– WWE writer Ryan Ward was said to be the key person behind the creative for the recent NXT Takeover: R Evolution event. The process saw Ward write the show and then Triple H reviewed it and had the final say in terms of approving it.

– This past Sunday’s WWE TLC pay-per-view in Cleveland, Ohio drew approximately 14,000 fans, a near sellout for the Quicken Loans Arena.

– Ring Of Honor announced that Alberto Del Rio (aka Alberto El Patron) will face Roderick Strong at the January 31st event at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds in Dayton, Ohio. For more details, visit ROHWrestling.com.

– WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin celebrates his 50th birthday today. Austin was born on December 18, 1964. Other wrestling birthdays today include fellow Hall of Famer Trish Stratus (39) and Rob Van Dam (44).

• NEW Details Regarding WWE’s Plans For An Undertaker vs. Bray Wyatt Match At WrestleMania

Global Force Wrestling founder Jeff Jarrett joined Chad Dukes of CBS Radio Washington DC 106.7 The Fan and the Chad Dukes Wrestling show on Wednesday afternoon to preview Global Force Wrestling’s presentation of New Japan’s “Wrestle Kingdom 9.” In his discussion with Dukes, Jarrett talked about growing up in the business, the vision for Global Force Wrestling, Jim Ross, the crowded wrestling market, his relationship with TNA, WrestleKingdom 9, and more.

Here are some highlights of what he said about:

His Vision For Global Force Wrestling:

“Global Force will be its… a standalone. I think that’s a nice enough term for it. With its own roster, with its own sponsors, own venue, running shows everything that goes with a promotion. But at Global Force Wrestling we also have a fundamental philosophy that’s a 180 from what’s been done over the last 10-15 years. Most promotions act like they’re the only promotion that exists and no other promotions…they certainly don’t talk about them and if they do they don’t talk about them in a negative light. We’ve got a different philosophy. We’ve recognized and partnered with the best promotions in the world, New Japan’s at the very top of that list. They’re obviously the best promotion in Japan. AAA, in Mexico, a red-hot promotion in Mexico. We have partnered with independent promotions around the world. Our South African partner, we’re going to be making some announcements on that in the days and weeks to come.

Yes, we’re going to be a stand alone promotion, and that’s going to roll out in 2015, but we’re also going to partner and what better way to step onto the grand stage and create even more brand awareness, partnering with New Japan bringing WrestleKingdom 9.”

Who To Watch at Wrestle Kingdom 9:

“I’ll give you two matches on this show that are in my opinion, Wrestling 2015 and beyond. The first match on the show is guys that you’re very familiar with, the Young Bucks, the Forever Hooligans, the Time Splitters- Alex Shelly & Kushida, and then Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions, ReDragon. That four corners tag match, I’ve seen bits and pieces of them on my previous trips over to Japan but those guys in a Dome atmosphere, there’s no doubt in mind it is going to be a match for the ages. It will blow you away.

And then the last match of the night, the main event, Tanahashi, and if you want to talk about just one guy, that’s the guy. He’s a rock star, he’s in his mid 30?s, he’s in the prime of his career and he’s facing Okada, the Rainmaker. Those two guys have an awesome rivalry. It’s just like a Rock-Stone Cold, a Hogan-Andre, Bret Hart-Stone Cold, whatever your feud or rivalry of a lifetime, whatever your favorite feud is, their rivalry is right on par with it. “

The Increasingly Crowded Wrestling Market:

“I said it back in February or March, that I felt the business was so healthy and just on the cusp of a boom. Here we are rolling into 2015 and Ring of Honor has entered the pay-per-view world, you mentioned Lucha Underground, New Japan’s got a deal on AXS TV, New Japan World as a digital streaming service, obviously everybody knows about the WWE Network and the massive amount of content, Global Force Wrestling is doing its rollout, it’s a very healthy market. I used this analogy the other day, I got asked sort of the same question, if you’ve got a busy intersection with a lot of fans and a lot of people, let’s just say for example you put a McDonalds hamburgers on one corner and across the street you put a Wendy’s hamburgers. The people at Burger King try to do everything in their power, ‘how can I get on the other corner because the other two hamburger joints are doing good.’? I believe it’s making all of us healthy.”

