WWE will announce the first inductee to the Hall of Fame Class of 2013 next week on the 20th anniversary of Monday Night RAW.
The rumored main eventer for the Hall of Fame this year is the hardcore legend himself Mick Foley although it’s not known who will be revealed as the first member of the class of 2013 on Monday.
Tickets for the show go on sale to the general public on January 12 however there has been a long pre-sale going on on Ticketmaster.com where tickets could be bought using the code FAMOUS.
The bankrupt THQ is releasing a new WWE ’13 DLC pack today for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. This is the third downloadable content pack that the company has released for the successful video game.
The first pack will include six Superstars which will be available for 80 Microsoft Points each for Xbox or 99 cents for the Playstation 3. These are Damien Sandow, Antonio Cesaro, Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso, Brian Pillman, and Chainsaw Charlie.
A moves pack is also being released for 160 Microsoft Points for Xbox or $1.99 for the PlayStation 3. The price/points includes a total of 20 new moves including Lesnar’s Kimura Lock, Jericho’s Lionsault, super german suplex from the top rope, airplane spin, and others.
TNA announced on its website that Hulk Hogan will be going across the pond to the United Kingdom to be part of the TNA IMPACT television tapings in Manchester and London later this month.
TNA will hold five events – in Dublin, Glasgow, Nottingham, Manchester, and London – as part of their annual tour in the United Kingdom, this year titled Road to Lockdown Tour.
The company will tape a month worth of IMPACT during the two tapings. On January 25, Manchester’s MEN Arena will host its first ever IMPACT with back-to-back tapings followed by another back-to-back tapings in London at the Wembley Arena.
The website Showrenity.com was present at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour where Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was there to promote his new TNT reality series titled The Hero.
During the discussion with reporters, The Rock also talked about his involvement with WWE leading up to WrestleMania, which will add tons of more work to the already-busy Hollywood and WWE Superstar.
“The storyline will be that starting this coming Monday (tonight), I’m gonna go back, and it’s going to be a big return,” Johnson said.
“That will lead to, hopefully, what will be the biggest WrestleMania of all time at Giants Stadium. I will headline that show, with someone who I can’t say right now,” The Rock revealed. This would be his second WrestleMania in a row that he headlined after an absence from the big show since 2004 where he took a mid card match.
“We’ve got an amazing four months lined up and planned out that will culminate in the biggest WrestleMania of all time. It’s going to be a hell of a thing.”
WWE will present it’s first RAW of 2013 tonight with a three hour broadcast headlined by a TLC match between the current WWE champion CM Punk and Ryback.
The main event was supposed to headline the TLC pay-per-view last month however emergency knee surgery prevented Punk – who is over 400 consecutive days as champion – to be part of the show. Ryback’s only defeat so far has come at the hands of CM Punk.
Plus, the one and only The Rock will return to WWE television for the first time since July’s RAW 1000 celebration. The Rock will be appearing frequently on WWE TV in the next quarter as he goes for the gold at the Royal Rumble and then his involvement at the Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania pay-per-views.
With the 20th anniversary of Monday Night RAW just slightly over a week away, former WWE and WCW champion Kevin Nash has ruled out an appearance during the show.
“Will not be on RAW’s 20th,” Nash wrote on Twitter, adding that he’d never go back to TNA either.
Nash wrote that Triple H is like a brother to him and if he needs anything he would do it. He then wrote that going back to TNA would break that trust despite his love for TNA President Dixie Carter and their crew.
The former NWO member was also missing from the RAW 1000th episode despite recently working with WWE again.
ComicBookMovie.com is reporting that former WWE and World Heavyweight champion Batista has made the shortlist to play the role of Drax The Destroyer in Marvel’s upcoming movie Guardians of the Galaxy.
According to the site, Batista, Isaiah Mustafa, and Brian Patrick Wade are all in negotiations with Marvel to play the role.
In the comic book world, Drax was a human whose family was attacked and killed by the supervillain Thanos. To combat Thanos, Drax – whose name in the comic book is Arthur Douglas – has his spirit taken away by another character, Kronos – and placed into a new body which has enhanced strength and resilience, flight, and the ability to project energy blasts from his hands.
AdAge.com is reporting that John Cena is about to boot Fred Flintstone from the Fruity Pebbles boxes in a promotion covering 4 million boxes of the cereal along with Cocoa Pebbles.
