TNA will hold a rare Friday night Impact Wrestling taping tonight from the Impact Zone in Orlando. The company is headed overseas next week for the annual UK tour, so the next month or so of Impact will be taped.
TNA is advertising the following for next week’s show:
* Daniels vs. Jeff Hardy for the World Title
* Velvet Sky vs. Tara for the Knockouts Title
* Zema Ion and Kenny King vs. Rob Van Dam and Christian York
* The fallout from Taz joining Aces & 8s
* Hulk Hogan leads a war on Aces & 8s
On Thursday’s episode of Impact Wrestling, the wedding of Brooke Hogan and Bully Ray took place – and surprisingly, things did not go off without a hitch. There was a hitch. A few hitches. In typical “pro wrestling wedding” fashion, the nuptials were interrupted and the bride wound up crying, screaming and not married.
This wedding that had it all – ECW groomsmen, a surprise heel turn, the groom and the father of the bride getting destroyed by a gang of masked thugs and Hulk Hogan’s bandana getting knocked off.
WWE taped this week’s SmackDown on Tuesday night from San Antonio, Texas. Here’s a preview for the show:
* Big Show and Dolph Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus
* Randy Orton, Kane & Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow
* The Miz vs. Primo
* Divas Champion Kaitlyn vs. Aksana
* US Champion Antonio Cesaro vs. Kofi Kingston
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights of what JR wrote about:
Austin and Michaels Missing RAW’s 20th Anniversary: “Someone incorrectly wrote that I said that @steveaustinBSR was going to be in Houston which isn’t true. Steve and @ShawnMichaels were both booked months ago for a convention in Las Vegas called the Shot Show and couldn’t break these long standing business obligations to attend Monday’s Raw. Nor were they or any other of the typical suspects ever advertised. Of course it gave some folks a new opportunity to complain. I got hammered with complaints from the bravest people on Earth…the keyboard warriors of Twitter @JRsBBQ.”
Eve Torres Leaving WWE: “Sorry to see @evemarietorres depart WWE but she’s happily married to a Gracie of the legendary MMA Gracie family and will be entering into the family business as an instructor while building her own body of work in that field. Eve is a lovely young lady who is extremely athletic. She was raised right and was never an issue while in WWE as best that I know. I wish her well.”
WWE Signing Clayton Jack: “Clayton Jack, Oregon State Wrestling All American heavyweight, has signed with WWE after being scouted by Jerry Brisco and then being evaluated by many of us at a camp in Tampa several months ago. He’s a big kid with a wonderful, outgoing, positive personality who has the chance to be a top hand if he is willing to put in the time and work to make it happen of which I think that he will. As a rule, hard work doesn’t scare off amateur wrestlers especially those with collegiate experience. Clayton returned to the Beavers to finish his college degree which I personably feel is imperative to have for any one wanting to join WWE’s Developmental Program. Because more prospects are going to not make it than are, having something to fall back on lessens the pressure somewhat on some of the youngsters in my view.”
* PICTURE of Clayton Jack & VIDEO Of Him Winning A National Championship
WWE has signed NCAA All-American heavyweight wrestler Clayton Jack to a three year developmental deal.
Jack was scouted last year by Gerald Brisco after attending a tryout camp in Tampa, Florida but turned it down because he wanted to complete his education at the Oregon State University. Now that he has graduated, he has accepted the offer and will report to NXT later this month to begin training.
“I am just really excited for the opportunity to work with the WWE,” Jack told OSUbeavers.com. “As far as goals go, I just want to learn as much as possible. Hopefully if I do well in the three years, maybe I can get an NXT title or move up to the WWE.”
Jack is known for being a very friendly guy, but he sees a different role for himself when he steps into the squared circle.
“I wouldn’t mind playing the heel, which is the bad guy,” Jack explained. “When you first start out you are always kind of the heel and then you work your way into being a face, which is a good guy. As much as I want to say it’s based on my personality, it’s also based on how well I can act.”
Jack’s collegiate wrestling record was 121-37 (.766), earning him two conference championships and All-American honors in 2012.
