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WRESTLING GLOBE NEWSLETTER
Thursday November 12, 2009
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WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
11/10 ECW results from Sheffield, England: Goldust over Paul Burchill, Vance Archer over Jason Blackwell, and Christian over William Regal to retain the ECW title.
11/11 Raw house show results from London, England: Chris Jericho won a battle royal; Paul Burchill over The Hurricane; The Miz beat MVP; Melina & Gail Kim over Jillian & Alicia Fox; Evan Bourne over Chavo Guerrero; Randy Orton over Kofi Kingston; ; DX over Legacy; and John Cena over Chris Jericho.
11/11 Smackdown/ECW house show results from Stuttgart, Germany: R-Truth over Eric Escobar; Shelton Benjamin & Goldust overZack Ryder & Ezekiel Jackson; Drew McIntyre over Finlay; Mickie James & Katie Lea Burchill over Michelle McCool & Beth Phoenix; John Morrison over Dolph Ziggler; Christian over William Regal; Batista over Matt Hardy & Rey Mysterio in a three-way; and The Undertaker over CM Punk in a casket match.
Superstars tonight on WGN has Matt Hardy vs. David Hart Smith; .Primo vs. Chris Masters; MVP vs. Ted DiBiase Jr; and Zack Ryder vs. Shelton Benjamin.
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Talk about blast from the past, former announcer Sean Mooney had a job interview at Titan Towers earlier this week while WWE crews shot television in England. His presence at HQ already has a lot of people talking, and even some worried that this might be a sign that Jim Ross is not coming back anytime soon. Mooney previously worked for WWE from 1988 to 1993 and was best known for being a backstage interviewer although he also did play-by-play on syndicated shows and hosted numerous Coliseum Video releases. After leaving WWE he worked as anchorman for WWOR-TV in Secaucus, NJ and later WBZ in Boston. His most recent TV work was as a reporter for Fox Sports Arizona covering college sports. He also had his own production company called Moonrise. His last WWE appearance was a taped interview talking about past moments of Raw during the Raw Homecoming pre-show when WWE returned to USA Network in 2005.
Axl Rotten, 38, is currently in WWE-sponsored rehab for substance abuse. He had been promoting a wrestling convention in Baltimore this weekend that was canceled leaving a lot of unhappy vendors and talent.
Rey Mysterio needs knee surgery soon as his ACL and PCL are completely destroyed. He is said to be working through a lot of pain at the moment and his injured joint is virtually bone on bone.
Jack Swagger may have picked up a knock as he has been MIA from the last couple of Raw shows in Europe this week.
Edge talks injuries in a story with no point at http://tinyurl.com/yfzggjv saying that "guys in the WWE wrestle hurt all the time - that's a given". Well, you're not supposed to admit that even when it's true. He said regarding his broken neck a few years back: "Yeah, I thought I was hurt... So I kept going and going, basically. Kept training and wrestling to the point where I almost ended up in a wheelchair. And it all came to a head one afternoon when I was lifting weights in a San Francisco gym. Curling dumbbells. I was curling away when I went to go with my left and - boom - it just wouldn't go. Even when I tried to flex my bicep, it stayed soft. It really hurt. Then next day it looked like someone had gouged out my shoulder. My left arm started disappearing. By the time I went in for an operation it was about half the size of my right arm."
The Sun posted part one of a two-part interview with Rob Van Dam at http://tinyurl.com/ydue3tq basically telling the story of how Vince McMahon nixed the concept of reviving a modern day ECW after creating a buzz from the DVD and One Night Stand PPV in 2005.
Management relayed to talent this week that they can keep their Twitter accounts but were warned of the consequences if they posted anything that leads to negative press against the company. WWE tweets are way down since word got around.
Former Diva Stacy Keibler told the Baltimore Sun that she had her agent contact WWE to inquire about guest hosting Raw in Baltimore on November 30, "and nobody ever got back to us," she said. "So I guess they’re not interested." She noted she is still under a developmental contract to ABC and wouldn't be able to go to TNA if they contacted her.
ECW did a 1.0 rating this week and averaged 1.27 million viewers... Smackdown back on October 30 did a 2.2 rating, one of it's highest ratings of 2009.
Vince has asked the creative team to come up with suggestions for the 2010 Hall of Fame. This happens nearly every year and Vince ignores most of the suggestions and gives the nod to who he decides anyway. Two names that have come up for the past few years are Ted DiBiase and Jake Roberts who would be strong contenders with a lack of big names this time around, and also The Honky Tonk Man, who lives in Phoenix. There is also a lot of speculation regarding The Ultimate Warrior, since the lawsuit is settled, but the chances of that happening are very slim, according to a well-placed source.
The Hall of Fame ceremony will start earlier at 4pm next year, to give production more time to edit the show for a tape delay USA broadcast. They are also nixing the giant stop clock that they had in place in Houston which limited those giving speeches to just a few minutes.
Chris Jericho drew enough heat at the house show yesterday in London to prompt fans to pelt him with DX glow sticks. Fan cam footage at http://tinyurl.com/yeqrouq.
Edge and Eve Torres are currently in Australia promoting the upcoming tour over there. Both will be appearing at the Australian Kids' Choice Awards broadcast live across the country on Friday night.
