It was reported a few months ago that Dolph Ziggler had heat on him for some comments he made during an interview, however it was unknown at the time exactly what he said that landed him in hot water.
We can now report that it was his interview with MLive.com and and remarks about Randy Orton that got him in trouble. Here’s what Dolph Ziggler said to MLive.com back on September 4th, 2013:
“I’ve made it clear; I’m not patient at all – several times. I’ve been very vocal about my position on the card and in the company. I’m not trying to say ‘Hey, everybody sucks and I’m great!’ But I love doing this, and at some point you go ‘OK, It’s not my time right now and I got to figure something out’ And when it’s time, that’s when I must go out there and make as huge of an impact as I can and let everyone know ‘I dare you to follow that, I dare you try something better.’ And when they don’t (counter or match what I’m doing in the ring) I’m very outspoken about it and it can get me into very hot water (with the company). Then you never know where we’re going. Everybody can be just so outspoken about taller guys, and guys like Randy Orton being the face of the WWE, the WWE Championship. I dare you to put me in a back alley with Randy Orton or someone like that. I guarantee I’m not afraid of someone taller.”
WWE and DK Publishing announced today that they have signed a new book publishing deal. DK is the company that published the WWE Encyclopedia.
DK Publishing and WWE® Announce Global Partnership
INDIANAPOLIS & STAMFORD, Conn., Jan 22, 2014 — DK Publishing and WWE announced today that they have entered into a multi-year global agreement to publish and market titles based on WWE events and WWE Superstars.
The agreement will include up to 18 DK releases over three years, including the two upcoming commemorative books WWE 50: Celebrating 50 Years of Sports Entertainment, which chronicles the company’s 50 year history and 30 Years of WrestleMania, the ultimate guide to WWE’s annual pop-culture extravaganza.
DK will also publish a new line of children’s books focusing on the careers of John Cena®, Dwayne “The Rock®” Johnson and other top WWE Superstars, as well as sticker books, autobiographies and various historical guides.
The agreement is worldwide and also includes digital rights and various subsidiary rights.
“The multi-year publishing partnership between WWE and DK will bring a diverse and exciting line of print and digital books to WWE fans,” said Alex Allan, Global Publisher of DK.
“Our new product line, WWE Books, will combine exciting content from WWE with DK’s award-winning and visually-stunning illustration and design,” said Mike Degler, Publisher of BradyGames, who brokered the deal.
“WWE is committed to delivering a wide array of content on many different platforms, and this partnership will give our fans another way to experience the greatest moments, events and Superstars in WWE history,” said Casey Collins, Executive Vice President, Consumer Products, WWE. “With DK, we can build on the success of our popular WWE Encyclopedia and provide a variety of compelling content for years to come.”
– This year’s WWE Payback pay-per-view on June 1st will take place from the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois for the second straight year.
– WWE returns to Madison Square Garden for a Road To WrestleMania live event on Saturday, March 8th. Here’s the advertised card:
* John Cena, Batista & Rey Mysterio vs. The Wyatt Family
* CM Punk vs. Kane
* Tag Team champions Goldust & Cody Rhodes vs. The New Age Outlaws
Also advertised to appear are Divas Champion AJ Lee, The Bella Twins, Alberto Del Rio, Damien Sandow, Dolph Ziggler, Kofi Kingston, The Miz and others. WWE World Heavyweight champion Randy Orton is not currently advertised for the show.
Batista Returned to WWE and it’s the go home show before the Royal Rumble, but was it enough for us to say YES! Check out The YES! & The NO! of WWE RAW.” Comment below and tell us your thoughts.
The Animal Is back, with the world’s tightest pants! NO!
The Authority, Randy Orton & Batista I wasn’t exactly thrilled with this segment. Randy Orton Triple H and Stephanie McMahon is just boring me. Orton is way more whinyer these days as well. This isn’t the cold-hearted viper, we all know and love. This is an annoying whimpy sometimes self-doubting viper. Batista comes out wearing a pair of ridiculous tight Jeans. That outfit is what I would expect someone to put on him as a joke in the WWE 2k14 video game, with a diva’s dancing entrance. He’s back to win the Royal Rumble and main event WrestleMania XXX in New Orleans to become the WWE Champion. Part of me want’s to say YES! because Batista is awesome, maybe I’m being to hard on the guy? But if I’m rating the segment by itself I have to go with NO!
