Rey Mysterio appears to have suffered a knee injury at Tuesday night’s SmackDown tapings from Ontario, California.
During a Fatal 4 Way match against Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston and Mark Henry, Mysterio landed badly on his knee and immediately rolled out of the ring.
He pulled his pants leg up, removed the large knee brace that protects his left knee and was clearly in a lot of pain.
Here’s a photo of Rey Mysterio at ringside after the incident. Let’s hope it’s nothing serious.
The following are highlights from the latest online blog by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On developing new stars: “All of those in the pro wrestling genre know that every organization needs to develop new stars. There’s a certain amount of risk obviously involved in putting someone in the starting lineup but those risks must be taken. Plus, the new talent must be provided an adequate opportunity to establish their body of work and to develop a fan following. It can’t happen with start and stop creative and 50/50 booking.”
“Any wrestling savant that says or thinks that they can determine whether a talent is going to be a success or not within a few weeks is BS’ing themselves.”
On recording his debut podcast with Steve Austin: “I had a great audio session this week with @steveaustinBSR for the Ross Report podcast that will be debuting THIS Wednesday on Podcastone.com and ITunes and it’s always FREE. A new podcast will drop every Wednesday. Austin talks about some unique, WrestleMania topics, his booking thoughts on Daniel Bryan and what Bryan needs to address to get over even more, the CM Punk saga, thoughts on NOT wrestling a program with @HulkHogan, @Goldberg and @BrockLesnar, where the original Smoking Skull Title Belt is today, along with much more including his thoughts on Steve attending WM30.”
On talent being afraid to speak up: “If any wrestling company fosters a backstage environment that does not encourage their talents to speak up and get more involved in their careers from a presentation and creative standpoint, that company is asking for hard times. In ring participants like to perform and to create or they wouldn’t be in the biz. If one is a performer then they likely have an above average abundance of creativity. Any show business entity that stifles creativity from their performers is myopic.”
“Talents cannot be afraid to speak up but unfortunately because of the shrinking number of places a talent can work and earn a decent living the “don’t rock the boat” philosophy seems to permeate the wrestling business.”
“That’s not healthy for anyone involved.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com.
– As previously reported, Tool performed a private concert for the 3MB faction prior to Monday’s RAW at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Apparently the trio were invited by Tool guitarist Adam Jones, who is reportedly a big pro wrestling fan.
– Also as noted previously, WWE gave Big E. Langston a name change to simply “Big E.” Since the change, he has switched his Twitter handle to “@WWEBigE”.
Although the upcoming live NXT special “Arrival” will be airing on the WWE Network, William Regal noted on Twitter that it will also be available through your usual NXT outlets. Regal tweeted the following:
As far as I know,The NXT Arrival-Live Special on 2-27 on the @WWENetwork will be seen around the world on NXT on your normal NXT channel.
— William Regal (@RealKingRegal) February 13, 2014
It will not be live apart from on @WWENetwork.It will be split up and seen at the usual times outside the US on NXT.
— William Regal (@RealKingRegal) February 13, 2014
TNA founder Jeff Jarrett recently spoke on-camera about his new wrestling project for the first time since leaving the company.
“I can’t wait to make a real formal announcement,” Jarrett said, “and that day is coming.”
The video also includes footage of Jarrett and his wife Karen flying from Nashville to Houston, presumably on the way to Mexico, where Jarrett claims he will be scouting talent.
Jarrett spoke about his long-standing relationship with the AAA promotion in Mexico, noting that they are looking to expand into the United States market through their partnership with Mark Burnett.
Finally, Jarrett spoke about scouting talent in North America, Mexico, Japan, India, Australia, and Europe to be a part of the new project.
– There is a lot of talk within WWE right now that Christian may be leaving the company once his current contract expires. At age 40, there’s a general feeling that WWE creative isn’t going to do a lot with Christian and that he’s just riding out his current deal.
– WWE Superstar The Miz will be taking some time off next week as he will be getting married to former WWE Diva Maryse in the Bahamas on February 20th. Miz will likely miss the upcoming Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, but is expected back at the non-televised live events the following week.
(Partial Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
– WWE Superstar Goldust recently denied the rumors that WWE is finally going to do the “brother vs. brother” match at WrestleMania XXX between he and Cody Rhodes. Goldust tweeted the following:
I repeat… I WILL NOT BE FIGHTING MY BROTHER AT MANIA!!!!!!! Time has passed. Think what u want. Wouldnt get the spotlight it deserves.
— GOLDUST (@Goldust) February 13, 2014
– WWE Hall Of Famer The Iron Sheik makes a cameo in a new Bud Light commercial. You can check that out below:
http://youtu.be/nE2jdgaM7ps
Apparently there was some discussion in late 2013 regarding bringing Chris Jericho back into WWE for the first few months of 2014.
