Video: Vince McMahon comments on lack of ambition in the WWE locker room

EVOLVE co-founder Gabe Sapolsky Comments on WWE NXT

History does repeat itself. I remember when ECW was shunned and ignored in the early days. Then suddenly we saw WWE and WCW embracing the principles and soon the ECW wrestlers. This ignited the biggest boom in the history of US wrestling. Yesterday, we saw some things that lit the Internet on fire because they are new and we didn't expect them. The biggest was HHH posing for a selfie with Kevin Steen, Hideo Itami and Fergal Devitt and then giving huge endorsements to Sami Zayn and Adrian Neville by tweeting that he would like to wrestle them. Kalisto as well as Zayn and Neville brought new excitement to NXT Takeover that had fans tweeting their support. This doesn't even include the impact that Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose are making on the main roster. WWE has even included me on the The Shield documentary and Paul Heyman DVD. So what's my point? A few years ago, none of this would have happened because the talents from the independents weren't considered "major league." WWE has obviously changed it's thought process and we are hopefully at the dawn of a new era. Will it lead to a boom like in the 90s? I don't know, but I do know that it will lead to new stars and and some fresh wrestling (or sports entertainment in the WWE Universe). The most important thing is that these innovative, cutting edge talents capture the imagination of new, young fans. Given the stage WWE is providing, they can.

WWE Studios' Releasing Another Action Movie Starring Former Member of The Shield

Variety reports that WWE Studios' next action movie will be called Lockdown and will feature Dean Ambrose in a starring role. This is the second movie under the new six-pack WWE Studios and Lionsgate deal.

Production starts this month. The movie will be directed by Stephen Reynolds of Tomb Raider: Ascension.

Written by Nathan Brooks and Bobby Lee Darby of WWE's See No Evil 2, Lockdown tells the story of "a police officer who finds himself trapped inside his own precinct and hunted after crooked cops stop at nothing to recover incriminating evidence of illegal activities against those closest to him."

WWE Studios' head Michael Luisi said of Lockdown:

"Lockdown will continue to energize and excite with the high level of adrenaline our fans have come to expect from our films."

Dean Ambrose Comments on Working with Triple H

"[We ended up being able to] work with Triple H, and [I would] go up to him with what [I thought] was a brilliant idea, because I tend to think I’m pretty smart. I’ll go up and say I have a brilliant idea, and he’ll shoot 10,000 logic holes in it, and I’ll go, ‘Oh yeah I am stupid, that’s way smarter the way he put it.’ Seeing how Triple H thinks is very educational. Kind of the same thing with Piper, seeing those guys go through their process and think about things, and bring logic to what is often an illogical form of entertainment, is pretty cool."

Ambrose not just Good, he's great

Jonathan Good may be living a charmed life in professional wrestling nowadays, but life wasn't always easy for the man better known as Dean Ambrose.

Good, who grew up in the area known as the East End in Cincinnati, is evasive when asked if he had a rough upbringing.

"Who doesn't have their own story?" he asked. "I grew up in Cincinnati, the east side of Cincinnati. I don't really have any kind of heartbreaking sob story, just a regular old lower class American upbringing."

Turning the focus away from his formative years and onto the beginnings of what could some day be a hall of fame wrestling career, he described his beginnings."I started wrestling when I was 16 and (I spent) a lot of years on the road and a lot of years wrestling in every bingo hall and armory and bar and night club imaginable to get here," Good said, referring to his current wrestling home, World Wrestling Entertainment. "I've travelled the entire world, put my body through a lot of abuse, (gaining) a lot of experience in becoming the guy I am today."

Then the focus turns back to his early life.

"Mine might be a little bit different than most people, but everybody's got their own story and that's what makes you the person that you are."

One thing Good is comfortable talking about when it comes to his youth is his lifelong love for pro wrestling.

"For me, wrestling was like an escape," he answered when asked about what his earliest memories of the business are...More?

source: slam wreslting

Seth Rollins Turns On The Shield And Joins Evolution

During Monday's WWE Raw broadcast Seth Rollins turned his back on fellow members of The Shield, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns by turning heel in a shocking twist.

The scheduled Randy Orton vs. Roman Reigns main event didn't go ahead after Triple H revealed that he had a “plan B.”

Seth Rollins attacked both Reigns and Dean Ambrose with a steel chair, following this Triple H and Randy Orton took to the ring to join Rollins in the beatdown.

