– NXT Diva Gionna Daddio is now using the name “Marley.” She will be facing Eva Marie on the November 4th episode of NXT TV, which was taped on Thursday night at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida.
– Also at the NXT TV tapings on Thursday night, independent wrestlers Corey Hollis and John Skyler worked a tag-team match against The Mechanics. That match will air on the November 18th episode of NXT TV.
– As noted, Samoa Joe vs. Tyler Breeze is scheduled for next week’s edition of NXT TV. Breeze cut the following promo on Joe ahead of their match.
– Busted Open Radio hosts Doug Mortman and Dave LaGreca are the guests on the latest edition of Chris Jericho’s “Talk Is Jericho” podcast, which is now available. You can download the show right now at PodcastOne.com.
– Newly engaged couple Rusev and Lana attended a Los Angeles Clippers pre-season NBA game in Los Angeles on Thursday evening. Below are some photos of Rusev and Lana with NBA stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin.
Earlier today, NJPW ran a house show as part of theRoad to Power Struggle tour in Saitama, which aired live on NJPW World. The big news coming out of the show is that the Bullet Club announced a new member: Former NWA World Heavyweight Champion Chase Owens. Owens, Kenny Omega, and the Young Bucks defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, Mascara Dorada, and the Time Splitters when Omega pinned Dorada after hitting the One-Winged Angel.
The NWA issued a press release today that included this note about Owens joining the Bullet Club:
The wrestling world was rocked when we recently received word from Japan that former NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion “THE CROWN JEWEL” CHASE OWENS has joined the Bullet Club!
Does this signal the start of an NWA – Bullet Club Alliance? NWA President Bruce Tharpe has indicated that this is only the first of many controversial surprises to come involving the NWA.
Tharpe has served as the manager of Owens and the other NWA-aligned Americans like Rob Conway. He was a big part of Owens’ feud with Jushin Thunder Liger, cutting promos, interfering in matches, and so on.
WWE shares spiked over 7% on Friday after it was announced that the WWE Network is launching in India on November 2nd. Here is the official announcement:
WWE NETWORK LAUNCHES IN INDIA
MUMBAI and STAMFORD, Conn., October 23, 2015 – Beginning Monday, November 2, WWE Network will be available in India for $9.99 (U.S.) per month, with no commitment and the ability to cancel any time. Fans in India can sign up online by going to WWENetwork.com and can watch WWE Network on their desktop, laptop and mobile devices.
WWE Network subscribers in India will receive their first month of service free and have access to the U.S. English language version of WWE Network. Subscribers will get access to 24/7 scheduled programming and the most comprehensive video-on-demand library with more than 3,700 hours of content, including Raw® and SmackDown® re-airs, and every WWE, WCW™ and ECW™ pay-per-view. In addition, all 12 WWE pay-per-views will be available to subscribers 24 hours after they air in India, and will be broadcast live on WWE Network beginning in 2017.
“India is a strategically important market for WWE and we are thrilled to make WWE Network available to our fans there,” said George Barrios, WWE Chief Strategy & Financial Officer. “The global expansion of WWE Network is a key driver in our commitment to growing the WWE brand internationally.”
WWE Network will be made available on additional devices, including Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Roku and Smart TVs prior to Survivor Series® on Sunday, November 22.
WWE Network programming highlights include:
Breaking Ground™ – Breaking Ground, WWE Network’s newest original series, gives viewers access to the WWE Performance Center, chronicling what it takes to become a WWE Superstar.
Swerved™ – Directed by Jeff Tremaine (Jackass, Bad Grandpa), Swerved combines the worlds of comedy and sports entertainment as WWE Superstars and Divas play hilarious pranks on one another.
The Monday Night War™ – WWE Network’s 20-episode original series documents the epic television ratings battle between entertainment icons Vince McMahon and Ted Turner.
Stone Cold® Podcast Live! – WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin® sits down with the biggest names in WWE and the world of sports and entertainment for a no-holds-barred, in-your-face, exclusive interview.
NXT TAKEOVER LIVE! – The future is here. WWE’s hottest up-and-coming Superstars compete to prove they’ve got what it takes. More than just evolution, it’s a revolution. Witness these WWE Superstars of tomorrow as they take over WWE Network with live two-hour specials.
