Posts Tagged ‘Hulk Hogan’

Hulk Hogan Strongly Endorses Kevin Owens, Talks Tough Enough & WWE Performance Center

WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan recently spoke with Rolling Stone to promote tonight’s WWE Tough Enough premiere on the USA Network.  When asked about Tough Enough being an opportunity for average people to become WWE Superstars, Hogan said it’s a sign of how much times have changed since his days breaking into the business.

“If you would have told me ten years ago that this was an avenue to make it into this business, I would have said you were nuts,” Hogan said. “When I came up, it was riding in the car 2,000 miles a week, wrestling for 15 bucks a night, paying your dues and learning your craft on the road. But the Performance Center has turned out some of our top stars; it’s proven that this formula works, so I’m excited that I’ve been reeducated to find the next WWE Superstar or Diva.””

He said the WWE Performance Center is, “pretty hardcore, brother” and put over the world class training facility, the promo classes and the “one-stop shop” nature of it.

Hogan also gave a very strong endorsement to NXT Champion Kevin Owens.

“Kevin actually reminds me of one of the older wrestlers of the late Seventies, some of those guys that didn’t have the build, but they would scare you if you met them at a bar. What hooked me about him was that I was watching a match of his on NXT and I found myself disassociated with being in the moment, all of a sudden I started watching him and he made me believe again. I watched real close, and there were no holes in his boat – his punches, his kicks, everything he did looked like it was killing the guy, which it probably was. He caught me with my guard down and he made me a believer again, he hooked me. He’s got that look, man; that demeanor and that swagger.”

Hulk Hogan Says There’s A 50% Chance He Wrestles At WrestleMania 32

WWE Hall of Famer spoke with FoxSports.com this week as part of a “20 Questions” feature to promote the new season of Tough Enough. Here are some highlights:

– Hogan said there’s a 50/50 chance he’ll be getting back in the ring at WrestleMania 32 next April.

– When asked which current WWE Superstar he’d like to give a leg drop to, Hogan named WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins.

– Hogan picked the late Rick Rude as the wrestler not currently in the WWE Hall of Fame who should be inducted.

– Hogan’s “Mount Rushmore of Wrestling” would include himself, Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, and Andre the Giant.

– If he could appear on any other reality show besides Tough Enough, Hogan said Total Divas.

– Besides “Real American,” Hogan named Vince McMahon’s “No Chance” as his favorite WWE theme song.

– As for his top bucket list item, Hogan said he wants to see both of his children be successful and happy.

Check out the full feature at FoxSports.com.

Hulk Hogan On His Biggest Accomplishment, Lessons He’s Learned & More

Biz Journals recently spoke with WWE Hall Of Famer Hulk Hogan to promote the upcoming premiere of the new season of WWE Tough Enough. Below are some highlights from the interview:

On three business lessons he’s learned: “Save your money, save your money and save your damn money.”

On the biggest accomplishment of his career: “My biggest accomplishment is staying relevant for 35 years because a lot of guys will be in this business for five years, 10 years, 20 years, but I had a really great run and had to stay relevant. I changed characters a few times and did reality TV and a bunch of different TV series. I never dreamed at 61 years young that I would still be here.”

On the biggest business challenge he’s faced and what he learned from it: “Making the transition from actually wrestling to trying to figure out how to generate revenue without physically getting in the ring. I had to figure out how to use my brand and exploit the 35 years of goodwill with the world and turn that into a money making machine. Once you wrestle main events for 30 years and all of a sudden it’s taken away from you because physically you can’t do it, reality sets in and you have to figure out how to reinvent yourself. I made that transition out of survival. I went through a crazy divorce, I had a huge $60 million civil suite from an accident and my body shut down on me for two years — I had nine back surgeries. I had to figure out how to take the brand, make it work and do stuff I wasn’t used to doing such as open other businesses and other ventures.”

Check out the complete interview at BizJournals.com.

Photos: WWE Superstars & Divas Wish “Happy Father’s Day”

– In honor of WWE’s new “The List” show on the WWE Network, the official Twitter account for WWE is asking fans to nominate who they feel has the craziest family in WWE. You can check out the tweet below.

