Hulk Hogan’s Rock ’n’ Wrestling cartoon series makes its debut on the WWE Network tonight immediately right after Monday Night Raw.
The series originally aired on CBS on Saturday mornings from September 1985 to December 1986 and had two seasons and twenty six episodes produced.
Those portrayed on the show are Hulk Hogan, Junkyard Dog, Lou Albano, Andre The Giant, Wendi Ricther, Jimmy Snuka, Hillbilly Jim, Tito Santana, Roddy Piper, Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, Fabulous Moolah, Big John Stuff, Mr. Fuji, Bobby Heenan, and Gene Okerlund.
None of those mentioned did the voice overs for their character as voice actors were hired to do those. Perhaps the most famous from the voice actors is the late James Avery, who went on the become Uncle Phil in Fresh Prince of Bel Air. He voiced the Junkyard Dog.
Unlike the last couple of seasons, this year’s Tough Enough will crown two champions, one man and one woman.
When the show originally started, the competition always ended with two winners, however only season one crowned a male and a female. That season was won by Maven and Nidia and then for season two, two females got the contracts, Jackie Gayda and Linda Miles. Tough Enough III was won by two males, John Hennigan and Matt Cappotelli.
For the last two seasons, season 4 dubbed as the $1,000,000 Tough Enough and season 5 hosted by Steve Austin, only had one winner each.
Wrestling-Online.com is now taking bookings for our WrestleMania 32 hotel at The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas, for $299 per night including complimentary Internet connection.
This is the fourth time partnering with The Ritz-Carlton brand to bring an alternative accommodation to WrestleMania.
You can book your room by going to http://w-o.it/wm32hotel and use the group code WREWREA when instructed.
The following is a press release which Global Force Wrestling issued to announce the MiLB Grand Slam Tour.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – You might be able to buy peanuts and Cracker Jacks, and there’s sure to be a crowd. But this will be a whole new ball game.
The historic first Global Force Wrestling show will be held on Friday night, June 12 at The Ballpark at Jackson in Jackson, Tennessee. as part of GFW’s “MiLB Grand Slam Tour.” The tour will feature stops from Florida to California and several points in between.
It’s a grassroots approach building toward the first GFW broadcast event on Friday, July 24 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Minor-league parks operated by both private ownership and municipalities have agreed to play host to Global Force Wrestling shows when their baseball-playing tenants are out of town. It’s an easy win for the parks, which gain another great source for revenue. For GFW it’s a chance to build momentum, show off its roster and deliver on its mission statement to be the most fan interactive brand in sports entertainment.
“These ballparks are the center of attention in the summer in most of these cities, and we’re eager to get out there and mix with our fans and show them what the GFW brand is all about,” said Jeff Jarrett, Global Force Wrestling founder and CEO.
The stars of GFW will be appearing in such cities as Knoxville, Tennessee, Richmond, Virginia, and Clinton, Iowa. Dates for the summer ballpark tour are available on globalforcewrestling.com, and more will be added in the coming weeks.
“Global Force Wrestling presented us with a great plan, one that will be beneficial to us and all ballparks, teams and cities as well as to their burgeoning brand,” said Todd “Parney” Parnell, vice president and chief operating officer of the Richmond (Va.) Flying Squirrels. “We know GFW will generate a lot of interest and excitement, not only the night of the show but for weeks in advance.”
Atlanta Braves catcher A.J. Pierzynski is excited about the alliance of his profession and his pastime.
“Wrestling and baseball make a great tag team,” said Pierzynski, a wrestling aficionado. “And I’m thrilled to see so many minor-league parks, some of which I’ve played in, jump on board.”
Global Force Wrestling will roll out its talent roster in the next couple of weeks. It’s a lineup filled with speed and power, righties and lefties, starters and closers, sure to provide thrills at every ballpark.
WWE has started accepting applications for the new season of Tough Enough which will return on USA Network on June 23.