WWE® 24 – The acclaimed 30-minute docu-series that takes viewers on a lightning-fast journey through a day in the life of WWE’s most intriguing Superstars and groundbreaking events.
Total Divas™ (Seasons 1-3) – Total Divas gives viewers an exclusive, outside-the-ring look at WWE’s top Divas with an inside glimpse into their personal lives as they balance their own drama and the non-stop action of their professional careers.
WWE Network will also be available in other countries in the Indian subcontinent including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. For a complete listing of WWE Network availability by country and device, please click here.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has landed yet another major endorsement deal. The WWE legend revealed on Thursday that he has launched a new partnership with Under Armour sports apparel to release a line of products for men, women and children. He noted that the partnership has been “years in the making.”
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently updated his official Q&A section, answering questions from fans on a number of various topics. Below are some of the highlights.
On WWE having a creative team of 25 people but still producing weak storylines: “This is news to me as it’s an area that I spend little time addressing. It’s a tough, thankless job but I’d agree that recent creative has not been, seemingly, what the TV viewers want to see.”
On if WWE asked him to take over RAW announcing again: “Everyone has their ‘magic’ number including yours truly.”
On his memories of the old “Livewire” show: “Everyone has their ‘magic’ number including yours truly.”
On WWE no longer using the Titan Tron for RAW or SmackDown: “I wasn’t aware of such as I have not been to a WWE RAW or Smackdown event in years. I don’t know why they would have stopped using the ‘Tron but I’d assume that there’s a good reason.”
On Undertaker’s WrestleMania match possibly having a retirement stipulation: “No one’s creative ideas are bad but simply different. Taker needs to be in a high profile match without a doubt come Wrestlemania but I don’t think that he’s retiring in 2016. That would surprise me.”
Check out more JR Q&A updates at his official website, JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
The official WWE website recently spoke with former TNA Champion and new NXT star James Storm. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On how the conversation of him coming to NXT began: “It came about because I’m good friends with Road Dogg and Billy Gunn. They put it in Triple H’s ear that I was free and clear of all contracts, to see if there’s some interest there. I actually called Road Dogg to see if it was OK that I went up to the NXT Nashville show not too long ago. He said, “Yeah, just try to stay out of sight.” So, I stayed in the locker room. There were reports that I was sitting in the front row at an NXT show, and I didn’t deny that I was there. I just said, “I saw the reports and I’m sorry, but that was not me sitting in the front row.” [Laughs.]
Then, [WWE Performance Center Head Coach] Matt Bloom pulled me aside and asked if I was available to come down that Wednesday and Thursday to Orlando. I went down and talked to Triple H at the NXT TakeOver: Respect special. Then the next night, he asked if I was willing to appear, and I said yes.”
On what it was like walking into the NXT locker room in Nashville for the first time: “I really didn’t know what to expect because I didn’t know if these guys were looking at me, going, “Here’s a guy coming in, trying to take my job.” Basically, that’s what I’m doing. I’m trying to find me a spot. I learned a long time ago that you don’t have to worry about your spot if you’re doing your job right. But all the guys were so cool. All of them came up to me; a couple of them made me feel kinda old, like, “Hey, I used to watch you 10 years ago.” [Laughs.] But nobody said a negative word or gave me a dirty look, or anything like that. Everybody was super-cool and actually welcoming me in with open arms.”
On when we will see him back in NXT or even WWE: “That’s the million-dollar question. That’s not really up to me. My job is to go out and get myself over, as they say. And it’s up to what we call “the suits” to make the decision of whether to bring me back to NXT or the WWE main roster. I get so many people all the time saying, “We want to see you and Bray Wyatt go at it on the microphone.” I always say that you never know what’s going to happen in wrestling. And I just take one day at a time.”
– We noted recently that the EVOLVE promotion set attendance records at their EVOLVE 49 and EVOLVE 50 events in New York City, featuring appearances by NXT star Sami Zayn.
Apparently the iPPV buys for the shows were up as well, despite the fact that Zayn didn’t appear on the actual broadcasts. This was credited to the buzz surrounding EVOLVE’s partnership with WWE and the news that Zayn would be appearing for the promotion.
