As things stand right now, there is no official word from WWE as to how SmackDown moving to Thursday nights will affect the airing of the show in international markets.
The belief is that SmackDown in Canada will move to Thursday nights as well. Countries such as Australia and the United Kingdom have been getting SmackDown almost a day early and that may no longer be the case due to timing.
It’s also believed that due to the SmackDown time slot change, NXT, Superstars and WWE Network shows such as Legends House season two will be moved to a different night. Early speculation is that those shows would be moved to Wednesday nights.
– For whatever this is worth, John Cena is currently the betting favorite on online gambling websites to win tonight’s Money In The Bank ladder match for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
– Pat Patterson “coming out” made the latest issue of Time Magazine under the “Milestones” section, where they list him as “Opening Up” for revealing all that he did during the season one finale of the WWE Network original reality series “Legends House.”
– The current working plan is for Batista to make his WWE return following the release of the “Guardians of the Galaxy” film, which is scheduled to come out on August 1st. This would make an August or September return the most likely plan for “The Animal.”
– There’s a funny story regarding the local coverage of the news that Pat Patterson “came out of the closet” in his hometown of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. TVA Sports and Le Journal, the leading French-language newspaper, covered the story of Patterson’s revelation on Legends House as if it were new news when in fact the same publication, when writing about Darren Young coming out of the closet last year, listed Patterson among the wrestlers who were already openly gay.
– With season one of Legends House now completed, the WWE Network will begin airing season one of Total Divas in the same time slot, Thursday night at 8pm EST. The Total Divas episodes will begin airing this coming Thursday night.
– The latest edition of WWE Top 10 takes a look back at the top ten “mic mishaps” of all-time. You can check that out below.
– 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.
The following are highlights of a new Bleacher Report interview with “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan:
The emotional season finale of Legends House: “I don’t think that was anything that was really planned. That just goes to show how close the eight of us, or the seven of us and Tony (Atlas), got over that period of time, being away from our families and just being together. I don’t’ think anyone expected that episode to go the way it did. I think Jimmy (Hart) started the ball rolling when he shared what had happened in his life and I told a story I very seldom tell. It was very traumatic for me. And then Pat went. It just goes to show how close we became.”
The Legends House reunion that was filmed earlier this year: “It was great to see everybody. It was the first time all eight of us have been together since. I had seen (Roddy) Piper an Jimmy Hart on the road and I’ve talked to Hillbilly (Jim) on the phone, but for the eight of us to get together again was a lot of fun. It was even kind of good to see Tony. The first two minutes.”
How he wants fans to remember him: “I think the character is just an extension of my personality. My old buddy Bret Hart always said “I’m the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be.” I always say “I’m Hacksaw Duggan. I try hard.” I think that people saw that in me. That’s why I can still go to the ring today. People see Hacksaw is an extension of my personality. What’s out there is genuine. When I’m cheering “USA, USA” it’s coming from the heart.”
Darren Young, who came out of the closet last year, recently posted the following Twitter rant about Pat Patterson’s “revelation” from last week’s season finale episode of Legends House:
People have been asking me what do I think of Pat Paterson being open and honest on @WWE#LegendsHouse ?…here u go cont…
– WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair is now medically cleared to return to WWE and will be managing his daughter, NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte, at WWE live events next month. While there have been rumors that Flair would be returning to television on tonight’s RAW, he was not part of the script that was being worked on over the weekend.
– Savio Vega has been added to the Alumni section of WWE.com.
– The “Legends’ House Reunion” special will air this Thursday on the WWE Network at 8pm (Eastern). The reunion show was taped last year in Florida.
– In related WWE Network news, tomorrow’s Wrestlemania Rewind will focus on Kurt Angel vs. Eddie Guerrero from Wrestlemania 20.
Apparently the back-story behind Pat Patterson coming out of the closet publicly on this past Thursday night’s season finale episode of the WWE Network reality show “Legends House,” is that it was done by design.
When WWE first filmed Legends House, the company fully intended to sell the show to a network such as SyFy or E!, and the feeling was Patterson’s revelation would likely garner a lot of media attention, much like Darren Young’s announcement did last year.
While TMZ did pick up the Patterson story, it didn’t receive nearly the amount of media attention that some assumed it would generate. Patterson is, however, trending number one worldwide on Twitter due to the news.
