Miscellaneous WWE News Thread.

[A.J.]

As of now, WWE will no longer be referring to ECW wrestlers as "Extremists" and will instead go back to calling them "Superstars." This change has already been reflected on ECW.com. According to Mike Johnson, this change had been in the works for months now and is part of the company's plan to make ECW the third brand and take away any form of distinction of it being a company by itself.

Jerry "The King" Lawler talks about being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame - Class of 2007 at WWE.com.

Erin Hayes & Jennifer Kasaboski sent word that WWE Raw on The Score in Canada will be shown at 9:15pm next week with a countdown to Raw at 9:00pm.

 

[A.J.]

According to a live report sent into PWInsider, when Shelton Benjamin attempted a spot by jumping off the top rope that saw him trip up and hit the ring instead, the referee turned to the time keeper and reportedly yelled out something. Hardy and Benjamin then quickly finished the match that led to Hardy getting the pinfall. When the match had concluded and the Vince McMahon segment began playing over the TitanTron, Benjamin remained in the ring holding his head/neck with the referee checking on him. Benjamin was then helped to the back with the help of the referee. As of now, it isn't believed that Benjamin suffered any serious injuries. We will continue to follow this situation if anything new comes up.

The announcement of Test's firing from WWE only comes days after it was reported that he was involved in a car accident on Friday and only a few weeks after he was suspended for 30 days for a Wellness Policy violation. We hope to have more on this story very soon.

 

[A.J.]

Last night's RAW scored a 4.3 cable rating, according to data compiled by Nielsen Media Research.

That is the highest of the year.

 

[A.J.]

Dave Meltzer is reporting that Mistico has arrived at the building in San Jose, but he is not going to wrestle on tonight's show. He is going to do a tryout before the agents very shortly before fans arrive.

This is MAJOR news for the CMLL company as major politics were being played. They make loads of money off him and really didn't want him to attend tonight's tapings. Many friends have told him that WWE is not the right choice as he doesn't work their style. We'll see where this goes from here.

 

[A.J.]

Hulk Hogan once again called into the Bubba the Love Sponge Radio Show today. Highlights are below.

- Bubba told Hogan that the Bubba Army of listeners has gotten Brooke Hogan's video to #6 on VH1 which really pleased Hogan.
- Bubba told Hogan that he also got Howard Stern to agree to play Brooke's single. Hogan was amazed at all the support.
- Bubba asked Hogan if it would be OK to give one listener the reward of getting to hang out with him and Hogan in Miami for a day and Hogan said he could do that.
- Hogan said that as far as he knows, Steve Austin's lifetime deal with WWE is similar to the one they offered him.
- Hogan said that he heard the WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony won't be televised this year.
- Hogan and Bubba talked about the top draws in wrestling. Hogan said that The Rock and Austin had good short runs but that Andre The Giant would be #2 behind him. He did note that the times were much different then. Bubba said that he heard Austin made more from merchandising than Hogan did.
- Bubba told Hogan to go on the Howard Stern Show again and Hogan said he wasn't sure he could make it through another interview. Bubba told him to go alone this time since Linda got really upset about their last appearance on Stern.

 

[A.J.]

Since the end of football season, WWE Raw has been averaging a 3.59 rating in the males 12-34 demographic.

In Canada Raw is being moved up from 10:00 PM to 9:15 PM this coming Monday.

Chris Jericho’s band Fozzy plays on March 29 at The Roxy in Windsor, Ontario.

Jakks Pacific, the company that makes WWE action figures, had a successful quarter with sales of $238.3 million and $26.9 million in profit.

There has been a lot of talk about getting WWE stars to appear as guests on USA Network’s show “Psych” and possibly others. Nothing has been finalized as of yet.

As reported earlier here on the site, Andrew “Test” Martin was released from WWE today. His release comes after a string of events such as him getting suspended for violating the WWE Wellness Policy and then being involved in an automobile accident this past weekend. His release does not come as a big surprise as his relationship with Vince McMahon had diminished in recent weeks. We will certainly have more on this story as we get it.

