While this doesn’t confirm anything one way or the other, the story earlier today that claimed WWE Superstar Chris Jericho would be returning at the March 8th live event at the MTS Center in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada is being denied by WWE.
WWE claims that the The Winnipeg Sun running the story in their newspaper was a mistake, and one that the company has asked the publication to run a correction on.
– WWE.com has published a new feature counting down the 10 “manliest” moments in WWE history.
– Paul Heyman’s Heyman Hustle site has released exclusive photos of the Bella Twins from last week’s WWE Network event from CES in Las Vegas.
– As reported earlier, the Winnipeg Sun newspaper ran a story today announcing that Chris Jericho will be appearing at the upcoming WWE Live Event from the city on March 7th. Reader Adam Lebow sent in word that he’s seen digital ads in the elevators of multiple buildings in Toronto hyping Chris Jericho’s return to Winnipeg at the 3/7 show.
The Winnipeg Sun is advertising former WWE Superstar Chris Jericho for the March 7th WWE Live Event from the MTS Center –
Chris Jericho is bringing the WWE to Winnipeg.
The World Tour is coming to MTS Centre March 7.
Other stars coming to Winnipeg include CM Punk, Big Show, R-Truth, The Miz and Daniel Bryan.
Tickets will be available on wwe.com and Ticketmaster, but are not yet for sale.
We cannot yet confirm the validity of this story, but this could be another “Batista is returning!” leak.
– As we noted previously, former WWE Superstar Chris Jericho is not expected to make a return to WWE at any point in the near future. Despite the fact that it’s not currently planned, word is that it doesn’t necessarily mean it may not happen at some point. The door to WWE is reportedly still open for Jericho in the future, should he choose to make a comeback.
– It was rumored that WWE Superstar Batista would only be back in the company for a run up until WrestleMania XXX, with a few post-WMXXX appearances as part of the agreement. As noted in the past in separate reports, Batista may have signed a two-year deal with WWE. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Batista has indeed signed a two year contract with the company.
– WWE Hall Of Famer Shawn Michaels and former WWE Superstar Chris Jericho will be appearing at the 2014 KOI Auto Parts Cavalcade Of Customs in Cincinnati, Ohio from January 10-12 at the Duke Energy Convention Center.
– Apparently WWE Hall Of Famer “Nature Boy” Ric Flair upset his hometown NFL team, the Carolina Panthers, with his appearance and speech at the San Francisco 49ers game against the Green Bay Packers this past weekend. Panthers player Steve Smith said of Flair,
“As a guy who actually has a Ric Flair robe I’m real disappointed in seeing that. Real disappointed. I’m not sure if he’ll get the invite here. That Golden Gate Bridge has been burned.”
Check out the complete article online at NFL.com.
– WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels noted on Twitter that he’ll be in Nashville for a few days, so he won’t be at tonight’s Old School RAW:
In Nashville for the @ATATradeShow , should be an awesome couple of days visiting all our great #MRA sponsors & hanging out w/outdoor folks!
— Shawn Michaels (@ShawnMichaels) January 6, 2014
– Chris Jericho continues to troll fans about a possible return at the 2014 Royal Rumble. He tweeted on Sunday:
You guys are hilarious!! See you at the Rumble! @THETOMMYDREAMER @CMPunk @The305MVP
— Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) January 6, 2014
– People who are considered to be “in the know,” who were aware of Chris Jericho’s previous WWE returns, say they have heard nothing about Jericho returning any time in the near future. Basically, Jericho seems to be telling the truth when he says he has no plans to return to the company at any point in the forseeable future.
– WWE legend The Ultimate Warrior is expected to have some type of role at WrestleMania XXX. Many expect Warrior’s role to be an induction into the WWE Hall Of Fame.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
VH-1’s “That Metal Show” co-host Eddie Trunk was the guest on the latest edition of Chris Jericho’s new “Talk Is Jericho” podcast. During the interview, the two spoke a lot about the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
“The president of the Hall of Fame came into my radio show to try to, kinda, discuss it with me and calm me down a little bit so I know that for a fact, it resonated,” Trunk said during the interview.
