The ratings are in for Monday’s episodes of WWE RAW and Tough Enough.
– Raw did a 3.1 rating, which is down from last week’s 3.4. The did hours of 2.98 and 3.16 and averaged 4.7 million viewers for the 2-hour broadcast.
– Tough Enough did a 1.74 rating (up from last week’s 1.64) and had 2.4 million viewers.
THQ’s official press release on the new WWE ’12 video game that’s currently in development for a fall release .. Find out which WWE stars will be at the E3 gaming convention to hype the game and much more.
THQ Reveals A Bigger, Badder And Better WWE Videogame Experience With Debut Of WWE® ’12 At Electronic Entertainment Expo
THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) today announced development of WWE ® ’12, the electrifying rebirth of the renowned WWE flagship videogame franchise. Featuring a bigger game, badder presentation and better simulation-based gameplay, WWE ’12 will include long-awaited and critical core gameplay improvements, the most creative and extensive feature set to date and a visceral, edgy and polished presentation. WWE ’12 is currently in development for the Xbox 360 ® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation ®3 computer entertainment system and the Wii ™ system from Nintendo, with a scheduled release timing of November 22, 2011 in North America.
“With vital changes to core gameplay, innovative feature support and an incredibly striking presentation, the WWE simulation experience is back with WWE ’12,” said Danny Bilson, Executive Vice President, Core Games, THQ. “At E3 2011, this is the definitive WWE videogame experience you do not want to miss.”
WWE ’12 will be playable for the first time at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), booth #2001 in the South Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center, from June 7-9, 2011. In addition, prominent WWE personalities are slated to attend E3 in support of the new WWE ’12 experience. WWE Superstar Alberto Del Rio ™ and WWE Diva Kelly Kelly ® are currently scheduled to appear on Tuesday, June 7 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., while WWE Superstar The Miz ® is currently scheduled to appear on Wednesday, June 8 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. All talent appearances are subject to change.
About WWE ’12
WWE ’12 will offer players the opportunity to engage in the WWE experience through the new Predator Technology ™ dynamic gameplay system, which is poised to deliver the most fluid, dynamic, authentic and action-packed WWE simulation experience to date. Included are the new Breaking Point submission system, new Attributes and control layout as well as significant improvements to other key gameplay systems, including Momentum and Stamina. WWE Universe Mode 2.0 will generate new and more impactful elements of unpredictability based on player decisions, while dynamic visual changes to gameplay presentation, including new animations, camera positions, lighting and improved rendering, will set the tone for delivering an exceptional simulation of WWE programming.
WWE ’12 will feature the franchise’s best-in-class creation suite, enabling players to develop and customize their own Superstars, entrances, finishing moves, storylines, Highlight Reels and other all-new capabilities to be announced later this year. As well, the popular Road to WrestleMania ® Mode will enable players to explore compelling new storylines and major gameplay improvements. WWE ’12 will also boast one of the largest rosters of WWE Superstars, WWE Divas and WWE Legends in franchise history, including cover Superstar Randy Orton, John Cena, The Miz and the debuting Alberto Del Rio.
For more information about WWE ’12, please visit wwe.thq.com, facebook.com/WWEgames and twitter.com/WWEgames.
About WWE
WWE, a publicly traded company (NYSE: WWE), is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family friendly entertainment on its television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing platforms. WWE programming is broadcast in more than 145 countries and 30 languages and reaches more than 500 million homes worldwide. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo. Additional information on WWE (NYSE: WWE) can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com. For information on our global activities, go to https://www.wwe.com/worldwide/.
About THQ Inc.
THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) is a leading worldwide developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software. The company develops its products for all popular game systems, personal computers and wireless devices. Headquartered in Los Angeles County, California, THQ sells product through its global network of offices located throughout North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. More information about THQ and its products may be found at www.thq.com. THQ and the THQ logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of THQ Inc.
Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, the Xbox logos, and the Xbox LIVE logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.
“PlayStation” is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
Wii is a trademark of Nintendo.
