The following are highlights from a recent interview with former TNA star AJ Styles:
On pushing back his speaking tour due to lawsuit threats from TNA: “We had something in the works, but then I got threatened by a TNA lawyer about some stuff that was going on – it was meaningless. We were going to do that in March, but now we’re looking at maybe coming over in June. The book should be done by then. So, it actually works out pretty good.”
On TNA’s attempts to take Impact Wrestling on the road: “It wasn’t a bad idea getting on the road doing shows. The problem is they weren’t advertising that we were on the road. We did these buildings and they weren’t even half-way sold out because people didn’t know we were there. I remember staying at a hotel right across the street from the venue and they didn’t even know that wrestling was in there that night. It goes to show that if you don’t have someone getting out there, getting the word out there that you’re in town, you’re not going to do well.”
On TNA signing big name stars to try and pop the Impact Wrestling rating: “With the homegrown guys, we were slowly building the ratings. My opinion is if it’s not broke, don’t fix it, but I think they wanted to see the ratings climb a little faster.”
The post-Royal Rumble edition of WWE RAW on Monday, January 27th averaged 4.718 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. The 4.718 million viewer average marks a decrease from the 4.869 million that the show averaged going into the Royal Rumble last Monday night.
The hourly breakdown for viewership on Monday’s RAW is as follows:
Hour One: 4.849
Hour Two: 4.837
Hour Three: 4.470
The final rating for this week’s RAW should be out later today.
WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley announced via his Twitter account that he has secured a live television special for his comedy act. The special will air on AXS TV on February 6th at 10pm.
Foley tweeted the following:
I am thrilled to announce that I will be performing on LIVE national TV – Feb 6, 10pm, AXS TV from @GothamComedy in NYC. Ticket details soon
SYFY DOUBLES UP ON FAN-FAVORITE SERIES HAVEN ORDERING 26 NEW EPISODES
FIRST 13 EPISODES TO PREMIERE THIS FALL
NEW YORK – January 28, 2014 – Syfy has greenlit 26 new episodes of its hit series Haven, which posted growth in both Adults 18-34 and Adults 18-49 last year. The first 13 episodes of Season 5 are set to premiere this fall with the remaining 13 episodes scheduled to air in 2015.
Tallying its best season ever in social mentions and Twitter activity, Haven’s recently wrapped fourth season was up 11% among Adults 18-34 (314,000) and up 3% year-to-year among Adults 18-49 (926,000). Overall, Haven averaged 1.1 million Adults 25-54 and 2.3 million viewers per week and ranked second in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54 among original cable series in its Friday 10PM ET/PT time slot. (All data Live +7).
Series stars Emily Rose, Lucas Bryant and Eric Balfour will reprise their roles of Audrey Parker, Nathan Wournos and Duke Crocker, respectively. Production on 26 all-new episodes is set to begin on location in Halifax, Nova Scotia this spring.
Haven, based on the novella, The Colorado Kid, from renowned author Stephen King, follows former FBI agent Audrey Parker, who becomes a cop in the small town of Haven, Maine, and soon discovers the town’s many secrets – which also hold the key to unlocking the mysteries of her lost past.
From leading independent studio Entertainment One (eOne), Haven is co-commissioned by Shaw Media in Canada and globally via Universal Networks International (UNI).
The creative team behind Haven includes executive producers John Morayniss (Klondike, Rogue) from eOne Television and David MacLeod (Legends of the Fall, The Ray Bradbury Theater) of Big Motion Pictures, who are joined by Lloyd Segan, Shawn Piller, Scott Shepherd (Stephen King’s The Dead Zone, Greek) of Piller/Segan/Shepherd and Matt McGuinness (Journeyman, Franklin and Bash) and Gabrielle Stanton (The Vampire Diaries, Grey’s Anatomy). The series was developed by Sam Ernst and Jim Dunn (Stephen King’s The Dead Zone).
