Chris Benoit Double Murder-Suicide Anniversary

Today marks the six-year anniversary of the Chris Benoit double murder-suicide that occurred over a three-day period ending on June 24, 2007 [full story]. He allegedly murdered his wife and son before hanging himself.

Ring of Honor to Cease Broadcasting Live iPPV Events

After the issues with their most recent iPPV event over the weekend, Ring of Honor has made the decision to discontinue all iPPV broadcasts live and will instead present them as VOD offerings the day after the live event.

The official statement from ROH issued to PWInsider.com reads as follows:

This past weekend at "Best in the World" in Baltimore, MD , Ring of Honor proved once again from top to bottom why our talent is truly the best in wrestling today. Unfortunately, there were some issues with the live iPPV stream that wound up distracting from the energy and action in ring. For this, we sincerely apologize to all fans that encountered problems.

Because of how much we value the support of our fans, and understand the imperfections of the live streaming technology, "Best in the World" will be the last iPPV stream that we will be broadcasting live. All future main event shows will now be offered as a Video On Demand, which will allow Ring of Honor to present a flawless show and truly depict the excellence of our product.

From now on, fans can watch ROH Wrestling on TV, VOD, or DVD, however there is still nothing like seeing Ring of Honor in person. We thank you for your continued support and are excited to be moving forward.

Ring of Honor Wrestling

Ring of Honor popularized the iPPV craze within independent pro wrestling starting with their 2009 Final Battle event. Less than four years later, that run is over.

NXT Should Be On Primetime TV

By Scott Fishman

This week Daniel Bryan and Seth Rollins competed in one of the most critically acclaimed matches on Raw this year.

The "cool kids" of the WWE Universe see this type of action by flipping on their computers and watching NXT on a regular basis.

More often than not the company's developmental territory delivers better programming than what we see on TV on Monday or Friday nights.

NXT gave us the likes of the Shield, Big E Langston and countless others. Before the Wyatt family was coming to WWE, they were getting people talking on NXT. Their shows have an old school feel to it. It's almost a throwback to the territory days with current WWE superstars coming in from time to time to work with the talent and help draw a good house.

They tell stories and have well thought storylines. Each TV taping appears exciting with the intimate crowd giving off great energy. The female performers actually have time to develop their personas and improve in the ring.

Steve Keirn, Triple H and the other staff who are responsible for the tremendous evolution of NXT, formerly billed as Florida Championship Wrestling, should be given a pat on the back. However, one must ask how a show this good can only be found on platforms such as Hulu Plus? Fans should be able to watch this on USA Network or another channel (And don't tell me to wait for the WWE Network because I'm still waiting on those WWE ice cream bars).

More times than not WWE will have the same match ups on its shows every week. I understand they have so many hours to produce, making it hard to create fresh and interesting contests all the time. With that said, why not give an hour to NXT? If Raw is three hours on USA Network, why not dedicate 8 p.m. to the future superstars of tomorrow.

It's hard to imagine me saying this a few years ago given what NXT was in its infancy. NXT was really a unique concept that debuted on SyFy and introduced us to a number of today’s top WWE performers. Eventually, the program lost its way by the end of the first season. Then by the third cycle featuring divas in training it became hard to watch. In their defense, they did introduce the WWE Universe to most of the female roster today, including the entertaining AJ Lee. The show's run ended on the network, and it faded into WWE.com obscurity.

NXT in its current form deserves to be seen by as many fans as possible. Therefore WWE should seriously consider talking to USA Network in making NXT the lead for Raw. If not an hour-long, then maybe a half-hour. You could even call it an “NXT Showcase”. I’m sure the program can spare a few minutes less of pushing the WWE APP and the Great Khali dancing to squeeze in some gold old fashion wrestling from the up-and-comers.

source: layfieldreport.com

Jim Ross Blogs On WWE Performance Center Opening

"The new, WWE Performance Center will officially open on Thursday July 11 which is also the next time we tape NXT at Full Sail. This grand opening is not open to the public and will be via invitation only to the media and a variety of WWE business partners, etc.

"The Performance Center begins a new era in the development of WWE talents that is truly exciting. I went through the facility again last week and it is amazing. There is not a NFL training facility that exceeds what WWE has done with this facility. With that said, the training of these future WWE Superstars will be amped up and the expectations raised not only for the athletes but for the coaches as well."