Here is video of Clayton Jack winning the 2011 Pac 10 Wrestling Championships (285):
Folks, it really doesn’t get much better than this. CM Punk visited the Gracie Academy in Torrance, California this week and trained with none other than Ed “Al Bundy” O’Neill.
O’Neill has been an avid Mixed Martial Artist for years (as evidenced by his black belt) and has been training at the Gracie Academy since 2011 and has a weekly private lesson with makes a surprise appearance before his weekly private lesson with Rorion Gracie. The man on the right is Rener Gracie, fiance of former WWE Diva Eve Torres. Click the image below to see the full size.
… and just for the hell of it – a video mash-up of the Best of Bundy fights from Married with Children:
WWE.com personality Joey Styles, known worldwide as the Voice of ECW, joined the VOC Nation Radio Network to discuss Wrestlemania, Ric Flair, the state of the industry, and much more.
The VOC Wrestling Nation is the flagship program of the VOC Nation Radio Network, and can be heard every Wednesday from 5PM – 7PM ET WORLDWIDE at VOCNation.com.
Here are some highlights of what Joey had on his mind:
On the current state of wrestling commentary: “If I was able to (feed lines to the announcers), do you think that the announcing would sound like it does? (When I quit Raw) that was absolutely straight shooting at its finest. That was exactly how I felt.”
On Paul Heyman going into the Hall of Fame: “I don’t think (it will happen this year at Madison Square Gardern). Because Paul is now an active performer on the WWE roster, managing the top heel in the company, it would be hard to separate the person that he is from the character he plays on TV. I can’t think of a person who deserves it more. He has one hell of a hall of fame resume.”
On Ric Flair’s recent WWE TV appearances: “I think Ric is a little toned down. He is at least 60 years old. He doesn’t like to follow scripts either. When I interviewed Ric on WWE.com a few weeks ago, it was the most low key, relaxed, Ric Flair that I’ve ever seen. Maybe he’s slowing down and just starting to enjoy himself a little.”
On the Honkytonk Man’s accusations that Flair sold the Rolex that Shawn Michaels gave him: “Did you see on Monday Night Raw that Ric made sure to point out the watch (that Michaels gave him)?”
On whether or not Flair will wrestle again in WWE: “Oh God no. They can get around the storyline retirement by calling it an “unsanctioned street fight” similar to what Hogan did, but I certainly don’t want to see Ric in the ring with guys who are a third of his age. I don’t want to see him get hurt.”
On part time talent headlining Wrestlemania: “You can make an argument for or against anything; it may take the spotlight off of some younger people, but you can also argue that the overall spotlight may not be as bright without The Rock or Brock Lesnar. You cannot overstate the effect that the Rock has on the audience watching WWE. Since the Rock has been on the show, the traffic on WWE.com is up, and the ratings have averaged over 3.0 both weeks. He brings a whole other audience in that may not normally watch WWE, and helps put more of a spotlight on everybody. It’s not like he left on bad terms, he left to become one of the biggest stars in the world.”
On his role in the WWE: “I am part of a team at WWE.com; I don’t run WWE.com. A lot of people think that I’m in charge there and I’m not.”
On the WWE embracing social media: “Whatever new technology or technique is developed for connecting with your fans, we jump into it. It’s very interesting and makes things busy for all of us.”
On whether Stone Cold Steve Austin will be at Wrestlemania: To my knowledge he is not going to be at Wrestlemania, but then again, I’m not privy to those conversations.
– WWEShop.com is running a promotion where you can get 10% off orders $60 or more by using the promo code 60TAKE10.
– Here are the average TV ratings and viewership figures for WWE programming in 2012, including DVR viewership factored in:
– RAW: 3.3 rating with 4.75 million viewers
– SmackDown: 2.1 rating with 3.04 million viewers
– Main Event: 0.8 rating with 1.3 million viewers
– Saturday Morning Slam: 0.7 rating with 1.14 million viewers
– ECW original Justin Credible has started a Youtube channel and has posted his first video, talking about being sober for nearly 60 days after going through WWE sponsored rehab. “I never thought it would get to that point, to be honest. Sixty days might not seem like sh*t to you, but to me I never thought I was going to be clean.”