Goldust, Cody Rhodes & Big E. Langston vs. The Shield WWE has won me over on tag team wrestling, plain and simple. I enjoy it, I love wathcing Cody and Golddust out there. I think it’s rediciolous that these two are defending their championship on the Royal Rumble pre-show. They deserve mid-card of the Pay-Per-View. Some would arugue, that if you put a solid match on the pre-show that will get people on the fence to buy the PPV. I get it, but still I think this is an attraction worthy of the actual event. Especially because I feel The New Age Outlaws could very well win the titles.YES!
Daniel Bryan is back YES!
Daniel Bryan & Bray Wyatt Great to see Daniel Bryan on Raw, especially since SEScoops.com broke the news a day after last week’s Raw that he had suffered a concussion last week. As a precaution he was pulled of the weekends live events and underwent impact testing to make sure he was good for this Sunday. He’s facing Bray Wyatt in a 1 on 1 match. Currently he is not scheduled to compete in the Royal Rumble. If he doesn’t show up in the Rumble and win it, I will be pretty disappointed, this is his year to win it. Do the right thing WWE, you have a major star on your hands. YES!
Xavier Woods vs. Fandango Fast forwarded this match. I think Fandango won. I have no idea why. Meaningless. NO!
CM Punk vs Billy Gun I didn’t catch Smackdown! on Friday, but I enjoyed The Road Doggs explinatinon here on commentary. The New Age Outlaws aren’t heel’s per se, more like tweeners. I would expect them to win the Tag Team titles to further along a breakup with Golddust and Cody Rhodes. Billy Gun looked a bit blown up in the match with CM Punk, but good match. YES!
Batista gets his revenge on Alberto Del Ro before the Rumble. Now What? – NO!
Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio Another fast forward delight, back in the day before DVR’s and dare I say VCR’s We would change the channel watching this thing live. Truth be told, I fell asleep during this very match live on Monday, and caught up Tuesday. Batista comes out and attacks Alberto Del Rio. Now I thought I was going to have to pay to see Batista get physical with Del Rio? Why give it away on Raw? I can only guess that Alberto Del Rio will cause Batista to be eliminated at the Rumble. We saw Batista destroy him, so something else needs to happen. Perhaps Ricardo Rodriguez comes back and they both get Batista out? Who knows. All I know is I give the match and aftermath a NO!
Brock Lesnar should be Fearless – NO!
Big Show, Brock Lesnar & Paul Heyman Brock Lesnar shouldn’t be afraid of anyone at any time, period! I did like the Big Show this week, more serious, more business, calling out Brock Lesnar. I thought it was silly watching Brock backup from the ring, not wanting to get in there with Big Show. Getting thrown out and then throwing a temper tantrum. Brock is going to win this match at the Royal Rumble, a match I am looking forward to. But this segment was silly. I liked Big Show’s impression of Paul Heyman though. NO!
View Page 2 to find out more YES and NO from WWE RAW and our Overall Raw Rating
Roddy Piper continues to push for a match against Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania XXX. Part 2 of his interview on the Steve Austin Show podcast was posted online this week and here’s what he had to say about wrestling Hogan one last time:
“This is Wrestlemania 30. I’ve pinned Hogan once and he’s never pinned me. From a fan’s perspective, and WWE Universe and Vince, it never had closure. The business that would be done.. the interviews and stuff would be coming from the heart. We could try to outraise the bar of the WWE entertainment machine in our sport, if they let us go toe to toe and don’t script us. The fans will see really how it got started and why, and then they’ll see the conclusion. They are asking can I get in shape. I am already in shape!. They are asking Hogan.. But there is a fear, I guess, of whether we can pull off the performance.”
WWE taped Friday’s episode of SmackDown tonight from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Below is a spoiler-free preview for the show. Hit up Page 2 below for full spoilers.
– Big Show and Rey Mysterio vs. The Real Americans
– The Miz vs. Brodus Clay
– AJ Lee vs. Cameron
– Ryback and Curtis Axel vs. Los Matadores
– Eric Rowand and Luke Harper vs. The Prime Time Players
– Kofi Kingston vs. Fandango
– The Shield and The New Age Outlaws vs. Big E Langston, Cody Rhodes, Goldust and The Usos.
