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WRESTLING GLOBE NEWSLETTER
Tuesday January 19, 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
1/18 Raw TV results from Knoxville, TN: Sheamus over Evan Bourne; Mark Henry over Jack Swagger; John Cena & Kofi Kingston over Legacy; Eve & Gail Kim over Maryse & Alicia Fox; Randy Orton over Chris Masters; and Triple H, Shawn Michaels & Hornswoggle over Big Show, The Miz & Actor Jon Heder. Pre-Raw dark match was Skip Sheffield over Chavo Guerrero. Sheffield is Ryan Reeves, a bodybuilder type from developmental, doing a Cowboy gimmick.
The Smackdown/ECW tapings are today in Greenville. We're looking for reader reports from the show to you2us@wrestlingglobe.com.
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Jerry Lawler had a rare Freudian slip last night on commentary when he referred to Randy Orton as "Randy Savage" during a video package. He laughed it off telling people after the show that a fan had sent him a DVD of Savage in a cage match from the 80's, watched it over the weekend, and that's what mistakenly came out last night. I guess it's not as bad as Taz calling Sean Waltman "X-Pac" four times during the TNA PPV. Announcing really is one of the toughest gigs in television at times.
The Undertaker is having problems with his knees again. He worked house shows over the weekend and wasn't moving very well at all.
The working title of the upcoming Hart Family DVD is Hart and Soul: The Hart Family Anthology. The release date is scheduled for April. WWE has already interviewed several Hart family members for the project. They even attempted to contact Tom Billington [The Dynamite Kid] but nobody knows how to reach him. Chris Benoit used to keep close contact with him and he was last known to be living near Manchester in England. Alison Coleman, ghost writer of Billington's bio Pure Dynamite, said she lost contact with him when he moved house two years ago and he never left a forwarding address. If anyone knows how to reach him, please email us at you2us@wrestlingglobe.com.
Shad Gaspard of Cryme Tyme recently auditioned for a role in the new Conan the Barbarian movie which Lionsgate are planning to shoot later this year.
Chris Masters has a cameo on the new Nickelodeon series Big Time Rush. He plays a school teacher called Mr. Masterpiece.
WWE confirmed a new soundtrack album titled WWE The Music: A New Day which will sell for $3.99 on Amazon.com from January 28. The track listing includes the entrance music of Legacy, Dolph Ziggler, The Miz, Christian, Bret Hart, Sheamus, Tiffany, Ezekiel Jackson, Evan Bourn, Primo, Zack Ryder, The Hart Dynasty, The Bella Twins, and JeriShow.
Tyler Reks was brought in for television today. There is some heat on him right now over the flight incident last week in Green Bay.
Joe E. Legend is interviewed at http://tinyurl.com/yeyrpqw. He talks Edge, Christian and Rhino, who he broke into the business with over a decade ago: "Things just move in certain directions. We've all done well in our own ways. It's a matter of what your personal idea of success is. Rhino became a cult hero due to his run in ECW. But, WWE doesn't really seem to push too many guys to the top of their company unless they were made there. So, he never really got pushed up to the top level in WWE. Christian got viewed as a "comedy act" with the writers since he's actually a very funny guy. He had to leave after a while and go to TNA to reset peoples view of him and now he's on top of one of the main WWE brands. Edge just knows exactly who to talk to and how to talk to them. He's an excellent politician and it also took the [Lita and Matt Hardy] situation behind the scenes to make the audience take him seriously. He was always given good matches and good spots, but the audience didn't accept him as a main eventer until real life stepped in. His talent never changed, he was always good. But things moved in a certain direction with him privately and it ultimately benefited him in his public life. As I said, I'm a lousy politician and I was given the worst writer to push the worst gimmick of all time. Three strikes and all that. But if I really sucked, I wouldn't be working all over the world and doing very well at what I do. I can honestly say that I'm much better than what WWE did with me and I've spent my career since proving it to people ever since."
WWE Studios today announced nine upcoming films which they plan to self-distribute this year through 2012 in partnership with Vivendi Entertainment in North America and their existing television and video partners worldwide. Production budgets for each title have been set at $5 million. The first direct-to-video release will be Brother’s Keeper this summer starring Patricia Clarkson, Danny Glover and John Cena. Knucklehead starring Big Show is due out in the fall, and they are also working on titles for Randy Orton and Dave Batista.
WWE also announced a deal today with Samuel Goldwyn Films to oversee theatrical releases. "Targeting a specific audience is what our business model has been all about," Meyer Gottlieb, president of Samuel Goldwyn Films, told Variety magazine. "WWE is a marketing machine. They have a huge fanbase. Theaters are always encouraged by any activity to promote their movies. That's always music to their ears. Anything that you can do onsite to bring an audience in is very beneficial to them."
