– Below is the latest edition of the “JBL (Not Cole) Show.”
– WWE issued a survey earlier this week asking fans which sports they like to watch. Included in the survey as an option is “Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling (TNA),” which is listed as the final choice in the survey. Below is a photo copy of the survey.
– In addition to former WWE Diva Maria Kanellis, WWE gave out two other $5,000 education scholarships to former talent. One was for Michael Thompson, a guy who left WWE on his own to join the military. The other went to former WWE Superstar Paul Burchill.
– The latest edition of WWE Top 10, which you can watch below, features the ten biggest power struggles in history.
– mun2, which airs RAW and SmackDown replays in the Spanish language market, will be given a name change to NBC Universo on February 1st, kicking off with the Super Bowl.
– The folks at Bleacher Report ran a feature on Kamala. WWE didn’t approve of anyone doing an interview for the piece, but that’s not unusual. The website was reportedly looking for one minute of footage to go with the story, which WWE charged $12,000 for. When Bleacher passed, WWE reconsidered on November 3rd and gave them a new price for one minute of footage — free.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
– It looks like WWE has dropped the “We’re here” part of the ring entrance for Bray Wyatt.
– The Big Show vs. Randy Orton match scheduled for WWE’s return to Madison Square Garden on December 26th has been changed to Big Show vs. Mark Henry. Also scheduled for the 12/26 MSG live event is Rusev vs. Sheamus for the WWE United States Championship and John Cena vs. Seth Rollins as the main event.
– Another name who was at the most recent WWE tryout camp was Mark Ptasnik, who is Midwest independent wrestler Mark Sterling. He was recommended by Gerald Brisco. The negative on Ptasnik is that he is already 35 years old, which is expected to hurt his chances of getting a deal.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
– Morgan Stanley purchased 1,676,799 shares of WWE stock earlier this week at a cost of $20,708,467.
– Below is the latest edition of Eden’s weekly video blog, which emanates from Ireland, the first stop on WWE’s European tour.
– WWE Hall Of Famer Shawn Michaels is the official spokesperson for “Smokey Mountain Chew, Inc.,” a brand of herbal chewing tobacco. A press release from Smokey Mountain Chew states –
“Having already been using Smokey Mountain Wintergreen Herbal Snuff, the Smokey Mountain and Shawn Michaels’ partnership is a natural fit. With a lifestyle dedicated to health and fitness, Michaels found Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff to be a great tobacco-free and nicotine free alternative to smokeless tobacco.
‘Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff has been a great product that I’ve incorporated into my life,” Michaels said. “As someone who has spent their life and career dedicated to staying healthy, as well as being cognizant of what I put in my body, Smokey Mountain fits into that category perfectly.’
– Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s new show “Wake Up Call” is scheduled to premiere on TNT on December 12th. The show is hosted and produced by The Rock and features him encouraging people to turn their lives around. While it is a reality show, there are no cash prizes and no one gets “voted off,” instead, Rock simply helps people who are down on their luck and need encouragement. The show will air every Friday night at 9pm.
– WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar is scheduled to appear on the December 29th edition of WWE RAW in Washington, D.C. That will be one of the first shows that builds to the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view on January 25th, so it’s believed that his match for the Rumble will be made official on that RAW show.
– WWE Hall Of Famer Ric Flair has a small role in the new film, “Magic Mike XXL,” which also features former WWE Superstar Kevin Nash.
This past week, Flair also finished filming a fitness video with Dennis Rodman that we reported about a while back.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
– Flex Magazine has an article up covering the free month of the WWE Network that is being offered for the month of November. You can check that out at FlexOnline.com.
– Speaking of the WWE Network, below is a photo of WWE hiding the Network logo on the ring apron during the current WWE European tour.
Vince Russo sent along the following editorial from his official website, PyroAndBallyhoo.com:
In preparation for my interview with RD Reynolds, the co-author of the book, “The Death of WCW”, I went over the ratings of the shows I was actually involved in writing during my short tenure at WCW. Going into tomorrow’s discussion with RD, I just wanted to assure that we had the facts to look at, as it pertained to my true performance at WCW.