Here are some live notes from Tuesday night’s WWE Main Event & SmackDown tapings from Grand Rapids, Michigan:
– The dark match that took place before the Main Event tapings saw Naomi defeat NXT Diva Emma. Our live correspondent said there were a lot of botched spots.
– Friday’s SmackDown will feature JBL and Josh Matthews on commentary. No word yet on why Michael Cole isn’t calling the show.
Here are spoiler results for this week’s episode of WWE Main Event, taped from the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan:
* R-Truth defeated Damien Sandow via pinfall. Xavier Woods was on commentary for this match.
* The Bella Twins defeated Aksana and Alicia Fox via pinfall.
* Alberto Del Rio defeated Sin Cara via submission with the cross armbreaker. This was described as an exciting match with a lot of high spots. Sin Cara’s mask actually came off and his face was exposed. After the match, Del Rio started cutting a promo but Sin Cara attacked him while he was talking.
– TNA has added the following “#IMPACT365” video to their official YouTube channel, which features company president Dixie Carter addressing some changes coming in the future.
http://youtu.be/hReyvELxTpo
– TNA has also added the latest edition of their IMPACT Podcast to YouTube, which features Rockstar Spud. You can check that out below:
Former TNA standout AJ Styles was recently a guest on the “OMG Wrestling Podcast.” Styles took part in a lengthy interview where he covered such subjects as leaving TNA, returning to ROH, WWE rumors and more.
The video, which you can watch above, is accompanied by the following description: “Today’s episode we get to interview The Phenomenal One AJ Styles. We talk about everything from WCW, NWA Wildside, ROH, TNA, & WWE. Thank you AJ.”
TNA founder Jeff Jarrett has reportedly met with a number of different potential investors for his new wrestling project. In addition to Toby Keith, Hermie Sadler is said to be another celebrity involved with the project.
Jarrett was said to be “blown away” by how many people that are interested in joining him.
As of right now, there is no set timetable in place for an official announcement on the new wrestling project from Jarrett.
The following are highlights from a recent Jim Ross online Q&A update:
On if he feels Roman Reigns will ever work with his cousins The Usos: “I assume that any thing is possible down the road. It likely wouldn’t be often or remotely on a regular basis.”
On if it’s fair to compare today’s era against the Attitude Era: “”Fair?” It’s merely speculation and not a decree of fact. Today’s roster has some intriguing, underdeveloped pieces who need to continue to evolve plus have others added to the mix to ever approach the Attitude Era roster. I hope that they do.”
On why WWE didn’t do Hulk Hogan vs. Steve Austin in 2002: “Nothing serious that I recall. Rock was a better fit for Hogan at WM18.”
On if WWE talents had more creative freedom back in the late 90s and early 2000s: “Yes, somewhat. Those that could assemble their thoughts in a good way were provided some creative flexibility. Needs to get back to that.”
On if he feels Daniel Bryan will be in the Royal Rumble, and if so, should he win: “Your guess is as good as mine. He’s facing Bray Wyatt at the Rumble but that doesn’t mean that any of those talents in one on one matches can’t be in the Rumble match too. Tune in and see….that’s what I’m doing.”
Check out more JR Q&A updates online at JRsBarBQ.com.
– TNA will kick off their European tour next week. The crew will begin the tour in Dublin, Ireland on January 29th. They make stops in Glasgow, Scotland on January 30th, January 31st in Manchester, England and February 1st in London, England, all of which will be Impact Wrestling television tapings. They run Birmingham, England for a “One Night Only: Jokers Wild” pay-per-view taping on February 2nd.
– The following are attendance notes from TNA’s live events from this past weekend:
TNA live event in Mobile, Alabama drew approximately 600 fans
TNA live event in Dothan, Alabama drew approximately 1,500 fans
TNA live event in Albany, Georgia drew approximately 1,000 fans
– The New Jersey website has an interview up with WWE Hall Of Famer “Mean” Gene Okerlund where he discusses the Richard Sherman promo from Sunday, among other topics. You can check that out at NJ.com.
– The Temple News website has a new interview up with wrestling journalist Bill Apter. You can check that one out at Temple-News.com.
– Part two of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s interview with “Rowdy” Roddy Piper is available on his latest “Steve Austin Show” podcast. You can check that out at PodcastOne.com.
