— It was announced during tonight’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown that CM Punk and Luke Gallows will challenge D-Generation X for the Unified WWE Tag Team Championships at next week’s show in Cincinnati, Ohio.
It was also announced that Drew McIntyre will be defending his Intercontinental Championship against John Morrison in a No Disqualification Match.
— A match taped this past Tuesday in Greenville, South Carolina pitting Dolph Ziggler against Jimmy Wang Yang was cut from tonight’s Friday Night SmackDown broadcast due to time constraints.
— Rey Mysterio is featured on the cover of the February 2010 issue of WWE Magazine — which hits newsstands next Tuesday — wearing wings.
— Last night’s episode of TNA iMPACT! drew a 1.26 cable rating, the same number as last week. The show drew 1.9 million viewers overall. The opening quarter hour with Hulk Hogan, Kurt Angle, AJ Styles & Ric Flair and final two quarter hours tied for the highest rated segment of the night with a 1.32.
— Besides Awesome Kong, both Alex Shelley and Bobby Lashley are not going on TNA’s tour of the UK. Shelley will not be going on the tour due to ongoing disc injuries. Likewise, Lashley isn’t going because he’s fighting for the mixed martials arts promotion Strikeforce next weekend.
— Kevin Nash is said to be unhappy with “The Band” nickname TNA bestowed upon him, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman. They used the old Blue Brothers movie joke about putting “the band back together” several years ago in World Championship Wrestling, but Nash now feels it’s ridiculously dated.
— Last night’s episode of TNA iMPACT! drew a 1.26 cable rating, the same number as last week. The show drew 1.9 million viewers overall. The opening quarter hour with Hulk Hogan, Kurt Angle, AJ Styles & Ric Flair and final two quarter hours tied for the highest rated segment of the night with a 1.32.
— Besides Awesome Kong, both Alex Shelley and Bobby Lashley are not going on TNA’s tour of the UK. Shelley will not be going on the tour due to ongoing disc injuries. Likewise, Lashley isn’t going because he’s fighting for the mixed martials arts promotion Strikeforce next weekend.
— Kevin Nash is said to be unhappy with “The Band” nickname TNA bestowed upon him, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman. They used the old Blue Brothers movie joke about putting “the band back together” several years ago in World Championship Wrestling, but Nash now feels it’s ridiculously dated.
— Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is featured on YouTube’s Celebrity Playlists page, which has the former WWE Champion making note of his favorite videos on the website, including wrestling matches. He urges fans to check out videos of his father Rocky Johnson and Tony Atlas taking on the Wild Samoans, as well as Jimmy Snuka’s iconic cage match with Don Muraco in 1983.
— Speaking of Johnson, his latest family feature film, Tooth Fairy, opens today in an estimated 3,344 theaters. Originally scheduled for release on November 13, 2009, it was moved to mid-January to avoid competition with 20th Century Fox’s other film, Fantastic Mr. Fox. Those within the movie industry predict it will open with around $18.0 million this weekend at the box office, which is what Johnson’s movies typically do.
— Marty Wright, who performed as The Boogeyman in World Wrestling Entertainment, is now accepting independent bookings under his new persona, “The Night Crawler.” He is accepting bookings for personal appearances, autograph signings, and wrestling matches through Bill Behrens at [email protected].
— Lilian Garcia is auctioning off the black bra she wore during a November 2003 episode of Monday Night Raw when Jackie Gayda walked over to her following a Bra and Panties Match with Trish Stratus and ripped her shirt open. You can view the auction at the following link.
— In a video posted today on Qik.com, Awesome Kong said she has not yet spoken to TNA management regarding her future in the company, but will do so later today. She then says it’s sad that people don’t know the true story about things and that they can only assume what they hear.
Meanwhile, she mentions Abraham Lincoln several times during her video while standing in front of a statue of the 16th President of the United States, notably saying, “I thought slavery was over, but slavery is not over.”
— Last night’s iMPACT! broadcast featured “controversial” audio from Jeff Jarrett’s appearance on The Bubba the Love Sponge Show on Sirius/XM radio. In case you missed this “worked-shoot” angle, you can catch it at the following link.
— TNA has released “Pope” sunglasses at the following link.
— In a video posted today on Qik.com, Awesome Kong said she has not yet spoken to TNA management regarding her future in the company, but will do so later today. She then says it’s sad that people don’t know the true story about things and that they can only assume what they hear.
Meanwhile, she mentions Abraham Lincoln several times during her video while standing in front of a statue of the 16th President of the United States, notably saying, “I thought slavery was over, but slavery is not over.”
