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WRESTLING GLOBE NEWSLETTER
Monday May 4, 2009
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Wrestling Globe Newsletter by Mike Aldren – All the latest professional wrestling news and analysis direct to your mailbox. WGN is read by industry power players, many top wrestlers and thousands of fans from all around the world.
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WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
Raw tonight from the HSBC Arena in Buffalo has Randy Orton vs. Shane McMahon opening the show. No other matches announced at press time although someone at the show told us they were planning an arm-wrestling match of some sorts – presumably with Santina. They were also pushing a dark match locally of John Cena & Triple H (unlikely unless he returns to TV tonight) vs. Legacy. The Smackdown tapings are Tuesday at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh. We’re looking for notes from both shows to [email protected]
The talk of Jeff Hardy leaving when his contract expires appears to be settled in regards to him staying. As of this afternoon he hadn’t signed an extension but it’s believed to be imminent.
MVP will now be on The View on Tuesday morning with Donald and Ivanka Trump.
The Undertaker is expected to be out for a few months due to knee and hip issues. He wasn’t at the TV tapings last week and a friend of his told us he believed Taker was looking at surgery but didn’t know for sure.
WWE contacted Wayne Coleman earlier today and confirmed after all he will retain the rights to Superstar Billy Graham when his legends contract expires in July. The company blamed a communication mix up saying he was accidentally sent a standard release form letter claiming ownership to his name and gimmick.
Batista was shown walking to the ring with Manny Pacquiao for his fight in Las Vegas on Saturday in which Pacquiao destroyed Ricky Hatton. In an interview with the UK Daily Mirror at the fight Batista talked again about retirement. He said: “It’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot. I really just have mixed feelings about it right now. I have just about another year left on my contract which I want to fulfill and when I start getting close to the end of that contract, that’s when I’ll make a final decision.” He also talked about his return angle saying it was originally booked for Wrestlemania but Vince changed his mind and changed the run-in to Raw the next day. Full interview at http://tinyurl.com/c7trqa
Shane Helms blogs about his new gig on ECW and dating Velvet Sky at http://tinyurl.com/d9vkdp
A reminder that ECW moves back to it’s 10pm ET timeslot starting on Tuesday on Sci-Fi.
Jim Ross in his latest blog at http://tinyurl.com/cm2psu has strong works for Reid Flair.
The tour of Mexico later this month is confirmed as cancelled due to the swine-flu outbreak. They have booked shows in Alabama (Huntsville and
Montgomery) to make up the dates.
WWE announced that the official theme song for Judgment Day will be Buckcherry’s Rescue Me.
Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers was pictured in today’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wearing a Rey Mysterio mask.
The syndicated show The Insider today has a segment with the WWE Divas which was taped last week at Madison Square Garden.
Does anyone know who this girl is? http://tinyurl.com/cems9q
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING NEWS
5/1 house show results from Corbin, KY: Eric Young over Kiyoshi; BG James over Brutus Magnus; Angelina Love over ODB; Sheik Abdul Bashir over Consequences Creed; Abyss over Kip James; and Team 3D & Jeff Jarrett over Beer Money, Inc. & Booker T.
They ran the same shows on Saturday and Sunday in Huntingon, WV and Pikeville, KY. Corbin drew over 600. We didn’t get a number for Huntington although we were told they used one half of the building for a high school prom.
Three weeks worth of TV is taped today and Tuesday at Universal in Orlando. Booking sheets include a 10-man tag main event of The Main Event Mafia vs. Jeff Jarrett, Mick Foley, A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe & Daniels, plus Suicide vs. Consequences Creed for the X title, Beer Money Inc. vs. Eric Young & Jethro Holiday in the tag team tournament and Awesome Kong vs. Velvet Sky in a stretcher match. We’re looking for notes from the tapings to: [email protected]
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No real update on Shark Boy other than he was planning to drink some clam juice and see a doctor today. He was sent home from the weekend tour because he was feeling unwell with flu-like symptoms.
While there is a new directive in WWE that announcers cannot mention referee’s by name, Earl Hebner at house shows this past weekend got his own entrance and did a spot briefly as the third member of Team 3D wrestling James Storrn for a few minutes in the main event.
Vince Russo has a new book titled ‘Rope Opera: How WCW Killed Vince Russo’ slated for release next year. The promo material for the book
reads: “Highlighting the athlete renowned as the savior of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and the man who destroyed World Championship Wrestling (WCW), this behind-the-scenes autobiography documents the astonishing career of Vince Russo. Chronicling the rise, fall, and eventual rebirth of professional wrestling, this engrossing account answers questions such as How did Vince McMahon win the war between the WWF and WCW? What was Eric Bischoff really like? and Why did Hulk Hogan threaten lawsuits? Penned by a winner of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, this memoir details the author’s historic face-off with Hulk Hogan in Daytona Beach as well as the legendary Monday Night Wars.
