The following is a video of WWE announcer Michael Cole doing the commentary for a recent “Reality of Wrestling” event.
Part One
Part Two
Video: Maria Shoots On Her Time In WWE, ROH & More
Former WWE Diva Maria Kanellis is featured in an interview on the latest edition of the U.K.-based “WrestleTalk TV” show. The video, which you can view below, is accompanied by the following description:
In this special festive edition of Wrestle Talk TV we present to you more action than a Vince Russo stipulation match! We sit down with Maria Kanellis who discusses why ROH is different from the competition, her time with WWE and who is and isn’t invited to her Bachelorette Party! The panel talk us through what presents they would give to the wrestling roster and why and The SuperFan is back! Taking on his most difficult challenge to date: The one and only Joel Ross!!! Fists may fly!
Hosted by Joel Ross, along with the Daily Star’s Patrick Lennon and Francesca Wood, past guests have included Hulk Hogan, Mick Foley, Jim Ross, Chris Jericho, Edge, Dave “Fit” Finlay, Colt Cabana and many more.”
http://youtu.be/dvJvr3L41ng
Madison Rayne Live Q&A Tonight, Latest IMPACT Podcast With Magnus
– TNA Knockout Madison Rayne will be doing the ImpactWrestling.com “second screen experience” for Thursday’s edition of Impact Wrestling on Spike TV. Rayne will be holding a live Q&A with fans during the television broadcast.
– TNA has posted the latest IMPACT Podcast, which was recorded live in London and featured World Heavyweight Champion Magnus, as well as Rockstar Spud. You can check it out below:
http://youtu.be/pTexiZYulAk
Update On Richards & Edwards’ WWE Status, TNA Trying To Sign Them?
Apparently the WWE tryout of Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards was not at first intended to lead to a deal for them with the company. The idea was that they worked the first week in NXT and if the company liked them, they would be brought to Orlando to work at the Performance Center and some NXT shows for the first few months of 2014. If everything at that point went accordingly, then that would have led to a deal for the two.
As of right now, there is still no real word on whether or not Richards and Edwards will be coming back to WWE after the first of the year, but it is apparently expected.
Additionally, there is some talk that TNA is either getting ready, or may already have, made a play themselves to get Richards and Edwards to join their company.
[Credit: PWInsider.com]
Backstage News On WWE Diva JoJo Being On Thin Ice In The Company
There are some rumors that WWE Diva JoJo Offerman is on thin ice with the company right now.
The fact that WWE has kept her off of multiple recent television tapings mixed with the fact that she was barely acknowledged during the second-half of season one of Total Divas is seen as a bad sign for her future with the company.
JoJo has, however, been in attendance at some of the recent NXT events.
[Credit: F4WOnline.com]
Former WWE Talent Says Her Father Is Missing, Kelly Kelly Heading To Canada, Latest WWE En Espanol
– Former WWE developmental talent Ivelisse Vélez says her father is missing after last being seen in Chicago, Illinois.
She wrote on Facebook Christmas Day with a photo enclosed, “ATTENTION EVERYONE. MY FATHER LUIS VELEZ HAS BEEN MISSING FOR THREE DAYS. HE WAS LAST SEEN IN THE CHICAGO AREA OF ASBURY PLAZA. PLEASE SHARE AND REPOST THIS TO TRY TO FIND HIM. IF ANYONE SEES HIM PLEASE CONTACT THE FOLLOWING NUMBERS: 773.286.3749 or 773.733.6927! PLEASE ;(.”
– According to The I.P.A. Network, the former Kelly Kelly, Barbie Blank, will be appearing at the Niagara Falls Comic Con taking place June 6-8, 2014 at the Scotiabank Convention Center in
Ontario, Canada. Ric Flair, Demolition, Brian Blair and Jim Brunzell will also be on hand for the event.
– The latest edition of WWE en Espanol, with Carlos Cabrera and Marcelo Rodríguez discussing last week’s WWE events, is now online.
Latest Backstage Update On AJ Styles Returning To TNA
Following around round of negotiations, AJ Styles is expected to return to TNA in the near future. As noted previously, Styles was seeking somewhere in the neighborhood of $350,000 per year, and while at first TNA refused to match that request, they have apparently given Styles what he is requesting in order to return to the company.
