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Santino Marella announces his retirement

By
Colin Vassallo
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WWE Superstar Santino Marella announced his retirement from in-ring competition during last night’s non-televised live event in his hometown of Toronto, Canada.

He attributed his retirement due to recurring neck injuries that he has accumulated over the past several years in professional wrestling and is hanging up his boots to avoid any permanent damages.

Marella made his WWE debut in April 2007 during a RAW broadcast from Milan, Italy, where he was the unknown opponent of the-then Intercontinental champion Umaga. Marella, who was billed from Italy, won the IC title that night thanks to the assistance of Bobby Lashley.

Eventually his character turned into a comedic one and managed to get some serious laughs from the WWE audience thanks to his over-the-top antics. During his time in the WWE, he won the Intercontinental twice, Tag Team titles once with Vladimir Kozlov, the U.S. title, and also the Miss WrestleMania crown!

Marella now runs a pro wrestling and mixed martial arts school in Toronto called Battle Arts Academy.

You can see the video of Marella announcing his retirement below.

Ronda Rousey talks about the possibility of working with WWE

By
Colin Vassallo
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Prior to beating her challenger, Alexis Davis, in sixteen seconds last night, UFC champion “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey spoke about maybe one day appearing at a WWE event.

Speaking to Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com, Rousey said that if the opportunity comes to be a “guest host or whatever,” it would be pretty cool and she’d be up to it although she doesn’t know if she’d wrestle for the company.

Rousey is a huge WWE fan and is often seen performing wrestling moves on her Instagram with her other “Four Horsewomen” training partners.

The undefeated champion said that WWE is just like stunt work and she tries to borrow from them when she’s involved in acting.

When she was then asked about CM Punk leaving the company, she said she understood the decision and she went through the same thing with judo.

“So if he wants to come back and find some passion again, I would love to see that,” she said. “But if it’s time for him to move on in his life, then he has 100% of my support in that as well.”

More names added to the IC title battle royal

By
Colin Vassallo
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More names have been added to the Intercontinental title battle royal which will take place at the Battleground pay-per-view later this month.

The current list of WWE Superstars – in alphabetical order – who are so far in the match are Alberto Del Rio, Big E, Bo Dallas, Cesaro, Curtis Axel, Damien Sandow, Dolph Ziggler, Kofi Kingston, Rob Van Dam, Ryback, and The Great Khali.

Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Challenge kicks off tonight on CMT

By
Colin Vassallo
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Stone Cold Steve Austin returns on national television tonight with CMT’s newest competition series titled Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Challenge.

The 10-episode series pits elite athletes against everyday men and women in the ultimate test of strength, stamina and wit. Each episode features eight contestants in head-to-head battles until the last man or woman standing earns the right to take on the toughest obstacle course in America created by Austin himself, the “Skullbuster,” for a chance to win cash.

In tonight’s first episode, there is no shortage of adrenaline as eight men battle for the win in Trench Warfare, The Pulverizer and The Junkyard. If they lose, they leave. Austin’s rules are fair, and competitors are quick to learn that even those with the most physical power may not be a match against pure determination. In the end, only one athlete will make it to the Skullbuster and even then, there are no guarantees he will complete it.

Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Challenge kicks off at 8PM EST.

Monday Night War series launches Monday on WWE Network

By
Colin Vassallo
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The much-anticipated WWE Network series titled ‘The Monday Night War’ makes its debut on July 7 at 11PM EST following Monday Night RAW on USA Network.

The synopsis of the show on the WWE Network website reads, “Media mogul Ted Turner launches WCW Monday Nitro in direct competition against Vince McMahon and WWE,” and it is listed as a sneak peek episode.

It is not yet known what day and time episodes of the series will run on the Network but due to Monday’s launch there will be no RAW backstage post-show.

John Cena off the WWE tour in Australia

By
Colin Vassallo
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John Cena has been pulled from the upcoming WWE tour of Australia and has been replaced by former Shield member Roman Reigns.

