Jake “The Snake” Roberts appeared as a guest on the latest edition of Busted Open Radio, hosted by Doug Mortman and Dave LaGreca (Busted Open Radio airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Sirius 94 and XM 208), where he addressed such topics as the WWE Hall of Fame, dealings with The Undertaker and Vince McMahon, TNA Wrestling, and more. Highlights from the interview are as follows:

On appearing at WrestleReunion this weekend: “Well, you can expect everything. You can expect the unexpected from me. It’s just a great moment for the fans ‘cause you’ll be able to get up close and personal with the guy, and , to me, that’s the best part about it…to give back a little bit what they’ve given me over the years; give them a moment.”

On not being inducted yet into the WWE Hall of Fame: “There’s been a lot of guys go in that belong there, and—I’ll say it again—I think there are some who shouldn’t be in there, but who the hell am I? Hell, I’m not in there, so what the hell. Maybe someday when they put some more guys in there, maybe I’ll go in. I would love to go in, not so much for me but for my kids, man. It’s part of my legacy. I put so much into wrestling; 37 years of it. Why I’m not there, I’m sure somebody’s got a reason.”

On getting to meet Alice Cooper: “It was a real hoot, man! I remember going to do a photo shoot at some hotel in New York City with Alice Cooper getting ready for Wrestlemania. I remember going up to his room with all the camera guys and stuff. We knocked on the door and this guy lets us in. And of course it’s not just a room; it’s a damn big suite. Alice comes in and what he does is like—I don’t know if you ever seen the commercial where the two people are running up the hill towards each other in slow motion?—coming closer. All of a sudden he’s being the fan, and here I am It’s my turn to be the fan, asshole! He’s saying, “Come here, man! Come in!” I’m like, “No wait, man! I listened to you when I was in high school! ‘School’s Out for Summer’, that was hot when I was 17.” To be there with him was just unbelievable, and of course doing a match out there with him was unbelievable too. They took us up on our scissor-lifts way up in the air where it came to the curtain. From ninety-four thousand people… it took your breath away. You felt like your hair was growing, man! And as we’re getting closer to the ring, I feel his fingernails sliding down my damn side and arm and I’m What the hell is that?! And I look, and Cooper is sliding down. I’m like, “What’s wrong?” And he’s like, “Too much rush.” And I’m like, “What the eff are you talkin’ about?!” And he’s like, “I’m alone!” And if you think about it, I understand where he’s coming from. In his world, he’d come out on the stage, he’d have his band around him, had all his stuff ready to go, and he knew where he was going. But in my world, he was having to stand there on his own two feet with no guitar, no microphone, and he was running the show. We get to the ring and the match starts, and of course The Honky Tonk Man—being the prick that he is—he’s really screwin’ with Alice. He’s like: “You little f****t b**ch! I’m gonna make you my horny woman!” And Cooper is starting to fire up, and Honky Tonk (once he sees him getting mad) he just keeps going: “C’mon you little queer! Why they call you Alice, you little b**ch?!” And he just keeps riding Alice, y’know: “Take that jacket off, boy, I’ll whoop your ass too, soon as I get through with Jake!” And Cooper pulls that jacket off, man, and it’s like, Oh my god! Biafra! His arms are about the size of my toe!”

On the WWE: “It was different. I certainly see where this is going, which is bringing us into the mainstream, and that’s a positive thing. Y’know, Vince McMahon and the WWF did a hell of a deal turning this into such a monster. His machine is unbeatable. I mean, don’t kid yourself TNA, you’ll always be third stream; there is no second stream. You’ll be third at least because there is no way in hell you’re gonna catch these people, and you might as well forget about it and quit telling the people you are.”

On gimmicks in professional wrestling: “As far as characters…you have a good one and you take care of it, it should last forever. The big thing is you just shouldn’t go out there and destroy your own credibility. If you got two guys out in the ring and you’re clothes-lining each other five times, who’s the tough guy? Maybe one or both of you are lying pricks. Less is more and do the right thing. Don’t do things that are stupid; that’s how you get longevity out of a character. And today there are no characters, I don’t think. They’ve all been just stirred up in a bucket and everybody’s just the same.”

On The Undertaker and his presence in the WWE: “I love the guy, number one. Number two, I was there when he first got in there in the WWE. Here’s really quite a story: He comes to me, he says, “Hey I hear you know where all the good strip joints are at.” And I’m like, “In the world, yes. I know them all.” And he’s like, “Well, I’ll travel with you!” And I said, “Oh boy, why don’t you go back to playin’ basketball because you’re not gonna be able to hang with me,” and I said, “I’ll kill ya.” And a few weeks later, I believe he was in pretty bad shape—something about alcohol poisoning. Yeah, it was a chemical world, and I was cheating, man. He didn’t know it. I wasn’t gonna tell him! He rolled with me for quite a while. We’re great friends and I’d like to think that I helped him more. I think if you asked him he’d tell you the same, that he learned a lot from me. That’s what I was all about anyway, man, not only helping my own character, but helping others with theirs. My idea of being a professional wrestler is to make the show better. In other words, everybody must be better. And if I can help this guy lift his thing up a little bit, I’m gonna go help the guy. That’s something I’m proud of. Whether it be Undertaker or Steve Austin, right on down the line. I think if you asked Austin who helped him the most, he’d tell you it was me. Wherever I met Austin, he wasn’t gonna be more than third or fourth match, and I told McMahon, “Try him for third for next superstar, man.” And he said, “I don’t think so.” Well, gee, even Mr. McMahon can be wrong every now and then!”