Attendance and iPPV buys being up led to backstage morale being up, according to a new PWInsider.com report. The morale is up right now with the roster buzzing about what the new partnership with WWE could mean for them and EVOLVE as a whole.
– Former TNA Knockout Rosie Lottalove worked the NXT television taping on Thursday night, losing to Emma in singles action taped for the November 18th episode.
Rosie lost more than 100 pounds over a year ago and has been competing in the SHINE Wrestling promotion under the name “Andrea.” She used her real name, MaryKate, at the NXT tapings last night.
WWE Superstar Bubba Ray Dudley recently spoke with Scott Fishman of Channel Guide Magazine to promote this Sunday’s WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view in Los Angeles, California. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On how his WWE return started: “The very first person I spoke to was Road Dogg. He was the one who reached out saying, ‘Hey Bubba, would you be interested in coming to the Royal Rumble? I told him yes. I always had a great working relationship with him in the ring and a good working relationship outside of the ring. Me and D-Von won our first WWE tag team championship from the New Age Outlaws. He got in touch with me. That’s how it all started. It was pretty funny because I think a lot of people within WWE were shocked by the reaction. I think they all thought, ‘Oh its Philly, so he’ll get a nice little reaction.’ I didn’t think they were expecting anything like that.”
On WWE now vs. then: “It has been great and the locker room has been great, but the locker room was great back in the day, too. The only difference now really is the guys are much younger than me and D-Von. They’ve come up different ways in the business. Back in the Attitude Era you had guys that came up more the old school way, who were able to go out there and do what they wanted to get themselves over. This is as opposed to now where creatively WWE has much more of a presence and wants their wrestlers to do their job a certain way. As far as the locker room operates and the chemistry within the locker room, it’s phenomenal. It has been nothing but positive.”
On his girlfriend Velvet Sky possibly joining WWE: “It’s no secret that me and Velvet [Sky] are together. If you go on Twitter I think the entire Twitter-verse would like to see that. She is probably the most over female wrestler out there that has never been in WWE. She looks phenomenal. I think the fans and the WWE Universe would love to see her in a WWE ring. Who knows? Maybe it will happen one day.”
Part-time WWE performer Batista recently spoke with LatinPost.com to promote his role in the new James Bond “007: Spectre” movie. Below are some of the highlights.
On the most fascinating thing about playing the Mr. Hinx role in 007: Spectre: “I think the cool thing is that he was going to be categorized as a henchman. And my fear was always that I didn’t like being cast as a muscle head. So two questions I asked Sam at that meeting was if Hinx was a bada**. Then I asked if he was intelligent and he said “Absolutely.” Those were my two concerns because I didn’t wanted to be categorized as a subservient henchman. I wanted to be a man on a mission doing his own thing. And that’s what Mr. Hinx is.”
On the most exciting scene that he took part in during 007: Spectre filming: “We did this elaborate car chase through Rome that was incredible. They literally shut down the city for us at night. When we driving these exotic cars through Rome it was insane. It felt like I was really in a James Bond film.”
On the most exciting thing about being in films like Guardians of the Galaxy and 007: Spectre: “I don’t think that I find anything particularly fascinating. For me it’s about the characters. I take jobs based on characters. I noticed that conditions are better on bigger budget films, but I don’t mind roughing it once in a while if the quality of the material is there. I can get used to some disorganized stuff. I was with WWE and everything was always disorganized there.”
On whether or not transitioning from WWE to Hollywood was tough: “It was actually really rough. It didn’t seem to start rolling until Guardians was released. The first film I ever did, I was with WWE and it was a favor to a friend. When I did it, I realized I was a horrible actor. It pissed me off because I left feeling embarrassed. It made me want to prove myself and get better so I could get a second chance. And there you go.”
The following are spoiler results from the set of NXT television tapings held on Thursday, October 22, 2015 at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida.
NXT TV Spoilers For 11/4
– Asuka def. Cameron via submission
– Bull Dempsey def. Angelo Dawkins
– Eva Marie def. Gionna Daddio, who is now using the name Marley.
