The WWE title was declared vacant yesterday on Monday Night RAW after Triple H stripped Daniel Bryan off the title just 24 hours after winning it at Night of Champions against Randy Orton.
Triple H said that the referee’s three count was too fast compared to his other counts and after pushing Scott Armstrong to come clean, Armstrong told Bryan that they “got them,” insinuating that Bryan and the referee were in cahoots to screw Orton with a fast pin.
Later in the night, Triple H fired Scott Armstrong and told him that he’ll take good care of him with a good severance package.
The last time the WWE title was announced vacant was in 2009 when Batista had to vacate it after winning it the day before at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view due to a torn left biceps.
WWE stocks took a 3.74% dive today, ending the day at 9.78 a piece after on Friday WWE lowered their outlook for the rest of 2013.
The press release that warned investors of an approximate 5% reduction in second half revenue expectations was sent after the market closed on Friday so the effect was felt today as soon as the market opened. On Friday WWE stocks closed the day at $10.16.
Interesting to note is that Stephanie McMahon sold 107,487 WWE shares since September 3, making a total of $1,091,579 in the process.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross appeared on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Hour show earlier today to talk about his retirement and mixed martial arts.
Ross said that it was right time to leave, being a total professional and playing down any rift between him and WWE amid the speculation that he was released. He said that he is in great health and it was “the best decision to make” and is now pursuing other adventures.
JR added that he is not bitter about the situation and had a great run, however contractual obligations prevented him from pursuing other adventures.
Helwani asked JR if he plans to move into MMA broadcasting considering that a few months ago he met with Dana White at Marc Ratner of the UFC in Las Vegas. Ross said that the direct answer to that question is that there are no plans at this time to move to MMA however he is interested in doing it and would listen to an offer if it presented itself.
Ross said that he’s a big MMA fan and follows it but would rather work for the UFC rather than any other MMA organization however as a business man he would not close the door on anyone.
The Dolphins1925 Reddit user pay-per-view streak has been broken as he called one of the two matches he spoiled wrong, his first time since the Elimination Chamber show back in February of this year.
“Alberto Del Rio will defeat Rob Van Dam,” he wrote before the match started. Eventually Del Rio lost via disqualification but kept the World Heavyweight title.
“Alberto Del Rio was the loser. There is no justifying that selection. My source was wrong. He believes it was changed on a fly during the match and only a handful of individuals knew about it. In other words, WWE has done its job,” Dolphins1925 wrote in a post on Reddit.
He previously guessed correctly the winner of the Divas match and later revealed that his source told him the other winners were scheduled to be Dean Ambrose, The Shield, Curtis Axel & Paul Heyman, and Daniel Bryan.
Dolphis1925 wrote last month for SummerSlam that most of the planned endings were being changed to prevent leaks like his and often stated that his goal was for WWE to put an end and find whoever is leaking the results so people can enjoy the shows without spoilers.
During the Night of Champions pay-per-view, WWE held six votes to determine who are the greatest champions of all time and one particular result sparked some debate online.
Trish Stratus was voted as the greatest Divas or Women’s champ with 56% of the votes, followed by Lita at 29%, Moolah at 8%, Michelle McCool at 6%, and Wendi Richter at 1%.
D-Generation X got the nod for the greatest Tag Team champs of all time with 47% of votes. Legion of Doom came second with 32%, Hart Foundation with 17%, British Bulldogs with 3% and the Wild Samoans with 1%.
The greatest United States champion of all time went to current TNA Superstar Sting with 53%. Ricky Steamboat was at 24%, Sgt Slaughter with 12%, Harley Race with 9%, and Bobo Brazil with 2%.
Chris Jericho won the greatest Intercontinental champion vote with a massive 63%, the highest of any vote. Mr Perfect came second with 24%, Honky Tonk Man at 10%, Rick Rude at 2%, and Pat Patterson with 1%.
The one that created most controversy was the winner of the greatest World Heavyweight champion of all time which Booker T won with 38%. He came above Edge at 22%, The Undertaker at 21%, Ric Flair at 14%, and Batista at 5%.
