WWE.com has announced the release of 10 talents today:
Aksana
Jinder Mahal
Drew McIntyre
Brodus Clay
Evan Bourne
JTG
Yoshi Tatsu
Curt Hawkins
Teddy Long
Camacho
Marc Harris (referee)
– Aksana, a former bodybuilder, fitness model and personal trainer signed with WWE developmental back in 2009. She was part of the third season of WWE NXT and has been on the main roster since August 2011.
– Jinder Mahal signed with WWE developmental back in 2010 and made his main roster debut in April 2011. He was part of the 3MB stable.
– Drew McIntyre was signed to WWE developmental and trained with Ohio Valley Wrestling and Florida Championship Wrestling. He made his main roster debut in 2009 and was hand picked by Vince McMahon as his “Chosen One.” A former Intercontinental Champion, McIntyre would later join the now-disbanded 3MB stable.
– Brodus Clay originally signed with WWE back in 2006 and trained at the Deep South Wrestling and Florida Championship Wrestling developmental territories before being released in February 2008. He was re-signed in January 2010 and trained at Florida Championship Wrestling before becoming a contestant on NXT Season 4. He made his debut as the “Funkasaurus” back in 2012 and later teamed with Tensai (later known as Sweet T) as part of the Tons of Funk tag team.
– Evan Bourne was signed to a developmental deal back in 2007 and competed at Ohio Valley Wrestling through 2008, when he was brought up to the main roster. He would later capture the WWE Tag Team Titles with Kofi Kingston as part of the Air Boom tag team. In March 2012, he was involved in a car accident which broke his foot in four places and dislocated it in five. He never returned to WWE television, despite telling fans on Twitter that he’s been healthy and ready to return, as soon as WWE had something for him.
– Curt Hawkins was signed to WWE developmental back in 2006 and is a former WWE Tag Team Champion along with Zack Ryder.
– Yoshi Tatsu signed with WWE developmental back in 2007 and wrestled for Florida Championship Wrestling through 2009. In 2009, he was part of the revived ECW promotion and wrestled on the main roster through 2013, when he was brought down to NXT.
– Teddy Long was a longtime authority figure in WWE and had been with the company since 1998.
– Camacho had been with WWE since 2009. His final feud in NXT was with Adam Rose.
These cuts are part of WWE’s ongoing effort to reduce costs. According to sources in WWE, don’t be surprised to see more cuts in the coming months.
– The following is the latest video blog from JTG, which features the former Cryme Tyme member hitting the speed bag.
– The following is a clip from the latest Kayfabe Commentaries “Guest Booker” DVD, which features former WWE executive Bruce Prichard talking about — among other things — the infamous Montreal Screwjob.
– Part-time WWE Superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson recently posted the following update on his Instagram account regarding his new TNT television project called “Wake Up Call.”
“Putting the final touches on our new TNT show, WAKE UP CALL. Helping families thru tough times with love, new opportunities & a few ass kickings. Excited for the show… and I get to drive my personal pick up truck! #EverybodyWins #TimeForYourWakeUpCallPeople #LetsShoot”
– WWE Superstar JTG recently commented on today’s CM Punk and Matt Hardy/Reby Sky stories. Former WWE Diva Lita, who both Punk and Hardy previously dated, is referenced in the tweet. JTG wrote:
Cm punk leaves WWE ? Matt Hardy arrested ? Sounds like a former Diva is really into American Horror Story Coven. #Idonttweetbutwhenido …..
– While shooting footage for The JBL & Cole Show, Michael Cole suffered a black eye. The injury occurred while the WWE announcer played rugby at Huddersfield Stadium in West Yorkshire, England with professional player Eorl Crabtree. John “Bradshaw” Layfield posted this image on Twitter of Cole’s accident.
– WWE Hall of Famer Tammy “Sunny” Sytch recorded this message today promoting her upcoming appearance at the Classic Grand Rock Club in Glasgow, Scotland taking place this Thursday. The event will feature a Q&A session and meet and greet. Event details are available here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCNRQax5PzE
– WWE Superstar JTG reunited with his former partner in crime, Shad Gaspard, this weekend in Venice Beach, California.
The following are results of the matches taped for this week’s edition of WWE Superstars, which was taped prior to the start of WWE RAW on Monday night.
-Tony Dawson and Alex Riley came down to ringside for commentary.
-Santino Marella defeated JTG via Pinfall.
Santino came out first, to a huge reaction from the fans in attendance. Out next was JTG, who will be his opponent in this one-on-one contest to open this week’s WWE Superstars taping. The match was kept relatively short and was mostly a comedy match, with Santino picking up the pinfall victory after hitting the Cobra on JTG.
-Kofi Kingston defeated Drew McIntyre via Pinfall.
