— The one and only “Stone Cold” Steve Austin is now on Twitter as Jim Ross verified his account last night. You can follow him at twitter.com/steveaustinBSR. He has posted numerous tweets related to his appearance at today’s Auto Club 500 NASCAR race in California.
— John Morrison noted on his Twitter account that he ran into former WWE star Nick “Eugene” Dinsmore while checking into his St. Louis hotel last night. You can view a photo of Dinsmore playing up his Eugene gimmick at the following link.
If you recall, Dinsmore made a short-lived return to World Wrestling Entertainment this past summer. He was released just four days after his lone appearance on television, allegedly due to issues with his weight.
— Jim Ross noted on his Twitter account that last night’s WWE Supershow in Springfield, Illinois sold out the Prairie Capital Convention Center. Furthermore, it was the third highest sales gross in arena’s history.
— As seen this past Thursday night on iMPACT!, Frankie Kazarian appeared as himself rather than the Suicide character, which seemed to indicate that the gimmick is through. It should be noted that he is still playing the masked character at house shows, but will be appearing as himself on television from this point forward. Though he will no longer play the character on television, TNA plans on continuing the gimmick as they are considering other wrestlers for the role.
Also note, TNA has added Kaz to its roster page, with Suicide retained.
— TNA referee Mike Posey defeated Alabama Junior Heavyweight Champion Mike Jackson this past Friday night in Graysville, Alabama to end his 45-year reign as champion.
— — In TNA’s latest webmatch, Hamada squares off against the infrequently seen Traci Brooks. You can view the bout at the following link.
WWE Superstar Ted DiBiase noted on his Twitter account that he and his younger brother (WWE developmental wrestler Brett DiBiase) will be inducting their father, “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase, into the WWE Hall of Fame.
“For those curious… Myself and younger brother will be inducting my father,” DiBiase wrote.
“The Million Dollar Man” and Antonio Inoki are the first two confirmed names for this year’s Hall of Fame class. Inoki is expected to be inducted by Stan Hansen.
The third inductee for this year’s Hall of Fame class will be revealed tomorrow night on Raw.
WWE Superstar Ted DiBiase noted on his Twitter account that he and his younger brother (WWE developmental wrestler Brett DiBiase) will be inducting their father, “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase, into the WWE Hall of Fame.
“For those curious… Myself and younger brother will be inducting my father,” DiBiase wrote.
“The Million Dollar Man” and Antonio Inoki are the first two confirmed names for this year’s Hall of Fame class. Inoki is expected to be inducted by Stan Hansen.
The third inductee for this year’s Hall of Fame class will be revealed tomorrow night on Raw.
— Charlie Haas noted on his Facebook account that his wife, former WWE Diva Jackie Gayda-Haas, is expecting their third child. She is due in June.
— Steve Austin will be the official “starter” for today’s Auto Club 500 NASCAR race in California. The race airs on FOX at 3:00 p.m. EST.
“Stone Cold” is promoting the DVD release of Damage as there will be a large billboard promoting the flick along the racetrack.
— Lilian Garcia is auctioning off the outfit she wore on her penultimate appearance as the ring announcer of Monday Night Raw. You can view the auction at the following link.
— The latest issue of The Wrestler features an interview with “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka and it’s noted that he has a prospective reality series in the works called The Superfly Challenge. On this show, the WWE Hall of Famer undertakes a number of jobs, ranging from cooking in a diner to working on Nikolai Volkoff’s farm in Maryland.
— Former WWE Diva Ashley Massaro has announced that she has gotten engaged to be married. She posted the following note on her Twitter account this past week:
“Yep yep I can’t f*cking believe it! – jusT got engaged to the love of my life!!!!!”
— Ultimate Warrior is looking to increase his online presence this year as he has a new website in the works.
— A fourth generation wrestler, Dory Funk IV, teamed with his grandfather, Dory Funk, Jr. (and Johnny Magnum) at last night’s !BANG! television taping in Ocala, Florida at the Funking Conservatory. Managed by WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy Hart, they squared off against Damien Steele, Shane Chung and Blain Rage.
