WWE has announced that MetLife Stadium will play host to WrestleMania next year.
“For the first time, The Show of Shows is headed to New Jersey, as MetLife Stadium, home to the Super Bowl XLVI Champion New York Giants, as well as the New York Jets, will host WrestleMania XXIX on Sunday, April 7, 2013,” WWE.com states.
WrestleMania Week activities, including WrestleMania Axxess, the 2013 WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Raw will take place across the New York/New Jersey area in the days leading up to the pay-per-view extravaganza.
An official press conference is scheduled for Thursday at 11:00 a.m. at MetLife Stadium, where Vince McMahon will be joined by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, New York Giants President & CEO John Mara, New York Jets Owner & CEO Woody Johnson, and a slew of WWE Superstars, including John Cena, Triple H and Sheamus. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is scheduled for a “special appearance.”
— Triple H reportedly wants more Spanish-speaking wrestlers signed since he believes the Hispanic market is a major key to the prosperity of WWE. More specifically, he wants wrestlers who can conduct interviews in both English and Spanish. Rosa Mendes in particular has been directed to yell at ringside in Spanish as much as possible since she’s bilingual.
— In episode three of WWE Inbox, WWE Superstars and Divas answer questions on their favorite superhero, favorite television show and funniest wrestler. Alex Riley, Beth Phoenix, Derrick Bateman, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, Kaitlyn, Maxine and Rosa Mendes appear.
— The official Twitter feed of RESISTANCE Pro has announced that Teddy Hart will not appear on Friday’s show in Chicago, Illinois due to visa problems. He will be replaced by Ricochet. Also advertised for the show is Rhino challenging Harry Smith for the R-Pro Heavyweight Championship.
— Dusty Rhodes, Iron Sheik, Jimmy Snuka, Sgt. Slaughter and The Honky Tonk Man will not be appearing on WWE Legends’ House. “Hacksaw” Jim Jim Duggan, “Mean” Gene Okerlund and “Rowdy” Roddy Piper have been confirmed to appear on the program. The show began filming last week at the former house of Harpo Marx in Rancho Mirage, California.
WWE officials contemplated having Sheik appear on the reality program due to the perception that he is funny but a doctrine is in place for the show to not appear “sad.”
— CM Punk and John Cena “are neck-and-neck” as the top merchandise sellers in WWE. Punk, however, is ahead in the adult male demographic. Zack Ryder is also among the company’s top merchandise sellers.
— Ring of Honor World Champion Davey Richards will challenge Prince Devitt for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship on March 10 in Japan.
— The Miz has as much heat as anyone in WWE, but it has little to do with him not catching R-Truth during the Six-Pack Challenge on last week’s Raw SuperShow. Rather, the animosity is being attributed to his obnoxious behavior as many of his co-workers are turned off by it.
“The feeling is he’s like a little frat boy who is loud and has to be the center of attention,” the Wrestling Observer says.
As reported last week, it is widely believed within WWE that his work has regressed, both in the squared circle and verbally. When he was low on the totem pole, he appeared motivated and forced management to make him a headliner. He is now back to mid-card status and isn’t giving WWE much reason to elevate him again.
— Ultimate Warrior has been announced to appear for Northeast Wrestling on March 23, 2012 at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York. He will sign autographs, cut a promo and it’s being teased that he will do something physical.
The show will also feature John Hennigan vs. Dave Finlay and the first-ever match between Melina and Velvet Sky. Matt Hardy, Tommy Dreamer and Jerry Lawler are scheduled to appear as well.
— R-Truth appearing more animated in recent weeks has to do with Triple H. The WWE executive wants him performing “silly comedy” as opposed to dancing and rapping.
— Lilian Garcia stated on Twitter that she will be releasing a music video for her latest single, Ur Girl (Til the End of the World), on March 1.
— Saturday’s SmackDown live event at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California drew 4,000 paying $135,000. Sunday’s show in Bakersfield, California drew 5,000 paying $130,000.
