The following are highlights from a recent Chad Dukes Wrestling Show interview with current WWE Diva Kaitlyn:
On Total Divas: “I think it’s such a great thing for the WWE in general because like you said, it brings people that don’t normally watch, aren’t typically wrestling fans, aren’t sports entertainment fans, people that would just watch the E! network, and it kind of gives us like a broader demographic, and opens up our world to people.
“Also, people that are fans get a chance to see inside and how things work. It definitely blurs the lines of what’s reality and what’s entertainment, sometimes even for me. I didn’t really understand the concept of how this whole divas thing was gonna go down, it’s definitely very, it’s hard to get used to. You know we’re always on camera anyways on TV days and stuff, but there’s like extra cameras, E! cameras, following these girls around everywhere and sometimes it’s a little bit intrusive.
“Though, you know I found out stuff about pixelating, its extensive and time-consuming. So if you don’t want to be on camera, you just throw up a couple of gang signs, or you know something that they might have to pixelate and then boom, you don’t have to worry about being on the show. In all seriousness, it’s a really great concept bringing all kinds of new fans into our world”
On live-tweeting during RAW: “They (WWE) definitely encourage us to get out there on social media in all avenues. When I’m not on the show and I’m just backstage and I wanna be involved it’s a great way to interact with fans and kind of express our opinions of the show and our reactions and stuff like that. They don’t encourage all the things that we say but it’s our opinions and it’s a lot of fun.”
On dream opponents: “Probably Beth Phoenix if Beth ever came back. I had a couple of chances to work Beth before she retired; she helped me a lot in my career when I first started because I’d be on TV with no experience. There’s a lot of girls that helped me out along the way, AJ was one of them. I had always really, really wanted a chance to have a feud with her because we were such great friends for a long time and she taught me so much early on in my career and helped me through a lot of stuff. So that would be like a dream come true and hopefully the Chickbusters can reunite one day.
On the life and death of Cody Rhodes’ infamous mustache: “Honestly, from the moment that I first saw it…so Cody he had an injury and I didn’t see him for several weeks, he showed back up, he made a big comeback backstage, he showed up at work wearing some kind of completely out of character, like a white suit and some kind of weird white fedora and just had this creepy pencil thin mustache. And we were like, ‘Is that Cody’s evil twin,’ and Cody is the evil one so we were like, ‘Is that Cody’s good twin?’
“Slowly I was so impressed with his mustache and he kept it and it kept getting more and more character. We would be backstage or I’d be watching the matches and all of the sudden you’d hear ‘Cody’s mustache,’ an actual chant. I’m gonna come clean I actually started some of those chants, like from the corner. So I just had this love affair with his mustache, just only his mustache, the rest of him you know, give or take.
“Then it was so funny because as time went on he would have to trim it and do all that stuff and he wasn’t very good at it. So he would trim one side and then it would be a little shorter than the other side. He’d have to trim up the other side and it kept getting smaller and smaller and smaller and dangerously close to a Charlie Chaplin mustache. So when he finally shaved it off it was really sad, it was like the end of an era. I don’t know maybe he’ll bust out a soul patch.”
– The official website of Life & Style Weekly published a report today claiming that former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler has moved on to another millionaire after breaking up with actor George Clooney last month.
“She’s dating millionaire Jared Pobre, and it’s pretty serious,” said a friend of the former Miss Hancock. “She was in Europe with him and all over Italy a couple of weeks ago.”
Pobre is a tech entrepreneur based in Orange County, California, according to his LinkedIn profile.
– Cody Rhodes gets revenge on his former tag team partner and best friend, Damien Sandow, in WWE’s latest “Raw Slam of the Week.”
– Former WWE Superstars The Honky Tonk Man, Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan and the Boogeyman have been announced to appear an Ultimate Wrestling Experience event in Sports City 4141 Linglestown Rd. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, September 28.
