SEScoops

Author: David Bixenspan

  • WWE Q3 2015 Earnings Conference Call Liveblog

    WWE released its quarterly report for the third quarter of 2015 this morning, and right now, the investors’ all is going on. The WWE press release and WWE Network info are up already here on SEScoops, and here, we’ll cover any new information from the call as it’s ongoing. The first part of the call deals with what’s in the earnings presentation itself, so we’ll try to cover some of that here but stick mostly with the new developments on the call itself, like the interaction with the analysts who call in.

    As of 11:16 a.m. ET, it looks like we’re most of the way through the presentation on the call, so it’s almost time to get to the callers. This is the “fun part,” so to speak, as some throw ridiculous softballs and some ask tough questions with little middle ground. It’s always at least interesting, so let’s see how this part goes for WWE…

    11:21 a.m. ET: Eric Katz with Wells Fargo calls in. Believe he’s a new one.  Why is WWE using Netflix’s growth patterns to predict WWE Network success when they’re also saying the fourth quarter should be flat to the third quarter? Barrios sees their growth as happening seasonally (presumably meaning that growth will happen from the Royal Rumble to WrestleMania each year).  WWE looks at year to year growth more than sequential growth within the year.

    Why the big investments in content?

    11:25 a.m. ET: John Blackledge of Cowen and Co asking about WWE Network churn (subscriber loss) and related issues. Did credit card companies sending out new verification chip cards cause issues like it did with Netflix? George Barrios says he doesn’t know on the chip question because they don’t get that level of “granular” data.

    11:28 a.m. ET: Laura Martin of Needham is here to throw softballs! Or maybe not, seems like she wants them to cut back on producing new network content? Vince says they need to drive subscriptions and it’s misleading to look at what percentage of viewing is from the video on demand library.

    Then she asks about YouTube and plans for revenue sharing. Barrios says they’re “a phenomenal resource globally.” Compares them to cable TV in the past. Barrios talks about taking care in uploading content in only uploading short clips of the TV shows.

    What about ad revenue on the network? Barrios says they’re experimenting and doesn’t give any financial details. But it will continue to be a “soft touch” as far as the number of ads.

    11:34 a.m. ET: Brandon Ross of BTIG is up. Why only projecting 20-25% network growth with new international markets, etc? Barrios says the closest comparison is early domestic-only Netflix because they’re still so early in the process. As for YouTube, which he also asked about, revenue is up from high six figures to mid seven figures in a few years.

    Here we go: What steps are you taking to improve ratings? Barrios says they don’t look at a single metric in isolation. Social media, engagement, etc…but they don’t like to be down. They want to win “in each ecosystem we play” and they think they are doing fine relative to other pay TV. He asks how they compare to USA’s average, which is a bit higher.

    11:39 a.m. ET: Missed the name here. Asked about more subscriber number detail, Barrios half-jokes that they should be happy with the quarterly guidance. Wow.

    How to reduce network churn? Content and experience, including improving the service quality and user interface.

    11:43 a.m. ET: Daniel Moore of CJS Securities. Barrios ends up explaining the differences in how TV vs. film is expensed.

    BTW, this happened earlier:

    He also asked about TapOut, which WWE has invested in. Barrios refused to give any updates.

    11:47 a.m. ET: Mike Hickey from Benchmark is up and asks about Germany. “German audiences don’t pay for TV content.” That was interesting. Asked about NXT, Barrios starts talking about social media again and how the Barclays Center sellout shows the the power of social media. A show only on the internet in the U.S. on a service w/ 1.3 million worldwide subscribers drawing like that is unprecedented. He’s right, but NXT is also on Hulu, which is a much bigger and more mainstream service even if WWE doesn’t push that NXT is available on it.

    And that’s the end of the call. Bradley Safalow of PAA Research, who normally asks the best questions by far, was noticeably absent.

  • Gawker Trying To Appeal Latest Ruling In Hulk Hogan Case

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-D53kCsSHzw

    The latest chapter in the drama between Gawker and Hulk Hogan (real name Terry Bollea) came yesterday, with Gawker attempting to file a stay to block a judge’s ruling while they file an appeal. That’s the ruling from last week, when  Judge Pamela Campbell ruled that a forensic investigator can be hired at Hulk Hogan’s request to search Gawker’s computers and phones. The goal? Discovering if Gawker violated a court order in their lawsuit.

    Hogan is suing because Gawker published excerpts of a sex tape shot without his permission on a friend’s home security system, and insisting that Gawker is playing dirty. The allegation/ That the leak of Hogan’s racist comments that got him fired by WWE came from Gawker, and that they sourced sealed documents to facilitate said leak. While not the only sealed documents in the lawsuit, everything from the FBI’s investigation into Hogan being extorted via the sex tapes has been sealed from the public.

    Gawker is arguing that there is little basis for such a wide examination of employees’ and in-house counsel’s computers. They also cite their earlier filings when they responded to Hogan’s attempt to get the investigation going, which shed more light on, among other things, exactly what Gawker received from the FBI. With the argument being that there’s barely even circumstantial evidence that Gawker was behind the leak, they state that:

    * A timeline of what’s contained in the Hogan/Heather Cole sex tapes was circulating in New York and Tampa radio circles by March 2012.

    * Other parties who were well aware of Hogan’s racist comments before this past July included Bubba Clem, Heather Cole, Nik Riichie of TheDirty.com, the source of an October 2012 item in the Philadelphia Daily News, Keith Davidson (the lawyer who tried to help a client sell the videos to Hogan or extort money from him depending on your view), Davidson’s client, numerous federal investigators, and TMZ’s Mike Walters,

    * Gawker didn’t have most of what was released by the National Enquirer in the first place, with what they have from the FBI being incomplete. The audio of the FBI sting on Davidson (where Hogan, his lawyer, and Davidson watch the videos) “simply does not include most of the quotes reported by the Enquirer.”

    The radio community timeline, which Gawker got in discovery, “does not contain the racist language published by the Enquirer. It also does not reference Bollea’s use of homophobic slurs, as reported by the Enquirer.” Davidson’s transcripts, which Gawker’s lawyers got from the FBI, also don’t match what the Enquirer published.

    Specific examples of quotes that the Enquirer had that Gawker’s lawyers didn’t included some of the most damning ones. That includes “I guess we’re all a little racist. F**king n***er,” which is probably the most cited one because it’s used to refute people who say Hogan’s not a racist.

    * Gawker never had proof of the racist comments “in large part because Bollea successfully thwarted Gawker’s efforts to obtain that proof or take any discovery about the contents of the timeline and transcripts.”

    Hogan had, under oath, represented to the court and the Special Discovery Magistrate overseeing the sealed documents that he besides what Gawker got in 2012, he “had no knowledge of the existence of any other tapes.” In actuality, he watched all three (the one Gawker got, the one with the racist comments, and one more) during the FBI sting. He also claimed that any allegations of racist comments on the videos were lies fabricated by an extortionist.

