This Day In Wrestling History

Frank Gotch defeats George Lurich and again announces his retirement. Immediately several people claim the world championship. An alleged title match takes place between Henry Ordemann and Jess Westegaard for the title. Dr. Benjamin F. Roller claims to be the champion. Frank Gotch opens up a car dealership in Humboldt, IA with Albert Wittman and P. F. Saul.
January 4, 1913

Shotgun Saturday Night debuts from the Mirage Nightclub in New York
January 4, 1997

Mankind (Mick Foley) defeated The Rock to win the WWF(E) World Title at a RAW is WAR taping in Worcester, Massachusetts. The show would air on the following Monday. That night Tony Schiavone would reveal the result during WCW Monday Nitro, airing live that night, noting that Mankind as champion "ought to put a lot of butts in the seats." Schiavone would later claim Eric Bischoff fed him that line to say.
January 4, 1999

Hulk Hogan defeats Kevin Nash for the WCW Championship via poking him with his finger. This incident lead to the rebirth of the nWo.
January 4, 1999

TNA iMPACT! moved to Monday nights to compete against WWE Raw. That night, Hulk Hogan made his debut with TNA, while Bret Hart made his WWE return to confront Shawn Michaels. Four months later, iMPACT! moved back to Thursday nights. They were not able to compete against Raw in the ratings.
January 4, 2010

This Day In Wrestling History

Happy Birthday to Jim Ross
January 3, 1952

Bruiser Brody defeats Fritz Von Erich to win the World Class American Heavyweight Title in Atlanta, Georgia, ending Von Erich's 13th reign, which lasted only four days.
January 3, 1977

The Monday Night War entered its final full year, with RAW is WAR defeating Monday Nitro solidly, 6.4 to 3.3.
January 3, 2000

WWF(E) RAW is WAR took place at the brand-new (it opened three days earlier) AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, Florida. That night's RAW featured D-Generation X's "epic" Mankind-bashing film entitled "Have a Bad Day". The show also featured Triple H winning his second WWF(E) Title, defeating Big Show. That night's RAW also featured Stephanie McMahon declaring Chris Jericho and Chyna co-Intercontinental Champions, after their double-pin on the previous week's SmackDown!.
January 3, 2000

This Day In Wrestling History

The Monday Night Wars continued, WCW Monday Nitro's 4.6 rating defeated WWF Monday Night RAW's 3.6 rating. RAW in Uniondale, New York featured Owen Hart defeating WWF Champion Shawn Michaels by disqualification when Triple H broke one of his crutches over Hart's head while he had Michaels in the sharpshooter. Nitro was just over 200 miles away in Baltimore, Maryland, and featured Ultimo Dragon defeating WCW Cruiserweight Champion Eddie Guerrero by submission to win the title for the second time, Booker T winning his first of a record six WCW World Television Titles from Disco Inferno, and a main event of WCW World Champion Sting defeating Hollywood Hulk Hogan.
December 29, 1997

Mick Foley (as Mankind) defeated The Rock for his first WWF(E) Title after Stone Cold Steve Austin returned knocking out The Rock with a steel chair. The show would air on the following Monday, January 4, 1999. That night Tony Schiavone would reveal the result during WCW Monday Nitro, airing live that night, noting that Mankind as champion "ought to put a lot of butts in the seats." Schiavone would later claim Eric Bischoff fed him that line to say. D-Generation X celebrated with Foley after the match.
December 29, 1998

On an edition of ECW on SyFy from East Rutherford, New Jersey, Tommy Dreamer wrestled his last match for WWE's version of ECW, facing Zack Ryder in a match where Dreamer promised to leave ECW if he lost.
December 29, 2010

'The Soup" Features WWE And Will Again Next Week

Next Wednesday at 10:30 PM Eastern The Soup will have a special episode focusing on the WWE. The episode is titled “The Soup Meets WWE: Piledriving Clips in Your Face”

It will feature Daniel Bryan, Rey Mysterio, Eve, Jerry Lawler, and more.

