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WWE Testing Virtual Reality Technology

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WWE is currently in the early stages of testing out virtual reality technology.

The annual Consumer Electronic Shows (CES) convention is currently underway in Las Vegas and WWE Chief Strategy & Financial Offer George Barrios broke the news during a “Masters of Trailblazing Content” seminar.

According to virtual reality blog VRFocus.com, Barrios told the audience that WWE is currently testing VR content at the WWE Performance Center in Florida, but the technology is still a long way from being ready for a consumer rollout. Barrios said:

“It’s very, very early days… it’s very expensive; the amount of cameras and post-production needed. We’re early days on what the content might be. We saw the live content – Cirque du Soleil – and we were blown away.”

Other companies currently developing VR content include the NBA, Artists Den, Skybound Entertainment.

WWE Announces New Broadcast Teams For RAW & SmackDown

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WWE sent out a press release on Thursday announcing new broadcasting teams for RAW and SmackDown.

Starting on Monday, RAW will be called by Michael Cole, JBL and Booker T.

When SmackDown moves to Thursdays next week, the action will be called by Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and Byron Saxton.

Pay-per-views will feature Cole, Lawler and JBL.

Hit up Page 2 below for the official press release, which dubs Michael Cole “the voice of WWE for more than 15 years.” Bah gawd!

Ziggler Doing Improv Tonight In Hollywood, Monday Night War Finale & More

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– After being “fired” on RAW and being pulled from this weekend’s WWE live events, Dolph Ziggler will be doing improv tonight in Hollywood California at Second City Hollywood. He’ll be joined by Lucha Underground star Johnny Mundo (John Morrison) and Ziggler’s brother, Ryan Nemeth. For ticket information, visit SecondCity.com.

– The “season finale” of the Monday Night War series on the WWE Network airs this coming Tuesday.

– The Bellas Twins will be appearing at the New Orleans Wizard World convention on Saturday.

– NXT will be holding live events in Citrus Springs, FL and Fort Pierce, FL this weekend.

– WWE and 2K Sports announced today that the WWE SuperCard mobile game has surpassed 5 million downloads since it was released back in August.

Lucha Underground Crowns First Champion, Next Set Of Tapings, New Talent

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Prince Puma was crowned the first-ever Lucha Underground champion on last night’s show.

Lucha Underground will hold their next batch of television tapings later this month, with shows scheduled for January 17th, 18th, 24th and 25th from Boyle Heights, Los Angeles. There is talk of Lucha Underground holding tapings every other weekend from now through April.

The promotion is in talks to bring in a lot of fresh faces for the upcoming tapings. Last week, the Young Bucks tweeted about receiving an “insulting” offer to work a few shows. Company officials obviously weren’t happy with the tweet, but are still trying to strike a deal with the duo.

Independent Willie Mack and former TNA Knockout Sarita (Sarah Stock) have been in talks with the promotion, as has Guam Olympic wrestler Jeff Cobb. Cobb attended a WWE tryout camp last year but was not signed.

In late 2014, there was some concern that Lucha Underground’s ratings were not up to par, especially with the show’s expensive production costs. El Rey canceled the original series Matador (featuring former WWE Diva Eve Torres) after only one season, which got some people wondering where things stood with Lucha Underground. That said, there’s no immediate danger of the show being canceled.

News from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter was used in this report. Visit f4wonline.com for subscription information.

Daniel Bryan Returnig To The Ring Before The Royal Rumble?

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It has been reported for a while now that WWE is planning on keeping Daniel Bryan out of the ring until his return in the Royal Rumble match at the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view on January 25th, however that may not end up being the case.

As of right now, Daniel Bryan is listed in the advertising, promoted as wrestling Kane in a singles match at the WWE live event on January 16th in St. Louis, Missouri.

The official website for The Scottrade Center lists the following for the aforementioned 1/16 live event in St. Louis:

WWE returns to St. Louis for the first time in 2015 with a special Friday night live event at Scottrade Center on January 16!

John Cena vs. Seth Rollins
Steel Cage Match

Roman Reigns vs. The Big Show

Daniel Bryan vs. Kane

Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt

Plus more of your favorite WWE Superstars including:
Chris Jericho
Cesaro
Jack Swagger
R Truth
The Divas
And Many More!