    In a hearing on July 1st, a few weeks before the leak, Hogan’s lawyers claimed that if a video with the racist comments existed, then the audio may be from an impersonator hired by the extortionist. They also argued that the rumors of such comments may have been coming from the extortionist. On top of that, it was argued that mentions of the FBI investigation shouldn’t be allowed in the case because it was “predicated on these tapes purportedly saying something that they don’t say.”

    * The DVDs of the sex videos Gawker has are heavily edited. None of the racist comments were included. At the time of the leak, “reprocessed” versions of the DVDs (there were issues with the first one) had not yet been seen by Gawker’s lawyers.

    * The Enquirer and its reporters have always claimed that Gawker was not one of their five sources for the articles. They also worded the articles to make it clear that the sources had access to the unedited videos themselves, or at least it seemed that way.

    Regardless of your feelings as to the main case and whether Hogan should win that, it does seem like Gawker has a very compelling argument when it comes to this. While the appeals court itself has generally favored Gawker, this attempt at getting a stay is with the trial judge, who has seemingly favored Hogan. It should be interesting to se where this goes, and we’ll keep you apprised of any updates.

  • Additional Notes On New WWE Signings: What Indie Stars Got Signed?

    Earlier, we posted WWE’s press release listing the latest developmental signees to report to to the Performance Center. Not all of the names WWE announced were necessarily breaking news, as the Tough Enough winners were on there, but there were plenty of other names that hadn’t been officially announced yet. That includes a few of the most notable names on the independent scene…sort of. WWE makes a point of only including real names, so it wasn’t immediately apparent who some of the wrestlers were.

    That said, Richard Swann of Baltimore, Maryland is obviously Rich Swann, best known for his work in CZW, Dragon Gate, PWG, WXW, and the WWN family of promotions (Dragon Gate USA, Evolve, and Full Impact Pro). He’s a talented high flyer known for moves like the Rich Kick, a standing 450 Splash.

    Christopher Girard of Boston, Massachusetts, is best known as Biff Busick. He’s made the rounds a in many of the same promotions as Swann, but he has more of a hard-hitting, grounded style. Which isn’t to say he doesn’t fly, but he doesn’t do it as much as Swann.

    Finally, Adrienne Reese of Dallas, Texas is Athena. Originally trained by Rodney Mack with additional training later from Booker T, she’s been one of the top female wrestlers on the independent scene for several years. She’s incredibly smooth in the ring, with a nice, well-rounded mix of submissions, some flying, and more. It’s not an exaggeration at all to say that she’s probably right with or just below Natalya and Asuka as the best and most polished women on the roster.

  • WWE Final Raw Rating For 10/26/15 Shows Mixed Success

    Last night, we brought you the hourly viewership numbers for Monday’s edition of WWE Monday Night Raw and the approximate average based on the mean of those three hours. Since then, more detailed information has come out from Dave Meltzer at F4WOnline and James Caldwell at PWTorch.

    The rating itself (percentage of homes with USA Network watching Raw) was a 2.46, up 11% from last week’s 2.21. Last week’s episode was tied with the Christmas Eve 2012 show as the lowest rated edition of Raw since 1997, so the increase is good news. That said, the average viewership across the whole ~three hour show 3.54 million, down just 20,000 viewers from last week’s 3.56 million mark. That means that less viewers were watching per home than last week.The rating a year ago, for the October 27, 2014 show, was a 2.71.

    Overall, the pattern is still not good, but there were signs of encouragement, like the increase in households as well as the biggest third hour number in five weeks. and the biggest first hour in a couple months. With the hot crowd providing a better atmosphere than we’ve seen lately and it being a consensus strong show, it will be interesting to see if that momentum carries over to next week.

  • Gawker President Expects To Lose Hulk Hogan Sex Tape Trial

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ki_MGwOopI

    Set for March 2016, the trial in Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against Gawker (for publishing clips of a sex tape shot without his knowledge)  is still several months away. As we wait it out, Heather Dietrick, Gawker’s President and General Counsel, made a surprising admission according to Capital New York: She thinks they’re going to lose.

    During a Gawker staff meeting this past Thursday (October 22nd), Dietrick said “It’s probably difficult to win the case entirely, outright, knowing the jury that we’re facing, but it’s possible. More likely than not, we end up with a really small judgment that we can easily carry and we appeal that,” Hogan has sued for $100 million, and Florida law requires that to appeal a judgment,  the losing party must post a bond for the full amount plus two years’ interest. Gawker founder Nick Denton has said in the past that a judgment of that size would kill the company or require him to sell a equity stake.

    Dietrick added that “It’s quite possible that Hogan just gets a very small judgment against us, and then we have to make the decision: do we appeal that and incur further fees to vindicate the First Amendment rights that we know we’re on the right side of, or do we simply say, OK this very small judgment is a win and makes it very difficult for Hulk Hogan, who’s spent a lot of time on pursuing this case and could walk away with something very small[, to keep the lawsuit going].”

    If there’s a large judgment, she’s now saying they’ll appeal expecting the appeals court to allow them to pay a smaller bond.”The rights at stake are so important , not just to this story but to other stories that we do and stories that every news outlet does, that I expect that the appeals court will allow us to appeal, which means allowing a reasonable bond that we’re able to post. The appeals court in question has generally ruled in their favor so for (seven out of eight times) in matters pertaining to the case.

    Related: Hulk Hogan’s Final WCW Contract From 1998 Leaks Online

  • Hulk Hogan’s Final WCW Contract From 1998 Surfaces Online

    My friend Chris Harrington and I have made a habit out of trying to mine publicly available documents (usually from lawsuits) for interesting pro wrestling historical information. In Chris’s case, being the “Wrestlenomics” guy, he tends to favor anything with financial information. In looking through the docket of one of the racial discrimination lawsuits against WCW, he happened to buy a copy of a filing that turned out to have Hulk Hogan’s 11998 contract (his last one) with WCW. So he posted it to Scribd last night and it’s gotten some attention at places like Reddit.

    At times there has been speculation that Hogan didn’t earn as much as some people said. Clearly, that’s not the case, as it looks like on a percentage basis, he was the highest paid wrestler in the history of the business even if Steve Austin made more money in his best years. The contract reveals the following terms:

    – It was a four year deal lasting from May 29, 1998 to May 28, 2002. So when he went to WWE in February 2002, WWE only had to buy out the last three months of the contract.

    – Hogan got a $2 million signing bonus.

    – Each year, Hogan was to appear on six WCW pay-per-view events, for which  he’d be paid $675,000 each or 15% of “domestic PPV cable sales received by WCW for each event,” whichever was greater. So he was guaranteed $4.05 million annually in PPV payoffs alone. He was advanced $1.35 million every four months.

    – “Incentive compensation” bonuses would be received for PPVs that did a 1.5% buy rate or better in different tiers, ranging from $250,000 for a 1.5 to a 1.79 all the way up to $1.75 million for a 3.5 buy rate or greater. In practice, he only got bonused on this contract for Bash at the Beach in July 1998, which drew a 1.5 buy rate for Hogan and Dennis Rodman vs. Diamond Dallas Page and Karl Malone. If the same incentives were in effect on his previous deal, he made a $375,000 bonus for the 1.9 buy rate that Starrcade ’97 (the famous Hogan vs. Sting match) drew.

