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WRESTLING GLOBE NEWSLETTER
Thursday January 14, 2010
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Wrestling Globe Newsletter by Mike Aldren - All the latest professional wrestling news, gossip and occasional opinion direct to you. WGN is read by industry power players, many top wrestlers and thousands of fans from all around the world.
WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
1/12 ECW TV results from Green Bay, WI: Zack Ryder over The Hurricane; Trent Barreta over Goldust; and Ezekiel Jackson won the battle royal for a titleshot at Christian's ECW title at the Royal Rumble.
Superstars tonight on WGN has Chris Masters vs. Carlito; Christian vs. William Regal; and Jimmy Wang Yang & Slam Master J vs. Mike Knox & Charlie Haas.
***
In a bizaree incident WWE wrestler Tyler Reks apparently freaked out as a flight was minutes away from taking off at the airport in Green Bay, WI, on Wednesday morning. Reks, who was traveling home to Tampa from the Smackdown/ECW television tapings, who we understand holds a private pilot license, complained to flight crew that he observed a strange movement on the flaps of the wing. He caused panic among other passengers by saying that the movement on the flap wasn't supposed to happen and that the plane was unsafe. He then demanded to be deboarded. A well-placed source even commented that Reks blurted out, paraphrased, "If anyone else on the plane doesn't want to die, they should get off the plane too." The pilot decided that they didn't want to take any chances with him disrupting the flight or distressing other passengers so they returned to the terminal and escorted him off the plane. The flight was then delayed which irked a lot of WWE people. Reks, real name Gabe Tuft, was recently called up to ECW from developmental with a surfer gimmick. He hasn't been used on television since November.
Austrian-born Chris "The Bambikiller" Raaber quit WWE developmental because he was unhappy with how things were ran. He told friends from his perspective guys were getting unnecessary injured during training, among other incidents he witnessed in Tampa.
Rod Vista, a referee from developmental, was recently called up to the main roster.
No update on the complaint filed against Randy Orton in Saugus, MA, for allegedly assaulting a fan in the parking lot of Kowloon's on Friday night. A 15-year-old teen filed the complaint on Tuesday saying that Orton spat gun in his face and used a profane word. The WWE legal department are already on the case so I wouldn't expect this to go anywhere. Kowloon's, a popular Chinese restaurant outside of Boston, is a regular after show hangout of WWE wrestlers when they are in town. The owners are huge fans and the meal tab is taken care of more times than not.
Not a great week for Orton. In a post that has since been deleted somebody of the creative team tweeted: "It's amazing how two missed spots can turn into Ring Rage... missed punt... blocked T.I.P [trouble in paradise].... RKO... guys, lets get it right next time."
Freddie Prinze Jr. was a guest last night on Jimmy Fallon. For a brief period he was actually on the WWE payroll. He joked that he has more friends in wrestling than in Hollywood noting The Undertaker sent him a nice text when the news broke about his wife's pregnancy. He put over the locker room and said Orton was his favorite wrestler.
Rob Feinstein of RFVideo.com has a major documentary in the works on Chris Benoit. The working title is "Chris Benoit: Aftermath" focusing on what his peers think about him in the present day after events unfolded in 2007. Feinstein said: "The film deals with the aftermath of what happened when Chris Benoit committed those horrible acts and how his peers perceived him after those untimely events. Chris went from being considered one of the worlds greatest wrestlers to one of the most despised human beings. You will hear first hand from people that traveled with him, worked with him and people who talked to him only days before the acts took place. This is going to be one of our most emotional DVD's of all time."
