Former WWE talent Mark Canterbury (a/k/a Henry O. Godwinn), 47, was hospitalized following a car wreck Tuesday in Lindside, West Virginia.
Canterbury reportedly drove his automobile over a cliff. He suffered two punctured lungs, thirteen broken ribs and a broken leg.
He was flown to an intensive care unit and remains in critical condition.
Michael Morgan Jr., the cousin of TNA star Matt Morgan, was shot and killed on Monday morning in New Jersey.
Michael Morgan, a 32-year old police detective, was killed outside a nightclub as he was walking a dancer to her car. Morgan and the dancer were held up at gunpoint. The attack, which happened just after 3 a.m., ended with Morgan suffering a fatal gunshot wound to the torso.
Matt Morgan acknowledged the death on his Twitter page on Tuesday.
“Mike Morgan was a highly decorated cop, who was in (the) anti-gang division and Monday was to start SVU. Still can’t believe he got killed. Too young with HUGE career in front of him still.”
“News said he’d gotten out of over 600 ‘guns drawn situations over his career in anti-gang without having to draw his own. That’s insanely impressive.”
According to New Jersey’s NJ.com, police are offering a $25,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of the shooter.
As if this news isn’t bad enough, Matt Morgan also tweeted that his father is hospitalized because his brain cancer is “spreading rapidly.”
We wish our sincere condolences to the Morgan family during this very difficult time.
– Rey Mysterio wrote the following update on Twitter this weekend:
“About to start therapy! Working really hard, main goal is to be back in the ring by WM28 Miami!”
– There were said to be several production related problems at Monday’s RAW tapings in Liverpool. Among the problems were issues with pyrotechnics and time constraints.
The Maxim magazine segment with Kelly Kelly as well as the finish of the main event between John Cena and Zack Ryder vs. The Miz and R-Truth were re-filmed, as well as ringside segments with Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler.
– Former WWE Diva Maryse’s first post-WWE appearance will be at the 2012 WrestleReunion event in Los Angeles, CA. The convention is being held the weekend of 1/27-1/29 at the LAX Westin Hotel. For more details, visit WrestleReunion.com.
– Former WWE Diva Lilian Garcia recently wrapped a studio session on her new album and will be filming her second music video this Thursday and Friday.
– WWE will return to Newcastle, England on April 20th, 2012. Tickets go on sale Friday, November 19th.
WWE remembers former Heavyweight Boxing Champion Joe Frazier, who passed away earlier this week:
In this video interview with TruthIsScary.com, TNA Wrestling star Rob Van Dam explains everything there is to know about marijuana – why it should be legalized, its uses besides smoking, why the government is against it, and more.
“Newly-signed” WWE superstar Kevin Nash returned to the ring on Tuesday at the RAW brand’s live event from Newcastle, England.
Nash teamed with The Miz and R-Truth to lose to the team of John Cena, Zack Ryder and Kofi Kingston. Mick Foley served as the special guest referee for the match.
According to several live reports sent in by fans who were at the show – Nash didn’t do too much in the ring, but looked good. Only one fan mentioned that it looked like Nash “phoned it in.” Most of the match was wretled by The Miz and Zack Ryder.
Aside from refereeing that tag match, Mick Foley also appeared after CM Punk defeated Alberto Del Rio and gave Dolph Ziggler (who was interfering on Del Rio’s behalf) an up close and personal look at Mr. Socko.
A Virginia judge has ordered Kurt Angle must pay a $1,500 fine stemming from his reckless driving charge back when he got when arrested in September on suspicion of drunk driving. He will not serve any jail time and his license will not be suspended.
Angle was not in court on Tuesday when his lawyer plead No Contest on his behalf He was originally charged with DUI but was only tried for the reckless driving charge.
Angle’s lawyer says when he was pulled over for swerving on the road after a TNA live event in September, he was just texting on his cell phone. The story is that Angle was texting the promoter of the show, presumably a TNA employee, about his payment that night.
The state district attorney did not believe that Angle was simply texting while driving but the judge sided with Angle’s defense.