THQ Forward-Looking Statements: The statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts may be “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the business of THQ Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively referred to as “THQ”), including, but not limited to, expectations and projections related to the release and expected features of WWE ’12 are based upon management’s current beliefs and certain assumptions made by management. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, business, competitive, economic, legal, political and technological factors affecting our industry, operations, markets, products or pricing. Readers should carefully review the risk factors and the information that could materially affect THQ’s financial results, described in other documents that THQ files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal period ended March 31, 2010 and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and particularly the discussion of trends and risk factors set forth therein. Unless otherwise required by law, THQ disclaims any obligation to update its view on any such risks or uncertainties or to revise or publicly release the results of any revision to these forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release.
Trademarks: All WWE programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.
WWE Forward-Looking Statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks relating to maintaining and renewing key agreements, including television distribution agreements; the need for continually developing creative and entertaining programming; the continued importance of key performers and the services of Vincent McMahon; the conditions of the markets in which we compete and acceptance of the Company’s brands, media and merchandise within those markets; our exposure to bad debt risk; uncertainties relating to regulatory and litigation matters; risks resulting from the highly competitive nature of our markets; uncertainties associated with international markets; the importance of protecting our intellectual property and complying with the intellectual property rights of others; risks associated with producing and travelling to and from our large live events, both domestically and internationally; the risk of accidents or injuries during our physically demanding events; risks relating to our film business and any new business initiative which we may undertake; risks relating to the large number of shares of common stock controlled by members of the McMahon family and the possibility of the sale of their stock by the McMahons or the perception of the possibility of such sales; the relatively small public float of our stock; and other risks and factors set forth from time to time in Company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results could differ materially from those currently expected or anticipated. In addition, our dividend is dependent on a number of factors, including, among other things, our liquidity and historical and projected cash flow, strategic plan (including alternative uses of capital), our financial results and condition, contractual and legal restrictions on the payment of dividends, general economic and competitive conditions and such other factors as our Board of Directors may consider relevant.
— Former WWE Champion Ultimate Warrior has launched a Twitter account at twitter.com/ultimatewarrior. The account is listed in the description of the video he posted over the weekend targeting Hulk Hogan.
Warrior’s first tweet was towards Hulk Hogan. He wrote, “@HulkHogan4Real Karma is coming to collect Terry.”
— Jim Ross has updated the Q&A section on his official website with some commentary on Kharma’s claim on RAW that JR told her several years ago that she was “too fat” to be a WWE diva. Ross denies ever used those words when Kharma first tried out for WWE Tough Enough several years ago and wrote:
“Kharma tried out for Tough Enough in Vegas at an open casting call for seemingly hundreds of potential talents. I never told her she was ‘too fat’ but that she was ‘too big’ at that time to be cast in a role that the role’s criteria had been clearly outlined to us.
“People don’t get that pro wrestling shows are entertainment based and facts, situations, etc are often times embellished for entertainment purposes. Those that have lashed out at me have wasted their time denigrating me for something that was not factual and was scripted.
— SmackDown Superstars Tyson Kidd and Natalya are advertised to appear at Fairway Market 699 Canal Street Stamford, Connecticut on Saturday, June 18 beginning at 11:00 a.m. For more information, call 203-388-9815.
– Hulk Hogan’s ongoing beef with the Ultimate Warrior continues. To recap, Hulk Hogan buried Warrior during his recent interview on HDNet’s “The Voice vs.” show, saying Warrior was one of the many guys who was given the ‘magic bullet’ to kill Hulkamania, but was unable to.
Warrior fired back at Hogan with a scathing video of his own, saying he found that magic bullet and is going to post a video soon exposing Hulk Hogan for the man he truly is.
Hogan has since responded to Warrior’s video, writing the following on Twitter:
“that what he’s programed for, some people love, help, laugh, create, have fun, he hates.warrior who? HH”
– Hulk Hogan also commented on the recent backlash against his friend Brian Knobs, who upset a lot of people by mocking Randy Savage at a wrestling convention on the day of his death. Hogan defended Knobs by saying:
“that’s what’s so crazy they are way cool, Knobs always jokes around though, maby somebody took Knobs joking and is trying to bury him H”
– Dakota Darsow, son of Barry Darsow (Demolition Smash, Repo Man), wrestled a dark match prior to Tuesday’s TNA Impact Wrestling taping from Orlando. Darsow, a former WWE developmental talent, lost to Texas wrestler Jesse Sorensen.
