WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
2/12 Smackdown TV results: Rey Mysterio over CM Punk; Kane vs. Drew McIntyre was a double count out; Michelle McCool & Layla over Mickie James in a handicap match; Matt Hardy & Great Khali over The Hart Dynasty; R-Truth over John Morrison; and Chris Jericho over Undertaker.
2/12 Smackdown house show results from Guayaquil, Ecuador: Matt Hardy & R-Truth over The Hart Dynasty; Goldust over Zack Ryder w/ Rosa Mendes; Beth Phoenix over Michelle McCool; Christian over Ezekiel Jackson; Kane over CM Punk; Drew McIntyre over John Morrison; Rey Mysterio over Chris Jericho; and The Undertaker over Batista. The show drew over 12,000 people.
2/12 Raw house show results from East Lansing, MI: Yoshi Tatsu over William Regal; Evan Bourne over Chavo; Chris Masters w/ Eve Torres did a Masterlock challenge over Santino; The Miz over Kofi Kingston & MVP in a three-way; DX over Cody Rhodes & Jack Swagger; Gail Kim & The Bella Twins over Maryse, Jillian Hall & Alicia Fox; Mark Henry over Carlito; and John Cena over Sheamus via DQ. Ted DiBiase missed the show due to the airport shutting down because of bad weather.
The Smackdown crew are in the midst of a South American tour. They run tonight in Costa Rica then Sunday night in Mexico. We're looking for reader reports to you2us@wrestlingglobe.com as well as reports from the Raw show tonight in Madison, WI and Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia.
Raw TV is Monday from Des Moines with Jerry Springer as guest host, plus John Cena vs. Triple H, Ted DiBiase vs. Kofi Kingston and Randy Orton vs. Sheamus in a non-title match. Smackdown TV is taped Tuesday in Kansas City with the death of ECW which includes Christian vs. Ezekiel Jackson in a hardcore match for the ECW title; MizShow vs. Goldust & Yoshi Tatsu for the tag titles; and some surprises. Edge vs. Batista is advertised as the Smackdown main event.
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Just to clarify a report from yesterday--Survivor Series in November will be rebranded under a new name. "Survivor Series, many years ago was one of the original four pay-per-views, but it's outlasted its usage," said Vince McMahon during Thursday's WWE investors conference call. "That is one of the things in terms of rebranding this year going forward. That will be rebranded. No longer will we have that title, Survivor Series."
Drew McIntyre vs. Kane for the IC title was added to the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view.
The Ottawa Sun has a story on Monday's Raw host Jerry Springer at http://tinyurl.com/yce27c9. He talks about watching wrestling with Antonino Rocca and Haystacks Calhoun as a kid: "It's all a circus and it's all entertainment. If you're prepared to take it in the spirit in which it's given, then you can really enjoy it and have a great time. If you're going to sit back and just be in judgment of all this, then you're not going to have a good time. The fact is, particularly young people enjoy it, love it [and] they don't grow up to be dysfunctional because they see it. A whole nation has watched wrestling for the last 50 years on television. One thing that is very clear when you watch professional wrestlers is what phenomenal athletes they are."
The main talking point following Jack Brisco's funeral service on Thursday was the absence of Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan. As noted, Brisco broke Hogan into the business after discovering him playing in a rock band in the 1970s. People at the service couldn't believe Hogan would not show up. Another talking point was Mike Graham and the attire he was wearing.
The Miz at http://tinyurl.com/yho7fbe talks about his recent money promo claiming the reason he was kicked out of the locker room a few years ago was because he was an outsider.
WWE Studios has another new movie in the works called Killing Karma which starts shooting on April 13 in New Orleans. The film is about an ex-con who wants to make a new life for himself. However, his best friend accidentally shoots a gangster and he scrambles to protect his friend's family while trying to avoid a mob boss. No word on WWE talent attached to the project but they are currently casting for several roles.
Jim Ross' thought of the day via his Twitter: "Wondering why so many young wrestlers have such eye rolling ring names? Lame monikers become silly... ill thought ring names become negatives. If a name doesn't sound WMania main event worthy, rethink it." I don't know, but I assume this came to mind after his FCW visit earlier this week.
The Peoria Journal Star has a Q&A with Kofi Kingston at http://tinyurl.com/yd6vlzv. He noted Mike Tyson was his favorite Raw host. "My first Wrestlemania I got to watch live was Wrestlemania 14 in Boston. That was the one Tyson was involved with. When he was here a couple weeks ago, I was in the ring with Tyson. That was kind of coming full circle to me. I remember being in the crowd watching that Wrestlemania and knowing someday I’d be there. And Tyson was one of the many motivators that got me where I am today."
Kelly Kelly and Lalya break kayfabe and talk about playing "video games" at http://tinyurl.com/ycw65bm.
A fun interview with Chris Jericho ripping TMZ at http://tinyurl.com/ygjafbh.
