— Former WWE talent Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been cast in New Line Cinema’s remake of Journey to the Center of the Earth. The action adventure film is the largest budgeted movie he’s ever starred in.
— The official website of Trish Stratus announced today that the former WWE Women’s Champion will be attending the Toronto International Film Festival.
— WWE Hall of Famer Sgt. Slaughter has launched a Twitter account at the following here.
— In today’s birthdays, Raven turns 46, Lodi turns 40, The Great Kabuki turns 62, and former WCW World Heavyweight Champion David Arquette turns 39.
NXT Season1 winner Wade Barrett was arrested on Sunday, June 15, 2008 in Tampa, Florida and charged with battery of a law enforcement officer and obstructing or opposing an officer. Barrett was arrested following an incident with a female outside the Champps bar and restaurant at 2:00 A.M. He was released at 1:43 p.m. the next day.
Wrestlers from FCW said that as he was leaving the bar, he had an altercation with a female patron he didn’t know that bumped into him. When Barrett attempted to leave the place, someone came up to him and attempted to stop him from leaving. That person was a plain-clothes police officer. One version of the story notes that the police officer followed Sanders outside and shot him with a taser gun as he was attempting to leave the scene.
The female Barrett had the altercation with declined to press charges on him and allegedly told the police that she was at fault for the initial incident at the bar.
Barrett’s arrest record lists the offense as Battery on an Officer, but he apparently told wrestlers that he was simply trying to leave the scene and did not attempt to get in a physical altercation with anyone. Also, Sanders claims that he wasn’t aware that the plain-clothes person was a police officer. He said if he was aware that the person was a police officer, he wouldn’t have tried to leave the scene in the first place. Barrett said a number of witnesses can back up his story in court.
In an interview with Moviefone.com to promote his new movie “Legendary,” RAW superstar John Cena commented on a potential showdown with The Undertaker at WrestleMania next year.
Moviefone asked Cena in an interview, “What’s the next challenge for you: winning an Oscar or trying to end the Undertaker’s undefeated WrestleMania streak?” Cena said he wants to challenge the Undertaker at WrestleMania and be the man to end the infamous streak.
Cena was asked about Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s success in Hollywood and whether we’d ever see him back in WWE.
“I think Dwayne has done such an awesome job being a successful actor,” Cena said. “The only problem is he left us; he’s no longer doing activity with WWE. I think the way WWE Studios is going now – they’re going away from action, doing more drama, possibly more comedy – it will open a lot of people’s eyes. Because a lot of people see big guy, big frame: action superstar. We’ve proven, especially with ‘Legendary,’ that that is not always the case.”
Cena also said Vince McMahon would make a good leading man in movies, among other things. Visit Moviefone.com for the full interivew.
In the latest video shot from his hospital bed, TNA star Hulk Hogan says major changes are coming to TNA Wrestling. After getting off the phone with Eric Bischoff, Hogan says they’re on the verge of starting something big that’s going to take pro wrestling where it needs to be.
“This is going to be another era of wrestling you’re going to get to talk about like the whole NWO thing and Hulkamania when it first busted loose and we switched it up NWO-style,” Hogan said. “We’re going to switch it up again and do something totally different. This is going to be another era of wrestling. After being on the phone tonight with Eric and us putting our heads together tonight, because everything was clicking, it’s going to be crazy and a wild ride.”
Here’s the full video – what do you think is in store for TNA? Hit up the comment section below and give us your guesses.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. Some highlights from this update:
NXT Season 3 Premiere: “The first NXT season 3 broadcast featuring all Divas is different. I’m willing to give the concept a chance to hook me unlike some who have emailed me lambasting the process after an hour or less of watching it. Seems like some were harder on certain folk’s dancing which was an attempt at entertainment than they were simply looking at the potential of the Divas. I’ve seen some of these ladies in FCW and was impressed with various aspects of each of their game. Naomi, obviously, is a gifted athlete clearly became the early favorite to win the competition in season three.”
“I could just have just seen my big ass up in the ring Tuesday night ‘dancing’ if I had been on the broadcast team. Happy to have been watching on Syfy. Those who were doing some ‘dancing’ were merely doing their jobs folks, having fun and attempting to entertain us as directed. Many fans need to ‘Lighten Up Francis.”
