The following are highlights of a new WNS Podcast interview with former WWE Diva and TNA Knockout Victoria (aka Tara, aka Lisa Marie Varon):
Thoughts on making appearances at conventions: “It’s a lot of fun. Absolutely. That’s basically what I do. I have a restaurant here in Chicago and I’m here every single night. So, it’s basically a fanfest every night anyway. I’m taking pictures, signing autographs and talking about what I love. Watching what I love and making new friends in my city. So, I’m super blessed at this point in my life right now. All those bumps and bruises in the past are really paying off. I really love doing these autograph sessions. I go way over and beyond. I don’t want anybody to have bad experience. I like every fan or follower to have a unique experience meeting me. I absolutely love them. It’s also a reunion for me to see some old friends at these conventions. You try to make it a little bit of a vacation just to like have dinner with old buddies and catch up and find out what they’re doing in their life.”
On opening her own restaurant in Chicago: “It’s going well. This is our third restaurant. We had two more and we had a custom car shop and when we first got married we had a gym so we’re not foreign to owning our own businesses. My husband’s very stubborn and cannot work for anybody else and he’s been a chef since he was about 15 or 16. He’s always been with food. It’s awesome. Our menu, if you go to thesquaredcircle.biz, and look at our menu it’s very unusual items. I named a few things after wrestlers and we do stuffed burgers and pizza and pizza made with duck fat. We have adult milkshakes. We do very well. We’re both workaholics. I’m the front of the house and he’s the back of the house and it works out very well.”
On the upcoming Sweet And Sour Larry Sweeney Night: “We’ve had Ring Of Honor donating some gifts to auction off and all proceeds go to a suicide prevention organization. So, we’re excited to be a part of it because his friend Karen, actually she’s here because it’s indy night so she lives in Chicago, brought it to us and we jumped on it and we reached out and said we definitely would love to be part of it. It’s pretty sad. In wrestling, you’re supposed to be this tough person with no family problems, you don’t really air out your dirty laundry so you kind of bottle it up a lot andxit’s important for people to know they can reach out and have someone to talk to if they’re under such bad times. I feel very lucky since I’ve got a lot of followers and very social media, I’m able to get the word out moreso then what Karen can do. Everybody should take a part in this. It’s not all about making money it’s giving back to charity and making people aware. We had an event where Jay Lethal and Roderick Strong came in as guest waiters and we gave the proceeds to Mick Foley’s charity. It’s a good thing.”
Thoughts on what it was like to be part of an elite roster of female wrestlers such as the WWE had. “It was quite an honour. At the time, we were very confident in our work but we were perfectionists and before every house show and before every TV, we were in the ring for 4hrs working with Fit Finlay, working with Arn Anderson, and Ricky Steamboat in the ring to try and better ourselves. We didn’t have to do it we just did it. We knew our division was growing and growing and getting more difficult and we wanted the viewers to respect us not just as female wrestlers but just as wrestlers period and when I look back, when I watch it here at the restaurant because we have the Network and when I watch some old matches and I remember afterwards, in my mind at the time I’d be like “that was an okay match”. And when I watch it now it’s like “That was a really good match!”. I beat myself up for two weeks after that match. We were such perfectionists. If one thing went wrong or if something didn’t look believable we’d dwell on it for a long, long time.”
Thoughts on intergender matches: “When we were doing those in the past, I was all for it. I mean working with a guy is so much easier than working with a girl because they’re so strong and they put you in moves that you didn’t know you could put yourself into. They really lead the match. They’re very good leaders. Eugene works really good, Nick Dinsmore was really good at making us look good. But now, we have indy night here and I was watching an intergender match where one of the girls got punched in the face by a guy and I went “NO WAY!” in my restaurant and they’re like “What? What happened?” and I go “A guy just get punched her in the face”. So, I think I got a little brainwashed and did a PG-13 and it was a little disturbing to watch. Because, when we first started, if I got punched in the face by a guy, I should move because they’re supposed to be a thousand times stronger than I am. So, it is difficult for me to watch. I don’t mind the mixed matches where it’s girl on girl and guy on guy and then teasing the girl about to hit the guy or the guy about to hit the girl and then getting cut off. But, I don’t want to see a girl get punched in the face by a dude.”