Applicants are encouraged to submit their own video and then share it on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, using the #ToughEnough hashtag.
In the video, WWE is looking for your passion for WWE and it’s important to shoot the video horizontally, showcasing your personality and your physique.
No copyrighted music or trademarked logos can be on the video and the video can’t be more than 60 seconds long. You have to be alone in the video and keep it TVPG, so no nudity, profanity or vulgarity of any kind.
During the latest Jim Ross podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels revealed that WWE has tried to convince him to come out of retirement for next year’s WrestleMania in Dallas, Texas.
The Heartbreak Kid said that the idea of a farewell match was brought up but Michaels said that he’s happily retired and he declined the offer. He retired after losing to The Undertaker at WrestleMania 26 in Phoenix, Arizona, and has not wrestled a single match since then, honoring the 2010 deal. HBK showed up at WrestleMania this year and super kicked Sting in the face during the Sting/Triple H match.
WWE is planning some big things for next year’s WrestleMania at the AT&T Stadium as they hope to break the attendance record for a WrestleMania which has stood since 1987. The AT&T Stadium will be able to hold close or just over 100,000 fans depending on the set up used.
TMZ is reporting that the father of Eddie Gilbert, Tommy, is suing WWE for using his son’s image and likeness on the WWE Network without paying any sort of royalties.
The dad, who is in charge of Eddie Gilbert’s estate, is not suing to block the footage but to get compensated in return.
According to docs … Eddie’s dad, Tommy Gilbert, is in charge of the estate and says the WWE is plastering his son’s image and likeness all over TV and other media platforms without permission — and, more importantly, without paying them a dime.
Tommy says old wrestling footage of Eddie — a pro from ’79 until his death of a heart attack in ’95 — is being used to promote the WWE. Gilbert wrestled for the then WWF between 1982 and 1984 and also wrestled for the UWF, Crockett Promotions, WCW, and others. He passed away in February 1995 at age 33 from a heart attack.
“Through the years, WWE has acquired the legal rights to library footage of various former wrestling organizations including Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Mid-Southern Wrestling among many others,” a WWE spokesman told TMZ. “WWE has made substantial investments to acquire these copyrighted works and has the legal right to use them.” The same rep said that similar cases in the past were filed against WWE and all were unsuccessful with WWE winning each case.
Former TNA announcer Taz talked about his departure from the company in his latest edition of the Human Podcast Machine on Play.It.
Taz said that he was asked for his release and he got it and said that it was all professional and he left the proper way. He revealed that his deal was up in the Summer anyway and was already looking into alternatives and the way he said it was that he was not going to renew his deal anyway even though TNA wanted him to stay.
He confirmed the reports that payments were not coming in and his checks came late and had to do what he had to do. “I did a service, I wasn’t paid for that service,“ Taz said, adding that TNA understood his situation. Once the checks were not coming, he gave TNA his notice and that was it.
He said that he would have liked to make a little bit more money but then again everyone felt like that and despite not making the most he was happy from the financial side of things.
Addressing the rumor of him having a disagreement with Josh Mathews, Taz said that he did indeed have a fallout with Matthews but it had nothing to do with him leaving TNA. He said that over the years he wrestled guys who hated him and he hated back but when it came down to business they all took care of each other.
“While I was working with Josh I had zero problems with him,” Taz said, which means that the fallout had to do something on a personal level rather than a professional one.
Mick Foley’s comedy show at Full Sail University will have additional help as WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross and color commentator John “Bradshaw” Layfield will be joining him for the stories.
The show, titled Cheap Pops, will be held on April 24 and WWE cameras will be there to tape the special for the WWE Network. Jim Ross is also in negotiations to hold one of his RINGSIDE shows at Full Sail for a WWE Network taping.
WWE will tape several episodes of NXT the day before, on April 23, at the same location. Tickets for those tapings are sold out however tickets still remain for Foley’s show which are selling for $25 each.
