TNA Wrestling is suing WWE and former TNA/WWE office worker Brian Wittenstein for “interference with existing contracts, conversion, breach of contract, civil conspiracy, unfair competition, breach of loyalty” and violation of the Tennessee Uniform Trade Secrets Act.
The lawsuit alleges that Wittenstein, a former TNA employee with knowledge of sensitive company information, provided WWE insider information on contracts and other matters pertaining to TNA’s operations. The lawsuit alleges that WWE is now using the knowledge obtained from Wittenstein to poach TNA talent.
After departing TNA, Wittenstein was hired by WWE earlier this year and worked under Michael Hayes before getting let go in April. The lawsuit alleges that during this time period, Wittenstein provided WWE the inside information from TNA. WWE did not immediately inform TNA about their former employee leaking company information.
TNA claims that this information was presented on 5/7. Coincidentally, just days later, WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair approached TNA management about being released from his contract. TNA alleges that Flair wanted out so he could return to WWE.
An injunction was issued earlier demanding that WWE & Wittenstein return whatever confidential information retained during his TNA tenure. They were both instructed not to destroy the material.
WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt commented to The Nashville City Paper:
“Our reaction is that no good deed ever goes unpunished. What the WWE did here is what you would hope any company would do in these circumstances it found itself in.”
(Sources: Nashville City Paper, Pro Wrestling Insider)
WWE announced Friday that Chris Jericho has been suspended indefinitely due to an incident at Thursday night’s WWE live event from São Paulo, Brazil.
During the main event match between Jericho and WWE Champion CM Punk, Jericho took a Brazilian flag from ringside and kick it. Because denigrating the Brazilian flag is illegal in the country, police came to the ring and ordered Jericho to apologize or be taken to jail.
The flag stunt was NOT planned or approved by WWE officials and was Jericho’an act Jericho improvised to get heat. Here’s WWE’s statement:
Chris Jericho suspended
Chris Jericho as been suspended indefinitely due to an irresponsible act of denigrating the Brazilian flag at a WWE live event in São Paulo on May 24. WWE has apologized to the citizens and the government of Brazil for this incident.
— From ring announcing gaffes to shoe related mishaps, Lilian Garcia’s second go-round with WWE has been riddled with embarrassing episodes. The follies continued Wednesday night at WWE’s SmackDown live event in Poughkeepsie, New York as the Decade Diva mishandled an important ring introduction and once again had difficulty maintaining her balance.
In a recurring theme, Garcia erroneously announced the No Holds Barred Match between Randy Orton and Kane as a No Disqualification Match. The SmackDown Diva also had trouble staying on her feet as she nearly tripped while making her entrance around the ring—she was able to prevent herself from falling completely.
After Garcia tripped while making her ring entrance last month at a SmackDown taping in London, England, WWE Encyclopedia author Kevin Sullivan said based on the sports entertainment organization’s past history, he would not be surprised if she was burdened with a gimmick inspired by her series of mishaps.
“I don’t know why, but I truly enjoy following Lilian Garcia’s follies on the web. I’m really a good person, but her goofs make me laugh,” he wrote on Twitter after seeing WWE’s video of her tumble. “Some guys are goofy before becoming serious (Angle, Y2J, Double J), while others start serious and turn goofy (Santino, R-Truth, Godfather). I wouldn’t be surprised if WWE gave Lilian Garcia a tripping gimmick.”
— Former WWE Women’s Champion Stacy “The Kat” Carter has been announced to appear at Legends of the Ring 14 taking place Saturday, June 2 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Monroe, New Jersey. She will be doing photo-ops with the bubble-wrap bikini she donned for the Miss Royal Rumble Swimsuit Contest at the 2000 Royal Rumble. (Details)
The Miami Herald has published Part 2 of its recent interview with WWE Hall of Famer, Shawn Michaels. In this installment, Michaels talks about the first half of his legendary WWE singles career during the 1990’s – including how he earned his reputation of being such a pain in the ass behind the scenes, how he was able to keep his job, Jim Ross’ role as the head of talent relations and much more. Here are some highlights of what Michaels said about:
Why He Was So Difficult To Work With Behind The Scenes:
“If I’m putting on my psychiatrist’s hat and you dig all the way down to the root of it has nothing to do with wrestling or anything else,” Michaels said. “It just has to do with a young man’s insecurities with himself.
