Miscellaneous WWE News Thread.

[Y 2 Jake]

Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

There is a lot of heat among the wrestlers on writer Chris DeJoseph aka 'Big Dick Johnson'. The heat is due to him getting himself booked on the post-Christmas house show run. The feeling is he had not been on the road, but got himself on the road on the week after Christmas that will traditionally do some of the best domestic gates of the year.

A lot of the wrestlers that weren't booked on those shows were frustrated that a member of the writing team got a week of bookings on big business house shows for a gimmick that nobody really wants to see in the first place. Also, several of the woman involved in the angle don't like sharing the stage with him since the segments build him as the big star who closes and makes them seem minor.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

In the commentary on the DVD of "The Protector", there is a lot of discussion over former WWE superstar Nathan Jones who was featured in the movie. They talk about why he can be a new star in action films and touch on his experience in pro wrestling.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

CW Anderson posted the following on his MySpace.com account:

First, I want to thank everyone for the messages, comments and emails on the well wishes of my release. I wish I could respond to each email that I've received but I really appreciate each one. I will be on the indies soon and back to Japan. Keep checking back as I'll make more posts and updates on whats going on...

While ya waitin for the next one,

Keep ya hands high!!

His MySpace.com can be found at http://www.myspace.com/cwanderson

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Credit: Various

JR's newest blog is posted at JR's BBQ website. This week Jim Ross discusses Monty "Marquis Cor Von" Brown, CM Punk, HBK, ECW and more.

Slam! Wreslting reports thats Hulk Hogan will make a public autograph appearance Saturday at Steiner Sports' Hall of Heroes store in Garden City, N.Y. Among the Hogan-signed items that can be ordered from the company's website are a 16-by-20 photo for $169.99 and an official championship belt for $629.99.

Pro Wrestling Illustrated magazine listed John Cena as its Wrestler of the Year for 2006.

WWE will be conducting a Wrestlemania press conference on 2/2 in Windsor, Ontario at the Silver City movie theater at 11:30AM. Among those scheduled to appear include Windsor mayor Eddie Francis, Chris Benoit, Carlito and ECW stand out CM Punk.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

WWE posted the following tonight:

Greg Groothius (Jack Bull), Steven Adkins (Seth Skyfire), and Ryan Reeves were most recently training at WWE's Ohio Valley Wrestling developmental territory.

They have all been released as noted earlier here on the site.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Saliva are doing the Wrestle Mania theme song. It's called Ladies and Gentlemen.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

General Manager Theodore Long has announced next week on SmackDown the 6-Man Over-the-Top Challenge will take place just two days away from the Royal Rumble. Superstars MVP, Kane, United States Champion Chris Benoit, Finlay, The Miz and former World Heavyweight Champion King Booker will participate in the precursor to the 30-man Royal Rumble, but how will the 6-Man Over-the-Top Challenge affect their chances heading into the Royal Rumble?

Hulk Hogan will be appearing today at the Hall of Heroes at the Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden, NY from 1 to 2:30PM.

Rey Mysterio Jr. will be appearing today at the World of Wheels in Pittsburgh, PA from 6 to 8PM.

Also today, WWE hall of famer Greg Valentine and the Honkeytonk Man appearing at the Woodbridge Center in Woodbridge, NJ from 2 to 4PM.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

At 7:30 A.M. the New Haven Coliseum in New Haven, CT was Imploded. The coliseum had hosted many WWF events over the years the last being four years ago.

Steve Corino can no longer be called "The King of Old School" because the WWE sent him a letter saying they now have it trademarked.

Smackdown scored a 2.9 rating, according to the Fast National numbers. The final rating will be posted here next week.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

The following is from WWE.com:

We have come to terms on the releases of Mike Taylor, Tracy Taylor, Tony Salantri, and Thomas Farra.

We wish them all the best in their future endeavors.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

There has been talk of doing a Hulk Hogan vs. Great Khali match at WrestleMania. Khali would basically be replacing Big Show, who will not be at Mania. One source is saying that Show is about as close to being done as a person can be in this business where nobody ever retires. WWE has approached Hogan with two matches, one being against Khali and the other being against Shane McMahon. They're waiting to hear back from Hogan.

The Cyber Sunday buyrate is coming in at 235,000 buys, which would be about 141,000 domestic. Due to improved PPV reporting techniques these numbers are very close to final.

Add The Hardy Boyz vs. MNM to the Royal Rumble PPV card. The Royal Rumble is next weekend, live from San Antonio, TX.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Credit: Various

Due to his new WWE Films project, "The Condemned" set for release in April, legendary WWE superstar "Stone Cold" Steve Austin will be making his highly anticipated return to WWE television shortly.

The current plan at this point is to integrate Austin back into some sort of regular storyline, as to get use out of him at WrestleMania 23, to co-promote with his movie project in April.

More details on this story as we receive them.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

According to BoxOfficeMojo.com, See No Evil has made $15.75 million in rentals as of last Sunday. The movie has already exceeded the amount of money they made at the box office, at least domestically ($15,032,800).