— In light of news that WWE will be holding a Money In The Bank-themed pay-per-view event in a few months, the belief is that annual match has been dropped from WrestleMania. A number of wrestlers are unhappy about the apparent move because participating in WrestleMania results in a huge payday — which they may not be getting now. However, it should be noted that a decision has not yet been officially made as talent have yet to be informed of anything.
— In today’s WWE birthday, Gail Kim turns 34 years old. She will be competing in her first singles pay-per-view bout since returning to the company at tomorrow night’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view against Maryse.
— WWE returns to Arena Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico on Wednesday, May 5th, 2010 at 8:30 PM and Sunday, May 9th, 2010 at 7 p.m. Tickets for both events go on sale Monday, March 8th, 2010 at 11 a.m. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
(Credit to f4wonline.com for some of the information used in this report)
— Dixie Carter informally announced yesterday on her Twitter account that TNA Wrestling has signed Shannon Moore to a contract.
“TNA signs one moore,” Carter wrote.
Moore returned to TNA on the live Jan. 4 show alongside Jeff Hardy, but wasn’t signed until this week.
— Episode No.3 of TNA Epics featuring the X-Division has been removed from Spike’s schedule for Mar. 18, 2010. No word yet on when the show will air. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
— TNA Wrestling has plans to release DVD set highlighting Beer Money, Inc. and The Motor City Machine Guns’ greatest matches. The company website is running a poll asking fans to decide what matches make the cut, and which ones get left behind. You can take part in the poll at the following link.
— Ezekiel Jackson has been moved to the Smackdown Superstars page on WWE.com. Meanwhile, Trent Barreta and Caylen Croft are still listed as members of the ECW roster despite appearing on last night’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown.
It’s worth noting that the WWE Superstars page indicates that remaining ECW talent will be distributed to Raw or SmackDown by way of draft. The page reads: “Check out Christian and the rest of the final ECW roster before the Superstars are drafted to either Raw or SmackDown.”
— WWE will be holding a Raw & Smackdown Supershow at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Saturday, June 19th, 2010 (the night before the Fatal Four Way pay-per-view). Bell time is 7:30 p.m. Tickets go on sale Saturday, March 13th, 2010 at 10 a.m. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
— WWE has released a limited edition magazine highlighting WrestleMania. John Cena, Chris Jericho, Stephanie McMahon, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, among others, were interviewed for the issue.
— WWE has replaced MVP with William Regal as one of the “Pros” on the first season of NXT. Regal will be paired with Skip Sheffield.
— WWE Monday Night Raw on April 26th, 2010 will be a 3-hour show, airing from 8 to 11 p.m. on the USA Network. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
— Thursday’s episode of WWE Superstars on WGN America scored a 0.9 rating, with 859,000 viewers. The midnight replay did a 0.2 rating, with 172,000 viewers.
Ring of Honor star Colt Cabana, formerly Scotty Goldman during his brief stint in WWE last year), is making fun of WWE’s new NXT show on Twitter.
Cabana, who has been performing stand-up comedy recently, claims he’s been contacted by WWE to appear on the show.
He wrote the following today on Twitter:
“Just got the call to be on @WWENXT. Should be quite the learning experience.”
He included a funny picture of himself as the “9th Participant for WWE NXT” with an appropriate WWE Superstar mentor (you’ll never guess who). Click here to see the picture.
TNA President Dixie Carter spoke to Brian Fritz of FanHouse.com this week about iMPACT!’s upcoming move to Monday nights on March 8th. Dixie spoke about what it’s going to be like competing with WWE head on every single week. She knows TNA is playing a high stakes game, but sounds ready to lead her company into battle. Here are some highlights of what she said about:
How Everything Came Together: Dixie Carter: Well, we’ve talked about a move to Monday nights for a while, since, for over a year and it just seemed like the time was right. When I knew Hulk Hogan was coming on board, I just kind of put a halt to that and just thought how great would it be for the first time he debuts on our show, to let that be the first time we go to Monday night and the timing turned out perfect.
The Pressure of Competing Against WWE: You know, I don’t think of it that way. The days that were so hard, that was pressure. There used to be a lot of pressure. I don’t feel that pressure anymore. I’ve always handled it really well because there have been some very hard times in this company. And we still that little engine that could. This is a David vs. Goliath story if I’ve ever heard it and we are just so excited and so filled with energy but don’t have such expectations that they will be failures if we don’t meet them. We need to stay steady and continue to grow this.
