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WRESTLING GLOBE NEWSLETTER
Wednesday September 2, 2009
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Wrestling Globe Newsletter by Mike Aldren – All the latest professional wrestling news, gossip and occasional opinion 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
9/1 ECW TV results from Cleveland, OH: Shelton Benjamin over Zack Ryder; Kozlov & Jackson over Jim Parks & Mike Tolar (local workers); and Sheamus over Goldust. The HBK-Taker match from Wrestlemania 25 they advertised on Raw was basically just a music video.
Most of the Smackdown/ECW crew arrived in Puerto Rico today ahead of a weekend tour hitting San Juan, Arecibo and Ponce. Friday’s show in San Juan is advertised as a Supershow with The Undertaker & Triple H vs. CM Punk & The Legacy; Christian vs. William Regal vs. Tommy Dreamer vs.
Shelton Benjamin in a four-way; John Morrison vs. Dolph Ziggler; Cryme Tyme vs. The Hart Dynasty vs. The Big Show & Chris Jericho, who are working the entire tour with Smackdown, in a triple threat; The Great Khali vs. Kane; Primo vs. Carlito; Matt Hardy vs. Mike Knox; and Melina vs. Michelle McCool with Eve as referee and Tiffany as live event host.
The Raw crew run this weekend in Sioux Falls, St. Paul and Madison headlined with Randy Orton vs. John Cena on top with Triple H joining the tour from Saturday.
Shawn Michaels has the weekend off and Rey Mysterio is suspended.
Raw TV is Monday at Allstate Arena in Chiacgo with Bob Barker “come(ing) on down!” and the Smackdown/ECW tapings are Tuesday at the Rockford MetroCentre.
We’re looking for brief reports from any readers attending these shows to [email protected].
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The Vince McMahon-Rey Mysterio confrontation passed without incident yesterday in Cleveland. There was a meeting behind closed doors but nobody really knows what went down. Mysterio was telling people afterwards that the media interview he did in Mexico wasn’t brought up but his 30-day suspension will stand. He was told that in future he must notify Dr David Black, who overseas drug testing for WWE, about all medication he is prescribed, which he didn’t do in this instance. A note of interest is that Mysterio’s personal physician is Dr. David Chao who is also the team physician for the San Diego Chargers. I don’t consider it a major spoiler as everyone knew he was dropping the IC title, but he dropped the title to John Morrision. A lot of people were raving about the match that will air on Friday. It appears that Dolph Ziggler will be chasing Morrison for the title, and a match is penciled in for Breaking Point, although that is not yet confirmed. Mysterio won’t be paid his downside guarantee for the duration of his suspension but he will recieve royalties for merchandise sales. It’s believed the suspension will cost Mysterio six figures as he is one of the top earners in the company taking home north of $1 million each year.
Khali vs Kane in a Singapore Cane match was added to Breaking Point.
A WWE camera crew spent most of today with Jeff and Matt Hardy in Cameron, NC. They were shooting footage for Jeff’s new DVD which the company is rushing to market.
Batista did an interview this morning on Hot 99.5 DC radio. He didn’t update his injury other than saying he can’t wait to come back and was bummed that he missed Wrestlemania 25. The hosts brought up his book and asked about him dating Melina. He said they are still good friends and that Melina is a great girl. He said he tries to separate work from pleasure but it doesn’t always work out too well. He then claimed he was dating Rosa Mendes up until a couple of months ago, and also noted he has bedded Kelly Kelly. Seriously. The hosts then asked him if anyone else was on his hit list. He said he had never been with twins but liked the idea. He then talked about going to Summerslam for Fan Axxess. He put over CM Punk for stepping up to the main event and plugged Monday’s Raw with Bob Barker.
WWE recently instituted what they are calling their Talent Life Skills initiative. The idea is to ready younger talent for life on the road and in the public spotlight. There are four different programs offering help in Life Development, Personal Finance, Health Insurance and Media Training. Life Development focuses on skills to manage out-of-the-ring issues, under Dr. Earl Suttle, who runs similar programs for the NFL and NBA. Media Training is run by Kathleen Hessert, President of Sports Media Challenge, who I guess teaches them not to do a Mr. Kennedy.