On if people are scared to take a chance on him: “I don’t think it’s the past. I think it’s just me, period, because of what I believe in. Vince McMahon once told, “Jake, perception of you with our TV people and stuff is that you’re angry.” I’m like, “I’m not angry!” “You told this guy it was a ‘stupid effin’ idea’!” I’m like, “Well, it was a stupid effin’ idea!” So I stand my ground on what I believe. And—uh—sometimes that gets you in trouble. I wouldn’t be good in a boardroom, man. I speak my piece; I won’t follow any stupid thing that I think is stupid. I’ll just say Screw that; that’s bulls***. That’s gets me in trouble, man. I’m a team player because I want the product better, but… my nose doesn’t fit well up anybody’s butt.”

On if inmates are running TNA: “Oh yeah! I think I told Vince McMahon that one time. Back whenever it was [Scott] Hall, [Kevin] Nash/Diesel (The Kliq) stay in this, you’re letting the Inmates run the asylum. They were calling the shots as they wanted to! And that’s wrong. That is just totally wrong. I would have never thought about doing that out of respect for what this business it and what it is supposed to be. That is just freakin’ wrong! You got people in the wrong positions, you got people that shouldn’t be in those positions. And Dixie Carter—for whatever she is—I think she’s a mark! And for whatever Hogan is, Hogan’s not a booker! Christ. I mean, thank god they got rid of the jerk, the one that destroyed the WCW. What was his name? DL: [Vince] Russo. JtS: RUSSO! He’ll probably go in the goddamn Hall of Fame before I do.”

On Training Wrestlers: “I would love that! I would love to kill them! I would love to touch them all over. Enter their orifices with my thumb when they do something wrong. It’s stupid! I would love to be teaching these kids. My god, I would love that. Because I could either sit back on my ass and try to watch wrestling (which I get so frustrated with today that I turn it off), or I could say, Okay, look, man, get up there and try to do something about it. And the only thing I could do about it now is by teaching. My physical problems: my feet, my hands, my neck, no wonder! If you have that happen, well, thirty-seven years of getting your ass kicked will do that to you, Jake! I can’t compete anymore, but I can teach these kids so much. That would be a real joy for me. It certainly would.”

– WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has posted an article in remembrance of memorable wrestling manager William “Paul Bearer” Moody, who passed away Tuesday at the age of 58-years-old after being diagnosed with a blood clot over the weekend.

“As great as Taker’s run has been in WWE, arguably the most marvelous, long term run in WWE history, it would have not been the same without Paul Bearer being added to the presentation in the Phenom’s formative years,” wrote Ross, who he personally referred to as Percy. “They went together like BBQ sauce on a great rack of ribs and created a presentation that including the perfect music, with perfect lighting and special effects to go along with the amazing package of the Dead Man and his scary, unmistakable figure of a manager.”

He continues, “Percy was so proud of his sons and loved his family deeply. His southern roots ran deep as he never moved, for long any way, from Alabama. During the football season we would exchange messages or talk about his Crimson Tide and my Sooners hoping that they would meet for the national title in our life time. If I got a ‘Roll Tide’ message on my phone or on Twitter I did not have to think twice about who sent it.”

– Former WWE wrestler Gene Snitsky has been cast in the film adaptation of Bill Bean’s book Dark Force. He will play “the central supernatural entity in the film,” with the character billed as “The Undertaker.” Additional information on the film is available here.

– The Miz appeared on The Opie & Anthony Show on Sirius 206/XM 105 today promoting the release of The Marine 3: Homefront on DVD and Blu-ray. The show replays at 8:00 p.m.

– Promoting the release of The Marine 3: Homefront on DVD and Blu-ray, The Miz appeared on Fox & Friends this morning. During the interview, the Raw Superstar said he wanted to be the one to face Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson at WWE’s upcoming pay-per-view spectacular.

“He’s the WWE Champion, he’s going to be main eventing WrestleMania 29… I wanna be in John Cena’s spot, let’s put it that way,” remarked The Miz.

To view video of the interview, click here.

– The official WWE website has posted a video playlist of Hall of Famer “Mean” Gene Okerlund’s strangest interviews over his legendary broadcasting career, which includes interactions with Papa Shango, Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair.

– Following the passing of legendary manager Paul Bearer Tuesday evening, ‘Paul Bearer dies’ has ranked among the top trending topics on Yahoo.com today.

WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin recently joined The Ministry of Slam for an exclusive interview to promote his new movie “The Package” available on DVD and Blu-Ray March 5. Highlights from the interview are as follows:

His most memorable moment of his career: “Man, you’re talking about trying to pick something from close to a 15-year body of work, but one of the most personal highlights for me would be cutting the promo in the basement of a Holiday Inn with ECW back in 1995. A bunch of the ECW guys were there, and I’d watched them cut their promos. Paul E (Heyman) was there too, and he was the guy who gave me that platform to talk, which I did for around 7 minutes. One take, one time and that was it, I put it all on the line.

