Miscellaneous WWE News Thread.

[Y 2 Jake]

Monty Brown debuted in WWECW last night under the name 'Marquis Cor Von'. There was absolutely no buildup for Brown. Of all people he could have faced, WWE chose Cassidy Reilly, another former TNA star. Fans chanted TNA numerous times during the match. 'The Alpha Male' won via an arm bar submission. He did hit the pounce although it wasn't called that. After the match on the mic, Brown, said he is in ECW to mark his territory. During this promo, fans chanted "what."

It appears Matt Striker will be in the Royal Rumble Match. That makes 26 people entered, with 9 SD, 11 RAW and 6 ECW.

On Wednesday, you can meet Victoria and Tommy Dreamer from 7 to 9PM at the Peoria Civic Center in Peoria, IL.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

ESPN2’s website is no longer listing Rob Van Dam as a guest on Thursday’s episode of Cold Pizza.

Donald Trump told the AP newswire today that he was done with the Rosie feud. "If somebody says something on the other side, I always respond. But they have really been well behaved and they haven't said anything so there's nothing to respond to. If the press would let it die I'm sure it would die."

Dave Meltzer reports that MMA legend Bas Rutten was recently contacted by WWE to come in as a wrestler. He thought that the money was good, but there was no way he wanted to go on the road for 200 days a year.

Chris Jericho's next appearance with Los Angeles improvisational troupe the Groundlings will be 2/22.

Tommy Dreamer has a new blog up at ECW.com. He will continue to write blogs although he is definitely not happy with the current ECW product. Can you blame him?

 

[Y 2 Jake]

The Undertaker vs. Kane Inferno match from Unforgiven '98 is the only extra on the new Armageddon DVD release.

On Friday, WWE RAW diva Torrie Wilson will be appearing at the Syracuse Crunch hockey game at the War Memorial in Syracuse, NY from 6 to 8PM.

Vickie Guerrero did have to sell the Arizona home she and Eddy purchased before his untimely death. Bryan Alvarez reports that she had a $630,000 mortgage at the time of the sale.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Credit: Various

The 1/12 edition of WWE Friday Night Smackdown drew a final 2.6 broadcast rating with a 4.3 share. That is down quite a bit from last week's 3.0 rating.

On a side note, the final rating for Monday Night Raw this week is expected to be released later today as it was delayed due to the Martin Luther King holiday.

There is a new "Superstar to Superstar" feature up on WWE.com with Jerry "The King" Lawler interviewing David Arquette.

WWE.com will be presenting a "Power 25 Year in Review" special hosted by Matt Striker. For more information, visit WWE.com.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

There is an article up on WWE.com focusing on the WWE and ECW stars that will take part in the 30 Man Royal Rumble.

ECW.com has added a profile on "The Alpha Male" Marquis Cor Von, formerly known as Monty Brown in TNA. Interestingly, his profile is titled by his nickname, "The Alpha Male," so it looks like they'll be referring to him by that name for the most part.

Tommy Dreamer will continue to write his column on ECW.com, 'Diary of Violence'.

In his latest blog, CM Punk blasts MySpace.com. Apparently, he is upset that there are a bunch of fake CM Punk profiles on the website and that he constantly gets comments from fans telling him that they talked to him on it. He adamantly insists that he does not have a MySpace account and that he never will.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Credit: Various

Terry Szopinski (The Warlord) has signed a deal with Jakks Pacific for their WWE Classic Superstars action figure line. The Warlord wrestled in WWE from 1988 to 1992.

Sid Eudy (Sid Vicious, Sid Justice and Sycho Sid) has signed a deal with Jakks Pacific for their WWE Classic Superstars action figure line. Sid wrestled in WWE from 1991 to 1992 and again from 1995 to 1997.

WWE.com doesn't seem to show the monthly WWE 24/7 schedule anymore for some unknown reason. Well, the schedule is available on a private site for their television affiliates and you can check out the remainder of the January schedule at WWEAffiliates.com.

