The actual concept of WWE's new NXT show was explained earlier this week revealing that rookies will be voted off and at the end there will be one winner who gets a WWE contract. The belief is that it will be a Raw contract, but that hasn't been exactly specified by WWE. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter is reporting that WWE decided against using interactive fan voting and that the coaches will vote instead, although they can't vote for or against their own rookie.
WWE has registered the trademarks for "NXT Rookies" and "A-List." The Pros may be changed to A-List soon.
sources: wrestleview.com & impactwrestling.com
March 7, 2010
Update on WWE NXT Concept
UFC vs. Strikeforce is On! Echoes of Vince McMahon?
The UFC is planning on not only holding an event on April 17th, the same day as a Strikeforce show, they will also hold the event in the same city. With Mike Swick not partaking in the card all eyes turn to Kimbo Slice as a probable main event participant.
Certainly there a few people out there smiling at the irony of the UFC potentially using a fighter that Dana White often described as a "freak show" (plus other less savory comments) to counter an event that actually features meaningful fights between top level fighters, but hey, all is fair in love and war and clearly this is war to the UFC president.
WKR will wait until next week to dive into all the particulars (hopefully we will have more information then) but one item jumped to our attention thanks to Cage Side Seats. The pro-wrestling blog pointed out that this action by the UFC is directly out of Vince McMahon's playbook:
If it wasn't obvious before, it is now: Dana White idolizes Vince McMahon and loves to borrow from his playbook. According to Sherdog, he's about to lift one of the classics, as the planned UFC Ultimate Fight Night card on Spike TV that will oppose Strike Force's CBS special from Nashville on April 17th may take place in...Nashville.
Back in the late '80s and early '80s, running against major shows from Jim Crockett Promotions and then (after JCP was bought by Turner Broadcasting) World Championship Wrestling was something that McMahon had down to a science. The WWF would get prime tenant status for wrestling in major arenas, forcing JCP/WCW to run in a smaller or less desirable building.
As PPV events became more important, McMahon got more creative. The night before a WCW PPV event, the WWF would run a house show in the same city. If it was possible, they'd use the same arena. These shows would run incredibly long so as to hurt the walk-up ticket sales and keep the fans from getting lively at the PPV event, giving the impression of a dead show. If the shows were in the same building, then the WCW crew would be delayed in setting up the building.
WKR can't wait for Kimbo Slice to roll up to the Strikeforce show in a tank with a DX-UFC shirt. And people say there isn't a pro-wrestling MMA crossover.
source: watchkalibrun.com
Someone In NASCAR Better Get Interesting
Vince McMahon learned something a long time ago that NASCAR is just now coming around to understand. Jeff Gordon understands, at least.
“It’s the rivalries and the stories that make it interesting,” Gordon said this week, answering questions about NASCAR’s declining popularity.
I have called NASCAR the “WWE on Wheels” a few times in my life, but I am not going to do that anymore. It would be an insult to pro wrestling...More?
source: trentonian.com
Third Baby Levesque on the Way
Linda McMahon confirmed on her Twitter page the Stephanie is pregnant with her third child.
March 6, 2010
Triple H/WrestleMania Fact
WrestleMania 26 will be the first WrestleMania where an active and uninjured Triple H will not be wrestling for a heavyweight championship of any sort since WrestleMania 17. This was the longest active streak ever for a wrestler to contend for a heavyweight championship at consecutive WrestleManias in the history of the WWE. At WrestleMania 17, he fought Undertaker in a non title match. Since then, every match Triple H has had at a WrestleMania has been for a heavyweight championship.
WrestleMania 18 vs Chris Jericho for the Undisputed Title,
WrestleMania 19 vs Booker T for the World Heavyweight Championship
WrestleMania 20 vs Shawn Michaels and Chris Benoit for the World Heavyweight Championship
WrestleMania 21 vs Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship
WrestleMania 22 vs John Cena for the WWE Championship
WrestleMania 24 vs Randy Orton and John Cena for the WWE Championship
WrestleMania 25 vs Randy Orton for the WWE Championship
Triple H was injured and did not wrestle at WrestleMania 23.
source: wrestlezone.com
Mad Dog A Halluva Guy
WWE has made some goofy decisions when it fills out its Hall of Fame — Johnny Rodz, Refrigerator Perry and Pete Rose among them. But Maurice “Mad Dog” Vachon, who will enter the Hall of Fame on March 27, is about as good as they come ... a guy with as much bark as bite...More?
source: slam wrestling
March 5, 2010
SmackDown Results: Ready, Set, Spear!
The World’s Largest Athlete is one of the most formidable foes for anyone in WWE. However, Edge proved he was up to the challenge by cleverly avoiding a chokeslam with a DDT, then downing the 500-pounder with a devastating Spear. After the match, World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho tried to attack Edge from behind, but he too was met with the Spear. Afterward, The Ultimate Opportunist led the WWE Universe in chants of “Spear, Spear, Spear …”
The night ended for Big Show the same way it began with Edge getting the better of him. At the start of the night, Edge, avoided a charging Big Show, who ended up toppling out of the ring and falling hard onto the arena floor. Full results.
source: wwe.com
Mark Madden Talks Monday Night Wars
Monday Night Wars II? Don’t make me laugh.
A small part of me admires TNA for being brash enough to challenge WWE on its most storied turf, just like WCW did in 1995. But the differences are many, and that’s not good for TNA.
WCW had one of the biggest cable broadcasting conglomerates in North America on its side. TNA has Spike TV. The differences in promotion, perception and exposure are gargantuan.
WCW had a commitment from somebody with an impressive resume of broadcasting and business savvy. TNA has Dixie Carter. Ted Turner had a passionate commitment to wrestling. Dixie’s a mark. (The difference may be narrower than I’m letting on.)
WCW had Hulk Hogan then. TNA has Hulk Hogan now. WCW had Ric Flair then. TNA has Ric Flair now. WWE had Vince Russo then. TNA has Vince Russo now.
WCW had a core of up-and-coming young wrestlers that had not been overexposed. TNA doesn’t. A.J. Styles is 31, Robert Roode 33, Hernandez 37, Samoa Joe 30, D’Angelo Dinero 31 and the woefully underutilized James Storm 32. America’s wrestling audience has seen all of them for a long time, not always in a favorable light.
WCW provided more action than WWE. TNA has no intention of attempting to do that. In 1996, WCW stumbled upon a concept that worked: The WWE invasion of WCW, with ex-WWE stars entering the promotion in the most transparent of guises, the nWo. If TNA has an influential concept in mind, I’ve neither seen nor heard any evidence thereof.
So, tell me where any legitimate comparison exists beyond both promotions happening to air TV on Monday nights?
The comparison mostly exists in the delusional minds of TNA power brokers who illogically expect lightning to strike twice...More?
source: wrestlezone.com
Sting Appearing on the March 8th iMPACT!
TNA president Dixie Carter said today that the company has renewed Sting's contract and he will be appearing on this Monday night's live iMPACT! broadcast.
"Spoke w/Sting last nite. We've renewed his contract & he said he wouldn't miss Mondays live show for anything," Carter wrote on Twitter. "Can't wait to work w/Hulk."
Sting last surfaced on TNA programming during the live Jan. 4 iMPACT when he appeared in the rafters watching Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff debut.
source: impactwrestling.com
This Day in Wrestling History
Paul Heyman replaces Jerry Lawler as the new announcer on RAW with Jim Ross.
March 5, 2001
Oderint Dum Metuant: Let Them Hate As Long As They Fear
