– Beth Phoenix will be finishing up with WWE over the next few weeks. The former Divas champion is said to be leaving on good terms, but she’s been unhappy with how she and the rest of the Divas are booked on television.
There is a feeling that more Divas might be leaving WWE soon, as Beth Phoenix is not the only person who is unhappy.
– The Ultimate Warrior is featured as today’s “Superstar Spotlight” on WWE.com.
– Matches taped for today’s WWE Superstars are:
* Ted DiBiase vs. Michael McGillicutty
* Heath Slater vs. Yoshi Tatsu
* Layla vs. Eve Torres
* Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler
– The official theme song for WWE’s new Main Event TV show is “Diamond Eyes” by the band Shinedown. The show premieres next Wednesday night on the Ion Network.
– Chris Mordetzky, who performed as Chris Masters for WWE, is not pleased with being snubbed by his former employer in their article Monday ranking the 20 most impressive physiques in company history.
“Travesty. They’d rather not acknowledge my existence,” wrote Mordetzky. “If we were currently @WWE @carlitocolon and @Chrismasters310 would clearly be on top of the list#”BodyGuyz.”
Enclosing the following photo, he added, “I’ll put my physique against anybodies on @wwe list.”
– Former WWE Champion Ultimate Warrior released a video Wednesday . promoting his appearances next month for Big Time Wrestling in Boston, Massachusetts and Portland, Maine. He will make in-ring appearances on both shows and participate in pre-show autograph signings. Event details are available at BTWPro.com.
– Former WWE Champion Ultimate Warrior has been announced to appear at the Frank and Sons Collectible Show located at 19649 San Jose Ave., City of Industry, California 91748 on Saturday, November 10, 2012 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. He will participating in photo-ops and signing all Warrior items with the exception of one—WWE’s 2005 DVD release The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior.
According to a press release issued Monday by Big Time Wrestling, Warrior will not sign the WWE-released documentary and no exceptions will be made.
In January 2006, Warrior filed a lawsuit against WWE in an Arizona court over how he was depicted in the video. He filed the claim stating that the video violated a March 2000 Settlement Agreement between WWE and Ultimate Creations Inc, Warrior’s corporation. That agreement allowed WWE to use footage of Warrior, but that Warrior owned the rights and trademarks to the Ultimate Warrior character and could use them in any future venue as he decreed. It was also agreed that both parties would “not disparage each other.” However, it was later discovered that Warrior made “publicly disparaging claims” against WWE. It was ruled in September 2009 that Warrior himself breached the agreement and that he was not legally able to receive damages for the same thing he accused WWE of.
– Former TNA Wrestling star Alex Shelley is scheduled to compete at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s “King of Pro Wrestling” show on October 8 at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan, according to a report by Puroresu Spirit. He and Kushida will challenge Alex Koslov and Rocky Romero for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.
– CM Punk has reached another milestone as Saturday marks his 300th day as WWE Champion. He also surpassed Ultimate Warrior and Superstar Billy Graham’s respective title reigns this week in terms of days held.
– Tammy Sytch appeared for Evolve Wrestling last Saturday, three days before her string of arrests in Connecticut on domestic violence complaints. Gabe Sapolsky, the promotion’s co-owner, said he was surprised by the news.
“Tammy was in great spirits and totally sober last weekend. Her angle with us was just a one show thing that we wrapped up in a backstage promo, but she did a great job and seemed to be in a really good place in life,” he wrote on Facebook.
Rob Feinstein, owner of RF Video, was also surprised by the news after working with her days earlier.
“Not sure what to think about the Tammy story on TMZ. I got a ton of calls and emails about it. I think its really sad that is all I will say,” he wrote on Facebook. “We were with her all last weekend and she seemed fine. We filmed that new On the Road DVD with her just 6 days ago……”
Reby Sky, who engaged in a war of words with Sytch through social media last June over wrestler conduct, wrote “LOL” on Twitter in response to news of her arrest showing up on TMZ.com.