This week, we got a clip of Mick Foley and The Miz from this week’s Raw when Mick told Miz he never liked him when Miz suggested that he should be on Team Foley at Survivor Series.

source: pwinsider.com

Survivor Series Teams Shake-Up

Oh, how quickly things change. Just last week it looked like WWE Champion CM Punk would be captaining a squad of Superstars against Mick Foley’s hand-selected team in a Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Tag Team Match, and now The Second City Saint is gearing up for a title defense at WWE’s fall classic against both John Cena and former Team Foley member Ryback.

Thanks to the head-spinning turn of events facilitated by Raw Managing Supervisor Vickie Guerrero (with a gentle nudge from WWE Chairman Mr. McMahon) on the Nov. 5 edition of Raw, both teams have undergone radical transformations. Team Punk has replaced two members, starting at the top, and is now known as Team Ziggler, while Team Foley finds itself in need of a fifth member.

The alterations for the former Team Punk began when original team member The Miz criticized The Second City Saint’s leadership, or lack thereof, and informed Paul Heyman that he wanted no part of the WWE Champion’s unit.

Still thinking Punk would be a team captain come Nov. 18, Heyman aggressively sought out the services of Wade Barrett, who agreed to join in exchange for a yet-to-be-named favor from Heyman.

With his team seemingly at full capacity once more, Punk then had the ultimate rug pulled out from beneath him when Vickie announced that the WWE Championship will be defended at Survivor Series against both Ryback and Cena in a Triple Threat Match.

Sensing an urgent need to rebuild the Survivor Series teams, The Queen Diva subsequently moved Dolph Ziggler into position as the team’s new captain — a development that delighted The Showoff. Meanwhile, the rest of the former Team Punk — Alberto Del Rio and The Rhodes Scholars — remains intact, for now.

source: wwe.com

WWE Hall of Fame Discussions Begin

WWE Hall of Fame discussions have started. According to a source, Bruno Sammartino remains at the top of the list. Others that key officials have discussed include Mick Foley, Triple H, The Freebirds, Regis Philbin (in the celebrity wing), Bob Backlund, Larry Zbyszko, Sid Vicious, Earthquake John Tenta and Paul Heyman. The feeling is the timing isn't right for Heyman, since he is penciled in to be a major part of one of the marquee WrestleMania 29 matches and as a heel, it would create an awkward atmosphere.

Vince McMahon has not commented on the suggested entries, but should be deciding who is going in within the next several weeks.

According to a source close to Bruno, he has not closed the door to a possible induction. He apparently would agree to be inducted ONLY if the money is right, which be believes is about respect and to rectify "past financial injustices." Bruno feels that WWE has not been fair with him in the past with royalties related to the marketing of his merchandise and action figures, and that the situation must be addressed before he would consider being inducted.

Bruno is also adamant that any deal that he makes to enter the WWE Hall of Fame is made independent of any financing or distribution deal for the potential theatrical film to be made of his life. He would like for that movie to be made, but is financially "very comfortable" and would not be heartbroken if it is not.

Bruno is said to be open to talking to Triple H at any time, and has always been open to take his calls. The source also noted that Bruno has never told Triple H not to call him and never will.

source: wrestlinginc.com

Mick Foley, WWE & DK Publishing Release New Children’s Book With Anti-Bullying Message

Mick Foley, WWE and DK Publishing have released a new children’s book titled “A Most Mizerable Christmas.” The story features many top WWE stars including John Cena, CM Punk and Sheamus trying to teach The Miz a valuable lesson about not being a bully in school.

“As an author and father, I am overjoyed that families will be spending time together reading A Most Mizerable Christmas this holiday season,” said Mick Foley. “The WWE Superstars and Divas, transformed into children inhabiting Wrescal Lane, learn a fun-filled but important lesson about treating others with tolerance and respect – making the book a perfect tag-team partner for WWE’s Be a STAR campaign.”

This Day In Wrestling History

In Houston, Texas, Vince McMahon creates the WWF "Hardcore Championship" and awards it to Mankind (Mick Foley). Ironically, Mankind would hold the title for less than a month, and never win it back. Despite this, the Hardcore Title is often associated with Foley.
November 2, 1998

WWE announces settlement in the Owen Hart case.
November 2, 2000

David Hart Smith and Chris Masters were suspended by WWE for Wellness Policy violations. They were the first two workers to be named under the terms of the revised provision where Wellness Policy violators' names would be released to the public. Masters would later be released from the company.
November 2, 2007

source: pwinsider.com

WWE to Hold WrestleMania 29 Kickoff Event

WWE is scheduled to hold a Wrestlemania kickoff party in New York City at Bryant Park on Friday to promote the on sale of Wrestlemania 29 tickets. Scheduled for the event is Bret Hart, Booker T, Mick Foley, Sgt. Slaughter, Alicia Fox, Aksana and Mark Henry.

