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Global Force Wrestling signs deal with international TV distributor

By
Colin Vassallo
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Global Force Wrestling has signed an international TV distribution deal with London-based sales and production house Boulder Creek International (BCI), which will make GFW’s Amped programs available beginning in November.

“We are thrilled to continue our international growth and partner with BCI, an industry leader that inherently understands our product, brand vision and ultimately our fans,” GFW founder and CEO Jeff Jarrett said. “We look forward to BCI helping us bring a variety of entertainment properties to our fans around the world.”

Matt Jeschelnik, managing director of BCI said, “I have always wanted to work with Jeff. I admire his business acumen and his ability to make truly entertaining content. I am delighted that Jeff has chosen BCI to distribute GFW, and I look forward to announcing our broadcast partners.”

The press release which was issued today announcing the deal did not specify where the show would eventually air and on which channel.

Stephen Amell and Stardust present $297,557 check to Emily’s House

By
Colin Vassallo
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Hollywood actor Stephen Amell, the star of CW’s Arrow, and WWE Superstar Stardust today presented a check of $297,557 to Emily’s House in Toronto after Amell and WWE teamed up for commemorative merchandise celebrating his in-ring debut at SummerSlam.

“Sometimes you need to put your differences aside for a good cause. So today… Stardust and I presented Emily’s House in Toronto with a check for $297,557 and helped open the Dream Space Playroom in memory of Oliver “Odd Sock Ollie” Muirhead. Can’t really put into words what a special morning this was,” Amell wrote on his Facebook page accompanied by a photo with Stardust (in full face paint) and the receiving group.

Amell described Cody Rhodes as “one of the most selfless, genuine human beings I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. The two shared a feud throughout the year mostly on Twitter before it moved to the ring, culminating with a match at SummerSlam between Amell and Neville vs Stardust and King Barrett.

Paige discusses the bar fight with Alicia Fox during Comic Con Q&A session

By
Colin Vassallo
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During a Q&A session with the fans at the Wizard World Comic Con in Pittsburgh, former two time WWE Divas champion Paige addressed the bar fight from a week ago in Baltimore.

Paige said that she and Alicia Fox were signing karaoke and there was this drunk lady who kept taking videos of them. First they asked nicely to stop recording but the “drunk mess” didn’t listen and grabbed a drink and threw it at them.

“Luckily we had a drink to throw back,” Paige said as fans laughed. The drunk patron then threw another drink and Paige poured water on her in return.

All of a sudden a bunch of friends came over and one of them started poking Paige on the head. At that point everyone got ejected from the bar and Paige said it was hard not to fight back but she didn’t want to get fired from her job. Before getting thrown out of the building, the other party told Paige and Fox that they would see them outside…and they did see them outside as a brawl was about to start.

Eventually the other ladies backed down and told them that they would fight them…on another day.

Jimmy Uso and referee do the Nae Nae during live event

By
Colin Vassallo
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During non-televised live events, wrestlers are often given the liberty to do stuff that on television are usually a no no.

And that’s what happened at last night’s event in Huntsville, Alabama, as Heath Slater and Jimmy Uso brought the house down with an impromptu dance off. During the match, Slater challenged Uso to a dance off and Slater kicked things off dancing like a goof ball.

However when Uso started his dance, the Von Braun Center came unglued when the song ‘Watch Me’ hit the speakers. And to make things even better, WWE referee Chad Patton even joined Jimmy Uso do the Nae Nae to a large ovation from the crowd.

As you can imagine, Uso won the competition and when Slater was complaining he received a super kick to the face. You can check out the hilarious video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErW3tkhHLfg

Chris Benoit’s son David backstage at WWE event in Edmonton

By
Colin Vassallo
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David Benoit, the son of Chris Benoit, was backstage at the non-televised live WWE event in Edmonton yesterday.