“For me to finally get that platform to vent and talk about the frustrations I was feeling, as well as where I aspiring to go, I look back on that as a very important part of both my life and career.”

Thoughts on Paul Heyman’s current role in WWE: “I don’t know how many hats he’s wearing while he’s there, but yes. You can talk to a guy till you’re blue in the face, and if anybody can get through to them, it’s Paul. I mean in terms of getting inside a guy or gal’s head, helping them unlock their potential and letting them see things that they didn’t see themselves. He’s very good at doing that. I think probably the most important thing that he can continue to do is remain there, in that ring, and deliver the kind of electric performance that he’s doing.

So, my point is that if the kids could just sit there and watch that guy work, they’re gonna’ soak that knowledge in. As long as WWE keep Paul around for talent to watch him, and pick his brain afterwards or at lunch – I mean, he’s a valuable asset to the company just as a talent anyway – but what can rub off onto those kids is even more valuable if you ask me.

Similarities between backstage politics in wrestling and Hollywood: “I’m a pretty private, streamlined person, so I don’t really go out and get my nose into a bunch of horseshit in Hollywood – playing the games many people like to play. I live in Los Angeles, but that’s where it starts and stops. I dig the weather and it’s easy to take meetings, which is pretty much it!

“When you have the movie industry and then take professional wrestling, basically the entertainment industry, they are just parallel that run right beside each other. One is a little bit bigger than the other; obviously Hollywood and the movies is a bigger street, but make no mistake, the traps, shenanigans and horseshit are exactly the same as wrestling. To me, they mirror each other.”

His future: “I’ve been 7 months out, healing up my ACL and PCL, so I’m waiting till Summer to film my next action movie. We’ve signed a two-picture deal through my company, Broken Skull Ranch Productions with Anchor Bay Entertainment. I’m looking forward to doing those, because I have full creative control and can let the shit really fly.”

“I’ve also got a couple of other reality TV projects I’m working on which will be released in the next couple of months. I love reality television, the atmosphere that it creates is just a bad-ass and fun way to spend time doing something you love to and getting paid for it! I’m also spending more time at my ranch; deer season is over till next year, but I’m kicking ass on my leg, feeling good and getting ready to film season 3 of Redneck Island in April. I’m as busy as I wanna’ be, feeling fortunate and also doing pretty god darn good in terms of my health!”

You can hear the full interview exclusively at www.ministryofslam.com, as well as interviews with Eric Bischoff, Hulk Hogan, Mick Foley, Terry Funk, Sting and many more.

In the spring of 2011, Kia Stevens, famously known as Awesome Kong, burst onto the WWE scene by decimating members of the Divas division. Then, almost as suddenly as she first appeared, the internationally-acclaimed grappler took a leave of absence, with her affiliation with the sports-entertainment organization ultimately ceasing last summer. Speaking to Wrestling101.com, Stevens recalled her brief stint in WWE.

Weeks before her debut at Extreme Rules, where she attacked the departing Michelle McCool, vignettes aired on WWE programming with Stevens, whose face was concealed by shadows and her signature braids, dismembering female dolls while cackling maniacally. She says of the creative process behind the vignettes, “They let me know the idea that they were going with so I went in and we shot it, we had a great time and they used some of my ideas and they actually used the first idea, which was in the first vignette where I flicked the doll so that was awesome. I was actually included a lot in the creative process leading up to my debut which I didn’t expect to be so that was a big surprise and very exciting.”

Stevens continued to attack different Divas on both Raw and SmackDown in the following weeks, but soon took a leave of absence without having an actual match. Stevens reveals who she wanted to square off against.

“After seeing how excited people were over the feud between Gail and I, my next goal was to build up to a great feud with Beth Phoenix,” Stevens said. “Fans were already excited for that match and it hadn’t even happened yet; it hadn’t even been alluded to. I always say and I still say, as long as Beth and I are still breathing it still may happen, so fans don’t lose hope. There were also lots of people that wanted to see me get my revenge on the Bella Twins but they have ended up leaving as well.”

Following the departures of Stevens and other notable female wrestlers over the past two years, the Divas division is currently in a state of flux. Regarding this, Stevens says, “Even with the men’s roster there are periods in wrestling in general that we have fluctuation of talent and I’m not saying anything bad about the roster right now but yes they did lose a big person that the fans were invested in which was Beth Phoenix, but also the likes of Kelly Kelly, Michelle McCool and Eve Torres. They do have girls that have come back from injury like Layla and Tamina, and AJ Lee exploded on the scene so that’s a great thing, there are still exciting people there to do stuff. One monkey doesn’t stop a show, with me leaving it was exciting for me to be there, but because I left it doesn’t mean I won’t come back, you never know what is going to happen in wrestling.”

Stevens continues to compete independently after parting ways with WWE last summer and does not rule out a possible return.

“People leave and people come back, I left you never know I may be back,” said Stevens. “Look at Ryback he was in WWE once before and now he’s back and wants people to feed him more, it’s exciting! My god daughter goes crazy when he comes on the television, it’s insane so I have to mimic him sometimes.”

“I watched an Ultimate Warrior DVD the other day and he came back about five or six times, so you never know in this business.”

Stevens also discusses her entry into the professional wrestling industry, her memorable time in TNA Wrestling, working independents and more. The full interview is available here.

