The Rock was recently named to the fifth place on Forbes’ 2018 Celebrity 100 list.
“The Great One” shot up from his 22nd place ranking the previous year in which he made $65 million. He nearly doubled his earnings in 2018 by making $124 million between June 2017 to June 2018. On the list of highest-paid entertainers across the world, the former WWE Champion was named the highest-paid actor in the history of the list.
He took to Twitter to react to the news:
Wow unexpected news. I don’t have a Harvard MBA, but my business philosophy has been sharpened over time and thru failure. I have one boss I serve and connect with – the world and the people in it. I’m the dude who started w/ $7bucks. I’m awestruck ($124M) grateful & hungry. https://t.co/0VWSn5YU6N
Rock’s former boss and WWE’s “Chairman Of The Board” Vince McMahon Tweeted out a congratulatory response to the accolade:
“Congratulations to @TheRock on becoming the highest-paid actor in @Forbes#Celeb100 history. The hardest working man in show business proving once again that anything is possible through hard work.”
Congratulations to @TheRock on becoming the highest-paid actor in @Forbes#Celeb100 history. The hardest working man in show business proving once again that anything is possible through hard work. https://t.co/xJScYQ0jxD
WWE Hall Of Famer and former WCW World Heavyweight Champion Bill Goldberg has issued out a challenge to video gamers.
Goldberg took to Instagram and announced a challenge to parents who have issues with their children playing too many video games. He announced the “100, 100, 100 Challenge,” something he said his own son does.
The object of the challenge is to do 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups and 100 punches. After that, you get 20 minutes on the video games or iPad. You can check out the video below:
Goldberg comes off a Hall of Fame Induction on WrestleMania 34 weekend this past April. He returned to WWE in 2016 for a feud with Brock Lesnar, which led to a match at Survivor Series that year. Goldberg defeated “The Beast” in just one-minute and twenty six seconds.
Eventually he’d go on to defeat Kevin Owens for the WWE Universal Championship, but dropped it to Lesnar at WrestleMania 33 in Orlando.
AJ Styles’ opponent for SummerSlam is expected to be announced on next week’s episode of SmackDown Live by General Manager Paige.
“The Phenomenal One” comes off a longtime feud with former New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) star Shinsuke Nakamura, which stretched back all the way to WrestleMania 34. He also defended his WWE Title against Rusev at Extreme Rules.
Cageside Seats is confirming recent speculation that former NXT Champion Samoa Joe is next in line to feud with the ex-TNA poster child. They report that Styles is currently scheduled to go one-on-one with “The Destroyer” at SummerSlam. Joe squashed Tye Dillinger on last week’s episode of SmackDown Live.
Styles put on a great match with recent NXT call-up Andrade “Cien” Almas, in a bout that the WWE Universe likely wouldn’t be opposed to seeing again at some point down the road on a much grander stage. Styles vs. Joe will certainly be an enjoyable experience for SmackDown Live viewers as we approach “The Biggest Party Of The Summer.”
WWE is always searching the globe to acquire the biggest and best stars in professional sports, in attempt to mimic that stardom into a career as a professional wrestler under their promotional banner.
It looks like the company now has their sights set on former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez. You might remember the Mexican slugger as the man who dethroned Brock Lesnar from the heavyweight mountaintop back in 2010 at UFC 121 via first round knockout.
Velasquez was recently at a WWE event earlier this year to show support for Ronda Rousey, and said he’d like to possibly jump into the WWE ring and take another belt from Brock Lesnar, who is currently the WWE Universal Champion. He might just be gearing up to do exactly that.
WWE announced that Velasquez was recently at their Performance Center and drilled with PC coach Norman Smiley. He also participated in a DDP Yoga session led by WWE Hall Of Famer Diamond Dallas Page himself. The Arizona State wrestling product also trained in the WWE PC weight room before attending an NXT taping at Full Sail Live.
Here’s what the former UFC heavyweight champ had to say about the experience:
“My experience here has been amazing. I’m just looking forward to being here and learning as much as I can. I’ve been a fan of the sport since I was a little kid, and now I get to participate in it.”
Brock Lesnar’s return to Monday Night RAW is on the horizon.
“The Beast” has been featured in headlines across the combat sports world for the past several weeks after making his reemergence into the mixed martial arts (MMA) community. Lesnar was cage-side at UFC 226 and confronted Daniel Cormier after his UFC heavyweight title win over Stipe Miocic.
UFC president Dana White confirmed Lesnar will challenge Cormier for the UFC heavyweight throne next. His United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) suspension is set to lift in January, making him eligible to return to fighting action after then.
While Lesnar has picked up a ton of hype surrounding his MMA return, he still has some obligations to fulfill in his professional wrestling career with WWE. He is currently the promotion’s Universal Champion. There has been some unrest amongst the WWE Universe due to Lesnar’s part-time status and reluctance to defend the strap on a regular basis.
It’s expected that “The Beast” will finally be dethroned at SummerSlam next month, with likely Roman Reigns taking the helm. In regards to when we may see Lesnar back on Monday Night RAW, the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida is now advertising that he is scheduled to appear on the July 30th episode of the program.
That’s one week after next week’s scheduled Roman Reigns vs. Bobby Lashley match to determine who Lesnar’s opponent at “The Biggest Party Of The Summer” will be. Lesnar will likely confront the winner to begin the build-up to the match. “The Beast’s” match at SummerSlam is reportedly the last on his current WWE contract, but he’s also being advertised for the post-SummerSlam RAW the following night at the Barclays Center.
Hulk Hogan has been reinstated into the WWE Hall Of Fame.
Last night (Sun. July 15, 2018) Hogan was backstage at the WWE’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view (PPV). He issued out an apology to the entire WWE roster about his racially insensitive comments from several years ago that got him released from his WWE deal and the Hall Of Fame.
According to TMZ Live, WWE Hall Of Famer Mark Henry has been speaking to Hogan regularly in the lead-up to his WWE reinstatement. Henry said that he believes Hogan is being genuine in his remorse for his comments, but noted the locker room is split 50/50 on Hogan.
Allegedly some Superstars don’t believe Hogan’s apology is genuine and think he only did it because he wants to collect a paycheck. No names were given as to what Superstars do and don’t believe Hogan’s apology. It should be interesting to see if and when Hogan returns to WWE TV.
“I do feel like he genuinely wants to clear his name. He sees people that used to respect him, they look at him different. And it hurts. And he brought that on himself. But, he’s trying his best to clear that up,” Henry said.
“It’s 50-50. I’ve talked to guys that were like, ‘Man, the hell with him,’” Henry said of other black WWE wrestlers. “And I had guys that were like, ‘You know what, man, if you’re willing to make a change and try to help out and go and speak up and be a part of the answer rather than a part of the problem, then it’s all good.’”
You can watch Mark Henry’s comments about Hulk Hogan’s return to WWE here, courtesy of TMZ Sports:
Seth Rollins came up just short in reclaiming the Intercontinental Championship at Extreme Rules last night (Sun. July 15, 2018). “The Architect” was defeated by Dolph Ziggler in Sudden Death Overtime of their 30-minute Ironman match. Rollins took to Twitter after the loss and noted that he’s going to have to “find a new way”:
Looking in the mirror and taking accountability for your own shortcomings can be a tough pill to swallow, but every day is a new chance to be better. Time to find a new way. #allheart
It should be interesting to see what’s next for Rollins on tonight’s episode of Monday Night RAW.
Goldberg Crashes A Truck (Video)
WWE Hall Of Famer Goldberg recently got to drive a Toyota Tundra at the annual Goodwood Festival Of Speed in England this past weekend (Fri. July 13, 2018). Goldberg actually crashed the truck into a hay bale while driving it. Goldberg was doing well on the track until clipping the hay and being stopped dead in his tracks. He had just missed a few hay bales before as well. You can check out the video here below:
Purrazzo was an alternate for last year’s WWE Mae Young Classic. While she didn’t compete in the tournament, she did participate in a dark match at the second night of tapings. Back in December of 2016 she was scheduled to have a match with Alexa Bliss on SmackDown Live, however, Bliss attacked Purrazzo with the SmackDown Live Women’s Title and the match never got underway.
The 24-year-old was also scheduled to work “All In” but was forced to pull out of the appearance after signing with WWE. It should be interesting to see how her career progresses under the WWE’s guidance, and how soon she’ll make an impact on NXT.
One of the biggest news pieces over the weekend is the reinstatement of Hulk Hogan into the WWE Hall Of Fame.
Hogan was released from his WWE deal and from their Hall Of Fame back in 2015 when some racially insensitive comments were made by “The Hulkster” in a leaked sex tape. Last night (Sun. July 15, 2018) it was reported Hogan was backstage for WWE’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view (PPV) to apologize to the entire WWE roster. He was also reinstated into the WWE Hall Of Fame.
Fellow WWE Hall Of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler was recently interviewed on The Roman Show during the annual Florida Supercon. He believes the entire situation was blows out of proportion:
“I am not shocked at all. I was shocked while he wasn’t in the WWE Hall of Fame. I think the whole thing was blown out of proportion. I’ve known Hogan his entire career and for the claims of him being a racist, there was never not one ounce truth to that at all. Like I said, I’ve known the guy my whole life and he is a really good guy and I felt it was an overreaction. I think we go overboard being politically correct.
“I am happy he is back. I am hoping they (WWE) renew a working relationship. Let’s face it, without a doubt he is the most popular WWE Superstar of all time. It’s only right he should still be in the Hall of Fame and working in the WWE.”
Brock Lesnar just made a splash in the world of mixed martial arts (MMA) – again.
“The Beast” was cage-side for UFC 226 on pay-per-view (PPV) to witness Daniel Cormier make history against Stipe Miocic. “DC” became the second man in UFC history to hold two championships simultaneously in the promotion, now being the UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion.
After the fight Lesnar came into the Octagon after being called out by Cormier. The pair engaged in a very WWE-esk shoving match and UFC President Dana White confirmed Cormier vs. Lesnar is the next heavyweight title fight on the docket. There’s just one slight issue in regards to Lesnar’s WWE career. He still holds the Universal Championship.
There’s been a ton of speculation as to if Lesnar will keep the Universal Title while he fights in the UFC, or if someone will dethrone “The Beast” before he steps away again. Former WWE Intercontinental Champion Ryback recently took to his podcast, Conversation With The Big Guy, to offer his thoughts on the matter:
“I think Brock’s in such a cool position,” said Ryback. “There’s nobody like him right now where he is literally a part-time UFCer and a part-time WWEer and he’s making probably more than anyone else who does the sport outside of maybe Conor [McGregor]. You can’t hate on anyone for that. He is living the ultimate life and he’s been proven.
“He’s a draw and he’s an attraction, and I don’t know, I think it all depends on what happens in this fight, but Brock is a lot bigger than DC, Daniel Cormier. Brock’s almost like a bully a little bit when he’s in there with [certain] guys.
“He’s one of those guys like when he’s really confident, he’s really, really hard to stop and I believe there’s been moments in his career where he was just beyond confident and he maybe wasn’t as talented as the other guys fighting but he’s so godd**n strong and such a freak athlete that if he’s able to survive the beginning, he can kind of impose his will on guys.
“When he hasn’t been able to do that is a different story. Will he be able to do that to DC? I don’t know. DC is an olympic-level wrestler. So, I don’t know. DC is… it’s an interesting matchup, but Brock is a big heavyweight. What I mean when I say that is, he probably walks around at 280, 290 and cuts down to 265, where there’s a guy like DC who’s fighting Light Heavyweight, then comes up [to 246].”
As for whether or not WWE could allow Lesnar to hold on to the Universal Title while he fights in the UFC, Ryback believes WWE would be all for it:
“I think WWE would be all for that,” said Ryback. “You’d think they would as far a publicity-wise, the WWE [Universal] Champion and the UFC Heavyweight Champion, never before been done. And he’s one of those guys they can do cross-promotion with.”
You can listen to Conversation With The Big Guy by clicking this link here.
Former WCW World Heavyweight Champion and actor David Arquette made his return to the professional wrestling ring last night (Sun. July 15, 2018).
Arquette wrestled under the name “King” David Arquette for a Championship Wrestling from Hollywood event in California. He was defeated by opponent RJ City. Arquette was able to get some offense in during the match, including a Diamond Cutter, before being defeated.
Some highlights of the match can be seen below (via Pro Wrestling Sheet):
David Arquette: Pro Wrestler
Arquette got his start in the professional wrestling world back in 2000 when he co-starred in the moving “Ready To Rumble.” The film was based on a fictional wrestler, Jimmy King, who feuded with Diamond Dallas Page over the WCW World Title. Shortly after the film’s release, Arquette was brought on to WCW TV and eventually won the World Title.
His run with the company only lasted for a few months. WCW later went out of business and was purchased by WWE in 2001. Arquette has made a few appearances on WWE TV since. He was a guest on a 2002 episode of SmackDown and also lost a Handicap match in which he teamed up with Alex Riley against Randy Orton in 2010.
Arquette has been announced as an official Guest Superstarr for the upcoming Starrcast convention outside Chicago during All In weekend.
He will rule you. He’s an actor. He’s a director. He’s a former WCW World Heavyweight Champion. He just made his return to professional wrestling at Championship Wrestling from Hollywood & we’re proud to announce him as a guest superstarr!
Wrestling legend is officially back in the fold with WWE. Word broke on Sunday afternoon that Hogan was reinstated into the WWE Hall Of Fame. It later came out that Hogan was backstage at Extreme Rules and addressed the WWE locker room about his past indiscretions and his return to the company after a 3-year hiatus.
Just met with the @WWE Superstars and on all levels the volume of love and support was overwhelming. I’ve been praying for this day and I finally feel like I made it back home. Only Love 4 the #WWEUNIVERSE brother HH
According to a report by PWInsider, the entire WWE roster was told to be on hand for Extreme Rules for an important meeting. That meeting turned out to be Hogan’s apology.
For those wondering, Hogan left mid-way through the pay-per-view and at no time were there plans for him to appear on television.
We’ll keep you updated in regards to when Hogan could make his return to WWE TV.
Last night (Sun. July 15, 2018) WWE hosted their Extreme Rules pay-per-view (PPV) from the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
After a ton of speculation as to what match was going to main event the show, it wound up being the 30-minute Ironman match between Dolph Ziggler and Seth Rollins for the Intercontinental Championship. When it was all said and done, Ziggler retained his strap in Sudden Death Overtime.
Many people assumed that Roman Reigns vs. Bobby Lashley was going to main event the show. PWInsider reports that was actually WWE’s original plan. The last hour of the show would’ve featured AJ Styles vs. Rusev for the WWE Title as well as Nia Jax vs. Alexa Bliss for the RAW Women’s Title.
Ziggler vs. Rollins was initially scheduled to open up the show instead. Of course, those plans were completely reshuffled and Ziggler vs. Rollins went on last, and put on an amazing match.
There has been a ton of speculation regarding IWGP Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks’ (Nick and Matt Jackson) professional wrestling futures.
The pair are one of the most decorated tag teams of all time and have won championships all over the world. Their current contracts with Ring Of Honor (ROH) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) are set to expire at the end of the year, causing many to speculate as to whether or not they’re going to be WWE bound soon.
Matt Jackson recently answered 10 questions in a Q&A on his Instagram account. Given that their contracts are set to expire soon, Jackson was asked if he’s considering signing with WWE. He said “I’m considering everything right now.”
Another fan asked if Jackson has plans for retirement and how much longer he and his brother plan on wrestling. Interestingly enough, Jackson answered “much shorter than people imagine.”
He also noted that he doesn’t think The Young Bucks are the greatest tag team of all time, but said when their careers are all said and done the goal is to make that notion come true.
The Rock just got called out by one of WWE’s most promising young stars.
Recently on an episode of Busted Open Radio, “The Great One” was called out by none other than RAW Superstar Elias. The man formerly known as “The Drifter” spoke about his guitar gimmick and how The Rock has played guitar on WWE TV to perform for crowds several time before in the past as well.
Elias said he’d be more than happy to show “The People’s Champ” how it’s done:
“I’m well aware all the things The Rock has done in the wrestling business and in life. The guy is just a next-level human being. I was getting comparisons here because he played guitar a few times or whatever on television and I wanna throw this out there. He’s done that maybe five times, maybe six times or something like that on WWE television on Monday Night Raw.
“Rock if you’re out there listening, I’m doing it every single week. I’m doing it out there in front of millions of people all around the world every single week. I’m doing in in front of 10,000 in-person live every show I go to. So why don’t you come walk with Elias so I can show you how it’s really done?
“WWE is my company, it’s my show. Come on back, Rock.”
As we’ve previously noted, former WWE United States Champion MVP was recently interviewed by WSVN-TV entertainment reporter Chris Van Vliet and talked about several professional wrestling topics.
One topic of discussion was MVP’s involvement in the RAW 25 special episode earlier this year. He talked about getting the call from Mark Carrano and not being able to be told what his role would be because WWE didn’t even know yet:
“I think I got a call from Mark Carrano,” MVP said. “He said, ‘are you interested?’ I said, ‘how much you paying, what am I doing?’ It was funny because I kept saying what am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? And in typical WWE fashion a lot of the time they have no idea.”
As far as the script goes, many already know that had to be changed dramatically due to Enzo Amore being suspended earlier that day because of the sexual assault allegations against him. MVP noted that the backstage environment was hectic that day, with doors flying open everywhere and his part of the show being rewritten from the original plans:
“When I was there I remember plenty of times literally doors are opening and they’re rewriting the script for TV. So it happens all the time. When I got there I found out what they initially had in mind they scrapped and I ended up doing something else completely and I ended up playing poker with the APA.
“I don’t even remember,” MVP replied when asked about the original plan for Raw 25. “Man I get a free trip to New York, a free payday to drink beer, sit in the back and play cards. Yeah, I’ll do that.”
WWE’s Stephanie McMahon recently did an interview with People to talk about what it’s like juggling being a mother with being at the forefront of a professional wrestling empire as one of WWE’s most powerful executives.
McMahon said that her goal is to “leave a lasting legacy on the community” as a businesswoman. In regards to motherhood, she said that’s her favorite part about being Stephanie McMahon:
“My favorite part about being Stephanie McMahon is being a mom,” said Stephanie. “Our girls are now 11, 9, and 7.”
Former WWE Champion, fellow WWE executive and Stephanie’s husband, Triple H, also chimed in and praised his wife’s ability as a mother:
“It’s amazing. She’s an amazing mom,” said Triple H. “She’s up making pancakes first thing in the morning after sleep. She’s helping with homework. She’s doing all of it. It doesn’t matter what she’s in the middle of, if the kids call, she drops it.
“She’s with them. No matter what in her life, the most important job is mom. And if she had to drop everything else right now, it wouldn’t even be a question.”
McMahon also said that she’d love for her children to carry on WWE’s legacy and be the next generation of McMahons in the company:
“I think it would be phenomenal if we had an additional McMahon-Levesque generation in WWE,” said Stephanie.
We recently noted that The Rock was a guest on Good Morning America and revealed that his oldest daughter has aspirations to one day wrestle for WWE.
Rock even said that his daughter was already working towards that dream. He recently spoke with WWE’s Cathy Kelly at the premiere of his new film, Skyscraper, in New York to talk more about the subject. “The Great One” talked about how proud he is of his 16-year-old daughter Simone, and advised her to do as much research as possible on the business if she’s serious about wrestling.
He then said Simone has been doing a lot of studying and has had several conversations with Rock about the possible career switch. “The People’s Champion” then said it’s amazing to see his daughter interested in following in his footsteps:
“I’m so proud of my daughter. She watched when I returned to WWE probably 5 years ago, when I became WWE Champion, had that great run with John Cena, back to back WrestleMania main events,” Rock said. “She instantly became hooked and became a fan. Not only that but the best part about that has been all the research and the studying that she does.
“I always tell her the ring will always be there, literally the 23 foot x 23 foot ring, the squared circle, will always be there. Your job is to make sure you understand the business of professional wrestling. Top to bottom, 360 degrees. Know everybody’s job from promo all the way down to wrestler, everything.
“Having that mindset has been great, all the studying she’s been doing, all the conversations we’ve been having. I never would have imagined that and it’s such a cool, cool thing. I have 3 daughters. I have her, who is 16, a 2.5 year old and a 3 month old, so who knows what might happen. It’s so cool though, when your child wants to follow in your footsteps. It’s just dope, I love it.”
WWE will be taping the second installment of the Mae Young Classic tournament on August 8th and August 9th from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida and will air later this summer on the WWE Network.
As of this writing, there’s no word yet on when the first-round matches will air on the WWE Network or when the finals will take place. Last year’s tournament took place in the summer and was taped at Full Sail University. It’s truly a special tournament and very similar to the Cruiserweight Classic. The name of the event is in honor of the late WWE Hall of Famer Mae Young.
The sports entertainment company held the finals of last year’s tournament on September 12th from the SmackDown TV event in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Thomas and Mack Center. Kairi Sane beat Shayna Baszler in the finals to win the tournament.
Now, the new breed of competitors for this year’s tournament are coming to light, and we have some information for you on the three latest additions, via WWE.
Kacy Catanzaro:
“Perhaps best known for her groundbreaking performances on “American Ninja Warrior,” Catanzaro —who was recruited into the WWE Performance Center earlier this year — looks to make an impact in her WWE Network in-ring debut. Though she may not have a wealth of wrestling experience, Catanzaro has been earmarked as a prospect to watch, given her otherworldly athletic abilities. A former Division I gymnast, she was the first woman to scale “American Ninja Warrior’s” “warped wall” and has twice been listed on Sports Illustrated’s “Fittest 50” list of the world’s best female athletes.”
Nicole Matthews:
“A 12-year ring veteran from Vancouver, Matthews has established her name around the globe, having competed in Canada, the United States, England, Japan and Australia. Matthews has faced the likes of Becky Lynch, Asuka and WWE Performance Center trainer Sara Amato. She boasts an aggressive, bullying style of wrestling and likes to finish opponents with a devastating rolling cutter she calls the “Vancouver Maneuver.””
Jinny:
“Rounding out this set of competitors is London’s Jinny. Less than three years into her career, Jinny journeyed into a WWE ring for the first time at the 2017 WrestleMania Axxess. Known for her hard-hitting style inside the ring, Jinny is the reigning women’s champion of the U.K.-based PROGRESS Wrestling and holds the distinction of being the first female graduate of PROGRESS’s wrestling school.”
Two days after losing to Daniel Bryan cleanly at the Money In The Bank (MITB) pay-per-view (PPV), Big Cass was released from the WWE citing behavioral issues. It was initially reported last year by Dave Meltzer that Cass was getting heat backstage for vocalizing his support of President Donald Trump.
In a recent episode of WWE Hall Of Famer Booker T’s podcast, Heated Conversations, the former WCW World Heavyweight Champion talked about the rumors:
“There are so many rumors flying around as far as his release,” Booker T said. “The story is bigger than Big Cass. For instance, back in the day, you didn’t tell anyone who you voted for, you know what I mean? It was a secret. You don’t bring that stuff up together because we have to be friends. That is something that you have to deal with inside yourself.
“I’m not homophobic or anything like that, but when gay people come out it’s like, you didn’t have to tell me that because I’m still going to still give you a hug. It’s not my business so when people do certain things they literally become vulnerable and not keep their eyes on the prize as far as what is really at stake here… my livelihood.”
Booker then dove into the dangers of social media, specifically Twitter, and discussed how Twitter can ruin someone’s life:
“At the end of the day, it is about taking care of your family. Going out and doing the job like Stevie Ray would say, to the best of your ability until something better comes along. I say that because it’s very simple; we are all in the entertainment business. If you want to be running a publication get another job, but Twitter can ruin one’s life. Going on Twitter and saying something.
“I personally liked the guy. I didn’t know about his personal beliefs about voting for Donald Trump. Maybe that was part of it, but my thing is this; I’ve been one of the boys, I had to work in that locker room, I may have had heat with some of the boys in certain times throughout my career but if I went out and performed in the ring all of that overshadowed and trumped everything, which is with your performance.
“If you are on time; if you are ready to go as far as people needing you for a promo set and not looking all throughout the building for you. Everything comes into play as far as being around or not. Being a General or being a Private. I want to be a General so I am always going to be on time and had my shoes spit shined. All of my medals are going to be straight. The bed, everything is tucked. If you don’t take care of your business this is what is going to happen to you.”
Booker T says the lesson is the same thing he tries to teach his students over at Reality Of Wrestling – If everyone does what they’re supposed to do then we can all put on a great show:
“The thing is, it can be a bunch of things. My point is this; when it gets to that point, it isn’t something that everybody else is doing, it is something that you are doing. I have been in the business for many years, I knew as long as I went out and performed and thought about that — look here, being married to Sharmell was in the twilight of my career.
“I was around 40. Sharmell was the first woman that I thought about talking to, and if you listen to Sharmell she thought I hated her the first time we met because I was always all business. When I was in my twenties and in my thirties I was thinking about making my mark and I have to do it now. I couldn’t think about getting married to slow me down, especially with the women I work with.
“I knew where it was going to lead. I was always thinking about going out there and performing and that only. I think these young guys it is easy to get caught up. It is easy access. When you lose focus and your train of thought.
“When you take those blinders off anything can happen. When you start thinking it is a party instead of putting your suit and tie on and getting your job done and handling your business, you are thinking about the wrong thing. Big ups to Big Cass. Hopefully he finds something. There is a lot of work out there on the independent scene and in Japan. Whatever he did he definitely lost out on this deal because I thought he was going to be one of the next greatest big men in the sport.”
You can listen to Booker T on Heated Conversations by clicking this link here.
New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) star and IWGP United States Champion Juice Robinson was recently a guest on Sean Waltman’s podcast, X-Pac 12360, to talk about several professional wrestling topics. He first talked about WWE Hall Of Fame commentator Jim Ross getting injured during his match at the G1 Special in San Francisco on Saturday:
“I thought it was squashed after the show. Obviously, it wasn’t our intention to hurt JR. I think he knew that, because why would we want to take the attention off the match? Nobody wants to hurt anybody, especially a 70-year-old guy.
“We apologized because it’s just a bummer that it happened. We’re in the wrong at the end of the day. I thought the guardrails were gonna be locked, I went out there earlier in the day because I knew we were gonna be hitting the fences pretty hard so I wanted to make sure they were interlocked. The guys on the floor at 4pm told me they were going to be so I thought it would be okay.”
He then offered his thoughts on the injury that Hiromu Takahashi’s sustained at the G1 Special as well:
“When you hear broken neck people, you think [paralyzed], but that’s not with every broken neck. Hopefully his broken neck is just time off. Even though, that still sucks but that beats the alternative. After seeing it, this is probably the best case scenario because that looked like it could’ve been the last bump he ever took.”
Robinson then compared the differences between training in the WWE Performance Center and the NJPW dojo:
“The Dojo was more bumping – you have to remember that there were a lot of guys that are really just starting out to even take like backdrops and hip tosses. When I was at the Performance Center, I was in one of the higher classes where obviously we already knew that stuff. In the Dojo, for me, I was just going through the drills, just the basic drills, stuff you can do in your sleep but you get a workout out of it.
“The Performance Center, it turned more into a mental thing… you know a lot tape study, a lot of studying psychology, applying the finer things of the business. The Dojo just kinda got back to the basics.”
You can listen to Juice Robinson’s interview on the X-Pac 12360 podcast by clicking this link here.
Randy Orton Comments On Tommaso Ciampa Using His Move On NXT
On last night’s (Wed. July 11, 2018) episode of NXT, Tommaso Ciampa hit Aleister Black with an elevated DDT backstage. It looked very similar to the same elevated DDT Randy Orton frequently uses inside the ring. Longtime WWE veteran Goldust took to Twitter to bring this to “The Viper’s” attention:
OH MY GOD. @ProjectCiampa just STRUCK AGAIN, and this time it's #WWENXT Champion @WWEAleister on the receiving end! pic.twitter.com/ecCMga1BQD
The Rock & Stephen Colbert Have An Eyebrow Showdown (Video)
Former WWE Champion The Rock was recently a guest on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. During the interview, Rock and Colbert did shots of tequila and actually had an eyebrow showdown with each other. You can check out the video here:
They talked about several other topics, including his Samoan heritage and as well as if he actually plans to run for President Of The United States one day. “The People’s Champ” had this to say about the interview on Twitter:
Former WWE Superstar Lanny Poffo recently did an interview with WrestleZone to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Poffo first discussed his involvement in the “350 Days” documentary:
“I’ve been very dear friends with [producer] Evan Ginzburg for about 35 years, and he asked me if I would do it. Anytime he asks me a question like that I always say yes. He was the Associate Producer of The Wrestler—I actually auditioned for that part with Darren Aronofsky, and he said ‘Lanny, that was good, but you look like a game show host.
“You don’t have enough sin on your face.’ So I said ‘maybe you should hire Jake The Snake Roberts, he’s got enough sin for everybody. I’m a little different than the rest of these guys, and that’s what so great about this movie. They’ve got a point of view from people like Superstar Billy Graham, Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart, Jimmy ‘Superfly’ Snuka, who is no longer with us.
“I’m going to tell you my opinion, and I enjoyed every minute of it, all 21 years I spent on the road. I traveled all over the world, and it didn’t cost me a dime, and I appreciated it. The only downside is I had to hang around with wrestlers, and that was like National Lampoon’s Animal House.”
He then talked about once getting busted open by WWE Hall Of Famer Andre The Giant during a Battle Royal on Saturday Night’s Main Event, and getting a call from a lawyer asking him to join a class-action concussion lawsuit against WWE:
“Oh yes, in fact I got a call a couple of years ago from a lawyer about if I wanted to join a class-action lawsuit against the WWE for concussions. And I said ‘absolutely not, I’ve never had a concussion’ and they said it doesn’t matter, you can get rich. I said ‘wait a minute… I’ve read John Grisham’s novel King Of Tort, and no one gets rich off of class-action lawsuits except for the lawyers.
“Who do you think you’re talking to here? I used to be The Genius.’ What they did was, they needed—this was for NBC—and Gorilla Monsoon came up to me and said ‘come here, Lanny, I want to talk to you. I just recommended you, I hope you don’t make a monkey out of me.’ I said ‘I would never make a monkey out of a gorilla, what do you mean?’ God bless him, [Gorilla] was always nice to me.
“So, he says have you ever done a blade job before? You know, take the razor and give yourself a self-inflicted wound to the head—they cover that in the movie The Wrestler. To tell you the truth, I feel that that is immoral, you know, to self inflict—I don’t even have tattoos or piercings—so why would I do that? But, the thing is, if I’m [going to be] a prostitute, let me be a highly paid one, this is NBC.
“They needed Andre The Giant, who was the top babyface in the world, they put him with Bobby Heenan but they wanted to give him a serious, mean heat. They needed the sacrificial lamb to help him out, so I did a very good job of it—I’ve got plenty [of scars]. So he headbutts me and I go over the top rope, and I land in a pool of blood, and I got removed from the scene.”
You can watch Poffo’s interview with WrestleZone by clicking this link here.
On the other hand, Netflix’s original GLOW series did get nominated for a few Emmy categories. The show was nominated for the “Best Comedy” category. Betty Gilpin of GLOW was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy. Finally, Jesse Peretz was nominated for Best Directing Of A Comedy Series For GLOW’s pilot episode.
Former WWE Divas Champion Kaitlyn recently did an interview with ESPN to discuss the news of her return to the company for the Mae Young Classic Tournament. She commented on how much she has grown since leaving WWE several years ago:
“The thing that got me through [as a rookie in WWE] and the thing that allowed me to achieve my level of success was my attitude, and looking back now, I am coming back with experience. I am certainly nervous because the level of competition is so much higher and there are so many different women from around the world and they bring skill levels. But it’s just so exciting.
“Since I came back, I had the opportunity to work backward and really nail down the fundamentals and the basics — things that I really lacked during my first run with the WWE. Now I am bringing these newly honed and developed skills that I have acquired recently and I am combining that with my fearless attitude. And because I don’t have this rookie vibe about me, now I can really concentrate on surprising the WWE universe with all the things I have learned.”
Initially Kaitlyn had decided to retire from professional wrestling. After four years of retirement, however, she decided to get back into the squared circle. She explained how the awesome feelings of being in a wrestling ring came back to her, prompting her to come back out of retirement for another run:
“The highs and lows and the adrenaline rushes and the quick thinking on your feet — it came rushing back to me. Anytime you step back in the ring, it’s the same rush and you never get used to it. There is always this fear and this question of ‘Oh, my gosh, can I do this?’ And to me that’s part of what makes it amazing.”
“It’s about finding things that drive you and fuel you. And you can work 18 hours a day or however many hours a day and still want to go back to the ring or do lifts in the gym. As long as you’re passionate about it, you feel happy, and to me that’s the balance.”
You can read Kaitlyn’s full interview with ESPN by clicking this link here.
