PWInsider.com is reporting that John “Big” Gaburick, Impact’s Executive Vice President of Television Production, will be leaving the company in January 2018 after four and a half years.
Gaburick signed a deal with TNA in June 2013, just a month after he left WWE. He worked for WWE for 13 years prior to his job with TNA. Gaburick oversaw management and production of television, marketing and advertising production, special projects and digital assets.
PWInsider adds that after Anthem took over Impact Wrestling from Dixie Carter, they kept him there in a consultant role and working television tapings. Gaburick knew his time in the company was coming to an end and had already been working on projects outside Impact.
USA Network today announced the annual WWE Week, this year titled WWE Holiday Week, with five different broadcasts every day including a movie from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
WWE Holiday Week starts on Monday December 11 with Monday Night Raw from the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. On Tuesday it is Smackdown Live from the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio. On Wednesday, NXT from Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida, will air for the first time ever on USA Network. This is billed as a one-hour NXT special.
On Thursday, WWE and USA Network present the two-hour Tribute to the Troops, taking place from the Naval Base San Diego. Immediately following Tribute to the Troops, USA Network’s series Damnation will premiere an all-new episode guest starring WWE Superstar Luke Harper.
WWE Holiday Week concludes on Friday with an airing of Journey 2: The Mysterious Island at 6:30PM EST starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Appearing as Woken Matt Hardy for the first time officially on Monday Night Raw, Hardy had an exchange of words with Bray Wyatt in a backstage segment that was cleverly edited, showing the wicked sides of both Superstars.
With a shorter hair and wearing his Broken coat and speaking in his typical vocabulary, Hardy said he’s been dormant inside the vessel called Matthew Hardy but thanks to terrestrial entities, he has been woken. Hardy then said that Wyatt gave him no choice but to delete him, with fans in the arena chanting “delete, delete.”
Hardy and Wyatt then proceeded to do their typical laughs for 50 seconds and it seems that the fans in Los Angeles enjoyed Hardy’s antics. You can see the segment below.
Kevin Owens’ wife Karina’s Instagram account was hacked and the hacker posted an image claiming that Owens cheated on her.
“Didn’t learn my lesson after the 5th time. Don’t be sorry. I trusted you. My mistake, not yours,” the post read.
After realizing that her Instagram got hacked, Karina deleted the post, then posted a screenshot of it and wrote, “You guys I saw all this not long ago, I got hacked. It’s very upsetting. None of this is true! Everything is good!! Kevin deleted his because someone tried to get into his, probably the same person who got into mine.”
Owens deleted his Instagram account before all this happened and took to Twitter to vent his frustrations. “Social media is an absolute cesspool. The way some people try and ruin people’s lives for no apparent reason is genuinely depressing,” he wrote. “My Instagram is gone, again and now people are going after my wife too. It’s disgusting. Needless to say, I would never do this to my family.”
Anthem Sports & Entertainment appointed Scott D’Amore and Don Callis as Executive Vice Presidents of Impact Wrestling. The two will be reporting to Ed Nordholm and together they will form a 3-member Executive Committee with overall responsibility for developing the creative direction for Impact Wrestling and managing the execution of the Company’s business plan.
Don Callis, who was previously better known as Cyrus and The Jackal, has worked both as a commentator and part of creative for WWE, ECW, and TNA. He is presently the color commentator for New Japan Pro Wrestling, a role that he will retain.
Scott D’Amore has done pretty much everything in the wrestling business and is one of the TNA Originals, having worked for the company since its first days till 2010 and then again from 2014 onwards.
“I am excited that Don and Scott have made this commitment to the Company,” said Ed Nordholm, president of Anthem Wrestling Exhibitions, LLC. “The 50 years of experience and success in the wrestling industry brought by Don and Scott, combined with the global media, marketing, sales and financial expertise of Anthem, provide the management depth and expertise that will propel IMPACT Wrestling to greater success as we continue to expand our footprint, embrace digital opportunities and grow the brand.”
WWE today announced that the Cruiserweight division will be holding three special live events in January.
These events will take place on Friday, January 19 in Kingston, Rhode Island at The Ryan Center, on Saturday, January 20 in Lowell, Massachusetts at the Lowell Auditorium, and on Sunday, January 21 in Poughkeepsie, New York at the Mid Hudson Civic Center.
The Ryan Center holds a max of 8,000 seats while the other two arenas, the Lowell Auditorium and the Mid Hudson Civic Center, hold just over 2,000 and 3,000 seats respectively.
This is the first time that specific 205 Live-branded non-televised live events will take place.
Tickets for each event go on sale Friday, December 8 at 10AM EST.
One person who seems to be going to miss WrestleMania next year is Chris Jericho who just announced his tour dates for the first few months of 2018.
Jericho will be touring the United States with his band Fozzy pretty much the whole time leading up to WrestleMania, and has a show even on WrestleMania Sunday on April 8 at Hampton Beach, New Hampshire.
The former champion missed a few WrestleManias over the past few years due to his other commitments but was present at WrestleMania 32 and 33, wrestling AJ Styles and Kevin Owens respectively.