The official WWE website is looking back at the late “Macho Man” Randy Savage today with a story on his intense animosity with Jerry “The King” Lawler in the late 1970s and early ’80s.

In those days, Lawler’s home promotion, the Continental Wrestling Association, was the chief promotion in Tennessee, Kentucky and parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Indiana and Arkansas. In 1978, the International Championship Wrestling was created by WCW Hall of Famer Angelo Poffo, the father of Savage and “The Genius” Lanny Poffo. ICW was considered an “outlaw” promotion, since it was not a member of the National Wrestling Alliance and promoted shows in direct competition against NWA regional leagues such as the CWA.

“What happened was Randy Savage, his brother Lanny Poffo and his father Angelo Poffo got the idea that they wanted to start a little promotion of their own,” Lawler told WWE.com. “When you’re on the bottom rung of the ladder, you usually think the way to get attention is to try to get the rub off the established guys. Well what Randy and his group did is they started making challenges.

“Randy Savage would go out and say, ‘I’m going to wrestle Jerry Lawler this Saturday night in Lexington!’ ” Lawler continued. “Of course, I was never going to be there. I didn’t even know this was being done. Then Randy would go out to the ring and say, ‘Would you look at this? Jerry Lawler’s a coward!’ That was their philosophy on how to make a name for themselves.”

Members of the renegade promotion would at times come to arenas where Lawler was running shows and harass his wrestlers in the parking lot, which put them on edge. As a precautionary measure, some carried weapons in their cars.

“The animosity between Randy Savage and myself went beyond the ring,” Lawler said. “It became really personal.” The full story is available here.

– The official WWE website has announced that Triple H will appear at this Monday’s Raw in Buffalo, New York.

“The Game” returned on Monday’s show to brawl with Brock Lesnar, who was about to attack Vince McMahon again after defending Paul Heyman from McMahon’s retaliations. WWE teases, “The Game’s plans are known only to him, but it’s only a few days until he lets the WWE Universe — and Lesnar — in on his next move. Be sure to tune in to Raw Monday at 8/7 CT on USA Network to see what happens!”

– Highlights from this week’s episode of WWE Superstars are now available online, with Brodus Clay and Tensai facing Primo and Epico, and Kofi Kingston facing David Otunga (match available here).

– Ryback is today’s featured Superstar on WWE.com.

Previewing his upcoming match with John Cena at WrestleMania 29 to IGN.com, WWE Champion Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson explained why he wanted to face the Cenation leader again after defeating him at last year’s show.

“You have to understand that my return back into the WWE was years in the making. And since I’ve been back, it’s been a three year-long journey that started at WrestleMania 27 in Atlanta. So John has always been my first choice,” Johnson told Matt Fowler.

While contemplating his return to the sports-entertainment organization years ago, Johnson revealed that he wanted to work with the wrestler who he felt would generate the biggest business.

“Here’s the thing,” said Johnson. “The question was that if I was going to go back in the WWE, how could I go back and make the most impact? With who can I headline WrestleMania in that company and make the most impact? And the bottom line is that it continues to be John Cena. Just in terms of, and we’ll use a Hollywood term here, box office appeal. Universal appeal. Athletic pairing. So there are a lot of reasons.”

The Hollywood heavyweight also says he returned to WWE to give back; to elevate the company that led to his success as well as elevate their “number one hero.”

Johnson continued, “With some great drama, some great emotion. This scenario for me is one that I’ve honestly dreamed of. A dream match. And what I’m talking about is being able to go back to the WWE and give back to the business, which is in my blood and has allowed me a platform to perform which then, twelve years ago, allowed me to make he transition to Hollywood. So the scenario I’ve dreamed of is that I’m able to go back, become WWE Champion, go into the what is considered the biggest marketplace in the world, which is the New York City area, at MetLife Stadium and headline WrestleMania as champion and give back to the business, the fans, the company and their number one hero. So I couldn’t have asked for a better scenario and we’re going to have a blast.”

Regarding the WrestleMania bout itself, Johnson said, “I think we’re going to have a great match and my hope is that it’s going to be a classic.”

– WWE is currently holding a “Diva Search” style training camp in Los Angeles, California, in hopes of discovering new female talent following numerous departures since last year. Bill DeMott, who serves as head trainer for WWE’s developmental program, is presiding over the camp. Ten candidates from various modeling agencies are being paid to train for several weeks and those who impress company officials will be offered developmental contracts.

Independent wrestler and model Reby Sky, cryptically remarked on the talent search via Twitter Wednesday: “Oh, all you women’s wrestling “purists” are going to LOVE the new diva search girls ! Just love em ! Bahahaha …” She then added: “They’re using my agency to book girls for the new Diva Search. MODEL AGENCY.”

– The former Sarita, Sarah “Dark Angel” Stock, who parted ways with TNA Wrestling last month, is now on Twitter @SSDarkAngel. She confirmed the account on her Facebook page. The internationally-acclaimed grappler will be traveling to Japan next week for a lengthy tour with female wrestling promotion Stardom.

