Triple H Talks Sending The Rock A Photo Of Himself From WrestleMania This Year, Rock's Response

Triple H was among a panel of WWE stars interviewed by Stephanie McMahon during the WWE FYC (For Your Consideration) event in North Hollywood, California. The event was held for the purposes of campaigning for a 2018 Emmy Award nomination under the industry of entertainment.

Stephanie asked Triple H about how it is transitioning from WWE superstar to heading the talent relations and creative department in WWE.

"I think that when you're a WWE superstar, obviously the greatest part of what we get to do, putting smiles on people's faces," Triple H said. "We're doing all this stuff, but there's this, it's hard to even put it into words. There's a picture of me out front from WrestleMania this year. I noticed when I walked in today. And, what I noticed about the picture, with HD television and camera work now, I noticed that it's a shot of Steph and I from WrestleMania, and my legs are covered with goosebumps. I immediately took a snapshot of it and sent it to The Rock to say, 'dude, look at my legs.' We used to talk about this all the time, the passion for what we do when you have that moment in front of 80,000 people where your whole body, it's electric. There's no other way to describe it, but it just goes into automatic and you're covered with goosebumps and it's just this insane adrenaline thing.

"Rock sent me a note back like two seconds later and was like, 'oh my God. If it wouldn't be totally weird, I would blow this up right now and put this on my trailer wall as an inspiration.' I said, I know, that's why I trimmed it a certain way just to show my leg, 'cuz it was cold at WrestleMania (smiles), but [Rock] said that nobody can understand that like we can, it's something of the WWE. So at that point in my life, nothing greater than that. I can honestly say that step into where I am now, that pales in comparison to seeing a person with a dream."

Triple H used Charlotte – who was also on the panel – as an example as someone who came to him "lost" and looking for an opportunity to having Ric Flair calling her for inspiration and inspiring a generation of young women to achieve their dreams.

As far as NXT, Triple H calls them his "kids," and said that leading the NXT brand has been the greatest part of his WWE career so far.

WWE Announces Record Subscribers For The Network

WWE issued the following today, announcing a record 2.1 million subscribers for the WWE Network. You can read the full release with chart at the WWE Corporate website by clicking here.

WWE® Network Hits Record 2.1 Million Subscribers

04/09/2018

WWE® Raises Q1 and Full Year 2018 Guidance

STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- WWE® (NYSE:WWE) today announced that its digital streaming service, WWE Network, reached a record 2.12 million total subscribers following last night's WrestleMania®.1 This is a 9% increase from April 3, 2017, the day after WrestleMania last year.

"We expect to deliver record subscriber levels, revenue and Adjusted OIBDA in 2018," said George Barrios, WWE Co-President. "WWE Network's continued growth along with our massive reach across traditional television as well as digital and social platforms, reaffirms the effectiveness of our global, multi-platform content strategy."

WWE Network Subscriber Highlights

WWE Network achieved record levels of total and total paid subscribers as of April 9, 2018. Total paid subscribers reached 1.81 million, representing a 9% increase from April 3, 2017 – the day after WrestleMania last year.

Video: Triple H and Stephanie McMahon train for WrestleMania

Triple H Talks New WWE NXT Title, Being Excited For Daniel Bryan, Training With Stephanie McMahon

Triple H recently spoke with USA Today's "For The Win" blog at this link to promote WrestleMania 34 and the match with Stephanie McMahon against Ronda Rousey and WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle, plus the WWE NXT "Takeover: New Orleans" event. Below are highlights:

Are you serving as Stephanie's coach or trainer as she's preparing for this match?

I mean, honestly, as a husband, do you really coach your wife on a whole lot? We're training a lot. We train together, whether that be in the gym or in the ring. We're trying to make sure she's as ready as possible.

