SEScoops

Author: Staff

  • JR Blog: Vince Russo, Ludvig Borga Was a Jerk

    WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his JRsBarBQ.com blog, here are some highlights:

    Vince Russo Complaining about Wrestling Journalists: “I do think that creative types in today’s wrestling world are under tremendous pressure and scrutiny. I have great compassion for what they do particularly in today’s society. Fans of all broadcast genres are harder to please these days because of all the info flow available but people can only do their best and follow their instincts. I still think the keys to the process is listening to the objective critiques of the consumers and to follow rating trends. But it all will come back to one’s natural instincts on how they see the genre presented. I know what I personally like in a wrestling TV show but that certainly doesn’t mean that others might like the direction that I might take. Hell, I might not like it after I saw it air.

    Ludwig Borga’s Death: “Been reading a little about the death of Tony Halme aka Ludvig Borga and, including his concealed SS tattoo on his calf I won’t speak at length about those that have passed away but Tony obviously had issues and was not a great guy to be around. Perhaps others have a different view of this man but I personally found him to be somewhat obnoxious and he could be a bully if allowed to be such. Guys like Halme don’t mix well in any locker room and need to be removed from the “team” sooner than later. Nonetheless I still feel badly about the last years of Tony’s life as things really unraveled for him seemingly due to alcohol and drug issues. When one competes with “demons” unfortunately the “demons” usually win unless one is personally and throughly committed to changing one’s behavior. Wrestlers with problems of this nature either need to have the problem solved, which takes everyone’s best efforts specifically the individual himself, or have the problem person needs to be eliminated from the equation. That might sound harsh but some folks would rather “catch a buzz” than do the right thing for themselves, their family and the company for which they work. “

  • Kelly Kelly Talks About The Death of Andrew “Test” Martin

    Kelly Kelly and the late Andrew "Test" Martin
    Kelly Kelly and her ex-boyfriend, the late Andrew "Test" Martin

    WWE Diva Kelly Kelly spoke to the UK’s Daily Star this week about the untimely death of her ex-boyfriend, former WWE & TNA star Andrew “Test” Martin.

    “Not a day goes by when I don’t think about Andrew. … He was a big part of my life, we were together for two-and-a-half years. When I first started, Andrew looked after me. We were there together, we had some good times and some hard times – he wanted more than anything to be healthy,”

    Andrew Martin, who Kelly Kelly calls the “love of her life,” died back in March 2009 prescription pill overdose after a long battle with addiction.

    Kelly Kelly is dedicating the remainder of her wrestling career to Andrew MArtin and vows to become a respected in-ring worker. She explains that even though women wrestlers aren’t having “25 minute matches” like the men, the Divas are still on the road upto 300 days a year and live the same hectic lifestyle.

    “We’re on the road for the same amount of time as the guys, I know we don’t have to wrestle 25-minute matches like the guys but we travel 200 to 300 miles a night exactly the same as them. But this is my life – I’ve been doing it since I was 18 so by now I’m used to it! I’m young and I have no plans to settle down!”

    To read the full interview, including which WWE Diva is helping Kelly improve in the ring, visit the Daily Star website.

  • Kelly Kelly Talks About The Death of Andrew "Test" Martin

    Kelly Kelly and the late Andrew "Test" Martin
    Kelly Kelly and her ex-boyfriend, the late Andrew "Test" Martin

    WWE Diva Kelly Kelly spoke to the UK’s Daily Star this week about the untimely death of her ex-boyfriend, former WWE & TNA star Andrew “Test” Martin.

    “Not a day goes by when I don’t think about Andrew. … He was a big part of my life, we were together for two-and-a-half years. When I first started, Andrew looked after me. We were there together, we had some good times and some hard times – he wanted more than anything to be healthy,”

    Andrew Martin, who Kelly Kelly calls the “love of her life,” died back in March 2009 prescription pill overdose after a long battle with addiction.

    Kelly Kelly is dedicating the remainder of her wrestling career to Andrew MArtin and vows to become a respected in-ring worker. She explains that even though women wrestlers aren’t having “25 minute matches” like the men, the Divas are still on the road upto 300 days a year and live the same hectic lifestyle.

    “We’re on the road for the same amount of time as the guys, I know we don’t have to wrestle 25-minute matches like the guys but we travel 200 to 300 miles a night exactly the same as them. But this is my life – I’ve been doing it since I was 18 so by now I’m used to it! I’m young and I have no plans to settle down!”