The following is a preview for this week’s post-NXT TakeOver R: Evolution edition of NXT on the WWE Network:

– Becky Lynch vs. Bayley

– Bull Dempsey vs. a local wrestler

– Baron Corbin vs. a local wrestler

– The Ascension vs. Enzo Amore and Big Cass

– Kevin Owens vs. Adrian Neville

*Spoilers* For The Next 4 Episodes Of WWE NXT

The following are highlights of a new Main Event Madness Radio interview with Global Force Wrestling (GFW) founder Jeff Jarrett:

On his greatest in-ring accomplishment: “Well inside the ring, you know, it goes without saying, anybody that’s ever laced up a pair of boots, anyone that’s wanted to be a professional wrestler that became a professional wrestler, they want to be world champion. So, when I reached that goal, I was very, very happy. Every world title I’ve ever won was a proud moment, you know? The first time I won the [WWE] Intercontinental Title back in 1995, I really enjoyed that. When I look back on my career, you have different phases of your career, and I enjoyed my time and series of matches with Shawn Michaels, and just a couple years ago, my series of matches with Kurt Angle. Those are some of the highlights.”

On if he thought TNA would last as long as it has when it started: “You know, I’ve been asked that question several different ways. When anybody starts a business, you envision it being around for a long time. Nobody starts a business and says, ‘Hey I’m gonna be around for a month or two.’ So, absolutely. I did everything in my power and [I’m] very pleased with my time in TNA.”

Check out the complete interview at Spreaker.com.

The following are highlights of a new Newsday interview with Lucha Underground wrestler Chavo Guerrero:

On criticism of Lucha Underground featuring ex-WWE stars like John Morrison (as Johnny Mundo): “If they couldn’t do that style, I would see the difference. If they pushed a guy with big name brand recognition who can’t do lucha libre, who is kind of just adding name value, I would see people getting upset. But you have a John Morrison, who can do things in the ring that a lot of even the Latino luchadors can’t. So it’s not like he’s a charity case.”

On Lucha Underground’s unique production style: “If you look at any other wrestling show, they’re filming backstage segments and promos on video with one camera. We’re filming them like a movie. We have lighting, a props department, wardrobe. We’re filming them from all sorts of camera angles, spliced together with music in the background. I think, and not just because I’m working there, that this is the best wrestling product on the market. The best.”

On what Eddie Guerrero would have thought of Lucha Underground: “He would have loved this. This product is so different and gritty. I know he would be asking, ‘How do I become part of this. His wrestling IQ was off the charts . . . As great as [Lucha Underground] is now, it would be even better with his knowledge.”

Check out the complete interview at Newsday.com.

– Top independent tag-team The Young Bucks were invited to take part in WWE’s recent tryout camp in September, however the duo reportedly politely turned the offer down.

– The WWE live event in Wheeling, West Virginia on December 13th drew approximately 4,000 fans. Monday’s post-TLC edition of WWE RAW in Detroit, Michigan drew a near sellout of 11,800 fans.

– It’s said that there were no directives made by anyone, including Kevin Dunn or other high-end WWE executives, during the live taping of the “Steve Austin Show” podcast special interview with Vince McMahon. It’s said that Austin was not told to stay away from any specific topics and was free to ask whatever he wanted.

– Sales for the new WWE 2K15 video game are believed to be ahead of what the sales were at this point last year for the WWE 2K14 video game.

• PHOTOS: Check Out Finn Balor’s Many Incredible Body Paint Designs Over The Years

(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

As noted recently, WWE Diva Naomi and her real-life husband, Jimmy Uso, are no longer scheduled to be a part of the Total Divas cast when the next season of the show airs on E!.

Apparently the decision was made because of the fact that the two recently got married.

It’s believed that there wasn’t much that could be done with them on the show after Naomi and Cameron broke up as a tag-team, and because most of the “married couple issues” in the storylines for the show would be used by other married couples that are part of the cast.

It was reported a few days ago that WWE’s merchandise department was told to no longer produce new merchandise items for Brock Lesnar, and to instead switch anything earmarked for Lesnar to Sheamus. After the initial report, WWE released a brief statement denying the story, claiming that there’s no truth to it at all.

In an update, apparently it was a licensing partner of WWE’s that was informed to no longer produce new Lesnar items. They were also reportedly told that any group-shot merchandise, which would include all of WWE’s top stars, should no longer feature Lesnar, and to replace him in anything of that nature with Sheamus.

According to those close to the situation, this is not necessarily an indication that Lesnar is leaving after WrestleMania 31. Instead, it’s believed that because Lesnar has yet to re-sign with the company, third-party companies were told not to produce anything new just to be on the safe side.

Apparently these companies were told this in regards to merchandise items that would be released after WrestleMania 31, which takes place on March 29, 2015.

For those who saw the NXT Takeover: R Evolution special on the WWE Network last Thursday, you saw former wrestler Corey Graves talk about how WWE’s “world-class doctors” advised him to retire after concussion issues.

