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Rey Mysterio Clears Up Confusion Regarding His WWE Departure

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On Sunday morning, Rey Mysterio finally took to social media and publicly addressed the situation that led to his departure from WWE.

Mysterio wrote the following across the span of a few tweets:

“I had an incredible time performing in WWE [and] would love to thank everyone who saw me for the first time [and] became a fan! My life [and] career plans are heading in other directions. As for now I’m at a very comfortable stage, but we never know what the future holds for us! #Booyaka619”

Mysterio also tweeted this one:

“WWE had a good understanding on my departure. I hope this would answer some of the [questions] on why I ain’t wrestling with WWE anymore.”

Mo From Men On A Mission Talks Backstage Incident With HBK, McMahon/Frazier Jr. Lawsuit

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Former WWE performer “Sir Mo” of the Men On A Mission tag-team recently appeared as a guest on the Two Man Power Trip Of Wrestling podcast. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.

On former wrestlers and the wife of the late Nelson Frazier Jr. (Viscera, Big Daddy V, Mabel) holding Vince McMahon liable for medical issues and forcing performers to work hurt: “I’ve really thought about that myself, even with some medical issues that I’ve had myself and basically I worked there for three years and I’ve never seen Vince McMahon force anybody to do anything they didn’t want to do. I’ve never seen Vince McMahon ask anyone to work hurt, though I’ve done it before myself. As far as taking care of talent after they leave the company, I think it’s a great and noble thing, the whole drug rehab thing. The medical stuff, I don’t think he should be held responsible for that simply because and here’s the deal, Nelson and I wrestled in this business for more than three years before the WWE, then there is all the years after it so if we wrestled three years together in WWE and the whole three years that we wrestled there we worked every day, every month and we didn’t sustain any major injuries the whole three years we were there.”

On holding the business responsible rather than one single promoter: “There’s a million and one of us guys that worked for Vince and worked for Turner and worked for Crocket and worked for Bill Watts and worked for Joe sh*t- the-rag-bag Promoter or Jeff to-the Left and Eddie damn- Spaghetti and in some way taken a chance and got hurt or whatever. Ten years removed from working for Vince McMahon we are sick, we are broke down, we may even die but should Vince McMahon be held liable for that? Or should we have a list of every single promoter that each one of us worked for and include every single one of those into that lawsuit?”

On a backstage incident with Shawn Michaels: “We were overseas in Israel, it was during Passover and one night we were at an event and Nelson fainted in the hallway. So since we were overseas they wouldn’t take him to a hospital so they just took Nelson back to the hotel and we were working a program at the time against The Headshrinkers. The agent comes to me and the agent said Mo you are going to work a singles match against Samu from the Headshrinkers and Fatu is not going to work at all. Fatu didn’t like that idea, he was pissed off, he was ranting and raving about it and I’m standing there going over the match with Samu and Shawn Michaels comes out of the shower and he hit me in the back harder then I’ve ever been hit on the football field, he just knocked the hell out of me. The operative word from me was excuse me, and his response was f— excuse me, you guys have no work ethic. He said you young guys come up here with no f—ing work ethic and your f—ing partner fell down in the hall way, all he had to do was get his fat ass up and walk to the ring and you do all the work and there would be a tag match tonight instead of the bullshit singles match. He thought Nelson should have sucked it up, went to the ring and stood on the side and work because the kind of tag match we worked, I take the heat anyway. So that’s what he was pissed off about and he took it out on me. My response was being the man that I am is if you put your hands on me again, I’m gonna beat your f—ing-ass. Did I pay for it? Yeah, dearly. What did it get me? It got me pulled off TV for nine months and I had to travel on the road for nine months and not work. In that nine months I got highly depressed and I attempted suicide.”

On WWE not recognizing Men On A Mission’s Tag Team Championship win: “There were a couple of matches on TV where for example me against Owen Hart that it was mentioned about the tag team championship on TV. I think Ted Dibiase and Stan Lane were doing the commentary and Stan Lane always pushed that and always put that over. It was mentioned a couple of times on TV but it just kind of faded away.”

