New Raw commentator Adnan Virk is getting the Mike Adamle treatment from WWE fans and Virk was trending on Twitter during the show, and still is, for all the wrong reasons.
Virk, who replaced Tom Phillips with the first post-Mania Raw, is having baptism by fire and WWE fans have not been so kind to him.
“Turned on RAW and heard Adnan Virk say ‘we’re going to need a bigger boat.’ Turned off RAW,” read one tweet. “Tom Phillips > Adnan Virk,” said another one. “I’m sorry but this guy f*cking SUCKS! He literally brings ZERO excitement, he does more harm than good to the show,” was another harsh assessment.
Twitter was also filled with memes relating to the subject as the internet wrestling community voiced their displeasure.
Some jumped to Virk’s defense, saying you cannot blame him for being thrown into the fire without no previous experience calling a wrestling show. One individual likened asking Virk to make Raw entertaining to “asking a fish to climb a tree.”
Virk was hired after he had an audition in February and was pushed by new WWE President Nick Khan. Khan was Virk’s agent before he moved to WWE last year.
The sportscaster admitted that he made a lot of mistakes in his first week but vowed to improve.
A man of many talents, Hulk Hogan has certainly had his share of fame and infamy over the years. From his peak of stardom in the 80’s to his comeback now at the ripe, young age of 67, his career has been nothing short of extraordinary. Who would have imagined that the long haired, bass player from Florida would become a global name?
Pro-wrestler, actor and all-round businessman, Hogan has amassed a tidy fortune from all his dealings over his 6 decades in show business. And just when it looked like he would enjoy his deserved retirement, the Hulk is back.
Early Days
Born Terry Eugene Bollea in Georgia, his family moved to Florida before his 2nd birthday. As a schoolboy, Bollea was an accomplished Little League pitcher, even attracting some scouts from the New York Yankees, before an injury halted his baseball career.
An accomplished sportsman, he always had a love for the limelight and eventually dropped out of the University of South Florida to become a full-time bass player for local band, Ruckus. When not playing, he was a keen weightlifter and attended a local gym patronized by many pro-wrestlers. He gained the attention from some who introduced him to trainer Hiro Matsudo and in 1977, Hogan made his wrestling debut as masked fighter, The Super Destroyer.
Wrestling in Memphis, Hogan made a brief appearance on a local talk show alongside Lou Ferrigno, The Incredible Hulk. Comments were made that Hogan was actually bigger than the Hulk himself and the nickname started to stick.
Pro-Wrestling’s Beginnings
The early 80’s saw Hogan in Japan with New-Japan Pro Wrestling before Vince McMahon wanted to push the WWF into international stardom and had Hogan in his sights. From Irish decent, McMahon gave Bollea the name Hogan to continue the Irish theme and an acting role in Rocky III propelled him into the limelight.
As his stardom grew, attention came from Marvel Comics about his likeness to their character, The Incredible Hulk. A merchandising agreement was made and Hogan was no longer to wear any green, thus the birth of his famous yellow began. Marvel actually obtained the trademark rights to “Hulk Hogan”, “Hulkamania” and “Hulkster” for the coming 20 years in the deal. Hogan perfected his character, keeping the famous shirt ripping from The Incredible Hulk and adding his finishing move, complete with a second wind acquired from the energy of his Hulkamaniacs.
The Big Time
As the WWF sought for pop culture stardom and MTV influences, Hulk Hogan became the face of the business as the favorite wrestler around. After holding the title of WWF World Heavyweight Champion for a record 1,476 days, he was finally defeated by Andre the Giant in the infamous The Main Event. “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBase sought help from the referee’s twin brother to step in and rig the match. After being proclaimed the winner, Andre handed the belt over to DiBiase as part of the arrangement.
The loss only increased Hogan’s stardom and over the coming years, he became the single most famous wrestler of his generation, if not all time. The WWF had succeeded in becoming one of televisions most watched shows and Hogan was their star.
Hogan was the most requested celebrity of the 80’s for the Make a Wish Foundation, graced the cover of numerous international magazines including People and TV Guide. He was also the only wrestler in history to ever make the cover of esteemed Sports Illustrated. Regular late-night appearances, his own cartoon and a guest host spot on Saturday Night Live saw him at his peak.
