WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens spoke with the Montreal Gazette to promote WrestleMania 32. Here are some highlights:
– Owens said he’s been a lifelong wrestling fan and always had an affinity for the Intercontinental championship. “When I was a kid, I would have replica belts, the foam belts, and the one that I always liked the most was the Intercontinental title,” he said. “Every time that I would beat my pillow in one of our matches, I would win the Intercontinental title.”
– Even though he does not currently have a match announced for WrestleMania 32, Owens says it’s an incredible feeling going into Mania as Intercontinental Champion. He can’t believe that he was sitting in the crowd for WrestleMania 30 just two years ago and now he’ll be on wrestling’s grandest stage making history. “There’s really no way to put that into words.”
– His recent “KO Mania” slogan is not just a gimmick. He expects to make his mark on April 3rd and leave fans with a lasting memory. Owens said, “I want whatever I do at WrestleMania to be something people talk about at the end of the night.”
Anderson and his tag team partner Doc Gallows are expected to debut for WWE within the next month or so. They wrestled their final match for NJPW last month and officially bid farewell to their Japanese fans. Anderson told the Japanese press that he does plan on returning to Japan one day to capture the IWGP Heavyweight championship, but for now, he’s headed to WWE to make himself an even bigger star and see how far he can climb on wrestling’s biggest platform.
TNA taped the following matches and segments for future Impact Wrestling on Pop TV shows. The following content was taped in Orlando, Florida on Friday, March 18th for episodes that will air in early April.
TNA Impact Wrestling Taping Results (Airing Across Episodes In Early April)
– Velvet Sky def. Marti Bell after Earl Hebner kissed Bell. After counting the finish, Hebner sold like he was suffering a heart attack.
– Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy argued in a promo segment leading to a match being made where the loser can no longer use the name Hardy.
– Beer Money def. The Bro Mans, Eric Young & Bram and The Decay in a four-way match to retain the TNA World Tag-Team Titles.
– Maria Kanellis asked Jade to hand over the TNA Knockouts Title to her because she helped her win it from Gail Kim. Jade refused.
– DJ Zema Ion def. Trevor Lee in a non-title match, setting up a future X-Division Title match between the two.
– Mike Bennett def. Ethan Carter III via disqualification after using a steel chair.
– Al Snow did an interview where he spoke about breaking Grado’s arm. Mahabali Shera ended up attacking Snow, which set up a match between the two.
– Jade def. Madison Rayne in singles action to retain the TNA Knockouts Title.
– Matt Hardy & Tyrus def. Jeff Hardy & Drew Galloway when Matt pinned Jeff after hitting him with a hammer. After the match, Bobby Lashley beat up Galloway.
– Eric Young announced that he was leaving TNA and taking the King Of The Mountain Title with him. He said both he and Bram quit. Bram and Young argue over who is a loser. Bram wants a title shot but Young kicks him with a low blow and gives him a piledriver. He then pulled out a pair of scissors and cut Bram’s beard.
– Trevor Lee def. Eddie Edwards and DJ Zema Ion in a triple-threat match to retain the X-Divison Title.
– Al Snow def. Mahabali Shera in singles action. Snow used a chain to get the win.
– Drew Galloway says he suffered broken ribs as a result of the recent attack he endured at the hands of Bobby Lashley. He says he’s not yet cleared to wrestle, but calls Lashley out anyways. Instead, Rockstar Spud and Tyrus come out and beat him down with a chair. Tyrus announces that he’s cashing in his briefcase for a title shot against Galloway on next week’s show (which will be taped on Saturday night).
– Ethan Carter III def. Eli Drake in singles action.
WWE Hall Of Famer Jake “The Snake” Roberts was recently asked by the folks at Hannibal TV to give his opinion on longtime WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. Roberts, as usual, was never one to disappoint.
While Roberts admitted that McMahon has done things that have hurt the business, but gave Vince credit for being “the hardest working motherf*cker” he knows.
“Brilliant, brilliant. The hardest working motherf*cker I know,” Jake Said. “Like him or not, it doesn’t matter, he’s the hardest working son of a b*tch I know. He’s done a lot for this business, he’s done a lot of things that hurt this business. But for somebody in his position, he’s done pretty f*cking good.”