— Last night’s iMPACT! broadcast featured “controversial” audio from Jeff Jarrett’s appearance on The Bubba the Love Sponge Show on Sirius/XM radio. In case you missed this “worked-shoot” angle, you can catch it at the following link.
— TNA has released “Pope” sunglasses at the following link.
— TNA newcomer Orlando Jordan had a reputation for developing a big head and exhibiting some unusual behavior during the final months of his tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment four years ago. Jordan was fired from the company on May 26, 2006 because he had been traveling with someone not authorized by the company.
Before his untimely release from the organization, there were creative plans for Jordan to be repackaged with a bisexual gimmick in a storyline that would have involved former TNA performer Stephanie Finochio (a/k/a Trinity) and a friend of his with no prior background in the wrestling industry. While bisexuality is considered taboo in some wrestling circles, it was passed for Jordan since it is his lifestyle in the real world. It should be noted that the storyline was Jordan’s idea because creative team had no plans for him at the time.
Shortly after his departure from the organization, Jordan became embroiled in a bit of controversy online as he had uploaded photos of himself embracing two young males on his MySpace account. Furthermore, Jordan also uploaded nude photographs of himself to an account on the photo sharing website Photobucket.com. The images were discovered because Jordan also stored wrestling photos of himself on the account for his MySpace page.
That said, there were said to be no issues with Jordan backstage at the live Monday Night iMPACT! on Jan. 4.
— The storyline of Jay Lethal losing to wrestling stars of yesteryear was supposed to lead to the young grappler dropping the “Black Machismo” persona. At this time, however, Lethal remains situated in a state of limbo as there’s no telling whether the angle will be continued now that Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff are in charge.
— BG James was back working as an agent this past week at television as he was filling in for Scott D’Amore. The word backstage is that D’Amore was unable to attend this week’s tapings due to shoulder surgery. James was called in as a replacement, though he only worked Monday. D’Amore is the primary agent in charge of the Knockouts division.
— TNA newcomer Orlando Jordan had a reputation for developing a big head and exhibiting some unusual behavior during the final months of his tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment four years ago. Jordan was fired from the company on May 26, 2006 because he had been traveling with someone not authorized by the company.
Before his untimely release from the organization, there were creative plans for Jordan to be repackaged with a bisexual gimmick in a storyline that would have involved former TNA performer Stephanie Finochio (a/k/a Trinity) and a friend of his with no prior background in the wrestling industry. While bisexuality is considered taboo in some wrestling circles, it was passed for Jordan since it is his lifestyle in the real world. It should be noted that the storyline was Jordan’s idea because creative team had no plans for him at the time.
Shortly after his departure from the organization, Jordan became embroiled in a bit of controversy online as he had uploaded photos of himself embracing two young males on his MySpace account. Furthermore, Jordan also uploaded nude photographs of himself to an account on the photo sharing website Photobucket.com. The images were discovered because Jordan also stored wrestling photos of himself on the account for his MySpace page.
That said, there were said to be no issues with Jordan backstage at the live Monday Night iMPACT! on Jan. 4.
— The storyline of Jay Lethal losing to wrestling stars of yesteryear was supposed to lead to the young grappler dropping the “Black Machismo” persona. At this time, however, Lethal remains situated in a state of limbo as there’s no telling whether the angle will be continued now that Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff are in charge.
— BG James was back working as an agent this past week at television as he was filling in for Scott D’Amore. The word backstage is that D’Amore was unable to attend this week’s tapings due to shoulder surgery. James was called in as a replacement, though he only worked Monday. D’Amore is the primary agent in charge of the Knockouts division.
— Beer Money, Inc. — James Storm and Robert Roode — have been expressing their frustration to people backstage after they received word that TNA creative director Vince Russo said he didn’t see them as top stars. Actually, Russo said that they were expendable, but the Pro Wrestling Torch notes that he may have been trying to send the outspoken Storm a message.
Storm was said to be very upset with Beer Money, Inc.’s limited role on the live Monday Night iMPACT! on Jan. 4. In one scene, they were shown shaking hands with Ric Flair upon his arrival to the Impact! Zone. Later that night, they were shown selling a beat down from an unidentified assailant.
It should be noted that there is no noticeable friction between the duo and Russo as observers say they get along fine backstage. (source: pwtorch.com)
— The Nasty Boys made their much anticipated return to the squared circle last night on iMPACT!, defeating Eric Young and Kevin Nash. Before last night, The Nasties had not tagged together on national television in over thirteen years — since the December 9, 1996 episode of WCW Monday Nitro.