    – Payoffs for Monday Nitro and Thursday Thunder appearances were $25,000 or 25% “of the gross (after tax)  arena ticket revenues,” whichever was greater, For exampled, as far as shows on this contract go, this means he made: $226,582.50 for the match at the Georgia Dome where he dropped the WCW World Heavyweight Championship to Bill Goldberg and $232,683.75 for the “Finger Poke of Doom” off WCW’s all-time record gate of $930,735.

    – “Bollea will appear and perform at sixteen {16) mutually agreed upon WCW “Television Tapings” during each calendar year of the Term. Bollea’s appearance and/or Participation at such tapings shall be at no additional cost to WCW.” Presumably that means any non-Nitr0/Thunder tapings.

    – “Bollea will appear and perform at a reasonable number of non-televised house shows as reasonably requested by WCW,” which was, in practice, not often. Hogan got 25% of the gross with no guaranteed dollar amount, so he generally picked occasional major market house shows to work on. For international dates, there was a “mutual option” where either Hogan or WCW could propose terms that the other side had no obligation to accept.

    – All of these terms were outlined as being for years one through three, with Hogan getting a $100,000 consulting fee in year four. “In the event that Bollea provides any wrestling services in Year Four” he was paid the according to the same terms. Perhaps he intended to retire, but in year four, WCW existed only as the Universal Wrestling Corporation (WWE bought the WCW assets including trademarks but not the company itself) to fulfill contracts and deal with outstanding lawsuits.

    – WCW got exclusive rights to Hogan’s likeness and other intellectual property “only in the business of professional wrestling.” This included WCW’s involvement with motorsports like NASCAR and Monster Trucks. Hogan had the right to approve all merchandise, and he retained the ability to use his intellectual property “in connection with non-wrestling related merchandising and licensing including, but not limited to, pasta, pasta restaurants, sandwiches, sun tan oil, health drink mixers, vitamins and merchandise related to Bollea’s movies, television movies and non-wrestling television appearances.”

    – Hogan received 50% of the net profits for all merchandise sold directly by WCW incorporating his name, likeness, or character. If he was featured in conjunction with other wrestlers, he got 50% of WCW’s share of the net profits. For licensed merchandise, he got 50% of “the Actual License Fees (as herein defined) received by WCW from the licensing of ‘Hulk Hogan’ or Bollea’s name, likeness or character.”

    – According to other pay documentation from the WCW discrimination lawsuits:

    For licensing, Hogan made $111,946 in 1998, $832,988 in 1999, and $447,805 in 2000. For WCW-direct merchandise, he made $40,147 in 1998, $20,846 in 1999, and $41,916 in 2000. Keep in mind he didn’t work on any WCW shows after Bash at the Beach in July 2000, the show where he walked out after Vince Russo double-crossed him on a promo.

    – Ever notice how Hogan wore NWO t-shirts everywhere back in the day? There was a good reason for that: He got a $20,000/month promotional fee for promoting the NWO. That said, “in no event will Bollea’s annual promotional fee as herein provided be less than twenty-five percent (25%) of WCWs Net Receipts and Actual License Fees […] for generic non-talent specific NWO merchandise.”

    – Other WCW payroll documents from the racial discrimination lawsuits show Hogan as making $3,635,969 payroll in the calendar year of 1998 and $3,756,228 payroll in the calendar year of 1999. It’s been said that some of Hogan’s pay was shifted to other divisions of Turner Broadcasting, and that appears to be the case, as we know he made more than that in pay-per-view payoffs alone each year. Presumably,Turner Home Entertainment, which handled WCW PPV events, paid the PPV payoffs to Hogan, with the “payroll” being what he made for TV and house show appearances.

    – Hogan would get 100% of the net revenues if WCW launched a Hogan-themed 900 number hotline. On the opposite end of the spectrum, he made nothing from magazine or videotape sales. The latter is surprising, as even though WCW primarily focused on the rental market, there was still money to be made, and they made a big retail push during this contract with “Superstar Series” releases that included a a Hogan video.

    – The contract was contingent upon WCW receiving an agreement from Marvel Comics (who owned the “Hulk Hogan” name at the time) and “Bollea’s submission to a drug test pursuant to WCWs Substance Abuse Policy, which Bollea agrees he has received and reviewed, and a finding based on such test indicating that Bollea is not currently using any illegal drugs, steroids or other substances prohibited by WCW.”

    For whatever it is or isn’t worth: The contract was executed in May, a month where Hogan, not wanting to be associated with falling ratings, always took himself off TV because Nitro was moved around by the NBA playoffs on TNT. He didn’t appear on any WCW events between May 11th and June 1st.

    – “When required to travel for WCW as contemplated hereunder, Bollea will receive first-class air travel, first-class suite hotel accommodations, limousine transportation and One Hundred Seventy-Five Dollars ($175.00) per diem.” In other words, officially he had no road expenses other than food and still got a $175.00 stipend each day he was on the road. In practice, the food was likely covered much of the time, to boot, since he mostly worked TV and PPV shows, which were catered.

    – Finally, there’s the infamous “complete creative control” clause, which actually reads like this: “Bollea shall have approval over the outcomes of  all wrestling matches in which he appears, wrestles, and performs, such approval not to be unreasonably withheld.” When Russo double crossed him on that promo, one court ruled that because it was not the “outcome of a wrestling match,” the clause wasn’t violated. Hogan successfully appealed because the clause is worthless if the match result can be effectively undone in a promo.

  • Rene Dupree Talks WWE & Cancer Awareness, More

    Former WWE World Tag Team Champion Rene Dupree has been outspoken in interviews as of late. It looks like his latest, on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast, is no exception. Here are some of the key quotes they sent along:

    On WWE’s work with Susan G. Komen for the Cure:

    This thing with breast cancer awareness, this thing that is a big deal.  I read an article that CM Punk said that this whole deal with Susan G. Komen is a scam. In 2004 my mother got diagnosed with breast cancer and it was during the run with me and Cena. I went to Johnny Ace because he always said “well I’m your boss Rene and if you’ve got problems you’ve got to come to me”. So I went to him and said what was going on with me and is it possible for me to fly home once a month or once every couple of months just to be with her and he said they could look into it.

    Well, asking for time off is like the kiss of death, especially during the biggest push of your career. I don’t know if you guys realize this but cancer doesn’t go away in a weekend, it’s a process. So, I never heard from him again and basically they don’t give a sh*t about what is going on in the wrestlers personal lives. You are there to work and make them money and that’s all they care about. It makes them look good because they are a publicly traded company and if it makes them look good well whatever then. Good luck to them is all I have to say.

    Does he think he should have gone directly to Vince McMahon?

    That’s what I should have done. I should have went to Vince or Stephanie but then again Johnny tells you that “I’m your boss and you’ve got problems then you have to come to me because I’m Talent Relations” then that is what you do. You go to your boss. Sometimes Vince has a lot on his plate so looking back if I could and this goes out to the talent out there if you have issues go to the f*cking horse’s head not the horse’s ass.