Arda Ocal (@arda_ocal) and Jimmy Korderas (@jimmykorderas) of #AftermathRadio on thescore.com spoke with former WWE Superstar Tonga Fifita, best known as Haku (WWE) and Meng (WCW): Highlights:
Being “King” of the WWE in 1988, taking the title as “King” of the WWE from Harley Race at the 1989 Royal Rumble:
“When they gave me the opportunity to take the title as “King” from Harley Race, wow. I know his work, I know his wrestling, but I know my respect for this man. I sit back and took a few deep breaths. That was something in my heart, it was an honor to be the next “King”.
His reputation of being the toughest man in the locker room:
“(Wrestlers) just wanna throw my name out for the heck of it. I think we were all tough. You had to make the people believe that in wrestling for us to make some money. For us to have all those angles on TV, and to bring them back for all this good stuff. Everybody was tough those days to make money and protect the business.”
Thoughts on his tag team match at Wrestlemania VI in Toronto, Ontario where he teamed with Andre The Giant against Demolition, why he spent most the time in the match:
“That’s how smart Andre was. All he wanted me to do was to go out there and look strong, because obviously I was still young then, and my career was still going, not that he was finishing up but he was past his prime. He told me ‘Boss, go out there, do your thing, and whenever I wanna come in, ill call you (laughs).”
An incident with Jimmy Jack Funk in 1987:
“I didn’t take his eyeballs off. I was ready to, my hands were in there, ready to take his eye off, but then I realized how stupid we were. Here we are brothers on the road together. I told Jim after all these things, and he got fired for it, and all these things here, And I feel bad for him Jim. It was something that happened at that moment.”
Other topics discussed include:
To listen to the full podcast interview, click here.
Mick Foley appeared for WWE once again on the current European tour – with an appearance at the live event from Newcastle.
Check out this video footage of Foley and John Cena – with Cena ripping into his Survivor Series partner and WrestleMania 28 opponent – The Rock. Below that – a promo from Mick Foley.
The ratings are in from Monday’s RAW Supershow from Liverpool, England – and its a whole lot of bad news for WWE.
Monday’s RAW drew a 2.88 cable rating with just 4,015,000 viewers.
RAW continued the disturbing trend of losing viewers in the second hour. Hour 1 this week did a 2.94 rating (4.17 million viewers) while hour two did a 2.81 (3.86 million viewers). This is the 8th time in the past 11 weeks that RAW lost viewers in hour two – something that almost never happened prior to this year.
By comparison, the NFL’s Monday Night Football game on ESPN did a 12.32 rating – up nearly 40% in total viewers from the wek before – so RAW did have stiff competition.
Shane Douglas appeared on Busted Open, which airs every Monday and Wednesday on Sirius 92 and XM 207 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Highlights from the interview are as follows:
Douglas on TNA Hardcore Justice: “They invited me, and offered such a ridiculously low sum of money, that I said “shove it up your backside.” When I had wrestled Chris Daniels at the PPV up in Auburn Hills, between the 2 televisions and the PPV itself, I made close to $12,000 dollars for those three appearances. They offered me for the, a meet and greet. They wanted me to open the PPV with a ‘Cut the F’n Music’ promo in the vein of ECW, and then they wanted me to work a match. So, basically two days of work, and they offered me an embarrassing amount of money.
My comeback to Terry Taylor at the time was, “Look, if you pay Hulk Hogan $35 grand a night, and you pay Ric Flair $17,500 a night, and you have no problem paying that, clearly they must not have a problem with it because they had a chance two or three weeks ago to let their contracts expire, and they re-signed both, all three of them, Bischoff included, and I said in the world of ECW, in that world, I’m bigger than Hogan, and I’m bigger than Flair. So, we’ll talk in those ball parks,” and the number they offered me; I wouldn’t work for somebody in the independent scene for.”
Douglas on Dixie Carter: “For somebody who’s grown up in a billionaire’s household obviously with a silver and golden spoon up her backside, and in her mouth. To offer these guys the poultry amount of money, and she offered most of these guys an absurdly low sum of money. Shame on her! A, for the fact that it was the highest grossing PPV they had last year; She offered them nothing additional, and offered them such a low sum of money, it seemed funny to me for the woman who told me, ‘Why would I want to copy ECW after all they’ve failed,’ and suddenly she’s begging the ECW alumni to come back and try to dig them out of their hole.