“Having said that, that can manifest itself in any form and how that’s interpreted obviously depends on the time and depends on the spin. Let’s face it. The ability it takes to be difficult really is to disagree with somebody. Nine times out of 10 mine were usually more creative issues than anything else. The company felt one thing. I felt another. We both feel opposite things, so therefore it’s going to be difficult.”
He later said, “I was a young guy full of piss and vinegar — excuse my language — and I felt I had a very good idea of where the business needed to go and things that needed to be done
“I never went back and told anybody what I did was justified. I’m not saying that at all, but let’s face it. That is where the business went — to more attitude and things of that nature and to perhaps being a little more truthful and a little more reality based, which I was doing many years ago as well as other guys.
How He Was Able To Keep His Job:
“I fear people will misinterpret me trying to say, ‘Therefore, I should be absolved of all the stuff I did wrong,’ Michaels said. “I’m not saying that at all, but the reason I survived it, and the reason I’m still part of the WWE now is because the one guy who loves absolutely every stitch of it, which is Vince McMahon, the guy I argued with more than anybody, understood it.
“He understood that it wasn’t unprofessionalism or ego that was driving all that. It was a desire and a passion to be the guy and to be the absolute very best that I could be. His only challenge was channeling all that in the right direction, and he did that pretty darn well. He tells people all the time the reason he didn’t fire me is because he could see through all that. Ultimately, when it came down to his way or my way, he always knew when he said, ‘This is what I want done, period.’ He knew I’d do it, and I always did.”
It’s a great read – check out the full interview at MiamiHerald.com.
It’s official – the cryptic “The Revolution is Coming” videos that have been airing on the WWE website are for the next installment WWE’s video game franchise – WWE ’13.
Here is the latest update from The Ultimate Warrior discussing his recent biceps injury, the 1-year anniversary of Randy Savage and plenty of ‘inspiration’ for his Warriors:
WWE Hall of Famer Tammy “Sunny” Sytch angrily responded to online wrestling outlets publishing her Facebook status update where she stated admitting herself to the hospital this week complaining of stomach flu and discovering that she has severe gastroenteritis and an enflamed pancreas. Contrary to her previous post, she adamantly states that she does not have ‘health issues.’
Sytch wrote, “Yo wrestling websites!! are we not allowed to get sick?? Are we super human or something?? get a grip people…at least quote me exactly instead of leaving out the words you dont like….idiots.” She continued, “OK, now Im getting annoyed. Here’s the story: I had a stomach flu, was dehydrated from puking my guts out, so I took myself to the hospital to get fluids… the next morning I was fine… it’s not like I had to call 911 b/c I was dying! ENOUGH!!!! EVERYONE GETS SICK!”
The former WWE Superstar continued to proclaim to her Facebook friends that she is fine.
“IM FINE NOW….. that’s why these dirt sheets are so bogus… it’s not like I have “health issues”, I had a bug! I’ve been completely healthy for 2 days now!” Sytch wrote. “I AM better…been fine for 2 days… Im not dying guys..I was puking for 4 days. I appreciate your concern, but if you keep thinking im still sick, the dirt sheets are just gonna eat it up more.”
Sytch then explained to her cousin what a ‘dirt sheet’ is after believing she was talking about dirty bed sheets.
“Oh cousin… dirt sheets, not dirty sheets. they are wrestling websites that spread gossip,” Sytch wrote.
— Emmett/Furla Films’ feature film Empire State starring Dwayne Johnson and Liam Hemsworth will begin shooting next Tuesday for twenty days in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Details)
— In this week’s edition of WWE’s Outside the Ring, Derrick Bateman takes part in a party for the mind, soul, and body in a ZUMBA class. Bateman takes his newly found ZUMBA talents backstage at WWE where he teaches Kaitlyn and other WWE Superstars some new moves.