The Beginning of the End
Following his highs with WWF and a stint with World Championship Wrestling, Hogan upset his fanbase with an attack on longtime friend and tag team partner, Randy Savage at Bash at the Beach in 1996. After the controversy, Hogan announced that not only were the WWF not appreciating his talent but that he was forming a rival, the New World Order.
Renaming himself “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan, he changed his legendary clothing to black and white and grew a beard to accompany his trademark moustache. Over the coming years, Hogan swapped back and forth between rival wrestling organizations but never regained the height of his fame of the 80’s.
A documentary into steroids and wrestling saw him take a leave of absence from the sport for a while and whilst he still managed successful world tours right up until late 2015, a scandal involving a leaked sex tape and racial slurs saw him dropped by the WWE.
Toy company Martel stopped producing his action figure and his merchandise was removed from many big-name stores. Although he was defended by many black wrestlers, his name was tarnished and his retirement followed.
Business Ventures, Wealth and a Comeback
Wrestling apart, Hogan has used his fame to star in many films over the years since Rocky III. Starring roles in Santa with Muscles, Suburban Commando and Mr Nanny were 3 of 16 film roles he procured in the 80’s and 90’s. He also has many television appearances in shows like Baywatch, The A-Team, Walker, Texas Ranger and American Dad. His 2005 reality show, Hogan Knows Best, was the highest rated regular telecast VH1 ever had.
His trademarked name has been used in video games nearly every year since 1987, he has 171 different action figures produced in his likeness and had his own energy drink, Hogan Energy. There is even a slot machine developed with a Hulk Hogan theme, play it by choosing from this up to date list of casinos.
He opened his own restaurant called Pastamania in 1995 and although it didn’t make the rounds, being the face of wrestling for some many years has certainly bought him the income.
Unfortunately, his 2009 divorce to wife of 23 years, Linda, saw him lose the majority of his wealth and control of his companies. He has also been quoted as saying his lavish lifestyle over the years cost him hundreds of millions of dollars.
Currently, 2021 has seen him make a comeback to wrestling and whilst he has claimed he has “one fight left in him”, for now it’s just appearances and hosting. At 67, Hulk Hogan may not be the richest wrestler around (as John Cena and Dwayne Johnson battle for that title), but he still lays claim to being the most famous. Would we love to see him enter the ring one last time? I’m sure everyone, except his doctor, would love it!
The WrestleMania Backlash main event has been changed from a regular one-on-one match to a triple threat for the WWE title with the addition of Braun Strowman to the mix.
Strowman was added to the match yesterday on Raw after he beat Drew McIntyre with a powerslam thanks to interference from T-Bar and Mace.
History is not on Lashley’s side when it comes to triple threat matches as the last one he participated in, he lost the United States title back in February at Elimination Chamber and he was not even involved in the finish as Riddle pinned John Morrison to win the title.
The champ can lose the title at Backlash if the other two opponents get a finish on each other.
There are only two matches announced so far for Backlash, with the other being Bianca Belair vs Bayley for the Smackdown Women’s title.
In a major win for WWE, the U.S. Supreme Court today declined to hear the appeal of the case brought forward by Konstantine Kyros against the company on behalf of his clients related to brain damage.
Kyros, who represented over 50 former WWE Superstars in the case, filed an appeal asking the Supreme Court to review the lower court rulings which dismissed his lawsuits in February. Five former stars who pushed forward for the appeal were William Haynes, Russ McCullough, Ryan Sakoda, Matthew Wiese, and the wife of the late Viscera. The original lawsuit alleged that these former wrestlers are either suffering from symptoms of permanent degenerative neurological conditions resulting from traumatic brain injuries sustained during their employment, or are at increased risk of developing such conditions.
The Supreme Court smackdown now effectively kills the case once and for all.
The Associated Press covered the ruling and comments from WWE’s attorney Jerry McDevitt. “We’re glad it’s finally over. We were completely vindicated,” McDevitt said. Now, WWE is seeking damages of over half a million dollars in legal costs.