Apparently the Graves segment where he made that comment was purposely planned, partially designed as a shot towards CM Punk.

It’s said that Graves putting over WWE’s doctors as world-class and talking about how they identified his problem with no issues and did the right thing, resulting in him keeping a job with the company, was all aimed as a response to comments made by Punk on the “Art of Wrestling” podcast.

• PHOTOS: Check Out Finn Balor’s Many Incredible Body Paint Designs Over The Years

(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

As noted several times in the past, there has been a lot of speculation regarding WWE signing top independent professional wrestler Uhaa Nation.

The latest word going around is that WWE offered Nation a developmental deal, however there is no word yet as to whether or not he has accepted the offer.

For what it’s worth, there has been some talk going around on the independent wrestling scene about Nation no longer accepting independent bookings past a certain date.

TNA reportedly made another attempt at signing Alberto Del Rio. According to one source, TNA made a very serious money offer, rumored to be in the $400,000 per year range.

One of the issues in the negotiations is said to be TNA’s attempt to get exclusivity of Del Rio, as it is widely known that he plans to work for AAA’s Lucha Underground show in 2015, as well as Ring Of Honor, the latter of which is already being officially advertised.

It’s believed that if TNA wants a shot at Del Rio, they’ll have to either drop the request for exclusivity or up the money offer. Apparently, TNA is trying to sell Del Rio on the fact that he’ll get more exposure in the United States by working with them.

Because of the fact that current TNA executive John Gaburick worked closely with Del Rio during their time in WWE, it’s said that he is pushing hard to get him.

– As noted in the recent past, WWE’s creative team was reportedly told to come up with a storyline for Rey Mysterio that would take him from around Survivor Series all the way through WrestleMania. Obviously since Survivor Series has come and gone, as well as the pay-per-view after that, it’s said that whatever storyline they came up with is now off.

– Daniel Bryan’s new autobiography, which is called “YES! YES! YES!” and was scheduled for a release during WrestleMania 31 weekend in late March has been pushed back to a July release. The official synopsis for the book reads as follows:

“YES! YES! YES! Daniel Bryan is the real deal. Everyone’s favorite underdog, he’s proven to the world and to all of WWE that looks can be deceiving. Just ask everyone who’s ever underestimated him…right before he went out and whipped the WWE Universe into a frenzy. This is Bryan’s behind-the-scenes story told for the first time ever — from his beginnings as a child wanting to wrestle to his ten years on the circuit before finally making it in WWE. When his “YES!” chant becomes a full-fledged movement, his career skyrockets. This book chronicles all the hard work, values, influences, unique life choices and more leading to his watershed week at WrestleMania 30. You won’t want to miss it. Yes! We’re sure about this.”

As noted last week, if The Undertaker is able and willing to work a match at WrestleMania 31, WWE wants it to be against Bray Wyatt.

Since then, a recent photo of The Undertaker looking extremely old has surfaced online, one that if you saw it, would lead you to believe that there’s no way he will be wrestling in March. The photo is believed to have been taken at a gate in an airport.

As far as WrestleMania 31 is concerned, whether Undertaker is able to do the Wyatt match or not, it’s said that WWE wants him to at least be a part of the show, as he is under what is believed to be a one-million dollar per-year deal with the company.

• Recent Photos Of THE UNDERTAKER Looking EXTREMELY Old & Skinny

(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

As noted earlier today, WWE is hyping up the January 19th edition of RAW as a “RAW Reunion show,” with Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Shawn Michaels all advertised to appear.

What’s also interesting in terms of the advertising side of things is that Brock Lesnar is no longer listed. Originally, the advertising was built around Lesnar, however he is no longer included in the ads for the show.

As things stand now, the tentative plan is for the announcement of WrestleMania 32 at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas, where the 1/19 RAW takes place, to be made on that show, or close to it.

Also advertised for the show is a John Cena vs. Seth Rollins “Lumberjack Match” with 30 lumberjacks in a match that is being billed as “the biggest lumberjack match in the history of Dallas.” It’s believed that the match will serve as the actual television main event of the show, with all 30 lumberjacks hitting the ring for the finish to simulate the wildness of a 30-man Royal Rumble match, as the show is also the “go-home” show for the Royal Rumble pay-per-view.

2014 is quickly coming to an end. With only two weeks left in the year, fans have seen basically everything the WWE has to offer in 2014, for better or worse. In particular, the fourth quarter of 2014 was filled with exciting action, unexpected debuts, and a noticeable lack of WWE World Heavyweight Championship matches.