On the back-story as to why the title win is not addressed: “During the “New Generation” era at the same time Vince McMahon was having the steroid trial. So of course, we were getting drug tested two or three times a week and back then in that era if you failed a drug test and if it was like a steroid or cocaine thing or a narcotic failure of a drug test you immediately got suspended. But, if you failed a drug test, first offense and you had marijuana in your system (THC) you would get fined. Up to a certain point maybe your fifth or sixth violation you were suspended. A member of our team, which will remain nameless loved smoking the wacky-weed, loved it and because they loved it JJ Dillon came to me one day and said “Let’s just say, we put the tag team gold on a particular tag team and we put the titles on you Sunday and then you go to a house show on Monday and fail a drug test and one member of the tag team has to be suspended, why are we going to take a chance or risk of putting the tag team titles on somebody if there is a possibility of one member of the team getting suspended” and that was the hold back right there.”

On taking the hit when your team is under fire: “At some point you’ve got to take responsibility for yourself and you’ve got to tell the truth and the truth is whether it’s Men On A Mission or the Hardy Boyz or the Dudley Boyz or Edge and Christian as a tag team if there is one member that screws up it’s going to effect the whole tag team. That’s why it was on one day and off a couple of days later. It was given because it was deserved but it was taken away at the same time because there was an issue that needed to be resolved. But by the time the issue got resolved all this other stuff had happened with Shawn Michaels. In 94 is when we got the tag belts. It was another tour overseas in 94 when the issue with Shawn Michaels happened and so I’m out for nine months.”

On what kept M.O.M from leaving to go to WCW: “When those nine months are up in 1995 we are at the Royal Rumble and Nelson and I had decided because it was driving me crazy we decide we’re going to leave in January of ’95. I had been on the shelf for nine months and it wasn’t going the way we wanted. The deal to keep us there and not leave was The King of The Ring.”

Check out the complete interview at Podomatic.com.

Backstage Talk On Jeff Hardy Possibly Returning To WWE

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It looks like the name “Jeff Hardy” has been mentioned quite a bit behind-the-scenes in WWE in recent weeks/months.

As noted recently, WWE recently polled fans on some potential Superstar returns they would like to see and Jeff Hardy, along with The Dudley Boyz, was included on the poll.

Additionally, it’s worth mentioning that The Hardys were also mentioned on RAW during the segment with Edge, Christian and The Dudley Boyz. While it could be said that it would be awkward for those two teams to talk about their history together and not include The Hardys, however that hasn’t stopped WWE in the past.

It was also noted in the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that public Hardy mentions were not encouraged by WWE in the past.

While Jeff Hardy is currently signed to TNA Wrestling, there has been speculation that Hardy returning to WWE could happen as TNA is in need of greatly reducing their costs due to their ongoing television situation. The two highest paid wrestlers in TNA are Hardy and Kurt Angle, and Angle recently announced that he won’t be re-signing with TNA at the end of the year.

Update On Plans For John Cena & The WWE Title

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While there was talk recently that John Cena may soon have another run with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, it looks like that won’t be happening until 2016 at the earliest.

Prior to the announcement that Sting would be challenging Seth Rollins for the title at WWE Night Of Champions this month, there was some speculation that Cena could be challenging Rollins for both titles.

According to F4WOnline.com, at the time it was reportedly WWE’s goal to keep Cena from the title and have the belt go to Roman Reigns and other Superstars before Cena’s shot comes back around.

Mick Foley Writes About Recent Incident With Drunken Fan

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WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley recently updated his official Facebook page, blogging about an incident he had with a fan during a recent Q&A session.

“The Hardcore Legend” wrote the following:

NAME YOUR TOP 5 ANNOUNCERS OF ALL-TIME

Last night, the Q&A session at the “#FiftyYearsOfFoley” show threatened to get ugly, when a lad, with the help of a few too many pints took great exception to my oft-stated stance that #WWEHOF announcer Jim Ross is the best wrestling announcer of all time. The lad was a little tough to understand…sometimes a few extra pints will do that to a guy. But in the end with great concentration I grasped the point he seemed to be so desperately trying to make: my belief that JR is the greatest Wrestling commentator of all time was downright offensive to him and his earnest belief that the duo of Bobby “The Brain” Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon were the greatest announcers of all time.