    To read the full interview, including which WWE Diva is helping Kelly improve in the ring, visit the Daily Star website.

  • WWE Stars Appearing In New “MacGruber” Movie (VIDEO)

    WWE superstars Chris Jericho, Big Show, MVP, Kane, Mark Henry and Great Khali will be appearing in the upcoming comedy movie “MacGruber”, in theaters April 23rd.

    IMDB.com Synopsis:
    Only one American hero has earned the rank of Green Beret, Navy SEAL and Army Ranger. Just one operative has been awarded 16 purple hearts, 3 Congressional Medals of Honor and 7 presidential medals of bravery. And only one guy is man enough to still sport a mullet .. Will Forte brings Saturday Night Live’s clueless soldier of fortune to the big screen in the action comedy MacGruber.

    For those not cool enough to be around back in the 1980s, the MacGruber SNL character is a parody of the “MacGyver” television show, which was about a secret agent who refused to use a gun and could take down a group of terrorists with a frisbee, a banana, some duct tape and a bottle of hair spray.

    Here’s the coming attraction trailer for MacGruber, with Jericho, Henry and Khali:

  • Linda Hogan Talks About Being A Cougar On CNN (VIDEO)

    CNN.com has a video interview with Linda Bollea, ex-wife of Hulk Hogan.

    Now that her divorce has blown over and her facetime on TMZ.com has died down, Linda is still on television for some reason talking about the only thing she’s really qualified at – being a “cougar.” Linda describes life after being married to Hulk Hogan, and her relationship with 21-year old Charlie Hill.

    Host Joy Behar (also from ABC’s “The View”) tells Linda that she she is cautious about dating a much younger man, because she’s afraid he’ll yell out “mommy” when they’re in bed.

    Linda responds, “Is that so wrong? Just kidding.”

    You tell ’em, Linda.

  • Linda Bollea Settles Civil Suit With John Graziano’s Family

    Linda Bollea, the ex-wife of Hulk Hogan, has reached a confidential settlement with the family of John Graziano, who was seriously injured in a car wreck involving Nick Hogan back in 2007.

    Graziano family attorney George Tragos told Florida’s St. Petersburg Times:

    “Linda, she was obviously in a different position than everyone else. She was in California at the time of the accident and she did not sign for Nick Bollea’s drivers license as Terry did, so she’s in a different legal position.”

    A confidential settlement was also reached with Daniel Jacobs, who was allegedly racing Nick Hogan at the time of the crash and was sued along with Hulk, Linda and Nick.

    Hulk Hogan and his son Nick are still defendants in the suit.

    For more, visit TampaBay.com.

  • Linda Bollea Settles Civil Suit With John Graziano's Family

    Linda Bollea, the ex-wife of Hulk Hogan, has reached a confidential settlement with the family of John Graziano, who was seriously injured in a car wreck involving Nick Hogan back in 2007.

    Graziano family attorney George Tragos told Florida’s St. Petersburg Times:

    “Linda, she was obviously in a different position than everyone else. She was in California at the time of the accident and she did not sign for Nick Bollea’s drivers license as Terry did, so she’s in a different legal position.”

    A confidential settlement was also reached with Daniel Jacobs, who was allegedly racing Nick Hogan at the time of the crash and was sued along with Hulk, Linda and Nick.

    Hulk Hogan and his son Nick are still defendants in the suit.

    For more, visit TampaBay.com.

  • Alissa Flash Also Leaving TNA Wrestling

    Awesome Kong is not the only TNA Knockout parting ways with the company this week. A reliable source in TNA has informed us that fellow TNA Knockout Alissa Flash is also leaving.

    Alissa (real name Melissa Anderson) reportedly requested her release from the company, she was not fired.

    There are rumors of others besides Kong and Anderson requesting their releases but nothing is confirmed.

  • The Rock Hypes His WWE Return, Might Wrestle (VIDEO)

    The GREAT One .. Dwayne "The ROCK" Johnson
    The GREAT One .. Dwayne "The ROCK" Johnson

    Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson spoke to Sports Illustrated this week to promote his new “Tooth Fairy” movie. The former WWE superstar stated once again that he wants to return to WWE to host WWE RAW and was actually supposed to host the show earlier this month:

    “I do plan on going back and hosting. I was actually gonna go back this month, but the day I was going to host, I had to go to Mexico for promotion of the movie, so we had to cancel that,” Johnson said.