    JBL still working for WWE in light of his reputation as a bully in the past:

    They do business a certain way there. I think that the office for certain people such as him (JBL) puts him in those positions to test how far they can push them and see how far they can take it before they snap. I think it’s all a part of the game. Hopefully that has changed and I haven’t been there for nine years so hopefully it’s better and it should be the greatest place in the world to work and it is a lot of people’s dreams to be on TV and to do this for a living.

    But it kind of sours you when you have to work with assholes and it is such a competitive atmosphere because there is no place else to go. Hopefully it’s changed but he’s still there, good for him. It was probably worse, because I’ve heard stories from before I was there about the bullsh*t people went through which was even worse. Hopefully it’s changed and hopefully the guys have a lot better experiences than I did.

    Working with CM Punk and Paul Heyman in OVW:

    Paul Heyman was in OVW and I was on one of my leaves and I would still go to OVW to train and keep myself in ring shape. He would have these meetings and say “guys I’ll be backstage at 10pm and anyone is welcome to come”. Well nobody showed up except me and Punk. We were the only two guys that ever showed up because I wanted to pick Paul Heyman’s “genius”. He asked us what makes a great promo and I said it’s simple. All you have to do is shoot and take whatever they give you and you just shoot on it from the heart. Well, what got Punk so over? When he started shooting. Maybe he knew it before I did or maybe he didn’t but I know he was deep in thought when I said that. Paul Heyman looked at me and started laughing. So take that as you will. That term (“genius”) is thrown around way too loosely.

    In the full interview, Dupree also talks about his theories on Chris Benoit, Christian being forced into retirement by WWE, additional comments on concussions, WWE creative “stealing ideas,” and more.

  • Gene LeBell Talks About The Passing Of His Friend Roddy Piper

    Here’s something you may not know about “Rowdy” Roddy Piper: He was a black belt in judo under “Judo” Gene LeBell. One of the two sons of promoter Aileen Eaton, LeBell and his brother Mike eventually took over the Los Angeles promotion where Piper got his first big break.  Gene also worked as an underneath wrestler and the promotion’s “policeman” before retiring and becoming a uniquely animated TV interviewer. So he had plenty of dealings with Piper, and they became friends for decades, coming to an abrupt end over the Summer when Piper passed away.

    Today, a new interview with LeBell was released by Submission Radio. Being that it’s the first time he’s been on the show since Piper’s death, they asked LeBell about his friend:

    Well Roddy Pipper, he’s good. I mean, when I say good, I don’t take that lightly. He would have made a fortune off MMA, but he was making a fortune doing Piper’s Pit. And every time he got in a bad mood he’d call me up ‘come on, we’re going down to the gym and wrestle’. And he spent a lot of time on an airplane, going from town to town. He had a little radio program here I was on, and two days before he passed, I was with him and he said he wants to come down on Monday to the dojo and workout. And I said ‘no problem’. I says ‘how do you feel’? He says “I’m tired. Gene, I’m really tired”. And you burn the candle at both ends, it’s gonna come up and get you in the middle.

    […]

    So anyway, he at 61, he passed. And I used to – I have a terrible memory. But I used to tell him, every year his birthday was April 17th and 1954. And I said ‘oh, it’s you’re birthday’, you know and he always asks ‘how do you remember?’. Well I do things through association. I won Judo nationals through that date for the US on April 17th 1954. So you know, now I am 104 and going up, but he was a good guy.

  • Results For All-Star Tribute To Lance Russell w/ Jerry Lawler vs. Terry Funk

    Last night saw one of the more hyped southern independent shows f the year, as Bert Prentice’s USA Champioship Wrestling (formerly Music City and NWA Worldwide when he had syndicated TV) ran a show dubbed an All-Star Tribute to Lance Russell. To salute the 89 year old legendary announcer, he put together a show at he Oman Arena (formerly the Jackson Coliseum), which used to be a regular stop in the Jerry Lawler/Jerry Jarrett territory based out of Memphis.

    Besides the tribute to Russell in the city where he started announcing wrestling, the big attraction was the main event: Terry Funk, at 71 years old and wrestling for the first time in over 10 months, returned to face his greatest rival in the area, Jerry lawler. It was the first match between the two in just over four years.

    Here are the results for the card (thanks to ProWrestling.net), which also included Russell and long-time broadcast partner Dave Brown interviewing the legends in attendance between matches:

    1. Alex Taylor defeated Kevin Zion.
    2. Daniel Eads defeated Nathan Starr
    3. L T Falk and his father Tony Falk defeated Johnny Dotson and Derrick King (w/ Lucky Pierre in their corner)
    4. Danny Dollar defeated “The New Nature Boy” Kevin White
    5. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express defeated Rude and Poker Face with the double dropkick
    6. The Natural Chase Stevens & Thorn defeated The Young Lions
    7. Matt Starr defeated USA Heavyweight Champion Matt Boyce to win the ttle.
    8. Jerry Lawler defeated Terry Funk by disqualification when Funk attacked the referee. Lawler threw a fireball at Funk after the match, which you can see in the video embedded at the top of the article.

  • Von Erich Family Matriarch Doris Adkission Passes Away

    A number of wrestling personalities and journalists, including Dave Meltzer on Twitter and Mike Mooneyham on his personal Facebook account are reporting that Doris Adkisson (born Doris Smith), the former wife of Jack “Fritz Von Erich” Adkisson and the mother of the Von Erich brothers, has passed away. She was 82.

    Yesterday, her son Kevin had been tweeting about his mother succumbing to complications from emphysema:

    https://twitter.com/KevinVonErich/status/657606795737698308

    https://twitter.com/KevinVonErich/status/657638240455782400

    https://twitter.com/KevinVonErich/status/657638913612185600

    Unfortunately, Doris is best known for having to endure the early deaths of all but one of her children (Kevin being the only survivor). The deaths were reportedly a factor in her split from Jack/Fritz. The first tragedy was a freak accident, with Jack Jr. dying in 1959 after being electrocuted,. David, Mike, Chris, and Kerry died over the course of about a decade from 1984 to 1993, with all but David committing suicide. David officially died of an intestinal illness, and while accounts of wrestlers who were in Japan with him have supported alternate theories, he did look seriously ill n his last matches in Texas.

    The deaths of her sons devastated Doris much in the ways you’d expect. In his book, Gary Hart wrote about how, when she’d visit his office, she’d touch the photos of her sons and almost break down crying when she left.

    Our heartfelt condolences go out to the Adkisson family.

  • Daniel Bryan Resurfaces Showing Off His Gardening Skills

    If you miss Daniel Bryan, then here’s a brand new 25 minutes of him for you to watch. He’s in his element…well, the one that isn’t pro wrestling. As many fans are aware of, one of Bryan’s biggest passions is the environment, with a goal of being able to be fully self-sustainable.

    Along with his wife Brie Bella in their alter-egos of Bryan and Brianna Danielson, they talk with “The Vegan Athlete” Jake Mace about desert gardening in the video embedded above. Being that he’s been out of action for a while but not necessarily injured, he’s able to remain active and has been building up a garden behind his and Brianna’s house.  Being that they live in Phoenix, Arizona, this is easier said than done.