How WWE Helped Build The USA Network, Where They Fit In The Success

Philly.com has a new feature article on the USA Network’s Bonnie Hammer, one of WWE’s biggest allies. Below are the highlights from the article.

How WWE helped build the USA Network:

Her USA Network – built partly on the popularity of the World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. – has been the most-watched ad-supported cable channel for seven straight years and in 2012 earned more than $1 billion in profit.

“She doesn’t stand on ceremony as some executives do,” Vincent McMahon, the chief executive officer of World Wrestling Entertainment, said. “She wants to give the audience what it wants.”

Her advice to McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment years ago was to develop story lines and characters, which they did.

In February, acknowledging USA’s momentum and her golden-eyed selection of hit cable shows, NBCUniversal head Steve Burke consolidated all the company’s entertainment cable channels under Hammer, 62, making her one of the most powerful women in entertainment and at Comcast.

Vanity Fair rates her No. 16 on its powerhitters list, and on the day of her interview, superagent Ari Emanuel called to chat up a project. Burke and Comcast CEO Brian Roberts are jointly Vanity Fair’s No. 2 powerhitters. In an e-mail on Friday, Burke wrote: “Bonnie is the whole package. She has great taste, judgment and business skills. She is an important part of our management team.”

Where WWE fits into Hammer’s equation of the USA Network’s success:

The network’s winning formula is based on one-third original series, one-third acquired shows, and one-third World Wrestling Entertainment.

A championship WWE belt, a gift from McMahon for Hammer’s 50th birthday, hangs above the low, cushy couch in her office.

Hammer is a big fan, saying WWE’s live Raw consistently draws five million viewers per episode 52 weeks a year. WWE also has a show on Syfy, Smackdown, and in July E! will launch Total Divas, a reality show featuring female wrestlers. “She is really in charge of the cash of the cash cow at NBCU,” McMahon said...More?

News From WWE's Ron Simmons Appreciation Night

WWE held Ron Simmons Appreciation Night at last night's live event in Tallahassee, Florida. Justin Roberts introduced JBL, who was to host the festivities. JBL gave a great speech about his career with Simmons. Simmons came out to a big pop and watched a highlight video that included footage from his college football days. Simmons was presented with a plaque for Ron Simmons Day. JBL asked Simmons if he had anything to say and finally, he let out a big, "Damn!"

This Day In Wrestling History - The Birth of Austin 3:16

It's somewhat odd to think of but in a roundabout way, The Kliq -- and Triple H, specifically -- are indirectly responsible (at least partially) for the booming success of Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Back in early 1996, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, two of The Kliq's members, were leaving the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) for the larger contracts and guaranteed main event slots being offered by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Shawn Michaels and Triple H, however, were staying behind. During a house show at Madison Square Garden in May, the four orchestrated a small ceremony to say goodbye, in which each member got into the ring at the end of the night and hugged each other before giving a curtain call.

This was a major breach of kayfabe, as the group consisted of both heels and babyfaces, and showed enough lack of professionalism that someone had to be punished. With Hall and Nash leaving the company and Michaels the WWF champion at the time, that left Triple H to take the fall. This was unfortunate timing, too, for him, at least. That's because he was penciled in to win the King of the Ring tournament the very next month to begin a big push.

Instead, that push went to a rising star in the company, Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Last we left "The Rattlesnake," he was losing a Caribbean Strap match to Savio Vega at In Your House: Beware of Dog 2, which served to rid Austin of his manager at the time, Ted DiBiase. He entered the King of the Ring tournament immediately after and advanced by defeating Bob Holly in the first round and getting his win back on Vega in the second.

That led him to the pay-per-view (PPV) and a match-up against Marc Mero in the semifinals, which he won after a damn fine 17-minute match that saw him get his lip busted open. Because of this, he had to go straight to the hospital while the event continued on before returning later to meet Jake "The Snake" Roberts in the final.

Stone Cold made it back in time and the two had a mostly underwhelming match. Roberts had his ribs busted up earlier in the night by Vader after their match ended and he was selling that injury all throughout the match. Austin, of course, used it as his focal point before ending it just under five minutes in with the Stone Cold Stunner, a finisher he had just started using at that time.

The match itself was quickly forgotten but the promo Austin cut during his coronation will live on forever in the annals of pro wrestling lore.