* Card is subject to change.

Impact Attendance, Production Issues, Dixie Carter Not In Attendance & More

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– The attendance for last night’s TNA Impact Wrestling Tapings from the Manhattan Center was 450-500 fans.

– TNA President Dixie Carter was not in attendance at Impact. She was in Los Angeles attending a Television & Critics Association event and was joined by Sgt. Chris Melendez and Mr. Anderson.

– The opening segment for Impact featuring the wrestlers brawling outside the Manhattan Center was actually taped on Tuesday night. The live show was kicked off by wrestlers brawling into the arena.

– There were a lot of production issues at Impact. No word yet on who directed the show, but it was not David Sahadi, who had been directing TNA’s shows. TNA was using the Manhattan Center’s production equipment, not their own, which was part of the reason why production did not go very smoothly. The fact that Impact aired on tape delay really worked in TNA’s favor, since they had some time to clean up the show.

– There was a lot of stalling in between segments at the taping. At one point, there was no action for about 15 minutes, with a loud “We Want Wrestling” chant breaking out.

– Tommy Dreamer was backstage at Impact working as an agent.

Del Rio Calls Out Racists In WWE Again, New 2K15 DLC Coming Next Week & More

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– Former WWE Superstar Alberto Del Rio called out the “racists in WWE” at this weekend’s WWL event from Puerto Rico, where Del Rio captured the WWL Heavyweight Championship. The comment came during a segment with heel authority figure Richard Negrin, whom Del Rio joined later in the show as part of the Gentleman’s Club stable.

– It’s believed that Triple H was the WWE executive who informed Kevin Nash that his legends contract was being suspended as a result of his assault arrest.

– 2K Games recently confirmed that the “WWE 2K15 Moves Pack” DLC will be released on January 13th. Some of the moves included are a spinning powerbomb, spike Tombstone piledriver and backslide driver.

Marcus Stephenson of 2K Games noted on Twitter that the Moves Pack was not included in the 2K Season Pass because they wanted to keep the price down for the season pass, which was already pretty high at $24.99.

– John Cena recently granted another Make-A-Wish for WWE fan Amere at the most recent RAW tapings in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Complete Details On TNA’s Programming Schedule For January On Destination America

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TNA issued the following press release today touting this month’s programming schedule on Destination America:

DESTINATION AMERICA RINGS IN 2015 WITH BRAND-NEW KNOCKOUT PREMIERES OF IMPACT WRESTLING

(Pasadena, Cal.) – Destination America is bracing for impact and entering the ring in 2015 as the new home for TNA’s (Total Nonstop Action) IMPACT WRESTLING. As announced in November, Discovery Communications and TNA Entertainment signed an exclusive broadcast deal to bring all-new U.S premieres of IMPACT WRESTLING to Destination America, the only network dedicated to all-American entertainment, celebrating the people, places and stories of the United States. IMPACT WRESTLING will follow the intense, epic matches between the world’s most-gifted and entertaining wrestlers including Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, Bobby Roode and Mr. Anderson. Bringing non-stop action and explosive entertainment to its millions of voracious fans, IMPACT WRESTLING premieres on Destination America on Friday, January 16th at 9PM ET.

“We are giving our viewers what they crave with a combination of action-packed entertainment and weekly rope operas featuring classic American characters, true underdogs fighting to achieve their dream of being the top contender in the ring.” said Marc Etkind, general manager of Destination America. “IMPACT WRESTLING goes beyond the action weaving together gritty story lines featuring heroes and villains and good versus evil showcasing these iconic American athletes battling it out to be the best.”

“We are starting the New Year with a bang on our new home, Destination America,” said TNA President Dixie Carter. “Everyone on the Destination America team is incredibly enthusiastic of our partnership and is doing a remarkable job of using the entire Discovery family of platforms to promote IMPACT WRESTLING and our two other new programs, IMPACT WRESTLING: UNLOCKED and TNA WRESTLING’S GREATEST MATCHES. Marc and his team clearly understand the unyielding appetite for captivating characters, compelling stories and quality in-ring action, and that is exactly what TNA and IMPACT WRESTLING will deliver week in and week out.”