Kelly Kelly and Maria were guests on BBC Radio 1Xtra last week while in the UK promoting the Royal Rumble. Both said they didn't like their entrance music and would change it if they could. One of the DJs asked about dating other wrestlers but they changed the subject quickly as the WWE PR person with them was going nuts outside the studio door.
Superstars TV has apparently been taken off the air in Chicago with no explanation given. WGNTV Chicago used to air the show on Sunday mornings but it has now disappeared from the schedule.
WWE had 15 entries in Billboard magazines year-end top recreational sports video sales chart. WrestleMania 25 was the best selling WWE DVD for 2009 behind the Stanley Cup and Super Bowl XLIII in the top two spots. Other WWE DVDs listed: The Rise and Fall of WCW, Hell In A Cell, Macho Madness, Greatest Stars of the 90s, Best of Saturday Night's Main Event, Allied Powers, Best of Raw: 15th Anniversary, Viva La Raza: The Legacy of Eddie Guerrero, Best of Smackdown: 10th Anniversary, Starrcade: Essential Collection, History of the IC Championship, Edge: A Decade of Decadence, The Rock: Most Electrifying Man In Sports Entertainment, and WrestleMania XXIV.
TNA WRESTLING NEWS
TNA continues taping 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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TNA TV Director Steve Small gave a pep talk to the fans in the Impact Zone prior to the tapings on Monday. One fan taped the whole deal on his cell phone and posted footage on YouTube last night at http://tinyurl.com/ycmmhem. Small told the crowd that they are regarded as "cast members" and basically said it's their job to put everything over. He asked that nobody use any bad language or flip the bird because it's a nightmare for him to edit in post-production. He also asked that nobody attempt to distract the wrestlers or throw them off their lines. UPDATE: The video was removed today due to a copyright claim by TNA Entertainment.
Bubba the Love Sponge was actually present for a short time at the television tapings yesterday. Various sources have confirmed he was involved in an altercation with Awesome Kong who was upset over Bubba's comments on the Haiti relief effort. Both were sent home following the altercation. Hulk Hogan went on the Bubba radio show this morning and called for Kong to be fired. He said: "[Kong] should be fired immediately, that's it. It was so violent. You could have actually lost an eye, you could have had your teeth knocked out. But, to give you your creedo, you are the one who said, 'No, don't fire her.'" He added: "I've been around this business for a long time, and I've seen Dan Spivey just destroy Adrian Adonis to the point where we had to stop that. I've seen Paul Orndorff, naked, with a pair of shower shoes, kick Vader's head in. But, without a doubt, when she hit you in your mouth, I thought she broke your jaw, I thought that was one of the hardest sucker punches I've ever seen thrown in this business, where it connected." Bubba explained: "[Kong] was wearing wrestling gear, and she came in and sucker punched me right on my left cheek, and I was like, 'What's going on?' and she came out me again... hit me in the mouth, and she goes, 'This if for Haiti!' and I'm like, 'What is going on?' Then she hits me again. Finally I put my left hand out and push her away from me, and she comes at me again and I just cover up, because I cannot fight back on a woman. Not only will I be fired from TNA, which I probably am, but my radio career is gone if I take a woman out!" Bubba later claimed his attorney was going to call Dixie Carter to file a lawsuit.
There is a lot of unrest among younger talent right now and a few guys are currently weighing their options.
New Japan wrestler Kazuchika Okada is coming in soon for a tryout.
TNA's first-ever wrestling show in France scheduled for Sunday was postponed until Monday due to the tragedy in Haiti. The company was notified that the French Ministry of Culture was going to occupy Le Zénith de Paris for a concert of solidarity on behalf of the Haitian people that will be broadcast live on French television. (Thanks to Jeremy Chevallier of fnlutte.com)
The girl that accompanied Desmond Wolfe at Genesis was actually a local model.
Jeremy Borash was a guest on Sirius Radio Channel 98 last night. He said he would remain an online presence for the company and continue to work behind the scenes.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Jimmy Hart and Autumn Frost of Wrestlicious are guests tonight on The Surf on BITE Television in Canada. A correction from yesterday as we incorrectly reported that Hart would be announcing that Wrestlicious has sold it's television rights in Canada. Hart is actually promoting a distribution deal in North America. The Surf will also stream the show live on the Internet at 10pm ET at www.bite.ca/TheSurf.
Brock Lesnar is going on ESPN tomorrow morning at 11am to discuss his health and future in the UFC.
Dragon Gate USA's Freedom Fight premieres on PPV on January 22. More info at www.dgusa.tv.
Today's Diva of the Day is Lalya at http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva.
