Tonight’s Impact will be live-to-tape from Orlando, Florida, at Universal Studios’ Sound Stage 20 and a former champion will be making his return to the company.
The former champion will be refereeing the main event which will feature Kurt Angle vs Eric Young for the TNA World Heavyweight title.
TNA President Dixie Carter said that the special referee, while a former World champion, is not a current member of the roster, leaving only 8 names available including those of the likes of Sting, Mick Foley, AJ Styles, Rob Van Dam, and Bully Ray.
WWE Tough Enough will be filmed at both the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, and at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. The show will mark the inaugural use of the University’s latest high-caliber, on-campus production facility.
This is the latest partnership between WWE and the University, a partnership which started in 2012 with NXT. The WWE created a student scholarship fund, and also allows students of the university’s entertainment-focused degree programs, including Film, Show Production, Digital Arts and Design, Internet Marketing and Entertainment Business, to gain real-world experience alongside WWE’s professional production staff during WWE NXT tapings.
The show will be produced by WWE, USA Network and Left Hook Media. Matt Odgers and Scott Teti are Executive Producers for Left Hook Media. Jessica Sebastian is Vice President of Unscripted Series for USA Network. Kevin Dunn is Executive Producer for WWE.
Later this month, on May 25, the WWE Tough Enough app will be available for free download which will enable fans to vote live every week. The app will also allow fans to see exclusive content and take part in conversations between live telecasts.
Full details on the upcoming Tough Enough season on USA Network have been announced by WWE in a press release issued today.
Chris Jericho will be hosting the new season which starts live on Tuesday, June 23, at 8PM EST. Joining Jericho on the show as trainers will be WWE Hall of Famer Booker T, former WWE Tag Team and Intercontinental champion Billy Gunn, and former WWE Women’s champion Lita. Apart from the trainers, a panel consisting of Hulk Hogan, Daniel Bryan, and Paige will also have a say in how the series evolves.
This year the competition will include live results every week, giving fans the power to decide who stays and who goes the very same night. Each week, one cast member will be eliminated until one man and one woman are declared Tough Enough champions, each earning a one-year, $250,000 WWE contract.
Contestants will also come face-to-face with WWE Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Vince McMahon; Executive Vice President, Talent, Live Events & Creative, Paul “Triple H” Levesque; Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon; and WWE Superstar John Cena, among others.
“These athletes, each with varying skill sets, will be put through a grueling boot camp that will test their physical, mental and emotional limits in a way that the series hasn’t done before,” said Jessica Sebastian, Vice President of Unscripted Series, USA Network. “Each week, their training and experience culminates in a spectacular live event where they will be put in front of their WWE heroes and an audience of fans. In this reimagined version of WWE Tough Enough only the best will survive.”
Professional wrestling has once again been blamed for the death of a child, an 18 month old baby to be exact, this time in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania.
20 year old Brandon Hoffman has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of the 18 month old, the son of his girlfriend. According to WNEP-TV, Hoffman performed the Undertaker move “the last ride” power bomb and the child landed head first on the hardwood floor rather than the bed, the projected landing.
Neighbors and family members are supporting Hoffman saying it was all an accident however the police said that Hoffman was “recklessly wrestling playing” with the child. The child died at the hospital from head injuries.
NXT’s Hideo Itami will not be seeing any ring time for the next several months as the man formerly known as KENTA has injured his shoulder which according to various reports will put him on the sidelines for up to 8 long months.
It’s not been a good month for the NXT brand as Sami Zayn was also injured on his Monday Night Raw debut coincidentally enough with a shoulder injury as well. He did not suffer the injury in the ring but actually did it when he was hyping up the crowd before entering the squared circle.
Both Zayn and Itami were scheduled to be part of the next NXT Takeover event on May 20. Zayn’s involvement remains unknown as he is in the main event versus Kevin Owens for the NXT title however Itami’s place in the three-way match against Finn Balor and Tyler Breeze may now be gone unless he still takes part and is taken out immediately to protect him.
The website WrestlingDVDNews.com is reporting that WWE is working on a DVD/Blu-Ray on the life and career of Owen Hart.
Ever since Owen passed away at the Over The Edge pay-per-view in 1999, the relationship between WWE and Martha Hart, Owen’s widow, has been worse than rock bottom and Martha even sued WWE over the release of the Hart family DVD released years ago due to unauthorized usage of Owen in the DVD. Martha blocked WWE from inducting Owen Hart in the Hall of Fame as well and many thought it would never happen unless the kids take over Owen’s estate.
