Tons of WWE Superstars, Divas, and Legends will be appearing at the four-day Axxess event during WrestleMania week for autographs and photo opportunities with fans. The full list (subject to change) of those who will be appearing are:
04/04 evening session: Mark Henry, Booker T, Jack Swagger, The Prime Time Players, 3MB, Rosa Mendes, Jimmy Snuka.
04/05 evening session: The Miz, World Heavyweight champion Alberto Del Rio, The Shield, Kofi Kingston, Ted DiBiase, Fandango, Zack Ryder, Alicia Fox.
04/06 morning session: Bella Twins, Daniel Bryam, The Miz, Brodus Clay, Funkadactyls, Jerry “The King” Lawler, JBL, Paul Heyman, Lita, Billy Gunn.
04/06 afternoon session: CM Punk, Chris Jericho, Intercontinental champion Wade Barrett, World Heavyweight champion Alberto Del Rio, Damien Sandow, The Great Khali, Layla.
04/06 evening session: Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, AJ Lee, Ryback, Santino Marella, The Shield, Christian, R-Truth, Ezekiel Jackson, Tensai, Big E. Langston, Justin Gabriel, Tyson Kidd, Yoshi Tatsu, Rikishi, Howard Finkel.
04/07 morning session: Sheamus, Divas champion Kaitlyn, Cody Rhodes, David Otunga, Jimmy Hart, Diamond Dallas Page, X-Pac.
04/07 afternoon session: U.S. champion Antonio Cesaro, Sin Cara, Alex Riley, JTG, Aksana, Tamina, Dusty Rhodes, Ron Simmons, Ricky Steamboat.
Axxess will be held at the IZOD Center and tickets are available now.
TNA has put up a 5 part series on the rise of Bully Ray and the whole backstory of how Aces & Eights came about.
All videos are narrated by the TNA champion and goes back to 9 months, showing how the plan to take over TNA was executed from start to finish.
It is a very well produced mini series which includes footage of all the twist and turns that led to Bully Ray finally winning the TNA title and revealing himself as the President of Aces & Eights.
WWE champion Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson won the Favorite Buttkicker award at the Kids’ Choice Awards 2013 which were held yesterday at the USC Galen Center in Los Angeles, California.
The Rock – who appeared in person to collect the Blimp for his performance in Journey 2: The Mysterious Island – said he had been working for this his entire life and was told he had been kicking butt since he was a baby. He said that when he was born, the doctor slapped him on the butt to make him cry but The Rock doesn’t cry so he slapped the doctor right back and made him cry instead.
The champ said he was honored that the fans chose him for this award.
In a surprise move, WWE has released one of its senior referees, Jack Doan, after working for the company for a total of 22 years.
The 40 year old referee joined the WWE in 1991 as a truck driver and worked for the ring crew. He was usually seen on the early 90s WWE television shows collecting Superstars’ clothing from ringside before making the transition to a full time referee in the mid 90s.
Doan was one of the two most senior referees along with Mike Chioda and usually took charge of most of the Divas matches.
WWE is set to make some more money off of those who purchase WrestleMania 29 on pay-per-view as all major operators are listing the price for the HD version at $69.99 while the normal SD version will cost $59.99. The HD version is around $5 more than what WWE charged for the last two WrestleManias.
The online stream of the pay-per-view will cost $20 on the WWE.COM website and it is available to fans in around 100 countries worldwide. The event will also be streamed on the WWE app.
The last WrestleMania, held in Miami, did just over 1.2 million buys worldwide, the biggest WWE pay-per-view in company history.
A heart attack claimed the life of former WWE manager Paul Bearer, who passed away two weeks ago at the age of 58.
According to a story on TMZ.COM, the death certificate of William Moody lists supra ventricular tachycardia, SVT, as the cause of death. SVT is a rapid heart rhythm which is often treated and not always fatal.
His son Michael says that doctors believe his dad was struggling with SVT in the last few weeks of his life as symptoms are very similar to anxiety and heartburn.
TNA has announced new rules for their X-Division which will see all title matches held under triple threat rules.
The wrestler who is pinned in the X-Division title match will be eliminated from a future title match while the other person who is not involved in the decision will get to wrestle whoever is the champion in the following title match.
Contenders will also be decided in a triple threat match with former champions or recently eliminated contenders all in a chance to advance to the next title match. The division now also has a weight limit of 230lbs.