With all four quarters essentially “in the books” at this point, we want you to familiarize yourself with our picks from all four quarters. Next week, we are going to create a poll where you can vote on your pick for 2014 Match Of The Year. 

• 2014 First Quarter Matches of the Year
• 2014 Second Quarter Matches of the Year
• 2014 Third Quarter Matches of the Year

With that said, here are the top five matches of the fourth quarter of 2014, complete with highlights where possible.

The following matches are scheduled for tonight’s edition of Lucha Underground on the El Rey Network.

– Prince Puma vs. Fenix vs. Mascarita Sagrada vs. Drago vs. Super Fly vs. El Mariachi Loco vs. King Cuerno vs. Son of Havoc vs. Pentagon Jr. vs. Big Ryck in a ten-way match.

– Johnny Mundo vs. Sexy Star vs. Pimpinela Escarlata vs. Ricky Mandell vs. Famous B vs. Mil Muertes (w/ Catrina) vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. Cortez Castro vs. Mr. Cisco vs. Bael in a Boyle Heights battle royal.

– The winners of the ten-way match and the battle royal will meet in the main event.

Above is the official video preview for tonight’s show.

WWE issued the following …

SMACKDOWN® MOVES TO THURSDAY NIGHT

The show that averages 3.1 million viewers on Friday nights and beats all Friday primetime viewing on any cable network is moving to Thursday nights on Syfy beginning January 15th at 8pm ET. With more than 800 original episodes, SmackDown is the second longest-running weekly episodic program in U.S. television history, only behind WWE’s other flagship program, Monday Night Raw®.

“Quite simply, more young men watch television on Thursday night than on Fridays,” said Michael Engleman, Executive Vice President, Marketing, Digital and Global Brand Strategy, Syfy. “Among Men 18-49, PUTS are 15 percent higher compared to Fridays, expanding the potential audience for SmackDown. Since the majority of broadcast programming skews female, we’re also using Thursday nights to counter program.”

“WWE’s sizable and passionate fan base make SmackDown the #1 entertainment show on Syfy and the most-watched, regularly-scheduled program among key demographics on the network,” said Michelle Wilson, Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer, WWE. “We look forward to bringing the WWE audience to Thursday nights on Syfy.”

Over the past 15 years, SmackDown has been broadcast from 170 different venues, in 148 cities and towns, in seven different countries including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Iraq, Japan, Italy and Mexico. The name SmackDown came from WWE Superstar Dwayne “The Rock®” Johnson’s popular catchphrase, “Lay the Smackdown®.”

PHOTOS: Check Out Finn Balor’s Many Incredible Body Paint Designs Over The Years

– WWE broadcast team member Renee Young recently held a Q&A on her official Twitter account. Young noted that her favorite WWE Superstars to interview are Paul Heyman, Fandango, Jack Swagger and The Usos. You can check out more from Young’s Twitter Q&A @ReneeYoungWWE.

– There’s talk that Erick Rowan vs. Titus O’Neil may be in the works for next Monday’s Christmas-themed edition of WWE RAW in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As noted, in addition to the Christmas theme, WWE Hall Of Famer Hulk Hogan will be appearing on the show.

The Monday, December 15th, post-TLC edition of WWE RAW on the USA Network scored a final cable rating of 2.66, according to Nielsen Media Research. By comparison, the show drew the same rating as the TLC “go-home” and Slammy Awards themed show the previous week, as that show as well delivered a 2.66 final number.

As noted on Tuesday, this week’s RAW averaged 3.521 million viewers, which was down from the average of 3.70 million viewers that the show drew the previous week.

Mr. Money In The Bank Seth Rollins recently spoke to the UK’s Sun newspaper and commented on Randy Orton being jealous of his success in WWE.

Rollins says he and Orton have never been friends and thinks Orton is feeling the heat from he and his former Shield members climbing the ranks.

“Randy and I are colleagues for sure, but we were never friends as far as hanging out. Randy’s got his life, I’ve got my life – we were business partners when it made sense. But now it doesn’t make sense any more so we’re at odds again. And if you look at the way things were when we first came in as The Shield, he didn’t like us very much then so it is one of those things where I think he has always harbored a little professional jealousy when it comes to myself. Maybe he’s a little afraid that some of the young guys are going to come in and steal some of his thunder.”

Rollins added that Orton is an incredible performer and is a sure-fire first ballot Hall of Famer, “but he’s had his time and I think he may be a little afraid to admit that.”

Possible Spoiler Regarding Plans For Randy Orton’s WWE Return

Below are this week’s SmackDown Fallout videos.