— Starship-Pained.com conducted a Q&A with John Morrison on Saturday at the Motor City Comic Con and the former WWE Superstar discussed working with Vince McMahon.
“It was great and interesting. He’s a wrestling genius. He has a phenomenal mind. He’s comical. However, what he wanted always conflicted with what I wanted, but he has a clear vision & he had confidence. It was really cool to be around him,” Morrison said.
Regarding being ECW Champion, he stated, “It was awesome. Think about all the history. RVD, Tommy Dreamer, Taz, the ECW Ballroom. It was the watered down WWE version of ECW but it was still an honor.”
Morrison also commented on future plans, CM Punk, Jeff Hardy, The Miz and more. The full interview is available here.
— Lex Luger has arrived to WWE.com as he is now featured in their Alumni section (link). The website says of The Total Package, “With his impressive physique and powerful abilities, Lex Luger became one of the most popular competitors of the 1990s. Check out Luger’s profile, photos and videos, the latest addition to the Alumni section!”
– Brooke Hogan appeared on Fox News Channel’s Fox & Friends Thursday morning to promote her arrival to the cast of TNA’s IMPACT WRESTLING starting Thursday, May 31 on Spike TV. Joined by ODB and Velvet Sky, she talked about following in her father’s footsteps before demonstrating wrestling holds.
– Jeff Hardy appeared on Highway 2 Helms with Shane Helms Wednesday evening. The podcast is available here.
– Robbie E and Velvet Sky appear at Direct Auto Insurance 300 E Veterans Memorial Blvd. Killeen, Texas on June 14 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Call 254-519-1213 for more information.
– Gunner vs. Eric Young is the featured match on this week’s episode of TNA Xplosion on Challenge.
THE ULTIMATE REDNECK-STYLE COMPETITION SERIES “REDNECK ISLAND,”
HOSTED BY WWE SUPERSTAR STEVE AUSTIN, SET TO PREMIERE JUNE 9 ON CMT
NASHVILLE – May 24, 2012 – Hosted by WWE superstar Steve Austin, REDNECK ISLAND will take 12 red, white and blue-collared Americans out of their element, and far away from cold beer, for the ultimate redneck-style competition series, which debuts Saturday, June 9 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT with a special 2-hour long premiere.
From a remote tropical paradise, Austin will guide the men and women through a number of hilarious mental and physical challenges designed to celebrate the group’s strengths and limitations in a quest for $100,000. At the end of each episode, teammates will send one competitor packing.
The REDNECK ISLAND contestants include:
Catherine Long (Harrisburg, N.C.) – Blonde, bubbly and funny “Southern belle.” Likes to have a good time and is fun to be around, but can become stubborn and hot-headed at times. Loves her family, hunting and drinking beer.
Cayton “Tex” Flippen (Sumner, Texas) – Small town guy with a competitive nature and plenty of ambition. He is highly motivated and always wants to succeed. He is married and has a young daughter.
Eric Bradford (Lexington, S.C.) – The party boy jock. As a professional wrestler and former cheerleader in college, he is extremely energetic and highly competitive, but can sometimes come off as abrasive and selfish.
Kevin “Bobo” Floyd (Midland City, Ala.) – A good-hearted truck driver who will do anything for you, as long as you don’t piss him off. Loves beer, hunting and guns, but is terrified of tornadoes.
Jeannie Hunter (Marble Falls, Texas) – Fun-loving and adventurous, pistol-packing “Southern belle.” Enjoys bull riding and went to college on a full rodeo scholarship. Likes to hunt and be outdoors.
Jennifer Kercher (Lakeland, Fla.) – A tough ex-Navy girl, Jen is a certified EMT and a guy’s girl who can change her own car tires and oil. She is outgoing, caring and always up for anything. Having grown up with a twin, Jen is also highly competitive.
John Paul “JP” Burwell (Panama City, Fla.) – A bartender who enjoys drinking and having a good time. He is outgoing and can talk to anyone. Loves playing golf almost more than he loves hunting, fishing and four-wheeling.
Adam Freeman (Nashville, Tenn.) – After two marriages that ended in divorce, he came out as a gay man. He is a hairstylist with a big and fabulous personality, but is just as much of a proud redneck as the next guy. Adam is competing for his five kids.