“I was gonna’ have no part of it. I wanted no part of..I’m very selective in where I allow the ECW legacy to be used, taken advantage of, and I’m not going to let somebody like Dixie Carter who has no respect for our business, and no, more to the point, no respect for the guys that built that company, and that’s evident in the pay that she gave. I have no interest in giving her any props or ups, or any under-handed pitches to allow her to prostitute the ECW legacy for her gain, as the guys don’t make a thing.
“My intent, clearly I wanted to send Dixie the message that I have no interest in allowing her to capitalize on what we had built, and she has no respect for. And I spoke to most of the guys afterwards, either immediately or afterwards at shows down the road. My intent was not to in anyway, undermine their ability for that show to succeed. And I have no interest in trying to make TNA destabilize. To the contrary, I see incredible possibility for TNA.
“Last year when they did, if it’s a misnomer, The Monday Night Wars; My 5-year-old was watching it, and so to keep myself entertained, I just sorta scribbled some notes to myself, and after 5 or 6 weeks, I had 27 pages of hand-written notes. I then wrote up in format form, Television format form that Dixie or anybody in TNA would be familiar with; I had 41 pages of single-spaced segments, and it was 41 pages, and I was gonna’ fax it to her free of, I wasn’t gonna’ ask for a dime. I didn’t want a job; I just wanted her to see what vision somebody else could have for her talent, her company, and the future of that company. I couldn’t even get the woman to call me back.
“(And that’s amazing to me for a person in wrestling that has spent the 10’s and dozens of millions of dollars of her gas money, and her dad’s company’s money; For the poultry return that they’ve gotten on that, they she wouldn’t want to at least take a look..She could read it, and call me up afterwards, and laugh in my face, and say, “I think that’s the biggest pile of garbage I ever read,” but to not even return the call seems to me that their there to show you that Dixie Carter clearly is not the person to be running TNA.”
Douglas on Ric Flair: “Ric was the reason I got into the business. I idolized him, and when I met him, he fell so far short of my expectations. Not as a wrestler, but as a man. Embarrassing the things that I’ve watched him do, pulling out his privates in front of children, in a bar full of children. Running up and down hallways naked. Things that to me, and just as a man, I don’t equivocate with being a man or a champion of a company, and the politics between us, and that I’ve watched him to do hold down all the young talent that came up. Look, no one was going to take Ric Flair’s spot. He’s The Nature Boy, Ric Flair!
“He’s an icon, but he was so worried looking over his shoulder at young guys coming up the ladder, you know, that I think if I tried from his career in later years, and I for one called him on it. For better or for worse, and then..and there’s been a lot of worse to it. I speak my mind, but nobody can come back and say, ‘You’re a liar, or you twisted the truth,” or whatever. These are the things that I witnessed and I watched, and to me, it’s all part and partial. ..You know wrestling didn’t come to this bad bottom point by accident or by one or two accidents. It’s been a quilt of bad decisions, and bad moves, and tough breaks, and whatever else.
“And when I met Ric Flair as a young guy coming up that ladder with stars in my eyes. I mean, I was a young, green..greener than goose crap kid coming up, and when I met him, I was so enthralled. Nature Boy Ric Flair, the greatest wrestler in the history of our business, and then sat back night after night, week after week, month after month , watching him act like a total jerk, and treat people like a total jerk. It didn’t work for me. It was like meeting your hero, and suddenly finding out he’s an idiot or a jerk, and then..for all those things. And I called him on it. I called him on it, and I guess he didn’t like it. Oh well! You know you got 2 choices, shut up or put your fists up, and he chose not to do the latter.”
TNA star AJ Styles says the injury he suffered at Friday’s TNA live event from Michigan has been diagnosed as a high ankle sprain.
Styles tweeted on Tuesday afternoon (@AJStylesOrg):
“Grade 2 on a high ankle sprain and normally takes about 2-4 weeks to recover. I got 1 week .. let’s do this!”
AJ Styles is scheduled to face TNA Champion Bobby Roode in the main event of Sunday’s Turning Point pay-per-view. It will be the second consecutive TNA PPV where Bobby Roode is wrestling an injured opponent in the main event.
