– A fan received a response via Twitter from Dolph Ziggler after he questioned the WWE Superstar on his reasoning for using a weapon during his title match with WWE United States Champion John Cena. Ziggler used a rake to the eye of Cena during the match, trying to win the match at any cost:
– Tonight’s new episode of WWE Rivalries, which premieres on the WWE Network live stream at 5pm EST., features a detailed look at the legendary Flair-Steamboat rivalry, one that is widely considered among the best of all-time. Below is a preview of the show.
– In Winter Haven, Florida last night Kenneth Crawford successfully cut his first WWE NXT live event promo. He made his debut in the ring a few weeks back during a battle royal. Crawford declared we were entering the “era of Ken” and that he was sent to NXT to clean it up on account of his military background. He took shots at NXT Champion Finn Balor, NXT Tag Team Champions The Vaudevillains and Tyler Breeze. Crawford is a United States Marine from North Carolina. He was signed to NXT back in April of this year with the rest of the new recruits. Crawford was a high school Athlete of the Year, however he has no wrestling experience.
– There may be a new agreement between WWE and Hulu as NXT Takeover specials are now available on the official Hulu website. The most recent “Takeover: Respect” special is already available.
– As noted earlier, Sunday would have been the 70th birthday of the late WWE Hall Of Famer, “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes. In addition to Triple H acknowledging “The Dream’s” birthday on social media yesterday, Corey Graves tweeted this one out.
Tell someone you love them today. Remember the Dream, smile, & know that "you can't roller skate in a buffalo herd."#HappyBirthdayDusty
– WWE had camera crews at the NXT live event in Winter Haven, Florida this weekend filming matches for the WWE Network show, “Breaking Ground.” They have had the same crews at the WWE Performance Center and other recent NXT live events for the same reason.
– Speaking of the NXT live event in Winter Haven, Billy Gunn made an appearance in front of the crowd and the aforementioned camera crews at the end of the show. Finn Balor invited Gunn to the ring after his match, and while Gunn declined at first, the fans in attendance eventually changed his mind. Gunn went on to hit Blake with a FameAsser before closing out the show doing the D-X routine alongside Balor and The Vaudevillains.
– Triple H posted the following on Twitter to the late Dusty Rhodes on what would have been “The American Dream’s” 70th birthday.
At Wednesday’s NXT Takeover: Respect special on the WWE Network, the first-ever “Dusty Rhodes Tag-Team Classic” tournament winners were crowned.
The teams of Finn Balor & Samoe Joe, The Mechanics, Baron Corbin & Rhyno and Chad Gable & Jason Jordan advanced to tonight’s WWE Network special, with Balor and Joe eliminating The Mechanics in the opener, and the team of Corbin and Rhyno taking out the team of Gable and Jordan to advance to the finals.
In the finals, which were held in the co-main event spot of the NXT special, Balor and Joe ended up defeating Corbin and Rhyno, who put up a good effort.
Cody Rhodes came out to do the Dusty Rhodes Tag-Team Classic Cup presentation to Balor and Joe. He mentioned that tonight everyone is a “Rhodes” member as “The American Dream” theme music played and the fans echo’d chants of “Thank You Dusty! Thank You Dusty!” to close out the first ever Dusty Classic Tournament and move on to the 30-minute “Ironwoman Match” for the NXT Women’s Champion.
– The Total Divas season finale which aired on E! earlier this week brought in 1.158 million viewers according to a report from ShowBuzzDaily.com.
This number is a large increase from the previous week’s episode which brought in an average viewership of 795,000 and is the biggest audience since August 11th which brought in 1.176 million viewers.
– Cody Rhodes was asked during an interview with the Pittsburgh Tribune on why following the death of his father Dusty Rhodes he didn’t return as himself.
“It would have been tacky, and it wouldn’t have been genuine. Many years ago, I used to watch Raw with my dad, and we watched Nitro, and we watched the PPVs. Many years ago, there was a wrestler who passed away, and his name was used pretty regularly after that on programming.