Haven is produced by Entertainment One and Big Motion Pictures in association with Piller/Segan/Shepherd and airs on Syfy in the US, Showcase in Canada and internationally on UNI’s multiple Syfy channels. Entertainment One controls the worldwide distribution rights to the one-hour series.
UFC President Dana White appeared on The Arsenio Hall late-night talk show recently and discussed the competitive rivalry he feels Vince McMahon has with him.
In the clip, which you can see above, White again tells the story of how McMahon once called him up and challenged him to a fight.
– John Cena was interviewed was interviewed by the “Guy Code” blog at MTV.com to promote his new diet & fitness program. Cena was asked about what inspired him to create the 10 Week Body Challenge and said it’s partially because he sees people are not working out the right way.
“You should go into a gym and just look around. People paying good, hard-earned money and they don’t know what the F they’re doing. I go to gyms all across the world and with about 75% of the people I see I just want to go up to and say, “Hey! You’re doing it wrong! Stop wasting your time!” But you can’t. They’re on their own deal, everyone has to find their own way.”
When asked if there’s a “line he won’t cross” with his fellow Superstars, Cena said:
“Rule number one: don’t rib unless you want to be ribbed. If you prank someone, someone is going to get you back. It may not be the person you pranked, because they might not be good at pranks, but we’ve got our homies. We’ve got our wolf. We call in another prankster and he’ll get you back. So, you got to respect peoples personal space and don’t rib unless you want to be ribbed.”
– WWE ring announcer Lilian Garcia announced on Tuesday that she has signed a new contract with the promotion. She tweeted:
A grand jury in Pennsylvania will investigate the 1983 death of Nancy L. Argentino, the girlfriend of professional wrestler Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka. The news comes less than three weeks after the release of an autopsy report and police interviews that had never been seen by the public.
District Attorney Jim Martin said Tuesday, “I think it’s important to have a grand jury take a look at it and we’ll see what they think.”
Argentino was rushed out of Snuka’s George Washington Motor Lodge motel room on May 10, 1983. Snuka, a married man, had returned from a WWF TV taping at the Allentown Fairgrounds to find Argentino “gasping for air and oozing yellow fluid from her mouth and nose.” She was declared dead hours later at Lehigh Valley Hospital.
According to the recently released autopsy report, the 23 year old Brooklyn, N.Y. native died of “traumatic brain injuries consistent with a moving head striking a stationary object.”
She also suffered more than two dozen cuts and bruises on on her head, ear, chin, arms, hands, back, buttocks, legs and feet.
Forensic pathologist Isidore Mihalakis wrote at the time of the case that it should be investigated as a homicide until proved otherwise, according to records first made public by the Call last year.
Snuka originally told at least five people (including the responding police officer) he shoved Argentino, causing her to fall and hit her head.
He later told police he was misunderstood – and Argentino slipped and hit her head when they stopped along the highway to go to the bathroom.
– On Monday’s RAW, JBL had a line on commentary where he called East Carolina University the “Harvard of the South.” The remark was a nod to Vince and Linda McMahon, who both attended the school.
– Despite Sin Cara’s renewed push on WWE television, f4wonline.com reports that WWE has essentially given up on the character. The reason Sin Cara remains on television is due to strong merchandise sales and the character appearing in WWE’s upcoming Scooby Doo animated movie.
– William Regal tweeted the following about Antonio Cesaro on Monday night:
I've said it before and know(because he made mincemeat out of me)@AntonioCesaro is 10 times the man and wrestler I've ever been.
– WWE Composer Jim Johnston is Steve Austin’s guest on this week’s Steve Austin Show podcast. Listen now at PodcastOne.com.
WWE composer Jim Johnston joins Steve to talk about some of their favorite entrance themes. Hear what inspired the themes for Stone Cold, The Undertaker, Bret Hart, D-Generation X, and Shawn Michaels.
– Pro Wrestling NOAH star KENTA was at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando on Monday, according to PWInsider.com. William Regal reportedly set up the tryout and he’s expected to continue training in the ring there this week.