– According to BoxOfficeMojo.com, WWE Studios’ The Day, Doug Aarniokoski’s visceral action thriller, drew an estimated $10,100 at the box office in its debut weekend. The movie was shown in 12 theaters and finished in 52nd place out of 54 movies tracked.
– The individual who portrayed Stylez Monroe during last week’s Raw “Anger Management” sketches with Daniel Bryan and Kane was California-based wrestling personality Ryan Katz. He has appeared as GQ Money for Xtreme Pro Wrestling and Fabian Kailen for Wrestling Society X.
– John Cena addressed tonight’s Raw via Twitter, which takes place on rival CM Punk’s home turf of Chicago, Illinois.
He tweeted, “Allstate Arena tonight for #RAW Chicago is always an interesting environment. Its one that u wont wanna miss.”
– Ultimate Warrior clarified on Twitter that he will not be wrestling during his scheduled appearance at Big Time Wrestling’s Friday, October 5 event at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston, Massachusetts. He will appear in the ring during the show and sign autographs.
– Making his first Massachusetts appearance in more than twenty years, Ultimate Warrior will appear at Big Time Wrestling’s debut in Downtown Boston, Friday, October 5 at the Reggie Lewis Center. Warrior will be in full face paint and make an in-ring appearance. Bobby Lashley, Carlito, Raven, The Sandman, a Divas Match featuring Jillian Hall
The Ultimate Big Time Wrestling Fanfest will be held prior to the event where fans can meet The Ultimate Warrior and all the BTW Superstars! Fanfest starts at 5:00 p.m. First match is 8:00 p.m. The Reggie Lewis Center Field House is located at 1350 Tremont St, Boston, Massachusetts. Event details are available here.
– The theme for WWE Classics On Demand programming during the month of October is “Legends of the Fall.” The evolution of Extreme Championship Wrestling, the inaugural WCW Fall Brawl and Two out of three falls match with Dory Funk, Jr. will be highlighted.
– Friday’s 8/24 WWE Smackdown had 2,587,000 viewers, down from 2,612,000 the week before.
– The Ultimate Warrior is the current “Superstar Spotlight” on WWE.com. Warrior is also on the site . Warrior is also listed on WWE’s “15 Past Superstars That Should Get ONE MORE MATCH” list now on the site’s main page.
– The WWE website has an interview up with Jerry Lawler, who talks about CM Punk’s attack from last week’s RAW:
“It’s a sad day when you can’t have an opinion and speak your mind. CM Punk thinks he can speak his mind. He has an opinion that he is the best in the world and he has no problem with telling that to everybody. CM Punk and I obviously had a difference in opinion. He had a way of showing me what he thought about my opinion. I’ve been thinking a lot about it, and maybe this coming Monday night, I might show Punk what I think of his opinion.”
– WWE.com has compiled a list ranking 15 former Superstars that should make a one-night comeback. It reads: 15. Scott Steiner, 14. Honky Tonk Man, 13. Michelle McCool, 12. Steve Blackman, 11. JBL, 10. Mick Foley, 9. Edge, 8. Shane McMahon, 7. Goldberg, 6. Trish Stratus, 5. Shawn Michaels, 4. Bret Hart, 3. Batista, 2. Ultimate Warrior, 1. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
– WWE has released a preview clip of a Saturday Morning Slam segment showcasing sports-entertainment’s history of dancers.
– Jim Ross complimented former WWE Women’s Champion Jacqueline via Twitter Wednesday, writing, “WWE never had a better pro, tougher Diva than Jackie Moore. She made all WWE Divas better.”
It was recently announced that the 2013 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony will take place on Saturday, April 6th from Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Despite the fact that WrestleMania 29 is being billed as taking place from “NY/NJ”, WWE has reportedly had some issues regarding holding the HOF ceremony from New York City, due to their agreement with the state of New Jersey regarding where WrestleMania-week events will be held.