On a possible return to the ring or working as a trainer at the Performance Center. “I have heard that rumour. Everybody that’s been coming in every night goes “I read on the internet that you’re going back”. My phone hasn’t rang so I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have a lot to give, a lot of knowledge to share. I think I can help a lot of the girls. Whenever I watch some of the wrestling I text someone in the office and say “please give her to me for a month and I’ll work with her”. I don’t hear back, I think they think I’m joking but I never said I was retired. I think as a wrestler you don’t say retired because you aren’t always going to show up either back in WWE or the indy circuit so I don’t let myself get out of shape where I’m not ready to go in the ring. I think it’s an ego and a pride thing for me. And you think when you’re out that you can kind of let yourself go. It’s actually the opposite. When you’re “retired” and you go backstage people are checking you out going I wonder if she let herself go. It’s almost a little bit more pressure to stay in the same shape as when you left. God forbid you age or your metabolism slows down and you start enjoying the pizzas and the burgers every single day. I think maybe for a woman it’s a little different. We still have to take care of our face, our physique, ournails. You still have to present yourself as that girl that you left because people will start feeling sorry for you.”
The most important thing she’s learned being in the business. “For me, we were always walking on eggshells and always wondering am I pretty enough, am I skinny enough, did my armdrag look good, did people believe my match, were the fans involved. I think people think when people think you’ve made it to WWE that there’s no more pressure. It’s opposite now, When I go to indy shows, I wish I had the confidence level some of these indy guys have because once you’re brought up there you’re immediately put in a position where you need to be humble. I think what I learned is that you don’t settle for where you’re at. You always try to perfect yourself and strive to be better. Every match we had, we never walked away and said that was awesome. We’ll say “wow, thank you so much that was fun. Maybe we should do this next time”. In my day too, we were a little more snug or stiff. We laid things in a little bit tighter so that it’s more believable. You never settle for where you’re at. Like for me and my business, the restaurant, I’m still striving to make it better. We’re looking to expand now and it’s incredible and life passes you so fast?.”
Thoughts on her match with Trish Stratus at Survivor Series 2002: “It was an adrenaline rush I’ll tell you that. Her and I beat the crap out of each other. You have your best matches with your friends because you have a lot of trust. You put your body in their hands. And, her and I, the rule’s “don’t say sorry”, “thank you for the match right now. I’m sorry if I’m going to hurt you”, “Let’s give the fans a good show”. In that match, the mirror was supposed to be the finish. I was supposed to smash the mirror up on her head and in the match she stepped on it on a move and I didn’t realize it until I went to grab it and I was like “oh my god, oh my god”. And I also broke my nose in that match from that trash can and chipped a tooth. But that wasn’t the part I was upset about. It was the mirror, I was talking to myself and the mirror was talking back to me. But that was me, Crazy Victoria and everybody thought Trish was better and that symbolism of the mirror smashing on her head was ruined and we had to improvise. I grabbed the wrong fire extinguisher. It had the pin it and I took the pin out and sprayed her and ended it with a suplex. I would have rather had it with the mirror. That’s what my disappointment was. When I do watch it, my heart rate races again and I feel like I’m at Madison Square Garden and all my customers here are watching it. Because they all request to watch that match here so I play it once a night and I still get nervous watching it.”
On her Wrestlemania 20 match against Molly Holly: “I was nervous. She wanted to be the first woman to get her head shaved in history and so she was willing to put her hair on the line. I put my title on the line. When I was cutting her hair, I don’t know if you noticed but you’re supposed to cut it with scissors first and the guy that was standing next to us was actually Vince McMahon’s barber in real life. And no one went over how to shave a head and I cut her head several times. I mean I was nicking her skin on her head. And when I went back, I was like “oh my god, we’re going to get into a fistfight I know it. She’s gonna beat my a**” and it wasn’t that way and everybody was pleased with the match. Everybody was proud of us but at the same time I still felt bad because you really don’t want to cut someone open. Because we beat the heck out of each other during the match and now to cut her head it was really brutal and I remember them saying we need her bald by the time we get back and there’s no way. I asked the barber “can you help me?” and he goes “I’m not allowed to”. “But, I can’t do it”. And I’m smiling like I’m enjoying it but inside I’m going I don’t know how tofreakin’ shave her head. She came out here for an appearance at my restaurant to visit and I had it playing and she goes “I’m going to the bathroom I can’t watch this part” when she got her head shaved. But she’s a beautiful bald, she had the face for it.”