Team Punk and Team Foley Set For Survivor Series

Team Punk consists of the WWE Champion himself, Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow, the Miz and Alberto del Rio.

Team Foley will consist of Randy Orton, Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston, Team Hell No, and Ryback.

While Mick Foley will not be wrestling with Team Foley in the Survivor Series main event, Foley will be at ringside cheering his team on. Team Punk will have Paul Heyman and Ricardo Rodriguez at ringside.

This Day In Wrestling History - ECW Goes Too Far

Arena recap filed by Dave Scherer of pwinsider.com on October 28, 1995:

On this night, ECW totally dropped the ball.

The singularly most stupid series of events in wrestling history occurred. Raven and Cactus pulled out a chair that had towels affixed to it somehow. These towels were soaked in lighter fluid or some other flammable liquid and they used the branding iron to ignite the whole mess. As the flames rose off of the chair, the sickening feeling in my stomach worsened. Cactus winds up and hits Dreamer with the chair, and he catches on fire. The fans were stunned, and did not even pop. I said into my recorder, “Death must be the next bump.”

Cactus tries to pick up the chair, but it is flaming almost uncontrollably. He somehow picks it up and as he winds up, the towels that are burning are coming loose, which someone should have thought of as it is pretty hard for something that is burning to stay attached to a chair. He throws the chair at Funk, who is now laying on the floor near the ring barricade, and fire goes everywhere.

Funk is literally a man ablaze. As Funk is running around ringside, fans are trying to put him out. The towels are laying on the floor burning and the crowd starts to go nuts. A few people came over with the fire extinguishers and as the shoot the towels, they actually go into the crowd making matters worse. If one person, as I was told was the plan, had suffocated the fire, it would have gone out, instead it was shot across the Arena floor.

I was told that the whole fire gimmick was thought up by Funk and Cactus, and was not known to Paul Heyman beforehand. In any event, the buck stops with Heyman and it is ultimately his responsibility.

All of this was bad enough. People were scared and nervous, and undoubtedly some of the world’s true sick sons of bitches were actually enjoying all of this. And then the stupidest of all things happened. Off went the house lights. The big finale of this was to be an angle where Raven took Dreamer up to the crows nest and hung him up there and “crucified him.” To get him up there and set it up, they needed the lights out. For about 2 minutes.

But for the love of God, at this point in the show, given the fire was going astray, had just been extinguished, and that people were startled to run for, turning off the lights for the purpose of doing a f**king angle is ludicrous and should never have happened. The lights going off caused people to head for the doors, When the lights came back on, there was Raven licking and biting the blood of the crucified Dreamer.

What Paul Heyman was thinking while all of this was going on is a mystery to me, but this was the worst judgment he could have possibly shown. A major mistake was made.

At this point, I went outside and watched the people come out, helping anyone I could. People were coughing from getting sprayed with the fire extinguishers, people were bleeding from getting hurt in the melee (one guy broke his nose and I was told another broke a leg), and some people were actually burned.

Terry Funk and his wife came out and he was taken to the hospital with second degree burns on his right arm, from his bicep to his elbow. He returned later to the hotel in pretty good spirits and was said to be doing well. Before leaving, Funk went ballistic backstage and was throwing chairs, (one of the which that went through the wall) yelling at people, and even knocked over an enormous industrial fan as the guys were running from him. He was upset about now he would miss out on work because, as one witness put it “his arm looked like raw meat.” He had just spent 3 three months applying salve from burns he received in Japan and now the process will start all over again.

Tommy Dreamer also suffered a broken nose as well as burns on his back from during the match. Cactus Jack was distraught backstage, and felt very bad for what had happened.

A lot of fans were saying they were done with ECW. People said they felt that ECW had violated their safety and were pissed off. And, in the interest of fairness, there were a group of people who were chanting “ECW” and the show ended. It was a truly unnerving experience for me that crossed the line.

