WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT
2/18 Smackdown TV results from San Diego, CA: Edge, Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton, John Cena, John Morrison & R-Truth over CM Punk, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, Wade Barrett, Sheamus & Kane; Layla & Maryse over Eve Torres & Beth Phoenix; The Miz over Kofi Kingston in a non-title match; Santino & Kozlov over Justin Gabriel & Heath Slater to retain the tag titles, and Edge over Dolph Ziggler to capture the WWE title.
2/20 Elimination Chamber pay-per-view results from Oakland, CA: Alberto Del Rio over Kofi Kingston in a non-title match; Edge retained and won the Smackdown chamber match over Rey Mysterio, Kane, Drew McIntyre, Big Show & Wade Barrett; Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel over Santino & Kozlov to capture the tag titles; The Miz over Jerry Lawler to retain the WWE title; and John Cena won the Raw chamber match over CM Punk, John Morrison, Sheamus, Randy Orton & R-Truth. Dark match was Daniel Bryan over Ted DiBiase. Trivia note: Elimination Chamber is the first PPV since October 2008 where John Cena or Randy Orton didn't feature in a championship match.
Raw is live tonight from Fresno at Save Mart Center with the return of The Undertaker to kick off the 6-week build to Wrestlemania 27. As noted, the return of Triple H is imminent and they also should be announcing another name for the Hall of Fame.
The Smackdown/NXT taping is Tuesday in Sacramento at ACRO Arena.
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Connecticut state Representative Matthew Lesser recently introduced a bill to legalize MMA in the state which he claims WWE is opposing, according to the Hartford Courant at http://tinyurl.com/4fmo6tw. WWE's PR guru Robert Zimmerman issued a denial and was quoted as saying that the company is not opposed, "to this or anything else the state wants to do with regards to sports or entertainment." A public safety committee is scheduled to meet Tuesday afternoon to discuss the bill. If WWE does in fact oppose the bill, presumably someone connected to the company will testify at the meeting.
The Amarillo Globe has a story on Shawn Michaels at http://tinyurl.com/5sxhkge talking about how the outdoors and hunting changed his life. He reiterated that he's done as an active wrestler but said he would remain with the company. "You never really get out of the WWE unless you're wearing concrete shoes at the bottom of the Hudson River, but no more active wrestling," he said.
As well as Trish Stratus, Bill DeMott has been brought back as a trainer for Tough Enough. DeMott, 44, was previously a trainer on the third season of Tough Enough in 2002 which was won by John Morrison and Matt Cappotelli. As his in-ring career wound down he became a trainer for WWE's ill-fated Deep South developmental program in Atlanta. He was released shortly after that operation was abruptly shut down in 2007.
Stratus noted after the show last night that she should have packed her wrestling boots. She didn't know they had anything planned for her other than the Tough Enough announcement. She ended up working a train wreck of spots with LayCool in heels. It's just mind boggling that a company of WWE's size could not source a pair of boots or sneakers at short notice.
Among the names trending last night on Twitter: Trish Stratus, Michael Cole, John Cena, Alex Riley, John Morrison, LayCool and... FRUITY PEBBLES!
Referee Scott Armstrong started back with the company last night and worked both chamber matches. Everyone was thrilled to see him as he's well liked and regarded. Not that this is related but as we previously reported there was talk of "Bullet Bob" Armstrong going into the Hall of Fame.
There were cuts in developmental over this past week. Among those released or who quit are Kevin Hackman (Andrew Leavine) and Caylee Turner (Christina Crawford). The later is the younger sister of Alicia Fox who was said to be very hard working.
Chris Jericho is teasing a big surprise not related to pro wrestling. The surprise is nothing to do with Dancing with the Stars as speculated on several popular TV gossip blogs today.
Peter Rosenberg interviewed Jericho about his new book, WWE storylines, Chris Benoit and more at http://tinyurl.com/6bbo4qz.
Randy Orton is asking fans to help him via Twitter to identify a doorbell ringer who he says is harassing his family. Orton posted a photo of a kid from his hi-tech security system which shows them pranking his home late at night. He also noted that some people have been threatening him and the added security gives him peace of mind when he's on the road.
There is a Q&A with ESPN host Jonathon Coachman at http://tinyurl.com/4q8553h. He talks about his WWE run and says that he decided to get out in 2006 when he got married and started thinking about raising a family. "...I knew that if I wanted to have a family I couldn’t continue to do WWE at the level I was doing because I was on the road four or five days a week, every week of the year." He says he left WWE on great terms and hates it when people who leave bash the company. "Anybody that complains isn’t mentally tough, and I don’t want to hear it. I hate people that leave and then bash (Vince McMahon), bash the company and say what a horrible guy he is, because he’s not. He just asks a lot. And you’ve got a bring a lot, that’s it." Coachman says his future goal is to anchor SportsCenter or be part of the NBA coverage.