    In the video, Bryan talks about going to Mace’s tour of his house nearby, where he has a gigantic garden outside. So being that he grew up gardening in the much more forgiving climate, Mace was a good starting point for learning how to get a garden going in the desert. They talk about growing cherry trees, kale, and all sorts of other good stuff. It’s actually pretty interesting, so check it out.

  • Bullet Club Gets A New Member At Today’s NJPW Show

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2D6ZZ20J6g

    Earlier today, NJPW ran a house show as part of theRoad to Power Struggle tour in Saitama, which aired live on NJPW World. The big news coming out of the show is that the Bullet Club announced a new member: Former NWA World Heavyweight Champion Chase Owens. Owens, Kenny Omega, and the Young Bucks defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, Mascara Dorada, and the Time Splitters when Omega pinned Dorada after hitting the One-Winged Angel.

    The NWA issued a press release today that included this note about Owens joining the Bullet Club:

    The wrestling world was rocked when we recently received word from Japan that former NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion “THE CROWN JEWEL” CHASE OWENS has joined the Bullet Club!

    Does this signal the start of an NWA – Bullet Club Alliance? NWA President Bruce Tharpe has indicated that this is only the first of many controversial surprises to come involving the NWA.

    Tharpe has served as the manager of Owens and the other NWA-aligned Americans like Rob Conway. He was a big part of Owens’ feud with Jushin Thunder Liger, cutting promos, interfering in matches, and so on.

  • Kevin Sullivan Reveals Hulk Hogan Paid Jimmy Hart In WCW

    On the next edition of MSL & Sullivan, the weekly podcast on MLWRadio.com, former WCW booker Kevin Sullivan brought up a previously unknown wrinkle to the complicated relationship that Hulk Hogan had with the company. In a passage sent out in advance (the episode goes up tomorrow, October 23rd), Sullivan is quoted as saying the following about legendary manager Jimmy Hart:

    Besides him getting a payday from WCW, he was getting paid by Hulk. So I was inclined to use Jimmy because of the creative control. He wasn’t getting a percentage. He was getting a flat fee. Every January 1st or 2nd he got a check written to him. Six figures.

    When co-host Mister Saint Laurent asked why Hogan put so much faith in Hart, Sullivan explained their relationship:

    Out of all the people Hulk had, he felt more secure with Jimmy because Jimmy had no vices. I think it happened in Memphis when Hulk first got there. Jimmy probably got him rides and he would ride with Hulk. When you finished Memphis, you had to go to Louisville, which was a brutal ride. 380 or 400 miles. He would get him a ride. He knew the places, this was the deep south, this was Kentucky Fried Chicken, Jimmy would talk the guy into grilling Hulk a dozen chicken breasts. That kind of thing. I think it started from there.

  • Full List Of What Hulk Hogan’s Investigator Can Search For On Gawker’s Computers

    Earlier, we told you about how a Florida judge ruled that Hulk Hogan pay for a court appointed forensic examiner to search Gawker’s computers to see if they ;leaked his racist comments. In the earlier article, we mentioned a few of the search terms that the judge ruled that the investigator can look for. Now, having procured the entire nine page judge’s order, we hav the full list. Here they are, with an explanation of the significance of each:

    “Hulk Hogan,” “Bollea,” “racist”

    These are completely self-explanatory.

    “DVD details,” “Hulk Hogan/Heather Clem Sex Tape from July 2007,” “Hulk_Hogan_Sex_Tapes.doc”

    Also self-explanatory, but the specificity is interesting. Presumably, that wording is what’s on the FBI records that Gawker’s lawyers were sent and ordered not to share with anyone, includign Gawker founder Nick Denton.

    “Keith Davidson,” “Davidson”

    When Hogan went to the FBI about an extortion attempt involving the videos of him and Heather Cole having sex shot without his permission, the investigation took them to Keith Davidson, a lawyer based out Los Angeles. The FBI set up a sting operation where Hogan and his lawyer watched the videos and gave Davidson a $150,000 check. Davidson was never charged, and he claims that he was just representing whoever had the videos. Gawker’s attempts to subpoena Davidson have not gone well.

    “Calta,” Cowhead,” “MRCOWHEAD” “Tony Burton,” “Burton”

    Gawker was sent the video that led to the lawsuit after receiving an odd phone call from Tony Burton, an agent at Don Buchwald and Associates, Inc. That firm primarily represents radio personalities.  Burton said that he had a client who wanted t send Gawker a certain DVD anonymously and wanted to know how to do that. Gawker got the DVD of Hogan and Heather Cole days later. While it came out later that the client was Mike “Cowhoad” Calta, a rival radio personality of Bubba the Love Sponge (Cole’s then-husband and Hogan’s then-best friend), he was purportedly getting the information for an anonymous caller.

    “Richard Peirce,” “richpeirce, ” “Matt Loyd,” “SpiceBoy”

    Former Bubba the Love Spunge employees. Peirce was deposed in the lawsuit and talked about the rumors about the tapes in radio circles. Matt “SpiceBoy” Loyd came up in the FBI investigation in some form. The belief has always been that a disgruntled employee of the Bubba the Love Sponge radio show stole the DVDs when Bubba left Sirius Satellite Radio for a Florida radio station, costing the employee his job.

    “Bostick”

    It’s not clear exacrly who this is. The docket in the lawsuit includes a copy of a settlement agreement between “Taryn Bostick” and “J.D. Walsh,” but it’s sealed. Searching for “Taryn Bostick” on Google provides no other substantive results. This is odd. J.D.Walsh could be the actor, the basketball coach, or a third person, but who knows what exactly that has to do with anything?

     The investigator will also  be able to search for these quotes from Hogan’s rant:
    1. “my daughter Brooke jumped sides on me”
    2. “black billionaire guy”
    3. “He had Jamie Foxx coming in on the 22nd track”
    4. “she is making some real bad decisions now”
    5. “the one option Brooke had, Brooke’s career besides me”
    6. “sell beach records”
    7. “south beach records”
    8. “VH1 wanted me to do a big thing and go back to the house I grew up in”
    9. “enamored with Linda”

  • Hulk Hogan Can Have Gawker’s Internal Emails Searched Per Judge’s Ruling

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYp4Vh9FGKs

    Hulk Hogan scored a big victory today in his lawsuit against Gawker over their publication of excerpts of a sex tape shot without his knowledge. According to the Tampa Bay Times, a court-appointed investigator can look over Gawker’s emails, internal records, text messages, and so on. Why? It’s complicated.