Kyros was defiant in defeat, saying that wrestlers are dying of CTE despite the inaction of the justice system,. “Our team is proud to have brought their claims to our highest court and hopeful that this brings awareness to their ongoing struggles.”
The original lawsuit was filed in July 2016 but in September 2018, United States District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant dismissed all lawsuits in a 40-page judgment. The judge wrote that the Court has has been “extremely forgiving” of Kyros and his co-counsels’ “highly questionable practices.” She noted that despite four chances to submit pleadings that comply with rules, Kyros has persisted in asserting pages and pages of frivolous claims and allegations for which he lacked any factual basis.
The Slammiversary pay-per-view for this year has been announced for July but Impact Wrestling did not give a specific date for when this is happening.
The 30-second teaser, which contained several shots of Nashville, included quick cuts to Mickie James, Samoa Joe, Chelsea Green as Laurel Van Ness, NJPW stars Okada and Naito, along with the flags of Australia and Mexico. The words “Our World Changes Again” are displayed on cards by people crossing a bridge.
The Australian and Mexican flags probably represent The IIconics and Andrade, who have been recently released from WWE. None of the three have never appeared on Impact before.
Last year’s Slammiversary also featured several WWE Superstars who were released in April during the coronavirus pandemic.
A sniper can solve a bunch of problems, eliminating a couple of enemies and removing the obstacles for the team to achieve the goal. This is why mastering the sniper aim is a strategically significant element of CS: GO. It can help you save your partners’ lives more than once. But is it easy to become a sniper at https://csgoeasybets.com/? Let’s get deeper into details.
Who Can Become a Good Sniper?
Snipers are popular elements of any first-person shooter. CS: GO doesn’t make an exception here. In the game, snipers stand out as the only group of weapons that can destroy an opponent with a single shot. Not all snipers have the same skillset, although the general concept remains the same. There are six main aspects that turn a good sniper into a professional one:
Stealth: A sniper should keep your enemies guessing. Without being seen, you can set up better shots. Hiding and waiting for the most suitable moment to take action is strategically important.
Awareness: A sniper should always know what’s going on around him. Through the monitoring of camping corners, you should try to track down opponents that become separated. Don’t forget about the radar as the additional source of information.
Accuracy: The shooting competence should be marked with immense accuracy. Fails may occur, but they shouldn’t become a growing trend. In case of a positive trend, muscle memory and sharp reflexes become the key to success.
Positioning: Having the right position on a sniper can help you take the right shot. To minimize the access points, you will stay close to walls and cover objects. This way, you can reduce flank vulnerabilities and find a convenient way out. With a plan of action, you will know exactly where your team is going and where to establish your position.
Predicting: If you manage to predict the allocation of enemies, you will set up your crosshair there. This is where you should rely on your reflexes by taking the shot as soon as the enemy appears on the periphery of your crosshair.
Experience: The more you play, the better your skills become. Thus, experience and knowledge become powerful elements of your CS: GO adventure. Excellent snipers realize their supporting yet decisive role in the game. Snipers often turn into the best intelligence gathers on the team. They often notice enemies at a distance and have the power to stop them before the actual battle starts.
What Are the Sniper’s Functions?
The major function to be performed by the sniper is the necessity to destroy the enemy without approaching too close to his forces. Also, the sniper’s presence on the battlefield puts the opponent under the psychological pressure. It is very useful to start shooting in dangerous places as there is a suspicion that the enemy is hiding somewhere. In most cases, the sniper should maintain the places where the enemy is more likely to appear. With basic knowledge in your mind, you can already try your chances with the shooting mission.
WWE today announced the appointment of Claudine Lilien as Senior Vice President and Head of Global Sales & Partnerships. Lilien, who previously held senior leadership roles across FOX Corp., FOX Sports and FOX Networks Group, will report to WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon.
As head of WWE’s Global Sales & Partnerships division, Lilien will be a key member of the company’s senior management team, responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations and leading WWE’s sales organization while expanding its roster of sponsors and promotional partnerships.