To listen to the complete interview, visit PodcastOne.com/Talk-Is-Jericho.
As noted previously, Jericho’s next guest on “Talk Is Jericho” will be WWE Hall Of Famer Bret “The Hitman” Hart.
– Chris Jericho’s new “Talk Is Jericho” online show is officially the number one ranked podcast on the latest iTunes U.S. charts. Additionally, Jericho’s podcast is number two on the iTunes U.K. chart. Coming in at number six on the iTunes U.S. chart is “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s “The Steve Austin Show.” You can check out the complete list at Apple.com.
– Following Brock Lesnar’s WWE return at the New Year’s edition of RAW this past Monday night, WWE is already selling new Lesnar t-shirts on their official WWE Shop website. You can check out all of the current Lesnar merchandise WWE is selling at Shop.WWE.com.
– Billy Gunn tweeted the following today announcing that the New Age Outlaws will be invading next week’s Old School RAW:
It's official the NAO invade #RAW next week
— Kip Sopp (@RealBillyGunn) December 30, 2013
– As noted earlier, Sheamus and Chris Jericho will be appearing at the Autorama car show in Pittsburgh on January 24th – the same weekend of the Royal Rumble. WWE.com is now advertising the Sheamus appearance, letting fans know he’ll be in town for the Rumble.
WWE Hall of Famer Edge returned to Chris Jericho’s “Talk Is Jericho” podcast this week for the second part of their interview. During the show, the two revealed some interesting news about the year John Cena squashed Nexus at SummerSlam. The original plans called for the match to come down to Edge and Jericho vs. Nexus, however, John Cena squashed the idea and decided to he would be the last man standing, taking out both Wade Barrett and Justin Gabriel. Cena would later regret the decision.
Chris Jericho: “It was Team WWE vs. Team Nexus, and the finish boiled down to [Edge] and [Jericho] in there, but it was Cena against a couple of them. John wanted to do things a certain way and we told him ‘you’re wrong’. He did it anyways, and it sucked. And then after he came over to us and said ‘I should have listened to you, but I wasn’t seeing it that way.'”
Edge: “I remember. I was like, fine I’m out of the match by that point.”
Chris Jericho: “He wanted to get DDT’d on the floor by Barrett, then kick out and beat them both. And you and I were like, that’s the dumbest thing. That’s just throwing it away for no reason.”
Edge: “They should have gone over because they were so hot.”
Chris Jericho: “We were fighting for Barrett to go over. And where’s Wade Barrett now?”
Edge also spoke out about why he was successful the first time he won the WWE Championship from John Cena, and how Vince McMahon played a big role in that success.
“I had Vince on my side. Vince was the only guy who believed I could break through … The week before New Year’s Revolution I said ‘Vince I got an idea. I’m a heel. I’m probably the most despised guy in the company. If I cash this thing in after I’ve held it for ten months, in a straight-up match, that’s really stupid on my part, as a character. I can cash it in whenever. Why wouldn’t I do it after the Elimination Chamber?” … “I get there and Vince says, ‘prove me right.’ You can see when I hand that briefcase over to him, he says ‘prove me right’. They were only gonna give me three weeks. But in those three weeks I did everything I could to make them change their mind. 25 million hits on WWE.com the night I won the title. Big ratings.”
The following are some new tweets from former WWE Superstar Chris Jericho regarding the success of his “Talk Is Jericho” podcast, as well as a note on a future guest:
HOLY SHNIKES!!! @TalkIsJericho has hit ONE MILLION downloads in three weeks!! Thanks to everybody who's checked it out so far!! @PodcastOne
— Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) December 27, 2013
Yes! Jan 8&15! “@Mr_BillyTheKid: are you going to have @BretHart on @TalkIsJericho anytime soon? Now that would be some podcast!
— Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) December 28, 2013
– WWE NXT star Aiden English is on the road with the main WWE roster this weekend. English was backstage for the WWE live event in Chicago, Illinois on Thursday but ended up not being used on the show.
– Former WWE Superstar Chris Jericho recently posted the following regarding his plans, or lack thereof, for a WWE return in 2014:
Ok guys here’s the deal…Im not coming back anytime soon next year! No secrets, no shenanigans, no plans. Sorry!! I still love you tho…
— Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) December 27, 2013
Here are some highlights of what WWE Hall of Famer Edge talked about with Chris Jericho in the second part of their interview on the Talk Is Jericho podcast:
Working for WCW: I did two matches for WCW, for Saturday Night and for WorldWide. Scott D’Amore was booking the extra talent. I remember I was really torn about it. I was like hmm… I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to just be an extra guy. I want so much more than that, but I was flat broke and it was 500 bucks. So I thought well, maybe I should do it. Maybe they’ll see me and think oh, we have to hire this kid. There’s always that chance too, right? So it was the first time that I met Rhino. I drove through Detroit, I picked up Rhino, and then him and I drove down to Florida together. We became best friends from that point forward.
That was the thing I so quickly learned [how crazy WCW was]. I walked in and I was like, oh, this locker room doesn’t feel good. You’d see the guys that you could go to, and I remember talking to Chris [Benoit]. He knew I was Canadian, he found out I was Canadian so he pulled me aside and he was like just be careful here. I was like oh, okay. It was about 95, 96. He said don’t trust anybody here. I was like okay, got it.
You quickly realized that [how bad it was]. I mean, you know? But I got that from being there for two shows and I worked twice. I worked Meng, or Haku. He was super sweet, great guy. He actually gave me some stuff too. We had a bit of a competitive match. Then I worked Kevin Sullivan. It was brutal. It was what it was, it was what I was down there to do. I think more than anything it was a vehicle for Show, Big Show, because he was at ringside with Sullivan, and it was on that rotating wooden stage. I think a lot of it was, and I think Sullivan was booking at the time too, or was one of the bookers, he can go over on this kid that’s about 6’4?, I was a little heavier, I was about 250 at that point. Oh okay, I’ll beat that kid. He’s got a good look. I think that was the mentality. I took a chokeslam on the floor. Yep, got it. Yep, I’ll take that chokeslam, sure. It was brutal. I mean, Show took care of me, but there’s no good way to take that.
How wrestlers are trained today: It’s much more pressure. It is, and also, just the pressures of how do you deal with all of that so fast? That’s the biggest thing. Suddenly you’re making six figures, well you have to pay taxes and you’ve never had to worry about that before. Okay, well there’s that. Suddenly you have to look into getting a mortgage or pay rent. All of these things are coming while you’re trying to figure out being famous and being on TV and trying to make headway within the company without experience. To me, the best part of coming up in that, kind of the last era before it went that way with the FCWs or NXTs, kind of the farm system, is that, you know, wrestling Jimmy Valiant in front of 10 people in Cleveland. We didn’t touch. I think we did two things, but we were out there for 20 minutes. It’s like, okay, I can take things from this and I can learn from it. Now, if I’m in there as a kid with a guy whose got the same kind of experience as me, what am I going to learn? We’re just going to run through what everybody else does
– Sheamus and Chris Jericho will be appearing at the “Autorama” event in Pittsburgh, PA during Royal Rumble weekend. With the Rumble taking place in Pittsburgh, there’s already speculation that they could be appearing on the PPV.
Sheamus has been out of action since August with torn labrum in his left shoulder. Jericho’s no stranger to dramatic returns, including his surprise appearance at the 2013 Royal Rumble:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjTJUYnTJs0
– WWE Chairman Vince McMahon was the top trending search term on Yahoo! this weekend as a result of high-profile P.R. rep Justine Sacco’s controversial tweet where she wrote, “Going “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!” Sacco is a former WWE spokesperson and her past association with the organization is what led to Vince trending.
