Today, Vince Russo announced on his Facebook that he is no longer associated with the website pyroandballyhoo.com in any way, shape, or form, a website which up until today everyone thought it was his.
“Please know, that if you renew your monthly membership, you will not be getting any content from Vince Russo from this day going forward. I also ask you to not buy any Vince Russo merchandise, as I no longer have access to the orders,” Russo wrote.
The website operated on a subscription-based model where fans had to pay to see certain “exclusive” content, similar to the video interview that Chyna did with Russo a few weeks ago. Russo made it clear that he will not be posting any blogs, videos, or podcasts on the website as he is no longer associated with the site.
Russo never mentioned that he did not own the website and splashed his name and content all over it in the past. A quick check on the domain registration reveals that the domain is registered to someone using the alias of “Dirty Diva” who lives in Pocola, Oklahoma.
WrestleCon today announced that former WWE champion Rey Mysterio has been added to the WrestleCon 2015 event in San Jose, California, during the WrestleMania weekend.
Rey – who is now being billed as Rey Misterio Jr. – will be signing autographs and posing for photos on Friday, March 27, between Noon and 4PM. A general admission ticket is required to enter the venue and then you have to purchase an extra ticket to meet or take a photo with Rey.
All information about WrestleCon and the guests that will be appearing as well as ticket information can be seen at WrestleCon.com.
This will be Rey’s first appearance outside WWE since his WWE contract expired and was not renewed.
The Phoenix Suns will host its first ever WWE Night on Wednesday, March 11, at the US Airways Center.
The Suns-WWE Night will include on-court appearances by Daniel Bryan and the Bella Twins as well as WWE music and entertainment throughout the night. On that day the Suns will host the Minnesota Timberwolves starting at 7PM local time.
The Suns are offering a special package where fans can purchase a ticket for this game and the March 21 non-televised live event also at the US Airways Center for a special price.
Two prices plans are being offered, $54.50 for an upper level ticket or $79.50 for a lower level ticket. Prices do not include the $7.50 Ticketmaster fee. You can get more information at Suns.com/wwe.
WWE celebrated Hulk Hogan and Hulkamania yesterday at Madison Square Garden during a non-televised live event billed as Hulk Hogan Appreciation Night.
Jimmy Hart was the first one out to talk about Hogan and was then followed by Scott Hall and Kevin Nash who came out to the iconic nWo theme song. After taking a couple of surveys, Nash then introduced WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan to the ring, who came out to a thunderous pop.
Fellow Hall of Famer Ric Flair came out after Hogan and talked how the two wrestled all around the world but it was only until Flair came to WWE that he faced with Hogan. Flair then cried when he talked about when his son died and Hogan was one of the first who called and that’s when he learned that you can always count on Hogan.
A video with interviews from current and former WWE Superstars then aired all talking about Hogan and after that was over Triple H came out with the SVP of Madison Square Garden and an MSG photographer. HHH put over Hogan for all he did in the business and then MSG officials presented Hogan with a portrait of picture that was taken at WrestleMania I.
Hogan then took over the mic and thanked everyone in the building for coming and everyone at WWE for what they did to him. He thanked Triple H for opening the WWE door for him and said he liked being back home where he belongs.
After another video ran, Madison Square Garden then raised a Hulkamania banner to the rafters next to other banners celebrating 30 years of Hulkamania in Madsion Square Garden, giving Hogan a permanent place at the world’s most famous arena.
You can see the full video of the celebration below.
Another match has been added to the WrestleMania 31 card however only one individual has so far been listed as a participant.
The Intercontinental title will be up for grabs in a ladder match as Bad News Barrett will be defending the title against an unknown number of opponents.
This will be the first ladder match since WrestleMania XVI in Phoenix, Arizona, which hosted the last Money In The Bank Ladder match at a WrestleMania. After that, the Money In The Bank concept received its own pay-per-view and the highly-anticipated match was scrapped from following WrestleManias.