I worked with her – it's an interesting thing that I've been there for so much of the evolution of her as a character, even prior to us having a relationship together. I've been there all along the way and I've put her matches together for a lot of them, almost all of them, with her. It's exciting to see this one come to fruition, but you know, she's also a little bit older, has a little bit more responsibility. She's got a lot going on, as we both do, but she wants to make sure her girls see her proud. So there's a lot of pressure on her right now.

The biggest story of the week in WWE was Daniel Bryan's return after being medically cleared. What has it been like watching him work behind the scenes to get back to where he is?

It's been an amazing process. One of the hardest things I've ever had to do is tell talent that they can't do this anymore. That you can't live your dream. And for somebody like Daniel, man, it was soul-crushing.

He went through *a lot* to try to get back to where he was, without any guarantee that it would ever work. But you take the advice of the doctors, the same doctors that told you he couldn't, tell you he can… man, it's like a second lease on life for him. Really excited, really happy for him. Watching him on TV the other night, just sitting at the monitor watching was unbelievable.

TakeOver: New Orleans will feature a six-man ladder match for the inaugural North American Championship. What do you hope this new title will represent for NXT?

I think it's part of a long-term strategic plan for the brand. You see with the UK title, the North American Championship, I think as we branch out and become bigger, [with more] opportunities in different places.

It allows for multiple events to take place with championships represented where I feel like, in locations across North America, Mexico, Canada, the North American Championship can be defended and be a main event-style match with the right players. The NXT Championship could be going internationally at that same period of time. It really depends, but it's part of a long-term strategic plan.

Source: USA Today

WWE Changes Name Of Fabulous Moolah Memorial Battle Royal

WWE is changing the name of the first-ever Fabulous Moolah Memorial Battle Royal to take place at WrestleMania 34. The new name will be the WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal.

WWE sent us the following statement on the name change today:

"After further consideration, we believe it's best to proceed with the name 'WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal.' What remains most important is that this historic match is part of WWE's unwavering commitment to the Women's Division."

We noted how the public backlash over WWE paying tribute to the WWE Hall of Famer Moolah began as soon as the match was announced on Monday's RAW. Fans were not happy over how WWE was honoring such a controversial figure. Moolah has been accused of pimping younger women's wrestlers and taking their pay decades ago, among other bad business practices.

The first-ever Fabulous Moolah Memorial Battle Royal to take place at WrestleMania

The Superstars of Raw, SmackDown and WWE NXT's Women's divisions will have the chance to make history yet again when they compete in the inaugural Fabulous Moolah Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 34.

As first announced on Raw, this ground-breaking battle royal will pay tribute to the first-ever WWE Women's Champion, The Fabulous Moolah, who not only paved the way for female competitors through the years, but also played a pivotal role in the first several WrestleMania events.

In the highly-anticipated free-for-all, members of the Women's divisions from Raw, SmackDown LIVE and WWE NXT will compete to be the last Superstar standing in the over-the-top-rope melee.

WrestleMania Generates Record $181 Million For Orlando Region

WWE and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer announced today that WrestleMania 33 generated $181.5 million in economic impact for the Orlando region this past April, according to a study conducted by the Enigma Research Corporation. This marks a new record for WrestleMania’s economic impact and the sixth consecutive year that WrestleMania generated more than $100 million in economic impact for its host region.

Over the past 11 years, WrestleMania has generated more than $1 billion in cumulative economic impact for the cities that have hosted the event.  WrestleMania 33 also generated approximately $22.7 million in federal, state and local taxes.

“On behalf of the residents of the City of Orlando, I would like to thank the tens of thousands of WWE fans that converged on our city to be part of WrestleMania Week,” said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer.

More?

WWE Announces More Records Set By WrestleMania 33 - WWE Network, Merchandise, Attendance, Media

STAMFORD, Conn., April 6, 2017 – In addition to setting a new Orlando Citrus Bowl attendance record of 75,245 fans, which led to the highest-grossing event in the stadium's history at $14.5 million, WrestleMania also broke records for sellouts, digital and social media engagement and merchandise sales.

