current theme by Three 6 Mafia, but the footage is new ... Josh Matthews and Steve Romero's page has been removed from the SmackDown roster. Recently, Jack Korpela replaced Romero & Matthews on WWE's advertisement commercials.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

source: PWInsider

It was just announced at the RAW tapings currently going on in Portland, Oregon that the stipulation for the Donald Trump vs. Vince McMahon angle at WrestleMania 23, is that the loser will have their head shaved by the winner.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

The basic plot for Steve Austin's new movie "The Condemned" has been revealed as: "Jack Conrad (Stone Cold Steve Austin) is awaiting the death penalty in a corrupt Central American prison. He is "purchased" by a wealthy television producer and taken to a desolate island where he must fight to the death against nine other condemned killers from all corners of the world, with freedom going to the sole survivor. The producer films the illegal event, airing the killings live and uncensored onto the Internet."

PWInsider reports that Austin will be involved in some capacity at WrestleMania, and he is also scheduled to be back on Raw in the near future.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

WWE diva Beth Phoenix is sporting a new look in 2007. She posted a blog about her new look on her MySpace.com page. Phoenix is currently training in OVW, awaiting to be re-called to the main roster.

Torrie Wilson will be signing autographs on Friday at the AutoRama Dallas Market Center in Dallas, TX from 7 to 9PM.

Also on Friday, you can meet WWE superstars Chris Masters and Candice Michelle from 5 to 7PM at the Universal Citywalk in Universal City, CA. Pick up a wrist band two hours before for the autograph signing, as its limited to 200 per day.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

WWE has adopted a new policy for house shows in which wrestler's are no longer allowed to check in at the building, leave and go to the gym, and then return.

Apparently Donald Trump has agreed to appear on multiple RAW television shows leading up to Wrestlemania 23.

WWE hall of famer Pat Patterson recently performed as a singer at CanadaFest in Hollywood Beach, FL.

The 2/2 Raw show in Madison, WI drew 4,000 fans. 2/3 Raw in Cedar Rapids drew 2,000. 2/3 Smackdown/ECW in Carbondale, IL did 4,700 fans. 2/4 Smackdown/ECW in Champaign, IL drew 2,500 fans.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Harry Smith, who hasn't been used in months, has been sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling. He made his first appearance last Wednesday in Louisville.

At the Monday Night Raw taping last night in Portland, OR, it was announced that Dusty Rhodes would be the first member of the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2007. The segment announcing Rhodes as the first member will air this Thursday night on the USA Network at 8:00pm Eastern/7:00pm Central.

WWE.com has put up photos from last night's Raw taping in Portland involving the segment between Vince McMahon and Donald Trump.

A video clip about Ashley's Playboy shoot is up at WWE.com.

The Monday Night Divas special is up at WWE.com as well.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Gregory Helms' girlfriend, indie women's wrestler Talia Madison, is featured in the "Maxim Search Party!" contest. The ladies who get the most votes in the contest will compete for the National "Coors Light Maxim Girl" Title in the National Finals Competition next month in Las Vegas. The winner will be crowned the 2007 Coors Light Maxim Girl and be photographed for Maxim Magazine. You can see her picture and profile on CoorsLight.com. She's listed as Jamie on the site, which is her real name. Voting ends February 13th.

There is an article on Kenny Dykstra on the official website of Worcester Telegram & Gazette. The article mentions that he is engaged with fellow RAW diva Mickie James. He currently lives with her in a house in Virginia. He also talks about how when you're in OVW and you're close to be called up to the main roster, tension will likely arise among your peers because they're all competing for that spot in the big leagues.

WWE.com has updated their Hall of Fame section on the WWE website as well.

 

[A.J.]

Steve Austin is expected to return to WWE TV very soon in order to start promoting the new WWE Films project "The Condemned" starring Austin. For those who haven't read yet, here is a description of the plot: "Jack Conrad (Stone Cold Steve Austin) is awaiting the death penalty in a corrupt Central American prison. He is "purchased" by a wealthy television producer and taken to a desolate island where he must fight to the death against nine other condemned killers from all corners of the world, with freedom going to the sole survivor. The producer films the illegal event, airing the killings live and uncensored onto the Internet."

