Shortly after WWE announced ECW is being shutting down to make way for the “NXT” generation of programming, a light was shined on an existing NXT – NXT Wrestling, an independent promotion based out of Scotland. NXT Wrestling sent out the following today:
NXT Wrestling. Established 2006.
A Renfrewshire-based company in Scotland has come under threat from US media giants after a global enterprise decided to use their name and tagline.
Global media giants World Wrestling Entertainment have recently announced their plans to launch WWE:NXT, the NXT Generation of wrestling. This has since been a cause for concern for Scottish promotion NXT Wrestling, a local company who risk getting squashed in favour of the multi-million dollar WWE headed by Vince McMahon.
NXT Wrestling was announced in 2006 and launched in 2007 as a way of giving young men with dreams their chance to break free from their lives and live for a few moments in the spotlight. NXT and it’s associated promotion the Scottish Wrestling Alliance have strived to bring quality family entertainment to towns and halls across the West of Scotland, culminating in the struggle to bring an ailing genre into the spotlight with events in Kelvin Hall, and has helped raise funds for charities including Torkhill Childrens Foundation.
When WWE announced their new brand as NXT, using the same tagline ‘NXT Generation’ and emphasis on developmental talent, staff and employee’s began to worry when they woke up to the new on Wednesday morning.
“We have had no direct contact from WWE regarding this matter but we welcome any conversation or resolution they would like to put forward.” Commented Peter Murphy, owner of the Scottish Wrestling Alliance.
“Everyone at the Scottish Wrestling Alliance is honoured that WWE have decided to name their latest product after SWA’s feeder programme, NXT. We would like to assure our fans that the original NXT is still leading the way for trainees in Scotland and the shows on 6th February, Spittal Community Centre, Rutherglen, 19th February, Bargarran Community Centre, Erskine, March 6th, Viewpark Community Centre, Uddingston and March 19th, Links Community Centre, Cumbernauld are all still due to go ahead as advertised.”
After long and careful planning, SWA:NXT made it’s debut in January 2007 as a promotion designed to showcase up and coming talent within Scotland in conjunction with SWA’s Area 52 wrestling school. In 2009 NXT Wrestling split from the Scottish Wrestling Alliance to stand on it’s own two feet, taking it’s own creative direction in September last year.
The goal within the company is to give younger talent an opportunity to showcase their abilities and get noticed. Several of our NXT talents over the years have gone on to work across the UK, gain international interest and win NWA Heavyweight championships. NXT promoted shows across the West of Scotland with our next event scheduled this weekend, February 6th in Rutherglen which features some fresh young talent who have risen through the ranks of their training facility and earned their place on the event.
Contact:
Peter Murphy
Scottish Wrestling Alliance & NXT Wrestling
07877461913 [email protected]
http://nxtwrestling.com
http://scottishwrestling.co.uk
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his JRsBarBQ.com blog. Some highlights:
The End of ECW: “I will always have great respect for the Original ECW because of the passion and work ethic of all involved. Paul Heyman had great vision for what he wanted to create and his talents bought into that vision. I bring this up because the letters “ECW” will leave weekly TV in 3 weeks and will be replaced with a new, WWE produced program. Anxious to see what they come up with for Sy Fy.
His Health: “I am excited about the future primarily because I’m feeling so much better physically and am presently in a great place mentally.”
His Future: “Must be lots of new rumors on the ‘net about my future. If any of you get some concrete info on what I will be doing for a living in the coming months, years, etc, please let me know because my status, goals for the future, etc are the same as I have repeatedly stated for months … I have actually been discussing some projects totally unrelated to the wrestling biz which are intriguing.”
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his JRsBarBQ.com blog. Some highlights:
The End of ECW: “I will always have great respect for the Original ECW because of the passion and work ethic of all involved. Paul Heyman had great vision for what he wanted to create and his talents bought into that vision. I bring this up because the letters “ECW” will leave weekly TV in 3 weeks and will be replaced with a new, WWE produced program. Anxious to see what they come up with for Sy Fy.