Daniel Bryan’s “LeBelle Lock” Submission: Daniel Bryan’s salute to Judo Gene LeBelle by naming Bryan’s submission the LeBelle Lock is a respectful gesture. LeBelle is a former pro wrestler, Hollywood stunt man, actor, etc who is also regarded as one of the toughest men to ever walk the face of the Earth. Legend has it that he once made actor/martial arts practitioner Steven Segal soil himself when the two had a physical encounter that was allegedly provoked by the egocentric Segal. Gene also refereed the Muhammad Ali-Antonino Inoki MMA bout that I, among many others, invested in years ago. BTW…it did not make any money for many of the investors.
New Wrestling Promotions: “When I hear of the alleged plans of new, national wrestling promotions being announced and how they will roll out their new ‘concepts’ on how they will uniquely promote the timeless genre of pro wrestling it becomes an ‘eye roller.’ It constantly amazes me that some rich folks will continue to send good money after bad in a business wrought with unique nuances, folks with less than honorable character along with self serving agendas that the money people will never know or understand and will quickly lose big bucks and join the ranks of others who have more money than common sense.”
— Following Vickie Guerrero’s firing of her original NXT Rookie Diva, Aloisia, the Official Consultant to SmackDown announced Kaitlyn as her replacement on Tuesday’s episode of NXT.
Kaitlyn, who’s real name is Celeste Bonin, is a Houston based fitness model the company signed over the summer. She began training in July and debuted shortly thereafter in Florida Championship Wrestling under the name Ricki Vaughn.
The former fitness competitor placed first in the 2007 NPC John Sherman Classic Bodybuilding, Figure And Fitness Championships. She was also Miss November in the 2008 Hardfitness Calendar.
— The Miz, Eve, Howard Finkel and Justin Roberts will be on hand for THQ’s WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 roster reveal event at the Regency Ballroom today in San Francisc, California. Doors open at 3:00 p.m. and seating is limited. A select number of attendees will be able to play the game.
— Last Thursday’s episode of WWE Superstars on WGN America scored an 0.52 cable rating, with 561,000 viewers. The midnight replay scored an 0.17 cable rating, with 165,000 viewers.
The first trailer has been released for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s latest movie, “Faster.”
Set to be released in the United States on November 24th, here’s a quick synopsis about the movie, from IMDB.com:
“An ex-con sets out to avenge his brother’s death after they were double-crossed during a heist years ago. During his campaign, however, he’s tracked by a veteran cop and an egocentric hit man.”
— Though expelled NXT season three contestant Aloisia wrote in her blog post Tuesday that she finds the suggestive photos from her past ’embarrassing’, she later deemed the images as ‘art’.
“My thoughts- “erotic photo scandal”… I think people see what they want to see, isn’t that the purpose of art?” she wrote on Twitter.
— In an update on recently released WWE Diva Serena, the former Straight Edge Society member is accepting bookings for independent wrestling dates. She can be reached via [email protected].
She has already been announced for the following events:
* Oct. 30 – UWE Homecoming in Gladwin, Michigan
* Nov. 13 – POWW Entertainment and Wrestlerage VIII in Villa Park, Illinois
* Dec. 5 – Great Lakes Championship Wrestling in Waukesha, Wisconsin
— WWE will be returning to the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. for a Raw live event on Thursday, December 30, 2010. A ticket pre-sale has already begun on Ticketmaster, with the passcode ‘SLAMDC’. Tickets officially go on sale this Saturday.
— In light of Jim Neidhart’s arrest on burglary and drug trafficking charges Sunday, the WWE website has removed profiles featuring the multi-time Tag Team Champion from both its Alumni and Where Are They Now? sections.
The father of WWE Diva Natalya was arrested Sunday afternoon in Tampa, Florida and charged with two counts of possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute, two counts of trafficking illegal drugs, one count of burglary of an unoccupied dwelling, and one count of third degree grand theft for property stolen between $300 and $5,000. He remains behind bars pending $138,500 bail.
— On Twitter, Beth Phoenix updated fans on her injury progress from a torn ACL, writing: “I don’t have a return date yet but my progress is better than expected thanks to all the great support and hard work of FCW training staff!!”
— The WWE website is taking a T-shirt poll on which Santino Marella top fans like best.
— In honor of the third season of NXT, WWE.com has launched NXT.WWE.com – ‘an exciting, interactive experience’ dedicated to the Syfy show and its Rookie Divas.
A full show replay will air each Wednesday night at 7/8 CT and feature a controversial live chat with Joey Styles and special guests.