    Back in July, his infamous racist rant (from another video of Hogan with Heather Cole, the woman from the Gawker video) was released by both The National Enquirer and Radar Online, getting him fired from WWE in the process. Hogan’s lawyers immediately accused Gawker of being behind the leak. Gawker’s lawyers (but not anyone else at Gawker) had access to the transcript stemming from a lawsuit to get the FBI’s case file of their investigation into Hogan being extorted via the sex videos. Gawker has insisted they had nothing to do with the leak.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRpnLCvRhkw

    So what happened today was that Judge Pamela Campbell ruled that Hogan can hav a forensic investigation (at Hogan’s expense) into Gawker’s computers, writing that “The limited discovery is being permitted for the sole purpose of determining whether or not this serious allegation is true.” The investigator can only search for specific terms, including “racist,” “Hulk Hogan,” and “DVD details” in the communication of founder Nick Denton, president/general counsel Heather Dietrick, and  A.J. Daulerio, who was editor at the time of the original Hogan article. It’s not entirely clear if other employees can have their emails searched.

    Gawker attorney Seth Berlin told the Times that “The order has no basis in law or fact.”

  • Matt “Rosey’ Anoa’i On His Brother Roman Reigns, Umaga, & More

    The guys at the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast have a new interview out, and this time it’s with Matt Anoa’i, best known for his run in WWE as Rosey. In the interview, he discusses a wide range of topics, including his brother, Roman Reigns, and we’ve got some quotes for you to check out:

    On the large quantity of big name star pro wrestlers that the Anoa’t family has produced:

    The fact my family has grown as big as it has is actually extraordinary in itself. To be honest with you, I really don’t think there is going to be another family that’s going to top the amount of professional wrestlers in WWE that’s associated or tied into the same last name. We’ve produced a lot of family members going into WWE. Moving forward with that, it’s not going to slow down. We’ve got young bucks on the rise as we speak and lookout because they will make it one day. It’s got absolutely nothing to do with the Anoa’i family name, the Fatu family name it’s got everything to do with for some reason we’ve got a killer drive for this business and whoever is on the way up that’s their goal.

    Did he expect his brother, Roman Reigns, to have so much success so soon and develop as a performer as quickly as he did?

    I knew he was going to do something like that with whatever he did. I’m not trying to say anything that is stereotypical, that’s just his life. That’s just the way he’s been watching him grow up. It was going to happen regardless of whether it was in football or being the superstar at WalMart he’s just got “that” and it’s just the way it’s always been with him. It didn’t surprise me but the quickness of everything did because time does fly by and now that I look at it three or four years ago he was just getting into this business and now he’s sitting on top of the wrestling world.

    Career advice from his father, Sika of the Wild Samoans:

    He basically said exactly this: “Son, if you want it, go out and get it. Nobody is going to come knocking on your door to give it to you so get your ass out there and get it.” So I listened and I started down in New Orleans. I worked my way around the country. I went down to Puerto Rico and worked my way around there and all the way to actually signing a WWE contract in 96.

    Getting trained by his Uncle Afa:

    My Dad has a certain way of teaching things and my Uncle has a certain way of teaching things and everyone has a different way of teaching. They might be brothers but they have different styles and I was just lucky enough to grab a bunch of different little things from everybody. Having Samu as a mentor and one of my cousins, he worked pretty close with me and just getting all this information from several of my family members it made a very big impact at a very young age.

    His brief runs in WWE and ECW with Samu as The Samoan Gangsta Party in the mid-’90s:

    I remember a little bit. I ain’t going to lie to you I was f*cked up pretty good through those days so there was a lot of times where I forgot what happened the night before and was just happy I was waking up in a hotel. I don’t exactly know who’s hotel, but it was somebody’s. At that point in time I did like what ECW was dishing out and it was fun to walk into a locker room and smell blood and see a little bit more of an old school type of thing. It brought me back to when I was between like 8 and 15 years old running the roads with my cousin The Tonga Kid down in the Gulf Coast area.

    It kept it un-corporate for a little while. Everyone knew it was all moving to be corporate and business attitudes but ECW was a nice shot of having a lot of fun. With WWE, there were some things that happened that I really didn’t understand since I was still relatively new to the business and specifically with WWE. I let my cousin handle his business with Vince and my cousin just called me up and said we are going to move on from here so I just packed my bag and said alright lets go. I told them that I will be back and they said they know I will and it just pushed it of a little bit longer but it was none of my business at the time on why we didn’t stay very long.

    Teaming with Umaga/Jamal/Eddie “Eki” Fatu as 3 Minute Warning:

    I was very comfortable with it and I know he was too. It seemed to fit pretty well that we were both around the same size and both had the same understanding of how we wanted to work our matches and how we wanted the wrestling world to view us. We seemed to mesh pretty good but we are family too so that didn’t mean that we didn’t have our fair share of the down part of being around each other for more than we were our own families, but for the most part it was just something that clicked and it turned out that it worked out pretty good and of course when we split we were still pretty much okay on the back end of that. My cousin is very missed and I miss him every day and I’ve got a picture of him on my end table right next to my bed and I talk to him every day. He was a hell of a guy and I love him very much.

    Looking back at 3 Minute Warning’s debut:

    We didn’t have time to soak it in. We didn’t know we were doing that until the day of the show. Arnie came up to us and gave us some money and said we’ve got to go to the mall and get some clothes and that we were starting that night. We didn’t know what we were going to get and he said “Hip-Hop” clothes. So hell-yeah, we kind of bypassed the mall and found a spot in the worst part of town where we knew we could pick some sh*t up and I think we bought it in an Indian convenience store and I don’t know why but for some reason in the ghetto you can always find 6XL shirts in “Hip-Hop” fashion.

    In the full interview, Anoa’I also talks about his team with the Hurricane, being a tag team champion, the controversial {HLA” segment, and more.

  • CMLL Day Of The Dead Show To Be On Internet PPV

    CMLL, the world’s oldest wrestling promotion, is often considered to be behind the times or overly conservative behind the scenes.  One way that’s often cited is how they keep doing two out of three falls matches even though the first two falls are rushed afterthoughts. The promotion owns its major arenas, like the core Arena Mexico and Arena Coliseo venues in Mexico City, so it’s near-impossible for them to run at a loss. It has been alleged leads to complacency.

    That said, they’ve been relatively ahead of the curve when it comes to live streaming. Their major weekly shows have been streaming live in some form for a couple years on Mexican sports sites like Terra and then Claro Sports. Now, Kris Zellner is reporting in The Lucha Report is reporting that, like last month’s anniversary show, next week’s Day of the Dead show (Friday 10/30) will be an internet pay-per-view outside Mexico at CMLL.Cleeng.com. The price is just $5 U.S Update: They’ve raised it to $6.

    For a bit of a CMLL/lucha libre introduction, check out the guide I wrote before the anniversary show. If you want a Monday Night Raw alternative, they stream shows from Arena Puebla live every Monday night at 10:00 p.m. ET on their YouTube channel.

  • Open Thread: How Does WWE Fix The Raw Ratings?

    WWE has a problem.

    As reported earlier, while the actual viewership isn’t quite there yet, this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw is in a tie for the lowest rated episode since 1997. That’s with Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, Brock Lesnar, and The Undertaker on the show, albeit with much weaker promotion than most “legends return” shows.

    Ratings and viewership were already going down when Monday Night Football, which always takes a big chunk of the Raw audience, started for the season. There are plenty of things you can point to as being behind the decline. The three hour format is clearly a drag on the show and is a barrier of entry for new viewers. Creative has been uninspired for the most part going back at least a year (probably more). The in-ring and prmo styles are homogenous. The presentation of the women turns off female viewers. And so on.