    Johnson says his return to WWE, rumored to take place this summer, will be more than just a typical one-night guest hosting gig:

    “I’ve remained close with Vince McMahon over the years, but here’s the key. It’s not just to go back and host. I don’t want to do that. I want to go back and host and do something special. I want to entertain the fans in ways they haven’t been entertained in years.”

    Johnson appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman on CBS this week and spoke a lot about WWE and his time in pro wrestling. Johnson described the rush he gets from a live WWE crowd like nothing else in entertainment and said he’ll always be “The Rock.”

    WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross commented about Rock’s Letterman appearance in his latest blog:

    “Loved it on Letterman when Dwayne said that he would always be “The Rock” which was not only true but had to make wrestling fans around the Globe feel good. I don’t ever see the Rock wrestling again but I know that he will host Raw sometime in the future to reconnect with his fans and to promote his latest project.”

    Johnson also appeared on ESPN’s SportsCenter where he spoke about his WWE return and had a funny interaction with former WWE announcer and ESPN host Jonathan Coachman. The most newsworthy item from the interview is that Johnson now says he “would never rule out” wrestling a match for WWE again:

    “In terms of wrestling a match, I really don’t have any interest. I would love to go back and guest-host and entertain the audience. I could still do the physical things – Rock Bottom and People’s Elbow. I could still do all that and kick ass and have a great time. As far as wrestling a match, I’m not too sure if I see that, but I would never rule it out.”

    Here’s the full ESPN SprotsCenter interview:

  • Awesome Kong Gives Notice To TNA She Is Leaving

    TNA Knockout Awesome Kong, who got into a physical altercation with TNA backstage announcer Bubba the Love Sponge at Monday’s iMPACT! tapings, has given notice that she’s leaving the company.

    The news was originally reported by f4wonline and was confirmed by Kong herself on Thursday afternoon via a live video stream on Qik.com.

    Kong’s departure from the company appears to be effective immediately, and she said during the video cast that she informed TNA she won’t be attending the upcoming UK tour.

    It should be noted that many TNA wrestlers and knockouts who have told management they are leaving have been persuaded into staying, but at this point Awesome Kong’s relationship with TNA appears to be off.

  • Karen Angle’s TNA Return, Future of TNA’s 6-Sided Ring

    – Karen Angle, the ex-wife of Kurt Angle, was with Jeff Jarrett at several recent TNA live events. There is talk again of having her return to TNA programming with an on-screen role.

    – TNA star Daniels took a shot at the company on Twitter with the following comment:

    “Good news and bad news for TNA fans-> Bad: the six sided ring isn’t coming back! Good: next month we’ll implement two three sided rings!”

    – TNA is taking their six-sided ring to the UK with them for the upcoming tour. No TV will be filmed while they’re there. For what it’s worth, some in TNA are under the impression that we haven’t seen the last of the six-sided ring.

    – Several fans have wrote in confused about the three nights of TNA iMPACT tapings that took place this week. Instead of taping three sperate shows on three consecutive nights, TNA taped matches and segments for the three episodes out of order , so things should look better when everything is edited .

    (Credit to F4Wonline.com for some of the information used in this report)

  • Karen Angle's TNA Return, Future of TNA's 6-Sided Ring

    – Karen Angle, the ex-wife of Kurt Angle, was with Jeff Jarrett at several recent TNA live events. There is talk again of having her return to TNA programming with an on-screen role.

    – TNA star Daniels took a shot at the company on Twitter with the following comment:

    “Good news and bad news for TNA fans-> Bad: the six sided ring isn’t coming back! Good: next month we’ll implement two three sided rings!”

    – TNA is taking their six-sided ring to the UK with them for the upcoming tour. No TV will be filmed while they’re there. For what it’s worth, some in TNA are under the impression that we haven’t seen the last of the six-sided ring.

    – Several fans have wrote in confused about the three nights of TNA iMPACT tapings that took place this week. Instead of taping three sperate shows on three consecutive nights, TNA taped matches and segments for the three episodes out of order , so things should look better when everything is edited .

    (Credit to F4Wonline.com for some of the information used in this report)

  • Jeff Hardy’s TNA Contract Status – WWE Still Interested

    TNA star Jeff Hardy
    TNA star Jeff Hardy

    There are conflicting reports asn to Jeff Hardy’s status with TNA Wrestling.