The next time Chris Jericho will be in a wrestling ring will be at NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom 12 event in Tokyo on January 4 taking on Kenny Omega.
The new Matt Hardy gimmick based on his Broken character in Impact Wrestling will be called Woken.
Hardy played the character during the weekend non-televised live events and WWE even posted a video of Hardy from Salt Lake City writing that he appears to “be more #woken than ever!”
The former champ said that the Great War will be fought in Anaheim tonight and his mind has fully woken. “I shall DELETE the wicked & CONSUME whatever emotions are EMITTED. I AM MAGIC,” Hardy tweeted.
The reason that it is now Woken and not Broken it’s because WWE always wants to own its intellectual property. While Hardy will be playing off his Broken gimmick, WWE cannot trademark that as it is property of Matt Hardy now that Anthem has given up on the trademark.
Marketing the gimmick as Woken will allow them to sell merchandise using that term and if the situation comes again where Hardy has to leave WWE, he can resume his character under the Broken trademark.
I have #BROKEN down the MORTAL BOUNDARIES of the brain. I SEE ALL.
AXS TV will air NJPW’s biggest show of the year, Wrestle Kingdom 12, on Saturday, January 6 starting at 8PM EST in a three-hour special event.
This means that AXS will air the much-anticipated WK12 event on a two-day delay, the fastest turnaround time for such an event. The announcement was made by AXS TV Fights CEO Andrew Simon.
“While NJPW has delivered some of the greatest matches in wrestling history over the past year, we’ve seen viewership growth on AXS TV thanks to New Japan’s expansion in the U.S. and our commitment to air matches closer to when they take place,” said Simon. “With Wrestle Kingdom as their marquee annual event, we thank NJPW and TV Asahi for their support and are proud to kick off 2018 with this historic primetime Saturday night special featuring the dream match-up of Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho.”
There has been an added interest in the event ever since Chris Jericho was announced that he would be taking on Kenny Omega for the IWGP United States Heavyweight title. The other main event will feature IWGP Heavyweight champion Kazuchika Okada versus Tetsuya Naito.
Leading up to the Wrestle Kingdom 12 special on January 6, AXS TV will air an eight-hour marathon of NJPW starting at Noon EST.
The event will also be live for those who subscribe to NJPW World, the subscription-based video streaming service of New Japan Pro Wrestling.
It looks like the Pontiac Silverdome, the home of WrestleMania III, is stronger than anyone thought! After surviving the bodyslam heard around the world, the iconic Silverdome was supposed to be imploded today, but after the charges were set, the stadium stood still!
At 8:30 this morning, explosions meant to break the metal beams that support the upper ring of the stadium were supposed to destroy the top half and collapse. The detonation happened and went according to plan, but the Silverdome didn’t buckle as shown by the helicopter video from Local 4 News.
Crew will have another go at imploding the stadium at a later date.
WWE packed 93,173 fans inside the Silverdome in 1987, for a new indoor attendance record at the time. The show was headlined by Hulk Hogan vs Andre The Giant and the record stood until WrestleMania 32.
This episode of Total Divas featured some Divas at their best, and others at their very worst.
The episode began with all of the Divas gathering together for a landmark event in the women’s revolution, the first ever Mae Young Classic. The women decided to gather together before the event for a brunch. However, WWE Superstar Natalya came to the party in a bad mood. One of the newest additions to the women’s roster, Lana, had been increasingly more insistent on receiving Natalya’s advice due to the fact that WWE’s creative team had decided that Lana wasn’t a good candidate for beginning a new in-ring solo career.
Due to some creative maneuvering on Twitter, Lana managed to earn a spot in a women’s fatal five-way match. Her nerves seemed to be getting the best of her because she continually asked Natalya for advice, bombarding Natalya with repeated urgent text messages. Her constant pleading was beginning to drive Natalya crazy so she vented her feelings to the other women over mimosas.
However, when Lana finally arrived at the brunch, she accused Natalya of bombarding her with the same text messages. Subsequently, a war of words began between the Divas. Natalya eventually informed Lana that perhaps, “you’re not meant for our business.” Lana was justifiably enraged. While Lana may not be the best in-ring performer, she has been and still is involved in the wrestling business. She has also managed to maintain employment with the WWE for quite a while now, so clearly she is meant for the wrestling business.
The fight between the ladies only escalated from there. Nia Jax told Lana that she should figure out her moves on her own, but she wasn’t done there. She also told Lana to “stop being a little bitch.” I personally think that there could have been a little more decorum shown by all the ladies this week.
Meanwhile, there was another fight brewing this one was between WWE Superstar, the Miz and his wife, Maryse.
Maryse and the Miz have had a string of bad luck concerning their Los Angeles home. Apparently, Château Marmiz has been broken into three time in recent months and years. This is especially concerning because Maryse’s 64-year-old mother lives in their home, and is often left home alone while the couple is on the road for WWE.