Styles posted the following picture of the sprained ankle:
Former WWE star Chris Jericho was interviewed by TheSuplex.com this week and addressed rumors that he’ll be returning to WWE at the Royal Rumble. Jericho said:
“Well, there’s been rumors that I’m coming back pretty much every week since I left… I still have no plans. I know people get mad at me when I say that. I’ve just been enjoying what I’m doing right now, and if other people don’t understand that I’m sorry. I apologize. I never said I wouldn’t go back to wrestling again.
“As of right now, we’ve been doing so much stuff with the band, and then when we’re done with this tour, I’ll have some stuff in Hollywood that I’ll be working on, stuff that kind of transpired from Dancing with the Stars. I’ve never considered myself just a wrestler. I’m an entertainer… It’s one of those things that when the time comes, if it comes, I’ll know it, and maybe I’ll have a really cool idea that no one has ever seen before, and when that happens then I’ll think about it.”
Jericho was asked whether there’s anything left for him to accomplish in wrestling. Jericho responded with a blunt, “No.”
“That’s the thing, f I never wrestle again, I’ll have no regrets… I could be done. I know some people don’t like that or understand it. I don’t want the big WrestleMania sendoff with the cheering and the thing, no f—ing way. I just want to disappear and never be seen again.”
Other items discussed include:
Here’s video footage of the interview:
Maxim Magazine has posted behind-the-scenes video from WWE diva Kelly Kelly’s recent photo shoot.
WWE taped this week’s NXT and another match for Superstars on Tuesday from Liverpool, England:
WWE NXT:
* Rookie Challenge opens the show. Johnny Curtis and Derrick Bateman vs. Percy Watson and Titus O’Neil is set for tonight.
* Tyson Kidd beat Trent Baretta in a great match.
* Jimmy Uso beat JTG.
Superstars:
* Daniel Bryan beat William Regal in the match of the night so far, exciting, fans into it and great.
Former WWE Intercontinental Champion Chyna appeared on The Howard Stern Show Monday to promote her first professional pornographic film, Backdoor To Chyna. She notably states during the interview that she recently wrote a letter to Vince McMahon regarding a possible return to WWE, which she last appeared for in 2001.
Chyna says, “It’s been a decade, right? (The fans are) like “Chyna we miss you, we love you,” it’s an incredible, this fan respect that I have, you know? So, they’re like “when are you going back?” and I was like “you know, that’s a good question.”
Stern chimes, “You wrote Vince and you said, “Vince, I want to come back to the WWE.” Chyna responds, “I didn’t say that.”
She explains, “I wrote him a legal letter, it was very professional instead of like the trainwreck, all over, like crazy. Had my stuff together and I wrote him a certified letter by lawyer and said, “Hey, are you ready to put everything aside personally, and would you like to do business with me?”
WWE responded, “We’re not interested at this time.”
— Shelly Martinez (a/k/a Ariel) stated on Twitter that she received closure with Batista, who she met for the first time since her departure from WWE over four years ago Monday night at the film premiere for Immortals (held at NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE. in Los Angeles, California).
She tweeted the the following image of herself with the former WWE Champion at the event. The caption reads: “Omg this is called peace & closure.”
In May 2007, Martinez took exception to Batista verbally abusing Melina, her close friend and who he was dating at the time. The two engaged in a heated verbal exchange backstage at a WWE live event, which Martinez has said led to her departure from the organization.
— In a battle of former WWECW talent, The Boogeyman will face The Zombie on Friday, November 18 for National Wrestling Superstars at Kearny High School inn Kearny, New Jersey. They will also wrestle the following day in Edison, New Jersey. Click here for event information.
source: PWInsider.com
Paul Heyman interviews “The Baddest Dude on the Planet” Brock Lesnar about THQ’s WWE ’12 video game in a video published Tuesday. His former manager asks, “Did you have a favorite opponent during that run, or a single moment that stands out in your mind?”
Brock responds, “I went through a lot of guys. I went through Ric Flair. I went through Hulk Hogan. I went through Undertaker. But there’s a guy that I didn’t get to go through. There’s a Hall of Famer, there’s a legend that I didn’t get to go through and there’s a guy that felt threatened by me at the time and there was a guy that felt that I had everything given to me.