However WrestlingDVDNews.com is saying that no only the project is going ahead but this time around there is the full backing and support of Martha and his family which might be the first step in inducting him in the Hall of Fame in the future as well.
The DVD/Blu-Ray will not only have a compilation of Owen Hart’s greatest matches of his wrestling career but also a sit-down documentary feature.
The E:60 presentation of WWE: Behind The Curtain found its way online after someone uploaded it on the popular video sharing website Vid.me.
The much-praised one hour documentary aired in the United States on ESPN on Tuesday night but it did not air anywhere else in the world, leaving WWE fans scrambling to find a copy of it online. The ESPN website did not even archive the documentary for its subscribers but it’s replaying it on May 9 at 1:30AM and 5PM on ESPN 2, May 12 at 9PM on ESPN, and May 31 at 11AM on ESPN 2.
Produced by Ben Houser, edited by Matt McCormick, with field reporting from Jeremy Schaap, WWE: Behind The Curtain showed an unprecedented access behind the scenes at the making of WWE Superstars at NXT and the WWE Performance Center. It was filmed over a period of two years.
The uploaded copy of the documentary has over 53,000 plays already and you can see it below. Please note that this video could be taken down at any moment without notice. Wrestling-Online.com is not hosting the video. (Thanks to Bob Magee for replay schedule)
In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Stone Cold Steve Austin recounted how the segment with Hogan and Rock for WrestleMania XXX came about and how he and Rock were told two different things.
Austin said that Vince personally called him to explain the segment and said that Hogan would be out first, then The Rock would be in second, and then they’d play his theme song and come out last.
When both him and The Rock were at the Superdome the day before WrestleMania, he asked Rocky what’s the plan for the next day and Rock said that all he knew what that he was going in last.
“I said, ‘They told you that you were going to be the last out? That’s real interesting, ‘cause they told me the same damn thing,’” Austin said. The lineup was confirmed when the Rattlesnake read the creative sheet on WrestleMania Sunday, confirming that The Rock was going last.
“I’m thinking to myself, ‘This is bull—-,’” said Austin. “This is not what I was sold, this is not what I bought.”
Austin added that eventually he wanted to let it slide because there was no use in making a big deal about it and The Rock was one of the biggest movie stars in the world so it was okay with them giving Rock his due.
In the same interview Austin said that he will be announcing something within the next two to four weeks at a major press conference but he can’t talk about it for now and fans will get it then why they couldn’t hint at anything. Austin didn’t confirm if it was related to wrestling or just general entertainment.
One thing is for sure though, the WWE Hall of Famer is planning to be at WrestleMania 32 in his home state of Texas.
“There was no creative for me at WrestleMania XXXI,” said Austin. “Now with WrestleMania XXXII coming up in Texas, I would be pretty damn sure I’m going to be there. It’s my home state and it just makes more sense.”
ESPN filmed more footage for the WWE: Behind The Curtain special over a two year period but a lot of it obviously ended up in the cutting room.
Yesterday the ESPN website released almost 16 minutes of additional footage they shot while following NXT’s Tyler Breeze and Colin Cassady.
Produced by Ben Houser, edited by Matt McCormick, with field reporting from Jeremy Schaap, WWE: Behind The Curtain showed an unprecedented access behind the scenes at the making of WWE Superstars at NXT and the WWE Performance Center.
LAS VEGAS – Global Force Wrestling revealed some of its talent roster in a press conference today at the Orleans Arena. The roster includes talented international athletes, former NFL players, mixed martial artists and more.
“We have slowly but steadily been building toward this day,” said Jeff Jarrett, GFW founder and CEO. “The feedback I have received in my international travels has been off the charts. Fans are ready for the reveal of the entire GFW roster and they’re eager for their voices to be heard!”
Staying true to the GFW mission statement, the roster offers “elite professional athletes from five different continents,” as well as “real stories, real people and real meaning.” Fans will be able to see stars like the “Bullet Club” tag team of “Machine Gun” Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows; the “Killer Elite Squad,” a tag team composed of Lance Hoyt and Davey Boy Smith Jr., who have made a name for themselves in Japan as well as stints throughout the world. Also joining GFW are Chris “The Adonis” Mordetsky, South African sensation PJ Black, former NFL offensive lineman Quinn “Moose” Ojinnaka, and women’s stars Lei’D Tapa and Thea Trinidad, with more names to come. GFW has alliances with 13 promotions on five continents, including New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Mexico’s AAA and more top independent organizations in Europe, Australia and Africa.