“I thought I was going to die a drug addict – a premature wrestler’s drug addict death. It’s a small miracle that I am here. The only reason I am here is by the grace of God, my family, and the good people at WWE who paid for this rehab and cared enough to put me there.”
Credible also apologized for his actions at the most recent Extreme Rising show (passing out backstage and being unable to wrestle) and said any wrestler that deals with substance abuse issues has themselves to blame, not the industry. Here’s the video, which includes some adult language:
– WWE will be doing a lot of production upgrades in the months leading up to WrestleMania 29. One upgrade is that WWE will be purchasing the latest state of the art HD television cameras to replace the company’s existing equipment.
– There has also been talk of WWE once again experimenting with 3D technology. Last year WWE negotiated with Fathom Events about showing a 3D version of WrestleMania in movie theaters, but a deal with the events company was never reached.
– Steve Austin’s Redneck Island has been renewed for a third season. If you’re interested in appearing on the show, visit RedneckIslandCasting.com.
WWE officials have offered Brock Lesnar a new contract, according to a report in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Lesnar’s current deal expires right after WrestleMania 29 and the company is eager to lock him in for another year. The new contract would be very similar to his current arrangement, which pays him several million dollars to work a very limited schedule that includes a few high-profile pay-per-view matches and several WWE television appearances in the weeks leading up to those fights.
It’s believed that Lesnar will not make a decision on the contract extension until the last minute, which is how he’s done business in the past.
Regarding a potential Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker match, WWE officials are skeptical if it could ever take place, due to mileage on Taker’s body. That said, the two opponents WWE has in mind for Brock Lesnar in 2013-2014 are the Undertaker and reigning WWE Champion CM Punk.
* New Details On WWE’s Storyline Plans For After WRESTLEMANIA 29
(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
– With The Rock back on WWE television on a regular basis, former RAW head writer Brian Gewirtz is also back behind the scenes. Gewirtz is The Rock’s personal writer and he’s said to be very happy to be back in the mix of RAW’s creative direction.
– There has been a lot talk within WWE lately about eventually turning Dolph Ziggler babyface, according to a report in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
As a heel, Ziggler has been getting very over due to his exceptional in-ring work and his strong performances on the mic. Vince McMahon has been hesitant to pull the trigger on turning Ziggler, with many people feeling that his heel character still has a lot of life in it.
With Ziggler on the cusp of truly becoming a main event act, there’s also strong case to be made that cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase as a babyface would have a bigger impact in strengthening his perception with fans. Ziggler turning babyface would also result in him breaking away from AJ Lee and Big E Langston.
COMMENT BELOW and tell us if you think Dolph Ziggler would be better suited as a babyface.
Following his appearance on Monday’s 20th Anniversary RAW, Ric Flair is still working for WWE without a contract in place. WWE is interested in signing him and it’s possible we’ll see a deal made in the coming weeks. TNA has also sent out feelers to Ric Flair about a possible return, but he’ll will be appearing for WWE over the next few months.
Flair is currently booked next week’s WWE RAW from San Jose, California and the following night’s SmackDown tapings from Sacramento. After that, he heads overseas to Japan for his coming match for All Japan Pro Wrestling.
As for Flair’s appearance on Miz TV, it was done to solidify The Miz a babyface and for Flair to “give” The Miz his Figure Four leg lock as a new finishing move. Flair reportedly joked to The Miz backstage, “I hope they let you beat people with it because I never did.”
A WWE source says we haven’t seen the last of Flair and Miz appearing on television together.
(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
Here are some additional news items from Monday’s 20th Anniversary RAW:
– Vickie Guerrero continues to tweet about The Rock’s singing to her during his Rock Concert on Monday’s RAW:
https://twitter.com/ExcuseMeWWE/status/291883749338128384
– Eve Torres wrestled her final WWE match on RAW, dropping the Divas title to Kaitlyn. There had been talks of the match taking place at the Royal Rumble with a Lumberjills stipulation, however Eve made the call for the match to take place on RAW because she wanted her big title win to take place in front of Kaitlyn’s hometown crowd in Houston.
