— The Yukes video game company has sold 100% ownership of Japan’s New Japan Pro Wrestling promotion to Bushinroad Group Publishing, card game company). The sale reportedly took place on December 31st and will go into effect this week. It is believed NJPW was sold for approximately $6.5 million (US).
— THQ is set to release Brodus Clay for WWE ’12 via DLC today. The download will be free via THQ.com.
— While doing the media rounds in Mexico last week to promote his new Journey 2 movie, The Rock posed with Mexican wrestler Blue Demon Jr. for a photo, which was picked up by numerous local media outlets.
— The short-sleeve referee shirt worn by John Laurinaitis at the Royal Rumble was a rib by Vince McMahon, who recently poked fun at Laurinaitis for his “flabby, skinny arms.”
It was announced at Tuesday night’s WWE SmackDown tapings in Omaha that Daniel Bryan would defend the World Heavyweight Title against Mark Henry, Randy Orton, Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes and Big Show in the SmackDown Elimination Chamber match.
WWE then did an angle between Teddy Long and Mark Henry where Henry ended up being suspended indefinitely, which will explain his absence from television due to his latest injury. Later in the tapings, The Great Khali was announced as Henry’s replacement.
Here’s the updated card for WWE Elimination Chamber:
SmackDown Elimination Chamber for the World Heavyweight Title:
Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Wade Barrett vs. Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes vs. Big Show vs. Randy Orton vs. The Great Khali
RAW Elimination Chamber for the WWE Title:
CM Punk (c) vs. Chris Jericho vs. The Miz vs. R-Truth vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston
– Wrestling Observer editor Dave Meltzer reports that Mason Ryan’s sizable push was halted weeks ago due to his inability to connect with the audience. Nonetheless, WWE creative plans on renewing his push in the near future as they feel he has great potential. The Welsh wrestler was ultimately kept off Sunday’s 30-Man Royal Rumble Match because they felt it would have done “nothing positive” for him.
Meltzer adds that Vince McMahon at least initially had an “infatuation” with Ryan, hence his fast track to the main roster last year and subsequent protection on television.
— Lance Storm stated Tuesday on Twitter that he will be attending the WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in Miami, Florida to see longtime friend Edge’s enshrinement. He added that he does not know yet if he’ll stay for WrestleMania.
— A photo of The Rock face-to-face with John Cena is featured on the cover of the latest issue of The Wrestler.
– Numerous people within WWE have been saying for months now that Vince McMahon hasn’t been acting like himself. Vince’s behavior was said to be “off” as well at Monday’s RAW – leading many people to speculate that the launch of the WWE Network (and other issues) are taking their toll on him.
– Rapper Tech N9ne was backstage at Monday’s RAW Supershow from Kansas City.
– Monday’s RAW Supershow featured 31 minutes and 57 seconds of in-ring action, down from the previous week. (Credit: Stan)
– Chris Jericho’s second book “Undisputed” will be on sale in paperback form this week.
– Former WWE superstars Sean Waltman and Marty Janetty posted a shoot video online talking about their WWE careers and other memorable moments:
– WWELiveTour.com is reporting that Triple H is advertised for every RAW SuperShow through WrestleMania.
The only upcoming RAW that the Undertaker is currently advertised for is the February 20 RAW Supershow from the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The official website of the Target Center advertises:
“The Phenom” The UNDERTAKER will be live in Minneapolis to confront “The Game” TRIPLE H for the first time in over a year since their last meeting at WrestleMania 27!”
– CM Punk and Daniel Bryan’s “Champion vs. Champion” match from Monday’s RAW Supershow got rave reviews from fans and wrestlers alike. Several superstars and announcers took to Twitter to praise the work of WWE’s two top champions:
Jim Ross: “Punk vs Bryan is a broadcaster’s dream. They’re making great music. Amazing match.” “What I would have given to call that one. Had to stand ti watch it”
Bret Hart: “Kudos to both @CMPunk and @WWEDanielBryan. Good match”
Joey Styles: “OK. I’ll admit it. I would come out of retirement to call @CMPunk vs. @WWEDanielBryan. #BestInTheWorld”
William Regal: “Hello from lovely Omaha Nebraska. Very proud of @CMPunk and @WWEDanielBryan. Good lads.I hope my twins marry such lovely fellas.”
Lance Storm: “@CMPunk and @WWEDanielBryan Thank you for giving me some great wrestling on my Sports Entertainment show.