Video: Ric Flair addresses Evolution and The Shield

WWE.com Names The Best Match of 2013

WWE.com has listed the following matches as the top 5 of 2013:

5. Daniel Bryan vs. Antonio Cesaro (Raw; July 22)
4. Cody Rhodes & Goldust (w/Dusty Rhodes) vs. Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns (w/Dean Ambrose) (WWE Battleground)
3. The Undertaker vs. CM Punk (WrestleMania 29)
2. John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan - WWE Championship Match (SummerSlam 2013)
1. CM Punk vs. Brock Lesnar - No Disqualification Match (SummerSlam 2013)

WWE proclaims the Shield as 2013 Rookies of the Year

WWE.com has a new article where they proclaim the Shield of Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns the 2013 WWE Rookies of the Year. The Shield were in the running for the award alongside the Wyatt Family, Fandango, Curtis Axel and Big E. Langston.

To read the full article, click here.

Backstage News On Big Title Win

Putting a secondary title on Big E Langston has been planned for a while, they just weren’t sure whether it would be the Intercontinental Championship or United States Championship. The former was chosen with Curtis Axel not working out as expected and the fact the US title is seen as a good “accessory” for Dean Ambrose.

And Justice for All: 10 Dramatic Moments That Made The Shield

One year ago today, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns debuted at Survivor Series and proceeded to disrupt the status quo in the WWE Universe. Follow the trail paved by The Hounds of Justice during their inaugural year in WWE. Click here.

Les Thatcher talks Dean Ambrose, no interest in TNA product

Legendary wrestling trainer Les Thatcher joined Inside The Ropes this past week to talk about his ilustrious career. Here are some highlights of his chat:

Importance of guys being a role player in wrestling:

"The thing a lot of the younger guys don’t learn now is to be a role player. Now when I say a role player, it’s to be versatile enough to do whatever a promotion needs of you. Probably the best example of that, at a high level right now, would be Chris Jericho. You know, he can work with a new guy, get him over without killing himself, because he’s just that talented and of course, he can be a top guy. He can be a babyface or he can be a heel, he can work tags. Theres nothing that he can’t do. He cuts good promos either heel or babyface, so there’s really nothing he can’t do which makes him that much more valuable to a promotion."

Memories of working with Dean Ambrose during his training:

"Jon is a good hand. I’m happy to see him get the break. I’ve been watching him from the beginning. He was in a tag team and the gimmick was he and his partner would come out in football gear, they were like two college football players, and that’s when I first saw him. I saw the potential in Jon, started working with him, more to refine him. I got him his first dark match (with WWE). I’m glad to see him doing well, he’s a natural talent and the other thing was, when I sold the HWA that’s when Jon was there and I got him his tryout. I’d go over to help out some of their guys and some of them would come once or twice but Jon was always there and always eager to learn."

Does he keep up to date with TNA:

"Not as much as I did, I sort of lost interest. There’s some good guys there, some guys I know but I just, truthfully, my honest feeling on TNA...and I wish them well and wish there were ten more like them, but I think TNA exactly where they are today is where they’ll be in ten years if they’re still around by then. They’ve cried wolf so many times, they are what they are. I don’t seem them getting any better or maybe even any worse. The trouble is they’re just WWE-Lite."

On angles in TNA being copied from WWE:

"Well the Dixie Carter thing, she doesn’t do a bad heel promo. But strike one is Stephanie McMahon is doing the exact same thing. Now I don’t care if Dixie came up with this three years ago, now would still have been a bad time to implement it, it just looks like a bad copy regardless. The AJ Styles angle, it’s the same thing. The network is obviously not that strong. There are people that don’t know TNA exists. I did some personal training at a gym here a few years ago and people would talk to me about WWE and I’d mention TNA and they’d say “What’s that?” I know Mick Foley makes a joke about when he was there people would ask him why he wasn’t wrestling anymore even though he was but they just didn’t know about TNA."

Rumor Mill - Backstage Talk About Roman Reigns, The Shield, Wyatt Family

Look for Roman Reigns of The Shield to eventually turn into a major babyface, but probably not for several months down the line. No word yet on what this will mean for Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins.

There is talk that with The Shield possibly dissolving soon, The Wyatt Family will take their spot as the dominant heel stable. Look for The Wyatts to have a major feud against CM Punk and Daniel Bryan.

The WWE's Difficult Men

At SummerSlam, Daniel Bryan bested John Cena in an incredible, hard-fought match that saw Bryan — playing the scrappy, scraggly underdog — overcome immeasurable odds to defeat Cena, WWE's most unflappable and dominant hero since the heyday of Hulkamania. Bryan got the lion's share of the crowd's adulation, leaving Cena in the limbo of lukewarm applause that has become his standard. Let's call it "That awkward moment when your biggest hero is also your biggest villain." Cena still gets his cheers, but he also gets a lot of "heat" — the angry response a pro wrestling villain gets from crowds. Despite the abuse Cena suffered at the hands of unappreciative Angelenos in the Staples Center audience, he managed to get through SummerSlam without being the most hated guy on the roster. After Cena left the scene, WWE found a villain so pure at this pay-per-view that even the ironic boos of meta-fans couldn't dilute the audience reaction, and WWE got the best heat that it has seen in ages.