The May/June edition of Muscle & Fitness Hers magazine feature a nine-page spread on the Bella Twins – the WWE Divas champion Nikki and her sister Brie. The two are also on the cover of the magazine.
Apart from the pictorial and training tips, the spread also features an interview with the Bellas where they discuss how they landed in the WWE, working as heel and faces, Total Divas, their respective loved ones, and more.
You can see the full spread including photos below.
The Furious 7 movie which features Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson reprising his role as DS agent Luke Hobbs has surpassed the $1 billion mark in worldwide box office receipts.
The movie – which also has Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges, Jason Statham, Djimon Hounsou, and Kurt Russell – has generated nearly $274 million domestically and over $735 million in foreign markets. It is the number one in the Fast & Furious franchise and currently sits in number 19 in the biggest all time worldwide chart.
UFC Women’s Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey also has a small part in Furious 7. While one of the leading actors, Paul Walker, died while filming the movie, the franchise seems like it’s set to continue without him.
By the way, Furious 7 is the first film from Universal to surpass the $1 billion mark.
WWE wrapped up the long and exhausting European tour today with the final two shows in Zurich, Switzerland, and Nuremberg, Germany.
This year’s tour took WWE Superstars and Divas to 11 different countries for 21 different shows all in a total of 11 days. Television tapings were also held overseas, this time in London, England. It was a successful tour in terms of attendance as the company managed to sell out most of the shows, especially those headlined by John Cena.
Everyone will be flying to Albany, New York, for Monday’s Raw. After Smackdown tapings on Tuesday in Providence, Rhode Island, there will be no other shows until the Extreme Rules pay-per-view on April 26. WWE Superstars and Divas have been going on pretty much full speed ahead since WrestleMania week so the four days off will be welcomed!
The Wi-Fi hotspots around the Levi’s Stadium at WrestleMania 31 were going non stop all afternoon as Mobile Sports Report today revealed that WWE fans used a whopping 4.5 terabytes during the event, smashing the previous record of 3.3 terabytes used during the 49ers home opener in 2014.
The number was given out by a representative of the San Francisco 49ers, who own and operate the Levi’s Stadium.
To service the entire stadium, techs extended the Wi-Fi network to reach the field, which had a capacity of around 4,000 people. Extra Wi-Fi coverage was also added for the three temporary seating sections that were erected in the Levi’s Stadium southeast plaza.
“We considered the event a success from a Wi-Fi standpoint considering the temporary APs served almost 4,000 people and moved a large amount of data,” said Roger Hacker, senior manager, corporate communications for the San Francisco 49ers. “We moved a significant amount of traffic all the while seeing minimal negative comments on social media.”
76 extra access points were installed throughout the stadium with 69 on the field level itself and seven more on the field-level walls. The results from the WrestleMania event, Hacker said, will help the Niners and Levi’s Stadium staff prepare for future events with on-field seating. Access Points were placed underneath seats, extending the network “in a cost-effective, safe and repeatable manner.”
According to statistics released by the 49ers, the peak concurrent user mark was 14,800 on the Wi-Fi network at around 8:10PM. The Wi-Fi network carried 1.61 Gbps of average continuous bandwidth from 2:20PM to 8:00PM, also a new stadium record. The peak bandwidth usage was 2.474 Gbps at 7:10PM.
The reason WWE Diva Paige was taken out this past Monday on Raw in London was because she will be taking a few weeks off to film the WWE Studios movie Santa’s Little Helper.
Paige won the battle royal to become the number one contender for the Divas title but Naomi then turned heel and destroyed her in front of the British crowd. WWE.COM then put up a story saying that Paige suffered internal injuries and has been ordered not to wrestle for now.
Joining Paige for the movie is The Miz, now a veteran for WWE Studios movies. The former WWE champion is also expected to somehow be written out from television next week to go filming. He is scheduled to face Mizdow again on Raw in a few days.