The numbers are posted on-line for anybody to take a look at. You can crunch them just like I did in order to get a true picture of what the numbers were during my time at WCW.
9/20/99-10/11/99 (4 SHOWS) AVERAGE RATING 2.9
These were the four shows prior–a month’s worth–to Ed Ferrara and myself joining WCW.
10/18/99-1/10/00 (13 Shows) AVERAGE RATING 3.2
During this time, Ed and I were concentrating on breaking down the old foundation that was in place, and building a new one as we saw fit. Let me also note here, that of the first 13 shows that Ed and I wrote, 11 of them were 3-hour shows. If you want to compare apples to apples–take away the two two-hour shows that Ed and I wrote and our average is still a 3.2 over the 11 three-hour shows. My last show on 1/10/00 drew a 3.4–our highest rating to date.
1/17/00-4/3/00 (12 SHOWS) AVERAGE RATING 2.7
This is the period in which I went home, and Kevin Sullivan and his creative team took over the writing of the show. As you can clearly see, the average WCW rating went down even further below the starting point at which Ed and I started. Note: all of these shows are now at two hours.
EDITORIAL: It was during that 12 week period, that I felt WCW truly lost its audience, and it was going to be a difficult struggle and battle, to ever win them back. That is MY OPINION.
4/10/00-7/3/00 (13 SHOWS) AVERAGE RATING 2.8
These were the first 13 shows that Eric and I did together, with many of them being written with us not on the same page. NOBODY KNOWS THIS STORY, because I never told it before, but things got so dysfunctional between Eric and I, that Brad Siegel, the President of both TBS/TNT at the time, called an emergency meeting between the three of us to try to straighten out our issues. This meeting took place THE WEEK PRIOR TO BASH AT THE BEACH
7/10/00-8/21/00 (7 SHOWS) AVERAGE RATING 2.5
After the combination of our meeting with Brad Siegel and Bash at the Beach, Eric was not much involved with creative from that point on. Here, once again, I tried to break down the things I didn’t like that Eric and I had worked on, in order to once again try to rebuild.
8/28/00-10/2/00 (6 SHOWS) AVERAGE RATING 3.1
These were the last 6 shows I ever wrote for WCW.
10/9/00-3/26/00 (23 SHOWS–PRE-EMPTED TWICE) 2.3
The last 23 shows of Nitro that I was not a part of.
Those are the true numbers, and the only REAL FACTS that are on record as it pertains to my failure/success at WCW.
Did I kill WCW?
That all depends solely on whether you chose to analyze the facts, or strictly go off opinion.
The following are highlights of a recent Jim Ross website Q&A update:
On the crowd reaction to Hulk Hogan vs. The Rock at WrestleMania X8: “WM18 was uniquely booked but Rock and Hogan should have closed the show in hindsight but no one predicted how the crowd was going to go crazy for the match much less embrace Hulk as they did.”
On how WWE should plan for Daniel Bryan’s return: “This email is a little long but I don’t know how one can plan for any thing with Daniel Bryan until he’s healed from his surgery and re-introduced into the mix in an intelligent manner.”
On issues between Rey Mysterio and WWE: “I am not a party to their grievances nor do I care to engage in them. I know little about their issues but always enjoyed working with both men. I signed Rey to WWE years ago and have always had a good relationship with him. I plan to have ADR on my podcast soon.”
On Curtis Axel: “Don’t know where WWE is with Curtis but he needs to show more personality and more physicality.”
On Cruiserweights returning to WWE: “I think that the ship has sailed for cruiserweights to return to WWE. Then again, I might be wrong but I don’t think so.”
Check out more Jim Ross Q&A at his website, JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
Courtesy of the official WWE YouTube channel, below are the “SmackDown Fallout” and “Top 10 WWE SmackDown Moments” videos for this week:
Despite the fact that he turned heel on “The Bunny” at WWE SmackDown on Friday, Adam Rose is currently working as a babyface and still has The Bunny in his entourage on the current WWE tour of Europe.
It’s also worth mentioning that Olympic weight-lifter and personal trainer Claire McGlynn worked as one of Rose’s “Rosebuds” at the WWE live events this week in Belfast and Dublin.
