Post by Mike Giggs' Munchies on Aug 31, 2008 13:39:28 GMT -5
- Jim Ross has a new blog entry up where he talks about Eric Bischoff starting a new wrestling promotion, The Brian Kendrick, Gail Kim leaving TNA, and more. Below are the highlights:
On rumors that Eric Bischoff is starting a new wrestling promotion on CMT: "Is Eric Bischoff going to start a new, wrestling promotion using CMT as his network? I don't know the answer but Bischoff is an aggressive, entrepreneur who understands the art of the deal. Being successful in this genre is all about talent and television and there, unfortunately, is no abundance of available talent out there that could headline a weekly TV show. Producing a slick looking show is less challenging than creating a viable talent roster in today's marketplace. However, I will add that if anyone could pull this off it would be Bischoff."
On The Brian Kendrick as a main eventer: "The Brian Kendrick has been really impressive as of late and I hope that his charisma and overall talent don't get checkmated by his lack of size. Some fans and others should not look at "The" and say he is too small for the big time or for main events. Experience tells me that simply isn't true."
On Gail Kim Leaving TNA: "Lots of talk on the Internet this week about Gail Kim leaving TNA and allegedly coming back to the WWE. I was never quite sure why Gail was released in the first place but if she is coming back to the WWE I think it will be a positive move. Gail has a ton of ability and has evolved nicely as not only an in ring performer but behind the mic as well since leaving the WWE. Some websites really made a huge deal out of this matter which confounds me somewhat."
- During an autograph session at the Cleveland Indians game over the weekend, Mick Foley commented on if he signed with TNA.
"Well, I can say that is not true," Foley said when asked if he has signed with TNA, "though I may try out a pay-per-view with them."
Foley's WWE contract expires tomorrow. It will be interesting to see if he will attend a few events to get a feel for the company before committing to a long-term deal.
- JAKKS Pacific issued the following press release today:
JAKKS Pacific Prevails in WWE State Court Lawsuit
MALIBU, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--JAKKS Pacific (NASDAQ:JAKK), announced that the Connecticut State Court has granted summary judgment today in the state court action, dismissing World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.’s (WWE) bribery and anti-trust claims against JAKKS and its principals on the basis of collateral estoppel and statute of limitations grounds. The decision is being reviewed by the Company and may be subject of a further press release.
- Former WWE Champion Rob Van Dam recently did an interview with Between the Ropes where he discussed his current wrestling status. He made it clear that he will not be returning to TNA or WWE at this point, and will only consider doing so when his wife beats cancer. He did say he would work a few NWE dates, but that's all he has planned at this point.
- Steve "Dr. Death" Williams, a former WWE and WCW Superstar, has been released from the hospital following surgery to treat a hernia. At this point, Williams is now considering retiring as an active wrestler, as he is 48 years old and feels he is too injury prone. WWE stopped using Williams as a developmental trainer a little over a year ago and he has been working a few independent dates ever since.
- Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan will be together at an autograph signing on 12/13 in Secaucus, New Jersey. Hogan has reportedly lowered his asking price for the signing from $75,000 to $50,000.
- The Tap Out Clothing Company is looking to release a line of clothing centered around a Hitman theme, and has been in negotiations with Bret "The Hitman" Hart for trademark purposes. Hart owns the rights to his "Hitman" character and will most likely be working out a deal to allow them to use the name as opposed to actually endorsing the product line.
- E! Canada will be airing "True Hollywood Story: Chris Benoit - Wrestling With Demons" this Wednesday, September 3rd, at 10 PM.
- WWE cut developmental referee Jamie Tucker this past week. Tucker's looking to work indie dates in the Florida area at wrestlingroadie7392 @ yahoo.com.
- Last night's Florida Championship Wrestling show was reportedly the second official television taping, which is scheduled to air on the CW Affiliate in Tampa, Florida, at least according to the FCW people. In perhaps a dream pairing, Beth Phoenix and Natalya Neidhart teamed up to defeat The Bella Twins in the main event of the show. It was announced at last night's show that D-Lo Brown will be next week's special guest. Vladimir Koslov also worked a match, defeating Kafu.
- The start time for tomorrow night's Raw brand house sin Peoria, IL at the Peoria Civic Center has been changed from 7:30 p.m. to the new time of 5:00 p.m.
- WWE creative team is not high on newcomers Scotty Goldman (Colt Cabana), Ryan Braddock (Jay Bradley) and Gavin Spears (Shawn Spears). All three wrestlers were late in being called up to the main roster and have yet to win a match. The feeling regarding Spears is that he was only good while teaming with Cody Rhodes in OVW. Braddock is said to only have one speed.