Destination America will offer wrestling fans from coast to coast and all across America brand-new weekly premieres of IMPACT WRESTLING beginning in its regular time slot on the network on Friday nights from 9-11 PM ET starting January 16, immediately followed by an encore from 11 PM-1 AM ET. After each week’s premiere, Destination America will also debut the new series IMPACT WRESTLING: UNLOCKED airing on Saturdays from 10 AM-12 PM ET beginning January 17, offering a never-before-seen viewing experience to the fans featuring extra content and incredible behind the scenes footage from the previous week’s IMPACT WRESTLING.

Destination America also will launch the U.S. premiere of TNA Wrestling’s Greatest Matches, debutingwith a three-episode mini-marathon on Saturday, January 10 beginning at 10 AM ET, presenting the most remarkable and memorable contests of TNA’s Superstars. TNA WRESTLING’S GREATEST MATCHES will continue to premiere in its regular time slot starting January 17 on Saturdays at 12PM.

January Premiere Schedule of TNA Wrestling includes:

Saturday, January 10

10 AM ET: TNA Wrestling’s Greatest Matches: Best of Sting
11 AM ET: TNA Wrestling’s Greatest Matches: Best of Kurt Angle
12 PM ET: TNA Wrestling’s Greatest Matches: Best of Kurt Angle Part 2
Friday, January 16

9 AM ET: TNA Wrestling’s Greatest Matches: Best of Rob Van Dam
10 AM ET: TNA Wrestling’s Greatest Matches: Best of Mr. Anderson
9 PM ET: IMPACT Wrestling
Saturday, January 17

10AM ET: IMPACT Wrestling: Unlocked
12 PM ET: TNA Wrestling’s Greatest Matches: Best of Jeff Hardy
Friday, January 23

1 PM ET: TNA Wrestling’s Greatest Matches: Best of The Knockouts
9 PM ET: IMPACT Wrestling
Saturday, January 24

10AM ET: IMPACT Wrestling: Unlocked
12 PM ET: TNA Wrestling’s Greatest Matches: Best of Samoa Joe
Friday, January 30

9 PM ET: IMPACT Wrestling
Saturday, January 31

10AM ET: IMPACT Wrestling: Unlocked
12 PM ET: TNA Wrestling’s Greatest Matches: Best of Bully Ray

Dolph Ziggler lost the Intercontinental Title due to backstage problem – details ->

Daniel Bryan Wants Lesnar At WrestleMania & Talks About His Road To Recovery

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NOLA.com has published a new interview with Daniel Bryan to hype Monday’s WWE RAW from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. Once again, Bryan is calling out Brock Lesnar as his “dream opponent” and says that’s the match he’s been thinking about since he got injured last year.

Lesnar will also be at Monday’s RAW and Bryan is ready to reclaim the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

“… To me, that’s still my championship. My dream match for WrestleMania this year is if Brock Lesnar keeps the title and I win the Royal Rumble, and I wrestle Brock Lesnar in the main event of WrestleMania 31 for the WWE championship. That’s the match I want. That’s the match that I’ve been thinking about this entire time that I’ve been injured.”

Bryan was out of action for most of 2014 due to various injuries. After undergoing neck surgery in the spring, nerve damage prevented him from regaining strength in his right arm. He was on the verge of reluctantly undergoing a second surgery before discovering Dr.Greg Roskopf, founder of Muscle Activation Techniques based out of Denver, Colorado. After two sessions with Roskopf, Bryan was already seeing results.

“It was like, ‘Wow. I’m actually getting better. At the beginning of December, some parts of my right arm were even stronger than my left, which is pretty incredible given how long the nerve had been damaged.”

Bryan is still getting back into peak physical condition and has been training kickboxing and jujitsu. He also spent time at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida a few weeks ago. After working in the ring there, Bryan felt like he was ready to return to action.

“Functionally, I feel great. My movement is great. Overall, I feel good. I didn’t have any hesitation (in the ring), there was nothing that I did before that I can’t do now. Not only that, mentally I’ve been recharged. I’m going to be better than ever.”

Check out the full interview at NOLA.com.