WWE released the trailer for the new WWE Studios film “Queens of the Ring,” which features cameo appearances from CM Punk, The Miz and Eve Torres. It’s worth mentioning that while Punk’s name is still included on the DVD cover, WWE did not list his name in the description of the video they posted on their official YouTube channel.
WWE posted the following description with the video trailer, which you can view above.
“In a desperate attempt to reconnect with her estranged son who is a passionate WWE fan, Rose grabs his attention by joining a rigorous training program to learn to wrestle like a legitimate WWE Diva. She convinces her bored fellow cashiers at the local supermarket to join her challenging new adventure and together they become the “Queens of the Ring”. Featuring cameos by The Miz and Eve Torres.”
WWE Superstar Zack Ryder posted the following tweet on his official Twitter account earlier today, prompting certain websites to jump to conclusions and speculate about what it means.
Sorry to my European Zack Pack…won't be making the tour this year…I'll let you know why in a few days when I have definite news.
— Zack Ryder (@ZackRyder) November 8, 2014
A few hours later, he tweeted this one, revealing that he was referring to an injury he suffered that may require surgery.
The Internet people love to twist words to make a story…here's the deal…I tore my rotator cuff…MMMAAAYYY need surgery…relax
— Zack Ryder (@ZackRyder) November 8, 2014
PHOTOS: Ronda Rousey SHOWS ALL (…and I mean *ALL*) In BRAND NEW Photo Shoot!
The following are highlights of a new U.K. Independent interview with Sheamus:
Returning home: “It’s always great to come home, it really is. It just kind of resets me every time I come home and reminds me how it started and how far I’ve come, and it’s kind of like the same thing where you’re so busy that you sort of get lost in the day-to-day stuff but you come home and it really puts everything into perspective.”
“This is where I started, I started in the UK and in Ireland wrestling, did my first couple of tryouts here a couple of years ago, well actually more than a couple of years ago back in 2005, 2006 and 2007 so yeah, it’s very special for me.”
Wanting a rematch against United States Champion Rusev: “I obviously want a rematch. I want to prove I can beat Rusev. That’s important, we went back and forth the other night – it was a long night – but it was cool the way it was on the network. It was like the first of its kind, to broadcast that match on the network and it shows how powerful the network can be with so much opportunity and options that the WWE can put any match on there, anytime, anywhere, exclusively for the fans that subscribe to the network.”
Possibly being in a UK WrestleMania main event: “That’d be fantastic. At Wembley, the Aviva Stadium or even Croke Park in Dublin, that would be amazing. I’d love nothing more, but I’ve got to get some more momentum first. I just lost the US Championship so I’ve got to get some momentum behind me, get everything back into perspective and I think I’ve got to come a little bit more ruthless and selfish to go out there and put Sheamus back where he belongs, back in the main event.”
Check out the complete interview at Independent.co.uk.
Regarding the “ECW Exposed” special that will air on the WWE Network following Monday’s edition of RAW as part of the “ECW Week” theme, the show is reportedly going to feature video profiles designed to educate new viewers about the history of ECW.
The show is also scheduled to feature Joey Styles and Paul Heyman sharing backstage stories that long-time fans of the brand will reportedly find interesting.
(Credit: PWInsider.com)
WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley posted the following on his official Facebook page today:
FOLEY FOR GM?
When asked a few months ago on social media how I would feel about another run as a WWE General Manager, I said. “I don’t think I will be asked, and would turn down the offer if I was.”
Well, after my appearance on WWE Monday Night Raw a few weeks ago, I’ve kind of changed my tune. That appearance energized me, and made me feel like I just might have something to offer #WWE on a more regular basis.
I think there is a chance I’ll be asked about becoming GM within the next year – and if asked… I think I’d do it.
The following are highlights of the latest Jim Ross blog:
On the upcoming New Japan/Global Force pay-per-view: “I read where the New Japan Pro Wrestling PPV promoted by Jeff Jarrett’s new Global Force Wrestling company will be a FOUR HOUR EVENT and available on all major, PPV platforms from the Tokyo Dome. The event is set to run live in Tokyo from 4-8 pm on Saturday January 4 but don’t ask me what time that is in the USA. I will be buying the PPV and DVR’ing it for viewing at a more opportune time and without reading the “Jardine’s.” I’m not even sure that reading the “Jardines’s” aka the Spoilers would affect me wanting to watch the show.”