TNA champion Bully Ray has issued a second apology over his poorly chosen words last week at the IMPACT tapings in Chicago, Illinois, when he confronted a fan at ringside and used a lot of gay slurs to insult the fan.
“Had a very positive talk with the man I got into a verbal altercation with in Chicago,” Bubba Ray wrote on his Twitter. “I personally apologized for my careless choice of words and my ignorance with regard to certain slurs I used.”
Ray said that he fully takes responsibility for his actions and once again apologized to everyone.
WWE got in hot water with GLAAD in the past for using gay slurs during interviews and some WWE employees on Twitter even got told to tone it down for using such remarks.
Former WWE developmental Diva and daughter of Eddie and Vickie Guerrero, Shaul, is featured on the Inked Magazine website in the Tattooed Girls Model Search.
The super hot Guerrero posed for some revealing photos showing off her ink in hopes of making it to the top in the search.
“I’ve gone from ballet studios, club pedestals to wrestling rings all the while grabbing life by the balls and hanging on till new opportunities arise. God is good; Life is a beast,” Guerrero wrote in the about her section.
Guerrero has been plugging her pictorial on her Twitter. You can see her photos below.
TMZ.COM has a story about Paul Bearer’s family giving their stamp of approval to go ahead with the whole CM Punk stealing the urn angle during RAW.
Last week, CM Punk interrupted the tribute that WWE was giving to the late Paul Bearer, who passed away days before the show. Eventually Punk ended the show stealing the urn and earlier this week he was juggling the urn like a basketball, even dropping it.
Bearer’s two sons were flown in for RAW last week and were given the scenario and asked for their blessing.
“We felt that dad would have wanted us at RAW last week and agreed to the angle. We knew Dad wouldn’t have wanted it any other way,” one of the sons said.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was a guest on “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno yesterday on NBC.
The Rock talked about his favorite movies when he was a kid – Star Wars, Rocky, and Indiana Jones – and his “man crush” on Clint Eastwood, who he called his acting inspiration. Rock mentioned that he never met Eastwood in person and at the Oscars he saw him but when he was about to go over to introduce himself, he froze and couldn’t “pull the trigger.”
After the commercials, Johnson talked about giving his mom a new truck for Christmas, being in shape since he’s been a kid, before transitioning into plugging the G.I. Joe: Retaliation movie.
There was absolutely no mention of WrestleMania or him being the current WWE champion. The full episode is available at NBC.COM.
Impact begins with Bully Ray, the recently revealed President of Aces and Eights, bragging about destroying the Hogan family.
The first person to the ring is Hulk Hogan. Hogan is upset about being fooled, but he wants to thank the 4 men that led the (unsuccessful) charge against Aces and Eights last week and calls out Magnus, Samoa Joe, Kurt Angle, and former champ Jeff Hardy.
Hogan wants them to take out Aces and Eights and win back the TNA title. Hardy suggests a four way match to determine the #1 contender and everyone agrees.
More explanation of the Aces and Eights storyline follows.
Commercial
Match #1: Tag champs Austin Aries and Bobby Roode versus Chavo and Hernandez.
Chavo and Roode start things off. Roode gets behind Chavo and takes him to the mat with a headlock takedown. Chavo works his way out and Roode applies a hammerlock. Chavo and Roode go back and forth until Chavo is able to get some separation.
Roode lands a punch and Chavo responds with a European uppercut. Chavo hits Roode with a hurricanrana and follows up with a few punches. Chavo tags in Hernandez and Hernandez bodyslams Chavo onto Roode. Hernandez hits Roode with a big splash and Roode responds with a knee lift.
Roode tags in Aries and Aries hits Hernandez with an elbow, a kick and then tags in Roode. Roode and Aries try a double team suplex on Hernandez but Hernandez blocks it and then suplexes Aries and Roode at the same time. Hernandez tags in Chavo and Chavo dropkicks Roode and Aries to the floor.
Commercial
Roode rolls Chavo into the steps, but they end up fighting outside again almost immediately. Roode throws Chavo into the steel steps. Roode holds Chavo in place as Aries climbs to the top and flies off onto Chavo on the floor.
Aries tries for a cover but Chavo kicks out. Aries and Chavo exchange a couple strikes and then Aries tags in Roode. Roode suplexes Chavo and then puts him in a headlock. Chavo escapes and hits Roode with a tornado DDT. Chavo tags in Hernandez and Roode tags in Aries.
