— TNA Wrestling officials are interested in acquiring former WWE Superstars John Morrison and Melina as their names have come up in recent creative meetings. Bruce Prichard, Senior Vice President of Programming and Talent Relations, is said to be a big proponent of the couple joining the organization. Both talents have continued to compete at independent wrestling events since parting ways with WWE last year.
— Gail Kim wed celebrity chef Robert Irvine on May 10 at the Charles Krug Winery in the Napa Valley in Northern California. The wedding was held on a Thursday so many of Kim’s friends from professional wrestling could attend. Among those in attendance were Alicia Fox, Beth Phoenix, Bully Ray, Christopher Daniels, Jeremy Borash, Kazarian, Molly Holly, Natalya, Tara, Traci Brooks and Tyson Kidd. Stacy Keibler was invited to attend the wedding but instead opted for George Clooney’s fund-raiser for United States President Obama.
— Angelina Love commented on Brooke Hogan being named Executive in Charge of the Knockouts, tweeting, “@IMPACTWRESTLING goes LIVE May 31st at 8pm all summer long! And Brooke Hogan (@MizzHogan) is in charge of the Knockouts….maybe she’ll be my new BFF?! #blondeshavemorefun.”
– The Miz is currently in Brazil doing promotional work for WWE’s upcoming live tour. WWE will hold its first-ever event from Brazil later this month at Ginasio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo on May 23rd.
– This week marks 5 years since Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins made their WWE television debuts on ECW as The Major Brothers, defeating the team of Matt Striker and Marcus Cor Von. They would later go on to be Edge’s “Edge Heads” sidekicks before going their separate ways.
– John Hennigan, formerly WWE superstar John Morrison, is the star of a new 4-minute short movie titled, “The Negotiator.” Hennigan plays “Officer Rexy, LA’s finest Negotiator deals with a man who wants to shoot himself.” The clip, which was produced by the Curtain Jerks wrestling podcast, can be seen here:
As we reported earlier this week, former WWE wrestler John Morrison recently shot a commercial with actress Jessica Alba. E! online did a video feature looking at the commercial – but did not say what the commercial was for (or mention Morrison by name). Here’s the video:
— The latest issue of Power Slam reports John Hennigan (a/k/a John Morrison) has hinted to friends that he will return to WWE later this year. The former WWE Superstar stated during an interview with Poughkeepsie Journal last month that “the door is open” for him to return to the organization.
“I left on really good terms with everybody and what I wanted to do was take time off to heal, get refreshed and take a little vacation. Shows like this are a fun show and a way to keep sharp. I really like wrestling. That’s why I do it,” Hennigan said of his match against Finlay for Northeast Wrestling. “I was working a 250-plus day a year schedule and I wanted to be refreshed. Right before I left, I felt like I was going to work. I wasn’t enjoying it as much as when I started. I’m excited to come to Poughkeepsie and do all this stuff. That’s the kind of attitude you need to have in sports entertainment.”
— Shane Helms’ online show Highway 2 Helms airs tonight at 6:00 p.m. at GeekWeek.com. This will be his first time doing the show since his involvement in a motorbike accident in North Carolina last May.
— Maryse Ouellet will appear at the Philadelphia Comic Con on Sunday, June 3. The event takes place at the Pennsylvania Convention Center 1101 Arch St. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
– Actress Jessica Alba stepped into the wrestling ring Monday to film a YouTube commercial in Los Angeles, California. Her opponent was former WWE Superstar John Morrison. The official website of Us Weekly has published a photo of Alba applying a headlock on Morrison.
– Former WWE Diva Maria Kanellis defended independent wrestling after receiving an inflammatory message on Twitter saying she should get a “real” job rather than waste time in Ring of Honor earning “$100” per show. She wrote:
“Were do you think your precious WWE superstars come from? ROH and the Indies making maybe a hundred. Working their asses off!! Hurt, tired, working 2 jobs, driving everywhere. These are my boys now and don’t you dare insult them. I’m PROUD of where I am.”
– Ring of Honor’s weekly television show will begin airing on KFDM in Beaumont, Texas on April 22. The show will air at midnight.
— Six days before The Undertaker faces Triple H in a Hell in a Cell Match at WrestleMania XXVIII, former WWE Superstar John Morrison spoofs the two combatants in a rap video entitled HHH Vs Undertaker rap. A Paul Bearer character also appears.
