– WWE is expected to announce the signing of Japanese star KENTA to a deal with their company during the live event in Tokyo, Japan on Friday.
– Vince McMahon recently tweeted the following about The Ultimate Warrior:
The most heartwrenching story in WWE history. Warrior: The Ultimate Legend #WWENetwork
— Vince McMahon (@VinceMcMahon) July 11, 2014
– The official WWE website has recently added a new article looking at the 15 greatest Superstar entrances of all-time. The top ten of the list reads as follows:
#10. Rey Mysterio
#9. Gangrel
#8. The Rock
#7. Hulk Hogan
#6. Chris Jericho
#5. Bill Goldberg
#4. Triple H
#3. Kane
#2. Ultimate Warrior
#1. Undertaker
You can check out the complete article at WWE.com.
– The latest edition of WWE’s “Canvas 2 Canvas” YouTube show, which features Triple H, is available below.
As we reported last week, WWE sent out a casting call looking for 14 actors that will be featured in a promo video featuring wrestling legend Sting. The promo begins shooting today, Monday, June 16th.
While the news seemed to indicate that Sting would be making his WWE television debut soon, the promo is actually being shot for the new WWE 2K15 video game.
Sting will be this year’s “Featured Character” – a role that’s been filled by Brock Lesnar, Mike Tyson and most recently, The Ultimate Warrior.
Similar to Warrior’s initial involvement with Take-Two Interactive, Sting’s deal is believed to be directly with the video game producer, not WWE.
Aside from WWE 2K15, Sting will also be the subject of an upcoming WWE DVD release and has long been rumored to be signing with the company under a Legends contract.
As noted previously, Ultimate Warrior’s widow Dana Warrior and her daughters Indy and Mattie attended the WWE live event in Rio Rancho, New Mexico on Sunday night. At one point during the show, Paige and Natalya actually brought Warrior’s daughters into the ring. You can check out a photo below.
Dana Warrior wrote the following on Facebook after the event:
“”When WWE invited us to be their guests at the Rio Rancho show I was scared to go… it felt too soon. Still my Warrior girls insisted and for them I’ll do anything! Our warrior spirit got us there and our WWE family took us the rest of the way. Such a special night we will always remember. Our house may not feel like home without him… how lovely backstage at WWE still did. xo Dana”
– The Ultimate Warrior’s widow Dana Warrior and her daughters Indy and Mattie were backstage at the WWE live event on Sunday night in Rio Rancho, New Mexico.
– The Daniel Bryan “Yes! Movement” continues to spread across the nation, as the San Francisco Giants MLB team now have a new feature that utilizes the “Yes!” chant. Anytime the team does something good at their home games, the light ring separating the first and second deck says, “Yes!” with fingers pointing upwards.
– WWE Superstar Evan Bourne (remember him?) celebrated being signed with WWE for 6 years on Tuesday and said is looking forward to his eventual return to action. He tweeted:
Dudes! I'm celebrating my anniversary with WWE. It's a positive thing. I'm grateful to be with WWE and I can't wait perform again soon!
— Matt Sydal (@MattSydal) June 3, 2014
Bourne has been cleared to return to the ring for some time now apparently WWE creative doesn’t have anything for him yet. There’s been talk of pairing him with Tyson Kidd as a new high-flying tag team.
– WWE’s Ultimate Warrior: The Ultimate Collection DVD is selling very well, shipping 68,000 units in the first two months since it was released. The top DVD sales for the first quarter of the year were:
– In honor of Memorial Day in the United States, WWE.com is featuring “15 Patriotic Moments We Salute.”
– The Ultimate Warrior’s wife Dana has published a Memorial Day message, which you can view here.
– Jim Ross has updated the the Q&A section of JRsBarBQ.com. When asked why John Cena is feuding with Bray Wyatt instead of chasing the WWE World Heavyweight championship, JR responded:
“I’d suggest that Cena is working with Bray to help establish Bray as a star. Cena doesn’t need a title to be considered a star at this stage of the game. Bray doesn’t have to win the series of matches but the rub Cena provides will enhance Wyatt.”
– Hulk Hogan teased during a recent WWE App interview that he may be appearing on Legends House soon. Whether or not he was referring to the current season, which was filmed back in 2012, or a potential future taping of the series, is anyone’s guess.