– JTG returns to action this week on WWE Superstars—his first televised match since the April 5 show—as he takes on Kofi Kingston. Also featured is a match between Christian and Big E Langston. Highlights from both matches are available below.
– The official WWE website has posted photos of Randy Orton’s WWE Championship, including customized Viper plates.
– The official WWE website has issued a poll asking fans whether they miss Cody Rhodes’ mustache—66% say no.
-Former WWE Superstar Bill Goldberg has been announced as the first headline attraction for the WrestleCon event in New Orleans. Goldberg will appear for an autograph session and public Q&A with fans on Saturday, April 5th. For more information, visit WrestleCon.com.
-The Associated Press picked up the story of WWE Hall Of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler re-opening his museum at the new location in Tunica, Miss. You can read the story online at GulfLive.com.
-WWE is returning for the first time in over three years to the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa, Florida for a WWE SmackDown television taping on October 29th. Advertised to appear is Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan, Alberto Del Rio, Mark Henry, Big Show, The Shield, Dolph Ziggler and Christian. For more information, visit WTSP.com.
-WWE finally posted the new episode of “The JBL & Cole Show” on their official YouTube channel. This week’s edition of the show features the back-story to the shaving of Cody Rhodes’ mustache. Check it out below:
The following are interview highlights with wrestling legend “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan:
On which current WWE Superstars he feels has the ‘It Factor’ right now: “I think everybody likes Dolph Ziggler, you know I seen him back in the Spirit Squad days. You see that kid, he’s got the blonde hair and a lot of white teeth, good body, good-looking young guy. He’s the kind of guy, a marquee player that WWE looks for, like John Cena, Hulk Hogan, somebody of that nature. I think Ziggler fits that bill. Kind of an unknown hero is McGuillicutty (Curtis Axel). I think Curt’s boy, third generation wrestler, he’s got a lot to show.
On second and third generation WWE Superstars: “I think guys that grow up in the business are just a little more polished than guys like myself who came into wrestling blind. I had no idea what to expect. I think, like Jake the Snake Roberts, Ted Dibiase, your second generation wrestlers, we see even more in Cody Rhodes and Ted Junior, that they grew up in the business and have a better understanding of the show.”
On the upcoming Mid-South DVD and the territory days: “Mid-South was a great wrestling territory, as you know many of the WWF stars came out of Mid-South. It was a great training area, not only did you learn how to do your work in the ring, but you learned how to do your interviews.”
“A lot more guys were making a living wrestling and it was a great time in the business. Of course, the WWE, WWF days was better for a few unique guys but for overall wrestlers, it was good in the territory days.”
Check out the complete interview online at ChaddukesWrestlingShow.com.
-The official website of WWE recently ran a featured-piece on Cody Rhodes. The article touches upon Rhodes’ life growing up in the business as the son of “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes, and later as the brother of WWE Superstar Goldust. You can check that out online at WWE.com.
-WWE Superstar Dolph Ziggler appeared on “The Bower Show” on ESPN Radio on Thursday. Ziggler talked about his life as a WWE wrestler, his improv comedy skills, how he got started in stand-up comedy and more. You can listen to the interview online at 979ESPN.com.
-WWE Hall Of Famer Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat will be making an appearance at the Legends Of The Ring convention on October 5th. Steamboat will be signing autographs at a meet-and-greet. For more information, visit LegendsOfTheRing.com.
-Wrestling fans can officially order the new book, “Rags, Paper and Pins: The Merchandising of Memphis Wrestling” online at Amazon.com. The official synopsis for the book, written by Jim Cornette and Mark James, is as follows:
“Jim Cornette and Mark James take a look back at the origins of Professional Wrestling’s gimmick tables and merchandising in the Memphis and Tennessee territories of the 1960’s and 1970’s. These were the days before merchandising was a million dollar a year business.”