Hernandez press slams Aries and then hits him with a shoulder block. Hernandez walks up the entrance ramp and then runs into the ring, diving over the top rope into Aries and Roode at the same time. Hernandez picks Aries up again but Roode runs in to save him. Hernandez knocks Roode down with a shoulder block.
Aries hits Hernandez with an elbow. Aries gets ready to fly and dives at Hernandez, but Hernandez catches him. Aries slips free and takes Hernandez down with a hurricanrana. Aries tries to hit the Brain Buster on Chavo, but Chavo slides out and hits Aries with the three Amigos.
Chavo climbs to the top rope while Kazarian and Daniels run to the ring. Kaz distracts the ref while Daniels knocks Chavo off the top rope. Aries pins Chavo for the win.
After the match, Kaz and Daniels attack Roode and Aries and then demand a title shot. Kaz and Daniels also do a bullshit product placement for an energy drink, but I’m not going to say which one because I’m not getting any of TNA’s advertising money. I find product placement annoying unless it’s a commercial free episode of Raw, then I can sort of understand it.
Commercial
Match #2: Zema Ion versus Sonjay Dutt versus Kenny King for King’s X division title.
Before the match, it was announced that the X division is evolving and title matches will now be three ways. The action starts off fast and is a little hard to follow. After a few minutes of back and forth action, Sonjay hurricanranas King and Ion to the floor at the same time.
King and Ion pull Sonjay out onto the floor and into the guard rail. King climbs to the edge of the ring and flips off onto Zema Ion. King rolls Zema into the ring and gets a 2 count. King hits Ion with a running elbow and a boot to the face. King grounds and pounds Ion.
King knocks Sonjay back to the floor and then hits Zema with a spin kick. Sonjay springboards back into the ring and crashes into King. Sonjay goes back to the top and King pushes him to the floor. Ion hits King with a few punches and King responds with a wheel kick to the head.
Ion hits King with a shoulder block and then follows up with a DDT. Sonjay flips into the ring and hits Ion with a hurricanrana. Sonjay goes to the top and hits Zema and King with a moonsault. Sonjay hits Ion with a scoop slam and then climbs to the top again.
Ion tries to cut Sonjay off but Sonjay knocks him back down and hits him with a moonsault/double stomp to the chest. King springboards back into the ring and hits Sonjay with a blockbuster for the win.
After the match, there is a lot more explain and reviewing of the Aces and Eights storyline.
Commercial
When we return, Sting enters Hogan’s office and says he wants to fight Bully Ray. Hogan wants nothing to do with Sting anymore. Hogan tells Sting to go and hide by himself in the rafters for a couple years, because he always causes trouble when he’s here. Sting says he wants revenge. Hogan does to.
Taryn Tyrrell makes her way to the ring. Taryn has been on probation for fighting with a wrestler; Gail Kim. Taryn knows she is in trouble but said she had to retaliate when pushed and is ready to accept the consequences.
Gail Kim comes out to gloat and calls Brooke Hogan out to fire Taryn. Brooke does come out and does fire Taryn, but then she re-hires her as a wrestler, giving her permission to get physical with anyone. Gail is outraged, and Taryn spears Gail out of the ring.
After the confrontation, Brooke remains in the ring and Bully Ray sneaks up behind her. Brooke is upset and Bully taunts her by pointing at his wedding ring and saying “till death do us part.” Brooke says she hates him; Bully says he loves her, but I don’t think he means it.
Commercial
When we return, there is a whole lot more Aces and Eights/Bully Ray recap. They wouldn’t need to blow half the show explaining their storylines if their storylines made more sense.
In addition to wasting a lot of time that COULD have been spent on wrestling, the fact that the explanations are being allowed makes no sense: why would TNA management (Hogan and Dixie Carter) give all this air time to a faction that is trying to destroy them?
Match #3: Matt Morgan versus Joe Park.
The two men lock up and Morgan pushes Joe down to the mat. The match starts off lopsided in favor of Morgan. Morgan lands several strikes, a couple headbutts, and then ties Joe up in the ropes and pulls back on his arms.
Morgan goes for the Carbon Footprint but misses and gets caught in the ropes. Joe bounces the ropes up into Morgan’s groin and goes on offense. Joe lands a few punches, a clothesline, and a shoulderblock that knocks Morgan down. Joe goes to the top rope but misses with the splash. Morgan hits the Carbon Footprint for the win.