On her favourite person to travel with: “Oh my god, there’s so many. There’s Candice Michelle, Torrie Wilson, Chavo Guerrero,Carlito. Gail Kim was one of my favourites. ODB. I mean, you have to ride with people because you’re with them 24/7. You have to drive with them and check into hotels and the girls we share a room so you automatically form a bond. Brooke and I never had to go out. We’d have fun in the room telling stories and stuff like that. So, it was like yea herand I are very tight. Even still to this day. I did notice that people in WWE have a little bitmore stronger bond than I do with people in TNA. I think just because I was with WWE for ten years and we were on the road four days a week. Not just the Orlando show but we weren’t together that much. I immediately had a bond with ODB from TNA she was one of my close friends there. That’s who I’m facing at the Texas show. So I’m excited.”
On comparing the backstage atmosphere in WWE to that of TNA. “It’s completely different. I’m going to be honest with you, there was a lot of freedom at TNA. I remember coming there and asking “Hey what do you want out of this match”. “Oh, you just do what you do”. And I’m like “What?” because I’m not used to that. I was always used to a little bit more structure. There’s nothing like a production like WWE. No one is going to be WWE, ever. Also, there were times I found out I was pay per view through twitter and I called the office saying “Hey am I on pay per view and never got travel and it’s been two days I don’t know what’s going on”. WWE is organized. I’m used to organization and someone handling the PR department. Someone handling a photo shoot. So there is a department for every single thing you do in WWE. And if you’re lost, don’t know what’s going on, they have a department to help you out. But I did have a good career in TNA. I had some good matches. I want to go to TNA to face ODB and Kong so that was one of my dreams and I got to do it. And Mickie James and I had a cage match. I had a good run there. At the end, not so much. I didn’t feel the passion anymore. That’s the difference.”
Comic book artist Greg Capullo recently tweeted some drawings he did that captures some of the most iconic visual moments in WWE history, including Hulk Hogan slamming Andre The Giant at WrestleMania, as well as Steve Austin bleeding profusely in Bret Hart’s “Sharpshooter” at WrestleMania.
The Yes! Movement received the worst possible news this week on Raw, as their unlikely hero announced that he will require neck surgery this Thursday and will be out of action for an indefinite amount of time.
Early reports indicate that Bryan has a broken neck and will be out for at least one to two months, with his possible returning coming at SummerSlam. This is terrible news for Bryan, who after a long journey finally captured the WWE Championship at WrestleMania.
It appears that he also will not be appearing on television in any capacity for at least a few weeks, as the attack later in the show by Kane was likely a way to write Bryan off of television while he recovers from surgery at home. This leads one to wonder about the future of the WWE Championship, and also if Bryan can maintain momentum while missing at least a month of time.
After finally overcoming the Authority at WrestleMania, Daniel Bryan will miss significant time due to injury.
As of now, it is being reported that Bryan will not be stripped of the title. This could of course change at any moment, especially if the product becomes stale during his absence. If Bryan ends up missing the maximum amount of time, that seems like a very long time to go with essentially no champion.
In my opinion, if it is determined that Bryan will miss any more than one month, the Authority should strip him of the title. This could serve a few purposes. First, it would keep momentum strong by having the Authority still trying to hold Bryan down, especially with Stephanie McMahon being the storyline reason Bryan was injured in the first place after unleashing the demon Kane.
Second, it could allow for someone else to receive a push in Bryan’s absence. Imagine if a tournament were held for the WWE Championship similar to the one just held for an Intercontinental Title match. It could allow for a fresh face to hold the championship for a while and create interesting television over the next few weeks by having qualifying matches on Raw, with the championship match being held at Money in the Bank.
– The WWE DVD on Paul Heyman, “Ladies And Gentlemen, My Name Is Paul Heyman,” which is scheduled for an August 5th release, is scheduled to be built around Heyman as the guy who managed the guy who broke Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania. Among the people who filmed interviews for the DVD are Raven, Tommy Dreamer, Joey Styles, Mick Foley, Rob Van Dam, Jim Ross, Bill Apter and Stephanie McMahon.
– The Greatest Factions DVD that WWE is producing is set to be built around D-Generation X and the Four Horsemen as the key factions. The DVD will also cover the New World Order, The Nexus, The Shield, The Wyatt Family, Evolution, The Fabulous Freebirds, The Nation Of Domination, The Straight Edge Society and The Heenan Family.
The following are highlights of a new Roman Show interview with WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley:
On who gave him the hardest chair shots: “I’d say the Undertaker. The chair to the back literally bring numbness to your toes with the power of one of his chair shots.”
On South Florida: “It’s a great part of the country. I always have had a great following there. I remember wrestling in Fort Lauderdale on Halloween in 1990.”