His Health: “I am excited about the future primarily because I’m feeling so much better physically and am presently in a great place mentally.”
His Future: “Must be lots of new rumors on the ‘net about my future. If any of you get some concrete info on what I will be doing for a living in the coming months, years, etc, please let me know because my status, goals for the future, etc are the same as I have repeatedly stated for months … I have actually been discussing some projects totally unrelated to the wrestling biz which are intriguing.”
The decision has been made within TNA that iMPACT will be going to Mondays full-time but it’s not known yet when those changes will take effect and it’s unknown if the show will air from 8-10pm or 9-11pm.
The current plan has TNA taping the show every other week doing a live shot on Monday and taping on Tuesday with the taped show airing the next Monday. Because of the occasional odd number of weeks between pay-per-views, it’s possible there will be times there TNA will tape three shows or do a taping where they would fly people in just for one live Monday.
TNA may make the decision to go live every Monday night depending on how low the ratings for taped shows are. iMPACT going to Monday nights has actually been discussed between Hogan, Bischoff, TNA officials and Spike since October of 2009.
(Credit to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter for some of the information used in this report)
As we reported here earlier in the week, WWE superstar Gregory Helms was found with a Soma pill (a schedule four narcotic muscle relaxer) in his bag when arrested with Chris Jericho. Helms was unable to produce a prescriptionfor the pill at the time of arrest, but it did not get him into any trouble with the police.
If Helms didn’t have a prescription for the drug as he told police, WWE would be forced to suspend him for 60 days on his second Wellness violation. WWE’s current policy says that every prescription a wrestler has is supposed to be filed ahead of time with Dr. David Black. All prescriptions are supposed to be written by the company doctors who travel with the WWE crew. Helms has a previous violation against him for his name coming up in the Signature Pharmacy scandal in 2007 and has never failed a WWE drug test.
There has been a lot of talk backstage regarding Helms’ future with WWE after the incident. It’s estimated that Helms missed out on a $5,000 payday when he was pulled from the Royal Rumble PPV days after the arrest. Helms was said to be apologetic to WWE officials for the incident. He appeared on this week’s ECW show, getting beat down by Ezekiel Jackson and William Regal after they talked about his “rough week.”
As we reported here earlier in the week, WWE superstar Gregory Helms was found with a Soma pill (a schedule four narcotic muscle relaxer) in his bag when arrested with Chris Jericho. Helms was unable to produce a prescriptionfor the pill at the time of arrest, but it did not get him into any trouble with the police.
If Helms didn’t have a prescription for the drug as he told police, WWE would be forced to suspend him for 60 days on his second Wellness violation. WWE’s current policy says that every prescription a wrestler has is supposed to be filed ahead of time with Dr. David Black. All prescriptions are supposed to be written by the company doctors who travel with the WWE crew. Helms has a previous violation against him for his name coming up in the Signature Pharmacy scandal in 2007 and has never failed a WWE drug test.
There has been a lot of talk backstage regarding Helms’ future with WWE after the incident. It’s estimated that Helms missed out on a $5,000 payday when he was pulled from the Royal Rumble PPV days after the arrest. Helms was said to be apologetic to WWE officials for the incident. He appeared on this week’s ECW show, getting beat down by Ezekiel Jackson and William Regal after they talked about his “rough week.”
Hulk Hogan appeared on Rob Van Dam’s RVD Radio this week and talked to the former WWE and ECW Champion about coming into TNA. Hogan called up to speak with Van Dam personally but ended up appearing as a live caller on the radio show.
Hogan told Van Dam that TNA has some serious momentum right now and if they had RVD “ruling the roost”, it would make things a lot easier. Van Dam asked Hogan about TNA on Monday nights and Hogan said the move is definitely going to happen sooner than later .Hogan kept saying how much fun everyone is having in TNA.