The addition of Chris Jericho and Ric Flair to the roster making the trip Down Under was to compensate for the current WWE World Heavyweight champion not making the trip. The new main event features Reigns taking on Kane in a street fight with Ric Flair as the special guest referee.

It’s not known why Cena was taken off the tour.

Santino Marella teams up with Juicy Drop for anti-bullying event

By
Colin Vassallo
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WWE Superstar Santino Marella appeared at Dylan’s Candy Bar in New York City on Wednesday along with Juicy Drop’s Señor Sour for the Bazooka Candy Brand’s Juicy Drop event to promote anti-bullying with Champions Against Bullying.

Santino hosted the “Dare to Test Your Limits” party with kids having the opportunity to spin the wheel and take on fun and crazy dares with Santino and Señor Sour for the chance to win candy prizes and more.  The afternoon culminated at the Anti-Bullying Champion Station where kids pledged to “dare” to stop bullying.

For each person who attended the event, Bazooka Candy Brands donated $1 to Champions Against Bullying. You can see a few photos from the event below.

Renee Young promoted to Superstars commentary team

By
Colin Vassallo
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Renee Young’s stock in the WWE continues to rise as the Canadian broadcaster has just been given another assignment to her already-growing list of WWE duties – commentator.

Young is replacing Byron Saxton on the WWE Superstars television show on the WWE Network, teaming up with Tom Phillips to handle all the weekly play-by-play. Phillips has been the lead commentator on the show since October 2013, taking over from Josh Mathews. Young is his third commentary partner, having previously worked with Alex Riley and Saxton.

Renee Young has been doing TV work for WWE since October 2012 and has performed several duties including doing backstage interviews, WWE App exclusives, handling pre-shows at pay-per-views and live televised events as well as working with NXT.

Triple H was full of praise for Young when interviewed by WWE.COM about the promotion. “It has nothing to do with her being a female or not, it has to do with her being the right person for the job. She’s got a great voice that cuts through the clutter,” he said.

“She is very knowledgeable about WWE, about its history, about the talent and she is really willing to step up and do her homework. I think you’re going to see her grow. You’re going to see her jump on this challenge to become a regular fixture and a regular voice and, hopefully, maybe one day the voice of WWE,” HHH added.

RAW rating for 06/30/2014

By
Colin Vassallo
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The post-MITB Monday Night RAW drew a total of 4,332,000 viewers, up around 300,000 viewers from the previous week.

Hour one had 4,158,000 viewers, followed by 4,348,000 in the second hour and then up to 4,490,000 in the third and final hour. (Ratings credit: PWInsider.com)

Dwayne Johnson pays tribute to Fast & Furious 7 film crew

By
Colin Vassallo
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Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson paid tribute to the Fast & Furious 7 film crew with a touching post on his Instagram account. Johnson – like most involved in the crew – had to be recalled to film additional scenes following the death of one of the lead actors, Paul Walker.

“I’m truly touched by the farewell love my film crew has shown me. It’s been an honour to work with such an incredibly hard working and brilliant crew. (A crew who’s had to practice great restraint daily on this production),” Johnson wrote. “They may not be household names, but they’ll Always be stars in my book. With great love and respect to all of you… see ya down the yellow brick road. Another place. Another time. #ThankUForAllYourWork – Rock.”

The movie was scheduled to open this year but has now been moved to open on April 3, 2015, as the script had to be changed and a lot of work on visual effects had to be carried out to wrap up Paul Walker’s scenes, using his brothers as body doubles.

The Rock will reprise the role of Luke Hobbs, a Diplomatic Security agent which was introduced to the franchise in the fifth installment.

TNA Television title retired from competition

By
Colin Vassallo
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The TNA website has announced today that the Television title has been retired on the order of TNA’s new Executive Director Kurt Angle.

