– The official WWE website has recently added a new article looking at the 15 greatest Superstar entrances of all-time. The top ten of the list reads as follows:

#10. Rey Mysterio
#9. Gangrel
#8. The Rock
#7. Hulk Hogan
#6. Chris Jericho
#5. Bill Goldberg
#4. Triple H
#3. Kane
#2. Ultimate Warrior
#1. Undertaker

You can check out the complete article at WWE.com.

– The latest edition of WWE’s “Canvas 2 Canvas” YouTube show, which features Triple H, is available below.

– Vince Russo will be Steve Austin’s latest Steve Austin Show podcast guest, which drops this Tuesday.

– Zack Ryder did not appear at Saturday ngiht’s WWE Live Event from Long Island, New York, Instead, he was wrestling at the other WWE show in Reading, Pennsylvania, where he lost to Bo Dallas. Ryder tweeted that he was upset he couldn’t perform in front of his home town crowd.

Dolph Ziggler paid tribute to Ryder at Saturday night’s show from Long Island, hitting a Broski Boot and doing his “Woo, Woo, Woo” hand motion during a match against Alberto Del Rio.

– With Sunday’s WWE Money in the Bank pay-per-view taking place from Boston, MA, it’s interesting to note that WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan will be in Boston on Saturday for two live appearances.

– There is a lot of talk in WWE recently about Hulk Hogan being the big Superstar on the second season of the WWE Network reality show “Legends House.” Following the success of season one, which has consistently been one of the most-watched shows on the WWE Network, Hogan would come in to fill the role that Roddy Piper had in the first season.

– Sting is appearing at the PCW “Dream Night 13” event tonight in Oak Lawn, Illinois. For ticket information, visit PCWWrestling.net.

As promised, here is the second half of the list…

5. Abundance Of Talent Led To Brand Extension

The WWE roster was absolutely stacked following the acquisition of WCW. This was especially true after the top WCW superstars such as Hulk Hogan, Goldberg, and Kevin Nash eventually signed with the company.

It quickly became apparent that there was too much talent to adequately feature everyone on a weekly basis. This led to the WWE splitting into two separate brands in the form of Raw and SmackDown. The brand extension seemed fresh at first, but it quickly lost traction after superstars were constantly shifted from one brand to the other as a way to increase ratings.

The brand extension era is characterized by pay-per-views that did not perform as well as those in the Attitude Era, largely because fans did not want to pay to see only half of the roster.

During the summer of 2001, the WWE was under attack and at risk of a hostile takeover. After finally winning the Monday Night Wars, the WWE had to find a way to integrate the influx of talent that was acquired with the purchase of WCW.

Their first attempt at doing so would come in the form of the Invasion storyline, which saw former WCW and ECW employees “invading” the WWE in an attempt to take over the company. If this sounds a bit like the nWo’s plot to conquer WCW, well that’s because it is essentially the same story.

Ultimately, the program forced the WWE to fend off the intruders by forming a coalition to battle Team Alliance, which was led by Shane and Stephanie McMahon, the respective on-screen owners of WCW and ECW at the time.

Many fans have cited the Invasion storyline as one of the most entertaining periods in recent WWE history, as it featured a number of matchups that had previously been unimaginable. However, there were many aspects of the storyline that could have been handled better, resulting in a program with great potential that was squandered by poor booking. Here are ten reasons why the Invasion storyline was not as memorable as some fans recall.

Take-Two Interactive, publisher of 2K Sports’ upcoming WWE 2K15 video game, is currently at the big E3 video game convention in Los Angeles and will be revealing new game details on Thursday night. However, the following poster at the E3 convention reveals the first four playable characters in the game:

• John Cena
• Hulk Hogan
• Bray Wyatt
• Cesaro

WWE 2K15 will be released on October 28th for Playstation 4, Xbox One, PS3 and XBox 360.

Pre-Order WWE 2K15 NOW From Amazon.com

– WWE Hall Of Famer Hulk Hogan posted the following tweet after last night’s RAW in Minneapolis, Minnesota:

Watching Raw tonight reminded me of the old days when I lived in Minneapolis ,the crowds stood through the whole match,electric brother HH

— Hulk Hogan (@HulkHogan) June 10, 2014

– The following are the RAW Fallout videos for this week:

Following Brad Maddox being fired as the General Manager of RAW last night, WWE.com is running a poll asking fans about who the next GM should be. With over 14,000 votes cast, WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan has a commanding lead with 43% of the votes. Paul Heyman is in second place with 11%.