Cena already did this last year thanks to The Rock when he called him Fruity Pebbles, triggering the company to take advantage of the free advertising. However last year, Cena was only featured at the top of the box while Fred Flintstone still commanded the front artwork of the cereal. This time, the former WWE champ will take the front and center position, something that AdAge says it is a rare feat for a non-Flintstones character.
Andrew Judelson, WWE’s exec VP-sales and sponsorship, says that other similar deals are in the works involving other WWE Superstars.
On January 12, TNA will be taping two 3-hour special shows that will be broadcast internationally to make up for the two less pay-per-views that the company will not do this calendar year.
The two shows will be titled ‘X-Travaganza’ and ‘Jokers Wild Tag Team Tournament’ and will taped at the IMPACT Zone at Universal Studios at 1PM and 7PM respectively.
The ‘X-Travaganza’ show will feature an Ultimate X Match, an X-Scape Cage Match, and the return of former X Division stars including Petey Williams, Amazing Red, Matt Bentley and Jimmy Rave. Rob Van Dam will also be in the house as he wrestles Jerry Lynn as part of Lynn’s farewell tour.
The ‘Jokers Wild Tag Team Tournament’ will feature teams selected at random competing with winning teams advancing to a 12-man Gauntlet Match with the winner receiving $100,000.
The first IMPACT of 2013 combined with the return of Sting paid dividends for TNA as the show secured its largest audience since the August 23 episode, getting over 1.6 million viewers.
The show did nearly over 300,000 more viewers than the previous week and almost over 400,000 viewers more than the two shows prior to that one. (Ratings compiled by Nielsen Media Research and put online by PWInsider.com)
Former WWE Superstar Mike Knox was unveiled as a member of the Aces & Eights during yesterday’s IMPACT on Spike.
Knox was part of a tag team cage match in the main event of the show which saw the return of Sting and he was unmasked by Kurt Angle after he ended up alone in the ring against Samoa Joe, Sting, and Angle himself.
Knox wrestled for WWE during the company’s failed attempt at reviving the ECW brand and he played the role of Kelly Kelly’s boyfriend. He then switched to RAW in 2008 and moved to Smackdown in 2009 but was released a year after following WrestleMania XXVI.
The Elimination Chamber 2013 pay-per-view poster features an interesting choice of wrestlers inside the giant cage.
Scheduled to take place from New Orleans, Louisiana, on February 17, the poster has Sheamus, Ryback, Big Show, John Cena, CM Punk…and The Rock all digitally inserted in the Chamber.
The Rock has been rumored to be part of the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view leading up to his WrestleMania match however the poster suggests that all six of them will be part of one of the two Chamber main events.
Usually the pay-per-view features two Elimination Chamber main events, one which will determine the number one contender for either the WWE or World title depending on which title the Rumble winner goes for and the other is a title defense.
You can see the large version of the poster below.
After dismissing the federal lawsuit against Gawker for the posting of his sex tape, Hulk Hogan refiled the lawsuit against the same company in a Florida state court.
TMZ.COM is reporting that Hogan is once again seeking $100 million from Gawker and has refiled the case to consolidate his claims against the NY-based media company and Heather Clem, the person who he had sex with in the tape.
Hogan – who already had a lawsuit filed against Clem in Florida – claims that the former wife of Bubba “The Love Sponge” played a part in leaking the sex tape to the media.
Gawker posted a one minute video clip of Hulkamania running wild all over Clem a few months ago and then gave a detailed description of the whole video, almost blow by blow.
His lawsuit against Bubba was dropped after the two reached an agreement out of court and then Bubba apologized twice to Hogan on his radio show.
The New Year’s Eve Monday Night RAW drew a 2.31 rating with an average of 3,552,000 viewers, up just slightly from last week’s 2.2 rating on Christmas Eve.
Hour one did 3,397,000 viewers, hour two did 3,644,000, while hour three did 3,614,000. It marked the second time in a row that hour three gained viewers on hour one in months however the third hour kept losing viewers over the second as it has been the norm since RAW moved to 180 minutes. (Ratings compiled by Nielsen Media Research and put online by PWInsider.com)
Impact begin with a recap of recent events, including the news that Sting will be returning tonight to get revenge on Aces and Eights. Jeremy Borash is the first person in the ring as Impact begins.