Bill Behrens, the agent for Styles, recently reached out to independent pro wrestling promoters and informed them that the talks between Styles and TNA were moving along, so if they wanted to book him for a show, they needed to get their deposits in soon.
[Credit: PWInsider.com]
Maven Huffman’s WWE Contract Being Auctioned Off, Konnan Takes Shot At Ex-Tag Team Partner R-Truth
– A photocopy of Maven Huffman’s contract with WWE is currently being auctioned off on eBay.
Following Huffman’s 2005 departure from WWE, the contract, as well as the trophy he was awarded for winning Tough Enough in 2001 and other WWE items, wound up in a storage unit in Virginia (his home state). Huffman, however, stopped paying the bill, and the storage unit and its contents were sold to a man for $100. The man reached out to Huffman to return his possessions, but heard nothing back. He then turned to eBay and sold some of the possessions, including the original contract and the trophy (the trophy sold for $600).
To view the auction, click here.
As far as Huffman’s whereabouts are concerned, mixed martial arts journalist and wrestling fan Ariel Helwani revealed in September via Twitter that he was working at a sports bar in New York City.
– Konnan is apparently no longer on good terms with R-Truth, who he teamed with in TNA Wrestling as members of 3Live Kru.
Earlier this week on Twitter, a wrestling fan who is father, made note of his toddler son selecting a Mattel R-Truth action figure for Christmas. Konnan responded to the fan with the following: “He has bad taste..#AhCmonNow.”
The former WCW United States Champion also continues to slam Curtis Axel on the social media platform. In response to a user writing “[Curtis Axel’s Twitter handle] > [Konnan’s Twitter handle],” he wrote, “Are u referring to da guy dat went from IC champ to teaming w/Ryback 2 now doing jobs for SinCara2.0?..#Awesome.”
Update On Jeff Jarrett’s TNA Resignation, His Future Plans & More
The reason Jeff Jarrett is keeping quiet about his TNA departure is due in part to the fact that he signed a non-disclosure.
As far as Jarrett’s future is concerned, there was some rumblings a few months ago that he was going to get involved with some sort of roller derby project. Outside of a lot of speculation, there is no official word on what Jarrett’s future holds.
[Credit: F4WOnline.com]
Roman Reigns Talks About His Career Highlight So Far, What’s In Store For 2014
Roman Reigns recently spoke to The Norfolk Navy Flagship to promote WWE’s Tribute to the Troops. Here are the highlights of what he said:
If His Family Members (The Rock, Afa and Sika of the Wild Samoans, Rikishi) Influenced His Wrestling Style:
“My natural movement, it’s hereditary I’ll say. We all are able to move and do pretty athletic things. My family is the majority of the influence, but going down to FCW (Florida Championship Wrestling, now NXT – WWE’s developmental program) and wrestling all of those guys down there – Dr. Tom Prichard, Joey Mercury, Bill Demott, Norman Smiley, Steve Keirn. Even to this day, talking to Triple H and with all of these resources we have here. When it comes down to it, I try to create a different style. A little more brutal. You can watch fight scenes or MMA and see how they move. There have been a lot of things that influenced me, but I can only be me. That’s what I try to focus on, making everything my own.”
His Favorite Moment In WWE So Far:
“I have to say WrestleMania. I look around and there are guys who have never performed on that stage. Just to say that we did that our very first year and opened the show. That’s a big deal for all three of us. There are a lot of cool moments we have had. When we wrestled The Undertaker, Kane and Daniel Bryan in London (during a recent European tour) – there’s a shot of us flying in on a helicopter. What some people don’t know is that we did a live event earlier that day. We opened that show and then we jumped on a helicopter and flew all the way to London. We went out there and wrestled three of the biggest stars of all time. The next night, we put (The Undertaker) out. That was a surreal moment. WrestleMania and working with The Undertaker are phenomenal moments that I won’t forget for the rest of my life.”