Superstars on Thursday night did a 1.0 rating and 1.2 million viewers... WGN America on it's website are giving away an all expenses paid trip to Wrestlemania 26.
TNA WRESTLING NEWS
2/12 house show results from Norfolk, VA: Generation Me over Lethal Consequences; Jesse Neal over Homicide; Tara & Angelina Love over The Beautiful People; Jeff Jarrett over Daniels; Beer Money over The British Invasion; The Poper over Desmond Wolfe; and AJ Styles w/ Ric Flair over Kurt Angle. After the show, Angle thanked everyone for watching Impact on Thursday's and to continue watching on Monday night, "real soon." Flair signed autographs before and after the show for $20 a pop.
Against all Odds is Sunday from Orlando with AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe for the TNA heavyweight title with Eric Bischoff as special referee; The Nasty Boys vs. Team 3D for the tag titles; and an 8-man tournament to determine the No 1 contender for the heavyweight title at April’s Lockdown PPV. The winner of Pope-Wolfe and Hernandez-Matt Morgan faces the winner of Abyss-Foley and Anderson-Angle.
The television tapings are Monday and Tuesday also in Orlando.
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There are a several TNA talents having travel issues today. Ken Anderson wrote on his Twitter that he is on stand by to fly out of Minneapolis. He was told there are no flights until Monday, and obviously he is booked on Sunday's pay-per-view. It's a 20-hour plus drve to Orlando so that doesn't sound too promising. Airports are jammed in different areas of the country right now with many flights delayed or canceled due to the weather.
Impact on Thursday night did a 1.2 rating and 1.6 million viewers--back to the pre Hogan/Bischoff numbers.
Ric Flair is reportedly looking at opening a gym and wrestling school in Charlotte. Not sure how this would work. Several years ago he owned some Gold's Gyms but they were poorly managed and basically went out of business. He was bought out of his leases for very little and also lost a lawsuit when he sold one gym and it turned out that the equipment was rented and not owned, but he had not mentioned that in the sale. Somebody close to Flair said that he has long talked about opening a training facility and is very hands on and intense in his training. But they couldn't envision him setting up any type of new business right now as he has many creditors and both of his daughters are getting married over the next few weeks.
The Miami Herald interviewed Brian Diamond of Spike TV at http://tinyurl.com/yampvvy. He said TNA producing live or taped show works for him either way although there are cost and logistic issues involved with going live. "At the end of the day, as long as you're putting out a strong product, it's fine either way," he said. When asked about the Monday, March 1 date that recently listed Impact on Spike's TV schedule, he claimed: "It's accurate that it went out. It's inaccurate as to the fact that there was a date. That was an error. There is nothing carved in stone at this point.'' Diamond also said he has a great relationship with Eric Bischoff and was talking to him about other programming ideas but nothing specific at this point and time.
IGN interviewed Desmond Wolfe about his time in TNA so far, leaving Ring of Honor, Hulk Hogan and more at http://tinyurl.com/ycjgwqf.
Heavy.com did an interview with Bobby Lashley. When asked about his status with TNA, he said: "I don't really know much man. I had a talk with the guys a while back about doing both. Everything seemed to be working well. I think maybe there were some complications there towards the end. I got back home and got all these calls from people saying that I had been released from wrestling. So as far as I know, I've been released, so yes, I can focus full time on MMA."
The second part of Brian Fritz' interview with Mick Foley was posted at http://tinyurl.com/yc3r2mm. On Impact moving to Monday night: "I certainly think it would bring out the best in Vince. I think that material I wrote about in my last book [The Hardcore Diaries] and I think I clearly stated that I thought the WWE product suffered when they lost their competition and I think Vince is a guy that strives on competition. He may not outwardly want it but I think it will bring out the best in him and that's ultimately good for everybody – WWE, TNA, the wrestlers and the fans."
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
A Legends show with Jerry Lawler, Dutch Mantell and Bill Dundee drew over 1,000 paid last night in Ripley, Mississippi about 75 miles south of Memphis--a town that has a population of 6,000. The show was promoted by Rodney Grimes who is regarded as one of the best independent promoters in the south. Fans came from as far away as Alabama and Arkansas.
Dave Meltzer has an awesome story on Danny Hodge at http://tinyurl.com/y9g54g6.
Mike Lano has a review of the recent WrestleReunion convention in Los Angeles focusing on the Iron Sheik, TNA's Daffney, and former WWE valets Terri Runnels and Tammy "Sunny" Sytch, who is in the process of writing a book. Story is at http://tinyurl.com/ycqd8o5.
Ring of Honor is looking to syndicate it's weekly television show in the UK where they haven't had a presence since 2008.
Former WWE wrestler and MMA fighter Glenn Kulka made his acting debut as Charles the Wrestler in the Third Wall Theatre Company's production of Shakespeare's As You Like. the production runs until February 14 at the Irving Greenberg Centre in Ottawa. Apparently his tongue-cheek-performances have brought down the house.
Today's Diva of the Day is Gail Kim at http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva.