Road Warrior Animal Addresses The Ascension’s Controversial Promo From Monday’s RAW

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After the controversy from The Ascension’s promo on Monday’s edition of WWE RAW, where the former NXT standout team took shots at past WWE tag-teams such as Demolition and more specifically, The Road Warriors, Joe Laurinaitis, who portrayed “Animal” in the Road Warriors tag-team, has posted a blog to address the situation.

Road Warrior Animal (Joe Laurinaitis) wrote the following on his official Facebook page:

“The idiots in charge make the call everyone knows how stupid it is to copy icons yet they still do it. Do it in a mocking fashion to get heat I understand do it in a disrespectful way well that’s another issue that’s low and has no place in the business.

Where does it end and I usually are just are playing when I comment but this one is a shoot I believe they should have had Me Animal find a team. For some undetected odd reason they don’t do it. They missed the boat with Ascention and they missed it when my brother John was in the ring both great times to bring me in and they missed it.

They need to go to their merchandise numbers today and see we rank up with the main roster on selling merchandise for a reason.

Oh what a rush.”

WWE RAW Viewership For The First RAW Of 2015

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The Monday, January 5th edition ovf WWE RAW, which was the first episode of the show of 2015 with The Authority’s return, averaged 3.76 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.

The 3.76 million average for Monday’s show was up from last week’s show, which was the final edition of the show of 2014, as that show drew 3.459 million viewers.

The hourly breakdown in terms of viewership for Monday’s RAW is as follows:

Hour One: 3.801 million viewers
Hour Two: 3.888 million viewers
Hour Three: 3.599 million viewers

This week’s RAW finished second overall on cable, trailing only the VH-1 reality show, “Love & Hip-Hop.”

Tyrus Talks About Leaving WWE, What He Misses In WWE, His Goals In TNA & More

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The following are highlights of a new Main Event Madness interview with TNA star Tyrus, a.ka. former WWE Superstar Brodus Clay:

On his career in 2014 and his WWE release: “You know, I think you have to go from one start off, getting fired obviouly was a blemish, a negative thing, but only being unemployed for about 15 minutes was pretty cool, so I take that as a success. Anytime you go through a change and you can continue to do what you love to do and do it on your own terms, and I’ve been able to pick and choose what I want to do and become a fan of wrestling again and realize I do what I do because I enjoy it, not necessarily for a paycheck, but get to earn a paycheck. With having the new network, with IMPACT and Destination America, it’s an awesome opportunity and it reminds me of back in the day, no one knew too much about CNN when it first started and look at what it became today, being on the forefront on something new and exciting is always a great opportunity, it’s a chance to shine and do your thing.”

On his goals for 2015 and plans for the future: “I have some goals, I’m in a PR (personal record) on my deadlift, I have some weight goals, I want to drop another 30 pounds, but it’s difficult, because with powerlifting and dieting you don’t want to lose any muscle, but I have some things I am working on. I have another movie this year and maybe some TV stuff. I set some lofty goals for myself and I think you have to. I think no matter who you are or what you do in life, you should set the bar high, that way, when you do obtain those things, you can say, I did this, but if you didn’t get it, you can look an see what you needed to do to get there.”

On what he misses from his time in the WWE: “I miss the boys, I miss the locker room jokes. TNA has a great locker room, so I’m kind of getting to know everybody, but missing guys I came up with like Heath Slater, The Big Show’s long stories, Mark Henry’s life anecdotes, TJ Wilson (Tyson Kidd) makes me die laughing, some cool handshakes and stuff like that, Tensai’s deep voice. We keep in touch as much as we can and the fan interaction. I really enjoyed the reading program WWE did and I do miss those things, I think I enjoyed it and I’m able to dictate my own schedule right now and you know, WWE is 365 days a year and when you’re in it, you don’t think about it and when you’re not in it, you think about, oh man, it’s a Wednesday night, what am I going to do with myself and now I finally get more time to work on myself.”

Check out the complete interview at MainEventMadness.com.

Total Divas Viewership, Seth Rollins’ Top Ten Favorite Songs, New Steve Austin Show

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– The Sunday, January 4th edition of WWE Total Divas drew 1.411 million viewers for the E! network this past weekend. That number marks an increase as compared to the 1.133 million viewers who tuned in for its’ last episode on October 26, 2014.