- Layla is expected to return to television in a week or two. Her mother passed away this week and she went overseas to arrange the funeral.
- Kevin Nash has once again butted heads with the creative team at the iMPACT! tapings this week. Nash was upset about the outcome of his match with Kurt Angle and was displeased with some of the backstage segments. He eventually agreed to lose the match. His ego has started to lose respect from within the company. "He needs to go," said one TNA office worker. "It's getting out of hand."
- In regards to the Stone Cold impersonator that has been fleecing fans for autographs, the real Steve Austin called him "a lowlife just looking for a buck," when on TMZ.
- Despite having no local media coverage of the Randy Orton motorcycle accident, the feeling in WWE is that the crash was legitimate, unless it is somehow being kept from everyone which is unlikely. The WWE.com story was thought to be exaggerated and that added to conspiracies that it was a work. It's doubtful Randy flew 300 feet.
- The creative aspect of the Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels feud is said to be 90% their own work, with most promos being done on the night, with a brief idea of where they want to take it.
- The Rock surpassed Ric Flair in this week's Billboard sports DVD rankings:
1. NFL: Favre 4 Ever
2. WWE: The Rock: The Most Electrifying Man In Sports Entertainment
3. NBA Champions 2007-2008: Boston Celtics
4. WWE: Nature Boy Ric Flair: The Definitive Collection
5. WWE: SummerSlam: The Complete Anthology 1988-2007
6. UFC 83: Serra Vs St-Pierre
7. WWE: WrestleMania XXIV
8. WWE: Night Of Champions 2008
9. Pride Frighting Championships: 33: The Second Coming
10. NFL: Road To Super Bowl XLII
- Kevin Lawler, son of WWE Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler, has been released from jail after being charged with trespassing and aggravated burglary earlier this week.
A woman claimed that Lawler was given a key to her apartment in order to clean her carpets, however made a copy of that key to later break into the apartment.
She is charging him with burglarizing the home following a break-in.
- The Winnipeg Sun recently conducted an interview with former WWE Women’s champ Trish Stratus where she discusses her upcoming travel show The Stratusphere on the Travel Channel. The series will debut in Canada this coming Monday on the Travel & Escape channel before coming to the U.S.
Stratus noted that she traveled the world with WWE, but rarely saw more than airports and hotels. "Initially we set out to do an adventure-activity show, and the fact I was willing to do all these cool things, that was the first idea," Stratus said. "But then it kind of evolved into something slightly different, because once we got to these places, we realized these activities mean something really special in these cultures. So I was pleased to make it a deeper show. "
Trish hopes the show, which she also narrates, will inspire people to travel. "I also hope it encourages people to realize there's a great big beautiful world out there, so get out and explore it if you can. It always amazes me to go from one place to another and see how completely different they are."
- Jerry McDevitt, a high powered attorney for WWE, has spoken out with The Sun about the lawsuit currently being filed against the company by Scott Levy (Raven), Mike Sanders and Chris Klucsarits. The following points made by McDevitt attempt to highlight why he feels the claims made in the case are bogus and will result in failure for the three former WWE workers.
“The IRS has never challenged the treatment of our wrestlers and they have audited the company several times.”
“I think the key point to be made here is that every one of these people signed contracts acknowledging they were independent contractors.
That second quote could prove to the be a "nail in the coffin," so to speak, as the wrestlers cannot prove they were not independent contractors. The case would then have to be made whether or not wrestlers SHOULD be independent contractors.
- During Awesome Kong's match last night on Impact, Mike Tenay said on commentary that Gail Kim and TNA had "parted ways" following her "Street Fight" last week. Gail Kim's official website, www.TheGailKim.com, has also confirmed her departure from the company. They wrote: "Gail Kim has left TNAWrestling after her contract ran out and she didn't sign a new deal. All of her information has been removed from TNAWrestling.com website. No official word on Gail's future in wrestling is available at this time, but TheGailKim.com will keep an eye on the situation." As a result of her departure from TNA, Kim signed a deal with World Wrestling Entertainment to return to the company. She is expected to start in the near future as there is no 90-day no-compete clause and she obviously won't be going through developmental.
- TNA Knockout Salinas will be in attendance at the 3rd Annual LA County Medical Marijuana Expo in the West Hollywood Park Auditorium on Saturday, September 20, 2008, at least according to the schedule on her MySpace page.