If Edge & Goldberg Influenced His Spear:
“Even to this day, watching matches, I don’t watch the maneuvers. I feel like I am athletic enough to do any maneuver. It’s not the moves, but what you do between them. The mannerisms are where the money is. A spear is a spear. I’d like to think that I deliver the best one ever seen, but that’s up to the fans to judge. It did help playing football all of those years.”
What He Has Planned For 2014 & Dissension With The Shield:
“As far as The Shield – for the past 13 months, it seems like we’ve done it all. People are going pretty nuts about what we’ve done, but there’s so much left to do. Whether we’re working together or fighting each other, there’s just so much more to see. It’s going to be the year of The Shield, whether we’re together or not.”
World Title Match Added To TNA’s “One Night Only: #OldSchool” PPV
TNA recently announced a World Heavyweight Championship match between Magnus and Samoa Joe has been added to the scheduled lineup for their “One Night Only: #OldSchool” pay-per-view, which will take place on December 30th in Poughkeepsie, New York.
With that match now added, here is the latest official lineup for the show:
World Heavyweight Title
– Samoa Joe vs. Magnus
Monster’s Ball
– Abyss vs. Jeff Hardy
Last Man Standing Match
– James Storm vs. Bobby Roode
Falls Count Anywhere Match
– Tommy Dreamer vs. Bully Ray
– Kurt Angle vs. Mr. Anderson
Also in action: Daniels & Kazarian, The BroMans, Eric Young, Chris Sabin, Lei’D Tapa and Velvet Sky.
Del Rio Concussion Update, Jim Ross Says You Can’t Manufacture Top Stars
– Alberto Del Rio noted on Twitter that he’ll be in action at tonight’s WWE Live Event from Madison Square Garden in New York City. Del Rio has been out of action for a few weeks after suffering a concussion during a match with Sin Cara on RAW.
– WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. In this installment, JR spoke at length about how tough it is for young people to break into the wrestling business and why WWE’s Performance Center is not necessarily the best route for discovering the next Steve Austin or The Rock:
“Unfortunately, nothing is ever going to replace gaining experience working in front of paying customers no matter how large or small the ‘house’ may be. Today’s talents don’t have multiple territories in which to learn their craft and that is going to affect the genre adversely over time and actually already is …”
“Fans are dying for new attractions on every wrestling TV that airs. These attractions and new stars don’t grow on trees and are next to impossible to manufacture. I’m not even sure that they can be manufactured to last over the long haul. It’s a combined effort of the athletic, young talents who want to play on the first team IE be a star and the daily coaching and mentoring that they receive. Coaches in the genre can’t teach “IT” but they should be able to identify “IT” and at that point heavily invest in the individual.”
Jim Ross Q&A: Undertaker’s Legendary Status, WWE Network, Bryan/Guerrero
The following are highlights from a recent Jim Ross online Q&A update:
On when The Undertaker reached the legendary status that he has today: “I don’t think that it was one thing or one day but his body of work over time that helped him earn his amazing legacy. The Streak has become largely his claim to fame.”
On who the better wrestler is: Eddie Guerrero or Daniel Bryan: “I won’t answer this because one is damned if one does and damned if one doesn’t. They are both different, both excellent and both stars. Eddie got his break and Bryan is working on his.”
On the WWE Network: “Honestly, don’t know the particulars of the WWE Network except that it is going forward from all that I hear. I don’t know the template. I do hope that it works for all involved. It might give some older talents some re-occurring gigs.”
Check out more JR Q&A online at JRsBarBQ.com.
WWE Main Event On Hiatus Until 1/8, WWE Releases Latest Show Online
WWE’s Main Event television show will not be airing on the ION Network on New Year’s Day. Wednesday’s show did not air either. The next time WWE Main Event will air on the ION Network is on January 8th. WWE did tape matches for Main Event, so the show will air in the usual international markets that carry it.
Speaking of Main Event, the Christmas-day edition of the show, which was taped previously, was released by WWE on their official website. Fans who would like to check that out can do so at WWE.com.