“Claudine is a seasoned executive with a strong business acumen and outstanding reputation within the sports and entertainment marketplace,” said McMahon. “I am excited for Claudine to lead WWE’s sales division and look forward to her immediate contributions as we continue to deliver tremendous value to our world-class partners.”
Lilien spent more than 15 years at FOX Corp., most recently as Senior Vice President, Client Management & Solutions, where she was responsible for leading sales and marketing efforts for priority accounts across FOX Sports properties, including WWE Friday Night SmackDown, FOX Bet and FOXBet Super 6. Prior to that, Lilien served in various leadership positions including Senior Vice President, Advertising Sales for Fox Networks Group and Senior Vice President, Sports Sales for FOX Sports Media where she led the team responsible for selling FOX Sports’ marquee properties including the NFL, MLB, NCAA, NASCAR, USGA and UFC.
Lilien currently serves on the Board of Trustees for Lafayette College, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History.
Former WWE Superstar Big Cass appeared at the Rebellion pay-per-view replacing Eric Young in the eight-man tag team match.
Cass used the name of W. Morrissey, which is his real name, during the show and got the win for his team by pinning Willie Mack. Morrissey teamed with Violent by Design members Rhino, Deaner, and Joe Doering for the match.
The 34-year-old had a rough road ever since being let go from WWE in 2018 and suffered from depression and was an alcoholic. Thankfully, with some help, he managed to turn the page and after over a year out of the public eye, he returned to work some indie dates this year using the name CaZXL.
In a result widely expected, Kenny Omega defeated Rich Swann yesterday at Rebellion to become the new Impact World champion, adding another title to his collection. Omega is already the AEW World and AAA Mega champion.
The 23-minute match headlined Rebellion and was probably one of the most important matches in Impact history. Omega won the match after a One Winged Angel.
The match had two referees, with Brian Hebner representing Impact and Aubrey Edwards representing AEW, but the match ended with no controversy and a clean finish as promised.
What happens to Impact World title remains to be seen now but with the win, Omega is rumored to be more involved in upcoming Impact Wrestling shows. AEW did not promote the match that much on their weekly broadcasts and Swann never appeared on Dynamite to face Omega.
Swann’s reign as Impact World champion came to a close after 184 days. He won it at Bound For Glory in October of last year.
Here are the results from last night’s Rebellion 2021 pay-per-view which took place live from the Skyway Studios in Nashville, Tennessee.
Josh Alexander defeated Ace Austin, and TJP in a three way match to become the new X Division champion; Violent by Design defeated Eddie Edwards, James Storm, Chris Sabin, and Willie Mack in an eight-man tag team match; Brian Myers defeated Matt Cardona; Jordynne Grace and Rachael Ellering defeated Fire N Flava to become the new Knockouts Tag Team champions; Trey Miguel defeated Sami Callihan in a last man standing match; FinJuice defeated The Good Brothers to retain the Impact Tag Team titles; Deonna Purrazzo defeated Tenille Dashwood to retain the Knockouts title; Kenny Omega defeated Rich Swann in a title-for-title match to become the new Impact World champion.
A woman claiming to be the ex-girlfriend of Mark Carrano, the former Senior VP of Talent Relations at WWE who was fired this week, has made several serious allegations against him, and another former WWE Superstar dropped another big bombshell as well.
Deborah Simmons, who uses the Twitter username @pinkysimovitch, wrote in a tweet tagging WWE, Stephanie McMahon, and Triple H, that Carrano used to steal title belts from the company and store them under the bed in the guest room of his West Haven, Connecticut home.
Simmons also accused Carrano of emotional abuse and said that he once tried to kill his ex-girlfriend’s cat.
“Mark Carrano once told me that everyone working in TR at WWE was a moron which is why he couldn’t take a real vacation, he said he had no one to cover for him,” Simmons added in another tweet. “I stuck up for the people even though I didn’t know any of them at the time.”
She also said that Carrano enjoyed putting her in “sticky situations” so he could come in at the last minute and save the day. “What it resulted in is many many head games that left me confused and wondering what the heck?”