– As previously reported, WWE originally had plans for several legends to return at the 20th Anniversary of RAW, but those plans were nixed. WWE did reach out to several former superstars, however they were later told that creative plans were changed and WWE decided against the cameos. There were rumors of an Evolution reunion at the show, but Batista was never contact. Chris Jericho was also rumored to make a surprise appearance, but he was never contacted either.
(Partial Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
The following is a list of superstar names, dates & times scheduled for VIP sessions during this year’s WrestleMania Axxess events. Tickets will be on sale starting next week at Ticketmaster.com:
Thursday, April 4 – Session 6:00pm-10:00pm
CM PUNK
RIC FLAIR
Friday, April 5 – Session 6:00pm-10:00pm
UNDERTAKER
JOHN CENA
Saturday, April 6 – Session 8:00am-12:00pm
KANE
Saturday, April 6 – Session 1:00pm-5:00pm
TRIPLE H
RANDY ORTON
Saturday, April 6 – Session 6:00pm-10:00pm
SHEAMUS
Sunday, April 7 – Session 8:00am-12:00pm
BIG SHOW
REY MYSTERIO
Sunday, April 7 – Session 12:30pm-4:30pm
SHAWN MICHAELS
BRET HART
– Wrestling announcer Shannon Rose noted on Facebook yesterday that WWE is looking to scout new Divas. Upcoming casting calls will be taking place in Tampa, Orlando and Miami, Florida, with WWE looking for ladies 18-29 that have a combination of beauty, sexiness, charisma, athleticism and look great in a bikini. Nothing mentioned about wrestling ability.
– WWE will be holding another 3-day trout camp in Florida later this month. Among the top indy workers attending the tryouts will be The Briscoe Brothers (Jay & Mark), Sami Callihan and Ricky Reyes.
– Ryan Ward is the new head writer of WWE NXT television, taking over the job previously held by Dusty Rhodes. Triple H has also been very hands on with the production and the feeling is that the shows run very smoothly.
– Speaking of NXT, last week’s TV tapings from Full Sail University featuring Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, Triple H and others in attendance drew a packed house of 400 fans.
(Partial Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
– Here are some recent WWE attendance figures:
* RAW on January 11th in Austin, Texas drew 8,000 fans for $300,000
* RAW on January 12th in Laredo, TX drew 7,200 fans for $230,000
* SmackDown on January 12th in Alexandria, Louisiana drew 4,000 fans for $100,000
* RAW on January 13th in Corpus Christi, TX drew 6,500 fans for $230,000
* SmackDown on January 13th in Tyler, Texas drew 3,800 fans for $90,000
* RAW on January 14th in Houston drew a sellout of 14,426 fans with 11,500 of those paid
– WWE ’13 video game sales are still going strong, better than WWE ’12 .
– TNA’s lawsuit against WWE was dismissed on Wednesday after TNA filed a motion this week stating that a settlement has been reached between the parties.
* MORE On WWE Bringing Back Former Stars (Benjamin, Morrison, Masters & More)
(Partial Source: F4wonline.com)
– Konnan spoke about Rey Mysterio’s WWE status on the latest episode of MLW Radio, stating that Rey’s hiatus is indeed a personal issue and has nothing to do with a violation of WWE’s Wellness policy:
“Somebody seems to think that Rey was suspended for the wellness policy. Absolutely incorrect. He is dealing with a family situation right now and he does have permission to be out. They know what’s going on and he will be back soon. He is not injured. He doesn’t have any drug issues – and I’m not covering for him because he’s my boy… but he’s cool, he’ll back soon.”
As reported yesterday, Mysterio is scheduled to return to action at Friday’s RAW live event from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA.
– ScrenCrush.com reports that The Rock’s movie Hercules will be released in theaters on August 8th, 2014. The movie is being directed by Brett Ratner and production is scheduled to begin in early next year.