Attendance

As part of the week-long WrestleMania celebration, WWE held an unprecedented five consecutive nights of sellouts at the Citrus Bowl and Amway Center with 165,000 in attendance at WrestleMania Axxess, Hall of Fame, NXT TakeOver: Orlando, WrestleMania, Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live.

Digital/Social Media

WrestleMania 33 was the most social event in WWE history, according to Nielsen Social, with 5.19 million interactions on Facebook and Twitter during the broadcast alone. There were also 2.8 million tweets about WrestleMania throughout the day.

WrestleMania 33 accounted for nearly 30 percent of all social TV interactions on Sunday, April 2, surpassing the Country Music Awards (13 percent), The Walking Dead Season Finale (10 percent) and MLB Opening Day on ESPN – Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals (10 percent).

WWE-related content saw more than 490 million video views across WWE.com, WWE App and social media during WrestleMania Week, an increase of 96 percent year-over-year.

WWE Network

WrestleMania reached a record 1.95 million global households on WWE Network alone, making it the most-watched WrestleMania in history, with pay-per-view data still forthcoming.

WWE Network subscribers viewed 22.5 million hours during WrestleMania Week or 13 hours per subscriber during the week. This compares to 21.7 million hours last year, a year-over-year increase of 4 percent.

Merchandise Sales

WWE generated $3.7 million in WrestleMania merchandise revenue, an increase of 164 percent or $2.3 million, from WrestleMania 24 in Orlando. It was also WWE's second-highest grossing WrestleMania, only behind last year's WrestleMania 32 in Dallas.

With NXT stars on to WrestleMania, Triple H is a 'proud papa'

Perhaps it’s fitting that Triple H will be standing across the ring from Seth Rollins, the first NXT champion, at WrestleMania.

Beyond his own match, though, Paul “Triple H” Levesque can look at the entire lineup on April 2 and see performers, ring announcers and broadcasters who have come through NXT, WWE’s developmental system based in Orlando.

Levesque, as WWE’s executive vice president of talent, live events and creative, has been the founder and chief architect of NXT and overhauled how the company recruits and builds talent.

All but three of the currently scheduled WrestleMania matches feature performers who spent time in NXT. It’s likely eight of the 10 NXT champions will be involved in WrestleMania, barring a surprise. Three of the five NXT women’s champions – Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Bayley – are in the same match.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have that pride factor,” Levesque said. “It’s a huge moment to see those guys shine. I know what it feels like. I was there. I went through all of it. To me, it’s awesome to help them live their dreams.

“I get as much excitement of seeing these kids succeed as I do by far from any of the stuff I’ve done in my career. I’m not the one out there in front of the 100,000 people, but it’s like being a proud papa. It’s the difference between doing it yourself and watching your kids doing it. There is a difference in the kind of pride, but it’s still there.”...More?

source: forthewin

Jim Ross believes Triple H vs. Seth Rollins could be the best match at WM 33

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has posted a new blog entry over at his website where he gives his thoughts on various topics. Ross talked about Seth Rollins wrestling Triple H at WrestleMania 33. He said that this storyline is the most intense and personal issue that the WWE is booking right now. He believes that this match should be a slobber knocker and that there’s no reason why this match can’t be the match of the night in Orlando. You can read the entire blog here.

Vince McMahon Talks WWE UK And WrestleMania 33 Momentum, 'Super Serving' Content To Fans, More

WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon, Chief Strategy and Financial Officer George Barrios and SVP Financial Planning & Investor Relations Michael Weitz hosted a Fourth Quarter 2016 earnings call today from WWE headquarters in Stamford. Below are highlights:

- Weiss opens the call and welcomes everyone. He gives the standard introduction and mentions that the earnings release can be read on the WWE Corporate website. Vince takes over and touts the record revenue announced this morning. Vince talks about how they're "super serving" the WWE Network audience with live shows and in-ring content - specifically 205 Live and the WWE UK Title tournament. He mentions how the cruiserweight division will have their own sources of revenue such as merchandise and live events. It didn't sound like he was indicating cruiserweight-only live events. He said they had 294 million hours of watched content on the Network. He mentioned how social media is big barometer for him and how they had more than 15 billion video views. They're satisfied but not thrilled with their 2016 performance. Barrios takes over the call next.