Also, it appears as though that the 'Pick Your Big One' feature in which fans choose a pay-per-view or event to watch via poll on WWE.com is pre-determined, or dare I say, rigged? The schedule says that WCW Spring Stampede 1994 will air on WWE 24/7 next month as the 'PYOB', which is short for 'Pick Your Big One'. On WWE.com, there is an ongoing poll that ends at the end of the month in which fans can select to watch either WCW Spring Stampede 1994, WrestleMania 13, or WrestleRock

 

[Y 2 Jake]

WWE.com fixed the date for their upcoming return to Washington D.C. as they will be holding a RAW/HEAT taping on March 12, 2007 at the Verizon Center. When they listed the show, the main schedule page said that the event would be held on March 11th, but the linked page to the event said March 12th, thus causing a bit of confusion. Anyways, tickets go on sale on Saturday, February 10 at 10am. WWE held a RAW taping at the Verizon Center only 30 days ago, so this is obviously a pretty fast return to the Nation's Capital. They'll be coming back again in July for the Great American Bash.

Joey Mercury returned to action at last night's SmackDown taping. However, he'll be wearing a protective mask on his face when he wrestles for an unknown period of time.

Michelle McCool made her return to the road at this past weekend's swing of SmackDown house shows. She teamed up with Jillian Hall to take on Trinity and Kelly Kelly at the two house shows. McCool had been out of action since mid November due to an enlarged kidney and electrolyte imbalance, which hospitalized her for a few days.

WWE developmental talents Shantelle Taylor, George Murdoch, and Ryan Wilson were on the road with Smackdown & ECW over the weekend.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

The following is from thestranglehold.com: Ron Simmons and Mark Henry will be signing autographs from 3-5pm on 2/25 at the St. Louis Mills Mall as part of the WrestleMania Fan Axxess Tour. Trevor Murdoch and Lance Cade will be on hand Saturday from 3-4pm.

The following is from Mike Informer through delawareonline.com: Heavyweights of Comedy, 9 p.m. Friday at Straight Jackets Comedy Club at the Soho Lounge. The fact that a comedy show is being hosted by former WWE star King Kong Bundy should be enough to get you out to the show. If not, local comedians Jeff Collins and Jimmy "Round Boy" Graham ("Invincible") are on the bill. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased by calling 377-4713.

According to Box Office Mojo: Kane's "See No Evil" has now pulled in a cool $15.75 million in DVD rentals, as of 1/14.

The following is from Bamfster X: WWE 24/7 on Cablevision update. I just attempted to order it (WWE 24/7), and it appears to have worked. However,the on screen instructions told me to wait about one half before attempting using the service. I thought you might want to know this since i read an article doubting its availability earlier today. Love your site.

The beautiful bombshell Kelly Kelly made an eye-popping return to ECW on Sci Fi as she flashed Matt Striker during his match against CM Punk. ECW.com has posted three exclusive photos of what you didn't see on ECW on Sci Fi including Kelly Kelly no.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Credit: Various

Right now, the two proposed matches for Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania are against Great Khali or Shane McMahon. There is almost no chance of Big Show returning at this point, which is why Khali was moved to RAW.

Tank Toland is now working as the trainer of the amateur class at Ohio Valley Wrestling.

SmackDown finished with a 2.6 rating last week, down from a 3.0 the week before.

WWE 24/7 debuted on Cablevision today. Early reports were that they were having some bugs but that everything will be cleared up today.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

WWE's See No Evil movie is now up to $14.8 million in rental revenue.

The Cyber Sunday Buy Rate is coming in at 235,000 buys. Approximately 141,000 of those buys would be domestic (US buys).

Former WCW valet Tylene "Major Gunns" Buck is now doing an online webcam at grayvee.com.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Credit: PWInsider.com

- WWEShop.com has recently released a Cryme Tyme T-shirt.

- The idea to change Monty Brown's name came from Vince McMahon. He chose to change it so he could own the copywright. As Monty Brown is his real name he had no other choice.

ECW head writer, Dave Lagana was strongly against this move but he really had no say in this matter. The plan right now is to build Marquis up as a challenger to Lashley and the ECW Title at some point possibly Wrestlemania.