    Hardy made his return to TNA back on the live January 4th Monday night show but has not been featured prominently on television in recent weeks.

    Read: Jeff Hardy Indicted – Drug Case Sent To Superior Court

    Sources within TNA are saying that Hardy has signed a contract, while friends of Hardy have said he’s told them he’s working without a deal.

    The fact Hardy hasn’t appeared with TNA since January 4th could indicate that he hasn’t signed or committed to any dates.

    In related Jeff Hardy news, he was said to be upset at the recent segments on WWE’s SmackDown where CM Punk used his name in promos to get himself over when Hardy was Hardy is not even in WWE anymore to defend himself.

    Despite Hardy’s legal problems and his appearances for TNA, WWE still wants him back down the road.

    (Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

  • Jeff Hardy's TNA Contract Status – WWE Still Interested

    TNA star Jeff Hardy
    TNA star Jeff Hardy

    There are conflicting reports asn to Jeff Hardy’s status with TNA Wrestling.

    Hardy made his return to TNA back on the live January 4th Monday night show but has not been featured prominently on television in recent weeks.

    Read: Jeff Hardy Indicted – Drug Case Sent To Superior Court

    Sources within TNA are saying that Hardy has signed a contract, while friends of Hardy have said he’s told them he’s working without a deal.

    The fact Hardy hasn’t appeared with TNA since January 4th could indicate that he hasn’t signed or committed to any dates.

    In related Jeff Hardy news, he was said to be upset at the recent segments on WWE’s SmackDown where CM Punk used his name in promos to get himself over when Hardy was Hardy is not even in WWE anymore to defend himself.

    Despite Hardy’s legal problems and his appearances for TNA, WWE still wants him back down the road.

    (Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

  • Undertaker Retirement Update, Batista’s Role At The Rumble

    – As previously reported, the Undertaker is said to be in rough physical shape and is working through significant pain in recent months. However, talk of him retiring at WrestleMania 26 are premature. His physical limitations are already affecting how often he wrestles and what he’s able to do in the ring, but there’s been talk of Undertaking retiring for nearly a decade, so many expect him to continue working through the pain for months and years to come.

    — Although Batista is currently advertised to be one of the 30 participants in the Royal rumble match, Rey Mysterio did a radio interview in Mexico last week stating that his match with the Undertaker at the Rumble will be a three-way.

    – Speaking of the Royal Rumble, the Phillips Arena in Atlanta, GA, the site this year’s Rumble, is already sold out.

    (Source: F4wonline.com)

  • Undertaker Retirement Update, Batista's Role At The Rumble

    – As previously reported, the Undertaker is said to be in rough physical shape and is working through significant pain in recent months. However, talk of him retiring at WrestleMania 26 are premature. His physical limitations are already affecting how often he wrestles and what he’s able to do in the ring, but there’s been talk of Undertaking retiring for nearly a decade, so many expect him to continue working through the pain for months and years to come.

    — Although Batista is currently advertised to be one of the 30 participants in the Royal rumble match, Rey Mysterio did a radio interview in Mexico last week stating that his match with the Undertaker at the Rumble will be a three-way.

    – Speaking of the Royal Rumble, the Phillips Arena in Atlanta, GA, the site this year’s Rumble, is already sold out.

    (Source: F4wonline.com)

  • RAW Rating, NASCAR Driver Hosting Raw, Early Draft Talk

    – Monday’s RAW did a 3.6 rating, with hours of 3.52 and 3.63.

    – WWE has announced another NASCAR star will host Monday Night Raw, as driver Carl Edwards will host the February 8th Raw.

    – While nothing is set in stone, WWE has already begun deliberating plans for the post-WrestleMania draft,  according to f4wonline.com. Tthe initial ideas call for the splitting up of some long-term WWE Superstar partnerships and tag teams.

  • Randy Orton Responds To Allegations He Assaulted A Fan

    Earlier this month a 15-year-old WWE fan accused Randy Orton of assault after Orton allegedly spit gum in his face and swore at him outside a restaurant in Boston, Mass. The fan claims he asked Orton for a picture when the WWE superstar got hostile and “assaulted” him.