Hogan said TNA needs RVD’s help and Van Dam said he is very interested in hearing what Hogan has to say about him coming in. Van Dam told Hogan that now is a better time than ever as his wife is healthy, he is healthy and he’s not burnt out. RVD said he was curious about coming into TNA and said that he and Hogan will discuss it.
Hogan said he spoke to Jeff Hardy earlier in the day and both men agreed RVD would be a good fit in TNA. Hogan said he and Hardy have tossed around some “crazy ideas” that he guarantees will work.
RVD asked Hogan if it was his decision to go back to the four-sided ring and Hogan confirmed it was. Hogan put down the six-sided ring and Van Dam agreed with the decision.
Overall it was a real interesting segment and it was cool listening to Hogan and Van Dam going back and forth.
– Despite the positive spin he’s putting on TNA in media interviews, Hulk Hogan has been complaining to friends that he’s frustrated with several things in TNA. Hogan feels pressure to push people he does not believe in – namely, some of the TNA originals. Word is that Dixie Carter doesn’t want the TNA originals to be buried by Hogan’s buddies, but there are some TNA originals that Hogan sees nothing in and wants to get rid of. Hogan is said to be a big fan of Abyss as well as Tomko, saying at least both men look like wrestlers.
– TNA star Kurt Angle’s name came up in a federal trial of nine men associated with Applied Pharmacy in Mobile, Alabama that is going on this week. Assistant US Attorney Donna Dobbins brought up Angle and Jose Canseco as clients of the pharmacy in her closing arguments on Tuesday. She said, “Each one of them (the defendants) participated in this conspiracy. They operated a steroid mill, and they would dispense anabolic steroids to anyone whose credit card was good.â€
– Ed “Brutus Beefcake” Leslie was backstage at the TNA iMPACT tapings on January 20th. Leslie is a longtime friend of Hulk Hogan, brother.
– As for the news that Scott Hall and Sean Waltman are gone from TNA, this is not the case. The duo has been removed from the TNA iMAPCT! opening video as well as the TNA Roster page on the company website, but them being removed is part of the storyline.
– Eric Bischoff is still intent on bringing Jim Ross into TNA as an announcer. After many months of speculation as to what he’d do when his WWE contract expired, Ross signed a short-term extension back in December and is expected to be with WWE through mid-2010. That said, the face of the pro wrestling industry is sure to change this year, with TNA likely going to Monday nights at some point, so who knows what the future holds.
– As we’ve seen in recent weeks on iMPACT!, Nature Boy Ric Flair has taken TNA Champion AJ Styles under his wing. The basis for the storyline is that Ric Flair is the consummate World Champion. AJ Styles is a master in his own right inside the ropes, but Flair will teach Styles how to be a World Champion outside the ring – the women, the limousines, etc. TNA wants AJ Styles to be the kind of guy that stands out in a crowd, which is why they’ve been suggesting for him to bleach his hair blond.
Update: During a surprise appearance on RVD Radio on Wednesday night, Hulk Hogan talked about AJ Styles and said he’s got big plans for Styles’ character. Hogan said he can’t even reveal the “new name” for Styles’ character, but the TNA champm is going through a transformation right now that will unfold in the coming weeks. (RVD Radio Recap)
– When Rob Terry won the TNA Global Title on January 27th at a TNA live event in Cardiff, Wales, he was not told about the title change until the day of the show. Terry played the role of the local babyface and as noted before, his family were in attendance with TNA camera crews filming everything.
– Eric Bischoff is still intent on bringing Jim Ross into TNA as an announcer. After many months of speculation as to what he’d do when his WWE contract expired, Ross signed a short-term extension back in December and is expected to be with WWE through mid-2010. That said, the face of the pro wrestling industry is sure to change this year, with TNA likely going to Monday nights at some point, so who knows what the future holds.
