May 10, 2011
Steve Austin Returning to Raw on June 13th
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin is being advertised locally for the upcoming 6/13 WWE Monday Night Raw taping in Uniondale, Long Island, New York. This is scheduled to be a three-hour episode of Raw and falls the week after the finale of "Tough Enough" on USA.
This Day in Wrestling History
Happy Birthday to Tito Santana
May 10, 1953
Happy Birthday to William Regal
May 10, 1965
Verne Gagne retired as AWA Heavyweight Champion.
May 10, 1981
Vince McMahon officially announces the end of the failed XFL football league.
May 10, 2001
May 9, 2011
Ric Flair vs. Highspots.com Lawsuit Update
A hearing is set for 5/24 in North Carolina regarding the Ric Flair vs. Highspots.com legal case. If Flair is unable to fulfill his terms of the Settlement Agreement with Highspots, it's going to be an interesting day for him.
source: pwinsider.com
Accident Insurance Coverage Now Available to UFC and Strikeforce Fighters
UFC issued a press release on Monday to announce that 350 UFC and Strikeforce fighters are now eligible for customized accident insurance coverage. The insurance will cover accidental injuries suffered by the fighters during training as well as non-training incidents such as automobile accidents.
"The new policy adds 24-hour worldwide medical life insurance and dental coverage, as well as emergency medical evacuation," reads the press release. "Zuffa will pay 100 percent of the premiums for its athletes and have an employee dedicated to handling and filing all claims."
source: prowrestling.net
Kevin Nash Speaks Out on Scott Hall: "His Health is Bad"
Kevin Nash recently appeared on Live Audio Wrestling and had the following to say on Scott Hall and his current condition:
"These people will say things like 'you need to have an intervention’ or someone said 'you need to take Scott fishing without alcohol' and no one grasps the severity of what this situation is. This is someone that has been to rehab nine times and probably walked out three to four times. He's been in and out of hospitals for the last year and a couple of times – in Providence (for a recent independent show) – what happened was Scott took a really bad fall in his house and hurt his hip really badly and of course the promoter said Hall got off the plane in a wheelchair blah, blah, blah. I talked to Scott and Scott said 'I never miss a shot and I’m going to make this shot' and I told him he sounded horrible and he said 'yeah'. Somas are the worst thing for wrestlers and I think they've killed more wrestlers than anything. He took some of those and hadn’t taken those in a long time and had a really bad reaction…they put him up there for 72-hours and the thing is Scott has been through so many hospitals, so many psych wards, evaluations and so many rehab centers that Scott knows every catch phrase and he knows exactly what the psychologist wants to hear and we’re all workers – that's what we are and in 72-hours Scott is gone."
"He’s at a place right now where the peaks and valleys are so incredibly high and low and the last week he’s been at a level spot, his health is bad. I think he went in and saw some doctors and he’s not going to walk in and get a gold label of health and when you get news from doctors that your heart isn’t functioning so well, this isn’t functioning well and this isn’t functioning well and to get all that news all in one day he went into a semi bender."
Shane Helms Investigated for DUI After Bloody Crash
Former WWE superstar Shane Helms -- aka "The Hurricane" -- is at the center of a drunk driving investigation after a BRUTAL motorcycle crash on Thursday that left him and his girlfriend broken and battered.
According to the police report obtained by TMZ ... a witness told cops Helms was driving home from a restaurant in Smithfield, North Carolina around 9:15 PM -- with his GF on the bike -- when he blew through a stop sign, lost control and "drove straight through the metal chain link fence."
Cops say one of the witnesses told officers he was hanging out with Helms at a local restaurant minutes before the crash and said he "was sure" Helms had been drinking there.
Helms and his GF were transported to a local hospital where they were treated for multiple broken bones and other injuries.
Law enforcement sources tell us officers took a blood sample from Helms at the hospital to check his blood alcohol level at the time of the crash ... but it could take several months to get the results back.
So far, we're told an investigation is underway ... but no charges have been filed against Helms.
source: tmz.com
John Morrison Injured; Surgery Required
WWE wrestler John Morrison is injured and will require surgery to repair damage to his neck.