Ethan Carter III posted the following message on Facebook on Friday giving his thoughts about the current state of the TNA locker room. Carter seems to imply that things have come a long way behind the scenes and he remains committed to fulfilling his true potential.
A former champion looks up to see he's in a locker room amidst a current champion, a talent on the rise, and two…
One of the worst-kept secrets in wrestling became headline news this week. After a 30 year career spanning multiple promotions and dozens of championships, The Man Called Sting has wrestled his final match. So says TMZ, which claims the official announcement could come from Sting himself as part of his WWE Hall of Fame acceptance speech in Dallas next month. And while he doesn’t get to go out on his own terms, he can take solace in the fact that few men have been able to enjoy the kind of charmed career he has had.
The writing was on the wall after his match with Seth Rollins last September at Night of Champions. One buckle bomb was bad enough, but two? The move looks brutal enough for a man half his age, but for Sting to go out there and willingly give up his body for two of them just seemed to be tempting fate. To his credit, on wobbly legs, he soldiered on to finish the rest of the match because that’s just what you do. He didn’t blame Rollins for what happened, and really, how could he? It wasn’t anyone’s fault. In fact, he later credited Rollins as being the best worker he had ever shared a ring with, which is pretty high praise coming from someone who has been in wars with the likes of Ric Flair, Vader and Kurt Angle.
With his neck all jacked up, he learned that he has cervical spinal stenosis, or a narrowing of the spinal canal. This can affect the nerves and result in great pain as time goes on. At the time, he indicated he would need neck surgery, but was hopeful that Night of Champions would not be the last image fans had of him inside the ring. Back in December, I made it pretty clear that I thought Sting was done, if for no other reason than the fact that spinal stenosis is the very thing that ended the careers of both Steve Austin and Edge. In the case of Edge, WWE made it clear that they would never medically clear him to wrestle, and he was “only” 37 years old at the time. Sting will turn 57 this weekend. It made little sense to think, and still does, that WWE would ever allow him to lace up his boots and step back through the ropes. This is just my opinion of course, but I believe this is more a case of WWE making the decision for Sting than Sting making it for himself. Were it entirely up to him, I think Sting would prefer to heal up and have one last match for closure, but ultimately, as hypersensitive as WWE is about these things today (concussions in particular), it wasn’t his call to make.
So, what now? The same TMZ report claims that sources close to Sting indicate he would be open to a non-wrestling role in WWE, but they have yet to pitch such a role to him. They could potentially offer up a scenario where Sting gives Shane McMahon the assist at Wrestlemania, looping back to the storyline where Shane “bought” WCW, and in turn, the next night on Raw, Shane could appoint Sting the new General Manager of Raw. The one drawback with that idea is that to have Sting cost Undertaker his match and NOT follow that up with some sort of confrontation between the two would likely leave a lot of fans feeling underwhelmed. Still, I think it merits some consideration because it would be nice to find a role for him on the show (not necessarily weekly) while also doing away with the overdone heel authority figure gimmick, at least for a while.
I can’t help but feel sad that Sting never got to have a real productive run in WWE. To think that his lone Wrestlemania appearance was in a losing effort to Triple H, even though Sting himself may have wanted it that way thinking it could be his final bout, it hardly seems like something loyal Sting fans had envisioned when he first came to WWE. Perhaps, as rumored, it was done as a way for Vince McMahon to put the final exclamation point on the WWE vs. WCW war once and for all, a war that apparently still exists only in his mind. Or maybe it was done with the idea of keeping Triple H strong for a Wrestlemania match this year against The Rock, also rumored before Rock’s filming schedule rendered such a match impossible. He earned two wins on Raw, one via disqualification against Big Show and one via submission in a tag match teaming with John Cena against Big Show and Seth Rollins. He followed that up with the loss to Rollins, so he goes down batting .500 with two wins and two losses. Yet I’m still glad he had his Wrestlemania moment. I’m glad he had the chance to wrestle on Raw. And I’m glad he finally got to wrestle for the WWE title. Not a bad way to go out.