People were using it to try and draw the adulation of fans. Everyone was saying, ‘Oh, well such and such who passed away would have loved this.’ And (Dusty) told me, and this is something very few people know, `When I go, don’t ever let anybody say that about me. I left my body of work on the table already and it doesn’t need to be expanded.’ And I never forgot that. So there was never any question on who was coming back.”
Mick Foley regularly takes to his official Facebook page to discuss a variety of topics, usually involving the wrestling world and today he remembered the late Dusty Rhodes who passed away earlier this year.
Recent events have reminded me that in addition to being one of the most charismatic and entertaining performers in pro-wrestling history. Dusty Rhodes was also one its most creative; breathing life into, and instilling confidence in so many characters who crossed his path. I should know. I was one of them. Without Dusty Rhodes, my own dream ends in 1991. Because of him, and the opportunity he provided me, I was able to firmly establish myself on the national scene in 1991, and create some memories along the way. I recently re-read my 1999 book for the first time in many years – looking for stories for my one-man-show that I may have forgotten along the way. I picked up a few of them, but what I took away mostly from that reading experience is how instrumental Dusty had been in my career, and how, in one specific case, with the most important moment of my career only hours away (an epic showdown with Vader) he taught me to relax and speak from the heart; to forget about structural and grammatical mistakes in favor of real emotion. Throughout his career, Dusty was occasionally knocked for his ego – with the idea being that he was preserving his career at the expense of others. In fact, the opposite may have been true. Characters he created, using the ideas that sprung from his from his heart, and interviews he structured, sometimes including the very words from his lips, provided the backbone to a new generation that eventually pushed him out of the performing limelight. In so many cases (including my own) those whose careers had benefited from his generosity of time and spirit downplayed the importance of those gits, and in doing so, temporarily took away from the magnitude of his immense legacy. In death, he took his rightful place at the very top of the mountain; that Mt Rushmore of wrestling royalty, carved into the collective consiousness of every wrestler whose life was richer, fuller, and more productive for having crossed his path. The Dream lives on – and always will
I love this photo of the Dream, because it shows off that light in his eyes when he was onto an idea – a light I was fortunate to see many times.
The following are the brackets for the NXT “Dusty Rhodes Tag-Team Classic.” The winners of the first-round bouts will advance to the semi-finals, while the winner of Bracket A will compete against the winner of Bracket B and the winner of Bracket C will take on the winner of Bracket D.
The finals of the “Dusty Rhodes Tag-Team Classic” are scheduled to take place on October 7th at NXT Takeover from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida.
Bracket A – First Round Matches
Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady vs. Angelo Dawkins and Sawyer Fulton
Finn Balor and Samoa Joe vs. The Lucha Dragons
Bracket B – First Round Matches
Wesley Blake and Buddy Murphy vs. The Vaudevillians
Tucker Knight and Elias Samson vs. Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder
Bracket C – First Round Matches
Mojo Rawley and Zack Ryder vs. Marcus Louis and Alexander Wolfe
Jason Jordan and Chad Gable defeated Neville and Solomon Crowe (tonight)
Bracket D – First Round Matches
Rhyno and Baron Corbin defeated The Ascension (tonight)
Tyler Breeze and Bull Dempsey vs. Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa (airs next week)
NXT General Manager William Regal announced tonight that the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament will kick off next week. The opening match will be Rhyno and Baron Corbin vs. The Ascension.
Based on the recent NXT TV tapings, here are the first round matches that we’ll be seeing over the next several weeks:
Samoa Joe and Finn Balor vs. The Lucha Dragons
Rhyno and Baron Corbin vs The Ascension
Jason Jordan and Chad Gable vs. Solomon Crowe and Neville
Tyler Breeze and BullDempsey vs. Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa
During the NXT event on Saturday night, NXT General Manager William Regal announced the first ever “Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic,” which is scheduled to begin in a few weeks.
The “Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic” tournament will kick off with the September 2nd edition of NXT TV on the WWE Network. The finals of the tournament will be held at NXT Takeover on October 7th.
Regal promised that the “Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic” will be full of action and will make “The American Dream” proud.
Paul Heyman recently spoke with FOX Sports’ “The Buzz” and told a story, which he partially told on his WWE DVD, about sneaking into a NWA production meeting in the early 1980s.