Here’s the full list of choices:

• Paul Heyman
• JBL
• Adam Rose
• Vickie Guerrero
• Hulk Hogan
• Bray Wyatt
• John Laurinaitis
• Zeb Colter
• William Regal
• Lana
• Other

Unfortunately, “Kill this stupid, outdated GM gimmick” is not one of the options.

– Hulk Hogan teased during a recent WWE App interview that he may be appearing on Legends House soon. Whether or not he was referring to the current season, which was filmed back in 2012, or a potential future taping of the series, is anyone’s guess.

– The official WWE website recently ran another ranking article, this time looking at the 25 greatest WWE Intercontinental Champions in history. The top ten of the list reads as follows:

10. Tito Santana
9. Randy Orton
8. Pedro Morales
7. Bret Hart
6. Razor Ramon
5. The Honky Tonk Man
4. Mr. Perfect
3. The Ultimate Warrior
2. Chris Jericho
1. Randy Savage

You can check out the complete list at WWE.com.

– This week’s edition of WWE Countdown, which premiered on the WWE Network on Tuesday night, featured a look at the top ten memorable debuts in history. You can check out a preview for the show, which is available right now on the WWE Network, below.

– This week’s WrestleMania Rewind, which also aired on the WWE Network on Tuesday night, looked back at the WrestleMania V main event between Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage. You can check out a preview for that one below.

– WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley continues to put over Adam Rose. In a recent tweet posted on his official Twitter account, Foley wrote the following:

I'll sign the legends deal if I get my own Santa figure & a spot on the @WWEAdamRose #ExoticExpress. Call me @WWE – make it happen! #RAW

— Mick Foley (@realmickfoley) May 20, 2014

– Speaking of WWE Hall Of Famers and Twitter, Hulk Hogan recently tweeted the following, revealing his role for this week’s WWE SmackDown, which is being taped this afternoon in London, England:

I am hosting SMACKDOWN at the 02 in the UK and the WWE Universe HULKAMANIACS are going to blow the roof off the 02 tonight brother HH

— Hulk Hogan (@HulkHogan) May 20, 2014

Hulk Hogan and Stephanie McMahon took part in fan Q&A session for the UK’s Mirror.co.uk on Monday. Here are some highlights:

– Hogan said it’s great to be back home with WWE and he’s excited to be back in front of his great fans in the UK.

– Stephanie was asked if she’d be interested in wrestling Brie Bella. She said it’s a “wait and see” situation, but she’s always training and is physically up to it.

– Hogan named John Cena as his favorite WWE Superstar because he is the workhorse of this generation. He’s also a fan of Daniel Bryan.

– Stephanie said her favorite part of her job is interacting with fans, who constantly inspire her.

– Hogan said he does not have any movie roles lined up, but was recently in talks with Ron Howard about a movie about his career. He added that he and his wife have turned down offers to star in a new reality TV show about their life together.

– Stephanie said they are “in discussions” about how to bring a future WrestleMania event to the UK.

– They both spoke about The Ultimate Warrior. Stephanie said she’s so happy he was able to return home to WWE before he passed, which gave him closure and the recognition he deserved by entering the WWE Hall of Fame. It’s tragic he’s no longer here, but everyone has wonderful memories of him from WrestleMania XXX weekend in New Orleans.

– Stephanie was asked about her first impression of Triple H. She said she was in college watching DX on RAW and she was intrigued by them. She joked that she might get in trouble for saying this – but she did wonder if Shawn Michaels and Triple H were more than “just good friends.”  When she met Triple H, she fell in love.

– She said honesty and communication are the keys to a successful marriage.

– Stephanie would be proud and honored if her daughters worked for WWE one day, but that’s totally up to them.

– Hogan was asked if he could be WWE Champion again and he joked that he would be a great Geritol Wheelchair Champion.