I broke the tense standoff the only way I knew how. “Dude”, I said. “These are OPINIONS. They’re not facts. You are entitled to your opinion – and I’m entitled to mine, right?”

Thankfully, the guy calmed down, apologized for creating a disturbance. I shook his hand and headed back to the stage. I heard him call out to me.

“Mick?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think Eric Bischoff was underrated as an announcer?”

I had him thrown out of the building immediately.

From there, Foley asked fans to engage, telling them to vote on who they feel the top-five best pro wrestling announcers of all-time are. You can post your top five on Foley’s page by clicking here.

Bayley Talks NXT’s Four Horsewomen, NXT’s Next Breakout Stars & More

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NXT Women’s Champion Bayley recently spoke with the Journey Of A Frontman website about a number of topics. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.

On her post-match segment at “Takeover: Brooklyn” with Becky Lynch, Charlotte and Sasha Banks: “It was really cool and I feel like that was a defining moment in our careers, all four of us. I feel like it’s something a lot of the fans wanted to see because they’ve seen all four of us grow up together in the past couple years. They know how hard we all worked together and what we’ve done for the division. They’ve all seen us grow separately and go our own ways. They saw Sasha and Charlotte win championships and everything. Storylines aside and everything, I know it meant the world to us because we’ve all seen each other training every day and working for the same goal. We all know how important every championship match is, especially that one. We knew that all four of us together, including the other Divas, all of us worked to get to that match where it was Sasha versus myself. If it wasn’t for Becky and Charlotte and everybody else that works hard in the division, we wouldn’t have been able to be in that spot. To us, it was all four of us together until who knows how long. They’re all doing their thing, they’re all busy on RAW and Smackdown. I’m holding it down in NXT, so who knows the next time we’ll all get to be in a ring together. And it was just respect, regardless of how we feel about each other, problems in the past. I think I finally gained Sasha Banks’s respect and showed her that I’m not just giving out high-fives and stuff, I want to take the division as far as she does. It was a really cool moment, personally and professionally. I think that’s what the fans remember most.”

On who helped mold the Bayley character in 2013: “Dusty, The American Dream. Since we had promo classes every week, he was seeing the material I was coming up with and the ideas I had. Every week he was like “Oh you should do this. You should start out with the yearbook and have all these pictures of the Divas and the Superstars. Just have them come out and sign it!” So much material and so much knowledge. He just kept telling me “Just reach back to when you were actually eleven years old or twelve years old as a fan. Just bring that out of you.” Once he said that, it was so easy because this is literally how I was when I was ten or twelve years old. In my first match as Bayley against Alicia Fox, I put my hair in a side ponytail. But if you watch it back, once I got in the ring, I took it out. I was like “Well I need to have my hair down. This is a wrestling match.” I normally had my hair down for matches. When I got to the back, the first person waiting there was Dusty. And he said “Why did you take your hair out?” “Because I don’t want it to get messed up.” I didn’t want it to get all crazy. He was like “You wear a ponytail forever now. You go out there with the ponytail, you wrestle with the ponytail. I don’t care how it looks when you get back, that’s your thing.” And I was like “Okay, cool.” So then I always wore the ponytail and I was so happy he gave me that word of advice.”

On who she feels will be the next breakout star of NXT: “Jason Jordan and Chad Gable, who are just getting started in the tag team division. Jason Jordan’s been a hidden gem for a while, so I’m glad he’s finally got something going. And Chad Gable is just amazing, he has so much charisma and he can move like nobody else in the ring. Riddick Moss and Elias Samson have so much potential and I hope they get their opportunity soon because they’re working so hard. In my opinion, they’re so good. Some of the Divas too. I feel like Carmella is gonna be a huge star one day. We have girls such as Peyton Royce and Billie Kay. I think there’s going to be a lot of stars soon, even within the next six months.”

Check out the complete interview at JourneyOfAFrontman.com.