Madison Square Garden plays host to a special WWE night today as Hulk Hogan returns to the world’s most famous arena for the first time in over a decade for a non-televised live event promoted as Hulk Hogan Appreciation Night.
Apart from Hogan, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall will also make an appearance and those two will be together at MSG for the first time since the infamous “Curtain Call” incident from May 1996. Nash has wrestled in MSG since then but Hall never returned to the scene.
Matches being promoted by TheGarden.com website include John Cena vs Rusev, Roman Reigns vs Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan vs Seth Rollins and Kane, Dolph Ziggler vs Dean Ambrose vs Bad News Barrett, and a Highlight Reel hosted by Chris Jericho.
Seth Rollins showed up on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart yesterday, first appearing in a split screen interrupting one of the segments and then while Stewart was cutting a promo on him, Rollins came out from behind with his Money In The Bank briefcase.
Rollins told Stewart to “bring it” and Stewart said that he will but unfortunately he doesn’t “have it” with him right now. “So I will perhaps look for it and meet you somewhere at a later date,” Stewart added.
Rollins then gave Stewart an invitation, an invitation to show up this Monday night on Raw in Newark. Stewart pretended to have pulled a muscle in his back and then jumped on Rollins as the show faded to black.
Former WWE and World Heavyweight champion Rey Mysterio is officially gone from the company, ending a 13 year WWE career which started in 2002. His profile on WWE.COM has already been moved to the Alumni section.
The 40 year old popular Superstar made his debut in the WWE on a July 2002 edition of Smackdown and quickly became one of the main men of the brand.
Following a long feud with Eddie Guerrero and Guerrero’s untimely death, Mysterio won the Royal Rumble in 2006, setting a Rumble record of 62 minutes. At WrestleMania that year, an emotional Rey Mysterio defeated Randy Orton to become the new World Heavyweight champion, dedicating his win to his good friend Eddie Guerrero.
His time in the WWE was filled with injuries however and spent a couple of years on the sidelines nursing multiple knee and arm injuries and concussions. He last wrestled for the WWE the night after WrestleMania XXX, losing to Bad News Barrett.
During his time in WWE, he won the World Heavyweight title twice, the WWE title once, the Cruiserweight title three times, the Intercontinental title twice, and the Tag Team titles four times with four different tag team partners – Edge, Rob Van Dam, Eddie Guerrero, and Batista.
Last year, while he was still out injured, Mysterio sent a video which was aired during the closing moments of AAA’s TripleMania announcing that he will be coming soon. Mysterio also visited the Lucha Underground television tapings, sparking rumors that he might be going there next.
WWE revealed the plans for the WrestleMania weekend on the WWE Network today, officially announcing that the Hall of Fame ceremony will once again air live as expected.
On Thursday, March 26, and Friday, March 27, WWE will present WrestleMania Today live from the WrestleMania Axxess in San Jose. Last year WrestleMania Today featured a panel for interviews, stuff from throughout Axxess, and also matches from Axxess.
The Hall of Fame will air live on Saturday, March 28, from the SAP Center in San Jose. The red carpet arrivals, a show last year which was hosted by Maria Menunous from E!, Michael Cole, and Renee Young, has not been mentioned yet.
WWE is using Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, John Cena, Triple H, Sting, Daniel Bryan, Rusev, and The Undertaker to promote the show on artwork.
Once again WWE will be hosting the Superstars for Hope, a fundraising campaign on Indiegogo, the world’s largest crowdfunding platform, to benefit Special Olympics and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford in honor of Connor’s Cure.
To kick off Superstars for Hope, WWE and the San Francisco 49ers Foundation have each donated $25,000, the first in a series of community outreach initiatives in celebration of WrestleMania 31 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on Sunday, March 29.
Beginning today, fans can donate at SuperstarsforHope.com and receive unique WWE merchandise, autographs, and once-in-a-lifetime experiences from WWE Superstars, Divas and Legends. Each week, WWE will add new exclusive experiences to the campaign, including:
A tour of WWE’s state-of-the-art Performance Center in Orlando, Florida; Backstage access to Monday Night Raw or SmackDown; VIP package to WWE pay-per-view events; Lunch with WWE Superstar Triple H at the WWE Performance Center; WWE World Heavyweight Championship title signed by WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon and Triple H; An ultimate WrestleMania 32 package; and a lunch with the cast of the hit E! reality show Total Divas.