As previously reported, WWE Hall Of Famer Hulk Hogan is scheduled for the WWE SmackDown taping in London, England on Tuesday. Hogan, as noted recently, may also appear at Monday’s RAW in London.

“The Hulkster” took to Twitter to talk about his SmackDown appearance, tweeting the following:

Man I hope somebody crosses the line at Smackdown ,the WWE Maniacs make me feel like I'm still the champ brother. HH

— Hulk Hogan (@HulkHogan) May 17, 2014

– The WWE European tour continues this weekend with live events in Cardiff, Wales and Birmingham, England on Sunday. Despite clunking heads with Randy Orton in Glasgow on Wednesday, Roman Reigns is still scheduled to battle the Evolution member in the main event of the Cardiff show. The Birmingham show is advertising a John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt main event.

– Hulk Hogan is scheduled to make an appearance at this coming Monday’s edition of WWE RAW, which will be taped during the day at the O2 Arena in London, England.

– The next edition of WWE Countdown, which airs this coming Tuesday night on the WWE Network, will focus on the top ten most memorable Superstar debuts in WWE history.

– Also on the WWE Network this Tuesday, the latest edition of WrestleMania Rewind will take a look back at the memorable showdown between Hulk Hogan and “Macho Man” Randy Savage from WrestleMania V. This episode was originally scheduled to air this past Tuesday night, but for whatever reason was pushed back a week.

The following are highlights of a Huffington Post interview with Jack Swagger:

We have home-grown Divas, US and Intercontinental Champions but we’ve never had a British WWE champion nor a PPV in some time – aren’t they overdue? “Absolutely. Being a Real American I can admit that the British talent roster is amazing. It keeps getting deeper and deeper every year and I think we have more UK superstars on our roster than ever before. I think it’s only a matter of time before there’s a British WWE champion.”

Hulk Hogan is in the UK for your Smackdown television taping at the London O2 arena, which WWE Hall of Famer or legend would you like to face and why? “That’s a good question. I have always been a fan of Scott Hall (Razor Ramon). He’s always been one of my favourites and he has one thing that you just don’t get on TV anymore… and that’s chest hair! I think we need tons and tons more chest hair. I can’t grow any so don’t expect it from me. But seriously, I think a Scott Hall/Razor Ramon and Jack Swagger would have an unbelievable match.”

Adam Rose from NXT is new to the main roster and has been causing you trouble in recent weeks. Are you worried that he might make his name at your expense – like divas champion Paige did with AJ Lee – or do you see this as a tribute to you as a ‘guy to beat’? “I don’t really see this as him making his name at my expense, rather I see this as about the future. WWE is going to continue to develop young talent from NXT and that will be driving the competition up on the main roster. I’m always a firm believer that competition makes everyone better, makes our product better, makes our roster better and it’s going to make the matches and what we deliver even better – so only good things can come from such competition.”

Who should we look out for at NXT as a future WWE star? “They’ve got so much amazing talent down at NXT. The one I’m most familiar with is Sami Zayn. I’ve been in the ring with him personally and was very impressed by his talent, athleticism and charisma- so he’s going to be one to look out for.”

Check out the complete interview at HuffingtonPost.com.

– It has been confirmed recently that Renee Young is now a permanent member of the WWE NXT announce team.

– WWE Hall Of Famer Hulk Hogan is not being advertised for this coming Monday’s edition of WWE RAW in London, but he may appear at the show as he will already be in town for the SmackDown taping.

Comic book artist Greg Capullo recently tweeted some drawings he did that captures some of the most iconic visual moments in WWE history, including Hulk Hogan slamming Andre The Giant at WrestleMania, as well as Steve Austin bleeding profusely in Bret Hart’s “Sharpshooter” at WrestleMania.

• DIRECT LINK: Photos Of Bray Wyatt’s SMOKIN’ HOT Sister Mika Rotunda [>>]

The following are highlights of a new WGD Weekly interview with WWE Hall Of Famer Harley Race:

The incident at Starrcade ’83, where it was in question as to whether he would show up for his match with Ric Flair: “The thing on me not being there, it was all just a big rib to start with. I just wanted everyone there to think that I wasn’t going to be there, because at that point in time, there was a board of directors, and the board had thought it was time to make a rotation with the title, and I just wanted everyone there to believe that maybe I wasn’t going to be there…truthfully, I don’t know if I told Ric or not, you can ask him. I’m sure have at some point in time, I couldn’t let that little lie rest still after all these years.”