 

[A.J.]

Radio station WRIF-FM out of Detroit is helping WWE promote their Hall of Fame ceremony by doing giveaways for free tickets. “The Mouth Of The South” Jimmy Hart is doing special promo spots for the station.

Fans who attend the September 15th Cleveland Indians vs Kansas City Royal Baseball game will get a free Travis Haffner bobble head doll with him holding the WWE Title belt. Haffner is a life long WWE fan and a personal friend of Jerry Lawler.

Toy maker Jakks Pacific has made an announcement that Pat Patterson and Jack & Jerry Brisco have been signed to their WWE Classic Superstar action figure line.

WWE.com has added a story talking about how winter weather has recently made travel extremely hard on superstars. The article makes mentions of how Johnny Nitro and Melina got a flat tire and Nitro had to get out in the frigid weather to change it. It also goes into detail about other superstar’s flight cancellations and more.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

- WWE is expecting the final number to be 78,000 fans present at Ford Field in Detroit for Wrestlemania 23.

- The Big Show turned down a one year WWE $250,000 contract for intelluctual property rights. The deal wouldn't have required Paul Wight to actually wrestle.

- The targeted return for Triple H is in August, just in time for Summerslam.

 

[A.J.]

As reported earlier, the 2/26 edition of WWE Monday Night Raw drew a 4.3 cable rating with a 6.5 share. The first hour scored a 4.2 rating, while the second hour scored a 4.3 rating. This was way up from last week's 4.0 number and was the WWE's best rating for Raw since June 19, 2006. That is a great sign for the company heading into WrestleMania 23.

The 2/23 edition of WWE Friday Night Smackdown drew a final and strong 3.3 broadcast rating with a 5.6 share. This is the best number Smackdown has done since it was moved to Friday night.

 

[A.J.]

At last night's Smackdown/ECW taping in San Jose, CA, WWE announced that tickets for the 2007 Great American Bash PPV (which will be held in the city) go on sale this Saturday. It was noted in the announcement that talent from all three brands would be featured on the show.

This seems to confirm internet reports this week that WWE plans on adding talent from all three brands to the company's "B" PPV events to help boost interest and overall buys since some of them have seen a slight decrease in purchases over the last year.

The Big Show turned down a one year WWE $250,000 contract for intellectual property rights. The deal wouldn't have required Paul Wight to actually wrestle.

 

[A.J.]

WWE is expecting the final number to be 78,000 fans present at Ford Field in Detroit for Wrestlemania 23.

The 2/24 edition of WWE A.M. Raw drew a final 0.8 cable rating with a 3.3 share.

The targeted return for Triple H is in August, just in time for Summerslam.

 

[A.J.]

Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter

On his MySpace page, the recently released Andrew "Test" Martin posted the following message as his headline/catchphrase: "free at last! I just asked for my release from wwe and got it!" However, his statement doesn't appear to be true.

Mexican star El Hijo del Santo is saying that WWE contacted him and offered him a job, but turned it down. On the otherhand, WWE sources are saying that there is nothing to that story. What appears to be the case is that he doesn't want people thinking that WWE was only interested in fellow Mexican star Mistico, who is 24 years old, and not him because he doesn't want to be perceived as "old news." Santo is 43 years old. So basically, he made everything up because he'll come off better by saying that he rejected them rather than being perceived as someone that WWE isn't interested in, which is actually the case.

 

[A.J.]

WWE Champion John Cena, ECW Champion Bobby Lashley, Edge and Randy Orton will all be appearing on NBC's "Deal or No Deal" this Sunday. A preview clip of their appearance was shown on ECW last night.

Edge interviews Howie Mandel in a new "Superstar 2 Superstar" article over on WWE.com.

On a related note, Edge recently filmed a spot for FOX's "MadTV." We hope to get a confirmation on when that will air soon.

Bobby Lashley has opened his official website at bobbylashleyonline.com.