“I snuck in early, sat in the back row with a baseball hat on so I wouldn’t get noticed, because I wanted to learn. I was 18 years old,” said Heyman.
From there, Heyman revealed that he ended up getting caught sneaking into the meetings by the late WWE Hall Of Famer Dusty Rhodes.
“Yes, he noticed me and called me outside the room. He said ‘what are you doing here?’ and I said ‘I’m here to learn from you.’ He said ‘You picked the right person, because I’m a super genius baby,'” Heyman said. “He told me to go back in the room. He went to the bathroom, and then came back and continued the production meeting.”
Finally, Rhodes approached Heyman later in the day and asked him what he learned from sitting in on the meeting.
“I noticed the way you formatted the show. He liked it and said the next time I was at one of the events to feel free to join his production meetings. I wasn’t there all the time because they weren’t based out of New York, and I was. But I would try to make it any time they had a pay-per-view or TV. I grabbed the bull by the horns and ended up sitting in the front row,” said Heyman.
NXT Champion Finn Balor recently spoke with Sports Illustrated’s “Extra Mustard” blog to promote next Saturday’s NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event at the Barclays Center. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On his verbal skills being the biggest knock from WWE coaches and Dusty Rhodes: “Dusty would say, ‘Finn, your work in the ring is up here, but you’re talking is down here – you’ve got to balance them out.’ He was always very straight to the point, and we had a great relationship together. I remember him saying one time, ‘Prince, you know I heard them talking about you before you came in here, and goddamn, I thought Lou Thesz was gonna walk in that door the way they talk about your work.’ I’ll never forget that, and I was very lucky to work with Dusty. He helped me incredibly with my communication, as he called it, and I learned a lot of lessons with him. ‘The Dream’ was someone who filled me with confidence the first time I walked in the door.”
On NXT being WWE’s best product right now: “Right now, NXT is the main roster. NXT is the hottest thing in wrestling. I’m not in any hurry to go anywhere else but take NXT to the next level.”
On possibly main eventing WrestleMania one day: “I started wrestling fifteen years ago, and my goal was to have just one match. I had one match, and then I wanted to have two. Then I wanted to wrestle in Japan, and I wrestled in Japan for eight years. Then I wanted to wrestle in WWE. Here I am, a year later, as NXT champ. So I don’t set long-term goals. The next goal is Brooklyn [against Kevin Owens at NXT Takeover]. But it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to think, in another fifteen years time, the odds are highly stacked in my favor about WrestleMania some day.”
WWE Hall Of Famer Harley Race recently spoke with the folks at The Two Man Power Trip Of Wrestling podcast about a number of topics related to his legendary career. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On what students take away from a Harley Race Wrestling Camp: “They are going to learn how to take care of themselves and then how to perform inside that squared circle. After that we start sticking them into the ring and see how they would look for the public. When you’ve got the physical side and that’s pretty much all the way down then the other parts will come along to you fairly easy.”
On heat with Ric Flair during his career and not wanting to drop the NWA Title: “Overall, Flair and I have had a hellishly active part of wrestling. He knows and I know that we are too old to want to get involved with this stuff now. In 1983, Flair was just starting to really get involved and I was at that point in time thinking that that he wasn’t ready but once he got really involved in the championship part of it (the business) he came along to be one of the best ever. Flair proved to me that he was a good hand in the ring and he was in there with the absolute very best so it was all pretty easy from there.”
On memories of Dusty Rhodes: “Dusty was probably one of the best interview people ever in wrestling. He could talk about anything on the face of God’s green earth and make it sound like it was extremely important. Overall, Dusty could perform in that ring as well as just about anybody. I never really had a bad performance with Dusty in any of the matches that we ever had. There are very few people that I can say that about.”
On working against Terry Funk and Dory Funk Jr. and if he has a preference between the two: “Dory was very, very good in the ring. He and Terry both were great in there but I can’t mention one without mentioning the other. Between the two of them it was just the flip of a coin, with Dory you could have a little bit better of a wrestling match. Terry was good for wrestling but he was very very good at scrambling.”
