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WRESTLING GLOBE NEWSLETTER
Monday October 5, 2009
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WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
10/4 Hell in the Cell PPV results from Newark, NJ: The Undertaker over CM Punk in a Hell In A Cell match to capture the World title; John Morrison vs. Dolph Ziggler to retain the IC title; Chris Jericho & Big Show over Batista & Rey Mysterio to retain the tag titles; Mickie James over Alicia Fox to retain the Divas title; Randy Orton over John Cena in a Hell In A Cell match to capture the WWE title; Kofi Kingston over The Miz vs. Jack Swagger in a three-way to retain the U.S. title; Drew McIntyre over R-Truth; and DX over Legacy in a Hell In A Cell match. Pre show dark match was Matt Hardy over Mike Knox.
Raw is live tonight from Wilkes-Barre with Ben Roethlisberger as the guest host. Nothing else announced at press time.
The Smackdown/ECW tapings are Tuesday in Trenton, NJ.
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An interesting story regarding Punk vs. Undertaker at the PPV. The two stories making the rounds was that there is heat on Punk either because someone in management felt he wasn't conforming to the dress code (they want him to dress more like a world champion) or that word had reached Taker that Punk didn't want to drop the title. The title change was actually decided upon more than a month ago but creative had been going back and forward over the decision because many felt the timing was wrong and the argument was made that Taker doesn't work a full schedule.
Now, because of what did or didn't go down, politically speaking, Punk is in the doghouse.
Vince McMahon formatted the PPV. A lot of people were second guessing the bizarre match order with the world title matches being the first and fifth matches on the card. I don't know the reasoning but the ECW title match and R-Truth-McIntyre died as a result, and really through no fault of their own as everyone worked really hard.
WWE has signed Zivile Raudoniene to developmental. She is a 27-year-old IFBB Pro Figure competitor who won the 2009 Figure International at the Arnold Classic. She was also favorite headed into the Ms. Figure Olympia last month but dropped out to join FCW. Zivile is a native of Lithuania and speaks great English. When she isn't shredded for competition she looks likes this http://tinyurl.com/yeqx2zj and is certainly a step up in pedigree from the Playboy and Hooters models, not that there is anything wrong with that. She recently relocated to Tampa after living in New York for the past few years.
The New York Times at http://tinyurl.com/ye2qn2c has a story on Linda McMahon and her Senate bid in Connecticut. The story noted she has already spent around $1 million on advertising her campaign which is more money than all of her rivals have on hand. The story also quoted long-time McMahon family friend Dick Ebersol, the chairman of NBC Sports, who credited her for the success of WWE.
Steve Austin appeared at the West Ham-Fulham soccer game Sunday afternoon in London. He was brought out on to the pitch and said over the house mic: "If you wanna see West Ham open a can of whoop a$$ gimme a hell yeah!" Apparently a very surreal moment for many wrestling fans in attendance.
During the Steelers-Chargers game last night on NBC the announcers plugged Ben Roethlisberger's appearance on Raw with his offensive line team mates.
The advertised dark main events for the UK TV tapings in November are DX & John Cena vs. Randy Orton & Legacy for Raw, and Smackdown has The Undertaker vs. CM Punk in a Casket match.
Superstars on WGN last Thursday did a 0.8 rating.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING NEWS
TNA has TV tapings today and Tuesday at Universal Studios in Orlando. Already announced for Thursday's Impact is Mick Foley & Kurt Angle vs. Matt Morgan & Abyss; ODB vs. Tara; Kevin Nash vs. Hernandez; and Sting responds to AJ Styles.
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The house show in Dublin at the 9000-seat O2 Arena drew approximately 1,800 paid. The AWR group drew a similar number in Dublin, obviously with less promotion, this past summer with Rob Van Dam, Sean "X-Pac" Waltman, Scotty 2 hotty, and other former WWE names.
AJ Styles and Matt Morgan have just signed new long term deals with the company. TNA are also negotiating with another major star to lock this person in for another few years.
Not sure if this goes for all cable systems but the October 18 Bound For Glory PPV is currently listed at $39.99 on Comcast and Time Warner. The price increase is a hard sell. Most of their revenue comes from TV, so why would they want to drive fans away? The theory might well be that they have their hardcore base that will purchase every PPV no matter what, and this is their version of Wrestlemania, but I see a price increase now being more a negative than a positive because of the perceived value.
Impact on Spike last Thursday did a 1.1 rating.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Today is the 12th anniversary of Brian Pillman passing away due to arteriosclerosis heart disease at the age of 35. There is an awesome tribute video at http://tinyurl.com/yc5cv2h.
The sale of Ric Flair's NWA title belt is still planned. Highspots haven't heard from Flair's camp over the weekend and the intention is to put the belt on sale today at 5pm if they still haven't heard back. Highspots have already received several private offers, including an offer from a major wrestling company, and they are now going back and forward on whether to sell the belt on their website rather than auction on eBay.
Booby Heenan missed the Ultimate Collectibles & Autograph Show he was scheduled for this past weekend in Philadelphia. We understand he was hospitalized on Friday after falling and injuring his back. This would have been his first public appearance since a last minute decision to go to the Wrestlemania 25 in April. Our best wishes to Bobby on a speedy recovery.
On a related note, Terri Runnels, who celebrates a birthday today, was at the convention and got into an altercation with promoter Jason Blaustein. Two different people who witnessed the spat say that Terri "beat the s**t" out of Blaustein for allegedly trying to stiff her on her appearance fee. I believe the incident was caught on video so expect that to make the Youtube rounds very soon.
The only update we have on Roddy Piper is that his management company say he is well and just taking time out with his family, while several promoters who booked him and then had him pulled from their events were told he has a major health issue. Piper had radiation therapy in 2006 for Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Joanie "Chyna" Laurer was hanging out at the infamous Moonlite Bunny Ranch last week in Nevada, which once boasted Jesse Ventura as a regular customer. She was there was at a birthday bash for owner Dennis Hoff andI believe she also shot footage for some type of reality show she is involved with.
Nick Hogan, son of Hulk, is training for pro wrestling at the Knoxx Pro Academy in Burbank, CA. The school is run by Rikishi, Gangrel, Black Pearl, and Orlando Jordan. They are supplying a lot of the talent for the upcoming Hulkamania tour in Australia.
The former Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Anderson, just finished up a six-date tour of Europe with the NWE group in France and Malta. The tour averaged 1,500 paid each night with Kennedy, Juventud Guerrera, Ultimo Dragon, Chuck Palumbo, Vito, Jody Fleisch, Nova, James Keenan and more.
Candice Michelle has a new revamped website at www.candicemichelle.com.
Sabu and The Sandman headline for NWS this Saturday in Manville, NJ. More info at www.nwswrestling.com.
American Championship Entertainment run Saturday at the ACE Arena, 725 Sip Street, Union City, NJ (minutes from NYC) featuring Mo Sexton vs. Jerry Lynn in the main event. Also appearing on the card is: Dan Maff, Bandido, Jr., Bruno Marciano, Shawn Walker, "Hollywood" Joe Hardway, William Wyeth, Neeno Capone, Chris Rockwell, and more. For tickets or more info visit www.aceprowrestling.com.
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