The following are highlights of a recent interview with UFC Hall Of Famer and former WWE Superstar Ken Shamrock:
On Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta: “It’s like the original UFC never existed to them. They completely embarrass the history and mention us slightly but it’s like they don’t want to acknowledge the history of their company. There is hardly even a 30 second mention of me in any of there videos. You have Lorenzo telling people that he didn’t sell because he slept on it, that’s an absolute joke. It was because Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock went in and blew up their event and they realised they could make money off it.”
On his decision to join WWE: “I don’t think it was a decision I made because I wanted to do it, it was one I made because I needed the money for my family. The UFC was having huge legal trouble and it got to a point where UFC didn’t have the money to pay me to keep moving forward and looking after my family. There were no hard feelings when I moved and I try to explain that to my fans. There comes a time when you have to do things that you have to do what you don’t want to. I didn’t want to leave UFC but I had to make that decision. When I did eventually make the move to WWE, I realised that I loved it and I wasn’t sure if that was going to be the case.”
On neary winning the WWE Title in 1997: “I’m not sure, I know I was being groomed. I was being put in a very good position to take the title. I took the Intercontinental Title from The Rock and had some great matches with him. I sensed I was going to move up and whether it was with Bret or Rock or Stone Cold or if I was in the mix with all of them, but it just never flourished.”
On a possible WWE return: “First of all, I want people to realise that it is hard to se all the old stars come back to Hall of Fame stuff and me not be included in all these things. I accomplished more than anyone in 2 years at WWF and I was part of one of the biggest match that started the attitude era with Bret Hart vs. Stone Cold. That match changed wrestling to what it is today.”
“There is not a peep from anyone within WWE. I don’t know why they won’t give me a shot in the WWE and to challenge for the WWE title. I have reached out through many different types of media and the only thing I’ve heard back is that they’re doing okay and don’t need me. I say that if you’re gonna be bringing people back from the attitude era and before that then I don’t understand why you wouldn’t bring me back. There seems to be a black mark against me and I don’t understand it.”
– WWE has officially acknowledged the marriage between Jimmy Uso and Naomi, which took place last week in Hawaii. WWE wrote the following on their official website:
“Naomi (Trinity) and Jimmy (Jon) Uso officially tied the knot in a private marriage ceremony in Hawaii in the presence of family, friends and fellow WWE Superstars. The pair’s engagement has been chronicled on the hit E! reality show “Total Divas,” and camera crews were on hand to capture the nuptials for the show’s upcoming second season, which is set to begin in March.”
– The following are some upcoming WWE DVD release dates:
1/28 “Best of Raw & Smackdown 2013”
2/11 “Shawn Michaels: Mr. Wrestlemania”
2/25 “Royal Rumble 2014”
3/25 “Scooby Doo: Wrestlemania Mystery”
Tickets for the WrestleMania AXXESS festivities in New Orleans will officially go on sale to the public on February 1st.
VIP tickets for AXXESS are set at $95, which guarantees you access to a VIP signing and a special VIP line to enter the event or $45, which will be general admission.
WrestleMania AXXESS sessions are currently scheduled as follows:
Thursday, April 3rd
6 PM – 10 PM
Friday, April 4th
6 PM – 10 PM
Saturday, April 5th
8 AM – 12 PM
1 PM – 5 PM
6 PM – 10 PM
WWE has added the latest edition of their “Backstage Fallout” series on YouTube. The RAW “Backstage Fallout” video for this week, which can be viewed above, is accompanied by the following description: “Batista and Alberto Del Rio talk about their encounter on Raw.”
– WWE Superstar Batista, who made his return at RAW on Monday night, was interviewed backstage for the official WWE website. “The Animal” spoke about being nervous to return to WWE television and played up his storyline quest to win the Royal Rumble and capture the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
You can watch the video interview with Batista at WWE.com.
– As noted, E! filmed the wedding ceremony between Naomi and Jimmy Uso in Hawaii last week for a future episode of Total Divas. The crew also filmed additional footage of the couple visiting various attractions in the state for the next season of the reality show.
A new synopsis for the “Scooby Doo: WrestleMania Mystery” film has been released. The new description for the movie reads as follows:
“This all-new original movie delivers endless action with Scooby-Doo, Shaggy and the rest of the gang! The mystery begins when Shaggy and Scooby win tickets to WrestleMania and convince the crew to go with them to WWE City.