The Bella Twins On Approaching Women At The Gym, Working Out With Cena/Daniel Bryan

Matt Boone
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The Bella Twins recently spoke with GQ.com to talk about secret ways to pick up women at the gym. Below are some of the highlights of the interview.

On whether or not Daniel Bryan and John Cena have influenced their fitness routines:

Nikki Bella: “Actually, when John and I first started dating, I was coming back from breaking my leg. Before that, I was just the type of girl who would do cardio at the gym, lift some free weights, and take some classes. So when I was getting back into shape, he introduced me to Olympic lifting. I always had this perception that when you lift weights, you’re going to get bulky and thick. I didn’t realize you actually burn a lot of fat and that it trims you down. So when John got me past that, I just fell in love with this style of weightlifting. It has totally transformed my body.”

Brie Bella: “If Bryan is like, “I’m going to be at the gym here for two hours,” it forces me to keep myself busy for those two hours. It pushes you more! And Bryan is actually the first relationship I’ve been in where my partner enjoys a healthy lifestyle like me. Even past lifting weights at the gym. I’ve never had a loved one to go hiking with me, or to do yoga with me. And that has actually changed me. Now instead of being like, “Hey, lets go to happy hour!” it’s like, ‘Lets go find this mountain to hike.'”

Brie on whether or not people should work out with loved ones:

“I think working out with a loved one makes everything feel better! And for us, we’re constantly on the road. So I’m always looking for extra time to hang out with Bryan. When we get to work out together, yes, we’re doing something for our health. But at the same time we’re actually getting to spend some time together.”

Nikki on advice for guys who are looking to approach women at the gym:

“When she is on the treadmill, leave her alone! I can’t tell you how many guys have approached me when I’m doing cardio. Like, I have my headphones on, I’m in the zone, so don’t bother me. I think the best time to approach a woman is actually after her workout. When you’re working out, you’re playing your jam, you’re in the groove, and you don’t want to be interrupted. So guys, wait until she’s done getting her sweat on.”

Video: Paige’s Boyfriend Proposes On Total Divas

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https://youtu.be/8CkF3EQsxTo

The teaser for Tuesday’s episode of Total Divas and features Paige getting “the surprise of her life.”

Paige’s boyfriend Kevin Skaff, the lead guitarist and backup vocalist for the band A Day To Remember, proposes to her – and based on the preview, it doesn’t look like she’s ready for the commitment just yet.

Natalya tells her, “You barely know him, you’re not going to marry him” and Paige agrees, but he still goes through with it. Note her crossed arms while he gets down on one knee and presents the ring – never a good sign.

Photos: Chris Benoit’s Son, Former WWE Star Backstage At Friday’s WWE Live Event

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WWE Diva and Total Divas star Natalya received a huge pop from the Canadian crowd at the WWE live event in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on Friday evening before defeating fellow Total Divas star Alicia Fox. Nattie took to her official Instagram page to post some photos of some special guests backstage at the show, including Chris Benoit’s son David Benoit and former WWE Superstar Phil Lafon.

https://instagram.com/p/7g8di7S1NB/

https://instagram.com/p/7g-S6AS1P2/

WWE Provides Update On Lana’s Condition, Lana Comments On Wrist Surgery

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WWE provided an update on the wrist surgery that Lana (C.J. Perry) underwent on Thursday following an injury she suffered last weekend while training in the ring.

“Lana underwent open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) of a left distal radius fracture with a volar plate,” Dr. Chris Amann told WWE.com. “The fracture was stabilized and returned to its normal anatomic position during the surgery using the volar plate and screws.”

Amann continued, “Lana did very well without any complications and is expected to make a full recovery.”

Speaking of Lana’s condition, the WWE Diva posted the following tweets on her official Twitter page.

Daniel Bryan: WWE Should Be Concerned They Haven’t Created Enough Stars Since Attitude Era

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Daniel Bryan has been in Dubai doing promotional work for WWE and he recently spoke with The National, revealing his opinion that WWE should be concerned with the fact that they haven’t created many big stars since the Attitude Era.

