– Mickie James will hold a musical concert celebrating her birthday this Friday from 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. at Kingdom 10 Walnut Alley Richmond, Virginia. (Event Details)
– Robbie E and Robbie T bring in one of the larger egos in TNA IMPACT WRESTLING, Christopher Daniels, to give him a chance to get on the prestigious list. Though perhaps his ego is a little be to inflated to have a fighting chance to make it on “the list”.
http://youtu.be/haYNkP47esE
– Former TNA Knockouts Angelina Love and Velvet Sky have been announced to appear at the New York City Comic Con on Saturday, October 13 at Jacob K. Javits Convention Center West 34th Street, New York, New York 10001. (Event Details)
– Mercedes KV (Mercedes Kaestner-Varnado), a 20-year-old New England-based women’s wrestler who recently signed a WWE developmental contract, is the first cousin of rapper Snoop Lion (formerly known as Snoop Dogg).
– Kelly Kelly stated on Twitter that she shot photos for her upcoming calendar all day Thursday. Click here to view a preview image.
– WWE will hold a SmackDown taping on Tuesday, October 30, 2012 at the Crown Center in Fayetteville, North Carolina. WWE Superstars advertised to appear include Sheamus, Daniel Bryan, Alberto Del Rio, Kane, Ryback, Damien Sandow, Sin Cara and Kaitlyn.
– Kaitlyn is featured in today’s “Superstar Spotlight” on WWE.com.
TNA Wrestling concluded the Claire Lynch storyline last night on Impact Wrestling with her legal representative revealing that she never was pregnant and had agreed to blackmail AJ Styles after being approached by Daniels and Kazarian—she drugged Styles and took scandalous photos suggesting he was the father of her fake baby. Lynch did not appear during the segment since she quit the promotion.
Multiple TNA sources have confirmed that Lynch, whose real name is Julia Reilly, immediately quit the company after her identity was discovered online and wrestling fans began bombarding her professional website, YouTube and LinkedIn accounts with “derogatory and hateful messages about her acting, her character’s actions and her character’s appearance.”
As a working actor, Reilly didn’t want potential employers and casting directors researching her to come across the hateful scorn, which was described as “some of the most classless garbage you’d expect to see, just low rent message board loser stuff.” As a result, she quit TNA and immediately closed her professional accounts in an attempt to deflect the vitriol.
Former five-time TNA Knockouts Champion Angel Williams (Angelina Love) was the featured guest on the return of the award-winning Monday Night Mayhem. You can now feel The Mayhem every week only on the WrestleView Radio Network. Join in the celebration of #MNMX, the ten-year anniversary celebration of “Your Home of Wrestling Radio” right now on Facebook (at www.Facebook.com/MondayNightMayhem & www.Facebook.com/FeelTheMayhem), and follow The Mayhem on Twitter (at www.Twitter.com/FeelTheMayhem).
Angel joined The Big Mosh & “The Chairman of the Board” Todd Vincent for her first (and only) post-TNA interview, a Monday Night Mayhem worldwide exclusive interview, which is now available for download on the WrestleView Radio Network:
Angel Williams/Monday Night Mayhem Interview (MP3 Streaming Audio): www.wrestleviewradio.com/WVIP_Preview/mnm082012.mp3
Interview highlights courtesy of Paterson, MNM’s associate producer & official correspondent:
Why she felt the time was right to leave TNA/iMPACT Wrestling and start a new chapter in her career: “There’s no big fancy story, there’s no scandal. It’s nothing too big. I spoke to all the appropriate people. It was just my time. It was just my time to go. I was there for five years, was a five-time Knockouts Champion and one-time (Knockouts) Tag Team Champ, and did a lot with a lot of people storyline-wise. I guess I accomplished everything you could. Of course, I was always coming up with ideas, and wanting to do more, and trying to be creative, and get myself into this storyline and that storyline. Some things were being talked about, but mutually and completely amicably, we just decided it was my time, and that was it.”
Whether or not there was a noticeable difference in the direction of the Knockouts division after Hulk Hogan & Eric Bischoff joined the company: “I don’t know really. I find (Hulk) Hogan to be very, very cool. He was super supportive of the Knockouts division, and would always watch our matches, and give feedback, and was like ‘You girls kick ass.’ I think they know that the Knockouts division is a big part TNA, and it really helps out the show, but they are pretty supportive of it.”