    Orton posted a message on his website explaining his side of the story:

    “Here’s what happened: I walked out of Kowloon’s Friday night around 12:30-1 a.m. with Santino and a police officer escort. As I was being rudely hounded for pictures and autos (I had a 6:40 a.m. flight through Minni to Lincoln, then a drive to Omaha, a match, a drive back to Omaha, then a charter to Minni, and a driver to Rochester for the next show the next day, btw), I was confronted by an older women who said: ‘Hey Randy, you spit on my handicapped son a few years ago at a show, what do you have to say about that?’ My replay…`So Sue me.’

    Then I proceeded to my car, with Santino and the cop and drove back to our hotel by the Boston airport. I know I have been a bit of a hothead in the past, but I DID NOT spit gum and call names to any child. The women is claiming I called her son a `retard’ 3 times, and spit gum in his face. Come on people, even at my worst temperament, I would never call a handicapped child something awful like that. I’ll actually sign anything for any child with any disability.

    I heard just today from WWE attorneys that this women filed assault charges against me 4 days later? Hmmm, oh, and what about the dozens of cops at the restaurant that were there for crowd control since there were over 100 wrestling fans there? Not to mention the cop that escorted me to my freaking car. I’ll be happy when this is over. I guess if I’ve learned anything from this, it is not to ever challenge anyone to sue me.”

  • JR Blog: The Rock Returning To WWE, Brock Lesnar

    WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights

    Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson Returning To WWE: “Loved it on Letterman when Dwayne said that he would always be “The Rock” which was not only true but had to make wrestling fans around the Globe feel good. I don’t ever see the Rock wrestling again but I know that he will host Raw sometime in the future to reconnect with his fans and to promote his latest project. I also know from the communication that Rock and I have that he still loves the business and most importantly the fans of the business who always support his film projects. There is no more positive person that I communicate with than is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson which is extremely refreshing. ”

    Brock Lesnar’s Big Announcement: “Brock Lesnar is a lucky man and I am thankful that he is going to be able to live a normal life not to mention resuming his UFC fighting career. Lesnar found his niche in UFC and is tailor made for the fastest growing, legitimate sport in the world. People love  to pay to see heavyweights, always have and always will, and Brock Lesnar is THE heavyweight in the eyes of many MMA fans today.”

  • RVD Talks About Returning To WWE, January 4th

    Former WWE and ECW champion Rob Van Dam appeared on the “Busted Open” Sirius satellite radio show this week and spoke about whether he’d be willing to return to World Wrestling Entertainment.

    “If the conditions were right, then the conditions would be right. I can tell you for sure that I have no interest in returning to a full-time schedule like I did before. That’s not going to happen.”

    RVD told the hosts that the WWE vs. TNA battle on January 4th was the first time in while that he had watched wrestling. He says Hulk Hogan and Bret Hart felt special, but the feeling didn’t last long.

    “That was the first wrestling that I watched in the longest time, and it’s also the last wrestling I watched. I flipped back and forth with skepticism,” RVD said. “There was optimism. There was hope. The whole thing with Hogan and the change. It was a nice moment. I liked seeing Bret. I was comparing and about 45 minutes into it I felt like I was just watching wrestling and I lost interest.”

  • TNA Signs New Japan Star Kazuchika Okada (PICTURE)

    Kazuchika Okada
    Kazuchika Okada

    New Japan Pro Wrestling star Kazuchika Okada is headed to TNA Wrestling, according to a message on the Puroresu Spirit Facebook.com page.

    Okada, who is known as the Young Lion, will wrestle in the United States for TNA to gain experience until he’s ready to come back to New Japan and be a top competitor.

    The official announcement reads:

    As for the 22 year old Kazuchika Okada, NJPW has high hopes for the Young Lion as they plan to send him to train and wrestle for TNA Wrestling. The President of NJPW Sugabayashi has stated that Okada is still young and that the plan is for Okada to stay as long as needed for him to come back to NJPW and become a real contender. So at this time it looks like he may be in TNA for the next 2-3 years.

  • TNA Now Tells Their Audience How To Behave At TV Tapings

    TNA Wrestling is now telling fans who attend iMPACT! tapings that they aren’t audience members – they’re [unpaid] cast members – and they’re not supposed to react negatively against what they are seeing in the ring.

    Prior to Monday’s iMPACT! TV taping in Orlando, members of TNA’s production team addressed the audience with instructions about “how act like cast members” in the filming of a TV series and not distract talent from “telling a story” to viewers at home.