— Matches scheduled to take place on this week’s episode of WWE Superstars on WGN America are as follows:
* Big Show vs. Luke Gallows
* R-Truth William Regal
* Goldust and Gail Kim vs. Primo and Jillian
* Vance Archer and Curt Hawkins vs. Caylen Croft and Trent Barreta.
— Matt Hardy will be appearing at the Texas State Fair in Dallas on Saturday, October 2 from noon until 2:00 p.m.
6-foot-9 WWE diva Aloisia has responded to reports that the reason she was removed from NXT Season 3 was because erotic photos of her leaked online. While Aloisia’s previous modeling career did include erotic photo shoots, sources indicate that the earlier report is in fact false and that she was removed from NXT Season 3 and sent back to WWE developmental due to her inexperience in the ring.
Here is the statement she posted on her official website regarding the erotic pictures:
“This morning I was shocked to discover that a new rumor was circulating on the Web, pertaining to my removal from the NXT cast. According to articles posted on numerous websites, I was removed from NXT due to WWE discovering “erotic photos” from my past on the Web. While no specific source is named in the articles, the implication is that this information is coming from someone within WWE. In case anyone is interested, here’s a link to the photos that supposedly got me taken off the show.
I’m posting the link because the pictures are already out there, so there’s no point in trying to hide them. I find them embarrassing, not because they’re particularly “erotic”, but because I was overweight and out-of-shape when they were taken five years ago and because they’re amateurishly shot. I’m sure everyone who’s reading this has some pictures somewhere that you’d rather not have published on the Web for the whole world to see. Unfortunately, part of the price of celebrity is the fact that people dig around in your past to try to find ways to exploit you as a means of increasing their own readership.
To put these pictures in their proper context, I was an 18 year old kid at the time most of them were taken. I had recently left home because I was being abused by my mother’s new husband and was on my own with no money and no parental guidance. I met a photographer who offered me some money to take pictures and being both stupid and desperate, I consented to doing a photo session. To all those who would judge me, I would ask you to honestly ask yourself what you might have done had you been in my situation. I’m not proud of having done this, but there’s nothing I can do to go back and change the past. It is what it is. For what it’s worth, none of the pictures are nude and most of them are less suggestive than what you see on current WWE programming. For example, here’s a recent video shot at FCW when Aksana was first introduced:
I’m not mentioning this to criticize Aksana or WWE in any way. I’m merely trying to put it in context.
When I first received my offer from WWE, they asked me to fill out a “Talent Information Form” providing them with information about myself and my background. One of the questions was, “Have you ever posed nude?”. I answered “No” to this question, because that’s the truth. If they had asked me if I ever posed suggestively, I would of course have answered “Yes”, but there’s a big difference between suggestive and nude. As to the question of whether this was why they took me off the show, that’s something you’d have to ask them. Perhaps it was a factor in their decision, but I honestly don’t know their entire thought process, as they’ve communicated very little to me about this. From what I’ve been reading on various blogs, it seems that they may have had a political motivation to get me off the show, but again, you’d have to ask them.
I wish all of you the best and thank you for your support.”
– It appears that the WWE title match at Night of Champions will remain a Six Pack Challenge, despite Chris Jericho being removed from the match. The WWE website has removed Jericho’s name from the participants in the match but is still promoting the match as a Six Pack Challenge, so it appears there will be another participant.
– Movie news website AintItCool.com has posted an interview with WWE star John Cena, who talks about his role in “Legendary.”
– TMZ.com recently caught up with former WWE star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. He is currently filming scenes for the new “Fast & Furious” movie and was spotted leaving the gym, looking jacked as hell .. TMZ got it right when they said it looks like he could be playing the role of a diesel truck .. Check it out:
Lindsay Hayward, the 6-9, 240-pound woman given the name Aloisia for the third season of NXT, was actually dropped from the program due to erotic photos WWE officials uncovered of the giant grappler shortly after her television premiere last Tuesday.
The reported reason of Hayward being pulled from the program due to being deemed ‘not ready’ is said to be a cover excuse.
A set of photographs labeled “Tall Amazons Erotica” depict Hayward in a manner unbecoming to World Wrestling Entertainment’s family friendly product. A number of the shots feature Aloisia positioned erotically, including nude. There are also images of the she-giant engaging pleasantries with a petite blonde woman.
The storyline reason given for Hayward’s hastily dismissal from NXT was that Aloisia had been fired by her Pro, Vickie Guerrero, after an argument over her influence. Guerrero will reveal her new Rookie Diva during tonight’s season 3 premiere.
Hayward currently remains under contract to WWE.