And people wonder why I hate ECW and don't think much of Paul Heyman...

Mick Foley Comments On His Relationship With Triple H

As noted earlier, Mick Foley joked that Triple H was referring to him during his promo on RAW last night when he talked about not wanting to be the guy who just hung around.
"HHH should take it from a guy who knows," Foley wrote on his Twitter. "Better to go out on top, on your own terms, than to hang around too long... YES! Just lost three times in a single Triple H highlight reel. When it comes to losing high profile matches, I truly am The King of Kings!

"Jees, kind of felt like he was referring to me there, didn't it?"

Foley took to his Twitter today to clear the air regarding his relationship with Triple H. Here is what he wrote:

Can I clear up this rumor about me not getting along with Triple H?
Triple H is the man responsible for bringing me back to WWE. I am very happy in my role as WWE Ambassador, and have a variety of WWE projects due out in the next few months: a children's book, a set of cards that I did the writing for, and the WWE13 game that I am apparently featured prominently in. I am hoping to use the release of the book to become a much larger part of WWE's "Be A STAR" campaign.

WWE has gone out of their way to clear considerable chunks of time for me, including the Montreal and Edinburgh comedy festivals and the upcoming Singapore Writer's Festival (more on that in a few days) and February tour of Australia.

And if I ever feel like I need a quick Foley fix; like I absolutely need to hear thousands of people chanting my name? Well,pretty much any house show I want to appear at is just a phone call (or text) away.

There is no higher form of flattery for me than showing up on another WWE Superstar's highlight video. I was thrilled to be there three times for Triple H.

Bottom line: I'm happy. I'm part of the company I love, and I get to try things on my own. Thank you, Triple H, for bringing me back to WWE.

Stop sucking up Mick...

Rumor Mill - Triple H Against WWE Utilizing Mick Foley On Television

Wrestling Observer editor Dave Meltzer was asked by a reader during his radio show (available here) why WWE has not utilized Mick Foley on television more frequently since his return to the organization last November. He said this is due to wrestler/executive Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque’s lobbying, who is resentful of “The Hardcore Legend.”

Meltzer reports Levesque deprecates Foley whenever his name is broached in creative meetings. While Brian Gewirtz, WWE’s Senior Vice President of Creative Writing, feels Foley is creative and a good performer, Levesque thinks otherwise. He says Foley ‘doesn’t look tough’ and can’t be taken seriously as an in-ring performer.

A former WWE creative writer told Power Slam in 2008 under the condition of anonymity that Levesque would disparage Foley whenever he appeared for the company, and in the process, diminished his value in the eyes of Vince and Stephanie McMahon.

“Foley is an out-of-shape nobody,” Levesque was reported as saying by the writer. “No one cares about him at all. Funaki puts more asses in the seats than Foley does. He should pay us for coming on our shows.”

Meltzer believes the real reason Levesque still holds Foley in contempt is because he gets irritated over the consensus of his closest co-workers that his memorable matches with Foley in 2000 ‘made him a star.’

Foley has criticized Levesque in the past; he took several veiled shots at ‘H in his 2007 autobiography The Hardcore Diaries. He also took issue online with Levesque belittling ring announcer Lilian Garcia with a remark he felt was hurtful during an April 2010 episode of Raw. Foley acknowledged then that he may have cost himself professionally, but felt he had to stand by his principles.

Superstars Announced for WrestleMania Axxess

WWE has announced the following for this year's WrestleMania Axxess:

Thursday, March 29
Session – 6-10pm
VIP 1 – 6-8pm – WWE Superstar CM Punk

Thursday, March 29
Session – 6-10pm
VIP 2 – 8-10pm – WWE Superstar Edge

Friday, March 30
Session – 6-10pm
VIP 3 – 6-8pm – WWE Superstar John Cena

Friday, March 30
Session – 6-10pm
VIP 4 – 8-10pm – WWE Superstar Randy Orton

Saturday, March 31
Session – 8am-12pm
VIP 5 – 9-11am – WWE Superstar Triple H

Saturday, March 31
Session – 1-5pm
VIP 6 – 1-3pm – WWE Superstar Shawn Michaels

Saturday, March 31
Session – 1-5pm
VIP 7 – 3-5pm – WWE Superstar Chris Jericho

Saturday, March 31
Session – 6-10pm
VIP 8 – 6-8pm – WWE Legend Mick Foley

Sunday, April 1
Session – 8am-12pm
VIP 9 – 8-10am – WWE Superstar Sheamus

Sunday, April 1
Session – 8am-12pm
VIP 9 – 10am-12pm – WWE Superstar The Big Show