    “You are cast members here. It’s active, it’s TV-14, please, I know it’s fun to try to distract the talent up here, but they have to tell a story to two million people. You’re part of us. You’re helping us tell the story. Please don’t try and distract the story.”

    The pre-show announcement comes the night after Genesis, when the iMPACT! zone totally crapped on Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff’s opening segment, the Band, Sean Morey, Mr. Anderson and many of the other “new faces” in TNA.

    The director also told TNA fans not to “throw up gang signs” and not to chant “bullshit” during the show, as it just creates work for the production team – who have to edit the bad language out.

    “Every time you come here, I want you to be excited. What I cannot have from the audience are curses, flipped bird, and gang signs that I may not understand,” he said. “Please, watch your language. Please, watch what you do. If I ask you to remove a sign, I’m not even sure the reason. Somebody in the truck saw something. We’re going to be watching you. When we see this violation, we’re going to ask you to move.”

    UPDATE: The YouTube video showing the whole incident has been taken down after TNA Entertainment complained to YouTube.

  • Edge’s Recovery Ahead of Schedule, Undertaker In Bad Shape

    – In a bit of great news for wrestling fans everywhere, WWE superstar Edge will be returning from injury well ahead of schedule. Edge is currently doing physical rehabilitation following foot surgery last year and WWE officials expect him to be healthy in time to appear at the Royal Rumble in 2 weeks. The plan is for Edge to wrestle his former tag team partner Chris Jericho and WrestleMania and there is talk of Edge showing up as a surprise entrant in the Rumble to eliminate Jericho. However it goes down, Edge will be back soon to start his program with Jericho.

    – Many within WWE are very concerned about The Undertaker’s body and how much longer he can wrestle. WWE’s World Heavyweight champion is a shell of his former self these days, clearly in pain as he moves around and no longer possessing the agility that has made him such an impressive “big man” wrestler over the years. After the WrestleMania classic he and Shawn Michaels put on last year, its believed that Shawn Michaels will have to do a great deal of bumping around to save this year’s rematch from being a total letdown.

    (Credit to PWInsider.com for the information used in this report)

  • Edge's Recovery Ahead of Schedule, Undertaker In Bad Shape

    – In a bit of great news for wrestling fans everywhere, WWE superstar Edge will be returning from injury well ahead of schedule. Edge is currently doing physical rehabilitation following foot surgery last year and WWE officials expect him to be healthy in time to appear at the Royal Rumble in 2 weeks. The plan is for Edge to wrestle his former tag team partner Chris Jericho and WrestleMania and there is talk of Edge showing up as a surprise entrant in the Rumble to eliminate Jericho. However it goes down, Edge will be back soon to start his program with Jericho.

    – Many within WWE are very concerned about The Undertaker’s body and how much longer he can wrestle. WWE’s World Heavyweight champion is a shell of his former self these days, clearly in pain as he moves around and no longer possessing the agility that has made him such an impressive “big man” wrestler over the years. After the WrestleMania classic he and Shawn Michaels put on last year, its believed that Shawn Michaels will have to do a great deal of bumping around to save this year’s rematch from being a total letdown.

    (Credit to PWInsider.com for the information used in this report)

  • Vince McMahon Taking Full Control Of WWE’s Movie Studio

    WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon is taking full control over WWE Studios after ending distribution relationships with Lionsgate and 20th Century Fox, according to an article from entertainment industry publication Variety.  Will will now be able to “fully own and exploit” all aspects of its movies.

    WWE has announced new partnerships with Samuel Goldwyn Films for theatrical releases and Vivendi Entertainment for DVD releases, but Vince McMahon says WWE has “learned a great deal” about the business to handle all aspects of movie making.

    “This is an opportunity for us to completely control everything from the production all the way through to release,” McMahon said. “We’re putting our money where our mouth is.”

    WWE plans to film nine movies by 2012. All filming will take place in the city of New Orleans, which will save WWE a bundle in production costs due to the city’s tremendous tax breaks. To crank out 9 movies by 2010, WWE plans to film the movies one after the other, with minimal down time in between.

    McMahon also said one of main reasons they want to control the production and distribution of WWE movies is to better market each film toward their TV audience. He admits WWE hasn’t done a great job working with other distributors.

    “There’s a much larger number that we’re not reaching,” McMahon said. “We have the resources, we just need to leverage all of it. There are so many different things that we can do.”

    For more about the big changes at WWE Studios, visit Variety.com.