“WWE’s support of Special Olympics gives us a unique platform from which to reach, educate and welcome countless new fans and athletes to our movement,” said Janet Froetscher, CEO, Special Olympics. “The important work we do around the world to create communities of acceptance and respect for all will only be successful when the world heeds our call to Play Unified in order to Live Unified.”
Hulk Hogan, John Cena, and Stephanie McMahon were at the Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, California, for a Q&A with fans and all three of them got the #AskSteph, #AskCena, and #AskHulk hashtags trending worldwide.
Fans asked all kind of questions during the session. One asked Cena if he will ever propose to Nikki, to which he replied to keep watching Total Divas. Hogan was asked who he thinks should be in the Hall of Fame, and replied Ravishing Rick Rude. Triple H also got in the action asking his wife, “What time will you be home?”
You can look up all the questions and answers by going to their respective Twitter accounts.
Hogan, Cena, and Steph are on a #31to31 tech tour, with 31 days remaining for WrestleMania 31 in the Bay Area. The first stop was at the Google headquarters in Mountain View, California, for a tour of the facilities as well as a Q&A with Google employees. Jimmy Hart – as always – was accompanying Hulk Hogan on the trip.
WWE today announced that its Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon, Executive Vice President for Talent, Live Events & Creative Paul Levesque and Chief Technology Officer and Head of Product for Mashable Robyn Peterson have been elected to its Board of Directors.
“The appointments of Stephanie, Paul and Robyn to WWE’s Board of Directors will be invaluable to the company as we continue to transform our business and look toward a new era of unprecedented growth,” said WWE Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Vince McMahon. “I am confident that our Board of Directors and senior management team is stronger than ever and well-positioned for future success.”
The current Board of Directors include Vince McMahon, Stuart U. Goldfarb (President, Fullbridge, Inc.), Patricia A. Gottesman (Former President and Chief Executive Officer of Crimson Hexagon), David Kenin (Former Executive Vice President of Programming, Hallmark Channel), Joseph H. Perkins (Former President, Communications Consultants, Inc.), Frank A. Riddick III (Chief Executive Officer, Shale-Inland Group LLC), Jeffrey R. Speed (Former Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Six Flags, Inc.), and Laureen Ong (Former President, Travel Channel).
The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal is reporting that officials from the city will be working along with Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority to bid on WrestleMania 33, proposing the Vikings Stadium as the host.
The bid for the 2017 WrestleMania has not been issued yet but there’s already a fight from the city of Philadelphia who intends on bidding for the event, as they have been doing for years. Philadelphia last hosted a WrestleMania in 1999 with the main event of The Rock vs Steve Austin.
The Business Journal says that the city has “an ace up its sleeve” as Patrick Talty, the general manager of the new Vikings Stadium, was the Senior Vice President of Live Events at WWE before taking on the new job last month.
The still-under construction new Vikings Stadium will open in 2016 at a cost of $1.02 billion and will seat up to 73,000 fans. The stadium will host the 2018 NFL Super Bowl and the 2019 men’s NCAA Final Four.
TNA and Sony SIX in India today announced a very long-term deal which will see Sony SIX exclusively carrying TNA programming until 2022.
The partnership also includes a commitment to the discovery and development of talent from the Indian subcontinent to join the TNA roster, following in the footsteps of Mahabali Shera – who last year became TNA’s first ever Indian-born Superstar.
Fans in India can watch Impact Wrestling every Monday night at 9PM, TNA Wrestling’s Greatest Matches every Tuesday at 9PM, and TNA Xplosion every Wednesday at 9PM. Sony SIX also airs TNA’s PPV and One Night Only events.
TNA signed their first deal with Sony SIX in the Summer of 2013 and TNA shows havs helped Sony SIX become the most viewed sports channel across the Indian subcontinent.