Benoit, who is an aspiring wrestler and looks very very similar to his late father, is always welcomed backstage when WWE comes to town and is big friends with Chris Jericho. Both Jericho and Natalya posted photos with Benoit on their Instagram accounts. David and his sister Megan, are Chris Benoit’s children from his first marriage. You can see the photos of Benoit with Jericho and Natalya below.

Canadian wrestler Phil Lafon, who wrestled in the WWE as Dan Kroffat with his tag team partner Doug Furnas, was also backstage at the show.

WWE adds new female coach and two developmental talent to the Performance Center

By
Colin Vassallo
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The WWE Performance Center will welcome some new additions this month as PWInsider.com is reporting that Biff Busick, the former CZW champion, and Athena Reese, who wrestled for SHIMMER, have both been signed WWE developmental deals. Also, Sarah Stock who had a career with CMLL and TNA, is now a full time coach at the premises.

Busick is a 29 year old from Boston who has been wrestling since 2007. He worked for Combat Zone Wrestling, Evolve, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, and other independents in the United Kingdom.

Reese is a 27 year old African American wrestler from Texas who also made her debut in 2007. She started wrestling for SHIMMER in September 2010 and also worked for Shine Wrestling and Women Superstars Uncensored. Her finishing move, the O-Face, is a spectacular top rope diving Stunner.

Sarah Stock will join Sara D’Amato as the other female trainer at the Performance Center. The Canadian Stock is 35 years old and has been wrestling since 2002. She wrestled as Dark Angel during her CMLL days as well as Sarita when working for TNA Wrestling between 2009 and 2013. She won the TNA Kockout Tag Team titles twice during her career there, once with Taylor Wilde and once with Rosita.

Lana undergoes successful surgery on her wrist

By
Colin Vassallo
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WWE Diva Lana underwent successful surgery on Thursday to repair a broken wrist she suffered last weekend while training in the ring.

“Lana underwent open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) of a left distal radius fracture with a volar plate,” Dr. Chris Amann told WWE.COM. “The fracture was stabilized and returned to its normal anatomic position during the surgery using the volar plate and screws. Lana did very well without any complications and is expected to make a full recovery.”

That recovery is expected to take up to four months which means that there will be no physical altercations on television if she’s brought in sooner. She was rumored to be tag teaming with Dolph Ziggler to take on Summer Rae and Rusev at an upcoming pay-per-view.

The surgery took place in Nashville, Tennessee, where Lana and her real-life boyfriend Rusev live.

The New Day on WWE Network’s Table For 3 on Monday night

By
Colin Vassallo
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A new episode of WWE Network’s original series Table For 3 will air on Monday night immediately following Raw.

The subjects of the new episode are Xavier Woods, Big E, and Kofi Kingston, who together are the popular and hilarious tag team The New Day. The preview on the WWE Network schedule reads, “The New Day discusses life on the road, their ups and downs, and the special bond that brought them to the top of the WWE Tag Team division!”

WWE aired only one episode of this series so far after Rowdy Roddy Piper passed away. In that episode, Mean Gene Okerlund hosted the show as Piper and Mr Wonderful Paul Orndorff discussed WrestleMania and road stories from their time in the 1980s.

Hulk Hogan chosen as brand ambassador and spokesman for FanPicks.com

By
Colin Vassallo
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FanPicks.com today announced that Hulk Hogan will be the fantasy sports site’s official spokesman and brand ambassador.

In this morning’s announcement, FanPicks.com spokesperson Shawn Perez said, “We all make mistakes and deserve second chances. Hulk Hogan is an admired athlete and Global Icon. For 3-plus decades, he has been inspiring fans around the world. He spends a good amount of his time doing so much for numerous charities and causes. He’s a perfect partner for us and together we will be making contributions to the Make-A-Wish Foundation on behalf of Hulk Hogan.”

The website is already running a promotion for free money using the promo code HULK25.

FanPicks.com is a fantasy sport industry leader, offering many options for one day fantasy league cash money games. The site offers major sports like football, baseball, basketball, hockey as well as collegiate basketball and football. In addition MMA, Golf and Racing are also offered. FanPicks.com one day leagues remove the tedious long term season commitments, members compete when they want to and are not forced into action by the grind of season long tournaments.