Check out this video highlighting KENTA’s epic feud with Daniel Bryan (formerly Bryan Danielson) in Pro Wrestling NOAH:
On Monday’s RAW, it was announced that Jake “The Snake” Roberts is the second member of the WWE Hall of Fame’s Class of 2014. Here are some tweets from Jake Roberts, Steve Austin, Mick Foley and the Ultimate Warrior regarding Jake’s upcoming induction:
The prodigal son is welcomed home. Thank you WWE & all my supporters for sticking by me. I hope all are enjoying as much as I am.
– Tonight’s WWE SmackDown and Main Event tapings take place from the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio. Christian will make his return on Friday’s SmackDown.
Top names advertised to appear include Triple H, Daniel Bryan, C.M. Punk, Big Show, The Shield, The Wyatt Family and Damien Sandow, .
The advertised dark match main event is CM Punk vs. The Shield in a 3-on-1 handicap match.
Check back later tonight for our live results of the tapings.
– Here’s the latest Backstage Fallout video from Monday’s RAW:
“The Miz, Dolph Ziggler and the stars of Total Divas discuss their night on Raw.”
SEScoops.com correspondent Adrian Fylonenko sent in the following live report of what happened after Monday’s WWE RAW went off the air:
The advertised John Cena vs. Randy Orton dark match never took place.
The Shield left Rollins in the ring with all three faces. Rollins tried to be friendly by doing each guys signature taunt but they and the crowd weren’t buying it. Rollins tries to leave the ring but Bryan and Sheamus catch him. Rollins gets hit with brogue kick, Attitude Adjustment then running knee in quick succession and bumps like crazy.
– Randy Orton will put the WWE World Heavyweight championship on the line in the Elimination Chamber match at next month’s pay-per-view.
John Cena, Daniel Bryan and Sheamus all qualified for the match during the 6-man tag team elimination main event of RAW. During their match against The Shield, the lights went out and The Wyatt Family began attacking John Cena, disqualifying The Shield.
With Orton, Cena, Bryan and Sheamus confirmed for the match, two more spots remain.
– WWE Superstar Christian will be returning to action on Friday’s SmackDown. He tweeted during RAW:
Seems a lot of superstars are making their returns on #Raw lately.. I'm throwing a curve.. See you Friday night #Smackdown#OneMoreMatch
– Prior to Monday’s WWE RAW, WWE taped the following matches from Cleveland, Ohio for this week’s episode of Superstars:
Natalya vs. Summer Rae
Los Matadores vs. Jinder Mahal and Drew McIntyre
– WWE has launched a new Twitter account for Sin Cara at @SinCaraWWE. The account is not yet “Verified” but is followed by the official WWE Twitter account and is posted on WWE.com.
It’s worth noting that the ‘original’ Sin Cara is still using the verified @TheSinCaraWWE account and his account description still reads, “WWE Superstar.”
– Last week’s episode of SmackDown averaged 3.03 million viewers, up over 100,000 from the previous week. It was the first time SmackDown topped 3 million viewers since February 8, 2013.
– WWE Superstar Seth Rollins took a spill on Monday’s RAW during The Shield’s entrance. Rollins jumped over the guard rail and slipped on the floor at ringside. Here’s a video of the fall:
RAW opens with The Authority coming to the ring. Stephanie starts things off on the mic. The “Yes! Yes! Yes!” chants cut her off almost immediately. Triple H mocks the fans in a little kiddie voice and says “did someone not get what they wanted?” The crowd boo’s him like crazy. HHH barrels on to run down some of the good things that actually took place at Royal Rumble last night. Stephanie brings up the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. She says Randy Orton will defend the title inside the Elimination Chamber itself. As soon as she says that, Daniel Bryan’s music hits.