“We are extremely thrilled to extend our partnership with TNA. India historically boasts of a rich heritage in wresting and we believe, that through this initiative, we will be taking another step forward in reaching out to our audiences across India. The introduction of Shera and more Indian talents will only bolster our special televised capsule of action sports, which will feature the best of action and combat sports. We at Sony SIX look forward to building on this fascinating sport,” said Sony SIX Business Head Prasana Krishna.
TNA President Dixie Carter added, “India has an incredible cultural heritage with wrestling and we are thrilled to continue this amazing partnership with Sony SIX for years to come. As is evident through this long-term deal with Sony SIX, the powerful introduction of Mahabali Shera, and our continued pledge to find and develop Indian talent, together we are committed to growing legions of TNA fans across the Indian subcontinent.”
Monday Night Raw this week with the fall out from the Fastlane pay-per-view drew a total of 4,122,00 viewers, up 125,000 viewers from last week’s show.
The show started with 4,082,000 viewers then increased slightly to 4,109,000 viewers in the second hour before finishing the night with 4,176,000 in the third and final hour. It’s the first time since the December 29 Raw that each hour increased as the show went on.
The popular Reddit.com website which runs a wrestling section at r/SquaredCircle was the source of a crazy rumor about Roman Reigns which was tied to Brock Lesnar’s walk out yesterday, a rumor which now WWE has commented publicly about.
An unidentified individual posted a story, citing another unidentified “reliable source” that Roman Reigns failed a Wellness Program drug test and when the highest WWE officials were notified about it, Vince McMahon opted not to punish Reigns. This source said that Lesnar was expected to be part of the main event, walking out after the tag team match and said that Bryan and Heyman did their usual business in the segment that played out as expected on television.
Lesnar, according to the Reddit source, was “beyond infuriated” with what happened and McMahon’s lack of action against Reigns and felt that should he return to the UFC, he would be made “guilty by association” because of Reigns’ failed steroid case. The source continued, “Lesnar has demanded that Reigns be replaced preferably with Daniel Bryan or John Cena, both of whom he is happy to put over given their popularity,” and walked out of the arena after McMahon informed Lesnar that Reigns would not be replaced.
PWInsider.com received a statement from WWE after being contacted about the story saying, ”That story is absolutely, 100% untrue.”
You can read the full original report from this Reddit user below:
“Here is the full story from what I have been told from a very reliable source.
First, Brock Lesnar was not expected to put over Roman Reigns on the microphone nor was he expected to be part of the segment that featured Daniel Bryan and Paul Heyman putting Reigns over. Rather, Lesnar was expected to be a part of the main event. Lesnar’s walkout occurred in the hour or so following the Bryan-Heyman-Reigns segment. It is this reason why literally nothing of particular note to Reigns occurred in the main event aside from the Bryan tag-in which the commentators quickly put over as a bit of retaliation of what happened pre-Fast Lane now that they’re all buddy buddy (Bryan-Reigns).
Daniel Bryan was made aware of the situation before he cut his promo. Before Bryan did the professional thing that was required of him, putting Reigns over, you can clearly see much more intensity in the promo. That was the makings of a very good promo. It was also cut straight from the hip from a guy who feels legitimately robbed of his main event status at Wrestlemania for the chosen one who really fucked up in a pretty big way.
Reigns failed the WWE’s drug testing policy. The higher ups in the WWE were made aware of Reigns’s failure early Monday morning.
Clearly all involved are very disappointed in Reigns. It has brought back discussion of Jeff Hardy’s drug test failure prior to Wrestlemania XXIV where it was highly likely that he was to win his first championship (which was delayed until Armageddon in December). Many feel that Reigns should be forced to forfeit his position at Wrestlemania and take the suspension. However, Vince McMahon is backing “his boy” and made the decision not to suspend him as there is more than 30-days to go before Wrestlemania.