– WWE Superstar Seth Rollins recently spoke to the MTV U.K. website and revealed his top ten favorite tracks. Rollins’ list included Johnny Cash, Paramore, Killswitch Engage and PVRIS. You can check out his full list at MTV.co.uk.

– The latest edition of Steve Austin’s “Steve Austin Show” podcast is now online. On this week’s show, “Stone Cold” answers questions from fans about a number of topics related to his career. The official description for the show reads as follows:

SASu – EP184 – F You! I’m a Heel!

“Steve’s talking wrestling, and wait till you hear what he WAS gonna do IF Paul E. hadn’t called him right after Bischoff fired him from WCW! Find out which matches were the toughest to work, how he really feels about the War Games PPV, the secret to calling matches in the ring, and Steve shares an in-ring moment with Chris Benoit. Plus, Arn Anderson, favorite finishes, and in-ring attire!”

You can download the show right now at PodcastOne.com.

Dixie Carter On Bully Ray’s TNA Status, Plans For TNA PPVs, Kurt Angle & More

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The following are highlights of a new Ring Rust Radio interview with TNA President Dixie Carter:

On the transition to Destination America: “Well I think it is critical for the company. We were in a position where in negotiations I went to every network saying, ‘Look, we are not interested in just licensing our two hour show Impact for your network. I am interested in a partner, someone who will help build our brand, give us more exposure, provide new programming for us’, and that’s exactly what we have gotten and more with the support of Discovery and Destination America. We are very, very excited about all that they are giving us across all ten Discovery networks; support, print advertising, PR, radio, digital. It is everything we had hoped it would be.”

On re-signing Kurt Angle: “Well, I think Kurt was a game changer for us when we first signed him. I think it is important at such a new beginning for us to still have him as a corner stone for our company. Kurt looks at all the positive changes that are happening. Our signing with Destination America out in Los Angeles, the new network deal, the commitment from them, he sees the big picture and he gets it. He is a joy to work with and a real leader for us. We are thrilled to have him.”

On the atmosphere in TNA: “Unfortunately, I’m not even going to see what the atmosphere is like Wednesday. I will be in Los Angeles while they are going live in New York. I am representing Discovery and Destination America at the Television and Critics Association. Again, that’s just part of what they are asking us to do. Ken Anderson, Chris Melendez and I will be there. We will be representing our show and network in front of hundreds of media representatives. Just the whole vibe from the locker room, everyone was so supportive. They realize that this is what we have all been wanting and hoping for. This is going to be a great fresh start for us.”

On rebooting storylines or sticking with past storylines: “I think it’s a little bit of both quite honestly. The momentum we had in New York for those shows this past year we want to continue that on and kick it up a notch. We got some surprises planned and we’ve got some changes planned. You won’t see it as much at the live shows but there’s only so much you can do with a live television production. The shows afterwards you are going to start to see a transformation of some new technologies that we are going to use. From new productions and some new and exciting ways in which we want to showcase the show. Things we have talked about for a long time, but quite honestly, technology wasn’t where we needed it to be to fit in to how we have to shoot a wrestling show. I am really, really excited for things to start taking shape in the coming weeks.”

On TNA pay-per-view plans: “We will still have several live ones a year, but when we have them they will mean something and be worth people’s hard earned money. I think that the creative team really wanted to start the year off with a bang and something special on the network. So we decided to take the Lockdown theme live and free on Destination America. I was supportive of that and we will have a couple of live pay-per-views a year and then we will still do some of the One Night Only specials that have been really successful for us.”

Chris Benoit Mentioned On WWE Network Show, Total Divas Preview Clip With The Bella Twins

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– During this week’s episode of the Monday Night War looking back at the fall of WCW, Chris Benoit was mentioned by name. While footage featuring the late wrestler is featured in its original form on the WWE Network, this may be the first time where he was mentioned by name on an original program.

The subject of Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn defecting to WWE in 2000 was addressed and a clip of the group debuting on the January 31, 2000 episode of Raw was shown with audio of Jim Ross mentioning all four by name. The accompanying clips, however, were focused on Guerrero, Malenko and Saturn.