— TNA’s house show on March 19th, 2010 will be held at the Civic Center in Pensacola, Florida. Tickets go on sale February 5th, 2010 at 10 a.m. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
— Beer Money, Inc. — James Storm and Robert Roode — have been expressing their frustration to people backstage after they received word that TNA creative director Vince Russo said he didn’t see them as top stars. Actually, Russo said that they were expendable, but the Pro Wrestling Torch notes that he may have been trying to send the outspoken Storm a message.
Storm was said to be very upset with Beer Money, Inc.’s limited role on the live Monday Night iMPACT! on Jan. 4. In one scene, they were shown shaking hands with Ric Flair upon his arrival to the Impact! Zone. Later that night, they were shown selling a beat down from an unidentified assailant.
It should be noted that there is no noticeable friction between the duo and Russo as observers say they get along fine backstage. (source: pwtorch.com)
— The Nasty Boys made their much anticipated return to the squared circle last night on iMPACT!, defeating Eric Young and Kevin Nash. Before last night, The Nasties had not tagged together on national television in over thirteen years — since the December 9, 1996 episode of WCW Monday Nitro.
— TNA’s house show on March 19th, 2010 will be held at the Civic Center in Pensacola, Florida. Tickets go on sale February 5th, 2010 at 10 a.m. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
Hulk Hogan appeared on Bubba the Love Sponge’s radio show yesterday morning. Here are some of the more notable things discussed:
* Hogan wants to kill all house shows until things come together on television. He feels that in no time, TNA will become a force which people will pay attention to.
* He said he has no plans to solely bring in his friends to TNA. He said when he met Ken Anderson on the Australian tour, he knew that “he had what it took.”
* Bubba the Love Sponge discussed his backstage altercation with Awesome Kong earlier this week, saying he was mad at what she did to him. He then called her “a bitch.”
* Apparently, Hogan too poked fun at Kong, feeling her anger was “menstrual-related.”
* Bubba said he was pushing for a bigger role in TNA but now hates the wrestling business. Hogan responded by saying, “Wow!”
* Hogan said less is more and discussed a segment with Scott Hall and Sean Waltman that was taped this week.
* Hogan put over Ric Flair for being on his game once became aligned with AJ Styles.
The talk lasted roughly fifteen minutes and Hogan basically emphasized that he was going to show everyone how the wrestling business works.
— The latest issue of Sky Sportszine has a feature on the top 10 WWE Divas to ever hold a WWE Women’s title. Though it should be noted that half the women listed have never held a title in WWE. Nonetheless, the rankings are as follows:
1: Mickie James
2: Maryse
3: Melina
4: Michelle McCool
5: Beth Phoenix
6: Natalya
7: Kelly Kelly
8: Maria
9: Eve Torres
10: Tiffany
— Maryse spent her birthday yesterday having her teeth repaired. She wrote the following on her Twitter account: “Awesome day besides the 4 hrs @ dentist to repare 3 broken teeth! I ll try to not fall on my face again!”
— Nikki Bella, whose weight was recently the source of a few mean-spirited jabs on the part of former WWE performer Tammy “Sunny” Sytch, noted on her Facebook account this past week that she has hired a personal trainer. She also said in a recent post that she’s hitting the gym harder “to lose the holiday pounds.”
— Dolph Ziggler attended last night’s Cavaliers vs. Lakers game in Cleveland.
— Both the Wrestling Observer and Pro Wrestling Torch are reporting that Eric Escobar’s release from World Wrestling Entertainment over the weekend hardly came as a surprise among many in the company.
Escobar had a reputation for being a “major headcase” throughout his run in the company’s developmental league, Florida Championship Wrestling, to the point that his heat trickled down to former tag partner Eddie “Primo” Colon. Also, there was much head scratching when WWE called him up to the main roster last fall.
— Katie Lea Burchill, who appeared on Raw last week by competing in a first round tournament match for the vacant Divas Championship, is officially a member of the Raw roster again as her profile has been added to its Superstar section. Katie previously competed on Raw in 2008 before being moved to ECW late that year.
Meanwhile, storyline brother Paul has not been added back even though he’s been competing on Raw live events in recent weeks.
— Click here to see behind the scenes footage of Chris Jericho’s photo shoot for Men’s Fitness.
— Both the Wrestling Observer and Pro Wrestling Torch are reporting that Eric Escobar’s release from World Wrestling Entertainment over the weekend hardly came as a surprise among many in the company.