– In WWE attendance notes, last Thursday’s Raw live event in Doha, Qatar, drew 3,500 and $500,000. Friday’s Raw show in Doha, Qatar, drew 3,000 paying $500,000. Saturday’s Raw show in Istanbul, Turkey, drew 3,000 and $200,000. Saturday’s SmackDown live event in Waco, Texas, which featured The Undertaker’s first WWE appearance since WrestleMania, drew 4,500 paying $160,000. Sunday’s SmackDown live event in College Station, Texas, drew 4,000 and $110,000.

(source: F4WOnline.com)

– The official Facebook page of WWE announced last Thursday that WWE Champion Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson would be among those present for Extreme Rules at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri on May 19. Johnson, however, noted to Wrestling Observer editor Dave Meltzer that he will be in Europe filming MGM and Paramount Pictures’ Hercules during this time frame. Meltzer contacted WWE for clarification, but drew no answer.

Furthermore, the official website of the Scottrade Center, nor WWE.com, is advertising Johnson for the pay-per-view event.

– Ringside Collectibles did a Q&A with the Mattel WWE Design Team and it was revealed that Paul Heyman’s first-ever WWE action figure will be a “build-a-figure” to be released later this year.

– Former WWE Superstar Rhino is advertised to appear at the Ultimate Wrestling Experience at Advanced Hoops Gym 6003 Jonestown Rd. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on April 13 from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m.

– WWE will turn back the clock this Monday on Raw as the program is being branded as an “old school” episode. Aside from the likely return of The Undertaker, the episode is being internally considered a throwaway show and undercard matches for WrestleMania will not start to take shape until at least the following week.

– WWE ring announcer and songstress Lilian Garcia revealed on Twitter Wednesday that she is in Nashville, Tennessee working on an upcoming album.

“Soooooooo excited my #LilRockers! Just got 2 Nashville 2 work w some amazing songwriters this wk! Writing songs 4 my new album!! #LoveMusic,” she wrote.

– Donald Trump appeared on the daytime talk show The Wendy Williams Show this morning with daughter Ivanka and did not mention his upcoming induction into the WWE Hall of Fame. During the appearance, Williams asked the Trumps what they have in common. Ivanka said they both enjoy real estate and golf. Donald said they both enjoy sex. Williams then remarked that Donald’s response was “Hulk Hogan creepy.”

(source: F4WOnline.com)

Tuesday’s premiere episode of Robot Combat League on Syfy featuring Chris Jericho as host drew over 1.3 million viewers. The television network issued the following press release touting the episode as the best “unscripted series premiere in over two years among viewers 18-49.”

“ROBOT COMBAT LEAGUE” KICKS BOT AS SYFY’S BEST PREMIERE FOR A NEW UNSCRIPTED SERIES AMONG ADULTS 18-49 IN OVER TWO YEARS

PREMIERE OF NEW COMPETITION SERIES ATTRACTED OVER 1.3 MILLION TOTAL VIEWERS AND 748,000 VIEWERS 18-49

NEW YORK – February 27, 2013 – Last night’s 10 p.m. (ET/PT) premiere of Syfy’s new competition series, Robot Combat League, geared up more than 1.3 million total viewers and 748,000 Adults 18-49 for a season of non-stop mechanical carnage. This marks Syfy’s best unscripted series premiere in over two years among viewers 18-49. The episode also had an additional 200,000 views pre-premiere on multiple platforms including Syfy.com, VOD, Xbox 360, Roku and Hulu.

The premiere, in which 24 contestants and 12 state-of-the-art robots were introduced and ranked for the season’s fight tournament, also scored for Syfy.com as the site’s best unscripted series premiere ever across all key traffic metrics and as Syfy’s best unscripted series premiere day ever for Twitter activity.

Robot Combat League continues with an all-new, one-hour episode next Tuesday, March 5 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT. The episode features preliminary Fights 2 and 3 in the Robot Combat League tournament. The first battle will pit second-ranked Team Commander, piloted by Apache helicopter pilot Jeffrey Fellin and NASA/JPL engineer Paulo Younse, against 11th-ranked Team Scorpio, controlled by college student Diana Yang and toymaker Chris Hadouin. In the second fight of the episode, former All-American athlete Devonric Johnson and mechanical engineer Russell Tait lead third-ranked Team Brimstone against tenth-ranked Team Thunder Skull, made up of race car driver Heather Williams and I.T. specialist Brandon Lewis.

Each week Robot Combat League, hosted by Chris Jericho, the wildly popular WWE superstar, features tournament-style battles between eight-foot tall humanoid robots controlled by a human fighter (“robo-jockey”) and an engineer (“robo-tech”). The robots were designed and created by robotics expert, Mark Setrakian (Hellboy, Men in Black), a leader in the sport of robotic combat.

Robot Combat League is produced by Smart Dog Media, with Craig Plestis serving as executive producer.

– WWE’s ongoing xenophobic storyline with “Dirty” Dutch Mantel as Jack Swagger’s manager Zeb Colter was reportedly brainstormed by Kevin Eck, a former writer for Baltimore Sun who joined the sports-entertainment organization in 2011.

– The official WWE website has published rare photos of The Undertaker, while also noting, “The WWE Universe is abuzz with anticipation on when the legendary Phenom will return to television screens.”

– In this interview with PWInsider.com, former ROH World Champion Roderick Strong discusses his favorite memories in Ring of Honor, the tag partner he’d like to work with there, letting more of his personality show in the ring and more.

