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WRESTLING GLOBE NEWSLETTER
Monday January 18, 2010
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Wrestling Globe Newsletter by Mike Aldren - All the latest professional wrestling news, gossip and occasional opinion direct to you.
WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
1/17 Raw house show results from Chattanooga, TN: Santino over Chavo; Paul Burchill over Johnny Curtis; Legacy over beat Mark Henry & Evan Bourne; The Miz over Jack Swagger & Chris Masters in a three-way; The Bella Twins over Maryse & Alicia Fox;Big show over MVP; Randy Orton over Kofi Kingston; and Triple H over Sheamus via DQ.
1/17 SD/ECW house show results from Florence, SC: Great Khali over Mike Knox; Vance Archer over Hurricane; The Hart Dynasty over Jimmy Yang & Slam Master J; Christian over William Regal; Drew McIntyre over R-Truth; Michelle McCool over Mickie James; and Matt Hardy, Kane & Undertaker over Chris Jericho, CM Punk & Batista.
The Smackdown/ECW tapings are Tuesday in Greenville. We're looking for reader reports from this show to you2us@wrestlingglobe.com.
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The Sun at www.the-sun.co.uk/wrestling has more from Big Show talking about his home life, his health, quitting smoking, and his Wrestlemania match with Floyd Mayweather. He also talked about Shane McMahon leaving the company. He said: "Shane is a lot like his dad. Vince struck away from his dad and ended up buying him out. Shane is the type that wants to follow his own path and he is going to do fine. I don't see Shane starting up a rival wrestling company, but he wanted to do some Mixed Martial Arts thing then maybe. If Shane wanted to work on a production company for movies then that can happen too. Shane is a very charismatic, intelligent man, a very driven person, so whatever avenue he chooses to go into he is going to be very successful at it. He cant ask for anymore than that. We all work together and there are a lot of guys that really love him and he loves them too. But we are business men and grown men too. There comes a time where every man has to make a decision for himself and his family and everyone respects that."
Jerry Springer will guest host Raw from Des Moines on February 15.
There is talk of Edge returning soon in a non-wrestling role.
Paul Burchill toured with the Raw crew this past weekend working as a babyface. He may have injured himself in Chattanooga. No update at press time.
Carlito and Primo worked for their father Carlos Colon this past weekend in Puerto Rico. It's actually written into their WWE contracts that they can work two dates per year for the World Wrestling Council. Primo laid down for his cousin Orlando while Carlito was part of three-way that saw Ray Gonzalez win the Wrestler Of The Decade Cup.
Freddie Prinze Jr. talks Bret Hart's recent return at http://tinyurl.com/y9yc4mt.
Maria Kanellis clarified her statements from UK interviews via her Twitter page. She tweeted: "Someday I will have to leave the WWE when I want to have a family... but as of right now I am staying. I love the WWE universe!"
Kelly Kelly's appearance on the UK show Soccer AM is online at http://tinyurl.com/yezdqpd.
FemaleFirst.co.uk has an interview up with Kelly and Maria, who noted she is dating a former NFL player. Both said they were fans of WWE growing up in the 90s. Maria said The Rock was her favorite while Kelly said she obsessed with Steve Austin because, "I loved his little bald head!" When asking about being objects of desire, she said: "I don’t really consider us as sex objects I see us more as hot girls kicking butt and since we’ve become PG I think we’re known a lot more for our wrestling now, which is very important and it’s nice to be known as a pretty face who can get out there and wrestle."
WWE has partnered with AmeriCares to assist with the relief efforts in Haiti. You can text the word "live" to 25383 to donate $10.
Bryan Danielson made his FCW debut against Kaval [Low Ki] at the developmental tapings last Thursday. They didn't take many risks or bumps but focused more on producing a WWE-style 10 minute match. Danielson asked to go to Tampa to work off ring rust before he starts on television. There is talk of him joining Smackdown as part of the storyline with CM Punk.
Sunday was Howard Finkel's 33rd anniversary since debuting as a ring announcer at Madison Square Garden.
Ted DiBiase Sr. turns 56 today.
TNA WRESTLING NEWS
1/17 Genesis PPV results from Orlando, FL: Amazing Red over Brian Kendrick to retain the X-title; Sean Morley over Daniels; Tara over ODB to capture the Knockout title in a best 2/3 falls match; Matt Morgan & Hernandez over The British Invasion to capture the tag titles; Desmond Wolfe over Pope D'Angelo Dinero; Beer Money over Kevin Nash & Syxx-Pac; Mr. Ken Anderson over Abyss; and AJ Styles over Kurt Angle to retain the TNA heavyweight title.