- Collaborating with the Knockout herself, Paradise Collectibles is auctioning off SoCal Val merchandise on eBay.
- In an interview with Kevin Eck of the Baltimore Sun, Kevin Nash stated that the only creative control he has in TNA is "to monitor what I do physically". "I have a clause in my contract that states when it comes to physicality, I have the right to veto with creative things that I don't feel that are safe or warranted," he said.
- It was reported that at the TNA iMPACT! tapings on July 29, 2008, Kevin Nash walked out because of a match he was booked in. In the interview, he explained that he was asked to carry a pipe to the ring and he felt it was not safe for him or the fans. He said he received permission from Jeff Jarrett to leave the show.
It looks like WWE won't be bragging about beating Monday Night Football in the ratings this week, reports PWInsider.com. Did you know this Monday's preseason game between the San Diego Chargers and the Seattle Seahawks on ESPN drew a 3.2 cable rating, a better number than Raw 2.8 number on Sci Fi? WWE's last chance to probably beat Monday Night Football in the ratings this year is next Monday as the season starts the Thursday after.
- WWE got beat out by the NFL again this week, this time in the Video Sales - Recreational Sports DVD chart from Billboard. The NFL: Favre 4 Ever DVD - which has been out for over half a year - beat out WWE's DVD set on The Rock. Rock's DVD appears to have more legs than the Flair DVD in terms of sales, which has been out for four more weeks and finished ahead of it once again this week, coming in second. The Flair DVD came in fourth.
- There were a ton of empty seats at last Saturday's TNA event in Topeka, Kansas as the house show only drew 500 fans to the Kansas Expocentre, which can hold 8,000 seats. Additionally, house shows the week before in Dallas, Texas (8/15) and Muskogee, Oklahoma (8/17) drew poorly as well. However, the 8/16 house show in Lawton, Oklahoma reportedly drew drew okamong those listed.
- The Peoria Journal Star has an interview up with CM Punk where he talks about breaking into the business, winning the World Title, and more. Check out the interview at PJStar.com.
- Shane McMahon had meetings with both Televisa and TV Azteca in Mexico about airing WWE programming. After considering the offers, both networks turned him down.
- Florida Championship Wrestling still does not have a TV deal. They are claiming the show will air on either the local CW affiliate or the local FOX affiliate. Beth Phoenix and Vladimir Kozlov are scheduled to appear at tonight's FCW TV taping.
Source = PWMania.com
On rumors that Eric Bischoff is starting a new wrestling promotion on CMT: "Is Eric Bischoff going to start a new, wrestling promotion using CMT as his network? I don't know the answer but Bischoff is an aggressive, entrepreneur who understands the art of the deal. Being successful in this genre is all about talent and television and there, unfortunately, is no abundance of available talent out there that could headline a weekly TV show. Producing a slick looking show is less challenging than creating a viable talent roster in today's marketplace. However, I will add that if anyone could pull this off it would be Bischoff."
On The Brian Kendrick as a main eventer: "The Brian Kendrick has been really impressive as of late and I hope that his charisma and overall talent don't get checkmated by his lack of size. Some fans and others should not look at "The" and say he is too small for the big time or for main events. Experience tells me that simply isn't true."
On Gail Kim Leaving TNA: "Lots of talk on the Internet this week about Gail Kim leaving TNA and allegedly coming back to the WWE. I was never quite sure why Gail was released in the first place but if she is coming back to the WWE I think it will be a positive move. Gail has a ton of ability and has evolved nicely as not only an in ring performer but behind the mic as well since leaving the WWE. Some websites really made a huge deal out of this matter which confounds me somewhat."
- During an autograph session at the Cleveland Indians game over the weekend, Mick Foley commented on if he signed with TNA.
"Well, I can say that is not true," Foley said when asked if he has signed with TNA, "though I may try out a pay-per-view with them."
Foley's WWE contract expires tomorrow. It will be interesting to see if he will attend a few events to get a feel for the company before committing to a long-term deal.
- JAKKS Pacific issued the following press release today:
JAKKS Pacific Prevails in WWE State Court Lawsuit
MALIBU, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--JAKKS Pacific (NASDAQ:JAKK), announced that the Connecticut State Court has granted summary judgment today in the state court action, dismissing World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.’s (WWE) bribery and anti-trust claims against JAKKS and its principals on the basis of collateral estoppel and statute of limitations grounds. The decision is being reviewed by the Company and may be subject of a further press release.