Hulk Hogan’s Role in TNA & Making New Stars: “It has been the best decision I ever made. I don’t think I’ve ever had one conversation with Hulk Hogan about Hulk Hogan. Every conversation I have with him is about the other TNA talent we have and how can we make them better and how can we make them household names. People are just starting to see the very tip of this man’s genius in some of these things that we are going to make stars who have worked so hard to get to a certain level and truly take that next big step.”
— This week’s edition of Friday Night Smackdown — which has already aired in Australia — ran a promo package saying Ezekiel Jackson is coming to the show.
— The Bella Twins will be participating in Lupus LA’s celebrity poker tournament next Thursday in West Hollywood. “Get Lucky for Lupus!” is a charity event to raise money and bring lupus awareness to the forefront. Visit www.lupusla.org for more information.
— In a trivia note, this Sunday’s Divas Championship Match between Maryse and Gail Kim will be the first first women’s bout to take place on a WWE pay-per-view during the month of February since 2001. The 2001 edition of No Way Out saw Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley go over Trish Stratus.
— Regarding Lance Cade, he remains under contract to WWE but is simply not being used in any capacity. He worked a Florida Championship Wrestling event late last year and hasn’t been seen since. Furthermore, no one knows when he’ll be returning to television let alone which brand he’ll end up on.
— You can follow Wade Barrett on Twitter at twitter.com/WadeBarrett. He is being mentored by Chris Jericho on WWE NXT.
WWE Studios have signed Academy Award-nominated actor Ed Harris and wife Amy Madigan as part of the cast for the family drama Big Red, reports Variety.com.
The movie is set in the mid-1960s and Harris will assume the role of a teacher who pairs a student bully with a bright student. Randy Orton will star as the father of the bully who campaigns to have Harris’s character fired.
Variety notes that WWE’s new casting strategy is to surround the wrestlers with established actors rather than have the wrestlers attempt to carry the movie.
TMZ.com reports that Hulk Hogan and his son Nick have settled the lawsuit filed against them by the family of John Graziano, who was seriously injured while a passenger in Nick Hogan’s Toyota Supra when he wrecked it in the summer of 2007. The terms of the settlement are confidential.
It’s believed that Hulk Hogan settled the lawsuit to avoid the “media circus” that a trial would have brought and to resolve the matter in a way that’s as painless as possible” for both the Hogan and Graziano families.
Hogan’s attorney, David R. Houston, tells TMZ they are “pleased as this was in the best interest of John.”
Linda Hogan, who was also sued by the Grazianos over the car wreck, reached a settlement with the family last month.
TMZ.com reports that Hulk Hogan and his son Nick have settled the lawsuit filed against them by the family of John Graziano, who was seriously injured while a passenger in Nick Hogan’s Toyota Supra when he wrecked it in the summer of 2007. The terms of the settlement are confidential.
It’s believed that Hulk Hogan settled the lawsuit to avoid the “media circus” that a trial would have brought and to resolve the matter in a way that’s as painless as possible” for both the Hogan and Graziano families.
Hogan’s attorney, David R. Houston, tells TMZ they are “pleased as this was in the best interest of John.”
Linda Hogan, who was also sued by the Grazianos over the car wreck, reached a settlement with the family last month.
— Reigning WWE Women’s Champion Mickie James has hired fashion designer Natasha Rawls of NaJo Creations to design her clothes for her live country music debut on Monday, Feb. 22nd in Nashville. Rawls will also design James’ outfit for the annual WWE Hall of Fame ceremony. (WWE Diva and Country Artist Mickie James taps new designer)
— As a result of the demise of ECW, Tiffany, Rosa Mendes and Savannah have returned for Florida Championship Wrestling for further in-ring training.
— Speaking of Tiffany, both she and Intercontinental Champion Drew McIntyre signed autographs before last night’s Florida Championship Wrestling television taping.
— Mere days before Sunday’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, Chris Jericho noted on his Twitter account yesterday that he was headed to the dentist for a painful root canal procedure.
— You can follow Skip Sheffield on Twitter at twitter.com/CornfedMeathead. The WWE NXT Rookie portrays a cowboy character.