However, given the current situation in the UFC with the steroids controversy, Brock Lesnar is beyond infuriated with that decision. His legitimate fear is that should he choose to return to the UFC, quite likely given the money that Dana is offering, his Wrestlemania main event status against Roman Reigns links him directly to failed drugs tests in the media. It’s a guilty by association issue for Brock and a perfectly understandable one.
Lesnar has demanded that Reigns be replaced preferably with Daniel Bryan or John Cena, both of whom he is happy to put over given their popularity. Lesnar does not particularly care if the much smaller Bryan were to defeat him – it’s a non-issue due to the known ‘scripted’ nature of professional wrestling – as it wont effect his UFC reputation. Again, Vince McMahon has said that Reigns would not be replaced in the main event of Wrestlemania. Lesnar walked out.”
WWE Superstar David Otunga will be on the Steve Harvey show today to surprise a guest who’s ready to make a major lifestyle transformation.
On today’s show, Harvey will welcome Kristen, who is turning her boyfriend Buddha in, for his unhealthy lifestyle. Buddha consumes 15,000 calories a day and Harvey will surprise Buddha with fitness guru and WWE superstar David Otunga who will personally oversee Buddha’s new lifestyle transformation!
Steve Harvey airs weekdays. Check local listings or go to Steveharveytv.com for time and channel. You can see a preview of Otunga on the show below.
WWE issued a press release today announcing that with more than 4.2 billion video views on YouTube in the last 12 months, WWE has become the number one sports channel ahead of the NBA, MLB, NFL, NHL, ESPN, and NASCAR.
In addition, WWE on YouTube has more than 5.2 million subscribers, which is more than MLB, NFL, NHL, ESPN, NASCAR, MLS and NBC Sports combined. There you know social media playing a vital role in every aspect of life. You can get views from UseViral too for your social media.
WWE boasts 450 million combined social media followers globally with John Cena the number one most-followed active American athlete on Facebook with more than 36 million “Likes.”
The rumors of why Brock Lesnar did not appear on Monday Night Raw this week are running rampant and while none of these rumors are confirmed, Lesnar was indeed backstage at the show but ultimately left.
According to several sources, Lesnar flew in for the show on his private jet like he always does but there was a disagreement backstage which involved the business-side of things which left Lesnar very angry. The real reason behind the story is still not known but apparently it had nothing to do with the way he’s being booked creatively or even the way forward.
Some rumors floating around are not even worth printing unless they are confirmed and are very serious allegations if they are proven to be false.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer said that he doesn’t think anyone wants the story to leak until whatever it is is settled. “But something happened, but what that is, I do not know,” Meltzer said.
The WWE champion left Nashville while the show was still ongoing. He’s not advertised for any television appearances until the March 9 Raw.
Lesnar was advertised to appear on the show and have a face off with the number one contender for the WWE World Heavyweight title Roman Reigns. Heyman even retweeted a Joey Styles tweet that said that both him and Lesnar are confirmed for the show.
A tweet sent by Stephanie McMahon to Academy Award winner Patricia Arquette for her speech at the Oscars backfired on McMahon after she was called out by former WWE Divas champion AJ Lee.
“Thank You @PattyArquette for having the courage to fight for #WomensRights on such a grand platform. #UseYourVoice,” McMahon wrote two days ago. In her acceptance speech, Arquette rallied up the crowd by pointing out that women get paid less than men in America and how they should fight for equality and rights.
After retweeting McMahon’s comments, AJ Lee went on the attack. “@StephMcMahon Your female wrestlers have record selling merchandise & have starred in the highest rated segment of the show several times and yet they receive a fraction of the wages & screen time of the majority of the male roster. #UseYourVoice,” she wrote.
The tweet was timed perfectly with the hashtag #GiveDivasAChance which WWE fans started after the 30 second Divas tag match on Raw.
“Thank you @WWEAJLee, I appreciate your opinion. #UseYourVoice,” McMahon replied.
Meanwhile, WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon acknowledged the fans’ frustration with the way the Divas are treated and wrote on Twitter, “We hear you. Keep watching. #GiveDivasAChance.”