Snitsky On Why He Left WWE, Causing Lita To Miscarry, Infamous Encounter With Heidenreich, His Foot Fetish
Gene Snitsky appeared on the v2 Wrestling Podcast and was asked a range of questions about his five-year tenure with WWE that started with an infamous “baby killing” angle. Highlights from the interview are as follows:
On his debut when he knocked Kane into Lita, causing her to miscarry: “The whole storyline was kind of cool I thought. It was so different, it was pushing the envelope. Let’s be realistic, everything’s been done in wrestling that can be done, and back then it wasn’t as corporate so you could get away with a little more. Nowdays, that storyline would never ever be able to take place. A lot of people don’t realize, it was only supposed to be that one incident, and I was then gonna go back to OVW and keep training until they brought me back up. But it got such a reaction that it took off and had a mind of its own, so they rolled with it. I knew it was gonna be good as soon as I hit him with the chair and he fell on her, the whole crowd started chanting “baby killer”. When that happened, I was like, This is great, this is gonna be good.”
On the angle where he punted a baby doll: “I don’t remember exactly who came up with it, but I remember rehearsing it with everybody involved and Vince was very adamant on me kicking the baby doll, and he’s like “You better not f— it up”. And I was like “Don’t worry Vince, I’m not gonna f— it up, I was an all-area punter on my football team in high school. I ain’t gonna f— it up, trust me”. So after we did it and it came off so good, I remember coming back through the curtain and he gave me a standing ovation. The thing that surprised me was that it stayed in once piece; i thought for sure that the head would have popped off it or something. The little brat took it like a champ!”
On his infamous encounter with Heidenreich: “I don’t think two guys ever pulled off a creepier, more homoerotic backstage segment in the history of wrestling.”
On being in the company for the rise of John Cena and Batista: “If the writers want to push a certain character, or Vince wants to push a certain character, they’re getting thrown to the top, whether you like it or not. Once Vince picks his guy and goes with him, he’s gonna go with him. When they made me shave my head and paint my teeth, it was Vince’s idea. Once Vince gets an idea, you do it.”
On why he left WWE: “Basically it was just creative differences. I didn’t like the direction my character was going, and for about six months I would go back and forth with the writers. They were always real big on incorporating your input, so I’d shoot them ideas, and week after week they’d get shot down, and I didn’t really like how they were taking it. It just got to the point where it was best to part ways, but I left on good terms.”
On whether he watches the current WWE product: “I DV-R it every week, and I sort of keep up with it but I fast forward through a lot of it. A lot of it’s too normal for me. I’ve always been an off-the-wall guy, going back to high school, I was always the guy who would do anything to get a reaction. Going to parties and running through walls and stuff like that. To me, that’s fun. The stuff that you see guys doing now is kind of boring if you ask me. They don’t do anything out of the ordinary any more.”
On his foot fetish: “I always liked Torrie Wilson, she was always one of my favorites, and we still joke about it. I’d always tell her, you have such nice feet, and she’d just kind of chuckle. But we’re still friends, I did some bodyguard work for her boyfriend Alex Rodriguez so I still keep in touch with her, she’s really cool. There’s a lot of them that have nice feet, but you don’t walk around backstage and say ‘Can I suck your toes?!'”
The audio interview is available here.
Darren Young Makes “Most Powerful Coming Outs” List
WWE Superstar Darren Young revealing his homosexuality made the list of the “53 Most Powerful Coming Outs” on the Towleroad.com website.
The list, which is in alphabetical order, features the Prime Time Player tag-team member in the number 52 spot.
To view the list, visit Towleroad.com.
Daniel Bryan Talks About His Dream Opponent, If He’s “Made It” Yet & More
WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan was interviewed by the Masked Man of Grantland.com. Here are some highlights of what Bryan said about:
Does He Feel That He’s “Made It” Yet? “To be honest, I don’t feel like I’ve made it. But “making it” is different than being satisfied with what you’ve done. If I got hurt today, I’d be very satisfied with what I’ve done, but I would have said that before I even made it to WWE. I was happy with what I accomplished on the independent scene and internationally — it was already much more than what people ever thought I could do and what even I thought I could do. But one of the things that keeps me going is the pursuit of constantly being better, and I haven’t “made it” like I’m at a point where I’m happy to stay at this level. I was actually talking to John Cena about this. He told me Steve Austin talked to him at one show and asked him how things were going, and John said, “The show’s going pretty well.” And Austin looked up at a part of the arena that was tarped off — the building was maybe 90 percent sold out — and he said, “Back when I was here, these arenas were full.” And that motivated John. There’s always something to strive for. So what do I need to do to feel like I’ve made it? I need to be the main-event guy, the top guy, and we need to be selling out every arena every night. Maybe then I’ll feel like I’ve done what I need to do.”
