Former WWE superstar Dave Bautista’s major announcement is that he’ll be appearing in the upcoming Kung Fu movie “The Man with the Iron Fists.” Academy Award winner Russell Crowe, Lucy Liu and MMA fighter Cung Lee will also be appearing.
“Iron Fists” was produced by Quentin Tarantino, directed by Wu Tang Clan rapper RZA and was written by Eli Roth and RZA.
Here’s the official trailer:
– It was announced on WWE Superstars that next week’s “Great American Bash” live Tuesday SmackDown will feature a Battle Royal. The participants will be WWE Champion CM Punk, World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus, John Cena, Daniel Bryan, Big Show and Alberto Del Rio.
The other match WWE is hyping for the show is Divas Champion Layla and The Great Khali vs. Aksana and Antonio Cesaro.
– As previously reported, WWE taped 6 matches for this week’s Superstars, which is more than usual. The matches that aired on this week’s show saw Kofi Kingston defeat Michael McGillicutty, Darren Young defeat Epico, The Usos defeat Hunico & Camacho and Kane defeat Heath Slater in the main event.
The other two matches that were taped were Sin Cara vs. Antonio Cesaro and the Primetime Players vs. Primo & Epico. Those matches could air next week or they might have just been dark matches.
– WWE released the following video from Wednesday night’s “Be A Star” anti-bullying rally at the Brooklyn Cyclones minor league baseball game. Zack Ryder, Mark Henry, Lilian Garcia and Natalya were in attendance:
*SPOILERS* WWE SmackDown Results For Tonight
The following matches are scheduled to take place on tonight’s WWE SmackDown broadcast:
Triple Threat Match For The World Hwt. Title
Sheamus (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio
Money In The Bank Qualifying Matches:
* Damien Sandow vs. Zack Ryder
* Jack Swagger vs. Tyson Kidd
* Santino Marella & Christian vs. Cody Rhodes & David Otunga
* Tensai vs. Justin Gabriel
Divas Non-Title Match
Layla (c) vs. A.J.
Also tonight, Ryback will be in action, WWE will announce next week’s Interim General Manager and more.
On Thursday’s Impact Wrestling, it was announced that the upcoming Destination X pay-per-view will feature a one-night tournament to crown a new X Division champion. The first two participants will be Sonjay Dutt and newcomer Rashad Cameron. Here’s the updated card:
TNA World Title Match:
Bobby Roode (c) vs. Austin Aries.
Last Man Standing Match:
A.J. Styles vs. Christopher Daniels
Bound For Glory Series Match:
Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe
X Division Title Tournament
Sonjay Dutt and Rashad Cameron announced so far
TNA Destination X takes place on Sunday, July 8th from Orlando, Florida.
The following has been announced for next week’s Impact Wrestling show:
– Jeff Hardy vs. James Storm (Bound for Glory Series match).
– Knockouts Title Match: Miss Tessmacher vs. Gail Kim.
– Two more X Division tournament qualifying matches to determine who will compete at the Destination X tournament to crown a new X Division champion.
– An update on Chris Sabin’s condition.
Dixie Carter also announced on Twitter that the location for Bound For Glory 2012 will be revealed, and it will be a city TNA has not held a show at before.
– Christopher Daniels and Kaz recaptured the TNA Tag Team championships from Kurt Angle and AJ Styles on Thursday’s Impact Wrestling
– Sunjay Dutt returned to TNA on Thursday night and is now in the hunt for the X division title. The wrestler he defeated, Rubix, is indy worker Jigsaw from ROH, DGUSA & Chikara.
– Hulk Hogan tweeted the following announcement about Bound For Glory Series matches now having a time limit:
Spoke with BFG Series guys to let them know a change. Going forward all BFG Series matches will be 15 minute time limit. HH
— Hulk Hogan (@HulkHogan) June 28, 2012
WWE Hall of Famer Tammy “Sunny” Sytch tweeted multiple gay slurs Wednesday night after becoming irate with “The Boy Diva” Rick Cataldo, a male independent wrestler who portrays an overly-effeminate gay stereotype and primarily competes against female talent.