Kurt Angle returning to the ring during the BFG weekend

By
Colin Vassallo
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TNA announced on its website that Hall of Famer and former TNA champion Kurt Angle will be returning to the ring during the Bound for Glory weekend.

Angle, who has been out for two months after neck surgery to remove a benign tumor, will wrestle at the BFG Tour non-televised event in Salem, Virginia, on October 3, and then the following night at the Bound For Glory pay-per-view in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Angle stated earlier this week that once his TNA contract is up in January 2016 he will not be signing a new one and will be taking a break from professional wrestling.

Former WWE head writer named SVP of Development for The Rock’s production company

By
Colin Vassallo
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Former WWE lead writer Brian Gewirtz has been named the Senior Vice President of Development for Seven Bucks Productions, the company owned by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and his ex-wife and now manager Dany Garcia.

Gewirtz worked for WWE for around 16 years before and was part of the Attitude Era team that put WWE back on the winning track. He served as the Raw lead writer for 11 years and worked with The Rock during his WWE days and was in charge of helping out writing the funny promos.

“Brian and I have had a saying for the last 15 years, every time we work together which is “Let’s knock this outta the park” and we’ve been lucky enough to hit a few bangers that are still sailing,” said Johnson in a story published on Deadline Hollywood.

“This is an exciting time for Seven Bucks and we’re thrilled to work with Brian to continue producing groundbreaking programming that speaks to a global audience,” added Dany Garcia.

WWE stands by Nhooph Al-Areebi over years-old racist remarks on Twitter

By
Colin Vassallo
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In a statement issued to PWInsider.com, WWE stood by developmental talent Nhooph Al-Areebi over the racist remarks that were dug up from her Twitter profile from several years ago.

Earlier this week, a story on Reddit’s SquaredCircle community outed these years old tweets that showed Al-Areebi using the “n” word and making other racial remarks. Al-Areebi, a Canadian of Arab descent, deleted her Twitter account as a result of this.

“WWE conducted a thorough investigation and has determined that Nhooph Al-Areebi’s (aka Jasmin) Twitter account was used without her knowledge when she was 16 and 17 years old. Jasmin remains apologetic for any offensive remarks that were made.”

Al-Areebi said that she used her Twitter account with someone else and called it “poor judgment” from her end.

She wrestles under the name of Jasmin.

Kana gets her new WWE name

By
Colin Vassallo
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Japanese female Superstar Kana was at the NXT television tapings yesterday at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, and was given her new WWE name.

The 33 year old from Osaka will now be wrestling under the name of Asuka, a tribute to multi-time champion and retired Japanese pro wrestler Lioness Asuka. Lioness Asuka had a 25 year pro wrestling career and was a major part of the All Japan Women’s Pro Wrestling. She retired in 2005 after a neck injury.

The new Asuka taped an in-ring segment that will air on the September 23 edition of NXT on the WWE Network.

Divas match to headline upcoming NXT Takeover show

By
Colin Vassallo
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The main event for the next NXT Takeover show scheduled for October 7 has been announced and WWE seems like it’s going ahead with the Divas revolution push.

For the first time ever in WWE history, a women’s match will headline a special event, with the NXT Women’s champion Bayley defending her title against Sasha Banks in a 30 minute Iron (W0)Man match. The two tore the house down at the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn show with a match of the year candidate and they will be looking to surpass all the expectations again as headliners.

NXT Takeover returns at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida and will air live on the WWE Network.

Lana undergoing wrist surgery today

By
Colin Vassallo
-

Lana is undergoing wrist surgery today and is expected to be out of action for around 4 months.

“Hello. I’m getting my surgery on my wrist…yay,” Lana said in a video she posted on her Twitter and Facebook in a small girl voice from the hospital bed. “Wish me luck,” she then said, as she tried to wave with her broken wrist and acting all goofy afterward. “I’ll be back!”

