As reported on Wednesday, Triple H took part in a “Fireside Chat” with Senior Business Analyst Laura Martin this week and explained why he feels UFC isn’t competition for WWE. Below are additional highlights from the chat.
On a question about whether or not Vince McMahon is still active and engaged: “He’s the most active person I know. He works at two in the morning because he’s absolutely dedicated to driving himself and the executive team as hard as possible to create the best product as possible.”
On Husky Harris evolving into Bray Wyatt: “He wasn’t quite connecting with the crowd. Decent hand. Talented kid. Right person. They were going to let him go and I said, ‘Let me take him and do something with him.’ We moved that character to NXT. We put some other people around him that fit the package. Moved him back onto Raw and Smackdown, and he’s one of our most popular superstars Bray Wyatt. I’ll go out on a limb and say in 10 years Bray Wyatt will be one of the most memorable characters in WWE.”
On how they prevent “being held up” by talents: “There is no one performer who is bigger than the WWE. There are superstar performers and megastar performers like John Cena. But he’s still not bigger than the WWE. Why doesn’t anyone ‘hold us up’? Because it would only be a short-term gain. There’s no upside for them behind it
On the WWE creative team: “We have a whole creative writing team that fluxes over time. We produce eight hours of in-ring content each week. It’s a ton of content. There can be anywhere from 20 to 35 writers on with us. There’s a churn rate on that as well. At the end of the day, it’s all about churning out as many storylines as possible and looking at the business as a whole. You can write the greatest story in the world and have an actor with no charisma. The story will tank. They’re interdependent on each other.”
– The official website of the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins recently posted a video of WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan supporting the team.
– Former WWE personality Armando Estrada posted the following tweet on his official Twitter account recently, revealing what Bray Wyatt (the former Husky Harris) told Vince McMahon when he was taken off of television a few years ago:
I was backstage when Orton punt kicked Husky Harris off tv 3 yrs ago. Afterwards, Harris waited 4 Vince & told him “I’ll be back” #braywyatt
Bray Wyatt refers to himself as “The Eater of Worlds.” After his first few months with the company, he could also easily refer to himself as “The King of the Promo” and not many would object.
No character in recent memory has used the promo to build up his character as well as Wyatt. Starting with a series of haunting videos preceding the stable’s debut, the Wyatt Family were able to build the foundation that would allow them to become one of the top heel groups in the company.
After a perfect debut (minus the Husky Harris chants) and successful feuds with Daniel Bryan and the Shield, it was revealed that Wyatt would be entering a program with John Cena during the WrestleMania season.
http://youtu.be/x7QJruEbKL4
Many cringed at the thought of Wyatt battling Cena at WrestleMania. I personally thought the match would result in nothing more than the WWE further elevating its biggest star while taking one of the hottest superstars in the company down a notch.
After all, Cena isn’t exactly notorious for putting over stars at WrestleMania, although he has put over the Miz and the Rock in the past. I am not here to make predictions regarding the matchup, but to instead discuss how the two have used masterful promos to build the fight into possibly the most anticipated match on the card.
The Rock is the only man to ever pin Cena clean at WrestleMania? Will Wyatt be able to defeat Superman?
Cena has discussed how his legacy is at stake at WrestleMania, while Wyatt has criticized Cena for being primarily concerned with selling merchandise and achieving fame. This is certainly not a new line of criticism directed at Cena.
In fact, Daniel Bryan levied the same insults at Cena during their build-up to SummerSlam, where he said Cena was in the WWE for fame, while he (Bryan) was there because he loves to wrestle.
Bryan’s rebukes never really felt personal though, largely due to the fact that he had to hold back because he was a face. Wyatt, on the other hand, has not held back one bit, criticizing Cena for living in a castle with his plastic girlfriend during his latest promo (seen above), which is also quite possibly his best yet.
– Inside WWE sources are reporting the original plan, for Money In The Bank, was to have Chris Jericho win the match, becoming the first person to ever cash in the briefcase unsuccessfully that night after Daniel Bryan and CM Punk’s match. The Main Event of Money In The Bank would have been CM Punk vs. Bryan as the main event.
The week of the event, WWE went with Cena winning instead. The thought process on then moving the MITB mach to the main event was that officials felt that the ending would lack impact if it had ended with Punk winning and no one cashing in the briefcase.