How the idea for the upcoming Beautiful People reunion (featuring herself and Velvet Sky) came about: “We wanted to get The Beautiful People back together. The fans really wanted to see it too, and we really wanted to give that to the fans. We both get tweeted that numerous times every day from fans wondering when we were going to get back together in TNA and how they wanted to see it. We both still wanted to do it, because it was just so fun. With me leaving and with Velvet leaving, we kind of just said we could do whatever we want now, so it was just a given. For at least the next two and a half months, we have a lot of stuff coming up together.”
The level of interest on her end to sign with the WWE if the opportunity presented itself: “Yeah absolutely, I would love to. I think that would be awesome. It would be really, really fun. I really haven’t worked with many of the girls there, so it would be all new possibilities, and that’s fun.”
Much more is contained in Angel’s exclusive interview with Monday Night Mayhem, including the reaction of her former colleagues in TNA/iMPACT Wrestling regarding her departure, the inspiration for the “Angelina Love” ring name, whose idea it was to initially team her up with Velvet Sky, what the experience of The Beautiful People meant to her personally and professionally, her initial reactions to having Cute Kip, Madison Rayne, and Lacey Von Erich as members of the team, the evolution of the Knockouts division, how much truth there is to the rumor that LayCool (Michelle McCool and Layla) were put together by the WWE based on the success of The Beautiful People, the experience of training in the WWE developmental system (with Deep South Wrestling), the possibility of working with/against Beth Phoenix, Natalya, and AJ, if she believes The Beautiful People could be successful in the WWE Divas division, which opponent she would like to square off in her “dream match,” her blossoming acting career (including the details on filming “Dark Rising”), plus much more! Mayhem Nation: Be sure to follow Angel right now on Twitter (at www.Twitter.com/ActualALove) for more information on the highly-anticipated reunion of The Beautiful People (Velvet Sky & Angelina Love), which heads your way beginning this September!
– WWE Hall of Famer Tammy “Sunny” Sytch claims she is now sober after checking out of her WWE-sponsored rehabilitation program on Thursday. The legendary Diva was admitted to an emergency room on the evening of July 13 for consuming a large amount of vodka, and her boyfriend, independent wrestler Damien Darling, insisted that she seek professional help.
She wrote on Facebook Thursday evening, “FREE AT LAST! FREE AT LAST! THANK GOD ALMIGHTY, FREE AND SOBER AT LAST!…….DONT WORRY, I HAVENT TURNED INTO A BORN AGAIN CHRISTIAN!”
– Vince McMahon, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of WWE, Inc. (WWE), turns 67-years-old Friday.
The WWE head has no intention to ever retire. “This is not a job,” he told Bloomberg last year regarding retirement. “I love what I do.” He said he hopes there are people who will tell him he’s slipping. “It would only be then that I would decide to go to a beach somewhere and sit back and discover that they’re right, I am senile. Other than that, I intend to be, as they say, die in the chair. That’s the way I would like to go.”
– Former WWE Superstar Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake appears for World’s Best Wrestling Wrestling on October 6th, 2012 in Sardinia, Ohio at Chad D.Heckler Building gymnasium. (Event Information)
Kirby Mack (a/k/a Stan Stansky) and Stoney Hooker (a/k/a Arthur Rosenberg), who faced Ryback in a Handicap Match on the June 4, 2012 episode of Raw, recalled their WWE experience in an interview with The Do Your J.O.B. Wrestling Hour. Highlights from the interview are as follows:
The process being selected to face Ryback: “Before we got there I got a call from a buddy of mine who runs High Velocity Wrestling who was in contact with the WWE and they called him and said we are looking for 2 guys this time…They wanted Ryback to lift 2 guys…we did our tryout but Ryback wanted the biggest guys to pick up to be impressive so right off the bat he pick 2 guys out of I think Tennessee that were really big and he went through the motions with them to see if he could lift them up, now he was able to lift them up but it was not pretty. It wasn’t good for live tv and that’s what Arn Anderson was saying…so they picked Stoney, and originally they picked another guy named Chase Owens who had been squashed by Ryback a week or two before so Arn looked at him and said didn’t Ryback already beat you up like a week ago on tv and he said yes and thankfully they picked me”
Nerves cutting the promo before the match: “The nerves didn’t kick in until we were about to go live…they gave us the promo at about 3 or 4 o’clock…and we literally rehearsed it till like 8:53 and then we rehearsed it before the commercial break in the ring…it wasn’t so much nerves but the problem with that promo was I think everyone in the back knew the promo before we did…it was tough not learning the promo but learning the promo in unison”
Reaction to the match: “Obviously to us it felt great we had a blast, it was an awesome time. I realize now it’s a PG era and it’s kinda hard to see because if the camera angle but at one point Ryback had actually busted my lip and I was bleeding pretty hard and as I was laying there I’m not thinking PG I’m thinking I’m bleeding on tv I need to get the blood put so people can see it…the referee rolled over to me and was like “Suck that blood up right now! This is PG!” so I had to suck the blood up…we come back after the match and were coming down off this high that we’re on because we just lived our dream essentially…everybody in the back knew we were gonna mess up the promo they expected it, but everyone was very complimentary. The scariest part to me was Triple H came out of the gorilla position, and from what I understand he never comes out of the gorilla pit, he came out and goes “You, you come here!” and IMF like this isn’t good and I’m walking with my head down and he was like “Great f’ing job. Great job!” and I was like oh thank you!”