On Daniel Bryan: “If Daniel Bryan is being used to promote WM31 locally in Santa Clara why wasn’t his interaction with the world champion San Francisco Giants used on WWE or was it and I missed it? Great footage of exciting folks doing the ‘YES’ chant.”
On Lucha Underground: “Happy to see Ivelisse on Lucha Underground as she was one of my favorites in FCW in Ta,pa back in the day while training for a WWE career. Tough, physical woman of which there are too few of in today’s mat game. I wish her the best. I’m not sure what happened to hasten her departure from WWE but it likely had something to do with poor communication. She’s got talent that’s for sure.
Even though I am pulling for Luca Underground to be a rousing success, I am still not a fan of intergender wrestling. Mixed tag bouts are a different ball game but the intergender stuff is too much of a stretch of one’s imagination unless every female is a true, badass like my favorite MMA star @RondaRousey.”
On SmackDown changing nights: “WWE moving to Thursdays on SyFy in January isn’t a surprise and I’d go so far as to predict that move will also see a new announce team introduced as well. Michael Cole and JBL, while both doing a fine job, are overexposed and that fact really stands out when the PPV events sound just like Monday Night RAW. Taking Cole and JBL off Smackdown will make them more special and make the PPV’s sound fresher in my opinion.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
– On this week’s WWE SmackDown (which has already aired in the UK), WWE will announce John Cena vs. Ryback has been scheduled for Monday’s RAW from Liverpool, England. With Ryback’s renewed push, it will be very interesting to see how he’s booked against WWE’s top babyface. Ryback is rumored to be a member of Team Cena at Survivor Series, so this match could be a way to set that up.
– WWE has launched a new online series hosted by The Miz, “The Miz’s School of Performance.”
In this first lesson, The Miz demonstrates “The Mirror Technique” with Damien Mizdow.
WGN issued the following press release today regarding the addition of “Wrestling with Death” reality show …
Building on the bold expansion of its original programming slate, WGN America has ordered to production its first two unscripted series, the docudrama “Outlaw Country,” executive-produced by Bischoff Hervey Entertainment’s Eric Bischoff and Jason Hervey (“The Devils Ride”), and the docuseries “Wrestling with Death,” executive-produced by Leftfield Pictures’ Brent Montgomery and David George (“Pawn Stars”). Kicking off the new year with thirteen weeks of unscripted original programming, “Wrestling with Death” is set to premiere Tuesday, January 13 (10:00 p.m. ET / 9:00 p.m. CT), followed by “Outlaw Country” on Tuesday, February 24 (10:00 p.m. ET/ 9:00 p.m. CT).
Set in the town of Buckner, Missouri, “Outlaw Country” chronicles the perennial battle between law enforcement and crime by following Steve and Mike Cook, brothers who act as Sheriff and head of the Buckner Criminal Task Force, respectively, as they clash with John and Josh Monk, brothers they suspect are responsible for the town’s surge in crime. In this one hour docudrama, producers were given full access to both the police force and the Monk Brothers’ camp, providing an unprecedented look at crime in a small town from both sides of the law. “Outlaw Country” is executive-produced by Eric Bischoff and Jason Hervey for Bischoff Hervey Entertainment (“The Devils Ride,” “Hardcore Pawn: Chicago”), alongside Robert Kaprill and Peter Karlin. WGN America has ordered seven one-hour episodes to premiere Tuesday, February 24, 2015 (10:00 p.m. ET / 9:00 p.m. CT).
Executive producers Leftfield Pictures (“Pawn Stars,” “American Restoration,” “Counting Cars”) presents “Wrestling with Death,” a unique family docuseries that introduces The Lathams of Osceola, Arkansas: morticians by day who run The Wilson Funeral Home, and professional wrestlers by night who run The Mid-Southern Championship Wrestling League. “Wrestling with Death” is executive-produced by Brent Montgomery, David George, Alex Weresow and Jordana Hochman, alongside Bill Katz and Michelle Katz for Espiritus Productions. Bill Duncan and David Duncan serve as consulting producers. Twelve weekly back-to-back half-hour episodes have been ordered to premiere Tuesday, January 13, 2015 (10:00 p.m. ET/ 9:00 p.m. CT).