Rockford-Montgomery Labs sent out the following press release today regarding their sponsorship of WrestleMania 23. WWE's Senior Vice President of Marketing Geof Rochester was quoted in the article as saying WWE isn't worried about UFC because they have "the next Rock" in John Cena.

 

[A.J.]

Shannon Moore has officially been moved to the Smackdown brand.

Sports Illustrator's official website has picked up an AP story about UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) becoming a strong contender on the Pay Per View scene, generating $200 million after 10 PPV events while WWE generated the same amount with 16 PPV events. The article continues to look at the PPV business as it relates to UFC, WWE and boxing. (Thanks to DSMStyle for sending word)

John Woodworth sent this in: Yet another story about Travis Hafner of the Cleveland Indians and the WWE. During a promotion during an Indians game on September 15, all fans will get a Travis Hafner Bobblehead hoisting a WWE championship belt.

Daniel Stephenson sent this in: I was at the World of Wheels in Calgary (on Sunday). Rey Mysterio was there signing autographs (as advertised), and the line was huge. I didn't wait, but someone I was there with did and said it was over 2 and a half hours, but that Rey was a very good sport, shook hands, took pictures, etc. I was also surprised to find Virgil there. He ran his own little booth, and charged $20 for a laminated photo that he would sign. He wasn't hired by the show to attract visitors, but he was running his own independent both, like any other exhibitor.

WWE issued the following press release: WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Fox Theatre. Saturday, March 31 at 7:00 PM Join WWE Superstars as we honor many of the legends of the past. So far, this year’s WWE Hall of Fame “Class of 2007” inductees include: “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes, “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig, Jerry “The King” Lawler, & More inductees will be announced in the coming weeks. Ticket availability will be limited. Here’s how to get yours: Starting this Saturday at 10:00 AM (Eastern), reserved seat tickets for the WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be available at Detroit’s Fox Theatre Box Office, online at ticketmaster.com, Ticketmaster Charge-by-phone (248-645-6666) (248-433-1515) or Detroit-area Ticketmaster Ticket Centers.

 

[A.J.]

The Marine starring WWE Champion John Cena came it a number six on the DVD Home Rentals chart last week. The film has almost done $20 million in rentals, which is great news.

WWE Chairman Vince McMahon recently made the call to feature talent from multiple brands on its "brand-only" PPV events. The recent string of disappointing WWE buyrates prompted McMahon to make the company's pay-per-view events more star-studded. As indicated with the recent WWE No Way Out PPV, even though the shows will continue to focus on one brand, wrestlers from all three weekly television shows will be booked to appear. As part of the overhaul, McMahon is also advocating for interbrand angles on television shows to create new matches for the PPVs. WWE still views RAW as the "A" brand, so this is especially designed to help ECW and SmackDown. The present plan for WWE Backlash is to feature Undertaker, Batista, Rob Van Dam and Lashley��"all non-RAW wrestlers��"in key roles.

WWE will be releasing a “Best of RAW & SmackDown” DVD series exclusively for Great Britain.

Former WWE Diva Amy “Lita” Dumas recently appeared at Maryland Championship Wrestling's 2007 Anniversary show. Dumas was a special guest referee in the main event which featured Adam Flash and Bruiser vs. Danny Doring and Abyss. Amy also recently commented on Jim Ross’ recent comments on her via her MySpace website. She said, "I really appreciate the kind words from him. I always got along and respected him. He shoots straight and is sincere in his words. I do feel as though I contributed a lot to the wrestling business, and I understand "Lita" left the WWE as a heel character. However, the human being Amy Dumas, gave a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to the WWE, and I am glad that someone that the same person that hired me, acknowledged that."

 

[A.J.]

Wrestlemania 1 cent primer. Access 50 minutes of the best moments of Wrestlemania past and prepare yourself for Wrestlemania 23 on April 1. Watch the show for 1 cent on March 10, 19 and 28.

WWE Smackdown Presents Great American Bash 2007 on 7/22 from San Jose, CA at the HP Pavilion. Tickets goes on sale 3/3. Prices range from $200 to $30.

Lance Storm has updated his Q & A section on his web site.