– Wannabe WWE superstar Brad Maddox “crashed” Wednesday night’s WWE Main Event broadcast and did commentary during the Prime Time Players vs. Primo and Epico match. WWE.com has a video up featuring Maddox evaluating his own performance. As you can imagine, he’s got a very high opinion of himself and says he might soon replace Jerry Lawler on RAW.
* WWE Offers BROCK LESNAR A New Contract & DOLPH ZIGGLER Turning Babyface
– Former WWE superstar MVP was once again asked on Twitter whether he’ll be returning to the company. He replied:
I don't think they want me. LOL RT @DrakePatin: @The305MVP are you coming back to wwe ?
— MVP (@The305MVP) January 17, 2013
Earlier this week, MVP stated that he will not be a surprise entrant in the Royal Rumble. That said, we’ve heard he is one of the former mid-card WWE superstars the company is interested in bringing back to fill out the roster later this year.
– Earlier this month, Richard H. Blood III (NXT star Richie Steamboat) filed a trademark application for the name “Richie Steamboat.” There have been recent reports that WWE was looking to call him up to the main roster with a different name, so we’ll see how this new trademark ties into that.
– Following up on our report from earlier this week regarding the release of WWE developmental wrestler TAC, we’re told that his controversial comments on Twitter were a big factor in management losing interest in him. Several months ago, he tweeted:
“Not one person in developmental or #wwe have the accolades that I do, yet they act like they are deserved something. #wwe you deserve more! Same generic cookie cutter wrestlers. ONE speaks out and he’s a REVOLUTION starter? Change is coming! #wwe you deserve it! #TAC REVOLUTION.”
He followed up by saying that he’s not scared of being fired, unlike everyone else in WWE that “plays it safe.” Those tweets were later deleted, but not before they were sent to WWE superstars John Cena asking for their reactions.
* MORE On WWE Bringing Back Former Stars (Benjamin, Morrison, Masters & More)
– ECW original Tommy Dreamer has released his first Ebook titled, “Living the Dream Volume One.” Dreamer writes a weekly column for Canada’s Whig-Standard newspaper and the book is a compilation of the first year of his articles for the paper. The EBook is priced at only $2.07 and can be purchased at Kobobooks.com.
– A man was arrested in Corpus Christi, Texas this week for selling fake tickets to WWE live events. The suspect was selling duplicate tickets to Sunday’s WWE live event on Facebook and has been charged with fraud.
– Fans attending this year’s WrestleMania 29 Axxess fan fest at New Jersey’s IZOD Center will be in for a treat. One of the unique features for this year’s fan fest is that WWE will have the full RAW stage set up in the IZOD center. Fans who purchase a VIP package will get a chance to walk on the stage and get a behind-the-scenes look at how WWE produces RAW. Tickets for Axxess go on sale to the public on January 26th, with an online pre-sale taking place next week.
* WWE Offers BROCK LESNAR A New Contract & DOLPH ZIGGLER Turning Babyface
(Source: PWInsider.com)
– Several months ago we reported that Hulk Hogan was approached by Mexico’s Multimedios group to wrestle a match for a huge payday. While Hogan originally turned them down, word out of TNA is that Eric Bischoff recently approached the group to restart negotiations.
The condition of Hulk Hogan’s back remains the big issue as to whether he can wrestle a full match. Hogan has stated in recent interviews that his latest back surgery fixed his back and he does plan on wrestling again, but it’s more likely that he’ll simply appear at the show and get physical, opposed to working a full match.
– TNA’s developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling, taped their 700th episode of television this week. Several TNA stars taped congratulatory messages that will air on the show, including Hulk Hogan, Sting, Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, Mr. Anderson and Tara.
– TNA World Champion Jeff Hardy will not be traveling to the UK for TNA’s annual overseas tour due to his felony conviction that prevents him from entering the country. As a result, Hardy will miss 4 weeks of Impact tapings, so it will be interesting to see how TNA handles the situation.
* The Latest On JEFF HARDY’s TNA Future: Will He Jump To WWE When His Contract Expires?