– Several weeks ago during a match, Bray “Husky Harris” Wyatt was injured. At first WWE wanted to have him stay on developmental TV in an On Camera role, since while recovering for six months WWE has decided that he should take the time off, to rest up The company also wants him to watch his diet and lose weight.
– Today’s wrestling birthdays include Colt Cabana (32) and Nasty Boy Brian Knobbs (48).
– Christian returned to action this weekend at a SmackDown live event from Asheville, North Carolina, defeating Yoshi Tatsu. Christian played the heel and told the live crowd before the match that he wants “one more championship match” – a sign that his career might be winding down.
– Bo Rotunda, son of Mike “IRS” Rotunda, also worked the live event from Asheville, defeating Drew McIntyre with a roll-up. Drew McIntyre had wrestled (and lost to) the Great Khali earlier in the night.
– Bo Rotunda’s brother, Husky Harris, returned to action at Friday night’s RAW live event from Huntsville, Alabama. Wrestling as his new “religious” gimmick Bray Wyatt, he defeated Zack Ryder in what was said to be a good match. Live correspondents who were at the show said Wyatt looked to be in much better shape than the last time we saw him on WWE television as a member of Nexus.
Check out this video of Bray Wyatt’s debut promo and first match at Florida Championship Wrestling:
– Gerald Brisco has been scouting amateur wrestlers for WWE in recent weeks. He was at the Olympic trials in Iowa City last week and currently has two heavyweight wrestlers that he sees as having potential, including a 6 foot 5 285 pound Greco-Roman wrestler from Turkey.
– Husky Harris is back on the road with WWE, wrestling Alex Riley at this weekend’s RAW-brand live events. Harris is now working a religious gimmick and will be evaluated by WWE officials to see how he’s progressed since the last time he was on the main roster.
– Booker T’s new “Reality of Wrestling” series will debut on YouTube next Wednesday, May 9th.
– Nick “Hogan” Bollea was granted an early release from his five year probation on Friday stemming from 2007 car accident that critically injured his friend John Graziano. Nick will not have the felony charge on his record as a result of his sentencing terms being met.
— WWE developmental wrestler Husky Harris appeared under the name Levi Wyatt at a non-televised Florida Championship Wrestling event on Thursday. His character was described by a person in attendance at the event as a religious zealot. Wearing a straw hat and Hawaiian shirt, he cut a heelish promo before defeating fellow developmental talent Jiro in a singles match.
The Wrestling Observer reported this week that Harris is on management’s radar for a promotion to the main roster and would be debuting a new character.
— WWE Champion CM Punk joins forces with Sheamus for a tag team match against World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan and The Miz on tonight’s episode of SmackDown. Other bouts airing on the broadcast taped Tuesday in Newark, New Jersey are Mark Henry vs. R-Truth, AJ vs. Brie Bella, Jack Swagger vs. Zack Ryder, Big Show vs. Kane, Brodus Clay vs. Heath Slater and Dolph Ziggler vs. The Great Khali.
— Former WWE talent Ray Gordy (a/k/a Jesse, Slam Master J) turns 33 years old Friday. He left the professional wrestling industry following his release from WWE in April 2010 and is now working as a police officer in Atlanta, Georgia.
— Accounts of Husky Harris competing at Sunday’s SmackDown live event in Baton Rouge, Louisiana are incorrect as it was WWE developmental wrestler Calvin Raines who partnered with Drew McIntyre in a tag team match against Ezekiel Jackson and Trent Barreta.
Jackson was asked on Twitter who his opponent at the event was and he replied Calvin Raines.
— Dennis Haskins, who was known as Mr. Belding on Good Morning, Miss Bliss, Saved by the Bell and Saved by the Bell: The New Class, will appear on AfterBuzzTV.com’s post-show for Raw tonight alongside former WWE Diva Maria Kanellis. The program airs at www.ustream.tv/afterbuzztv immediately following Raw.
Haskins, who is now 61 years old, is pushing a petition on Twitter for the Mr. Belding character to be instated as the General Manager and/or principal of Raw.
— WWE will hold a Raw live event at the EA Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Kentucky on Saturday, March 24, 2012.
– Tonight’s WWE RAW Supershow takes place from Corpus Christi, Texas at the American Bank Center. Advertised for tonight’s show are WWE Champion CM Punk, John Cena vs. Kane and a special appearance by Chris Jericho.
SmackDown stars advertised for tonight include World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan, Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes, Big Show, Mark Henry, Wade Barrett and Sheamus.