The following are some of the highlights from the interview.

On his thoughts on WWE 2K16: “It is very realistic. My character kicks as I kick. It moves as I move. It does my Yes chant as I do my Yes chant. It is very surreal, and just a little bit creepy, almost like someone is stalking me, it is that realistic. But it is really neat.”

On Steve Austin being the cover star of WWE 2K16 rather than a current WWE Superstar: “It is interesting because I see it two ways. I see maybe people who don’t watch it anymore, who were big fans in the Attitude Era, which was the most popular time in wrestling. It would appeal to people who may not be watching the current product, but would be interested in the video game. One of the things I think it shows is that we have not really created enough new stars, to where we put new stars on the front of the video game, so that should be the overall bigger concern. We need to not just rely on people from the past. There is almost this mentality these stars are bigger than the current stars, and they keep going with the mentality when the guys now are every bit as good as the guys from before, it is just they need to be given the platform.”

On who he wants to face when he returns to the ring: “My number 1 dream match is Brock Lesnar. And I want that to be a WrestleMania match. I don’t know if the WWE will ever let that happen, because they might be afraid he might legitimately hurt me pretty bad. But I would like to do a major pay-per-view match with Cesaro. I’d like to to do a major pay-per-view match with Seth Rollins. I’d love do a major pay-per-view match with Stardust. We have so many talented people on the roster that I’d love to have a match on pay per view or we have a story to work through together.”

Check out the complete interview at TheNational.ae.

Dean Ambrose Talks Possibly Becoming An Actor, “12 Rounds 3” Role & More

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Dean Ambrose recently spoke with Brian Fritz of Sporting News to promote his role in the new WWE Studios movie, “12 Rounds 3: Lockdown,” explaining how he found out about the news that he would be in the movie, and how he reacted to the offer.

“I immediately said yes, I am interested,” Ambrose said. “Of course. I was like f*ck yeah! It took me a second and they said yeah, we have this project with ’12 Rounds’ which has been a great franchise for us. I was like wait, you want me to be in a movie? Yeah I’ll do that! Are you kidding me? No further questions. Sign me up.”

Additionally, Ambrose spoke about his mindset in taking the movie offer, as well as the possibility that acting could be an avenue he could pursue after he retires from WWE.

“When you’re on the road with the WWE, you’re so wrapped up in this whirlwind of making 300 towns a year and wrestling every night that I wasn’t looking too far into the future,” he said. “But if the opportunity was in front of me, I was definitely going to take it. If I got hit by a bus tomorrow, I get to say I was in a movie. I had a sense they thought it would be something I would be good at and maybe it’s another avenue to pursue after my career.”

Check out the complete interview at SportingNews.com.

Following Scary RAW Rating, SmackDown Enjoys Rise In Numbers Against NFL Opener

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The Thursday, September 10th edition of WWE SmackDown scored a 1.54 cable rating, up a decent amount from last week’s 1.42 final draw.

Thursday’s SmackDown averaged 2.040 million viewers, which was also an increase from last week’s show. The September 3rd edition of WWE SmackDown drew 1.981 million viewers.

Oddly enough, following the disastrous 2.44 rating for Monday’s RAW, this week’s SmackDown numbers were up despite the fact that it was the first time this year that WWE faced the stiff competition from the NFL, as the season opening game between the New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers drew 23.85 million viewers on NBC.

R-Truth Releases New Single, Sister Abigail/Wyatt Family Note, More

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– WWE is running a new poll on their official website asking fans who the scariest member of The Wyatt Family is. The options include Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman, Luke Harper and the mysterious Sister Abigail. While Strowman came in first with 47 percent of the vote, the unknown Sister Abigail isn’t far behind with 30 percent of the vote. Oddly enough, Wyatt, the leader of the group only has 17 percent. You can vote on the poll at WWE.com.

– WWE Superstar R-Truth has released his new single, “Pump It Up,” which is available on iTunes. Truth posted the following tweet on Thursday to promote the song.