On his memorable match with Edge at WrestleMania: “He was a guy who needed to take a tiny step to the next level. I just happen to be the guy to help him. You try to give to others cause when I was there someone did it for me.”
Jim Ross’s guest on this week’s Ross Report podcast at PodcastOne.comwas fellow WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels. A large portion of the show focused on Brock Lesnar defeating The Undertaker at WrestleMania and ending his legendary undefeated streak.
Michaels said that he and everybody else backstage were shocked when the referee counted the pinfall. Corroborating our reports from right after WrestleMania, he said that only “one man” makes the call about a decision like that – and that’s Vince McMahon.
He revealed that Vince’s decision for Undertaker’s streak to end came just 4 hours before the show went on the air.
JR saw the Undertaker backstage at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony and hugged his longtime friend. When he asked Undertaker how much longer he plans to continue wrestling, he replied, “I don’t know, i’ll let you know in a few hours.”
Shawn said that Undertaker’s choice about whether he wants to wrestle again has nothing to do with the streak being broken. Michaels said after the match, Undertaker told him he’d call him in a few weeks to catch up.
Shawn also gave his thoughts on CM Punk, saying that he completely understands Punk’s mentality of being mentally burned out.
– As previously reported, WWE is branding all of their live events this summer as “The SummerSlam Heatwave Tour.” The idea is that it will continue to make SummerSlam feel like the “WrestleMania of the summer.”
– The following is the second edition of WWE Warehouse with Joey Styles and WWE’s Archivist Ben Brown:
On paper, last night’s card seemed like nothing to write home about. After all, Daniel Bryan was defending his title against a superstar who peaked a decade ago, Bray Wyatt and John Cena were meeting in a rematch from WrestleMania, and other than Evolution vs. the Shield, the rest of the matches seemed like they could turn out to be throwaway contests. The event was basically the furthest thing from a throwaway, however, as it was a well-executed pay-per-view that was filled with worthwhile matches.
The Hounds of Justice stole the show during the match of the night.
Evolution vs. the Shield was the clear highlight of the night, as expected. Each superstar involved in the match put on an excellent show, but the star of the match was without a doubt Seth Rollins. While Triple H, Randy Orton, and Dean Ambrose were battling in the crowd, Rollins dove from the top of the entranceway to take out his Evolution foes, allowing for Roman Reigns to handle Batista in the ring and secure a Shield victory. The match was perfectly executed and is an immediate match of the year contender.
The main event between Daniel Bryan and Kane greatly exceeded expectations. This one seemed like it could be forgettable, as the outcome was never really in doubt and Kane is not exactly a main event superstar anymore. However, both superstars performed well together and the backstage spots were something that resembled contests from the Attitude Era.
In the end, the match even involved a flaming table, although the crew botched this spot a bit by running in with the extinguishers before Kane was even on fire, but hey, what can you do? Overall, it was a great culmination to the night and certainly much better than I was anticipating.
The following are highlights of a new Digital Spy interview with Chris Jericho:
How did you feel about the end of The Streak and how it happened? “I loved it, I thought it was great. It was a legitimate shock, it got everybody talking. I think the right guy got it, if you’re going from a credibility standpoint, and if you’re going from a believability standpoint. As much as people and fans and journalists want to believe that it’s the case, I’m not sure if Undertaker had too many matches left in him. Maybe he doesn’t want to wrestle again. Maybe he knew that he couldn’t take any more.
“It’s a big, physical task to wrestle as it is, and once a year is hard. I wouldn’t want to come and wrestle just once a year. That’s even harder than wrestling 200 times a year, because your body’s not used to it. And the older you get, the harder it gets, the more the aches and pains kick in.
“Maybe The Undertaker decided that, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore’. And much to the fans’ chagrin, who wish that we would wrestle until the day we die at 90 years old and explode into a puff of dust in the ring, sometimes you’ve got to make that decision.
“If the time was now, Brock was the right guy for that day, and I thought it was amazing. And I would have hated it – hated it – if Undertaker would have retired without losing. I think that would have been a horrible way to go, I’m really happy that he lost The Streak.”
What do you think of the work Paul Heyman’s done in the last year, and especially since WrestleMania? “If it’s Paul Heyman you know it’s going to be good. He’s a master at writing promos, at delivering promos and getting an angle over. He’s just one of those talents that can do it all. It doesn’t surprise me in the least – as a matter of fact it surprises me that people are so surprised at how good it’s been.