— WrestlingFigs.com reports Kevin Nash will appear at Wrestling Universe 34-29 Francis Lewis Blvd. Flushing, New York on April 21 from 1:00 to 3:30 p.m.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will hold a press conference Thursday at Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey to announce that WrestleMania XXIX will take place at the sporting complex in April 2013.
MetLife officials, who spent “more than a year” working with WWE to bring WrestleMania to the stadium, expect the event to draw 70,000 fans.
WrestleMania festivities will also take place in New Jersey as the IZOD Center will host Axxess and the 2013 WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. WWE had initially planned to hold events in New York City but New Jersey state officials convinced them to hold everything in The Garden State.
The official announcement was originally scheduled for Wednesday but pushed back a day.
Deadline.com is reporting that WWE Studios and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment have come to terms on a new deal that will yield 3 straight-to-DVD titles – including another Marine film.
The Marine: Homefront will be the third installment of WWE’s Marine franchise. The original Marine movie from 2006 generated over $18 million in revenue and was the most successful WWE Studios project by far. Ted DiBiase starred in the straight-to-DVD sequel. Deadline.com originally reported that John Cena would be starring in the new Marine movie, but has since updated their article and removed the part about Cena starring.
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment will handle worldwide distribution for the 3 movies via Blu-ray, DVD, VOD and digital download and WWE will use their juggernaut promotional machine to maximize exposure.
“WWE Studios will continue to expand its film offerings to appeal to a wide range of movie fans in 2012 and 2013,” said WWE Studios President, Michael Luisi. “We look forward to building upon our relationship with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment to present movies that bring action, adventure and humor to audiences all over the globe.”
No word yet on the other two movies, but one of them is expected to star CM Punk.
– Eric Bischoff officially welcomed Dave Lagana to TNA with the following message posted on Facebook & Twitter:
“Welcome David Lagana! Had the opportunity to work with David in WWE and learned to respect his knowledge of story structure and detail.”
As we reported on Tuesday, Vince Russo and TNA have officially parted ways. Early reports indicated that Lagana was replacing Russo, however this is not entirely true. Lagana exact role in TNA is unknown at this time. While he will be contributing to the creative process, he is not assuming Russo’s job. It’s believed that Eric Bischoff will assume more power behind the scenes now that Russo is finally out.
– Spike TV president Kevin Kay was at the Impact Wrestling taping in Orlando on Monday and threw a party for the TNA wrestlers and crew after the show.
– Kurt Angle wrote the following on Twitter about Jesse Sorensen, stating that doctors gave him a 1-year recovery time:
“I Visited Jesse Sorenson.He Is Moving His Arms and Legs.Drs’ say 1 Year recovery. I Say 4 Months.Jesse Is a Hero and Fighter. “I’ll Be Back””
Angle clearly means well here, but he should probably stay away from setting unrealistic goals for Sorensen, who is going to have a very long, difficult road to recovery.
TNA taped the February 23rd episode of Impact Wrestling on Monday and Tuesday night in Orlando at the Impact Zone. Thanks to reader Eric for the following spoilers that will air in two weeks on Spike:
Taped Monday:
* New York Giant Brandon Jacobs comes to the ring and talks about his friend James Storm. Jacobs calls out Bully Ray for spitting in his face last week. Ray does good mic work here but says he’s not going to waste his time on someone who barely got any yardage in the Super Bowl. Jacobs exits the ring and chases Ray off to the back.
* The main event of the show is taped – James Storm and Jeff Hardy beat Bully Ray and Kurt Angle in a No DQ Match. Brandon Jacobs was in the corner of Hardy and Storm for the match. Jacobs chokeslammed Ray through a table towards the end of the show. Jacobs and Storm celebrated to end it.
* Bobby Roode opened the tapings and runs down Sting. Roode says he has forced Sting into retirement and everyone can say theirgoodbyes later tonight. Roode calls ending Sting’s career the best moment of his own career.
* Samoa Joe and Magnus defended the TNA Tag Team Titles successfully against Crimson and Matt Morgan when Crimson accidentally hit his partner. After the match, they argued and Crimson walked out.
* Zema Ion beat Alex Shelley while Austin Aries watched from ringside.