His Dream Opponent From A Past Era: “For me, the honest answer is Shawn Michaels. It’s sad because I’ve always considered him the best — he trained me — and I’ve never wrestled him. But there’s also the fascination of going back and wrestling somebody like Andre the Giant or the Ultimate Warrior — those guys you grew up watching as a kid just have such a special aura.”
If He Gets Embarrassed Watching His Old Matches: “Oh god, yes. When WWE showed footage of me wrestling at Shawn Michaels’s old promotion, I was like, “Please don’t show this.” It was cool for the story because they had some stuff with me and Shawn, but anybody who goes back and watches their first matches is going to be embarrassed. To put your 18-year-old self on national television — well, it lightens up your ego a little bit. But you know, I didn’t just start out like this. I had to work hard to get good.”
How Daniel Bryan is Different Than Bryan Danielson: “There are so many differences, but mostly I think it’s in my approach to character. In Ring of Honor, I was doing a thing where I was a master wrestler — that was my character. Now in WWE I’m an underdog, and that’s the way I have to approach my matches. I have to fight from underneath and overcome. It’s the opposite of my last days in the indies, where anybody I wrestled was the underdog, because the fans always expected Bryan Danielson to win. In WWE, the size difference is so much greater, the guys are so much bigger, and that just wouldn’t make sense.”
WWE Holiday Tour Kicks Off Tonight, Ricardo Rodriguez Teaming With 3MB
WWE kicks off the annual Holiday Live Events tour tonight with shows in New York City (Madison Square Garden) and Chicago.
Here’s the lineup for tonight’s MSG show:
- WWE World Heavyweight Championship match Randy Orton vs. John Cena (Booker T will serve as guest referee)
- WWE Tag Team Champions The Rhodes Brothers vs. The Real Americans (Steel Cage match).
- Big Show vs. Kane.
- Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio
Also appearing are the Bellas and Zack Ryder.
Richardo Rodriguez mentioned on Twitter that he’ll be teaming with 3MB (replacing Heath Slater) at tonight’s WWE Live Event from Madison Square Garden in New York City. Slater has been off the road dealing with a personal issue.
Tonight’s show from Chicago will feature CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, The Shield, The Wyatt Family, Big E. Langston, Mark Henry, Damien Sandow and Dolph Ziggler.
WWE Executive Reveals Inner Workings Of The WWE App & How Data Is Used
CableFax.com has an article up looking at WWE using the WWE App to engage fans and making the App more than just a “second screen” experience.
Rob Bernstein, WWE’s VP Editorial Director of Digital and Print said, “It’s a part of our show. We don’t consider it second screen anymore. It’s adjunct programming.”
WWE has a staff of 10 people managing the WWE App, including writers, a producer, a camera guy, a talent wrangler and full tech support.
After each episode of RAW, WWE evaluates what the fans thought of the show by analyzing data from the WWE App and social media.
On Tuesday mornings, a full report goes out explaining exactly what the fans thought about it. WWE then “takes that content and it becomes a big part of the writing process.”
WWE Interviews Big E & Ambrose About Unifying The IC & US Titles (Poll)
Just a few weeks after the unification of the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight championship, WWE.com is already questioning whether the company should also unify the secondary Intercontinental and United States championships. Who better to discuss a possible unification than the reigning champions themselves, Big E Langston and Dean Ambrose.
Both men agreed that unification is a good idea if it means the secondary title would have more prestige, which it undoubtedly would. While Ambrose was on board with the idea of introducing an entirely new belt, Big E says the United States title should be absorbed into the IC title:
“The Intercontinental Championship should always be around in WWE. It’s very historic, and I don’t think we should lose that history.”
When asked how the belts should be unified, Langston suggested a scaffold match, while Ambrose is in favor of a steel cage match.