“The TV Title was left dormant by the Dixie Carter and MVP administrations for over a year. Taking over as Executive Director has required me to fix issues they left behind. Championships are the reward of competition inside the ring between wrestlers striving to be the best. As of now, the TV Title is inactive,” Angle said.

The TV title started as the Legends title back in October 2008 and was then renamed to the Global title exactly a year later before changing to Television title in July 2010.

Abyss was the last one to hold the title, winning it at Slammiversary XI in June 2013 from Devon.

Flair and Jericho added to WWE tour in Australia

By
Colin Vassallo
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The WWE Australia Twitter account yesterday revealed that two huge WWE Superstars will be joining the Australia tour in August.

Two time WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair and Chris Jericho have been added to the three-day tour Down Under, appearing at the August 7, 8, and 9 shows in Melbourne, Sydney, and Perth, respectively. Apparently a lot of fans were skeptical about the announcement but the social media team behind the @WWEAustralia account quickly solved those skeptics.

“If we tweet it, it’s legit folks. We don’t get that blue tick for nothing,” a tweet read which also had a winking smiley at the end.

Chris Jericho talks about his latest WWE return

By
Colin Vassallo
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The recently returned Chris Jericho said on his latest podcast that he expressed his wish to work with Bray Wyatt for WrestleMania but plans were already locked for Wyatt to be in a program with John Cena, leaving Jericho out of the biggest event of the year.

Y2J said that while talks for a return started around a month ago, everything was set up in “five minutes” with Triple H this past Friday. The whole return came up when someone from WWE creative called him to see if he was still interested in working with the Wyatt Family.

WWE took steps to keep Jericho’s return as much of a surprise as it can be, hiding Jericho in a bus for a few hours after he was instructed to drive down to the show after all fans made their way inside for the live broadcast. Jericho said that he did meet for a bit with The Miz and the Wyatts before they hit the ring to discuss what they were going to do for the segment.

It’s not yet known how long Jericho will be working for WWE this time around with some saying he will be with the company till the end of the year before leaving again to resume his work with his band Fozzy.

White powder scare at WWE Headquarters

By
Colin Vassallo
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The Stamford Advocate reported yesterday that police were called to the WWE Headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, after an unknown white power was located inside a suspicious package.

WWE spokeswoman Tara Carraro said that they contacted local law enforcement to investigate and all WWE personnel were safe and business was being conducted as usual.

The newspaper tried to get more information from the police but they did not get a response.

WWE fires Emma…and then hires her back

By
Colin Vassallo
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WWE Diva Emma was fired yesterday due to her arrest and was then quickly rehired in the same day.

A message on WWE.COM read, “WWE has come to terms on the release of WWE Diva Emma as of today, July 2, 2014. WWE wishes Emma the best in all her future endeavors.”

On Monday, Emma was arrested in Hartford, Connecticut, after getting caught shoplifting an iPod at Wal-Mart. She was released around an hour later and was not used on the broadcast.

A lot of Superstars and Divas got arrested before and not many of them got fired, especially for doing something small. Her release came across a bit excessive which is why WWE probably did a U-turn and hired her back.

WWE.COM then posted a message later in the day with the headline saying that the company has reinstated her. “Upon further evaluation, WWE has reinstated Tenille Dashwood (WWE Diva Emma) but will take appropriate punitive action for her violation of the law,” the statement read.

WWE Diva Emma arrested for shoplifting at Walmart

By
Colin Vassallo
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WWE Diva Emma got herself arrested yesterday in Hartford, Connecticut, the site of Monday Night RAW, and charged with sixth degree larceny, a Class C Misdemeanor which involves theft of $250 or less.

Police picked up Emma from Walmart at around 1PM and was booked under her real name of Tenille Dashwood with her address in Winter Park, Florida. She was released around an hour and fifteen minutes later from custody according to an arrest log on Hartford.gov.

She went straight to work afterward but did not appear on television.