- Barrios talked about the release and some of their growth, touting that they are the 5th largest streaming service.

More?

Triple H on Winning the Title at Last Year’s Royal Rumble, Carrying the Load Into WrestleMania, Working as a Talent & Exec Simultaneously

Triple H recently spoke with WZ Live Tweeter Joshua Caudill of CraveOnline.com, to promote the new WWE animated movie “Surf’s Up 2”, and below are some interview highlights:

CraveOnline: We’re a little over a week away until WWE’s Royal Rumble, which you won last year and won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the process. What did it mean to you to win the title at that stage of your career and did you feel a responsibility to carry the load leading into WrestleMania?

Triple H: It was a completely different experience. Last year was kind of out of the blue and given the circumstances of where we were talent wise, we had a lot of injuries and a lot of people moved positions, which changed a lot of things about the show.

Any time you’re put in that position, you put a lot of pressure on yourself. The pressure is less for me from a physical standpoint because I’m still in decent shape and I’m in this business every day so my mind is still fresh.

The pressure for me was trying to do my job and that job at the same time. With the things I operate on like live events, talent and creative, there’s so much to do on a day-to-day basis that it’s hard to get it done regularly.

In addition to that, it’s one thing to look decent, it’s another thing to be able to get in the ring and physically perform especially with an athlete like Roman Reigns. So you have to get back into the gym and train twice a day.

CraveOnline: How difficult was it to work as an executive and then be a performer during that title run last year?

Triple H: The common belief is that for myself and other guys are that we can’t step away from it or can’t let it go but I’d love to [laughs]. As much as I enjoyed last year, when the company asks if you want to go out and compete in front of 100,000 people, it’s hard to say no because it’s a piece of who you are. But at the same time, the workload it creates for you is so massive that it’s hard for you to enjoy it.

Even the WrestleMania experience, I spent my time going from a business partner meeting to trying to produce NXT Takeover to trying to oversee the television and if talent have an issue, my match is up in two or three matches and there’s a talent issue I have to deal with, I’m not out of the pocket. It becomes an intense workplace.

How New Orleans wooed WrestleMania back to the Superdome

In early 2016, a delegation of New Orleans officials traveled to Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut.

Their mission: Convince the WWE brass, including ever-colorful Chairman Vince McMahon, to stage WrestleMania 34, professional wrestling’s marquee extravaganza, in New Orleans in 2018.

Their unconventional pitch included a video of Saints quarterback Drew Brees wrestling with his kids and a Krewe of Muses shoe custom-made for McMahon’s daughter Stephanie, who is WWE’s chief brand officer and a “villain” in wrestling storylines.

In honor of their audience, the New Orleanians also assumed wrestling nicknames.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu was, naturally, His Honor. Deputy mayor Ryan Berni was The Deputy. The team included “Funky” Fay Nedd of the New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau and Sam “The Silent Assassin” Joffray of the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation, the nonprofit group that coordinates the city’s bids for major sporting events.

“We had a little fun with it, but this was a serious business pitch,” recalled Sports Foundation President/CEO Jay Cicero, who, as the presentation’s emcee, was exempt from a nickname.

Vince McMahon and his staff “are the masters of entertainment and nicknames,” Cicero said. “We wondered what they were thinking. But we got some chuckles.”

They got more than chuckles. Thanks in part to an incentive package that reportedly included no direct payments from the city or state, the WWE eventually selected New Orleans to host WrestleMania 34 on April 8, 2018, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome...More?

WWE to bring all events surrounding the big 4 PPVs to the same city

ESPN is reporting that WWE will be rolling out a new business model around its four annual major events – Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series.

