TNA has announced specific details of their annual 2014 Maximum Impact UK Tour over the weekend.
Next year’s tour will feature the following shows:
Tickets go on sale May 3 at Ticketmaster.co.uk.
– WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley answered fan questions on Twitter over the weekend while waiting to board a flight to the UK. Among the questions answered was on a potential last match, and who he would face:
https://twitter.com/realmickfoley/statuses/325726200540590081
Foley also answered questions @RealMickFoley about his favorite Undertaker match, having a “hug off” with Daniel Bryan’s beard on the line, and WWE’s new approach to signing talent to developmental.
– Check out the following video of Hulk Hogan and Superstar Billy Graham reuniting:
Jim Ross has updated his blog at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights:
WWE Scouting for Talent: “WWE will continue to look to colleges, the NFL, etc for world class athletes who have TV friendly personalities and the aptitude for sports entertainment. College athletes will come from wrestling, football, basketball, etc…no sport will be not considered if all the previously listed criteria is in place. For example, I’m planning on attending an upcoming major, Strongman competition just to see if there may be one individual who might have the youth, strength, look and personality for WWE to consider as a potential developmental talent. For novice athletes who aspire to join WWE, I suggest that you attend a credible wrestling school and obtain proper training. After one gets proper training, do all you can to work as many indy dates as possible, get your body of work in place and then make inroads to WWE Development with a DVD of some of your bouts and of you doing succinct promos. Would a beginner walk into a NFL training camp and expect a tryout? Obviously, no.”
WWE’s Ongoing European Tour: “The current WWE International tour is doing sellout or near capacity business nightly which is another statement of the global growth and the massive, media footprint that WWE has established over the years and that continues to grow. I’m of the belief that one of the reasons for success is that WWE tours these areas no more than twice annually. Some international markets are better served once a year while others are still developing their TV following and will be added to the schedule in the future.”
Brock Lesnar’s Performance on Raw: “Watched Brock Lesnar’s performance on Raw Monday again on DVR and it always amazes me how naturally animalistic Lesnar is and what an amazing athlete that he is. Lesnar got to the ‘first team’ quicker and the most effectively of any one that I can recall that we signed back in my era in talent relations. No one we ever signed was more athletically gifted than the former NCAA and UFC heavyweight champion. No one. Brock was making amazing money in WWE quicker than any of his predecessors or any one since.”
– Friday’s WWE Smackdown had a Trendrr.tv social media score of 70,253, down 12% from the previous week’s post-WrestleMania edition. Smackdown ranked #2 on cable for the night.
– Here is the latest WWE Backstage Fallout:
Who does Big Show blame in WWE for his recent losses? Plus, The Great Khali, Natalya and Hornswoggle make a statement on the SmackDown edition of “Backstage Fallout.
– Former WWE Diva Maria Kanellis mocked Ryback’s promo from RAW on Twitter. She wrote the following in response to the short phrases used by Ryback:
“Stop talking Ryback! Stop talking Ryback! Stop talking Ryback!” “So sweaty…. Bring me towel. Bring me towel. Bring me towel.” “I breath heavy! I breath heavy! I breath heavy!” “I read teleprompter! I read teleprompter! I read teleprompter!”
– Rob Van Dam has announced that he signed a contract for his comic book Twisted Perception. RVD, a free agent, first teased that he might have signed with a wrestling promotion before making the announcement. Here’s audio:
– NJ.com has an article up about the approximately 450 workers who built the elaborate stadium setup at WrestleMania 29 earned approximately $1.4 million in gross salaries and benefits.
– UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman was reportedly very upset that CM Punk was shown on camera at the TUF finale show instead of him.
Punk also attended this weekend’s UFC on FOX show with his girlfriend Amy “Lita” Dumas and is planning to attend the UFC 159 PPV on April 27 to see his friend Chael Sonnen fight Jon Jones.
Prior to the debut of his Funkasaurus gimmick, WWE superstar Brodus Clay briefly had a stint as Alberto Del Rio’s enforcer. During a recent interview, Clay openly discussed his early days in WWE and how being paired with Del Rio held him back:
“Coming out of NXT I felt that I was robbed and I finished second and I cut a pretty good speech on the crowd. I told them I was going to get some back because I was angry, and being with Alberto Del Rio was basically similar to when I was with Snoop. My role was to get his back and make him look as tough as possible and me smiling and cracking jokes wasn’t going to do that. So I had to put my personality in the back seat to take care of the job, but I knew it was a doorway for me to get my own personality an opportunity.