Confronting Hulk Hogan backstage at an event as the WWF made the move “across territory lines” in the mid 1980’s: “In confronting the Hulkster, he was the type of guy, that he was being paid to do what he did, and that is how he looked at it. He didn’t look at it as though he was running roughshod over everyone else out there. I confronted him about all that garbage. There was no push come to shove or anything. We never got into anything that far into it. Talent wise, he was as good as there was out there in that era…I was a wrestling style champion, and the Hulkster was a talking style. That was the two sides of it.”

Going to work for Vince McMahon and the WWF and how the “King” gimmick came about: “When it first came up, I thought the easiest way out of this was just for me to come up with an idea that was so far out in one direction or the other that Vince and his group wouldn’t go along with it. So, I said, I want to be the King, I want to come in and win a big tournament, and I want the crown, and then that’s how it turned, with that, how could you not go on with it.”

Owen Hart’s passing, and a conversation he had with him while he was working backstage at that event: “Who the god knew it would be my last conversation with Owen. With him it was always about talking about his father and what they did up there in the Winnipeg area and me coming in and out of there. The Hart Family is as good of a family as there ever was on the face of the earth and they’ve got a lot of kids that were involved in the wrestling part of it. It is just a horrible, horrible thing when stuff like that happens… He didn’t mention (being uncomfortable), that was the amazing part of it. It could’ve been me, it could’ve been anyone else. No one knows when the man up above wants to call your name.”

Becoming a manager in WCW: “I had been as high or higher than almost anyone I think, even still today. It sounds like I’m blowing smoke, you know where, but I had done everything feasibly possible to do in wrestling and to be able to take another guy like Vader or Luger or whoever and be able to help move them up to that top position, it just continued the Harley race version of wrestling. It kept it alive, it kept me alive.”

Check out the complete interview above.

• DIRECT LINK: Photos Of Bray Wyatt’s SMOKIN’ HOT Sister Mika Rotunda [>>]

WWE Hall Of Famer Hulk Hogan noted via his official Twitter account that he was at The Palm in Orlando having dinner last night. Hogan tweeted the following:

Eating at the Palm tonight in Orlando brought back many flashbacks brother. HH

— Hulk Hogan (@HulkHogan) May 9, 2014

Later on, TNA president Dixie Carter revealed that Hogan bought her a bottle of wine as a gift and left it for her at The Palm. Dixie tweeted the following:

Thanks @HulkHogan for the great bottle of wine you left for me at #ThePalm tonight. #class #greatmemories

— Dixie Carter (@TNADixie) May 9, 2014

– John Cena was kept off Monday’s episode of RAW, but instead appeared on Main Event the following night on the WWE Network. This was done because WWE’s top priority right now is to hit 1 million subscribers for the Network by the end of the year. Cena on Main Event raises the show’s profile and WWE is hoping that will encourage new subscribers.

John Cena Appears After RAW & Insults The Live Crowd

– There continues to be a lot of talk about a second season of Legends House on the WWE Network. Season 2 would feature a new cast of stars. Around the time of WrestleMania, Hulk Hogan was discussed as the top star that would appear on he show. More recently, Ric Flair is also being considered – and there’s nothing preventing both legends from appearing.

WWE officials have been very satisfied with the viewership for Legends House, which has consistently ranked as one of the most-watched shows on the WWE Network since it premiered. There’s also talk of moving the show from Palm Springs, California to somewhere in Florida. 

(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

As of right now, WWE is pushing the following four retired wrestlers, in order, the most: Hulk Hogan, Undertaker, Steve Austin and Ultimate Warrior. Warrior was higher on the priority list a few weeks ago, but that was due to the fact that he tragically passed away.

For the month of April, more people purchased Warrior merchandise on the internet than anyone else in the company, including John Cena.

The latest internet merchandise numbers, in order, were Cena, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, The Wyatt Family, The Shield, Evolution and Hulk Hogan.