Other topics include Kirby Mack’s time in Ring of Honor, his infamous match with Jeff Hardy in ROH, working in OMEGA, Matt and Jeff Hardy, Shane Helms, how the Stansky and Rosenberg gimmick have carried on and much more. The audio interview is available here.
Posted August 24th, 2012 in News, WWE. Tagged: Ryback.
Daffney wrote Thursday evening on Facebook that she was involved in a serious automobile accident: “Monday night I was in a car accident. I was driving along I-4 and I hydroplaned at 70 mph, went off the road, and my car flipped. I landed upside-down in 3 feet of water. I was able to climb out of the passenger side and waded to safety. Luckily someone saw and stopped to help. It took 2 1/2 hours to tow my car out as it was wedged deep in the ditch in the woods.
“Thank God I had my seatbelt on. If I hadn’t I’m sure my injuries would have been much worse…if not fatal. I want to emphasize to all my Daffanatics to please remember to buckle up.
“I cannot explain the feeling I had when I realized what had happened. When I saw my totaled car the next day at the junkyard it really hit me. I’m so grateful to be alive. Now, I’m just trying to pick up the pieces and get things back to normal.
“I lost a lot of things that night. As I landed in so much water – my phone, ipod, video camera (with all the bonus footage for Shine 2), some clothing , and some other things were destroyed. They are all material objects and can be replaced, however it is going to cost a pretty penny.
“I will be auctioning off quite a few items in the near future to try and make up for this loss, so please check out ebay in case you see something you like and want to bid.
“Thanks for letting me share this unfortunate incident with you guys, and thanks in advance for the love and support.”
– WWE.com updated its roster page this week to reflect recent storyline developments.
Eve and Curt Hawkins are now official members of the SmackDown roster. On last week’s episode of SmackDown, Eve defeated Kaitlyn to become the SmackDown Assistant General Manager to Booker T. Hawkins appeared on the show with Tyler Reks as they debuted male stripper characters. Reks was briefly listed on the page before he was granted his contract release on Tuesday.
AJ Lee is officially a member of the Raw roster after being named Raw General Manager by WWE chief Vince McMahon on Raw 1,000. Despite controlling the program, she continued to be listed as a SmackDown Diva.
– This week’s episode of WWE Superstars is headlined by Justin Gabriel vs. Cody Rhodes. Also featured are Yoshi Tatsu vs. Damien Sandow, Santino Marella vs. Jack Swagger and Alex Riley vs. Drew McIntyre. (Watch)
– Jim Ross, who will commentate matches at tonight’s WWE NXT tapings at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, tweeted prior to the event, “I have plenty of time 4 any NXT talent who wants to be great. To be physical & smart. To work diligently to improve. To the others, nothing.”
CM Punk, AJ & Sin Cara Invade NYC at Ringside Fest 2012!
WWE® Champion CM Punk Returns Due To Popular Demand!
NEW YORK, NY – RINGSIDE COLLECTIBLES, INC. presents the 9th annual RINGSIDE FEST, scheduled for Saturday, October 20th at Carolines on Broadway in Times Square, New York City.
This blockbuster event includes appearances by WWE® Superstar CM Punk® (appearing at 11:30am), WWE® Diva AJ™ (appearing at 9:15am) & WWE® Superstar Sin Cara™(appearing at 9:15am)!
Tickets are required for autographs and photo opportunities. Availability is limited. Advanced purchase is suggested, – please visit www.RingsideFest.com for more information!
