Rumor Mill - Brodus Clay's Delayed Storyline

It seems WWE has dropped the Brodus Clay storyline, for now at least. Since Brodus tweeted that he was going to lay out John Morrison a few weeks back on Morrison's final RAW, he's been forgotten about.

source: wrestling oberserver

More on Chris Hero's Health Issues

Regarding Chris Hero and WWE, word is that he is still on their radar the company has not passed on him. Hero will be undergoing more medical tests in January and if things go as expected, he will be signed. Hero's last round of tests for WWE were done in September.

source: wrestling observer

Ex-Players Blame NFL for Brain Injuries

Jamal Lewis, Dorsey Levens and two other former NFL players have sued the league over brain injuries that they say left them struggling with medical problems years after their playing days ended.

Lewis and Levens, along with Fulton Kuykendall and Ryan Stewart, filed the lawsuit against the National Football League and FNL Properties LLC this week in U.S. District Court in Atlanta.

The players maintain the NFL knew as early as the 1920s of the potential for concussions to harm its players but only went public last year.

''The NFL has done everything in its power to hide the issue and mislead players concerning the risks associated with concussions,'' the players argue in the lawsuit...More?

source: msn.foxsports.com

This Day in Wrestling History

Wladek Zbyszko defeats Ed "Strangler" Lewis in a tournament final to stake his unrightful claim as the World Heavyweight Champion in New York City, New York. He would lose to the rightful champion, Earl Caddock on February 8, 1918 in Des Moines, Iowa.
December 22, 1917

Rikidozan becomes the first and only Japanese Heavyweight Champion in Tokyo, Japan, defeating Masahiko Kimura. The title would be abandoned on August 27, 1958 when Rikidozan defeats Lou Thesz for the NWA International Heavyweight Title in Los Angeles, California.
December 22, 1954

Long before Kevin Nash let Hulk Hogan pin him with the push of a finger, WWF did a similar angle during an edition of Raw (show was taped on December 11th). Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter, at the start of the show, ordered Shawn Michaels to defend the WWF European Title against DX partner Triple H. During the show, tensions seemed to rise between the two, with Michaels calling Helmsley a loser and saying he could never beat him in a match. When the bout took place at the end of the show, Michaels simply laid down in the ring and let Triple H pin him for the title, showing the argument to all be an act.
December 22, 1997

WWE NXT Results 12/21/11

Latest on Whether WWE Views UFC as Competition

WWE's latest internal view of UFC is that is competition, but it isn't competition. WWE CFO George Barrios danced around the subject during a presentation at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference on December 5. "I think we get a lot of questions about MMA, as I often say, it’s because I think people see that the both are performers are wearing some form of spandex, so they think there must be some natural competition there. We don’t view it that way," Barrios said. "We tend to -- we take the broader view, which is we are a pop culture entertainment brand, and anything that takes attention away from us is something that gets our attention. We don’t really view UFC or MMA more broadly as a specific competitor, but you know they are part of entertainment landscape and they take eyeballs away from -- or they soak up eyeballs, so we obviously have to be aware of them. But we don’t view them as specific competitor. Barrios concluded, "I don’t want to diminish them as a competitor but I also don’t -- we don’t anyway elevate them as a specific competitor."

source: seekingalpha.com

How Important is WWE's Social Media Presence Internally?

During the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference on December 5, WWE CFO George Barrios identified WWE's social media presence on the level as house show business, PPV buys, and TV ratings to determine the overall health of the company. Barrios said during a presentation reaching a broad audience, "Some of those metrics that we look at pretty intently is our live event attendance both in North America and overseas, our television ratings for the four to six hours that we will have on the air domestically at given time, which we also report. We also look at our rating globally...We always look at how we are trending in social media, primarily Facebook and Twitter. Google Trends and Google Analytics also gives us a sense of how the brand is trending from a search perspective. We look at our own unique and page views on our own site as well as the streams that we do - we do about 75 million video streams on YouTube every month. So, we track that."

source: seekingalpha.com

WWE Comes to Russia for the First Time

Updated Details from WWE’s Pilot Tapings in Florida

As noted earlier this morning, WWE quietly held tapings at Full Sail University in Florida earlier this month with FCW and WWE Superstars. The one-hour content filmed would be for a new Network show on WWE’s developmental territory while the thirty-minute show filmed would be something that focuses on one specific match or rivalry. All episodes filmed were pilots and may never be aired.

In addition to Triple H being there to oversee things, John Laurinaitis was also there. Triple H even came out and cut a promo to the crowd. The University was used to make the FCW product look better on TV but also as a test run for doing a more potentially “intimate” WWE show for the Network.

Update on Physical Hall of Fame

WWE has been doing a lot of internal work on a physical Hall of Fame over the past few weeks. Currently they are looking at buildings in Florida as well as the Northeast United States and trying to secure historical pieces for the Hall.

source: pwinsider.com

Update on Plans for the WWE Network

WWE’s longterm plans for the new Network is to help eventually brand the company as more of a lifestyle instead of just a “sports entertainment and pro wrestling company.”

This is something that Vince McMahon has been pushing for years. WWE is looking to completely re-invent the wheel over the next few years and the Network will lead the way.

source: pwinsider.com

Details on WWE Possibly Bringing FCW to The Network, Triple H Involved

As KLQ reported earlier, WWE's developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling held a taping two weeks ago at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. The show was held to see about potentially using the building for tapings of a new show. No word yet if that show will be a local FCW television show or a program on the WWE Network.

The current FCW show suffers because the sparse crowd is always the same people and it looks bad on TV. FCW taped three shows that night - a one-hour show with FCW talents, a thirty-minute show with FCW talents and another thirty-minute show with WWE Superstars Drew McIntyre & Cody Rhodes vs. Sheamus & Daniel Bryan.

Triple H was in attendance overseeing everything and a combination of Jim Ross, Byron Saxton and Chris Russo were used as announcers. The shows taped were all pilots and experimental, and there's no word yet if they will ever air.

sources: wrestling observer newsletter & klq wrestling

This would explain why Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, Kevin Dunn, John Saboor, Ty Bailey, and Pete Leone visited Full Sail University back on August 3rd.