Jim Ross at www.jrsbarbq.com added his two cents on DQ's in cage matches. Likely in reference to Vince Russo's absurd recent comments, he wrote: "Been reading on line some interviews with those in the biz who feel that Cage Matches need not a winner via the stipulations set forth in the presentation. I could not disagree more. Cage Matches were created to bring about closure, literally and figuratively, and to have a disqualification in a cage match is wrong... in my opinion. Granted, my opinion may not be 100% accurate either but it's my opinion nonetheless. I'm not even a big fan of 'escaping the cage' to determine a winner in a cage match but I can live with that easier than I can seeing someone get disqualified inside a cage in a pro wrestling match. Ugh." Ross added: "The TV wrestling biz is actually much more simple to produce than some folks want to acknowledge. As long as wrestling fans have access to a remote and the trend persists that most TV viewers don't or won't watch commercials any TV show that has too much content becomes challenging to watch. Most of us can only process so much info when watching a TV show. TV programs that are overproduced encourage an emotional detachment and channel surfing... it's as simple as that."
Raw on Monday night with Mike Tyson did a 3.7 rating and 5.45 million viewers. UFC Fight Night did a 1.2 and 1.7 million viewers. ECW on Tuesday did a 1.0 rating.
Mike Tyson at http://tinyurl.com/yf7ve4e talks about being a huge WWWF fan, says Bruno Sammartino was his favorite wrestler as a child, and gets emotional when talking about his son in the ring with him during Raw. I watched the excellent Tyson documentary for the first time last night and now have a completely different perspective on the former baddest man on the planet. How scary was it watching him pound pads with Jericho on Monday?
Big Show, R-Truth and the Bella Twins missed television this week as they taped an upcoming episode of ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. They were sent to South Carolina to meet a family of wrestling fans who had their home demolished and re-built for the show.
Kelly Kelly and Maria Kanellis are in the UK this week promoting the Royal Rumble. Both are guests on Sky Sports News today at 6pm GMT and also a show called Soccer AM on Saturday morning.
Kanellis releases her debut album Sevin Sins on April 13. It's dedicated to her partner Vin. We understand she shot a music video last year in Hawaii for one of the tracks.
Goldust is a guest Friday morning on Bubba the Love Sponge promoting his FCW appearance that night in Ft. Myers at the Harborside Event Center.
NBC executive Jeffrey Zucker had an interesting line the other day when responding to Conan O'Brien over the Tonight Show debacle. He said: "All I've been hearing for the last three days is, 'You screwed Conan!' I didn't screw Conan. Jay Leno didn't screw Conan. NBC didn't screw Conan... CONAN SCREWED CONAN. However, I do wish him well in his future endeavors."
There was a Hall of Fame ticket presale yesterday at LiveNation.com. There were a lot of unhappy overseas fans who were unable to purchase tickets through that website for some reason or another.
WWE and THQ issued a press release yesterday announcing the launch of a Smackdown vs. Raw 2010 game for the iPhone.
There is a fake Ted DiBiase Jr-People magazine intieview transcript making the rounds. Some websites posted it. It quotes DiBiase saying he wants to be out of the business in two years and claimed his dad foced him into becoming a wrestler. A total fabrication.
WWE's return to the American Airlines Center in Dallas has been moved to Tuesday, June 1, and changed to a Smackdown/ECW taping. The event was originally going to be a house show on February 27.
Chris Jericho will be appearing tomorrow at 2pm at the NAMM convention in Anaheim, CA.
TNA WRESTLING NEWS
TNA runs house shows tonight in Johnstown, PA, and Friday in Reading with AJ Styles vs. Daniels; The British Invasion vs. Beer Money; Dr. Stevie vs. Abyss; Awesome Kong & Hamada vs. The Beautiful People; plus Mick Foley, Jeff Jarrett, Rhino, Jay Lethal, Homicide, and Shark Boy. We're looking for reports to you2us@wrestlingglobe.com.
Impact tonight includes more nWo fun, Jeff Jarrett reacting to Hulk Hogan's comments, Ric Flair cutting a promo, Desmond Wolfe vs. Samoa Joe, Team 3D vs. Lethal Consequences, and Beer Money vs. Matt Morgan & Hernandez. It's an important night for the company as they need to draw a higher than average rating coming off last Monday's live show, and it's also the go-home show for Sunday's Genesis PPV.