Sunday, April 1
Session – 12:30-4:30pm
VIP 10 – 12:30-2:30pm – WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio

Video: CM Punk, John Laurinaitis & Mick Foley on Raw 01/16/12

This Day in Wrestling History

Happy Birthday to Jim Ross
January 3, 1952

Bruiser Brody defeats Fritz Von Erich to win the World Class American Heavyweight Title in Atlanta, Georgia, ending Von Erich's 13th reign, which lasted only four days.
January 3, 1977

The Monday Night War entered its final full year, with RAW is WAR defeating Monday Nitro solidly, 6.4 to 3.3.
January 3, 2000

WWF(E) RAW is WAR took place at the brand-new (it opened three days earlier) AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, Florida. That night's RAW featured D-Generation X's "epic" Mankind-bashing film entitled "Have a Bad Day". The show also featured Triple H winning his second WWF(E) Title, defeating Big Show. That night's RAW also featured Stephanie McMahon declaring Chris Jericho and Chyna co-Intercontinental Champions, after their double-pin on the previous week's SmackDown!.
January 3, 2000

This Day in Wrestling History

The Monday Night Wars continued, WCW Monday Nitro's 4.6 rating defeated WWF Monday Night RAW's 3.6 rating. RAW in Uniondale, New York featured Owen Hart defeating WWF Champion Shawn Michaels by disqualification when Triple H broke one of his crutches over Hart's head while he had Michaels in the sharpshooter. Nitro was just over 200 miles away in Baltimore, Maryland, and featured Ultimo Dragon defeating WCW Cruiserweight Champion Eddie Guerrero by submission to win the title for the second time, Booker T winning his first of a record six WCW World Television Titles from Disco Inferno, and a main event of WCW World Champion Sting defeating Hollywood Hulk Hogan.
December 29, 1997

Mick Foley (as Mankind) defeated The Rock for his first WWF(E) Title after Stone Cold Steve Austin returned knocking out The Rock with a steel chair. The show would air on the following Monday, January 4, 1999. That night Tony Schiavone would reveal the result during WCW Monday Nitro, airing live that night, noting that Mankind as champion "ought to put a lot of butts in the seats." Schiavone would later claim Eric Bischoff fed him that line to say. D-Generation X celebrated with Foley after the match.
December 29, 1998

On an edition of ECW on SyFy from East Rutherford, New Jersey, Tommy Dreamer wrestled his last match for WWE's version of ECW, facing Zack Ryder in a match where Dreamer promised to leave ECW if he lost.
December 29, 2010

Raw Results 11/14/11

RAW Gets Rocked!: News & Notes for Tonight's Three-Hour RAW Supershow

Tonight's special "RAW GETS ROCKED" Supershow will kick off at 8pm EST from the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The Rock is confirmed for tonight's show to continue the Survivor Series build and while he has been pulled from advertisements, Mick Foley is still expected to appear.

Also confirmed for tonight's show is The Michael Cole Challenge with Jim Ross and the return of Brodus Clay, both of which were scheduled for last week's RAW Supershow.

SmackDown stars advertised for tonight include World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry, Hunico, Sin Cara, Randy Orton, Sheamus, Christian, Cody Rhodes and Daniel Bryan. Six-man action with CM Punk, John Cena and Randy Orton vs. Henry, R-Truth and The Miz is being advertised locally.

source: allwrestling.com

Mick Foley Comments on his Return to WWE

Mick Foley commented on his return to WWE at a live event that took place in Dublin, Ireland on Wednesday. "Thanks to all in Dublin for a great time tonight," Foley wrote. "I might be stopping by a few WWE shows on my days off." He noted that those days off are November 5, 7, 8. Follow Foley on Twitter at Twitter.com/RealMickFoley.

Foley also delivered a "there's no place like home" tweet regarding his return.

source: prowrestling.net