– Speaking of Father’s Day, below are some tweets from WWE performers who wish their fathers a “Happy Father’s Day.”

Hornswoggle

Darren Young

The Miz

https://twitter.com/mikethemiz/status/612664188104781825

Natalya

Eden

John Cena

The Usos

Kevin Owens

https://twitter.com/FightOwensFight/status/612648442964385792

Triple H

Hulk Hogan

The Rock

Justin Gabriel Skydiving (Video), Hulk Hogan/Tough Enough, More

– WWE Hall Of Famer noted on social media on Friday that he is in Orlando, Florida doing promotional work for the upcoming new season of WWE Tough Enough. “The Hulkster” tweeted the following.

– SEScoops.com reader Danny Warren sent along the following video clip that features former WWE Superstar Justin Gabriel making history as he jumps out of an airplane to discuss his Canadian Wrestling’s Elite debut for the “Fear Factor Tour.” For more on CWE, visit their official website at CWECanada.ca.

You can check out the Gabriel skydiving clip below.

Hogan/Gawker Lawsuit On “Good Morning America,” ESPN Honors Dusty Rhodes

– Mainstream sports news outlet ESPN paid tribute to the late, great “American Dream” Dusty Rhodes during a SportsCenter segment. The hosts of the show, Jay Harris and Robert Flores, both shared their own personal memories of Rhodes during the segment, which you can watch at ESPN.com.

– The Gawker-Hulk Hogan lawsuit was covered on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Friday. The segment, which featured an interview with Hogan’s attorney, was introduced by Robin Roberts. As previously reported, Hogan is suing Gawker for $100 million over the sex tape, which involved Hogan and Bubba The Love Sponge’s now ex-wife. The trial begins on July 6th.

CM Punk Trashes Hulk Hogan Again

CM Punk has once again trashed Hulk Hogan over his alleged love for the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning.

Punk was doing coverage during yesterday’s Chicago Blackhawks Stanley Cup victory parade for CSN Chicago and blasted Hogan for appointing himself as a spokesperson for the Lightning when he doesn’t even know their team captain’s name.

When Hogan’s name came up and Punk was told Hogan is a big Tampa Bay Lightning fan, Punk disagreed.

“No he’s not,” Punk said. “That’s the problem I have with that. If I’m a Lightning fan, I’m embarrassed they hitched their wagon to a guy like that. Doesn’t know Stamkos’s name, the captain’s name. Icing to him is something he eats three times a day.”

“My love for hockey supersedes anything else and I would just like to see people tune in and understand the game and appreciate the game for what it is. You put something on there like that, it kind of lowers it a little… If I’m a Lightning fan, I want someone to better represent my team. They’re a hell of an organization. That paints them in the wrong light.”

Hulk Hogan Sex Tape Could Cost Gawker $100 Million

The Hulk Hogan sex tape that Gawker Media published back in 2012 could cost the company up to $100 million and force company founder Nick Denton to sell the company or seek outside investors, according to Capital New York and Business Insider.

Gawker published clips of a leaked sex tape featuring Hogan and Heather Clem (then wife of his friend Bubba the Love Sponge). Hogan sued Gawker later that year.

In a meeting with the Gawker staff earlier this month, Denton said:

“I have way, way less money than people think! … I don’t have hundreds of millions of dollars to kind of bail the company out. If we are in an environment with higher business risk and higher legal risk, then the company is going to need somebody with deeper pockets and hopefully principles in order to keep it both commercially viable and editorially viable.”

Gawker founder Denton told Business Insider the likelihood of the lawsuit sinking his company is “unlikely but possible.”

The Hollywood Reporter has also published a story looking at why Hulk Hogan is likely to lose his lawsuit against Gawker.

Total Divas Preview Videos, Mysterio/Foley Note, Update On The Kliq DVD

– Rey Mysterio’s next match in the United States will be on Saturday, August 22nd. Mysterio will be working the Pro Wrestling Syndicate event in Sayreville, New Jersey. Mysterio will team with Habib from The Car Wash to take on the team of Matt Macintosh and The Amazing Red. Mysterio will also be taking part in a Meet & Greet with Mick Foley as well.