WWE Remembers 9/11, Alex Riley Return Update, Lita Backstage At NXT Tapings (Photo)

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– WWE remembered the 9/11 tragedies on Friday with the following tweet:

– We have been covering the fact that Alex Riley has been teasing his return to the ring for a while. Riley posted the following on Twitter today:

https://twitter.com/AlexRileyWWE/status/642320541878251521

– WWE Hall Of Famer Amy “Lita” Dumas was backstage at the NXT television tapings this week. Below is a photo of Lita backstage at the show with John Laurinaitis, Terry Taylor and Scott Armstrong.

Finn Balor’s New Ring Entrance, Former TNA Knockout Signs With WWE & More

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– Paul Heyman turns 50 years old today. He was born on September 11, 1965.

– NXT Champion Finn Balor and Emma debuted new entrances at Thursday night’s NXT TV tapings from Full Sail University. Balor’s new entrance features white lights instead of fog and a large “Balor Club” logo on the big screen.

– Former TNA Knockout Sarita (Sarah Stock) has officially signed with WWE and will be working as a coach at the Performance Center in Orlando, according to PWInsider.com.

– The September 18th WWE live event in Montreal will feature Kevin Owens’ homecoming. He’ll be facing Cesaro. WWE has released this special edition ‘homecoming’ t-shirt for Owens:

Backstage Update On TNA’s Future On Destination America

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While as of Thursday nothing has been stated to talent and employees yet regarding the future of TNA on Destination America, on the official company website and on the Destination America listing, Impact Wrestling is still scheduled to air at 9pm and midnight on Wednesday, October 7th.

The Discovery Network sent a company memo to employees back in May informing them that they were going to exercise their option to cancel Impact Wrestling at the end of September, as the last taped episode was originally scheduled for September 30th.

According to a company source, the feeling is that a lot of the matches that were taped during the early portion of the tapings that were not taped as part of an Impact Wrestling show will be able to be edited together to fill international television programming and meet their contractual requirements with those particular networks, and could also be done for domestic commitments as well.

Currently, the company has not scheduled any future television tapings, however there is a deal being negotiated for tapings to be scheduled in India in late November.

(Credit: F4WOnline.com)

Tyrus Talks About Partnership With EC3, Transition From WWE To TNA & More

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TNA performer Tyrus, formerly known as Brodus Clay in WWE, recently took some time to speak with the folks at Ring Rust Radio about his career. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.

On branching off from his bodyguard role to having a run as a singles wrestler: “The one thing I have learned in trying to be successful in this business is timing. Sometimes you are a fly on the wall but really you have your own personal agenda. You have to play the game the way that they play it. It’s always been my plan whether it’s been to be a tag team partner and get the tag team gold or a singles championship, that’s always been my mind set and that’s what I train for and I’m willing to work my ass off to put myself in that position. Sometimes with politics being what it is, sometimes you have to sneak in underneath their noses then all of a sudden they can’t do anything about it. When EC3 came to me and said he needed help I said I would get his back and help him get to the championship and I have done that. Now I am looking at things differently since I have accomplished that goal and helped my friend out.”

On what makes his partnership with Ethan Carter III work and where does he rank amongst those he’s worked with: “For one, we are complete opposites. I talk loud and he talks loud but he really isn’t saying anything, like he is always talking. He is pampered obviously and I have come from a rougher upbringing. I don’t have a lot of family support where he has been coddled from day one. Like if his Mom and Dad aren’t in the audience then he has an aunt or uncle or cousin there. The guy’s family list just goes on and on and it doesn’t hurt that Dixie is his Aunt, that kind of helps a little bit. I’m sure his job interview went a lot smoother than mine did. At the same time though, we both do push each other. We both train hard, work that hard knocks style, we experience the ups and downs and just handle people in different ways. As far as people I have worked with I think he is one of the most creative guys I have worked with. A lot goes into being EC3 and Tyrus and you would be surprised how some of those conversations go. We understand where we are at and he has gone on record a lot of times saying I have taken a lot of bullets for him character wise. Overall, I would say we are the top of TNA. Even with the invasion going on it didn’t even faze us nor have anything to do with us. PJ Black got a title shot and he handled it well. I don’t want to say an easy defense cause PJ Black is one of the best in the world, he definitely showed up and that was one of his defining moments. He wrestled a guy from another place he didn’t really expect to wrestle and went out there and beat him clean. Technically he should have both titles around his waist but I don’t make those decisions. I have been in there with some really good guys with a lot of experience, but as far as creative I would say EC3 is definitely the most creative.”