– The official WWE website recently ran another ranking article, this time looking at the 25 greatest WWE Intercontinental Champions in history. The top ten of the list reads as follows:
10. Tito Santana
9. Randy Orton
8. Pedro Morales
7. Bret Hart
6. Razor Ramon
5. The Honky Tonk Man
4. Mr. Perfect
3. The Ultimate Warrior
2. Chris Jericho
1. Randy Savage
You can check out the complete list at WWE.com.
– WWE Hall Of Famer Shawn Michaels will be featured on next week’s edition of WWE Legends House, which airs Thursday night on the WWE Network.
– WWE reportedly refused ABC sitcom “The Goldbergs” the rights to any footage of The Ultimate Warrior for their tribute show to the late WWE Hall Of Famer. Warrior and his family were reportedly big fans of the series, and his wife and daughter were said to be touched by the tribute episode. Warrior’s daughters were actually invited onto The Goldbergs set for the filming of an episode next season.
Hulk Hogan and Stephanie McMahon took part in fan Q&A session for the UK’s Mirror.co.uk on Monday. Here are some highlights:
– Hogan said it’s great to be back home with WWE and he’s excited to be back in front of his great fans in the UK.
– Stephanie was asked if she’d be interested in wrestling Brie Bella. She said it’s a “wait and see” situation, but she’s always training and is physically up to it.
– Hogan named John Cena as his favorite WWE Superstar because he is the workhorse of this generation. He’s also a fan of Daniel Bryan.
– Stephanie said her favorite part of her job is interacting with fans, who constantly inspire her.
– Hogan said he does not have any movie roles lined up, but was recently in talks with Ron Howard about a movie about his career. He added that he and his wife have turned down offers to star in a new reality TV show about their life together.
– Stephanie said they are “in discussions” about how to bring a future WrestleMania event to the UK.
– They both spoke about The Ultimate Warrior. Stephanie said she’s so happy he was able to return home to WWE before he passed, which gave him closure and the recognition he deserved by entering the WWE Hall of Fame. It’s tragic he’s no longer here, but everyone has wonderful memories of him from WrestleMania XXX weekend in New Orleans.
– Stephanie was asked about her first impression of Triple H. She said she was in college watching DX on RAW and she was intrigued by them. She joked that she might get in trouble for saying this – but she did wonder if Shawn Michaels and Triple H were more than “just good friends.” When she met Triple H, she fell in love.
– She said honesty and communication are the keys to a successful marriage.
– Stephanie would be proud and honored if her daughters worked for WWE one day, but that’s totally up to them.
– Hogan was asked if he could be WWE Champion again and he joked that he would be a great Geritol Wheelchair Champion.
– Former TNA Knockout So Cal Val was at the WWE NXT event in Orlando, Florida on Friday night. She has been in attendance for a number of WWE events recently.
– UFC fighter Lorenz Larkin paid tribute to the late Ultimate Warrior at the weigh-ins for tonight’s UFC event, which were held on Friday. You can check out a photo below.
According to one source, the reports that claim Batista refused to work a program with Daniel Bryan are untrue. A source recently told ProWrestling.net:
“WWE wants that story out, but it’s all twisted. (Batista) would do five jobs for Bryan. They’ve f—ed him in money, booking, broken promises (relating to his) schedule, and promoting his (outside projects).”
The source continued:
“Had that not happened, he would be around until late June, but because Vince (McMahon) f—ed him, he’s not, so they dragged Daniel Bryan into this to vilify Batista. Daniel is beloved and a martyr so he benefits, but it has nothing to do with jobbing. They’ve twisted. It’s classic Vince. Look at Ultimate Warrior and SummerSlam, Bret Hart in Montreal. (Vince) puts out his narrative. There are always two sides.”
As of right now, WWE is pushing the following four retired wrestlers, in order, the most: Hulk Hogan, Undertaker, Steve Austin and Ultimate Warrior. Warrior was higher on the priority list a few weeks ago, but that was due to the fact that he tragically passed away.
For the month of April, more people purchased Warrior merchandise on the internet than anyone else in the company, including John Cena.
The latest internet merchandise numbers, in order, were Cena, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, The Wyatt Family, The Shield, Evolution and Hulk Hogan.
The latest arena merchandise numbers, in order, were Cena, Bryan, Randy Orton, Warrior, Rob Van Dam, Brock Lesnar, The Wyatt Family, Batista and Sin Cara.
