The following is a spoiler-free preview for tonight’s episode of TNA Impact Wrestling:
– Feast or Fired featuring Samoa Joe, James Storm, Austin Aries, Chris Sabin, Curry Man, Chavo Guerrero, Ethan Carter, Gunner, Hernandez, Zema Ion, Dewey Barnes and Norv Fernum.
– TNA X-Division champion Chris Sabin vs. Austin Aries.
– Gail Kim Open Challenge.
– Joseph Park and Eric Young vs. Bad Influence.
– EC3 in action.
Here check out these Tout videos of John Cena speaking to the 7th Infantry Division of Joint Base Lewis-McChord today and shooting an M4:
TV Guide has released the first look at the animated “Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery”, which will be released on DVD and digital download on March 25th.
“When Shaggy and Scooby win tickets to WrestleMania, the entire gang travels in the Mystery Machine to WWE City to attend the epic event. However, when a mysterious ghostly bear appears and threatens to ruin the show, Scooby, Shaggy, Velma, Daphne and Fred work with WWE Superstars to solve the case.”
WWE talents featured in the trailer include Vince McMahon, John Cena, Triple H, AJ Lee, Kane, Brodus Clay and Sin Cara .
Here’s the DVD cover art (hey, look – Triple H with the WWE title…)
– In a battle of former TNA World Tag Team Champions, Bad Influence square off against Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez on this week’s edition of TNA Xplosion.
– TNA Wrestling is throwing a Christmas party for fans in the United Kingdom, the company announced on Facebook.
The event will take place in London, England on Sunday, December 22 from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. with Magnus and Rockstar Spud in attendance. The party is being hosted by Jeremy Borash and will be filmed for broadcast on Challenge TV.
Admission is free but solely limited to those who have purchased tickets for next month’s TNA Maximum Impact VI Tour. Additional details are available here.
Stephanie McMahon revealed that on Twitter that set of last night’s Tribute to the Troops even was made out of a Boeing C-17 aircraft.
Here’s a photo of Vince McMahon and Triple H in their makeshift gorilla position:
Here are Vince and Triple H with special performing guest Daughtry:
WWE’s Chief Strategy and Financial Officer George Barrios spoke at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference this week and gave some new insight on WWE’s plans for the upcoming WWE Network.
Despite the talk that the WWE Network will be an Internet-exclusive “over-the-top” service (similar to Netflix), Barrios said WWE is still considering going the traditional cable television route. Barrios said that when he spoke at the conference last year, the landscape for online streaming services was very different.
“I was here 12 months ago and people were asking me then and I said we just don’t see the data to say that it’s there yet, now we see the data there. It doesn’t mean we are going that way, but it is now a viable option.”
Barrios talked about the pros and cons of the over-the-top model, specifically noting that WWE would have to incur all of the associated costs, as opposed to sharing some of the costs with cable and satellite providers.
“If you go over-the-top you have significantly more costs, you have to do things like CDN costs, credit card fees, customer service. If you go traditional that essentially is covered up in the split that you are paying the MVPDs.”
“We continue to work with the MVPDs, see if we can knockout a deal in traditional distribution. If not, we have that option,” Barrios said. “We could do it at our own discretion. In either case the economics are differen… If you went down each line item they differ between traditional and over-the-top distribution. Pricing is different, splits are different, costs are different.”
He also credited Netflix with paving the way for a possible over-the-top WWE Network:
“One of the things that happened over the last 12 months has been happening for quite a while and we have been monitoring it for quite a while, is the consumption of long form video over-the-top and we all have Netflix to thank for this,” Barrios said.
“They have done the spade work of creating the environment and the consumption habit of consumers to watch long form video over-the-top. So this, earlier this year we said where two years ago we didn’t think there was enough of that happening to make a network viable over-the-top, we now believe it is viable over-the-top.”
As for how many subscribers WWE would need in order to break even (when charging subscribers a fee between $10-15 per month), Barrios said 1 million is the magic number.
One proposed feature for the WWE Network that we’ve covered here on the site is that WWE’s monthly pay-per-views would be included as part of the package. While this would obviously cannibalize one of WWE’s top revenue streams, he said that the revenue generated by the Network would more than exceed what they’re currently making from pay-per-views.