– Conspicuous by his absence at Tuesday’s TNA Impact Wrestling taping was Tommy Dreamer.
Dreamer, who just turned heel and is in the midst of a feud with Fortune, was scheduled to attend the tapings. No word yet as to why he wasn’t there, but his absence was a hot topic of discussion backstage on Tuesday, according to a report on pwinsider.com.
Their showdown at WrestleMania 28 is still 10 months away – but that doesn’t mean The Rock and John Cena’s beef is cooling off.
On Monday, The Rock posted a photo from his farm of him and his horse, Scoob. The Rock referred to the horse’s large teeth as “John Cena teeth.”
After RAW, Cena responded to The Rock on Twitter with the following:
“Hey dwayne. Glad u had fun on the farm. Would loved to have joined u and scoob…but I was at RAW looking for the guy who brings it…. Guess he decided he had better things to do…you know…like….hang out….on the farm…and stuff. :)”
– Pay-per-view provider iNDEMAND has released the official synopsis and promotional poster for WWE’s upcoming Money In The Bank event on Sunday, July 17th. The synopsis reads:
“A guaranteed championship match hangs 20 feet above the ring in a steel briefcase. One man will scale the heights and seize his destiny. Don’t miss John Cena, Randy Orton, The Miz, Rey Mysterio, Alberto Del Rio, and all your favorite WWE Superstars at WWE Money in the Bank live on pay-per-view.”
Here is the PPV poster featuring John Morrison, who will hopefully be back in action by mid-July following his recent neck surgery:
– Actor Kelci Jones, who played the character of “Big Jimmy” on RAW during the crowd segment featuring R-Truth, wrote the following on Facebook about his RAW appearance:
“Got to get sweated by R-Truth and be in the ring with Cena. And Vince McMahon likes my swagger…uh yeah life is good!!!”
– Maryse and Eve Torres took to Twitter and commented on Kharma’s announcement on RAW that she is pregnant and will be off WWE television until next year. Eve wrote:
“Didn’t expect that one! I respect @Kharma for BeliEVEing & following her dreams. Just not when it involved planting my face into the ground.”
Maryse had the following heel remarks for Kharma:
“I volunteer to give @Kharma a treadmill…its my baby gift to her”
“Btw for all haters, stop hating im a HUGE @kharma fan myself, ill buy the baby some awesome gap onesie… And also maybe some baby louis vuitton flats…”
— Alicia Fox appears as a guest on tonight’s episode of The Mo’Nique Show at 11:00 p.m. on BET. The former Divas Champion will chat with the Academy Award-winning comedienne on the critically acclaimed late night talk show.
— Michael Cole returned to NXT: Redemption last night for a one-night-only appearance. He filled in for William Regal on commentary, who was absent.
— WWE will be airing the documentary portion of the February 2011 DVD release The Big Show: A Giant’s World beginning July 4.
— Former WWE star Big Bully Busick celebrates his 57th birthday today.
Former WWE diva Joanie “Chyna” Laurer, who recently made her return to the national wrestling scene for TNA Wrestling, has had a colorful past few years that has included a stint on VH1?s Celebrity Rehab show as well as a short-lived career as an adult film star.
According to TMZ.com, Chyna is making a triumphant return to porn – in what they call an “EXTREMELY graphic porno.”
Steve Hirsch, president of the Vivid porn company, tells TMZ.com that Chyna approached him several months ago and demanded to work with the biggest male porn star in the business. Hirsch did her one better – and booked her with TWO porn stars, Evan and Lee Stone. The movie has already been filmed and is tentatively titled … “Backdoor Into Chyna.”
The follow-up to Chyna’s “horrifying” 2004 sex tape with Sean Waltman (titled “1 Night in China”) is set to be released in the coming months.
Chyna’s reps vehemently denied that she is returning to the world of adult film – but now the first images from the upcoming film have been released:
– After Byron Saxton was eliminated on last night’s WWE NXT, the final four are Titus O’Neil, Conor O’Brian, Lucky Cannon and Darren Young.