- After returning back to action less then just a few months ago, Bob Holly has reportedly been injured yet again. He has suffered nerve damage in his arm and there is no word at this time on how long he will be out.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

According to Dave Scherer of PWInsider.com, Rob Van Dam is definitely unhappy. Much of it has to do with the direction that the ECW brand has taken recently, in addition to his personal situation on the brand. RVD was originally excited about the return of ECW, especially with Heyman at the helm, since he believe he finally would have a place within the WWE where he would fit in. That obviously doesn't seem to be happening right now. Scherer adds that many people inside the company would not be surprised at all to see RVD jump to TNA after his WWE contract expires. It is believed that RVD still has about a year left on his current deal.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

This week's Raw earned a 4.1 rating. That is way up from last week's 3.7 rating. This was the first week in which Raw has not had to compete against football. The rating was delayed this week due to the Martin Luther King holiday.

The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports that Orlando, Florida is one of the frontrunners to host WrestleMania 24 next year. This goes in addition to several recent rumors suggesting that Orlando was a consideration for the big event, in addition to Miami, Florida. John Saboor, Central Florida Sports Commission's president would not confirm anything towards WrestleMania, but is quoted as saying that they are in contact with the WWE about possible events in the future. The irony to this is that Orlando is the home to Total Non-stop Action Wrestling. You better believe they are not in favor of hearing this news.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

According to WWE.com, Cablevision subscribers in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey will now have access to WWE 24/7.

WWE.com has an article on their website now on how offensive guard Ruben Brown has purchased WWE championship belts for the entire offensive line.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

The Gymini, Tony Mamaluke, The Basham Brother's and Al Snow have been released today (18th January 07)

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Prior to Tuesday's Smackdown taping, there was a masked wrestler who wore a black suit and went by the name of 'San-Eye' from Japan. San-Eye wrestled Jamie Noble and even beat him with a rollup. As it turns out, 'San-Eye' is actually female wrestler Shantelle Taylor. The idea is that people aren't supposed to pick up that she is a woman. Taylor is a 20-year old Canadian who is under a developmental deal in Deep South Wrestling. This wasn't Taylor's first appearance as 'San-Eye' as she also wrestled on some SmackDown house shows over the weekend.

The cover art for the upcoming three disc DX DVD, 'The New and Improved DX', has been released. It looks kind of like the packaging for a Hi-C soft drink. The DVD set will be released on February 20, 2007. The DVD set basically consists of footage of nearly all of DX's matches and segments since the formation back in June through the Survivor Series last November.

WWEshop.com has released a Cryme Tyme T-shirt.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Jazz has been released.

 

[matman8540]

While I was taking a quick smoke break in the garage, I was watching Outside The Lines on ESPN, hosted by Bob Ley. He was talking about former NFL safety Andre Waters committing suicide due to all the concussions he has had over the years. The first person they spoke to regarding this was former WWE wrestler, Christopher Nowinski. Apparently, he had written a book about concussions in football, and their after effects. The name of the book is called Head Games.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Credit: Various

For those unaware, Al Snow is still affiliated with WWE, but as a trainer and not a wrestler. He was simply released from the wrestler contract he signed when ECW started up last year. He is still under contract to them, but as a wrestling trainer. He will continue his duties as a trainer in Ohio Valley Wrestling.

I've gotten three eyewitness accounts of Tatanka and Mike Knox being put up on the list of WWE terminations on WWE.com earlier today. It happened between 5:30 and 6 p.m. and their names were only on the page for 10 to 15 minutes or so before they were quickly taken down. This is all moot point now, but their names were temporarily up there. For the time being, those two individuals are still employed by WWE.

The likely scenerio would be WWE posting the full list of released talent, but then holding off until the talent was told first-hand, before making it public matter. There's a good chance those names will reappear as confirmed releases in the near future.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

This week's edition of ECW on Sci Fi, which featured Bobby Lashley vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Test in the main event scored a 1.5 cable rating.

Word from WWE is that Carlito will remain in his current mid-card position until he decides to step up and show that he really cares about the business. The big criticism recently is that he was unhappy being put in the puppy-love storyline with Torrie Wilson and thus he hasn't been trying to hard as of late. The other problem according to those in the know is that the babyface character he is playing now is completely the opposite of how he is in real life, and that he's a natural heel who in some ways is being held down by a character that it's basically impossible for him to play.

WWE will be doing auditions for season II of 'Who Wants To Be A Superhero' during the Fan Axxess tour. The tour will run through March 10th and 11th at the Dulles Town Center in Washington, DC.