Commercial
When we return, Mike Tenay calls AJ Styles out for an interview. AJ comes out and says nothing. Tenay asks him about the rumors that AJ has gotten into alcohol and drugs. (Maybe he got the drugs from Claire?) AJ says nothing and Tazz interrupts the interview and takes over.
Tazz offers AJ a place in Aces and Eights, but AJ says nothing. James Storm comes out and asks if this is the new AJ Styles, the one that sucker punches people and walks away.
The crowd starts chanting “hug it out” as AJ and Storm face off. Hugging is wildly popular with wrestling fans these days, maybe even more than violence. That is pretty funny, but also makes me a little sad at the same time. Storm looks AJ in the face and threatens to kick his teeth down his throat; AJ says nothing and walks away.
Commercial
When we return, we get still MORE explanation of the Aces and Eights/Bully Ray storyline.
Match #4: Samoa Joe versus Magnus versus Kurt Angle versus Jeff Hardy for the #1 contender spot.
All four men start brawling right away. Joe beats Angle down while Magnus attacks Hardy. Joe hits Angle with an elbow and follows up with an Enzuigiri. Joe takes Angle down with a snapmare and then hits him with a kick followed by a knee drop.
Hardy and Magnus take their fight to the floor. Joe whips Angle to the floor near Magnus and Hardy and then takes all three of them out with a suicide dive to the floor.
Commercial
Magnus, Hardy, and Angle all exchange strikes. Joe and Hardy double team Angle. Joe hits Magnus with a punch and Magnus retaliates with a clothesline. Angle lands a kick and a punch to Magnus; Magnus responds with a knee strike to Joe.
Hardy dives into the ring but Magnus catches him and drives him into the mat. Magnus hits Hardy with an elbow and then puts Jeff in a headlock. Jeff fights his way out but Magnus knocks him down again.
Out on the floor, Kurt Angle rakes the eyes of Samoa Joe. The fans seem to be supporting Angle and Joe a lot more than Hardy or Magnus. Magnus hits Hardy with an elbow and then lands a kick each to Angle and Joe, knocking them both back to the floor. Joe re-enters the ring and hits Magnus with an elbow and a couple headbutts.
Magnus gets Joe up in the air and then drives him to the mat. Magnus goes after Hardy next and slams him into the corner. Hardy responds with a hurricanrana, an inverted atomic drop, and a double leg drop to Magnus. Hardy hits Magnus with a Twist Of Fate, and then hits Angle and Joe with the TOF as well.
Hardy climbs to the top to try a Swanton bomb, but Angle cuts him off. Hardy pushes Angle off and Magnus knocks down Hardy. Angle hits Magnus with a German suplex and follows up with another one for Samoa Joe. Angle applies the ankle lock to Joe and has it locked in for a while.
Joe eventually kicks Angle off and into Magnus. Hardy hits Joe with the Swanton Bomb for the win. Jeff Hardy is the #1 contender and will be the first man to face Bully Ray for the title.
Former WWE writer Court Bauer revealed on Twitter that WWE has named David Kreizman – a recent member of the creative team – as a head writer.
Kerizman is a Daytime Emmy Award winner, where in 2007 he won the best writing category for the soap opera Guiding Light. He was also nominated in 1999, 2003, and 2008 for the same soap and in 2010 and 2011 for As The World Turns.
Writing for WWE must be one of the most stressful jobs within the company so, good luck Mr. Kerizman!
WWE has announced two travel packages for their SummerSlam event which will once again take place in Los Angeles, California.
The Gold packages will start from $564 per person while the Platinum will kick off at $1,056 per person. Both prices are based on a four-person occupancy.
The Platinum will include the ringside seat for SummerSlam with the collectible chair, the Axxess ticket, breakfast buffet and autograph session the day before the show and a private reception with WWE Superstars before SummerSlam starts on pay-per-view.
The Gold ticket includes a SummerSlam ticket in the 100 level seating, Axxess ticket, and the same breakfast session.
Both groups will be staying at the Omni Los Angeles Hotel at California Plaza with a check-in of Friday, August 16, and check-out on Monday, August 19.
In a video interview with 4-Traders.com, WWE’s Chief Financial Officer George Barrios said that pay-per-views will eventually “go away” as fans migrate to the WWE Network over time.
He said to break even they would need around a million subscribers to the proposed WWE Network, and with two million it will be a very good business. Anything over that will be “transformative.”