(source: F4WOnline.com)

– This Thursday on Impact Wrestling, former WWE developmental talent and Tough Enough competitor Ivelisse Velez will compete against Lei’D Tapa in a “Gut Check Challenge.” Tapa is the niece of former WWE Superstar Barbarian.

Tapa wrote on Twitter Tuesday: “Looking forward to being on @TNAIMPACTWRESLING FOR @TNAGutCheck..so thankful for opportunity to show what i love to do!!”

– TNA Wrestling released the following music video previewing the main event for the World Heavyweight Championship between Jeff Hardy and Bully Ray at Lockdown on Sunday, March 10.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY8mz-M4LL0

– The Team 3D Academy of Professional Wrestling in Kissimmee, Florida has announced that every student who enrolls in the school during the month of March will have the opportunity to receive a free year of training.

– This Friday on Syfy, WWE will present “Social Media SmackDown.” The sports-entertainment organization issued the following press release Wednesday touting the event.

WWE® SOCIAL MEDIA Smackdown GOES LIVE ON SYFY FRIDAY, MARCH 1 AT 8PM

NEW YORK — February 27, 2013 – Syfy and WWE (NYSE:WWE) today announced Social Media Smackdown, a live social media event which, for the first time ever, will include live social media content, interactive fan polls, WWE Superstar and Diva tweets, Touts and more. WWE announcers Jerry “The King” Lawler, Michael Cole and Josh Matthews will provide live commentary throughout the night, which airs on Syfy Friday, March 1 at 8PM (ET/PT).

The Friday night special will feature WWE’s biggest Superstars and Divas, including World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio®, Randy Orton®, Big Show®, Daniel Bryan®, Kaitlyn™ and Sheamus®.

Smackdown is the second longest-running, weekly episodic program in U.S. primetime TV history, behind only Monday Night Raw.

– The official WWE website has published a photo gallery looking back at WCW’s annual February pay-per-view event, SuperBrawl.

– Diamond Dallas Page is today’s featured Superstar on WWE.com.

Last month, Hulk Hogan sued the Laser Spine Institute in Tampa, Florida, for $50 million in damages for unnecessary surgeries that he claims prevented him from wrestling John Cena in a WWE dream match. During a newly published interview with Fighting Spirit, the wrestling legend clarifies remarks he said then linking the earnings loss with potential money-making matches in WWE, stating they were taken “out of context.” Hogan explained the details behind the match with Cena.

“It was part of a 25-year deal (with WWE)”, Hogan said. I was filming Hogan Knows Best, and Vince McMahon and I started negotiating. It was at a time when I was coming back for the one-off shows with Shawn (Michaels) and Randy (Orton).”

“But it’s wrong about Cena – that was just part of the whole thing where I would show up once in a while and wrestle. It was one of those times where Vince and I were in love one day, and fighting the next. We were negotiating a 25-year deal, and part of it was me wrestling Cena in Orlando at Wrestlemania. I called Vince and said, ‘I’m good to go’. I’d just had my first back surgery, and everything was supposed to be perfect, but just before I was due on TV, my back went. I was scared to call Vince, but when I did, I was like, ‘Dude, my back has gone out again’. After more surgeries, instead of a morphine pump to ease the pain, they inserted a battery (into my back) that was made by NASA for the space shuttle, and lasts forever.”

For more on the interview, click here.

Gail Kim appeared on the Big WrestleShark Show with Simon Cassidy and David Thomson, where she discussed her career to date, WWE vs TNA, the current batch of Knockouts and much more. The Big WrestleShark Show airs LIVE every Tuesday night at 10:00 p.m. on Pulse 98.4 or PulseOnAir.co.uk. Highlights from the interview are as follows:

Being the first ever Knockouts Champion and what it means to her: “Oh my gosh. Every time people ask me what is the favorite moment of your career, for most people it’s really hard, but for me it’s easy. Being the first Knockout champion. Because we fought for that division, I mean when I first came in I had to wait about a year and a half before we started wrestling. When they told us they were bringing in a womens championship, we literally screamed out loud in the arena. You just never know what’s going to happen. At that time we had about five girls, and they weren’t all wrestlers. Then all of a sudden they bring in about ten girls and you never know what’s going to happen when you bring in ten people. They all got hired and it was pretty much an overnight success.”

If they can replicate the initial success of the division: “Definitely. It was magical. I always account Scott D’Amore, who was the female agent at the time for a lot of that magic. Then you had me and Awesome Kong: that was the best programme of my life, the feud of my career. Even to this day, I say those were the best those were the best years.”

The current batch of Knockouts: “Well there’s not many of us left to be honest. I heard someone say there are 10, but I’m not sure there’s even that many. The recent ones who have just departed like Rosita, Sarita… you know there’s still Velvet and Tara, but they’re all so talented. And they really highlight us, when you see us you always know it’s gonna be a great match.”

If she would like to see some old faces return: “Oh definitely, everyone always says ‘oh I would love to see Awesome Kong come back’ and I’m just like ‘aww man, I dunno if my body could take that [laughs]’. But you know there are so many talented girls out there… I would loved to have wrestled Sarita as we’re both very Mexican influenced, but maybe someday.”

How ‘the competition’ does things: “In terms of the women’s wrestling, you can clearly see we are given more time, the girls’ athletic ability is highlighted more over here. That’s what I’ve always loved, being in the ring and wrestling. So for me, personally, I prefer it here. I’ve experienced both companies, twice, and I definitely prefer my time here.