* Gail Kim beat ODB in a non-title match. During the match, Madison Rayne came down to watch. She celebrated with Gail after the win but Gail was hesitant.
* AJ Styles bat Robbie E. with the TV Title on the line but by DQ. The DQ came when Kazarian and Daniels interfered.
* Sting comes out and says the job is too much for him and he’s finished. Roode comes out and plays the heel. Sting starts putting face paint on and says Roode has caused him to feel alive now. Sting says he is going to whoop Roode’s butt at Victory Road. Roode tries to get a cheap shot in but Sting blocks it. Sting drops Roode and tells him to get ready for Victory Road before tossing the microphone at him.
– Somebody call his momma … WWE officials have reportedly decided to put Brodus Clay’s “Funkasaurus” gimmick on hold for the time being, according to the Wrestling Globe Newsletter. Despite the positive reaction that the character received from live audience and Internet fans, WWE officials feel that Clay’s wrestling wasn’t where it needed to be for WWE TV.
Clay’s match against Heath Slater was cut from SmackDown a few weeks back when the decision was made that Clay needed to improve on his in-ring skills.
– Jim Ross wrote the following on Twitter regarding The Undertaker apparently cutting his hair in the video promo that aired on Monday’s RAW:
“Don’t know why Taker cut his hair but assume we’ll learn more on the next installment of RAW. Obviously Deadman altering his look but why?”
Regarding the concussion Randy Orton reportedly suffered on Monday’s RAW, JR wrote:
“Re: Orton’s concussion, he’s out of Sundays PPV.WWE travels a medical doctor & certified athletic trainer to every event..4 those who asked.”
– After Tuesday’s WWE SmackDown tapings from Fresno, California went off the air, the dark match main event saw Sheamus defeat Wade Barrett in a Street Fight.
– The Cartoon Network’s Hall of Game Awards have nominated WWE Superstars The Undertaker, John Cena, Kofi Kingston and The Miz for the “Here To Rumble” award for best ring entrance.
The Miz is being advertised to appear at the awards show, which takes place this Sunday from Santa Monica, California.
WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart told a fan on Twitter this week that Montreal is a dead issue and unfortunately, some of his siblings are still jealous of him and take any chance they can to tear him down. A fan asked Bret, “Your brother Smith Hart said in an interview that Stu Hart stated, “Bret should have just done the job in Montreal.” Any truth to that?”
Bret replied with the following:
“I’ve had numerous conversations w/my dad about Montreal & he never ever indicated anything of this sort to me.”
“There are certain members of my family that never miss an opportunity 2 tear me down or minimize my achievements. My dad’s nickname for my brother Smith was “shed”, short for shithead. So take it from the source.”
“I don’t give a damn what anyone says re:Montreal & it’s a dead issue.”
WWE announced on Tuesday night that SmackDown superstar Randy Orton suffered a concussion on RAW and will not be able to compete in this Sunday’s Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight championship.
A battle royal was held at the Smackdown tapings to determine who would fill Orton’s spot in the Chamber and that battle royal was won by none other than Santino Marella.
Here’s what looks to be the final card for Sunday’s pay-per-view:
Elimination Chamber for the WWE Title
CM Punk vs. The Miz vs. R-Truth vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Chris Jericho vs. Dolph Ziggler
Elimination Chamber for the World Heavyweight Title
Daniel Bryan vs. Santino Marella vs. The Great Khali vs. Big Show vs. Wade Barrett vs. Cody Rhodes
WWE Divas Title Match
Beth Phoenix vs. Tamina Snuka
Credit to Nikki for sending in these results for Tuesday’s WWE SmackDown tapings from Fresno, California, airing this Friday night on SyFy:
* SmackDown opens with Teddy Long and World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan backstage. Security is guarding Teddy’s office. Long is concerned about Randy Orton’s condition and pulls him from the Elimination Chamber match on Sunday.
* Big Show and The Great Khali defeat Wade Barrett and Cody Rhodes. After the match, Show turns on Khali and takes him out.