Daniel Bryan comes out smiling and the fans get crazy with “Yes!” chants as he comes to the ring. As soon as he gets into the ring there’s a loud mixture of “Daniel Bryan” and “Yes!” chants. Bryan says “please stop the Yes’ing, they don’t like it.” He continues, “Stop chanting for Daniel Bryan. They don’t like it. We don’t wanna make The Authority mad.” They respond with a loud mixture of “Yes!” and “Daniel Bryan” chants. Stephanie mocks the crowd for falling for Bryan’s “cheap parlor tricks.” Bryan says he had one of the toughest matches of his career last night. HHH says “I’ll be the first to give you all the credit in the world. It was a good little effort.” Bryan says a big disappointment last night was him not being in the Royal Rumble. He says he came to them time and again and said he wanted to be in the Rumble. He tells them to listen to the people, they wanted him to be in the Royal Rumble. He says there’s a “Yes! Movement” going on. He says listen to the people. Stephanie says they have to look out for the well-being of their Superstars and Divas and they didn’t want to put him in that type of danger. The crowd responds by chanting “You Suck!” Bryan says they’ve made him wrestle all three members of The Shield, all three members of The Wyatt Family. He’s wrestled more than once on RAW countless times. HHH said exactly, that’s why we didn’t want to make you work twice at the Rumble. Bryan says they don’t care about what’s best for business, they just care about what’s worst for Daniel Bryan. Stephanie says Bryan is only thinking about himself. She says did all these people only come to see him. The crowd responds by chanting “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
Bryan says he wants in the Elimination Chamber. The crowd chants “Yes!” He says the people want him in that match too. He tells Stephanie to step aside. He tells Hunter that neither of them should leave the ring until he gets what he wants. He and HHH go nose-to-nose. HHH says it’s not just them two in the ring. He says it sounds like he’s got company. The Shield come to the ring. Bryan quickly jumps out of the ring and grabs a chair as The Shield comes to ringside. Eventually the numbers game is too much and The Shield beat down Bryan in the ring.
Sheamus’ music hits and Sheamus comes out to help Bryan. The Shield eventually is too much for him. John Cena’s music hits. Cena runs to the ring as well. Now it’s three on three. D-Bry, Sheamus and Cena eventually get the upper hand and throw all three members of The Shield out of the ring. Bryan’s music hits as The Shield retreats through the crowd. We head to a commercial on that note.
Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara vs. The Real Americans
When we return from commercial, Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara are standing in the ring. Michael Cole talks about Randy Orton having to defend his title at the Elimination Chamber. He reveals that tonight’s main event will be Daniel Bryan, John Cena and Sheamus vs. The Shield in a six-man tag match. Whoever wins the match, all three members will be entered into the Elimination Chamber match. The Real Americans make their way to the ring for tag-team action in our first match of the evening on RAW. Zeb Colter cuts a promo. Typical Zeb stuff.
The bell rings and Mysterio and Antonio Cesaro start things off for their respective teams. Mysterio gets Cesaro on the mat and then tags in Sin Cara. Sin Cara huricanrana’s Cesaro down. Cesaro regroups and tags in Swagger. Sin Cara quickly gets the upper-hand on Swagger. Cara hits Swagger with a springboard back-elbow off the ropes for a near fall. Swagger over-shoots a move on Sin Cara and ends up on the floor. Cara dives through the ropes and splashes onto Swagger. Zeb Colter gets in Swagger’s face and yells at him. Zeb slaps Swagger in the face. Swagger freaks out.
Swagger gets back in the ring and is now even more aggressive after being slapped. Swagger is dominating the crap out of Sin Cara now. We head to a mid-match commercial on that note.
When we return from commercial, Cesaro is beating up Sin Cara. Sin Cara blasts Cesaro with a kick. Cesaro tags in Swagger. Sin Cara quickly gets Swagger down. Swagger ends up on the floor. Cara goes to tag Mysterio but Cesaro ends up yanking him off the apron and onto the floor. Back in the ring, Cara reverses a Cesaro move into a roll-up for a close near fall. Cesaro manhandles Cara down and seems to be back in control of the match. He tags Swagger back in and they hit a big scoop-slam style double-team move. Swagger makes the tag and goes for a Swagger Bomb. Cara rolls out of the way.