– Husky Harris returned to WWE’s main roster at Sunday night’s WWE live event from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Harris teamed with Drew McIntyre and lost to the team of Ezekiel Jackson and Trent Baretta.
– Continuing her feud with television host Chelsea Handler, Beth Phoenix tweeted over the weekend that she wants to wrestle Handler at WWE’s upcoming live event from the Staples Center in Los Angeles on 2/24.
Based on Handler’s responses to Phoenix, it doesn’t sound like a match between the two will ever happen.
– Jack Swagger will be appearing at the FCW show on January 27th from the Charlotte Harbor Events Center in Punta Gorda, Florida.
— Husky Harris has been removed from WWE.com’s Raw Superstars page. He is, however, still under contract to WWE as he is still listed as a member of Florida Championship Wrestling.
Harris last appeared on WWE programming on the January 31, 2011 episode of Raw as he and Michael McGillicutty unsuccessfully challenged Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov for the WWE Tag Team Championship. Following the bout, Randy Orton attacked both individuals for costing him the opportunity to recapture the WWE Championship in an earlier match, and punted Harris in the head. This was a scripted injury to write the second generation wrestler off television and demote him to developmental.
Harris resurfaced in FCW as the hockey mask-wearing character Axl Mulligan but has since appeared as himself.
— Triple H will be a guest on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon Friday night. Tune in to NBC at 12:35/11:35 CT to see “The Game” on the hit talk show.
— WWE producer Dean Malenko turns 51 years old today.
— “Stone Cold” Steve Austin is scheduled to appear on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Friday night. The program airs at 12:35 a.m. on NBC.
— This past Friday’s episode of SmackDown featured 44 minutes and 1 second of in-ring action, up from 39 minutes and 11 seconds the prior week. Also, 21 minutes and 59 seconds of in-ring action took place on last week’s episode of WWE Superstars.
— SmackDown Superstar Daniel Bryan turns 30 years old today while Raw Superstar Husky Harris turns 24.
— Randy Savage was a top trending topic today on Yahoo.com.
Husky Harris, who was demoted last month to Florida Championship Wrestling (though officially still listed as a Raw Superstar), recently debuted a masked character in the developmental promotion.
Paying homage to his grandfather, WWE Hall of Famer Blackjack Mulligan, Harris appeared at the March 9 and 16 FCW live events as Axl Mulligan. His appearance is similar to the Hannibal Lecter character from The Silence of the Lambs. Harris wears jeans and a black Misfits T-shirt to go along with the mask.
Harris is also using the Stone Cold Stunner as his finishing maneuver. He beat Ricardo Rodriguez with the move last Wednesday, and then struck Brodus Clay during a post-match brawl.
It is unclear as to whether the character will continue as Harris appeared as himself at last Thursday’s FCW live event, one day removed from appearing as the masked persona.
– Dolph Ziggler mentioned Ring of Honor during commentary on last night’s WWE NXT. After Daniel Bryan shook hands with his Rookie Derrick Bateman before their singles match, Ziggler referred to ROH’s Code of Honor pre-match handshake, saying, “It’s not ROH, you don’t have to shake hands.”
– The next NXT elimination will take place on Tuesday, February 22nd. After next week, there will be only two Rookies remaining, with the winner being determined on the March 1st finale.
— With NXT Season 4 wrapping up in less than 2 weeks, we’re alrady looking ahead to NXT Season 5 – set to premiere the week after Season 4’s finale. NXT Season 5 begins on March 8th and we reported last week that there’s been talk of a “father-son” theme featuring WWE legends mentoring their sons.
– Former NXT and Nexus member Michael Tarver was seen backstage on RAW once again this week, in the segment where The Miz was walking to the ring for his match with Daniel Bryan. Tarver was seen playing on his cellphone and looking at The Miz.
This marks the fourth time Tarver has appeared (and was barely acknowledged) on WWE television in the past several weeks.
– Fellow former NXT and Nexus member Husky Harris has been out of action for several weeks following a skull punt by Randy Orton. It’s interesting to note that his profile page has been added back to the Florida Championship Wrestling website, a sign that he won’t be back on WWE television any time soon.
WWE officials were said to be impressed with the young star’s in-ring work, but they feel his look needs work.
– After WWE introduced the new Money In The Bank gimmick pay-per-view last year, many have been wondering whether that spelled the end of MITB at WrestleMania. A WWE source has informed us that the match will take place at WrestleMania as in previous years.
– Following Randy Orton’s punt kick to Husky Harris on RAW, the WWE website is reporting that Harris is out of action indefinitely. CM Punk will addresss the situation on next week’s RAW.
As for what this means for Husky Harris, we’ve heard that despite his talent, WWE officials are not wild about his size and look. WWE is planning a Corre vs. Nexus 3-on-3 match for WrestleMania – and his involvement in that match is questionable at best.
— The official website of MTV has posted an article on its website celebrating CM Punk’s birthday, who turns 32 years old today.
The article makes mention of several MTV newsroom staffers being fans of professional wrestling who would have hard pressed to not acknowledge the WWE Superstar’s day of birth, especially with his love of music.
In related news, MTV Movie managing editor and personality Josh Horowitz recently sent us a link to a video short he shot with John Cena, Malin Åkerman and Elijah Wood. Those who missed the video can view it here.
— WWE.com has added Husky Harris and Michael McGillicutty to its Raw Superstars page. Both generational wrestlers were inducted into The Nexus by group spokesman Wade Barrett last night on Raw.
Meanwhile, the website has yet to add Alex Riley to the roster page despite his appearances on Raw the past several weeks.
— A poll is ongoing on WWE.com for a new CM Punk T-shirt.
— As John Cena held Wade Barrett in the STF during their bout at last night’s Hell in a Cell, two mystery assailants stormed the ring — one distracting the referee while the other blasted The Champ in the head with a foreign object, knocking him out cold and giving The Nexus ringleader the duke. The attackers in question were NXT season two contestants Husky Harris and Michael McGillicutty, reports f4wonline.com.
— World Wrestling Entertainment will be releasing a two-disc DVD set highlighting the legendary career of WWE Hall of Famer Bobby “The Brain” Heenan on Tuesday, December 28. Below is the title’s official synopsis:
“Fans loved to boo Bobby Heenan but despite their vocal displeasure with The Weasel, everyone acknowledges he’s the greatest manager in the history of sports entertainment. He guided members of the infamous Heenan Family to great heights in both the AWA and WWE, even occasionally stepping into the ring himself. He also further cemented his place in pro wrestling lore by becoming one of the great color commentators of all time, completely earning his 2004 induction into the WWE Hall of Fame. Now, for the first time ever, fans can relive the Brain’s magnificent career in Bobby The Brain Heenan, a 2-disc DVD that tells the life story of Heenan as well as collects his most famous matches, interviews, and moments.”
— WWE returns to the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, Maryland on Wednesday, December 29, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets go on sale Saturday, October 16, 2010 at 10:00 a.m.
— Many within WWE are predicting Michael McGillicutty or Alex Riley to win NXT Season Two. Meanwhile, it’s said that Husky Harris has unanimously impressed “everyone.”
— No Raw guest hosts are expected to be scheduled until after SummerSlam. Child star Bobb’e J. Thompson — who stars alongside Big Show in the upcoming WWE Studios film Knucklehead — and country music artist Toby Keith have been booked to host episodes of Raw in October.
— Two WWE Superstars celebrate birthdays today as Triple H turns 41 years old while Dolph Ziggler hits 30.
(sources: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, PWInsider.com)
— Current plans call for SummerSlam to be built around the in-ring returns of Triple H and The Undertaker. Triple H would face Sheamus in a grudge match while Undertaker would face the perpetrator of placing him “in a vegetative state.”
Additionally, a six-person tag match pitting David Hart Smith, Tyson Kidd and Natalya against Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso and Tamina is penciled in for the event.
— Monday’s episode of Raw scored a 3.35 cable rating with 4.78 million viewers. The overall rating was up from last week’s 3.28 number. The first hour drew a 3.21 rating and the second hour grew to a 3.49.
— Internally, many people are high on NXT Rookie Husky Harris — though most think his ring name is horrible. He is being compared to a young Dusty Rhodes, in the sense that he has a terrible looking physique but is quick and athletic. Like Rhodes, he is regarded as having the “it factor,” not to mention charisma. The son of Mike Rotundo is considered by many as the standout performer of the second season of NXT and has several supporters within the organization.
— John Cena served as Co-Grand Marshal along with the “Gillette Fusion ProGlide Believers” at yesterday’s Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500 at Pocono Raceway. You can view an image of the WWE Champion chatting with NASCAR driver and past Raw guest host Joey Logano here.