The wrestler formerly known as Chad Dick in WWE, Tank Toland, is now working as the trainer of the amateur class at OVW.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Credit: Various

Charlotte.com has a story today about Jonathan Coachman calling college basketball games for the CSTV network. Coach also called college football games in the fall. He was quoted in the piece as saying, ""I'm a sportscaster at heart."

Mike Brown sent this follow up of an earlier item. ... According to the "Get Smart" fan website WouldYouBelieve.com... (They claim to have read the script for the movie.) The Rock would indeed be playing Agent 23. Maxwell Smart, an analyst for CONTROL, idolizes 23 because he's their James Bond. The agent who always comes out on top. Once Max heads into the field, he teams up with 23 and 99 (Anne Hathaway) to clear his name against the evil KAOS. So it would appear that Rock will be playing straight man to Steve Carell's comic Agent 86.

Jeff Sheridan sent word that on his MySpace account, Chris Jericho stated that he has sent a second draft of his book, "A Lion's Tale" (which covers his early career) to Warner Brothers so it's that much closer to it's October release date.

The 2007 Royal Rumble PPV press conference scheduled for this Monday at the AT&T Center in San Antonio has been canceled, at least as an open event for the public. It appears that the rowdy crowd at the New Year's Revolution press conference forced WWE to decide to kill off the conferences. WWE WrestleMania will have a press conference, but only because it's such a big event.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Credit: Various

Apparently it was Vince McMahon's idea to change Monty Brown's name to Marquis Cor Von reports Mike Johnson. Vince wanted a name that he could own and trademark and since Monty Brown is his real name that wouldn't work. Dave Lagana was strongly against this move and even though he's the head ECW writer he really had no say in the matter. The plan right now is to build Marquis up as a challenger to Lashley and the ECW Title at some point possibly Wrestlemania.

Johnson is reporting as well that Bob Holly has been injured yet again. He has nerve damage in his arm and there is no word at this time on how long he will be out.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Vince McMahon reportedly was in a foul mood after the Smackdown/ECW tapings on Tuesday night and plans to continue shaping ECW in his own way and without regard to people who may have been involved in the "old ECW". One talent currently under contract and assigned to ECW told me, "I'm expecting the call and am actually hoping it comes soon."

RAW starts their run on Saturday, January 20th at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana, their first show in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina.

Don't be shocked to hear of more releases being announced today. When the ECW house events were first dropped, the internal belief was that they would return shortly after Wrestlemania 23. That's obviously not looking to be the case at this point because most of the undercard talent was fired yesterday.

The Fort Worth Star Telegram has an article online previewing the Wrestlemania AXXESS tour stop in Houston, Texas.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

The following was posted on Jazz's MySpace.com account regarding the release of Rodney Mack and herself:

WE JUST WANTED TO THANK EVERYONE FOR SUPPORTING US. AS YOU KNOW WE BOTH WERE RELEASED FROM WWE. WE FEEL THAT WE DIDN'T THE OPPORTUNITY WE DESERVED, BUT LIFE GOES ON AND SO ARE WE. SO TO ALL OF OUR FANS WE APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT. JUST TO LET EVERYONE KNOW THAT WE ARE AVAILABLE FOR ANY BOOKINGS. JAZZ

Jazz's MySpace can be found at www.myspace.com/jazz_and_rodney_mack.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

WWE will be re-releasing Wrestlemania III on DVD to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the event. There's no word yet on if the release will feature new exclusive features or if it will simply be a re-release by their new DVD distributor, Genius Entertainment.

Patrick Bentley and Adam Roberts from NWA Anarchy/NWA Wildside in Georgia worked the Smackdown taping this week, facing a new team that will debut this Friday.

King Booker's PWA promotion will return to Pasadena, Texas on Thursday 1/25 at The Pasadena Convention Center. There will likely be a few WWE names appearing, although none have been announced yet. For ticket information, call (281) 487-4331 or visit http://www.bookertonline.com. If you are attending the show, you can send a live report by clicking my name above.

WWE.com is reporting that Teddy Long will make a major announcement on this week's Smackdown concerning the World Title Match at the Royal Rumble.