I’ve spent nearly 15 straight weeks counting down the greatest WCW matches of all time on my podcast. Sting has appeared five different times on that list, and there’s a reason for that. Whether it was leading his own squadron against The Dangerous Alliance in War Games, battling Big Van Vader to determine the “King of Cable”, or challenging DDP for the WCW World title, Sting had a tendency to deliver in big matches. More than his work, I think most people will remember him for his loyalty. His loyalty as the avenger of WCW against the nWo and Hollywood Hogan. His loyalty to the promotion behind the scenes as well, never working a single day for Vince McMahon so long as WCW still had a breath in its body. That loyalty extended even to TNA and Dixie Carter, to whom he arguably gave the last great years of his career. It was that loyalty that cost us potential matches with The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels and Randy Orton, but at the same time, gave us matches with Kurt Angle, AJ Styles and Samoa Joe.
It’s not easy to “get over” in wrestling. It’s even harder to stay over. Sting has been a beloved figure for the majority of his 30+ years in the wrestling business. In a few short weeks, he will take his rightful place in the Hall of Fame. What his future holds beyond that date is still a question, but to steal a phrase, “the only thing that’s for sure about Sting is nothing’s for sure.”
– WWE has confirmed that the September 7th live event from London’s O2 Arena will NOT be a live special on the WWE Network. At this time, there are no plans for WWE to broadcast this show.
– DISH announced on Friday that they have notified NBCUniversal and the FCC of its intent to request arbitration over their negotiation of a renewed carriage agreement with the NBCUniversal. This effectively will keep NBC Universal channels (such as the US Network) available for DISH subscribers.
– On Monday, March 28th immediately following RAW, the WWE Network will air “WWE 24: Thank You Daniel Bryan.” WWE is asking fans to send personal video messages to Bryan via social media using the hashtag #THANKYOUDANIEL. Some of the videos will air during the WWE 24 special, which will also feature behind-the-scenes and exclusive footage of Bryan’s career.
Dixie Carter, Eric Bischoff and Taz are among members of the wrestling world who’ve written congratulatory messages to Hulk Hogan after his lawsuit victory over Gawker. As David reported earlier, the jury found for Hogan on all counts and awarded a total of $115 million in compensatory damages. Below are some reactions to Hogan’s win, including from the Hulkster himself.
After deliberating for about five hours or so following this morning’s closing arguments, a Pinellas County, Florida jury has ruled for Hulk Hogan (real name Terry Bollea) on all counts in his lawsuit against Gawker Media, founder/publisher Nick Denton, and former editor Albert James “A.J.” Daulerio. Hogan had sued them for posting excerpts of a sex tape of him and Heather Cole, then-wife of his then-best friend/radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge Clem (Clem shot the video surreptitiously). Hogan had always insisted the video, which was leaked to Gawker by an anonymous source, was shot without his knowledge and consent.
The jury of four women and two men found for Hogan on all counts and awarded a total of $115 million two phases of compensatory damages:
$60 million for emotional damages.
$55 million for economic loss (A number his lawyers came up with based on multiplying how many people they say watched it by the $4.95 bottom end price to access the Vivid Celebs sex tape site).
This puts Gawker in danger, as while they’d likely win on appeal, they may need to post a $50 million bond to appeal the award per Florida law, and there are questions if they can. On Monday, the jury will return to determine what they feel Gawker owes for punitive damages.
UPDATE 7:31 p.m. ET: Gawker sent out this statement from founder Nick Denton, who’s optimistic about an appeal:
Given key evidence and the most important witness were both improperly withheld from this jury, we all knew the appeals court will need to resolve the case. I want to thank our lawyers for their outstanding work and am confident that we would have prevailed at trial if we had been allowed to present the full case to the jury. That’s why we feel very positive about the appeal that we have already begun preparing, as we expect to win this case ultimately.
We’ll have more on the topic later, so watch this post as well as the front page.
The El Rey Network issued a press release on Friday promoting Rey Mysterio’s first televised match for the company on March 23rd. The episode was taped back in December, and we have spoilers for Mysterio’s debut match here. Here’s an excerpt from Friday’s press release:
LEGENDARY AAA HALL OF FAMER REY MYSTERIO MAKES HIS GRAND ENTRANCE IN THE NEWEST EPISODE OF ‘LUCHA UNDERGROUND’
Notorious AAA Hall of Famer, Rey Mysterio, steps into the Boyle Heights Temple for the first time in an all-new episode of “Lucha Underground,” this Wednesday, March 23rd at 8:00PM ET/PT on El Rey Network. Mysterio has captivated fans with his high-flying moves for over 25 years and this week he’s showing the luchadors why he is a force to be reckoned with. Still want more action? The Aztec Warfare match brings twenty of the temple’s finest masked heroes and villains to compete for the Lucha Underground Championship in an adrenaline-charged match unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. This is sure to be a mind-blowing match for the books! Don’t miss new one-hour episodes of the lucha libre wrestling series from Emmy Award®-winning producer Mark Burnett Wednesdays at 8:00PM ET/PT.