Beginning with WrestleMania 33 in April of next year, WWE will bring all their shows – NXT, Raw, and Smackdown – in the same city of the particular pay-per-view, with fans able to purchase a complete package of tickets for all the shows.

WWE already did this for SummerSlam in Brooklyn and will be doing the same for the Survivor Series in Toronto. Merging all the shows in the same city and the same arena (apart from WrestleMania) will also bring down the cost as the sets only have to be assembled once, rather than different arenas on different days.

The WrestleMania 33 week will have the Hall of Fame, NXT, Raw, and Smackdown all at the Amway Center. This will be the first time that Smackdown will be held in the same WrestleMania host city.

WrestleMania Generates Record $170 Million For Dallas/Arlington Region

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams announced today that WrestleMania 32 generated $170.4 million in economic impact for the Dallas/Arlington region this past April, according to a study conducted by the Enigma Research Corporation. This marks a new record for WrestleMania’s economic impact and the fifth consecutive year that WrestleMania generated more than $100 million in economic impact for its host region.

Over the past ten years, WrestleMania has generated nearly $1 billion in cumulative economic impact for the cities that have hosted the event. WrestleMania 32 also generated approximately $23.8 million in federal, state and local taxes.

“On behalf of our city, we would like to thank all of the domestic and international WWE fans that converged on Dallas for WrestleMania Week to enjoy all that North Texas has to offer,” said Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings. “The week-long series of events brought a tremendous economic windfall to our region.”

“We are proud that WWE’s biggest event in history was held here in Arlington,” said Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams. “The event was an incredible success for our city, and we would like to thank the Dallas Cowboys for their tireless efforts in bringing WrestleMania to AT&T Stadium.”

"We are thrilled that WrestleMania continues to break records for both WWE and our host community,” said John P. Saboor, WWE Executive Vice President, Special Events. "This success would not have been possible without the support of Mayor Rawlings, Mayor Williams, Charlotte Jones and the entire Dallas Cowboys organization as well as all of our public and private sector partners that embraced WWE’s worldwide fan base for this historic celebration. We now look ahead to our return to Orlando for WrestleMania 33."

A record crowd of 101,763 fans from all 50 states and 35 countries attended WWE’s pop-culture extravaganza this past April, making it the highest-grossing and best-attended event in WWE history. Key highlights from the study include:

$170.4 million in direct, indirect and induced impact derived from spending by visitors to the Dallas/Arlington region for WrestleMania 32.
72% of fans that attended WrestleMania were from outside the greater Dallas/Arlington region and stayed an average of 3.9 nights.
$25 million was spent on hotels and accommodations within the Dallas/Arlington region.
The economic impact derived from WrestleMania Week was equal to the creation of 1,550 full-time jobs for the area.
$8.4 million was spent by visitors to the Dallas/Arlington region at area restaurants.

Next year, WrestleMania 33 will take place Sunday, April 2 at the Orlando Citrus Bowl in Orlando, FL. Tickets go on sale this Friday, November 18 at 10 AM Eastern through Ticketmaster. The event will be broadcast live on WWE Network in more than 180 countries.

Xavier Woods Talks Breaking Stereotypes As A Gamer/Wrestler, The New Day Being ‘Geeky’, Their Wrestlemania 32 Entrance

WWE star Xavier Woods recently spoke with Phoenix New Times while promoting this week’s WWE events in Arizona.

Woods talks about video games, The New Day’s Wrestlemania 32 entrance, breaking stereotypes and more. You can read some highlights below:

Xavier Woods comments on breaking stereotypes by being a gamer and comic fan:

“I think a lot of people think that since we are professional athletes that we can’t have certain tendencies that other people might have, like they try to put people in a box and say, ‘You’re an athlete, which means you’re a jock,’ or ‘You like reading books, so you’re a nerd,’ so you can’t be more than one thing in a lot of people’s eyes,” Woods says. “Whereas I wrestled, I played football, I ran track but I also made straight As, and I also played through Final Fantasy VII like 900 times and I also love Street Fighter and I also love comic books.”