On bodyslamming Andre The Giant: “The only reservation I ever had was to have everything in the right spot at the right time and to be able to come up with him. Because you were lifting the world’s biggest athlete. It was a hell of a lot better to be on the same side as him.”
On the WWF’s national expansion and invading “his territory” during the 1980s: “By the time they had done the expansion you knew that they were going around the whole entire country. I didn’t want to get involved in fights with them or against them. I just wanted to stay Harley Race in the wrestling world, worldwide and that is what I did for a long time.”
WWE Superstar Neville recently spoke with The Straits Times about a number of topics. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On changes in his character since moving from NXT to the main roster: “NXT is incredible. The performance centre in Orlando, Florida (where recruits train) is just a fantastic facility. It’s got world-class coaches with hundreds of years of experience between them, all the facilities you need like a gym to places where you could develop your character like the promo room.
I have to give respect to the late great Dusty Rhodes who passed away recently. He was my main influence in bringing out my character. I worked with Dusty every week in the promo room. He really brought me out of my shell. Before coming to NXT, I was very much just a wrestler. Now I feel very confident as an all-round performer.”
On who influenced his in-ring style: “I remember as a child watching The Rockers and the other tag teams like the Dynamite Kid and the British Bulldog. They had a huge influence on me. The Dynamite Kid was an innovator in the ring. He was a cruiserweight and someone I looked up to very much, especially his feud with Tiger Mask. That was something revolutionary. I’ve watched it over and over again. Later on, the WCW cruiserweight guys like Rey Mysterio, Ultimo Dragon, Jushin Liger and onwards, to the Japanese junior wrestlers…they also influenced my style.”
WWE Hall Of Famer Ricky Steamboat recently appeared as a guest on the Two Man Power Trip Of Wrestling podcast. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On memories of Dusty Rhodes as the booker in the Carolinas: “I have mixed memories with Dusty. Part of it being business when I was actively wrestling and he was actively wrestling and then later on when we were both coaching and teaching at the WWE school for the up and coming wrestlers. Understanding the business part of it, he was doing a job he had to do and at the time that it was in the Carolinas back in 1984. When you are the booker or the match maker and you are also still actively wrestling, most of the guys that were bookers around most of the country at that time were no longer actively wrestling and not penciling themselves into matches. I didn’t come to realize this until a couple of months ago. I was in the Carolinas and Dusty was the new booker and Dusty was wrestling as a babyface. The way he was writing for me being one of the top baby-faces in the Carolinas and having a ton of matches against Ric Flair and it just being smart business, he was using me in a way that with him coming in, whoever I couldn’t beat he would beat. The fans would say well “Ricky couldn’t beat him, but Dusty could beat him.” So Dusty was so much better and it sort of left a bad taste in my mouth and that’s another reason why I left the Carolinas for the WWF.”
On his all-time favorite match with Ric Flair: “It wasn’t taped and we had wrestled each other so many times in Charlotte at the Coliseum. George Scott who was the booker at the time said I don’t care how you do it but you are going to put Flair over tonight. We’ve had so many one hour Broadways that we had to make it something hot. Going sixty minutes all the time, twenty-five or thirty minutes would really shock these people. But we ended up going fifty-five minutes plus and the fans were thinking we were going to go with a draw again. We had one minute left in the match before it was going to become a draw and here comes (Steamboat) making his comeback, I’m pinning Flair over and over again, with fifth-teen seconds left and Flair in the corner I charge him, he lifts my feet up and puts his feet on the second rope in the corner and the ref counts three as the announcer is counting 5,4,3..two seconds left and Flair wins by cheating with his feet on the ropes. There was a lull in the building with the fans looking at us and then they just erupted and started throwing stuff at Flair and Flair looked at me and said “we got them tonight” and rolled out of the ring.”
On adapting to different in-ring styles: “I learned early on as a babyface you had adapt to their style. Ravishing Rick Rude had his own style and his own way with a little bit of some Ric Flair-isms. But I always learned to adapt myself. A lot of guys would say that I was like a damn chameleon. It doesn’t matter who you are in the ring with, you can adjust and adapt. I could have great matches with Blackjack Mulligan, with him at 6’8′ 340 pounds and who was nowhere near the pace of a Rick Rude or Randy Savage, same as Greg Valentine, he worked very much like his father.”