Mysterio’s first on-camera appearance for the company saw him speaking in a segment on the February 3rd episode. He is under contract with Lucha Underground for two seasons, until Summer 2017.
The March 17, 2016 edition of WWE SmackDown averaged 2,260,000 viewers on the USA Network. This is up from the previous week’s 2,186,000 viewer average.
SmackDown was airing against March Madness games and was ranked #7 in the Top 150 cable shows for the night. This is down from last week’s #6 ranking due to the competition from college hoops.
WWE sent in the following press release on Friday announcing several WrestleMania-related events airing on the USA Network in the coming weeks, including the official WrestleMania Kickoff Show, a special episode of SmackDown with live segments and the 2016 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
USA NETWORK TO PREMIERE LIVE WRESTLEMANIA KICKOFF SHOW ON SUNDAY, APRIL 3
Special SMACKDOWN with Live Segments from AT&T Stadium to Air Thursday, March 31 and WWE HALL OF FAME Special to PremiereThursday, April 7
NEW YORK – March 18, 2016 – For the first time ever, USA Network, the exclusive cable home to WWE’s marquee properties, announces expanded access to WRESTLEMANIA, WWE’s biggest event of the year. Between March 31 and April 7, the network will feature multiple events, including a live, one-hour broadcast of the official WRESTLEMANIA KICKOFF SHOW, a special SMACKDOWN episode with live segments, the one-hour WWE HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY, and a movie marathon celebrating Dwayne “The Rock®” Johnson.
On Thursday, March 31 from 8-10PM ET/PT, SMACKDOWN will feature live segments from AT&T Stadium just days before WRESTLEMANIA 32.
On Sunday, April 3, USA’s live hour of the WRESTLEMANIA KICKOFF SHOW will start at 6PM ET/3PM PT and include the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, featuring 20 WWE Superstars. WRESTLEMANIA 32 will broadcast live from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. And leading in and out of the live kickoff show, USA Network will celebrate with a movie marathon featuring WWE homegrown star Dwayne “The Rock®” Johnson, with films including The Rundown, Faster, Fast Five and GI Joe Retaliation.
The night after, on Monday, April 4, an all-new WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW will feature the fallout from the action of WRESTLEMANIA 32.
Then on Thursday, April 7 at 10PM ET/PT, immediately following SMACKDOWN, USA will broadcast the one-hour 2016 WWE HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY special. WWE Legends including Sting, Big Boss Man and The Fabulous Freebirds will be immortalized for their accomplishments and contributions to sports entertainment in this year’s WWE Hall of Fame class.
In 2016, USA Network became the exclusive cable home to WWE’s marquee properties, offering fans the live WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW for three hours every week (8-11PM ET/PT) and SMACKDOWN on Thursdays from 8-10PM ET/PT. In 2016 to date, MONDAY NIGHT RAW is averaging 4.09MM total viewers, 1.91MM P25-54 and 1.87MM P18-49 L7 and SMACKDOWN on USA is averaging 2.82MM P2+, 1.23MM P25-54, and 1.15MM P18-49+ L7, making USA the #1 cable entertainment network across the key demos on Monday and Thursday nights. In 2015, the two programs reached 50MM viewers.
For more information, visit WWE.com and Corporate.WWE.com.
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin was recently joined by former WWE writer Vince Russo on episodes #303 and #305 of The Steve Austin Show. The two talked about the current state of WWE, and Austin revealed some details about his interview show on the WWE Network.
“A lot of the time, I hold back because I’m one of the boys and I’ve got to show up every damn month for a podcast,” Austin said of criticizing WWE TV. “It’s not my goal to run anybody down [or] run anybody down that’s in control. I love the [professional wrestling] business, but it is what it is. I have my opinion. Sometimes, believe me, I’m holding back when I’m talking about my opinions because I don’t want to shoot a hole in anybody.”
The WWE Hall of Famer says he does have some restrictions on what he can talk about on his WWE Network podcast, and that there’s a “line” he can’t cross.