Also at the press conference, outspoken MMA star and ESPN broadcaster Chael Sonnen announced his role as an expert analyst for Global Force Wrestling.
“Chael Sonnen is someone we’ve talked about for a long time,” said Jarrett. “He’s not one to shy from speaking his mind, and we’re all eager to see what he has to say about the GFW athletes.”
The GFW Las Vegas TV tapings will take place on Friday, July 24; Friday, August 21; and Friday, October 23. Tickets for all three events will go on sale on Friday, May 15 at noon, with an exclusive pre-sale beginning on Monday, May 11 at noon. Tickets are available starting at $30 and can be purchased online at www.orleansarena.com, by phone at 702-284-7777 or in-person at Boyd Gaming box offices. VIP tickets will include a Meet & Greet with GFW talent. Join the conversation online with the hashtag #GFWVegas.
The three individuals profiled on last night’s excellent ESPN’s presentation of E:60: WWE Behind The Curtain, thanked fans on Twitter for watching the show.
Corey Graves, Xavier Woods, and Adam Rose were the three wrestlers featured on the show which was filmed last year. Graves now works for WWE as a commentator and also doing Network panels since he’s unable to wrestle anymore, while Woods and Rose are on the main roster.
“Thank you to those who took the time to watch our stories on @E60. We showed you hoping that you would better understand our journeys,” wrote Woods.
Graves said he was overwhelmed by the response. “I’m overwhelmed by all of the messages I’ve received. Thank you, all. If our stories inspired just one, we’ve won.”
Rose thanked his former coach Bill DeMott who he described as his captain and also had high praises for the other two on the show. “First day I ever saw @WWEGraves I knew he was born to be a top guy and main event star!” As for Woods, he said that he’s one of the most charismatic people he knows in and out of the squared circle. He then posted a photo of him and his son who he called his hero.
Several other WWE Superstars and NXT talent, including John Cena, Triple H, Lana, Natalya, Bayley, Tyler Breeze, and others posted their thoughts on the show, all praising those featured.
WWE seamstress Sandra Gray announced on her Twitter that yesterday was her last day with WWE after two decades with the company.
“Goodbye @WWE thanks for the memories,” Gray posted on her Twitter, adding a photo of her waving in front of a WWE truck with her suitcase. She then posted a photo of her backstage with the WWE Divas saying her last night was awesome.
Gray started with WWE just over 20 years ago when a woman who went by the name of Rena – who went on to become Sable in the WWE – went in her shop in Marietta, Georgia, to ask for an urgent spandex costume for her boyfriend Marc Mero.
Gray was in charge of all in-ring gear for WWE Superstars and Divas and was often shown on Total Divas dealing with the Divas and their ring gear.
Chris Jericho will be having another run with WWE doing non-televised live events starting in mid June till the end of August.
Jericho worked a similar schedule at the beginning of this year with his run ending just before WrestleMania where he then went on tour with his band Fozzy.
In total Jericho will do 19 shows including three shows overseas, in Singapore, and Japan.
The former WWE champion will be at the shows in Springfield, Illinois; Terre Haute, Indiana; Las Vegas, Nevada; Boston, Massachusetts; Reading, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; San Diego and Fresno, California; Ontario, Canada; Detroit and East Lansing, Michigan; Bridgeport, Connecticut; White Plains, New York; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Tallahassee, Florida.
Monday Night Raw did one of the lowest numbers since 2007 with the show averaging 3,573,000 viewers over the three hour period, down 200,000 viewers from last week’s show.
Hour one did 3,422,000, followed by 3,709,000 in the second hour, and then down to 3,588,000 in the third and final hour. (Ratings credit: PWInsider.com)
In a long post on Twitter using the Twitlonger service, ESPN’s Michelle Beadle explained her situation with WWE and her disapproval of Triple H supporting the “serial abuser” Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Beadle said that she’s a fan of Triple H, both as a wrestler and as an executive for WWE and WWE as a company has been very good to her, sending wrestlers to her shows and giving her some great seats to events.