The comedy movie is set to be released in time for the holidays.
WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley will be doing a stand up comedy show at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, next Friday, April 24.
Titled Mick Foley: Cheap Pops!, the one night only special which will also feature other WWE Superstars and Legends will be taped for the WWE Network.
Tickets for the show went on sale this morning for $25 each. You must be at least 18 years old to attend the show. Tickets can be purchased at http://wwe.me/LHXGZ.
Brian Fritz from The Sporting News is reporting that it’s not just TNA talent that has not been paid, but their production staff, most of who are freelancers, have also not been paid lately.
Fritz says that according to one person from the production crew who wished to remain anonymous, they have not been paid yet for the One Night Only PPV tapings from mid February. The company just cleared checks for the UK tour which happened at the end of January but the freelancers received around $1,000 each less for their services.
The anonymous crew member said that the company told them that they issued checks for the February shows but no one received them.
“They are just blatantly lying to us all of the time,” he said. “They’re probably still on the floor in Dallas at the office of Panda Energy.” He added that the crew is tired of being treated like that with the company showing no respect for them.
TNA President Dixie Carter wished Taz well in a message on Twitter after he announced his departure from the company.
“You are such a talent, an amazing family man and a legend inside the ring @OfficialTaz. Wish you all the very best always,” Carter wrote. Other TNA talents also chimed in and wished Taz luck wherever he might end up.
The man known as the human suplex machine parted ways with TNA after five years working there following disputes over lack of payments. Tomorrow’s Impact will not feature Taz on commentary. No replacement has been announced yet.
Dressed – and we use that term very lightly – in pink and black, Nikki and Brie Bella grace the cover of the May/June issue of Muscle & Fitness Hers Magazine which hits newsstands on April 22.
The sisters are looking mighty fine in skimpy gym wear and will be sharing their tag team workout tips in the magazine which also includes photos of the two working out.
Eva Marie was on the cover of the January/February issue of the same magazine and in case you are wondering why the sudden influx of WWE Divas on such magazines it’s because Triple H and Stephanie McMahon now sit on the editorial board of Muscle & Fitness and Shape magazines.
You can check out the front of the magazine below.
2K today announced the first simulation-based WWE video game for mobile platforms, WWE 2K. The game is available now for download on iOS and Android devices for $7.99. WWE 2K offers authentic WWE gameplay in a mobile format through inspiration from several popular gameplay elements and modes from the WWE 2K flagship WWE video game franchise available on consoles.
WWE 2K for mobile devices includes a playable roster of WWE Superstars and Legends, including Hulk Hogan, John Cena, Sting, Triple H, Undertaker, Daniel Bryan, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt. Players will experience authentic WWE action, including multiple match types, full WWE Superstar ring entrances and comprehensive move sets. In addition, they will access modes inspired by the flagship WWE 2K franchise on consoles, including Create-a-Superstar and Career Mode, as well as live multiplayer matches and unlockable rewards.
“As the first simulation-based WWE video game for mobile devices, WWE 2K provides an opportunity to experience virtual WWE action anywhere and at any time,” said Greg Thomas, President at Visual Concepts. “Inspired by the gameplay and authenticity of WWE 2K for consoles, WWE 2K offers WWE and mobile gaming enthusiasts a variety of popular WWE Superstars, game modes and more in a premium mobile format.”
WWE has been named the winner of two awards at the fourth annual Cynopsis Sports Media Awards – WWE Network for Over-The-Top Content Service and the top social media award for Overall Social Media Excellence.
WWE received the award for best Over-The-Top Content Service for WWE Network, beating the NFL, NHL, CBS Sports and PGA. Additionally, WWE won the award for Overall Social Media Excellence beating Turner Sports, Showtime Sports, Golf Channel, Pac-12 Network and El Rey Network.
The Cynopsis Sports Media Awards recognizes the most outstanding work in the sports industry from the past year with categories that span television, digital and marketing.