– Apollo Crews def. Finn Balor ended in a DQ when Baron Corbin attacked both guys in what was a NXT title match, so the title didn’t change hands. After Corbin hit the ring, Samoa Joe came out and took out Corbin, but then shocked everyone by attacking Finn Balor for a surprising heel turn to close out that week’s show.
NXT TV Spoilers For 11/11
– Adrien Reese (aka Athena) def. Peyton Royce with a top-rope jump into a Stunner for the 1-2-3.
– Baron Corbin vs. Tye Dillinger never takes place as Apollo Crews takes out Corbin.
– Bayley, Zack Ryder & Mojo Rawley def. Alexa Bliss, Blake & Murphy in a six-person inter-gender tag-team match. Bliss stole Bayley’s title and ran off with it during the match. Bayley hit a Belly-To-Bayley on one of the men and then ran after Bliss. Ryder hit the Rough Ryder to get the win for his team.
– Nia Jax def. Deonna Purrazzo in a squash match.
– The Mechanics def. The Vaudevillains via submission to become the new NXT Tag-Team Champions. Great crowd reactions for this match and for the title change.
– Samoa Joe came out for a promo segment. The fans boo him because he turned heel and attacked Finn Balor on “last week’s show.” Balor ends up coming out and confronts Joe. They get into it but referees end up holding them back. This segment ends the 11/11 edition of NXT TV.
NXT TV Spoilers For 11/18
– Nia Jax def. Carmella in a squash match.
– Chad Gable & Jason Jordan def. The Ascension in tag-team action when Gable and Jordan score the pin after hitting the assisted German suplex.
– Emma def. Mary Kate (aka Rosie Lottalove and Andrea) with the Emma-lock.
– The Mechanics def. Two local talents (believed to be Corey Hollis and John Skyler) to retain the NXT Tag-Team titles.
– Bayley def. Alexa Bliss via the Huggplex to retain the NXT Women’s Championship. Eva Marie ended up coming out to challenge Bayley to a future title match.
The Wednesday, October 21st edition of TNA Impact Wrestling drew 264,000 viewers on Destination America for the first airing and 63,000 viewers for the second airing, making a combined total of 327,000 viewers. That number ties last week for the third lowest viewership total since moving to Destination America.
Ring Of Honor on Destination America fell 24 percent this week going head-to-head with the New York Mets vs. Chicago Cubs MLB game, which drew 7.94 million viewers, as ROH drew 132,000 viewers on Wednesday night.
This week’s NXT television taping featured a number of newsworthy happenings. In addition to this noteworthy item, there was a big heel turn that took place during this week’s taping.
A match that featured NXT Champion Finn Balor defending his title against Apollo Crews took place at the NXT television taping on Thursday night in Winter Park, Florida, and featured a big heel turn from none other than Samoa Joe.
The Balor-Crews match ended in a disqualification as Baron Corbin hit the ring and attacked both Crews and Balor. This led to Samoa Joe coming out. Joe took out Corbin and then shocked everyone by attacking Balor. This was described by fans in attendance as a “real heel turn” with lots of heat from the crowd directed towards Joe.
The Balor-Crews title match and post-match Samoa Joe heel turn is scheduled to air as part of the November 4th episode of NXT TV.
Below are some photos of Samoa Joe’s post-match heel turn.
Thursday’s NXT television taping was a newsworthy event, to say the least. In addition to this noteworthy item taking place during the taping, there was also a title change.
In tag-team action during the taping at Full Sail University on Thursday night, The Mechanics — Dash and Dawson — defeated The Vaudevillains to become the new NXT Tag-Team Champions.
This is the first ever NXT title reign for The Mechanics. The match that featured the title change is scheduled to air on the November 11th edition of the show.
Below are some spoiler photos of The Mechanics winning the NXT Tag-Team titles at Thursday’s taping.
On the next edition of MSL & Sullivan, the weekly podcast on MLWRadio.com, former WCW booker Kevin Sullivan brought up a previously unknown wrinkle to the complicated relationship that Hulk Hogan had with the company. In a passage sent out in advance (the episode goes up tomorrow, October 23rd), Sullivan is quoted as saying the following about legendary manager Jimmy Hart:
Besides him getting a payday from WCW, he was getting paid by Hulk. So I was inclined to use Jimmy because of the creative control. He wasn’t getting a percentage. He was getting a flat fee. Every January 1st or 2nd he got a check written to him. Six figures.