– The following matches will be included in WWE’s new “The Kliq Rules” DVD and Blu-ray set, which is scheduled to come out on July 28th.

Shawn Michaels and Diesel vs. The 123 Kid and Razor Ramon, WWF Action Zone 10/30/1994
The Bad Guys vs. The Teamsters, Survivor Series 1994 Elimination Match
Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and X-Pac vs. Kane, The Rock and Hulk Hogan, SmackDown 3/28/2002

– E! released the following new promotional videos for the return of WWE Total Divas. The new season of the show is scheduled to begin on July 7th.

https://youtu.be/dMCv7R2c1tA

https://youtu.be/inWzWoZCYaA

CM Punk Calls Hulk Hogan A Piece Of Garbage: “Shut The F Up Or I’ll Wreck You”

Former WWE Champions Hulk Hogan and CM Punk have been exchanging trash talk on Twitter since Monday night. Punk and Hogan are supporting opposing teams in the NHL Stanley Cup Finals, with Punk’s Chicago Blackhawks taking on Hogan’s Tampa Bay Lightning.

Punk took offense to comments Hogan made about the Blackhawks, calling Hogan a hack and saying, “Shut the f*ck up or I’ll wreck you.”

Here’s their latest exchange:

Punk then cut this promo on Hogan, calling him a piece of garbage and saying the Tampa Bay Lightning should be ashamed to be associated with him:

Doc Gallows On Hulk Hogan Inspiring Him, Aces & Eights, His TNA Departure

Doc Gallows recently appeared as a guest on Main Event Madness Radio, which airs Thursday nights at 9:30pm EST. at MainEventMadness.com, to talk about a number of topics. Below are some highlights from the interview.

On what got him into wrestling: “Yeah absolutely, I first saw pro wrestling on television when I was 8 years old, I saw Hulk Hogan and I was obsessed ever since. I was a serious life long fan, from the magazines, to the toys, to the posters, to dragging my dad all over the place to take me to see pro wrestling, you know I knew that’s not only what I want to do, but had to do, and I ended up leaving a football scholarship to pursue it on my own. So I kinda went back on a deal with my dad, once I finished, he would pay for any wrestling school in the country but I offered to try to do it on my own, and started traveling the independent circuit when I was 18 years old, and I did that for about 3 years until I was eventually signed with WWE’s developmental system.”

On working in TNA, Aces & Eights and his departure: “I went to Ring Ka King in India and worked for Jeff Jarrett, as a biker character, and then the opportunity came up to form Aces and Eights, and I took the contract in TNA. Yea it was fun, TNA was fun, I was working with a lot of my friends, a lot of really good guys, the new contracts came up, and it was a business decision on my behalf, and maybe on their behalf too, and I wasn’t sure where I’d land up next.”

“[Talking about Aces & Eights] Well Aces &Eights was cluttered, it was a little under produced, and the creative direction I guess was there at first, but then maybe there was some internal stuff, and then there wasn’t as much creative direction. All we could do was make the best of it and have a good time, because you had some veterans mixed with some young guys, and you just had to make the best of it. The coolest thing I got to do was like you know, do stuff with guys I grew up on, like wrestling sting on pay-per-view, and getting to do a couple big beat downs on him, and doing some stuff with Hulk Hogan, and that’s just cool stuff we did, because a few years before that i never thought I’d ever do anything with Sting or Hulk Hogan, but the opportunity came up, and it’s just one of those little things for me personally that was a really good time, it was like kinda coming full circle from being 10 and playing with these guys figures on my bed, to being out there, trading punches with them.”

Hulk Hogan Continues To Tease A Retirement Match At WrestleMania 32

WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan continues to tease a return to the ring. Hogan appeared on ESPN’s SportsCenter on Monday to promote his appearance at today’s Special Olympics Torch Rally and was asked about the possibility of competing at WrestleMania 32 at AT&T Stadium next year. Hogan said,

“I would love to get back in there and have that one last match, that retirement match, that World Title shot, whatever it is.”