- Former WWE Champion Rob Van Dam recently did an interview with Between the Ropes where he discussed his current wrestling status. He made it clear that he will not be returning to TNA or WWE at this point, and will only consider doing so when his wife beats cancer. He did say he would work a few NWE dates, but that's all he has planned at this point.
- Steve "Dr. Death" Williams, a former WWE and WCW Superstar, has been released from the hospital following surgery to treat a hernia. At this point, Williams is now considering retiring as an active wrestler, as he is 48 years old and feels he is too injury prone. WWE stopped using Williams as a developmental trainer a little over a year ago and he has been working a few independent dates ever since.
- Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan will be together at an autograph signing on 12/13 in Secaucus, New Jersey. Hogan has reportedly lowered his asking price for the signing from $75,000 to $50,000.
- The Tap Out Clothing Company is looking to release a line of clothing centered around a Hitman theme, and has been in negotiations with Bret "The Hitman" Hart for trademark purposes. Hart owns the rights to his "Hitman" character and will most likely be working out a deal to allow them to use the name as opposed to actually endorsing the product line.
- E! Canada will be airing "True Hollywood Story: Chris Benoit - Wrestling With Demons" this Wednesday, September 3rd, at 10 PM.
- WWE cut developmental referee Jamie Tucker this past week. Tucker's looking to work indie dates in the Florida area at wrestlingroadie7392 @ yahoo.com.
- Last night's Florida Championship Wrestling show was reportedly the second official television taping, which is scheduled to air on the CW Affiliate in Tampa, Florida, at least according to the FCW people. In perhaps a dream pairing, Beth Phoenix and Natalya Neidhart teamed up to defeat The Bella Twins in the main event of the show. It was announced at last night's show that D-Lo Brown will be next week's special guest. Vladimir Koslov also worked a match, defeating Kafu.
- The start time for tomorrow night's Raw brand house sin Peoria, IL at the Peoria Civic Center has been changed from 7:30 p.m. to the new time of 5:00 p.m.
- WWE creative team is not high on newcomers Scotty Goldman (Colt Cabana), Ryan Braddock (Jay Bradley) and Gavin Spears (Shawn Spears). All three wrestlers were late in being called up to the main roster and have yet to win a match. The feeling regarding Spears is that he was only good while teaming with Cody Rhodes in OVW. Braddock is said to only have one speed.
- Layla is expected to return to television in a week or two. Her mother passed away this week and she went overseas to arrange the funeral.
- Kevin Nash has once again butted heads with the creative team at the iMPACT! tapings this week. Nash was upset about the outcome of his match with Kurt Angle and was displeased with some of the backstage segments. He eventually agreed to lose the match. His ego has started to lose respect from within the company. "He needs to go," said one TNA office worker. "It's getting out of hand."
- In regards to the Stone Cold impersonator that has been fleecing fans for autographs, the real Steve Austin called him "a lowlife just looking for a buck," when on TMZ.
- Despite having no local media coverage of the Randy Orton motorcycle accident, the feeling in WWE is that the crash was legitimate, unless it is somehow being kept from everyone which is unlikely. The WWE.com story was thought to be exaggerated and that added to conspiracies that it was a work. It's doubtful Randy flew 300 feet.
- The creative aspect of the Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels feud is said to be 90% their own work, with most promos being done on the night, with a brief idea of where they want to take it.
- The Rock surpassed Ric Flair in this week's Billboard sports DVD rankings:
1. NFL: Favre 4 Ever
2. WWE: The Rock: The Most Electrifying Man In Sports Entertainment
3. NBA Champions 2007-2008: Boston Celtics
4. WWE: Nature Boy Ric Flair: The Definitive Collection
5. WWE: SummerSlam: The Complete Anthology 1988-2007
6. UFC 83: Serra Vs St-Pierre
7. WWE: WrestleMania XXIV
8. WWE: Night Of Champions 2008
9. Pride Frighting Championships: 33: The Second Coming
10. NFL: Road To Super Bowl XLII
- Kevin Lawler, son of WWE Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler, has been released from jail after being charged with trespassing and aggravated burglary earlier this week.
A woman claimed that Lawler was given a key to her apartment in order to clean her carpets, however made a copy of that key to later break into the apartment.
She is charging him with burglarizing the home following a break-in.
- The Winnipeg Sun recently conducted an interview with former WWE Women’s champ Trish Stratus where she discusses her upcoming travel show The Stratusphere on the Travel Channel. The series will debut in Canada this coming Monday on the Travel & Escape channel before coming to the U.S.
