WWE has started to announce inductees into this year’s Hall of Fame class just weeks before the ceremony takes place. On Friday’s SmackDown, WWE confirmed Rey Mysterio as the first person to be part of the class.
It’s been reported that Konnan will do the honors for Mysterio. The Great Muta is also expected to be announced soon for the class.
It looks like Stacy Keibler will be going into the WWE Hall of Fame as Pwinsider.com reports that the WWE is “very close” to finalizing a deal to announce Keibler. She would be the first female member of the class to be announced.
Stacy Keibler in the WWE Hall of Fame
The report added that Keibler and WWE have been in talks for a few weeks now, with an ope source stating the deal was “99% done.” Another source said they expect the induction to be likely, although it wasn’t a done deal as of last Friday.
Keibler broke into the wrestling business by working for WCW in 1999, and after the company was sold, she went to WWE in 2001, where she stayed with the company until mid-2006. She decided to depart from the company to focus on other opportunities.
The ceremony will take place on Friday, March 31, from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
On Thanksgiving night, November 22, 2001, WWE broadcasted a pretaped episode of SmackDown. The show featured a star-studded main event with The Rock teaming up with Rob Van Dam against Chris Jericho and The Dudley Boyz, not to mention a Kurt Angle vs. The Undertaker match and Edge vs. Christian for the Intercontinental Championship in the undercard.
The most memorable part of the card, however, was a Gravy Bowl Match pitting Trish Stratus against Stacy Keibler.
Trish Stratus Vs. Stacy Keibler Wasn’t The First Gravy Bowl Match
The Gravy Bowl Match was little more complicated than it sounded—a match pitting two women in a pit full of what was ostensibly gravy, for what looked an awful lot like a mud wrestling match. The popularity and sex appeal of Trish Stratus and Stacy Keibler made their Gravy Bowl Match instantly the most iconic iteration of the match. They weren’t the originators, though.
The dubious honor of kicking off the Gravy Bowl Match gimmick goes to Jacqueline and Ivory. Though Trish Stratus would grow into being a highly skilled in-ring performer, she was only starting to get there in late 2001. By contrast, Jacqueline and Ivory were about as legit as it got in the women’s ranks, both tough, highly skilled veteran performers who were more clearly above this gimmick in 1999. Nonetheless, they worked a one-minute match, with Jacqueline getting better of it.
A Food Fight Preceded The Match
When Trish Stratus and Stacy Keibler clashed for their Gravy Bowl Match, they were less than a week removed from Survivor Series 2001, where WWE conclusively won its war against The Alliance. Stratus vs. Keibler felt like a bit of a coda. Though the action of the Invasion angle had clearly focused on the male performers, Stratus was a clear cut WWE talent whereas Keibler was one of the more consistently featured talents to come over from WCW and remain locked into her heel role with them for those first months under WWE contract.
The action got started with a food fight. Keibler made her entrance first and seated herself at a banquet table of Thanksgiving foods beside the Gravy Bowl. Stratus made her entrance second, wearing the Women’s Championship she’d picked up at the PPV. They both wore dresses and seemed set to eat before Keibler got things started, throwing a handful of mashed potatoes at Stratus and laughing at her. Sttratus got up close and personal, dumping gravy on Keibler’s head before a back and forth exchange covered them both in food, culminating in Stratus sling-shotting Keibler into the gravy to get the match properly started.
Trish Stratus Picked Up The Submission Victory
The action of The Gravy Bowl Match wasn’t all that technically impressive as the two struggled against each other with little rhyme or reason, alternately throwing the other down or dunking her head beneath the surface of the gravy as the momentum switched back and forth. Finally, Stratus hit something like and Alabama Slam, en route to applying a hold somewhere between a chin lock and camel clutch to make Keibler tap out.
In the aftermath, Keibler played the sore loser, kicking gravy up out of the bowl, before climbing out, complaining to the ref, and shoving him into the gravy. Meanwhile, Stratus celebrated on the entrance ramp, raising her title overhead.