* Mark Henry returns backstage and wants Teddy Long to put him into the Elimination Chamber match. Big Show came in and demanded a match against Daniel Bryan for later tonight. Show got pissed, laid out Henry and tore up Teddy’s office before leaving. Long put security on notice and told them to take Big Show out of the arena if they see him.
* Hunico defeated Ted DiBiase with the help of Camacho.
* WWE Tag Team Champions Epico and Primo defeat The Usos.
* Daniel Bryan comes out and cuts a promo about his actions on RAW. Bryan says he will win at Elimination Chamber. He wants Lilian Garcia to announce him the winner by forfeit but Teddy Long interrupts and makes Sheamus vs. Bryan now.
* Daniel Bryan beat Sheamus by DQ when Sheamus went crazy on Bryan. Bryan spit in Sheamus’ face which caused him to go crazy. Sheamus pushed the referee which caused the DQ.
* Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett confront Teddy Long and want to know who is replacing Randy Orton at the Elimination Chamber. Teddy announces a battle royal to fill the final spot. He says a Superstar from RAW or SmackDown can compete.
* Jinder Mahal won a quick match over Ezekiel Jackson.
* Tamina and Alicia Fox beat Natalya and Beth Phoenix. The referee gets distracted by Natalya’s farting.
* Santino Marella won a battle royal to replace Randy Orton in the SmackDown Elimination Chamber on Sunday. The match came down to David Otunga, Ezekiel Jackson, Drew McIntyre and Santino. Santino got a big ovation from the crowd for his win.
WWE has issued a statement that Randy Orton is injured and will not be able to wrestle at Sunday’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. According to the storyline, Orton suffered a concussion when World Heavyweight champion Daniel Bryan smashed him in the head with the title belt.
WWE physician Dr. Michael Sampson was quoted by WWE.com saying:
“Randy sustained head trauma following his match with Big Show, in which Daniel Bryan interfered, and he was evaluated in the training room immediately afterward.”
“Due to his symptoms as well as his neurological evaluation, he was diagnosed with a concussion. We will be doing more testing to see how he’s going to do as far as short term vs. long term.”
We reported earlier that Orton was injured at RAW during his match with the Big Show. At this time, there are no indications that Orton will miss WrestleMania 28.
— In early viewership numbers for Monday’s Raw SuperShow, the program averaged 4.1185 million viewers over the course of two hours. Last week’s show averaged 4.62 million viewers, resulting in a 3.25 cable rating. The prior week’s show garnered 5.22 million viewers with a 3.55 cable rating.
In a positive note, WWE reversed the long-standing trend of viewership sinking during the second hour. Monday’s show averaged 4.305 million viewers in the second hour compared to 3.932 million in the first.
— WWE.com has added Hunico’s low-rider bicycle rolling partner in crime Camacho to the SmackDown roster page. The son of former WWE star Haku debuted on the December 15, 2011 episode of WWE Superstars.
— Today marks the one-year anniversary of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s return to WWE and arrival on Twitter. Johnson, who has garnered over two million followers, writes of micro-blogging site, “A year ago today – 2/14/11. I joined Twitter. Inspiring & Relentless: #TeamBringItMillionsStrong.”
As if fans didn’t already have enough reasons to dislike John Cena, Monday’s RAW gave us what might be the best reason yet. Zack Ryder is still in bad shape from the attack he suffered at the hands of Kane weeks ago, wearing a neck brace and confined to a wheelchair. Despite his physical condition, Zack’s love for Eve brought him to RAW, where he planned to finally tell her how he feels. That’s where things started to head south for the Long Island native.
Check out the videos below and tell us what you feel about this shocking twist in the Ryder-Cena-Eve storyline. Do you think this ultimate betrayal will result in Zack Ryder turning heel?
One thing’s for sure .. Cena just took himself out of the running for the 2012 Slammy Award for “Friend of The Year” …
Zack Ryder tells John Cena he plans to profess his love to Eve:
John Cena Saves Eve from Kane and Gets A Nice Reward:
(The chance to stab his friend in the back)
Eve tells Zack Ryder she “Just Wants To Be Friends”
A Distraught Zack Ryder Gets Wheeled Off The Stage By Kane:
(Eve and Cena act concerned, like they give a shit)
TNA President Dixie Carter just announced the following on Facebook and Twitter, confirming our weekend report that Vince Russo is in fact leaving the company:
“TNA and Vince Russo have mutually parted ways as of this week. The separation is amicable and professional. We are glad for the opportunity to have worked together and wish each other nothing but good luck and success in the future.”
