WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins made a special appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Thursday.
Stewart, a longtime WWE fan who often references WWE on The Daily Show, did an angle with Rollins earlier this year prior to WrestleMania.
Backstage, Rollins presented Stewart with a personalized WWE championship belt.
https://instagram.com/p/5yRZeFNOWa/
While promoting the HBO dramedy series Ballers at the Television Critics Association’s press tour in Beverly Hills, California on Thursday, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was asked about Hulk Hogan (real name Terry Bollea), whose termination from WWE last week coincided with the publication by the National Enquirer and Radar Online of racist remarks allegedly made by the wrestling legend on a leaked sex tape.
“I was pretty disappointed with what I heard, like all of us, by the way,” said Johnson. “I’ve known Terry for a lot of years, my dad helped train him in Florida in the ’70s when he was breaking into the business. My uncles helped train him too as well. I have not known the man to be racist.”
Johnson adds that while there’s no justification for what Hogan said, he believes everyone has “talked trash,” especially in private.
“It’s funny, it’s one of those things where—and not justifying what he said—we’ve all talked trash, especially in private,” said Johnson. “He said what he said, and he’s paying the price.”
Following the broken nose he suffered on Monday’s RAW in the main event against Seth Rollins, John Cena is no longer being advertised for this weekend’s WWE live events.
On Thursday, WWE also pulled Cena from the ‘Superstars Scheduled to Appear’ listing for next week’s RAW from San Jose, California.
John Cena is still expected to challenge Seth Rollins for the WWE Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam on Sunday, August 23rd.
WWE’s latest installment in the ongoing Body Series workout clips focuses on the Ravishing Russian, Lana.
Lana shows off her moves and talks about learning krav maga, the self-defense martial art developed by the Israeli army in the 1940s. Lana says krav maga has turned her into a weapon that no WWE Diva will stand a chance against. Thus far, we’ve yet to see Lana wrestle any matches, but it sounds like she’s getting herself ready in case she ever becomes an active competitor.
Hit the gym with Lana and find out how The Ravishing Russian achieves peak fitness in this behind-the-scenes video from WWE’s latest Body Series, powered by TapouT.
– Daniel Bryan announced on Twitter that he is now a New York Times Best Selling author for his new book, Yes!: My Improbable Journey to the Main Event of WrestleMania.
https://twitter.com/WWEDanielBryan/status/626789717703442432
Bryan has been doing the media rounds to promote the book, with Independent.co.uk publishing a new interview with him talking about concussions, global warming, Nigel McGuiness and more.
– Rusev continues to take digs at Lana on social media:
Same apply for the cold fish snake woman cow @LanaWWE https://t.co/Jeus18EuNV
— Miro (@ToBeMiro) July 30, 2015
– Angelina Love revealed Thursday that she is expecting her first child with husband Davey Richards.
@RichardsWesley and I are excited & proud to announce that…….?????? pic.twitter.com/6Oo9i1qxVY
— Lauren/Angelina Love (@ActualALove) July 30, 2015
Love, who’s real name is Lauren Williams, began dating Richards in January. The couple announced their engagement on April 27, 2015, and were married on June 10, 2015.
– Jeremy Borash announced Thursday that TNA will launch four new digital original web shows next week.
https://twitter.com/JeremyBorash/status/626795281842077696
– In this video, Chris Melendez talks about the brutality of his match with Eric Young on last night’s episode of Impact Wrestling.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3l4cQXEHDM
Hulk Hogan’s lawyer is blaming The National Enquirer and RadarOnline for ruining his career, according to TampaBay.com reporter Anna Phillips.
Judge Pamela Campbell ruled that Hogan’s sex-tape civil case against Gawker Media will begin on March 7th, 2016.
Hogan’s lawyer told the judge, “His career is done, he’s been fired from WWE.”
Hogan’s lawyer cited “a potential violation of a protective order,” in accusing Gawker of being responsible for the leaked comments in an effort to ruin Hogan’s public image ahead of the trial.
Gawker’s legal team argued that the media company did not violate any laws and that there is, “a long list of people who knew about Mr. Bollea’s use of racist language long before Gawker learned about it.”