-As we reported yesterday, Tyson Kidd is set to return to WWE television sometime in September of this year. Kidd responded to the report on his Twitter account with the following tweet:
“Apparently I’m coming back in September, I really hope my knee is listening to the ‘journalists’ on the Internet……. #workhorse”
-WWE Superstar Sin Cara was backstage at the CMLL show at Arena Mexico on July 19th visiting family and friends who were at the show. This was Sin Cara’s first time back at Arena Mexico, as he was previously banned from the building after he left CMLL to sign with WWE.
-KTBC FOX 7, the local FOX affiliate out of Austin, Texas has a new one-on-one video interview up on their official website with current WWE Superstar Mark Henry. You can check that out online at MyFOXAustin.com.
-The following is the latest edition of the JBL & Cole Show from the official YouTube channel of WWE. The description for this week’s show reads: “Cody Rhodes can’t seem to get JBL’s cowboy hat off of his head – no matter which Superstar he enlists to help him…”
-Announced for next week’s edition of WWE RAW, which is the SummerSlam “go-home” (final) edition of the show, is a singles match between CM Punk and Paul Heyman.
The match was revealed during a backstage segment where Paul Heyman was told by Brock Lesnar to “tell them (the viewers) something stupid.” Heyman then responded by issuing a challenge to Punk for next week’s RAW. Heyman noted it would be a man-on-man fight, not a match, for whatever that is worth.
-Also on Monday’s RAW, the highly expected match between former partners Damien Sandow and Cody Rhodes was confirmed for the upcoming SummerSlam pay-per-view.
-Paul Heyman was spotted leaving the arena in Philadelphia on Sunday night after turning on CM Punk in the WWE “All-Stars” Money In The Bank ladder match. WWE.com attempted to speak with Heyman as he exited the building, but Heyman kept walking. Finally, Heyman turned around and yelled,
“Stay out of my personal life!”
-WWE caught up with Cody Rhodes following his crushing loss in the World Heavyweight Championship Money In The Bank ladder match on Sunday night. Rhodes didn’t have a response to Damien Sandow for turning on him and costing him the match.
Immediately after that, WWE cameras caught up with Damien Sandow. Sandow was proudly walking around with the briefcase. He noted that they have been saying, “may the best man win” and on Sunday, the best man won.
-Rosa Mendes recently noted on Twitter that WWE ring announcer Tony Chimel has lost 58 pounds — his original goal. Chimel used Rosa’s “Musclemania” program to shed the excess weight.
– In this week’s edition of The JBL & Cole Show, Cody Rhodes and WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes continuing their “Duel” storyline with John “Bradshaw” Layfield, the Prime Time Players re-enacting a scene from The Notebook, and Theodore Long and his grandson appear.
– 3MB member Drew McIntyre will be competing in singles matches during this weekend’s live event tour. He wrote on Twitter, “Reminder.Flying solo, Bismarck got a rapid reminder that Drew McIntyre is the most aggressive man in sports entertainment. Fargo you’re next.”
– Dustin Runnels, formerly known as Goldust, will appear at the Frank & Son Collectible Show 19649 San Jose Ave. City of Industry, California, this Wednesday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Call 714-496-4578 for more information.
– CM Punk attended a concert for the band Rancid on Tuesday night in Detroit. Before playing their new song, “F**k You”, band member Lars Fredericksen called CM Punk on stage and joked that the song should be his new WWE entrance theme. They also got the crowd to chant, “..1..2..3..F**K YOU PHILLIP!!” at Punk.
Here’s a picture of CM Punk on stage with Rancid in Detroit (6/11):
– This week’s episode of WWE Superstars is highlighted by Sin Cara squaring off against Michael McGillicutty, footage of which is available below. The masked wrestler returned to action last week after being sidelined since March due to a concussion suffered in a match with Jack Swagger. He made his televised return on Wednesday’s broadcast of WWE Main Event, defeating Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett in a non-title match.
Also on the show, Alex Riley goes up against Cody Rhodes. A clip from the match is available here.