It’s worth noting that Cena was head-and-shoulders above the rest of the top sellers at the arenas, with the second highest person on the list (Daniel Bryan) not even coming close to his sales figures.
– WWE announced at last night’s SmackDown and Main Event tapings that the company will return to the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, NY on Monday, November 3rd for RAW.
– The long awaited Cody Rhodes vs. Goldust feud will in fact be happening, according to a report at PWInsider.com.
– Tuesday night’s episode of “The Goldbergs” on ABC did in fact feature a pro wrestling theme. The show was advertised as having a Star Wars theme, however, the subplot saw the older brother on the show trying out for his high school wrestling team and confusing that with professional wrestling.
The character referenced “WWF” a dozen times and was shown play fighting in his living room with wrestling buddies, something I’m sure many of our readers remember from their childhoods. The character even brought out a steel chair during his high school wrestling meet.
The episode ended with an Ultimate Warrior tribute graphic.
Early viewership data is in for the show and it actually drew a season-low 4.07 million viewers.
– Sunday’s episode of WWE Total Divas drew 965,000 viewers, down from the previous week’s 1.141 million viewers.
– Former WWE NXT star Oliver Grey is now taking bookings through joel.redman@outlook.com.
– It’s been reported that tonight’s episode of “The Goldbergs” on ABC would be a wrestling-themed show and be dedicated to The Ultimate Warrior. However, ABC is promoting that tonight’s episode will actually have a Star Wars theme. Here’s a preview:
Steve Wilton of Warrior Entertainment posted the following statement on social media yesterday, thanking fans for their support:
“Thank you for all your emails offering friendship and support it’s greatly appreciated. I don’t have time to answer everyone right now but I wanted to let you all know that I have received and read every single one of them and that it really does mean a lot.
Warrior would be so proud of all his fans, you guys are awesome. His legacy will live on through all of you! Team Warrior; a one of a kind kick ass family.
In regards to enquiries asking about the Warrior Store. We will open the store again when the time is right, thank you for your patience.Steve Wilton Team Warrior”
The following are highlights of a new Digital Spy interview with Drew McIntyre:
And how long will you, Jinder Mahal and Heath Slater be sticking together before the inevitable break-up? “Maybe for us personally we’ll try and get one song out before we have the break up. We’ve been talking about bringing out an album for the last year and a half. With Guns N’ Roses and Chinese Democracy it took Axl ten years – maybe we’ll try and break that record.”
Do you think that CM Punk will make a return to the WWE in the foreseeable future? “Personally I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going on, I don’t know what’s going to happen. You can never tell what’s going to happen in sports entertainment, that’s what the boss always says.”
And what do you think about the rumors of Sting finally making his debut with the WWE? “He’s somebody who’s never been in the company, if that was to happen it would obviously be a very big thing, but as I always say – don’t believe everything you read on the internet until it actually happens!”
After WrestleMania and that incredible promo, we had the sad death of Warrior – do you have any favorite memories of the Ultimate Warrior? “The first ever VHS I ever owned, my brother and I, was WrestleMania VII. We watched that thing to bits – I think the tape chewed itself up. It was Warrior vs Macho Man [Randy Savage], the Retirement Match. The one time he didn’t run to the ring! The match lasted 40 minutes, so it was probably a good idea!
“That was a fond memory of my childhood… I can probably recite that entire Retirement Match. It was one of his greatest matches and he was such an incredible character. It was crazy, such an unbelievable character that’ll be around forever. He’s immortal now.”
It was so great that he got that Hall of Fame induction… “You could see how much it meant to him – how much it meant to have his family there. You can never say that it’s a good time for something like that to happen. He had an incredible weekend, with his daughters there. It’s such a shame, but he’s going to live forever like all the great Superstars do.”
Check out the complete interview at DigitalSpy.com.
The following are highlights of a recent BANG Showbiz interview with Chris Jericho:
On meeting Ultimate Warrior in WCW: “I only treat people the way that they treat me and I only met Warrior once and he was really gracious and really cool to me back in 1998 in WCW. He was there to do something with Hulk Hogan and I remember I went up to say hi to him and he went, ‘Hey, Chris Jericho, I know you, you’re doing a great job you’re doing some good work.’ I was a nobody at the time and I remember thinking, ‘Wow, the Warrior likes me that totally smokes.’ It made me feel that I must be doing something right and it gave me a little bit of a boost and I always remembered that … He’s definitely a legendary guy that deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, I’m glad he got to go in when he was still alive.”