Borash tells us that he has the 5 finalists, and winner, of the TNA wrestler of the year award. The nominees are Bully Ray, James Storm, Austin Aries, Bobby Roode, and Jeff Hardy. Roode and Aries are each convinced it will be them, and argue back and forth as they make their way to the ring. Jeff Hardy is announced as the winner; Aries and Roode are both outraged. Roode claims that as the longest reigning heavyweight champ ever in TNA, he should have won.
Aries argues that as the longest reigning X division champ and the man that beat Roode for the heavyweight title, he should have won. Hardy proclaims that 2012 was the year of the enigma and challenges both of them to a title match at Genesis. Aries swings Hardy’s trophy at him, but Hardy ducks and Aries hits Roode instead. Hardy hits Aries with the Twist of Fate and stands triumphantly over both of them.
In the back, James Storm is approached for an interview when they are interrupted by Kaz and Daniels. Daniels does a Storm impersonation and tells Storm’s fans he’s sorry he loses so much lately and that he’s “sorry about my damn luck.” Storm says he’ll fight either one of them right now and walks to the ring.
Commercial
Match #1: James Storm versus Kaz.
Daniels gets into the ring to fight Storm, but Kaz runs in and hits Storm from behind. Daniels leaves after the distraction and Kaz goes to work on Storm. Storm and Kaz trade strikes and Kaz throws Storm over the top rope.
Storm holds onto the top rope and pulls himself back in. Storm downs Kaz with a Thesz press and throws him out of the ring. Storm leaps out of the ring onto Kaz on the floor. Daniels and Kaz take turns distracting the ref so the other can land some cheap shots on Storm.
Kaz puts Storm in a chin lock; Storm fights out but Kaz knocks him down again. Kaz hits Storm with a leg drop and then slaps him. Storm hits kaz with closing time and follows up with several punches. Storm hits Kaz with a side Russian leg sweep and then a flying elbow drop from the top rope.
Storm goes for a cover and gets 2. Kaz hits Storm with a fireman’s carry cutter and gets a 2 count. Storm hits Kaz with closing time again and sets up for the last call superkick. Daniels tries to distract Storm but Storm hits him with an Enzuigiri. Kaz climbs to the top rope and leaps off, but Storm hits him with the superkick before he lands and then covers him for the win.
In the Aces and Eights clubhouse, Devon and Doc are still trying to recruit Ken Anderson. They’re giving him beer and biker girls and he’s loving it, but is in no hurry to make up his mind. Doc runs out of patience and tells Anderson they need to know now. Anderson seems to be in.
Commercial
When we return, Kenny Kash approaches Kid Kash to wish him luck tonight in his X division tournament match. Kash claims to have seen Kash many years ago on VHS tapes. I think he’s implying Kash is old. I have to rewind my VHS tape to make sure that’s what he said. I should also probably turn up my hearing aid because I’m even older than Kid Kash.
Doc is in the ring calling out Sting, the man he assaulted with a hammer weeks ago. A bat falls out of the sky and lands in the ring near Doc.
Commercial
Match #2: Kid Kash versus Christian York.
X Division tournament match. Kash attacks York right away, landing several strikes. York responds with an elbow and a clothesline that knocks Kash to the floor. Kash pulls York out to the floor and chops him. Kash rolls back in and then flies back out, hitting York with a hurricanrana.
Kash rakes York’s back and then rolls him back in. Kash slingshots himself back into the ring but York hits him with a dropkick in mid air. York hits Kash with an Enzuigiri and then climbs to the top. York comes off the top rope and misses but then hits Kash with a boot to the face.
York hits Kash with a half nelson suplex and Kash responds with a suplex of his own. Kash hits York with a few crossface shots and then goes for a moonsault but York gets his knees up. York lands a couple kicks and then Kash responds with a chinbreaker. York hits Kash with a modified flatliner and tries to roll him up with an inside cradle. Kash lands a kick and goes for a backslide, but York counters with “Mood Swings” (a swinging neckbreaker) for the win!
Match #3: Matt Morgan versus Hernandez with Chavo.