Gawker lawyers called Hogan’s efforts “the last refuge of a desperate litigant”
According a report from ProWrestling.net John Cena has been pulled from the live event tomorrow night (Friday) in San Diego, California.
Cena, who broke his nose during the main event against Seth Rollins on RAW was due to face Kevin Owens in a steel cage match at the event on Friday.
They note that Cena has been removed from WWE’s Live Events page but is still currently advertised for the live events on Saturday and Sunday. It’s not clear if the broken nose was the reason he was pulled.
This week’s edition of Ring of Honor TV was taped on June 27 in New York, New York at Terminal 5 and aired last night on Destination America.
Below are the results for this week’s show:
– Matt Taven and Michael Bennett (w/Maria) defeated Corey Hollis and Jonathan Gresham
– Moose (w/Stokley Hathaway) defeated Dalton Castle (w/The Boys), Silas Young, Caprice Coleman, Cheeseburger and Brutal Bob Evans in a Six-Man Mayhem match
BJ Whitmer, Adam Page, and Colby Corino made their way out to the ring, Whitmer told Colby how he looked at himself now as the father that Colby never had, upsetting Steve Cornio at ringside.
Whitmer revealed that as a gift, Colby would compete in a gauntlet match against four wrestlers he had found at the ROH tryout camp.
This brought out Jaheem Ali, Wildman Kongo, The Beast Ortiz, and The Punishment Martinez but before the match could start Steve Corino got into the ring ready to fight before Nigel McGuinness got inbetween them as Kevin Kelly cut to a commercial break.
– Bobby Fish defeated ACH after hitting him with superplex into a slam to get the pin
If you don’t have access to Destination America, you can check out Ring of Honor TV on the official website by clicking on this link.
– PWInsider noted earlier in the week that WWE have currently no plans creatively to use Sting in the SummerSlam PPV next month. This week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter has confirmed this.
The Observer notes that the original plans were to have Sting appear a week or two before the PPV as the third partner for Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose against The Wyatt Family.
Sting was apparently told a while back that he would be on the event and had reportedly gotten himself into “ridiculously good shape for his age (56) – though recently he was told those plans had changed.
It was believed that bringing in Sting to team up with Ambrose and Reigns would improve the reaction for Roman Reigns in New York City.
– Tyson Kidd, who recently had neck surgery has received a gift from a group of fans on Reddit. His wife WWE Diva Natalya posted the following on Instagram:
https://instagram.com/p/5v7p4iy1D_/
– On WWE’s Second Quarter Results conference call for 2015 which took place earlier today (a breakdown can be found at this link) Vince McMahon commented on Hulk Hogan.
Vince McMahon explained that Hulk Hogan is no longer associated with the WWE and that it would have no “material effect” on the company.
– WWE have confirmed that on next week’s episode of Tough Enough Titus O’Neil and Darren Young – better known as The Prime Time Players would be the special guests.
They posted the following photo of the current WWE Tag Team Champions on their Instagram account, meanwhile the Tough Enough Twitter account posted a Vine, also shown below.
https://instagram.com/p/5xEo6uAFGG/
The competitors begin today's teamwork challenge! #ToughEnough https://t.co/9x8g3ITIFB
— WWE Tough Enough (@WWEToughEnough) July 30, 2015
Mika Rotunda, the sister of Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas, recently had a WWE tryout at the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
No word yet on how the tryout went, but apparently she had spent some time at the Performance Center before the actual tryout.
Mika often attends WWE events in Florida and currently works for CW44-TV in Tampa Bay.
Here’s a photo of the Rotunda family together back in May:
My boys and I want to say thank you to ALL who are active in duty and have served our country! #MemorialDay ??? pic.twitter.com/BdrStBWuCG
— Mika Rotunda (@MikaRotunda) May 25, 2015
(Source: PWInsider.com)
– Although former WWE Diva AJ Lee recently made an appearance at a Comic Con event, those close to her claim she is simply not interested in taking any bookings these days. Other people looking to book the longest reigning WWE Divas Champion in history are reporting that they were informed that her daily fee is $15,000, plus business class travel and hotel accommodations.