Do not miss the RINGSIDE FEST Exclusive Mattel WWE® Elite Flashback “Texas Rattlesnake” Stone Cold Steve Austin figure that will be available for sale starting at RINGSIDE FEST.
Mattel’s design team will also be on hand with the latest WWE® Action Figures on display and answering questions from fans!
– Magnus will co-host the U.K.’s Strongest Man, TNA Wrestling President Dixie Carter announced Thursday on Twitter. The program airs on Challenge, which airs TNA Wrestling programming, including Impact Wrestling and TNA Xplosion. Carter wrote, “Was excited to secure Magnus as co-host of the UK’s Strongest Man for @ChallengeTV! Looking forward to more exciting things in his future!”
– Posting her first message on Twitter since October, former TNA Knockout Lacey Von Erich announced that she is pregnant and expecting any day now.
“I’m tired of all the Lacey posers! Not sure why anyone try’s to be me. Just an update, I’m having another little boy! Due anyday!” the 26-year-old wrote.
Von Erich, whose real name is Lacey Adkisson, left TNA Wrestling in October 2010 to pursue endeavors outside of wrestling.
– Devon successfully defended the TNA Television Championship against Kazarian on this week’s episode of TNA Xplosion.
– Charlie Sheen, who had been speculated to appear at SummerSlam Sunday, attended a family party that. While at the get-together, Sheen was asked about working the pay-per-view event and joked that it would cost WWE a ton of money to get him. Multiple WWE sources report that company officials are interested in collaborating with Sheen at a future pay-per-view event, possibly WrestleMania XXIX.
– Santino Marella is expected to receive a WWE United States Championship rematch against Antonio Cesaro at Night of Champions. Other matches expected for the event include CM Punk vs. John Cena for the WWE Championship, Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship, Kaitlyn vs. Layla for the WWE Divas Championship and a Fatal 4-Way Match for the WWE Tag Team Championship with Kofi Kingston and R-Truth, Jey and Jimmy Uso, Epico and Primo, and The Prime Time Players.
– After Linda McMahon’s U.S. Senate opponent Chris Murphy purchased advertising time on the USA Network scrutinizing the former WWE CEO during Monday’s Raw airing in Connecticut, the sports-entertainment organization released the following statement to CourantBlogs.com: “It is apparent that the same people who have consistently denigrated and mischaracterized WWE and our family-friendly entertainment for political gain have officially changed their point of view about our content. For the second week in a row, Mr. Murphy’s campaign continues to run advertising in our programming with his new ad airing yesterday at 10:30 p.m. on USA during Monday Night Raw. While the past political rhetoric has been unjust, it pleases us to know that Mr. Murphy recognizes that WWE’s TV programming is a highly effective way to reach families and voters in Connecticut.”
– As reported Monday, Brodus Clay and Damien Sandow, who have been feuding on WWE programming in recent weeks, were scheduled to face off at SummerSlam but their match was nixed due to time constraints. Both the WWE Championship and WWE Tag Team Championship bouts were shortened due to time constraints because the production team wanted to make sure there would be enough time for the aftermath of the Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar bout since The Game’s farewell scene will play a vital role in storylines going forward.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, multi-platinum recording artist Kevin Rudolf’s performance of the pay-per-view theme song, “Don’t Give Up,” caused the program to have timing issues. Regarding the performance, some of the fans shown dancing were plants.
– WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz is currently on a promotional tour in London, England. He will be off television two weeks while touring the country and apparently other countries. He noted via Twitter, “Follow my Tout for the next 2 weeks and you will follow me around the world. #MizAroundTheWorld.”
– Brock Lesnar, Triple H, Big Show, CM Punk and John Cena are featured on the cover of WWE’s 2012 SummerSlam DVD and Blu-ray release, which hits stores on September 18. To view the cover, click here.
– WWE Champion CM Punk’s appearance two weeks ago at the Chicago Comic Con impressed Wizard World officials since he drew a larger audience than fellow WWE Superstar John Cena has in the past. Cena did not draw nearly what the event’s organizers expected the few times they have used him.
– This week on WWE Inbox, Superstars answer questions on what they do during their downtime to relax and whether they had an imaginary friend as a child. On the topic of downtime, The Miz says his father asked him a question about taking a vacation, which Miz said is going home and sitting on his couch in-between traveling. Additional respondents are Antonio Cesaro, Drew McIntyre, Natalya and Tyler Reks.