Barrios added that if you give the monthly pay-per-views, a lot of great content, the vast WWE library, and a lot of retrospective programming and put them all on the Network, pay-per-view does go away.
Former WWE Superstar Chris Masters saved his mother’s life after a crazy neighbor set her house on fire according to TMZ.
TMZ reports that Masters – real name Chris Mordetzky – went to his mom’s house in Los Angeles after his uncle called him to report to incident. The neighbor threatened to burn down the place if anyone tried to get into the house.
Masters tried to talk to the guy however his negotiation skills didn’t get him anywhere so he called the police. The police did show up however the neighbor lit up the house with Masters’ mother still inside.
Masters “uprooted a tree with his bare hands” according to TMZ and used it as a battering ram to open a window, got in, and got out with his mother.
The neighbor was arrested and charged with arson and is still in custody.
The whole Dana White vs Vince McMahon “super fight” that the UFC President revealed got some air time on UFC Tonight on Fuel TV.
A “tale of the tape” was produced listing the age, height, notable wins, strengths, and weaknesses of both.
White was listed 43 and 5’11” with Pride, Strikeforce, and WEC, as his notable wins. His strength was the “Twitter Slam” while his weakness was his ear.
McMahon was listed 67 years old and 6’2″ with WCW and ECW as his notable wins. His strength was the “power strut” and his hip was listed as his weakness.
Chael Sonnen who was on the show said not even Undertaker could save Vince McMahon in that fight and said that Kamala would win an Olympic medal in pole vault before Vince steps into the “boss’ wheelhouse.”
Sonnen – who is a big wrestling fan and loves to trash talk, took his rants on Twitter as well and then suggested a fight with Vince McMahon and CM Punk in his corner vs Dana White and himself in his corner.
“You’d be so punch drunk against Dana even your straight edge Champion @cmpunk will feel tipsy,” Sonnen wrote.
You can see the segment where Sonnen discussed the fight below.
This week’s Monday Night RAW did a 3.09 rating with an average of 4,260,000 viewers, down from last week’s 3.36 number and 553,000 viewers less overall.
Hour one did 4,252,000 viewers, hour two did 4,415,000, and hour three slipped even further down to 4,114,000. (Ratings compiled by Nielsen Media Research and put online by PWInsider.com)
MILWAUKEE (March 20, 2013) – To celebrate 110 years of freedom, Harley-Davidson Motor Company is riding again with the Ultimate Fighting Championship®.
The UFC and Harley-Davidson first teamed up five years ago to forge a unique partnership between these two heavyweight brands.
“It’s been an amazing ride with the UFC,” said Dino Bernacchi, Harley-Davidson Marketing Director. “In this – Harley-Davidson’s 110th Anniversary year – we’re upping the ante and putting one lucky fan in the center of the action as only Harley and the UFC can.”
In 2013, the centerpiece of the partnership will be the Harley-Davidson Hometown Throwdown event on Harley’s home turf, Milwaukee, during the iconic brand’s 110th Anniversary Celebration over Labor Day Weekend.
One grand prize winner will score a customized Street Bob motorcycle and receive a VIP trip to the Harley-Davidson Hometown Throwdown. Additionally, the winner will make an appearance in the Octagon® during the Harley-Davidson Hometown Throwdown event at UFC® 164 at the Bradley Center on August 31, as his or her custom designed 110th anniversary logo will be painted in the Octagon®.
“The UFC is excited to team with Harley-Davidson again and play such a pivotal role in Harley’s 110th Anniversary celebration during UFC® 164,” said Dana White, UFC President. “The UFC and its fighters are proud to be members of the Harley-Davidson family.”
Fans can enter for their chance to win by going www.harley-davidson.com/UFC. On the site, fans can create their own 110th Anniversary graphic and share why their image is worthy of the Octagon® and the VIP prize package.
Former WWE champion CM Punk will not be appearing at non-televised live events leading up to WrestleMania after the company pulled him out from the shows.
Punk also missed the last couple of non-televised shows and on another occasion he only did an interview, avoiding getting physical in the ring.
Rumors are that Punk is injured and WWE is protecting him till his match against the Undertaker at WrestleMania. The alleged injury occurred when he wrestled Kane on RAW last week. On yesterday’s RAW, Punk did not wrestle either and was only involved in a segment backstage, taunting the Undertaker by playing with Paul Bearer’s urn like it was a basketball.