According to one source, the key reason those talks died down had to deal with creative issues, not the financial side of things.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
There was said to be a lot of bonding among the guys in TNA during their recent United Kingdom tour. Regarding the speech Samoa Joe gave on a bus trip, which we reported about last week, it’s being said that Joe informed the talent that they are all in a fight and everyone needs to band together to try and turn things around. Apparently nobody from creative was present, just the wrestlers.
Joe and MVP are seemingly considered the locker room leaders in TNA now that so many of the veterans are no longer with the company.
Regarding Jeff Jarrett’s new potential promotion, many are taking a wait-and-see approach, with the belief that nothing is for sure until something concrete is presented. Many in the company have loyalty to Jarrett for giving them their first big national break, however many are equally loyal to TNA feeling that while it has been rumored to go out of business many times in the past, it’s been around for 11 years and has survived each potential disaster thus far.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s latest podcast is now available. The latest show features Austin discussing his backstage experience at Monday’s RAW in-depth.
Austin also noted during the podcast that while at the RAW show in Los Angeles this past Monday, he recorded future shows with Zeb Colter, Big Show, William Regal and John Cena. He also noted that he extended an offer to Kevin Dunn to appear on the show, but is still waiting on his answer.
You can check out Austin’s latest podcast at PodcastOne.com.
According to one source, Mr. T has verbally agreed to be inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame later this year. Mr. T had declined a Hall Of Fame induction from WWE several times in the past.
There is no real update on whether or not the company still intends to induct the entire WrestleMania I main event match itself, one that featured Mr. T and Hulk Hogan (along with “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka) taking on “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff (with “Cowboy” Bob Orton).
Another source has confirmed that Cyndi Lauper is another celebrity that WWE is talking about inducting into their Hall Of Fame.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
The latest word going around is that Sting has yet to sign a contract with WWE. The feeling is that the delay in the signing is more on WWE’s end, as the company doesn’t consider him a priority. WWE is reportedly in no hurry to sign Sting in time for a match at WrestleMania XXX, although those close to Sting claim he was hoping to have a match on the show, specifically against The Undertaker.
Since Sting lives in the Dallas area, he was apparently willing to meet up with Undertaker and work out the match in advance, something that many of Taker’s past opponents at WrestleMania have done.
There is some concern in the company that Brock Lesnar may not be willing to spend all of that extra time working on the match with Undertaker, as many feel he’s only in the company because it’s a big money deal for a small amount of work.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
Apparently there remains some mixed feelings within WWE right now regarding the CM Punk situation. Almost no one in the company agrees with Punk’s decision to walk out 30 minutes before a live television taping.
Many have sympathy for some of the concerns Punk had, but some argue that he was legitimately the number two guy in the company for a while. Additionally, it’s acknowledged that Punk was very popular with the fans, but the belief by some is that he was not a major ticket seller for live events, and rarely had a big impact on the company’s pay-per-view business. At the same time, it is understood that Punk was the number two merchandise seller for the company.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
WWE has begun looking ahead to the March 3rd RAW show in Chicago, Illinois, the hometown of CM Punk. There is said to be a considerable amount of concern within the company as to how the crowd will react at that show. With both Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker returning to RAW the week prior in Green Bay, there is some talk of bringing those two into the Chicago RAW as well, as a way to combat the Punk chants.
Despite the concern, there is said to be less than originally feared after Monday’s show in Los Angeles. Since the chants haven’t been too passionate or long-lasting, especially at the L.A. show, WWE feels that it may not be a situation that gets out of control like the recent Daniel Bryan hijacking fiasco.
Regarding the L.A. RAW, WWE feared fans would hijack the Randy Orton vs. John Cena main event, so they had Daniel Bryan go out twice. The idea was to bring Bryan out early, and again before the main event, as to let the fans get the chanting out of their system before the main event began.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
– According to reports, Shane McMahon currently owns 1,541,224 shares of WWE stock, which is worth over $35 million. After selling a lot of stock over the past year, Stephanie McMahon reportedly owns 661,678 shares of WWE stock, which is worth more than $14 million.
– Both Layla and Richie Steamboat are still under WWE contracts. It had been reported that Steamboat was cut, but he’s apparently still out with a bad back injury, one that some feel could be career-ending.
It’s been speculated that Layla is out due to medical issues, however some are under the impression that she’s dealing with some personal issues.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
– When the WWE Network launches on February 24th at 11:05pm E.T., it will kick-off with a live RAW post-show. As previously reported, fans will be able to sign up and begin viewing Network content at 9am that morning.
– Starting this coming weekend, WWE Superstar Batista will begin working some non-televised live event matches.
– The name changes to both Antonio Cesaro and Big E. Langston recently are said to be a Vince McMahon decision. Langston’s change was done as a promotional effort, as WWE feels “Big E.” is easier to market. Cesaro’s name change is just one of those things WWE does sometimes.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
As previously reported, WWE has launched their first PodcastOne.com podcast with host Renee Young interviewing Shawn Michaels about WrestleMania. Company officials are apparently looking at expanding into more podcasts following the success of Steve Austin and Chris Jericho’s podcasts.