But this city harbors a spooky secret – a ghastly Ghost Bear holds the town in his terrifying grip! To protect the coveted WWE Championship Title, the gang gets help from WWE Superstars like John Cena, Triple H, Sin Cara, Brodus Clay, AJ Lee, The Miz and Kane.
Watch Scooby and the gang grapple with solving this case before it’s too late.”
The following are the “Extras” that will be featured on the DVD and Blu-ray release, which is scheduled to come out on March 25th:
– Behind the Scenes with Scooby-Doo and the WWE Gang: A behind the scenes look at the voice recording sessions with the cast of WWE.
– Wrestle Maniacs: Bonus “A Pup Named Scooby-Doo” Episode.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has posted a new blog entry, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
Batista’s Return: “Good to See Batista back as Dave physically looked great and got a welcoming reaction back to the show. Batista is my favorite to win the Rumble Match this Sunday in Pittsburgh on PPV. One could assume that a major talent like Batista will have a huge role in NOLA at WM30.”
Daniel Bryan: “It seemed as if Daniel Bryan could have had a higher profile role on RAW based on how RAW left the air last week.”
Big Show vs. Brock Lesnar: “Impressed that Big Show was able to GUTWRENCH Lesnar over the top rope. Felt like a bigger moment at home than on TV. Impressive.”
John Cena vs. Randy Orton: “It’s obvious that the Cena vs. Orton WWE World Title bout is the primary focus of the Royal Rumble PPV this Sunday. Would loved to have seen Orton make a clean, non contact, getaway on RAW. I’d assume WWE will end with the Rumble match but make no mistake about it the focus of the show is on the WWE World Title….not that’s a bad thing.”
After Monday’s WWE RAW ended in Dayton, Ohio, John Cena shook hands with several of the Make-A-Wish kids at ringside before Damien Sandow came out.
Sandow came out for the scheduled dark match main event against Cena, but first cut a promo. Sandow spoke about how Cena doesn’t care about the people, which resulted in Cena playing to the crowd, which seemed to be a pretty pro-Cena audience at this point. Sandow said Cena stole his “Money In The Bank” contract and because of that, he was going to end the “Cena Era.”
No real match took place as Cena quickly hit Sandow with his “Attitude Adjustment” finisher to send the crowd home happy. He shook hands with more fans and left the ring. The ring announcer thanked everyone for coming and that was about it.
Jake Roberts has issued an apology to the Ultimate Warrior for some remarks he made about him during a recent interview. On the Busted Open radio show, Jake responded to The Ultimate Warrior entering the WWE Hall of Fame by saying:
“I know, man! I know that [their careers can’t be compared]. But maybe they’re taking in a**holes and not great talent. I don’t know.”
Warrior fired back on Twitter, calling Jake a hypocrite and saying he instills horror and pity in people:
Question for former talents now "hypocrite" born-again Christians. Where do we go to find you practicing the beliefs of Christianity? Hell?
Now, Jake has responded, apologizing to Warrior and saying he wants to put the whole situation behind him.
“My guys showed me Warrior’s tweets. I was trying to be entertaining with the radio show and took things too far, like I do too often. I have no business inferring anything negative about him. I apologize. He deserves the HOF and respect for what he accomplished in the business. But let me be clear. There is no hypocrisy here. I am not preaching anything. I am sharing my recovery path to show others what is possible. So no pity, bathrooms stalls or groveling. I am doing great. I am an addict and alcoholic working every single day to repair and make the best out of the life I have left. I make mistakes, like that comment, but my recovery has been amazing. Jim does not know this Jake. Without realizing or intending to, I fired the first shot and will take Jim’s response without any negativity towards him. I apologize and am putting behind me.”
Legendary pro wrestler and behind-the-scenes figure George Scott passed away from lung cancer at age 84 in Indian Rocks Beach, Florida on Monday night.
Scott was a respected booker, who was a big influence on the Jim Crockett Promotions territory in the 1980s, as well as the early WWE boom period during the first two WrestleMania shows.
In addition to his behind-the-scenes work, Scott was also a legendary pro wrestler who had a solid run as a tag-team with his brother Sandy Scott.