– The following matches were taped on Tuesday night in Tulsa, Oklahoma for tonight’s edition of WWE SmackDown.
* Seth Rollins vs. Cesaro
* Los Matadores and Lucha Dragons vs. The New Day and The Ascension
* Rusev vs. Jack Swagger
* Stardust vs. R-Truth
* Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins vs. Cesaro and a partner
For complete WWE SmackDown spoilers for tonight, click here.
(Partial Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
Kurt Angle recently took part in a Q&A with fans on his official Facebook page. Below are some of the highlights, courtesy of Angle’s official website.
On his weekly workout routine: “It’s simple: 4 days of weight training and 3 days of hard cardio. I train every day, but no longer than an hour. This is nothing compared to my 10 hour days of training for the Olympics, but it works for me.”
On what he does for cardio: “Nowadays, I only run 3-4 miles a day, but I run fast. I do hill sprints as well. It works for me, so I never get tired when I wrestle.”
Who was a tougher opponent according to you , in terms of in-ring skills – Brock Lesnar or Stone Cold Steve Austin? Lesnar and Austin. Who was tougher?
On who was tougher opponent in terms of in-ring skills — Brock Lesnar or Steve Austin, and who was tougher: “That’s a difficult question. Austin was aggressive and physical. He was always pressing me. Lesnar is a beast, an animal, a rare breed. They dominated in different ways. Both are rugged. But who frightens me more? Lesnar.”
On how he is feeling since his neck surgery: “I’m doing ok from my neck surgery. I had complications but I should be ready to go by early September.”
WWE issued the following press release on Thursday to announce Stephanie McMahon joining the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation Board of Trustees.
WWE® Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon Joins Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation Board of Trustees
PITTSBURGH, July 30, 2015 – Stephanie McMahon, Chief Brand Officer for WWE, has been named to the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation board of trustees.
McMahon, her family, WWE, and its fans have been strong supporters of pediatric cancer care and research at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC over the past two years.
McMahon became involved with Children’s Hospital in 2014, when she and her husband, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, met WWE fan Connor Michalek. Connor, 8, was battling medulloblastoma, a rare tumor that affects the brain and spinal cord, at the time. Connor formed a special connection with McMahon, Levesque, and many of the WWE Superstars and Divas. When Connor lost his battle with medulloblastoma in April 2014, Stephanie and Paul decided to honor his spirit by creating Connor’s Cure, a fund within Children’s Foundation that supports brain tumor research. To date, Connor’s Cure has raised more than $560,000 and has been supported by WWE and fans all over the world, including 49 states and six countries.
“We are honored to have Stephanie join our Board of Trustees. She and her family formed a very special bond with Connor, and she quickly demonstrated a passion for putting her talents and resources to work in the fight against pediatric cancer,” said Greg Barrett, president of Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation. “In the relatively short time she’s been involved with Children’s Hospital and our cancer program, Stephanie has already made a significant impact and I’m excited to see how her ideas and leadership will further enhance our goals and mission.”
“I’m extremely humbled and privileged to join Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation’s Board of Trustees and help play a role in their continued efforts to further pediatric cancer research,” said Stephanie McMahon, WWE Chief Brand Officer. “Connor Michalek had such a profound impact on so many people, including my husband and me. Through the tremendous work at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, I hope we can help find a cure for pediatric cancer, and ensure no other child has to endure Connor’s fate.”
Connor’s Cure supports research by Ian F. Pollack, M.D., chief, Pediatric Neurosurgery in the Brain Care Institute at the Children’s Hospital, including laboratory-based research and a vaccine-based immunotherapy research study. This study examines the efficacy of a unique immunotherapy that treats the tumor using a vaccine not entirely unlike the sort of vaccines most of us are familiar with, such as the tetanus or polio vaccines. Dr. Pollack and colleagues observed overexpression of a series of proteins on the surface of gliomas and ependymomas and determined that these proteins could be used as a component of the vaccine.