On going from WWE to TNA and what went into his decision to sign with Impact Wrestling: “The biggest thing to me, and I had the opportunity to sign with other companies, it was the overall professionalism. A big thing to me was to be able to be in a situation where I could speak my mind freely especially when it came to my character. Get the actual right feedback and not have too many chefs in the kitchen and allow me to be me. They didn’t plug me with a bunch of false promises and wild stories. Dixie said we would like to have you here and just do your thing and that was enough for me. I enjoy the family atmosphere and everyone in back is very close with one another. I fit in right away and the locker room is just outstanding here. You can hear a lot of things from the outside but it’s generally a very positive place to work with everyone pulling for each other to do great work even if you disagree with each other. Perfect example is I can’t stand Matt Hardy to save my life but he is one of my biggest supporters even if the night before I was bouncing him all over the ring. As wrestlers we may hate each other in the ring but we still want each other to do well and I think that’s the difference in TNA. Maybe in other companies you wouldn’t see guys so positive for each other even when they disagree or stand in the way of championships or dreams and things like that.”

On whether the Brodus Clay “Funkasaurus” gimmick ultimately helped you or hurt him in the long run: “First of all, when you are a little kid and you say someday you want to be a football player and a wrestler and all this stuff. Then your Mom looks at you and just says yea whatever, all right. If you remember that’s what your dream was, it didn’t matter what they asked me to do or what they threw at me, I still was given the chance to go out in the ring and entertain and do what I do. The Funkasaurus character was great and it taught me about being humble, about the character, about not being concerned with what people think you should be. If you’re good at what you do regardless of what is thrown in front of you, you will make it work. It was a challenge for me and lucky for me, the American Dream Dusty Rhodes worked with me and helped me make that work. Even to the point of working better than what people were expecting from the character. Sometimes when things get bigger than they thought they take it the wrong way. I enjoyed that time and even now that it’s still being talked about goes to show it was a good character and I enjoyed it. Tyrus is what I enjoy doing and I think at some point there may be a marriage of the two but I don’t miss the dancing character as much with the character.”

Check out the complete interview at BlogTalkRadio.com.

Randy Orton Taking Time Off From WWE

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On Monday’s RAW, the Wyatt Family attacked Randy Orton, which appeared to be an angle setting up Orton to be the tag team partner of Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose against the Wyatts at Night of Champions.

As it turns out, the beatdown was not to align Orton with Reigns and Ambrose, but to write him off television for the next several weeks.

According to a report at PWInsider.com, a member of the WWE writing team confirmed that Orton is not part of creative plans for the next several weeks and is not scheduled to compete at Night of Champions later this month.

Orton, who got engaged last month to Kim Marie Kessler, is still being advertised for the upcoming WWE Network live special from Madison Square Garden on 10/3 where he’ll fight Sheamus.

Titus O’Neil Says There’s A “Tag-Team Revolution” In WWE Right Now

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WWE Superstar Titus O’Neil of The Prime Time Players recently spoke with NZPWI to promote next week’s edition of WWE RAW. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.

On if there’s also a tag team revolution in WWE: “Yes, the tag team division is definitely loaded with a lot of talented teams, and a lot of talented individuals as well because sometimes we do have singles matches with the partner being out there. It’s a great time for the tag team division with The Dudley Boyz coming back – one of the most historically successful WWE tag teams in history, if not the most successful if you’re going by title reigns alone. It definitely gives a kick-start to a new season and a new era to the tag team division and hopefully we can continue to be a big fixture in that push for great tag team wrestling in WWE.”