– As we’ve seen in recent weeks on iMPACT!, Nature Boy Ric Flair has taken TNA Champion AJ Styles under his wing. The basis for the storyline is that Ric Flair is the consummate World Champion. AJ Styles is a master in his own right inside the ropes, but Flair will teach Styles how to be a World Champion outside the ring – the women, the limousines, etc. TNA wants AJ Styles to be the kind of guy that stands out in a crowd, which is why they’ve been suggesting for him to bleach his hair blond.
Update: During a surprise appearance on RVD Radio on Wednesday night, Hulk Hogan talked about AJ Styles and said he’s got big plans for Styles’ character. Hogan said he can’t even reveal the “new name” for Styles’ character, but the TNA champm is going through a transformation right now that will unfold in the coming weeks. (RVD Radio Recap)
– When Rob Terry won the TNA Global Title on January 27th at a TNA live event in Cardiff, Wales, he was not told about the title change until the day of the show. Terry played the role of the local babyface and as noted before, his family were in attendance with TNA camera crews filming everything.
— Last night’s episode of ECW On SyFy featuring Vince McMahon’s major announcement concerning the future of the brand scored a final cable rating of 1.05 (rounding up to 1.1), with 1.413 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. This is an increase from the 0.9 figure the show has been drawing in recent weeks.
— Nikki Bella noted on her Twitter account that sister Brie is dating Richie Kotzen, a guitarist formerly of the rock bands Poison and Mr. Big.
— Dolph Ziggler noted on his Twitter account that he is heading to Instanbul, Turkey, presumably to promote WWE’s show there in April.
— Last night’s episode of ECW On SyFy featuring Vince McMahon’s major announcement concerning the future of the brand scored a final cable rating of 1.05 (rounding up to 1.1), with 1.413 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. This is an increase from the 0.9 figure the show has been drawing in recent weeks.
— Nikki Bella noted on her Twitter account that sister Brie is dating Richie Kotzen, a guitarist formerly of the rock bands Poison and Mr. Big.
— Dolph Ziggler noted on his Twitter account that he is heading to Instanbul, Turkey, presumably to promote WWE’s show there in April.
— WKYT-TV/CWKYT is reporting that the WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view on May 23rd, 2010 has been moved to Detroit, Michigan. The originally announced location was Oakland, California. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
— Chris Jericho announced on his Twitter account that “Fozzy” will be doing a U.K. tour this May.
Four shows have been for announced for Glasgow, Scotland on May 13, Nottingham on May 14, and two shows in London on May 15. Ticket information has not yet been announced.
“Fozzy” released its Chasing the Grail album last week.
— Muscle & Fitness is running a contest to determines its 2009 cover of the year. You can make a champion out of Triple H’s September cover via poll at the following link.
— WKYT-TV/CWKYT is reporting that the WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view on May 23rd, 2010 has been moved to Detroit, Michigan. The originally announced location was Oakland, California. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
— Chris Jericho announced on his Twitter account that “Fozzy” will be doing a U.K. tour this May.
Four shows have been for announced for Glasgow, Scotland on May 13, Nottingham on May 14, and two shows in London on May 15. Ticket information has not yet been announced.
“Fozzy” released its Chasing the Grail album last week.
— Muscle & Fitness is running a contest to determines its 2009 cover of the year. You can make a champion out of Triple H’s September cover via poll at the following link.
— Trish Stratus recently noted that she went back to her blonde roots and would be making an announcement soon revealing why. The reason for this is because the multi-time Women’s Champion has booked a leading role in a Canadian independent film.
A press release was issued today announcing that Stratus has signed on to play the female lead in the action movie Bail Enforcers.
According to the press release, Bail Enforcers is about: “a team of down on their luck bounty hunters who run into trouble when they are confronted with a moral dilemma. A local mob boss wants the team to exchange a bail jumper for a million dollars.”
Stratus will playing the role of Jules Taylor.
“I’m thrilled to be a part of a production that is 100% Canadian and I look forward to delivering some Stratusfaction!” said Stratus.
— Former WWE ring announcer Lilian Garcia is auctioning off another bikini, as well as a dress she wore at a WrestleMania. You can view the auctions at the following link.