– Part two of Chris Jericho’s new “Talk Is Jericho” interview with WWE Hall Of Famer Adam “Edge” Copeland is now available online. Fans interested in checking that out can do so at PodcastOne.com.
– As if you couldn’t tell just by watching the show and listening to the commentary, due to Monday’s RAW Christmas special being taped a week ago, and the fact that WWE decided to make the Batista announcement last night, among other reasons, Michael Cole and JBL did voice-over work for the show. According to JBL’s Twitter account, the two did the voice-overs live from WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut on Monday night.
– WrestlingDVDNews.com has confirmed that WWE will be releasing a unique DVD project in 2014 looking at the best moments that took place after WWE RAW went off the air. Here’s a brief synopsis for “Best of RAW: Not on RAW” –
“Never before released moments after RAW has gone off the air and the cameras keep rolling. Stone Cold singing to the fans, Vince doing a Spinnarooni, dark matches Cena vs. Edge, etc.
The 3-disc DVD set will be released in April and will feature segments and matches from the 20 year history of WWE RAW.
– WWE.com has published an exclusive interview with none other than Chris Jericho, who talks about WWE unifying the top titles, Randy Orton and his podcast and potential return to the ring. Here’s what Jericho said about the possibility of returning to WWE during WrestleMania season:
“I don’t really have the itch. I’m super busy with all the stuff I’m doing, between Fozzy tours, we’re getting ready to record a new record, the podcast, “But I’m Chris Jericho,” which is another big hit. I’m also finishing my third book. There’s a lot of stuff going on. Having said that, I’d be open to it, but I haven’t had any conversations or anything like that. It’s WrestleMania. Anybody that’s been in WWE wants to be involved. If I’m there, it’ll be awesome and I’ll do everything I can to have the best match on the show. If I’m not, I’ll have a great time watching it, I’m sure.”
– In the latest edition of 30 Second Fury!, John Cena’s Attitude Adjustment is highlighted.
– The second part of Chris Jericho’s Talk Is Jericho podcast with WWE Hall of Famer Edge will be released online this week via PodcastOne.com.
– Santino Marella is giving away free trials to his mixed martial arts academy in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. He remarked on Twitter on Sunday, “Live in the GTA? Wanna try out @BattleArtsMMA for a week? Simply text BATTLE to 393939 and you will instantly receive a free week trial!”
The official website of Battle Arts Academy is located here.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated the Q&A section of his website at JRsBarBQ.com.
When Chris Jericho first debuted with his promo at The Rocks expense, how electrifying was the atmosphere?
“It was massive. Set up perfectly. Excellent booking.”
Which of the 3 members of The Shield do you think will make the most impact in WWE?
“I like them all. Obviously Reigns is breaking out. All tbd. ”
JR when do you think it is the right time for WWE to induct The Rock in the WWE Hall of Fame?
“Any time both parties are ready.”
With talk of the WWE Network seeming to come up more and more, I have wondered if there is potential for certain independent promotions to get television deals with WWE. What, in your estimation, would be the positives and negatives of giving promotions like ROH, PWG, Dragongate USA, etc. a television deal?
“Let’s just say that there’s no business like show business.”
– PodcastOne issued a press release this week stating that the Steve Austin’s “Steve Austin Show” podcast was named the best new podcast in the “Sports/Recent Debuts” category by the iTunes editorial team:
The editorial team of iTunes has selected … PodcastOne’s Steve Austin Show as the Top Pick in the Sports/Recent Debuts category. Chairman Norm Pattiz said:
“We thank the editorial team at iTunes for selecting these programs. We will proudly display the ‘iTunes Best of 2013’ badge prominently when presenting and promoting these programs. Our lineup of the best-of-the-best in podcasting is validated with recognition like this.”