It’s no secret that WWE was pushing hard for Bruno Sammartino to be the top name inducted into the Hall of Fame next year, but at this point, there’s virtually no chance of that happening. Other names discussed for next year’s class include Bob Backlund, Mick Foley, Kevin Nash and the Ultimate Warrior.
Tensions between Warrior and WWE have died down lately and the two sides are currently on the best terms that they’ve been on in several years. Getting Warrior to agree to work with WWE again for the first time since 1996 would be seen as a huge deal for WWE, he is notoriously difficult to work with and there is always the risk that they come to an agreement, WWE announces Warrior’s involvement and then the two sides have another falling out.
“Earlier this week, Mr Christopher Elias used TMZ.com and the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department in an apparent effort to gain publicity for himself at the expense of professional wrestling legend The Ultimate Warrior. The matter that has arisen between Warrior and Mr Elias is in relation to a simple contractual dispute, the facts of which will speak for themselves.
“Mr Elias’s allegations of criminal fraud are completely unfounded, ill-advised and unfortunate. This is a purely civil matter that is in the process of being resolved by our attorney.”
– It was announced by today that Shazam has partnered with WWE to make RAW Shazam-enabled. During Raw 1000 on Monday, fans can tag “RAW 1000” to get exclusive access to their WWE superstars, purchase their entrance songs, and get tickets to WWE events. Here is the official announcement…
Shazam and WWE Make “RAW” Interactive
Viewers can use the Shazam App to unlock exclusive content beginning on Monday July 23
New York, NY – July 19, 2012 – Shazam®, the world’s leading media engagement company, today announced that it has partnered with WWE® to make Raw even more interactive. Starting with the 1,000th episode of its flagship program on Monday, July 23, people can tune in to USA Network at 8/7C and tag “Raw 1000” to access exclusive video footage of 10 of their favorite WWE Superstars, purchase the Superstars’ entrance themes and get tickets to WWE live events.
Viewers who have Shazam installed on their smartphones or tablets will be able to use the app to access exciting content such as:
· Exclusive video of WWE Superstars, including John Cena®, Sheamus®, Big Show®, Brodus Clay®, Zack Ryder®, Chris Jericho®, The Miz, Alberto Del Rio®, and Divas Kelly Kelly and Eve
· Links to purchase the Superstars’ entrance theme songs
· Easy access to purchase WWE gear
· A link to purchase WWE tickets
Because the tag lives on in people’s tag lists, they can interact with them anytime, wherever they are, whatever they’re doing.
TMZ.com is reporting the The Ultimate Warrior was named in a police report with the Sante Fe County Sheriff’s Department in New Mexico He is accused of scamming a wrestling merchandise collector out of $28k of merchandise, including ring-worn wrestling trunks.
Christopher Elias, a sports memorabilia dealer named claims he struck a $28k deal with Warrior, in which the wrestling legend agreed to send Elias a bunch of classic merchandise from his personal collection. Elias, also claimed that The Warrior was supposed to sign twenty wrestling belts & ten Wrestlemania posters of his.
This week on Are You Serious?, a clip is featured of (Ultimate) Warrior tormenting Hollywood Hogan backstage through a mirror on WCW Monday Nitro. While the clip airs, Road Dogg and Josh Mathews ponder what Warrior may be foretelling Hogan, such as alimony payments, the box office returns for Santa with Muscles and the end result of PastaMania.
“It’s official, WCW jumps the shark,” Josh Mathews says after baring witness to the clip. Road Dogg adds, “WCW ruined Hulk Hogan. They ruined the Ultimate Warrior. It didn’t help Eric Bischoff any, that’s for sure.” Mathews responds, “Bret Hart’s career really didn’t skyrocket when he went to WCW.”
Road Dogg concludes, “Remember kids, WCW ruins everything, including Billy Kidman’s career.”