Escobar had a reputation for being a “major headcase” throughout his run in the company’s developmental league, Florida Championship Wrestling, to the point that his heat trickled down to former tag partner Eddie “Primo” Colon. Also, there was much head scratching when WWE called him up to the main roster last fall.
— Katie Lea Burchill, who appeared on Raw last week by competing in a first round tournament match for the vacant Divas Championship, is officially a member of the Raw roster again as her profile has been added to its Superstar section. Katie previously competed on Raw in 2008 before being moved to ECW late that year.
Meanwhile, storyline brother Paul has not been added back even though he’s been competing on Raw live events in recent weeks.
— Click here to see behind the scenes footage of Chris Jericho’s photo shoot for Men’s Fitness.
— WWE announced today that the comedy duo Cheech & Chong will host the March 1, 2010 episode of Monday Night Raw. The following statement was released via the company website:
March 1, 2010: Cheech & Chong
Psst – over here. So, check it out, man: The iconic comedy duo of Cheech & Chong are gonna like, take a break from their 2010 U.S. Tour just long enough to score a couple of primo gigs on Raw. The stars of several films and Grammy winners for Best Comedy Album will float into Oklahoma City to take over the show. Trippy.
Duuuuuude, you are so not gonna want to miss this one. To check it out, tune in March 1.
— Chris Jericho will be appearing in New York City next Friday to promote the release of Fozzy’s Chasing The Grail album which comes out on Tuesday. The SmackDown Superstar will be signing copies of the CD 5:00 p.m. at J&R Music. Click here for more details.
To the surprise of many, both Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff were on hand for all four of TNA’s television tapings this week in Orlando.
While Hogan does have his own dressing room, he made an effort to mingle with the rest of the talent backstage. Meanwhile, Bischoff was more involved in the production of each show.
There had been some skepticism as to whether Hogan and Bischoff would be interested enough to attend four consecutive shows, but to their credit, they did.
Jason Hervey, former child star (“The Wonder Years”) and Bischoff business partner, has also been regularly backstage since Bischoff became involved with the company.Bischoff and Hervey have been working behind the scenes to secure new relationships for TNA within the entertainment industry.
— As reported earlier, Awesome Kong has given notice to TNA with the multi-time champion herself confirming said reports during a live video stream this afternoon. It should be noted that her decision to hand in her notice may not necessarily be as a result of her heated encounter with Bubba the Love Sponge earlier this week, but rather, the company’s upcoming tour of Europe.
“People are sending me messages about my request for my release,” she said. “I don’t know. Originally, I was supposed to go to the UK, but I’m not going there now. I told TNA I would think about it. All they had to do was wait ten minutes.”
In case you missed her live video stream, you can check out her videos at qik.com/awesomekong.
— Ed Leslie (a/k/a Brutus Beefcake) was backstage visiting friends at Wednesday’s Impact taping. (source: prowrestling.NET)
— TNA has announced three new live events in Pennsylvania and West Virginia taking place from Mar. 12 to Mar. 14. The events will be taking place in Erie, PA, Pittsburgh and Wheeling, West Virginia. Click here for more information.
— Former WWE Diva Ashley Massaro attended the Survivor finale red carpet event held two weeks ago and was telling people that she’s had discussions with Dixie Carter about working for TNA. Though there is a good chance she will ultimately wind up in the company, it’s not expected to be imminent.
— TNA officials were planning a feud between The Motor City Machineguns and Generation Me, but Alex Shelley is battling serious problems with his back and neck which could cause him to miss significant ring time.
— Kip James was hanging out backstage at this week’s television tapings. Though he was recently dropped as a talent, he is still under contract to the organization as officials are trying to find a new role for him.
CNN.com has a video interview with Linda Bollea, ex-wife of Hulk Hogan.
Now that her divorce has blown over and her facetime on TMZ.com has died down, Linda is still on television for some reason talking about the only thing she’s really qualified at – being a “cougar.” Linda describes life after being married to Hulk Hogan, and her relationship with 21-year old Charlie Hill.
Host Joy Behar (also from ABC’s “The View”) tells Linda that she she is cautious about dating a much younger man, because she’s afraid he’ll yell out “mommy” when they’re in bed.
Linda Bollea, the ex-wife of Hulk Hogan, has reached a confidential settlement with the family of John Graziano, who was seriously injured in a car wreck involving Nick Hogan back in 2007.
Graziano family attorney George Tragos told Florida’s St. Petersburg Times:
“Linda, she was obviously in a different position than everyone else. She was in California at the time of the accident and she did not sign for Nick Bollea’s drivers license as Terry did, so she’s in a different legal position.”