“Vince McMahon is taking the entire WWE Universe to AT&T Stadium for this coming WrestleMania. And I know they’re going to break my record [WM3]. So, I told Vince if I can get in shape, if I can pass the physical, I would love to get in the ring one more time.”

Comment below and tell is if you’d like to see Hogan back in the ring one more time – and if you think a Hogan retirement match would help WWE break 100,000 people for next year’s Mania.

Hulk Hogan In The Expendables 4?, Update On Chris Jericho Getting Hacked

AVClub.com is reporting that Hulk Hogan told fans at the Body Power Expo in the United Kingdom earlier this week that he’s been in talks with Sylvester Stallone about appearing in “The Expendables 4” movie. Hogan is reportedly in talks to play a villain in the film, one described as “the most evil man in the world.”

– On Monday, Chris Jericho’s Twitter and Instagram accounts were hacked. After getting help from WWE and other social media savvy people, Jericho was able to recover both accounts. Unfortunately, Jericho’s Instagram account continued to get attacked on Tuesday, but everything appears to be back in working order right now.

The Rock Talks About His Hollywood Success, Advice He Gave Roman Reigns

Part-time WWE performer The Rock recently spoke with Sports Illustrated’s “Extra Mustard” site. Below are some highlights from the interview.

On being part of the “holy trinity” with Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan, but being the one to thrive in Hollywood: “It’s hard. It’s hard work. That’s the key, but it’s not that those guys don’t work hard. For whatever reason, it just kind of worked out for me. That’s the only answer I can give. I’ve had incredible matches with those guys and I’m good buddies with those guys, especially Austin. I know that they put their heart and soul into everything they do. Think about the matches and the tours I had with Austin. He is probably, if not the greatest of all time. There is a wiring in his head, which is, ‘I’m going out, I’m going to take it, and I’m going to be the best.’ He was my mentor, by the way, back when I was this young buck. With a top guy like Austin or Undertaker, you only get to work with them if they say it’s cool. For Austin to say it’s cool to have The Rock work with him is one thing, but he also wanted me to main event WrestleMania with him. He took me under his wing, taught me a hell of a lot, and I’ll never forget it.”

On Roman Reigns and the reaction he received at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view: “I wasn’t surprised by the reaction at all. That’s the beauty of Philly. I have felt that from Philly on both ends, as a heel and a baby face. Roman was getting booed in every city, and I just knew – we all knew – well, Philly was going to be worse.

“The only advice I gave Roman was that you just need to stay the course. It’s a unique dynamic and relationship that you have with the fans in wrestling. They’re passionate, just like you’re passionate, but they know it’s a work, just like you know it’s a work. It’s this fine balance you have to find between just staying the course and continue to cut your teeth every night by putting in good performances.”

On Vince McMahon and “San Andreas” director Brad Peyton: “This will be the only time that Brad Peyton’s name will ever be mentioned in the same sentence as Vince McMahon. Vince has been a mentor and a father figure to me. I met him when I was eleven years old. Even still today, I appreciate the relationship we have. It’s a real cool father-son dynamic, and especially as I get older, I can appreciate the relationship today better than when I was a punk 25-year-old kid. But here is the connective tissue between Brad Peyton and Vince McMahon – they come to work every single day like it’s their first day on the job and they will outwork every single person in the building. Vince’s work ethic at 70, or however old he is, is just crazy. He’s squatting 500 pounds at one o’clock in the morning. Not that Brad Peyton is squatting 500 pounds, but they both want to excel, raise the bar, and go beyond expectations.”

Check out the complete interview at SI.com.

New Details On The Format & Plans For The New WWE Tough Enough

The format of the returning WWE Tough Enough reality show is going to be completely revamped compared to past seasons.

There will be training and in-house footage shot during the week, which will air on the Tuesday show. So when you watch an episode, the training and drama in the house we see will be from the previous week, very similar to The Ultimate Fighter season that they tried to do semi-live, as well as the UFC Primetime and “Embedded” specials which they try to keep up-to-date.

The television show will air each Tuesday, with footage shot during the week as well as a live show in front of a studio audience.