Lana broke her wrist last weekend when she was training in the ring in Fairfax, Virginia. Lana has never wrestled on WWE television and was getting ready for the rumored mixed tag team match with Dolph Ziggler against Rusev and Lana. The program seems to be continuing with Rusev and Ziggler scheduled to wrestle each other again at Night of Champions.

You can see Lana’s video below.

https://twitter.com/LanaWWE/status/642034020549832704

WWE Diva replaced from the cast of the new season of Total Divas

By
Colin Vassallo
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WWE Diva Trinity Fatu, better known to wrestling fans as Naomi, wrote on Twitter that she has been once again replaced from the Total Divas show for season 5.

When a fan asked if Naomi and her husband can get their spin off show so they get more screen time, she replied, “Unfortunately we have been replaced for the 2nd time but I support my girls & wish for another successful season.”

Trinity was not featured in the second half of season 3 of the show but was brought back for the new season which is currently airing on E! Tough Enough finalist Amanda is rumored to have taken her place on the show for season 5 and she has been traveling with the cast for the past few weeks.

Dave Bautista signs for two new movies

By
Colin Vassallo
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Former WWE champion Dave Bautista has landed two movies in the span of a week according to Deadline Hollywood.

The first movie is yet-to-be-named action thriller with Bruce Willis and Christopher Meloni and will be released through Lionsgate Premiere. Steven C. Miller will be directing on a script written by Michael Cody and Chris Sivertson. Production begins later this month in Ohio.

The plot revolves around an FBI agent who is on the trail of bank robbers who give the stolen loot to charity. As he delves further into the investigation, the lawman discovers the trail of secrets that the owner of a bank – played by Willis – has protected.

The second movie is also an action thriller titled Bushwick with Bautista starring opposite
Jane Levy. Cary Murnion and Jonathan Milott will be directing and there’s no studio behind it yet as the company will be selling the rights at the Toronto Film Festival.

Bushwik is a movie following 20-year-old Lucy (Levy) and war veteran Stupe (Bautista) during a domestic crisis as Texas tries to secede from the U.S., with NYC being used as a negotiation tool.

Total Divas season 4 episode 10 rating

By
Colin Vassallo
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Episode 10 of season 4 of Total Divas, titled Gone with the Wine, climbed to a season high of 1,143,000 viewers and a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic.

The show was up from last week’s 1.02 million viewers and is the highest rated episode of season 4 so far although still below the average of what season 3 did earlier this year. (Ratings credit: TV By The Numbers)

WWE developmental talent deletes her Twitter after old racial slurs pop up

By
Colin Vassallo
-

The “investigative work” of fans on WWE developmental talent spelled bad news for 20 year old WWE developmental talent Nhooph Al-Areebi.

The Canadian of Arab descent deleted her Twitter account after tweets from 2012 were brought up showing several racist slurs and remarks. Her Twitter username was @isntshelovely_4 and the account was deleted 24 hours after a story on Reddit’s SquaredCircle community pointed out to several tweets. Her Instagram account with the username isntshelovely416 is still active.

Al-Areebi was signed to a WWE deal in April as part of a new class of International athletes and made her NXT debut as part of Tyler Breeze’s entrance at the NXT Takeover: Unstoppable event.

Another WWE developmental talent, Zahra Schreiber, was fired after posts from her Instagram account of a couple of years back featured the Nazi symbol of the swastika and wrote that it’s “no big deal.” Schreiber has since apologized although it was a bit too late.

Raw rating for 09/07/2015

By
Colin Vassallo
-

Monday Night Raw this week drew an average of 3,385,000 viewers, down over a whopping half a million viewers from last week’s show. Raw went head to head with college football on ESPN which did 10,585,000 viewers. With NFL season returning, WWE will face some tough competition every week and such numbers will probably become a weekly thing.

Hour one did 3,570,000 viewers, followed by 3,564,000 in the second hour, and then to a very low 3,021,000 in the third and final hour. (Ratings credit: TV By The Numbers)

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