– Amit Swami, who manages The Great Khali when the WWE Superstar returns to his native India, was arrested Friday for allegedly attacking a shopkeeper in Rewari.
Ajay Kumar filed complaint that Swami and other individuals barged into his shop Thursday evening, dragged him outside, and assaulted him. Swami claims that his family members had asked him to settle their domestic dispute as Kumar had been troubling them.
– Former WCW competitor Alex Wright turns 38-years-old today. Today, He is the owner of a wrestling promotion in his native Germany, New European Championship Wrestling, and still occasionally competes.
[muscletees]- Saturday Morning Slam, WWE’s children-aimed program on The CW, is officially off the air.
The CW released its schedule for this Saturday’s slate of “Vortexx” programming and Saturday Morning Slam is not listed. Instead, Dragon Ball Z Kai will air in the 10:30 a.m. time slot.
The changed had been expected as WWE ceased taping matches for the program last month. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported last week that executives of the network ordered a specific number of episodes, therefore explaining its abrupt hiatus. It is not publicly known whether the show will resume airing.
– WWE released the following video promoting this Sunday’s Extreme Rules Pre-show, which will feature a match between The Miz and Cody Rhodes. The synopsis reads, “If you’re looking for two Superstars hungry for the limelight in WWE right now, look no further than The Miz and Cody Rhodes.Both will get the chance to shine on the pay-per-view stage this Sunday when they square off in the Extreme Rules Pre-Show, streaming live at 7:30 ET/4:30 PT on WWE.com, the WWE App, YouTube and Facebook.”
– According to WrestlingFigs.com, WWE Hall of Famer George “The Animal” Steele will sign copies of his book “Animal” at Barnes & Noble Huron Village 3235 Washtenaw Ave. Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Saturday, July 15 at 7:00 p.m. Call 734-973-0846 for more information.
Cody Rhodes spoke with Pitch.com. Here are some highlights from the interview.
Shaving his mustache as a match stipulation: “I know that you can’t shave anything – your head, your facial hair. You can’t do anything like that in sports entertainment unless it’s public. I’m pretty confident you’ll see the mustache on the line somewhere down the line. Extreme Rules would be a wonderful venue for it. I don’t know if the WWE Universe would be very stoked about a mustache being on the line when the title of the pay-per-view is Extreme Rules. But I guess I extremely want to keep it.”
People staring at Daniel Bryan: “Man, from when he showed up clean-cut, all-American guy to this now, it’s ridiculous. I was on a plane with him a few days ago, and people are always staring at him. In this case, they’re just looking at how this man with this legitimate cavemanlike beard is sitting up in first class. I want to know his story.”
Being afraid of Morgan Freeman: “That was such a bizarre thing. I did an interview in London, and that’s where the challenge was laid out. A young man asked me who was a celebrity that I’d like mixing it up with, and I tried to give him an answer other than an action star. Now look what I’ve gotten myself into. Now I’m going to see Morgan Freeman somewhere down the line, and he’s going to end up cold-cocking me in the face, and I’m going to feel horrible.”
– ESPN.com has announced that WWE toy maker Mattel will be releasing the first Cody Rhodes action figure featuring the 2nd generation superstar’s beloved mustache, which you can view below:
“I did a head scan for Mattel, but I didn’t have the mustache back then. They’ll probably just draw the mustache on. You don’t need advanced technology for something so silly, but you never know – Mattel does some pretty advanced stuff. It’s pretty amazing how much the figures really look like us.”