“Obviously a really successful network means the pay-per-view business slowly goes away and that number I gave you on the network, the incremental includes that cannibalization.
WWE pay-per-view prices have been steadily increasing over the years, and he acknowledged that they are “pretty expensive in today’s world where this is so much content out there.
The main reason that WWE is considering the over-the-top business model is that they’ve had a hard time selling cable & satellite providers on carrying the Network.
“We’ve been working at this for a while. We’ve been working with the MVPDs, the same pitch I just gave you here, let’s transform the pay-per-view business together, grow the business for both of us. Quite frankly it’s been a bit of a slog, having those discussions but we continue to have them.
For more on Barrios’ presentation, visit SeekingAlpha.com.
– Former WWE Women’s Champion Candice Michelle will be undergoing surgery Thursday on an injury that has lingered since her time in WWE.
“Finally getting my broken nose fixed tom!” she wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. “From @TheBethPhoenix 7yrs ago took a head butt to the nose. I should send her the bill!”
Michelle considers herself retired after being unceremoniously released from her contract with WWE in June 2009. She did, however, return to the ring in September for a one-off appearance as a referee at an independent wrestling event featuring numerous former WWE Divas and TNA Knockouts.
– The official Instagram of WWE published this photo of Mark Henry attempting to bench press 765-pounds—with help from Sheamus.
In a 2009 interview, Henry revealed that he can bench press “close to 600 pounds.” However, he added, “the bench press is the most limited, and the least functional of all the lifts. I’ve squatted 1006 pounds, and I’ve deadlifted 900 pounds consistently, which is my forte. There have been very few 900 pound deadlifters, ever.”
The “Diva Dirt” website recently added video footage of Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella’s engagement party, which will air as part of the season one finale episode of WWE Total Divas on E! this Sunday night at 10:00pm E.T.
The video, which you can see below, is accompanied by the following description: “Brie Bella and Daniel Bryan host an engagement party. Total Divas airs Sundays at 10pm ET on E!”
WWE.com has published an interesting article looking at “Five Ways WWE Will be Changed After TLC” – when the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship are unified. Here’s a summary:
1. The Royal Rumble Match is changed: The winner of the Royal Rumble will no longer have to choose which champion he wants to face at WrestleMania, as there will be one Unified WWE Champion.
2. The Intercontinental Title Gets a Boost: The WWE Intercontinental title will be elevated and will once again become the second most coveted championship in WWE.
3. Money in the Bank Gets a Shake-Up: WWE teases whether the annual Money in the Bank pay-per-view will feature only 1 MITB match – or if there will be 2 separate MITB briefcase holders able to cash in on the Undisputed Champion.
4. The Field of Play Gets Tighter: With one less top title, there will be more people vying for the Unified WWE Championship.
5. The Best of the Best is Determined: No longer will fans have to debate who the top champion in WWE is (were we?). With a Unified champion, the ‘king’ of WWE will be very clear.
The 2013 WWE Royal Rumble script has leaked online. Click to enlarge.
The following are highlights from a recent WWE.com interview with WWE Superstar Sheamus:
On the status of his shoulder: “It’s feeling pretty solid. I’m still a little while away from coming back, but it’s a whole lot better than what it was when I first had the surgery, trust me. When I woke up after surgery, I don’t think I ever experienced any kind of discomfort or pain like I did then. And, even though I’ve come a long way from that, I’m still going to rehab every day.”
On a timetable for his WWE return: “There’s not, no. I just have to keep going. Some days are better than others with my shoulder. I do have six anchors put in my labrum; I tore it in half, so it was pretty major surgery. I also tore my right shoulder as well, and even though I didn’t have surgery on it, I’ve been rehabbing both shoulders to strengthen the muscles around the labrum. My main concern is that I don’t want to come back too early, and then something happens and I’m set back. That would be the worst possible scenario, so patience is the key.”
On what fans can expect when he returns: “At this stage of the game, I’m just tired of sitting at home. I’ve been frustrated and impatient. I want to come back the way that brought me to the dance —come back aggressive, no-nonsense. I’m fired up and ready to go; I’m ready to take no prisoners. I have to go back out there and remind people who I am, and I have to show the new members of the WWE Universe what they’ve been missing.
