— WGN America will be airing a baseball game on Thursday, June 17th, 2010 at 7 p.m. (ET), so WWE Superstars is being bumped to 10 p.m. (ET), head-to-head with hour two of TNA iMPACT!. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
— Beth Phoenix, who is currently out with a torn ACL, said on Twitter that she was backstage at last night’s SmackDown taping in Tampa, Florida. She wrote: “In attendance at Smackdown taping in Tampa for a great opportunity that I’m so thrilled about! Its an emotional visit.So hard to not work”
— Kofi Kingston and MVP will be appearing at the Toys “R” Us located in New York City on Saturday, June 19th at 1:30 p.m. The first 400 customers to purchase $50 worth of Mattel’s WWE merchandise will receive a ticket to the signing. Fans must purchase said merchandise through the Personal Shopping department on Level 3 of the Times Square store. Kingston and MVP will only be autographing their respective Mattel action figures or a provided WWE trading card.
Video game website Gamespot.com recently met with THQ and got a first look at the all-new WWE All Stars game. WWE All Stars will be a “larger than life” arcade-style game featuring the superstars of today as well as legends from past eras. The characters in WWE All Stars are super-sized and look like action figures. The game is more fast-paced than the other WWE video games and is being described as a hybrid of a wrestling game and a fighting game.
Button combos will play a big part of the player’s offense and a “juggle system” will let you string together multiple slams and throws in a row. During these juggle combos, the game uses slow motion technology. In the gameplay footage shown (which you can see below), The Rock’s People’s Elbow has him jumping high into the air as does the Rock Bottom, with lots of visual effects to emphasize the move.
WWE All Stars is set to be released in early 2011 and is being developed by THQ San Diego, which also worked on the TNA iMPACT game.
The video below contains an interview with one of the developers from THQ and some gameplay footage of a match between John Cena and The Rock.
Video game website Gamespot.com recently sat down with THQ and got a first look at WWE’s SmackDown vs. RAW 2011 video game, set to be released this Fall. Here are some of the new features in this year’s game, followed by a video of Gamespot’s interview with THQ and some gameplay footage.
– The game will feature a new physics system that will make all objects look more realistic. The TLC match especially will be enhanced. For example, instead of just crashing through a table, the table might break in different ways than you’re used to. Ladders will also bend and break depending on where they are impacted.
– You will also be able to lean the ladders up on the ring and in the corners, among other places.
– New effects with a steel chair will let you throw the chair at your opponent.
– You will be be able to have as many as six tables in a match
— The working title for WWE’s upcoming DVD set on Chris Jericho is The Best At What I Do. The DVD set will feature three discs and is scheduled for release on Tuesday, Sept. 21.
— Big Show and Rey Mysterio beat CM Punk and Jack Swagger in a Steel Cage Match following tonight’s SmackDown television taping in Tampa, Florida. During one point in the match, Mysterio dived off of Show’s shoulders.
— WWE developmental league Florida Championship Wrestling had a stand promoting itself and their “American Dream” tour this summer at tonight’s SmackDown television taping in the St. Pete Times Forum.
– Monday’s three-hour Viewer’s Choice episode of WWE RAW drew a 3.1 cable rating. The show did a 3.3 rating for two final hours, RAW’s usual timeslot.
– The dark match prior to Tuesday’s NXT and SmackDown tapings saw JTG defeat Dos Caras.
– The new WWE NXT ring announcer is developmental Diva Jamie Keyes.
– WWE has announced that the new season of NXT on SyFy will last 12 weeks. The first fan vote will take place in 3 weeks and the first Rookie elimination will take place in 6 weeks. Fans will be able to vote for the next “breakout WWE Superstar” on the WWE website. The other votes will come from the NXT Pros.
– In an interview with The Wrestler, multi-time WWE Women’s Champion Trish Stratus comments on the possibility of a wrestling comeback. She said:
“I always want to do something that is challenging and impactful, no matter what I do … Absolutely, I’d go back—but only if I could do something that makes a difference.”
She also comments on today’s Divas, the “next Trish,” her legacy, being inspired by The Rock, and more. You can read excerpts from the interview here.
– Matches scheduled to take place on this week’s episode of WWE Superstars on WGN America are as follows:
* Alicia Fox vs. Gail Kim
* Yoshi Tatsu and Goldust vs. Zack Ryder and Primo
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights of what JR said about:
The NXT Invasion On RAW: “The NXT wrestlers collective assault on all that is WWE including wrestlers, announcers, the ring announcer, time keeper, security, etc was a complete shocker. Raw’s ending from Miami was one of the best conclusions of any Raw episode in years. This incident was completely out of the blue and poses many more questions than answers which is the life’s blood of producing episodic TV. The follow up to this matter certainly has my interest and I am more than curious to see where this NXT issue goes. I can only assume that it will be addressed tonight in some form on the 2nd season premier of NXT on Syfy.”
Saturday’s UFC 115 PPV: “It’s hard to pick a winner in Saturday’s UFC PPV in Vancouver in the Chuck Liddell vs. Rich Franklin main event which is another reason that UFC PPV’s are so much fun to watch. I’m an ‘Iceman’ fan but one always wonders how much fuel is left in the tank of a veteran like Liddell. We know that Chuck’s passion and his will to compete will always be in place but are his physical skills still in tact to win an other UFC main event? Insiders speculate that Franklin is nearing the end of his run and that he has confided in some folks that he’s about ready to call it a career. That’s merely hearsay as far as I know but it certainly adds to the intrigue of this fight. It’s arguable that both Liddell and Franklin won’t be fighting that much longer as neither athlete strikes me as the type of fighter that will allow themselves to stay too long. There is no way that the judges will influence Liddell vs. Franklin Saturday night from where I sit. Vancouver is a great city, one of my favorite places to visit from my days of weekly, WWE travel, but their politicos seem to be having a knee jerk reaction to UFC/MMA regarding what I’ve read as being ridiculous requirements for insurance, etc. It’s too bad that uneducated politicians often times perceive UFC to be something that it isn’t and that these decisions then adversely affect the fans who live in the community. I can assure you that the many businesses in Vancouver will covet the UFC being in town this week.”
The Undertaker’s New DVD Set: “The Undertaker’s ‘Deadliest Matches’ is out today on DVD and is a really fun DVD to watch. It covers the true evolution of the Undertaker persona through multiple eras and with a wide variety of opponents and unique matches. I enjoyed it and think that it’s a must have for all Undertaker fans. It certainly brought back plenty of fun memories for me as a broadcaster.”
On Monday’s RAW, WWE began a major storyline featuring the NXT season 1 Rookies.
The angle began when Wade Barrett appeared on the ramp during the show’s main event between John Cena and CM Punk.
As Barrett made his way to the ring, his fellow Season 1 Rookies – Daniel Bryan, David Otunga, Skip Sheffield, Michael Tarver, Darren Young, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel – all appeared from the crowd and surrounded the ring. Each of them wore a black armband with a yellow “N” on them.
The Rookies proceeded to destroy everything in sight – including John Cena, the Straight Edge Society, the WWE announcers and ringside crew members, the announcer’s table and the ring. According to live reports sent in from fans who were at the show in Miami, the crowd was very into the angle and the NXT crew had a ton of heat. Many compared the invasion to the early nWo back in WCW in the late 1990s.
After the NXT Season 1 rookies returned backstage, they received a lot of praise for WWE management for the way the angle played out. According to f4wonline.com, Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon and Michael Hayes are really liking the recent NXT angles the Michael Cole vs. Daniel Bryan feud, the NXT Season Finale episode and last night’s invasion.
The fact that Michael Cole was the only WWE crew member to escape the NXT beatdown could be a sign that he’s part of the storyline, as there has been talk of moving turning Cole heel.
Expect tonight’s WWE NXT Season 2 premiere to feature fallout from last night’s angle. There’s also been talk of Season 1’s rookies being featured regularly on Season 2.
– Kelly Kelly noted on Twitter that her family was sitting front row at last night’s RAW in Miami and will be at tonight’s SmackDown in Tampa Bay. Kelly is from the area.
– Steve Austin, Kaval and Kofi Kingston took to Twitter after last night’s RAW to comment on the NXT invasion angle. Here’s what they wrote:
Kaval: “After what I just saw, I think Cena may need a little help handling NXT1….”
Kofi Kingston: “Looks like season 1 NXT rookies are trying to make a statement…”
Steve Austin: “well that was interesting.. that RAW ending reminds me of one time when we were filming The Condemned in Australia..on my day off i went swimming in the ocean…and was attacked by 23 great white sharks…the story gets very bloody and gory so i will not tweet the details..but i actually missed…one day of filming because i had to sew an arm and one of my hands back on..and i needed a day of rest so i could heal up 100%…anyhoo..we finished filming the Condemned and i still cant believe i didnt get an Oscar nomination for my turn as Jack Conrad..i was robbed.”
– In related news, “NXT Rookies” was a worldwide trending topic on Twitter last night.
– The Dudebusters came out and cut a promo but ended up arguing about who was better and got in a fight. Chris Masters came down and cleaned house. Chris Masters defeated Trent Baretta with the Masterlock in a quick match and the Dudebusters made up on the way back to the back.
WWE Superstars Tapings
– Gail Kim vs. Alicia Fox
– Zack Ryder & Primo vs. Goldust & Yoshi Tatsu
After RAW
– After RAW went off the air following the brutal attack by the NXT Rookies, the WWE crew attended to Justin Roberts, Jerry Lawler, Matt Striker and everyone else who was laid out. Based on emails we’ve received from fans who were at the show, the vibe was that this angle had a major impact – as the entire crowd was buzzing on the way out and more people stuck around than usual.
New Orleans’ Nola.com has an article looking at the various movies shooting in the city, including several movies WWE Studios projects.
Aside from the Triple H comedy movie “Chaperones†starring Triple H, WWE also has several other New Orleans-based movies in development:
“Legendary.” Last fall, the fledgling WWE Studios came to town to shoot six films back-to-back-to-back in New Orleans in a novel strategy to reduce costs. On Sept. 10, Samuel Goldwyn — which specializes in limited releases of indie films — is expected to release the first one. “Legendary” (working title: “Brother’s Keeper”), stars Patricia Clarkson, Danny Glover and pro wrestler John Cena, in a dramatic comedy about a bookish teen who joins the school wrestling team in a bid to reunite his fractured family.
“Knucklehead.” The second in the WWE Studios slate, which wrapped in New Orleans in November, will also be handled by Samuel Goldwyn. It’s an action comedy starring Mark Feuerstein, Melora Hardin and pro-wrestler Paul “Big Show” Wight, in a story about a down-on-his-luck fight promoter who finds a potential meal ticket in an enormous handyman for a local orphanage. Expect it later in the fall.
“That’s What I Am” WWE Studios again, with a “Wonder Years”-style dramatic comedy that shot this spring in Jefferson under the working titles “Big Red” and “Big Ginger.” . It stars Ed Harris and Randy Orton in a drama about a middle-school kid and the invaluable life lessons he learns from a special teacher. No release date or distribution deal has been announced.
WWE issued a press release on Monday announcing that actor Phillip Larue (“Superbad”) and child actress Ariel Winter (“Modern Family”) have joined the cast of the new WWE Studios comedy, “The Chaperone,” which has Triple H in the lead role.
Triple H, who also stars in WWE’s “Inside Out,” plays Ray Bradstone, a skilled getaway driver for a team of bank robbers. Recently, however, Ray has been looking to leave the world of crime in order to become a good father for his daughter Sally (“Modern Family”‘s Ariel Winter) and make amends with his wife.
Struggling to find honest work, Ray reluctantly accepts a final gig with his old bank-robbing crew, led by Phillip Larue (Kevin Corrigan, “Superbad”). At the last moment, Ray backs out of the heist to serve as a chaperone for his daughter’s school field trip. Without Ray as part of the crime team, the robbery goes awry, and Phillip seeks vengeance against Ray, his daughter and an school bus full of children on route to the Museum of Natural History in New Orleans for a class trip.
“Ray must deal with Larue, while supervising Sally’s class on what becomes one of the craziest school trips ever.”
Stephen Herek (“Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure”) directs the film, which began principal photography this week in New Orleans, Louisiana.
— WWE issued an advisory for tonight’s Raw taping in Miami, noting the show will begin at 7:30 p.m. EST. The advisory was issued because some tickets printed listed an 8:15 p.m. start. With the three-hour Raw broadcast beginning tonight at 8 p.m., WWE wants to insure everyone is at the event on time.
— WWE’s upcoming DVD set on Chris Jericho will feature three discs and is scheduled for release on Tuesday, Sept. 21.
Meanwhile, the company has plans to release a new DVD set on John Cena, with it’s release expected to coincide with the theatrical release of his next WWE Studios film Legendary.
— Last Thursday’s episode of WWE Superstars scored an 0.76 cable rating with 802,000 viewers. The midnight replay scored an 0.18 rating with 160,000 viewers.
— WWE will be holding a live episode of Friday Night SmackDown on Friday, October 1st, 2010 during a Supershow event taking place that evening in Oklahoma City. WWE announced in April that SmackDown will move to Syfy starting October 1. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
— John Cena, who rarely questions WWE’s decisions publicly, said the following on Twitter regarding the names of the NXT season two competitors: “..and after a full 2 days to think about it, what is the story behind the names for nxt2 talent? I just don’t understand some things I guess.”
— Maryse and The Bella Twins have opened pages on the social networking site Spiffbox.com.
— Big Show briefly appears in a rap video/advertisement promoting USA’s hit medical drama Royal Pains. You can view the video here. Mark Feuerstein will guest host next week’s episode of Raw taking place in Charlotte, North Carolina.
— A Divas segment taped last Tuesday was edited off Friday’s SmackDown broadcast. The segment featured Michelle McCool and Layla interrupting a conversation Kelly Kelly and Tiffany were having backstage. Lay-Cool took credit for getting rid of “Piggie James” and “The Glamazon,” telling the two SmackDown Divas they were next.
— WWE Hall of Famer Howard Finkel, Melina and Beth Phoenix will be taking part in tonight’s Raw Live Chat on WWE.com.
WWE issued the following press release this morning:
Hill Named Senior Vice President, Marketing
STAMFORD, Conn., Jun 07, 2010 — World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. announced that Eddie Hill will assume the role of Senior Vice President, Marketing, effective June 7, 2010. Hill will be responsible for providing strategic direction around WWE’s branding and promotions, television tune-in, pay-per-view events, network affiliate marketing, WWE Studios and market research. He will report directly to Michelle D. Wilson, Executive Vice President, Marketing.
Hill brings 18 years of experience as a marketing executive within the financial, sports and entertainment industries. He comes to WWE from American Express after he spent the last two years as Vice President/Head of U.S. Advertising & Global Agency Management and spearheaded the Are You A Cardmember? and Don’t Take Chances – Take Charge campaigns.
Prior to American Express, Hill was the Vice President of Marketing for Nickelodeon and Nick Movies. He has also held positions at ESPN and the Walt Disney Company.
“We are thrilled to have Eddie join WWE, bringing with him a great breadth and depth of valuable experience in the sports and entertainment industries,” said Michelle D. Wilson. “With Eddie’s skill set, we will continue to strategically market and grow the WWE brand across all of our global platforms.”
Hill received his B.S. in Business Administration degree from Georgetown University and his Masters of Business Administration from the Anderson Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles.
— John Cena served as Co-Grand Marshal along with the “Gillette Fusion ProGlide Believers” at yesterday’s Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500 at Pocono Raceway. You can view an image of the WWE Champion chatting with NASCAR driver and past Raw guest host Joey Logano here.
Here are some newsworthy items from this weekend’s WWE live events:
– WWE RAW superstar John Morrison returned to action this weekend after being away from the ring for several weeks due to an ankle injury. Morrison worked the live events this weekend, facing The Miz and R-Truth in Triple Threats for the United States Title. At Saturday’s event, Morrison defeated Miz in singles action.
– After teaming with John Cena (and getting the pin for his team) in the main event of last week’s WWE RAW, Evan Bourne’s push continued over the weekend. Bourne teamed with Cena again against Sheamus and Edge in the main events of the weekend shows and fan reports indicated that Bourne was put over strong.
– The Uso Twins worked the RAW live events over the weekend, losing to The Hart Dynasty. The Uso’s received mixed reviews from WWE’s agents, according to f4wonline.com.
– Finlay, who returned to WWE TV on this past Friday’s SmackDown, worked the SmackDown live events this weekend, defeating NXT season 1 Rookie Heath Slater.
– WWE Hall of Famer Mae Young was ringside at Sunday’s RAW live event from Columbia, South Carolina, but was not announced to the crowd.
– Matt Hardy is back to doing what he does best – posting cryptic messages on Twitter. Hardy has been making some noise as of late, saying that he’s underutilized, has nothing to lose and “doesn’t need the WWE.” He also told a fan:
“Deal is-there’s more reality than not on the stuff I’m saying & doing now on TV. Something has to change-either the WWE or me.”
– All of the season 2 NXT Rookies can now be found on Twitter. The season 2 Rookies’ Twitter nicknames are HuskyNXT, EliNXT, PercyNXT, TitusNXT, KavalWWE, LuckyCannon, MikeNXT and AlexNXT.
Read More: Follow 80+ Wrestlers & Divas on Twitter at PWTweets.com.
– As noted earlier, it’s expected that Wade Barrett will be joining the RAW brand. Barrett worked this weekend’s RAW live events, defeating Yoshi Tatsu.
– Another NXT season 1 Rookie, Justin Gabriel, also worked the SmackDown live events, losing to Chavo Guerrero.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights of what JR said about:
Returning To WWE: “Got my travel handled for the Fatal Four Way in the Nassau Coliseum coming up later this month. Looking forward to hanging in the back and helping where I can at my first WWE PPV where I will be in the locker room area since September of last year. I wonder if I can get my pal Taz to spring for dinner the night before the event, if he’s in town.”