– Mark Henry and Eve are scheduled to appear at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer, Alaska on Thursday afternoon from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. (Event Information)
– Keiji Muto (a/k/a The Great Muta) pitched a tag team match with Ric Flair as his partner on All Japan Pro Wrestling’s Sept. 23 show, but both sides couldn’t come to financial terms, The most All Japan was willing to offer Flair for the match was $15,000.
– TMZ chatted with wrestler Booker T regarding the “GREATEST VIDEO IN THE HISTORY OF THE INTERNET!” This is in reference to T getting carried away during a televised interview on the June 24, 1996 episode of WCW Monday Nitro, calling out Lex Luger as well as Hulk Hogan, claiming “Hulk Hogan, we comin’ for you, n***a!”
http://youtu.be/Z1oMWfrHKWI
– WWE has submitted a proposal to be included on the SXSW Interactive 2013 panel taking place March 8-12. Their proposed topic will be on how they are “crushing” Social TV. Stephanie McMahon would appear as a speaker, along with various WWE Superstars to be announced. People can vote on whether they like the proposal, which accounts for about 30% of the decision-making process whether they are selected or not. Click here for additional details.
– Former WWE Superstar “The Natural” Butch Reed, 58, is currently incarcerated in Jefferson County Jail in Hillsboro, Missouri due to a probation violation.
– Independent wrestlers Scorpio Sky and Shaun Ricker were scheduled to participate in WWE’s invitation-only tryout camp in Southern California earlier this week but reportedly were not there.
– WWE has released a video highlighting the SmackDown brand’s recent tour to Asia.
– Swiss WWE Superstar Antonio Cesaro’s capture of the WWE United States Championship at SummerSlam was covered as a story by some news outlets in his native land.
– WWE Classics On Demand, WWE’s subscription video on demand television service, is currently airing the April 21, 1998 episode of ECW Hardcore TV, which features a profanity-laced “shoot” promo by Taz. The rotisseried grappler mentions ‘Chris Benoit’ twice during his spiel, which both times is censored with a bleep sound.
– Tommy Fierro, who is a longtime wrestling promoter and worked for WWE briefly for their WWE Network will be helping ROH set up fundraisers at their live events starting with their 10/6 show in Rahway, NJ. If you’re a non-profit group in the NJ area and are looking to learn more about getting involved, you can contact Tommy Fierro at TommyFierro@ROHWrestling.com
– To celebrate the twenty-fifth edition of SummerSlam, WWE.com collected the very best photos from SummerSlam week in Los Angeles, California and filtered them through Instagram. Click here to view the images.
– Eve is featured in today’s “Superstar Spotlight” on WWE.com.
Taryn Terrell, who appeared as Tiffany in WWE, made her TNA Wrestling debut last Thursday on Impact Wrestling being introduced by the Vice President of the Knockouts Division, Brooke Hogan, as the special guest referee for the Women’s Knockout Championship match between Madison Rayne and Miss Tessmacher. It will be Terrell’s role going forward as her ImpactWrestling.com bio states that she will be the referee for Knockouts Division matches.
Terrell, a former Playboy model, broke into the professional wrestling industry in 2007 through the Diva Search and rose her way through the WWE ranks over the ensuing years, culminating with the role of General Manager of ECW. She was married to WWE Superstar Drew McIntyre, but the couple divorced in May 2011. A fight between the couple following a party at the Playboy Mansion in August 2010 reportedly led to her contract release three months later and their tempestuous relationship is believed to be the prime reason McIntyre went from being tapped as a future WWE cornerstone to a non-entity relegated to WWE Superstars. Her reputation precedes her in some TNA circles. One male wrestler after another initially had no idea who she was Thursday, and when informed, immediately asked, “Wasn’t she the crazy one?,” followed by, “She’s still hot.”
Some members of TNA brass were reportedly “shocked” with the lack of crowd reaction to her introduction since most former WWE Superstars receive a rousing ovation from the Impact Wrestling Zone audience when they appear for the first time.
Many backstage feel that since Terrell’s refereeing experience is limited—she refereed a few matches in WWE and Florida Championship Wrestling—she did well being hastily thrust into the role. Senior official Earl Hebner gave her a crash course in reffing earlier in the day.
– Many people speculated that Miss USA 2010 Rima Fakih, who participated in Tough Enough last year and was brought in as a celebrity guest WrestleMania XXVIII week, would have a WWE contract waiting for her if she opted for a professional wrestling career. She, however, says that’s not the case.
