Abdullah The Butcher Loses in Court

Thunder Bay Ontario's Net News Ledger is reporting that Abdullah The Butcher lost a court motion to have his statement of defense struck from the record on November 5th and was ordered to pay costs of the motion. The trial related damages will move forward, and you can read more details at this link.

E! Scores Strong Ratings With Return of 'Total Divas'

On November 10, E! continued to deliver in its Sunday night reality block with the return of “Total Divas” from 10-11pm scored for the network with 1.3 million total viewers and 746,000 Adults 18-49. The fall premiere of “Total Divas” also surged past its mid-season finale on September 15 across all key demos including Adults 18-49 (+10%), Women 18-49 (+16%), Adults 18-34 (+26%), Women 18-34 (+27%), Total Viewers (+21%) and Households (+20%).

Triple H Calls For Major Change In Philosophy With How WWE Handles Releases

There has been an interesting shift in philosophy ongoing in WWE thanks to the ascension of Triple H. Hunter feels it makes the company look bad when they have “mass releases” at a time, which is why WWE hasn’t had tremendous post-Wrestlemania roster cuts like we’ve seen in years past. Triple H’s rationale is that if WWE is a successful company, why would they fire talent in droves every year? Therefore the edict is essentially this – Don’t fire anybody!

Some may ask, well they just cut Kassius Ohno on Friday? The philosophy doesn’t extend to developmental talent as they are not yet “WWE Superstars.” However, once a worker makes it to the main roster, that worker must do something that is “so terrible that it’s unavoidable” to actually lose their job. Hunter would rather allow for contracts to run out and not re-sign them, as opposed to making a publicized cut.

Evan Bourne and Ezekiel Jackson are both ready to return but WWE has struggled to find plans for either one. They’re being kept on payroll until their deals run out rather than cut them loose early if it’s decided to not bring them back.

Total Divas Recap 11/10/13

Les Thatcher talks Dean Ambrose, no interest in TNA product

Legendary wrestling trainer Les Thatcher joined Inside The Ropes this past week to talk about his ilustrious career. Here are some highlights of his chat:

Importance of guys being a role player in wrestling:

"The thing a lot of the younger guys don’t learn now is to be a role player. Now when I say a role player, it’s to be versatile enough to do whatever a promotion needs of you. Probably the best example of that, at a high level right now, would be Chris Jericho. You know, he can work with a new guy, get him over without killing himself, because he’s just that talented and of course, he can be a top guy. He can be a babyface or he can be a heel, he can work tags. Theres nothing that he can’t do. He cuts good promos either heel or babyface, so there’s really nothing he can’t do which makes him that much more valuable to a promotion."

Memories of working with Dean Ambrose during his training:

"Jon is a good hand. I’m happy to see him get the break. I’ve been watching him from the beginning. He was in a tag team and the gimmick was he and his partner would come out in football gear, they were like two college football players, and that’s when I first saw him. I saw the potential in Jon, started working with him, more to refine him. I got him his first dark match (with WWE). I’m glad to see him doing well, he’s a natural talent and the other thing was, when I sold the HWA that’s when Jon was there and I got him his tryout. I’d go over to help out some of their guys and some of them would come once or twice but Jon was always there and always eager to learn."

Does he keep up to date with TNA:

"Not as much as I did, I sort of lost interest. There’s some good guys there, some guys I know but I just, truthfully, my honest feeling on TNA...and I wish them well and wish there were ten more like them, but I think TNA exactly where they are today is where they’ll be in ten years if they’re still around by then. They’ve cried wolf so many times, they are what they are. I don’t seem them getting any better or maybe even any worse. The trouble is they’re just WWE-Lite."

On angles in TNA being copied from WWE:

"Well the Dixie Carter thing, she doesn’t do a bad heel promo. But strike one is Stephanie McMahon is doing the exact same thing. Now I don’t care if Dixie came up with this three years ago, now would still have been a bad time to implement it, it just looks like a bad copy regardless. The AJ Styles angle, it’s the same thing. The network is obviously not that strong. There are people that don’t know TNA exists. I did some personal training at a gym here a few years ago and people would talk to me about WWE and I’d mention TNA and they’d say “What’s that?” I know Mick Foley makes a joke about when he was there people would ask him why he wasn’t wrestling anymore even though he was but they just didn’t know about TNA."

Big Week for Luke Harper

Luke Harper became the first man ever to wrestle on RAW, SmackDown, Main Event and NXT in the same week. Harper lost to CM Punk on RAW this past Monday, lost to Daniel Bryan by DQ on SmackDown this past Friday, teamed with Erick Rowan and defeated The Prime Time Players on Main Event on Wednesday and defeated Kassius Ohno(in his last match) on this week's edition of NXT.