“The WWE is always morphing and changing in a good way because you have younger guys that are coming in, you have guys that are finally having their chance and breaking through to the next level, and you’ve got guys like Paul Heyman that have been doing this for so long they know exactly how to handle things, exactly how to get things over.”
What do you think about the rumors of a CM Punk return? “I don’t know, man, who knows, right? That’s something that only he can answer for sure. To me, if he hasn’t come back already, then… I left the WWE for two-and-a-half years in 2005. The only difference was I left when my contract was up, but I disappeared too, because I just was over it. I couldn’t take it anymore, I wasn’t interested in being there, I was getting miserable, so I know how he feels.
“I had no intention of coming back, and after two-and-a-half years I watched Shawn Michaels vs John Cena at WrestleMania 23 and that inspired me to want to come back, but it took two-and-a-half years to get there.
“So my answer is, ‘I don’t know’, but I just know how I was when I did the same thing. It took a long time for me to be able to come back, and I was probably the same age as Punk is now too, so maybe he’s going through the same thing and after a few years he’ll come back.”
How would you feel about Sting joining the WWE in some capacity? “Personally I don’t really have any opinions either way. If he comes to the WWE, good for him, it’s great. I saw him a couple of times in TNA and you know pretty much what he can do at this point in time. He is a legend and to have him come to the WWE for the first time would be great, but after a week or two what’s he going to do there?
“If you’re a hardcore fan it might be cool – for me it doesn’t really matter either way; if that’s what he wants to do then good for him, and I hope he shows up. And if not, then I don’t think it’s going to make a difference either way in WWE business. It’s not 1998 anymore, you know.”
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.”
WWE held their 2014 first-quarter conference call on Thursday morning, which features Vince McMahon, George Barrios and Michael Weitz talking specific WWE financials. Below are highlights from the call.
– Vince McMahon said that the key metrics, including WWE live events, were basically flat.
– McMahon said WrestleMania XXX is looking good based on the WWE Network count combined with pay-per-views.
– McMahon spoke of the XBOX ONE launch of the WWE Network and noted that smart televisions will be coming soon as well.
– McMahon noted that the company is in the middle of negotiations for India television rights. He mentioned that the domestic television deals will be finalized over the next few weeks.
– Barrios said that the 667,000 WWE Network subscribers translates to roughly $80 million annually, and said it’s more than they generally generated domestically from pay-per-view.
– Barrios spoke more of the WWE Network launch and mentioned an Amazon rollout in addition to smart televisions. He also noted that WWE Tough Enough will be returning as new programming on the Network.
– Corporate and other expenses increased $5.3 million to $37.7 million from the prior year quarter. It was listed as including “corporate overhead and certain expenses related to sales, marketing, and talent development costs.”
– WWE took an $8.6 million loss for the WWE Network launch costs that included customer service, programming and marketing.
– Barrios noted that the company is continuing to negotiate television rights deals in India and the United States. He said because negotiations are ongoing, they would not be answering any questions regarding that subject today.
– Barrios mentioned that the company is planning a WWE Network global launch for later this year. He noted that they also intend to report the subscriber count for the WWE Network on a regular basis.
– Barrios noted that the production costs for WrestleMania are included with the WWE Network financial numbers.
– A caller asked Barrios for a projected subscriber count for the WWE Network in 2015. He declined to comment but mentioned that they are targeting two-to-three million in general, without mentioning how long they plan to get to that point. He did say upon further questioning, however, that the two-to-three million subscriber estimate is just for domestic. McMahon chimed in and noted that the figure is a very conservative estimate.
You can read the full press release with all of the quotes and exact figures at 4-Traders.com.
WWE revealed their first-quarter financial results on Thursday. The company reports a net loss of $8 million, compared to a net income of $3 million for the first-quarter of 2013. “For the quarter, our earnings reflected the launch of our WWE Network, which delivers unparalleled depth of programming, ease of use and value to our fans,” said Vince McMahon in a company press release.
McMahon continued, “With almost 670,000 WWE Network subscribers in the U.S. and nearly 400,000 domestic pay-per-view buying homes for WrestleMania 30, we are confident that we will reach our goal of 1 million subscribers by the end of 2014. To drive WWE Network subscriber growth, we are highly focused on further developing our programming, expanding distribution platforms and executing customer acquisition campaigns. The expansion of WWE Network in the U.S. and international markets will provide a platform for long-term growth over the coming years.”