For the week of February 19��"25, John Cena's "The Marine" slipped from #3 to #6 in national DVD rentals, according to Box Office Mojo.

From Brandon Bulinsky: I was watching something on VH1 and I saw a commercial for a new show called "Dice Undisputed" and during the commercial they were playing Jeff Hardy's entrance music.

 

[A.J.]

Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Jimmy Hart is trying to put together a match between Hulk Hogan and Jerry Lawler, which would take place for the Memphis Wrestling promotion. They're constantly bringing up Hogan's name on their television show. Considering that it seems highly unlikely that Hogan will go for it, they'll probably try to pitch the event to him as being "Hogan's show" to get him to do the match.

Matt Cappotelli is still under contract to WWE on a $75,000 per year deal. Cappotelli's wrestling career is likely over due to brain cancer.

WWE is expecting the final number to be 78,000 fans present at Ford Field in Detroit for Wrestlemania 23.

 

[A.J.]

Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Chuck Palumbo's long-awaited return seems to be on the horizon. Palumbo was told that he would restarting as a heel on television any week now. Palumbo has been sitting at home for practically a year now. He was signed on March 12, 2006. He's appeared in a few SmackDown dark matches as of late, so it looks like he will be assigned to the SmackDown or ECW roster when he does return. Also, he may have some sort of new gimmick because he's worn a "Willy Wonka" style top hat to the ring in his most recent appearances.

WWE has signed a person by the name of Ryklon Stephens to a developmental deal. Not much is known of him other than that he's 28 years old, 6-2, about 270 pounds now, and a bodybuilder. He doesn't appear to have any wrestling experience other than some training at the California-based UPW promotion. Anyways, he has been assigned to Deep South Wrestling in Georgia.

 

[A.J.]

Andrew "Test" Martin was released on February 27. WWE sources state that he actually "failed a few (drug) tests" and was nearly fired for it in January, but they kept him on to try to help make Bobby Lashley.

Vince McMahon really soured on him during the RVD vs. Lashley vs. Test match on ECW TV on January 16 where Lashley was supposed to get over huge and instead Test and RVD had to get all their stuff in. Vince McMahon was furious afterwards as he vowed that ECW would never air live again. He also said that no one in ECW knew how to work. After Test's program with Lashley ended, McMahon figured that he just didn't bring much to the table, and thus he didn't have much use for him anymore.

Test was also in a minor car accident last week and the cops made him take a sobriety test. He passed that test.

 

[A.J.]

The profiles of K.C. James and Idol Stevens have been removed (and deleted) from the SmackDown section on WWE.com. However, they haven't been released as they are still under contract to WWE.

James and Stevens have been inactive since November due to their manager Michelle McCool being pulled off the road because she was feeling sick during the European tour. She was subsequently hospitalized with an enlarged kidney and electrolyte imbalance later that month. She was released from the hospital a few days later. The enlarged kidney was believed to be the result of some sort of eating issue. McCool is now well enough to appear at shows (she went on SmackDown's tour of New Zealand last week), she'll sometimes appear in the bikini contests held at house shows, but creative currently has no ideas for her to return to television. Or rather, they're probably not too sure if they want to go through with the "Teacher's Pets" gimmick again because it didn't really get over with the crowd. Also, WWE probably wanted to go in a different direction with the team of Deuce & Domino being the lead heel tag team on SmackDown to feud with London & Kendrick.

Idol Stevens is currently in Ohio Valley Wrestling and regularly appearing on their television show. He also has a new tag team partner in the form of Johnny Jeter. As for K.C. James, he seems to be inactive. His name hasn't come up in recent OVW show results. It remains to be seen if James and Stevens ever return to the main roster because it's not a guarantee.

Michelle McCool's profile is still on WWE.com. Interestingly, the gallery is labeled 'Comeback Photos'.

 

[A.J.]

Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Eric Bischoff, whose contract expires in July, nixed a scripted idea several weeks ago to return to RAW. There aren't too many details out there in regards to what they wanted him to do, but what is known is that it was last minute decision and not scheduled to be a long-term role. Bischoff broke his arm during an arm wrestling contest two months ago, and was still in pain as recently as last month, so that may have played a factor in his decision to not return.