* Photos of CODY RHODES & His Fiance, Former WWE Diva Eden Stiles
– Here’s the latest edition of the “JBL and Cole World Tour” video series from London:
Cody Rhodes recently appeared on Busted Open with Dave Lagreca and Doug Mortman, which you can hear on Sirius 92 and XM 208. Below are some highlights from his interview:
When his time will come:
“When Dolph is a world champ. This year after Money in the Bank, and Dolph is the guy who won MITB, there was this real drop off of all this momentum and moving forward and I don’t blame anyone but myself; not that something bad happened or anything like that. I hate when people say stuff like ‘the push’, it’s just a matter of sometimes, I’m never going to be patient and fans of mine I hope they know I’m not sitting there waiting, but as a company there are several superstars that whether you want them now, it’s a slow thing. It’s a slow building process and I think it’ll be all the more satisfying. I grew up a fan of Shawn Michaels. I watched the whole time. He makes it to the WM match and he doesn’t win the title. Then the next title match he goes an hour and he doesn’t win the title in the hour but they’re going to go sudden death and then he finally got the title and I was just fully satisfied as him being the greatest WM performer of all time. That’s the goal. That’s the guy I’d like to pattern myself as. I hate the fact the people said ‘you’re the future’ and we’re not there yet, but we’ll get there.”
His time working with Randy Orton in Legacy:
“We forget that Randy was 21 when he debuted on television. He had a chance to grow up with the audience. Randy was an extreme influence, still is, and we’re both now able to do our own things and initially he took me and Ted Dibiase under his wing and it wasn’t like ‘Randy is a friend of ours, he’s going to be easy on us,’ I think Randy was harder on us than even Triple H was in that whole grooming process; Legacy versus DX, then him versus Triple H and them going into Wrestlemania 25; so I will always owe him a good chunk of my career.”
– Rey Mysterio is currently rehabbing his knee and is scheduled to return to action in June, but the general feeling is that he’s entering the final stage of his in-ring career.
– Jack Swagger could have a tough road ahead when he appears in court on June 25th in Gulfport, MS. A Gulfport prosecutor is seeking the maximum punishment for his DUI charge, which would include 2 days in jail, a $437 fine for marijuana possession, a $1,300 fine for the DUI and a $188 fine for speeding.
– WWE developmental trainer Bill DeMott tweeted praise for NXT wrestler Aiden English:
– As you can imagine, Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow, Brodus Clay, Tensai, The Bella Twins and The Funkadactyls were upset about their WrestleMania 29 match being pulled from the show. Cody Rhodes in particular was very unhappy about it.
Chad Dukes of 1067theFan DC/CBS Radio and Chaddukeswrestling.com interviewed Cody Rhodes at Wrestlemania Axxess. Here are some highlights of what Cody said about:
Part-Time Wrestlers:
I love the fact that Brock, and the Rock, and Jericho are here because they’re guaranteed. They’ve proven that they can go in the ring. For Wrestlemania this year, I think it’s wonderful. I think there wasn’t any room for that celebrity involvement. Who’s a bigger celebrity than the Rock? I think it’s wonderful that he’s returning to his roots, because he loves wrestling. He loves wrestling. He loves sports entertainment too, but he loves wrestling. I dig that about the Rock.
But next year, at WrestleMania 30, it’s a personal goal – and I know Dolph (Ziggler) is the same way, Wade (Barrett) is probably the same way – that it’s not about bringing anyone back. Let these guys go home. They did everything they possibly could, let them go home. They’re going to go off into the sunset heroes and having had great matches, but new stars are moving forward. Sports entertainment has to evolve or it won’t continue.
Feuding With Goldust
Yeah, it’ll happen. I just don’t know when and I don’t know where. He doesn’t know when and he doesn’t know where, but I know it’ll happen. There are certain things, and I don’t mean to sound cocky or braggadocios, but there are certain things I know have to happen while I work for this company, and that’s one of them.
Following this week’s announcement by the International Olympic Committee that wrestling will no longer be an Olympic sport starting at the 2020 summer games, Sport Illustrated caught up with several WWE superstars to get their reactions to the news. Here are some highlights of what the following WWE superstars said:
Cody Rhodes “I’m very disappointed with the fact that they’re even considering it. This is freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. This has a rich tradition in the Olympics. I don’t even want to disparage some of the sports that they’re keeping, you just don’t do away with wrestling.”