So the time with Alberto was good in terms of learning and Alberto’s a great competitor and his experience helped me a lot, but as soon as I got a chance to be me, I never was a guy who was angry, that mean tough guy is usually the scariest guy in the room, I always noticed the guy that looked the meanest and act the meanest was terrified, that’s why he looked mean. And the guy who was smiling at you before he fought you was the guy you really worried about because he’s not sweating you.
So that’s kind of like how I was, even body guarding with guys I was more of a talker and ran my mouth and smiled and stuff and it kept people off, especially if a guy’s is fired up and you’re laughing at him or smiling or winking at him it just messes with their mind. That was more who I am. Shaquille O’Neal was the same way. If you looked at him before a basketball game, he was silly, joking around, dancing, but come tip-off he was the business and I’m trying to be more like that.”
The Rock tweeted the following over the weekend, revealing graphic details about the injury he sustained at WrestleMAnia 29:
Saw my Dr who had to push my intestines back thru the tear in my abdomen. Kinda romantic.
Surgery is next week. #BringItOn
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) April 21, 2013
He also indicated to media that he will filming for the movie Hercules for over 4 months between May and October. This brings into question his involvement for SummerSlam, as he would have very little time to promote any potential match of his for the PPV.
Our friend Peter Rosenberg (@Rosenbergradio) of New York City’s Hot 97 radio station recently interviewed The Rock and as The Rock put it, “this is some exclusive shit you’re getting right here.” The Rock discusses the controversy surrounding his injury and whether WrestleMania 29 was his final match:
Est. Runtime: 1 hour, 24 minutes
Solomonster is back to talk wrestling after a terrible week in the news, Rock having surgery, WWE’s new Performance Center and other locations where they should expand developmental, the end of Antonio Cesaro’s title run, why it may be the best thing for him and what WWE should do with him now, the Fandango embarrassment from last Monday, ranting on Impact and dumb wrestling referees, rumored storylines we never got to see and a FULL review of the Bret Hart “Dungeon Collection” DVD set!
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– The theme song for WWE’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view is “Live It Up” by the band Airborne.
– The Rock was recognized by the University of Miami’s Alumni Association with the Edward T. Foote II Alumnis of Distinction Award on Thursday night.
– Ryback tweeted the following message to John Cena, channeling the “Terminator” aspect of his character:
https://twitter.com/Ryback22/statuses/325450163894226945
He also tweeted this about his workouts while overseas in the UK with WWE:
https://twitter.com/Ryback22/statuses/325458238374027264
Concept art photos and layout blueprint of WWE’s planned developmental training facility in Orlando, including a large training area with seven rings.
Below is the official synopsis for the upcoming WWE Payback pay-per-view, which takes place on Sunday, June 16th from the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois.
“WWE reinvigorates its pay-per-view line up with a fresh new concept that will serve as the perfect stage for all the top Superstars to settle their long simmering grudges and set the stage for the sizzling road to SummerSlam. All major championships will be on the line including the revamped WWE Championship, plus the World Heavyweight Championship and much more. From the clashes for the ultimate prize, to fierce heavy-hitters with scores to settle, WWE fans will want to relive the historic debut of this riveting new event.”
Barry Blaustein, the director of Beyond The Mat joined Inside The Ropes this past Thursday to discuss the movie, here are the highlights:
On Vince almost not letting him film the Royal Rumble 1999 event with Foley and The Rock:
Towards the end, wrestling took off during the making of the movie and I think Vince regretted letting me do this, because he didn’t have ownership of it. Originally Vince offered to fund the movie but I told him it’s a documentary and you can’t have the subject matter be the funder of the documentary. During the course of the filming the WWE took off and became very mainstream and at a certain point, one of the CEO’s…I was about to film the Royal Rumble match and I knew I needed that match. I told them like two months in advance that I’d be filming on this day and they said fine. The CEO called up and said “you’re not gonna be allowed to film, filmings over” I said it was unfair, unfair and I finally got to Vince. I said “I know you too well. You’re becoming your character, you tell me in your heart you know this is the right thing to do and you’re not screwing me over. Wrestlings riding high and all this stuff and everyone’s kissing your ass right now, but you know it goes up and it goes down and I was here when it was down and when it goes down again, I’ll still be here” So he agreed and said “Alright, but that’s it, this is the last day” I remember telling my crew, We gotta get everything cos we’ll never be allowed back here.