Meanwhile, Nick Dinsmore, who wrestled for WWE under the name of Eugene, dropped a huge allegation against Carrano. “Where does he store his sexual assault allegations?” Dinsmore asked in a tweet. “I think it might just be the tip of the iceberg of creepiness.”
Carrano, a long-time WWE employee, was fired from his job this week after Mickie James uploaded a photo of her belongings shipped by WWE in a trash bag. The tweet forced Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, and John Laurinaitis to publicly apologize.
Live tonight from the Skyway Studios in Nashville, Tennessee, Impact Wrestling presents Rebellion 2021 on pay-per-view and Fite. The full card is as follows:
Rich Swann vs Kenny Omega in a winner-take-all match for both the Impact and AEW World titles; Deonna Purrazzo vs Tenille Dashwood for the Knockouts title; FinJuice vs The Good Brothers for the Impact World Tag Team titles; Ace Austin vs Josh Alexander vs TJP in a three-way match for the X Division title; Fire N Flava vs Jordynne Grace and Rachael Ellering for the Knockouts Tag Team titles; Matt Cardona vs Brian Myers; Trey Miguel vs Sami Callihan in a last man standing match; Chris Sabin, Eddie Edwards, James Storm, and Willie Mack vs Violent By Design in an eight-man tag team match.
It’s going to be a big night for Impact Wrestling as tonight’s Rebellion pay-per-view will feature a title for title match between two different promotions, and someone’s title will be moving to the “competition.”
Rich Swann, the current Impact World champion, will be taking on Kenny Omega, the current AEW World champion, in a winner-take-all match, a match which Omega is widely expected to win.
If Omega does indeed win, he will carry the AEW, Impact, and AAA Mega titles, a feat which will probably never be replicated in the foreseeable future. AEW President Tony Khan has a promised a finish for tonight’s match during the Rebellion press conference.
This match is a culmination of an angle which started back in December 2020 when Omega shocked the world by teaming with Impact’s Don Callis and appeared on Impact the week after he won the AEW title from Jon Moxley. Since then, Omega has appeared multiple times on Impact and so did Tony Khan. In return, the Good Brothers have been appearing regularly on Dynamite but while Omega has graced Impact, the Impact champ Rich Swann was nowhere to be seen on Dynamite to promote the match.
Impact on AXS TV did a total of 145,000 viewers this week for the Rebellion go-home episode, up 13,000 viewers from last week’s show. Impact had a 0.05 in the 18-49 demographic and placed #113 on the top 150 cable chart for the day. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
WWE has announced six new international recruits who have reported training to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando.
One of the six is Sari Fujimura, now known on NXT TV Sarray. She is the only one of out the six to have already been featured on WWE programming so far.
Another one is Hideki Suzuki, who joins not as a performer but as one of the Performance Center’s coaching staff. Suzuki wrestled for Big Japan Pro Wrestling, Wrestle-1 and Zero1, among other promotions and in 2017 he was named the MVP of Japanese independent wrestling by Samurai TV.
The other four are Sanjana George, a 24-year-old from Bangalore, India; Jennifer Michell Cantu Iglesias, a 23-year-old from Monterrey, Mexico; Matt Farrelly from Sydney, Australia; and Stephanie De Landre also from Sydney, Australia.
This week’s Smackdown on FOX did 2,041,000 viewers in the overnight numbers, up 45,000 viewers from last week’s overnight. Last week’s show ended with 2,119,000 viewers after the final number came on Monday.
The show had 2,046,000 viewers in the first hour and 2,037,000 viewers in the second hour so the audience remained steady. Smackdown was #1 in 18-34 with 0.3, #2 in 18-49 with 0.5, and #3 in 25-54 with 0.65 ratings. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
A few more WWE corporate employees were fired over the past few days as the change being brought by new WWE President Nick Khan continues according to PWInsider.com.
Brian Flinn, the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, was given the pink slip. Flinn arrived in WWE in 2012 and was the SVP of Marketing and Communications, then EVP, before being promoted to the Chief role. He came to WWE from the NBA where he was the SVP of Marketing.
Mead Rust, the VP of Communications, saw his WWE stint cut short after just two years. Rust came in 2019 from A&E Networks where he was the Senior Director of Corporate and International Communications.