On knowing you have chemistry with your opponent: “I would say yes, but I don’t know how many guys would be able to agree with me. There are certain guys that you know when you lock up with each other that after the first couple of minutes you know there is something there . But it’s a double edged sword because believe me there were a couple of guys that we locked up and couple of minutes later I didn’t want to be in the ring with him. You can feel greatness in the ring. You can get two guys that gel together and it’s just like poetry or a work of art.”
On Jake “The Snake” Roberts and the infamous DDT on Saturday Night’s Main Event: “Pulling the mat away and exposing the cement floor and being dropped in the DDT is very dangerous and it ended up being dangerous for me that night. I’m going to say it was a timing issue. If my memory serves me right whenever Jake would suck you in and pull you underneath his arm he would always look at the crowd for a moment and then drop you. In that moment you show that this is the end for this guy and he would have a little snicker on his face and a little bit of an attitude and then drop you. But as soon as he sucked me in he dropped me and I was waiting for that pause. The unfortunate thing that happened is that what everybody suspects when he does do the move YES when it happened my head did meet the cement and they took me away with a bad concussion. Part of my head swelled up so bad and ballooned out and I know I got in front of the camera with it but I cannot find any pictures of what my face looked like because it looked distorted.”
On the rematch that never happened with “Macho Man” Randy Savage at WrestleMania IV: “In the locker room I was looking at the brackets. Randy of course goes on to win the championship. In the first round I had Greg Valentine and I was just assuming I’m going to get a win over him and Randy and I will have a return from the WrestleMania 3 match and the fans will be very very curious in wanting to see that. It was a big surprise to me that it never came out that way. I never went to Vince or any of the upper people in the company to ask why because I wasn’t that kind of guy. I always felt that whatever I was asked to do that my ability in the ring would speak for itself. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of politics in our business and there were guys that have the boo-hoo face because they weren’t getting there hand raised that night. Wins or loses didn’t matter to me, my worry was did the match get over? That was my priority. So I didn’t know who was going to win the championship, I just knew I wasn’t. I thought I would be with Randy in the second round and return the honors and that we were going to tear it down and GOD help the ones that follow that match.”
Check out the complete interview at Podomatic.com.
Cody Rhodes has published an emotional letter to his late father, the “American Dream” Dusty Rhodes.
Cody tells the story of what inspired him to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a professional wrestler, his goal to capture the WWE Championship and deliver it to his parents, memories of being his father’s sidekick and what’s next for him as he continues on his own journey.
MVP recently appeared as a guest on the Kevin Gill Show, where he spoke about a number of noteworthy topics. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On CM Punk in UFC: “I think it’s awesome. I respect the fact that it’s something he want’s to do and something that he pursues and is pursuing. That’s not a joke. You don’t step in that cage half assed. I compete in Jiu Jitsu, i do tournaments, I grapple. But I don’t get elbow smashed in the face. I have immense respect… Punk and I have always been cool going back to the indies and I dig the fact that he is doing something so totally out of the box… and well it’s really not that out of the box, except for the fact that he doesn’t have that life tip of grappling or standup behind him. From a business standpoint, what a great move for Dana White! Awesome. You’re gonna get brand new eyes on the product, that probably weren’t watching before, in the case of professional wrestling fans, and you create that curiosity factor. Even people who are (like)”I Just wanna see this”… and what if he wins? What if he is good? What if he does discover his second nature? I’m proud of the dude. Go for it! Live your life!”