When asked on Twitter whether she would be joining the organization again, she responded, “They don’t want me.”
– Billy Gunn, who appeared on Raw 1,000, is the newest addition to WWE.com’s Alumni section. WWE.com writes of the multi-time champion, “Whether he was a Smoking Gunn or a New Age Outlaw, Billy Gunn never let his mouth write a check that his butt couldn’t cash. Not down with that? The former Intercontinental Champion has two words for ya …” The bio does not acknowledge his “Badass” moniker.
WWE officials were reportedly impressed with Gunn and his interactions with Shawn Michaels on Raw 1,000 and the belief is he’ll receive at least one match on a future televised show. More recently, he evaluated WWE developmental talent two weeks ago at Florida Championship Wrestling headquarters.
– The Mummy Returns starring The Rock airs this Sunday at 1:30 p.m. on TNT.
WWE announced late Wednesday night via Twitter that Tyler Reks has been released from his contract with the organization.
“WWE has come to terms on the release of Gabe Tufts (Tyler Reks) as of Tuesday, Aug. 21. We wish Gabe all the best in his future endeavors,” the message reads, which was made through an iPad.
Reks, whose real name is actually Gabe Tuft, cited his desire to spend time with his family in a message posted on Facebook and Twitter. He wrote, “I realized recently that being a Superstar means sacrificing certain things, including time with my family. As a new father, my heart broke every time I had to leave to go on the road. I didn’t ever want to miss another moment with my daughter, so I made the decision to be a full time dad and hang up my boots.”
SmackDown Superstar William Regal, who feuded with Reks earlier this year on NXT, commented on his release via Twitter: “I was told that Tyler Reks has finished with WWE.Talented lad who was a gentleman.I admire his unselfish gesture for his family.Good man.”
Raw Superstar JTG also posted his first tweet since his controversial diatribe two weeks ago, writing, “The locker room will miss you bro.”
– Tyler Reks announced on Facebook and Twitter Wednesday that he has been granted his release from WWE. He cited his desire to be a full-time father, writing, “I realized recently that being a Superstar means sacrificing certain things, including time with my family. As a new father, my heart broke every time I had to leave to go on the road. I didn’t ever want to miss another moment with my daughter, so I made the decision to be a full time dad and hang up my boots.”
Curt Hawkins addressed his former tag team partner’s career decision via Twitter, writing, “Lucky for all of you I’m not a Dad (yet), I’m just a determined kid who loves the wrestling business. I’m here to stay. See you at the show.
– SmackDown Superstar Cody Rhodes has been announced to appear at the NXT live event taking place Friday, September 14 at Fenn Center 2000 Virginia Ave Fort Pierce, Florida 34982. He is scheduled for a Meet and Greet.
– Ticketmaster.com is holding a pre-sale for the October 15 Raw in Nashville, Tennessee at the Bridgestone Arena beginning Thursday at 10:00 a.m. with the passcode MARK. The venue’s official website is advertising a WWE Championship Match between CM Punk and John Cena.
– WWE.com has compiled a list ranking 15 former Superstars that should make a one-night comeback. It reads: 15. Scott Steiner, 14. Honky Tonk Man, 13. Michelle McCool, 12. Steve Blackman, 11. JBL, 10. Mick Foley, 9. Edge, 8. Shane McMahon, 7. Goldberg, 6. Trish Stratus, 5. Shawn Michaels, 4. Bret Hart, 3. Batista, 2. Ultimate Warrior, 1. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
– WWE has released a preview clip of a Saturday Morning Slam segment showcasing sports-entertainment’s history of dancers.
– Jim Ross complimented former WWE Women’s Champion Jacqueline via Twitter Wednesday, writing, “WWE never had a better pro, tougher Diva than Jackie Moore. She made all WWE Divas better.”
WWE.com announced Wednesday that Rey Mysterio suffered a concussion during his match Sunday against The Miz at SummerSlam.
The website notes that according to a backstage source, WWE personnel “suspected [a concussion] because he hit his head.” The following day, precautionary impact testing was conducted and “showed that [Mysterio] is below baseline, which means he sustained some sort of concussion.”
The website has confirmed that Mysterio is not medically cleared to compete at this time. The San Diego native did not appear on Raw or SmackDown, and has been removed from all events through a least this coming weekend.