– Chris Jericho noted on Twitter that his new “Talk is Jericho” podcast has received over 600,000 downloads since its premiere two weeks ago.
Wow, just found out @TalkIsJericho has had over 600,000 downloads in only two weeks!! Thanks to everyone who's listened so far!! @PodcastOne
— Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) December 19, 2013
– WWE superstar Kane was a guest on The Alex Jones Show this week talking politics. You can listen to an .MP3 of the podcast at Infowars.com.
– Music historian Eddie Trunk will be the special guest on Chris Jericho’s new “Talk Is Jericho” online podcast on January 1, 2014.
– This past Wednesday night was “Karaoke Night” at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. The festivities featured WWE NXT Superstars, WWE NXT Divas and trainers signing and having fun before the final NXT show at the FCW Arena on Thursday night in Tampa, Florida.
As previously reported, WWE Hall Of Famer Adam “Edge” Copeland appeared as the second guest on Chris Jericho’s new “Talk Is Jericho” online podcast. The following are some highlights from the interview:
On being forced into retirement: “I really thought I would relax whenever that is, but with it being sped up a couple of years with the last injury, it was then like, ‘Now what?’ Kevin Dunn called the ‘Haven’ people because they had been looking to have a tie-in with Smackdown. ‘Listen, we have this guy retiring. I think he could fill a good spot on your show.’ That’s kind of how that fell into place.”
On details of his WWE contract when he first signed with the company: “I got called up to J.R.’s office and he goes, ‘We have a deal for you.’ It was for $210 a week.’ Because after the currency exchange, that worked out to 300 Canadian. They said just keep working. There was no farm system; they said, ‘Keep getting booked.’ I got signed at the end of ’96 and then I kept working. They said, ‘We’ll call you when we’re ready for you,’ and I kept going wherever I could. But now, I had $210 or 300 bucks to at least eat. It was like, ‘Here’s a little morsel so you can keep doing your thing.'”
Check out the complete interview online at PodcastOne.com.
– Today is the birthday of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin (49), Trish Stratus (38) and Rob Van Dam (43).
– WWE Hall of Famer Edge is the latest guest on Chris Jericho’s “Talk is Jericho” podcast. The two discuss Edge’s acting career, how he first got into wrestling, and more. You can listen to the interview at PodcastOne.com.
– Here is the official Royal Rumble 2014 promo video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ml1PdbgOx1k
– WWE.com has published a video playlist of every John Cena vs. Randy Orton singles match in history, dating back to their days at OVW.
– Inactive WWE Superstar Chris “Jeritroll” tweeted the following over the weekend, teasing that he’ll be in town for tonight’s TLC PPV:
Goodbye #Fozztralia!! See you soon! Taking off for Houston… Hahah just kidding! (Or am I?)
— Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) December 15, 2013
– There has been talk over the weekend that Tons of Funk vs. R-Truth and Xavier Woods will be added to tonight’s TLC PPV. Tensai tweeted that he’ll be wrestling on the show, even though he’s not currently announced for a match.
* Candid Shots of AJ Lee’s “Assets” From WWE Live Events – Wow!
– Solomon Crowe, who recently debuted a character where he utlizes a tablet computer to seize control of the lights in the arena, laid waste to another victim Saturday night in Crystal River, Florida.
The former Sami Callihan remarked on Twitter, “The first time you hear the sirens you should run… #NXTCrystalRiver & @KnucklesMadsen just got infected… #InfectedCrowe #SongsOfSolomon.”
– Chris Jericho will be interviewing WWE Hall of Edge this week for his Talk Is Jericho podcast (available on PodcastOne.com).
– Former WWE Superstar Rene Dupree, who won the defunct World Tag Team Championship at the age of 19, turns 30-years-old on Sunday.
– The official website of 62nd Airlift Wing has published an article on last Wednesday’s Tribute to the Troops taping at McChord Field in Pierce County, Washington. The article features an aerial shot of the venue.