This week on Total Divas someone attempted to rob the house once again. Maryse was at the end of her rope, and wanted to move. However, the Miz claimed that he wasn’t going to allow robbers to run him out of his own home. In typical Maryse fashion, she didn’t listen to her husband’s opinion. She listed their home without telling the Miz who only discovered that his house was for sale when the news was leaked on a fan site. When Maryse told him that the realtor had found a buyer who was willing to pay the full asking price, he quickly changed his tune and decided that selling the house was a brilliant idea. So once again, Maryse didn’t learn about a valuable lesson that you shouldn’t make major life decisions without telling your husband.
Meanwhile, Brie donated her breast milk to women in need even though it was difficult for her to pump the ounces required she still managed to donate a lot and hope out a lot of new babies in the process. At least one Diva was trying to make a good name for herself and the women’s division this week.
Can’t wait to see what happens next week on the newest episode of Total Divas.
Paige will be having her first match back on Monday Night Raw tomorrow since July 2016, a whooping 17 months.
Several neck issues prevented her from wrestling prior to the draft and then she had to undergo neck surgery in late 2016, putting her out for the majority of 2017.
Paige will be wrestling Sasha Banks on the show, assuming the match goes ahead as planned. The former NXT and Divas champion was supposed to wrestle last week in a six-woman tag match but her opponents were attacked backstage by her new friends, Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose, so the match never took place.
The Raw Tag Team titles will also be on the line with Sheamus and Cesaro taking on Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose.
HBO has released a teaser trailer of the upcoming Andre The Giant documentary which is being produced in conjunction with WWE and Bill Simmons Media Group.
The documentary was announced 10 months ago by Kevin Dunn, WWE Executive Producer, and Peter Nelson, Executive Vice President, HBO Sports. Directing this documentary will be Emmy-Award winning director and producer Jason Hehir and will feature never-before-seen footage and revealing interviews for a comprehensive and intimate portrait of one of WWE’s most beloved, yet largely unknown figures. Interviews will include WWE Superstars, sports and entertainment executives, athletes, media, family, friends and associates.
Tickets for the NXT Takeover: Philadelphia which will be part of the Royal Rumble weekend are now on sale at NXTTickets.com.
The show will take place on Saturday, January 27 at the Wells Fargo Center on the eve of the Royal Rumble. Tickets are available for $20, $40, $55, $85, $110, $125, and $300 for ringside.
The last Takeover, WarGames on the eve of the Survivor Series was far from being sold out with many empty seats and sections on the side of the hard camera.
Tickets for the NXT television tapings at Center Stage in Atlanta are also currently on sale through NXTTickets.com.
Three title matches have been announced for the upcoming Clash of Champions pay-per-view, the last WWE PPV of 2017.
The Smackdown Women’s title will be defended by Charlotte Flair against Natalya after their title match on Tuesday was interrupted by the Riott Squad.
The Smackdown Tag Team titles will also be on the line in a three-way match as The Usos defend against Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin and The New Day.
The other match is for the United States title, which will also be a triple threat match with Baron Corbin taking on Dolph Ziggler and Bobby Roode.
These three matches join the already-announced AJ Styles vs Jinder Mahal for the WWE title.
A new video from Ronda Rousey plugging her brand new soon-to-be-launched website RondaRousey.com has quick cuts of her wrestling training, including at the WWE Performance Center.
The quick-fire video cuts show her doing weight and conditioning training at the state-of-the-art WWE facility in Orlando and wrestling with Natalya at Brian Kendrick’s gym. There are also scenes of doing judo with her husband, a sneak peek of her wedding, and others.
Rousey was said to have started wrestling training a few months ago but these are the first public images released of the former UFC champion doing that. Unlike with other stars, WWE opted not to feature Rousey when she visited the WWE Performance Center.
Ford Motor Company has sued WWE Superstar John Cena after he sold a 2017 Ford GT for $500,000 after signing an agreement that he would not sell the car in the first two years.
The story, reported by TMZ, says that Cena flipped the car after he received it from Ford and then sold it for a very hefty profit.
“Mr. Cena has unfairly made a large profit from the unauthorized resale flip of the vehicle, and Ford has suffered additional damages and losses, including, but not limited to, loss of brand value, ambassador activity, and customer goodwill due to the improper sale,” the lawsuit, filed in Detroit, says.
Cena was selected from thousands of applicants to purchase the super car and now Ford is demanding that the former WWE champion hand over all the profit from the sale as well as other damages.
Replying to the lawsuit, John Cena said that he sold the car and other property to pay bills.
Matt Hardy has gone back to his broken gimmick on Twitter and it seems that going forward, he will resume playing the character that shot him to new heights at Impact Wrestling.
With the news that Anthem is dropping the fight over the trademark, Hardy quickly snapped into the popular character and directed Señor Benjamin, to “procure his coat of battle” as the Great War “has begun on a new plane.”
He then tweeted from the Vanguard1 Twitter account, which has been lifeless since February, posting a GIF of a computerized boot-up sequence.
Hardy also posted a video on YouTube showing him getting his coat from Señor Benjamin, which you can see below.