— Edge joins tonight’s WWE.com Raw Live Chat to discuss his new WWE Studios film “Bending The Rules, his impending WWE Hall of Fame induction and answer questions from fans. The chat session starts at 8 p.m. ET on WWE.com.
— Chilli of TLC, who is a huge WWE fan, stated on her Twitter that she will be on hand for tonight’s Raw SuperShow in Atlanta, Georgia as well as WrestleMania XXVIII on Sunday.
John Morrison recently spoke to Phil Strum of the Poughkeepsie Journal about the possibility of returning to WWE one day. Morrison says he left on great terms and his body simply needed a break from the hectic WWE schedule:
“The door is open to go back. I left on really good terms with everybody and what I wanted to do was take time off to heal, get refreshed and take a little vacation…”
“I was working a 250-plus day a year schedule and I wanted to be refreshed.”
He also revealed that he wasn’t enjoying himself anymore towards the end of his most recent run:
“Right before I left, I felt like I was going to work. I wasn’t enjoying it as much as when I started.”
Morrison will be wrestling his first match in the Untied States since leaving WWE back in November on Friday night at Northeast Wrestling’s Wrestlefest 16 at Poughkeepsie, New York’s Mid-Hudson Civic Center.
– During a recent appearance on The Wedge music show in Canada, CM Punk revealed that the band Rancid would be providing some music for his upcoming WWE DVD. Punk has stated in the past that he wants his video to be different from other WWE releases, and that he wanted good music on it.
– Roddy Piper is back on Twitter, so filming for WWE Legends House seems to be done.
– Aside from Yokozuna, there is expected to be one more name announced for this year’s WWE Hall of Fame. As of last week, Yokozuna was expected to be the final name announced.
– Former WWE superstar John Morrison has a cameo in a new video on comedy website Funny or Die. “Comedians and musicians audition to honor 30 years of Weird Al in a Broadway style cabaret review. Things get weird.”
— WWE released footage Thursday night of SmackDown ring announcer Lilian Garcia’s wardrobe mishap at Tuesday’s SmackDown taping in Columbus, Ohio—her shoe strap broke as she made her ring entrance. The video features audio of WWE announcer Michael Cole crowing hysterically at Garcia’s plight.
— Madusa, who formerly competed as Alundra Blayze for WWE, pondered Thursday night on Facebook whether she should attend WrestleMania XXVIII in Miami, Florida. She tweeted:
“Many celebs showing up for Wrestle Mania….I wonder if I should…………”
— Former WWE Superstar John Morrison appears at The Wrestling Guy?Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet/Space H5 13963 Alondra Blvd Santa Fe Springs, California 90670 on April 15 from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.
Trish Stratus appeared on George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight to discuss her WWE career and how yoga has changed her life. Two minutes into the interview, George Stroumboulopoulos asks the seven-time WWE Women’s Champion if John Morrison resented her appearance at WrestleMania last year. Her participation in the tag team match with Morrison and Jersey Shore star Snooki against LayCool and Dolph Ziggler reportedly upset Morrison and girlfriend Melina.
“I don’t know if he did… he might have said that,” she responds.
Stratus continues, “He’s entitled to his opinion. It was one of these things where we had an epic moment, it was WrestleMania, our biggest stage of them all, and I had been retired. So I’m out of the scene and suddenly I get to come back and be in the grandest stage of all, I get to be at WrestleMania. Well he thought “that’s not cool” because I guess his girlfriend is a women wrestler and so he thought maybe another girl deserved that spot. But, I had gone back to WWE television to do Tough Enough, which was a reality show they did to find the next WWE Superstar. They asked me to be back, we promoted that show, etc. He was a little resistant, like there were some moments where I was like, “Oh, he’s not meshing with me.”
Stratus then details the ‘famous cold shoulder incident’ where she was snubbed by Morrison during their post-match celebration at WrestleMania when she attempted to embrace him.
“We have a famous cold shoulder incident. Well, we’re on live television. We had a match, we won the match, we were victorious as a team and then I went to go like, we do that typical thing, you raise the hand, you point [and he went in another direction, leaving Trish hanging],” she explains.
“I just said to him, “Hey, what you’ve done now, is because your career is made up of moments, so now you’ve taken a moment from the fans, really.” Because they don’t care about backstage politics, they don’t care if you think your girlfriend should be in that spot or whatever it was. So he just denied the fans and himself and that’s that.”
Stroumboulopoulos then asks Stratus if Morrison would have snubbed her had she not been a woman.
“Probably wouldn’t have done that to me if I wasn’t a woman, yeah,” she responds.
— WWE has yet to follow up on Kharma’s appearance last month at the Royal Rumble because she has not fully recovered from giving birth on December 31, 2011 and isn’t ready to work a full-time schedule. Nonetheless, her return to the squared circle is on the horizon.
When asked on Twitter this week what she was doing, she replied, “Working hard to come back at my best.” She was then asked when she would be returning to WWE and said “Soon.”
— Former WWE Champion John “Bradshaw” Layfield wrote the following on Twitter regarding a potential return to WWE: “Sorry, WWE has never asked about coming back more than a one off- happy coaching kids in Bermuda! Gotta make a difference-or try at least!”
— Former WWE stars John Morrison, Maria and Melina have been announced to appear at the Motor City Comic Con taking place May 18-20 at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi, Michigan.
— John Cena was scheduled to wave the green flag Sunday at the Daytona 500 but the annual race was postponed for the first time in its 54-year history after heavy rain saturated Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The event has been rescheduled for Monday at noon.
The official Twitter feed of Daytona International Speedway stated Sunday night that Cena will give the starting command and wave the green flag at the race Monday.
— There is much anticipation within WWE for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s verbal response tomorrow night on Raw to John Cena’s pseudo-shoot speech on last week’s show in which he strongly criticized “The People’s Champion” for bailing on the company for Hollywood aspirations.
— The official Twitter feed of the WWE Universe took a jab at tonight’s 84th Oscar Academy Awards show, writing, “#SlammyAwards > #Oscars.”
— Former WWE Superstar John Morrison will perform improv comedy on March 17 at 8 p.m. for Cut That Promo at iO West at 6366 Hollywood Blvd. in Los Angeles, California.
— During WWE’s press conference to announce that WrestleMania XXIX would be held in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Sunday, April 7, 2013, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson vowed to appear at the event and “electrify MetLife Stadium like never before.”
Sources within WWE have confirmed to the Pro Wrestling Torch that Johnson will be competing at the event.
— John Cena was interviewed by SPEED TV and talked about waving the green flag at today’s Daytona 500, the race field and facing Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson at WrestleMania XXVIII.
— Former WWE Superstar John Morrison has been announced to appear at the Chicago Comic Con taking place August 9-12, 2012 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Chicago, Illinois. WWE Champion CM Punk and former WWE Diva Maryse will also be appearing at the event.
— Michael Cole announced tonight on the Raw SuperShow that WWE’s Board of Directors will render a decision on the future of John Laurinaitis’ position as Interim Raw General Manager on Tuesday morning. The decision will be announced on WWE.com at 10:00 a.m. EST.
— John Morrison will be heading to the Middle East in April to wrestle, according to his booking agency, The I.P.A. Network. He will be wrestling for Qatar Pro Wrestling on April 26-28, 2012.
— Torrie Wilson is scheduled to appear at Collectormania on April 15, 2012 from noon to 2:00 p.m. The event is located at 59 Syracuse State Fairgrounds Syracuse, New York.
John Morrison will make his first post-WWE wrestling appearance tonight in The Philippines. He is set to face Shelton Benjamin in the main event of a stacked World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) card.
WWFX is promoting a handul of former WWE superstars including MVP, Chris Masters, Carlito Gene Snitsky and more. Colt Cabana is also at the show and will be the special guest announcer for the evening.
Here is the advertised card for WWFX:
WWFX Championship: John Morrison vs. Shelton Benjamin
Former WWE superstar John Morrison, who is now competing as John Hennigan, spoke to the UK’s SportsVibe to promote his upcoming appearance at the WWFX wrestling show in Manilla, Philippines. Here are some highlights of what Hennigan said about:
The MNM Tag Team: “What I loved about MNM was that it was our idea, us being Melina, Mercury, and myself. We were MNM in OVW (developmental wrestling) for a year before we were brought up to Smackdown. MNM was the first time I really felt at home in wrestling.”
His Favorite WWE Moment: “Some of my favorite moments are my debut match, MNM vs. Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio, and beating Sheamus to become the number 1 contender at TLC 2011. To be honest with you thinking about it, some of my favourite moments are from matches that I lost – losing the ECW championship to CM Punk in August 2007 plus Falls count anywhere versus Miz; MNM vs. the Hardy’s, Morrison vs. Ziggler any given night of the last Europe tour; the infamous Limo explosion on Z True Island story.”
Why He Left WWE: “I was starting to accumulate injuries faster than they were healing… neck surgery, and a lot of nagging injuries; shoulder, knee, ankle- I decided that time off is my best option. I’m working on elevating every part of my game during the time I have off, physical in ring stuff and mic work.”
Vince McMahon As A Boss: “Vince is a perfectionist, a work-a-holic, and a micro-manager. He expects everyone to work as hard as he does, and he really does work like a mad man. He cares very much about his business, and you have to respect that about him. If I had to pick out any one flaw, I’d say that I think it would behoove him to delegate more. Give power to others in the organization for longer periods of time without allowing them to be undermined.”
– Kevin Dunn, WWE Executive Vice President of Television Production, has taken initiative on the WWE Network project by hiring numerous people for mid-level management. Many of the people hired had worked for WWE in past.
Regarding Dunn, the Wrestling Observer says he understands how to interface with Vince McMahon and adapt to his haphazard decision making.
– An unnamed WWE employee texted a UFC employee during Saturday’s show on FOX to say their production is terrible. The WWE employee received a text back reading,
“At least we don’t have an imbecilic lead announcer ruining our show.”
– WrestlingFigs.com reports that Maryse Ouellet will appear alongside John Morrison at George’s Collectibles 7755 New Falls Road Levittown, Pennsylvania on March 10, 2012 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Visit GeorgesCollectibles.com for more information.
Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty Used To Visit The Same Barber
— Marty Jannetty, who noted on his personal Facebook account late last week that he had been drinking Jack Daniel’s for 48 consecutive hours, posted a status update rambling on longtime friend and former tag team partner, Shawn Michaels. The former WWE Superstar wrote:
“o hell yes, Imma ax this now.. Shawn, my good friend, what up bee otch??… I gotta book coming out..well not yet..there”s a few moral issues.., you may wanta contact me first, cause Im telling bout my life, you being a part of it, well hell..call me…but in truth, I’d rather you not, the book will be soooo much better if I dont fall for your shit.. but If you say “DONT SAY THAT” …I’ll remember what yo religious fake ass said about me in your bullshit book..Anyone wanting to see real, will..I aint protecting yo ass…”
Jannetty still remains active with the professional wrestling industry as it was announced in October that he had signed with CHIKARA as a trainer and wrestler.
— John Morrison is scheduled to appear for British Championship Wrestling via I.P.A. Network on December 7-9, 2012. Additional details have not been disclosed.
— John Morrison answered numerous fan questions for the fansite Starship-Pained.com including a query regarding life after WWE.
“I feel like I got off an express train walked to my car, and sped away. I’m still busy as all hell, but now, I’m the one driving,” he said.
He was also asked, “What do you think will help you get to the next level when you return to WWE?”
Morrison said, “JoMo needs to cut promos.”
— Popthecrowd.com has compiled a list of the top 25 most followed professional wrestling personalities on Twitter. The Rock heads the list with over 1.8 million followers. He is trailed by John Cena, Randy Orton, CM Punk, Steve Austin, Chris Jericho, The Miz, Shawn Michaels, Zack Ryder and Kelly Kelly.
— Greg “The Hammer” Valentine is scheduled to appear at WrestleReunion in Los Angeles, California later this month and he will be dying his hair jet black for the occasion. The WWE Hall of Famer will appear alongside The Honky Tonk Man and Jimmy Hart for a special “Rhythm and Blues” photo op.
– As WWE Hall of Famer “Rowdy” Roddy Piper alluded to on Twitter on Tuesday night, he has signed on for the WWE Network’s “Legends House” reality show, which begins filming in Tampa, FL next month.
Piper is the first confirmed name for the show, although based on the WWE Network promos that have aired on WWE television, Mene Gene Okerlund also appears to be a cast member.
– WWE returns to Puerto Rico for a live event at the Jose Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in San Juanon Saturday, March 24th.
Puerto Rican wrestling legend Carlos Colon, who has been rumored to be joining the WWE Hall of Fame this year, recently stated in an interview with Norticel that it would be an honor to be inducted and he has considered offering the WWE footage from his WWC promotion for the WWE Network.
– Former WWE star John Morrison will wrestle his first post-WWE match on February 4th in the Philippines for the World Wrestling Fan Xperience promotion. Morrison will be replacing Ken Anderson in a match against Shelton Benjamin.
Other former WWE names announced for the show include Melina, MVP, Chris Masters, Carlito, Rhino, Billy Gunn and Jillian Hall.
— Jim Ross commented on Brock Lesnar announcing his retirement from mixed martial arts after losing in the opening round to Alistair Overeem in Las Vegas, Nevada at UFC 141.
“Brock Lesnar to WWE rumors rampant. Always said IF Brock returns it would be for a one off appearance. Now’s NOT the time,” Ross tweeted.
He continued, “I find it HIGHLY IMPROBABLE that there is an even remote chance of a Brock Lesnar vs Undertaker match at WM28. IE..ain’t gonna happen. Calling Oliver Stone..please report to rumor central/fantasy booking department to write Lesnar to WWE storyline. No rush. 2013 will do.”
— CM Punk has been namedPro Wrestling Illustrated‘s Wrestler of the Year for 2011.
The honor goes along with Punk being named WWE Superstar of the Year on the December 12, 2011 edition of Raw.
— Jim Ross believes John Morrison will return to WWE next year after parting ways with the organization in November.
He tweeted, “Morrison didn’t renew his contract. Taking time off to heal, rest, train. He’ll likely be back sometime in 2012. Smart move.”
Morrison, whose real name is John Hennigan, claimed in an online video earlier this month that he is taking time off to heal and re-train for a return to wrestling.
— Stacy Keibler now receives $25,000 per appearance due to her relationship with George Clooney and prominence in celebrity gossip pages.
— The December 26, 2011 episode of the Raw SuperShow garnered a 2.93 cable rating, up from 2.92 the week before. It is the fourth consecutive week in which Raw has drawn below a 3.00 cable rating.
Monday’s show averaged 4,460,000 million viewers overall, up from 4,290,000 the week before. It also snapped an eight week streak of viewership declining during the second hour.
The first hour of Raw averaged 4,330,000 viewers during the first hour and 4,590,000 in the second. Monday’s show drew the most second hour viewers since November 21, 2011, the night following Survivor Series.
— John Morrison is scheduled to appear at Middletown Indoor Flea Market 128 Dolson Ave Middletown, New York on March 11, 2012 from noon to 1:00 p.m. Contact Sideline13@gmail.com for more information.
For the eighteenth year, Power Slam magazine presents The PS 50, which ranks the 50 best-performing wrestlers in the industry. Rankings in The PS 50 are basted on grapplers’ in-ring showings over a 12-month period (December 1, 2010 through November 30, 2011).
1. Hiroshi Tanahashi
2. Randy Orton
3. Davey Richards
4. Prince Devitt
5. Shingo Takagi
6. Christian
7. Kurt Angle
8. C.M. Punk
9. Kota Ibush
10. Takashi Sugiura
11. KENTA
12. Go Shiozaki
13. PAC
14. Akira Tozawa
15. Hirooki Goto
16. Eddie Edwards
17. BxB Hulk
18. Tetsuya Naito
19. AJ Styles
20. Shinsuke Nakamura
21. Masaaki Mochizuki
22. Bobby Roode
23. Rey Mysterio
24. Kenny Omega
25. Sheamus
26. Antonio Cesaro
27. CIMA
28. Katsuhiko Nakajima
29. Masato Yoshino
30. Chris Hero
31. Dragon Kid
32. Jay Briscoe
33. Ricochet
34. Mark Briscoe
35. Kevin Steen
36. Yuji Nagata
37. James Storm
38. Dolph Ziggler
39. Daniel Bryan
40. El Generico
41. Alberto Del Rio
42. Ryusuke Taguchi
43. Austin Aries
44. Jeff Jarrett
45. Kofi Kingston
46. Bully Ray
47. Christopher Daniels
48. The Miz
49. John Morrison
50. Kenny King
– WWE developmental wrestler Dean Ambrose competed in his first match before a WWE crowd at Friday’s SuperShow in Fort Myers, Florida. He lost to Daniel Bryan in a comedy match.
The former Jon Moxley signed a developmental contract with WWE in April and is considered one of the top wrestlers in Florida Championship Wrestling. His series of matches with Seth Rollins this year have garnered rave reviews.
– John Cena indicated Friday on Twitter that he will not appearing at Sunday’s pay-per-view event, WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs.
“I will watch and enjoy TLC. Above all I am a fan,” he wrote during a Q&A session.
– Former WWE star John Morrison is advertised to appear at Frank & Son’s Collectible Show 19649 E. San Jose Ave. City of Industry, California on Saturday, February 18, 2012 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.