Also featured are clips of Juventud Guerrera taking a tumble during his ring entrance at the 1996 WCW Fall Brawl pay-per-view event, Al Snow’s various incarnations and the Playboy Buddy Rose “Blow Away” diet.
Here is the latest update from The Ultimate Warrior discussing his recent biceps injury, the 1-year anniversary of Randy Savage and plenty of ‘inspiration’ for his Warriors:
— WWE.com has posted a list counting down the top twenty-five Intercontinental Champions of all-time and Randy Savage comes in at number one. He is trailed by Chris Jericho, Ultimate Warrior, Mr. Perfect and Pat Patterson. To view the complete list, click here.
— BarbershopWindow.com has released a “Kamala” Benefit T-Shirt, with all proceeds going to aid the legendary wrestler’s medical bills. The first seventy-five customers who order the shirt will receive an autographed photo of WWE developmental wrestler Kassius Ohno (a/k/a Chris Hero).
The former WWE Superstar has undergone amputation of both of his feet due to his ongoing battle with diabetes.
— Mick Foley will perform stand-up comedy this Thursday in Williamstown, New Jersey at Antony & Cleopatra’s. Call 856-629-2211 for event information.
In part two of his MLW Radio appearance, which you can listen to here (MP3), Ultimate Warrior spoke about fighting Vince McMahon in court for years and spending over a million dollars in the process. Warrior also commented about the respect he developed for Vince after the long battle.
“It went on for almost five years and it was about to start trial. It was a Friday. Vince and Linda were there with their counsel, Jerry McDevitt, and I was there with my counsel. It had gone on for five years. There were 30,000 documents. There were 30 or 40 depositions that had been taken in all different places all over the country. There were 900 exhibits. It was incredible. I was already into it for a million dollars in paid legal fees.”
“I think [Vince] was surprised as time went on. In those kinds of things, Vince has the money to throw at them all day long. He doesn’t really sit and think about the consequence. He just doesn’t. It was different for me because I was so close to it and it just kept dragging on and on. Vince is stubborn. Both Linda and others in their depositions under oath said the problem between me and Vince was that we were so much alike.”
“At the end of the day, after all the fighting and everything, I respect Vince more than anybody else. The writing is on the wall while you’re there. All the guys that are bitter about where they ended up in their lives, that wasn’t Vince’s responsibility. Vince’s loyalty was to his company, himself and his family. He wasn’t going to let anybody stand in the way and even though outsiders can see some of the things he did as vicious, I happen to admire that.”
Part two of Ultimate Warrior on MLW Radio with Mister Saint Laurent is available on MLW.com, iTunes and syndicated by Stitcher.com.
— Ultimate Warrior has addressed One Warrior Nation, a rotund wrestler who parades around the independent circuit with the former WWE Champion’s gimmick.
He tweeted this photo of the impostor Wednesday and ridiculed his less than Warrior-like physique, writing, “One tiny favor, warriors. If you ever see me in this condition, kill me. Just fucking kill me. W.”
— Former WWE Superstar Snitsky has resurfaced on Twitter at BiggeneWDF. He closed his previous account last summer following a homophobic outburst toward fans of The Miz—which he claimed wasn’t him.
— Maria Kanellis, Davey Richards, Teddy Hart and Brittney Savage have been announced to appear for Pro Wrestling Syndicate’s five year anniversary shows on Friday, June 1 and June 2 in Rahway, New Jersey. (Event Information)
— WWE Hall of Famer Verne Gagne turns 89 years old Thursday while WWE Hall of Famer Tito Santana turns 59.
During a recent interview with Scottland’s One Wrestling Show Hulk Hogan responded to Scott Steiner recent shoot comments about him and Eric Bischoff, never wrestling Bret Hart around WrestleMania 9 and his long running feud with the Ultimate Warrior:
Warrior man is back with another video message. In this 2-part update, Warrior talks about ignoring doctors ad “listening to his body” when healing his torn bicep, his upcoming appearance on June 2nd at the Legends of the Ring convention in New Jersey and a new reality television project he’s working on.