Woods responds to comments about The New Day going from positivity to geeky:

Uh … this word “gimmick” that you keep on using, I’m not sure what that is. When I go out on TV, I’m just myself, and I feel like my personality isn’t really any sort of gimmick the way that people might use the word. What we do, when our music hits, we go out and we just hang out with each other. We’re friends and that’s what we’re about, being friends and making sure that we have a good time. We’ve just been lucky enough that other people think that us having fun is funny.

Woods say he was behind the group’s Wrestlemania 32 entrance and gear:

The Dragon Ball Z-inspired gear was my idea, because I was thinking about some things and felt that I needed to dress up as Vegeta at some point in my life on the show and the largest WrestleMania ever seemed like the place to do it. And Kofi is a Dragon Ball Z fan as well and we’re breaking E into it, so we all sat down and we agreed that this was the best route to go. And then it actually happened and it kind of blew my mind.

Woods reveals why he’s a Mega Ran fan, comments on breaking the “black nerd” stereotype:

Oh, of course, of course … it’s always Mega Ran. Simply because of the [Black Materia: Final Fantasy VII] album and the song, “Dawn of the Slums.” He absolutely destroys it on that track, and he raps about a ton of stuff that I can relate to very easily because of a lot of things that we talk about and deal with and try to help kids specifically with the stigma of being a black nerd.

Growing up as like a black person, there’s so many things that you’re kind of labeled with, and people think that you should act a certain way and you should speak a certain way; that you should do certain things and it’s like, if you’re a nerd, coming up in that culture, people think, oh, that’s not you because you’re black, you need to be wearing backwards hats, you need to be listening to gangster rap. It’s like, “No, you can be whatever you want.” We want kids to know they can start with a blank slate, regardless if they’re black, white, green, purple … you know what I mean? So we try very hard to make sure that kids that were in our position while we were growing up understand that there are now adults who are just like them and they’re doing just fine in their lives.

Seth Rollins explanation of how his Money in the Bank cash-in happened shows he's all about the game (and how you play it)

Seth Rollins was a featured panelist at Wizard World Philly yesterday (June 2). He fielded questions from fans for about forty minutes on everything from his love life to post-retirement plans.

It's the usual mixed bag that these things are, but there are a few moments - Seth somewhat snarkily shooting down a question about scripted promos by saying he's never seen the guy asking backstage, saying there was some truth to his return promo because people who called him a weak champ before his injury were suddenly his biggest supporters while he was out - stuff like that.

One that jumped out at me was his "abridged version" of how his championship win at WrestleMania 31 happened.

The questioner asks how Seth "or The Authority" decided he'd cash-in his Money in the Bank briefcase, so we're in a weird 'Reality' Era place from the jump. Rollins answer is still wide open for interpretation, however:

I kind of saw the writing on the wall, actually, a few months before the Royal Rumble in Philly. Maybe like a month or two ahead of time, I had a feeling the way this wonderful city would respond to Roman Reigns during the Royal Rumble. I had a feeling that would carry over to WrestleMania. I knew how I was gonna perform in the Triple Threat match with John Cena and Brock Lesnar. And I just felt like I was gonna have a lot of momentum, and I also felt looking at the landscape moving forward that the most opportune time would be at the end of WrestleMania. And so, ya know, I put my two cents in and a few months later, I'm standing at the top of the ramp in San Francisco with the World Heavyweight championship.

So, obviously there's a lot more detail, but that's the abridged version. It was something that I wanted from the moment I won the briefcase and I kind of hedged my bets on it for a few months and so, thank you, Philadelphia for helping me out.

You don't need to read too much between the lines to see how the fans' reaction to Reigns played a role. One read of this is - that negative response gave Seth an opening to start politicking to be the guy appearing on The Today Show the morning after Mania rather than Roman.