WWE has not yet announced when the next elimination or the season finale will take place.
– Former WWE champion The Miz was interviewed over the weekend to hype his appearance on this past Monday’s episode of Tough Enough. When asked about his future in WWE and what’s next for him, The Miz said:
“This whole process has been one long journey, chapters in a book, and once I succeed in one, I focus on the next. I want to be looked at as the guy who will take this company to the next level. I want to become the face of The WWE. I want people to think of The WWE and think of The Miz. I need to become bigger than John Cena, bigger than The Rock, bigger than Stone Cold. If you’re in The WWE and beating them isn’t your ultimate goal, you shouldn’t even be here.”
Love or hate The Miz’ television character, he does a phenomenal job of carrying himself like a champion. By constantly saying he wants to become the face of the WWE and be the biggest superstar of all time, he is putting himself in very good company and elevating his stature in the eyes of the fans.
– Chris Jericho made a few big announcements on Twitter this week. Jericho’s metal band Fozzy will be debuting their new music video next month:
“Tues, July 7 is the world premiere of the new @fozzyrock video “God Pounds His Nails” filmed live at the Golden Gods! Fozzyrock.com for info.”
Following the success of his most recent book Undisputed, the New York Times Best Selling author confirmed that he’ is officially working on his third book:
“The contract is in the mail so its official…there’s gonna be a third book! It’ll be released via Penguin Publishing in 2013. GET READY!!”
Credit to SEScoops.com reader Fritz for these spoiler results for Friday’s episode of WWE SmackDown on SyFy, taped from Des Moines, Iowa:
* Christian defeated Mark Henry. After the match, Christian requested to Teddy Long that he be added to the World Heavyweight Title match tonight between Randy Orton and Sheamus. Teddy made Christian the special referee.
* Alicia Fox and Tamina beat Kaitlyn and AJ Lee in a rematch.
* Cody Rhodes came out and talked about wanting to hurt Daniel Bryan.
* Jinder Mahal squashed Yoshi Tatsu. The Great Khali attacked Tatsu after the match.
* Another WWE Capitol Punishment promo with Obama.
* Ezekiel Jackson beats WWE IC Champion Wade Barrett by count out so he doesn’t win the belt. Jackson fights Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel after the match while Barrett walked off.
* Segment with Sheamus and Christian. Sheamus is playing nice. Christian isn’t falling for it and tells Sheamus he needs to focus on Randy Orton.
* Daniel Bryan beat Ted DiBiase with the LaBell Lock. Cody Rhodes came out with paper bags and teamed with DiBiase to beat Bryan down after the match. Sin Cara came out and cleared the ring for the save. Cara’s entrance was botched as they hit the special effects and his music too early.
* Randy Orton beat Sheamus with the World Title on the line and Christian as special referee. Sheamus knocked Christian down early. At one point Sheamus had Orton pinned but Christian went to selling his arm from Sheamus hitting him. Orton hits a nice RKO on Sheamus for the win. After the match, Christian lays out Orton with the World Title belt to end the show.
— Chris Sabin will be sidelined until 2012 after tearing both the ACL and MCL in his knee during a match last month on iMPACT!. He underwent surgery on his injured knee earlier this month.
Sabin suffered the injury during a match against Anarquia at the April 20 iMPACT! taping. He went for a springboard clothesline and tweaked his knee when the Mexican America member was out-of-position to receive the maneuver. The referee was instructed to end the match when it appeared Sabin was injured.
— Mick Foley apologized for his recent remark poking fun at TNA house show attendance.
He wrote on Twitter, “You know, in retrospect, I probably shoudn’t have compared an empty arena match to an Impact house show. Funny..but disrespectful.”
During WWE’s Over the Limit pay-per-view, Foley responded to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson touting his victory over the Hardcore Legend in an “I Quit” Match in 1999 by saying he later beat him in an “Empty Arena Match aka TNA house show.”
THQ Creative Director for WWE games Corey Ledesma was recently interviewed by the THQ website to discuss the new WWE ’12 video game.