The Ultimate Warrior recently appeared on MLW Radio, the official podcast of Major League Wrestling. You can listen to the interview at MLW.com. Here’s a quote of what Warrior said about his relationship with Vince McMahon back in the early 1990’s:
“For me it was really unique, maybe more unique than for anybody else. Whenever I would go to Stamford, I didn’t stay at a hotel. I just went straight out to Vince’s house, Vince and Linda’s home. Shane was there at the time. He was in high school. I had a big brother, little brother relationship with him. That’s the way that I would describe it. I was very close to all of them.
“I remember taking long walks on the property out there with Vince. I remember talking about that even beyond the Ultimate Warrior’s time as the champion or the thing of today that years down the road that he would still be Ultimate Warrior as a persona and me as a person would still be a part of this family. It was very close and very intimate. I don’t think that it’s like that at all today and I don’t remember anybody else being given that courtesy or allowed that openness to their family as I was back then.”
Warrior also spoke about his upcoming reality show, CM Punk and more.
In what is unlikely to be a coincidence, WWE.com now has a feature looking at the Ultimate Warrior’s most “insane” interviews.
WWE Hall of Famer Paul Orndorff appeared on Inside The Ropes on Thursday night and slammed Bret Hart, Ric Flair and Ultimate Warrior (audio available here) . Highlights are are as follows:
Facing Ric Flair in 1982 for NWA World Championship: “He was just another body. Some are better than others. I believed in making it look real. I was probably hard to work with because I wanted it to make real and I knew how to wrestle.”
Experience of working at the first WrestleMania in the main event: “It was special. There were so many people. It was the largest crowd to ever watch it. And then the pay per view of it was just ungodly. This was my opportunity to be really noticed and be seen. My paycheck….it was huge. I made more money in that 30 minutes than I did in a whole year with the NWA. People expected it and they were gonna get it from me.”
Working with Mr. T in the main event of WrestleMania: “I wasn’t crazy about it. I was very protective WrestleMania 1of the business. I was taught that. You take care of it. You don’t give out all your trade secrets. But then again you look at somebody like Ric Flair and you can say how can you hide something when they look like that? So I guess I started to give in a little bit.”
Transition in WWF from wrestling to entertainment in mid 80’s: “It depends on your personality. I protected it. To me that wasn’t protecting it. As you can see right now, because they didn’t protect it, where it is now, there’s only two shows now. Look how many there was, there was one in every state, now look where it is.”
On Vince McMahon using guys like Ultimate Warrior, more about the body: “I thought it was the worst move they could’ve made. Vince did it on purpose. He did it so he could be the only one.”
On Ultimate Warrior: “He never paid his dues. You gotta pay your dues, go and learn your trade that’ll make it better when you are on that big stage. It’s called experience and nobody has any now, because there’s nowhere to go to get it.”
Right decision on giving belt to smaller stars like Randy Savage and Bret Hart?: “No. Absolutely not. It’s like putting the belt on someone who wants to be a wrestler. It didn’t work. It downgraded, made the belt worthless. When Terry Funk, Harley Race had world titles, it meant more.”
Opinion on long rumur that Hogan wouldn’t drop the belt to Bret Hart in 1993…: “I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t have either. Bret Hart was a nobody from Canada and Hogan was the greatest star in wrestling. I don’t blame him. He did the right thing.”
Quick Fire Thoughts
Ultimate Warrior: “I gotta go to the bathroom………………..NEXT!”
Tonight at WrestleMania XXVIII in Sun Life Stadium, WWE Champion CM Punk will defend the WWE Championship against Chris Jericho. Former WWE Superstar Ultimate Warrior believes The Straight Edge Superstar will own tonight’s show.
He tweeted Sunday afternoon, “WM 28…time for WWE Superstars of today to shine. Feel THEIR power. All of them warriors for today. Watch @CMPunk OWN it. Always Believe, W.”