Check out our exclusive report from the weekend regarding the backstage power struggle in TNA and details on what turned out to be Russo’s final days with the company
— Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has declined an offer to star in the sequel to The Tooth Fairy. The film is now planned for a straight-to-video release with Larry The Cable Guy in a starring role.
Johnson has signed on for The Fast and The Furious 6, which is set for release next year.
— Lilian Garcia has released her latest single, Ur Girl (Til the End of the World) via iTunes. A preview of the song is available here.
The song is her entrance theme at WWE events.
— In a sign that WWE may continue offering their subscription video on demand television service, the official Twitter feed of WWE Classics On Demand says “Mean” Gene Okerlund is at their television studios today to film footage for the monthly Hall of Fame series that he hosts. Several episodes are filmed on taping days.
– Former WWE champion Alberto Del Rio was backstage at Monday’s RAW from San Diego, despite not appearing on television. Del Rio returned to WWE this weekend on the SmackDown brand’s live events from California, but competed in arm wrestling challenges with Sheamus because he’s not medically cleared to return to the ring.
– Video game publisher THQ is already doing motion capture work for the WWE ’13 video game, due out this fall.
Jim Ross noted on Twitter recently that he’ll be doing commentary with Jerry Lawler in the game, a welcomed change to last year’s Cole-Lawler team.
– WWE diva Tamina is now known as Tamina Snuka. She’ll get a shot at Beth Phoenix’s Divas championship this Sunday at Elimination Chamber.
Injured TNA wrestler Jesse Sorensen showed “significant improvement” on Monday after suffering a C1 vertebrae fracture with spinal cord edema at Sunday’s Against All Odds pay-per-view.
Sorensen is said to be slowly regaining the feeling back in his legs and doctors now expect a full recovery, according to a report by Jason Powell at prowrestling.net.
TNA President Dixie Carter flew Sorensen’s mother to Florida to be at this bedside.
The news that Sorensen is expected to fully recover after initially having no feeling in his arms and legs is phenomenal news for the young wrestler.
Jacobs tells USA Today that he’s always been a wrestling fan and appearing on a wrestling show is a childhood dream come true for him:
“I’ve always been a fan of wresting growing up and had the opportunity to be a part of it. Excited and can’t wait to get out there.”
“Don’t worry about me getting injured or anything. The other guys are the ones who are going to have to worry about avoiding injuries. This is going to be fun for me.”
TNA star Sting tweeted the following about Jacobs’ involvement at Monday’s Impact Wrestling tapings. Jacobs’ segments will air on the next two weeks of Impact:
“Impact Wrestling got a huge injection of greatness through Brandon Jacobs!! What a perfect fit- Brandon, you bring truck loads to us!!”
— The Undertaker was shown cutting his hair during a vignette on Monday’s Raw SuperShow. The iconic wrestler shaved his head bald last year and appeared to don wear a wig for his return two weeks ago.
Regarding the Raw vignette, the official WWE website wrote, “Then, Undertaker appeared on the TitanTron, revealing a shocking moment, taking a razor to his hair and proclaiming “vengeance will be mine.”
— Tamina will be known as Tamina Snuka going forward. WWE is pushing her as the daughter of WWE Hall of Famer “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka.
— WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin is in Canada shooting scenes for the action film The Package. Dolph Lundgren co-stars.
— Jim Ross was spotted last night by the bench of the Oklahoma University women’s basketball team for their game against the Connecticut.
Super Bowl Champion New York Giants player Brandon Jacobs appeared at Monday night’s Impact Wrestling tapings and got physical with TNA Champion James Storm.
For a full recap of what went down at Monday night’s tapings (including segments taped for the next 2 weeks of Impact Wrestling), check out:
