TMZ began reporting a couple hours ago that Ronda Rousey will become the first female fighter in the UFC. Rousey will bring her 135lb Women’s Bantamweight championship with her from Strikeforce to the UFC making her also the first ever female champion. The 25 year old champion will defend her belt for the first time in the new organization in 2013. Dana White tweeted a smiley face once the story began to circulate but is yet to confirm or deny the rumors.
TMZ in the same article is also saying that according to their source that the newly announced Strikeforce card on January 12th in Oklahoma City will be their last before they shut the doors for good.
Check back later for further news as it becomes available.
The New York Post has an interview with Triple H regarding WrestleMania 29, discussing several topics on what makes WrestleMania the biggest event of the year.
Triple H mentioned that Axxess will be a bit different this year, including more autograph and meet-and-greet sessions along with new stuff like VIP experience where fans will get to see how backstage works during WWE television shows.
Asked about the show being outdoor in April in New Jersey, Triple H said it “could be a bit nippy,” adding that for fans in the area it won’t make much of a difference but fans from outside that area will have to bring appropriate clothing.
“We’ve got it all figured out to have the heating right and make sure that everybody being there is going to have an enjoyable experience,” HHH said. “I think that at the end of the day, it’s not going to make a difference where we are, enclosed or open, the atmosphere is going to be the same, it’s going to be electric.”
You can read the rest of the interview at http://bitly.com/VVv5jx (Thanks to W-O reader ‘rockypita’ for the link)
Former WWE champion John “Bradshaw” Layfield has announced that he is returning to the WWE full-time doing commentary for Smackdown along with Josh Matthews and on pay-per-views with Cole and King.
“Very happy WWE and I have worked out a deal for me to return on a full time basis. There came a need when my friend Jerry Lawler had a heart attack and was not able to work, however, I realized how much I enjoyed being back and this was the basis for my decision to return.”
Apart from doing Smackdown, JBL will fill in for The Miz when The Miz will be wrestling on Main Event.
Bradshaw said that his return does not involve getting in the ring again as he doesn’t want to risk getting injured while doing training for his Seven Summits climbs.
Regarding doing RAW as well, JBL said that the show is “100% Jerry’s” and there are no plans to turn it in a three-man booth.
2013 will kick off with the second season of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil. This morning, the media got a chance to speak with the two men that will try to take a group of fighters and turn them into the next big thing in the UFC. This upcoming season will see heavyweights Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira and Fabricio “Vai Cavalo” Werdum pick teams of welterweight fighters. Nogueira and Werdum both are extremely honored to coach these men in their home country of Brazil. They are hoping for a good healthy war to take place in the house but also want to set the foundation of good diets and training techniques to their teams.
The rematch between these two coaches will take place at the conclusion of the season. The first time they met was back in Pride in 2006. Nogueira walked out that night as the winner by unanimous decision. There has been a lot of change and experience gained for both of these men since than. Werdum, who was almost solely a jiu-jitsu practitioner at that time, has developed a devastating set of striking skills. In his last fight he stopped Mike Russow with punches in the first round and the fight before he absolutely pounded Roy Nelson. The hard chinned Big Country was able to make it the distance but had little to offer other than being able to take a punch.
Nogueira submitted Dave Herman last month in Brazil in his first return to action since suffering a horrific broken arm at the hands of Frank Mir. Nogueira had a plate put in and 16 screws in his upper arm felt that his last fight with Herman was a great confidence builder to show him he still can compete and wants to get back to the top of the division.
While both fighters would love to hold the UFC Heavyweight belt Nogueira has made it clear over and over that he will not fight Junior Dos Santos. JDS has been training with the Nogueira’s since he was a blue belt and is considered family. Werdum had one run in with JDS already back at UFC 90 and was stopped by the current champ by punches in the first round. Werdum than went to fight for Strikeforce before returning to the UFC.
On January 26th, live from the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, the UFC’s Flyweight champion will defend his crown for the first time as Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson takes on John Dodson in the main event.
Also, one of most anticipated fights will finally happen as 155 pounders Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and Anthony “Showtime” Pettis will finally meet in the cage to settle their differences. These two outstanding kick boxing fighters could easily put on a fight full of highlight reel material. Both fighters and fans have been looking forward to this fight for a while but it has been put off due to other scheduled fights and Pettis’ shoulder injury.
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson has verbally agreed, according to the UFC, to take on a red hot Glovier Teixeira who is on a 17 fight win streak. This fight was originally booked to take place at UFC 153.
The Round Lake, Illinois native Clay “The Carpenter” Guida will make his debut in the featherweight division as he will face former Sengoku champion Hatsu Hioki. Also in the 145 weight class, the man who put a stop to Hioki’s six fight win streak back in June, Ricardo Lamas will step inside the Octagon against the 13-1 Erik Koch to determine who will get the next shot at the winner of February’s Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar title fight.
In the lightweight division “Handsome” Matt Wiman will face T.J. Grant. Heavyweight Shawn “The Savage” Jordan will take on the hometown fighter in Mike Russow. Russow suffered the second defeat of his career back in June when he was stopped in the first round by an outstanding looking Fabricio Werdum.
WrestleMania 29 tickets went on sale this morning in a pre-sale that will go through the whole day tomorrow, ending at 11:59PM EST.
Apart from the IZODVIP code, fans can now also use the codes FB1WWE and ACCESS to try their luck in getting the best possible seat for the pay-per-view. (Thanks to W-O reader ‘rockypita’ for the second code.)
As of this writing, floor seats for $850 are still available for purchase.
TNA will return to the popular MTV show Made this Saturday, November 10, for the episode titled ‘Pro Wrestler’ airing at 11AM EST.
The show will feature several TNA Superstars and Knockouts including Tara and Miss Tessmacher, Robbie E and Robbie T, and more as they help Deanna Washington in her attempt to become a professional wrestler.
Several TNA personalities have appeared on MTV’s Made in the past in hopes of helping would-be wrestlers achieve their dream.
You can see a preview of this episode of Made – which involves a mom trying to change her daughter’s mind from doing pro wrestling – below.
UFC 154 is now just 10 days away and will be taking place at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. The main event will be the unification of the Welterweights belt as long time champ Georges St-Pierre returns from a year plus lay-off to take on the interim champion Carlos Condit.
Since both Condit and St-Pierre have worked with Greg Jackson in the past, this time Jackson is staying neutral this time and not coaching or cornering either man. St-Pierre is still training out of his Tri-Star gym in Canada; while Condit is still at Jackson’s gym but is using Mike Winkeljohn and Chris Luttrell as his primary coaches to get him ready.
GSP is returning from a knee injury that has kept him from competing since his unanimous victory over Jake Shields in April of 2011. In the audio you can tell in his voice that he is truly excited about being back training and getting ready for a fight. Usually fighters get worn out preparing for the fight and are looking forward to the vacation time afterwards. This lay-off for St-Pierre though has fueled him even more and made him realize how much he really does enjoy fighting and being part of the UFC.
One of the most talked about aspects during the media call was the potential pound for pound match up between St-Pierre and Anderson Silva. Silva has made it known that he will be in Montreal to watch the fight and cheer on GSP. Dana White when asked wouldn’t be surprised if we were to see a call out from the Middleweight champ if GSP is able to defeat Condit that night.
Dana also stated that he is looking at Toronto, Dallas Cowboys Stadium, or a soccer stadium in Brazil as potential host venues. While Condit, as a fan, is intrigued by the potential GSP vs Silva fight, he is hoping to ruin some people’s plans for that fight. Dana made it clear that the GSP/Silva fight is a pound for pound fight between the top two that has been in everyone’s books for a while now and that should Condit win he will defend the 170 pound title against whoever is next in line.
St-Pierre had this to say when he was asked about Silva being at the fight and his presence: “I don’t care about Anderson Silva. He can do whatever he wants. He can go to Florida or stay in Brazil if he wants. I am focusing on Carlos Condit and that’s all that matters to me.”
Condit is not a fighter to be over looked though as he as shown devastating finishing ability like his fight with Dan Hardy and Dong Hyun Kim. In the more recent with Kim he ended the fight with a flying knee and punches in the first round. In his fight with Nick Diaz for the interim title he showed a superb game plan against a very crafty fighter and executed it almost flawlessly for the decision. Out of Condit’s 28 victories, 13 have been come by KO/TKO while 13 others have come by submission even though he has not submitted any one in the UFC yet.
The pre-sale for WrestleMania 29 will kick off tomorrow at 10AM EST and will till Friday at 11:59PM EST.
Ticket prices will range from $35 to $2,000 for ringside plus additional fees and taxes. A $35 ticket will end up costing $49.50 in total while the VIP $2,000 ticket will carry an additional $75.50 in taxes and fees.
The pre-sale code to order tickets is IZODVIP and starting on Saturday morning at 10AM EST, no code is necessary as tickets will then be available to the general public.
WrestleMania 29 takes place on April 7 at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Monday Night RAW did a 2.78 rating on the eve of the U.S. election this week with a total of 4,076,000 viewers, down from the 4,102,000 viewers it did overall last week.
The first hour did 4,066,000 viewers, followed by 4,279,000 in the second and then dropping to 3,883,000 for the third and final hour. (Ratings compiled by Nielsen Media Research and put online by PWinsider.com)
Let me take you back to earlier this year… remember when all of those promos were airing on Raw and SmackDown, promising a revolution? The internet was abuzz with rumors of what the promos were for – the most believed one was the return of Matt Morgan (how did that work out for you?) – as the internet salivated over what was coming up. Then, we found out that it was a trailer for the new video game. Disappointing? That seems to be the perfect analogy for what ended up being WWE 13.
If you’ve read almost any other review of the game, you’ll have doubtless seen plenty of praise for THQ’s latest release, labeling it as the best wrestling game since the holy grail that is No Mercy. On the surface, they’re right, but once you’ve spent any time playing it, you’ll quickly start wishing for an HD update of No Mercy.
Having played every WWE game since the dawn of time (well, not quite), WWE 13 has the usual updates you’d expect. The graphics are a little shinier, the sets updated (although the new Raw and SmackDown sets didn’t make it this year), and the centerpiece of this year’s game is the Attitude Era Mode. Replacing the Road to WrestleMania feature, the Attitude Era Mode is WWE 13’s core feature, as you re-enact different scenarios from throughout the late 90s. Want to relive the reformation and the rise of the original D-Generation X? How about the genesis of Austin 3;16? Or perhaps you want to relive WrestleMania XV?
Lurking into the Attitude Era mode, you get to replay a variety of matches, with the key being that you meet several objectives to relive history. For instance, an early match between Shawn Michaels and the British Bulldog needs you to have HBK beat the Bulldog, but you get extra bonus points depending on what you do during the match, so as to accurately represent what really happened.
The core gameplay remains the same – left thumbstick moves your wrestler, whilst the face control pad’s face buttons allow you to strike, grapple, hit a finisher or whip your opponent. If you’ve played any WWE games in the last five years, you’ll be in familiar territory, and whilst it is a case of “if it ain’t broke”, the control pattern is starting to feel dated by now.
If you don’t want to follow the usual career mode, then you’re in luck as WWE Universe mode returns for another year, allowing you to create an alternate universe (ahem) where you can control what happens on Raw, SmackDown, and any show you want to create. Among the improvements this year is the ability to add a show on every day of the week – so if you want to create Saturday Morning Slam, have at it. Want to have WWE Main Event on Wednesday? Be our guest… Tuesday Night Titans? Go on then. Heck, if you want to ditch Raw and replace it with Nitro, you can do that too, however, you’ll have to create your own Nitro arena, as the WCW-inspired arenas that graced WWE 12 did not make the trek into this year’s game.
Of course, modern day wrestling games would fall flat on their face without a good create a wrestler mode. No matter how many guys you have on the roster, there’s always someone that will be missing. With the inclusion of the Attitude era wrestlers, WWE 13 boasts the biggest roster in history (bulked out with three HHH’s, two Undertakers, two Kanes, three Mick Foleys, and so on), but still manages to omit several fringe wrestlers, with Drew McIntyre, Ryback and Damien Sandow relegated to downloadable character status, whilst Tyson Kidd fails to make the cut entirely.
Thankfully, the godawful servers that ruined WWE 12’s online experience appear to be fixed, so downloading new characters and wrestlers is not the thankless chore that it was. Unfortunately, as one bug is fixed, several more seem to have reared their ugly heads. To make things clear, I’m playing the PlayStation 3 version of this game – most reviews seem to have been based off of the Xbox 360 edition. Normally, that wouldn’t be an issue, especially as these games are usually copies of one another (WWE 13 is initially written for the Xbox, before being ported down to the PS3 and other platforms), however this year, THQ seem to have only done quality testing on the Xbox version.