Beadle noted how the Wellness Policy states that WWE has zero tolerance policy for domestic abuse and then pasted the paragraph from the document which says that WWE Superstars or Divas would be suspended and then terminated if there is a conviction.
She explained how it was “confusing” for her that Triple H displayed his approval for Mayweather after all this even though maybe the person behind the tweet was Paul Levesque the fan and not Paul Levesque the WWE executive.
“The era in which we’re living is rapidly changing. And the lines between one’s corporate and private personas have blurred,” she wrote. “I realize he doesn’t speak for everyone, but does he realize that when he shows support to a convicted batterer, friend or not, it can effectively damage so much goodwill that the company is admittedly doing? It’s hard to sell a message of anti-bullying while slapping the ultimate bully on the back. I was a fan. A big fan. But it’s time to use my voice.”
Beadle was at ringside for WrestleMania 31 and even hosted the Brock Lesnar exclusive interview on ESPN where he announced he has signed a new deal with WWE.
The Payback pay-per-view main event was changed from a triple threat match to a fatal 4-way last night on Raw.
With Kane flexing his muscles, he ordered a match between Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins with J&J Security banned from ringside with the stipulation that if Ambrose wins, he would be inserted into the main event.
Ambrose managed to get the three count on the WWE World Heavyweight champion and now joins Randy Orton and Roman Reigns as challenger. This also brings back all three former members of The Shield in the same match.
In a post on the popular Reddit SquaredCircle forum, a fan who was at yesterday’s Monday Night Raw said that Vince McMahon needed help when walking up and down the ramp because of apparent vision problems.
“Vince needed to follow a spotlight to the ring in order to know where he was going,” the user wrote, adding that he thought it was part of his entrance at first.
But then he mentioned that there was a crew member who was directing him to the ring from a distance, “making hand motions and pointing to various things so Vince doesn’t bump into stuff.”
After McMahon was done with his speech and started to walk back, he had to wait for crew members who began to point a pocket flashlight to the floor for Vince to follow it as he exited from the right side under the stage.
“His demeanor and stance would make you think otherwise but it was clear that he’s going blind or has limited vision at this point in his life. No one else needed assistance,” the user, who goes by the screen name BlackNostalgia said.
McMahon has not appeared on WWE television since before the Survivor Series.
After Monday Night Raw went off the air yesterday, WWE held a Pat Patterson appreciation night ceremony, something that they have done in the past when visiting other cities such as Calgary for Bret Hart, and Toronto for Edge.
The Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon came out first and introduced Pat Patterson. A video of Pat’s wrestling career was then played with Patterson shedding a few tears in the process.
Fellow Hall of Famer Bret Hart then came out next and presented him with a custom Montreal Canadiens Jersey with his name on the back. Another video then played with Superstars telling thank you to Patterson.
Triple H along with the WWE roster then came out and occupied the top of the ramp as Triple H recounted a story involving Patterson and then presented him with a framed white IC title.
Patterson ended the night singing Frank Sinatra’s My Way.
Triple H was broadcasting parts of this on the Periscope app live.
ESPN will air WWE: Behind The Curtain tonight starting at 8PM EST, a presentation by the award winning E:60 Pictures.
The hour-long documentary will feature unprecedented, behind-the-scenes access to the making of a WWE Superstar with ESPN cameras filming in places where no other cameras have ever been allowed.
WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon, WWE Executive Vice President Paul Levesque and WWE Hall of Famers Hulk Hogan, The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin were all interviewed for the documentary which was filmed last year at the WWE Performance Center and at NXT.
One of the producers from the show, Ben Houser, told Mike Mooneyham of The Post & Courier that initially the ESPN crew got resistance from some of the WWE personnel as previously no one had been allowed to film rehearsals, in locker rooms, and interactions between agents and the wrestlers.
Houser also added that by the time the show will be over, fans will never boo Adam Rose again.
Former NXT champion Sami Zayn will be undergoing an MRI today after suffering a shoulder injury during his Raw debut against John Cena.
Zayn, who is from Montreal, responded to John Cena’s open challenge but came up short in front of the home town crowd who gave him a thunderous pop.
WWE officials checked in on Zayn during the match after it was apparent that he was in pain and the referee signaled for them but Zayn went ahead with the match.
Following the match, Triple H commented on the segment, saying that it made NXT proud. “I watched a young kid in this same situation, his name was @JohnCena,” he said, referring to when John Cena made his debut by answering Kurt Angle’s open challenge.