Morgan comes out with Joey Ryan wearing a sling. Morgan claims he hurt himself training, but Joey Ryan will kick his ass instead. Joey seems a little upset about this at first. Not much of a match, Hernandez hits Ryan a kick, a bodyslam, and a backbreaker before Matt Morgan interferes.
Morgan has discarded his sling and now seems fine. Hernandez shoulder blocks Ryan across the ring, but is then clotheslined out of the ring by Morgan. Chavo goes after Ryan, but Morgan takes Chavo out with the Carbon Footprint.
Commercial
When we return, Hulk Hogan calls out Bully Ray and his daughter Brooke. Hogan is mad that Brooke and Bully have been sneaKash around behind his back instead of coming to him directly. Bully Ray acknowledges he was wrong and seems apologetic.
Hogan suspends him indefinitely without pay and tells Brooke to leave as well. Ray is shocked that he just got suspended and wants to know why. TNA sucks at this sort of thing; they have great wrestlers, they do NOT have great writers. They should focus on what they do well, fighting, and stop doing what they suck at, which is talKash.
Commercial
Joseph Park is apparently doing well learning how to wrestle at OVW.
Match #4: Gail Kim and Tara versus Miss Tessmacher and Mickie James.
Gail and Tessmacher start the match off. Gail whips Tessmacher to the ropes and Tessmacher leaps back to knock Gail down with a clothesline. Tara hits Tessmacher with a cheap shot and then Gail tags Tara in. Tara hits Tessmacher with a kick and a chop.
Tessmacher takes Tara down with a snapmare and tags in Mickie. Mickie dropkicks Tara and then dropkicks Gail as well, knocKash them both to the floor. Mickie and Tessmacher pursue Tara and Gail outside the ring and knock them into each other. After order is restored, Tara and Gail double team Mickie.
Commercial
Gail and Tara double team Mickie, but Mickie ducks an attack from Tara and then clotheslines Gail. Mickie tags in Tessmacher, and Tessmacher clotheslines Tara. Tessmacher whips Tara into the corner and the violently rams her vagina into Tara’s face.
I feel weird writing that every week, but Divas and Knockouts use their vaginas, asses, and boobs as weapons every week. I know this is to turn on the young straight men that watch wrestling in large numbers, but it really should scare them. If you watch TNA every week, you must conclude that a woman’s naughty bits are DEADLY!
Gail hits Tessmacher with a cheap shot, and Tara mounts her. Tara blatantly chokes Tessmacher on the mat and then throws her by her hair across the ring. Tara hits Tessmacher with a backbreaker and then tags in Gail. Gail hits Tessmacher with several kicks, a gut buster, and a forearm shot.
Gail slams Tessmacher’s face to the mat and then tags Tara in. Tara hits Tessmacher with a leg drop then pulls her arms back in a bow and arrow. Tara slams Tessmacher to the mat and then goes for a standing moonsault.
Tessmacher gets her knees up in time to block the moonsault and then slams Tara to the mat. Tara and Tessmacher make tags at the same time. Mickie pounds on Gail and then hits her with a hurricanrana and then a neckbreaker. Mickie goes for a cover and Tara makes the save. Tessmacher comes in to attack Tara and Jesse pulls his girlfriend to safety.
Tessmacher goes to the top rope and hits Tara and Jesse with a flying crossbody on the floor. Gail goes after Mickie but Mickie sidesteps the attack and plants Gail with a DDT for the win.
Commercial
When we return, ODB tells us that her hubby Eric Young is not ready to come back yet, but he will be soon. In Hogan’s office, Roode and Aries are arguing with Hogan about the triple threat match they have with Hardy at Genesis.
Hogan doesn’t want to listen to them and makes the match a 3 way elimination match. He also tells them they will be teaming up next week against Hardy and a partner of his choosing.
Commercial
Match #5: Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe versus Devon and a large masked man from Aces and Eights.
Doc hits Kurt Angle in the back with the steel door before the match begins and locks Angle out of the cage, giving Devon and the masked man a 2 on 1 advantage. Joe puts a beating on both members of Aces and Eights the first few minutes, landing several strikes on each of them. Joe drops the masked man in the corner and gives him a facewash with his boot.
Joe prepares to give the masked man a running boot to the face but is cut off by a flying forearm from Devon. Devon and the masked man take turns holding Joe so the other can beat him, but Joe eventually gets the upper hand again until Devon rakes his eyes.