Vince McMahon has said in the past that he is okay with acknowledging Benoit within a historical context, but not in a promotional manner.

“It’s not right to pretend he didn’t exist,” McMahon said in a 2009 interview with WWE Magazine when asked whether Benoit’s history can be acknowledged by the company. “It’s one thing to include him as part of a historical perspective, which I believe is okay, and it’s another thing to promote him, which is not okay.

“The situation is very similar to that of O.J. Simpson—despite his controversy, O.J. was still a part of the NFL scene. You can’t deny that he existed.”

– Here is a preview clip of this Sunday’s episode of Total Divas as Nikki and Brie Bella bring their personal issues to work when they get into an argument backstage.

Dolph Ziggler lost the Intercontinental Title due to backstage problem – details ->

Edge Talks About His Recent Appearance On RAW

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WWE Hall of Famer Edge was the first guest on Taz’s new Human Podcast Machine podcast, which you can listen to at Play.it. During their conversation, Edge talked about his recent RAW angle with Seth Rollins and John Cena.

Edge said he thinks his character should only appear on WWE television once every year or so and when he does appear, he wants to help elevate younger talent. Edge said the idea was pitched for Rollins to tease breaking his neck and he thought it was a great way to get heat for Rollins.

Edge admitted he thinks the segment went too long and he didn’t think being held down by the Big Show came off well on TV.

Tripe H to Be Inducted Into The 2015 International Sports Hall of Fame

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WWE sent out the following press release on Thursday:

PAUL “TRIPLE H®” LEVESQUE TO BE INDUCTED INTO 2015 INTERNATIONAL SPORTS HALL OF FAME

STAMFORD, CONN., January 8, 2015 – Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE® Executive Vice President, Talent, Live Events & Creative and 13-time World Champion in WWE, will be inducted into the 2015 International Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday, March 7, 2015 at the Arnold Schwarzenegger Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio.

Levesque will join the class of 2015, which includes 5-time world boxing champion Evander Holyfield, 8-time Ms. Olympia bodybuilding champion Lenda Murray, martial artist and world renowned movie star Michael Jai White, 11-time world kickboxing champion Don Wilson and world powerlifting champion Ed Coan.

“We are excited for Paul “Triple H” Levesque to headline the International Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2015 for his accomplishments both in and out of the WWE ring,” said Dr. Bob Goldman, Founder, ISHOF. “In addition to being inducted as one of the greatest WWE Superstars of all time, Paul will be recognized for the work he has done as a WWE executive, becoming the first executive inducted into the Hall of Fame.”

“It is an honor to join some of the world’s greatest athletes and be inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame,” said Levesque. “These men and women have reached the pinnacle of their sport or athlete endeavor, and I am humbled to join them on stage at the Arnold Schwarzenegger Sports Festival.”

The International Sports Hall of Fame is a non-profit foundation established to honor world-class athletes and is part of the Arnold Schwarzenegger Sports Festival, the world’s largest annual sports weekend, hosting 150,000 attendees and more than 18,000 competing athletes.

Members of the International Sports Hall of Fame include Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, WWE Legend and Hall of Famer Bruno Sammartino, two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin and NBA Hall of Famer Earl Monroe.

Impact News: New TNA Champion, Kong Returns, Angle Wrestles

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Last night, TNA hit the “reset” button once again and presented the first edition of Impact Wrestling on Destination America. The show was certainly eventful, with multiple title changes, multiple heel turns, a wild brawl to start the show, head shavings and more. Here are the main news items coming out of the show:

– In the main event, Bobby Lashley recaptured the TNA World Heavyweight Championship from Bobby Roode. The title change came after Roode was betrayed by his longtime friend Eric Young. Also during the match, MVP formed a new stable with heel turns by Samoa Joe and Low Ki.

– Kurt Angle announced he was leaving his position as the TNA authority figure and wrestled MVP in a street fight.

– Former TNA Knockout Kong returned for the first time in almost 5 years and went face to face with Havoc.

– Austin Aries captured the X Division championship from Low Ki.

Comment below and tell us what you thought about this new era of Impact Wrestling.

Awesome Kong Returns On TNA Impact Wrestling

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Former TNA Knockout Awesome Kong made a surprise return on Wednesday’s Impact Wrestling premiere on Destination America.