There’s little doubt that the Gravy Bowl Match between Stacy Keibler and Trish Stratus was designed to make the most of each woman’s sex appeal with a provocative match that left both women sopping wet, with the justification that the bout celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday spirit. Stratus commented on the match explicitly years later in a visit to Lillian Garcia’s podcast, and how it felt like a non-sequitur after the women’s division and Stratus personally had gained significant momentum at the time. She complained about it to trainer Fit Finlay at the time.
Nonetheless, with the benefit of hindsight, Stratus reflected on it as little more than a speed bump. She would go on to assemble a more than Hall of Fame-worthy career, earning the respect of wrestling fans around the world in a boom period for women’s division over a decade before the so-called Women’s Revolution.
Stacy Keibler has given birth to her second child, a boy named Bodhi Brooks Pobre, with her husband Jared Pobre.
The former WWE star announced the news on Wednesday night on Instagram with a photo of herself, Pobre and their three-year-old daughter Ava holding Bodhi’s tiny hand. She said the baby was born at her home on June 18.
https://instagram.com/p/BkjF17uB1KR/
Keibler broke her silence from social media two weeks ago to announce her pregnancy.
https://instagram.com/p/Bj8hgrUlo6E/
Two months after breaking up with actor George Clooney in July 2013, Keibler began dating Pobre, a tech entrepreneur. They got married on March 8, 2014, in a surprise beach ceremony in Mexico. The wedding was a surprise to their respective families since they were on vacation.
Four months after giving birth to her first daughter (Ava Grace, born August 20, 2014), Keibler said she never thought about marriage or parenthood until she began dating Pobre.
“Life can be unpredictable. You feel one way, and then … boom!” Keibler wrote on her lifestyle website. “You need to entirely change your perspective. That is certainly what happened to me this past year. Until I started dating Jared, the idea of being married and having a family was never on my radar. I was just hoping that the right love would find me.
“But after a serendipitous reconnection with Jared, a friend who turned out to be my soulmate, we created a family together almost instantly. Talk about a serious change in my reality! This year and the holiday season especially has me feeling so nostalgic about family — my family, my new family, and of course, the newest addition to our family. Ava has graced us with such joy, such light and such love–we never saw it coming. She is our special little lady, and I couldn’t be more thankful for how she has opened my heart.”
Since becoming a mother, Keibler has maintained a very low profile. She stopped acting and is rarely photographed in public. She also shut down her lifestyle website (at StacyKeibler.com) and largely abandoned social media. Until her pregnancy announcement, she had not posted on Instagram since September 2015.
Two months after breaking up with actor George Clooney in July 2013, Keibler began dating Pobre, a tech entrepreneur. They got married on March 8, 2014, in a surprise beach ceremony in Mexico. The wedding was a surprise to their respective families since they were on vacation.
Keibler and Pobre welcomed their first child, daughter Ava Grace, now three years old, on August 20, 2014.
Since becoming a mother, Keibler has maintained a very low profile. She stopped acting and is rarely photographed in public. She also shut down her lifestyle website (at StacyKeibler.com) and abandoned social media (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).
Her last post on Facebook was made on March 25, 2017, in which she encouraged people to “turn off your lights tonight at 8:30 & help us to a better future!” in honor of Earth Hour. That same status update was posted to her Twitter account, which was also her last tweet.
Keibler has not updated her Instagram account since September 2015. The last post she shared on the social media platform was of herself reading a book titled “What Does It Mean to Be Kind?” to her daughter.
https://www.instagram.com/p/8EQvsEpUxF/
Four months after giving birth to her first daughter, Keibler revealed that she never thought about marriage or parenthood until she began dating Pobre.
“Life can be unpredictable. You feel one way, and then … boom!” Keibler wrote on her lifestyle website. “You need to entirely change your perspective. That is certainly what happened to me this past year. Until I started dating Jared, the idea of being married and having a family was never on my radar. I was just hoping that the right love would find me.
“But after a serendipitous reconnection with Jared, a friend who turned out to be my soulmate, we created a family together almost instantly. Talk about a serious change in my reality! This year and the holiday season especially has me feeling so nostalgic about family — my family, my new family, and of course, the newest addition to our family. Ava has graced us with such joy, such light and such love–we never saw it coming. She is our special little lady, and I couldn’t be more thankful for how she has opened my heart.”
Stacy Keibler noted on her official website that she and her new husband Jared Pobre gave birth to a new baby daughter on Wednesday.
The former WWE Diva posted the following on her official website.
GRACED
Jared and I have been blessed with the new love of our lives. Ava Grace Pobre was born at home on Wednesday, August 20th. We’ve never experienced a level of joy and happiness like this before!
Thank you so much for all of the special wishes and positive energy.
Former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler is on the cover of the latest edition of “Fit Pregnancy” magazine, showing off her “baby-bump” now that she is pregnant.
Additionally, People.com recently ran an article on Keibler, where she spoke about her pregnancy and husband Jared Pobre. “Before we met, both Jared and I had told our parents we didn’t think we’d ever get married or have kids,” said Keibler. “But when you’re with the right person, everything changes.”
The former WWE Diva continued, “My epiphany happened shortly after Jared and I started dating and, once we both knew, we didn’t hesitate — I just knew I was ready and that there’s no one else in the world I would want to do this with.”
You can check out the complete article at People.com.
– WWE will be holding their annual “Money In The Bank” pay-per-view event at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts on June 29th. It’s likely that the company will make the announcement at Tuesday’s SmackDown taping, which will also take place at Boston’s TD Garden.
– Former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler confirmed the rumors that she’s pregnant on Monday. In a new message posted on her official Instagram account, Keibler noted, “Look what we’ve got cooking! A Bun’dle of love!” The message was a caption that went along with a photo of biscuit in an oven. You can check that out at Instagram.com.
– The New York Post is reporting that former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler is pregnant. Keibler married Jared Pobre on a beach in Mexico this past Saturday (3/8) after 8 months of dating. The two had been friends for years but didn’t start dating until this past fall, just a few months after Keibler and George Clooney split.
– WWE COO Triple H “no showed” this week’s sit-down interview with Michael Cole, playing up his frustration we saw on RAW due to Daniel Bryan’s #OccupyRAW movement.
The segment started with Michael Cole waiting for Triple H and recapping the events that transpired on Monday night. Hunter was supposed to explain why he gave in to Daniel Bryan’s demands and gave him a chance to wind up in the main event of WrestleMania, until Michael Cole “received an email” that Triple H was called into an “emergency meeting” related to the WWE Network.
Triple H will address the Daniel Bryan situation on Friday’s SmackDown. In light of Triple H’s absense, Michael Cole joked, “Can’t say that I’m surprised. Hopefully he’ll join us next week.”
– WWE recently hinted at a potential rematch between Sheamus and Christian for Monday’s RAW.
– As previously reported, former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler got married this past Saturday night. The news was revealed by People.com, and it was noted that in the new edition of People Magazine, which comes out on Friday, there will be exclusive wedding photos in the issue.
– WWE will be returning to Madison Square Garden in New York City on Saturday, July 12th for a non-televised live event. Tickets for the show are on sale from now until March 14th, with the pre-sale password WWEGARDEN.
– Former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler and her fiancee’ Jared Pobre got married at a surprise sunset ceremony on a beach in Mexico this weekend. Keibler told People.com, “My happiness is indescribable! Marriage is the ultimate bond of love and friendship. It means putting all your faith and trust into a person that you can’t help but believe is your soul mate. Someone who has all of your best interests at heart; someone handpicked for you, to help you grow and be the best person that you can be. Jared is all of this for me.”
As previously reported, Stephanie McMahon recently met with former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler in New York to discuss the possibility of signing her to a deal to return to the company. Apparently a possible Hall Of Fame induction is rumored as part of the deal as well.
According to PWInsider.com, WWE wants Keibler to have a big role at WrestleMania XXX, possibly as a “backstage correspondent” throughout the show.
It should be noted that nothing is official yet as far as whether or not she will actually return to the company, but as noted, the offer was lucrative enough this time around that Keibler is reportedly giving it strong consideration.
WWE is pushing hard for Stacy Keibler to appear at WrestleMania XXX.
The company has been pursuing her for months. Stacy Keibler and Nick Cannon hosted VH1’s “Super Bowl Blitz: Six Nights + Six Shows” event and Stephanie McMahon reportedly attended one of the events to meet with Keibler face to face.
Keibler worked for WWE from 2001-2006 and made a special appearance on the WWE Tough Enough reality show back in 2011. Keibler left WWE after appearing on the hit TV show Dancing with the Stars and went on to become a TV host. She currently hosts Supermarket Superstar on the Lifetime channel and got a lot of tabloid attention for her relationship with George Clooney (2011-2013).
(Information from PWTorch.com was used in this report)
– The local ABC affiliate in Maryland has a featured piece up on their website about former WWE Diva Mickie James returning to the area for Maryland Championship Wrestling (MCW), which was one of the first promotions she regularly worked for on the independent scene early in her career. You can check that article out at ABC2News.com.
– The National Public Radio website has added their coverage of the passing of WWE Hall Of Famer Mae Young. You can check that out at NPR.org.
– Former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler is featured in a commercial for VH-1’s Super Bowl Blitz which has been in heavy rotation on that network.
– As previously reported, current WWE Diva Eva Marie was nominated for Maxim’s Hot 100. In addition to the Total Divas star, former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler has also been nominated. For more information, visit Maxim.com.
– One-half of the former New Age Outlaws tag-team, Billy Gunn, who recently appeared as a presenter for the 2013 WWE Slammy Awards, is scheduled to return to the ring for a match against current WWE NXT Champion Bo Dallas at the NXT live event on Thursday in Tampa, Florida.
– Former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler grabbed headlines over the weekend after being spotted with tech entrepreneur boyfriend Jared Pobre, five months after splitting with actor George Clooney.
On Thursday night, she partied with Pobre and a few celebrities at an event in Miami, Florida (coverage available at DailyMail.co.uk). On Saturday, the couple was spotted flirting at LAX (Us Magazinereports here).
Keibler and Pobre were first spotted out together in Paris, France in September. The following month Pobre threw Keibler a James Bond-themed birthday party following a week-long vacation in Europe.
– Reigning IWGP Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura will defend his title against Hiroshi Tanahashi at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual January 4 Dome Show at the Tokyo Dome, according to F4WOnline.com. Some former WWE and TNA Wrestling talent are slated for the company’s biggest event: Davey Boy Smith, Jr. (a/k/a David Hart Smith) and Lance Archer defend the IWGP Tag Team Championship against Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows (a/k/a Luke Gallows; The Young Bucks defend the IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship against Alex Shelley and KUSHIDA, Alex Koslov and Rocky Romero, and Taichi and TAKA Michinoku.
– Gene Snitsky and Jasmin St. Claire will be appearing at the Bizarre AC Horror Expo at the Tropicana Casino & Resort 2831 Boardwalk Atlantic City, New Jersey, this Friday through Sunday.
Former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler, who split with her previous boyfriend George Clooney back in July, has already hooked up again. According to a Daily Star article in the U.K., Keibler is now dating Future Ads CEO Jared Pobre.
For those who care at all about Keibler’s personal relationships, check out the full article at DailyMail.co.uk.
– Brian Shields, who was the co-author of the WWE Encyclopedia, will be performing his “History Of WWE” show on Friday at 2pm at the Bethpage Library in Bethpage, New York.
– Former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler will be filming a return appearance on the television sitcom, “How I Met Your Mother” this weekend.
– WWE Superstar Ryback will be making an appearance at Dave & Busters in Braintee, Massachusetts on Saturday, November 23rd at 5pm.
Following a report last week in the National Enquirer (read here) that Stacy Keibler would consider a one night only return to WWE for a hefty payoff, TMZ.com is reporting the claim as false.
According to a source connected to the 33-year-old, while she feels very grateful to WWE for helping her launch her career, she believes that part of her life is over and wants to focus on other things.
The report had claimed that she was was solely interested in returning to WWE for financial reasons because she has refused to scale back on the luxurious lifestyle she became accustomed to while dating Hollywood actor George Clooney.
In 2009, the former Diva had her management team approach WWE about guest hosting an episode of Raw, but never heard anything back. She revealed in an interview with The Baltimore Sun that year, “No one has contacted me. I actually had my management contact them, and nobody ever got back to us [laughs]. So I guess they’re not interested.”
Following this, numerous rumors of Keibler returning to the organization surfaced. More recently, The Sun alleged in July that she was looking to return to the ring. WWE, however, denied the rumor, informing some online wrestling news outlets that organization officials were not speaking to her.
-Take this for what it’s worth, especially considering the source, but The National Enquirer recently ran a story that claimed former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler would consider a return to WWE if the financial offer was right. The story notes that Keibler misses the spotlight now that she and her former A-list celebrity boyfriend, George Clooney, are no longer an item.
-WWE has made some updates and adjustments to the official roster for the new WWE 2K14 video game. Fans interested in checking that out can do so online at WWE.2K.com.
-When former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler was on the new version of the Arsenio Hall late night show on Thursday night, Hall said that he knew his wrestling and to prove it, mentioned going to see a match with Bobo Brazil vs. Johnny Powers.
-Legendary tag-team wrestler and one-half of the Rock ‘N Roll Express, Ricky Morton, celebrates his 57th birthday today. Morton was born on September 21, 1956. Also celebrating birthdays in the world of pro wrestling today are former WCW announcer Scott Hudson, who turns 49, and female wrestler Ivelisse Velez, who turns 25.
-Former WWE announcer Matt Striker will be wrestling under his real name, Matthew Kaye, in the main event of the World Of Sport card at Croydon’s UK’s Fairfield Halls on November 17th.
-WWE has re-hired Shawn Spears, who will now be working in the NXT developmental system in Florida.
-The film “Riddick” which former WWE Superstar Batista has a large role in, finished at number three this weekend at the box office, with a weekend of $7.01 million. It only fell behind Insidious Chapter 2 and The Family, both of which were debuting their opening weekends.
-Former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler is scheduled as a guest for the Arsenio Hall Late Night Show this coming Thursday. Keibler will be the first wrestling-related guest on the new version of the show, which airs across the United States in syndication.
– Jake Roberts noted on Twitter that he, Scott Hall and Diamond Dallas Page are doing an interview with ESPN today.
– Former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler will be appearing on tonight’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live. She filed the episode this morning and tweeted:
“Had a blast on @JimmyKimmelLive w the hilarious @jimmykimmel! Tune in tonight :)”
– WWE Executive Stephanie McMahon Levesque continues to sell off her WWE stock, with another large trade made this week. She sold 8,892 shares on 9/9 (at $10.26 per share) and 25,426 shares on 9/10 (at $10.31 a share). For a full list of WWE stock she has sold this year, visit SEC.gov.
– The official website of Life & Style Weekly published a report today claiming that former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler has moved on to another millionaire after breaking up with actor George Clooney last month.
“She’s dating millionaire Jared Pobre, and it’s pretty serious,” said a friend of the former Miss Hancock. “She was in Europe with him and all over Italy a couple of weeks ago.”
Pobre is a tech entrepreneur based in Orange County, California, according to his LinkedIn profile.
– Cody Rhodes gets revenge on his former tag team partner and best friend, Damien Sandow, in WWE’s latest “Raw Slam of the Week.”
– Former WWE Superstars The Honky Tonk Man, Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan and the Boogeyman have been announced to appear an Ultimate Wrestling Experience event in Sports City 4141 Linglestown Rd. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, September 28.