Just signed is former Michigan State football player Kyle Rasmussen, according to KTLA-TV in Los Angeles. Ryan Katz, who runs the Slam City Pro Wrestling School, in LA was quoted as saying: “Kyle Rasmussen is on his way to wrestling superstardom. He’s been offered a contract from World Wrestling Entertainment. He’s an academic All-American, pro football player. Kyle Rasmussen is the next big thing in the wrestling industry.” Rasmussen is 28-years-old, 6-4, probably near 300, and one of those guys you look at and go Holy S***! Basically he has the freakish physique of a jacked up Scott Steiner from 10 years ago.
Gerald Brisco, 62, is on track with his recovery following a series of mini strokes in June. He subsequently underwent surgery to unblock an artery and repair a hole in his heart. We understand he has regained most of his strength although he is still having some issues with his speech. One of his closest friends in WWE noted to us that they expect him to return to work before the end of the year.
Some injury updates. Batista (torn biceps), Maryse (knee), Edge (torn achilles), Kaval (aka Low-Ki, knee) and Jenny Cash (knee) are all in rehab following various surgeries. Evan Bourne has an issue with a perforated eardrum that is getting taken care of this week.
Rob Van Dam was also backstage at Summerslam. No plans for him to return to any major company.
DVD sales of 12 Rounds with John Cena have grinded to a halt. The updated figures we obtained has the movie at 421,000 units for $6.5 million in the domestic market. Combining that number with the $16.7 million worldwide box office the movie won’t break even as the production budget was around $25-27 million. One WWE wrestler recently told me that they thought 12 Rounds would have done bigger business but thought Cena was hurt as a movie star when The Marine came out.
Actually, despite being panned by critics, The Marine is the most successful WWE movie to date, beating out See No Evil, with Kane and The Condemned, with Steve Austin.
WWE Studios, based in Los Angeles, under new Vice President Mike Pavon, are moving away from expensive theatrical releases and concentrating solely on made-for-television films and direct-to-video movie projects.
Pavon’s previous credits include working on the TV shows Prison Break and The Client. Several guys have read for upcoming parts or have thrown their name in the hat, including The Miz, Big Show, Christian and Shad Gaspard.
The Pretty Ricky segments with R-Truth appear to have been axed.
However, Vince thinks the gimmick is a real hoot so don’t hold your breath on that one.
A November airing of the Food Network’s Dinner Impossible features WWE talent. The show was shot in LA during Summerslam weekend, and includes Jim Ross, Stephanie McMahon, Gail Kim and Big Show.
GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) are mad at Vince McMahon over a comment he made of Raw two week’s ago during his birthday celebration. He made the remark, “Those masks are really gay” in reference to the Cirque de Soleil guys coming out. A blog on the GLADD website stated: “McMahon here wasn’t implying the performers were gay, however, he used the term in a derogatory manner. It’s just another example of how people throw around the word “gay” derisively. This came from the leader of a $500 million-plus organization who holds a lot of power in what he says and what he does… However, off-handedly using “gay” in a derogatory manner is anything but family-friendly. WWE programming reaches 16 million viewers each week. McMahon needs to understand that the words he uses and how he uses them can greatly affect people’s lives. GLAAD is reaching out to McMahon and the USA Network.”
The NBC WrestleMania 25 special on 8/29 did a 1.4 rating, finishing fourth out of the six network shows in that time period. Not a fantastic number considering all the hype and publicity.
WWEclassics.com is doing a Hart Foundation special for September.
Another survey was just sent out to the WWE Universe asking them what kind of themed PPV’s they would be interested in watching. The list included a show where all the main events are street fights (Extreme Rules?), a tournament themed show (King of the Ring?), and a show where the main events are TLC matches. Really can’t see that last one happening.
Avail-TVN announced a deal today with WWE to deliver VOD services.