Check Out: First Screenshots From The New WWE 12 Video Game
Here are some highlights of the Ledesma interview:
Q: Take me through your thoughts on how SvR ’11 was received, and what you could/wish your team could have done better?
Cory: We have a lot of pride in the work we put out there, so the team felt very good about WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 being a solid product that fans were going to thoroughly enjoy. We were able to introduce a new mode, called WWE Universe, that we think was a very solid foundation for the future and got a lot of people excited to play the game. Adding dynamic object physics to gameplay was also another major addition that we felt changed the way the game looked and played for the better. All in all, we were generally pleased with how the game was received. With that being said, there were some game areas we were not completely satisfied with and feel need significant improvement. Our fans are intelligent, recognize a lot of those shortcomings as well and let us know about them.
Unfortunately, some of the game areas or improvements we want to make can’t happen overnight and take a lot of planning, research and development and other resources to see to fruition. In those cases, we often create multi-year plans where those improvements are rolled out in phases so we can realistically achieve the quality we want each year while also rolling out new features and updates, updating the roster and balancing our development costs. To give you a little insight to our future planning, these are some of the key areas we are going to continue focusing on from a technical standpoint:
1.) Gameplay
2.) Online Lag and Cheating
3.) Animation Quality
4.) A.I.
5.) Sound
6.) Graphical Quality
These are the game areas where we can continue pushing the envelope and step our game up to the next level from a technical standpoint. You’ll start to see a significant amount of those improvements listed above in this year’s game. We are investing heavily in the future of this franchise.
On the design side, we weren’t happy with the execution of Road to WrestleMania. We liked the concept, but we just didn’t do a good job making that backstage area fun, keeping it populated, entertaining and engaging. We went back to the drawing board a bit on that one. We also had some disappointing bugs in gameplay that our creative team was a little disheartened by, but we’ll get a lot of those things cleaned up. Online also had several issues we are working hard to address. I want the fans to know that we are very aware of their criticisms and we are working as hard as we can to address them. Just know that in some cases the reason you might not see changes happen as quickly as you like because there are some difficult development challenges or hurdles we are trying to overcome just like any other developer, but we’re committed and we’ll get there!
Q: As the creative director of the team, what’s your opinion on the name change?
Cory: I absolutely love it, and I’ve been a key proponent of the change.
I’ve just felt for a couple of years now that the franchise has been getting stale and in need of a reboot. Not just with the name but also with the game experience. The name of the franchise evolved a couple of times over the years, and it has gotten to the point where the name doesn’t really mean anything. WWE currently doesn’t have brand wars, and the shows themselves are rarely competing against each other, so SmackDown vs. Raw as a name doesn’t really have a meaning. We started out as just being called SmackDown when that show made its debut for WWE back in 1999. Back then, we were releasing WWE products exclusively for specific platforms – SmackDown for Sony, Raw for Microsoft and Day of Reckoning for Nintendo. We then made the decision in 2004 to pool all of our resources together and make one great game, which is how SmackDown vs. Raw came together. Now, we are just WWE ’12, which is great because we just want to be known as the official, authentic WWE simulation product … period. All that encompasses what’s great about WWE live events and television is encapsulated and recreated in WWE ’12. It’s simple and to the point. I’m pumped about it because I’ve always wanted to re-launch this franchise the right way, and we are finally getting the opportunity to do it this year.
Q: Without giving any information, what area of the game are you most excited about in WWE ’12?
Cory: Gameplay, gameplay and more gameplay. Now, we aren’t changing the game entirely or completely ripping everything out to start over. That wasn’t the goal. What we are doing is taking the basic essence of what is good in the past games and making a new experience that feels fresh, fun, responsive, faster, smoother and is of higher quality. If you’re played the SmackDown vs. Raw games in the past, I have zero doubt you will notice the difference as soon as you pick up this year’s game. We are adding new gameplay systems, completely overhauling gameplay systems and improving current gameplay systems. The new animation system is giving us new capabilities as well. One quick is example is that you now have the ability to interrupt animations. For example, if John Cena is doing a five-knuckle shuffle in the game, you can knock him right on his butt in the middle of the move (something you’ve never been able to do in our game because the animation had to completely play out – and that goes for every single move in the game). We have several new capabilities like the one just mentioned that will change the dynamic of how the game is played. We didn’t want to completely throw everything out and build something from scratch. That would force us to take a major step back, probably cut out 80 percent of our moves/match types and also put us at risk to disappoint fans who love the current game. We wanted to find the balance between fixing what is broken and also delivering a brand new, high quality experience. I believe we are accomplishing that now, and fans are going to love this new WWE ’12 gameplay experience. We will be unveiling more about the changes to gameplay as time moves on.