TNA tape four weeks worth of television today through Wednesday night with all the build up to the Against All Odds pay-per-view on Valentine's Day. We're looking for reader reports to you2us@wrestlingglobe.com.
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Ken Anderson is currently working under a per night deal and has not signed an exclusive contract. He noted to friends that he has no plans to return to WWE but working with TNA will help support his acting aspirations.
Bubba the Love Sponge, who has nuclear heat on him right now, was warned to stay away from the television tapings today due to his controversial comments over the Haiti relief effort that the company is supporting. Bubba noted on his Twitter this morning that he was scheduled for a production meeting this afternoon but somebody from the office called and told him to stay home. Much later he wrote: "I am going to say this one time and one time only. First of all a real man sometimes has to take a step back and maybe look at something they said or did so that being said I would like to apologize for my comments regarding Haiti. In the world of live radio that I operate sometimes you say things that you can't take back. So I am man enough now to say I am sorry for those I offended. Bubba"
Wrestlers for Haiti with Awesome Kong, Velvet Sky, Madison Rayne and friends raised over $5,000 this past weekend in Pennsylvania. All proceeds were donated to the American Red Cross.
Karen Angle accompanied Jeff Jarrett during weekend house shows. There is once again talk of her returning in an on-screen role.
ODB recently popped an implant but is working through the tapings this week before she looks at undergoing a corrective procedure.
Joey Fatone of 'N Sync fame and Jesse Godderz of Big Brother fame were both hanging out backstage at Genesis.
Hogan was said to be very surprised by the fan reaction to doing away with the six-sided ring. Some fans in the Impact Zone last night were warned by a Universal employee about their language and "being negative towards the wrestlers." You know, like booing the supposed babayfaces. Security basically threatened to remove fans who didn't go along with the program.
We haven't managed to get this confirmed but we believe the valet of Desmond Wolfe last night was either a local model or UK indy wrestler called Lisa Fury.
Sean Morley [the former Val Venis] said he was disappointed with his match last night blaming lack of sleep. He wrote on his Facebook page: "Did my first PPV match with TNA in a complete zombie type state. I walked into that ring last night with 36 hours of zero sleep under my belt. Never want to take another red eye before work again. Zero sleep sucks!"
Management made the decision to replace Scott Hall with Sean Waltman in the tag match several days ago. Hall did tell some people last night that he had a groin strain but the real reason he didn't work was concern over him carrying his weight with Nash being banged up and very limited with what he can do. There was also a back up plan with Eric Young on standby if Waltman didn't want to replace Hall in the match.
Jeremy Borash is working his storyline via his Twitter. "Someday I'm gonna host a show where young, semi-exciting television talent is appreciated, like NBC," he tweeted. "Seriously though, gonna take a break from Twitter & FB to regroup. Thank you all for you kind words. Furleys out. O-O"
The Hartford Courant interviewed Hogan at http://tinyurl.com/ygxtjlo about Linda McMahon's senate campaign, TNA vs. WWE, The Wrestler, and more. He was very complimentary when asked about Linda: "She's brilliant. She's a very gracious, very smart lady, and her intent and her agenda has always been to help the community and be plugged in and be involved. Inside or outside that wrestling world that the McMahons have created, Linda McMahon is a great person."
USA Today has a Q&A with Bobby Lashley at http://tinyurl.com/ybtlhp6. He said MMA was his priority and was going to sit down with TNA soon to discuss his future. He said: "The main deal is that TNA had always told me they were willing to work with anything that I had to do with fighting. This is their first opportunity to show they're really going to work with me. That's all I really can say about that. Originally when we signed the deal, they knew I was going to have a huge obligation in the fighting business. At the end of the day, that's my main source of income and what requires the most dedication. They told me they would be able to work with me and anything that I wanted to do, and they know that this fight's important and every other fight that I have with Strikeforce is important. I just want to see that they're willing to hold up their end of the bargain and support me as I fight and move forward. This is my first fight since I've been with them. Up to this point, yeah, they've been working with me. I have a couple of more weeks until the fight. We'll see if they're going to work with me through this fight and then through the next fight. We'll see. I'll know within the next two weeks."