When asked directly if they’re ready for a Champion vs. Champion showdown, Langston says he would “welcome the challenge” and Ambrose said, “I feel that what I’ve given and sacrificed for the U.S. Title, I’d be willing to put that on the line as a pride thing. It’s just as good as the Intercontinental Title. That’s something I’d be willing to prove.”
What do you think? Vote Here:
[poll id=”23″]
Comment Below and tell us if you think WWE should unify the Intercontinental and United States titles. Should WWE introduce a new title in their place – or should one of the belts’ lineage be absorbed into the other?
Dolph Ziggler Talks About His Concussion Derailing His Push, Kissing AJ & Vickie
WWE Superstar Dolph Ziggler was interviewed by The Washington Times. Here are the highlights of what he said about:
His push being derailed after getting a concussion: “I’m sitting at home with a pounding headache, and I’m thinking I’m going to lose this one opportunity that I was basically never supposed to have. Then slowly over the next two or three weeks, my headaches weren’t going away, and then I’m, “Wow, let’s put that on the back burner, I need to see if I can ever wrestle again.” At week three, [still] a consistent 24-hour headache, I may never be able to get in to the ring again. If I do, I don’t know if I could fall down, be as crisp as I was, and I’m nervous about hitting my head or anything like that. Luckily, very slowly but surely, everything came back into order. I picked up right where I left off, and unfortunately the title was very shortly out of my hands. Even though you love this business, it doesn’t always love you back. It’s always about timing, [and] that was my one shot to prove to the world that I could actually be a Heavyweight Champion.”
Who’s a better kisser, AJ or Vickie Guerrero: “Vicky has more experience, but to be fair, I did kiss AJ way more. So, when it comes down to it, I’m going to give the nod to experience. Vicky still gives me the eye when I see her back stage. You know what I mean?”
If he prefers being a heel or a face: “No joke, my opponents have changed, a different side of the roster is now my opponents, but I haven’t changed one bit. I love to feel the crowd out there, go off them, base it out there, change things on the fly, and I call the shots out there, because I’m good at what I do. Nothing’s really changed that much, I’ve had a lot more experience as a bad guy. I did it for eight straight years. I feel like I’m a little more comfortable in that role. I’m still watching tape back, and seeing myself not in the best position where I should be [during matches]. There’s always tiny things that you need to hone and refine.
Edge Talks About His Time In WCW & How Wrestlers Are Trained Today
Here are some highlights of what WWE Hall of Famer Edge talked about with Chris Jericho in the second part of their interview on the Talk Is Jericho podcast:
Working for WCW: I did two matches for WCW, for Saturday Night and for WorldWide. Scott D’Amore was booking the extra talent. I remember I was really torn about it. I was like hmm… I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to just be an extra guy. I want so much more than that, but I was flat broke and it was 500 bucks. So I thought well, maybe I should do it. Maybe they’ll see me and think oh, we have to hire this kid. There’s always that chance too, right? So it was the first time that I met Rhino. I drove through Detroit, I picked up Rhino, and then him and I drove down to Florida together. We became best friends from that point forward.
That was the thing I so quickly learned [how crazy WCW was]. I walked in and I was like, oh, this locker room doesn’t feel good. You’d see the guys that you could go to, and I remember talking to Chris [Benoit]. He knew I was Canadian, he found out I was Canadian so he pulled me aside and he was like just be careful here. I was like oh, okay. It was about 95, 96. He said don’t trust anybody here. I was like okay, got it.
You quickly realized that [how bad it was]. I mean, you know? But I got that from being there for two shows and I worked twice. I worked Meng, or Haku. He was super sweet, great guy. He actually gave me some stuff too. We had a bit of a competitive match. Then I worked Kevin Sullivan. It was brutal. It was what it was, it was what I was down there to do. I think more than anything it was a vehicle for Show, Big Show, because he was at ringside with Sullivan, and it was on that rotating wooden stage. I think a lot of it was, and I think Sullivan was booking at the time too, or was one of the bookers, he can go over on this kid that’s about 6’4?, I was a little heavier, I was about 250 at that point. Oh okay, I’ll beat that kid. He’s got a good look. I think that was the mentality. I took a chokeslam on the floor. Yep, got it. Yep, I’ll take that chokeslam, sure. It was brutal. I mean, Show took care of me, but there’s no good way to take that.