Independent wrestler Brittney Savage tweeted Wednesday she would blog her thoughts on the ongoing online flame war between Sytch and Reby Sky, who have been jousting back and forth over ‘Sycho’ Sid Vicious’ reputation for no-showing events. Cataldo wrote to Savage, “I can’t wait to read it Britt! lmao and btw I got yo back Reby ;) that bitch loves throwing shots.”
Cataldo’s remark infuriated the WWE Hall of Famer. Threatening physical harm, she wrote to him, “yeah, like the shot i threw at your jaw? you chicken shit faggot piece of crap… i’ll knock you out.”
Cataldo responded, “@WWEHOFerSunny is a serious hot mess bitch and I love it! write a book mama I want to read all your fairytales.” Sytch once again vowed to physically harm Cataldo, writing back, “youre gonna get your ass handed to you bitch.”
Sytch used the slur again after being criticized for her derogatory language, explaining to a fan, “dude, i have a gay cousin who i love to death… but this kid was a faggot…totally different.”
She hurled the slur again in response to a fan who wrote, “There’s nothing more rude than calling someone a ‘faggot’ @WWEHOFerSunny needs to learn to grow up, and have some manners.”
The WWE Hall of Famer apologized Thursday for the offensive language posted on her account; she said it was hacked.
“I would like to apologize for the statement on my account… someone hacked into my acct . Im not that type of person. was not my statement,” Sytch wrote.
Sytch then confirmed the hacker’s claim that she has a gay cousin, writing, “hey, I have a homosexual cousin, who i Love to death… I’d never say anything derogatory about him or anyone else.. my fav cousin!! Greg.”
She continued, “listen people, i have a gay cousin… he’s awesome, and I love him to death… Id never say a word about him or anyone else. GREG SYTCH.”
WWE diva Maxine has reportedly quit WWE, according to a report at PWInsider.com.
“Stuck” at NXT, Maxine became frustrated with her lack of advancement and decide to move on to other projects.
Maxine was signed to a developmental deal in 2009 and has wrestled mostly in NXT. She competed in the Divas battle royal on Monday’s Raw.
Florida Championship Wrestling sent out the following on Thursday announcing that WWE legend the Undertaker will be appearing at an upcoming FCW on 8/1:
UNDERTAKER AT FCW!
The Dallas Bull in Tampa, Florida will be hosting a live FCW event on Wednesday, August 1st with special guest The Undertaker!
This is an all-ages event. Doors open at 5:30pm.
Gold Circle tickets (including a meet & greet with The Undertaker and an up-front seat) are $50, VIP tickets are $25 and general admission is $15.
To purchase tickets, call Tammy Williams at (727) 243-8293.
– WWE Studios has signed on to co-produce and co-finance the thriller movie, “The Hive” starring Halle Berry and Abigail Breslin.
“The Hive” is the story of an emergency call center operator (Berry) who takes a call from a teenage girl (Breslin) who has been abducted and locked in the trunk of a car.
The film begins shooting this summer in Los Angeles.
– Full Sail University sent out the following press release on Thursday announcing that the next WWE NXT taping on July 12th will be open to the general public:
NXT RETURNS
Don’t miss the WWE NXT throwdown inside Full Sail Live on July 12, 2012. The night will include former WWE & World Heavyweight Champion Kane and Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes. On the same night, the WWE Divas will be in the ring and we also welcome WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross to call all the action.
As July marks our independence as a nation, we would like to honor those who have fought for our freedom. WWE and Full Sail University will be providing discounted tickets for all active and retired military personnel. Simply show your military I.D. at the box office to receive a 50% discount off the General Admission price. We encourage all audience members to proudly wear their patriotic colors and show support for our military on this night.
Tickets – Available on a first come, first serve basis only:
FREE for Full Sail Students with student I.D. (Limit 2)
$5.00 for Full Sail Staff and Active or Retired Military with valid I.D.
$10.00 for General Admission tickets
Tickets are only available at the Full Sail Live Box Office, 141 University Blvd., Winter Park, FL 32792.