Roberts was using a born again Christian gimmick at that time, as he had recently converted to as much in his real life. So Austin used it for inspiration in his promo and created one of the most famous catchphrases in pro wrestling history

source: cagesideseats.com

Ron Simmons Appreciation Night

WWE will honor Ron Simmons at Saturday night’s live event in Tallahassee, Florida with Ron Simmons Appreciation Night.

Sean Waltman Comments on WWE NXT & Triple H

“From where it was a couple of years ago it’s so much better, so much better. I actually think quite often it’ the best thing on TV. Sometimes I think the best stuff comes off of that show. Triple H is working closely with that too.”

Rumor Mill - Where is the McMahon Family Storyline Going?

No word yet where WWE is going with the McMahon family storyline with Triple H, Vince McMahon and Stephanie McMahon but the feeling is that it will end with Triple H taking all power from Vince, at least in the storylines. The storyline is being heavily featured because the USA Network sent word to WWE that they wanted more of the McMahons on TV.

Kevin Nash on HHH & X-Pac Joining The Kliq, Their Backstage Influence

On X-Pac joining The Kilq: "Pac did that angle when he was the 1-2-3 Kid. It was his 21st birthday, Kid's, Hennig and the Smoking Gunns took him out, Bart and Billy Gunn. The next day he shows up at TV and he's missing an eyebrow. They got him all f***ed up and shaved his eyebrow. Now Kid makes the decision to shave both his eyebrows. So he gets to TV and lo and behold, they're going to shoot his 8x10. So that son of a b**** on his 8x10 has got no eyebrows. Back then there wasn't no money in the WWF so I think that photo followed him for about two years. The funniest thing was he knew it was either the Smoking Gunns or Kurt. And because him and Kurt were buddies for many [years], he made the calculation that it had to be the Smoking Gunns. We're in El Paso, and I look over and see Kid's over there and he's got super glue and he's putting it around the brim of the cowboy's hats. I'm like what the f***. The Kid's like a buck 70, Billy and Bart are two big ol' raw bone dudes. That's one thing people don't realize. Until you shake hands with Billy Gunn, look him in the eyes, you have no idea how big that dude is. That's a grown man. Bart was the same way.

We go to the curtain, Smoking Gunns, they put their hats on, they go out there, shoot the pistols and go to pull off their hats and the s***'s glued to their hair. I about p***ed myself. We looked down at Kid, he was standing there, he watched it, he turned, looked at us and smacked his hands together like f*** you, job well done. We said dude, you're going to need some protection. You need to get in our car. He jumped in [with the Kliq] on that there. I want this mother f***er in our car. The thing was, that mother f***er could go. He's been going since he was 17, you know, so he was a working mother f***er. He was another one of the people that loved to talk the business."

On Triple H joining The Kliq: "Hunter, we were on the road so much we were watching the Saturday, it was called Main Event back then, the WCW Main Event. Me and Shawn's favorite wrestler was Terra Ryzing, who was Hunter's deal when he was in WCW. He was Terra Ryzing. We were in Wooster or some place like that, Kowalski came in and Hunter came in with him. He had a sports coat and slacks on and we were like look at this mother f***er, but we knew he was Terra Ryzing, with that long Fabio hair. So he had his tryout match and we all sat there at the monitor. Scott looked back at me and said mother f***er's money. He walked out of the ring and Scott was walking step for step, maybe three feet behind him. Kind of being a goof. Paul turned around and looked at him, he said who do you ride with? He said Walters, he said not next week. Next week, he said, you ride with us. Then we found out that he didn't drink or do anything. He didn't drink, he didn't take pills, he didn't do s**. It was like f*** yeah, designated driver because my big ass had been driving those guys around for like two years. "

On their backstage influence: "We had pull because the spots we were in. The Intercontinental Championship spot was always the precursor to the World Title. Between Scott, myself and Shawn Michaels, we had that mother f***er pretty much wrapped for about three years. I had a year run with the strap, with the World belt. Shawn and I popped in there a couple times as tag champs. We were always in the mix, upper echelon guys. Hunter hadn't lost, he was unbeaten. He was an up and coming star. Kid was always in the mix because he was so talented, he could have a match with anybody. When Bret debuted, Bret actually worked on RAW, which was a big deal. They put Shawn Waltman in there with him just because they knew they'd have an incredible [match]. They never gave s*** away for free back then and RAW was a one hour show and I think they did a two or three segment match that was just off the hook."

Opening Date for WWE Performance Center

Jim Ross noted on his Twitter that the new WWE Performance Center opens on July 11th and "is amazing."