After the Knockouts Battle Royal, Havoc attacked Knockouts champion Taryn Terrell. The lights went out and when the turned back on, Havoc and Kong were face to face in what the announcers called a “fantasy booker’s dream.” A loud “holy shit” chant broke out.

Referees separated the women, but Kong delivered a choke slam to one of the refs and soaked up the cheers.

Kong is back in TNA for the first time in nearly 5 years, last appearing for the promotion back in March 2010. She was under contract with WWE from 2010-2012 and wrestled back in September for the Shine promotion.

Possible Spoiler: Former WWE & TNA Star Backstage At Tonight’s Impact Wrestling

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Former TNA Knockouts Champion Awesome Kong is backstage at the TNA Impact Wrestling taping at the Manhattan Center in New York City tonight. There is no word yet as to whether or not Kong is returning, or if she’s simply visiting friends at the show.

If Kong were to return to TNA, it would be a bit of a surprise, as she has stated in interviews that she would likely never return to the company.

Below is an excerpt from an interview Kong did in November of last year:

“WWE, everybody dreams to go there. They say they don’t, they’re a liar and they’re in denial. TNA, I don’t know if you’ll ever see me there again. Though I appreciate what I did in TNA, I think I’m past that now.”

(Credit: PWInsider.com)

Backstage Talk On Roman Reigns’ Promos, Recent WWE Attendance Figures

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– There is said to be a lot of talk within WWE about the way Roman Reigns’ promos have been scripted as of late. Many are under the impression that Reigns’ promos have put him in “quicksand” and aren’t helping him reach the next level at all.

– The WWE live event in Hidalgo, Texas on Sunday, January 4th drew approximately 6,000 fans. The WWE RAW show this past Monday night in Corpus Christi, Texas was a sellout, with around 7,000 fans in attendance.

(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

Update On Possibility Of Alberto Del Rio Making TNA Debut On Tonight’s Impact Wrestling

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As noted, TNA officials badly want Alberto Del Rio (aka Alberto El Patron) to debut with them on their live edition of Impact Wrestling, which airs tonight on Destination America. It appears that it’s pretty unlikely that it is going to happen, because as of two days ago, the two sides weren’t even close to reaching a deal.

Del Rio signing with TNA at any point down the road may even be a long shot, likely due to the fact that he’s receiving so many offers right now, many of which would conflict with TNA.

Additionally, those close to Del Rio have advised him that TNA is nothing more than a sinking ship and does nothing but hurt the careers of talents who work there.

(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

Another Possible WWE HOF Inductee, More On Naomi Being Taken Off Total Divas

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– Pat Patterson is reportedly pushing for his former tag-team partner, “The Crippler” Ray Stevens to be inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame this year, particularly because of the fact that it is located in Northern California, where Stevens was a major star during the territory days.

– One of the reasons WWE Diva Naomi was taken off of the cast of Total Divas this season is because of the belief that the show can only have so many storylines centered around married couples having issues. The decision was made to take her off of the show in favor of two single women, Paige and Alicia Fox.

(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

Update On Plans For NXT Involvement At WrestleMania Weekend, NXT Diva On “The Bachelor”

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– Despite the fact that Triple H was reportedly down on the idea of doing a NXT show during WrestleMania weekend this year, there are in fact plans to have NXT matches during the weekend, likely as part of WrestleMania Fan Axxess.

– NXT Diva Devin Taylor was on the season opener of the popular reality television show “The Bachelor” on January 4th as a contestant under her real name — Brittany Fetkin. On the show, Fetkin was referred to as a “WWE Diva in training.” She ended up being eliminated from the show pretty early on in the season.

(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

Randy Orton Undergoes Surgery This Week?, Update On Plans For His Return

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As things stand right now, Randy Orton is scheduled to make his in-ring return at the WWE live event on January 17th in Abilene, Texas.

If Orton does return on the 1/17 date in Abilene, it is likely that he underwent the operation for his deviated septum this past week, since he was supposed to be out for just a few short weeks after surgery.

It’s said that WWE timed Orton’s operation so that he would have time to recover and be able to return in time for the Royal Rumble pay-per-view on January 25th.

(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

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