Credit to PWInsider.com for the information used in this report.
– After Monday’s WWE RAW went off the air, WWE Champion Sheamus defeated Wade Barrett, John Cena and Randy Orton in a four-way match. Sheamus got the pin on Orton after Cena hit Orton with the Attitude Adjustment. Barrett ended up taking an RKO and Orton was left in the ring to end the show.
– Tonight from the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, Maryland will be the season 3 premiere of WWE NXT on SyFy with the Diva Rookies. WWE will also tape this week’s SmackDown with a TV main event of CM Punk vs. The Undertaker. Kane vs. Taker is advertised locally for the dark main event.
– Jerry Lawler’s Memphis Wrestling promotion will be shutting down officially after this Saturday’s TV episode airs, according to Rassling Riot News. Apparently Lawler had a falling out with his business partner Joe Cooper, who had been securing sponsorship deals for the promotion.
Warning: The following contains a *Spoiler* for Thursday’s TNA iMPACT!:
The main event of TNA Bound For Glory 2010 will be Jeff Hardy vs. Kurt Angle vs. Mr. Anderson for the vacated TNA World Championship.
At the iMPACT! tapings, it was announced that Kurt Angle would wrestle Jeff Hardy with the winner facing Ken Anderson in the main event at Bound For Glory. After referee Brian Hebner got knocked out, his father Earl Hebner came out to referee. When Brian woke up, there was a double-pin count where one Hebner counted a pin for Angle and one Hebner counted a pin for Hardy. Eric Bischoff came out and declared the Bound For Glory main event would be a 3-way match.
TNA Bound For Glory takes place live on pay-per-view on Sunday, October 10, 2010 from the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida.
– Next week is the season premiere of WWE RAW and the show will have a special “RAW Roulette†theme. The show will take place from the US Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio. WWE has not had a RAW Roulette show in 3 years, where a roulette wheel is spun and matches/stipulations are randomly selected for the wrestlers.
– The main event of next week’s RAW will be John Cena vs. Randy Orton.
– The November 15th episode of WWE RAW will be a special 3-hour show, airing from 8 to 11 PM on the USA Network.
– The WWE website has changed wording of the RAW “Guest Hosts” – who are now referred to as “Guest Stars.”
– In a dark match that took place prior to Monday’s RAW, Evan Bourne defeated Zach Ryder. After the match, Ryder attacked Bourne and hit him with his Rough Ryder finisher.
– Matches taped prior to RAW for this week’s Superstars show were:
On Monday’s RAW, it was announced that The Miz will defend the United States championship against Daniel Bryan. Also, Chris Jericho lost a match and has been eliminated from the WWE title match.
Below is the updated card for Night of Champions, which takes place September 19th at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois.
WWE Championship 6-Pack Challenge
Sheamus (c) vs. Wade Barrett vs. Edge vs. Randy Orton vs. John Cenavs. One More Competitor
World Heavyweight Championship Match
Kane (c) vs. The Undertaker
Divas and Women’s Championship Unification Lumberjill Match
Team LayCool (Layla or Michelle McCool) (c) vs. Melina (c)
United States Championship Match The Miz (c) vs. Daniel Bryan
Updated 9/6: After announcing last week that he’d leave WWE if he didn’t win the WWE title at Night of Champions, Chris Jericho is no longer a part of that match and his WWE future is uncertain. On Monday’s RAW, the anonymous RAW GM put Chris Jericho in a match with John Morrison with the stipulation being that Chris Jericho would lose his spot in the 6 Pick Challenge at Night of Champions. Jericho lost the match and as a result, will not be able to compete for the WWE title at the show. Jericho took a few minutes after the match to gather his thoughts, with the live RAW crowd cheering for him. We’ll see how WWE handles Jericho’s possible departure from WWE in the coming weeks.
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On the 8/30 episode of RAW, Chris Jericho announced that he will be leaving WWE once and for all if he does not win the WWE Championship in the 6-pack challenge match at Night of Champions. With Jericho’s WWE contract expiring soon and talk that he’s strongly considering leaving the company to pursue his career in the entertainment industry, it appears WWE has begun setting the stage for his possible departure.
As of this past weekend, a WWE source informed us that Jericho still has not signed a new contract. It’s still entirely possible that Jericho re-signs, but since Jericho has acknowledged in several recent interviews that his contract is expiring and he’s considering moving on, WWE has incorporated the real situation into WWE storyline.
