WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT
6/29 NXT TV results from Wilkes-Barre, PA: MVP over Husky Harris; Kaval, Lucky Cannon & Michael McGillicutty over Alex Riley, Eli Cottonwood & Titus O'Neil. Kaval won the NXT poll while Titus O'Neil was eliminated, which is a change as they originally announced no cuts would be made for another four weeks.
Superstars tonight on WGN has Christian vs. Curt Hawkins; Goldust & Yoshi Tatsu vs. Zach Ryder & Primo; and Nikki Bella vs. Jillian Hall.
***
CM Punk underwent minor arm surgery a few days ago which will prevent him from wrestling for a few weeks. He worked the TV tapings on Tuesday with his arm in a sling.
Ricky Steamboat suffered a legit sprained neck during the Raw segment with Nexus beating down the legends. The WWE website (storyline) also reported he cracked some ribs.
Bryan Danielson wrote a blog addressing his release. He said he was angry about what happened, that he apologised to WWE for the tie choke, but felt he would be a hypocrite if he apologized for putting everything he had into the segment that got him fired. He wrote:
"As with anyone who gets fired from their job, especially when they feel its unjust, I am angry. Very angry. But I can’t fault WWE for how they handled my release. My contract contained a 90 day no-compete clause in the event I was let go, yet the WWE has graciously allowed me start wrestling again on any show that’s not taped for television or pay per view." He didn't say much else other than teasing TNA was interested in his services. "But regardless of what offers come in, I am in no rush to make any rash decisions," he wrote. "I enjoy my freedom as much as I enjoyed the benefits offered by being in WWE. My future, as usual, is uncertain. But I am enjoying my return to the independents. I’m hoping to see some of you there." Full blog at www.bryandanielson.tv.
Angela Fong said she was blindsided by her release and what hurt most was that she never got the opportunity to wrestle on WWE TV. She is now accepting bookings through Steve Woolf at celebritysignings@sbcglobal.net.
One of our readers talked to Shane McMahon earlier this week in New York City. Shane basically said he was enjoying doing nothing and spending time with his family. He also said he didn't see himself returning to WWE anytime in the near future.
NXT on Tuesday night did a 0.9 rating and 1 million viewers.
Abraham Washington is one name under consideration for the mystery Raw GM spot. He was originally slated for the role a couple of months ago.
Teddy Hart is telling people once again that he's WWE-bound. Apparently he just got fired from AAA in Mexico--reportedly for his own safety as more than half the locker room wanted to kill him.
Jim Ross noted that he and Steve Austin were planning to attend the UFC pay-per-view together this weekend in Las Vegas. FightHype.com at http://tinyurl.com/3ajh5rr has an interview with Ross talking Lesnar-Carwin and business growth comparisons between WWE and the UFC.
The main reason why the Flair style chops are now banned is because it reminds fans of Flair, and generally the whole building goes, "Whooo!" each time a chop is delivered. It was also interesting to note on Raw this week that Arn Anderson didn't mention Flair's name when talking about the five greatest wrestlers of all time. He was however scripted to call Michaels, Undertaker, and Triple H among five of the greatest ever. I suppose you could make a case for the first two, but should Triple H be included in that debate?
Slam Wrestling has a story on Jack Swagger at http://tinyurl.com/375kv64.
An interesting look at WWE's social media reach at http://tinyurl.com/2a9a8ne.
The Miami Herald interviewed Dusty Rhodes at http://tinyurl.com/33dbya3 to promote FCW's summer tour of Florida.
Muscle & Fitness magazine has an upcoming feature on the Divas including Maryse, Eve Torres and Michelle McCool.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING
Impact tonight on Spike has Abyss vs. Jeff Hardy with Rob Van Dam as the special referee; AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe; Desmond Wolfe vs. Brian Kendrick; Ink, Inc. vs. MCMG; Madison Rayne vs. Taylor Wilde in a non-title match; plus the return of The Pope.
TNA runs Friday night in Brooklyn, NY with Rob Van Dam vs. AJ Styles; Jeff Hardy vs. Abyss; Team 3D vs. Ink, Inc. in a tables match; Kurt Angle vs. Desmond Wolfe; Madison Rayne vs. Angelina Love; plus Jay Lethal, Brian Kendrick, Homicide and Amazing Red. This is the big show from MCU Park where they hope to set a new U.S. attendance record. They also run Saturday night in Asbury Park, NJ.
***
Ed Ferrara was let go from the writing team a few days ago. He was rehired last September as an assistant to Vince Russo, which was the impetus for nudging out Jim Cornette, who Ferrara wouldn't work with due to an altercation between them a few years earlier.
Russo and Matt Conway are still writing the television shows at press time.