Kassie Worley (Navarre, Fla.) – Single mom who likes to get dolled up and pretty, but not afraid to get down and dirty. She may come off as sweet and innocent, but is not afraid to speak her mind and tell it like it is.
Adam Sullins (Bristol, Virg.) – Outgoing and likeable professional wrestler. He is very competitive and always expects to win. Loves hunting, fishing, mudding, NASCAR, beer and football. Competing to win money for his fiancé and baby daughter.
Teri Allen (Ft. McCoy, Fla.) – Proudly calls herself a loudmouth party animal. Became a grandmother at the age of 30 by marriage, and is very outgoing. Loves shooting guns, and even has a shooting range in her home.
Dove Bush (Castlewood, Virg.) – Educated, artistic and open-minded. She is a huge Dolly Parton fan and tribute artist. Adventurous and loves traveling, music, spirituality and outdoor activities.
It’s been widely reported that Ric Flair is on the outs with TNA, with most people in the company under the impression that he won’t be back. There are conflicting stories as to whether Flair quit or if TNA ended the relationship.
Flair could wind up back in WWE, since he is a close personal friend of Triple H, his daughter just got signed to WWE developmental and WWE could use Flair to help with the WWE Network launch later this year. Under no circumstances would Flair ever wrestle in a WWE ring again after his elaborate “retirement” sendoff at WrestleMania 24.
Flair currently has a lucrative sponsorship deal in place with Coca Cola as the spokesperson for a new energy shot drink, however his financial situation (and lifestyle) is such that he will probably still need to work for years to come.
Check out these videos of Ric Flair promoting the “Fuel In A Bottle” energy drink:
– Rey Mysterio’s WWE contract has been extended by approximately 10-11 months to make up for the time he has missed due to various injuries, including his knee injury last summer. Mysterio is still serving out the remainder of his 60-day suspension as a result of his second violation of the company Wellness Policy.
– WWE is advertising the following matches for the upcoming Supershow live event from Lowell, Massachusetts on 6/16: John Cena & Randy Orton vs. Big Show & Chris Jericho, CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Kane in a Street Fight and Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio.
– Mick Foley worked another SmackDown live this week from Poughkeepsie, New York and served as the special ringside enforcer for Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Alberto Del Rio World Heavyweight title match. Sheamus retained the title and Ricardo Rodriguez got a mouthful of Mr. Socko after the match.
As previously reported, there are a lot of mixed feelings in WWE about Monday Night RAW expanding to 3 hours on a permanent basis starting July 23rd. Many are comparing the move to WCW Nitro expanding to 3-hours years ago, a decision Eric Bischoff has publicly stated was the #1 factor behind WCW’s downfall.
The format of the show is still a work in progress, but the general idea is that WWE plans to treat every Monday night like a pay-per-view event with fan interaction.
Virtually all of the feedback from people in the company has been negative. WWE has had a difficult time booking two compelling hours of television every Monday night. If the additional hour is “more of the same” – there is a great risk of burnout for everyone involved – writers, wrestlers and viewers.
The USA Network has been pushing WWE to expand RAW to 3 hours for years, but WWE has always rejected the idea. USA currently pays WWE about $700,000 a week for RAW. Even an increase of $100,000 of weekly TV rights fees would mean $5.2 million in new revenue for WWE.
At this point, it’s difficult not to view the situation as a money grab by WWE, which will come at the expense of their eroding PPV business and the company’s overall longterm health.
– WWE issued a press release last month touting that WrestleMania 28 was the biggest WrestleMania of all time, with preliminary data showing the show did approximately 1.3 million buys.
With more data coming in, the buyrate is now looking to be closer to 1.21 million buys. The final number will be reported at WWE’s next quarterly investor meeting.
– Early pay-per-view buyrate numbers are in for WWE’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view featuring John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar. Lesnar’s first WWE match in over 8 years helped WWE more than double the buyrate from 2011.
This year’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view drew approximately 250,000 buys, based (147,000 domestic, 104,000 International) – way up from 108,000 buys in 2011.