Of course, Rollins is a heel, and even hinting that he lobbied to take the top spot from his former Shield brother fits right into his character as a backstabber who's top priority is always his own standing within the company.

Either way, it's a good answer - and explains why Triple H would tap this guy as his kayfabe, and maybe backstage, protégé.

source: cagesideseats.com

Boxing legend Muhammad Ali dies at 74

Muhammad Ali, widely hailed as the greatest heavyweight boxer in the sport’s history, died late Friday night after being hospitalized in Arizona a day earlier with a respiratory issue.

Ali, 74, had suffered from Parkinson’s disease since the 1980s.

“After a 32-year battle with Parkinson’s disease, Muhammad Ali has passed away at the age of 74. The three-time World Heavyweight Champion boxer died this evening,” family spokesperson Bob Gunnell said in a statement.
story from Tourism Australia and Virgin Australia

Ali died at Scottsdale Osborn Medical Center, where the scene outside was quiet. Law enforcement sealed off entrances and news media was station across the street. Earlier Friday family members arrived at the hospital.

"I don't get it yet. I don't think it's hit me yet," Khalilah Camacho-Ali, one of Ali's ex-wives, told USA TODAY Sports.

Camacho-Ali had four children with Ali, with whom she was married for 10 years. "The only thing I'm worried about right now is my children. I wish I was there with them (in Scottsdale) to support them because I know they're taking this very hard."

Ali's prowess in the ring and his personality and social activism make him one of the most recognizable sports figures of the last century.

He secured an Olympic gold medal in the 1960 Summer Games and became one of the youngest heavyweight champions of all time, stunning the boxing world with a knockout of Sonny Liston to claim the title in 1964 at 22.

It marked the first of three times Ali would win the heavyweight title.

By the end of Muhammad Ali's legendary boxing career, he had become the first three-time heavyweight champion. See his most iconic moments from inside the ring.

Shortly after the native of Louisville defeated Liston, Ali became a cog in both the civil rights and anti-war movement. Ali changed his name from Cassius Clay after he joined the Nation of Islam, and he was convicted of draft evasion in 1967 after he refused to fight in the Vietnam War because of religious beliefs.

His opposition to the Vietnam War cost him the belt and led to a three-year ban from boxing. His conviction for dodging the Vietnam War draft was overturned by the Supreme Court in 1971.

Ali's death is “sad, and yet, here was a person who probably did more to transform what people thought about race and religion and about peace, both in the United States and the world," Bob Arum, who promoted Ali in the 1960s and 1970s, told USA TODAY Sports. "I really believe that he even had more of an impact, because he had been this great boxer, and because he had made this tremendous sacrifice, giving up his career for what he believed in for 3½ years, that he had more of an impact than even Martin Luther King. I really believe that.”

Ali returned to the ring in 1970 and suffered his first pro loss a year later in a title bout against Joe Frazier, who won via unanimous decision.

It was the first of three memorable fights against Frazier — with Ali winning the last two.

Ali reclaimed the heavyweight belt against George Foreman in one of the most storied events in sports history, "The Rumble in the Jungle" in 1974. Ali employed the "rope-a-dope," in which he allowed Foreman to tire himself out as Ali absorbed punch after punch, before he claimed the bout in Zaire — now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo — with a knockout.

In 1978, a clearly overweight Ali lost his title to Leon Spinks but won it back in a rematch six months later, making him the first fighter to win the heavyweight title three times.

Ali retired from boxing in 1981 with a 56-5 record, three of the losses coming in his final four fights. He had 37 knockouts.

Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease three years after his retirement. Family members believed his years of boxing contributed to the disease.

After his retirement, he concentrated on philanthropy and social activism.

He was admitted for medical treatment several times in recent years, including to treat pneumonia in December 2014.

WWE also issued a statement which says in part:

Ali also made history for his historic boxer vs. wrestler match against WWE Hall of Famer Antonio Inoki in Tokyo on June 26, 1976. The fight is regarded as a precursor to modern mixed martial arts.