— WWE Monday Night Raw on May 10, 2010 will be held at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Tickets go on sale March 6, 2010 at 10 a.m. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
WWE SmackDown star John Morrison spoke to IGN.com this week about his new DVD, Sunday’s Elimination Chamber PPV, the controversy surrounding the Miz coaching Daniel Bryan on WWE NXT and more. Here are a few highlights:
His new DVD: “The usual Superstars DVD release is a 3-disc career retrospective and they wanted to try a new format. It’s a one-disc engaging thing that someone can watch all in one sitting. I think they decided to have me be the experiment/prototype for it to see how the format would do. To see if it could be interesting or if it’s going to sell. I think that was the thought behind it.”
The End of ECW: “I think it’s the end of an era. But the ECW that people fell in love with in the late ’90s has been gone for a while already. What I think ECW presented was a big opportunity for a lot of WWE superstars. Definitely me. It revitalized my entire career when I moved to ECW. I became the ECW champion, and it’s when I started tagging with The Miz. CM Punk debuted on ECW. That’s where he started also. So I think it’s going to be sad to see it go. But the show that’s replacing it, the NXT show – I think hopefully it’s going to do the same thing for a lot of people. It’s going to give a lot of people an opportunity. I can’t remember everyone on there, but I know that Bryan Danielson is on there. He’s going to be one of the new guys on the show. So I hope it will give people the chance to make it big in WWE just like ECW did.”
The Miz mentoring Daniel Bryan on NXT: “Yeah, when I saw that, I was at the ECW taping, and I actually saw Miz. He didn’t know either until he saw the graphic on the screen. That he was the “Pro” and Bryan Danielson was the student. I walked by and said, “Pssh, he knows more than you do.” And that’s pretty much what everyone thinks. It’s gonna be interesting and I think that’s the point of it.”
Former WWE Tag Team Champion Domino appeared at last night’s Florida Championship Wrestling event, squaring off against FCW Champion Justin Gabriel in the main event.
Gabriel was informed that his opponent for the evening would be a former WWE title holder. Domino came out to his former “Deuce ‘n Domino” theme music and said he was to now be called Cliff Compton.
Gabriel beat Compton by disqualification after Wade Barrett attacked the FCW Champion. Michael Tarver then hit the ring to attack Barrett. FCW Lieutenant General Manager Norman Smiley then made a tag match involving all four men. Gabriel and Tarver defeated Compton and Barrett after Tarver knocked out Compton and Gabriel pinned him.
It remains unknown whether WWE has re-signed Compton. He was released from his contract on August 8, 2008.
Thanks to reader Archie for these live spoilers from Tuesday’s SmackDown tapings:
Dark Match:
* Jimmy Wang defeats Tyler Reks with a moonsault in a good match. Reks cut a heel promo before the match.
SmackDown, Airing Friday:
* Chris Jericho comes out to start SmackDown and says he will win the Chamber. Edge comes out to a big pop. He talks about spearing Taker last week. Jericho tells Edge to pick the RAW Champion for WrestleMania for his own good. The lights flicker and Edge spears Jericho.
* Kane vs. Dolph Ziggler takes place until Drew McIntyre comes down in a suit. Dolph tries to take advantage but Kane chokeslams him for the win. Drew comes in and hits his finisher on Kane but Kane reverses it.
* Rey Mysterio cuts a promo backstage and says he will win the Elimination Chamber.
* John Morrison & R-Truth vs. CM Punk & Luke Gallows is announced for tonight.
* Cryme Tyme defeated Trent Baretta and Caylon Croft in a good tag match.
* John Morrison is interviewed and says his ankle won’t make him miss the Chamber. Truth comes in and says he will win the Chamber but tonight, he and Morrison will beat Punk and Gallows.
* CM Punk and the Straight Edge Society come out. Punk cuts a promo and says he will win the belt at Elimination Chamber this Sunday. Tons of heat for Punk.
* Punk & Gallows vs. Morrison & Truth ends in a no contest. What looked like Undertaker’s pyro went off during the match, everything stopped but nothing happened. Match is restarted. Morrison was really playing up his ankle injury. The referee called for the bell when Morrison went to kick Punk but kicked the ring post and went down in pain. SES beats Morrison and Truth down until Rey Mysterio comes in for the save. They beat him down and pose in front of Rey to a ton of heat.