Stratus noted that she traveled the world with WWE, but rarely saw more than airports and hotels. "Initially we set out to do an adventure-activity show, and the fact I was willing to do all these cool things, that was the first idea," Stratus said. "But then it kind of evolved into something slightly different, because once we got to these places, we realized these activities mean something really special in these cultures. So I was pleased to make it a deeper show. "
Trish hopes the show, which she also narrates, will inspire people to travel. "I also hope it encourages people to realize there's a great big beautiful world out there, so get out and explore it if you can. It always amazes me to go from one place to another and see how completely different they are."
- Jerry McDevitt, a high powered attorney for WWE, has spoken out with The Sun about the lawsuit currently being filed against the company by Scott Levy (Raven), Mike Sanders and Chris Klucsarits. The following points made by McDevitt attempt to highlight why he feels the claims made in the case are bogus and will result in failure for the three former WWE workers.
“The IRS has never challenged the treatment of our wrestlers and they have audited the company several times.”
“I think the key point to be made here is that every one of these people signed contracts acknowledging they were independent contractors.
That second quote could prove to the be a "nail in the coffin," so to speak, as the wrestlers cannot prove they were not independent contractors. The case would then have to be made whether or not wrestlers SHOULD be independent contractors.
- During Awesome Kong's match last night on Impact, Mike Tenay said on commentary that Gail Kim and TNA had "parted ways" following her "Street Fight" last week. Gail Kim's official website, www.TheGailKim.com, has also confirmed her departure from the company. They wrote: "Gail Kim has left TNAWrestling after her contract ran out and she didn't sign a new deal. All of her information has been removed from TNAWrestling.com website. No official word on Gail's future in wrestling is available at this time, but TheGailKim.com will keep an eye on the situation." As a result of her departure from TNA, Kim signed a deal with World Wrestling Entertainment to return to the company. She is expected to start in the near future as there is no 90-day no-compete clause and she obviously won't be going through developmental.
- TNA Knockout Salinas will be in attendance at the 3rd Annual LA County Medical Marijuana Expo in the West Hollywood Park Auditorium on Saturday, September 20, 2008, at least according to the schedule on her MySpace page.
- Collaborating with the Knockout herself, Paradise Collectibles is auctioning off SoCal Val merchandise on eBay.
- In an interview with Kevin Eck of the Baltimore Sun, Kevin Nash stated that the only creative control he has in TNA is "to monitor what I do physically". "I have a clause in my contract that states when it comes to physicality, I have the right to veto with creative things that I don't feel that are safe or warranted," he said.
- It was reported that at the TNA iMPACT! tapings on July 29, 2008, Kevin Nash walked out because of a match he was booked in. In the interview, he explained that he was asked to carry a pipe to the ring and he felt it was not safe for him or the fans. He said he received permission from Jeff Jarrett to leave the show.
It looks like WWE won't be bragging about beating Monday Night Football in the ratings this week, reports PWInsider.com. Did you know this Monday's preseason game between the San Diego Chargers and the Seattle Seahawks on ESPN drew a 3.2 cable rating, a better number than Raw 2.8 number on Sci Fi? WWE's last chance to probably beat Monday Night Football in the ratings this year is next Monday as the season starts the Thursday after.
- WWE got beat out by the NFL again this week, this time in the Video Sales - Recreational Sports DVD chart from Billboard. The NFL: Favre 4 Ever DVD - which has been out for over half a year - beat out WWE's DVD set on The Rock. Rock's DVD appears to have more legs than the Flair DVD in terms of sales, which has been out for four more weeks and finished ahead of it once again this week, coming in second. The Flair DVD came in fourth.
- There were a ton of empty seats at last Saturday's TNA event in Topeka, Kansas as the house show only drew 500 fans to the Kansas Expocentre, which can hold 8,000 seats. Additionally, house shows the week before in Dallas, Texas (8/15) and Muskogee, Oklahoma (8/17) drew poorly as well. However, the 8/16 house show in Lawton, Oklahoma reportedly drew drew okamong those listed.
- The Peoria Journal Star has an interview up with CM Punk where he talks about breaking into the business, winning the World Title, and more. Check out the interview at PJStar.com.
- Shane McMahon had meetings with both Televisa and TV Azteca in Mexico about airing WWE programming. After considering the offers, both networks turned him down.
- Florida Championship Wrestling still does not have a TV deal. They are claiming the show will air on either the local CW affiliate or the local FOX affiliate. Beth Phoenix and Vladimir Kozlov are scheduled to appear at tonight's FCW TV taping.
Source = PWMania.com