“And that guy’s “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
“If that’s the match that I wanted to have and I look back and felt robbed by, that’s the one that I would want. That’s the one that sticks out the most in my mind. All these other matches, yeah, they were great. I was on top of the world and I was beating the Hall of Fame legends. I was the first legend killer.”
The interview concludes with Heyman asking Lesnar if he thinks we’ll see him pull off an F-5 anytime soon. He smilingly responds, “I think you can purchase the game and do it all you want.”
Lesnar also discusses Alistair Overeem, maintaining his personal life, being included in WWE ’12, his diet, and more.
— John Morrison says he will discuss his future following his final advertised appearance on tonight’s Raw SuperShow.
“I’ll post more about the future next week,” Morrison tweeted Sunday night. “Right now I’m planning on tearing the house down at RAW tomorrow in Columbia SC!”
— A Memphis Street Fight between Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler is being locally advertised for the January 2, 2012 Raw SuperShow in Memphis, Tennessee.
— Former WWE Superstar Rob Conway turns 39 years old Monday. He placed second in the Kentucky Bodybuilding Championships on November 5, thus qualifying for the NPC National Bodybuilding, Figure, Bikini and Men’s and Women’s Physique Championships in Miami, Florida.
source: PWInsider.com
The movie “Bounty Hunters” (formerly “Bail Enforcers”) starring former WWE diva Trish Stratus has been sold to MPI Media Group for U.S. distribution.
Slated for a Spring 2012 release, here’s the official press release from TrishStratus.com regarding the movie:
Santa Monica, CA /TrishStratus.com/ – Raven Banner Entertainment has sold U.S. rights to Bounty Hunters to MPI Media Group. Starring seven-time WWE champion and fitness icon, Trish Stratus, MPI plans a spring release for the film.
The deal was negotiated by Greg Newman, Executive VP of MPI Media Group and Michael Paszt and James Fler of Raven Banner Entertainment.
Other territories sold include: Canada (Anchor Bay), UK/Ireland (Lionsgate), Japan (Fine Films), France (Antartic), Australia/New Zealand (VM Distribution), Germany (MIG Film Group), Pakistan (Cine Entertainment), Thailand (M Pictures) and India (Star Entertainment).
“I’m looking forward to delivering Stratusfaction worldwide” stated the wrestling star, Trish Stratus.
Jim Ross has updated the Q&A section of his official website with numerous answers to fan questions. He gives his take on The Undertaker’s wrestling future, the status of Air Boom following Evan Bourne’s thirty-day suspension, whether Batista will return to WWE, and more.
Q: Hey JR, With Evan Bourne’s current suspension, do you feel that this may affect the Tag titles & Air boom’s status as a tag team, knowing there’s a ppv coming up or do you think they may not even have the titles defended at Survivor Series?
A: Won’t do them any favors. Not good…disappointing.
Q: Is the Undertaker a part time Wrestlemania preformer or is there a chance we will see him on a semi-regular basis?
A: What I love about Taker is his unpredictability. I see Taker back at WM28 w/o question. After that, I don’t know.
Q: To me the big money match WWE has had for the past few years is Undertaker vs John Cena at WrestleMania. Will it ever happen now and why hasn’t it happened yet?
A: Hard to predict. I’d say less than 50/50.
Q: Do you think that Dave Batista will come back?? because he is my favorite WWE superstar :) but please let him to come back if you can thanks you.
A: I’d never say never on Batista but I’d be shocked if he attempted to come back and compete as a full time wrestler.
Q: Do you think the Chris Benoit we enjoyed watching wrestle and who we knew as one of the greatest wrestlers of his generation will ever have any of his matches shown again, for example on the WWE On demand site?
A: I’d be shocked to see Benoit’s career have much exposure on any platform going forward.
– Evan Bourne, who is currently serving a thirty-day suspension as a result of his first violation of WWE’s Talent Wellness Program, took a dig at the organization’s constant shilling of Twitter during television broadcasts. Bourne tweeted:
“I wonder if WWE ’13 will have our twitter handles, random tweet pop ups and Cole talking tweets? Might make gameplay as annoying as viewing.”