– Entertainment publication Variety.com is reporting that WWE has hired former Warner Bros. executive Eric Pankowski to the position of Senior VP of Creative and Development. Pankowski a major name in the industry and is a big “get” for WWE. He will oversee TV creative development, will focus on WWE’s existing television shows and will also be working on developing new reality and kids programming.
Pankowski will also manage WWE’s creative team under the supervision of Stephanie McMahon and will also oversee the sale and distribution of WWE’s product to networks, studios, and distributors.
– WWE is asking fans to alert them to impostor accounts on Twitter. Fans are beinbg asked to alert them regarding fake accounts by tweeting them (@WWE) with the hashtag #WWEImpostor.
In recent weeks, several top WWE superstars such as The Undertaker, Triple H, Sheamus and Cody Rhodes have all been heavily featured on WWE programming but none have a Twitter account. This has prompted some fans to create fake accounts and receive thousands of followers while impersonating top WWE stars .
Twitter allows for “parody” accounts, but you cannot pretend to actually be somebody else.
– Chris Jericho’s feud with WWE Champion is officially underway. Prior to Monday’s RAW, Chris Jericho tweeted:
“I’ve got something to say…. #raw.”
On RAW, Jericho attacked WWE Champion CM Punk, kicking off their feud that is expected to culminate in a match at WrestleMania. After RAW, Jericho tweeted:
“Told u I had something to say…. #raw.”
– During Monday’s RAW Supershow, a commercial aired in the Boston market hyping an appearing from The rock on the March 5th episode of RAW. Here’s the updated schedule of when The Rock is advertised to appear on RAW:
February 27th (Portland, OR)
March 5th (Boston, MA)
March 12th (Cleveland, OH)
March 26th: (Atlanta, GA)
The Rock is expected to do a ton of media appearances to help promote his match against John Cena at WrestleMania 28 once he finishes the promotional rounds for his new movie, Journey 2.
– Forbes.com is reporting that WWE video game publisher THQ is at risk of having their stock delisted from the NASDAQ stock exchange.
The company, which has seen profits plummet in recent years and has laid off a large portion of its staff in hopes of stabilizing business, has been trading at less than $1 over the past 30 days.
The stock is currently valued at 70 cents and THQ now has 6 months to get back above $1 per share for 10 consecutive days, or else they’re delisted.
– Dolph Ziggler will be hosting one of the 9 new shows on WWE’s revamped YouTube channel. Ziggler will host “WWE Download” where he’ll select random YouTube clips and essentially make fun of them. The official description for the show says:
“WWE Superstar Dolph Ziggler dissects YouTube videos like an alien autopsy. Picking apart the digital disasters from an array of tools and fools who provide countless head-spinning moments for the world to share.”
Here’s a video preview of Dolph Ziggler hosting WWE Download:
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety over at JRsBarBQ.com. As always, you can purchase JR’s line of BBQ products at WWEShop.com. Here are some highlights of what JR wrote about:
Kharma’s WWE Return: “Great to see Kharma return. That one was a big surprise for me. I love her work and am pleased to see her back. She’s an impact player and not a ‘Diva’ in the stereotypical sense. Instead Kharma is a wrestling attraction meaning that she has more longevity and will sell more tickets that being more about sizzle than steak. When we first met many, many years ago, WWE was looking for Playboy covergirls and not wrestling attractions which is why I told her, honestly BTW, that she wasn’t a ‘Diva’ but she was/is a wrestler and I love that about her.”
Road Dogg: “Road Dogg still has ‘it.’ Great charisma and natural, Armstrong timing. Very pleased to see him in the Rumble. One of the best personal gifts one can receive is seeing someone that they truly enjoy being around get their personal life under control and turn the corner. Brian has done just that and my hats off to him. I’m very proud of Brian James.”
Mike Tyson In The WWE HOF: “WWE.com has officially announced that Mike Tyson will go into the ‘CELEBRITY WING’ of the WWE HOF which will still get some fanatics ranting about Macho Man and others who haven’t been inducted….yet. It’s like comparing BBQ Sauce to Chipotle Ketchup. Tyson was a key role player in the Attitude Era specifically his interaction with @steveaustinBSR and DX. Iron Mike is also a true, wrestling fan and grew up following WWWF and guys like Jay Strongbow among others. ”
— Last Friday’s 1/27 edition of WWE Smackdown on SyFy drew a 2.14 rating with 3,141,000 viewers, a solid number for the show.