WGN America launched its strategy of delivering distinctive, original scripted and unscripted content last year. “Outlaw Country” and “Wrestling with Death” join a growing stable of destination programming on WGN America, which includes the second season premiere of its hit supernatural series “Salem” in April 2015, along with the second season of its critically acclaimed original drama “Manhattan” and exclusive syndicated series “Person of Interest” and “Elementary,” all scheduled to premiere in 2015. The network also recently announced a straight-to series order for the scripted drama “Outsiders” (formerly “Titans”).
Follow “Outlaw Country” and “Wrestling with Death” on Twitter @OutlawWGNA and @WrestlingWGNA. “Like” the series on Facebook at Facebook.com/WrestlingWithDeathWGNA and Facebook.com/OutlawCountryWGNA, and join the discussion with #OutlawCountry and #WrestleInPeace.
The Brock Lesnar situation with WWE continues to become an interesting story as his contract gets closer to winding down. There is a lot of talk that Lesnar’s price tag might not be enough to justify using him for shows outside of WWE Royal Rumble and WrestleMania.
The WWE Battleground event in July did 31,000 buys on pay-per-view in North America without Lesnar on the show. By comparison, the WWE Night of Champions show in September did 30,000 buys in North America with a Lesnar vs. John Cena main event. Additionally, the worldwide numbers in recent months for shows without Lesnar actually sold more than those with him as part of the card.
The key factor with Lesnar is his price tag. The original plan, which could still be in the works, is for Lesnar to finally lose at WrestleMania 31 to Roman Reigns, making Reigns’ the new face of the company. Part of the issue with that is the concern that it won’t be as meaningful if everyone knows it’s Lesnar’s final match.
There was an expectation at one point in time that WWE would sign Lesnar to a new deal and possibly give him a big babyface run. While it could still happen, it really seems to boil down to whether or not WWE considers his price tag something that’s worth it financially in the end.
As far as Lesnar’s next match, the plan was for him to beat John Cena in January so that the win by Reigns at WrestleMania would look even more impressive. However, if WWE decides that they can’t afford to re-sign Lesnar, then the plans for the Lesnar-Cena match could be changed. The alternative as things stand now would appear to be Cena beating Lesnar, setting up a Cena vs. Reigns match at WrestleMania, which Reigns would win. They could also put the title on Seth Rollins and have Reigns beat him at WrestleMania, however the feeling is that wouldn’t be as meaningful as Reigns beating Lesnar or Cena.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
– As of this week, out of the 11,000 tickets available for purchase for the upcoming WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view, 4,000 tickets were unsold. WWE is now selling family packs of four tickets for the price of three, which is unusual for a pay-per-view event.
– It’s worth mentioning that WWE listed NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte as “Charlotte Flair” in the advertising for the upcoming WrestleMania 31 On-Sale Party. Up until now, WWE has just been using the Charlotte name. There has been a lot of speculation that Charlotte will be getting called up to the main roster after the next NXT live special on the WWE Network in December.
(Partial Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
– Dolph Ziggler and WWE doctor Chris Amann are the guests on the latest edition of Chris Jericho’s “Talk Is Jericho” podcast. Both part one and part two of the interview is available right now at PodcastOne.com.
– Below is a new video from the official WWE YouTube channel, which features Sgt. Dan Rose. As noted, the inspirational figure will make an appearance on tonight’s edition of WWE SmackDown.
– NXT star Solomon Crowe cut a promo at the NXT live event on Thursday night in Lakeland, Florida and mentioned that he’s “finally coming soon.” Crowe’s television debut is one of the most anticipated among NXT fans, as he’s already developed somewhat of a cult-like following.
– Joey Styles mentioned on social media that Rey Mysterio, Shane Douglas, Chris Jericho, Psicosis and 2 Cold Scorpio are among those who will be featured on the “ECW Exposed” special that is scheduled to air on the WWE Network after this coming Monday night’s edition of RAW.