Q: There has been a ton of game franchises that have taken on a new name. Is WWE ’12 just a name change? How will we know? What is your favorite (other) franchise re-invention?
Cory: WWE ’12 is far from just a name change. Our goal has been to create a brand new experience with a new, high quality animation system, a new renderer and a new strategic gameplay experience that will look, feel and play substantially better than its predecessors. When you play the game, you’ll notice right away that you’re spending less time on the mat mashing buttons and more time enjoying the action with a faster paced gameplay flow, simpler game controls and the most fluid and realistic animations the game has ever seen. This is a true franchise reboot and not just a name change. It’s also an investment toward the future of the franchise, giving us the opportunity to use our new technology to push the game to new heights never seen before.
Q: How far along in development are you on WWE ’12?
Cory: We started around the end of May 2010, so we are currently at the one year mark. We still have more months ahead for gameplay tuning and bug fixing, and then we are done. It feels like we never stop. One year bleeds into the next. With the multi-year plans, we are already planning for projects in the distant future.
– Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn were said to be “freaking out” backstage at RAW on Monday due to the technical difficulties that plagued the first fifteen minutes of the broadcast.
– This is interesting. The only time Alex Riley has ever appeared on WWE Smackdown after being drafted from RAW was on April 29th. He appeared in the opening segment and was immediately RKO’d by Randy Orton. Many forget he’s technically a SmackDown! superstar.
– The PWO Wrestling independent promotion released the following statement on Tuesday, announcing one of its top stars has signed with WWE:
Matthew Justice (real name Matt Hannan) was a longstanding competitor in PWO Wrestling, having been a part of the organization since its formation in the fall of 2007. Known for his high-octane aerial style, and calm, laid-back demeanor, Justice instantly stood out. After a three and a half year PWO career that saw many highs and lows, this past March, Matt agreed to terms to take the next step of his career, signing a developmental contract with WWE Inc. After his final ever PWO match, which aired two weeks ago on PWO TV on SportsTime Ohio, we said goodbye to Matt. This footage from when PWO TV went off the air was shown for the first time ever anywhere this past Sunday night on PWO TV. Check it out here:
As reported earlier, the “major announcement” that Jim Ross teased on Monday regarding the future of WWE video games has been revealed. WWE and THQ have announced that the “SmackDown vs. RAW” series is being retired in favor of annual “WWE” releases.
The new WWE ’12 video game will be released in North America on November 22nd of this year and in the UK on November 25th for all major platforms.
CHECK OUT: First SCREEN SHOTS from WWE 12
The following are among the big changes made to the game, according to IGN.com:
The “major announcement” that Jim Ross teased on Monday regarding the future of WWE video games has been revealed. WWE and THQ have announced that the “SmackDown vs. RAW” series is being retired in favor of annual “WWE” releases.
The first installment, WWE 12, will be released this fall. The game’s tagline, which is straight from the “New WWE” marketing playbook, is “Biggger, Badder, Better.”
Cory Ledesma, THQ’s Creative Director for WWE’s video game license, says THQ and WWE decided to drop the “Smackdown vs. Raw” franchise title because “the name doesn’t really mean anything.”
“WWE currently doesn’t have brand wars, and the shows themselves are rarely competing against each other, so Smackdown vs. Raw as a name doesn’t really have a meaning.”
Between WWE’s coveted video game franchise being renamed and the company scrapping it’s annual RAW vs. SmackDown PPV event Bragging Rights, it should be interesting to see how much longer WWE keeps the two brands separate on television.
Here is the first official trailer for the upcoming WWE 12 video game featuring World Heavyweight champion Randy Orton:
— The adult male who R-Truth threw a soda at last night on Raw was played by actor Kelci Jones.