On being a fan of Warrior: “As a fan in the late 80s when Warrior came out, he had this energy, this intensity and his look; he was like a heavy metal guy – or he came across that way – and so was I, so I liked that. I always respected him as a performer, some of his matches were pretty quick I remember he came in the Winnipeg arena once and beat Andre the Giant in 30 seconds, at the time I was like, ‘What a rip off! That sucks.’ But I remember WrestleMania VI where he had a classic with Hulk Hogan, much like a lot of guys from that time period he had good matches when he had the right opponent.”
Check out the complete interview at TV3.ie.
The following is the latest Twitter message from Dana A. Warrior, the widow of the late WWE Hall Of Famer The Ultimate Warrior:
“You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.” – Bob Marley
“Another Monday Warriors…. I thought that each passing day things would get easier. Not so. Losing Warrior isn’t a hole in my life, it is the Grand Canyon! Grief is like the tide I think. It rolls in and out without asking permission. The thing about being a Warrior is the wave can hit us but we are not allowed to fall down. We can stumble, be knocked off balance, but we are required to remain standing no matter the size of the blow. This week I’ll stay standing if you’ll stand with me. I believe, Always.
Dana A. Warrior”
As previously reported, Nancy Grace was scheduled to run another wrestling segment on CNN. The show, which was scheduled to feature indy wrestling star RJ Brewer, was postponed. It has not, however, been cancelled. Producers of the show informed Brewer that they would be in touch with him in the future regarding a new date.
Apparently the show wants to attempt to make ammends with the pro wrestling community due to all of the bad publicity they received over the way they handled the news of Ultimate Warrior’s passing.
Diamond Dallas Page appeared on the Opie & Anthony post-show with Sam Roberts recently to discuss his appearance on the controversial Ultimate Warrior segment on the Nancy Grace show on CNN.
The official description for the appearance, which you can view above, reads as follows:
“Sam Roberts talks to Diamond Dallas Page about yoga, his appearance on Nancy Grace, Warrior, Scott Hall, Jake Roberts, and more, on SiriusXM’s O&A Post Show.”
The following are highlights of a new Undisputed Wrestling Show interview with Diamond Dallas Page:
On his recent appearance on Nancy Grace: “First of all, I wanted to leave. Oh my god, this woman was so nice to me when I walked in there. Once she started hitting me with that deal, I got scared. I go ‘Oh my god, she set me up, so should I get up and walk away? How is that going to make the business look?’ I breathed, I focused on breathing…The only thing I could think of at that time was that WWE has the best wellness program, better than the NBA, NFL, MLB, so I think that is fighting for the company. I thought about firing back at her, but it was a really weird situation. I can’t put that bitch over. I can’t talk about her anymore, I want to strangle her. The last thing I want to be is in that position. The way it was told to me is that I saw four questions. I said ‘I don’t know about this’ and Nancy Grace said ‘No, it’s gonna be a feel good piece.’ When I walked in there, she was so sweet to me. She totally set me up.”
On the graphic that aired during the show about wrestlers who died young: “I I never saw that! That totally blindsided me. I will never do that bitch’s show again, I can guarantee you that!”
Check out the complete interview above.
– There is really nothing new to report in terms of Sting’s contractual status with WWE, past the point that it’s been considered a formality for weeks that he will be signing. At last check, it had yet to be confirmed as to whether or not he officially signed a contract with the company. As previously reported, WWE will be releasing a Sting DVD in the fall, and he was also all over the recent Ultimate Warrior documentary that aired on the WWE Network last week.
– Apparently many top executives in WWE were said to be very upset at Mick Foley for the blogs and tweets he wrote criticizing the company after the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view for the way they were handling Daniel Bryan’s push.
– As previously reported, WWE Diva AJ Lee asked — and was given — time off from WWE. As of right now, there is no definite timetable for her return.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
– Paul Heyman referenced CM Punk in an around-about way during a commercial break on Monday’s edition of WWE RAW. Heyman said the following during the break:
“Here’s a pipebomb for you. My client, Brock Lesnar, did what a Paul Heyman Guy couldn’t do last year, when he conquered The Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania.”
You can check out video footage of the promo at WWE.com.
