WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT
4/19 Raw TV results from East Rutherford, NJ: Drew McIntyre over Matt Hardy; The Undertaker over Jack Swagger in a non-title match; MacGruber & Khalgruber (Great Khali) over Kozlov; and Triple H, Edge & Rey Mysterio over CM Punk, Luke Gallows & Chris Jericho.
The Smackdown/NXT tapings are tonight at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut.
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The Raw crew is still holed up in a hotel in Belfast, Northern Ireland. At last word WWE had chartered a flight to get them home on Wednesday morning if, keyword IF, the airspace is open, which isn't the case at press time. Last night some of the crew watched Raw (2-4am UK time) from the hotel. John Cena was in the lobby bar wearing a T-shirt that read "Official Belfast Drinking Team Captain" along with several others apparently in good spirits enjoying a steady stream of Jack Daniels. WWE agent Mike Rotunda was also in the bar complaining that some of the younger guys were posting Tweets from their cell phones which basically let fans know the crew wasn't in New Jersey which they were told not to do. The crew has been passing the time with different activities each day while others have locked themselves away in their hotel room.
Lilian Garcia returned to Raw for one night only last night as announcer Justin Roberts is stranded in Belfast. They flew her in on a red eye from California where she spent the weekend doing personal appearances with Candice Michelle. I don't know why, but you would Fink it would have been easier to utilize someone else. One WWE person reasoned that they were trying to make it up to the live crowd and Lilian was a nice surprise. She got a huge pop from the live crowd when they announced her.
The Undertaker and Khali were also called in as a special favor. Both are currently on a sabbatical. Tiffany was called in too but they didn't use her.
Ticket refunds were offered for Raw attendees due to most of the crew missing the show.
WWE Studios issued a press release on it's upcoming film Killing Karma starring Triple H, Michael Rapaport, and Parker Posey, currently filming in New Orleans, LA. Batista is reportedly upset that Triple H replaced him in the film and may be leaving the company when his contract expires. He's made it clear to people that he wants to scale back on wrestling and make some movies.
There are several new DVD's in the works including a three-disc set on Randy Orton--the standard documentary and matches, and also a special on the Divas with matches, interviews, and photo shoots.
Eve Torres talks about her BJJ training with Rener Gracie at http://tinyurl.com/yyjo6gs. Eve and Rener Gracie have been dating for some time now.
Melina Perez wrote a lengthy WWE blog airing her feelings on the other Divas at http://tinyurl.com/y62ybnj. In short, everyone is awesome but some girls she feels are not utilized enough by the creative team.
TMZ cameras at http://tinyurl.com/y7nlcvx attempt to coax former Tough Enough winner Daniel Puder to say something bad about Vince McMahon. They fail.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING
4/19 Impact TV results from Orlando, FL: The Beautiful People over Daffney & and the returning ODB; Rob Van Dam over Jeff Hardy to win a title shot; Team Hogan of Abyss, Jeff Jarrett, Rob Terry & the returning Samoa Joe over Team Flair of Sting, Desmond Wolfe & Beer Money; and RVD over AJ Styles to capture the TNA heavyweight title.
There are television tapings today for the 4/26 show including Ric Flair vs. Abyss for Hogan and Flair's WWE Hall of Fame rings; Kazarian vs. Shannon Moore for the X Division title; Matt Morgan & TBA vs. Team 3D for the tag titles; plus Eric Bischoff unveils a new heavyweight title rankings system.
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Sean Waltman's absence from Lockdown was explained last night on Impact saying that Dixie Carter gave him special permission to miss the pay-per-view.
The Pope may have suffered a shoulder injury at Lockdown, which is why he wasn't used on television last night.
Kurt Angle is opening "Kurt Angle’s Foodies Café" this coming Monday located at 3100 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15201. Kurt will be there from Noon. A press release reads: "Kurt Angle’s Foodies Cafe is a convenient, casual, quick serve restaurant, offering breakfast and lunch to guests in the Pittsburgh area. Owned and operated by Angle Foods, LLC, founded on an 'Eat Right, Be-Fit' philosophy, Angle’s Foodies Café is a unique and convenient dining experience for active individuals on-the-go, wanting to enjoy healthy and gourmet dining with family and friends. Kurt Angle’s Foodies Cafe offers a casual atmosphere featuring a cutting edge, innovative menu of options for all ages, ranging from tasty hot breakfast items such as breakfast sandwiches and waffles, to lunch items such as sandwiches, soups, hand crafted salads, whole grain wraps, smoothies, mouthwatering sweets and Mariana’s Gourmet Italian specialties, just to name a few! We also offer High Protein – High Fiber Angle Signature Series meals and shakes, designed for the active athlete or fitness individual on-the-go, wanting great taste and quality nutrition in one. Guaranteed to produce a WOW with a Smile!" More info at www.AngleFoods.net.
The company has reportedly hired a consulting firm to do a study on TV viewing patterns and ratings on Spike. This is something both WWE and WCW has toyed with in the past but when they got results they didn't like they ignored the feedback and decided the fans didn't know what they were talking about.
A correction from yesterday. Lockdown results should have read Nash over Young and Team 3D over The Band.
June house show dates were announced in Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota with AJ Styles, Jeff Jarrett, Shannon Moore, Jeff Hardy, Kevin Nash and Angelina Love all advertised as appearing. More info at www.tnawrestling.com.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
A trailer for Steve Austin's upcoming film The Stranger is online at http://tinyurl.com/y4cftao.
Bill Goldberg will be a guest today on the syndicated Ellen DeGeneres Show.
The Montgomery, PA News has a story on Tom "Salvatore Sincere" Brandy at http://tinyurl.com/y3bw5gr. He's promoting a show in King of Prussia on 5/2 in support of autism awareness that also includes Jimmy Snuka and TNA's Terry Taylor.
Reader Matthew Janicke writes, "Nothing earth-shattering but Sunday during the Red Wings-Coyotes playoff game on NBC, while previewing the Coyotes, NBC used the old Sable music circa 1998ish for the announcers to talk over. Complete with the feline growl. I guess they don't know what a coyotes sounds like."
Today's Vintage Diva of the Day is Ivory at http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva.