Shane Douglas’ new Extreme Reunion promotion has been renamed and will now be known as Extreme Rising.
Extreme Rising’s New York City debut will take place on June 29th in Corona, Queens at the Elmcor Youth & Adult Activities Center. Tickets go on sale this Monday.
Matches announced for the NYC show include:
– Matt Hardy vs. Jerry Lynn
– Devon Storm vs. Homicide
– Luke Hawx vs. Stevie Richards
– Pesadilla vs. Bestia 666
– BLK OUT vs. The Dramatics
Plus, appearances by ECW originals The FBI, CW Anderson, The Blue Meanie, Balls Mahoney and Pitbull Gary Wolfe.
Extreme Rising will also run on the following day (6/30) from Philadelphia’s National Guard Armory with Jerry Lynn vs. Homicide among the confirmed matches for that show.
– Following his heel turn at Over The Limit, Big Show will be replacing Tensai and will team with John Laurinaitis against John Cena in handicap matches at several upcoming WWE live events.
– Jim Ross tweeted this week that he currently has no plans to appear at the 1,000th episode of WWE RAW on July 23rd.
– David Otunga has been telling his Twitter followers that he has his sights set on Santino’s United States championship. #OtungaForUSChampion was actually trending worldwide on Twitter on Wednesday.
– The Rock wrote on Twitter about GI Joe 2 being moved back to the week before WrestleMania 29, March 29th, 2013:
“Commitment to make GI JOE a massive world event just got bigger. New release 3/29/13. Rock + Ass kickins + 3D = #AwwwwShit”
As previously reported, GI Joe has been moved so the project can be converted to maximize box office revenue and due to the stiff competition around its original release date from the new Avengers, Spiderman and Batman movies.
– WWE officials have been impressed with the Rotunda brothers, Taylor and Windham, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Taylor Rotunda worked the recent NXT tapings from Full Sail University as Bo Dallas while he former Husky Harris worked the tapings using his new religious gimmick, Bray Wyatt.
– There’s no word yet on how Mark Henry’s recent surgery went, but he’s not expected to return to action until late June. Henry had been working through knee and groin problems over the past few months and tweeted on Wednesday night:
“What up twitter nation I’m healing well,no complaining from me I man up.”
– After recently being released by WWE, Goldust announced on Twitter that he’s getting married soon. He is taking independent bookings and might travel to Japan to wrestle, but made it clear that he’s not interested in doing radio appearances. He tweeted, “Im not bitter so go ask someone else.”
– The latest issue of WWE Magazine features a new “insider news” column by The Informer, who revealed that a certain (male) American Idol runner-up is in negotiations to perform at this year’s SummerSlam pay-per-view. The most logical guess would be James Durbin, who is a huge pro wrestling fan and actually worked with WWE over WrestleMania 28 weekend in Miami doing charity & promotional work.
– The latest WWE Magazine also hints that WrestleMania 30 will be held in “a city of Olympic proportions.”
– With John Cena vs. Big Show being promoted as the main event of WWE’s upcoming No Way Out pay-per-view, the streak continues of non-title matches headlining pay-per-views.
Believe it or not, the last time a WWE Championship or World Heavyweight Championship match headlined a pay-per-view was last December’s TLC pay-per-view, when CM Punk defended the WWE title in a triple threat match with The Miz and Alberto Del Rio.
– Cody Rhodes is the latest WWE superstar to get the attention of Paul Heyman on Twitter. After re-tweeting several messages from the former Intercontinental champion, Paul heyman wrote the following about the second generation superstar:
“#NowFollowing @CodyRhodesWWE Hey, don’t follow him. Be stuck in the past. ‘Cuz the future will be Living Out The Dream!”
– After even more flight delays, the WWE RAW crew finally arrived in Brazil around 3am Eastern time early Thursday morning. WWE will hold its first-ever show in Brazil tonight from Sao Paul before heading to Ecuador for a live event tomorrow night.
– Jim Ross mentioned on Twitter that he was interviewed this week for the upcoming CM Punk DVD project that’s in the works.