On Dusty Rhodes: “Every time he saw me he always had a hug and a kiss for me. Which is weird. Cuz i’ll give a bro hug, but i’m not into dudes kissing me. But with Dream, I didn’t flinch, I didn’t wince, it felt like a hug and a kiss from dad. He actually introduced me a few times as his darkest son. He would say ‘come over here baby, and give me some sugar.. This is my darkest son right here…'”
On positive mental attitude: “I remember the day I got out of prison. I went in when I was 16, I came home when I was 26. I did 9 and half years in the Florida state prison system. I had this new attitude. Never again in life will I have a bad day, I’ll just have days I can make better. My worst day out here, is better than my best day in prison. The day I got out, I had spent over a third of my life in prison. It allowed me to see the world from a different perspective and say, Ok: Going forward these are the eyes I wanna look through: of positive mental attitude. I applied that, and of course, life is about peaks and valleys and when you hit those broke, hungry, starving wrestler trying to make it… some of those valleys kinda suck.. but when you get to those peaks, you enjoy them that much more.”
On first time match with Matt Cross at the Gathering of the Juggalos: “I know some of the boys that have been there. I’ve heard stories about it which is why I’ve always wanted to go. Just the stories i’ve heard.. YEAH Sign me up, I want to check that out. I’m looking forward to it. I’m up for the challenge. I know that M-Dogg Matt Cross is a pretty impressive athlete, and with his ability and my ability I’m sure we’ll put on a great show. Those fans are there to have a great time, we’re gonna have a good time!”
– While Stardust (Cody Rhodes) was back at television this week, WWE decided not to use him. The belief is that WWE isn’t ready to turn Stardust babyface, and due to the fact that he is Dusty Rhodes’ son and people probably won’t want to “boo” him, they are waiting to bring him back.
– At one point, a few of the NXT Divas, Charlotte being one we can confirm specifically, were scheduled for this past Monday’s edition of WWE RAW. This wasn’t the first time NXT Divas were set to make their main roster debuts only for plans to be changed. As noted recently, Charlotte and Sasha Banks are expected to be brought up to the main roster in time for SummerSlam, and they are likely to be involved in the Paige vs. Team Bella angle, siding with Paige.
– The following is a clip from the Dusty Rhodes tribute that aired on the WWE Network after Monday’s edition of RAW. In the clip below, Arn Anderson talks about Ric Flair’s rivalry with Rhodes outside the ring.
– WWE posted the following Total Divas preview clip, which shows Eva Marie training with Brian Kendrick.
– WWE and Mountain Dew are giving away two trips to this year’s WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view event at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York with their new “#WWExDEW Sweepstakes.” Full details on the contest are available at WWE.com. Below is a video of Dolph Ziggler promoting the contest.
– UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey indicated on Instagram that former WWE Diva Eve Torres, who is now the wife of Jiu-Jitsu instructor Rener Gracie, has given birth to her first child. Rousey wrote the following: “She is so beautiful!!! Congratulations @evetorresgracie and @renergracie can’t wait to meet the newest Gracie!”
– Ric Flair, Goldust and Stardust are all backstage at WWE RAW in Chicago, Illinois tonight. The three are likely there for the post-RAW live tribute to “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes.
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently updated his official Q&A section. Below are some of the highlights.
On if WWE is trying to hurt ROH by putting NXT special on same day as ROH’s special: “No, I don’t. It’s also the same time as my show at the Gramercy Theatre. It’s just business.”
On if they are trying to hurt JR’s one-man show, which is also the same day as the NXT Brooklyn special: “It’s just business and NXT having a prime time show on Saturday Aug 22 was expected. We can always go earlier in the day if the promoter feels we need to do so. That will be addressed this week.”
On if WWE should hire Superstar Billy Graham for Dusty Rhodes’ old job in NXT: “I always pull for Billy but I don’t know the status of his health which would be an issue. Billy was one of the great talkers of all time without question.”
On if it’s more important to improve in the ring or on the mic: “Hardest skills to master are on the mic.”
On advice he would give anyone trying to get into broadcasting: “Get practical experience in any form of broadcasting and production that you can. Go to college and graduate with the proper broadcasting degree and continue to gain experience in any field that’s available and build a good reel of your work. Then get experience in fields other than wrestling before you attempt to enter that world.”
On his rumored issues with Big Show: “He’s mistaken as it relates to me never thinking much of him because I did. As a matter of fact I thought, and still do, a great deal of Show. We were concerned about his weight and how he was going to withstand the WWE schedule and wanted to protect his health and our investment. Vince McMahon and I decided to sent him to OVW was the right thing to do. Ironically, show and I have never had a conversation on this matter in all the years that I’ve known him but perhaps it makes for good content on a podcast. The “he wasn’t one of my guys” line is also inaccurate.”