(Partial Source: PWInsider.com)
TNA Wrestling held a media conference call on Thursday afternoon to hype the upcoming Destination X pay-per-view. During the call, three new matches were announced for the show:
Last Man Standing Match:
A.J. Styles vs. Christopher Daniels
Bound For Glory Series Match:
Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe
Ultimate X Match:
Participants TBA, Winner Will Be The New X Division Champion
These matches are in addition to the previously announced main event of TNA Champion Bobby Roode defending against Austin Aries.
TNA Destination X takes place on Sunday, July 8th from Orlando, Florida.
Kenn Doane has apologized for implicating Lisa Marie Varon (currently known as Tara in TNA Wrestling and formerly known as Victoria in WWE) as being involved in an extramarital affair with John Cena years ago in WWE.
He tweeted Wednesday without denial, “Never wanted Lisa to be involved obviously I was wrong 4 hinting towards her since she is the sweetest person ever. So for that im sorry.”
While discussing the role Cena played in his 2007 break-up with Mickie James to SEScoops.com, Doane divulged that Cena was having a second affair with a then-WWE Diva who was married to a man not involved with the professional wrestling industry. Doane said the woman was transferred from Raw to SmackDown in 2007 after being dumped by Cena. Two Divas transferred from Raw to SmackDown at the same time as Doane, Torrie Wilson and Varon. Wilson was in the process of divorcing Billy Kidman. Varon has been married to a man not affiliated with the professional wrestling industry since 1998, matching Doane’s claim.
Varon addressed Doane’s allegations in an interview with F4WOnline.com, where she claimed to have dated Cena in 2002 for one month when he was single and she was separated from her husband. Varon also stated that she was never Cena’s ‘road girlfriend’ as Doane alleged. Contrary to Varon’s claim that Cena was single when they dated, Raymond Rafool, attorney for Cena’s estranged wife Liz Huberdeau, said her client and Cena were together since they were in high school fourteen years ago.
Rafool told The Miami Herald (article) regarding Cena’s decision in May to file for divorce from Huberdeau, “Although it is indeed unfortunate that John Cena decided to divorce his high school sweetheart Liz Cena; particularly, after they have come so far in their lives and in his career together, Liz will and really has no choice but to pursue all of her rights and entitlements. Although Mr. Cena pushes a prenuptial agreement and that the parties have only been married for approximately 3 years, Liz Cena has always supported John Cena, even when no one else did, and stood behind him and pushed him forward to achieve their goals for the last 14 years. Sadly, divorce is not the way Liz thought her perfect love story would end.”
Furthermore, Doane was not affiliated with WWE in 2002 when Cena and Varon’s relationship allegedly occurred; he was still attending high school. He signed a developmental contract with the organization in 2004 and did not join the main roster until 2006.
– Madison Rayne claimed during a backstage segment on last week’s Impact Wrestling that she was once crowned Miss USA. Her kayfabe remark was brought to the attention of Miss USA 2010 winner and former Tough Enough contestant Rima Fakih, who upon seeing her picture, tweeted, “Well look at her pic u can tell she didn’t win.”
Rayne responded to Fakih, “….hmm, touché. But I’m still ‘tough enough’ to make it in this business… And I have a sweet ass crown. Boom!”
Rayne has since deleted the tweet.
– Chris Masters revealed on Twitter that he was not offered a TNA contract after participating in a dark match before the June 14 Impact Wrestling broadcast. However, he remains optimistic, as he believes it will come in due time.
– Garett Bischoff vs. Douglas Williams is this week’s featured match on TNA Xplosion.
As part of his Seven Summits adventure to climb the highest mountain on each continent, JBL is currently in Russia attempting to climb Mount Elbrus, the highest point in Europe.
Earlier this week, JBL revealed startling details about what he’s going through, including a near death experience. Due to a major storm on the mountain, JBL suffered the effects of frostbite and hypoxia (a condition where your body is deprived of adequate oxygen supply) and declared that he was “lucky to be alive.”
On Thursday, JBL checked in with the following video, announcing the disappointing news that he will be unable to reach the top of the mountain due to weather conditions:
– The Rock recently finished shooting his scenes for the movie “Empire State,” co-starring Liam Hemsworth. Deadline.com has a picture of The Rock from the movie sporting a new clean-shaven look.
