– WWE Superstar The Miz and former WWE Diva Maryse officially tied the knot on Thursday night. The two were married in a wedding ceremony that was held in the Bahamas. Several WWE Superstars, such as Dolph Ziggler, Zack Ryder, and former stars like Kelly Kelly and John Morrison were reportedly in attendance.
– Former WWE Diva Kaitlyn noted on Twitter recently that she is close to launching her women’s fitness apparel line, “Celestial Bodiez.”
WWE Superstar Xavier Woods is apparently pushing for his own show on the WWE Network. The show, called “Xavier Woods WWE 2K14 World Tour,” would feature Woods traveling around the country and playing fans on the WWE 2K14 video game. The fans who beat him would then be entered into a tournament for the possibility of being crowned champion during WrestleMania weekend.
For more on this story, check out CharlestonChronicle.com.
– As previously reported, long-time WWE ring announcer Lilian Garcia recorded an in-studio interview for an upcoming “Steve Austin Show” podcast. Her interview on the show is set to air on next Thursday’s “Unleashed” podcast.
– Speaking of podcasts, WWE Diva Natalya’s appearance on Chris Jericho’s “Talk Is Jericho” show is now available. You can listen to that interview at PodcastOne.com.
– WWE Superstar David Otunga recently spoke to TheYBF.com about being one of a few African American stars in WWE. “It feels really good to be one of the WWE’s African American superstars and to know there are little kids looking up to me. So it’s very cool to represent for everybody.”
Check out the complete interview at TheYBF.com.
– Virginia-based independent pro wrestler Chase Ownes noted on his social media accounts recently that he will be working his second official match for TNA at the company’s upcoming live event at Freedom Hall in Johnson City, Tennessee on March 1st.
– Expect a couple more matches to be announced shortly for the upcoming TNA “One Night Only: Outbreak” event, which is a co-promotion with Wrestle-1, scheduled for March 2nd in Tokyo, Japan.
It’s official. WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan is back – and will be the host of WrestleMania XXX. Hogan will make his long-awaited return to WWE on Monday’s RAW and will also appear on WWE RAW Backstage Pass, airing live on the WWE Network immediately following RAW.
WWE Chairman Vince McMahon commented on Hogan’s return:
“We are thrilled that Hulk Hogan has returned home to WWE. It’s fitting to have him help us celebrate 30 years of WrestleMania and usher in a new era with the launch of WWE Network.”
Hulk Hogan told WWE.com:
“Words cannot express how excited I am to be back in the WWE family. I only have one question for the WWE Universe: Whatcha you gonna do when Hulkamania runs wild as the host of WrestleMania 30?”
– Jeff Jarrett has released the latest video hyping his new wrestling promotion. The video is a teaser for a longer version that will be released on Monday:
– It was confirmed on last night’s episode of Impact Wrestling that the main event for TNA’s upcoming Lockdown pay-per-view will feature TNA World Champion Magnus defending against Samoa Joe.
There will also be a Team MVP vs. Team Dixie Lethal Lockdown match for “control of wrestling operations” in TNA. MVP and Bobby Roode will be the team captains.
TNA Lockdown takes place on Sunday, March 9th from Miami, Florida.
– Dish Network has taken several digs at WWE since deciding to drop WWE pay-per-views as a result of the shows being available on the WWE Network.
Dish has now updated the Elimination Chamber page on their website to redirect to the TNA Lockdown page.
– WWE superstar Kane appeared on Minnesota’s KARE 11 (NBC) to promote Sunday’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. He went through the the usual kayfabe hype for the show and revealed that Brock Lesnar will be there.
When asked how Brock Lesnar fits into the Elimination Chamber picture, Kane hesitated. The hosts asked Kane if Lesnar is still with WWE and he responded that Lesnar is still under contract and will be at the pay-per-view this Sunday.
WWE is not currently advertising Lesnar for the PPV.
WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan was at the WWE Performance Center this week:
TNA World Champion Magnus spoke to Herald-Dispatch.com this week and says TNA has started another “new era” that will no longer depend on stars from the past. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
Starting Out In TNA As Part Of A Tag Team:
“I was very green when I first came in. I probably wouldn’t have lasted.”
“A singles guy, you’re very exposed. You learn on the job. Doug took me under his wing. We complemented each other, benefited from working with one another. The tag win was a big deal. Chances are I’d be around a while.”