While Chris Jericho is scheduled to be the host of the show, it’s said that he will have somewhat of a “Ryan Seacrest role,” and won’t be hosting the show in the style that WWE had “Stone Cold” Steve Austin do several years ago.

As far as the rest of the cast, Hulk Hogan, Paige and Daniel Bryan will serve as panelists, mentors and judges, while Booker T, Billy Gunn and Lita will serve as the actual trainers for the contestants. Each week on the show there will be a judges vote and an audience vote to decide who goes home.

WWE has reportedly gone out of their way to recruit certain people to be cast members on the show, including Tessa Blanchard, daughter of WWE Hall Of Famer Tully Blanchard. It’s also said that they badly wanted Moose on the show.

Apparently WWE is telling people that they are recruiting to be on the program that they will be guaranteed a spot on the show, however the actual winner of the season will not be pre-determined and will be completely legitimate based on the fan voting.

(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

Update On Steve Austin/WWE, Next Three Guests For Austin’s WWE Network Podcast Revealed

Steve Austin and WWE are officially back in business together, with his “Stone Cold Podcast” returning to the WWE Network on June 1st with special guest Paul Heyman.

The show will air on the night after the free month of May ends, as historically, the two most-watched shows in WWE Network history, aside from live pay-per-view events, were Austin’s two podcasts with Vince McMahon and Triple H.

Apparently Austin and WWE working together again came as a result of whatever issue Vince McMahon had being mended somehow.

One of the other reasons Austin is coming back is because of the busy schedule of Chris Jericho. Between hosting Tough Enough, doing house shows and touring with Fozzy, Jericho won’t be available to do podcasts on the WWE Network as often as might be necessary.

After Heyman, Austin’s next three guests on the WWE Network podcast will be Sting, The Undertaker and Hulk Hogan.

(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

The Undertaker To Appear On Steve Austin’s WWE Network Podcast

Last night, WWE announced that Paul Heyman will be Steve Austin’s guest on the next installment of the Stone Cold Podcast, which airs live on the WWE Network on June 1st immediately following RAW.

WWE sent out a press release today touting the Stone Cold Podcast, revealing that The Undertaker, Hulk Hogan and Sting will also be sitting in the hot seat in the coming months.

WWE’s upcoming book about The Undertaker is scheduled for a November 3rd release, so Monday, November 2nd could very well be the day the Texas Rattlesnake and The Dead Man go face to face one more time.

Here’s the official word:

“Stone Cold” Steve Austin will host Stone Cold Podcast, Live!, a no-holds-barred, in-your-face monthly interview series beginning Monday, June 1 at 11 p.m. ET on the award-winning WWE Network, with special guest Paul Heyman.

Each month immediately following Monday Night Raw, which airs on USA Network, the WWE Hall of Famer will sit down with the biggest names in WWE including Hulk Hogan, The Undertaker, Sting and other celebrities from the world of sports and entertainment for an exclusive interview on WWE Network.

“If you’re ready for the Stone Cold Podcast, give me a ‘Hell Yeah!’,” said “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.

Photos: Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, Hulk Hogan & Others At NBCUniversal Upfronts

WWE had a large presence at the NBCUniversal “Upfronts” in New York City on Thursday.

Representing WWE at the NYC upfronts were Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, Chris Jericho, Hulk Hogan, Roman Reigns, Titus O’Neil, The Bella Twins, Eva Marie and Natalya.

Below are photos of the WWE Superstars and Divas at the NBCUniversal Upfronts:

Editorial: WWE Has Successfully Elevated The IC & US Titles

With all the things you can criticize WWE for these days, the company should be commended on doing an excellent job in elevating their secondary championships.

If you flashback to around this time last year, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship was virtually ‘on ice,’ only being defended on major pay-per-view events due to the champion at the time — Brock Lesnar — working under a special, limited-date contract.

Now, at the time, you could make sense of it, and even Vince McMahon himself did when asked about the topic during his interview on the short-lived “Steve Austin Show” live WWE Network podcast, as he pointed to the fact that having Lesnar defend the biggest title in the company on an infrequent basis made World Title matches feel that much more important.

Fast forward to the present day, and when it comes to championships in WWE — all systems are “go.”