– Speaking of The Rock, his next movie, Fast 6, begins filming in late July and will run through November. It’s been known all along that The Rock’s schedule would be monopolized by his movie schedule for most of the summer and fall. That said, WWE is hopeful that he’ll be able to make at least one more television appearance this year before he returns in early 2013 to begin the build for WrestleMania 29 and his quest to reclaim the WWE Championship one last time.
– Pre-orders for the upcoming WWE ’13 video game are said to be through the roof, even better than last year’s WWE ’12 game, which sold very well. As of last week, they were up 171% (up 170% on Xbox, 189% on PS3 and 84% on Wii.)
The strong demand this year can be attributed to the “Revolution is Coming” Internet campaign, CM Punk being the “face” of the game, the Attitude Era feature, Mike Tyson’s involvement and WWE & THQ’s strong social media push.
* SummerSlam Matches, When New WWE Talent Will Debut & More
(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
– After being released from his TNA contract earlier this month, we can confirm that Flair’s contract had a non-compete clause and he is currently unable to sign with WWE. No word yet on how long he is prohibited from signing with WWE.
During the court proceedings of the ongoing TNA vs. WWE lawsuit, WWE told the court that they have no interest in signing Flair, but most believe he’ll be back in WWE at some point.
– Austin Aries has a mixed reputation behind the scenes in TNA, liked personally by some but also disliked by others. Management is a fan of his work, as evidenced by him being in the main event of the upcoming Destination X pay-per-view.
– Abyss has been pulled from the upcoming AAA tapings in Mexico on June 30th. TNA will probably send other talent instead and AAA has expressed interest in using Robbie E and Robbie T.
– TNA’s Ring Ka King promotion in India has been such a success that the company is considering another spinoff promotion in Argentina. TNA co-founder Jeff Jarrett has had preliminary talks with the Endomol, an international television production and distribution company, about the project. Endomol is the company that helped TNA bring Ring Ka King to India.
(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
– Sting will be off television for several weeks as a result of last week’s attack by three mystery men. TNA has not yet decided who will be revealed as the masked attackers and it’s possible that TNA will not immediately follow up on the angle. The general feeling is that the segment did not come across well on television, but was done to explain why Sting is not part of the Bound For Glory series.
– During a recent interview with MMAJunkie.com, Bellator MMA & TNA Wrestling star “King” Mo Lawal said he’ll be reporting to Ohio Valley Wrestling (TNA developmental) in approximately two months. Lawal says his injured knee should be close to 100% by then.
He also revealed that he’ll be training with WWE Announcer Booker T in the coming weeks and wants UFC fighter Rampage Jackson to be his tag team partner in TNA. Jackson is one of many UFC fighters that has expressed interest in a pro wrestling career once his MMA fighting days are over, but we have not heard anything about Rampage talking with TNA (or WWE, for that matter).
– TNA Knockouts champion Miss Tessmacher did not compete in this year’s Hooters pageant last Saturday, despite being advertised. Instead, she worked a TNA live event from Orlando.
(Source: Wrestling Observer Nesletter)
http://youtu.be/Xz9Rckfegew
– Tonight’s live Impact Wrestling will feature Tag Team Champions Kurt Angle and AJ Styles vs. Daniels and Kazarian.
The show will also feature more Bound For Glory Series matches and another Gutcheck segment with an evaluation of independent women’s wrestler, Taeler Hendrix.
– Speaking Hendrix, management was not very pleased with her match against Tara last week or her look. Al Snow has some heat on him for selecting Hendrix as the latest Gutcheck contestant.
– TNA President Dixie Carter announced on Twitter this week that Bound For Glory Series matches will begin airing next week exclusively on Xplosion in the UK and Australia.
– There is talk behind the scenes in TNA that Hernandez has signed a new contract.
(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
– It was revealed on last week’s Impact Wrestling that Dixie Carter and A.J. Styles have been sneaking around to help a recovering addict who has been waking up in hotel rooms with strange men. The women who played woman was an actress TNA found at a local talent agency.
VIDEO Of The “Pregnant Addict” Reveal From Last Week
The angle played out as planned from the beginning, but TNA was said to be disappointed in her performance last week.