On Jake Roberts being unhappy with the movie:
I told him the same thing I told everyone “This is a documentary about professional wrestling, showing these guys as real human beings” I said it would probably go direct to video because originally we thought it would go straight to video. But there was none of this that he claimed we were doing it for charity or an anti drug thing. I’ve never spoken with Jake since. I know he’s threatened me.
On a potential Beyond The Mat 2:
They kept asking me to do Beyond The Mat 2 and I have extra footage. i just didn’t think it would be as good. As a wrestling fan, wrestling fans are always being ripped off by promoters and I didn’t wanna contribute to that. I felt an allegiance to other fans. I thought if I do anything else, I’d want it to be something worth people putting down their hard earned money for.
To hear the full interview where Barry talks about being in the meeting with Droz and Vince, initial research of the film, Dennis Stamp, Terry Funk and much more, head over to http://www.facebook.com/
– After revealing this week to a Twitter user that she would not be on hand for any iMPACT! Wrestling events for a ‘few months,’ Tara announced Thursday night that she will be competing on next week’s show:
Update on my great news… I will be at @IMPACTWRESTLING next week for some good old fashion wrestling! Yay! I won't be off TV!
— Lisa Marie Varon (@REALLiSAMARiE) April 19, 2013
Tara has been encouraging people to visit her new Squared Circle pizzeria in Chicago. She was there in person last night and watched SmackDown with the fans in attendance.
– TNA cameras catch up with AJ Styles backstage after his victory over James Storm on IMPACT – is AJ Styles with TNA or The Aces and Eights?
– WWE Hall of Famer Edge will now be a series regular on the upcoming season of the hit SyFy show Haven. Edge has had a recurring role on the show as Dwight Hendrickson. Wikipedia describes the role as, “a shrewd longtime Haven resident and a former Army Ranger felled by a supernatural affliction in Afghanistan who puts his tactical skills to use in Haven as the mysterious ‘Cleaner’.”
– Here is the latest episode of Outside the Ring with Mick Foley in the WWE Warehouse:
“Join recently enshrined WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley, as The Hardcore Legend tours WWE’s warehouse and relives some of the most famous — and painful — moments from his legendary career”
– After a series of high profile losses, there is an effort being made in WWE to protect Ryback in his feud with John Cena. A gimmick match is being discussed for their expected match at Extreme Rules, with a tables match the likely stipulation. WWE already has them working a tables match on the European tour.
– Here are tonight’s confirmed WWE SmackDown matches:
– Chris Jericho is currently on hiatus from WWE, but is scheduled to appear on Monday’s WWE RAW from the UK, since he’s overseas with his band Fozzy. The former WWE Heavyweight Champion is currently working on setting up a tour of the United States this summer. Jericho’s schedule over the next few months will focus mostly on Fozzy with intermittent WWE dates.
– There is reportedly an adult video website that is advertising a movie featuring former WWE Diva Beth Phoenix. There are also edited photos of the former WWE Divas floating around as well that have contributed to the buzz. As far as we can tell, there is no validity to the rumors.
WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus was recently interviewed on TSN’s Off The Record and discussed getting into wrestling, quitting at the right time, being inducted into the Hall of Fame and more. Here are some of the highlights:
“Well, I feel I had a robust seven years. … It was so full. I’ll put it this way: When I retired, everyone asked do you regret leaving? Do you miss it? I never missed it, I never regretted it. I did everything I wanted to do in the business. I had sort of a bucket list I guess you could say of things I wanted to do and things I wanted to accomplish.
“I worked with every girl that was a worker in the company. And I had really great storylines, not only with the girls but with the men superstars. So, I really had a full career that allowed me to do a bit of everything.”
“…I recognized there was a limited shelf life. I mean, as a fan, you watch it and you just know — there’s a point where you watch it and you go, that guy should just go away. I think I knew at 30 that 30 was a good time to leave. There’s all that hot business, and I didn’t want to be that hot chick that looks good for a 30-year-old.”
“First of all, I had a very healthy background coming from the fitness world. I knew that my body was my instrument and that’s what allowed me to continue doing what I was doing. I just literally did not go out. In school, I was always a nerd. I did my school work, my studying — and in WWE it was the same thing.
“I didn’t go out and do the bar thing. I just went out and I did my job. I’m here to work. I didn’t want to go out and even if I was just tired, I’d be affected in my match. My body work is affected by my sleep the night before. So, for me, I was just aware of that the entire time.”