As WWE Chief Brand Officer, Stephanie is responsible for working with WWE’s business units to support key growth initiatives and represents WWE as its global brand ambassador among key constituencies including community and business partners, advertisers, media, and investors. She is the primary spokesperson for WWE’s corporate social responsibility initiatives, including Special Olympics, Susan G. Komen, and Be a STAR, WWE’s anti-bullying program. Stephanie is also a TV personality, appearing regularly on Monday Night Raw®, one of the most-watched shows on cable each week.
For more information on Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation, please visit www.givetochildrens.org.
On Thursday morning, WWE announced the latest WWE Network subscriber count during their earnings report. WWE announced that they have 1.156 million paid subscribers as of June 30, 2015.
The total count is actually down from their previous announcement, as WWE had 1.327 million paid subscribers the day after WrestleMania 31.
WWE noted that from the official WWE Network launch through June 30th, the WWE Network has attracted over two million unique subscribers, with approximately 61 percent of those still being active today.
For more news and notes from today’s WWE earnings report, click here.
– On this week’s edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter it’s noted that WWE are planning on doing more live events like the Beast in the East event in Toyko, not just overseas specials.
Apparently the WWE are looking into doing a live show on the beach, similar to the very first WCW Bash at the Beach around 20 years ago on Huntington Beach.
– WWE have just confirmed their pre-sale code for the SummerSlam panels in New York next month, the password you need is Slam15
Tickets for the events are available by clicking on this link
– The WWE have also just tweeted out another password for the Meet & Greet experiences at SummerSlam next month live in New York:
Use the pre-sale code DOTCOM to get your tickets for the Ultimate #SummerSlam Experience NOW! http://t.co/GS2xuxXV8U pic.twitter.com/rCePtPWb26
— WWE SummerSlam (@SummerSlam) July 30, 2015
On Tough Enough this week, Mada was the latest competitor to be eliminated from the show in a moment that no one could have predicted after The Miz saved Amanda.
The former hopeful has since spoken out about his elimination from the show and how that left him feeling, he’s also discussed Amanda being saved by The Miz and what’s next for him.
Mada spoke with SportingNews.com and the full interview can be read over at this link. Check out some highlights from the interview below:
If he was angry at being eliminated from the show:
“Yeah, I was definitely angry. I’m a competitor and I hate to lose, especially when I know I should have won. That makes it even worse. If I lose and I deserve to lose, that’s fine. I believe in my heart — and a lot of people out there believed me too — that I shouldn’t have went home last night. That’s life sometimes and you just have to roll with the punches. I’ve got my head held up high and I’m ready to take the next step.”
What The Miz was trying to achieve by saving Amanda:
“I’m not really sure what he was trying to do. I can’t really speculate on his intentions. I don’t know why he called me out in the bottom three and saved Amanda. His reason for putting me in the bottom three was I played the ‘blame game’ for whatever that means. You’re going to have to ask him that question. I’m dying to find the answer to it. I don’t really know the reason for it. Some people were telling me he was targeting me for some reason but, to be honest, I have no idea why. But again, it is what it is and now it’s time to move on.”
What’s next for Mada now that his journey on Tough Enough is over:
“Next step is getting my foot in the door with NXT, getting back here to Orlando at the Performance Center. This is a state-of-the-art facility. They have the best coaches and training in the world. Right now, I’m heading up to Washington, D.C. tonight to see my family and Patrick (Clark, who was previously eliminated from the show). I’m going to meet up with him tomorrow and get some training in the ring. With me, there’s no days off. Everybody says go spend time with your family and relax. Have a vacation. For me, there’s no days off. I want this. I getting right back in the ring. I want to get better. I want to get back here with NXT and hopefully from there with WWE.”
There were two more title changes at the TNA Impact Wrestling television tapings in Orlando, Florida on Wednesday night.
After losing the TNA Tag-Team Championships to “Team GFW’s” Brian Myers (Curt Hawkins) and Trevor Lee at the tapings on Tuesday night, The Wolves won back the gold on Wednesday night. This marks the fifth TNA Tag-Title reign for Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards.