Joe Villa, who worked for WWE for 22 years, was also terminated. His title was Manager of Publicity and Corporate Communications, a position he held for eight years. Villa rose through the ranks, starting in fan services, then moving to Live Event Media Coordinator, before going from Junior Publicist, to Publicist, Senior Publicist, and Manager.
Khan is hiring his own people, mostly former colleagues from CAA, to help him run WWE be more of a Hollywood entity.
PWInsider.com adds that John Cone, who was stripped from his role as Senior Manager in the Talent Relations department, has been given his job back but another referee, Rudy Charles, has been demoted. Both of them remain as referees as well.
It’s going to be a match of high stakes next week on Smackdown as Roman Reigns will defend the Universal title in a one-on-one match against Daniel Bryan.
But the title doesn’t seem to be the only thing on the line as Roman Reigns had a very specific request.
“If…when you lose, I don’t ever want to see your face again,” Reigns told Bryan. “I don’t want to see you on my show again.” It did not take long for Bryan to accept the proposal, meaning that if Bryan does not win the title, he will not be on Smackdown anymore.
Bryan is nearing the end of his WWE contract and recently admitted that he felt “detached” at WrestleMania and wondered if it’s time to hang up his wrestling boots. Bryan added that he doesn’t know what the future holds for him and he’s trying to work a deal where he can wrestle outside of WWE while also be part of the company.
Mickie James, who on Twitter posted a trash bag containing her belongings sent from WWE after she was released, issued a statement after Mark Carrano from the talent relations department was fired.
“I take zero pride or joy in the fact that someone would lose their job ever. Especially someone I considered a friend,” James wrote. “I am confident that Vince & The McMahons had no idea that this is how we were sent packing. It hurt a fragile me much more ten years ago when my belongings arrived on my doorstep, because WWE was my everything.”
James noted that she is stronger today than she was 10 years ago and knows the way she was sent her items wasn’t a deliberate attack on her, but the symbolism cannot be denied. She said she was sorry that a thoughtless and tone deaf act would cost someone their job but she’s not sorry that she had the courage to ensure it would not happen ever again to someone who gets released.
“So if that’s my final mark in this company moving forward I am ok with that. When I first started in this business one of the best pieces of advice I received was, ‘Just leave the business better than you found it kid’ and that has always been my ultimate goal,” she continued. “I love you all so much. I am legitimately grateful for my time at WWE and throughout my whole career. I am looking forward to everything that is next. I truly hope you are too and perhaps you will join me.”
James said that hopefully this is the last time she addresses this and she has a lot of good things on the horizon and doesn’t want any of it tainted “with ugliness and negativity.”
(New York–April 23, 2021) – The National Wrestling Alliance is proud to announce a 2nd live and worldwide television event, “When Our Shadows Fall” – presented exclusively on FITE. “When Our Shadows Fall” will feature NWA stars such as World’s Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis and National Champion Chris Adonis, plus Women’s Champion and AEW star Serena Deeb. Also appearing will be NWA Tag Champions Aron Stevens and Kratos, TV Tile Champion Pope, and Kamille, Trevor Murdoch, Tyrus with his manager Austin Idol, Thunder Rosa, Thom Latimer, Tim Storm, Taryn Terrell, and Melina—all scheduled and ready for in-ring action.
‘When Our Shadows Fall’ will feature an exclusive and newly recorded effort from Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder, who was asked by NWA President William Patrick Corgan to write a song representing the PPV’s dark and ominous circus-like theme.
Says Corgan: “We ask our fans from all over the globe to join us as we continue to build on the 73 years-and-counting tradition of the National Wrestling Alliance. It’s an awesome legacy to have to navigate, but as you’ve seen recently with Triller’s headline-making acquisition of FITE, the future of television and live broadcast events is in the digital sphere.”
So join NWA hosts Joe Galli, Tim Storm, Velvet Sky, Kyle Davis, and May Valentine, live and glittering from GPB Studios in Atlanta. Only on PPV from FITE.
Now available globally on FITE: CLICK HERE to pre-order WHEN OUR SHADOWS FALL