WWE was granted an extension until November 16 to respond to Jody Hamilton's lawsuit against them for breech of contract for severing ties with Deep South Wrestling when Hamilton ran the group for WWE as developmental.
Monday's Raw from Madison Square Garden with Roddy Piper as guest host has The Undertaker & John Cena vs. Triple H & Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho & Big Show in a three-way tag as the main event, and Melina vs. Alicia Fox for the Divas title. I sense a title change here.
A new Quinnipiac poll shows Linda McMahon is second favorite in the Connecticut GOP primary just 11 percent behind former Rep. Rob Simmons.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING NEWS
Impact tonight on Spike has AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe in a non-title match; The British Invasion vs. Beer Money in a non-title tables match; Abyss vs. Dr. Stevie and if Dr. Stevie loses, he must leave TNA; The Machine Guns & Amazing Red vs. Homicide, Sheik Bashir & Kiyoshi; plus Kurt Angle responds to Hulk Hogan coming in; and a new storyline with Jay Lethal.
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SoJo Bolt (Josette Bynum) best known for being part of The Kongtourage but used sparingly in recent months was released from her contract. They may still use her in future although she was given the line about creative having nothing for her.
Kurt Angle celebrated all the charges being dropped against him yesterday with more horse riding lessons for his upcoming movie role.
Meanwhile, Trenesha Biggers told media in Pittsbrugh that she plans to re-file charges against Kurt with the DA's office. She claims she has voicemail recordings and other evidence that she was not able to submit before dropping the charges on Monday.
Daniels will be a guest on Sirius / XM’s Busted Open show on Friday at 4:30pm ET promoting Sunday's Turning Point PPV.
Matt Morgan is the latest athlete to donate his brain after death to Chris Nowinski's Sports Legacy Institute.
It's rumored among gaming websites that the license to the TNA game was picked up by publisher SouthPeak Interactive, a company funded by venture capitalists in Virginia.
Lie To Me by Like A Storm will be the theme song for the Genesis PPV in January.
Mick Foley has a cameo on an upcoming episode of the new Super Dave series on Spike.
Chris Grey (Cody Deaner) got married last weekend. Guests included Eric Young, Shawn Spears and his mentor Derek Wylde.
Alez Marvex interviewed Samoa Joe at http://tinyurl.com/y9bkjrt who says he is a big fan of Hulk Hogan. Isn't everyone in TNA right now?
The Register Citizen at http://tinyurl.com/ygb75sg has a story on Christy Hemme coming to Winsted, CT this weekend for an autograph signing.
TNA has just released a new theme music CD at www.shoptna.com.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Ric Flair was married for the fourth time last night in Charlotte, NC. He had kept his plans under wraps until the last minute, even keeping them from long-time friends and two of his children. He made the public announcement an hour before the ceremony on a local sports talk show called PrimeTime with the PacMan. His bride, believed to be in her 40s, is a former waitress called Jackie Beems who he met while partying at Del Friscos Steakhouse. He said when they met she didn't know who he was and have been together for several months following the break down of his last marriage to Tiffany VanDemark which lasted just over two years. Flair and his new bride were due to fly out to Australia today to honeymoon for a few days ahead of the Hulkamania tour.
There were online reports that Flair was involved in an altercation during a Walmart signing due to this photo (http://tinyurl.com/yzeeh5f) appearing on the People of Walmart site. We understand there was no altercation and the dabbing of his lip was for a cold sore he was having an issue with at the time the photo was taken.
The advertised line up for the Hulkamania tour is Hogan vs. Flair on top; Orlando Jordan & Edward Smith Fatu (Umaga) vs. Solofa Fatu Jnr (Rikishi) & Brian Lawler; Sean Morley (Val Venis) vs. Ken Anderson (Mr Kennedy); Lacey Von Erich vs. Koa Marie Turner vs. Kiara Dillon vs. Stephanie Pietz in a Bikini contest; Brutus Beefcake w/Jimmy Hart vs. Heidenreich; Vampire Warrior (Gangrel) & Black Pearl vs. The Nasty Boys; Matt Cross vs. Shannon Moore; and Nick Dinsmore (Eugene) & Pimp Fatha (The Godfather) vs. Rock of Love.
Hogan arrives in Sydney next Tuesday and has a big press conference planned for Wedesday.
Teddy Hart and Jack Evans are returning to Ring of Honor for the Final Battle weekend. More info at www.rohwrestling.com.
Jim Cornette's first promo as Executive Producer of ROH is online at http://tinyurl.com/yhvaa4b.
Val Venis pulled out of a CMLL tour this past week citing personal reasons. He is doing the Hogan tour next week so that may have been a factor.
Monthly wrestling is returning to Charlotte beginning in February, 2010.
Glenn Gilbertti (41) and Trent Acid (29) both celebrate birthdays today.
RF Video is taking Bruce Prichard as Brother Love to the K&S WrestleFest on December 13 at the Radisson Hotel in Carteret, NJ. More info at www.kandswrestlefest.com.
----Wrestling Globe Newsletter by Mike Aldren - All the latest professional wrestling news, gossip and occasional opinion. WGN is read by industry power players, many top wrestlers and thousands of fans from all around the world.