WWE® RAISES MORE THAN $400,000 FOR CHILDREN’S CHARITIES
STAMFORD, Conn., April 28, 2014 – WWE today announced that its global online charity auction, Superstars for Kids, has raised more than $400,000 benefiting Boys & Girls Clubs and New Orleans Saints Quarterback Drew Brees’s non-profit organization, The Brees Dream Foundation.
As a part of WWE’s pro-social initiatives celebrating WrestleMania® 30 in New Orleans, the auction ran from March 31 through April 8 on charitybuzz.com, and featured unique, once-in-a-lifetime experiences with WWE Superstars and other sports and entertainment celebrities. In addition to the online auction, a red carpet party featuring a live auction emceed by comedian, producer and star of the hit comedy A Haunted Mansion 2, Marlon Wayans was held at the New Orleans Museum of Art during WrestleMania Week.
“The support from WWE and its fans has been overwhelming,” said Drew Brees, Quarterback, New Orleans Saints. “The proceeds from Superstars for Kids is going to go a long way to improving the quality of life for so many children and their families.”
“We are thrilled and humbled by the generosity that WWE has shown and we are grateful for the opportunities that WrestleMania 30 has provided,” said Frank Sanchez, Vice President, Sports, Entertainment & Alumni Development for Boys & Girls Clubs. “The support from WWE will increase our capacity to create great futures for the youth of New Orleans.”
“WWE is committed to improving the lives of children around the world and I’m proud that our fans stepped up to support two very deserving organizations,” said Stephanie McMahon, Chief Brand Officer, WWE. “The funds raised through Superstars for Kids will help to create a brighter future for so many children.”
About WWE:
WWE, a publicly traded company (NYSE: WWE), is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family friendly entertainment on its television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing platforms. WWE programming is broadcast in more than 150 countries and 30 languages and reaches more than 650 million homes worldwide. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Mexico City, Miami, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Munich and Tokyo.
Additional information on WWE (NYSE: WWE) can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com. For information on our global activities, go to https://www.wwe.com/worldwide/.
About Boys and Girls Club of America:
Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeast Louisiana has been a positive force in the community for nearly fifty years; enabling young people to become productive, responsible and caring citizens through structured programming, safe learning environments and dedicated staff. With a focus on three core priority outcomes – Academic Success, Healthy Lifestyles, and Character & Leadership Development, Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeast Louisiana provides opportunities to build new skills that raise each Club Member’s belief that he or she can succeed and receive recognition for personal, social and academic accomplishments. Additional information is available at www.bgcsela.org.
About The Brees Dream Foundation:
The Brees Dream Foundation was founded in 2003 by Brittany and Drew Brees with a mission to improve the quality of life for cancer patients, and provide care, education and opportunities for children and families in need. Since its inception, Brittany and Drew Brees and the Brees Dream Foundation have collectively committed and/or contributed more than $20,000,000 to charitable causes and academic institutions globally.To learn more, please visit www.drewbrees.com or follow Drew Brees on twitter at @drewbrees.
Since the launch of the WWE Network, over 600,000 fans have subscribed to the service. While it’s a bit below the one million subscribers they were hoping for, it’s still an admirable number for a service that is still only available in the United States.
With live access to every pay-per-view and a vault containing every special event in WWE, WCW, and ECW history, it is safe to assume that most fans signed up in order to gain access to the special events, and at the reduced price of only $9.99 per month, who can blame them?
There is a lot more to the WWE Network than just a vault of old events and live access to each month’s pay-per-view, however. There is also a boatload of original content. Here is a list of some of the must-see original content on the Network.
5. Legends of Wrestling: Families – Watching a bunch of old-timers talk about the good old days is usually about as exciting as watching paint dry, but some of these are actually pretty entertaining. One of the best round-table discussions includes a panel consisting of Sergeant Slaughter, Jim Ross, Ted DiBiase, and James J. Dillon. The group discusses the importance and prevalence of families in the WWE. It is interesting to hear DiBiase discuss how having a father in the business influenced him to become a professional wrestler.
Daniel Bryan’s journey to WrestleMania is something most fans will be able to enjoy.
4. Journey to WrestleMania: Daniel Bryan – This is obviously one of the newest pieces of original content on the Network. It follows Daniel Bryan on his week leading up to this year’s WrestleMania and provides a number of exclusive interviews leading up to the event. It also discusses his rise to the top after initially being terminated from the company, with commentary from William Regal and Pat Patterson discussing how the company made a mistake in his firing. The most interesting parts of this documentary are the backstage scenes and hearing his fellow wrestlers praise him for his accomplishments.