IGN.com interviewed Daffney at http://tinyurl.com/yb7uf86. She noted the company protected her following the sick bump at Bound For Glory where she suffered a concussion: "... They're always very good, and they've been giving me some Xplosion matches lately. And in the battle royal they had me out first to protect my head. They gave me a web match with Traci Brooks. And I just had an Xplosion match with Tara – which was another web match. I loved working with her and I want to get my hands on her and her spider and bite off its head. And then they asked me, 'how's your head?' And I said 'oh, it's fine.' So maybe that's why, as of late – since that happened - they've been more focused on me hanging out and not wrestling because they really wanted to protect my head. Because that was not fun. That as…if it's possible, I was knocked loopy. But I'm already loopy so I'm not sure how to say it. I was knocked more loopy? More loopier?"
Former announcer Lauren Thompson is getting married later this week. She announced her engagement back in October.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Former New Japan wrestler and referee Katsuhisa Shibata passed away on Saturday after suffering a heart attack. He was 66. Shibata started wrestling in 1966 and worked the very first New Japan show in 1972. After hanging his boots up in 1976 he became a referee for the company. He went into semi-retirement as a referee in 1999 but had been making sporadic appearances of late. He is survived by his son and second generation pro wrestler/fighter Katsuyori Shibata. The funeral took place today in Kuwana City, the Mie Prefecture region of Japan.
Rene Goguen [Renee Dupree], 26, quietly got married in Japan on October 14. He met future wife Kanako through a mutual friend while working for Japan’s Hustle group. Dupree is currently working for All Japan as part of the heel group Voodoo Murders, and said he plans to make Japan his home base. He posted a wedding photo on his website at www.renedupree.net.
Ring of Honor tonight on HDNet includes Jay Briscoe vs. Mark Briscoe and Delirious vs. Sonjay Dutt. More info at www.rohwrestling.com.
ROH debuts in the Carolinas on April 3 in Charlotte at the 3000-seat Grady Cole Center. Gary Juster is helping to promote the show locally. "Pro wrestling will explode into the 21st century on April 3rd," said Jim Cornette, Executive Producer of ROH in a company press release. "This event will showcase the emergence of ROH as the most exciting, athletic, hard-hitting and competitive style of pro wrestling in this country, with the youngest talent roster in the sport and a more serious sports approach than either WWE or TNA, the current industry leaders." The release also confirmed a Latino influence to the event. "We already have commitments from a number of Luchadores", Cornette said, "including Blue Demon Jr., one of the biggest names in Mexico. He is known throughout the Latino community, and even in the States through his popular energy drink. The Lucha style of wrestling is exciting, high-flying and technical, and we are looking forward to presenting it to the audience in the states." Tickets go on sale Monday, February 15 at 10am ET at ROHwrestling.com, or by calling 215-781-2500.
Cornette talks ROH coming to Charlotte on the local FOX affiliate at http://tinyurl.com/ycc54wc. He was in town this past weekend to make the official announcement on the WCCB-TV show Got Game with Bruce Snyder.
EVOLVE, the brainchild of Gabe Sapolsky, debuted on Saturday night drawing 400 people in Rahway, NJ, with Davey Richards over Kota Ibushi in the main event. The show was said to be a lot of fun in you enjoy pro wrestling oppose to sports entertainment. Tommy Dreamer ran out during a Jimmy Jacobs-Ken Doane match to tell the referee that Jacobs had his foot on the rope during a pinfall. The match restarted with Jacobs winning via submission. They did an angle afterwards where Jacobs told Dreamer that he didn't need his help so Dreamer gave him a DDT. Crowd didn't like this angle. The return date is March 13. More info at www.EVOLVEWrestling.com.
Sid Eudy has changed his hair. He now has blonde hair extensions and looks like the love child of Randy the Ram. He is pushing hard to get in with WWE or TNA.
Jimmy Hart is a guest with Jason Agnew on The Surf on BITE Television in Canada on Tuesday night. Hart is promoting the new all-girl group Wrestlicious which has just sold it's television rights in Canada. There will be a live stream of the show at 10pm ET at www.bite.ca/TheSurf. Viewers will be able to ask questions to Jimmy Hart by calling 1-888-778-2483 during the show, or by emailing in questions anytime before the show to TheSurf@bite.ca.
Today's Diva of the Day is Maria at http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva.