A confidential settlement was also reached with Daniel Jacobs, who was allegedly racing Nick Hogan at the time of the crash and was sued along with Hulk, Linda and Nick.
Hulk Hogan and his son Nick are still defendants in the suit.
Linda Bollea, the ex-wife of Hulk Hogan, has reached a confidential settlement with the family of John Graziano, who was seriously injured in a car wreck involving Nick Hogan back in 2007.
Graziano family attorney George Tragos told Florida’s St. Petersburg Times:
“Linda, she was obviously in a different position than everyone else. She was in California at the time of the accident and she did not sign for Nick Bollea’s drivers license as Terry did, so she’s in a different legal position.”
A confidential settlement was also reached with Daniel Jacobs, who was allegedly racing Nick Hogan at the time of the crash and was sued along with Hulk, Linda and Nick.
Hulk Hogan and his son Nick are still defendants in the suit.
Awesome Kong is not the only TNA Knockout parting ways with the company this week. A reliable source in TNA has informed us that fellow TNA Knockout Alissa Flash is also leaving.
Alissa (real name Melissa Anderson) reportedly requested her release from the company, she was not fired.
There are rumors of others besides Kong and Anderson requesting their releases but nothing is confirmed.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson spoke to Sports Illustrated this week to promote his new “Tooth Fairy” movie. The former WWE superstar stated once again that he wants to return to WWE to host WWE RAW and was actually supposed to host the show earlier this month:
“I do plan on going back and hosting. I was actually gonna go back this month, but the day I was going to host, I had to go to Mexico for promotion of the movie, so we had to cancel that,” Johnson said.
Johnson says his return to WWE, rumored to take place this summer, will be more than just a typical one-night guest hosting gig:
“I’ve remained close with Vince McMahon over the years, but here’s the key. It’s not just to go back and host. I don’t want to do that. I want to go back and host and do something special. I want to entertain the fans in ways they haven’t been entertained in years.”
Johnson appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman on CBS this week and spoke a lot about WWE and his time in pro wrestling. Johnson described the rush he gets from a live WWE crowd like nothing else in entertainment and said he’ll always be “The Rock.”
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross commented about Rock’s Letterman appearance in his latest blog:
“Loved it on Letterman when Dwayne said that he would always be “The Rock” which was not only true but had to make wrestling fans around the Globe feel good. I don’t ever see the Rock wrestling again but I know that he will host Raw sometime in the future to reconnect with his fans and to promote his latest project.”
Johnson also appeared on ESPN’s SportsCenter where he spoke about his WWE return and had a funny interaction with former WWE announcer and ESPN host Jonathan Coachman. The most newsworthy item from the interview is that Johnson now says he “would never rule out” wrestling a match for WWE again:
“In terms of wrestling a match, I really don’t have any interest. I would love to go back and guest-host and entertain the audience. I could still do the physical things – Rock Bottom and People’s Elbow. I could still do all that and kick ass and have a great time. As far as wrestling a match, I’m not too sure if I see that, but I would never rule it out.”
TNA Knockout Awesome Kong, who got into a physical altercation with TNA backstage announcer Bubba the Love Sponge at Monday’s iMPACT! tapings, has given notice that she’s leaving the company.
The news was originally reported by f4wonline and was confirmed by Kong herself on Thursday afternoon via a live video stream on Qik.com.
Kong’s departure from the company appears to be effective immediately, and she said during the video cast that she informed TNA she won’t be attending the upcoming UK tour.
It should be noted that many TNA wrestlers and knockouts who have told management they are leaving have been persuaded into staying, but at this point Awesome Kong’s relationship with TNA appears to be off.
– Karen Angle, the ex-wife of Kurt Angle, was with Jeff Jarrett at several recent TNA live events. There is talk again of having her return to TNA programming with an on-screen role.
– TNA star Daniels took a shot at the company on Twitter with the following comment:
“Good news and bad news for TNA fans-> Bad: the six sided ring isn’t coming back! Good: next month we’ll implement two three sided rings!”
– TNA is taking their six-sided ring to the UK with them for the upcoming tour. No TV will be filmed while they’re there. For what it’s worth, some in TNA are under the impression that we haven’t seen the last of the six-sided ring.
– Several fans have wrote in confused about the three nights of TNA iMPACT tapings that took place this week. Instead of taping three sperate shows on three consecutive nights, TNA taped matches and segments for the three episodes out of order , so things should look better when everything is edited .
(Credit to F4Wonline.com for some of the information used in this report)