TNA Focusing On Younger Talent:
“We’ve moved to a new era. We looked to others to run things before. They wouldn’t pull the trigger on the young talent. You put yourself into a spot. If you don’t do it fast enough, people won’t buy into it. In transition, you have to make it real.
There’s only one left. It’s a definitive moment.”
Chad Dukes of CBS Radio Washington DC 106.7 The Fan’s “Chad Dukes vs. The World” and ChadDukesWrestling.com interviewed WWE Superstar on Sheamus Thursday. In the interview we discussed Sheamus’ recovery from surgery, the Elimination Chamber match, WWE Network, England vs. Ireland in Six Nations Rugby Match, and the Shield versus the Wyatts. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
What he was up to while recovering from surgery and holding off his return to the ring:
“I got back home to Ireland, saw my 91-year-old grand mother. She was asking me why I’m running around half-naked on national, global television. “We didn’t do that back in my day,” she said. And I got to see me Ma, on the west coast of Ireland. I got to see my friends & family, and I got to reflect on my last couple years which I hadn’t got to do before that. You know a lot of things, but after about three months I was ready to come back.
I actually got cleared kinda early as well, with my surgery, but I’ve just been kinda waiting to come back. I wanted to get the right time and at the Rumble was the right time I think. So I came back at the Rumble, now I feel like I’m starting from scratch again. I’m going out there every week to remind people who I am.”
Sunday’s Elimination Chamber Match:
“You can’t really prepare for it. I mean you’re right, you’re better off watching from the outside rather than being on the inside because it can get pretty hairy in there. It really is one of THE toughest matches. I mean physically, it’s THE toughest match you can possibly have in WWE. And so much at stake too, anything and everything can happen. That’s the thing, matches, you can be in certain situations where the structure around you or the objects around you can cause a
lot of damage but it’s all about what’s at stake, and what’s at stake here is the WWE World Heavyweight Championship that Randy Orton has and with that also a main event match at WrestleMania 30 against Batista. So everybody in there knows it’s the opportunity of a lifetime, to headline the biggest, greatest WrestleMania ever. So everybody in there is going to be taking risks they wouldn’t normally take.”
William Regal:
“People don’t really know about this, but William Regal has been a fantastic mentor to me, him and Fit Finlay have been tremendous mentors to me in my time in WWE. Everyone talks about Triple H, Triple H has been a great help but on the road from day one, Regal has been the one who’s helped me. Arn Anderson too, as well.”
The WWE Network:
“I mean let’s be honest, $9.99 and you get every pay-per-view? You also get access on open to a 1000 hours of pay per view vault footage, all pay per views, which is going to be updated on a regular basis. Huge Content. There’s gonna be preshows on Raw and Smackdown, and post shows. It’s a tremendous opportunity to watch what you want when you want.
Especially for us too. All us superstars we’re all fans of wrestling: WWE, ECW, WCW, and the rest WCCW and NWA. We grew up watching all these different superstars who are no longer active right now. It’s very hard for us on the road to bring those DVDs with us, you don’t have a DVD player, but now with your Ipad or your phone you can literally pull up any footage of any match you want anytime, any show. It’s gonna be incredible it really is. It really is groundbreaking.
I have an Xbox 360 at home and I’m not the greatest gamer, I’ll play a game here or two but fella, I use that thing for everything. For HBO Go, for Hulu, for Netflix, that’s the way TV’s going. It’s gonna be a massive massive success I feel.”
The Shield vs. Wyatts Match and the talents involved:
“First of all the Shield, being a great fantastic unit, and you’ve got three fantastic individuals. You’ve got Seth Rollins, very creative, very athletic type of guy. Very Creative. You’ve got Dean Ambrose, really really cool character, real quirky, and just a great throwback. You know what I mean, the Roddy Piper, I know people compare him to Roddy all the time. A great character. And you’ve got Roman Reigns who has the look, he’s jacked, he’s atheletic, he’s powerful. So you’ve got a great combination in the Shield that work so well together.
And of course you’ve got the Wyatts, who are more of a unit themselves together, you know what I mean. But they’re all just great phenomenal characters. I mean the promos that Bray cuts and just the creepy Rowan guy, who by the way is not my dad, he is not my father, and Luke Harper, who I’ve been in the ring with as well, who’s agressive as you can get, he may as well be European. It’s just a great unit, a great match. People wanna see that match as much as the chamber.”