Cesaro goes to get Cara but Cara kicks him to buy some time. He makes the tag to Mysterio. Mysterio makes the hot tag and is flying all over the place. He hits a seated-senton on Cesaro for a near fall. Mysterio gets Cesaro in position for the 6-1-9 and hits it. He tags Sin Cara and dives onto Swagger on the floor. Cesaro slows Cara down by catching him in mid-air with an uppercut. He follows it up with the Nuetralizer. 1-2-3. The Real Americans win.
Winners: The Real Americans
Bad News Barrett Segment
Bad News Barrett pops up on his big podium. He tells us that he’s afraid he’s got some bad news for the television viewers. He says later on we have a match that features The Miz against Dolph Ziggler. He talks trash about Cleveland, where RAW is tonight. That’s about it.
The following are highlights from a new online Q&A update posted by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On whether or not not including Daniel Bryan in the Royal Rumble will hurt his popularity: “How does one judge an entire storyline while it is still being played out? I’m not smart enough to do such. I do think that Daniel Bryan is more popular today and is getting much more fan attention than at any time in his career. I’m curious to see what WWE does with this matter. It’s far from over in my view.”
On if he’d like to see a special attraction six-man tag between The Wyatt Family and Hulk Hogan, John Cena & Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania XXX: “That might work. As usual, it all depends on presentation and execution. What sounds good on paper isn’t always a guaranteed hit.”
On if they should include Daniel Bryan in the WMXXX main event to avoid a bad crowd reaction: “You might be right but the landscape can change drastically between now and April 6. I’d consider closing the PPV with Undertaker’s match assuming that he’s working on WM30.”
On the school-letter grade he would give the Royal Rumble: “Overall…B- or a C+.”
Check out more from JR’s latest Q&A update at JRsBarBQ.com.
– WWE legend Jake “The Sanke” Roberts, who had been campaigning for an appearance in the 2014 Royal Rumble for several months, recently shared his comments on not being included in the Royal Rumble on Sunday night. Jake tweeted:
I'm clean, sober, mentally/ physically healthy, excited for the future and most of all happy. Great day no matter what did or didn't happen.
Sunday’s WWE Royal Rumble show finished at number three on Nielsen’s Twitter TV rankings, trailing only CBS’s Grammy Awards Show and ABC’s “The Bachelor” reality show.
Nielsen calculated a unique audience of 2.430 million for the Rumble, meaning that many distinct Twitter accounts generated at least one tweet related to the Rumble.
The total number of impressions, which is the number of times any tweets about the Rumble were generated, was 27.082 million, which was even higher than the overall second place “The Bachelor.”
For the entire week of January 20-26, the Rumble ranked number eight on all of television based on the “unique audience” figure. However, the total impressions for the Rumble for the entire week ranked WWE at number three.
You can check out the complete chart at SocialGuide.com.
– As noted earlier today, the Daniel Bryan/Royal Rumble story was covered by the BBC News website in the United Kingdom. According to web statistics, the story was actually the most viewed article on the entire website at one point. As of right now, the article is the fourth most viewed on the site.
– Mick Foley continues to make his feelings about Sunday’s Royal Rumble known. The WWE Hall Of Famer changed his official Twitter bio to read: “Not happy with the Royal Rumble.”
– WWE officially added a match featuring “WWE World Heavyweight Champion vs. Batista” to their WrestleMania XXX section on Monday.
– WWE Superstar Mark Henry is scheduled to appear at the Showtime and Food Network’s “Ultimate Tailgate Experience” in New York City on January 29th.
– In addition to Ben Roethlisberger, a number of other members of the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers were in attendance at the Royal Rumble show on Sunday night.