First and foremost, we finally have a fighting WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Sure, the storyline surrounding Seth Rollins, the current world champion, is that he chickens away from ‘the big fight.’ At the end of the day, however, the bell eventually rings, the referee raises the golden belt up high, and two or more competitors end up vying for the richest prize in all of sports entertainment.

Now, move down one level to the two secondary championships. For the longest time, the WWE United States Championship and the WWE Intercontinental Championship, for all intents and purposes, were viewed as a total joke by the WWE Universe — and rightfully so.

Not anymore.

WWE came up with a great idea heading into WrestleMania 31 this year — put more significance behind their secondary titles. First, slap the U.S. title belt around John Cena’s waist. In a bit of irony, it was Cena who really launched his career off of his first U.S. title run, so in a story-telling fashion, his story comes full circle.

So, basically, WWE decided that now that they want to elevate some new blood into the top spots in the company, they decided to put one of their secondary titles — in this case the U.S. title — on arguably the biggest star in the company today.

On the flip side of the coin, when it comes to the WWE Intercontinental Championship, WWE decided to put that belt on the most popular wrestler in terms of the fans — the leader of the “Yes! Movement,” Daniel Bryan.

And that brings us to Monday’s WWE Payback ‘go-home’ edition of RAW.

After being unable to defend his WWE Intercontinental Championship against Bad News Barrett at the recent WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view as originally scheduled, WWE played the waiting game to find out how the latest round of the Daniel Bryan injury-bug would work out. As it turns out, whatever Bryan is going through is serious enough that WWE felt they had no choice but to have him surrender the Intercontinental Title on live television, much like they had him do shortly after he won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XXX last year.

The idea behind his forefitting of the title last night was where the plan regarding secondary titles in WWE remains in tact. The reason given by Bryan, delivered in a passionate way I should add, was that the WWE Universe deserves a fighting champion. A top contender who deserves the right to bust his ass day-in and day-out, city-to-city, state-to-state, country-to-country and even continent-to-continent, all for the right to try and earn what is now once again slowly being viewed as a title of importance. One of value. One worth fighting to obtain.

Where WWE goes next with the Intercontinental Championship in particular remains to be seen in terms of how far they are willing to go to try and elevate the perceived importance of the title.

Basically put, the company can go one of two ways, as I see it. You can follow the mandate that they have been following since this year’s WrestleMania, which is find the most over performer with the fans, give him the I-C title, and try and get the belt over that way, so that in the future, the belt can make the man, as opposed to the current formula, where the man makes the belt.

Their second option is to try and do the opposite. Put the title on an up-and-comer who has the goods to deliver, but just needs something to put him over the edge so he is viewed as a bigger deal than he already is. Names like Neville and Sami Zayn come to mind.

Zayn, depending on his injury, would make a great impact on the main roster by giving U.S. Champion John Cena all he could handle — with an injury no-less, in his first high-profile match on RAW since having his run as NXT Champion in WWE’s developmental system, and then go on to win the next high-profile match he is in and become the brand new WWE Intercontinental Champion.

Keep reading on Page 2 …

Hulk Hogan Won’t Sign Autographs, Renee Young’s Upcoming Guests, Jerry Lawler Day

– WWE broadcast member Renee Young noted on social media that one of her upcoming guests on her “Unfiltered” show on the WWE Network will be “King” Bad News Barrett. As noted, Young’s guest on Monday’s edition of the WWE Network show will be Wiz Khalifa.

– Saturday was officially “Jerry Lawler Day” in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. This year’s Saturday, which fell on May 9th, is the same date that Lawler won the AWA World Heavyweight Championship with Curt Hennig, who would later go on to fame in WWE under the “Mr. Perfect” gimmick.

– WWE Hall Of Famers Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart are featured in a new Baltimore Sun video at an airport. In the video, it is revealed that Hogan can’t sign autographs because the cameras that follow him stress him out. Check out the clip above or at Newsinc.com.