Before I got injured, I was kind of spinning my wheels. Now, I’m ready to take back what’s mine. I don’t believe there’s anyone in WWE who is tougher, more determined than me. Sure, I got a little sidetracked, but I’ve had plenty of time to think and reevaluate the situation.
Now, I’m ready to just tear through anybody who stands in my way — I don’t care if it’s Daniel Bryan, John Cena, Randy Orton or Big Show. I don’t care who it is — The Wyatt Family, The Shield, I don’t give a damn who they are. I’m taking no prisoners, and if I go down, I’m dragging everyone with me because I want to be WWE Champion again. Ain’t nobody gonna stop me.”
Check out the complete interview online at WWE.com.
Monday’s special “Slammy Awards” themed-edition of WWE RAW scored a final cable rating of 2.84, which was a decent increase compared to the 2.65 final rating that RAW drew last week.
As noted previously, Monday’s RAW averaged 4.159 million viewers, up from last week’s 3.541 million viewers. Hour one drew 4.218 million viewers, hour two drew 4.177 million viewers and hour three averaged 4.082 million viewers.
The following are highlights from a recent interview with WWE Superstar The Miz:
On his plans to marry former WWE Diva Maryse: “I’m getting married in February, and I never pictured myself getting married to be quite honest with you, let alone enjoying the whole process of getting married. We were going over bits and pieces about the wedding, and I enjoy it. I like it. It’s fun. We enjoy doing it together. It’s not the hassle everyone makes it out to be. I think it’s because the people we are dealing with are making it so easy for us.”
On plans for he and Maryse to have children together: “We both want kids. I want a little Miz running around, even though I know he is going to be the most annoying kid in the world. If he is anything like his father, then my God! I’m definitely preparing for that, but who knows how long that will be. There has definitely been talks, and my outlook on WWE is I’m still going to do as I always have. I’m going to work as hard as I can to entertain those audiences, whether it’s on WWE or on a movie from WWE Studios.”
Check out the complete interview online at MiamiHerald.com.
– The pre-sale for tickets to the WWE Elimination Chamber event in 2014 is currently ongoing at Ticketmaster.com. The pre-sale code for the event, which emanates from Minneapolis, Minnesota is CHAMBER.
– The following is the official synopsis for the previously reported Ultimate Warrior DVD that WWE will be releasing in April of 2014:
“He is one of the most colourful and intense Superstars of all time, the Ultimate Warrior! Now for the first time ever, WWE honors his illustrious career with this ultimate collection of bone-crunching matches. Feel the power of the warrior – featuring battles against his biggest rivals such as Hulk Hogan, Jake Roberts, Ravishing Ric Rude, Sgt. Slaughter and more!
WWE fans have long awaited another Warrior DVD since the controversial release of 2005?s ‘Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior’. Finally, with over 7 hours of matches from this larger than life Superstar, this action on this home entertainment release is truly OUT OF CONTROL!!”
– Mexican wrestling legend Konnan continues to take shots at current talent on the WWE roster, most recently setting his sights on the current WWE Divas. Konnan noted that, “they suck. Only Tamina, Natalya and AJ can ‘go.'”
Konnan also tore into new TNA character Ethan Carter III, tweeting, “You couldn’t be a star if you were thrown by a Ninja. #BOOM.”
– WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin noted on his podcast on Tuesday that Vince McMahon is interested in coming on his show. Austin said that he and McMahon are looking to find a mutually viable time to record an interview.
As noted on Tuesday, the official logo for WrestleMania 31 features a red “play button” type centerpiece. WWE CEO Vince McMahon announced during the official WrestleMania 31 press conference on Tuesday that the button within the logo represents Sillicon Valley’s “tech prowess.”
Additionally, McMahon claimed WrestleMania 31 would “rival, if not supersede, the Super Bowl.”
DK Publishing issued the following press release today:
WWE® and DK Celebrate 50 Years of WWE History
INDIANAPOLIS, Dec. 11, 2013 — DK Publishing is pleased to reveal WWE 50, celebrating 50 years of WWE history. WWE 50 delivers an unprecedented and in-depth look into the story of global entertainment powerhouse, WWE. With a multitude of interviews and imagery from all eras, no stone is left unturned as DK Publishing traces the evolution of the company from a regional promotion to a global pop-culture phenomenon.