The following are highlights of a new RossOwenWilliams.com interview with former WWE Superstar Bob Holly.
On Undertaker’s streak coming to an end: “I think it was the right move with the wrong guy. Brock is a part time guy who wrestles what? Three times a year? They could have used that slot to make somebody who is full time. I think people would have accepted that more and wouldn’t have been in as much shock if it had been somebody else.”
On Roman Reigns: “I think it would have been good to have Roman Reigns go over on Taker. I think they’re moulding their next big star there and it would have been perfect to have him work with Taker instead of Brock. That would have made Roman Reigns. Right into main event status. That would have made him and once he beat Taker, his next thing should have been Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan or John Cena. Go after one of those three.”
On Undertaker’s retirement: “You know, just because he lost at Wrestlemania, everyone is speculating that it was his last match. Nowhere does it say that it was his last match. He never came out and said “this is it”. That said, I don’t think a match with the part-timer was the way to go. If Taker had been in the ring with someone else, a guy who knows how to lead a match and tell a good story, I think that would have been a better fit for Taker, whether it was his last match or not.”
As previously reported, AJ Lee asked WWE for time off. As a result, the plans for the WWE Divas Championship match at the upcoming WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view, which originally featured Paige vs. AJ Lee, now appear to be Paige defending against Tamina Snuka.
Another match scheduled for the show is Big E. defending his WWE Intercontinental Championship against the winner of the ongoing contender tournament. The original plan was for Cesaro to win the tournament, and that may still be the case.
Other matches scheduled for the show include Evolution vs. The Shield, which was talked about as the official main event going into WrestleMania, Daniel Bryan vs. the masked Kane for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt in a steel cage match and Alexander Rusev in a squash match.
WWE Extreme Rules takes place on May 4th at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
As previously reported, Sting has yet to officially put pen-to-paper and sign a contract with WWE. The company has made their official offer, which they had not yet done before WrestleMania, and it is believed within the company that everything has been agreed upon, but as noted, Sting has yet to sign.
Despite the fact that Sting hasn’t signed yet, which he hadn’t as of this past Tuesday night, the belief is there hasn’t been any significant snags in the negotiations, and that he will eventually sign and return the contract.
The Big Red Monster is back, and it appears he is on a collision course with Daniel Bryan. After reclaiming his mask last week on Raw, Kane vowed to take care of the WWE Champion and send him to the depths of hell.
In true WWE storytelling fashion, they had a Kane video package queued up and ready to go about five minutes later, leading me to believe that he will be featured prominently in the storyline in the coming weeks.
With Evolution set to take on the Shield at Extreme Rules and seemingly no other contenders in line, it appears that Daniel Bryan’s first pay-per-view title defense will be against his former tag team partner.
Kane has temporarily retired his suit in favor of his signature mask in an attempt to exact revenge.
The thought of Kane headlining a pay-per-view in 2014 and competing for the WWE Championship could leave some fans scratching their heads, but I believe it could work well if planned appropriately. With other storylines, particularly the Shield/Evolution program, eating up a good portion of the main event roster, creative was left with few options for Bryan’s matchup at Extreme Rules.
Randy Orton still holds a rematch clause but is fighting with Evolution, not to mention that Orton/Bryan headlined three pay-per-views last year and most fans would like something fresh. I think Brock Lesnar is being built up to eventually challenge Bryan for the title, but it would be too soon and neither superstar could afford a loss immediately following WrestleMania. Lesnar needs to continue winning to validate his win against the Undertaker and Bryan cannot lose the title just one month after finally winning it. A no contest would also leave the crowd unsatisfied with the outcome.
Therefore, I think Bryan and Lesnar will both be built up over the coming months to set up a blockbuster showdown at SummerSlam. Bryan’s first victim will almost assuredly be Kane. It is no secret that Kane is past his prime, but he can still put on a decent match if paired with the right opponent.
At the very least, the two have been involved with one another in the storyline over the past several months and creative can rely on that to tell a decent story. It certainly works a little better than randomly choosing someone like Sheamus or Alberto Del Rio to challenge for the title.
On Tuesday, April 8, 2014, the professional wrestling world lost another one of the greats. The Ultimate Warrior, who for millions of fans who jumped on the pro wrestling bandwagon during the late 1980s boom period, was among the biggest and most recognizable Superstars in history. Today, we are going to look back at five matches that helped establish Warrior as the undeniable legend that he became.