When co-host Mister Saint Laurent asked why Hogan put so much faith in Hart, Sullivan explained their relationship:
Out of all the people Hulk had, he felt more secure with Jimmy because Jimmy had no vices. I think it happened in Memphis when Hulk first got there. Jimmy probably got him rides and he would ride with Hulk. When you finished Memphis, you had to go to Louisville, which was a brutal ride. 380 or 400 miles. He would get him a ride. He knew the places, this was the deep south, this was Kentucky Fried Chicken, Jimmy would talk the guy into grilling Hulk a dozen chicken breasts. That kind of thing. I think it started from there.
Earlier, we told you about how a Florida judge ruled that Hulk Hogan pay for a court appointed forensic examiner to search Gawker’s computers to see if they ;leaked his racist comments. In the earlier article, we mentioned a few of the search terms that the judge ruled that the investigator can look for. Now, having procured the entire nine page judge’s order, we hav the full list. Here they are, with an explanation of the significance of each:
“Hulk Hogan,” “Bollea,” “racist”
These are completely self-explanatory.
“DVD details,” “Hulk Hogan/Heather Clem Sex Tape from July 2007,” “Hulk_Hogan_Sex_Tapes.doc”
Also self-explanatory, but the specificity is interesting. Presumably, that wording is what’s on the FBI records that Gawker’s lawyers were sent and ordered not to share with anyone, includign Gawker founder Nick Denton.
“Keith Davidson,” “Davidson”
When Hogan went to the FBI about an extortion attempt involving the videos of him and Heather Cole having sex shot without his permission, the investigation took them to Keith Davidson, a lawyer based out Los Angeles. The FBI set up a sting operation where Hogan and his lawyer watched the videos and gave Davidson a $150,000 check. Davidson was never charged, and he claims that he was just representing whoever had the videos. Gawker’s attempts to subpoena Davidson have not gone well.
Gawker was sent the video that led to the lawsuit after receiving an odd phone call from Tony Burton, an agent at Don Buchwald and Associates, Inc. That firm primarily represents radio personalities. Burton said that he had a client who wanted t send Gawker a certain DVD anonymously and wanted to know how to do that. Gawker got the DVD of Hogan and Heather Cole days later. While it came out later that the client was Mike “Cowhoad” Calta, a rival radio personality of Bubba the Love Sponge (Cole’s then-husband and Hogan’s then-best friend), he was purportedly getting the information for an anonymous caller.
Former Bubba the Love Spunge employees. Peirce was deposed in the lawsuit and talked about the rumors about the tapes in radio circles. Matt “SpiceBoy” Loyd came up in the FBI investigation in some form. The belief has always been that a disgruntled employee of the Bubba the Love Sponge radio show stole the DVDs when Bubba left Sirius Satellite Radio for a Florida radio station, costing the employee his job.
“Bostick”
It’s not clear exacrly who this is. The docket in the lawsuit includes a copy of a settlement agreement between “Taryn Bostick” and “J.D. Walsh,” but it’s sealed. Searching for “Taryn Bostick” on Google provides no other substantive results. This is odd. J.D.Walsh could be the actor, the basketball coach, or a third person, but who knows what exactly that has to do with anything?
The investigator will also be able to search for these quotes from Hogan’s rant:
1. “my daughter Brooke jumped sides on me”
2. “black billionaire guy”
3. “He had Jamie Foxx coming in on the 22nd track”
4. “she is making some real bad decisions now”
5. “the one option Brooke had, Brooke’s career besides me”
6. “sell beach records”
7. “south beach records”
8. “VH1 wanted me to do a big thing and go back to the house I grew up in”
Hulk Hogan scored a big victory today in his lawsuit against Gawker over their publication of excerpts of a sex tape shot without his knowledge. According to the Tampa Bay Times, a court-appointed investigator can look over Gawker’s emails, internal records, text messages, and so on. Why? It’s complicated.