WWE announced that the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video game will be the official sponsor for the Hell In A Cell PPV on 10/4.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING NEWS
Kurt Angle was ripped this morning on the Howard Stern radio show. They
played the clip of Kurt crying during the Pittsburgh TV interview where
he explains being put in jail over the issues with Rakka Khan. They
pretty much characterized him as a stalker, and Robin Quiver claimed
after Kurt came on their show earlier this year he bombarded her with
text messages to go on a date.
Angle’s next court date is 9/15 to answer the HGH and harassment charges
and another date on 9/29 to explain the alleged protection order
violation.
The former Kevin Thorne worked a dark match against Kip James at the TV
tapings last night. He used a different name but looked like his old WWE
character.
Krista Marshall, the former WWE Diva and Bobby Lashley‘s wife, is
believed to be coming in. TNA is looking at adding a couple of new faces
to the Knockout’s division over the next couple of months.
Jenna Morasca is done or at least done for now.
TNA talent director Terry Taylor is doing a wrestling seminar on 9/26 in
North Carolina. Cost is $50. More info at www.theuwc.com.
As part of this week’s Australian media tour, Jeff Jarrett, Jeremy
Borash and Christy Hemme are hosting American Idol-style auditions in
Melbourne and Sydney, searching for talent to be valets, refs and
announcers. The winners will get to work the live events.
On the upcoming TNA tour in Germany tryouts are being given to several
German workers including; Absolute Andy, Murat Bosporus, Steve Douglas,
John Kay, Karsten Kretschmer and Axel Dieter Junior.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Peter Zwissler, real name Peter Goodman, a 29-year-old indie worker on
the west coast, passed away on 8/27. He was found dead by his family. At
press time no cause of death has been determined. Goodman had been in a
bad place for a while, according to friends.
The Iron Sheik, 66, just underwent successful prostate surgery. We
should have more info in the next newsletter.
The Dragon Gate PPV debuts this weekend. I was told by several people
this was an awesome show. Right now on the DG website www.dgusa.tv there
is an interview with Brian Kendrick. On his most recent WWE run, he
said: “I had some fun in WWE. I learned a lot, made some friends. It’s a
corporation, I am a human. This human didn’t fit into the corporation’s
plans, and that corporation didn’t fit with my human side. I had some
laughs, but I am awfully happy the ride is over, and I don’t want back
on.” He added: “I have been trying to perfect a certain style of
wrestling for a while and now I have more freedom to experiment. There
are certainly aspects of the WWE style that I have learned that I will
keep, a lot of what they have to offer in terms of an idea of what a
wrestling match should be I have come to agree with, but if you expect
me to be satisfied with three minutes of wrestling that is structured to
not be especially good, written down and every so often designed to
humiliate myself to make old men laugh, well then you can suck my d***.
I am going to wrestle the style that pleases me.”
Dragon Gate in Japan are in trouble with authorities over the pet money
that was allegedly abused earlier this year. The Mainichi Daily News
reported on Tuesday that prosecutors intend to charge four men
responsible for violating laws governing the protection and control of
animals. The 10-year-old monkey was allegedly burned with a lighter,
sprayed with deodorant and choked out. The promotion is also facing a
charge for purchasing the monkey several years ago and failing to
register it with the mayor’s office.
Mike Graham, who is now infamous for the new WCW DVD, recently purchased
a restaurant called Waters Edge in Weeki Wachee, FL.
Austin Idol at www.austinidolive.com has a new DVD out sharing how he
made his millions in real estate.
ISPW returns to Freehold, NJ on 10/24 at the ISPW Arena (323A Fairfield
Road) for Slamoween with Judas Young vs. Rick Fuller; Crowbar vs. Ace
Darling, Dan Maff vs. Bobby Fish; Danny Inferno vs. Manu, Nicholas Nice
& Baby Hughie & Nicky Benz vs. Nunzio & The Logan Brothers; Julio Dinero
vs. Flash, and a fatel four-way with Danny Doring, Chase Del Monte, Rob
Eckos & Erik Andretti. Tickets are available now at www.ISPWLive.com or
by calling (732) 409-1132.
Alex Koslov wrote on his Twitter that he is talking to Ring of Honor
about coming back.
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