Injury Updates On Hideo Itami & Sami Zayn, Hulk Hogan Praises NXT Star

– More likely than not, WWE will not be officially announcing the injury to Hideo Itami, or the official status of Sami Zayn, until after the May 13th episode of NXT television. As things stand now, both Itami and Zayn are still advertised to work the NXT Takeover event on May 20th, although one would assume that one or both of the guys will not be able to compete as scheduled due to their respective injuries.

– WWE Hall Of Famer Hulk Hogan recently took some time to praise an up-and-coming talent in WWE’s developmental system in NXT. Here’s what “The Hulkster” had to say about upcoming NXT star Colin “Big Cass” Cassady:

WWE Tough Enough Host, Judges & Trainers Revealed

Chris Jericho announced on Thursday that he will be hosting the new season of WWE Tough Enough, which premieres on the USA Network on Tuesday, June 23rd.

WWE also issued a press release giving tons more information about the new season, including details on judges, trainers and more.

– Hulk Hogan, Daniel Bryan and Paige will be judges on the series.

– Booker T, Lita and Billy Gunn will be the trainers.

– Tough Enough will be filmed out of the WWE Performance Center and Full Sail University, home of NXT.

– The official Tough Enough app will be launching on May 25th.

– There will be a lot of fan interaction, including the ability to vote via the Tough Enough app and texting to interact with various live elements

– Contestants in the series will “come face to face” with Vince McMahon, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon and John Cena over the course of the series.

 

Hulk Hogan Calls Out Brutus Beefcake For Selling Unauthorized ‘Signed’ Photos Of Him

It looks like Hulk Hogan’s longtime friend Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake (Ed Leslie) has been selling unauthorized signed photos of The Hulkster.

Hogan posted a photo of the two on Twitter this weekend with the caption, “Back in the day when it was straight up brother.”

A fan replied, saying he met Leslie back in March at a signing and Leslie was selling 8×10 photos of Hogan. Hogan told the fan he never signed any 8×10 photos or gave them to Leslie to sell.

Hogan told another Twitter user that this was a “shoot” and he was not working the fans.

Jim Ross Blog: Hogan Wrestling At WM32?, Mayweather/Pacquiao, GFW Announcements

Jim Ross recently updated his official blog with thoughts on the top news topics floating around this past week. Below are some highlights:

On Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao: “The Mayweather-Pacquiao fight was under whelming to say the least. The post match press conference, yes I watched it until well after 2 a.m. Oklahoma time, was even more of an unhinged circus with excuses, outlandish statements and fighters endangering their health as in breaking their arms patting themselves on the back. Manny hallucinated that he thought he won the fight while Floyd gave us an update on his bank account. The fight itself was pedestrian to say the least and never truly created any fire or passion to engage the rich and famous fans there to be seen and obviously not to be heard. Legit fight fans were priced out of the equation but provided TMZ, Entertainment Tonight, etc with plenty of footage and sound bytes to last a week or more.”

On big GFW announcements this week: “Big announcements are coming this week from Jeff Jarrett’s Global Force Wrestling group about their upcoming tapings to be held at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas this summer. I think that many wrestling fans will be pleasantly surprised at the GFW talent roster and will embrace the travel packages.”

On Hulk Hogan wrestling at WrestleMania 32: “Read where Hulk Hogan said that he was going to wrestle at WM32 in Arlington, Texas. Don’t know if that’s wishful thinking or something that has been internally confirmed. If Hogan is going to have ‘one more match,” WM32 would be the place to do it. It would be a nice, nostalgic, special attraction type of bout that I’m sure many fans would be curious to see.”

Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.

Hulk Hogan Rumored For Celebrity Big Brother, Sting DVD News & More

– The UK’s Mirror newspaper reports that producers of Celebrity Big Brother have offered Hulk Hogan a spot on the show. The upcoming season will have a UK vs. US theme.

– WrestlingDVDNews.com reports that WWE’s upcoming Sting DVD and Blu-ray will be titled, “Sting – Into The Light.” This will be WWE’s first-ever full-length documentary on The Sting. It’s currently scheduled for an October release.

– Damien Sandow and The Prime Time Players met with members of the Special Olympics Ontario this weekend at a WWE live event.

https://twitter.com/WWECommunity/status/594942944672501760