Hogan missed the taping on Tuesday as his back is messed up. His people say he may be undergoing another surgery soon which doesn't sound good. Eric Bischoff and Jason Hervey, who also sits in production meetings, missed the taping too. Bischoff was hosting a July 4 event near his Wyoming home while Hertvey was working on another TV project.
Former TNA wrestler Kid Kash did an interview with www.carnagecrew.net talking all kinds of nonsense including wanting to shoot fight Homicide.
The Pittsburgh City Paper has a review of Kurt Angle's Foodies Cafe at http://tinyurl.com/2ufpyt6.
WWE has now removed TNA programming as competition from it's internal weekly memos on ratings.
Raven will make his stand-up comedy debut next Thursday at Cozzy’s Comedy Club in Newport News, VA.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
The former wife and wrestling valet of Chris Adams, Toni Gant passed away last week at age 45. She had not been well and developed an infection in her abdomen following surgery to remove an abscess. Late last month she suffered a cardiac arrest at home which doctors believe was the result of choking on her own vomit in her sleep. They managed to revive her but the family decided to take her off life support on Thursday. Toni began working in Fritz Von Erich's World Class promotion as a production assistant in 1984. She later married Chris Adams, one of the biggest stars of the promotion, shortly after his divorce from Jeanie Clarke. Her appearances on World Class television were sporadic, however she was involved in some segments with Chris while helping to sell his blinding injury angle in 1986. A few years later, she was involved in one of the most memorable feuds of the USWA in 1990, when she and Chris began feuding with his former protege Steve Austin. The feud later involved Chris' ex-wife Jeanie, who eventually married Austin, and faced each other in mixed tag matches for much of that year. Chris' personal demons had spiralled out of control around this time, and Toni divorced him soon after the feud. She returned to wrestling in Memphis in 1993, managing Brian Christopher as Nanny Simpson, and participated in several mixed tag matches with him against Koko B. Ware and Miss Texas (Jacqeline Moore). She also briefly managed Eddie Gilbert before his infamous feud with Jerry Lawler. Toni eventually quit the wrestling business in 1995. At the time of her death she was living in Louisville, KY, and was engaged to marry her third husband. There will be a burial in Texas at a later date.
Alex Marvez has a story on Greg Valentine at http://tinyurl.com/27qmfhj. Valentine, 60, claims he's wrestled his last match after tearing his quad after accidentally falling off some ring steps (lawsuit pending) for an indy group in Chicago last summer. "I felt maybe God was telling me to finally quit," said Valentine, who became a born-again Christian in 2002. "He's taken care of me when I was thinking, 'Where am I going to make money?,' and this and that. I've been blessed since this accident." When asked about Hogan and Flair in TNA, he said: "I don't think Ric should work anymore... Eventually, he might end up getting hurt bad. I know Hogan has had hip surgeries, and now he's having back surgeries. It is financial (why they're still wrestling). It hurts me to see that."
Lance Storm has a TV project in the works. He's working with a production company in Calgary to put together a documentary series involving his wrestling school students. Storm reports, "The show will be called World of Hurt and will focus on an International cast of mostly former SWA students who will take part in a grueling advanced training program with me to try to take their game to the next level... We will be shooting the project from now till the end of the year and it will be airing in early 2011 on a National Canadian Network."
A 30-minute special to preview MTV2's new Lucha Libre show is online at http://tinyurl.com/35dxlyy.
The Village Voice has a review of lucha themed restaurant Cascabel Taqueria in New York City at http://tinyurl.com/2e62ft8.
Antonio Inoki helped set a new Guinness World Record for the largest simultaneous toast at a Tokyo Yakult Swallows vs. the Hanshin Tigers baseball game earlier this week.
The former Ryan Shamrock (Alicia Webb) was interviewed at www.inyourheadonline.com. She claimed WWE released her back in 1999 because she refused to sign a five year contract. That's a good one. She said Chyna hated her and used to mess with her gear in the locker room all the time and make ridiculous complaints about her to management. She said among some wacky Russo writing that never saw light was an incest angle involving her and Ken Shamrock (who she was dating at the time but played his storyline sister), and also a deal where Debra Marshall would be revealed as her birth mother. She said her future plans involve getting into fitness and bodybuilding competitions.
Amy Dumas' (Lita) ink made a Yes Network list of the worst tattoo's in sports. They wrote, "How do you un-pretty a pretty girl? Answer: You put a huge, demonic tattoo on her shoulder. It's truly unfortunate. This former WWE diva had amazing athleticism and a great smile. I just can't get past the tattoo."
A new episode of Wrestlicious premieres on America One on Saturday night at 11:30pm. The main event features CoCo Montego (aka Sojo Bolt) and Marley vs. The Naughty Girls.
Today's Babe of the Day is Lizzy Valentine at http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva.
=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