“…I had a back-up plan. A lot of the guys, that’s just their life. For me, it was a part of my life, it wasn’t my life. I had extracurricular activities I was pursuing. I was pursuing other businesses and I [took an interest in] branding myself. Whatever I create here for the next seven years, I need to take that and hopefully parlay that into something else.”
“You go into any profession, any career, and you want to leave an impression and a mark. I mean, knowing what we did in the women’s division and the work I did during that time, I mean, we really changed how women’s wrestling was perceived. And the role of females was kind of redefined after we did all that work. So, it was kind of a nod to my body of work, which is sexy. [Laughs.] Sorry.”
“It was funny because my character did an evolution but the women’s division and the way women were viewed also did an evolution. So for that moment, it was like, yes, he degraded me. Then there was that moment where my character was like, ‘I’m not taking this anymore.’ She stood up to Vince, slapped him at WrestleMania 17 — the biggest stage of all — and moved on to become a full-time wrestler on her own. That’s what Trish Stratus did. But for us, that’s what we did too. The women were simply storylines, they were on the side. Now, we are actually a viable part of the program.”
NJ.com has published the first details on the economic impact that WrestleMania 29 had on the New York & New Jersey area.
WWE is reporting that 140,000 total tickets were sold between WrestleMania 29, the Hall of Fame ceremony, the post-WrestleMania RAW and the four-day AXXESS events. This year’s AXXESS has been named by WWE as having the highest attendance to date thanks to the company putting AXXESS in an arena as opposed to the convention center.
According to a union leader, employees earned in the area of $1.4 million in gross salaries and that as many as 450 people worked at the events, which included setting up the WrestleMania set, staffing WWE AXXESS, and staging RAW the night after Mania.
The report also notes that the $524,000 that the company’s “Superstars for Sandy Relief” initiative raised will be split between the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City and the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund.
Jim Ross has blogged about this year’s Cauliflower Alley Club Reunion. Here is what he had to say about the event…
Great time at the 48th Cauliflower Alley Club Reunion this week in Las Vegas. It wasn’t a money making trip as my lovely wife attended and did her part to contribute to the economy of Vegas by doing two days worth of shopping. Seriously, we both had a wonderful time seeing so many old friends and fans that we have gotten to know over the years.
CAC is a great non profit organization that does many amazing, charitable things for those in need from within the wrestling biz. CAC doesn’t look for publicity as many of their benevolent acts would bring embarrassment to many of the recipients. But, take it from me, CAC helps lots of people that you know or have heard of over the years and I’m of the mindset that more people, fans and wrestlers alike, should join the organization. For more info check out the CAC website at http://www.caulifloweralleyclub.org.
I wish the event would be moved to June as I feel that following WrestleMania so closely and while many WWE talents are in Europe and can’t attend doesn’t serve the attendance at CAC well. Two trips in one month are too much for many to endure both physically and financially. Hopefully the CAC Board of Directors will take this into consideration. If they want to grow, get younger, etc then why not have their only, annual fundraiser when fans can bring their children who are in school during the month of April but are available to travel to Vegas in June?
I had the pleasure of presenting Adam Copeland AKA Edge the Male Wrestler Award from CAC in a surprise presentation. Only three people knew of this matter as it was a total surprise to Edge. I followed such powerful and serious presentations as the DDP/Jake the Snake Roberts duo and the late, Paul Bearer/Percy Pringle presentation so I attempted to ad lib my way into a more light hearted mood in what felt like a somber room and rightfully so at that particular time of the evening.
Reading Adam’s resume is really amazing as he’s accomplished and earned an amazing body of work winning over 30 titles in WWE. However, Adam is a much better human being with a kind soul and unwavering character which even surpasses his professional accomplishments inside the ring. The 2012 WWE Hall of Famer is one of my all time favorite signees as we signed him, and Christian, in 1997.
We loved spending time with Adam and his best pal Beth Phoenix in Vegas as Adam prepares for a five month stint of filming the new season of SyFy’s Haven in Nova Scotia, if I’m not mistaken. Adam’s character on Haven has expanded to appear on every episode at this time.
The amazing work that DDP is doing with Jake Roberts is awe inspiring. I met 3 of Jake’s 8 children at CAC and it was a wonderful reunion for the previously estranged family. Obviously, it was a very emotional weekend for the family as the creator of the DDT is well on is way to recovery from drug and alcohol abuse and let’s all pray that he steers the course and reaches his destination. Jake’s speech at CAC was damn amazing as was DDP’s.