Dolph Ziggler: “It’s hitting close to home more than usual. I know it’s not 100 percent yet but there are so many Olympic events, it’s unfortunate they’ve chosen a legitimate sport and one of the original sports ever. It’s mind-blowing that it’s even on the chopping block.”
Jack Swagger: “[Wrestling] teaches you so much about life and that’s what makes it the best sport. It teaches you discipline and dedication and how to work hard and how to sacrifice for your goals. Those are things you can apply to any area of your life, whether it’s your education or your career. Honestly, it turned me into a man.”
– This week on WWE Inbox, Cody Rhodes and others talk about submission moves that can make a grown man cry. Plus, Superstars weigh in on who has the worst fashion sense in WWE.
– The official WWE website recently removed Dawn Marie from its Alumni page.
– Former WWE Diva Eve Torres announced on Twitter that she will appear on 12 News Phoenix Arizona Thursday at 4:00 p.m. She is in Phoenix this week teaching Gracie Survival Tactics to law enforcement.
– WWE is advertising both John Cena and Triple H for the April 9th SmackDown taping from Boston, MA. Triple H appearing at a taping just 2 days after WrestleMania 29 could be another indication that he’ll be wrestling Brock Lesnar at WM29.
– The following matches will take place on tonight’s episode of WWE Main Event:
* Cameron and Naomi vs. Aksana and Tamina.
* Cody Rhodes vs. Sheamus.
* Damien Sandow vs. Daniel Bryan.
– Chris Jericho is headed down under to Australia from 2/23-3/4 to tour with his metal band, Fozzy. After Jericho gets back, he’s scheduled for almost all RAW and SmackDown tapings through WrestleManai. He then heads overseas to Europe for another Fozzy tour that begins on April 11th and runs through the end of the month.
WWE taped this week’s SmackDown on Tuesday night from Jacksonville, Florida. Here are the results:
* Big Show is shown arriving on his bus. He comes to the ring and talks about how Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez are suspended. Big Show says the recent events between he and Del Rio are Booker T’s fault, which brings out the SmackDown GM. Booker announcers Big Show vs. Kane for tonight.
* Cody Rhodes defeated Kofi Kingston.
* The Great Khali defeated Titus O’Neil.
* Mark Henry came out and destroys Khali, which the crowd loved. Henry announces the Hall of Pain is back and he wants a spot in the SmackDown brand’s Elimination Chamber match. Booker came out and announced Henry vs. Randy Orton.
* Big Show defeated Kane in a quick match.
* Alberto Del Rio is shown outside in the parking lot, where he’s taken the wheels off Show’s tour bus. Show ran out to the parking lot but gets a bunch of paint dropped on top of him from the roof. Del Rio laughed and drove off.
* Jack Swagger squashed Justin Gabriel.
* Tensai beat Drew McIntyre by DQ when 3MB attacked him. Brodus Clay made the save for Tensai.
* Antonio Cesaro beat Sin Cara.
* Mark Henry defeated Randy Orton to earn a spot in the Elimination Chamber match.
– WWE officials have been impressed with announcer Tony Dawson’s work as of late and there are plans to give him a more prominent role on television soon.
– With Team Rhodes Scholars announcing on Friday’s SmackDown that they will no longer be teaming together, it appears another WWE tag team could be splitting up soon. There has been talk of Titus O’Neil breaking off on his own, with Vince McMahon a big fan of his. Where this would leave his Prime Time Players partner Darren Young remains to be seen.
– With Rey Mysterio still making only rare WWE television appearances, Sin Cara teamed up with the Great Khali over the weekend, defeating Epico and Primo at live events over the weekend.
– There is still some buzz that Goldust could finally get his WrestleMania match against brother Cody Rhodes this year. Vince McMahon has always turned down the idea of the brother vs. brother match, but the huge reaction Goldust got at the Royal Rumble could sway things in his favor.