The final draft of Chris Jericho's book, A Lion's Tale, is done and headed to publishers. Release date is October 2007. The book mostly covers the first several years of his career.

There have been 20 releases since Thursday. If you count SD! writer Andrew Goldstein being fired late last week, we're at 21 total releases. They are calling the guys, letting them know of their releases, and then posting them on the website. They only posts the name once the talent is notified.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

I hope you're all having a good weekend. This has been one busy week here for all of us and it doesn't appear to be slowing down any going into next week. As always, I'll be here every day covering the latest news for all of you. Thanks for your continued support of the site.

Jim Ross remembers Bam Bam Bigelow in his latest blog entry which can be read at JRsBarBQ.com.

Lance Storm has a column up remembering Bam Bam Bigelow. Check that out at StormWrestling.com.

Weekly Pro reports that Akebono and The Great Muta will work All Japan's 2/17 Ryogoku Kokugikan event in Tokyo. (Thanks to Zach Arnold for this tidbit)

As noted earlier here on the site, WWE has announced that MVP, Kane, Chris Benoit, Fit Finlay, The Miz, and King Booker will be involved in the Over The Top Challenge on Smackdown next week.

Warrior "Ultimate Warrior" Warrior is once again selling his action figures on eBay, this time for $500. His production description is interesting to say the least.

The WWE Survivor Series DVD and the ECW December to Dismember DVD are the #1 and #2 items on the latest Billboard Recreational Sports DVD rankings. Seven of the top ten titles are from WWE.

Ratman sent in the following tidbit: I was watching Smackdown last night (1/19) here in New England and before they came back from commercial break during the Kennedy/Taker match, the screen went black and the CW56Boston logo came up and was there throughout the last 7 minutes of the show.

Have a good rest of the weekend and enjoy the huge NFL playoff games on Sunday if you're a football fan. Take care, Ryan Clark.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

WWE will not be releasing updated business figures, including pay-per-view buyrates, on its corporate website (located at corporate.wwe.com) until 2006 year-end results are announced. This decision was most likely made by WWE's accounting department.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

To update you on Mike Taylor and Tony Salantri (a/k/a Tony Santarelli), who were released from their WWE developmental contracts yesterday, they worked as a tag team known as High Impact in Deep South Wrestling. The duo was slated to appear on WWE Smackdown at one time.

The Gymini are still DSW tag Team champion's despite being released the other day.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Credit: SLAM! Wrestling

The 2007 edition of the Survivor Series was tentatively scheduled to take place in Montreal, but that's off the cards now. According to the Canadian-based wrestling website SLAM! Wrestling, the event will be held in Miami, Florida instead.

"It was tentatively booked a long time ago, but we never announced (Survivor Series) would be in Montreal," said WWE Canada president Carl DeMarco. "There was a hold on the building, but sometimes there are routing issues."

 

[Y 2 Jake]

The Wrestling Observer is reporting that for this Tuesday night's Smackdown & ECW tapings in Mobile, AL, ECW will be taped before Smackdown. So, the show will instead air on a tape delay this Tuesday night on Sci Fi.

Since the beginning of the new ECW brand, Smackdown had always been taped first and then the company would change the set over to ECW, going live on Sci Fi. According to some recent reports however, WWE hasn't been satisfied with the product airing live as of late. So they will be taking this measure from now on whenever possible.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Credit: Various

Celebrity gossip website Splash News online has a photo posted of Hulk Hogan posing with The Big Show Paul Wight doing the same pose behind him with the title 'Two tickets to the Gun Show please'.

WWE developmental talent Eddie Colón defeated Bronco last weekend in Bayamón on a WWC show.

Although there's no link to this on the New York Post site, page 59 of the photo section of today's edition of the NY Post has Stacy Keibler hugging Vanessa Minnillo & it says the following: "GIRLS GONE WILD! 'Dancing With The Stars' glamazon Stacy Keibler hugs it out with Nick Lachey's squeeze Vanessa Minnillo at the InStyle/Warner Bros. after-party."

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Credit: Various

--The following are all of the award winners from the Pro Wrestling Illustrated 2006 year-end award issue:

Rookie of the Year: The Boogeyman
Inspirational Wrestler of the Year: Matt Cappotelli
Most Improved Wrestler of the Year: Bobby Lashley
Comeback of the Year: Sting
Woman of the Year: Trish Stratus
Feud of the Year: John Cena vs. Edge
Most Popular Wrestler of the Year: Samoa Joe
Most Hated Wrestler of the Year: Edge
Match of the Year: Shawn Michaels vs. Vince McMahon
Tag Team of the Year: A. J. Styles & Christopher Daniels
Wrestler of the Year: John Cena
Stanley Weston Award: Harley Race

--Since there's no link on www.dailynews.com, here's what I saw in the 1/21-27 issue of New York Vue TV Guide. On page 6 from the guide in the "This Just In..." section, it's got a photo of Hulk Hogan in a gym & underneath the photo it says: "Hogan's heroes are his kids. With his VH1 "Hogan Knows Best" series boasting 3 seasons. Terry [Hulk] Hogan tells This Just In that he's not sure if he & his family are up for doing more. "The ratings are sky-high & we just have to decide if we're going to be together because Brooke's on the road & Nick's on the road driving with Dodge now. I just don't know if we're going to be in the same place", says Hogan of his children's busy schedules. But the newfound family fame does have it's benefits, especially since Hogan doesn't have to support his kids anymore. "They are taking full advantage of it. Just as long as they keep out of trouble". Yeah, good luck!"