TNA has also released the following “original, unedited” phone conversation between AJ & Dixie about why they were sneaking around:
http://youtu.be/M34k4lRwKV8
– TNA Champion Bobby Roode continues to get a lot of praise behind the scenes from management. Most TNA wrestlers enjoy working with him and the writing team (particularly Bruce Prichard) enjoys writing for him.
– Here are some recent TNA attendance figures:
* The Basebrawl event on June 22nd in Buffalo, NY drew 800 fans
* June 23rd in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada drew 2,000 fans
* June 24th in Hamilton, Ontario drew 750 fans
(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
— As previously reported, WWE diva Eve was scheduled to return to Monday’s RAW after a several week hiatus, but did not appear on television. The latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that Eve was at the show, but no word yet on why she wasn’t used.
WWE officials were said to be pleased with her role of John Laurinaitis’ Executive Assistant.
— WWE footage was once again featured on the E! Network show The Soup this week. Host Joel McHale showed a clip of Del Rio attacking Sheamus with the cross armbreaker from SmackDown and then made fun of Ryback’s victims’ names (Arthur Rosenberg and Stan Stansky).
— With Chris Jericho now back in action after serving his 30 day suspension, WWE is advertising Fatal Fourway matches for the WWE Championship featuring CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho vs. Kane vs. Daniel Bryan at several upcoming live events, including the July 8th WWE Supershow in Rio Rancho, New Mexico.
(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
– WWE recently announced that a new weekly television show will debut on the ION network this October, WWE Main Event. There has been a lot of concern in WWE over the WWE product getting over exposed, especially with RAW expanding to 3-hours on a weekly basis starting next month. Two new hours of WWE programming each week carries risk, however WWE is poised to make millions of dollars per year in TV rights fees from the new shows.
Because the extra hour of RAW and the new WWE Main Event show will be filmed during nights when WWE already is running television tapings, the cost to produce RAW’s third hour and WWE Main Event is minimal.
Even though Ion is ranked as the 8th most popular broadcast network in the United States, millions of fans who do not have cable television will now have access to Main Event. Between that additional exposure and the TV rights fees, WWE is confident the new show will be successful.
– WWE Hall of Famer Sunny revealed on Twitter that she has two new shoot interviews coming out soon with Kayfabe Commentaries and RF Video.
– WWE taped the following Superstars matches this week:
* Kofi Kingston vs. Michael McGillicutty
* Epico vs. Darren Young
* Kane vs. Heath Slater
* Antonio Cesaro vs. Sin Cara
* Camacho & Hunico vs. The Usos
* Primo & Epico vs. Darren Young & Titus O’Neil.
Because WWE taped so many matches this week (and Epico wrestled twice), it’s likely that these matches will air over the next two episodes of Superstars.
(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
— WWE held an anti-bullying rally at Wednesday night’s Brooklyn Cyclones game at MCU Field. Garcia sang the National Anthem and Natalya threw out the first pitch for the game. Zack Ryder and Mark Henry were also in attendence. All of the WWE talent signed free autographs.
SEScoops.com correspondent The Solomonster, who handles PR for the Brooklyn Cyclones, was at the event and posted several pictures to Twitter, which can be viewed here.
— The latest on planned WWE Network is that DirecTV has no interest in carrying it. This would be a huge blow to the Network’s potential revenue, as DirecTV serves approximately 30% of potential customers. Other top cable providers have also been hesitant to carry the WWE Network, which is the reason WWE is now considering a subscription-based “premium channel” model, similar to HBO & Showtime.
There is no official date set for the Network’s launch, but WWE recently filmed a new commercial for the channel which is expected to air some time this summer.
* Rumor On The New Permanent WWE GM & Matches Planned For SUMMERSLAM
(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
— WWE returns to the Landon Arena at the Kansas Expo Centre in Topeka, Kansas on September 29th, 2012 and the Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas on September 30th, 2012. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
— WWE’s North American live event attendance was down 3% in May compared to the previous year.
— Here are some recent WWE attendance figures for the past week:
* 6/22: RAW from Bethlehem, PA drew 4,600 fans and grossed $158,000.
* 6/23: RAW from Wheeling, WV drew 3,400 fans and grossed $115,000.