Another title change at the taping last night saw Gail Kim beat Brooke Tessmacher, Awesome Kong and Lei’D Tapa in a four-way match to become the new TNA Knockouts Champion. This is Kim’s fifth reign as Knockouts Champion.
Earlier today the WWE issued us with a press release where they revealed their financial results for the second quarter of 2015 ending June 30th.
In the press release, which can be read in full over at this link, the WWE highlight the performance of the WWE Network, future plans, live event revenues and much more.
Below are the highlights of the release:
Second-Quarter 2015 Highlights
Year-To-Date 2015 Highlights
WWE Network Update
The Press Release can be read in full over at this link.
Apparently WWE at one point had plans for Brock Lesnar to be a gay character in their television storylines.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE was playing with the idea of debuting a gay character in 2002 that would be a tough guy who outs himself as being gay, but would do none of the stereotypes and would be portrayed as a kick-ass main eventer. The idea was for the person to be Lesnar when he made his debut that year.
The idea originally came from two of WWE’s magazine writers, one of whom was Brian Solomon. Solomon reportedly pitched the idea directly to Stephanie McMahon that year, with the pitch being that it would blow fans away to see an unstoppable hyper-masculine bad ass revealing himself to be gay, and be pushed as a top babyface.
WWE felt that they would get huge support from the gay community, as well as positive support from the media for having a “progressive character.”
It’s worth pointing out that the people who pitched the idea originally, never heard another word about it and didn’t know until recently that the idea actually made it to the writers room. The idea ended up being shot down by older agents in the company who thought it was a terrible idea, and it ended up leading to the Billy and Chuck gay-themed storyline.
Despite the fact that he just started as the new babyface authority figure, Bully Ray is already gone from TNA.
As previously reported, Ray was not brought to television and is no longer with the promotion, as he only signed a per-show agreement which would have allowed him to leave whenever he decided to.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, more cases like this are expected, as most talent are not under deals where TNA has first priority on their dates, or long-term.
Jeff Jarrett took over as the new head of authority, appointed by Dixie Carter, but it turned out to be a swerve, as GFW turned heel at the next taping and the promotion already began building up a “Winner Take-All” match with the winning team earning the rights to own TNA.
After less than two months, Ring Of Honor has lost its’ prime time lot on Destination America, as beginning on July 29th, the show will only air at 11pm, wedged in between two airings of TNA Impact Wrestling.
Evidently, even as programming Destination America is not paying for, the cable network must not feel that they are getting enough advertising revenue for a show in their 8pm prime hour.
Currently, the network does not have a replacement for ROH, as the next few weeks will feature a variety of different shows in the time slot.
According to the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Hunter Johnston told ROH talent at the last set of tapings in Baltimore, Maryland what was about to happen on Destination America, but claimed it was nothing to worry about. Johnston said that as far as he knows, they are only being aired at 11pm for the next few weeks, although it could be permanent.
There were reportedly executives from Destination America at the taping, and they claimed that they were trying out a non-wrestling show for a few weeks, that nothing is changing, and that Destination America still likes them.
Former TNA Knockout Taeler Hendrick took to social media on Wednesday to post what appears to be a tease for an upcoming women’s division in Ring Of Honor.
While ROH roster members Veda Scott, ODB and Maria Kanellis occassionally wrestle for the brand, they currently do not have an extensive, complete women’s division or title at this time.
Below is the post Hendrix made regarding women in ROH:
#WomenofHonor is coming to @ringofhonor -They know #Wrestling & now they'll get #REDHOT #WomensWrestling @DestAmerica pic.twitter.com/pqnK03eyja
— Taeler Hendrix (@Taeler_Hendrix) July 29, 2015
WWE has announced that Brock Lesnar will be working the October 3rd live event from Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Currently, there is no word on who Lesnar will be wrestling, however we can confirm that Paul Heyman will also be part of the show, which is Lesnar’s first domestic live event since returning to WWE back in 2012.
Also announced for the show is John Cena vs. Seth Rollins, Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev, Randy Orton vs. Sheamus and an appearance by Chris Jericho.