Following Impact, TNA Epics premieres on Spike with a special on Kurt Angle, and so does TNA Live at www.tnawrestling.com with shows at 8.30pm and 11pm ET. The Genesis countdown show is also on the TNA website which is being revamped with a new look this weekend.
***
IGN.com interviewed Abyss about the evolution of his character and Hulk Hogan at http://tinyurl.com/y9v7rxb. He also talks about paying his dues at http://tinyurl.com/yj2dh4u.
Bobby Lashley talks fighting Fedor at http://tinyurl.com/y865ce8.
The Miami Herald interviewed Sarita at http://tinyurl.com/yelcupf.
Matt Morgan is listed in an article on celebs with ADHD at http://tinyurl.com/yajsnk5.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
UFC President Dana White announced that he will hold a press conference next week to discuss Brock Lesnar’s health status. He also confirmed that Lesnar would be attending the conference.
Mexican wrestler Electroshock was involved in an automobile accident on the Mexico-Puebla freeway on the way to a show in San Pedro Cholula on Saturday. He made the show but wasn’t in condition to wrestle. He told the crowd the accident was his fault as he was speeding to make the show because he forgot what time it started and left his home too late. He punctured his tire and lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a small trailer. After meeting with the police at the scene, he told them that he needed to be at a wrestling show and they gave him a ride. Electro said that he would return in April and work a show for free to make a mends.
Jim Cornette is traveling to Charlotte this weekend to scout potential buildings as Ring of Honor looks to expand to the Southeast.
The Insane Clown Posse are planning to open a wrestling school. They have purchased an industrial sized building in Novi, MI, where they will train aspiring wrestlers and run live events. For more info you can call (313) 483-0949 and leave your name and number.
Brooke Hogan was romantically linked with Chris Brown this past week after they were spotted hanging out together in Los Angeles. "They looked like they were more than friends," said the source of one gossip columnist. Brooke on Bubba the Love Sponge claimed they have never even met.
Dwayne Johnson was re-scheduled on Jay Leno for tonight. Next week his media tour includes appearances on David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel, and Regis & Kelly.
Ultimate Death Match 3, an independent movie starring several pro wrestlers, will be shot in Portland on January 25. The cast list includes: Al Snow, April Hunter, Kevin Nash, Ricky Morton, Dr. Stevie, Shane Douglas, Sean Morley, Raven, Abyss, Tommy Dreamer, and Ted Dibiase. The director has signed with a production company to make several more sequels over the next two years.
Hamada, Cheerleader Melissa, Portia Perez, Mercedes Martinez, Ariel and LuFisto will be part of NCW's Femmes Fatales 2 event at the St. Barthelemy Sports Center in Montreal, Quebec, on Saturday, February 6. Bell time is 7:30pm. Full line up and more info at www.ncwfemmesfatales.com.
Lanny Poffo has re-launched his official website at www.lannypoffo.com.
Chavo Guerrero Sr. was interviewed at www.InYourHeadOnline.com talking about his territory days. He said he's happy for son Chavo in WWE because he's getting exposure and getting paid for what he loves to do.
Promolast Events, LLC, the company that produced Lex Luger’s recent series of video blogs following his spinal stroke recovery,
announced a fanfest at the Renaissance Concourse hotel on June 4 and 5 in Atlanta, GA. Dallas Page and former wife Kimberly will be at the event giving a Yoga demonstration. More info at http://promolastevents.com.
Tylene Buck, the former WCW valet Major Gunns, rips on Kimberly Page at http://tinyurl.com/ylxbfcq.
A correction from the last newsletter. It was actually Tom Lawlor not Aaron Simpson who came out to Hulk Hogan's entrance music during Monday's UFC Fight Night.
Jim Duggan turns 55 today.
Today's Diva of the Day is Lauren at http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva.
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