“Sometimes, in talking, quite frankly, with WWE talent, you can’t go certain directions.” Austin continued, “there’s a line that is drawn that you really can’t cross over because they can’t bury themselves [and] they can’t talk about certain things, so, sometimes, it just is what it is.”
You can listen to Austin’s non-WWE Network podcast, The Steve Austin Show, here.
Paul Heyman is doing press to promote WrestleMania 32 on April 3rd and his new deal with Yahoo Sports. In an interview with AwfulAnnouncing.com, the former ECW owner spoke about his role as Brock Lesnar’s advocate, and how Lesnar’s current WWE run differs from his first one.
“There’s nothing different about being with Brock Lesnar day-to-day now than it was 14 years ago when we were first together in WWE except we’re both a little older and wiser and we both have more children than we did 14 years ago when we started together on television,” Heyman explained. “The run we’re having now to me is based on the credibility that comes along with the fact that when he left WWE he didn’t just go do odds and ends, he became the undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion of the world, knocking out Randy Couture and going on to becoming a three-time defending undisputed UFC Heavyweight Championship of the world. He didn’t knock out some schlub, he didn’t knock out an interim champion, or someone who just fell into the division without a lot of competition – he knocked out Randy freaking Couture. Along with that comes an awful lot of credibility and with that comes authenticity and legitimacy that WWE can then exploit. So when we come into this run, you don’t have to imagine “wow, what would happen if this guy fought in UFC?” You know what would happen if he fought in UFC – he would take over the heavyweight division like he did. Now WWE fans have bragging rights, that’s the baddest dude on the face of the planet.
Heyman says he comes from a long line of insomniacs and enjoys his work, which includes managing Brock Lesnar and now producing content for Yahoo Sports.
“I work about 22 hours a day and I enjoy every moment of it,” Heyman claimed. “I don’t sleep that much, I come from a long line of insomniacs. I enjoy my life too much. I don’t have time to turn off the switch. If I’m sleeping I hope I’m dreaming of what project I’m going to be launching the next morning. This is too much for me. There’s too much enjoyment in what I do. I am genuinely exhilarated every single morning when my feet hit the ground because I truly enjoy the plethora of jobs that I have.”
On the subject of WrestleMania 32 being right around the corner, Heyman said the annual “mega-event” is “only getting bigger.” You can read the full interview here.
TNA taped a Knockouts-only “One Night Only” pay-per-view on Thursday night dubbed, Knockouts Knockdown. The event features 8 “aspiring knockouts” squaring off against 8 of TNA’s top Knockouts. Each winner advances to a Battle Royal to crown 2016’s “Queen of the Knockouts.”
The 8 aspiring knockouts included Allysin Kay, Shelly Martinez, Deonna Purazzo, Leva Bates, Barbie Hayden, Cherry Bomb, Veda Scott and Jayme Jameson.
Here are the results:
Allysin Kay defeated Gail Kim via countout after Maria Kanellis and Mike Bennett attacked Gail Kim while the ref was distracted. After the match, Gail Kim challenged Mike and Marie to a tag match later and said she’ll find a partner.
Rebel defeated Shelly Martinez.
Laura Dennis defeated Velvet Sky.
Jade defeated Leva Bates.
Rosemary defeated Veda Scott.
Barbie Hayden defeated Raquel.
Marti Belle defeated Jayme Jameson.
Madison Rayne defeated Deonna Purazzo.
Maria Kanellis Bennett and Mike Bennett defeated Gail Kim and DJZ.
Jade defeated Madison Rayne at the end of the Gauntlet Battle Royal to become Queen of the Knockouts 2016.
The King of Swing Cesaro will be back in action less than one month from today. WWE announced on Friday that Cesaro will be part of this year’s ‘WrestleMania Revenge’ tour of Europe, which kicks off Friday, April 14th from Florence, Italy.
Cesaro will be back in the ring on April 15th at the live event from Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome.
The Swiss Superman has been out of action since undergoing shoulder surgery back on November 23rd. He recently confirmed that he won’t be ready to return in time for WrestleMania.
Samoa Joe turned 37 years old on Thursday. Joe fought Finn Balor at Thursday night’s live event from Coral Gables, a preview for their upcoming showdown at NXT Takeover: Dallas. Joe didn’t get the win on his birthday – but he did get a St. Patrick’s Day-themed birthday celebration courtesy of the NXT Champion.