And the big one, the greatest WWE champion of all time went to another TNA star, Hulk Hogan, who won with 55% of the votes. Steve Austin was a distant second at 16%, John Cena with 13%, CM Punk with 12%, and Triple H with 4%.
Here are the results from last night’s Night of Champions 2013 pay-per-view which took place from the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan.
In the kickoff match, Prime Time Players defeated The Usos, 3MB, Tons of Funk, and Real Americans to become the number one contenders for the tag team titles; Curtis Axel defeated Kofi Kingston to retain the Intercontinental title; AJ Lee defeated Natalya, Brie Bella, and Naomi to retain the Divas title; Rob Van Dam defeated Alberto Del Rio via disqualification with Del Rio retaining the World Heavyweight title; The Miz defeated Fandango; The Shield defeated Prime Time Players to retain the Tag Team titles; CM Punk defeated Curtis Axel but then lost to Paul Heyman in an elimination handicap match; Dean Ambrose defeated Dolph Ziggler to retain the U.S. title; Daniel Bryan defeated Randy Orton to win the WWE title.
Live tonight from the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan, WWE presents Night of Champions on pay-per-view. The full card is as follows:
Randy Orton vs Daniel Bryan for the WWE title; Alberto Del Rio vs Rob Van Dam for the World Heavyweight title; AJ Lee vs Natalya vs Brie Bella vs Naomi in a fatal four-way match for the Divas title; CM Punk vs Curtis Axel and Paul Heyman in an elimination handicap match; Dean Ambrose vs Dolph Ziggler for the United States title; The Shield vs the winners of the Kickoff match for the Tag Team titles; and Prime Time Players vs Tons of Funk vs The Usos vs 3MB vs The Ream Americans in a tag team turmoil match as the Kickoff match.
WWE Hall of Famer, the American Dream Dusty Rhodes is scheduled to be on Monday Night RAW tomorrow to continue the angle between the power-hungry McMahons vs the Rhodes family.
“@WWEDustyRhodes please accept this invitation to attend RAW this Monday in Cleveland. I have a business proposition for you. Thank you,” tweeted Stephanie McMahon yesterday.
The angle continued on the NXT show where Rhodes was removed by Triple H from his on-screen general manager role because it was “good for business” so it looks like this storyline will continue until Cody Rhodes comes back as the big baby face.
Last week Cody’s brother Dustin – as Goldust – had a great match against Randy Orton but came up short of the win which would have reinstated Cody after he was fired for losing his match also against Orton the previous week.
Mr Anderson’s status within TNA remains a mystery as the former two time TNA champion was written out of television during Thursday’s Impact with his contract expiring next month.
Similar to the case of AJ Styles’ contract negotiations with the company, financial terms was the major issue for a new deal that would keep Anderson in TNA beyond the almost four full years he’s been working there.
Anderson lost a last man standing match against his fellow Aces & Eights member and TNA champion Bully Ray on Thursday’s show and did the stretcher job. The attack on Anderson continued afterward though as Ray piledrived him on the stage for what seems to be either a long injury angle or his final appearance.
WWE issued a press release announcing that they have revised their financial outlook for the rest of 2013, lowering the outcome in the range of between $40 to $50 million.
The company said that high operating leverage and continued investment in the brand and content contributed to an approximate 5% reduction in second half revenue expectations.
“Given the rising value of content in the market place, we believe these investments will maximize WWE’s future earnings as we renegotiate our four largest television distribution agreements and potentially launch a WWE Network,” said George Barrios, WWE’s Chief Financial Officer.
Following the finale of the first half of the first season of Total Divas, E! will air a sort of a “reunion show” with the Bella Twins, Natalya, Ariane, Trinity, Eva Marie, JoJo, John Cena, John Uso, TJ, and a surprise guest. This show will air at 11PM EST as soon as episode 8 finishes. This particular program was filmed last week in Florida.