Exploring the inner workings of the sport’s most turbulent era, this memoir speaks from the center of the maelstrom, delivering a fresh and informed perspective on the current pro-wrestling scene. From the death of WCW to the rise of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling—the world’s fastest-growing and most cutting-edge wrestling promotion—this remarkable narrative demonstrates how a grown man can find peace within the insanity of the squared circle.”
The Timmins Daily Press at http://tinyurl.com/cr484o has a story on Traci Brooks. The story noted she was born with Erb’s Palsy which affects the range of motion in her right arm. She talked about being engaged to a wrestler (Frankie Kazarian) but didn’t mention his name.
Dennis Rodman, who talked about his desire to do something with TNA this past week, said he has agreed to outpatient rehabilitation to help him with alcohol addiction. Several gossip columns picked up the story.
Spencer Pratt, the heel from MTV’s The Hills, visited the TNA offices last week. Jeremy Borash said there are ongoing talks about doing something with him at Slammiversary. Pratt, who I assume has some type of deal with NBC, is also doing I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here with Torrie Wilson in June.
Taz answers more questions from fans at his Facebook page at http://tinyurl.com/c4luyb and guess who he thinks is the biggest star in ECW history?
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Bret Hart will be appearing at Ring of Honor’s 7/24 show in Toronto at the Ted Reeve Arena for an autograph signing. Ric Flair is booked for the same deal in the same building the night after. More info at www.rohwrestling.com
ROH officials said Tyler Black’s neck injury over the weekend was an aggravation of a pre-existing neck injury. He is taking a couple of weeks off but is still scheduled for the next HD Net tapings the weekend of 5/29 in Philadelphia. Chris Hero replaces him against Jerry Lynn at shows next weekend… Nigel McGuinness said surgery isn’t an option for him when asked about his biceps tear. He said he has no more bookings through the summer and is taking time off to see if his arm heals while he isn’t wrestling… Jon Davis is getting surgery this week for his wrist dislocation… Bryan Danielson’s contract expires within the next week. He is booked with ROH for May but said he is leaving his options open should an offer present itself from WWE or TNA.
The Necro Butcher just missed out on a nomination at the upcoming MTV Movie Awards. The scene from The Wrestler where he staples the head of Randy the Ram failed to make the final cut for “WTF Moment.”
JBL said he is plannig to participate in the annual bull run later this year in Pamplona, Spain. The ‘running of the Bulls’ takes place during the Festival of San Fermin and is a tradition dating back to the sixteenth century. I believe last year several people were seriously injured and one man died falling from a wall.
The Hulk Hogan divorce battle was featured on Showbiz Tonight. The hosts sided with Linda saying she should milk Hulk for every dime she can get.
They said the OJ Simpson comments will likely end up costing Hulk a lot of money.
Reid Flair did wrestle over the weekend in Shelby, NC teaming with David and Ric as their manager over Buff Bagwell and Rikki Nelson. This was Reid’s first public appearance since he was busted for heroin and driving offences on 4/26.
The Juventud Guerrera-Konnan situation is still in the newspapers and magazines in Mexico. Juvi got Konnan’s old girlfriend Vicky Palacios to come out in the press and say Konnan used to beat her. She claimed she never came out with this at the time because she didn’t want to ruin Konnan’s public image. Juvi and his father are calling for Konnan and Jack Evans to be deported over the locker room altercation which left Juvi with a broken nose among other injuries. AAA are trying to turn the beatdown into a television angle.
The original Rey Misterio (WWE Rey’s uncle) is facing retirement. He was diagnosed with multiple herniated discs and his doctor recommended surgery. He said he was going to rest for a few weeks and see how he feels.
Tickets sales are strong for the first Dragon Gate USA show on 7/25 in Philadelphia. The first five rows including the $75 front row seats are sold out. More info at www.dgusa.com
Heavy On Wrestling on 7/31 in Minneapolis, MN has booked a show with former WWE Divas Sunny, Victoria, Molly Holly, Stacey “The Kat” Carter and Christy Hemme listed as appearing at the 1st Ave Night Club.
Mike Mooneyham has a good story on Buddy Rose at http://tinyurl.com/dzpsrx
The Toronto Star at http://tinyurl.com/cl7xjk has an interview with Abdullah the Butcher. Abdullah told the reporter he was 49-years-old (he’s actually 68) but the reporter said he thought he was closer to 70.
Interview with Raven at http://tinyurl.com/ckrutp
Story on Colt Toombs (Roddy Piper’s son) getting into MMA at http://tinyurl.com/dyhndk
WG Diva of the Day — Lizzie Valentine — http://tinyurl.com/d9zb7l
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