*******************||Trending||*******************
October 18, 2013
TNA Impact Zone Update
The word making the way around those in TNA is that the promotion will tape a number of Impact episodes in mid-late November at the Impact Zone.
Depending on the market, planned or announced tapings would either be canceled or converted into house shows.
TNA is still working out their final plans before making any official announcements.
Kane Makes Political Show Appearances
WWE star Kane recently appeared on the Econ 101 webcast and also spoke with The Libertarian Republic about a number of political issues, and you can check out his appearances in the links below.
Glenn Jacobs, (Kane) Interviewed by Austin Petersen on "The Future of Liberty"
FreedomWorks On Tap "Econ 101 with Glenn Jacobs aka Kane"
Rumor Mill - What Type of Talent Triple H is Looking to Sign
WWE has put out an internal edict to sign at least 30 more guys over the course of the next two months. The company is setting up tryouts in November and December in hopes of reaching their target. They want to get the WWE Performance Center closer to capacity and Triple H has put the word out to focus particularly on finding bigger guys in the upcoming camps. With WWE Network’s launch still not settled and the cruiserweight show in limbo, he feels they have enough smaller guys for now and it’s time to find some bigger guys.
Scott Hall Talks About Athletes Using Steroids, Wanting to Work for WWE In the Future, More
Scott Hall recently spoke with Slam Wrestling to promote Border City Wrestling’s 20th anniversary show in Windsor, Ontario this weekend. Here are some highlights from the lengthy interview:
Upcoming Wolfpac plans and his son Cody:
“I’ve got some dates coming up in Europe in November with Kevin Nash and Sean Waltman — doing a WolfPac signing and a question and answer (session). I think we’re doing Glasgow, Manchester, and London. Then we’re looking at some things in Japan. Now that Cody’s breaking into the wrestling business — he’s had 20 or so matches so far — we’re looking at some international bookings to get him seasoned and ready for anything that may happen for him in the U.S.”
His thoughts on steroids:
“If you’re going to try to be a pro athlete, why not use everything available to you? I’m not trying to get too involved in (the discussion), but I don’t have a problem with pro athletes being on steroids. You read about all of these baseball players getting in trouble, but I think there are a lot more important things going on in the world today than whether pro athletes use steroids to perform good. I’m not a big baseball fan, but I remember back when all those guys were hitting home runs all the time, and it was just more fun to watch. I don’t think people are getting hurt, I don’t think these guys were breaking into peoples’ houses or robbing old ladies’ purses to get the money to run out and buy steroids. When I went to WWF — it was still WWF at the time — when I was there as Razor Ramon, it was when the steroids scandal was in full swing. They were testing, and I was fully compliant with the drug policy. I went off steroids like everybody else did. And we all got smaller, but the playing field remained level. Big guys were still big, and the little guys were still little. But the reality is, when you’re on the road so many days, I don’t see how a little bit of steroids can really hurt anything. There are a lot of things that people could do that are a lot worse. That was just the time. That was then, and now is now. I’m living my life a lot differently now. And I’m happy to hear that the young cats now are not making bad choices — that’s encouraging.”
Working for WWE again:
“It would be a dream come true for me but I want to clarify, it’s not up to me. If it were up to me, then I would love to have the Bobby Heenan job. I was always a big fan of Bobby Heenan. I would love to wear the headphones and a tacky sports coat, and be the heel commentator who just managed a select couple of guys. Bobby used to put down the headphones and head to the ring to manage Mr. Perfect and then Ric Flair. In my own fantasy world, created solely by me, I would love to be the Bobby Heenan broadcaster and then walk to the ring with Cody and maybe manage a sweet tag team and maybe one Diva. That would be my stable, and I’d be fine with that.”
October 17, 2013
Update on Richie Steamboat
Richie Steamboat suffered a pretty serious back injury and had surgery last year. He's still signed but is out convalescing. It's not known if or when he'll be able to return to the ring.
WWE's PG Product Paying Off
In 2008, WWE's total revenue from corporate sponsorships was $7.4 million. Now, after 5 years of pushing their PG product publicly and promising sponsors that there would be no more risque TV, the number is expected to hit $20 million this year.
Morality Clause In WWE Contracts
All new WWE contracts reportedly have a morality clause in them. Basically, if a talent has inappropriate photos or videos that can be found online or in print, they will not be signed. They have to sign a deal saying that no such material exists and if it happens to be found, not only will they not be hired but will be blacklisted from the company.
Backstage News on Big E Langston
It's been noted how John Cena is Big E Langston's biggest supporter within WWE. With Cena back from injury already, look for Langston to be featured on WWE TV more. This goes with what was reported in our SmackDown spoilers this week.
WWE's Current Feeling on Signing "Smaller" Indy Stars
Regarding signing new talents, there is no hard and fast rule but there's a belief within WWE that they have enough "small guys" and the problem with business is there are already too many and not enough "big guys." Unless someone is really good, WWE is not looking to sign small guys right now. They also don't want to sign ROH guys right now but that doesn't mean Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards won't get picked up.
There's a feeling that guys who work independents and travel and have somewhat of a name already have bad habits, and if they are at the higher level, if WWE signs them and even if they agree to take the pay cut to WWE entry level, that the talent won’t be happy over the long haul. It was also said WWE doesn't want talents who know they can get fired, go back to the indies and be successful without WWE. They want guys with the impression that their careers in wrestling depend on making it in WWE.
Kurt Angle Talks WWE's Rehab Program
"The WWE program has been amazing. They have done a lot for me and they continue to. I work with them still. They're amazing at what they do. They have had so many guys go through recovery and still are in recovery. We have a weekly chat every Wednesday night at 7pm. It's really beneficial for everybody."