Jericho has said he wants more time off to to spend with his family, record music and tour with his heavy metal band Fozzy and pursue other opportunities in the entertainment industry.
On Monday night, Jericho posed a message on Twitter stating that he was invited to be a participant on the next season of ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars” show but had to decline due to scheduling conflicts.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated the blog section of his website, JRsBarBQ.com.
Jim Neidhart’s Arrest: “The recent arrest of Jim ‘The Anvil’ Neidhart came as a surprise. The 55 year old Neidhart was arrested in Tampa for alleged possession and conspiracy to distribute pain meds, as I understand it, not to mention alleged burglary of said items. It certainly sounds to me that Jim may well have a n obvious drug issue that needs addressing in the form of a long term stay in a rehabilitation center. If my assumption is accurate, then 30 days likely won’t do the trick but be that as it may one thing is for sure and that is that recovery always starts with the individual truly wanting to want to stay clean and sober.”
“I can’t see Jim Neidhart being a ‘burglar’ but I can see him having drug and alcohol issues that may have manifested themselves to the point that Jim needs to seek help and, more importantly, truly want to stay clean and sober.”
Reports that WWE Will Be Unifying More Titles: “Emailers are hitting me with the rumor that WWE is preparing to unify ALL their titles. I have no idea if that is accurate or not but I doubt it. I see the WWE Title and the World Title remaining as well as the Intercontinental and United States Titles. I could be dead wrong on the latter two. Perhaps having only one tag champion and one womens champion will allow those two, specific title to mean more and earn more focus. Time will tell on all this ‘net gossip as I certainly don’t know the long term direction of any of the titles.”
Visit JR’s site for more of his blog and his great line of BBQ products.
TNA star Hulk Hogan was hospitalized earlier today due to “excruciating back pain,” according to TMZ.com.
Hogan has had several back surgeries in recent years and was having issues over the last few days. When he woke up this morning, he couldn’t get out of bed. His girlfriend called the ambulance and he was taken to a local hospital in Clearwater, FL, where tests are being conducted.
Hogan has posted a video on Twitter of himself in a hospital room ..
Best of luck to the Hulkster, hopefully he is out of pain soon and fully recovers.
– TNA star Jeff Hardy will return to court this Thursday, September 9th. He will report to The Superior Court of Moore County in Carthage, NC, and faces the following charges from almost a year ago…
* Felony possession of cocaine.
* Felony drug trafficking of opium
* Felony possession with intent to redistribute a Schedule III drug (two counts).
* Maintaining a dwelling for drug use and/or distribution.
* Possession of drug paraphernalia. (misdemeanor)
– TNA star Kurt Angle was injured at last night’s No Surrender pay-per-view. Jeremy Borash posted the following on his Twitter after the show went off the air:
“With Kurt Angle right now backstage. He suffered a dislocated rib on the @JEFFHARDYBRAND swanton to the floor. The amazing Dr. Tim Adair, who works for TNA backstage, has put Kurt’s rib back in place. Angle says he is good to go. What a machine.”
Borash also posted a photo of Kurt backstage with an ice pack on his ribs, which you can see here:
– WWE Monday Night RAW takes place at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C tonight. Locally advertised for tonight’s show are the following matches:
* John Cena vs. Wade Barrett
* WWE Champion Sheamus vs. Randy Orton
– New WWE diva Aloisia, who was announced for and then removed from the NXT Season 3 roster last week, now has a website at AloisiaOnline.com. Following the news that she was abruptly removed from the Season 3 cast before the first episode even aired, her website gives an update on her WWE status:
“Currently, I’m signed with WWE and was originally cast as one of the six rookie diva’s on NXT season three. However, due to a dispute with my NXT Pro, Vickie Guerrero, I was fired from NXT for the season. I’m looking forward to continuing my career with WWE in whatever capacity they see fit to use me for.”
WWE sources have informed us that Aloisa has been sent back to developmental because she is extremely “green” and is not even close to being ready for television.
– WWE Diva Beth Phoenix mention on her Twitter page that she and Joey Styles will be providing thoughts and commentary on NXT season 3 on the WWE website.
Solomonster has a vicious, pre-Labor Day rant on Raw’s 900th episode from last Monday, reveals the wrestling show that actually has more episodes, discusses TNA going live on 10/7, who was conspicuously absent from their recent drug test, the NXT debacle, a scary stat on John Cena, Tyler Black threatening to take the ROH title to WWE, and learn how YOU can hear your voice on the Sound Off!
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