– MLB star Josh Reddick paid tribute to the late Ultimate Warrior on the International Talk program, complete with a Warrior mask, tassels and a Warrior t-shirt. You can check out the footage below.
http://youtu.be/VX5KbfTcHZg
Diamond Dallas page recently appeared on Wrestling 365 hosted by Alfonso Marimon and Jon Curry. Here are some highlights of what DDP said about:
The Energy Backstage at the WWE Hall of Fame:
“The Hall of Fame was really cool, getting there was the journey, the whole thing with Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts and Scott Hall. It was great to see both those guys be inducted, they both put a lot of work in. It’s one of those things, so many people bring it up, you get to the end and go, okay we got here, awesome, dreams do come true, but both of those guys are still addicts, so they fight it daily. I’ve had people come up to me and say dude you’ve cured Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts and I’m like what?, no, I never did that. All I did was help him, guide him and put him in a positive environment. Jake could fall down tomorrow and he does from time to time. He doesn’t live with me anymore, I can’t be his keeper, I just hope he can stay on the right track, but someone like Jake or Scott, either one of those guys could fall and hopefully not too far, because we can fall too far and then the promoters and everyone don’t want to deal with that stuff, but as of right now, it was a glorious moment.”
How It Felt To See Jake Roberts & Scott Hall Inducted:
“It actually felt great man, for Scott’s speech I went out in front and sat with my girl and my ex-wife Kimberly, they were both there, they’re friends and we watched Kevin (Nash) come out and then Scott and afterwards I went backstage again. To be in that whole…..That’s like the highest honor you can get in our business, I think it even crosses over World Championships to that next level. There’s still certain people that belong and should be in there and that will always be the case, but eventually, sometimes that takes a while, everyone gets their turn. I said it 18 months earlier, we set the big pie in the sky dream that we would be on this (Hall of Fame) stage on this night.
“Jake didn’t think that was possible, but Jake had to go through a lot of changes for that to happen and he did and it was a journey. We’ve done the movie, that’s where the movie ends, I’m sure we’ll have a little trail-off, because I don’t know exactly what will happen in the next 6 months, 8 months before we’ve got the film completely tied up. I’ve been filming with director and co-producer Steve Yu the resurrection of Jake The Snake’s story and that details Scott Hall coming in and where he was when he started and that journey and a lot of it is really fun and inspirational, while some of it is dark. There’s dark moments man and there’s times where the 3 of us did not get along.”
Memories Of The Ultimate Warrior:
“The first time I was on a card or an event with the Warrior was at WrestleMania 6 and I didn’t get the gig, my car did, I was Diamond Dallas Chauffeur for Rhythm N Blues and I got to meet a lot of the boys. I was in the AWA at the time as a manager, but everybody dreamed of being at WrestleMania, this is the spot and I’m there. I may be driving a Cadillac, but you know what, none of my other buddies are. Hulk Hogan came up to me and was so nice to me and talked about my gimmick and we talked for about 10 minutes and it was amazing.
“Really, the only superstar I wanted to meet that evening and didn’t get the chance to was Warrior, that would happen 10 years later when he came in in WCW to start up his feud with Hulk Hogan and when he got to TV, I was planning on going by, I was looking forward to shaking his hand and meeting him, maybe having some kind of a relationship with him and one of the agents came by and said DDP, you want to meet The Ultimate Warrior and I said absolutely, I’ll be down there later, but the agent said that he sort of asked me to come by and grab you and Goldberg and see if you guys would want to meet him and I was like he’s requesting US to come by, sure, I’ll come with you.
“I walked down there and gave him a big hug and he talked about how much fun he’s had watching us (DDP and Goldberg) and how we made him want to get back in the business. The main event that they would be working towards would be Halloween Havoc and this story shows how anything is possible in this world. 10 years later, from working at the Skydome, being a chauffeur and watching Hogan vs. Warrior for the title to watching them 10 years later, but this time I’m going for the World Championship against Goldberg.
“It took a fan writing me that on Twitter to really put that in perspective and I was like, woah, I never really put that together. I saw him at WrestleCon last year and we talked for a little bit and he was so blown away by what I was doing with DDP Yoga and Scott and Jake and he said, you’re doing God’s work man. He’s a big God man, I am too, I’m not the big preacher guy, but I’m a big God man. For him to give me the shoutout at the Hall of Fame for him being inducted, not once, not twice, but like 4 times and it was a little tongue-in-cheek funny, but he respected what I was doing. I never got a chance to thank him for that, because that was just so cool of him to do that.”