TNA star MVP was interviewed by Josh Modaberi of Wrestling101.com during TNA’s recent UK tour and explained why he joined the promotion.
“Part of the reason why I chose to go to TNA was because it’s not good for the fans or for the industry when there is just one conglomerate and nowhere else to go.”
“I would like to try (to) help facilitate, creating a situation where WWE has to recognize TNA as a potential competitor. And if you know like I do, WWE holds all the marbles then for the artists, the talent it’s not good for our business, competition is good for business,
Speaking of MVP, he will be appearing on an upcoming episode of Jim Ross’ Ross Report podcast at PodcastOne.com. The episode was recorded this week.
– As noted earlier this week, WWE.com published an article by Bill Apter about Sting’s legendary career. Titled, “Behind the paint of sports-entertainment icon Sting,” the article states that Sting was “Undeniably the Face of WCW.”
Teasing that his best days may still be yet to come, the article puts him over as a true legend in the sport that can still go in the ring:
“More than 25 years since he became a good guy, Sting is still a presence in the ring, as well as at numerous charity events. He’s a true legend with a constant drive to always be one step better than the day before. His best days may still be yet to come.”
WWE posted the following tweet promoting the article:
Go behind the paint with @apter1wrestling of the one and only icon @Sting! http://t.co/kKBXiW3pFd pic.twitter.com/A3ARjMJt1q
— WWE (@WWE) February 21, 2014
– WWE Superstar The Great Khali became an American citizen on Thursday. His brother Ranjin Singh tweeted:
To my bro @GreatKhali, congrats on becoming a US Citizen today! Now we're both as American as @WWEZeb #WeThePeople pic.twitter.com/Erijx7YCYL
— Ranjin Singh (@WWERanjinSingh) February 21, 2014
WWE taped this week’s episode of SmackDown on Tuesday night from Colorado Springs, Colorado. Here’s a preview – hit up Page 2 below for *Spoiler* results.
– Daniel Bryan vs. Jack Swagger
– Antonio Cesaro in action
– The Wyatt Family vs. The Rhodes Brothers and Rey Mysterio
– Summer Rae vs. Emma in a dance off
– Dolph Ziggler vs. Titus O’Neil
– Jimmy Uso vs. Road Dogg
– Sheamus vs. Christian
A new photo has surfaced online of WWE legend The Undertaker. At 48 years old, he’s definitely starting to show his age – and appears to be sporting a new neck tattoo.
The Dead Man has already signed on to defend his streak at WrestleMania XXX and will be returning to WWE very soon.
– Former WWE Superstar Rob Van Dam was recently asked by a fan on his official Twitter account when he would be making a return to WWE. RVD answered the fan by saying:
“@Zigzag_rko: @TherealRVD when are you getting back in the #WWERing” Soon. But not today.
— Rob Van Dam (@TherealRVD) February 20, 2014
– Celebrity-gossip website TMZ made a tasteless comment on their Facebook page when promoting the article on their website about the passing of former WWE Superstar Big Daddy V. They wrote the following:
“Obviously, the weight loss came too late … or it was too much too quickly. R.I.P.”
– The latest edition of the “Steve Austin Show” podcast, which features Zeb Colter (aka Dutch Mantel) as a guest, is now available. You can check it out at SteveAustinShow.com.
– WWE Hall Of Famer “Rowdy” Roddy Piper continues to campaign for a match at WrestleMania XXX on his official Twitter account. Piper recently tweeted the following:
#WWE put Piper in WMXXX! He promises, the fans will love it! Or is "What's good for biz" just a line a writer made for you!
— Rowdy Roddy Piper (@R_Roddy_Piper) February 20, 2014
One of the big notes to come out of the WWE Network programming announcement earlier this week is the fact that WWE will be going head-to-head with TNA Impact Wrestling on Thursday nights.
WWE noted in the announcement that they will be running a three-hour block of programming on Thursday nights, beginning with Legends House at 8pm (starting April 10th), NXT TV at 9pm (starting March 6th) and Superstars at 10pm (starting February 27th).
– As previously reported, the “expert panel” for the upcoming NXT “Arrival” special on the WWE Network will consist of Kevin Nash, Paul Heyman, Bret Hart and Renee Young. Apparently Nash is replacing Shawn Michaels, who was originally scheduled to be part of the panel.