It was great seeing Ivan Koloff who has issues getting around and walks with a cane. Ivan is still barrel chested but like many older veterans is ‘shrinking’ or so it seemed. Uncle Ivan was a great hand with amazing endurance and strength back in the day and is now an ordained minister and spends most of his time helping others including speaking with inmates in prison. The former WWWF Champion, who defeated his hero Bruno Sammartino, always treated me wonderfully when I went to work for Jim Crockett Promotions back in the 80’s.
Nora Greenwald aka Molly Holly also received an award, presented by Lisa Moretti aka Ivory, that was well deserved and beautifully received. If more people, men and women alike, had Molly’s character and integrity, the business would be infinitely better off. I hired her on the recommendation of Dean Malenko and even though she did not fit the stereotypical mold of a WWE Diva, Nora was one of the most successful and productive women that ever worked in WWE. She’s now working in a drug treatment facility in Minnesota and is happily married.
– TNA champion Bully Ray & TV champion Devon will be signing at the Legends of the Ring convention in on June 8th in Monroe, NJ.
– TNA iMPACT! will air live from Indiana, PA on April 25th. Once the live show ends, they will then tape the May 3rd episode.
– The 4/18 edition of TNA Impact Wrestling did 1,268,000 viewers, up from 1,170,000 last week.
– A new article at WWE.com acknowledges John Cena’s “Super Cena” label, noting that fans have compard him to Superman because of his “seemingly superhuman strength and his ability to emerge victorious even when all of the chips are stacked against him.”
– WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels will be replacing John Cena at three consecutive WWE live events next month, on 5/24, 5/25 and 5/26. Michaels will not be wrestling. Other talent scheduled for the events include The New Age Outlaws and Chris Jericho.
In an interview with Forbes, Triple H talked about the Attitude Era, if he would regret having his career ended in a match and more. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
The Attitude Era: “It’s one of those things — I’ve talked about this with Austin and a little bit with Rock, too — you don’t realize is happening at the time; it’s just what you’re doing. We were all so wrapped up in what we were doing, and it was so competitive with each other. It’s only now that I think we can look back and go, ‘Wow. That was a pretty special time, and we shared some pretty special things all together and made history.’ I think at the time you’re doing it, you realize it’s going well, but you’re just so deep in there that you can’t even fathom really what you’re doing. To look back at it now and see all those times, and to watch the video game…when we did the voiceovers to the video game, to go back and watch some of those scenes take place, it’s crazy because you forget what a…that was just another day then.”
If he would regret being forced to retire after a match: “I wouldn’t have one regret. I wouldn’t have any. I’ve had a hell of career, a hell of a run. I’ve done everything I wanted to do in this business. I’ll never leave this business. It’s ironic. Years ago when I said it about being in the game, you know that statement was really about the business. It was about being a student of the game and about this business and when I say the game will never die, I truly mean that. None of us are bigger than this. None of us are bigger than the WWE. It will always continue to go on and I will always be a part of it.”
If he plays video games: “Let me just say right now that if I gave advice to a gamer it would be terrible because I don’t play them and it would probably surely cause their demise in the game.”
– After revealing this week to a Twitter user that she would not be on hand for any Impact Wrestling events for a ‘few months,’ Tara announced Thursday night that she will be competing on next week’s show.
“Update on my great news… I will be at @IMPACTWRESTLING next week for some good old fashion wrestling! Yay! I won’t be off TV!” she wrote.
Meanwhile, Tara has been encouraging people to visit her Chicago, Illinois based restaurant, The Squared Circle, because they will be able to watch WWE television broadcasts with her. She will be at the restaurant tonight with SmackDown on Syfy tuned in.
– TNA Wrestling will premiere a Knockouts website next Thursday. The following video was released promoting the site, featuring ODB, Mickie James, Taryn Terrell and others.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Utaog1JIlWo
– TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bully Ray and fellow Aces & Eights member Devon have been announced to appear at the Legends of the Ring convention, taking place Saturday, June 8 at Crowne Plaza Hotel in Monroe, New Jersey.
This week on The Breakdown, the show arrives on it’s new time – every week on Friday – and Steve takes a look at how the WWE’s writing crew – and the WWE’s attitude on writing – is hurting the product