(Partial Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
Here is TNA’s official preview for tonight’s episode of Impact Wrestling on Spike TV:
– Wedding bells will ring on Thursday’s IMPACT broadcast as Bully Ray and Brooke Hogan will be married LIVE in the middle of the ring! The big question is, how will Brooke’s father – the legendary Hulk Hogan – react to the wedding? Will he let his daughter marry Bully Ray? Or, will he use his power to try and stop the ceremony from taking place? The entire wrestling world will be watching on Thursday night to find out what happens!
– Thursday’s IMPACT will also feature the aftermath from the “Genesis” event! Jeff Hardy is still the World Heavyweight Champion after defending the gold against Austin Aries and Bobby Roode! What’s next for “The Charismatic Enigma” as the road to March’s “Lockdown” begins? Tune in and find out!
– Also at Genesis: Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez retained the Tag Team Title, Rob Van Dam beat Christian York to keep the X Division Title, Velvet Sky is the new #1 Contender to the Knockouts Title, Christopher Daniels beat James Storm to earn a shot the World Heavyweight Championship on the January 24 IMPACT, and “The Icon” Sting returned to action and beat D.O.C. from the Aces and Eights!
– Also on Thursday’s IMPACT on SpikeTV, the contestants from TNA GUT CHECK will face the judges! Will they earn contracts and become members of the roster – or will they fall short in their quest to make it big in pro wrestling?
Here it is. The long-awaited highly-anticipated world premiere of Zack Ryder’s new music video for his original song, Hoeski.
Lyrics by Zack Ryder, directed by Jason Shaltz, produced by Matt Hanrahan.
#WWWYKI
– Former WWE Superstar Edge tweeted the following about how his neck is doing after his recent surgery:
Listen to your doctor. They've made huge advancements in spinal surgeries. I'm back at full workout and mountain biking in 2 mths@zossy83
— Adam Copeland (@RatedRCope) January 16, 2013
– Mick Foley asked his fans on Twitter earlier today who they think should induct him into the WWE Hall of Fame. After getting a ton of responses, Foley tweeted:
https://twitter.com/realmickfoley/status/291650288610324480
– WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin is sporting a new beard. Austin tweeted the following photo and caption on Wednesday:
Shooting the shit with @freejessejames at the Fort Knox booth at the Shot Show. http://t.co/xajhJSId
— Steve Austin (@steveaustinBSR) January 15, 2013
Bully Ray joined Dave Lagreca and Doug Mortman on Busted Open radio live in studio to promote his wedding with Brooke Hogan on this Thursday night’s episode of Impact Wrestling. Here are some highlights.
Bully Ray on CM Punk: “I’m going to put somebody over right now. I normally don’t put anyone over, but I want to give CM Punk credit. I’m a Punk fan. You know why I’m a Punk fan? Because that bastard says what’s on his mind. There is one thing that he doesn’t have that I respect and that’s fear. He has no fear. He so reminds me of someone who would fit into the ECW locker room. He’s got balls as big as mine. Back in the day when I was starting riots, that if I did that s–t today, I’d be sued for life and probably wind up dead behind bars. And they don’t have a choice in what he says because he is going to say whatever the hell he wants, and I love it. He is the punk rock version of pro wrestling, and that’s what we were back in the day. To see that be so real and honest and he is so friggin angry, I love it. I love his anger. Punk will stay out there for fifteen minutes and talk on that mic and never trip over a line. You know why? There are not lines. It’s real emotion. It’s how he really feels. That’s what makes it beautiful.”
TNA’s new PPV schedule: “I think it’s good for business as far as people being emotionally invested and really interested in what’s going on. From a dollars and cents point of view, I can only hope it makes sense for TNA. I like to compare everything to sex. Even sex gets too much at times. A pay per view every single month, you kind of get burned out on it. What really is special and what is not special? Sometimes you may watch a pay per view and say actually Thursday night’s Impact was better than the pay per view. So what did I spend my money on? I remember as a kid growing up, the Wrestlemanias, the Royal Rumbles, the Survivor Series, the Summerslams, the Starrcades. The special shows that you really, really built to. You built real emotional investment. Where you said to yourself, ‘I absolutely, positively have to see this show.’ With pay per views nowadays, whether it’s WWE, TNA, Ring of Honor. Is there anything that’s must see anymore? Ok I know I must see Bound For Glory, and I know I must see Wrestlemania. What else?”