The rumor going around is that she stole an iPod from Walmart and got busted. If convicted, she faces up to 3 months in jail and fines up to $500.

Meanwhile, WWE released a statement to PWInsider.com regarding the arrest which reads, “WWE is aware that Tenille Dashwood (WWE Diva Emma) was arrested for shoplifting. Ms. Dashwood is ultimately responsible for her personal actions.”

Bad News Barrett stripped of the Intercontinental title

By
Colin Vassallo
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WWE has stripped Bad News Barrett of his Intercontinental title, the second title to be stripped in two months following Daniel Bryan’s short reign as WWE World Heavyweight champion.

Barrett suffered a shoulder injury during Smackdown tapings last week and was pulled out of his Money In The Bank ladder match for the briefcase on Sunday. Barrett is now expected to be out for a couple of months as his separated shoulder will need time to heal.

The now-vacant Intercontinental title will be up for grabs at the upcoming Battleground pay-per-view on July 20 with WWE holding a battle royal with the winner getting the title. So far the only participants announced are Cesaro, Kofi Kingston, Damien Sandow, and The Great Khali.

Cesaro suffers eye injury during match against Kofi Kingston

By
Colin Vassallo
-

The winner of the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania, Cesaro, suffered an eye injury on RAW last night during his match against Kofi Kingston.

According to WWE physician Dr. Chris Amann, Cesaro has a scratch on the right side of the eye, which is called the sclera and not on the cornea, which is the clear part of the eye. “We’re going to keep his eye patched for the next 24-48 hours, use some artificial tears and re-evaluate him tomorrow prior to his match.”

Cesaro is scheduled to face Dolph Ziggler on the WWE Network’s Main Event but obviously will be pulled if he is not cleared for in-ring action.

John Cena to be on the cover of WWE 2K15 video game

By
Colin Vassallo
-

WWE unveiled the new cover for their upcoming video game WWE 2K15 which features the current WWE World Heavyweight champion John Cena and the new WWE logo.

This is obviously not the first time that Cena is gracing a cover of the popular WWE video game but his first since WWE moved to 2K Sports. Last year The Rock graced the cover of the game and while Cena’s choice for the cover shouldn’t come as a major surprise, many thought that someone else would be on the cover, namely Sting, who is said to have come to an agreement with 2K. WWE and 2K already filmed several spots and promos with Sting lookalikes last month.

Just like every year, the WWE video game will have special or limited edition covers featuring other WWE Superstars.

“It is truly an honor and privilege to serve as the WWE 2K15 cover Superstar,” said Cena. “2K has a tremendous history of sports simulation games and cover athletes, including Michael Jordan, Kevin Durant, LeBron James and of course, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. I look forward to carrying the flag for WWE 2K15 and introducing the incredible next-generation of WWE gaming to the WWE Universe.”

Developed by Yuke’s and Visual Concepts, and published by 2K Sports, WWE 2K15 will be released in North America on October 28, 2014 and in Europe on October 31, 2014, and will be available for Playstation 3 and 4, and Xbox 360 and One.

The cover of the game can be seen below.

AJ Lee is back…and she takes the Divas title

By
Colin Vassallo
-

Chris Jericho was not the only former champion to return on RAW last night as AJ Lee also came back from hiatus and won the WWE Divas title.

AJ left WWE the day after WrestleMania for some personal time, dropping the title to newcomer Paige in a hot segment on the post-Mania RAW. She got married to CM Punk last month in a small and private ceremony.

Her return to RAW yesterday was sealed with a win and regaining the WWE Divas title. Lee interrupted Paige and basically did what Paige did to her on RAW following WrestleMania – talk her into a match for the title. The roles were reversed as a cocky Paige basically turned heel while the returning AJ was the face. AJ won the title in a very quick match, leaving the British-born Diva crying.

AJ currently holds the record of the longest Divas champion with 295 consecutive days with the belt.

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