The latest arena merchandise numbers, in order, were Cena, Bryan, Randy Orton, Warrior, Rob Van Dam, Brock Lesnar, The Wyatt Family, Batista and Sin Cara.

It’s worth noting that Cena was head-and-shoulders above the rest of the top sellers at the arenas, with the second highest person on the list (Daniel Bryan) not even coming close to his sales figures.

– On next week’s edition of WrestleMania Rewind, which will air Tuesday night on the WWE Network, the show will be centered around the historic showdown between the “Mega Powers,” Hulk Hogan and “Macho Man” Randy Savage.

– John Cena has been announced for the upcoming Wizard World convention at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas on Sunday, August 3rd.

– WWE has added the following video of Adam Rose and “The Exotic Express” to their official YouTube channel:

Eric Young has been in TNA for nearly a decade and in that time we have seen him be a member of Team Canada, a stint a a comic book hero Super Eric, all the way through to being the top dog in the company and current TNA World Heavyweight Champion.

The 34-year-old from Florence, Ontario, Canada has won numerous titles turing his time in the company including; X Division champion, multiple time Tag Team champion, Television champion and ever Knockouts Tag Team champion with ODB, however the current title around his waste tops the lot.

We caught up with EY to talk about, getting to work with some of his heroes, his Animal Planet shows, and of course the night he was crowned TNA World Champion, plus much more.

Q. How did you first get into the sport of professional wrestling?

I’ve been a fan since I was five-years-old, I’ve watched it my whole life and it’s all I ever really wanted to do. The week after I finished high school I began training at a gym, and three months after that I had my first pro match and it ha just snowballed from there. I’ve wrestled in all 50 states, every province, wrestled all over the world and now I’m the World Heavyweight champion, it has been a pretty wild ride.

Q. When growing up who were some of the wrestlers that you enjoyed watching?

Being from Canada, Bret and Owen Hart were massive influences on me. Then there were guys like Sting, Terry Funk, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, I have a huge list of wrestlers that I enjoyed watching. I loved Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior, there was just something about it from the age of five or six and I  couldn’t get enough.

Still to this day I have lots of VHS tapes with tens of thousands of wrestling, I loved it when I five and I still love it today.

Q. You’ve had the chance to work with the likes of Sting, Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair, what was it like working with guys you grew up watching?

It’s hard to put that into words, these were guys that I idolised growing up, these were people that I wanted to be. I actually got to wrestle Sting in his first match back after 10 years away, and just being in the ring with him was a dream come true but very surreal at the same time. Sting was always good to be, Hulk as well, they always had time for me and it was great to be able to share a locker-room with guys like that and be on the same roster.

Q. The likes of Sting, Hulk Hogan, AJ Styles, and Jeff Jarrett have all left TNA in recent months, what has that been like?

There is always massive turnover in professional wrestling, people come, people go, some people go to work in other places and some people end up coming back, that is just the nature of the beast. It’s never nice to see anyone go, but I’m still really good buddies with AJ Styles and we talk whenever we get a chance – we’re actually planning on doing a bike trip together in the summer.

Q. When you first started in TNA did you ever think you’ll become World Heavyweight champion?

It’s always something that I wanted, and personally it’s always something I believed I could do. I don’t think there is anybody that doesn’t want to become World Heavyweight champion when they are in this business. The night I won the belt from Magnus on IMPACT! was a great feeling, I’m not taking anything away from him, it was an amazing match and he’s a super talented guy but I was better that day and now I’m the World champion and that sounds kind of crazy to say out loud.

Q. What can we expect from you as Champion?

I told the fans and I meant it, that I’m going to be a fighting champion, that’s the kind of champion I like and that is the kind of champion I’m going to be. Every chance I get to defend my title I will, I will defend my title against anybody, anytime, any place, any time.

Q. Who are some of the people you are looking forward to defending your title against?

The list is huge, pound-for-pound TNA has one of the pro wrestling rosters in the world. I’ve got a massive history with Bobby Roode, and he was they guy that held the belt longer than anybody, I would love to get in the ring and test myself against him.

Guys like Hall of Famer Kurt Angle, Austin Aries, James Storm, Gunner, Ken Anderson, these are all guys that I want to defend my belt against. They are all worthy, they all deserve a shot at the belt and secondly I want to test myself against the best and see what happens.