— TMZ.com is reporting that WWE diva Kharma, who made a surprise return at Sunday’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view, gave birth to a baby boy named Jamie on December 31, 2011. Congratulations to Kharma and her family.
— Local advertising in the Milwaukee area promoting the upcoming Elimination Chamber pay-per-view are billing the John Cena vs. Kane match as their final encounter – “It comes to an end in Milwaukee.”
Cena will be moving on to his feud with The Rock after Elimination Chamber.
— Monday’s RAW drew a 3.55 rating with 5.22 million viewers, up from last week’s 3.18. It was the first time RAW topped 5 million viewrs since October 10th and the highest overall rating since the night after WrestleMania 27 last April.
RAW did hours of 3.6 and 3.5, losing viewers in the second hour for the 5th straight week. By comparison, last year’s post-Rumble RAW did a 3.48 rating.
— During Monday’s AfterBuzz.com post-RAW Internet show, SmackDown ring announcer Lilian Garcia’s husband Chris Jozeph stated that WWE superstar Evan Bourne is currently in rehab.
WWE announced on 1/17 that Bourne had been suspended for 60 days due to his second violation of the company’s Wellness Policy. Bourne reacted to the news by tweeting:
“Sorry y’all. Sometimes we become our own worst enemy.”
Based on what we’ve heard, the reason for Bourne’s suspension was completely unrelated to his first violation (reportedly for synthetic marijuana), so hopefully he is getting the treatment he needs.
In a message posted to his fans via Twitter, Mike Tyson says he is honored to be a part of the WWE Hall of Fame. Tyson (@MikeTyson) tweeted:
“I’m looking forward to my induction into the @WWE Hall of Fame. Shout out to my friend Triple H… Thanks for all the love tonight. Again, I’m honored to be part of the @WWE Hall of Fame.”
Tyson joins the Four Horsemen, Edge and Mil Mascaras as confirmed names for this year’s class.
As for who will induct Mike Tyson in the WWE Hall of Fame, there’s talk that “Stone Cold” Steve Austin wil be the inductee.
— After Monday’s RAW went off the air, John Cena defaeated Kane via DQ in a bonus match for the live crowd in Kansas City.
Cena and Kane did the same house show match sequence of Kane attacking Cena with a steel chair for a DQ, hitting the chokeslam, and then returning to the ring to take an Attitude Adjustment from Cena to end the show.
— With the Royal Rumble (and the first RAW after the Rumble) in the books, here’s an updated look at the WrestleMania 28 card, including rumored matches that WWE storylines appear to be building up to:
* The Rock vs. John Cena
* Triple H vs. The Undertaker
* Sheamus vs. WWE Champion or World Champion
* CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho (Rumored)
* Beth Phoenix vs. Karma – (Rumored)
* MITB Ladder Match (Rumored)
During the Royal Rumble, WWE announced that the company’s Youtube channel is getting a reboot on February 1st – including 9 new original shows.
It was reported last week that Z! True Long Island Story would be moving to the WWE’s YouTube channel. 8 more shows were revealed at the Royal Rumble. Here’s the list:
– Z! True Long Island Story
– Superstar Toyz
– Outside the Ring
– Are You Serious?
– In Box
– Download
– Santino’s Foreign Exchange
– Backstage Fallout
– WWE Presents…
Solomonster offers some final words on the Royal Rumble before discussing the latest on Sting’s injury, thoughts on the debut episode of Ring Ka King and why both TNA and WWE need to change things up with their own shows, UFC on FOX and Chael Sonnen’s unimpressive win, Raw thoughts and a salute this week to John Cena, Mankind returns on NBC and then its return of the FACEBOOK MAILBAG! All you need to know is that Solomonster sings on this show. Not very well, but he does. So download now!
Credit to TheTurnbucklePost.com for the following spoilers from Saturday night’s TNA Impact Wrestling tapings results, airing the next 2 weeks;
Airing February 2
Robert Roode kicks off Impact Wrestling with a promo. He says Jeff Hardy will not be seen again after last week. Sting hits the ring and announces Robert Roode vs. Bully Ray vs. James Storm vs. Jeff Hardy at Against All Odds next month.
1. Samoa Joe and Magnus beat Matt Morgan and Crimson in a Buckingham Brawl. There was a coin toss at the start of the match to determine which team had to tag and which team could use Tornado rules. Joe and Magnus won the toss. Magnus won the match by pinning Matt Morgan.