Kofi Kingston came out first to a nice ovation. Out next is his opponent, 3MB member Drew McIntyre. A lot of back-and-forth offense in this one, with several near falls. The finish came when Kingston hit his Trouble In Paradise kick on McIntyre for the 1-2-3.
-After those two matches, the WWE RAW announce team of Michael Cole, Jerry “The King” Lawler and JBL made their way to ringside. That ends this week’s WWE Superstars taping.
– JTG returns to action this week on WWE Superstars—his first televised match since the April 5 show—as he takes on Kofi Kingston. Also featured is a match between Christian and Big E Langston. Highlights from both matches are available below.
– The official WWE website has posted photos of Randy Orton’s WWE Championship, including customized Viper plates.
– The official WWE website has issued a poll asking fans whether they miss Cody Rhodes’ mustache—66% say no.
– Prior to WWE’s TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chair broadcast, JTG beat David Otunga via Da Shout Out in a dark match. JTG, who hails from Brooklyn, New York, the site of the show, received a good reaction from the hometown crowd.
The announced attendance for WWE’s first event at the Barclays Center was sold-out crowd of 15,748.
– WWE has released the trailer for its next pay-per-view event, Royal Rumble, taking place January 27, 2013. Advertising for the event is centered on the return of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who vowed to challenge for the WWE Championship.
– Josh Matthews issued the following Tout promoting tomorrow’s Slammy Awards edition of Raw.
– As reported last night, Thomas Latimer, who appears as Kenneth Cameron for WWE’s developmental league, NXT, was arrested late Thanksgiving Eve in St. Petersburg, Florida, on charges of battery on a law enforcement officer and disorderly intoxication. He was taken into custody to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and released on $5,100 bail, with the battery charge costing $5,000 and the disorderly intoxication charge costing $100. According to PWInsider.com, he was released from his contract with WWE following the arrest.
– Highlights of this week’s episode of WWE Superstars, featuring Santino Marella vs. David Otunga, and Brodus Clay vs. JTG, are now online.
– WWE Superstar JTG did a Q&A with fans on Twitter over weekend and says he was punished by WWE for ranting about being held back and WWE’s young talent not getting the opportunities they deserve. After his Twitter rant, JTG says WWE “punished” him by having him get squashed by Ryback the next week on RAW.
– Speaking of Ryback, his big push continues. Ryback wrestled his first Lumberjack Match at last night’s WWE SmackDown live event in Anaheim, California, defeating Jinder Mahal. At one point in the match, many of the heel lumberjacks attacked him, but he was able to throw them all off of him. After the match, Ryback hit his finisher on several of those heel lumberjacks.
– WWE Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler was released from the hospital in Montreal and is home in Memphis. Michael Cole announced that there will be an exclusive interview with Lawler on next Monday’s Raw.
– Before Raw went on the air Monday, a match featuring Drew McIntyre versus Jinder Mahal was taped for this week’s episode of WWE Superstars.
A match featuring Ted DiBiase vs. JTG also took place but it is unclear whether it will air on Superstars.
– WWE Hall of Famer Jesse Ventura appeared on tonight’s edition of Piers Morgan Tonight on CNN for an interview. The program replays at midnight and 3:00 a.m.
WWE announced late Wednesday night via Twitter that Tyler Reks has been released from his contract with the organization.
“WWE has come to terms on the release of Gabe Tufts (Tyler Reks) as of Tuesday, Aug. 21. We wish Gabe all the best in his future endeavors,” the message reads, which was made through an iPad.
Reks, whose real name is actually Gabe Tuft, cited his desire to spend time with his family in a message posted on Facebook and Twitter. He wrote, “I realized recently that being a Superstar means sacrificing certain things, including time with my family. As a new father, my heart broke every time I had to leave to go on the road. I didn’t ever want to miss another moment with my daughter, so I made the decision to be a full time dad and hang up my boots.”
SmackDown Superstar William Regal, who feuded with Reks earlier this year on NXT, commented on his release via Twitter: “I was told that Tyler Reks has finished with WWE.Talented lad who was a gentleman.I admire his unselfish gesture for his family.Good man.”
Raw Superstar JTG also posted his first tweet since his controversial diatribe two weeks ago, writing, “The locker room will miss you bro.”
– After JTG pleaded his case to make some noise on Raw, his wish was granted by program General Manager AJ Lee as the quirky Diva placed him in a one-on-one match against Ryback. WWE broadcaster Michael Cole acknowledged JTG’s “controversial remarks” on Twitter last week where he cryptically stated that his “locker room brothers” were being taken advantage of—F4WOnline.com reports his source of contention stemmed from lower-tier wrestlers’ financial compensation for WrestleMania XXVIII.
Following the Cryme Tyme founder’s loss to Ryback, Cole stated, “I can’t wait until JTG tweets about this.”
– Zack Ryder mentioned on Twitter that he was not at Raw in Dallas, Texas, writing, “#NotAtRaw.” Rather, he drove to Austin, Texas, the site of Tuesday’s SmackDown taping.
– Raw viewers who check in to GetGlue.com will receive a free Trish Stratus Diva Summer Series sticker.
– Christian is today’s featured Superstar on WWE.com. He is currently not scheduled to compete this Sunday at SummerSlam.
Following WWE superstar JTG’s rant on Monday night about WWE’s mid-card talent being held back and taken advantage of, f4wonline.com is reporting that the recent wrestler payouts for WrestleMania 28 could be what triggered his public complaining.
WWE recently paid its performers for the record-setting WrestleMania 28 show, and JTG is not the only wrestler upset about how much (or how little) he received for the event.
Several mid-card workers are believed to carry the same frustrations as JTG, however as JTG mentioned in his rant – people are afraid to speak up due to fear of losing their jobs.
While it’s unknown whether JTG is actually trying to get released by criticizing WWE on Twitter, people were keeping their distance from him prior to RAW going on the air. After the show, WWE officials approached him and asked him if he was okay and what he is upset about.
(Source: f4wonline.com)
Posted August 7th, 2012 in News, WWE. Tagged: JTG.
— In a rematch from Monday’s Raw SuperShow, World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus will face Mark Henry this Friday on SmackDown. Also, Michael Cole will conduct an interview with Randy Orton to get his thoughts for his match against Kane at Extreme Rules.
— Matches taped Monday night in Detroit, Michigan for this week’s episode of WWE Superstars were Kelly Kelly vs. Maxine and Alex Riley vs. The Miz.
Antonio Cesaro beat JTG in a dark match at the show.
— The announced attendance for Monday’s Raw Supershow the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan was a sellout crowd of 16,122.
– Could Mark Henry be heading to Raw? The official website of the Thompson-Boling Arena is advertising the SmackDown star vs. John Cena in a Special Challenge Match for a Raw live event taking place at the venue on May 5. All other talent advertised for the show are members of the Raw roster. A Triple Threat Match featuring Alberto Del Rio, CM Punk and Chris Jericho is also scheduled.
– Former WWE star Billy Gunn celebrated one year of sobriety last week. His wife wrote Saturday on his Twitter account:
“*HACKED BY YOUR WIFE* Congrats on your ONE YEAR Sobriety! One day and one step at a time! you got this baby!! love you!”
Gunn, whose real name is Monty Sopp, has admitted to drug use in interviews. His lengthy tenure with WWE ended in 2004 following a visit to a rehabilitation facility.
– Seldom seen Raw Superstar JTG is on the road this week with WWE. He did job duty to Ryback (a/k/a Skip Sheffield) at Raw live events on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
— A press conference Thursday to kick off WWE’s first-ever live event tour in Abu Dhabi “turned chaotic” when Kane attacked John Cena, according to WWE.com. Cena, however, put The Big Red Monster through a table in front of members of the media.
Video and photos of the incident are available here.
— Through Twitter, Marco Corleone has been lobbying Alex Koslov (a/k/a Peter Orlov) to return to EMLL following his release from WWE last week.
— Matches airing on today’s episode of WWE Superstars on WWE.com are Johnny Curtis vs. Yoshi Tatsu, Heath Slater vs. Justin Gabriel, Jack Swagger vs. Santino Marella and tag team action pitting Epico and Primo against JTG and Michael McGillicutty.
— In today’s birthdays, Shelly Martinez turns 32 years old while Madusa turns 49.
— Matches taped tonight at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma for this week’s episode of WWE Superstars are as follows:
* Jack Swagger vs. Santino Marella
* WWE Tag Team Champions Epico and Primo vs. JTG and Michael McGillicutty
— Brodus Clay squashed WWE developmental wrestler Damien Sandow in a dark match at tonight’s Raw SuperShow taping in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Sandow was accompanied by Abraham Washington, who introduced him to the audience prior to the bout.
— A photo of Sheamus performing the High Cross on Chris Jericho at last week’s Royal Rumble is featured on the cover of the latest issue of Super Luchas.
— Randy Orton, who has been sidelined since late December due to a back injury, returned to action at Sunday’s WWE live event in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He faced Wade Barrett in his return match.
Orton attacked Barrett upon his entrance. Epico, JTG, Kofi Kingston, Primo and Santino Marella then came out to defuse the situation. Orton RKO’d Epico, JTG, Kingston and Primo after Barrett ran off. Marella also ran away to avoid the devastating maneuver.
Orton is advertised to return to television on this Friday’s episode of SmackDown.
— Tamina stated on Twitter that she wants Vickie Guerrero—her frequent traveling partner—to assist her in her road to WWE glory.
The second generation grappler wrote, “It would be another step further to have Vickie Guerrero manage me, i like her style….”
— WWE has announced a Falls Count Anywhere Match between Randy Orton and Wade Barrett for this Friday’s episode of SmackDown. The match will be taped Tuesday night in Indianapolis, Indiana.
— Matches taped Monday night in Chicago, Illinois for this week’s episode of WWE Superstars are as follows:
* Alex Riley vs. JTG
* Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston vs. Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks
— Evan Bourne appears at Best Buy in St. Louis, Missouri on January 28, 2011 starting at 11:00 a.m.
— WWE brought Lilian Garcia back to the organization to permanently replace Tony Chimel as the ring announcer for weekly SmackDown tapings. Chimel, 50, will continue working for WWE at television tapings in the production office backstage. Company officials asked Garcia late last week if she wanted to return and a deal was reached Monday upon her arrival in Tampa, Florida.
Garcia, who turned 45 years old in August, retired from her job as Raw ring announcer in 2009, citing a wish to settle down with her husband and being burned out from WWE’s strenuous travel schedule. During her time away, she continued to pursue her music career, and hosted AfterBuzzTV.com’s post-shows for Raw and Tough Enough.
— Matches taped Tuesday night in Jacksonville, Florida for this week’s episode of WWE NXT are as follows: Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso vs. Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks; Darren Young and JTG vs. Percy Watson and Titus O’Neil; Johnny Curtis vs. Derrick Bateman.
Yoshi Tatsu beat WWE developmental wrestler Damien Sandow in a dark match prior to the taping.
— During CM Punk’s appearance on the latest edition of Colt Cabana’s Art Of Wrestling Radio podcast (available on WeLoveColt.com and iTunes), the reigning champion took a swipe at WWE’s Twitter initiative.
“I am on Twitter at CMPunk; that is my satirical way of making fun of how the WWE has beat the living shit out of Twitter in the last couple of weeks,” he said.
— With new allies Epico and Rosa Mendes in his corner, Primo earned an upset victory over WWE Tag Team Champion Kofi Kingston on this week’s episode of WWE Superstars. The episode can be accessed at WWE.com. Other matches broadcast include JTG vs. Santino Marella and Heath Slater vs. Ted DiBiase.
— Former WWE Diva Serena Deeb has been announced for K & S Wrestlefest, which takes place this Saturday at the Ramada Philadelphia Airport 76 Industrial Hwy. Essington, Pennsylvania.
— The following matches were taped Tuesday night in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania for this week’s episode of NXT Redemption:
* Johnny Curtis vs. Yoshi Tatsu
* Jimmy Uso vs. JTG
* Percy Watson and Titus O’Neil vs. Darren Young and Tyler Reks
— The following matches were taped Tuesday night in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania for this week’s episode of WWE Superstars:
* Jinder Mahal vs. Trent Barreta
* Ezekiel Jackson vs. Tyson Kidd
— A Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza employee told an attendee at tonight’s WWE television tapings that the event drew 4,000 fans. This is approximately half the venue’s capacity.
– Evan Bourne, who is currently serving a thirty-day suspension as a result of his first violation of WWE’s Talent Wellness Program, took a dig at the organization’s constant shilling of Twitter during television broadcasts. Bourne tweeted:
“I wonder if WWE ’13 will have our twitter handles, random tweet pop ups and Cole talking tweets? Might make gameplay as annoying as viewing.”
“My guess is WWE 13: “The Network”. You are Vince and control the WWE with a WWE “Univers(e)al” Remote. Create history and earn money!”
– Kelly Kelly announced on Twitter that she has set up a page on Google+.
– Monday’s Raw saw Mason Ryan quickly defeat JTG. The appearance marked as JTG’s first match on the show since being transferred to Raw in April via the Supplemental Draft.
— The October 31 episode of the Raw SuperShow garnered a 3.1 cable rating, down two-tenths from 3.31 the week before. Overall viewership was also down, from 4.71 million viewers to 4.49.
For the second consecutive week, Raw’s rating declined during the second hour, from 3.21 to 3.00. Overall viewership decreased by 236,000. The first hour of last week’s show averaged 4.93 million viewers before declining to 4.50 in the second.
— Matches taped tonight in Greenville, South Carolina for this week’s episode of WWE NXT were: Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso vs. Johnny Curtis and Tyson Kidd; Kaitlyn vs. Tamina; A.J, Percy Watson and Titus O’Neil vs. Derrick Bateman, JTG and Maxine.
— The October 29 episode of A.M. Raw scored a 0.69 cable rating with 792,000 viewers.