Q.  What have been some of the highlights for you during your 10 year tenure in TNA?

Obviously my favourite moment was that night on IMPACT! when I won the gauntlet match and then went on to wrestle Magnus and become the World Heavyweight Champion for the first time. I wouldn’t change anything about my journey, it’s been an amazing journey, I’ve done all these different roles – I’ve been X-Division Champion, I’ve Tag Team champion on numerous occasions, I’ve held the TV title, I’ve even won the Knockouts Tag Titles with ODB.

One of the things I’m most proud of is being on television every week for nearly 10 years, which is something not many people are able to do. I think that shows my versatility, you never know what is going to happen next in this industry, it’s a crazy business but it has been great to experience all of it, the good, the bad and the indifferent.

I’ve always prided myself when the fans say things like, Eric Young is the most entertaining guy in professional wrestling. That’s really important to me, it always has been, it always will be, that’s the name of the game when it comes right down to it, it’s a television show, and it’s about entertaining people, if that with physicality that’s great, if its with comedy that’s great.

My first two years in TNA I didn’t say a singe word, I was the guy on team Canada to carry the action and to be physical, I got hired here because I was a pro wrestler, it had nothing to do with me being funny, and it’s cool to remind people of that because I’m a pro wrestler at my core, or the other stuff is important to me but I’m a pro wrestler first and foremost.

Q. As World Champion, what more can we expect from yourself for the rest of 2014?

More of the same, I’ve always prided myself putting in 100% effort and it doesn’t matter if I’m sick or I’m hurt I will always put in the same amount of effort. As champion I feel that extra weight on my shoulders, being ‘the guy’ it’s important for me that people say Eric Young was involved in the best match on the show. For me it’s about making moments and memories, it’s about making people remember stuff. I’ve had lots of positive feedback so far and I just want to continue defending my belt and being the best I can.

Q. With yourself as TNA Champion and Daniel Bryan as WWE Champion, is it the era of the beard?

Yeah, it’s obviously the era of the beard, I’m not daft, I don’t live under a rock, I hear these things and I’m sure he hears them too. I’ve actually met Daniel in person and I always hear nothing but good things about him. Anytime anyone want to compare me to him, I have absolutely no problem with that, feel free to carry on, he’s a super talented guy and a tremendous wrestler.

Q. Away from wrestling you’ve also presented a number of hit shows on Animal Planet, what has that been like?

It’s amazing, it’s something that I’ve always wanted to do. I still have other goals in my life but TV is something that I’ve always wanted to do. I love entertaining people, the shows allow me to combine my passion of extreme sports, I’ve always been a bit of an adrenaline junkie. I’ve been all over North America and done lots of crazy things, and it’s been an amazing experience.

Q. What is it like being a guest on the Steve Austin podcast?

Steve and myself are kind of wired the same way, he loves pro wrestling and always has, I love pro wrestling. He’s also an outdoors man, he loves fishing an he watched my shows on Animal Planet and loved them and through the miracle of Twitter I got talking to him, we went back a forth and hit it off right away.

We’re still buddies and talk to this day. For me he was a guy that I idolised and is one of the top five pro wrestlers of all time. I got to go to his house in LA, we sat around his computer with the microphone and we just talked about wrestling and life.

– WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley tweeted the following on Monday night regarding the way WWE is handling the booking of WWE World Heavyweight champion Daniel Bryan. Several over-the-top backstage skits between Bryan, his wife Brie and Kane throughout the show concluded with Bryan and Brie driving away in a car in fear of the ‘devil’s favorite demon.’ The WWE Champion fleeing from his challenger in fear does not portray him in the best light and Foley reacted:

https://twitter.com/realmickfoley/status/463500663700619265

Zack Ryder himself tweeted an ominous, cryptic warning to Bryan:

Be careful @WWEDanielBryan

— Matt Cardona (@TheMattCardona) May 6, 2014

– In light of Evolution getting the upper hand on The Shield at the end of Monday’s WWE RAW, Hulk Hogan tweeted:

Just finished watching Raw,the shield needs someone to watch their back jack. HH

— Hulk Hogan (@HulkHogan) May 6, 2014

WWE RAW Results – May 5, 2014