Case in point: on launch day (and as of time of writing) although you can create your own arena, you cannot use it in Universe mode on the PS3, whilst some PS3 owners have reported not being able to use a custom arena anywhere in the game. Which really makes the expanded create-an-arena mode pointless – what’s the point in being able to use the classic SmackDown fist as a base for an arena if it’s just going to crash your game?
Other annoying glitches include the computer getting stuck in animations that are unbreakable – whether it’s Sin Cara freezing when trying to somersault out of the ring, or the CPU taking forever trying to eliminate a wrestler in the Royal Rumble. They’re random, they’re annoying, and they really should have been caught in beta testing. Speaking of the Royal Rumble, I stumbled onto a classic Rumble PPV in my Universe mode where I had no choice but have a 20 man Rumble, in the old Rumble PPV arena, with a silent crowd and minimal commentary. It was nice, at least, until the CPU got stuck in an animation loop and I had to skip the match entirely.
In summary, WWE 13 is a game that just isn’t quite finished. It has all of the hallmarks of a game that would easily be the best wrestling game of this console generation, but if you own a PS3, I cannot honestly recommend this game until it has been patched. Xbox 360 owners, by all means, grab this game – you’ll enjoy it – but you too will wish that THQ had spent more time ironing out those annoying glitches.
The planned WrestleMania 29 kickoff party which was supposed to be held at the Bryant Part in New York City on November 9 was called off by WWE.
The company canceled the event due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy and no rescheduled date was announced. The event was going to be free with several Superstars, Divas, and Legends appearing to kick off ticket sales.
For the past four years, former WWE CEO Linda McMahon dedicated her life campaigning trying to become a U.S. Senator. Last night, her second shot at the Senate seat was lost as Democrat Chris Murphy defeated McMahon in the election.
Flanked by her son Shane, daughter Stephanie, son-in-law Triple H, and husband Vince, Linda conceded the race just two hours after the Associated Press predicted that Murphy was going to win at the Hilton Stamford Hotel.
The 64 year old suffered heavy losses in Bridgeport, New Haven, and Hartford, and there was no way back up the ladder from that point onward.
In the 2010 election, McMahon lost the race by 11% and this time, with 90% precincts reporting at time of this writing, she was trailing Murphy by 12%.
McMahon spent close to $50 million during this race, in addition to the $50 million of her own money she splashed for the failed 2010 race as well.
WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon and his son-in-law Triple H made their way back to the United States today to join Linda McMahon on election day. The two were at the RAW tapings – and Vince even appeared on camera – but will not be at the Smackdown tapings tonight.
Linda campaigned till the last day, meeting supporters and workers in different cities, ending her campaign in Norwalk.
The former WWE CEO told the Associated Press that she is “cautiously optimistic” about her chances of winning and more Democrats have told her that they would be voting for her this time around.
The McMahon campaign has already indicated it would be watching Tuesday’s vote closely and would not hesitate to go to court if it suspected a violation of election laws according to The Hartford Courant.
McMahon spent almost $45 million for this campaign, just a bit under the $50 million she spent for the 2010 race which she lost by 11%. Latest polls show her trailing her Democrat rival Chris Shays once again.
The Nashville City Paper is reporting that Scott Steiner has sued TNA Wrestling – his second lawsuit against them – saying that the company allowed Jeff Hardy to enter the ring drunk last year against him in Mount Pleasant, Michigan.
According to the lawsuit filed in Davidson County Circuit Court, Steiner suffered nerve damage in his shoulder and neck as well as a bicep injury due to what he called Hardy’s reckless, drunken wrestling.
TNA sued Steiner earlier this year after the former WCW champion went on a Twitter rampage badmouthing TNA and Hulk Hogan. After several notices to stop, TNA filed a lawsuit and Steiner counter sued and now filed this lawsuit as well.
“[TNA] knew or should have known that their agent, employee, representative, and/or servant was too incapacitated, intoxicated and/or under the influence of a controlled substance and should not have been allowed to enter the ring thus endangering the life, health, well being and safety of Scott Rechsteiner,” the lawsuit states.
Steiner is looking for a $750,000 payout in damages.
The traditional Survivor Series match which was assembled last week on RAW had some changes made to it as one team ended up with two less members and the other team had one participant removed.