The second part of season one will start airing on November 17 at 9PM ET, one hour prior to the current 10PM time slot on E! Six new episodes are being taped which will bring season one to a total of 14 episodes.
Darren Young was on the Ellen DeGeneres Show yesterday to talk about his coming out and how his life has since changed.
Young, who was referred to by his real name of Fred, thanked Ellen for paving the way. He said the support he received from his WWE family has been incredible and after he spilled the beans to TMZ about it, he was terrified and went back to the hotel room wondering what the hell did he just do.
After calling his friend, Young called WWE to tell them about it and they said that everything is going to be fine. He said that the next day he had to be at a Be a STAR campaign and didn’t want to do it as he was afraid. He was eventually talked into doing it and he called it the best move he ever made.
Ellen asked him if he had a girlfriend before and he said he had a handful of girls but wasn’t happy living a double life and it was time to come out. His boyfriend Nicky was introduced to the audience and said that they’ve been secretly dating for 2 years and said he had to change his life too not to out Young.
Spike TV will be airing a Countdown to Bound For Glory special on Sunday, October 20, at 7PM EST, one hour before the biggest pay-per-view of the year for TNA hits the air.
The countdown show will feature a Bound For Glory match, highlights of the BFG Series, live backstage interviews, and behind-the-scenes access to Bound For Glory weekend events including Fan Interaction and the induction of Kurt Angle into the TNA Hall of Fame.
Bound For Glory will be live from the Viejas Arena in San Diego, California.
This Sunday, E! will air the finale of the first part of the season of Total Divas featuring the wedding of Natalya and Tyson Kidd. Natalya’s parents – Bret’s sister and her dad Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart – will be making an appearance on the show as well.
The episode will also tackle Ariane going to the hospital, Natty’s mom bringing her an awful wedding dress, Nikki Bella meets John Cena’s side of the family, Natty’s friend Jarret breaks the news to Tyson that he’s been keeping in touch with his soon-to-be wife, and a fight between Natayla and her future husband just minutes before the wedding.
E! has sent us eight and a half minutes worth of footage for this Sunday’s finale which you can see in our playlist below.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has confirmed on Twitter that he will be playing the lead man in the upcoming movie The Fall Guy which will be co-financed by Hyde Park Entertainment and WWE Studios.
“The unknown stuntman who moonlights as a bounty hunter.. Fired up to play the role. Cool, bad ass & fun,” Johnson tweeted today.
The Fall Guy is a 1980s television show which centered around a Hollywood stunt man who earned extra money by working as a bounty hunter. Lee Majors played the role of The Fall Guy in the television show and Nicolas Cage was attached to do the movie before Johnson stepped in.
This will be Johnson’s first feature film for WWE Studios with McG taking over as director.
Monday Night Raw this week drew a 2.9 rating and an average of 3,886,000 viewers, down only 51,000 viewers against the first of Monday Night Football.
None of the three hours broke the 4 million viewer mark with hour one pulling 3,801,000 viewers, hour two doing 3,903,000, and then hour three increasing to 3,953,000. (Ratings compiled by Nielsen Media Research and put online by PWInsider.com)
Jim Ross addressed his retirement last night in a blog posted on his official website JRsBarBQ.com, calling September 11, 2013, as “quite a day” as it was his last day with the company.
“Time flies when one is enjoying one’s dream job. Heck, it only took me 19 years to make it to the NFL of sports entertainment. Overnight sensation, right?” Ross wrote.
He said that at the age of 61 it was time to close one chapter of his life and begin a new one while his health still permits. Ross never touched the issue of why he decided to retire now which supports other theories that he was basically forced out of the company. He said that he now has time to write an autobiography that “many have asked about over the years.”
He thanked the fans, calling them the best, before signing off, avoiding any other subjects. On Twitter, JR posted in a comment that the feedback has been amazing and is ready for his next adventure.
The McMahons tweeted their thanks to Hall of Famer Jim Ross who spent his last day as WWE employee yesterday.
“Thank you @JRsBBQ for 20 years of service with @WWE,” wrote Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon in a short tweet, clearly nowhere near the 140 limit character.