Back in July, his infamous racist rant (from another video of Hogan with Heather Cole, the woman from the Gawker video) was released by both The National Enquirer and Radar Online, getting him fired from WWE in the process. Hogan’s lawyers immediately accused Gawker of being behind the leak. Gawker’s lawyers (but not anyone else at Gawker) had access to the transcript stemming from a lawsuit to get the FBI’s case file of their investigation into Hogan being extorted via the sex videos. Gawker has insisted they had nothing to do with the leak.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRpnLCvRhkw
So what happened today was that Judge Pamela Campbell ruled that Hogan can hav a forensic investigation (at Hogan’s expense) into Gawker’s computers, writing that “The limited discovery is being permitted for the sole purpose of determining whether or not this serious allegation is true.” The investigator can only search for specific terms, including “racist,” “Hulk Hogan,” and “DVD details” in the communication of founder Nick Denton, president/general counsel Heather Dietrick, and A.J. Daulerio, who was editor at the time of the original Hogan article. It’s not entirely clear if other employees can have their emails searched.
Gawker attorney Seth Berlin told the Times that “The order has no basis in law or fact.”
Daniel Vidot, an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays for the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League, participated in a three-day tryout at the WWE Performance Center this week, according to foxsports.com.au.
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“They first approached me last year but I was playing good football with the Broncos, so I didn’t take it seriously. Then just recently they contacted me again and I’ve decided I’m going to have a crack at it,” Vidot told The Courier Mail in September.
Vidot, who is 6-foot-2 and weighs 231 pounds, added, “The WWE talent scout reckons I’ve got the size and the look they are after so I’m going to give it a go.”
Vidot said if he doesn’t join WWE, he plans to continue his rugby career.
The guys at the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast have a new interview out, and this time it’s with Matt Anoa’i, best known for his run in WWE as Rosey. In the interview, he discusses a wide range of topics, including his brother, Roman Reigns, and we’ve got some quotes for you to check out:
On the large quantity of big name star pro wrestlers that the Anoa’t family has produced:
The fact my family has grown as big as it has is actually extraordinary in itself. To be honest with you, I really don’t think there is going to be another family that’s going to top the amount of professional wrestlers in WWE that’s associated or tied into the same last name. We’ve produced a lot of family members going into WWE. Moving forward with that, it’s not going to slow down. We’ve got young bucks on the rise as we speak and lookout because they will make it one day. It’s got absolutely nothing to do with the Anoa’i family name, the Fatu family name it’s got everything to do with for some reason we’ve got a killer drive for this business and whoever is on the way up that’s their goal.
Did he expect his brother, Roman Reigns, to have so much success so soon and develop as a performer as quickly as he did?
I knew he was going to do something like that with whatever he did. I’m not trying to say anything that is stereotypical, that’s just his life. That’s just the way he’s been watching him grow up. It was going to happen regardless of whether it was in football or being the superstar at WalMart he’s just got “that” and it’s just the way it’s always been with him. It didn’t surprise me but the quickness of everything did because time does fly by and now that I look at it three or four years ago he was just getting into this business and now he’s sitting on top of the wrestling world.
Career advice from his father, Sika of the Wild Samoans:
He basically said exactly this: “Son, if you want it, go out and get it. Nobody is going to come knocking on your door to give it to you so get your ass out there and get it.” So I listened and I started down in New Orleans. I worked my way around the country. I went down to Puerto Rico and worked my way around there and all the way to actually signing a WWE contract in 96.
Getting trained by his Uncle Afa:
My Dad has a certain way of teaching things and my Uncle has a certain way of teaching things and everyone has a different way of teaching. They might be brothers but they have different styles and I was just lucky enough to grab a bunch of different little things from everybody. Having Samu as a mentor and one of my cousins, he worked pretty close with me and just getting all this information from several of my family members it made a very big impact at a very young age.
His brief runs in WWE and ECW with Samu as The Samoan Gangsta Party in the mid-’90s:
I remember a little bit. I ain’t going to lie to you I was f*cked up pretty good through those days so there was a lot of times where I forgot what happened the night before and was just happy I was waking up in a hotel. I don’t exactly know who’s hotel, but it was somebody’s. At that point in time I did like what ECW was dishing out and it was fun to walk into a locker room and smell blood and see a little bit more of an old school type of thing. It brought me back to when I was between like 8 and 15 years old running the roads with my cousin The Tonga Kid down in the Gulf Coast area.