Brock Lesnar’s Fight On 7/3: “I will be in Vegas on July 3 to see the Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin Heavyweight Title fight which has many close to Lesnar concerned and rightfully so. Carwin has allowed no one to survive outside the first round as best I know off the top of my head in compiling an undefeated record. Lesnar is still my pick to win this one but any thing can and likely will happen in this battle of big, strong, badass fighters. ”
NXT Season 2: “I’m curious to see if there are any significant tweaks on NXT this Tuesday night for the premier of season two. I’ve mentioned this before but being a fan of reality shows I would like to see the contestants interact in a non arena type setting more frequently. Will Michael Cole select another NXT rooked to haze or has that specific ship sailed?”
Shoot Interviews: “Pet Peeve of the Day….I find myself disliking the term ‘Shoot Interview’ and I can’t really explain why except that it denotes to me a ‘dirt fest’ from disgruntled individuals ready to embellish negative stories for a pay day. With that said, watching a compelling interview on DVD with a wrestler who has an interesting story to tell in more of a documentary form really interests me. Am I splitting hairs on this one. It is simply a matter of semantics?”
— Ted Dibiase noted on his Twitter account that he was pulled over early Sunday morning for driving over the speed limit. He wrote: “I was doing 83 in a 70…He gave me ticket and then chatted me up about wrestling for 15 min! Thought he might rip it up….Nope”
He posted the following photo of himself after receiving the ticket.
— WWE Monday Night Raw on September 20th, 2010 will be held at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. Tickets go on sale June 7th, 2010 at noon.
— Randy Orton is featured on the cover of the latest issue of Inside Wrestling. You can view the cover here.
— SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long announced last night on Friday Night SmackDown that over the Memorial Day weekend, The Undertaker was found by his brother Kane “in a vegetative state,” following a vicious assault of unknown origins. The storyline sparked much curiosity regarding the health of The Undertaker as according to www.India-Server.com, thousands of wrestling fans are searching online to find out whether he has really died.
The website added: “Till now no official statement has been issued by the wrestler’s family or the World Wrestling Entertainment. The fans of Undertaker are praying for his well being.”
— Chris Jericho wrote on his Twitter account last night that he would be missing the evening’s house show in Asheville, North Carolina. While he didn’t give a reason for missing the event, he apologized for the no-show and promise to make it up to the people of Asheville in the future.
— Randy Orton is featured on the cover of the latest issue of WWE Magazine, which you can view here.
Solomonster is back with thoughts on the supposed “youth movement” in WWE, Kane’s promo on Smackdown, the NXT finale and a rant on names for season 2, a new Raw guest host and THE MAILBAG!
— WWE revealed Thursday that “rock icon” Rob Zombie will guest host the June 28 episode of Monday Night Raw taking place in Philadelphia. He will be on hand to promote the Rock Star Mayhem Tour beginning in July, as well as his new album, Hellbilly Deluxe 2.
— Preliminary estimates for WWE’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view has the event doing 185,000 pay-per-view buys. Last year’s Backlash pay-per-view drew a reported 182,000 buys.
— WWE has modified the appearance of its official website, WWE.com. A Social Media section has been added to the site referencing verified talent profiles and brand pages on Twitter; official Facebook fan pages for every Superstar and Diva; and official WWE programming and video clips on YouTube.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog at JRsBarBQ.com Here are some highlights of what JR saida bout:
Edge Talking Retirement:Â “Interesting article in an Asheville, N.C. newspaper on Edge where he said he could see retiring in two years. I think many in Edge’s generation who have made big money, and he has, and have wisely saved and invested it, and I suspect that he has, will not hang around the business too long simply so that they can preserve what physical health that they can. Edge has had significant injuries in his illustrious career specifically his neck surgery and if asked, and I haven’t, I would advise him to call it a career sooner than later if he can financially afford it. Too many wrestlers have to stay longer than they need or should because of financial issues but I would be shocked if Edge even remotely comes close to that syndrome. Guys in Edge’s generation can easily take a look at previous generations of wrestlers to learn what NOT to do as it relates to their career and personal life style. Smart wrestles who work hard, get a break, and plan for their future by using a professionals help can often times comfortably retire from in ring wrestling by the time that they are in their 40’s.”
His WWE Status: “Emailers are congratulating me on my new ‘contract’ with WWE….I do not have a ‘contract’ but am a regular employee like many people who are not TV talents. That arrangement works just fine with me BTW. Plus, no one should feel badly that I’m not on weekly TV any longer. I don’t feel bad about it and neither should you. I feel confident that I will do selected, talent work with WWE in the future but just not on a weekly basis.”