    WWE is in a bind in a least one area: They the third hour of Raw brings in a lot of extra guaranteed money and their TV contracts call for it.

    Within reason, what do YOU all think WWE can and should do? Let’s talk it over in the comments.

  • NJPW Turns Down Offer To Put Shows On WWE Network

    WWE Network is a lot of different things to a lot of different people. To those who expected an array of older footage with WWE Classics on Demand folding, it’s been a giant disappointment. Fans who wanted new original content are most likely happy with the current iteration of the network, but had to suffer through months without new content during budget cuts. Those who want them to think outside the box want them to consider outside indie and international .content a la UFC Fight Pass.

    That last one felt like the biggest longshot, but maybe it’s not…at least from WWE’s perspective. Takaaki Kidani, the president of Bushiroad, NJPW’s parent company, has posted a new blog (in Japanese) where he says WWE tried to make a deal to get NJPW footage on WWE Network. @e_key_olde on Twitter provided the most accurate translation:

     

    One proposed idea would be for the WWE to show NJPW footage [on the Network], but this type of proposal just shows that they don’t see us as competition.

    Play NJPW footage on the Network, see if any of our wrestlers gain popularity, then buy that wrestler out; that’s probably the extent of their thoughts on it.

    It’s a very obvious strategy.

    NJPW, of course, has their own streaming service, NJPW World. The website isn’t in English and the same goes for most of the videos, though they provide a button to turn on Google’s automated English translation. They’re also experimenting with English commentary, having brought in Kevin Kelly and Matt Striker to call King of Pro Wrestling earlier this month. Separately, Mauro Ranallo and Josh Barnett do voiceovers of several month old matches for the show that airs Friday nights in the U.S. on AXS TV.

  • WWE Rating Falls To Record Lows (10/19/15)

    Last night, we reported on the initial hourly Raw viewership for this past Monday night, which was up slightly from last week. That seemed like good news in and of itself, but given the increased star power, it had to be disappointing. Since then, more information has come out, and it’s not good.

    First, at F4WOnline.com, Dave Meltzer reported that the average viewership across the full three-plus hour show was 3.35 million. That’s up just 80,000 viewers from last week’s 3.27 million viewers, which was the lowest non-holiday viewership since 1997.

    It gets worse.

    PWTorch.com’s James Caldwell reported the actual Raw rating (percentage of homes with USA Network watching Raw) as 2.21, down from about 2.3 to 2.35 the last couple weeks,  The increased viewership means there were slightly more viewers per home but less homes were watching. This tied the Christmas Eve 2012 show as the lowest rated edition of Raw since September 8, 1997, which was Raw’s return after being off for two weeks due to U.S. Open tennis. That’s with Steve Austin, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, and Brock Lesnar on the show, though they were not promoted nearly as well as they could be.

    Even with the relative lack of promotion, it’s incredibly concerning that there were actually less homes tuned into Raw this week and the overall viewership barely went up. A wakeup call for WWE must be due soon.

  • WWE Monday Night Raw Rating & Viewership Are In For 10/19/15

    It’s that time of the week again. ShowBuzzDaily.com has posted the top 100 cable originals list for Monday October 19th, 2015. As always, includes the Raw rating for this week. Here’s how the viewership of each hour breaks down:

    Hour 1: 3,600,000 viewers
    Hour 2: 3,347,000 viewers
    Hour 3: 3,123,000 viewers

    That’s up a little from last week, which continued the downward trend into non-holiday lows. We don’t have an overall average across the whole show as of yet (average all 180+ minutes out against each other), but the three hours average out to about 3,357,000 viewers. James Caldwell of PWTorch.com had reported yesterday that the idea of this show had was originally to get a big rating (in the 3.0 range after being at around 2.3-2.4 for a while) with the returning legends and big names. With the relative lack of promotion, it doesn’t look like that worked.

    As for the demographic ratings for last night’s show, they break down like this:

    Adults 18-49:
    Hour 1: 1.20
    Hour 2: 1.08
    Hour 3: 1.09

    Females 12-34:
    Hour 1: 0.78
    Hour 2: 0.64
    Hour 3: 0.59

    Adults 18-34:
    Hour 1: 1.19
    Hour 2: 1.02
    Hour 3: 0.97

    Adults 25-54:
    Hour 1: 1.29
    Hour 2: 1.19
    Hour 3: 1.19

    Men 50:
    Hour 1: 1.46
    Hour 2: 1.39
    Hour 3: 1.25

  • Truth About Hulk Hogan’s Restaurant Closing Comes Out

    After a lot of speculation the Tampa Bay Times has finally come through with an article explaining why Hulk Hogan’s “Hogan’s Beach” restaurant is in the process of closing. Today, the sale was closed on the Best Western Bay Harbor hotel at Rocky Point, which the restaurant is part of. The 261-room hotel is being sold for $34.5 million to the Oxford Capital Group out of Chicago. Obviously, this means that the restaurant closing has nothing to do with the fallout from Hogan’s racist rant leaking over the Summer, something real estate investor Ben Mallah confirmed to the Times.

    Mallah explained that “Basically everything with us is timing. We buy assets and fix them up. The market is high right now. Tampa’s hot …Hogan had nothing to do with it. He was fine. Ultimately, we’re in the real estate business, not in the restaurant business.” Mallah said that Hogan had no ownership interest in the restaurant, which licensed his name, though his name is on some of the ownership paperwork.

    The hotel is still open under the Bay Harbor name, but will be undergoing major renovations. Hogan’s Beach Shop, a separate storefront not connected to this property, remains open for business.

     

     

  • Elijah Burke Talks Announcing, Spirit Squad Rumor, & More

    Elijah Burke/The Pope was interviewed on the newest edition of The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling and covered a number of topics. Some of the key quotes:

    Transitioning to announcing:

    I think a lot of people know that when you are a wrestler and you’ve been doing it for twelve years as an active performer and then all of a sudden things kind of take a shift and the stars align and someone recognizes that your gift can be used in a different aspect. It’s been interesting and it’s been fun. It’s a different type of getting over with the audience. My job right now is to get over a lot of the guys that I’ve wrestled against and I’ve wrestled beside and the transition has been believe it or not, quite easy. It hasn’t been as hard of a transition as many people probably think it would be because the gift of gab is something that I always had.

    The importance of the announcers t a show and his ability as a talker:

    The night before WrestleMania 23 at Ford Field “Pope” was at an ESPN boxing presentation and was calling the fight alongside Thomas “Hitman” Hearns and once that was over with he looked at me and said how long have you been doing this? When it comes from an analytic stand point it’s not hard at all. What’s hard is the time provided to do so. That is sometimes rough because there is so much that is going on and obviously IMPACT is a fast paced show and often times my partner Josh Mathews who is a jack of all trades and doesn’t get a lot of credit for it but he has so much that he has to cover and so much that he has to get done and you may notice this but throughout the contest when Josh is talking this or that, the Pope has made it my job to bring the action and the focal point back to the two or four people that are in the middle of that ring because that is what wrestling fans want and what wrestling fans are watching so therefore I try to do the boys and the girls credit while they are in that six sided ring.