Why TNA is not tackling the big markets: “There aren’t a lot of topics that I won’t answer you guys on. This one I’m going to step away from, for the very simple fact that my opinions might not mesh with their business opinions. All I know is this, in New York City, a small underground company with no better than a midnight spot on cable television fifteen years ago sold this city out every single time. TNA should be doing the same thing. I would love to see TNA get on board a little bit with the more traditional style of wrestling promotion, and getting word out to the fans a little more than just the TV show and the internet. I do believe that a company who is still growing like TNA, you really do need to do the gorilla marketing, the grassroots marketing. I do believe that TNA should be appearing more and more in New York, in Philadelphia, in Boston, in Chicago and Detroit. Hardcore wrestling fanatics, cities where people will really sink their teeth into your product, people will really jump on board. I’m not quite sure why they stay away from the Northeats as much as they do.”
A potential match with Jeff Hardy: “Me and Jeff had a ton of history. Everybody knows about the TLC matches. The Hardys vs the Dudleys. All of the history that we made together. Got to give Jeff a ton of credit for bouncing back from his personal issues. I never held a grudge against Jeff for his personal issues, when actually, I’m the guy that should probably hold the biggest grudge. Because when Jeff was going through his personal issues, who did the company turn too to make everyone forget that Jeff Hardy was on the shelf? Me! And in a week’s time, you forgot he was gone. I was the guy who stepped up and hit grand slam after grand slam every single week. No grudges, no jealousy, no nothing. TNA is better with Jeff Hardy as the champion. TNA is a better company. Professional wrestling is better with Jeff Hardy. Nothing but respect, but I do want another opportunity.”
If Hulk Hogan will attend the wedding: “He is either going to accept me or he is not going to accept me. All I know is that tomorrow night on Spike TV, I am going to marry his daughter. If that doesn’t make him accept me, than I don’t know what will. At the end of the day no matter what kind of animosity and heat me and Hulk have, I really do hope that he is there on Thursday. I want him to walk his daughter down the aisle. I want him to give his daughter away. I want him to be happy. I want him to be happy for his daughter and I want him to be happy because of my respect level for the industry that he paved the road for me. That’s the bottom line.”
WWE Hall of Famer Adam “Edge” Copeland recently spoke to Forbes.com about WWE ’13, the Attitude Era and life after WWE, including his acting work on the Syfy series “Haven.” Here are some highlights, including a video of the interview:
Favorite Memories from the Attitude Era: Oh, there’s so much stuff, you know. I think back to the stuff that Christian and I did and all the idiotic things that we did that were so much fun. You had two guys that grew up together and really do act like brothers and did play Sega Genesis together in college and we did do all of these things. Now we’re on worldwide TV living out our dream, getting to show a side of our personalities, which is essentially us. I mean everything we did every week. You know there’s not one particular thing that sticks out more than anything else because we had fun all the time.
Not Having to Travel Constantly Anymore: I don’t miss that at all. That was the part of it that really became like Groundhog Day. That was the the part with injuries and things like that where you sit on a plane for too long, my body just goes, “No way, dude.” Last weekend I was on the road for two days at a wrestling schedule and I was fried, just exhausted. And that truly woke me up, I couldn’t do that anymore now that I’m removed.
Transitioning from Wrestling to Acting: There are similarities without a doubt, but some more minor differences. I really had to pull back a lot of things and reel in my facial expressions if I was doing something. I really sat down with the directors and said, “Okay, I have no idea what I’m doing.” My tendency is to go huge and over the top to translate something to someone 80,000 people away. It has to be larger than life. With this they know if you’ve got a nose hair. So you’ve really got to try and pull back all of those things that I was naturally inclined to do. That I found was kind of the biggest transition, but thankfully I worked with a bunch of different directors that each really helped me in a different way. They really helped me with trying to calm these things a little bit. It’s been a learning process, but not quite as crazy as I thought it was going to be.