— Former WWE wrestler Ken Doane (a/k/a Kenny Dykstra) made it past the first round on the new Fox Reality series, Seducing Cindy. A replay will be airing tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 p.m. EST.
— Giant Silva (formerly of The Oddities) headlines a National Wrestling Superstars event in Woodbridge, New Jersey at the Elks Lodge on Friday, Feb. 19. The show will also be honoring Captain Lou Albano with a tribute, who worked a number of NWS shows.
— In addition to being removed from the opening montage for iMPACT!, both Scott Hall and Sean Waltman have been removed from the TNA website’s roster page.
It should be noted however that both wrestlers are still affiliated with TNA as the website is simply corresponding with the angle a few weeks ago where Hulk Hogan said they don’t work for TNA and subsequently had them removed from the Impact! Zone. With that being said, their long-term futures with the company do legitimately remain in doubt.
— As reported earlier today, Scott D’Amore has amicably parted ways with TNA Wrestling. He issued the following statement on his Facebook account regarding his departure from the organization:
“TNA wrestling producer and former on-air manager of Team Canada, Scott D’Amore has decided to leave TNA Wrestling effective immediately. D’Amore, who most recently was the agent for the TNA Knockouts division, which produced some of the highest ratings for SpikeTV’s Impact, has decided to pursue a new wrestling project… in Canada. D’Amore’s Border City Wrestling, based out of Windsor, Ontario, will be merging with Toronto’s BSE Pro Wrestling, run by Jason A. Brown, to become one of North America’s largest and longest running independent wrestling company under the new banner, Maximum Pro Wrestling!”
You can read his statement in its entirety at the following link.
— TNA will be holding house shows at the Eastern Kentucky Expo Center in Pikeville, Kentucky on April 8th, 2010 and the Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington, West Virginia on April 10th, 2010. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
— In addition to being removed from the opening montage for iMPACT!, both Scott Hall and Sean Waltman have been removed from the TNA website’s roster page.
It should be noted however that both wrestlers are still affiliated with TNA as the website is simply corresponding with the angle a few weeks ago where Hulk Hogan said they don’t work for TNA and subsequently had them removed from the Impact! Zone. With that being said, their long-term futures with the company do legitimately remain in doubt.
— As reported earlier today, Scott D’Amore has amicably parted ways with TNA Wrestling. He issued the following statement on his Facebook account regarding his departure from the organization:
“TNA wrestling producer and former on-air manager of Team Canada, Scott D’Amore has decided to leave TNA Wrestling effective immediately. D’Amore, who most recently was the agent for the TNA Knockouts division, which produced some of the highest ratings for SpikeTV’s Impact, has decided to pursue a new wrestling project… in Canada. D’Amore’s Border City Wrestling, based out of Windsor, Ontario, will be merging with Toronto’s BSE Pro Wrestling, run by Jason A. Brown, to become one of North America’s largest and longest running independent wrestling company under the new banner, Maximum Pro Wrestling!”
You can read his statement in its entirety at the following link.
— TNA will be holding house shows at the Eastern Kentucky Expo Center in Pikeville, Kentucky on April 8th, 2010 and the Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington, West Virginia on April 10th, 2010. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
— TNA president Dixie Carter announced today on her Twitter account that April’s Lockdown pay-per-view will be held in St. Louis, Missouri.
St. Louis hosted Lockdown in 2007, which featured an Electrified Six Sides of Steel Match between Team 3D and LAX, as well as Blindfold Match between Chris Harris and James Storm.
— TNA has added Generation Me to its roster page. They have also added an additional TNA roster members page at the following link.
WWE superstar John Cena took part in a live chat session Monday night on WWE.com. Visit WWE.com to read the full transcript. Some highlights:
– Cena was asked whether he’s interested in fighting Hulk Hogan, He responded with a jab at Hogan and TNA, saying, “Yes. I just don’t think that’s going to happen right now. He’s too busy wasting his time.”