A fan wrote, “The father on Raw tonight was actually an actor from Omaha who was with his nephew(s). He is active in the local arts and music scene in Omaha, Nebraska.
“His name is Kelci Jones. He is a friend on Facebook and stated yesterday that he would be on with his nephew. I was curious how that was going to play out. He stated that Vince McMahon ‘liked his swagger.'”
— It was reported on Sunday that masked Mexican professional wrestler Averno has signed a contract with WWE. He is featured on the cover of the latest issue of Super Luchas, with the headline saying “he has a foot in WWE.”
— WWE Hall of Famer Road Warrior Animal is scheduled for a book signing on June 11 at 2:00 p.m. at Barnes & Noble at the HarMar Mall 2100 North Snelling Ave. Roseville, Minnesota.
source: ProWrestling.net
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Solomonster Sounds Off (Episode 161)
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Est. Runtime: 52 minutes
Solomonster is back with a surprise Sound Off on Memorial Day! He’s got a lot more on Randy Savage, including thoughts on the WWE tribute and some rather pointed remarks directed at the morbidly obese mongoloid known as Brian Knobbs, a John Cena rant that has been a long time coming but may not be about what you think, the latest WWE acquisition from Mexico to feud with Sin Cara, an update on Kharma, Foley’s faux pass on Twitter, and Mister Wonderful gets seven years of bad luck! A fun show, so check it out!
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Arda Ocal and Jimmy Korderas of Right After Wrestling Radio on The Score on SIRIUS 158 recently spoke with Diamond Dallas Page. Highlights:
DDP on possibly coming back to the WWE in the future & how he is doing today: “I spoke to Johnny Ace about this…I haven’t heard back from him on it. I told him I would love to do some kind of PR. Some public relations. That sort of thing is what Vince [McMahon] wanted me to do when I left. He wanted me to stay and be the color-commentator but I was burnt out of wrestling for so many years and I needed a break. Long story short, 10 years later I’m still doing pretty well but I would love to be a part of the WWE family.”
What DDP thinks of the whole Kurt Angle/Randy Orton “finishing move” situation: “The thing is you don’t use the guy’s finish in the same company. If you’re in TNA and Kurt Angle is using the Ankle Lock, then you don’t do it in that company because Kurt will really take your ankle and put you in it and break your ankle. But if you’re in the WWE or the independent circuit, it is what it is. I don’t know what’s happening between Randy [Orton] and Kurt [Angle] but I love Randy using the RKO. Being it’s a version of the Diamond Cutter, people will think of me whenever he hits that move. And I think Randy is the greatest wrestler in the World…I think he is the very best. ”
Memories of working with Macho Man Randy Savage in WCW: “[My favorite match with Randy Savage was our first one at Spring Stampede] because that’s where he put me over. We were doing house shows and one night in Florence, South Carolina, Arn Anderson walked into the locker room and he was the agent. He asked Macho what he wanted to do tonight and Randy said, ‘I think I wanna take the Diamond Cutter’, and it almost knocked Arn over. Arn asked me if I knew how much of an honor that was and I was like, ‘ummm yeah’! When I hit the Diamond Cutter the crowd exploded. When the referee slid down, the entire place was counting 1-2-3 and the crowd exploded again – and Randy (while laying there) said to me, “I think we have our finish to Spring Stampede’!”
R-Truth may be getting his shot at John Cena’s WWE Championship at Captiol Punishment on June 19th – as per an announcement by the Anonymous RAW General Manager made after RAW went off the air.
Joey Styles tweeted the following after RAW:
“Raw’s GM has ordered R-Truth to apologize next week on Raw to earn a WWE Title Match with John Cena at Capitol Punishment. Video on WWE.com.”
Video of the post-RAW announcement by the RAW GM can be seen at here:
It was confirmed on Monday’s RAW that Kharma is “with child” and will be off WWE television during the pregnancy.
Pictures of Kharma’s Boyfriend
Kharma said her two main goals in life were to be a WWE superstar and to be a mother. After making it to WWE, she recently found out she is pregnant and will be out of action for up to a year.