The forthcoming Four Horsemen DVD has had its cover art changed.

Due to her Playboy cover, WWE is attempting to market Ashley Massaro as the new face of WWE women's wrestling. The best person for Ashley to work with is Melina because she's got a strong heel personality, thus meaning that Mickie James will be left out in the cold for the next month or so while they build towards WrestleMania. Melina was given the title on 2/19 over Mickie James so that Ashley could feud with her. Ashley and Melina will be having a match at WrestleMania and there is a very good chance that Ashley will be walking out with the Women's Championship.

At the No Way Out pay-per-view, WWE didn't bother to do a fan reaction to decide who the winner would be for the Diva Talent Invitational because they feared that the crowd wouldn't react as the company wanted. So they just declared Ashley Massaro as the winner.

 

[A.J.]

Former WWE Women’s Champion Trish Stratus is hosting a talent search for Toronto’s Second City improve troupe. In an article on CityNews.ca the former champion talks about how breaking her thumb got her involved with the troupe while taking improvisational classes. Trish quotes, "I broke my thumb in wrestling and I had a little downtime because I couldn't wrestle at the time. And I came to Second City and I thought I would try some improv classes." You can check out the full article at this link.

The theme on WWE 24/7 for the month of April is famous wrestling managers and the network will be featuring Florida Championship Wrestling.

Today’s Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel includes an article on WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy Snuka. The article asks Snuka if he feels that his race played a role in him not obtaining the WWE championship. Sunka responded by saying, "I don't think I experienced racism like that, brother. I'm very proud of my heritage. I just wanted to give my fans a show. Championships didn't mean that much to me. My championship is entertaining the fans.

The security guards that pulled apart Lashley and Umaga on this past Monday’s RAW were Mr. Frost, Mike Rayne, Steel, Nate Rulez and Tito Aquino from SPW, NAW, and APW.

 

[A.J.]

Steve Austin recently appeared at Wizard World in Los Angeles to promote his upcoming film The Condemned. During Tuesday’s ECW/SmackDown tapings the trailer for the movie was shown; however the crowd gave little reaction to Austin. The opposite should be the case when he is announced on RAW that he will be the special referee for the Lashley vs. Umaga match at WrestleMania.

WWE hardcore legend Mick Foley was sitting in the front row of the Net-Wizards NBA game Tuesday night. The commentators never mentioned his name; however he was shown on camera many times.

On March 29th WWE will be doing their annual THQ Superstar Challenge features 16 wrestlers participating in the video game tournament at the Gem Theatre. Tickets for the event went on sale today at Ticketmaster.

Tickets for the 2007 WWE Hall of Fame go on sale this Saturday.

WWE are slated to have a booth at the Arnold Sports Festival in Ohio this weekend. Batista and John Cena are both scheduled to be doing signings at the event.

 

[A.J.]

Jim Ross has posted his latest blog entry on his official website. As usual, JR gave plenty of interesting statements responding to reader emails. Below are some of the highlights.

- Ross reported that Triple H is ahead of schedule in rehabbing his torn quadriceps and should be back in the ring by SummerSlam or early September 2007.

- He spoke on Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle going into Mixed Martial Arts by saying that MMA is different from amateur wrestling and said, “I think both athletes would be better off sticking with pro wrestling and calling it a day."

- JR addressed rumors concerning Rob Van Dam by saying that he was not aware of any issues that he may have with talent relations. He added that he hopes that RVD sticks with WWE for the remainder of his career and doubts that he will leave the company.

- He said that William Shatner and Sheryl Crow are two names that have been “bounced around” as potential candidates to induct his broadcast colleague Jerry “The King” Lawler into the WWE Hall of Fame.

 

[A.J.]

source: PWInsider

WWE has announced that its third annual ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view will be moved from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City (the location of the previous two events) to the Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.

The date has also been moved from June 10th to June 3rd.