In 1985, Ali made his mark in WWE history when he was one of the special guest referees for the main event of the first WrestleMania at Madison Square Garden. The bout featured WWE Champion Hulk Hogan and pop culture icon Mr. T against “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff and “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. During the contest, Ali climbed up onto the ring apron and took a swing at Piper.

Goldberg discusses WWE 2K17 and his WrestleMania moment with Brock Lesnar

Playing games represents a kind of pastime in the WWE Universe, for conniving Superstars or dedicated players of 2K’s venerated series of WWE video games.

For Goldberg, however, video games offer a chance to reintroduce a once-in-a-lifetime competitor like himself to a new era of WWE fans. His legend is supported by a resume which includes an unparalleled 173-match winning streak to start his WCW career and two World Heavyweight Championship reigns. His star power continues to shine brightly, fueled by his meteoric rise in WCW and continued success in WWE, all achieved in only eight years in sports-entertainment.

Now that 2K has presented him as WWE 2K17’s Pre-Order bonus character, legions of fans can start asking “who’s next” to battle the man they call Goldberg for virtual supremacy. As for the man himself, Goldberg recently spoke with WWE.com about his involvement with 2K, his WrestleMania showdown with Brock Lesnar and whether he has one match left in the tank.

WWE.COM: How did you find out that you were 2K’s choice for this WWE 2K17 exclusive?

GOLDBERG: I just got the phone call. It was something that we had been in talks off and on over a number of years. As a father and an ex-wrestler, it's a dream come true. To be able to come back and be included in WWE 2K17, it's a huge honor. That the people would even want me back after such a long hiatus is another honor...More?

Shane McMahon "Tell All" Podcast Recap

We're live from backstage at RAW in Baltimore as Mick Foley is joined by Shane McMahon. Foley says this is pretty big and Shane is excited. Foley was excited to get the call. He says he feels the need to tell everyone Steve Austin had a shoulder injury and he hopes to fill Austin's big shoes. Foley and Shane say they're ready to go and ready to tell all. Foley asks how it was returning after being gone for 7 years. Shane says it was humbling to return in Detroit that night. He wasn't expecting that reaction. He gets goosebumps thinking about the crowd that night. Foley says there was respect from the fans that night, a lot of respect built up. He asks what it was like growing up the son of Vince McMahon and how his friends dealt with it. Shane says his dad was gone a lot growing up and like every child who has a father that is gone, you wanted them there. Shane says he missed his dad a lot because he was on the road a lot. He grew up always wishing Vince was around more. Foley says that's almost universal among wrestling children. Shane admits his dad is iconic but it became a natural part of his life. He can't imagine what it's like for kids of major celebrities but he became used to it.

Foley asks when Vince got the most mad at Shane when he was a kid. Shane says there are several times but when he was 17, a friend came over on his Kawasaki motorcycle. Vince always told him to stay off the bike because he knew Shane was an adrenaline junkie. Shane got on the bike one day, wearing sneakers, no helmet and shorts. Shane says he was exceeding the speed limit by a lot and when he came back, his friends were there waiting. He didn't know it but his dad was there working with Pat Patterson on a WWE show. Vince came out and told Shane's friends goodbye, they got the point and quickly left. Shane says that was the angriest he saw his dad. He talks about how Vince and Pat always worked by the pool under a cabana. The joke was that people always had to come see them to do business and that person would always end up in the pool. Shane says he decided one time it needed to be his dad going in the pool. Shane hid in the bushes and pushed Vince in the pool, causing Vince to throw a tantrum in the air. Shane says Vince came flying out of the pool after him. Shane bailed in his car for the rest of the day until he called his mom to check on things. He says Vince was pissed because Shane embarrassed him. Foley says Shane has a lot of energy and can rub people the wrong way. He asks if that lead to bullying or problems with other kids. Shane says he was always anti-bullying and never had a problem with kids bullying him. He would never start a fight but could always handle himself.

More?