* 6/23: SmackDown from Springfield, IL drew 3,500 fans and grossed $95,000.
* 6/24: RAW from Huntington, WV drew 3,000 fans and grossed $90,000
* 6/24: SmackDown from Bloomington, IL drew 3,300 fans and grossed $100,000.
* 6/24: RAW from Fort Wayne, IN drew a sellout of 8,500 fans.
— WWE.com did 12.5 million unique visitors in May, down 9% from the prior year (13.7 million).
— WWEShop.com averaged 645 orders per day in May, down 23% from the previous year.
* Rumor On The New Permanent WWE GM & Matches Planned For SUMMERSLAM
(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
— On Monday’s RAW, John Cena cut a promo that included several comments that made many wrestling fans cringe, including using the word “fudgin'” and telling Chris Jericho that WWE’s television audience is mostly comprised of 9 year old children. It’s worth noting that those comments by Cena were edited off the the replay of WWE RAW that aired on English/Spanish channel Mun2.
Cena’s promo with Chris Jericho was not edited off entirely, but his latest attempts at humor (“fudgin'” and 9 year-olds) were.
* TOP 10 COUNTDOWN Of John Cena’s Best WWE Matches
– Several celebrity news publications are reporting that David Otunga and his celebrity fiance, actress/singer Jennifer Hudson, are once again planning to get married.
Their wedding plans were put on hold during the build-up to the murder trail regarding the deaths of several of Hudson’s family members.
http://youtu.be/2Is9SdaC-X8
Yesterday, June 27th, marked one year since CM Punk’s infamous “Pipe Bomb” promo that shook the foundation of the wrestling world and catapulted Punk from mid-card wrestler on his way out of the company to WWE main eventer. To mark the occasion, the WWE website has a feature up interviewing superstars and divas about the significance of Punk’s promo. You can see the full article at WWE.com. Here are some quotes from:
Zack Ryder: “I remember I was watching the backstage monitor and I was like, ‘Wait a minute. Is this live on TV?’ He was just saying these things about the company that seemed pretty unbelievable. They even cut the mic out from under him. You knew it was one of those moments that created controversy, and people were tuning in the next week to see what would happen. I definitely approved and agreed with what he was saying. I was saying similar things on my YouTube show, so when a Superstar like Punk voiced his opinion, maybe it made people realize a change was necessary.”
“Road Dogg” Jesse James: “I think it caused a revolution, to be quite honest with you. I think people who know the inside track, they always want to hear somebody who drops that on national TV. I think that’s what brought CM Punk to the forefront, and now his popularity has just grown ever since. It’s fun to see him on all our live events and just how popular he is. He never ceases to amaze me. It takes charisma, it takes personality, and Punk has loads of both.”
Kaitlyn: “I was watching it on TV since it was a travel day. When it happened, I was so shocked. I think I actually tweeted about it, like I was so curious about what was going down and what kind of impact it would have. I think his words kind of shifted things. In the WWE fans’ eyes, watching that, it sparked a rebellion in a way and it kind of gave Punk this awesome chance to create himself in any way that he wanted. He totally reinvented himself. It was something that people could really rally around. He related to the WWE Universe and it felt so surreal.”
Ezekiel Jackson: “He stated that his WWE contract was coming to an end, and you don’t know what to expect from somebody who’s about to either quit or do whatever they want to do. He had absolutely nothing to lose. He could have said anything he wanted, and in a way, he did. It was so different. He stepped up to be a natural leader of the WWE locker room. You know that he was trying to make it known that he was representing us. You’ve seen things going in the direction that he wanted it to. One of the points he touched on was a smaller guy like him wasn’t supposed to ever be WWE Champion, but then you’ve got him and Daniel Bryan [as a former World Heavyweight Champion] – smaller Superstars who became champions, who are getting their opportunities, and they’re delivering.”
Justin Gabriel: “I was a huge fan of Punk before, and I think that day made me an even bigger fan. Just the way he walks and talks is so different. Everything he says, you want to believe him. For the guys in the WWE locker room, he definitely hit the right notes, but he obviously ruffled a lot of feathers. But that’s cool. That’s what we need. I think that’s what we needed at the time and we need more of that going forward, too.”