Warrior thinks highly of Punk as he has praised his character and efforts several times on the microblogging website. By the same token, the WWE Superstar frequently acknowledges that he is a fan of Warrior. He tweeted a photo last week of a WWE title belt Warrior had autographed.
Today also marks as the twenty-two year anniversary of Warrior dethroning Hulk Hogan as WWF Champion at WrestleMania VI. He addressed the event after a Twitter user said he couldn’t believe it’s been exactly twenty-two years since that momentous day.
Warrior wrote, “Believe it. Time stops for no one. Heroes use it wisely.”
– The latest weather forecast for Sunday’s WrestleMania 28 pay-per-view is a high of 87°F and a 30% chance of rain. The Weather Channel shows a small chance of isolated thunderstorms around 4-6pm on Sunday night but it looks pretty clear after that.
– 2012 WWE Hall of Famer Mike Tyson told The Miami Herald that he would have preferred to have legends Bruno Sammartino and “Superstar” Billy Graham induct him into the Hall tonight. Tyson said:
“[WWE] has to do what they have to do, but if it was Bruno Sammartino or Superstar Billy Graham, that would be awesome, because that’s when I started watching it. Billy Graham came and changed the game [charisma], and then Bob Backlund beat Graham, but he didn’t change the game. Then Hulkster changed the game.”
– Earlier this week, Triple H spoke tot he Los Angeles Times and actually had some positive things to say about the Ultimate Warrior and his legacy. Triple H referred to Warrior as a legend and said it was an honor wrestle him at WrestleMania 12, even though he was squashed in about two minutes.
The Ultimate Warrior wrote the following on Twitter in response to Triple H’s comments about him:
“Since 2011, WWE’s tone about UW’s mark in the biz has changed. Something’s going on but your guess is as good as mine.”
Promoting Sunday’s WrestleMania XXVIII pay-per-view event in Miami, Triple H took part an interview with Los Angeles Times and was asked if there was chance of him signing Ultimate Warrior to a one-day contract so he could squash him at an upcoming WrestleMania.
“It’s funny, a lot of people bring that up in a negative way like it was this terrible thing in my life,” Triple H says of his squash match loss to Warrior at WrestleMania XII. “While working with him personally wasn’t the highlight of my life from a business standpoint, for me to go to me first WrestleMania and wrestle a legendary figure in the business — and that is what he was and is — like the Ultimate Warrior, a Hall of Fame superstar in the business in my first WrestleMania appearance, squash or not, was a mind blowing thing for me.”
“I was thrilled to be in that position and to have that match with the Ultimate Warrior. I was thrilled with the fact that at that time Vince McMahon was willing to put me in that role. The Ultimate Warrior wasn’t there till the day of the show, so I had to do all the promotion for that match. I wanted Vince McMahon to look at me as a guy he could count on to handle the return of a guy that he was hoping would be a huge impact on the business. He had the trust in me and I would do a good job with it. So to me, that was nothing but a good experience. Potentially, I could bring him back and get the win.”
The thirteen-time world champion also addressed transitioning from full-time wrestler to full-time executive.
“Full-time wrestlers have fewer meetings than full-time managers do. I spend time in meetings a lot. And wearing a tie is kind of a downfall. I think it’s just learning to deal with situations in a business way as opposed to a locker room way. There is a large world of difference and you just have to learn that transition,” he says.
He also commented on who he would transport from history to have a dream match against at next year’s WrestleMania.
“It would be one of two people. Ric Flair or Buddy Rogers,” he says. “Buddy Rogers might not be a name that everyone knows, but he was probably one of the first way over the top flamboyant wrestling personas. Not like a Gorgeous George, he was a technically skilled wrestler who could wrestle anyone and make them look good. I think it would be interesting to step into the ring with him.”
The interview, which includes his answer on his favorite WrestleMania moment not involving himself, is available here.