“In terms of the company as a whole, WWE has been around forever and Vince knows what he’s doing. Here, we’re a family and we’re just striving to get to that point. We have a very talented group of athletes and a great office who are very encouraging and supportive. I think eventually we will get to that point we want to get to.”

The audio interview is available at www.wrestleshark.podbean.com.

– Former WWE developmental talent and Tough Enough competitor Ivelisse Velez will compete on this Thursday’s live episode of Impact Wrestling.

Sunday on Twitter, Velez issued this message: “The Huntress will be making an IMPACT this Thursday! #KnowWhatIMean #TuneIn #OnTheRise.”

PWInsider.com has since confirmed that she will participate in the “Gut Check Challenge.”

It will not be her first match inside a TNA ring as she competed in a dark match against Tara in October

– TNA has released the following video previewing Thursday’s Impact Wrestling broadcast, which is centered on a confrontation between World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Hardy and Bully Ray.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEmv8XS7BNw

– Robbie E announced on Twitter Sunday that he will appear at this Thursday’s Ohio Valley Wrestling event in Louisville, Kentucky. “Guess who’s going to be at Davis Arena this Wednesday February 27 th ? The one and only Robbie E from tna !!!” he wrote.

Afterbuzz TV issued the following:

CHRIS JERICHO TALKS ABOUT RETURNING TO WWE AND HOW ROBOTS WILL TAKE OVER THE WORLD ON MARIA MENOUNOS’ AFTERBUZZ TV

Los Angeles, CA, February 22, 2013 –(afterbuzztv.com)– WWE Superstar, Chris Jericho made an appearance on a special edition of AfterBuzz TV’s RAW aftershow Tuesday night. The wrestling legend was invited on the network to discuss his return to WWE and the new Syfy show, Robot Combat League, which Jericho hosts. In the interview, Jericho discusses his recent RAW Active match with CM Punk, why his return to wrestling is different than other Superstars, and how his now infamous jacket came to fruition.

Growing up, Jericho wanted to be two things: a pro wrestler and a rock star. Now the 42-year-old wrestler is in the middle of yet another return to the WWE and just embarked on a multi-day Australian tour with his band, Fozzy.

“This past month has been one of my best months ever,” Jericho says.

Jericho is one of the few Superstars who has not only been able to parlay his wrestling career into other aspects of the entertainment industry, but also committed enough to give 100% every time he reenters the ring.
He tells AfterBuzz, “Nothing against what Rock does or Brock or any of those guys, when I come back, I don’t just come back for Monday Night Raw. I do the house shows.”

Since Jericho’s return, he’s reignited his feud with fellow Superstars, Dolph Ziggler and CM Punk. He recounts Feb 4th’s WWE RAW Active match between himself and CM Punk, where the writers created a poll to designate which wrestler, out of Chris Jericho, Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio, would face Punk. A flash poll earlier in the week, predicted Orton to be the challenger and the writers told Jericho to not prepare with Punk—he would face Wade Barrett.

The afternoon of the fight, Jericho thought, “I knew I was going to win [the RAW active poll],” and he was right. He says the writers were shocked the fans chose him over Orton.

Jericho joked, “I went to the writers’ room and said, ‘All you guys with your flash polls, go F yourself, you can suck it.’”

Later in the interview, Y2J talks about how every time he returns to wrestling he wants to do something fresh.

“I’ve always wanted to be the Paul Stanley of wrestling…the ultimate frontman or lead singer who commands the crowd. Whenever I come back I try to do something different,” says Jericho. “I had this idea…Googled and then found this designer, Jonathan Logan. Went to visit him in the Fashion District and didn’t really know anything about him. Turns out he makes all of Brad Pitt’s stuff, all of Justin Bieber’s stuff, David Lee Roth’s stuff.”

After collaborating on a design, Logan suggested adding lights to the jacket as he had done for an Alecia Keys outfit, thus creating the iconic glowing jacket Jericho sports at shows.

As cool as the jacket is, Jericho says, it’s also a hassle. “There’s little wires and they snap all the time. I constantly have to [fix] them.” Jericho says WWE’s prop guys yell at him for having to fix the jacket so frequently.

Jericho divulges that the entire right side of his jacket broke before his intro at Wrestlemania XXVIII last year. “I had to turn and walk backwards and cheat the camera,” says Jericho, “I didn’t want anyone to see that the whole right side of my jacket had gone out…this was literally two minutes before I had to go to the ring. I was furious. I could have given a crap about the match, all I cared about was my stupid jacket.”

When asked about traveling with the jacket, Jericho mentioned an instance when he was traveling and he originally placed his jacket in his check luggage, however, the luggage was overweight. Jericho had to remove the jacket and take it as carry on, despite not having a bag to put it in.

“I had to ask [TSA] for a garbage bag. I put my big fancy jacket in a garbage bag and put it through security. One guy called me out and said ‘Jericho man, that’s your jacket? You can’t keep it in a plastic bag.’”

Another recent change in appearance are Jericho’s new tattoos. He says, “I just thought it would be cool to get a tattoo, something that means something to me. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and now was the time to do it.”