2. Austin Aries beat Mark Haskins. Aries won via submission.
3. Robert Roode beat James Storm. Roode nailed Storm with a Spear and won the match. Bully Ray interfered without the referee seeing. Post-match, Bully Ray nailed Storm with the title belt. Sting runs down and makes the save to chase off Bully and Roode.
Eric Bischoff hits the ring and calls out Garrett. Garrett will reveal his trainer later. The crowd are all over this segment with ‘BORING’ and ‘F**K OFF BISCHOFF’ chants.
4. (Non-title) Tara beat Gail Kim. Tara beat Kim with a Widow’s Peak after Madison Rayne botched her interference.
5. James Storm beat Bully Ray. Robert Roode and Sting were both ringside. Sting was ringside with a cricket bat! Storm won with a Last Call Superkick on Bully.
Garrett Bischoff comes out to reveal his trainer. Eric interrupts him and brings Gunner with him. Garrett then reveals Hulk Hogan as his trainer! Hogan nailed Gunner and was going to beat up Eric, but Gunner pulled Eric away and they fled. Crowd went nuts for Hogan.
6. Christopher Daniels beat AJ Styles. Kazarian was ringside with Daniels and passed him some brass knuckles. Daniels nailed him with the knucks to get the win.
Airing February 9
Bully Ray hits the ring and calls out Robert Roode. Bully and Roode argue about having each others backs. Sting hits the ring with his cricket bat and announces himself to be the special guest enforcer for the PPV match! Sting also reveals a main event tag match: Bully and Roode vs. James Storm and Sting!
1. (Non-title) Alex Shelley beats Alex Shelley and Doug Williams. Shelley pinned Aries to get the win after hitting with Sliced Bread. Williams did land his rolling German suplex (Chaos Theory) in the match which pleased the crowd.
Samoa Joe and Magnus cut a promo about how they will win the Tag Team Championship at Against All Odds. Magnus and Joe are both over with the crowd and Magnus claims at one point ‘This Is England!’ Crimson and Matt Morgan hit the ring and give the number 1 contenders a quick beat down. Joe and Magnus manage to escape without too much damage.
2. Velvet Sky beat Mickie James. Sky beat James with a roll-up.
Garrett Bischoff hit the ring with his trainer Hulk Hogan. Hogan asked the fans to show Garrett some support, but he was interrupted by Eric Bischoff and Gunner. Eric asks Hogan what right he has to get involved and Hogan tells Eric it’s about doing the right thing. Hogan has spoken with Sting and at Against All Odds, Garrett will face Gunner. A brawl ensues and Eric hits Hogan with a low blow! As Gunner is beating down on Garrett, Hogan recovers and clears house. Garrett finishes the segment by nailing his Dad.
3. Main Event: Sting and James Storm beat Robert Roode and Bully Ray.
The London crowd loved Sting and there were a lot of ‘You’re a Legend’ chants.
Live notes 1. Professional cyclist Mark Cavendish was in attendance at the event. 2. There were fans chanting ‘We Want EY’. Eric Young was not in attendance. 3. The London crowd loved Samoa Joe. 4. Garrett Bischoff was heavily booed, so it’ll be interesting to see how it appears on TV. 5. Mark Haskins looks like he may have suffered a concussion in his match. He missed a Shooting Star Press.
This week’s installment of the Z! True Long Island story is now online. Episode 50 features cameos from Dolph Ziggler, who vows to become WWE champion at the Royal Rumble, Ryder’s former tag partner, Curt Hawkins and more.
– WWE superstar David Otunga dusted off the old Harvard Law degree on Thursday and returned to the court room as a defense attorney. According to TMZ.com, Otunga represented a man who believes he was wrongfully terminated and denied unemployment benefits. This was the man’s appeal to the NY State Department of Labor. The judge heard from witnesses and then arguments from both sides, and Otunga told TMZ that he, “smoked the witness during cross examination.” Otunga’s client won the appeal and will now get unemployment benefits.
Otunga was quoted saying that he keeps his legal skills sharp and:
“If the outcome of the case is any indication of how I’ll do in the Royal Rumble this weekend, then it looks like I’ll be the winner.”
– Stephanie McMahon recently told Entertainment Weekly that WWE has 16 writers, plus Vince McMahon – who has final say on everything.
“Vince is very open to listening and discussing different ideas, but once he makes his final decision, he’s the boss.”
She added that she has a one-on-one meeting with Vince each week.
She also stated that WWE is looking at ways to develop new programming for their original content partnership with YouTube.