– WWE has announced that there will be a special Legends House Reunion show next week on the WWE Network. This is the show that the cast reunited to tape earlier this year in Orlando, Florida. Jerry “The King” Lawler will serve as the host of the episode.
– Curt Hawkins, who was one of the WWE Superstars that was released on Thursday, will be going by his real name, Bryan Myers, on the independent wrestling scene. He will also be billing himself as “The Prince of Queens.”
While it wasn’t a shock to anyone in the pro wrestling world, Pat Patterson’s revelation that he is gay on the season finale of “Legends House” got a lot of mainstream media attention.
The news made headlines on celebrity-gossip website TMZ, where the website claimed that Patterson “explained that he’s been keeping the secret out of the public eye for 5 decades … and had a partner for roughly 40 years, but he passed away after suffering a heart attack.”
– WWE Diva Natalya recently spoke to CBS Minnesota and explained why Stephanie McMahon is an inspiration to her. Natalya stated the following:
“When she’s on, you don’t want to take your eyes off the screen, you want to see what she’s doing next. You don’t worry if she’s a woman or a man, you don’t care she’s Vince McMahon’s daughter. Whatever she’s doing is really, really good.”
– The following is the official synopsis for Thursday’s season finale episode of WWE Legends House, which airs on the WWE Network:
“Pat Patterson attempts to reveal a lifelong secret to the group. The WWE Legends send each other off in style with a party!”
– The theme of the next edition of WWE Countdown, which airs on Tuesday night on the WWE Network, will be the top ten “trash-talkers” of all-time.
– Below is a list of the top ten most-viewed shows on the WWE Network for the past week:
1. Payback 2014
2. Legends House
3. Main Event
4. RAW Pre-show
5. WCW Clash of The Champions
6. RAW Backstage Pass
7. NXT
8. WrestleMania Rewind
9. WWE Countdown
10. WrestleMania XXX
It was first reported back in 2012 when WWE was in the early stages of developing the WWE Network that their “Legends House” reality show would be ten episodes long. If that is still true today, that would mean that the season finale would be only two weeks away, airing on June 19th, as episode number eight is scheduled to air this Thursday night.
Back in January, we reported that the cast of Legends House traveled to Orlando, Florida to film additional footage for the show. We do know that the crew filmed a reunion of some sorts, but as far as the actual regular season is concerned, it’s looking like it will wrap up by the end of this month.
– Alberto Del Rio became the first person to officially qualify for the WWE Money In The Bank ladder match this year. Del Rio advanced to the match, which as noted may be for a the WWE World Heavyweight Championship depending on Daniel Bryan’s status, by defeating Dolph Ziggler at Monday’s RAW.
– WWE released the latest list of the top-ten most-watched shows on the WWE Network for the week of May 26th through June 1st. You can check that out below.
– The Washington Times recently ran a piece that noted Vince McMahon and Linda McMahon have emerged as Republican “mega-donors.” According to public finance reports, the McMahon’s have donated approximately one million dollars to Republican candidates, party committees and super PACs this year, including Karl Rove’s American Crossroads and TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts’ group Ending Spending.
– Below is the official synopsis for the next episode of WWE Legends House, which airs next Thursday on the WWE Network:
“The WWE Legends play a game of ‘How well do you know your roommates?’ Then the group receives a visit from Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels.”
– 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
– WWE Hall Of Famer Shawn Michaels will be featured on next week’s edition of WWE Legends House, which airs Thursday night on the WWE Network.
– WWE reportedly refused ABC sitcom “The Goldbergs” the rights to any footage of The Ultimate Warrior for their tribute show to the late WWE Hall Of Famer. Warrior and his family were reportedly big fans of the series, and his wife and daughter were said to be touched by the tribute episode. Warrior’s daughters were actually invited onto The Goldbergs set for the filming of an episode next season.
– The official WWE website has a new article up featuring current WWE Superstars and WWE Divas naming their favorite wrestlers of all-time. You can check that out at WWE.com.
– The following is the official synopsis for this Thursday’s edition of WWE Legends House on the WWE Network:
“”When the WWE Legends engage a ruthless enemy in a game of live action role play (LARP), their strength as a group is tested.”
– It was announced on this week’s edition of WWE RAW, which was a taped show from the O2 Arena in London, England, that the headline match on this week’s edition of WWE Main Event, which airs live on the WWE Network on Tuesday night, will be Mark Henry vs. Cesaro.
– WWE revealed the ten most-watched shows on the WWE Network last week on RAW on Monday night. Below is a look at the latest top-ten:
1. WWE Main Event
2. WWE Slam City
3. WWE Legends House
4. RAW Pre-show
5. Extreme Rules 2014
6. WWE NXT
7. RAW Backstage Pass
8. WrestleMania Rewind
9. WrestleMania XXX
10. WWE Countdown
The following are highlights of a new blog by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On WWE’s new deal with NBCUniversal and the WWE stock decline: “Many financial outlets writing gloom and doom for WWE after the announcement of WWE’s new rights fees deal with NBC/Universal which essentially keeps WWE on USA and SyFy for the next few years. The new rights fee was less than expected/predicted but I can certainly see light at the end of the tunnel. The key driver is to earn more fans and develop regular consumers of their core product. How is that done?”
“No mystery…develop new, hot stars that are embroiled in reality based, personal issue storylines on a consistent that all fans can emotionally invest in while watching easy to follow TV broadcasts. That process takes time, the right talents, plausible creative, and keeping the process simple but stimulating.”
“For the long haul and as the stock continues to descend likely for the next few days, I’m thinking that for many investors that the WWE stock is a viable consideration to invest in and that’s if one is a long term investor. I’m no stock analyst but I do think that the stock will rebound in time without question.”
“I also assume that the entire WWE/NBC/Universal package and business deal is still under wraps and more news will be announced in the near future but let me stress this is merely my speculation and not based on any inside info whatsoever.”
“Personally I think that Smackdown is best aired live on Tuesday night which fits the WWE production model because live TV, to me, is a better watch than a taped program that is talked to death all week online and via various social media outlets.”
“I experienced, while with WWE, some trying times in the mid 90’s that were far more challenging than today’s marketplace for WWE so I’m more interested to see who rolls up their sleeves and works smarter and harder in making the brand better over the long haul.”
“As always, the key to the genre is talent and television. Recruiting and training great, young talents plus producing consistent, episodically viable, weekly TV will always be the key. ”
“The WWE Network is still a great value and an investment that I am happy that I made so I can get my wresting fix whenever I choose at an affordable price.”
On Legends House rumors and Tough Enough: “Because I have been asked this often, I’d like to address this matter one last time. I am not a candidate to be included in the WWE Legend’s House if they do a second season. I have not been asked by WWE nor do I have any interest in doing the 6 week or so project. I’m too busy with a variety of other projects to invest the time. I would be interested in being involved in Tough Enough as I love spending time with the young prospects who simply want to live their dreams just as I was able to do.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
– The following is the latest list of the top ten most watched shows on the WWE Network for this past week:
1. Extreme Rules 2014
2. Legends House
3. RAW Pre-show
4. WrestleMania Rewind
5. WWE Countdown: Greatest Villains
6. Extreme Rules 2014 Fallout
7. WWE Main Event
8. ECW Hardcore TV
9. WWE NXT
10. WrestleMania XXX
– The National Entertainment Collectibles Association will be releasing a Bret Hart action figure as part of their new “The Simpsons 25th Anniversary: Celebrity Guest Stars” series. You can check out a photo of Hart’s action figure below.
The following are highlights of a new Q&A update by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On his upcoming boxing announcing gig and possible UFC work in the future: “I have had no conversations with UFC about broadcasting their fights and I’m a boxing fan too so the chance to do a boxing card was an opportunity that I wanted to explore.”
On his “RINGSIDE” show in Toronto: “Very happy that you enjoyed our Toronto show and thanks for attending. Wrestling to me was never a job and when one has a vocation that they truly enjoy they generally can do it forever.”
On if WWE will ever produce a Jim Ross documentary DVD: “No…highly unlikely that will happen.”
On if he would accept an invitation to be part of a future season of Legends House: “I have no interest in being on Legends House whatsoever. I don’t have six weeks to devote to the production.”
Check out more JR Q&A online at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
The following are some WWE Network exclusive interviews with “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and Hillbilly Jim, where they discuss this week’s edition of “Legends House.”
– 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.
– 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.