    Why he prefers to call matches without knowing the finishes, which most old-school announcers preferred:

    That’s the way “Pope” prefers it. I prefer not to know anything. Therefore, if I am seeing it and looking at it from a fan’s perspective then I can respond and react and say what you are thinking as a casual or regular viewer of the product. That’s what I love to do as a commentator for IMPACT Wrestling, I love to give the focal analysis that the viewer at home is watching as well. I want to translate as my Daddy would say “let me break this down in English so that a child could understand it”. For me it’s always easier and comes across natural, if you know that often times you can tell if something is forced or when a reaction is not a legit or real reaction. Everything that you get from “Pope” is not planned and is real and I’m watching it as if I’m sitting at home on my couch with a good friend of mine and we are back in 1996 watching WCW Nitro and Monday Night RAW.

    Is he retired? Where exactly does his in-ring career stand?

    I think in due time that “Pope” will have that opportunity. It’s not something right now and don’t think for a second that I don’t miss it, because I do. At the same time I’ve recognized that my job and my role are and I know what it is and that is to be an asset from a commentator standpoint. So I am not focused on anything except bettering my game at the table. I am not worried about anything else but becoming a better and as my partner would say the most “entertaining color commentator” in the business today and that’s what “Pope” wants to be and that’s what I’m setting out to accomplish. Now there will be times in the future and you can take “Pope’s” word for this. There will be times in the future when “Pope” will do a casual appearance inside the ring, I am not retired. Let’s get it out there right now “Pope” is not retired by a long shot I’ve got years left under my belt. I just recognize my role right now and have no problems committing to it and fulfilling it to the best of my abilities.

    His thoughts on Samoa Joe, both with regards to their TNA feud and Joe going to NXT:

    “Pope’s” feud with Samoa Joe did not receive nor get the type of attention that it should have and I am talking about from a in/out standpoint not from a viewer standpoint. I was openly and to a certain extent let my displeasure be known about it because you have to remember during that time “Pope” had just come off of a feud with Abyss and Immortal and Sting had just left and Kevin Nash walked out so “Pope” was the last guy standing fighting this big fight and I get put in a casket and then all of a sudden “Pope” gets put in a feud with Samoa Joe for no reason at all. However, myself and Samoa Joe made the best of it and had fun with it and that took us to our Lockdown match-up in St. Louis. I had fun with Samoa Joe, it was always great working Samoa Joe and he brought out the best in “Pope” and we definitely did a lot of innovative things. I’ve got to go on record and say how happy I am for Samoa Joe and for him to experience what he is experiencing right now and I wish him nothing but the best of love for him and his family’s sake.

    Was he supposed to be in the Spirit Squad?

    It’s funny that after all these years, over a decade and only this year I believe I’m answering questions about the Spirit Squad. It’s very true. They wanted me to go up and be in my opinion the “afro-haired chosen black guy” during that time in the group and trust me it was a great opportunity. We sat there and we talked to Vince McMahon himself and Vince said “I want you guys to understand that this is my idea and we are going to make a lot of money”. He said if you are uncomfortable we will send you back down to OVW and we will wait until we get something else for you. I went to Vince and Johnny Ace and said I appreciated the opportunity but with all due respect I don’t feel like I should do anything that I could not live up to in your standards and I don’t want to be a failure and I don’t believe this spot is for me. I was a little worried that I was about to tell the boss that I didn’t want to do it. Either he was going to respect me for it or he was going to punish me for it.

    A lot of guys took it to heart that I said no which I never understood because they weren’t in my position or in my shoes and the guys that were going out there were very, very talented and thus when I said no they added Mike Mondo and they added Johnny Jeter and instead of it being four like it was originally going to be it turned out to be five. There was no way that this “big black guy” and 225-230 pounds at the time was going to be running down a ramp, jumping on a trampoline and flipping over the top rope. It was just not going to happen without me screwing up and looking like a fool. I didn’t want to take that chance, I didn’t want to risk that chance and I am happy that I did and kudos to Dolph Ziggler. Just look at him. In my eyes the guy is just a premier performer.

    Make sure to listen to th full interview, where he discusses being “New Breed” in the ECW revival, his time in OVW, WrestleMania 23, and more.

  • Bubba The Love Sponge Sued For Manipulating Ratings

    In and out of wrestling, radio shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge Clem (born Todd Clem) is known for a lot of things. In wrestling, he was Hulk Hogan’s buddy who had a brief TNA run that ended after a weird backstage feud with Awesome Kong, who punched him after he made derogatory comments about Haitian earthquake victims. Hogan cut ties with him after videos of him having sex with Bubba’s then-wife got out. In radio, there was a whole lot more, but most recently, his lawyers in a defamation case filed by another radio personality were convicted of arranging for opposing counsel to be arrested on fraudulent drunk driving charges.

    Now? Having admitted last week to ratings tampering (which he had implied on the air rival Todd “M.J.” Shmitt had done), he’s being sued. Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron), part of the same Nielsen that handles TV ratings, are arguing that, among other things, Bubba hurt their reputation and interfered in their contract with his station.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRX7qiiLY9c

    The complaint outlines the situation as follows:

    A mutual friend of Bubba and a listener who was added to the Nielsen sample arranged a deal to manipulate ratings in the Tampa area.  Bubba paid the guy $300 per month (with bonuses of up to $400 monthly if certain goals were met) to carefully manipulate the ratings, giving instructions to avoid detection while also not listening to key rivals. Since the listener’s home got four of Nielsen’s “Personal People Meter” listening devices, Bubba even went as far as buying the listener additional radios as gifts via his own Amazon account.

    Bubba upped the pressure when his ratings went down, and the listener eventually went to Nielsen, telling them everything. “Everything” included that Bubba told him he had done the same thing with at least one other listener…who wasn’t careful and was caught by Nielsen, who verified that a listener fitting the description had been kicked out.

  • WWE SuperCard Gets A New Update From 2K Sports

    This morning, 2K Sports issued this press release announcing a new update for WWE SuperCard, WWE’s collectible card-style game for mobile devices:

    2K today announced availability of a new update for WWE® SuperCard – Season 2, the popular WWE card-battling game. Featuring a robust roster of WWE Superstars, Divas and Legends, as well as NXT Superstars and Divas, today’s update offers players the ability to form teams, as well as new incentives for success in Exhibition Mode. In addition, the full update includes:

    Form Teams – Establish team names and slogans, set deck rarity requirements, invite and accept members, and much more;

    Team Contributions – Contribute WWE Superstar, Diva and Support cards to team decks;

    Team Chat – Stay connected with team members through the private Team Chat system;

    3 Picks for Perfect! – Earn three draft picks for achieving a perfect 3-0 record in Exhibition Mode matches;

    User Mailbox – Stay in the loop through private conversations with Social Friends and in-game teammates;

    Additional Updates – Enjoy improved exhibition flow and reduced full screen flashes, as well as bug fixes and quality of life improvements to existing features.