It kept it un-corporate for a little while. Everyone knew it was all moving to be corporate and business attitudes but ECW was a nice shot of having a lot of fun. With WWE, there were some things that happened that I really didn’t understand since I was still relatively new to the business and specifically with WWE. I let my cousin handle his business with Vince and my cousin just called me up and said we are going to move on from here so I just packed my bag and said alright lets go. I told them that I will be back and they said they know I will and it just pushed it of a little bit longer but it was none of my business at the time on why we didn’t stay very long.
Teaming with Umaga/Jamal/Eddie “Eki” Fatu as 3 Minute Warning:
I was very comfortable with it and I know he was too. It seemed to fit pretty well that we were both around the same size and both had the same understanding of how we wanted to work our matches and how we wanted the wrestling world to view us. We seemed to mesh pretty good but we are family too so that didn’t mean that we didn’t have our fair share of the down part of being around each other for more than we were our own families, but for the most part it was just something that clicked and it turned out that it worked out pretty good and of course when we split we were still pretty much okay on the back end of that. My cousin is very missed and I miss him every day and I’ve got a picture of him on my end table right next to my bed and I talk to him every day. He was a hell of a guy and I love him very much.
Looking back at 3 Minute Warning’s debut:
We didn’t have time to soak it in. We didn’t know we were doing that until the day of the show. Arnie came up to us and gave us some money and said we’ve got to go to the mall and get some clothes and that we were starting that night. We didn’t know what we were going to get and he said “Hip-Hop” clothes. So hell-yeah, we kind of bypassed the mall and found a spot in the worst part of town where we knew we could pick some sh*t up and I think we bought it in an Indian convenience store and I don’t know why but for some reason in the ghetto you can always find 6XL shirts in “Hip-Hop” fashion.
In the full interview, Anoa’I also talks about his team with the Hurricane, being a tag team champion, the controversial {HLA” segment, and more.
As noted earlier this week, Randy Orton is out of action with a dislocated shoulder. Orton, who has a long history of shoulder injuries, had been working with a bad shoulder in recent months. According to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the dislocation didn’t take place in the ring, but while Orton was at home taking out the garbage.
He was said to be in tremendous pain and it took three hours to pop it back into place. The former WWE Champion will be undergoing an MRI soon to determine the extent of the damage and might require surgery.
Orton has stated in interviews that he was born with ‘hyper-mobile’ shoulders and underwent a procedure several years ago to tighten them up. His career has been plagued with shoulder injuries, missing extended time from the ring in 2005, 2010, 2012, 2013 and now in 2015.
Vince Russo posted a video this week saying that he has reached out to Vince McMahon (once again) after watching WWE RAW. Russo says that he can help save the business and he’s there for Vince if Vince needs him.
He acknowledged that he has been universally discredited and his reputation has taken a beating, but he wants to help get the industry back on track before it’s too late.
Following up on the buzz that Alberto El Patron likely won’t be returning for Season 2 of Lucha Underground, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that “Alberto is out as of right now.” Money and creative are cited as reasons for the relationship dissolving.
Alberto has also told people in the business that he’s taking a break from the road after November and plans to spend the holidays at home with his family.
He’s also reportedly interested in returning to WWE for another run, something that we know WWE has been discussing in recent weeks. Alberto would add some star power to WWE’s main event scene and would help sell tickets for WrestleMania, since Mexican stars have always been popular in Texas.
WWE Hall Of Famer and former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura recently appeared as a guest on Busted Open Radio to talk about a number of topics. Below are some of the highlights.
On his book “American Conspiracies” and what he hopes to accomplish with this book that he didn’t with the first: “First of all, I didn’t choose to re-release it. My publisher Sky Horse publishing wanted to do an updated version, so I said fine and had no problem with that. We released a new version with four new conspiracies because generally the way the Government operates, you can probably get a new conspiracy out of them every year. They will do something they don’t want you to know about, they will cover it up with the cloak of National Security, and then you have to uncover it to find out the things they are doing now.”