It’s no secret that Ultimate Warrior wasn’t what one would call a “catch-as-catch-can” classic type of in-ring performer, but if you look back at his career from an unbiased point of view, there were certainly some diamonds in the rough. He had some great moments in the ring, and at times was absolutely more than just “a cool ring entrance.”
WWE SummerSlam 1988 (vs. The Honky Tonk Man)
On August 29, 1988 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, The Ultimate Warrior captured his first WWE Championship. In just 31 seconds, Warrior ended The Honky Tonk Man’s legendary 454-day reign as WWE Intercontinental Champion.
Going into the show, which was actually the inaugural edition of what became WWE’s annual summer tradition, Honky Tonk Man was originally supposed to square-off with Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake. Beefcake ended up on the sidelines, however, and it was announced, live during the show, that Honky Tonk Man would still have an opponent and would still be defending his title.
To make a long story short, the infamous guitar riff hit the big speakers, thousands of fans in MSG exploded, and 31 seconds later, Warrior’s first WWE title reign began. History was made.
WWE SummerSlam 1989 (vs. “Ravishing” Rick Rude)
Nearly a year later to the day, Ultimate Warrior found himself capturing WWE Intercontinental gold once again at WWE’s SummerSlam pay-per-view. Several months prior, Warrior suffered his first official defeat in WWE at the hands of “Ravishing” Rick Rude, who was arguably Warrior’s best in-ring opponent.
This was the rematch.
The bout took place on August 28, 1989 at The Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. It was the second annual WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view event.
In what turned out to be a pretty good little contest, Warrior prevailed and in the end, managed to get his hand raised and once again become the WWE Intercontinental Champion.
– Jack Swagger briefly won the WWE Intercontinental Championship during his match with Big E. at the WWE live event in Hidalgo, Texas this weekend. The decision ended up being overturned, meaning Big E. is still officially the WWE Intercontinental Champion. Swagger posted the following photo of his brief celebration on his official Twitter account.
– The official WWE website has added a huge photo gallery featuring pictures taken by WWE Superstars, Hall Of Famers and Divas at the WrestleMania and WWE Hall Of Fame photo booth. You can check those out at WWE.com.
– The following is the latest edition of “SmackDown Fallout,” which features Fandango introducing his “new lady.”
We are a little over a quarter of the way through the year. With WrestleMania behind us, the WWE will now begin its summer programs and hope to build toward its second biggest pay-per-view of the year, SummerSlam.
With that said, I felt it would be interesting to look at the top five matches from the first quarter of 2014. I included full match videos and highlights where possible, but WWE licensing restrictions made it difficult at times. (I also apologize for the terrible music in a few of the videos.)
5. John Cena vs. Cesaro (February 17 Raw) – Say what you will about John Cena’s in-ring ability, but he has put on some great matches so far this year, with none better than this matchup with Cesaro. There were a number of amazing spots during the contest, with Cesaro’s counter of the AA certainly ranking near the top. It appears the WWE is going to push Cesaro hard, and this was the week where his push began after he defeated Randy Orton and pushed Cena to the limit.
4. Daniel Bryan vs. Triple H (WrestleMania) – After weeks of begging for a match with Triple H, Daniel Bryan finally got his wish at WrestleMania. He took full advantage of it during the opening contest of the night. Both superstars really shined during the match and it was, in my opinion, the highlight of the show. It also ranks as quite possibly the best opening match in WrestleMania history, with only Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart at WrestleMania X giving it a run for its money.
Despite report to the contrary, wrestling legend Sting has not yet signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment.
WWE sent Sting his contract several days ago, however, “The Icon” has yet to put pen-to-paper at this point.
WWE, since WrestleMania, has been working under the belief that Sting will be joining the company, and he has been sent his contract, but as of right now, he has yet to sign it and send it back.
City representatives from Indianapolis, Indiana, Columbus, Ohio, Toronto, Ontario, Canada and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania were all in New Orleans this past week bidding for the rights to host a future WrestleMania show.
Columbus officials reportedly pitched the idea of holding WrestleMania at Ohio Stadium, which holds 102,329 fans for football games, meaning WWE could break the all-time attendance record.
The record may end up being broken sooner if the WrestleMania show in 2016 is at Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas, which is rumored.
As far as the cities bidding for WrestleMania, they are likely working on securing a deal for 2018, since Santa Clara, California is already official for 2015, Dallas, Texas is expected for 2016 and Orlando, Florida is rumored for 2017.