“My guess is WWE 13: “The Network”. You are Vince and control the WWE with a WWE “Univers(e)al” Remote. Create history and earn money!”
– Kelly Kelly announced on Twitter that she has set up a page on Google+.
– Monday’s Raw saw Mason Ryan quickly defeat JTG. The appearance marked as JTG’s first match on the show since being transferred to Raw in April via the Supplemental Draft.
– TNA Wrestling’s official website, ImpactWrestling.com, has been restored after it was hacked twice Sunday evening. Visitors to the site were greeted with a black screen and a message reading “I LOVE YOU MINDY.” The statement was accompanied by a graphic of an eagle drapped in the flag of Algeria.
– Matt Morgan, who trained at Ohio Valley Wrestling while the promotion was affiliated with WWE, commented on TNA Wrestling’s partnership with the league. Morgan tweeted:
“Ecstatic that TNA has new deal in place for OVW to be used as our developmental system. That’s where I trained as a list of who’s who in wrestling today. We are very fortunate to have Danny Davis/OVW/trainers in helping our superstars of tomorrow.”
Company president Dixie Carter added:
“Excited about our new association with OVW. ‘Excellence is not a destination; it’s a continuous journey that never ends’ -Brian Tracy.”
Former WWE star Sean Waltman says he would love to join his friends Kevin Nash and Triple H back on WWE television, but he doesn’t think it will be happening any time soon.
During Monday’s RAW, Waltman wrote a few messages on Twitter talking about why Vince McMahon isn’t ready to bring him back just yet.
“I would love to one day return home to WWE. I still need more time doing well. Not long ago I attempted suicide. I understand Vince’s fear.”
He also thanked WWE for saving his life and spending tens of thousands of dollars on sending him to multiple stints in rehab.
“You can thank WWE’s Wellness Policy for me being here tweeting with you. They spent almost as much on me as they have on Scott.”
Stephanie McMahon Says WWE Has Spent Over $100,000 Sending Scott Hall To Rehab
Former WWE superstar Chris Jericho was interviewed by LeftLion.co.uk to promote his metal band Fozzy. Here are some highlight of what WWE’s first Undisputed champion said about:
His Ability To Come and Go From Wrestling:
“It wasn’t a conscious decision. I’ve always had other things I wanted to do, and I always had an opinion, which can be a dirty word with certain people. I stopped wrestling for no other reason than my contract ended in 2010, and there was a huge glut of Fozzy opportunities, so I moved on to the next thing that was happening for me. Hey, I love wrestling, and I never say never about going back – but right now I wanna see Fozzy as big as we can get it, and that’s my goal.”
Whether He’s Surprised About Shoot Videos:
“Not at all. When you’re a fan, you love hearing insider talk. Personally, I’d never do the three-hour sit-down shoot video; I’d write a book about it instead.”
Many Of His Friends In The Business Dying:
“It sucks. I was watching Raw earlier, and Hunter (HHH) was talking about how lucky he was to have all these friends in the business and he gave a list, and I thought, fuck, my friends died. It’s not happened in recent times, thank God, but there was a period not so long ago where guys were going down one after the other. It is a very tough business, and I feel so lucky that I never got into the drugs and pills. I was always a drinker – I still am to this day, and I can probably drink more than most, but if I want to go a week or two between having those drinks, I can. I don’t know, man. Maybe because of the music side of my life, and because I didn’t have all my eggs in one basket, wrestling wasn’t the be all and end all.”
The State of the Wrestling Industry:
“Its an experience thing. I think my generation of guys was one of the best because we were going around the world learning their craft before we ever got to the WWE. Now there’s a lot of guys there who have less than five years experience. And I don’t think I really, really knew exactly what I was doing until I came back in 2008 when it came to manipulation of a crowd. I had great stuff before that, don’t get me wrong – but it wasn’t until then that I felt on certain nights that I was the best in the world. It takes years to become truly great at anything, and the guys there at the moment haven’t had five years experience, never mind ten or fifteen.”
Check Out: CM Punk Calls Out Chris Jericho Last Week & Jericho Responds