– According to reports, Alexander Rusev may be using a sidewalk-slam as his finishing move. Up until recently, Rusev had been using the camel clutch as his finisher.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
After promoting Steve Austin’s podcast on RAW for the past several weeks, WWE has started plugging Chris Jericho’s “Talk Is Jericho” podcast on their official website as well.
As we previously reported, WWE has been looking at entering the podcast business after seeing the success that Austin and Jericho have had with their shows. Additionally, they seem to be allowing their talent to appear as guests on these shows.
WWE launched their own PodcastOne.com show a few weeks ago, “30 Years Of WrestleMania,” with two shows thus far, which featured Shawn Michaels and Edge talking to host Renee Young about their WrestleMania memories and highlights.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
– Brodus Clay has been working out at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida for the past week. Clay is scheduled to work this Saturday’s NXT live event in Jacksonville, Florida.
– Ryback revealed his new ring gear for this Sunday’s WWE Elimination Chamber event. He recently tweeted the following photo:
New RybAxel limited edition "Step Brothers" singlet for Sunday at #WWEChamber #RybAxel pic.twitter.com/MZz7LpxYqp
— Ryan Reeves (@Ryback22) February 20, 2014
Luis Urive, better known as the original Sin Cara in WWE, will be debuting for Mexico’s AAA promotion this weekend in a Rey de Reyes qualifying match. He will compete in a four-way against Pyscho Clown, Psicosis and AAA Champion El Texano Jr.
Speaking of Urive, there are many people questioning why he would continue to use the Sin Cara name, as most view it as an association with being a failure in WWE. He can’t go back to using his old Mistico character, as CMLL owns the name and has given it to another wrestler.
As far as the name Sin Cara, WWE believes they own the name, however Urive insists that he has the legal rights to it.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
The following is the updated lineup for the TNA “One Night Only: Outbreak” pay-per-view, which is taped in conjunction with Wrestle-1 in Tokyo, Japan on March 2nd:
TNA World Heavyweight Championship
– Magnus (c) vs. Kai
TNA World Tag-Team Championships
– The Bro Mans (c) vs. Shuji Kondo & Kaz Hayashi
TNA X-Division Championship
– Austin Aries (c) vs. Seiya Sanada
– Bobby Roode vs. Masakatsu Funaki
– Kazarian & Daniels vs. Minoru Tanaka & Koji Kanemoto
– The official WWE website has a new poll up for another edition of their “WWE Countdown” show, which will air exclusively on the WWE Network. This poll asks fans to vote on the greatest tag-teams of all-time. The options are:
Edge and Christian
The New Age Outlaws
The Rockers
The Legion of Doom
The British Bulldogs
The Dudley Boyz
Demolition
The Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection
The Fabulous Freebirds
The Hardy Boyz
You can vote at WWE.com.
– The following are the Blu-ray extras for WWE’s new Ultimate Warrior DVD, which is scheduled for an April 1st release:
Dingo Warrior vs. Matt Bourne, WCCW – 10/24/1986
Ultimate Warrior & British Bulldogs vs. Mr. Fuji & Demolition, Maple Leaf Gardens – 7/24/1988
IC Title Match: Ultimate Warrior vs. Dino Bravo, The Main Event – 2/23/1990
WrestleMania VIII Contract Signing – 3/17/1991
Ultimate Warrior vs. Sgt. Slaughter, WrestleFest – 3/30/1991
IC Title Match: Ultimate Warrior vs. Goldust, In Your House: Good Friends, Better Enemies – 4/28/1996
– While no official deal is in place at this point, there is said to be a strong push within TNA to bring Chris Hero (aka Kassius Ohno) into the company.
– The following are some recent TNA live event attendance figures:
February 14th live event in Abilene, Texas drew approximately 300 fans
February 15th live event in Cedar Park, Texas drew approximately 900 fans
February 16th live event in Huntsville, Texas drew approximately 350 fans
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
Tonight’s edition of TNA Impact Wrestling features Gunner vs. Magnus for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, The Wolves vs. Bad Influence, Madison Rayne vs. Gail Kim in a Street Fight and the latest drama between MVP and TNA president Dixie Carter.
Below is the official opener for tonight’s show:
http://youtu.be/PewHDQBH4Hk