The masked man hits Joe with a big boot and Joe responds with an open palm strike to the face. Angle tries to climb into the cage, but is cut off by Doc. Devon and the masked man continue to double team Joe inside the cage.
Commercial
Joe hits both opponents with strikes, and then comes off the top rope to knock Devon down. Joe hits the masked man with a t-bone suplex. Outside the ring Kurt Angle tries to get into the cage but is again cut off by Doc. Angle kicks Doc in the nuts and then unlocks the door.
Angle hits Devon with a pair of clotheslines and then a forearm. Angle hits the masked man with an elbow and then a missile dropkick. Angle tries to pull off the masked mans mask, but is hit by Doc with another cheap shot. Devon and the masked man double team Joe. Devon whips the masked man into Joe, and then runs over Kurt.
The masked man hits Kurt with a side slam as Devon climbs to the top rope. Devon tries to hit Angle with a flying headbutt but Angle rolls out of the way. Joe hits the masked man with a kick. Angle hits Devon with three consecutive German Suplexes and then hits the masked man with another one.
Joe and Angle slam the masked man to the cage and Joe hits him with an atomic drop. Angle hits the masked man with an Angle Slam for the win!!
After the match, Angle tries to pull of the masked man’s mask, but a massive number of Aces and Eights members run in to stop him. Aces and Eights put a beating on Angle and Joe inside the cage while Ken Anderson looks on from the outside.
Angle is starting to get very bloody when Sting comes to the rescue. Sting enters the cage with a baseball bat and starts swinging. Several members of Aces and Eights take big shots from Sting with the bat and the rest run away. Sting, Angle and Joe remain in the ring with 1 member of Aces and Eights; the masked man that teamed up with Devon.
They unmask the Aces and Eights members and we see that it’s Mike Knox. Angle, Joe, and Sting celebrate their victory in the cage as Impact goes off the air.
The first IMPACT of 2013 airing tonight on Spike will feature the return of former WCW and TNA champion Sting.
Sting returns to seek revenge on the Aces & Eights for putting him out of action back in early November when A&E member Doc smashed him with a ball peen hammer after he was put through a table.
Speaking of Aces & Eights, the group will be taking on Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe in a steel cage match plus Hogan will be looking for answers regarding his daughter Brooke and Bully Ray.
How do you say Wooooo! in Japanese? Well, probably the same! Fans in the Land of the Rising Sun will get their Ric Flair fix later this month as the Nature Boy will be wrestling for All Japan Pro Wrestling in an event to be held on January 26 in Tokyo.
Flair will team up with Keiji Mutoh – better known to American wrestling fans as the Great Muta – to take on Tatsumi Fujinami and Seiya Sanada.
Mutoh and Flair feuded for a while when he – under the name of The Great Muta, was brought in the NWA by manager Gary Hart. Muta went on to feud with Flair, Luger, and even Sting who he eventually won the NWA TV title from, only to lose it a few months later to Arn Anderson.
The 20th anniversary of Monday Night RAW will be electrified as former WWE champion The Rock has been added to the mix.
The Rock will be practically appearing every week on WWE television leading up to the Royal Rumble where he will be facing whoever the WWE champion will be at that time.
The match between CM Punk and The Rock has been in the works for the past few months and the two have been at it on Twitter however officially it cannot be announced yet as CM Punk has to defend the WWE title against Ryback this coming Monday on RAW in a TLC match.
Speaking of this coming Monday’s RAW, WWE is running commercials plugging the return of the self proclaimed people’s champion for the first RAW of 2013. He will be there – and then on Smackdown as well – to kick start his Rumble hype and it will be interesting to see if he will have any interference in the TLC main event.
You can see the TV commercial with The Rock below.
Olympic gold medalist and former TNA champion Kurt Angle and his wife Giovanna Yannotti welcomed their second child – and his fourth – yesterday.
“18 hours at the hospital,” tweeted Angle, before getting a congratulatory message from his employer, TNA President Dixie Carter for the new arrival.
The 7lbs 12oz baby girl was named Sophia Laine. Angle also tweeted a photo of his daughter’s tiny footprint on his hand.
Angle has two children with his former wife Karen, who is now married to Jeff Jarrett. The first child with Yannotti was born on January 22, 2011, and her name is Giuliana Marie.