World Wrestling Entertainment reported its 2006 transition period results today. The company covered the last eight months and compared it to the same eight months at the end of 2005. Revenues were up $247.7 million to $262.9 million, while profits were up from $29.8 million to $31.6 million. The company also released recent pay per view buyrate figures for events in November and December of 2006. Survivor Series drew 383,000 buys (up from 375,000 buys in 2005), ECW December to Dismember drew 90,000 buys (which is probably one of the lowest buyrates in a very long time for the WWE and maybe ever) and Armageddon drew 239,000 buys (down from 280,000 buys in 2006). During the Conference Call, Linda McMahon talked about a number of things. Linda stated that average live attendance and DVD sales have all increased, while WWE Films' "See No Evil" and "The Marine" have remined in line with WWE's profit projections. She added that WrestleMania 22 was the best-selling DVD in WWE history. Linda stated that WWE intends on holding 68 international events in 2007 after holding 61 last year. When asked about competition from UFC or IFL, Linda described UFC as a group that was growing and had a good product. She felt MMA didn't have an effect on WWE's PPV buy numbers and is glad to see the sport doing well.

 

[A.J.]

There is an article up on WWE.com about the return of the "Around the Ring" audio segment featuring Smackdown's Michael Cole and JBL.

WWE's Viscera interviews New York of VH1 fame at WWE.com.

Photos of WWE stars meeting with members of the NBA's Seattle Supersonics at last night's Smackdown and ECW tapings are up at WWE.com.

Some news outlets have picked up on Donald Trump's appearance on Raw this week involving Vince McMahon. This is exactly the kind of attention NBC was looking for when putting this angle together.

IGN.com has an interview up with Chris Masters. (Thanks to Roghe for sending word about this)

 

[A.J.]

The Big Show's current contract with WWE expires late this month. He was offered a renewal that was believed to be around the same amount he had on his previous contract (around a $1 million a year downside). However, he turned that down because he was burned out and hurting physically. It should also be noted that WWE offered Big Show a large amount of money to retain his intellectual property rights, meaning he couldn't wrestle anywhere else or get involved in any projects where his likeness was utilized, but that WWE would own the rights to his likeness. Well, he turned that down as well. While TNA isn't considered a likely option at this time, it is an option in the future if both sides were interested.

Hardcore Holly will be requiring elbow surgery very soon, so this explains Snitksy's sudden involvement with Holly's current feud with Bobby Lashley in ECW.

 

[A.J.]

There is reportedly interest within WWE right now to bring in more Hispanic wrestlers since that is an area of growth for the WWE's current demographic popularity. Some of the names thrown out as possibilities include Shocker, Mistico and Perro Aguayo Jr. Shocker has previously worked for TNA and may have the best shot of getting signed since he worked for TNA when Dusty Rhodes was booking, who is now with WWE.

The USA Network was the leader in prime time for all of the basic cable networks for the sixth consecutive week. Much of this is due to WWE RAW as for the week ending February 5th the network averaged 2.5 million total viewers. RAW is the network’s highest rated show and did 5.98 million viewers for hour two of the 2/5 show and 5.71 million viewers in the first hour.

In the latest edition of 'Superstar to Superstar' on WWE.com, Viscera chats with the star of VH1's I Love New York, Tiffany 'New York' Pollard.

Greg 'The Hammer' Valentine will be featured in the latest installment of 'Where Are They Now?' on WWE.com. They'll be posting his story later today. He beat out Paul Bearer in a recent poll.

 

[A.J.]

The 2/5 edition of RAW drew a 4.1 rating, but 5.8 million viewers in all watched the show because the viewers per home average was up. The 5.8 million total for this show was the most for any episode of RAW in about 18 months, or since the days on Spike TV.

SHIMMER Wrestling has sent out a press release saying that former WWE Diva Jazz has joined the all-women's wrestling promotion. Jazz will be making her SHIMMER debut at the April 7th taping and the footage will be subsequently released on DVD as a part of their ongoing SHIMMER DVD series.

 

[A.J.]