How wrestlers are trained today: It’s much more pressure. It is, and also, just the pressures of how do you deal with all of that so fast? That’s the biggest thing. Suddenly you’re making six figures, well you have to pay taxes and you’ve never had to worry about that before. Okay, well there’s that. Suddenly you have to look into getting a mortgage or pay rent. All of these things are coming while you’re trying to figure out being famous and being on TV and trying to make headway within the company without experience. To me, the best part of coming up in that, kind of the last era before it went that way with the FCWs or NXTs, kind of the farm system, is that, you know, wrestling Jimmy Valiant in front of 10 people in Cleveland. We didn’t touch. I think we did two things, but we were out there for 20 minutes. It’s like, okay, I can take things from this and I can learn from it. Now, if I’m in there as a kid with a guy whose got the same kind of experience as me, what am I going to learn? We’re just going to run through what everybody else does
JBL Talks About Who He Would Call Up From NXT, His Experience There & More
WWE announcer JBL recently spoke to The Damn Good Wrestling podcast. Here are the highlights from the interview:
If it was up to JBL and one guy had to be called up tomorrow, who would he call up? “Adrian Neville. Not a doubt in my mind. I think he’s just phenomenal. I don’t know about his promo skills as I haven’t seen them as much, but he’s a guy who could go out there and perform on any card, anywhere in the world and be a help to that card. I would love to see him up in the WWE. He’ll be there I just don’t know the time frame.”
The English contingent in NXT: “I believe Paige will be a big star, but as far as shaking up the (divas) division goes that remains to be seen. I hope she does but you don’t know until they get there.
“Danny Burch, I saw him cut a promo the other day which I thought was phenomenal. In fact I told him afterwards that it was one of the best promos I’ve heard done in recent memory. Danny Burch, I’m a big fan of his I think he will do well it’s just a matter of finding a spot for him.”
Calling people up to the WWE: “You don’t want to bring guys in just to bring them in, you want to bring them in and make an impact with them like they have with these other guys and I think that’s why it takes longer sometimes than what people want.”
His experience at NXT: “It’s a revitalization for me. I haven’t been around anything other than the WWE for 15-20 years and so for me to see more of how I started and the passion, not just with the performers but with the crowd down there, it’s a great environment.”
You can listen to the full interview below:
Jake Roberts Issues Statement Regarding The 2014 WWE Royal Rumble
Jake “The Snake” Roberts issued the following statement regarding a possible appearance at WWE’s 2014 Royal Rumble:
“Daily questions on Rumble. Here is my official statement. I have had no contact from WWE. I publicized returning at the Royal Rumble as my goal about a year ago. Looking back, setting goals that are entirely in someone else’s hands was not the best idea. My advice, and my practice now is to set goals that you can control. Do your best to control your destiny. If the Rumble happens, I will do my best to put on a memorable performance. If they want to keep me around, I know I can do some cool stuff. It if doesn’t, I still have plenty to look forward to. That’s all on the Rumble and WWE for a while. Please enjoy the rest of these holidays with your loved ones. Thanks again for all the support. Remember, the Snake ALWAYS bites back.”
Batista Advertised For Live Event Again, Part 2 Of Cornette On Austin’s Podcast
– Batista is once again being advertised on UNLVTickets.com for the WWE live event on February 16th from Las Vegas. He was pulled from advertising last week after the UNLV website spoiled the surprise, but now that WWE has officially announced his return, he’s back on the site.
– WWE NXT star Alexander Rusev turned 28 years old on Wednesday. Rusev is rumored to be one of the next developmental stars to be called up to the main roster.
– Part 2 of Steve Austin’s interview with Jim Cornette for the “Steve Austin Show: Unleashed” is now online at PodcastOne.com.
– The former Second City Saints (CM Punk, Colt Cabana and Ace Steel) reunited on this week’s Art of Wrestling podcast. Chicago native Cliff Compton was also on the show, along with former WWE tag team wrestler Antonio Thomas of the Heartthrobs. You can listen here.