Read more JR Q&A updates at his official website, JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
WWE Hall Of Famer Ron Simmons recently spoke with the folks at Slam! Wrestling. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On being the first black World Champion: “At that particular time, I didn’t even focus on being the first African-American. My only goal was to become World champion. That was the only thing on my mind, to have the opportunity to win that belt. As time went on, I started thinking of the significance of it and it is more than I thought it would be. Even to this day, people tell me the impact it had on their life.”
On Dusty Rhodes: “I started in Florida Championship Wrestling and he had more of an impact on my career than anyone, but Hiro Matsuda. When I was told about his passing, it was like if time had stopped, I couldn’t believe it. The last time I saw him was during the WrestleMania weekend. He was such a great guy. He always wanted to make sure that you remembered the fundamentals, the basis of what the business was built around. He always told me to never become too big to forget about the people, to always stay in touch with the people. He wasn’t the greatest worker on Earth, but he was so good talking to people.”
On helping The Rock in The Nation of Domination: “That’s how he got his identity. They didn’t know what to do with him. I was able to help The Rock get over on the mic, to help him with his personality, with some of his catchphrases. He got a lot of this from me and I was glad to help giving him an identity.”
“It was just a matter of time before he found his niche, his own identity. He had tried to come along and do stuff that his family background was doing. They didn’t want a younger version of High Chief Peter Maivia. They wanted him to find his own identity and being himself. And that’s when he took off. It makes me feel good I had a little to do in this.”
On his “DAMN!” catchphrase: “Let’s just say I’d jump off the top rope and I’d sprain an ankle or I would miss a move or something, and the first thing I’d yell out was ‘Damn!’ and the people in the first few rows could hear me say that. Every time I was coming back to a city, the fans would notice that every time something would go wrong, I would say ‘Damn!’ and as I kept coming back to each of the cities, I noticed that they would all start chanting ‘Damn!’ One day I asked Bradshaw what they were doing.
“I think they’re talking about you,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, every time you do something and it’s not right you say ‘Damn!’ and that’s what they’re saying.”
“The writers picked up on that too. So we were in Chicago and Booker T and John Cena were doing something and they asked me to just walk on stage and after Cena was done talking just to say ‘Damn!’ and see the response. And it got over with the fans. You never know what people are gonna like, right?”
– As previously reported, immediately following RAW tomorrow night, the WWE Network will air a one hour live special where WWE Superstars and Legends will talk about Dusty Rhodes.
PWInsider are noting that one of the legends WWE plan on bringing to Chicago for the live special is WWE Hall of Famer, Ric Flair.
– This coming Tuesday on the WWE Network a new episode of “The WWE List” will air at 4:30pm EST looking at “the Royalist of Superstars that WWE has ever been graced with!”
– Michael Cole noted during the WWE’s “Beast in the East” special yesterday that Nikki Bella has begun her campaign to become the longest reigning Divas Champion in WWE History. S
She posted the following on Instagram after her match with Paige and Tamina:
https://instagram.com/p/4vBmJLCkCH/
The photo had the following caption:
What an honor defending and retaining my Divas Championship in Tokyo. On the road to 300 days. Through jet lagged and injuries I gave it all I had last night and I succeeded. Couldn’t have done it without my #BellaArmy support. We stand strong and proud! Love you! ???????? #DivasChamp #FearlessNikki #FearlessDivasChampion #RoadTo300Days #WWETokyo #Repost
This coming Monday (July 6th), immediately following RAW which is being held in Chicago, Illinois, the WWE Network will host a live special looking at the life of Dusty Rhodes.
The synopsis reads: “Live from Chicago, WWE celebrates the life and career of Dusty Rhodes, as told by WWE Legends and Superstars.”
According to a report by PWInsider, Cody Rhodes (Dusty’s son) who is currently known as Stardust is set to return at the TV tapings next week so it’s possible he’ll be at the show.