– He has no current plans to release another rap album, but will be working again with rapper Bumpy Knuckles for a song on the soundtrack of his upcoming WWE Studios film, “Legendary” (previously titled “Brother’s Keeper”).
– When asked who he’d like to wrestle at WrestleMania, he stated, “The Rock.” As Cena answered another question about his movie career, host Joey Styles chimed in by saying Cena’s next movie will be better than The Rock’s recent “Tooth Fiary” movie.
WWE superstar John Cena took part in a live chat session Monday night on WWE.com. Visit WWE.com to read the full transcript. Some highlights:
– Cena was asked whether he’s interested in fighting Hulk Hogan, He responded with a jab at Hogan and TNA, saying, “Yes. I just don’t think that’s going to happen right now. He’s too busy wasting his time.”
– He has no current plans to release another rap album, but will be working again with rapper Bumpy Knuckles for a song on the soundtrack of his upcoming WWE Studios film, “Legendary” (previously titled “Brother’s Keeper”).
– When asked who he’d like to wrestle at WrestleMania, he stated, “The Rock.” As Cena answered another question about his movie career, host Joey Styles chimed in by saying Cena’s next movie will be better than The Rock’s recent “Tooth Fiary” movie.
— TNA agent Scott D’Amore has parted ways with the company, according to PWInsider.com. D’Amore a message on his Facebook page stating, “Scott D’Amore would like to wish TNA well in their future endeavors. More to follow.”
-Â Eric Bischoff wrote on Twitter today, “Jeremy Borash posted a picture of himself with Bret Hart on his Twitter account. What a MARK! To see the picture, click here.
– Former WWE Diva Candice Michelle posted a picture on Twitter of her pregnant stomach, which you can see here. The caption reads, “Look at my growing belly! So much fun! :)”
February 22, 2010: Jewel & Ty Murray
What does two-time Grammy Award winner Jewel and nine-time bull riding world champion Ty Murray have in common? They are a celebrity power couple ready to bring even more action and excitement to Monday Night Raw live from Indianapolis.
March 8, 2010: Criss Angel
Raw will bring extra magic and quite possibly blow your mind only three weeks before WrestleMania as the “mindfreak†himself, Criss Angel, hosts Raw from Portland, Ore.
ECW original and TNA announcer Taz has posted a message on his Facebook.com page regarding Vince McMahon’s announcement that ECW is shutting down once and for all in 3 weeks.
Last night on Twitter, Taz wrote “thank god” WWE’s version of ECW is done and sarcastically called McMahon not thanking Paul Heyman or the ECW originals a “classy” move. On Facebook, Taz explains exactly what bothered him about McMahon’s announcement:
“Point is, why not acknowledge the Paul Heymens contributions to the industry? Or, saying thanks to all the ECW original wrestlers? A lot of blood, sweat and tears were dropped during the original ECW’s life! If you are going to thank cameramen & directors (etc) than acknowledge the past history because its well deserved.
Even if Vince McMahon did not feel Paul Heyman and the ECW originals deserved to be acknowledged, Taz feels Vince once again left money on the table by not getting the most out of an asset he bought:
“If you utilized the letters ECW to make a lot of $$$ over the past several years I would assume that your respect the history of ECW? If you would produce and sell a successful DVD documenting the companies history…I would assume you feel that the original ECW history has value….than why not give it a proper send off?”
He concluded the message by saying he’s happy the ECW letters are being retired, as they deserve to rest in peace. Visit Facebook.com to read the full blog.
— While watching Raw last week, Joey Styles took aim at D-Generation X on his Twitter account, writing: “Is anybody else besides me sick of DX?”
He posted several other tweets commenting on the show, but they have all since been deleted.
— An apparently upset Tyson Kidd expressed his disappointment on being left off Sunday’s Royal Rumble match with the following message on his Facebook account: “Guess they found 30 guys better, either that or I drew number 31.” Fellow Hart Dynasty member David Hart Smith was also left off the card.
