WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT
1/24 Raw TV results from Detroit, MI: Edge over Jack Swagger, Drew McIntyre & Tyson Kidd in a mini Rumble; Alberto Del Rio & Sheamus over John Morrison & Mark Henry; Natalya over Melina; Edge over Miz via DQ; Husky Harris & Michael McGillicutty over Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov; and Wade Barrett vs. CM Punk was a double DQ. Dark match was Percy Watson over William Regal with James Maritato (Nunzio) working as a referee.
1/25 NXT results from Cincinnati, OH: None of the rookies could "Out-Fink" the Fink; Ted DiBiase over Daniel Bryan; Brodus Clay over Johnny Curtis, Byron Saxton & Derrick Bateman in a four-way.
Superstars tonight includes Zack Ryder & Primo vs. David Hart Smith & Yoshi Tatsu and R-Truth vs. Tyson Kidd.
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Natalya vs. Michelle McCool and Layla in a handicap match was added to Sunday's Royal Rumble line up in Boston. There are rumors that Kia Stevens, the former Awesome Kong, will debut imminently. She lives in the Boston area where the pay-per-view is taking place.
McCool has been working through a neck injury in recent months--a bulging disc between her C5 and C6 vertebrae.
At least two legends are scheduled for the Rumble match, along with someone who would be a surprise who we've been asked not to reveal.
Justin Beiber is one name people in the company have pitched to Vince McMahon for celebrity involvement at Wrestlemania. I would be stunned if Vince even knew who Beiber was, because his idea of a Wrestlemania celebrity in recent years has been Peter Gabriel and Kid Rock. He doesn't really follow pop culture anymore, and these days relies on others to tell him what's cool.
Triple H noted during a radio interview this past week that he and Stephanie named their third daughter Vaughn Evelyn. The couple's third child was born last summer. They have two other girls, Aurora Rose, 4, and Murphy Claire, 2. He said Stephanie wants five children, that he was happy when they just had two, but would love a son one day.
Shane McMahon has been attending recent premier league soccer games in the UK. There is speculation that Shane on behalf of an investment company that he consults for in Abu Dhabi are monitoring UK sports teams as potential investment opportunities.
Raw on Monday night did a 3.3 rating and 4.9 million viewers.
Smackdown on 1/21 did a 2.1 rating and averaged 3.3 million viewers--another record high on SyFy.
The company sent out it's annual Wellness letter to former contracted talent this week offering rehab and treatment programs to whose who may need it.
The Diva Search is slated to return for another run later this year. The early word is that they want to produce the show similar to the NXT concept where the women brought in would have current Divas as Pros. We're also told they are going to make an effort this time around to bring in women from the indy scene.
Lawyers for the McMahons, WWE and Martha Hart have reportedly requested some parts of their legal battle be sealed for confidentiality reasons.
A video surfaced of John Cena squatting around 500 pounds with ease at http://tinyurl.com/5wwwb6q.
Shawn Michaels is scheduled for several AutoRama World of Wheels events in February with dates in Indianapolis, Dallas, and Detroit.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING
1/24 house show results from Dublin, Ireland: Kazarian over Mark Haskins & Chris Sabin in a three-way; Angelina Love & Mickie James over Madison Rayne & Tara; Rob Van Dam over Matt Hardy; Beer Money over Douglas Williams & Magnus;. Matt Morgan & Shannon Moore over Pope & Jeff Jarrett and Mr. Anderson over Jeff Hardy. The show was a legit sellout which would be just over 1,800 people. Some of the guys were saying this was one of the hottest crowds they've ever worked.
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1/25 house show results from Berlin, Germany: Kazarian over Chris Sabin, Shannon Moore & Mark Haskins in a four-way; Mickie James & Angelina Love over Madison Rayne & Tara; Jeff Jarrett over Murat Bosporus (local guy); Beer Money over Douglas Williams & Magnus; Matt Morgan over Pope; and Rob Van Dam & Mr. Anderson over the Hardy Boyz. The show drew an estimated 3,500. Beer Money were the most over act in this city. Following the main event there were loud chants of "We Want Flair".
The tour continues tonight in Glasgow, Scotland (Braehead Arena), followed by Friday in Manchester, England (MEN Arena), and concluding Saturday in London, England (O2 Arena).
Impact tonight is headlined by Team Angle vs. Team Immortal in a handicap match; plus Mr. Anderson vs. Matt Hardy; Abyss vs. Douglas Williams for the TV title; and Madison Rayne, Tara & Sarita vs. Velvet Sky, Angelina Love & Mickie James.
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Ric Flair is expected to rejoin the European tour and complete his obligations for the remaining shows in Glasgow, Manchester and London. The entire tour was built around him as the main attraction. As was reported, Flair chose to stay behind at the TNA hotel following Monday's show in Ireland due to not being granted an advance in pay. He missed Tuesday's show in Germany. He's advertised to team tonight in Glasgow with Kazarian vs. Douglas Williams & Matt Morgan.
Dixie Carter announced on Tuesday that all TNA programming in the UK will be broadcast on Challenge on Sky, Virgin Media, and Freeview from February. The channel currently airs repeats of syndicated game shows so on the surface this would seem to be a strange place to position a wrestling program. However, there are rumblings that the channel will be rebranded soon into a network geared towards males 18-30. The provisional timeslot given to Impact is Tuesday's at 10pm--five days after the show first airs in the US and online at TNADemand.com. Pay-per-view will also air free on tape delay.
Sky News in the UK interviewed Dixie about sexism in sport on Wednesday. It's a major news topic over there right now due to controversy surrounding sexiest off air comments made by Sky Sports presenters Richard Keys and Andy Grey, which were leaked to a Sunday newspaper. The host, Jeff Randall, introduced Dixie as "one of the most influential women in American sports." She says sexism has no place in sports or in the workplace. "It's something that can't be tolerated, today more than ever... Sometimes there are a few people that push the line, but you have to, or I have to, in a situation, be very firm about things and stop it immediately." You can watch the segment at http://tinyurl.com/5uwjg9y.
In a PR stunt, the company has offered a cage match at Lockdown to the NFL's Chad Ochocinco and his head coach Marvin Lewis.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Former OVW wrestler Shawn Osborne (Shawn McGrath, 34), who was at one time in the WWE developmental program, took his own life on Wednesday. We don't have much detail other than he had emailed a suicide note to friends.
Jesse Ventura filed a lawsuit against the Transportation Security Administration over scanning practices he claims are unconstitutional. Full story at http://tinyurl.com/5u7ldem.
Ring of Honor announced signing the Briscoe brothers to new deals. The philosophy is that they still want to keep their top guys under contract even though they're no longer going to be on HDNet.
Bruce Hart's new autobiography Straight from the Hart was released this past week.
OWW Radio has a 1-hour interview with Rick “the Model” Martel available for download at www.owwradio.com as well as iTunes. The interview covers his time in the Pacific Northwest and the Mid-Atlantic territories, to his successful years in WWF from 1987-1993, his stint in WCW of 1997-98, and his current dealings on the indies.
Jimmy Hart on Bubba the Love Sponge last week claimed that Wrestlelicious is close to securing a television deal with MTV2.
The popular WrestleCrap website has been re-launched at www.WrestleCrap.com with a 'Newz Trolla' that scans the web 24/7 for the latest pro wrestling haps.
WSU has an iPPV currently airing at www.gofightlive.tv headlined by Mercedes Martinez vs. Angel Orsini in a ladder match.