Balor led the crowd in singing “Happy Birthday” to the Samoan Submission machine after their match. He then sang a classic Irish song in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day.
Several readers sent word that there’s a restaurant in Monterrey, Mexico named “John Cena Burger & Taco.” The restaurant is obviously not affiliated with WWE. Menu items are named named after Cena, Batista, The Great Khali, Kane, Umaga and others. Despite the flagrant trademark violations, they have a decent 6.9 out of 10 rating on Foursquare.
Steve Austin says despite Dean Ambrose losing to Triple H in the main event at Roadblock, he feels Ambrose looked good in defeat. On the recent episode of The Steve Austin Show, Austin also said that Triple H performed so well at Roadblock, that if the WrestleMania 32 main event is a dud it won’t be The Game’s fault.
“I think [Ambrose] shined so much as a wrestler, as a performer, that this match got him over more in my eyes than he was before this match and I liked Dean Ambrose to begin with.” Austin explained, “this match elevated Dean Ambrose. Dude, someone who books can argue that point with me, but I stand by the fact that someone had to get beat and the right guy got beat and he got beat in the right way and it’s going to make him stronger and that kid’s got a great future. He did before this match [and] he really does now. He went out there on a big stage with a top guy and threw down.”
“Now, the stakes are high because Roman Reigns has got to go our there on the biggest stage of all with Triple H and Triple H is not going to crumble. [Reigns] is going to have one hell of a game plan and he’s going to be ready for the moment. Roman Reigns has got to go out there and execute now and do something just like [Ambrose vs. Triple H at Roadblock]. The stakes will be higher, there will probably be a few more bells and whistles involved, but, now, man, it’s put up or shut up time for Roman.”
Austin explained that he feels there is “big money” in the team of Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady, and that the sky is the limit for ‘Big Cass.’
“Enzo has a ton of energy and is very charismatic. ‘Big Cass’, talk about a guy that is 7 foot there. And I like what Enzo says. He’s talking about, ‘you can’t teach that’ and that’s a great catchphrase and it happens to be true. This kid’s 7-foot, good looking kid, and pretty damn athletic. A real bright future for both of these guys, but, in particular, when you look at ‘Big Cass’, there is no ceiling for this guy if he keeps catching on like he has.”
FOX has released a “First Look” preview of John Cena’s new military-themed reality competition show, American Grit. The show premieres on Thursday, April 14th.
Sixteen of the country’s toughest men and women will be split into four teams as they work together to face a variety of military-grade and survival-themed challenges. Cena and an elite group of mentors from the nation’s most exclusive military units will push these civilians beyond their limits. The mentors, known as “The Cadre,” include Rorke Denver, Noah Galloway, Tawanda “Tee” Hanible and Nick “The Reaper” Irving. These real-life heroes, who represent diverse backgrounds and top branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, will impart their first-hand knowledge and experience to help the competitors work together as teams to surmount near impossible mental and physical challenges. AMERICAN GRIT embodies the military ethos “no man left behind,” because only the first team to complete the challenges together is safe from elimination. Each episode will culminate in “The Circus,” a punishing, endurance-based obstacle course designed to break the weakest competitors. With up to a million dollars of prize money at stake, this is the ultimate test of strength, grit, the human spirit and most importantly, teamwork.
Cena took time off at the end of 2015 to film the show in Washington state. Based on the footage, he’ll have a significant role on the show and will be very hands-on with the participants.
American Grit is the latest non-WWE project for the 15-time World champion, who has gotten rave reviews for his appearances in comedy movies (Train Wreck, Sisters) and as guest host of NBC’s Today morning show.
WWE aired a vignette on SmackDown featuring Bray Wyatt delivering a cryptic message regarding WrestleMania. Wyatt says he knows something we don’t know and it’s wicked.
As noted earlier this week by the Wrestling Observer, Wyatt is said to be dealing with a “significant” back injury, but he won’t be of out action for an extended period of time. After the dust settles from WrestleMania, Bray is scheduled to feud with Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar headed into summer.
WrestleMania is now less than 3 weeks away and we’ve got an updated look at the betting lines courtesy of 5Dimes and WWELeaks.org:
Roman Reigns is favored (-.650) to defeat Triple H (+420) for the WWE World Heavyweight championship.