--Stacy Keibler will be a guest on Friday's Best Damn Sports Show Period on Fox Sports Net.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Several more bikini models are about to be signed by WWE. The feeling within the company is that they need more good looking people on the show to get ratings up.

WWE 24/7 is now available on Cablevision in New York.

In the commentary on the DVD of "The Protector", there is a lot of discussion over former WWE superstar Nathan Jones who was featured in the movie. They talk about why he can be a new star in action films and touch on his experience in pro wrestling.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

The Ottawa Sun has an article on an upcoming Smackdown/ECW house show scheduled for this May with comments from WWE Canada President Carl DeMarco.

The Miami Herald featured an article today on the huge attraction WWE Diva Layla El was in her hometown at the first Wrestlemania AXXESS tour stop in Miami. For more information about the AXXESS tour, visit www.Wrestlemania.com.

Brian Reiss sent the following...I've noticed Jonathan Coachman doing commentary for Atlantic 10 men's basketball games. No biggie, except I just heard a semi-interesting quip during the St. Louis/Fordham game. His co-commentator suggested that a player do a "Stone Cold Steve Austin stomp", to which Coach replied, light heartedly, "Why do you have to bring my other life into this? .. the dark side...".

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Nigel Rhodes sent the following....I was watching Ripley's Believe it or Not yesterday on Sci-Fi and they did a piece about a man who produces trading cards of models. One of the models caught my attention, none other than Candice Michelle. That's right, she has her own set of trading cards. I didn't catch the companies name but he said they are also available on e-bay and some have sold for $500!

The New York Post featured an article today on Trish Stratus' reality series Armed & Famous and it's declining ratings. Stratus, however, was praised in the story.

Tim Baines has an article up with Slam! Wrestling featuring an interview with WWE Canada President Carl DeMarco where he talks about World Wrestling Entertainment's upcoming dates in Canada, including a big one in Montreal that will no longer be taking place after all. The WWE had been tentatively planning on holding this year's Survivor Series PPV in Montreal, which would mark the 10 year anniversary of the famous Bret Hart "screwjob" in 1997. Instead, WWE has announced that they have now booked the show in Miami, Florida. "It was tentatively booked a long time ago, but we never announced (Survivor Series) would be in Montreal. There was a hold on the building, but sometimes there are routing issues," said WWE Canada President Carl DeMarco. The only problem with DeMarco's statement is that back on April 10, 2006, World Wrestling Entertainment issued a press release for their upcoming 2006 and 2007 Pay Per View schedule. Towards the end of the 2007 part of the list, it stated the following: "WWE presents Survivor Series on Sunday, November 25 from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada." So while DeMarco was right in that issues do occur, to say they never announced the date in Montreal is just flat wrong.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

The New York Post has a story up about the Armed and Famous reality show featuring Trish Stratus.

Last Saturday's AM RAW did a 0.6 rating.

As noted earlier here on the site, WWE will tape ECW prior to Smackdown this week, so ECW On Sci-Fi will not be live. WWE wants to air ECW on a few hour tape delay from now on because they aren't satisfied with the live shows.

Bret Hart's son, Dallas, has apparently stopped training to become a wrestler.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

There is a new feature on WWE.com called "Around the Ring" with Michael Cole and JBL discussing some recent WWE topics.

An article about ECW Champion Bobby Lashley in Maxim is up at WWE.com as well.

The latest edition of WWE Heat is also up on WWE.com. Featured matches on the show includes Viscera vs. Eugene, Val Venis vs. John Moxley and Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch vs. The Highlanders.

It looks like the releases are over for now, but who knows. The releases weren't something that were planned and they just sort of happened. We can confirm that many of the guys in Deep South Wrestling and Ohio Valley Wrestling that we talked to are very nervous.

Sean 'X-Pac' Waltman remains under exclusive contract with WSX (Wrestling Society X) and will not be signing any WWE contract. He would definitely consider it if he was not under contract with them. He's also very excited about the new WSX project and feels it has the potential to take off due to it being on a major TV network in MTV.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

The first episode of MTV's "Wrestling Society X" will be airing this Friday, January 26 at 11pm ET/10pm CT. This episode will be a special preview of the series before it officially debuts on Tuesday, January 30 at 10:30pm ET/9:30pm CT. As always, visit www.WSX.MTV.com for more information.

Bill DeMott is available for wrestling workshops / seminars, and training camps. Anyone interested contact [email protected]

Mike & Tracy Taylor and High Impact are now accepting independent bookings. Those interested can e-mail Mike at [email protected]. They can also be contacted through www.t-taylor.com