Month: January 2021

Home / Month: January 2021

— On tonight’s NXT, the final episode that will air on SyFy, there will be a Rookie Challenge where the girls have to push Hornswoggle around in a wheel barrel. There will also be a “Trash a Diva” Rookie Challenge.

— Matches being advertised for Friday’s live SmackDown! on Syfy premiere include:

* Kane vs. Undertaker for the World Heavyweight Championship
* Randy Orton vs. Sheamus for the WWE Heavyweight Championship
* John Cena vs. Wade Barrett with the rest of Nexus as lumberjacks. Some of those will be dark matches.

Some of these matches will likely be dark matches.

— Former WWE Diva Amy “Lita” Dumas recently did a photo shoot for internationally published photographer Dangerously Dolly. 23-year old Dangerously Dolly i best known for taking “conceptual and vivid portraits, usually leaning on alternative and pin-up fashion.” Lita did her photo shoot as a sexy brain-eating zombie.

* VIEW HERE: LITA’s ZOMBIE Pictures

– RAW superstar Sheamus is well-liked by many backstage in WWE, including influential power players Triple H, John Cena and Randy Orton. Each of them has feuded with Sheamus and gave his his in-ring work and overall attitude high praise. The belief is that he’s one of the true success stories of WWE’s recent youth movement and he’ll be a main eventer in WWE for a long time.

– WWE officials are already discussing who will wrestle The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVII. As of last week, the top pick to face the “Dead Man” next April is Sheamus. John Cena has also been discussed as a possible opponent.

– One of the biggest stories of the year has been the steady decline of WWE PPV buyrates. Many say there are too many PPV events, they’re too expensive and the gimmick-based shows just don’t work. WWE is working on ideas to help buyrates, but none of them address these issues. One idea being tossed around within WWE recently is to go back to holding a live pre-game show to push late buys for the event. The company used to do this for years (Sunday Night Heat0 and later dropped it when it wasn’t considered to be cost effective.

– WWE has hired APCO World Wide to help the company’s image and gear it towards the mainstream media and politicians.

* WWE Superstars & Divas PARTY At Daytona Beach (Pictures)

(Credit to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter for some of the info used in this report)

UFC Middleweight Chris “The Crippler” Leben was arrested earlier this week in Hawaii on suspicion of Driving Under the Influence (DUI) after crashing his truck into a wall. Hawaii News Now reports:

“Officers arrested Christian Leben, 30, a middleweight fighter known as the Crippler, on suspicion of operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant Tuesday. He was released from custody after posting $1,000 bail.”

“Police say Leben was driving on the west-bound side of the H1 Freeway just before 2 AM, when he lost control of his pickup and crashed into a wall near the Kapiolani Boulevard off ramp. He was allegedly driving without a license and without insurance.”

Leben, who has struggled with substance abuse for many years, served time for another DUI arrest back in 2008.

Leben (25-6) last fought for the UFC back in July, defeating Yoshihiro Akiyama by submission.

* MUGSHOT Picture for Chris Leben – VIEW HERE [>]

(Credit to Hawaii News Now for the quotes used in this report)

— Last night’s episode of WWE Superstars scored a 0.53 cable rating, with 528,000 viewers. The midnight replay drew a 0.2 cable rating, with 163,000 viewers.

— Melina posted a video entry today on YouTube entitled “I’m OK!!!” in response to fan concerns of her lack of tweeting as of late as well as recent online rumors. It was reported earlier this week by www.f4wonline.com that she has heat with company officials and was soundly defeated on Monday’s Raw as a result.

“It’s easier to make up stuff or to say things and to kind of believe in the the worst than to just accept things the way they are,” she said in response to ‘rumors going around’. “Things just happen the way they do and you just got to take it with stride. You know, you can’t win them all and things can’t be perfect and awesome all the time. But, you can make the situation the best that you can.”

The multi-time champion also shows off a very large bag of Skittles sent to her by the confectionery company and discusses her Halloween costume.

— Adam Atherton, who performed as Rudy Parker in WWE’s developmental promotion Florida Championship, wrote on his Facebook page that he asked to be released from his contract earlier this month because he was denied a raise by organization officials and was therefore unable to afford to pay back his student loans.