She finally made it to WWE earlier this year but her road was not an easy one. She said former head of talent relations Jim Ross once told her that she’d never make it in WWE because she is too fat. Ross responded to Kharma’s claims on Twitter on Monday night:
“Kharma will never be a standard issue WWE Diva. She’s a wrestler. And a keeper. JR shout outs always welcome on Raw.”
Kharma fans voiced their support for the mother-to-be and left Jim Ross a lot of negative feedback on Twitter for the way he dealt with her. Ross responded:
“Lots of angry folks. Ask (Kharma) the story. She’s a wrestler & not a typical WWE Diva… My fat arse getting all kinds of evil Tweets. I’m a Kharma fan BTW. Does every female wrestler HAVE 2 be a ‘Diva?'”
– In a dark match that took place prior to Monday’s RAW from Omaha, Nebraska, Drew McIntyre defeated Chris Masters.
– Matches taped for Thursday’s WWE Superstars were Gail Kim vs. Melina and WWE Tag Team Champions David Otunga & Michael McGillicutty vs. Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov.
– The technical difficulties that took place at the beginning of Monday’s WWE RAW were legitimate.
In Canada, fans watching RAW saw the Memorial Day introduction and then the show cut directly to Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler saying they had technical difficulties, cutting out the silent segment with R-Truth attacking the concession stand.
On the USA Network’s West Coast feed of last night’s episode of Monday Night Raw, the opening segment featuring technical difficulties was edited off the broadcast altogether.
— In the New York area, WWE aired two different advertisements during Raw regarding the June 11 Raw live event in Rochester. The first commercial promoted John Cena vs. CM Punk vs. The Miz in a Triple Threat Match while the second commercial advertised Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk and John Cena vs. The Miz in singles matches.
Thanks to SEScoops reader Lance for sending in the following:
After Raw went off the air, the Anonymous Raw General Manager announced through Michael Cole that R-Truth would still get a title shot against John Cena at WWE Capitol Punishment as long as he apologized for his actions on Raw.
In the dark match main event John Cena quickly beat The Miz to retain the WWE Championship. Miz didn’t even get his shirt off for the match. Cena celebrated in the ring with the father (that wore the drink) and kids wearing the red Cena shirts.
A man was ejected from Monday’s Impact Wrestling taping in Orlando, Florida for texting spoilers results with his mobile device.
The man was ejected from the Impact! Wrestling Zone by TNA personnel and escorted off Universal Studios Florida property by an Orlando area police officer. He was shown a page on the PWInsider website displaying the spoilers results he had sent on a mobile device owned by a member of TNA security and informed he was being removed from the premises.
It was reported last week that TNA banned the use of cellular phones and mobile devices at the Impact! Wrestling Zone during Impact Wrestling tapings in order to prevent spoilers from surfacing online. Sources within TNA indicate that Universal Studios officials issued the directive, not TNA.
source: PWInsider.com
Jim Ross stated on his official website today that a “major announcement” will be made Tuesday concerning THQ’s annual WWE video game series, SmackDown vs. Raw.
“Arguably the biggest news to date from WWE on the video game front,” Ross wrote.
The announcement is that the title of the annual WWE video game, SmackDown vs. Raw, will cease to exist. The rumored new name of the game is WWE ’12, a year that will change annually.
THQ made the decision to change the title of the game because they felt the SmackDown vs. Raw title no longer fit the product due to WWE rendering the “brand wars” inconsequential. This also explains WWE ceasing the pay-per-view event Bragging Rights. While the event drew poorly both years, it was kept to help promote the annual release of SmackDown vs. Raw.
source: F4WOnline.com
— Two matches have been announced for Raw tonight:
* Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk
* WWE United States Champion Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler
— WWE presently employs five individuals who work part-time blurring the former WWF “scratch” logo from the organization’s substantial video library. Episodes of Raw from June 1998 are currently airing on WWE Classics on Demand, which features the logo blurred in numerous instances.
— Raw was No. 43 in Pay TV in Australia last week with 63,000 viewers.
— Last week’s episode of SmackDown featured 35 minutes and 11 seconds of in-ring action, down from the prior week.
source: F4WOnline.com