Dolph Ziggler, Chris Masters and Curt Hawkins all appear in an episode of the fourth season of MTV's Silent Library, which premieres on 3/28.
The main events were just announced for the UK tour in April .The Raw side has John Cena vs. The Miz and CM Punk vs. Randy Orton while Smackdown has Edge vs. Alberto Del Rio and Ezekiel vs. Big Show.
Evan Bourne is heading to Brazil this coming week for a promotional tour. The company will soon be announcing it's first ever live events in the country.
WWE is claiming by the end of the year that Raw and Smackdown will be the two longest running weekly episodic TV shows in history. That's right up there with how Hulk Hogan remembers Wrestlemania III.
Fetch TV in Australia announced a deal with WWE Films to broadcast movies on-demand including Knucklehead, The Chaperone and That's What I Am.
There is a Q&A with ESPN host Jonathon Coachman at http://tinyurl.com/4q8553h. He talks about his WWE run and says that he decided to get out in 2006 when he got married and started thinking about raising a family. "...I knew that if I wanted to have a family I couldn’t continue to do WWE at the level I was doing because I was on the road four or five days a week, every week of the year." He says he left WWE on great terms and hates it when people who leave bash the company. "Anybody that complains isn’t mentally tough, and I don’t want to hear it. I hate people that leave and then bash (Vince McMahon), bash the company and say what a horrible guy he is, because he’s not. He just asks a lot. And you’ve got a bring a lot, that’s it." Coachman says his future goal is to anchor SportsCenter or be part of the NBA coverage.
Eve Torres over the weekend gave a "Diva Defense" seminar in self-defense for her former sorority at the University of South California.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING
2/18 house show results from Huntington, WV: Chris Sabin over Shark Boy; Madison Rayne over Velvet Sky; Crimson over Brutus Magnus with Mick Foley as special enforcer; Kazarian over Matt Hardy; Matt Morgan over The Pope; and Kurt Angle & Beer Money over Jeff Jarrett & Ink, Inc. The show drew a little under 2,000 and included a guy proposing to his girlfriend in the ring before the main event. Mr. Anderson was advertised on the original line up but was replaced by Morgan.
They did the same show on 2/19 in Gassaway which was partly a fundraiser show for the local Fire Department.
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Phil Shatter (Gunner) and Mikael Judas (Murphy) both recently signed contracts.
A live event was just announced for 4/1 in Pikeville, KY at the Eastern Kentucky Expo Center. This show is/was under consideration as the second Spike TV taping outside of Orlando. Tickets go on sale on 2/25.
Jeremy Borash shows his cruel side at http://tinyurl.com/69cmgzh.
Alison Skipper who played the role of Chelsea is now working for Fox Sports on a show called The College Experiment which airs every Thursday night on FUEL TV. You can check it out at http://tinyurl.com/66zc6g4.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Former Chicago Bears player Dave Duerson committed suicide by gunshot to the chest, but before doing so reportedly told his family he wanted his brain studied for the effects of past trauma by Christopher Nowinski's Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at Boston University. Story is at http://tinyurl.com/69hlduo.
MVP made his New Japan debut this past weekend teaming with Taichi over Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma. His advertised tag partner was Kazshige Nosawa, but Nosawa didn't make the show after he was arrested for public intoxication and stealing a taxi cab.
ROH wrestler Austin Aries says he is re-evaluating his career path after getting passed over for Tough Enough. Aries was one of several indy wrestlers who made it to the final cut before WWE people took a close look at the finalists and did extensive background checks. There is certainly a lesson to be learned here, especially with what one writes on Facebook and Twitter, and engaging fans in verbal spars.
Bobby Lashley (5-1) has agreed to fight James Jack (5-4-1) on 3/25 on a card for Titan Fighting Championship. The fight will be televised on HDNet.
Verne Gagne's granddaughter and Greg Gagne's daughter Gail Gagne, a former high school teacher, has agreed to be found guilty to misdemeanor charges of having sex with one of her students as part of a trial by stipulation. Story is at http://tinyurl.com/5wsqmxj.
Les Thatcher is running an Elite Pro Wrestling Training Camp in Manchester, GA from 5/13-5/15. For more info email Brian Long at brian@prowrestlingrevival.com
Former WWE writer Dave Lagana recently launched a new podcast called "formerly creative" at www.iwantwrestling.com. Each show features chats with other former WWE writers.
Bill Apter catches up with Shad Gaspard at http://tinyurl.com/6b6c59j.
Alex Marvez has a where are they now with Oscar from mid-90s WWF tag team Men on a Mission at http://tinyurl.com/6xmsynk.
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