“Thank you for everything @JRsBBQ I’ve learned so much from you. You will always be the voice of the WWE. #halloffamer,” added Stephanie McMahon.
Triple H also thanked JR for his service and his help. “Can’t thank you enough @JRsBBQ for all you’ve done for me personally and for @WWE … Enjoy your time, you’ve earned it!!! #thankyouJR.”
The ThankYouJR and Jim Ross hashtags were trending worldwide on Twitter last night after the announcement was made that Ross was leaving for good.
Most WWE Superstars have not mentioned the retirement on their busy Twitter feeds at time of this writing. Mick Foley, who is a big friend of JR, was skeptical about the retirement. “What did I miss? Did @JRsBBQ retire? If so, why?” asked Foley.
John “JBL” Layfield wrote, “Congrats on a Hall of Fame career @JRsBBQ ! Been great working with u, and for u, over the years & the ribbing between Texas and Oklahoma!”
Joey Styles, who heads up WWE Digital thanked JR for being “the measuring stick” for pro wrestling announcers and for teaching him how to be a WWE storyteller.
Former WCW announcer Mark Madden was saddened by the abrupt news that Ross was retiring. “A gr8 man; one of the top 5 wrestling minds ever; @JRsBBQ is THE BEST PRO WRESTLING ANNOUNCER EVER. No discussion, no debate, no question. Whoever’s No. 2 is a distant 2nd.”
RAW ring announcer Justin Roberts also thanked JR for his service. “The passion, knowledge & untouchable experience. Thank you @JRsBBQ for adding so much to SO many matches and stories. #LEGEND”
The unexpected announcement of the retirement of Jim Ross raised some red flags among many in the wrestling industry as JR had never hinted about his desire to leave and was quite happy representing the company in his current role.
The real story being discussed around is that Ross was actually released from his contract, or better yet, fired again, most likely stemming from that infamous WWE 2K14 panel which Ross was heading up during the SummerSlam weekend.
That panel – which involved Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan, Rey Mysterio, Steve Austin, Paul Heyman, Mick Foley, and Ric Flair – was hijacked by the Nature Boy in the last 40 minutes or so and the script was thrown out of the window with JR having no control to put the situation back in order.
WWE officials were so irate about the situation that Flair was eventually taken out from another party later that night and also blamed Ross for failing to control his fellow Hall of Famer. At one point, when things got out of control, Paul Heyman stood up and went to Ross’ podium and tore up JR’s papers as everybody laughed, clearly showing that the panel was now way off script.
The panel, which aired live online, was enjoyed by fans and by 2K officials but WWE did not like the fact that Flair went crazy, telling wrestling stories, mentioning TNA, and basically take over the panel without mentioning anything related to the video game.
WWE.COM today confirmed that WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has announced that he will be retiring from the company to focus more on his personal business.
The news comes out of nowhere as Ross often claimed that he’s happy to be doing part-time stuff for WWE and doesn’t have to travel as often except to do commentary and work for NXT as well as doing sporadic appearances for the company.
Ross joined WWE in 1993 with WrestleMania IX in Las Vegas being his first event. He was eventually fired just a year later by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon only to be re-hired a few months later after McMahon had legal trouble with the U.S. government. JR was fired for the second time but by the end of 1994 he found his way back in the company and became a regular announcer in 1996.
Battles with Bells Palsy and colon surgery kept JR off WWE television for months at a time and he was slowly phased out and replaced by Michael Cole as the lead play-by-play man for WWE. In 2007, JR was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by one his best friends, Stone Cold Steve Austin.
In his 20 years of service for WWE, Ross held several positions in the company including heading up the talent relations department, signing Superstars such as The Rock, Brock Lesnar, Mick Foley, Edge, Trish Stratus, and many, many others, and was recently an advisor and a talent scout.
Vince McMahon thanked Jim Ross with a message on Twitter just after the announcement was made saying, “Thank you @JRsBBQ for 20 years of service with @WWE.”
