– WWE.com has published a photo gallery of the new Triple statue from McFarlane Toys’ WWE ICON series.
– David Otunga will be one of the hosts of this week’s WWE RAW Pre-Show tomorrow night on the WWE Network. Otunga could be filling in for Alex Riley, who recently returned to the ring in NXT.
– Rob Van Dam took a dig at the WWE creative team today when asked on Twitter about a potential return to the company:
– Former NXT Champion Sami Zayn did not appear at Thurday’s NXT TV tapings from Full Sail University, where WWE taped 4 weeks of shows. There’s been a lot of speculation that Zayn will be the next NXT star to be called up to the main roster. He’s currently on tour with WWE in Abu Dhabi.
– WWE Hall of Famers Hulk Hogan and Edge tweeted the following about Wednesday’s NXT Takeover Rival show, specifically Finn Balor vs. Adrian Neville and new NXT Champion Kevin Owens:
– Bray Wyatt suffered a busted nose after taking a bad dropkick from Dolph Ziggler during this past Monday’s edition of WWE RAW in Columbus, Ohio. Wyatt was fine afterwards, and even worked the WWE SmackDown television taping the next night in Dayton, Ohio.
– The man who was dressed up as Sting during the segment with Triple H at this past Monday’s RAW was veteran independent wrestler Cody Hawk. Hawk has worked in the indy wrestling scene in Ohio for quite some time.
– Triple H is reportedly pushing hard again for the idea of getting a top Hispanic Superstar in WWE. The company is said to be looking for a talent that is someone who can work well in the ring, can speak multiple languages, is six-feet tall and has the kind of body that they like.
– Below are some recent WWE attendance figures:
February 6th in North Charleston, SC drew 7,000 fans
February 7th in Salt Lake City, UT drew 5,000 fans
February 7th in Jacksonville, FL drew 5,000 fans
February 8th in Huntington, WV drew 6,000 fans
February 8th in Canton, OH drew 3,000 fans
February 9th in Columbus, OH for RAW drew 10,800 fans
February 10th in Dayton, OH for SmackDown drew 3,000 fans
WWE COO Triple H took part in a Q&A session on Twitter earlier today to hype tonight’s NXT TakeOver: Rival show live on the WWE Network. Here are some highlights:
Take your pick: Sami vs. Owens and Neville vs. Balor–both should be great
“Which match are you most looking foward to at TakeOver??”
In the latest weekly sit-down video interview with Michael Cole, Triple H hypes tonight’s NXT TakeOver: Rival special on the WWE Network.
HHH told Cole that it’s a great time to be a WWE fan and a WWE Network subscriber, because NXT TakeOver: Rival is free for fans who signed up in February.
He spoke about some of the matches scheduled for tonight, putting over the Hideo Itami vs. Adrian Neville number one contender’s match and calling the Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens NXT Championship match a “very personal and emotional battle.”
You can check out the complete Triple H interview above.
– Triple H will be hosting a Q&A on Twitter at 3pm EST. today to promote tonight’s NXT TakeOver: Rival event. You can send HHH your questions by using the hashtag, “#NXTTakeOver.”
– The new WWE DVD and Blu-ray on Daniel Bryan, which is expected for a June release, will no longer be a simple match-compilation feature. The project will now include an extended version of the “Journey to WrestleMania XXX: Daniel Bryan” documentary that aired on the WWE Network last April. The new synopsis for “Daniel Bryan — Just Say Yes! Yes! Yes!” reads as follows:
“Relive Daniel Bryan’s historic Journey to WrestleMania as he prepares for the biggest night of his career. Now with an extended cut, follow the leader of the Yes Movement into New Orleans for the biggest show of the year, WrestleMania 30. Witness the rise of one of the most popular WWE Superstars of all time from his humble beginnings into WWE Champion. Also includes an all-new interview with Daniel Bryan discussing some of the most important matches of his career as well as some exclusive matches in their entirety.”
– Below is a video preview for this coming Sunday’s edition of WWE Total Divas on E!:
It was reported on Tuesday that there has been no heat from WWE management directed towards Seth Rollins for his recent nude photo leak on social media, as WWE believed that Rollins’ accounts were legitimately hacked. Despite the fact that there is said to be no heat on Rollins, the WWE Superstar has reportedly faced repercussions as a result of the incident.
According to Reddit user MetsFan4Ever, who has broken multiple WWE stories in the past, there is talk of Rollins being fined a small amount of money because of the feeling that while the leak was likely a mistake on his part, he originally leaked the initial photo himself.
Triple H was said to be against fining Rollins in any form, however Vince McMahon felt someone needs to be held responsible and because he can’t punish any of the women involved, it has to be Rollins that bites the bullet.
Many within WWE have been under the impression that Rollins would cash in his Money In The Bank briefcase in June and become WWE World Heavyweight Champion, however now many are of the opinion that he won’t be champion any time soon.
The Rollins story received a lot of mainstream media coverage, however WWE officials were said to be particularly upset that Elvis Duran spoke about the topic for about 15 minutes on his morning radio show, which is a nationally syndicated show and one of the most-listened to programs in all of New York City.
In addition to the memo that we reported about being sent to all WWE talents after RAW telling them not to speak about the issue publicly, WWE also held a “social media etiquette” meeting in Dayton, Ohio at the WWE TV tapings on Tuesday night, as well as at company headquarters in Stamford. Talents were told to immediately remove any photos from their phones that would be considered risky.
Former WWE Diva Chyna is claiming that Triple H physically abused her when they dated from 1996-2000. During her recent appearance on Vince Russo’s podcast, Chyna revealed that Triple H once hit her and she actually found a love letter from Stephanie McMahon to Triple H when she and Triple H were still an item.
Below is a transcript of Chyna’s comments on the subject.
“So I think Hunter’s plan was to get me to leave the relationship first and then that way he can start dating Stephanie and like everything would be cool. So I would ask Hunter time and time again, I figured it was better just to address the problem and ask him honestly and I would have to believe his answer, so we got into a heated argument, we were not getting along, I told him ‘I know something’s going on. Don’t tell me something’s not going on.’ He swiped my hand, I swiped his hand, he hit me. I went back like Jerry Springer and then I was like OK that’s the deal breaker for me, the relationship is now over, so now I have to leave. After that, I know that he was crying and I know that he felt bad that he hit me, and my first initial reaction was to get up, and like I don’t know, I was just in shock and it felt like a Jerry Springer moment, it was very surreal, and I just couldn’t believe that he hit me. But he knows that like I don’t stand for physical violence, albeit we’ll get to that after with Sean [Waltman], so I knew at that point I had to leave, but I needed some sort of closure so when he was gone I started looking all over the house, and I looked into his, long story short, I looked into his briefcase and I found a love letter from Stephanie that had [been] dated a year back, so the whole time they were doing the storyline basically they were together.”
Triple H has since responded to the allegations, releasing the following statement of his own.
“The false statements and reckless allegations made by Joan Laurer (aka Chyna) on a recent podcast about a physical dispute are a complete fabrication. While Joan has had significant struggles in life, this does not justify making such claims.”
– WWE Hall Of Famer Dusty Rhodes recently gave the official creative booking book from the 1986 Great American Bash to Triple H as a present. Triple H tweeted the following photo of the two together with the historical book:
– Speaking of Rhodes, as noted earlier today, “The American Dream” is scheduled to appear on Monday’s RAW to join in on the ongoing Goldust-Stardust storyline. Dusty posted the following follow-up tweet on Twitter regarding the appearance.
It's hard times for the Rhodes family . This Monday on Raw I will settle things with both my Boys
WWE Hall Of Famer Shawn Michaels recently spoke with the official WWE website to promote his new book, “Wrestling For My Life: The Legend, The Reality and The Faith of a WWE Superstar.”
During the interview, Michaels spoke about when and how he finally decided to get off of drugs, how a phone call with Kevin Nash saved his friendship with Triple H and more.
Below are highlights from the WWE.com interview:
On when he finally decided to get clean from drugs: “The final moment was when my son was 2 years old and I was half-in-the-bag on the couch, and him thinking I was tired. I realized, “My goodness, he’s starting to notice. This isn’t something you’ll be able to hide from him.” It broke my heart. I just could not bear the thought of this innocent baby being ruined by something he had absolutely nothing to do with. I decided there needed to be a change — and a drastic one.”
On how a phone call with Kevin Nash helped re-kindle his friendship with Triple H: “Basically, he said, “Look, you need to stop that stuff, and while we’re at it, you need to make amends with Triple H.” Triple H and I had not talked in a year. I had been in not-great-shape the last time I was in WWE. It had been a year since then. It was Nash saying, “You owe him an apology,” the incident with my son and me waking up later that night and thinking this can’t continue. All of these happened the same night. And all of it started the next day. I called Kevin back first, saying, “You’re right, and give me Triple H’s number; I’ve got to call him.” Then I called Triple H, asked him to forgive me, and both of us wept on the phone like a couple little girls. We re-kindled our friendship.”
On the difficult parts of writing his new book and why fans should read it: “It’s a look at my faith and more of an autobiography on my second life. I can’t say it was difficult [to write]. It was an opportunity to stay in that place where it’s nice and away from the hustle and bustle of everything. Since 2002, [wrestling] was a great job, enjoyed doing it, worked hard doing it, and did it well, but my family and my faith were a much bigger part of my life from 2002 to 2010 when I left. It was nice to be able to focus on what really was the majority aspect of my life. It’s a must-read for anybody who has the ability or is at that space when they’re man or woman enough to say, “I need to make a change” and not to be afraid of it. There’s no one of us that’s perfect; there’s no one of us that can’t do just a little better. That’s what I’m hoping this book will do.”
Jim Ross shared his thoughts on several segments and matches from Monday’s edition of WWE RAW in the latest blog posted on his official website.
Below are highlights:
On Roman Reigns’ promos: “Thought Roman Reigns mic work showed improvement. He seems to be the kind of talent who works much better with a bullet point format than adding the additional challenge of ‘remembering his lines’ to the always challenging promo facet of one’s game in the biz. Mic work doesn’t happen over night and too many fans show no patience while these skills are being developed. Reigns is far from the only talent on RAW that needs to work on that phase of their game. It’s an on going process that doesn’t come naturally for every talent. Reigns has great presence and knows that he has to become more proficient with his verbal game and I’m confident that will occur in time.”
On Goldust & Stardust breaking up: “The apparent soon to break up, or not, Goldust and Stardust duo have more interest in their team than any team on the roster or so it seems to me. Seems as if this pair has been on again and off again for weeks but I’m interested in them.”
On the Sting segment on RAW: “Didn’t have any issues with the Sting-HHH presentation but in hindsight I did not need to see the image of Sting entering the ring. Thought the graphics and overall video production was excellent. Looking forward to this confrontation.”
On Rikishi’s WWE Hall Of Fame induction: “It seems that no matter who is announced to be inducted into the WWE HOF some fans simply cannot be satisfied or happy and instead make the announcement about someone that they feel has been passed over or is more deserving. Has anyone been really passed over as anyone not inducted still has a viable chance in being honored in the future. I’m happy for Rikishi and his family.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com.You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
WWE COO Triple H took part in a media conference call on Tuesday morning to promote Wednesday’s NXT TakeOver: Rival live special on the WWE Network. During the call, Triple H commented on the Seth Rollins hacking situation.
Triple H said that Rollins (real name Colby Lopez) apologized and called it an “unfortunate personal situation.”
“Colby has issued an apology to his family and friends. This is an unfortunate personal incident and that’s really all it is.”
Click here for more on the backstage reaction to hack and how WWE talent was told to handle it.
Triple H added that he hopes to have NXT touring regularly by the end of the year. They plan to run smaller buildings across the country. NXT’s first live events out of Florida will take place next month, with two events taking place in Ohio. He said:
“We’ve grown the brand enough now that I believe that going outside of the (Florida) region is the thing to do. My goal by the end of 2015, going into 2016 is have this be a completely touring brand no different than the main roster.”
He continued, “It will be in smaller venues, but a complete touring roster that gets them working every single weekend because that’s how you get better at doing this live in front of the world,” Hunter said.”
Triple H said NXT going on the road does not change the main purpose of the brand, which is to prepare talent for the main roster. It’s important for the talent to work in front of different crowds and learn how to work “on the fly.”
“I think it’s no different than a AAA baseball team – the goal is still to get up the bigs. The importance for me about the touring component is it just gives them an opportunity to work and not in front of the same crowds every week. It gives them the opportunity to fully tour,” Hunter said.
“And I think we’ve created a brand that is successful enough to take it around to a lot of different markets. We have a lot of interest in ‘bought shows’ where people are bringing us in and then we will also tour on our own.”
The Road to WrestleMania took a brief detour last night, stopping at THE Ohio State University for Raw. Sting finally answered Triple H’s challenge, and the show was bookended by a pair of nearly identical matches. Without further ado, here are the pros and cons from last night’s episode of Raw.
Pros
The highlight of the night was easily Dolph Ziggler vs. Bray Wyatt. These guys have competed over the past two weeks, and have exhibited amazing chemistry on both occasions. There were a number of impressive spots in this one, including Wyatt delivering a brutal blow to Ziggler’s midsection and a devastating clothesline outside the ring that eventually set up Sister Abilgail for the win. Wyatt later cut another promo, presumably directed toward the Dead Man.
Triple H calling out Sting was a close second. The video package, which featured Sting’s makeup being transposed onto Triple H’s face, was both eerie and entertaining. The only downside to this was the absolutely dreadful Sting doppelganger they sent into the ring. With that said, I absolutely can’t wait to see what these guys have planned for Fastlane.
The Usos squared off with Tyson Kidd and Cesaro. Kidd and Cesaro put in some decent heel work by crashing the dinner party on SmackDown, and it’s certainly nice to see them getting some television time.
Rusev continues to improve on a weekly basis, in my opinion. I loved his promo, where he made claims such as, “You don’t want me. I am a hero.” His brawl with Cena was also entertaining and helped further their feud heading into Fastlane.
The opening promo was also entertaining, but nothing to really write home about. Reigns seems to be more confident on the mic each week, despite a minor flub. It was also nice to see Bryan on the mic, taking a humorous shot at Triple H for his involvement in the Katie Vick storyline.
It’s nice to see Axel getting more time on the mic. His promo was humorous, even if he was quickly dispelled after being hit with Dirty Deeds. Barrett’s new BNZ segment could also be entertaining, but I’m not totally sure how much shelf life it has.
Finally, the main event helped further the tension between Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan. The match was nothing incredible, by any means, but there were a few memorable moments, including Dolph Ziggler getting involved at the end. Roman’s spear to Bryan was also the perfect way to end the show. It seems like the next step in Roman’s evolution will be to turn him heel and possibly pair him with Heyman following WrestleMania.
– On Monday’s edition of WWE RAW, Sting aired a vignette accepting Triple H’s challenge and confirming his appearance for a “face-to-face confrontation” at the upcoming WWE Fast Lane pay-per-view.
– Below is the return vignette for Sheamus that aired on Monday’s RAW.
– Various cable TV providers are teasing that Sting might answer Triple H’s challenge for a face-to-face meeting at Fast Lane tonight on RAW. It’s unknown whether Sting will accept in person or if they will air a taped statement.
– The next episode of WWE 24 on the WWE Network will debut on Monday, February 23rd after RAW and will focus on WWE Hall of Famer Booker T. The episode is titled, “Sentenced To Greatness.”
– WWE’s latest Canvas 2 Canvas video features artist Rob Schamberger new NXT painting:
– Triple H will be hosting a media conference call this coming Tuesday to promote the next NXT live special on the WWE Network, NXT TakeOver: Rival, which airs on Wednesday night. Make sure to check back here on Tuesday afternoon for notes from the call.
– WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio did a photo shoot with noted hip-hop artists Rick Ross and French Montana earlier this week. No other details are known as of this writing. Below are a couple of photos of Mysterio with the famous rappers.
Former WWE performer Joanie Laurer (aka Chyna) mentioned recently that she recorded an interview with Vince Russo that will drop on PyroAndBallyhoo.com on Monday after WWE RAW. Chyna noted that she talks about topics during the interview that she was told to keep quiet, but she decided not to.
Russo noted on his official website that he received a phone call from Laurer at 11pm and the two discussed her thoughts on what Triple H said about her regarding the WWE Hall Of Fame.
The Chyna-Russo “shoot interview” is being promoted with the following teaser synopsis:
“The conversation lasted almost 2 hours. Triple H could have prevented this. He could have taken the high road—he chose not to. Whatever follows—they have simply brought upon themselves. God said to put others before ourselves . . . .and, I truly believe that.”
In the following video, Chyna explains that she’s had enough and will talk about it more in the interview with Russo that drops on Monday. She said it felt good to speak out on WWE and that she’s needed to get all of this off of her chest for a long time now.
http://youtu.be/UdSg5uRSVj4
Additionally, Russo released the following video defending Chyna.
– WWE recently added the following video to their official YouTube channel, which features Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens talking about their history together leading into next Wednesday’s NXT TakeOver: Rival live special on the WWE Network.
– Speaking of the upcoming Zayn vs. Owens match, Triple H recently commented on the rivalry, calling the two the “future of the business.” You can read his tweet below.
– To get ready for next Wednesday’s NXT special, you can check out the following video from WWE’s YouTube channel, “NXT TakeOver: R Evolution,” which shows the beginning of their NXT rivalry and recaps the most recent NXT live special in just one minute.
– As noted, Jerry Lawler worked a match at the “Pro Wrestling Night” themed NBA game between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Oklahoma City Thunder on January 31st. Reuniting for the announcing of the match were Memphis Wrestling legends Lance Russell and Dave Brown, who are considered one of the best pro wrestling announcing teams in history.
Lawler, Ric Flair and Maverick, a local wrestler, did backstage promos and vignettes throughout the game and Lawler eventually worked a match.
There were 18,000 fans in attendance at the FedEx Forum in Memphis that night, and despite Lawler’s lengthy history in the city, it was said to be the largest crowd Lawler has ever worked a match in front of in that city.
As part of Memphis Wrestling night, the first 3,000 fans that showed up received replica championship belts. They also promoted the WWE Fast Lane pay-per-view, which will be held in the same arena on February 22nd.
You can check out photos of Lawler and Flair at the event by clicking here.
– Speaking of replica belts, as noted, Triple H sent the NFL’s New England Patriots some replica titles for the team to use during their Super Bowl victory parade. Stephanie McMahon recently tweeted the following photo of the team holding the belts in the air during the parade.
The latest edition of Michael Cole’s weekly sit-down video interview with Triple H is now online.
In this week’s installment, the two talked about the recent “Stone Cold Podcast” interview this past Monday night on the WWE Network, where HHH claims that his appearance on the show drew 40 percent more viewers than Vince McMahon’s interview on the show.
When talking about the controversy stemming from the Royal Rumble, “The Game” explained that “backing Roman Reigns into a corner” on Monday’s RAW was done in an attempt to make things fair, as he feels they didn’t get a fair result to the Rumble match this year and the changes they made now makes things fair.
HHH complained some more about The Rock and Sting interfering in his business in recent weeks. He says The Rock is always welcome in the WWE, but not in a way where he interferes in his business. He points out that Rock and Sting are not WWE Superstars.
He continued on the subject of Sting, bringing up their upcoming “face-to-face confrontation” at this month’s Fast Lane pay-per-view. He promises to put an end to their problem if Sting shows up at the pay-per-view, and if he doesn’t, Sting is the coward that he always thought he was.
Stone Cold Steve Austin’s podcast with Triple H from Monday night continues to make headlines, which is not surprising considering the number of controversial topics discussed.
Regarding Triple H’s comments a bout CM Punk where he said there is no animosity between the two parties, a lot of people were rolling their eyes at that one. That said, Triple H’s description of Punk saying “everything’s fine” when everything is not fine is viewed as a pretty accurate assessment of his demeanor.
WWE talent was also surprised that Triple H acknowledged that he prefers a 2-hour format for RAW. While its certainly a popular opinion, there are no plans to scale back RAW due to the millions of dollars WWE generates in ad revenue from the extra hour of prime time programming each week.
It’s also worth noting that during Triple H’s weekly sit down interview with Michael Cole at WWE.com, Triple H said that the show did 40% more viewers than Vince McMahon’s appearance on the Stone Cold Podcast back in December.
(Information from F4Wonline.com was used in this report)
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross shared his thoughts on last night’s “Stone Cold Podcast” with Triple H, as well as the changes to the upcoming WWE Fast Lane pay-per-view in the latest blog posted on his official website.
Below are highlights:
On the “Stone Cold Podcast” with Triple H: “Enjoyed the Austin-HHH podcast Monday night after RAW on the @WWENetwork and look forward to more programs such as this as they are somewhat easy to produce and more cost efficient than many other original programming concepts. For me the long term key to the Network are the PPV’s and Original Programming. The ideas for original programming are seemingly endless. Both Austin and Triple H were straight forward and once they got on a roll it created some interesting content. I could have easily listened to another hour.”
On WWE Fast Lane changes: “I liked the tweak in the booking as it relates to the the Fast Lane PPV in a few weeks in Memphis as it gets Daniel Bryan back involved, provides multiple ways to go and even potentially positions Reigns as the villain against fan favorite Lesnar. As I said when many fans were knocking themselves out with their uncontrollable knee jerks, the weekly TV between now and WM31 could and should be good programming. I see that happening if the stories are kept simple and not over thought.”
On Chris Benoit in the WWE Hall Of Fame: “The annual Chris Benoit into the WWE HOF topic has reared it’s head again and will likely linger until after the WWE HOF event the night before WM31. I do not endorse Chris, who I hired and had immense respect for until the final days of his life when he murdered his family and then committed suicide. Knowing Chris as I did I feel that he would NOT want to be enshrined into the WWE HOF because of the backlash that it would create and because the story would not be about Chris’s stellar career but instead about the infamous murder/suicide. The entire matter is still a gut wrencher including me representing the WWE at Nancy and Daniel’s funeral services which was a task that was SO hard for me to attend on a personal level. IMO one cannot separate the career of an overachieving athlete from the fact that he murdered his family and then took his own life and no matter the alleged motive.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
– Triple H noted on social media that a replica WWE World Heavyweight Championship belt is being sent to the NFL’s Super Bowl champion New England Patriots team for their victory parade at Gillette Stadium. HHH tweeted the following:
– Speaking of Twitter, WWE announced today that the official company Twitter account (@WWE) has passed the milestone of five million followers. WWE tweeted the following today.
– The marijuana documentary titled “The Emperor, The President & The King,” which features Rob Van Dam in a prominent role, has been announced as having a release date in film festivals this summer. The company that produced the documentary, Hollymood Entertainment, has also produced and distributed such pro wrestling titles as “101 Reasons Not To Be A Pro Wrestler” and “New Jack: Hardcore.” The company is looking for potential investors to produce future wrestling and non-wrestling projects at HollymoodLA@aol.com.
A second trailer for the documentary, which features RVD, can be seen below. To watch the original trailer, click here.
Last night during the Stone Cold Podcast on the WWE Network, As seen on the Steve Austin and Triple H interview last night, Triple H praised Michael “PS” Hayes, saying his contributions to the business are highly underrated.
Here’s what Hayes said regarding a possible 2016 WWE Hall of Fame induction from the Dallas area:
Well, can't say I disagree, but really appreciate the plug from @steveaustinBSR and @TripleH for the HOF next year in Dallas!!