On Jericho’s new show, Syfy’s Robot Combat League, Jericho enthuses, “It’s Real Steel with actual Robots.” He says it’s nothing like Mick Foley’s robot show, Robot Wars.

“The first thing that I thought when I was in the arena and they brought the robot out, if it hadn’t stopped walking I would have turned around and ran away. It was that intimidating,” Jericho says, “We’ve now created robots that can kill humans, and in 10-years when they take over the planet, you’ll know you saw it first on Robot Combat League.”

Robot Combat League premieres on Syfy Feb. 26th at 10/9c.

AfterBuzz TV’s RAW aftershow, hosted by Ryan Katz, Cathy Kelley, Ryan Clum and Josh Padgett airs Monday nights, immediately following USA’s airing of RAW. The RAW aftershow is a weekly wrap up show that broadcasts worldwide from Los Angeles, CA as part of Extra’s Maria Menounos and filmmaker Keven Undergaro’s online broadcast network, AfterBuzz TV. AfterBuzz is dedicated to producing daily post-game wrap-up shows for fans’ favorite TV shows, covering shows like The Walking Dead, American Idol, The Bachelor, Being Human and countless others. Currently AfterBuzz TV receives over 20 million weekly downloads on iTunes from over 75 countries. For further information about the network, visit afterbuzztv.com

TNA has announced that World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Hardy will return on next week’s episode of Impact Wrestling to confront Bully Ray. The official preview is as follows:

Next Thursday on IMPACT: Jeff Hardy returns, plus the Lethal Lockdown teams

Preview Thursday’s huge IMPACT WRESTLING broadcast on SpikeTV at 8/7c, as the road to the “Lockdown” event continues!

– What will be the fallout from the Aces and 8s attack on Hulk Hogan? What is Hogan’s condition? Tune in for a major update on Thursday’s IMPACT!

– World Heavyweight Champion “The Charismatic Enigma” Jeff Hardy makes his return to IMPACT! What will happen when Hardy is face-to-face with Bully Ray, the superstar that will challenge him for the title at Lockdown?

– Also on Thursday, “The Icon” Sting and Devon will both reveal their teams for the Lethal Lockdown match! Who will join Sting as part of Team TNA – and who will backup Devon from the Aces and 8s? Find out on Thursday!

(source: ImpactWrestling.com)

– Thursday’s edition of Impact Wrestling drew a 1.02 cable rating, with 1,352,000 viewers. Both figures are up from last week’s show on Valentine’s Day, which drew a 1.00 cable rating and 1,300,000 viewers.

– TNA released the following ad promoting its Road To Lockdown Sale on ShopTNA.com.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt7W0hdh_nI

– Christy Hemme is featured in the “Today’s Girl” section of Maxim.com.

(source: Pro Wrestling Torch)

– WWE issued a survey this week to its “Fan Council,” which notably included a query gauging interest in the possibility of a Monday Night Raw pre-show on WWE.com or the WWE app.

– Former WWE Diva Maryse is featured in today’s “Superstar Spotlight” on WWE.com.

– This week’s episode of The JBL & Cole Show is now online, which features Ricardo Rodriguez and Aksana going head to head in the SuperStar Search.

Following Take-Two Interactive’s acquisition of the WWE video game license, future WWE video game titles will be re-branded as “WWE 2K,” reports ESPN.com.

As part of the five-year agreement, Take-Two has hired key designers from THQ to collaborate with 2K Sports’ game design team at Visual Concepts. The company has also agreed to bring back former WWE games developer Yukes to continue the process of the development of “WWE 14,” ensuring the new game will be released this fall.

Casey Collins, WWE’s executive vice president of consumer products, as well as fellow executives, were particularly impressed with Take-Two’s efforts with the “NBA 2K” franchise.

“We looked at a lot of different leaders in the industry and talked to all of the big guys, and for us, we had been with THQ for so many years, it was nice to finally go out and date a few other companies and see what kind of thought process they had about the video game industry going forward,” Collins told ESPN.com. “As we look at the next-gen systems coming out, whether that’s this holiday or next holiday, we want to make sure we align our property with who we thought would be a leader going forward on these next-gen systems.”

The full story is available here.

– Santino Marella, who is currently sidelined with a neck injury, noted on Twitter Tuesday that he underwent a procedure.

“Neck procedure went well today in Pittsburg, shouldn’t be too long now before I’m back in action, I’m hoping!,” he wrote.

– Shelly Martinez hosts #SaveWrestling, which can be heard every Monday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. on www.vocnation.com. The debut edition of the podcast is now online at the website.

– The latest edition of WWE en Espanol is now online.

– Promoting his latest movie The Package, which was released on DVD and Blu-ray on Tuesday, WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin was asked about the status of Tough Enough.

“I think that window is closed,” remarked Austin. He also added that WWE “dropped the ball with Tough Enough.”

The audio interview is available at KISW.com.

– On April 26, 1976, Bruno Sammartino suffered a neck fracture in a match against Stan Hansen at Madison Square Garden, when Hansen improperly executed a body slam and dropped Sammartino on his head. Despite doctors’ orders, Sammartino insisted on flying home to Pittsburgh that night. 1Wrestling.com has released vintage audio of Sammartino detailing the incident to Bill Apter at a hospital the week after and what the prognosis for his future was back then.