On Monday's episode of Raw, Triple H stood atop the entrance ramp with the entire roster in cowed silence as Bryan was callously thumped in the ring by the Shield. If any wrestler objected, they would be fired. Some might call this a delicious storytelling device. Some might say Triple H is once again acting out his power-trip fantasies in story lines. The message boards fumed with indignation: Triple H is back to burying the roster. He loves to hear himself talk; he loves to be in the spotlight; he loves to boss everybody around. When Orton strolled to the ring and coolly hit Bryan with the finishing blow, fans said, "Get that guy off my TV screen." And that's exactly what they're supposed to be saying. WWE figured out how to turn the meta-fans into old-school marks.

When I said good-bye to Triple H after our interview, he said everybody always asks him what's next for WWE, now that Vince has transformed it from a territorial wrestling operation to a global enterprise. "One word," he said. "Disney." If his heel turn is any indication, WWE might have found the formula. It's expanded beyond childish things — the simplistic storytelling archetypes of good and evil. And in doing so, it's finally figured out how to make good heroes and villains...More?

source: grantland.com

Interview with Dean Ambrose

Interview with Dean Ambrose

Mick Foley Comments On Triple H & Curtis Axel, TNA, Nixed Dean Ambrose Feud, Ziggler's Future, More

WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley joined Busted Open with Dave Lagreca and Doug Mortman and discussed Curtis Axel, his Hall of Fame speech, Dolph Ziggler cashing in, his nixed angle with Dean Ambrose (which you can watch in the video above) and much more. You can hear Busted Open on Sirius 92, XM 208 and on the app on Sports Zone. Here are some highlights:

On if Triple H squashed Curti Axel's debut: "This is not a knock on Triple H, but Triple H talked about retiring me after I already came back three times. At that point it was a big deal in 2000 for Triple H to talk about retiring me. If Triple H has had his last match, which is a good possibility, then I see Paul Heyman bragging for the next three years that Curtis Axel retired Triple H. Which is much bigger than beating him and much more meaningful or whether or not he was slapped or made to look weak momentarily.

"For people who ask me if I think this guy has a chance. Not only is he talented and waited his turn and lived through the Michael McGillicutty indignity. I asked him about that and obviously he didn't want to say anything bad about the company, but he said ,'It hurt a little, it stung when you get your name and it's Michael McGillicutty. Short term you can say, 'well why didn't he beat Triple H?' But like I said, me being on the outside looking in, depending how this thing plays out, never underestimate the verbal skills of Paul Heyman or the skills of Michael McGillicutty. As a fan it has me hooked. Even if you're not saying Curtis Axel right now, I believe that Paul is the master. I call him the master gardener. He knows how much water and sunshine to give his project and then they have to grow on their own."

On his Hall of Fame speech: "I think they intentionally had a smaller class this year and the only guideline Vince McMahon gave us was to have fun and enjoy it. That was the only critique of me when I came back to the WWE because I had left with the words 'You'll never speak to me this way again.' Then I came back with the words 'can I come back now?' So I was a little tentative. Vince even said to me, 'Mick, you look like you're not enjoying yourself' and I wasn't.

"I did throw a minor little fit over the rumor that Donald Trump's speech was going to air and not mine on television. I specifically remembered that I had told Stephanie McMahon a week or two earlier. I said, 'Stephanie, the moment you guys mentioned my book on the air Countdown to Lockdown, I said at that moment I promised myself that if I was ever asked to be in the Hall of Fame that I would say yes unconditionally. I wouldn't ask to be on at a certain point, it would be unconditionally. Then all of a sudden I hear about Donald Trump and I'm placing conditions on it. I said that's not the way I feel. This is going to be a great night. I really apologized in front of the entire McMahon family. Because I did feel it wasn't my place to say that and most importantly, now I was lying to what I had said to Stephanie. This came from the heart. It was supposed to be unconditional. Now I'm actually thinking about going out there and throwing my ring in the audience. These were the thoughts going through my head. By the time I got to the Garden, I'm just going to enjoy this. I went out on stage and realized I would probably never have the opportunity to address 17,000 people in THAT arena. The most important one in the country to me. I consider it maybe the best highlight of my career because I was able to recognize it."

More?

Video: The Undertaker feels the brutal wrath of The Shield

Video: The Shield and 3MB barge in on Triple H's return to SmackDown

Triple H Appears After SmackDown Tapings

After last night's WWE SmackDown tapings ended in Knoxville, The Shield came out and attacked Randy Orton and Sheamus. This led to Triple H, wearing a cast on his arm, making the save. The babyfaces hit their finishers on The Shield to end the show.