The Undertaker is favored (-280) to defeat Shane McMahon (+200) in their Hell in a Cell match.
Brock Lesnar is a -320 favorite to beat Dean Ambrose (+240).
Sasha Banks is the favorite (-160) to win against Charlotte (+130) and Becky Lynch (+600) in the Divas Championship match.
For the 6th consecutive year, the team at SEScoops will be there in person for WrestleMania. Join us here during WrestleMania 32 Weekend for our wall-to-wall coverage of all the events.
Waiting was the theme in the Hulk Hogan vs. Gawker trial today.
It took about two hours after the normal 9:00 a.m. start time before jurors were let in due to arguments between the lawyers on both sides. Even the media and other observers had to wait, as while the cameras were on, the arguments were all conducted at Judge Pamela Campbell’s bench, which is off-mic (and the live stream is muted for good measure). After that, Gawker presented portions of Hogan’s various depositions in the case, mostly to establish the idea of him being publicity-hungry and fueled the fire about the tape more than just posting the clips and article did.
The jury was then let out to wait again, this time until tomorrow morning, when they’ll hear closing arguments. For the rest of the afternoon, there were some arguments between both sides. Gawker tried and failed to get the full length video admitted into evidence and it’s not clear why they tried now. The edited version they put online will be available to the jury but not presented in open court. Hogan attorney Kenneth Turkel also demanded that Gawker somehow keep track of if anything had been done with regards to “Gawker’s stream” of the trial during Gawker head of sales Mia Libby’s testimony on Tuesday. Libby, when asked if Gawker ran ads on the pages with the streams, wasn’t sure but said she didn’t think so.
It turned out there were, and Turkel went off about Gawker pulling the ads and/or the stream during her testimony. There’s no proof they did either, though LiveStream, the host of the stream they embedded (which was provided by third party website Wild About Trial anyway), was down for an extended period that day. Gawker attorney Michael Berry had no clue what he was talking about, and seemingly, neither did Judge Pamela Campbell, but she still granted the motion to preserve whatever is relevant pending a written technological explanation. It was bizarre to watch.
Reporters also waited all day for a ruling from the appellate court with authority over the case to release a new decision on the case’s sealed records, which came late in the afternoon. They’re gonna wait another day for more, as tomorrow, at 4:00 p.m. ET, the Florida 2nd District Court of Appeals will release the previously sealed filings in the case. Hogan’s emergency motion for clarification was granted…sort of. From today’s new DCA order:
The petitioners’ petition filed under Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.100(d) is granted. The orders of October 28, 2015, as amended by the nine-page November 18, 2015, order, as well as the two-page November 18, 2015, order are quashed, and the trial court is directed to unseal the records. By 4 p.m. Friday, March 18, 2016, in compliance with Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.425, Respondent Terry Gene Bollea shall file a redacted version of the appendices, which will then be released to the public docket.
Ruke 2.425 appears to indicate that only things that legitimately should be redacted, like social security numbers, bank account numbers, and so on will be removed. The appendices of various documents are believed to be around 2,000 pages that Hogan has fought desperately to keep under lock and key. This does NOT include the sex videos (and thus recordings of Hogan’s racist comments), so nobody outside of the involved parties know exactly what’s in there. It does include a number of exhibits gathered from the FBI investigation into the sex tapes, but what those show…we don’t know.
It’s going to be a long weekend, as not only will we have the 2,000 pages of documents to sort through, but everyone will be waiting (there’s that word again) on the jury for the verdict.
On Monday’s RAW it was advertised that the WWE Network will feature 7 hours of WrestleMania coverage and the Hall of Fame ceremony, but NXT Takeover: Dallas got no mention. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that a lot of people within the company are openly unhappy that the NXT event was not promoted on RAW.
Either someone simply forgot to include NXT Takeover in their WrestleMania week lineup, or someone in WWE felt it wasn’t important enough. One conspiracy theory is that Kevin Dunn may have made the decision to leave Takeover off the promotional video on RAW. NXT is considered to be Triple H’s project, and Dunn has nothing to do with the NXT product.
Meltzer noted that the feeling within WWE is that Dunn will likely be let go when Triple H and Stephanie McMahon eventually take over the company.
NXT Takeover: Dallas will take place on April 1 at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, and will feature Shinsuke Nakamura’s debut.