The Miz quit CM Punk’s Survivor Series team at the start of yesterday’s Monday Night RAW in Birmingham, England, and then Vince McMahon pulled Punk as well, putting him in a triple threat match for the WWE title against John Cena and Ryback.
Paul Heyman was tasked with finding the replacement and found one in a Brit, the former leader of Nexus, Wade Barrett. Barrett initially refused to join the team but then had a chance of mind and told Heyman he’ll join his team on one condition – that Heyman will owe him one. Heyman immediately agreed but then Barrett told him that he wants it in writing, something that Heyman didn’t really like.
Dolph Ziggler was then added to the mix and put as team captain for Team Ziggler, joining Damien Sandow, Cody Rhodes, Wade Barrett, and Alberto Del Rio. Team Foley has Kane, Daniel Bryan, Kofi Kingston, and Randy Orton, with the other final member yet still to be revealed.
Team CM Punk at Survivor Series is no more as Vince McMahon pulled CM Punk from his team and threw him in a triple threat match.
McMahon made an appearance on the show and pulled Vickie Guerrero out, asking her why did she reward Punk with his own team so he can hide behind them at the Survivor Series. He then announced Ryback as his opponent before adding John Cena to the mix as a very unhappy Vickie Guerrero tried her best to smile to please the boss.
The traditional Survivor Series five on five match will still go on however with a new team captain.
Las Vegas, Nev. – The Ultimate Fighting Championship and FOX Sports gear up for an exciting new year of UFC coverage by unveiling the 2013 UFC on FOX broadcast schedule featuring four live events on FOX. Next year, UFC on FOX kicks off on Saturday, Jan. 26 at the United Center in Chicago, with additional events planned on April 20, July 27 and Dec. 14.
Other highlights from the 2013 FX, FUEL TV and Pay-Per-View schedule include UFC: JONES vs. SONNEN, which will be held at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. on Saturday, April 27. Charismatic star Chael Sonnen will get a shot at UFC champion Jon Jones’ light heavyweight title on April 27 after the two serve as coaches opposite each other on Season 17 of The Ultimate Fighter, which will debut in January 2013 on FX.
“2013 is shaping up to be a huge year for the UFC and we can’t wait to bring more great fights to FOX!” said UFC President Dana White. “We’re going to continue to take the UFC all over the world putting on the biggest and best fights. FOX is an amazing broadcast partner and we’re going to do some big things next year.”
UFC 2013 Schedule Highlights*:
Saturday, Jan. 19
Brazil
UFC on FX: BELFORT vs. BISPING
Saturday, Jan. 26
United Center, Chicago, Ill.
UFC on FOX
Saturday, Feb. 2
Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, Nev.
UFC 156: ALDO vs. EDGAR**
Saturday, Feb. 16
International Event
UFC on FUEL TV
Saturday, April 20
City to be announced
UFC on FOX
Saturday, April 27
Prudential Center, Newark, N.J.
UFC: JONES vs. SONNEN**
Saturday, July 27
City to be announced
UFC on FOX
Saturday, Dec. 14
City to be announced
UFC on FOX
*Please note this is not the full 2013 schedule. Additional FX, FUEL TV and Pay-Per-View events and on-sale dates will be announced at a later time. For more information, visit www.ufc.com/schedule.
Ticketmaster released the seating chart of the MetLife Stadium for WrestleMania 29 just days before the pre-sale starts.
There will be four sections in total – field, concourse 1, concourse 2, concourse 3, and concourse 4. There will also be limited accessible seats throughout the whole stadium.
One thing that is very odd is that the field could really hold much more seats but for some reason they’re going with an odd style, leaving four large empty sections.
The pre-sale starts on Thursday at 10AM EST and ends on Friday at 11:59PM EST and then tickets go on sale to the general public on Saturday at 10AM EST.
Monday Night RAW tonight will not be live on USA Network however it will be on a few hours of tape delay since the show is being taped in Birmingham, England, at the LG Arena.
The only thing announced for the show so far is the segment involving WWE referee Brad Maddox who will be explaining his actions from Hell In A Cell. Last week the first Survivor Series match was assembled as Mick Foley and CM Punk chose their respective teams. The build towards the Survivor Series continues tonight with more matches likely to be announced.
Smackdown tomorrow will also be taped from the LG Arena in Birmingham and will also air on tape delay on SyFy.