In part one, Rusev is backstage with Lana after attacking Ryback.

Part two features Ryback being helped to the back by WWE officials after the attack.

http://youtu.be/rxdv8p6Gy3M

Finally, part three focuses on Roman Reigns’ return.

Former WWE star Gabe Tuft, f.k.a. Tyler Reks, recently spoke to Raj Giri of WrestlingINC.com. During the interview, Tuft discussed breaking into the business, if he was ready for the main roster when he debuted, his first WrestleMania experience, his issues with John Cena. Here are some highlights:

If he was ready for his main roster debut two years after starting to train:

“Not even close, man! There’s always the question, ‘are you ever fully ready?’ I’d have loved to have had more experience on the main roster on house shows. When I debuted, it was me, Sheamus, Yoshi (Tatsu), and Tiffany (Taryn Terrell). We were just told, ‘hey, you’re debuting.’ We’d been on the road for like two weeks, and in front of the agents like twice a week and always just with each other. I had no experience outside of what I learned in FCW. Looking back you do that and then you’re in the ring with Chavo (Guerrero), MVP, Christian, Matt Hardy – if I’d have been able to do that on house shows and then debut– it’d be a different story.”

WWE having the same guys on top:

“The only guys who get over are the guys who are already over, and that’s the problem. When ‘Taker started to make fewer appearances and Edge had to retire because of his neck people like me and Hawkins were thinking, “they better do something soon, cause when all these guys are gone, they’ll have nobody left.” That’s the trend you see. You see guys like John [Cena] still on top and [Big] Show still on top. I know they’re working to build guys like The Shield and [Roman] Reigns and Moxley [Dean
Ambrose]. Had they started doing that a long time ago I think they’d be in a better position.

“I think creative is really dropping the ball. I don’t know if it’s because of the production meetings they have where Vince changes everything last minute or they don’t put a lot of effort in to it. It’s not planned out more than a couple of weeks in advance. There are never any long-term angles any more. If I grew up on that I wouldn’t have any long-term investment in the product, either.”

Five things he would change in the company if he was in charge:

“Number one would be foresight. Think beyond the next couple of weeks.

“Number two, I’d say we grade our talent better. I say that carefully because I don’t know what’s changed since I left. The Performance Center is up and running, but if not much has changed then somebody needs to be grooming them when they’re in NXT.

“Three, when they are brought up to the main roster someone should be assigned to that talent to keep grooming them. Someone to say “what are your ideas? I have some ideas for you.”

“Four, monthly evaluations where you sit down with your agent and they tell you how you’re doing. They tell you what you’re good at, what you suck at, and what they want out of you.

“Five, I’d say pay the guys better. It was getting crappy when I left, and the guys I’ve talked to now say it’s beyond crappy. People assume you once you’re on TV you make a load of money and drive Lamborghinis and stuff, and that’s just not the case.

“Here’s a perfect example: I hate to spill my salary on the internet, but when I left I got a bump to $100,000 a year. But a third of it goes to road expenses. The only thing they pay for is your flight. You pay for your own hotel, and car, and food. Could you imagine trying to eat out five times a day? As a body guy, you have to maintain your physique and that means eating five times a day. Spending all your money trying to maintain that? Good luck. Then Uncle Sam takes 20%-30%. You guys do the math and see how much I walked away with, which was next to nothing. I was making more money fresh out of college as an engineer fresh out of college in an entry level position than being on TV. That’s gotten worse from what I hear. They do a ton of tours, and some guys would be making $30,000-$40,000 in the day. I went to Europe and I think I brought home $5,000. Then there was one tour I flew overseas and did a ten day tour and made less than $2,000. I made less than $500 a show. The video games are getting worse – guys used to get paid up to $100,000 for being in the video game and now it’s much, much less. The reading audience will think that’s a lot of money, but when you’re on the road it’s not. We don’t all have busses like John and Punk and Show. You’re breaking your body to barely pay the bills.”

Tuft also discussed his issues with John Cena, how Cena reacted backstage in front of the locker room, quitting WWE in the midst of a push and the company’s reaction, the schedule, Triple H coming up with the Magic Mike gimmick, if TNA would be an option and more. You can read the full interview by clicking here

– The Miz recently spoke with Ryan Fahey and Nick Swinke of Sports Town Chicago about the state of tag-team wrestling, his tag-team partner Damien Mizdow and WWE’s Tribute to the Troops special. You can check out the complete interview at SportsTownChicago.com.

– WWE recently posted the following video on their official YouTube channel, “5 Legends who never won a WWE title.”