WWE Reaction To TNA Sale Rumors

In response to online reports that the Carter family is looking to sell TNA Wrestling, Janice Carter, mother of president Dixie Carter, issued a memo to employees on Nov. 1 squashing rumors of sale talks and that her family was fully committed to the organization. However, according to F4WOnline.com, she is lying as multiple sources within the organization have stated that negotiations are currently being held for potential buyers. Furthermore, nearly everyone who has been speculated online, including musician and Resistance Pro Wrestling owner Billy Corgan, is not involved in the negotiations.

It is said that some WWE officials are following the story very closely, with one source quoted as saying "more so than people would ever imagine." It is not because the sports-entertainment organization is interested in purchasing TNA, but rather because they are curious to know who desires to and what the status will be of some talents (specifically Hulk Hogan and Sting).

HBK On Clashes With McMahon, Offers Advice To Undersized Wrestlers, Says He Originated The 'Pipe Bomb'

The December 2013 issue of WWE Magazine features an in-depth interview with Shawn Michaels, who weighed in on his most memorable matches and how he became one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time. Without mentioning Daniel Bryan by name, he addresses the topic of undersized WWE Superstars being overlooked for main event positions and how he personally responded to Vince McMahon's perceptions at a time when larger-than-life individuals ruled the promotion.

On fighting an uphill battle to stand out in WWE, Michaels states, "I'm always slightly amused by how people talk about how so-and-so 'isn't big enough.' And hoe someone is fighting an uphill battle because of his size. You don't know the first thing about an uphill battle. Try doing it in 1994 and 1995, even earlier than that. Try doing it back when there hadn't been—with all due respect—me complaining about how size shouldn't matter. Now there's a list of guys as long as my arm who complain about getting looked over.

"When I got here, I didn't have a name. I didn't have a legacy. I didn't have a famous family. And there was only one guy who was gonna kick down the door and piss and moan until—quite frankly, and thankfully—the old man finally relented. Ha ha."

Michael lays claim to being the originator of the 'pipe bomb,' which he used to push the Chairman's buttons in the mid-1990s.

"I also chuckle at the notion of a 'pipe bomb' being something new. Back in 1994, 1995, and 1996, those were the original 'pipe bombs,' said Michaels. "That's one of the things we were pushing for back then—bringing more of the reality of the situation to the forefront. I used to say stuff and The Chairman had no idea what was coming out. It's just different now. We were also privately owned then. That's why we just got yelled at, not fired. (Laughs)"

Ironically, Michaels doing away with his rebellious personality upon his return to the promotion in 2002 and becoming a 'model employee' incensed McMahon.

"Now, my faith and my family are what's important. I'm not sure Mr. McMahon's aware there is a life outside WWE. Over the years, he and I butted heads many times behind the scenes. And, honestly, I think there was a part of him that liked those confrontations. So when I came back (in 2002), and had re-prioritized my life, I was actually sort of a 'model employee.' That's what sent him over the edge with me," said Michaels.

WWE Releases Top NXT Wrestler from Developmental Deal

WWE has released Chris Spradlin from his developmental deal this past week. He was known as Kassius Ohno on NXT and Chris Hero before joining WWE.

Ohno was released by WWE officials while waiting to begin training on Friday morning at the Performance Center in Orlando. Ohno recently returned to NXT after being held off TV for some time. His final match, a loss to Luke Harper, just aired a few nights ago on this week's episode of NXT TV. Ohno was trending worldwide on Twitter last night.

He's already been announced to face Hurricane Helms on November 16th for Pro Wrestling Syndicate in Rahway, NJ. Besides the PWS show on November 16th against Hurricane Helms, Hero has been announced for Pro Wrestling Guerilla's All Star Weekend in December. A number of other independent promotions are scrambling to book Hero.

This Day In Wrestling History - Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Montreal

Happy Birthday to Chris Jericho
November 9, 1970

The infamous "Montreal Screwjob" occurs as Vince McMahon, Shawn Michaels, Earl Hebner and others, screwed Bret Hart out of the WWF(E) title. Bret Hart immediately spat in Vince McMahon's face and later knocked him out backstage with a punch.
November 9, 1997

Steve Austin defeated Owen Hart for the WWF(E) Intercontinental title.
November 9, 1997

WWF(E) filed suit against the Parents Television Council for harassment.
November 9, 2000

Interview with Cameron

New Head Of WWE Talent Relations

WWE has named Sean Cleary as the new head of WWE Talent Relations. Clearly has been with WWE since 2012 was previously in charge of the company's Human Resources department. He replaces Jane Geddes, who has been promoted to the Senior Vice President, Operations for Talent and Live Events.