On the possibility of entering the presidential race and what chances he might have of winning: “Well, if you look at the situation right now, there is the start of a revolution happening here. You can see it in the Republican Party right now. Their three leaders have never held the office at the any time. You’re watching these two parties disintegrate in their own way before your eyes, which is good. Come next spring time, the pipers will be out and it will be down to two people when the Libertarians name their candidate. They go to the Libertarian convention, name their candidate, then from June to November you will be on the ballot in 47 to 48 states. Then the key would be to get into the debates. You have to be in the debates to have a chance to win. You need to wait in my case, if I am going to do it. I wait until they get down to one or two people so you save money and don’t spin your wheels and waste your time.”
On Donald Trump and his presidential qualifications: “Donald Trump was a supporter of me way back in the days of the reform party in the 90s. I knew Donald for twenty or twenty five years now since back to WrestleMania four or five and all that. He has always threatened to run but has never gone through with it, but now he has gone through with it and he is in for the long haul. The problem is, if he doesn’t get the Republican nomination, what happens to all the people that were going to vote for him? Would they just go back to the normal Republican? Or would they look for something else? The same thing could be said for Bernie Sanders. He is an Independent infiltrating the Democrats. He won’t get the nomination either and what will happen to all his voters? Where will they go? Will they simply go back to the Democratic Party? I don’t think so. When you look at the whole nation, the last election, 64 percent of the people chose not to vote, that is almost two-thirds of the nation didn’t vote. Well those are potential customers for me if I run because that’s how I won in Minnesota. I was getting people who didn’t normally vote to get out and vote.”
On hosting ORA’s “Off The Grid” television show: “It’s on ORA TV which is on the internet Monday through Friday and I am off the grid when I do it. What you are going to get is Jesse Ventura in a ten to eleven minute interview on any subject. It really turns me loose and being on the internet there aren’t any FCC regulations, I’m in total control of my show, and it’s the most fun I have ever had doing a show.”
On his reaction to the Hulk Hogan scandal: “Maybe the people are seeing the real Hulk Hogan. Let’s all remember we play parts in wrestling and may be nothing like we are in real life. Maybe we are seeing what Hulk Hogan is in real life. I am only speculating on that so bear that in mind. We would always laugh when he would tell the little kids to say their prayers and eat their vitamins, and we would always laugh and say, ‘oral or injectables?’ What kind of vitamins are we talking here? I remember when Hogan would always deny that he used steroids and I would always laugh.”
On why he left WCW: “The real story was, when they brought me in they paid me big money because I made the jump from the WWF. A lot of people couldn’t handle the money they were paying me to just be an announcer, Bill Watts included, who was the head booker. I think Jim Ross was very jealous because he wouldn’t work with me. I would toss him lines and he wouldn’t respond to them, and he even admitted that he didn’t do the best job he could when he worked with me in WCW. I think Jim was jealous of the money I was getting which wasn’t my fault. He shouldn’t have blamed me for it. There never was the chemistry there with Jim Ross that I had with Vince or Gorilla. The reason it ended up the way it did, was they brought Hogan in and then Hogan had me immediately dismissed. I remember, I had six months to go on my contract and I never had to work. They just paid me and I sat at home. Hogan came in and he did not want me on the mic there. He had the power to do it so Eric Bischoff—that little—I have a few names for him, the back stabber Eric Bischoff, and I never worked my last six months as soon as Hulk Hogan was brought in.”
A big WWE topic going around lately is about the way the promotion books their shows and how most of their talent are not portrayed as big stars because of 50/50 booking.
One person in WWE described the company’s booking and inability to make new top stars. That person said, “What is backfiring is the fact the company, its owners and executives now feel they have to answer for their decisions. `Some people did not like this guy won,’ and then feel the need to explain their own creative process. It’s a defensive posture that permeates even the booking, which is why it’s always 50/50, unless someone has the clout to avoid being in the 50/50 club.”
The anonymous source continued, “But the booking itself becomes defensive. Don’t offend anyone’s fan base. Don’t alienate anyone. Please everyone, at all times, and make either apologies offered or excuses given if the audience presents even the slightest backlash. It leads to no commitment to a decision, and therefore, long-term, long-lasting money situations become harder and harder to manufacture.”
The general consensus is that as long as this is the process, because Vince McMahon has final say on all things, nothing will change until he realizes that a major overhaul is needed.