WWE has added an additional disc to the 2005 release of Mick Foley's Greatest Hits & Misses DVD set. The 'Special Hardcore Edition' contains an all-new third DVD filled with Mick's more recent matches, including battles with Randy Orton, Edge, and his teaming with Edge for ECW One Night Stand. Bonus features for the new DVD include alternative match commentary from Mick and the voice of ECW, Joey Styles. There are also 90 minutes of extras featuring promos and vignettes. This DVD set will be released on March 6th.

Batista is featured on the cover of the latest edition of WWE Magazine (March 2007 issue). This month's 'Fantasy Warfare' is between Batista and Brock Lesnar. Unsurprisingly, they say that Brock Lesnar would be no match for Batista and his 'power & surprising speed', which would catch Lesnar off-guard. Also, once 'Lesnar's go-to-grappling attack fell short, he'd be a demoralized heap, primed and wide open for a Batista Bomb'. The magazine also takes aim at Bill Goldberg by saying that the 'Goldberg' chants were piped-in. There was a feature in the magazine talking about "The Belt Of The Future" and what accessories it would have. The magazine wrote, "Bose Speakers: For those times when the piped-in crowd chants just aren't enough. Hear that Goldberg?"

J.R.'s latest blog is up. Ross talks about Randy Savage, Steve Austin's return (he thinks he'll be back within a month), Brock Lesnar, Hulk Hogan, and more. In regards to Hogan, J.R. believes that he didn't serve himself well by going on a radio show last month and revealing the possible candidates for the WWE Hall of Fame this year.

 

[A.J.]

Johnny Ace has been burying Rob Van Dam's matches even more in recent agents meetings. He's been incredibly negative on him ever since he kind of mocked him during a meeting before a recent SmackDown/ECW taping (which was due to Sylvan Grenier being arrested for speeding the week before) when RVD said that the guys couldn't leave the arena during the afternoon to go to the gym anymore. RVD's comment infuriated Johnny Ace to say the least.

There is a lot of talk going around about Paul Heyman being brought back. He wouldn't be brought back to the creative team, but rather, to lead the 'ECW Originals'. People in creative are talking about booking Heyman's return to television. They might do an angle where Heyman cuts a major promo by saying that before he was ousted last December, he was simply doing what Vince McMahon was telling him to do. However, he's back and will finally stand up to Vince. He will then help lead his boys in their war with McMahon and the new breed of ECW. WWE has pretty much kept Heyman under contract to prevent him from possibly going to TNA.

 

[A.J.]

Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Johnny Nitro is apparently in the WWE doghouse because of his ongoing real life relationship with Melina. Melina has heat dating back to her days in Smackdown, and has done nothing to improve her reputation. Despite their current standing in the company, WWE recognizes their main event act potential.

Ric Flair's RAW promo on Carlito was something of a shoot. Both Carlito and Shelton Benjamin are viewed as superstars with a lack of drive and passion, unwilling to go the extra mile. Agents have tried to motivate Carlito, but thus far he simply hasn't responded.

 

[A.J.]

To update on Melina, she is still in the doghouse for her backstage attitude which hasn’t changed since she went over to RAW from Smackdown. She had a bad reputation in the Smackdown locker room for her attitude, although the company views her as their third top Diva on the roster when it comes to in-ring work. Many other people have heat in the locker-room these days as well including Nitro (dating Melina/attitude issues), RVD (possibly leaving, mocking higher-ups), Shelton Benjiman & Carlito (work ethic), and CM Punk (attitude issues).

On this morning’s edition of Mike & Mike In The Morning on ESPN2, they compared University of Colorado's football coach Dan Hawkins to Hulk Hogan. They even played several sound clips of old Hogan promos comparing the two saying “brother” after each statement.

HollywoodReporter.com has added a story today titled ‘WWE has heavyweight business plans’. The article speaks on WWE’s financial numbers which were released yesterday. WWE CEO Linda McMahon was quoted as saying, "overall positive trends developing across our businesses."

As NBC executives had hoped, several media outlets have picked up on the Donald Trump vs. Vince McMahon hair stipulation at WrestleMania.