Learn the real story behind all the key events in WWE history:
— WWE’s split from the National Wrestling Alliance
— The sale of WWE to Vince McMahon by his father
— WWE’s national expansion
— Innovations of WrestleMania, Raw, SmackDown, Survivor Series and more
— Triumph in the Monday Night Wars
— Taking WWE public
Plus, get an inside glimpse into today’s WWE as it prepares for another 50 years of nonstop family-friendly entertainment. From the creators of the WWE Encyclopedia, WWE 50 gives you the inside knowledge to become the ultimate WWE fan.
WWE held a meet & greet event today at the Joint Base Lewis-McChord military installation to meet with United States servicemen ahead of tonight’s Tribute to the Troops tapings. Check out these photos from the event:
– WWE is getting closer to turning Antonio Cesaro babyface. Cesaro has won a lot of people over in recent months, including top company officials as well as John Cena.
– A lot of people in WWE are very excited about the upcoming WWE Network. The feeling is that the Network, which will likely be an Internet-based subscription service similar to Netflix, has the potential to transform the way WWE distributes its content.
– WWE officials were caught totally off guard by the crowd chanting “Daniel Bryan” during the Championship Ascension segment at the end of Monday’s RAW. A good portion of John Cena’s promo was improvised to acknowledge the chants and get things back on course to promoting TLC.
(Partial source: F4Wonline.com)
– Rey Mysterio turns 39 years old today. He was born on December 11, 1974.
– Jake Roberts noted on Twitter that he’s had no contact at all from WWE regarding a return at the Royal Rumble or a Hall of Fame induction.
– The latest JBL & Michael Cole radio show can be downloaded here. Topics discussed include the passing of Nelson Mandela, the World Cup, President Obama and unemployment.
– WWE is running a deal on “Living Social” December 26th live event at Madison Square Garden. For $85 you get one center 2nd level ticket. For $149 you get two 1st level tickets and a WWE goodie bag. There’s also a $199 package with four 2nd level tickets and two goodie bags. The goodie bags include a WWE DVD, a WWE kids’ magazine and a signed Superstar photo.
Thanks to reader Chris Canibano for these photos from Tuesday’s night’s WWE SmackDown tapings:
As reported over the weekend, AJ Styles will be a free agent on December 16th after he and TNA were unable to come to terms on a new contract.
Of course, it came down to money. As a TNA original, Styles was very frustrated several months ago with the company offering him much less than he’s been making. He signed a short-term contract extension, but TNA’s drastic cost cutting is the root of the problem.
Styles is now taking independent bookings and is reportedly looking for $3,000-4,000 per appearance.
With TNA letting AJ Styles go, there is now a lot of concern in the TNA locker room from other wrestlers whose contracts are coming up soon. The feeling is that if Styles couldn’t get what he was looking for, nobody will.
(Partial Source: PWInsider.com)
– The following is a preview for today’s episode of WWE NXT on Hulu:
– WWE Intercontinental champion Big E Langston is auctioning some of his ring gear for charity. All proceeds will be used to purchase toys for Toys For Tots. The eBay links are as follows:
Auction 1 | Auction 2 | Auction 3
In response to a fan who tweeted that he’d only purchase the ring gear if they were unwashed, Langston jokingly (we think..) replied, “They are washed, but I’d be willing to soil them upon request.”
– WWE.com has published a list of 20 Classic Underrated Wrestling Rivalries.
– WWE legend Jake Roberts was interviewed this week for the Pro Wrestling Powerhouse podcast. Some of the topics discussed include:
Other topics will include wrestling psychology, promos, road stories and more. You can listen to the interview at BlogtalkRadio.com/PWPradio.
– Part 2 of Chris Jericho’s interview with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin for the Talk Is Jericho podcast is now online at PodcastOne.com.
It was announced during the WWE television taping on Tuesday night in Portland, Oregon that at Sunday’s WWE Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view, as we have been reporting for a while now, there will be a fatal four-way match for the WWE Tag-Team Championships.
At the WWE TLC pay-per-view on Sunday, current WWE Tag-Team Champions Goldust and Cody Rhodes will defend their titles against Big Show and Rey Mysterio, Ryback and Curtis Axel and The Real Americans.