– In a ruling that will affect WWE, TNA, UFC and boxing, Oklahoma’s state Attorney General ruled this week that the state PPV tax is unconstitutional. Up until the ruling, a percentage of every pay-per-view buy was taxed by the state.
Last week’s WWE NXT tapings at Full Sail University were said to have ran very smoothly, much more so than most RAW and SmackDown television tapings. WWE COO Triple H is very hands on with WWE’s new talent development initiative and the new NXT, so the first set of tapings have made people optimistic.
With NXT being re-branded and moving to Full Sail University, it appears that WWE’s developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling may have held its last television tapings. FCW Champion Seth Rollins tweeted the following on Wednesday:
“With NXT moving in, tomorrow could very well be the last FCW TV Tapings ever. Rumor has it my greatest rivalry is getting renewed…
With FCW TV winding down, the territory will remain open and will continue to serve as a developmental system for the next generation of WWE talent. WWE has stated that one of the objectives of NXT moving to Florida near the home of the FCW is to streamline the process of calling up talent from developmental to NXT.
Pictures of the new NXT Arena at Full Sail University:
— WWE Hall of Famer Tammy “Sunny” Sytch admitted herself to the hospital this week due to a stomach flu and was informed that she has other ailments.
She wrote Tuesday evening on Facebook, “well… just got home from the hospital…again. wasnt just a stomach flu. severe gastroenteritis and an enflamed pancreas. i have no luck. feeling better now.. on meds.”
— Former WWE star Gene Snitsky stated on Twitter that he was backstage at Tuesday’s SmackDown taping in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He said he was visiting friends.
— CM Punk, John Cena, Sheamus, Kofi Kingston and Daniel Bryan are featured on the cover of the June 2012 issue of WWE Magazine. It is branded as “THE POWER ISSUE” as the top WWE Superstars and twenty toughest WWE Superstars of all-time are ranked.
Brooke Hogan will be appearing on multiple television and radio programs in the New York City area on Thursday to promote her arrival to the cast of the highly-rated weekly wrestling program, TNA’s IMPACT WRESTLING starting Thursday, May 31 on Spike TV. Catch the second generation entertainer on Thursday on the following shows:
Television
*Fox & Friends (Fox News Channel 8-9am ET)
*Inside Edition (CBS)
*Showbiz Tonight with A.J. Hammer (HLN @ 11pm ET)
Sirius XM radio:
*Shade 45 with SWAY
*Broadminded
*Getting Late
*Morning Jolt with Larry Flick
*Busted Open
Velvet Sky announced Wednesday on Twitter that she and fellow TNA Knockout ODB will be appearing on Fox & Friends Thursday morning promoting IMPACT WRESTLING going live on May 31.
DeadlineHollywood.com is reporting exclusively that the release date G.I. Joe: Retaliation starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been pushed back from a June 29th release date back to March 29, 2013.
The movie will be converted to 3D in post production to maximize the potential box office proceeds, with Russia and China big consumers of 3D movies. The original 6/29 release date would have put it up against the powerhouse Avengers movie and the upcoming Spiderman reboot.
The Deadline Hollywood article states:
“Hollywood is shocked that Paramount vacated the primo date, especially because Paramount blew a wad on a Super Bowl commercial and already was starting TV and outdoor ads for GI Joe 2.”
G.I. Joe: Retaliation will hit theaters the same week as WrestleMania 29, so you can imagine WWE will be on board marketing the hell out of the movie. The Rock has already announced he’ll be at WrestleMania 29.
– Alex Shelley, whose contract with TNA Wrestling is set to expire, has been contacted by WWE officials. A deal, however, has not been reached. Prior to being contacted, he was looking to work in Japan and possibly Dragon Gate USA.
– WWE will hold a Raw live event at United Spirit Arena at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas on Saturday, July 7, 2012. The event starts at 7:30 p.m.
– WWE Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston and R-Truth appear at Aaron’s 3051 Springhill Ave. Mobile, Alabama on Saturday, June 2 beginning at 4:00 p.m. Call 251-473-2225 for more information.
– WWE Hall of Famer Drew Carey turns 54 years old Wednesday.