* Teddy Long is shown backstage. He says he will take action against Shawn Michaels for super kicking him on RAW. Mickie James comes in and Vickie Guerrero announces it will be Mickie vs. Michelle McCool next week with Vickie as the referee.
* Maria, Matt Hardy and The Great Khali vs. The Hart Dynasty is up next. The Dynasty gets the win when Natalya pins Maria. Maria walks up the ramp pissed off with Matt right behind her apologizing.
* Maria is shown backstage arguing with Matt Hardy about him letting their team down. Michelle McCool and Layla come in and make fun of them.
* Edge vs. Batista is next. No pyro for Batista, simple entrance but a big pop. Edge comes out to a big pop also. Batista stalls to start the match. Edge takes the mic and says John Cena was right about Batista. Finally they wrestle and it’s a good match. Edge spears Batista and Taker’s bell hits and he appears in the ring. Taker chokeslams Edge. Taker chases Batista off. Chris Jericho appears in the ring and hits the Codebreaker on Edge. Taker comes back out and stares down Jericho to end SmackDown after Jericho motions to the World Title.
Matt and Jeff Hardy posted a video online talking about WWE’s new NXT show, which debuts Tuesday night on Syfy.
Matt says he thinks NXT is a cool concept with potential. He said the ECW that was on Syfy was not the real ECW, and the guys on the roster will wind up on RAW and SmackDown.
Matt said he will be coaching Justin Angel/Gabriel on NXT and he’s heard he’s like the “FCW Version of AJ Styles.” He also commented on the controversy surrounding The Miz coaching Daniel Bryan and said that will make for some interesting television.
Up next, Jeff Hard teased what his next career move will be. He said you might need some training and show up in NXT. He might return to WWE, or he could join Hulkamania in TNA. He then said maybe he’ll show up in Ring of Honor, but then he and Matt looked at each other and agreed that wasn’t a great idea.
Matt and Jeff Hardy posted a video online talking about WWE’s new NXT show, which debuts Tuesday night on Syfy.
Matt says he thinks NXT is a cool concept with potential. He said the ECW that was on Syfy was not the real ECW, and the guys on the roster will wind up on RAW and SmackDown.
Matt said he will be coaching Justin Angel/Gabriel on NXT and he’s heard he’s like the “FCW Version of AJ Styles.” He also commented on the controversy surrounding The Miz coaching Daniel Bryan and said that will make for some interesting television.
Up next, Jeff Hard teased what his next career move will be. He said you might need some training and show up in NXT. He might return to WWE, or he could join Hulkamania in TNA. He then said maybe he’ll show up in Ring of Honor, but then he and Matt looked at each other and agreed that wasn’t a great idea.
WWE United States & Unified tag champion The Miz has posted a message on his WWE Universe page (link) responding to critics who say he’s not qualified to mentor Daniel Bryan (formerly Bryan Danielson) on the new WWE NXT show. Bryan is an accomplished wrestler who has had great matches for many years all over the world.
The Miz wrote, “It’s come to my knowledge that some members of the WWE Universe think they know everything about WWE and what it takes to be a WWE Superstar. They think that if a guy does well in the independent minor leagues, then all of a sudden he should be in the WWE. They think that if a guy can main event in front of a hundred people at a bingo hall, then he’s ready to main event at WrestleMania. Just because fans on the Internet say you’re ready doesn’t mean you really are.”
Bryan is a great in-ring worker, but the Miz says he’ll go nowhere without learning how to be a star – a quality he’s been honing for years. “My job is to make Daniel Bryan a star in the WWE,” Miz said. “Let’s face it, if you look at a picture of him right now, do you think STAR? No, Daniel Bryan looks like my accountant … ordinary and bland.”
He continued, Maybe if he had The Miz’s charisma and look, he would have been in the WWE by now. Don’t hate on me because it didn’t take me a decade to get a WWE contract and go down in WWE history to be the first Superstar to win the United States Title and Unified Tag Team Titles.”
Miz give Bryan some credit by saying he “has all the talent in the world,” but said Bryan has a long road ahead and it will be the Miz’ job to unlock his true potential.