*BREAKING* – WWE re-signs former Intercontinental Champion ->

source: www.pwinsider.com

— Shawn Michaels, who was featured in a promotional commercial Monday promoting next week’s “Old School” episode of Raw, responded to those who asked if he would be appearing on the show.

“For those asking, I will not be at the old school RAW as best I know,” he wrote on Twitter. “Do I already qualify as “Old School?” If so…SWEET!!!”

— There was a late push to amplify Bragging Rights because members of creative felt it was a flat show going in. Vince McMahon, however, made the decision to keep the script intact and not enhance it.

— Today is injured WWE star Skip Sheffield’s birthday. He turns 29 years old.

Photos from last night’s SmackDown Taping – WWE star tied up ->

source: Pro Wrestling Torch

— Dolph Ziggler suffered a bloodied nose during his match against Kaval at last night’s Survivor Series. He posted the following update on Twitter regarding the injury:

“To everyone wondering: I did not break my pretty(yet masculine) nose! Sorry internet NERDS who wanted me to lose AND have an imperfect face.”

— Alex Koslov surfaced in Florida Championship Wrestling on Saturday under the name Alex Sherman. He lost to Bo Rotundo.

— Chris Jericho noted today on Twitter that he’s “Off to Orlando,” which is the location of tonight’s Raw taping. However, there is no word on whether he’ll be attending the show or not.

See photos of Chris Jericho with Kelly Kelly ->

source: F4WOnline.com

Click:resistor list

— The Dec. 2 episode of TNA iMPACT! drew a 1.01 cable rating off of hours of 1.02 and 1.01.

Sans the Thanksgiving Day episode of iMPACT!—which drew a 0.85—it was the least watched episode since Sept. 23 when the show drew a 1.01.

The show’s low point occurred during the final 15 minutes, which featured video packages, ring entrances for the main event and two commercials. The final quarter hour drew a 0.88 rating.

— TNA Knockout Sarita, who is known as Dark Angel in Mexico, won the CMLL Bodybuilding Championship for the fifth consecutive year Thanksgiving Day in Mexico City. She beat Dalys and Rain to win the title.

See photos of Sarita’s *HARD* body ->

source: PWInsider.com

— Abraham Washington competed in his first match inside a WWE ring at last night’s SmackDown event in Lafayette, Louisiana, losing to Trent Barreta in a dark match. The former host of the “Abraham Washington Show” has exclusively competed in Florida Championship Wrestling since ECW dissolved.

— Edge beat Kane via disqualification in a dark match following last night’s SmackDown taping due to the World Heavyweight Champion using a chair. Edge subsequently speared Kane.

— A match pitting JTG against Curt Hawkins was taped last night in Lafayette, Louisiana for this week’s episode of WWE Superstars.

See photos of Brodus Clay working as Snoop Dogg’s bodyguard ->

source: PWInsider.com

— Former WWE star Shad Gaspard appears tonight on The Score on SIRIUS Channel 98 at 11:05 p.m. EST for Right After Wrestling. The show is also available at www.thescore.com/radio.

— Women’s wrestling website Divas-365.com features an article on TNA talent Brooke Adams (a/k/a Miss Tessmacher) clearing up a rumor about being released from her contract with WWE in 2007 due to an argument backstage with Melina about wearing furry boots for a match.

“The reason I left WWE never had anything to do with her, that was just a rumor. When I left I was actually the only person that liked her. She was such a rude, fake, b***h to everyone. She then tried to turn my girls Layla and Kelly Kelly against me by telling them a lie that I said which in reality was a rumor that SHE started. It was never anything I said. I can’t stand her and neither can most of the rest.”

— Former ECW star New Jack celebrates his 48th birthday today.

*HOLIDAY PHOTOS* of New Jack & former WWE Diva Terri ->

WWE will tape tonight’s WWE NXT, the Smackdown portion of this week’s WWE Superstars and this week’s Smackdown tonight from the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York.

This week’s Smackdown will be headlined by World Heavyweight Champion Edge & Rey Mysterio vs. Kane & Alberto Del Rio.

If you attending tonight’s taping and would be interested in providing us with text-message updates, please send your name, mobile number and show date to us at this email address.