----Mike Aldren with WGN.
WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT
11/8 Raw TV results from Manchester, England: The Bella Twins & Eve over Alicia Fox, Maryse & Tamina; The Usos over The Hart Dynasty; Goldust over Ted DiBiase; John Cena over David Otunga; Sheamus over Santino Marella via DQ; and Nexus over Randy Orton, R-Truth, Mark Henry, Daniel Bryan & The Miz. Dark match was William Regal (biggest pop of the night) over Alex Riley.
The Raw crew runs tonight at the O2 Arena in London while the Smackdown crew is taping TV in Manchester at the MEN Arena. Then follows nine more live events in France, Germany, Austria, Turkey, Belgium, Italy, and Switzerland before flying back to the US for more TV tapings next week. Brutal schedule.
***
WWE has offered a developmental deal to Irish wrestler Tron who bills himself on the local indy scene as "The Northern Irish Nightmare". We know very little about him other than he's a legit 7-foot giant in his mid-20s from a small Irish town called Ballymena.
Reports that John Cena or Dwayne Johnson could land the role of Superman in an upcoming movie reboot are completely false. MTV on Monday ran a story listing Examiner.com as the source--which is a website where "experts" can blog about their hobbies, or in this case, just make stuff up. WWE reps and a rep for Dwayne Johnson both shot down the reports today.
For anyone that missed it... the hilarious Tea Party segment with Santino from Raw is at http://tinyurl.com/2vzxrv8.
The Miz and Alex Riley were all over UK television this morning promoting WWE shows today in London and Manchester. Nothing was said of any real note. Miz revealed that each brand has two buses while on tour--one for the babyfaces and one for the heels.
MVP, who is a huge soccer fan, along with some other WWE workers got a stadium tour today of Manchester United.
WWE sent out a release today to officially announce Tribute to the Troops 2010 to air as a one-hour special on NBC on 12/18. The show, which includes appearances from The View's Sherri Sheppard and Miss USA, Rima Fakih, will be taped at the Foot Hood military base soon in Texas. Vince McMahon, Kelly Kelly, Eve Torres and Big Show will also be traveling to Afghanistan in early December for a goodwill tour.
MediaLife magazine profiled WWE's audience demographics for potential advertisers at http://tinyurl.com/35fsjc3. All of the listed stats were provided by WWE, so some are sketchy while others are just complete fabrications.
Variety at http://tinyurl.com/2w4cuy4 ran a story on WWE Studios noting that the studio has doubled it's revenue in the last three months compared to the prior year quarter.
As part of the promotion for the movie Knucklehead with Big Show, WWE is doing a deal where if you purchase the DVD and have your picture taken with it then you can win free tickets and backstage tours at live events.
Big Show talks Knucklehead at http://tinyurl.com/2vgln8g noting that the break from the wrestling schedule to shoot the movie turned him into a less cranky giant. "I took it as a challenge and an opportunity," he said. "The guy I work for, Vince McMahon, is a leader by example. You don’t ever see Vince tired. You don’t ever see Vince complaining. Vince’s attitude is, if there’s something hard that needs to be done, go forward and do it. I think I carried that over on-set."
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING
11/7 Turning Point PPV results from Orlando, FL: Jeff Hardy over Mr. Anderson to retain the TNA heavyweight title; Jeff Jarrett over Samoa Joe; Abyss over Pope in a lumberjack match; Fortune over EV2 with Sabu getting fired; Rob Van Dam over Tommy Dreamer; Motor City Machine Guns over Team 3D to retain the tag titles; Mickie James vs. Tara was a no contest; and Robbie E over Jay Lethal to capture the X-Division title.
***
Mickie James answered twenty questions for her fans on her official website at www.mickiejames.com. She talked about the decision to come here noting that the main attraction was the lighter schedule and the ability to pursue projects away from wrestling. "The other thing that meant a lot to me was that (Dixie Carter) text me on my birthday to say happy birthday. We had spoken several times before that and she came to my CD release party, but to me that spoke volumes to the kind of person she was. She promised me that she will look out for me. She told me that they would support me 100% in TNA. For her to take time out of her busy day to text me happy birthday meant a lot because it showed what kind of character she had."
In a bizarre effort to get over Jeff Hardy as a heel, last night at the Impact Zone there was a deal where the live crowd was told there would be an autograph signing after the television tapings. Basically people paid $25 and then Hardy came out and told them to spend their money on groceries because he wasn't going to sign anything. People then got a refund and left pissed off. Not sure what this served other than to alienate some of the company's core group of fans and upset young children. "This seemed really counterproductive to me," one TNA wrestler noted to us last night. "A totally dumb idea." There were also many others both inside and outside the company who were equally as negative when they heard what happened. One former TNA worker wrote to us and said, "Seriously, didn't they learn from Steve Austin switching heel and starting the downfall of the hot period in 2001... There are a few people who just don't want to boo... but also to take their money, have them look forward to something, then screw them on purpose and GIVE IT BACK??? Next time, as a fan, I WILL spend it on groceries whether it's a real autograph session or not. Had to be a Russo or Bischoff idea to be that stupid."
Garrett Bischoff, son of Eric, worked Sunday's PPV and TV tapings yesterday as referee Jackson James. Presumably this will be revealed at some point.
Eric Young may be gone after his contract expired recently. The company offered him a new deal for less money than his previous deal, and he basically told them he was going to explore other options.
Rhino also looks to be gone based on the TV show they taped last night.
At the tapings because things broke down the first time they had to re-tape a match between Robbie E & Cookie vs. Jay Lethal & Taylor Wilde.
Tommy Dreamer dislocated his wrist during his match with RVD at Turning Point. No update at press time.
Mick Foley is promoting his book Wednesday night on Jon Stewart on Comedy Central. He also appears Friday night on CNN's Joy Behar show. He's then heading to the UK for more promotional appearances.
Former WWE wrestler Serena Deeb was interviewed by Arda Ocal at http://tinyurl.com/34s98s5. She admitted to interest from TNA, without actually saying it.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Japanese referee Joe Higuchi passed away over the weekend from lung cancer at age 81. He was a long time referee for All Japan and later Pro Wrestling Noah. He also at one-time served as Giant Baba's liaison guy to the United States.
Jim Ross guest announced for the second quarter of the Celtics-Thunder basketball Sunday night on Celtics radio. "Sunday I had the privilege of being a part of the Boston Celtic Radio broadcast with my friend and the NBA's best PXP guy, Sean Grande," wrote Ross in his latest blog at www.jrsbarbq.com. "My brief stint in the booth with Sean received some amazingly positive feedback which is always nice. Broadcasting a portion of the NBA game made me realize that I have not lost my desire to continue as a on air talent if and when the opportunity arises. Hopefully, the OU Football radio job will be a possibility next year even though I realize that I'm likely a long shot. As I always say, never stop dreaming, never say never or willingly take one's self out of the game."
Shawn Michaels spent last weekend hunting in North Dakota with the Outdoor Adventure Foundation which provides hunting and fishing opportunities for young adults with life-threatening illnesses as well as veterans who have lost limbs while on activity duty.
Matt Hardy at http://tinyurl.com/2uj66ou says pro wrestling in 2010 lacks a "cool factor", says WWE lacks star power and is restricted by the PG rating, and also says he loves TNA's angle involving his brother.
OWW radio tonight at 9pm ET has Sheldon Goldberg on discussing the demise of his promotion in New England. More at www.owwradio.com.
Today's Babe of the Day is Lauren Brooke at http://thewrestlingpress.com/?page_id=298.