During the Intercontinental Championship Match, The Miz executed a “brutal sit-down powerbomb” which snapped Mysterio’s head against the canvas. WWE.com attributes the trauma suffered from the maneuver to The Awesome One’s successful title defense.
WWE physician Michael Sampson says Mysterio “had the first [test] on Monday, which showed us that he was below baseline. The physical exam was normal, but neuropsych testing was below normal. That’s the beauty of neuropsych testing. Based on reaction time and memory, we can measure on a computer, and he was below his baseline. That saves [Mysterio] from causing further injury from the concussion.”
WWE.com has confirmed that Mysterio will not return to the squared circle until he is at baseline and passes an exertion test. “To be determined at baseline, Mysterio must pass the aforementioned impact/neuropsych test later in the week. Only then will he be permitted to undergo exertion testing,” the website notes.
WWE.com’s backstage source estimates that Mysterio “will probably be taking [the impact test today] if he’s still symptom-free, or later on this week.”
– As reported over the weekend, Julia Reilly, who portrays the Claire Lynch character on TNA Wrestling programming, is believed to have parted ways with the wrestling organization. According to F4WOnline.com, her apparent departure stems from Reilly being alarmed with her identity being revealed online as well as disclosure that she moonlights as the Olive Oyl character in the Popeye ride at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida where Impact Wrestling is filmed. A photo surfaced online of Reilly donning an Olive Oyl costume and posing with Popeye.
Reilly is an Orlando, Florida-based actress who has appeared in informercials and television commercials. Shortly after her name came out, she went to great lengths to protect her identity online as she removed the contents of her official website and YouTube channel, and deleted her LinkedIn account. Wrestlers were told she had parted ways with the organization, but not given a reason why. Her ongoing storyline with AJ Styles is expected to conclude on Thursday’s episode of Impact Wrestling with a paternity test segment.
– After making her debut on last Thursday’s episode of Impact Wrestling, Taryn Terrell is now an official member of the TNA Impact Wrestling roster. The organization’s website has added Terrell to its roster page.
The former WWE Diva was introduced by Vice President of the Knockouts Division, Brooke Hogan, as the special guest referee for the TNA Women’s Knockout Championship match between Madison Rayne and Miss Tessmacher. It will be Terrell’s role going forward as her bio states that she will be the referee for Knockouts Division matches.
– Former WWE developmental wrestler Marcus Owens issued a negative assessment on David Otunga’s working ability after watching him compete on television.
“I swear David Otunga is the most unsafe guy, I’ve ever seen on TV,” he wrote on Facebook. “I’d rather work Sid Vicious back when he was with the IV Horseman…LOL.”
This is not the first time where Otunga’s wrestling ability has been publicly dismissed by a fellow wrestler. Chris Masters stated during an interview following his release from WWE last year, “He’s got two left feet. C’mon, just watch him walk around the ring for five minutes.”
– As reported over the weekend, Tammy “Sunny” Sytch will check out of her WWE-sponsored rehabilitation program on Thursday. She was allowed out of her rehab house on Saturday and made a surprise appearance that day at a Bodyslam Wrestling Organization event in Elmwood Park, New Jersey as the manager of Damien Darling. After Darling lost in the main event, Sytch “revived” him with a kiss, who then carried her to the backstage area to conclude the show. Sytch plans to immediately resume her wrestling career after getting out of rehab as she has a show scheduled on Saturday.
– Gridiron Gang, starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, will air on MTV this Sunday at 1:23 p.m.
– As reported Tuesday, WWE.com is no longer advertising Beth Phoenix for next week’s four-event Raw brand tour of Australia after she was listed as appearing as recently as late last week. Additionally, she been pulled from all television tapings and live events through the month of September. According to WWE.com, her next scheduled appearance takes place on October 1 for a Raw taping at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
After news surfaced Tuesday night concerning her whereabouts, Phoenix tweeted, “Thank u for all of the support and respect while myself and my family grieves the loss of a loved one.”
– Syfy announced Wednesday that “WWE Superstar” Edge (a/k/a Adam Copeland) will return to their hit series Haven for a recurring guest star role. He will reprise his role of Dwight Hendrickson, “a shrewd, longtime Haven resident and “Troubled” handyman who can truly handle anything, and often does, as the town’s “Cleaner,” in the show’s third season, including the premiere, September 21 at 10PM ET/PT. (Press Release)
– WWE Hall of Famer “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka is today’s featured Superstar on WWE.com.