On Batista getting him into wrestling: “Literally, I was driving down to South Tampa one day, picking up some dress shoes, and across the street was FCW. Since I was down there I called Dave [Batista] and said, ‘Hey, is this the place you were saying they practice at?’ and he said, ‘Yeah’ and I said, ‘Well I might go and poke my head in there and try to see what it’s about.’ I did, and two weeks later I was signed and learning to be a WWE Superstar.”

On a match he had with Rey Mysterio and why it’s one of his favorites: “I had the match with Rey Mysterio on an episode of SmackDown. It made it one of my favourite matches because, number one, I’ve always been a big fan of Rey Mysterio. It was a great learning experience for me. Rey was extremely, extremely professional with me. He guided me through, suggested things, let me do things with him that… it was just a really cool experience, a great learning experience from—I feel—one of the greatest performers of all time in WWE history.”

Check out the complete interview at NZPWI.co.nz.

Hulk Hogan Is The New Spokesman For Sports Betting Site FanPicks

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Wrestling legend Hulk Hogan has landed a new endorsement deal with online sports betting site Fanpicks.com.

FanPicks is the first company to announce a partnership with Hogan since his racism controversy this summer. A spokesman from the company says, “We all make mistakes and deserve second chances.”

Hulk Hogan also commented on the partnership, stating, “I am looking forward to connecting with all my Hulkamaniacs during some of the biggest games of the year and at upcoming Fan Pick live events in the near future.”

Impact Wrestling & Ring Of Honor TV Viewership (9/9)

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https://youtu.be/lXMSiXqhP6k

Wednesday’s episode of Ring of Honor on Destination America drew 138,000 viewers, down from last week’s 144,000.

The first airing of this week’s TNA Impact Wrestling on Destination America at 9pm EST drew 353,000 viewers, up from last week’s 335,000 viewers. The midnight replay drew 96,000 viewers, up from last week’s 85,000.

Impact drew a total of 449,000 viewers this week, up from last week’s total of 420,000.

TNA Announces Kurt Angle’s In-Ring Return

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Following the announcement earlier this week that he will not be signing a new TNA contract after his current deal expires at the end of this year, Kurt Angle’s in-ring return was announced.

On Thursday, TNA announced that Angle will make his in-ring return at the TNA live event in Salem, Virginia on October 3rd.

Additionally, Angle is also scheduled to work the TNA Bound For Glory event in Concord, North Carolina on October 4th.

Updated Brackets For The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic (Spoilers)

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At Thursday night’s NXT TV tapings from Full Sail University, WWE taped several more matches for the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament.  Here are the updated brackets for the tournament. The finals take place at NXT Takeover on October 7th.

Bracket A – First Round Matches

  • Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady defeated Angelo Dawkins and Sawyer Fulton
  • Finn Balor and Samoa Joe defeated The Lucha Dragons

Bracket B – First Round Matches

  • The Vaudevillians defeated Wesley Blake and Buddy Murphy
  • Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder defeated Tucker Knight and Elias Samson

Bracket C – First Round Matches

  • Mojo Rawley and Zack Ryder defeated Noah Kekoa and Alexander Wolfe
  • Jason Jordan and Chad Gable defeated Neville and Solomon Crowe

Bracket D – First Round Matches

  • Rhyno and Baron Corbin defeated The Ascension
  • Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa defeated Tyler Breeze and Bull Dempsey

Bracket A – Second Round Matches

  • Balor and Joe defeated Enzo and Cass

Bracket B – Second Round Matches

  • The Vaudevillians vs. The Mechanics

Bracket C – Second Round Matches

  • The Hype Bros vs. Gable and Jordan

Bracket D – Second Round Matches

  • Rhyno and Corbin defeated Gargano and Ciampa

Kana’s WWE Ring Name Revealed, Details On Back-Story Behind The Name

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Recent WWE signee Kana was at Thursday night’s NXT TV tapings from Full Sail University and was given the new name Asuka.

https://twitter.com/k_a_n_a_/status/642230920745848833

Lioness Asuka was considered the second most-popular woman pro wrestlers ever in Japan, as she was part of the 1980s tag-team known as “The Crush Gals” during the era when women’s pro wrestling in Japan did television ratings equivalent to what the NFL was doing at the same time in the United States.

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