M-1 Global Director of Operations Evgeni Kogan recently stated that Monaco, which is a city-state surrounded by both France and Italy, is targeted to host Russian heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko’s next fight.
They have discussed former WWE Superstar Bobby Lashley as a possible opponent, but the promotion is leaning towards a “European fighter” to meet Emelianenko.
“But this is all in the works right now, and nothing is confirmed,” Kogan stated.
This Sunday night, WWE presents the Royal Rumble live on pay-per-view. The show will feature two big title matches and John Cena squaring off with the demonic Kane, but the real focus is of course, the beloved 30-man battle royal.
According to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there is said to be a “major twist” planned for the 30-man Royal Rumble match this year. The twist is said to have something to do with this year’s unique stipulation, where “every superstar is eligible” for the match.
A example of the type of “twist” could take place – the 1994 Royal Rumble finish is a good example, where Bret Hart and Lex Luger were both eliminated at the same time and declared co-winners.
A bit of fantasy booking here – a possible scenario could be that towards the end of the Rumble, when it’s down to the final entrant, the ring is completely emptied – making whoever comes out as #30 the automatic winner. Since all WWE superstars are eligible, it would be a very suspenseful minute or two from the time when the ring is empty until the “automatic winner” #30 is revealed.
Comment below and share your own fantasy booking scenarios for who could win the 2012 Royal Rumble.
– WWE is currently planning to launch the WWE Network around November of this year. The company recently created a new batch of commercials to promote the launch, which are scheduled to begin airing in the weeks leading up to WrestleMania 28.
With the huge media attention that will surround WWE’s biggest pay-per-view of the year, it’s possible WWE will announce a hard launch date at WrestleMania.
– The USA Network has updated its TV schedule through March 2012 and as of now, there is no three-hour RAW leading to WrestleMania 28. It was previously reported that the final RAW before WrestleMania 28 (the March 26th Supershow from Atlanta, featuring The Rock) would be a 3-hour show. Instead, WWE will be taping both RAW and SmackDown matches that night, since the WWE crew will be headed to Miami the day after RAW to WrestleMania 28 festivities.
It’s worth noting is that the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony is not scheduled to air the night before WrestleMania, when the actual ceremony takes place.
UFC fighter Chael Sonnen, who has a big fight this Saturday night against Michael Bisping at UFC On FOX 2, claims that Vince McMahon ‘had his reasons’ for not allowing CM Punk to accompany him to the octagon for his fight.
The event takes place the night before the Royal Rumble from Punk’s home town of Chicago. Punk was originally going to be in Sonnen’s corner for the fight, but WWE CEO Vince McMahon vetoed Punk from appearing and told him that appearing at the UFC show was prohibited.
Sonnen told MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani that he will meet up with Punk after the fight for dinner.
Sonnen said he is disappointed about the situation, but said he understands Vince’s decision.
Sonnen also shot down rumors that he will use CM Punk’s theme song “Cult of Personality” when he walks to the octagon.
– The Game is expected to return to RAW on a regular basis until WrestleMania to add some extra star power to the shows.
It was announced on RAW that Triple H is scheduled to for next week’s show, where he’ll decide if John Laurinaitis is fit to be the Interim RAW General Manager. He is also being advertised for the March 12th RAW Supershow from Cleveland, the same show that The Rock is scheduled for.
The latest talk behind the scenes is that Triple H vs. The Undertaker is still planned for WrestleMania, their third encounter at the big event.
– ECW original Tommy Dreamer says he saved CM Punk’s job with WWE twice. Dreamer tells RadarOnline.com:
“He [CM Punk] had little-to-no chance of ever making it in the WWE — he wasn’t their type of guy. I saved his job two times when he was about to be let go — I was saying, ‘Ya gotta keep this kid, ya gotta keep this kid.”
– In the unlikely event that the WWE Network launch is significantly delayed beyond the fall, it’s possible that WWE could shop the “Legends House” reality show around to other networks.
– Kevin Nash wrote the following on Twitter last night and says he won’t be at the Royal Rumble:
“Under no circumstances will I be at the Royal Rumble, unless of course, I’m going over. Oh, and I need to be #30.”
– During an interview this week with MTV to promote his new movie “Journey 2,” The Rock said he is currently in talks to co-star in another project, “Pain and Gain.” Mark Wahlberg and director Michael Bay (“Transformers”) are also attached to the project. Here’s video of The Rock discussing Pain and Gain with MTV:
