As noted recently, WWE will be releasing fitness DVDs featuring both Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. The single-disc DVDs are listed at $10.49 each and are scheduled to be released on December 2nd.
The official titles for the DVDs are “WWE Power Series: Triple H” and “WWE Fit Series: Stephanie McMahon” and were produced by Lionsgate.
Below is the artwork for both of the DVDs.
The following are highlights of a new interview with Dean Ambrose:
On Kane and his battle with The Authority: “Kane is a loyal soldier for Triple H and I’ve been a bit of a thorn in The Authority’s side. He’s a bonafide monster. They’d like to stomp me out and they sent Kane after me.”
“I’ll be swinging, kicking, biting, scratching and clawing everything in my path – and Kane will be in my path. It’s not rocket science what my strategy has to be in a match like this. I have to throw punches until I can’t throw punches anymore. I have to really swing for the fences from bell to bell.”
On how he prepares for a match: “I listen to some Hank Williams before I go out. I tell some jokes. I have fun. I don’t waste too much energy thinking about it – I like to save that all for the ring. The calmest part of my day is right before a match.”
On feeding off of the crowd for energy: “That’s what you feed off of. That’s the energy and the electric jolt that will power you through every time.”
Check out the complete interview at NJ.com.
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– The upcoming line of WWE fitness DVDs featuring Triple H and Stephanie will be titled, “WWE Fit.” The first DVD is due out in November.
– The advertised dark match main event for Monday’s WWE RAW from Brooklyn, New York will see John Cena and Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins and Randy Orton.
– WWE Studios is developing an English-language adaption of French comedy “Les Reines Du Ring.” A DVD of the film will be released next month and features cameos from CM Punk The Miz and Eve Torres.
– WWE is currently working on putting together Fantasy Camps that would allow fans to experience the WWE Performance Center first hand. The company sent out a survey to their “Fan Council” mailing list over the summer and it looks like they got a good response.
– Hideo Itami, formerly known as KENTA, will be making his NXT live event debut this Thursday in Jacksonville, Florida. Tickets for the event are available right now at this link.
– WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley recently tweeted the following, praising Triple H’s recent appearance on Chris Jericho’s “Talk Is Jericho” podcast:
Any @TripleH haters need to listen to his #TalkIsJericho interview on @PodcastOne with @IAmJericho. It just might change your perspective.
— Mick Foley (@realmickfoley) September 30, 2014
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For the past year, the Authority has dominated WWE storylines. They have been involved in every WWE World Heavyweight Championship feud along the way, often influencing the outcomes of important matches.
Along the way, Triple H started using the phrase, “Adapt or Perish” to describe his stable Evolution. However, over the past few months, it appears that the Game should apply that same philosophy to the Authority.
Rollins has been one of the bright spots in the Authority storyline over the past few months.
Indeed, it has been much of the same as of late with the Authority. Other than adding Seth Rollins as a member a few months ago, the group has done literally nothing to change over the past year. This has resulted in too much Corporate Kane, a reliance on six-man tag matches nearly every week on Raw, and an almost identical storyline for any face attempting to challenge the Authority’s, well, authority.
In my opinion, the Authority has gone stale and needs to do something quickly in order to minimize the risk of losing fan interest. One possible solution would be to add new members. This could easily be accomplished by having one of the current members defect from the stable.
The most logical option would be Randy Orton, as they have teased tension between Orton and the Authority, and he’s a far more marketable star than Kane, the other stooge doing the group’s bidding. By having Orton leave the Authority, it could open the door for another young star as well.
Seth Rollins has benefited immensely since joining forces with Triple H and company. He captured the Money in the Bank briefcase, seems to be more confident on the mic with each passing week, and is way over with the fans. The stable could add another future star (perhaps someone from NXT) in an attempt to inject more life into the program.
In all, adding new talent to the Authority could only help, as the current storyline is extremely repetitive and formulaic, with most programs ending after Kane interferes in a match and the Authority beats down an opponent.
Inside WWE right now, people are discussing a current power struggle going on involving Triple H and Stephanie McMahon on one side and WWE executives George Barrios and Michelle Wilson on the other.
For those wondering, Barrios and Wilson were the key executives in charge of both the WWE Network launch and the new WWE cable television deal, neither of which were anywhere near as successful as the company had hoped for.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
As noted earlier this week, WWE is promoting the October 10th edition of WWE SmackDown as the 15th anniversary special. All of the regulars on the weekly SmackDown shows are expected to be a part of the broadcast, as well as John Cena and Triple H, both of whom are booked to appear.
As things stand now, there is no word regarding outsiders or stars from the past appearing on the show, however many expect that WWE will go all-out for the show, so the belief is that there will be some big names appearing.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
As noted last week, WWE recently ramped up production of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin merchandise.
The latest buzz behind the scenes is that Steve Austin and WWE “working together” again in some capacity will in fact lead to a television return for the Hall of Famer.
Another reason many are expecting an Austin return to WWE TV is due to the fact that the company promoted his podcast on RAW, something that they didn’t do for Chris Jericho even when Triple H was a guest on his show.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
The latest edition of Michael Cole’s weekly sit-down interview with Triple H is now online.
Check out the video above to hear HHH discuss the recent actions of the returning Dean Ambrose, the latest on Roman Reigns’ condition and the “huge match” that awaits this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown.
WWE RAW emanates from the FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee with the fallout from Sunday night’s WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view.
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar, who successfully retained his title in his rematch against John Cena on Sunday, is not advertised to be a part of the show. Also expected to be absent tonight are Chris Jericho and Roman Reigns.
Superstars that are advertised for tonight’s show include Dean Ambrose, The Wyatt Family, Randy Orton, John Cena, Seth Rollins, Triple H, Kane, Cesaro, Sheamus, Big E and The Usos.
In the case of Reigns, as noted above, he is not expected to appear, however he is included in the advertisements for the show. It’s worth noting that this is likely a case of advertisements that were released prior to his emergency surgery this weekend.
WWE is focusing on the following points in their “RAW Five-Point Preview” for tonight’s show.
– Who is next for Brock Lesnar?
– Will Dolph Ziggler look for retribution on The Miz tonight?
– What will Goldust and Stardust do next?
– Will Paige and Nikki Bella prey upon AJ Lee now that she’s the Divas Champion?
– Will Dean Ambrose strike at Seth Rollins once again?
Vince Russo sent along the following …
Last night, Vince Russo officially kicked off the #DearVince campaign on his Pyro and Balyhoo website and he is giving YOU a platform to make your voice heard by Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, and the entire WWE Universe.
Wrestling fans have become increasingly jaded and bored with the current WWE product and the lack of intriguing, addictive stories that keep them on the edge of their seats. Everyone has complained and vented,but nobody has figured out how to tell Vince McMahon directly. Until now.
Has watching three hours of Raw become a chore for you? Are you bored with the storylines? Are you disappointed with the stop-start pushes and feuds? Are you overall just sick and tired of having your intelligence insulted?
The #DearVince campaign encourages ALL wrestling fans to take to social media – tweet your frustrations on Twitter, post your ideas on Facebook, even upload a video to Youtube or Instagram with the hashtag #DearVince and get involved!
They can’t ignore us all, and the more voices who join…the louder we get. You can learn more about the movement at www.DearVinceProject.com.
In addition to the launch of the campaign, Vince Russo will also be “booking” his own version of each upcoming Raw, allowing the fans to see “what could be”, compared to “what is”. You can decide for yourself which show is best!
As Russo himself says, “#DearVince, it’s time for our voices to be heard, and you WILL hear us!!”
The following is a new interview with Brian Shields, the author of the “30 Years of WrestleMania” book:
How does he feel now that book is released to the public: “I have to tell you, whenever the date comes where the book is released, you always get butterflies; you’re always very excited. I think today with social media, it takes those feelings and multiplies them by a thousand. But I think today is a little extra special; the fact that it’s 30 years of WrestleMania, there’s never been a book quite like this that looks at WrestleMania and today culminates for me what was a year and a half working with WWE and DK Publishing. So, today is a very exciting day.”
What 30 Years of WrestleMania has to offer readers: “That’s a great point. I think the big thing is there are some similarities between the WWE Encyclopedia, WWE 50 and 30 Years of WrestleMania and the big thing that readers will notice right away, which is a huge positive, is that 30 Years of WrestleMania is designed in that signature DK Style of these beautiful hardcover commemorative books. So, right away, that’s going to be just an incredible journey for the reader to be able to go on page after page.
Once you get into the content of the book, 30 Years of WrestleMania is a behind-the-scenes, so you’re going to have a combination of stories from people that are sharing what was going on in the ring and behind-the-scenes. And then, you know, the rivalries there is some context; when you talk about these big rivalries, things that were going on at the time, whether it was between Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper or Roddy Piper and Mr. T for WrestleManias 1 and 2, Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant, The Mega Powers. You’re going up through; you’re literally turning pages of history with each page. 30 Years of Wrestlemania is over 220 pages, so readers are going to get that insight from the first WrestleMania chapter all the way up through The Rock vs John Cena, which made mainstream news in terms of the actual tension between the two of them, so there will be insight there.
There’s so many things about the book that make it special and unique; one of the big things and it says this on the front cover, so you know it’s a big deal, that the forward of the book was written by ‘Mr. WrestleMania’ himself, Shawn Michaels. That’s something that takes the idea that this book is a commemorative volume to a whole new level.”
In his opinion, what are some of the greatest WrestleMania rivalries of all-time: “That’s a tough question. First of all, I’m the worst at picking just one of anything. I think, for me, Hulk (Hogan) and Andre is there and I think, especially if you’re a fan of a certain age and I think maybe if you’re a younger fan but you love the history of sports entertainment as a business; I mean even when WWE released their Top Rivalries DVD, which is one of my favorite releases, that is on the cover. So, I think that one is huge.
Austin vs Rock I think is one that is so unique because when they were battling, you had WWE on television whether on the Monday Night War or following the Monday Night War, they were on television every week in countries all over the world and they main evented 3 WrestleManias. No other rivalry has seen that; that in itself is an incredible achievement. We’ve seen WrestleManias where a main event has been seen twice; you had Bret Hart and Yokozuna at WrestleManias 9 and 10 respectively, and in recent years we had John Cena vs The Rock at WrestleManias 28 and 29. But, for a rivalry to be in such a prominent position at three WrestleManias; I mean to main event a WrestleMania is what the competitors say that it is and that’s a dream, that’s why you get into the business and to have that at three is just incredible.
I think that the third one, for me, and it’s not a rivalry so that if it doesn’t count for me not answering the question, I’ll come up with one but I think, for me, just what The Streak meant to WWE and WrestleMania is just something that I don’t think we’ll ever see again. So when I think of WrestleMania and rivalries, the two: Hogan/Andre and Rock/Stone Cold are the big ones that come to mind and I think for me, at WrestleMania, The Streak is a big part of it.
I think another rivalry, now that I’m thinking about it; The Rock and John Cena I though was something really special and unique. That’s another thing where I don’t know if we’ll see something like that again; I mean the first WrestleMania I attended was WrestleMania 18 and The Rock vs Hollywood Hogan was just incredible. I think with The Rock and John Cena I think the rivalry being what it was in that these two were still in their physical primes, I thought it added a unique layer to it and was really something unique and special.”
On talking with Triple H about the ‘End of an Era’ match from WrestleMania 28: “We talked about it and it’s one of things where you could tell how much it meant to him. It was something especially that moment where they’re look out together; that was something that happened. That was not part of the match or part of the performance or anything like that; it was something and that was something I really loved hearing about. When you see that, you can tell it really meant a lot to the fans and it meant even more to them (the wrestlers); even the announcers, you can even hear the announcers and it was just a very special moment.
I think, for me, it’s up there when you think of these iconic moments; the first iconic WrestleMania moment that I think of with Triple H is from WrestleMania 18 and him holding up both the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship. I think maybe because of my age and growing up watching all types of wrestling and sports entertainment where for me, that belt (World Heavyweight Championship) was from the competitive organization, so for me, when I think of his iconic moments, that’s the first one. But yeah, the ‘End of an Era’, with the three of them standing on the stage looking out to the crowd, was one of the top ones of all time and I think one that I think people will talk about forever.”
What he sees as the future of the WWE: “First off, NXT is one of my favorite parts of WWE programming and the WWE Network. For me, I really enjoy watching NXT and I think when you look at Monday Night Raw and Friday Night Smackdown and you see the superstars of today, there are so many incredible athletes and storytellers that the WWE’s future, it’s exciting when you think of the next 3, 5, 7 years and you look at the WWE roster today, I think when you watch NXT you start doubling those numbers. The talent there is phenomenal; they are signing talent and there’s the important thing and that is really exciting is the development and what’s going on with development is really a first-class development system for athletes and entertainers. So I love NXT.
I think the three of those signings (KENTA, Prince Devitt and Kevin Steen) are all great and to have them all within a certain amount of time from one another I think is very exciting. I’m going to be very interested to see what happens with each of them and when they get called up. I think that’s another thing that’s really unique and exciting about NXT and the WWE Network is that before that, you really had to follow the industry very closely, kind of like anything else is sports or entertainment where you’d have to follow the professional sports team and their farm system and things like that, whereas now, if it was OVW or Deep-South or FCW, it was available but you’d have to really search for it, just to follow it. Now, I think it’s so exciting that we’re able to follow these performers and see them on television and now we really see their rise through the main roster and one of the coolest things, I thought, was last week’s NXT tag match (from RAW) and I think that things like that are only to get better. That’s why I’m so excited to know when we talk about WWE’s future; I think when you look at their main roster and then you look at NXT and see what’s happening in NXT, it’s really exciting. ”
Check out the complete interview at WildTalkRadio.com.
Last week during the NXT Takeover 2 media conference call, WWE COO Triple H explained his vision for the developmental promotion, saying that he wants it to become a third brand on par with RAW and SmackDown.
During the latest WWE.com interview with Michael Cole, Triple H he wants NXT to be more than what ECW was, an alternative to WWE and WCW. He sees NXT having the potential to be like WCW was, “without the eventual going out of business part.”
Triple H has continued to praise the NXT Takeover 2 special from Thursday night on Twitter. Below are his latest comments.
#NXTTakeOver is a prime example of why @WWENXT is the brand of the @WWENetwork. http://t.co/RtT7dQNDH4 #WWE http://t.co/PrprQJs5Op
— Triple H (@TripleH) September 12, 2014
“The Game” also promoted Floyd Mayweather’s pay-per-view boxing rematch against Marcos Maidana. HHH has appeared in the corner of Mayweather in the past for some of his big fights. He tweeted this one regarding the one-time WrestleMania co-headliner:
Watch the champ @FloydMayweather go 47-0 tomorrow night on PPV. Watch the #Mayhem on PPV http://t.co/eEzX7k0F0B #TMT
— Triple H (@TripleH) September 13, 2014
Several of the top talents in NXT are booked for next week’s WWE television tapings. NXT Champion Adrian Neville, Sami Zayn and Tyler Breeze are all scheduled to work both the RAW and SmackDown TV shows in Lafayette and Biloxi, respectively.
Triple H noted during the NXT Takeover 2 promotional conference call that WWE will be doing more cross-promotion with the NXT roster and the main WWE roster. With several NXT talents scheduled for next week’s TV, this seems to be the beginning of that cross-promotion.
(Credit: PWInsider.com)
– The former “KENTA,” Hideo Itami, tweeted the following on Friday about his official WWE in-ring debut at the NXT television tapings in Winter Park, Florida. For those who missed it, we have full spoilers for the next four weeks of NXT TV on the site right now.
I never forget today. 9.12.2014.
With ring debut in @WWENXT #HideoItami pic.twitter.com/TUDLITj4wT
— Kenta Kobayashi (@HideoItami) September 13, 2014
– Below is a photo of Triple H presenting five Full Sail University students with scholarships from WWE for creativity, academia and professionalism.
.@TripleH presented 5 @FullSail students with scholarships from #WWE for creativity, academia, and professionalism! pic.twitter.com/slrlvZdvjL
— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) September 12, 2014
– Stephanie McMahon is featured in the October edition of “Shape” magazine. In the magazine, Stephanie talks about how she stays in shape while not only juggling her WWE career, but while also being a mother to three children. The article promotes the upcoming release of she and Triple H’s upcoming WWE Fit DVD series.
– The Divas who were featured in the NXT Takeover 2 backstage segment with Tyler Breeze were Dasha Kuret, Dana Brooke and Leyvonna.
Ahead of tonight’s NXT Takeover 2 show, WWE COO Triple H tweeted this “selfie” photo of himself, Kenta, Kevin Steen and Fergal Devitt.
Kenta is already confirmed to be making an appearance on the show. Could we also see the NXT debuts of Steen and Devitt tonight as well? One can dream.
When asked by a fan on Twitter if we’ll see other debuts tonight aside from Kenta, he responded:
Yes. Have to watch to see. “@JedsWorld: @TripleH Aside from Kenta, will we see the debut of any other new superstars tonight? #NXTTakeover”
— Triple H (@TripleH) September 11, 2014
You want a selfie? #NXTTakeOver #LetTheInternetExplode @FightSteenFight @fergaldevitt @KENTAK312 pic.twitter.com/JD8FcvhXxQ
— Triple H (@TripleH) September 11, 2014
WWE COO Triple H held a conference call on Wednesday to promote tonight’s NXT Takeover 2 live special on the WWE Network. During the call, Triple H spoke at length about the state of NXT and his vision for the promotion as a legitimate third brand for WWE, on par with RAW and SmackDown.
NXT currently does live shows throughout Florida, but Triple H wants to take the show on the road and expose thousands of new fans to the live NXT experience. “Absolutely. It’s something we have been working on,” Hunter said. “I want NXT to be a brand in every way possible … I can grow this to where we can travel and people are seeing NXT all over the globe (through the Network) where we can open it up and continue to give these guys – not losing perspective on the learning experience. I’m open to that. I want it to grow. I want to take it on the road.”
Triple H’s ultimate goal is for NXT to be so good that Vince McMahon says, “I want that guy. I want that guy on Raw. I want him now. And I have to argue, ‘I don’t want him to go. I want to keep him.”
Monday’s RAW saw NXT Champion Adrian Neville, Sami Zayn, Tyler Breeze, and Tyson Kidd compete in a tag team match that got a very positive reaction from fans. Triple H said he was paying close attention to how the WWE roster reacted to the NXT match. At first, he said the guys in the back were excited for the developmental stars. Eventually, reality set in – and there was a “territorial” vibe backstage, with WWE Superstars realizing that the NXT wrestlers could be taking their spots on the roster one day. Hunter sees this as a good thing, with everybody having to work their hardest to protect their jobs.
He understands that the NXT stars are eager to make it to the main roster, but wants them to be proud about their roles in NXT.
“With NXT becoming its own brand and its own living, breathing entity of a brand, they now – it’s still going to be frustrating as they wait for that process to happen and feeling like, ‘I’m ready and I want to get on that main roster and I want to go.’ It’s still going to be a long, frustrating process and you’re anxious to do it,” Hunter said.
“That being said, you now have the creative and the performing outlet that is legitimate. And legitimately rewarding to you. It’s not just, ‘I go perform in front of 25 people over here and we do this little TV shoot now and then with two cameras.’ This is a legitimate brand with a legitimate following. … It’s not just sitting around doing nothing while waiting for that call-up. You’re still getting out there and playing the game; you’re not just playing in Yankee Stadium yet.”
Overall, he’s hopeful that WWE elevating NXT will be “best for business” all around. As for the NXT stars we saw on RAW, he said, “They performed at a level that they belong there now. And now it’s just a matter of ‘When do we need them? When is the right time? How do you want to bring them up and in what way?'”
– With WWE announcing that their “Payback” pay-per-view will be taking place on May 17th in Baltimore, Maryland, that means they are looking to widen the gap between the “B” level show that comes after WrestleMania, as there will be seven weeks separating the two.
– Triple H noted during the conference call earlier today to promote this week’s NXT Takeover 2 special on the WWE Network that WWE is in discussions with some former NFL players to come into the company. He refused to reveal any of the names, noting that none of the deals are officially completed at this point.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
As seen here last week, the complete script for the September 1st edition of WWE RAW leaked onto the internet and those who watched the show realized how much WWE sticks to the script on their weekly flagship program.
The two key things that weren’t in the script that were clear when watching the show was the back-and-forth between Chris Jericho and Triple H in the opening segment, as well as the fact that John Cena put Seth Rollins through a table with an Attitude Adjustment later in the show.
The former was just off-the-cuff remarks between two veteran performers, while the latter is said to be a perfect example of how something significant can be changed very late in the writing process.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
The latest edition of the Michael Cole weekly sit-down interview series has been added to the official WWE YouTube channel.
In this week’s video, which you can view above, Cole talks to Triple H about this week’s NXT Takeover: Fatal 4-Way special on the WWE Network and the arrival of international sensation KENTA.
– In addition to the press conference that is scheduled for today to promote this week’s NXT Takeover 2 special on the WWE Network, Triple H will also be hosting a live Twitter Q&A at 3pm EST. on Thursday. Fans can submit questions by using the hash-tag “#NXTTakeover.”
– The cast of Total Divas will be on Chris Jericho’s “Talk Is Jericho” podcast this coming Friday. The show will be available at PodcastOne.com.
– WWE stock has been rising lately due to the belief that rolling out the WWE Network internationally will greatly increase the subscriber count.
– Triple H will be hosting a NXT Takeover 2 press conference on Wednesday to promote this Thursday’s live special on the WWE Network.
– WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross is scheduled to appear at the Homeland Grocery store on Lindsey Street in Norman, Oklahoma on Saturday from noon until 2pm. There will be free food available and JR will be taking photos and signing autographs with fans who show up.
Chris Jericho held a live Q&A on Twitter on Sunday night. Below are some highlights.
– He said Triple H was his biggest guest and best interview on his podcast so far. He said the ratings for his HHH interview are insane. He also mentioned that the next 12 weeks worth of “Talk Is Jericho” guests are planned out and he has some “amazing” names scheduled.
– He said Fozzy is working on a huge U.K. tour that will be announced in the near future.
– He confirmed that he will not be part of the WWE’s U.K. tour in November. He also confirmed that he won’t be wrestling at the WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view.
– He said if Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero were still alive today they would still be “kicking ass” and “working behind-the-scenes.”
You can check out more from Jericho’s Twitter Q&A at @IAmJericho.