Morrison, who is in the middle of a feud with R-Truth on TV, will require time off.
Monday morning, Morrison addressed the injury on Twitter and confirmed he will require time off: "I'm about to get an operation to fix my neck - I will return, (R-Truth)."
Morrison was advertised for this past weekend's house show tour, but he did not wrestle on any of the three Raw shows.
Morrison will be appearing on Monday's edition of "Tough Enough" in a guest-starring role filmed earlier this year.
source: pwtorch.com
Update on Kharma's Push
WrestleZone has learned exclusively that WWE Chairman Vince McMahon is watching the crowd reaction to Kharma, the former Awesome Kong, and he's noticing the potential for a truly groundbreaking female character in WWE.
According to a key WWE insider, talent executive John Laurinaitis instructed the producers (formerly road agents) of the house shows this past weekend to have Kharma attack Eve Torres to see if the audience would react to Kharma as a heel. From what we were told, the live audience popped big for the beat down, but it's unclear whether they were "just reacting," or "reacting to Kharma as a heel." Either way, Vince knows right now that the fans are reacting to her as "a star."
Kharma, real name Kia Stevens, attacked heel Michelle McCool (real life wife of The Undertaker) at the Extreme Rules pay per view, and Maryse on Monday Night Raw to tremendous fan reaction.
It should be noted that Paul Heyman's comparison of Kharma's debut to Brock Lesnar's WWE debut was definitely noticed by people within WWE. "Vince knows he has something and someone special now, a brand new character who has captured people's attention," our key insider told us this evening, "and he's determined to make as big an impact with Kharma as possible. Very few people debut with this amount of momentum, and Vince sees nothing but dollar signs in Kharma."
Video: WWE's Global Business Partners Summit
On the eve of WrestleMania XXVII in Atlanta, Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon announced at WWE's Global Business Partners Summit that the company has formally rebranded itself WWE. Members of WWE's senior management team spoke to the new business model for future growth. Stephanie McMahon, EVP, Creative Development & Operations, emceed the Summit where the following topics were discussed regarding the New WWE:
The New WWE Initiative, Partnerships and TV Strategy (Michelle Wilson, Chief Marketing Officer)
New Talent Development Program (Paul "Triple H" Levesque, Senior Advisor)
WWE Studios (Mike Pavone, EVP, WWE Studios)
International Update (Andrew Whitaker, EVP, International)
Digital and Social Media Update (Brian Kalinowski, EVP, Digital)
Kids Initiative and New Product Launches (Jim Connelly, SVP, Consumer Products)
Click here for the video. Stephanie introduces Hunter at 26.38.
May 8, 2011
More Updates on the Future Plans of Triple H and The Undertaker
When Triple H made his return to the WWE on the February 21st edition of WWE Monday Night RAW interrupting The Undertaker after weeks of promotion regarding a 2/21/11 video package, professional wrestling fans immediately knew that a match between the two would be in the works for WrestleMania 27.
After an excellent back-and-forth match, that could have gone any way at WrestleMania 27, the question now remains as to what is the plan moving forward for two of the WWE’s all-time greats.
Speaking to several WWE sources, Triple H has once again moved back in to his semi-retirement role with the company, where he will oversee talent development and signings, character development and have a role in how storylines play out.
Rumor is that when Vince McMahon eventually makes the decision to step away, that Triple H is being groomed to become Vince’s successor, alongside his wife and Vince’s daughter, Stephanie McMahon. Triple H’s recent signings include Sin Cara, formerly known as Mistico, back in his homeland of Mexico, as well as independent talent, Jon Moxley and Kharma formerly known as Awesome Kong.
Triple H is now said to look at his character as one that will be used on special occasions, such as WrestleMania 27, rather than one that will be used on a weekly basis. With that said, however, the 13-time World Champion is “game” (no pun intended) to return, should injuries flare up on the WWE roster.
Triple H was said to have been very pleased with his match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania 27 and felt that the big program that the WWE put together, concluded with a very good match.