Additionally, following the success of Mick Foley’s live comedy touring act, WWE is looking at possibly doing some touring talk shows in comedy clubs.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
Future WWE Hall Of Famer Jake “The Snake” Roberts noted on his official Twitter account recently that he will soon be revealing the man who will be inducting him into the WWE Hall Of Fame. Roberts noted that it “should be obvious” who the inductor is, leading many to believe it will be Diamond Dallas Page.
Regarding the possibility of wrestling another match for WWE, Roberts said “never say never” but noted that nothing is planned as of right now.
– Apparently Tensai is done as an active wrestler in WWE, for right now at least. The company is apparently grooming him for a commentary gig. In addition to doing some commentary on NXT recently, Tensai has been involved in some of the WWE television pre-show and post-show trial runs for the WWE Network.
– WWE Hall Of Famer Ric Flair has reportedly signed a new contract with WWE. According to one source, all of Flair’s personal appearances and business deals must be cleared by WWE from now on. Flair is allowed to work outside of WWE, but in every case, there is a clause in his WWE contract that states that if WWE calls him and needs him for anything, he must cancel his opposing booking.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
– Tag-team wrestling legend “Beautiful” Bobby Eaton has reportedly made a significant turn for the better in terms of his health. He has apparently lost a lot of weight and is the healthiest he has been in quite a while.
– There has been talk in WWE of bringing in Kevin Steen and Michael Elgin for tryouts. Apparently the two may be invited to an upcoming WWE developmental tryout camp.
– The following are some recent WWE attendance figures:
February 7th in Oakland, California drew approximately 5,400 fans
February 8th in San Jose, California drew approximately 4,700 fans
February 8th in San Diego, California drew approximately 4,000 fans
February 9th in Fresno, California drew approximately 6,000 fans
February 9th in Bakersfield, California drew approximately 4,500 fans
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
– WWE Superstar Cody Rhodes apparently suffered some MCL damage, likely as a result of his steel cage moonsault on RAW two weeks ago.
– Another WWE Superstar who may have been injured on RAW recently is Ryback. According to one report, Ryback may have hurt his hand in the tag-team match against The Usos this past Monday night.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
– Former WWE Diva Terri Runnels is currently working as a marketing executive at United Water Restoration in Florida.
– Former WCW United States Champion and Japanese wrestling legend Kensuke Sasaki announced his retirement earlier today in Japan. Sasaki, who had a 28 year career in the sport, had been dealing with neck issues as of late.
– WWE will be competing with UFC for attendance at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. UFC will be running the venue with their UFC 171 pay-per-view, which is nearly sold out already with a 14,000 paid attendance and a $2.2 million first weekend advance. The night after that show, WWE will be running a live event.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
TNA has added a new “#IMPACT365” video with company president Dixie Carter making an announcement regarding Lockdown. The video, which you can view above, is accompanied by the following description:
After yesterday’s major announcement by MVP of the return of Jeff Hardy, our #IMPACT365 camera just caught up with TNA President Dixie Carter for a reaction.
Lockdown happens on March 9th in Miami, FL Live! on Pay-Per-View. Check with your Pay-Per-View provider for details.
Get your tickets to TNA Lockdown now at ticketmaster.com and get the Full VIP Experience and meet the superstars of IMPACT WRESTLING including Jeff Hardy at Fan Interaction, tickets available at http://shoptna.com/xperience.aspx
The following are highlights froma recent interview with Mick Foley:
On people who say wrestling is fake: “There is nothing worse than sitting on a plane for six hours next to someone whose first question to you was, ‘Is wrestling fake?’ You know you are not going to have a pleasant experience. I would never think of sitting down next to somebody and insulting what they do for a living. My general answer is, I say, ‘Every bit of it is fake,’ and then they say, ‘Every bit of it?’ Then I get people starting to come on my side and saying they know that some of that was real. That’s something I learned from Owen Hart. Just say ‘yes, every bit of it is fake.’”
On wrestling vs. writing: “Both of them are about commitment. You go back to Mr. Miyagi’s theory on life: If you stand on one side of the road you are fine, and if you stand on the other side of the road you are fine, but if you stand in the middle you get squashed like a grape. With wrestling, writing or performing on stage you either go all out or you don’t go at all. You don’t sit down to kind of write a book. You have to have your heart in it. I think in most everything I do the evidence is there — my heart has been in it when I am doing it.”
Check out the complete interview at TheProvince.com.
– As reported earlier this week, Big E Langston’s ring name has been shortened to simply, “Big E.”
WWE’s Intercontinental Champion tweeted the following about the situation:
I sold "Langston" for a Segway & a couple 40s.
— Big E (@WWEBigE) February 13, 2014
– Speaking of Big E, Drew McIntyre had to get stitched up after their match on this week’s episode of Main Event.
McIntyre tweeted:
This isn't ballet people. Check out #MainEvent tonight. @BigELangston & myself aren't scared to get physical #men pic.twitter.com/uGEDbmlqwz
— Drew McIntyre (@TheDrewMcIntyre) February 12, 2014