Jake "The Snake" Roberts: I Have Cancer

Jake "The Snake" Roberts has a cancerous tumor behind his knee ... and the wrestler says it's slowly growing into his muscle -- so he needs emergency surgery to remove the growth.

Roberts tells TMZ ... he noticed a tumor behind his knee the size of a half dollar last month so he had it tested ... and on Friday doctors told him the test came back positive for cancer.

Jake says he's scheduled to go under the knife Tuesday morning ... and after a few weeks off -- he'll make his return to Jersey Championship Wrestling on March 14th -- cancer, or not.

Jake adds, "If the devil can't defeat me, cancer doesn't stand a chance in hell! Pray for sick children who face this horrible disease 'cause The Snake will be just fine."

As for his upcoming induction into the WWE Hall of Fame ... the wrestler says nothing will stop him from getting to New Orleans for the ceremony.

Wrestlers announced for Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling Collaboration

Ring of Honor has announced a collaboration with New Japan Pro Wrestling that will see the two companies trade talent over the next few months. Though nothing has appeared on the website as of now, the first shows featuring Japanese talent will be 5/10 in Toronto and 5/17 in NYC. The talent who appeared in the video include IWGP Champion Kazuchika Okada, IWGP Intercontinental Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi, IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Kota Ibushi, Shinsuke Nakamura, Jushin Liger, Gedo, and Jado.

source: prowrestling.net

Triple H: It was time for Hulk Hogan to come home

No matter how deep the divide, no matter how strained the relationship, Triple H has managed to broker deals to bring some of the biggest stars in the history of professional wrestling back home to WWE. That list includes Bruno Sammartino, Ultimate Warrior, and now, with the recent announcement that he will return to Monday Night Raw on Feb. 24, 2014, in Green Bay, as well as guest host WrestleMania 30 on April 6 in New Orleans, Hulk Hogan.

Here are the comments he gave to the Associated Press (via Huff Post Sports):

"It's time for him to come home. I don't think there's ever been a doubt that Hulk Hogan was, in some way, a WWE commodity."

The two apparently reconnected at a charity event last year and it was there that the lines of communication were opened leading to the two sides reaching a deal to bring Hogan back into the fold.

This Day In Wrestling History

Ring of Honor makes its debut. The show features Low Ki vs. Bryan Daniels vs. Christopher Daniels in the main event.
February 23, 2002

WWE NXT debuted on the SyFy Channel. The episode also doubled as the official WWE debut for Daniel Bryan, David Otunga, Wade Barrett, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel, Darren Young and Michael Tarver.
February 23, 2010

Stephanie McMahon Discusses WWE’s Cardio, ImPACT & Drug Testing

KDKA Channel 2, the CBS affiliate out of Pittsburgh, has a new article online on WWE’s medical team featuring quotes from WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon. In it, she discusses the company’s Wellness testing.

“We do cardiovascular screening,” says Stephanie told the media outlet. “We do ImPACT testing. We do blood work. There is a drug testing component.”

“It’s really with the idea of having our athletes and our superstars have the best health possible,” McMahon said.

Click here to read the article in its entirety.

This Day In Wrestling History

Sting defeats Hulk Hogan for the then vacant WCW World Championship.
February 22, 1998

Hulk Hogan Returns to WWE

WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan has returned to WWE (NYSE:WWE) and will host WrestleMania® 30 on Sunday, April 6 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. Hogan will make his long-awaited return to WWE this Monday on Raw®, which airs live at 8 pm ET on USA Network. He will also appear on WWE Raw Backstage Pass, airing live on WWE Network on Monday night at 11:05 pm ET.

A larger-than-life icon, Hogan is one of the biggest names in WWE history. On January 23, 1984, “Hulkamania” was officially born when he defeated The Iron Sheik to become WWE Champion at Madison Square Garden. He headlined WrestleMania III, where he successfully defended the WWE Championship against Andre The Giant in front of a record 93,173 fans at the Pontiac Silverdome. Hogan went on to win six WWE Championships, starred in movies, television shows and became an idol to a vast legion of fans he dubbed “Hulkamaniacs.” Hogan was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005 by Hollywood legend Sylvester Stallone. His last WWE appearance was in December 2007, where he appeared at the 15th anniversary of Monday Night Raw.

“We are thrilled that Hulk Hogan has returned home to WWE,” said WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon. “It’s fitting to have him help us celebrate 30 years of WrestleMania and usher in a new era with the launch of WWE Network.”

“Words cannot express how excited I am to be back in the WWE family,” said Hulk Hogan. “I only have one question for the WWE Universe: whatcha gonna do when Hulkamania runs wild as the host of WrestleMania 30?”

Triple H & Stephanie McMahon to Appear in Joe DeFranco's Fitness Video

According to Joe DeFranco's Facebook page, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon will be shooting a fitness video with him. After I commented on his post this morning, he removed it from his page. DeFranco is their personal trainer.

WWE Going Against TNA on Thursdays, LGBT Training at the WWE Performance Center

Patrick Burke of the You Can Play Team, which aims to end homophobia in sports, noted on Twitter that they will be giving a presentation on LGBT issues in sports to the NXT stars at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando this week.

The bigger news coming out of the WWE Network programming lineup announcement on Wednesday is WWE going head-to-head with TNA's Impact Wrestling on Thursday nights. The Network will have a three hour block of programming on Thursday nights - Legends House at 8pm (beginning April 10th), NXT TV at 9pm (beginning March 6th) and Superstars at 10pm (beginning February 27th).

WWE & NBCU Far Apart On Price

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that NBCUniversal and WWE are “far apart on price” regarding a new domestic television distribution agreement. According to their report, they’ve retained Chris Bevilacqua, head of media advisory firm Bevilacqua Helfant Ventures, to negotiate the deal.

Click here for coverage by the LA Times.

Vince McMahon Says CM Punk Is “Taking A Sabbatical”

Vince McMahon was asked about CM Punk on Thursday’s conference call with investors. He said Punk is “taking a sabbatical, let’s put it that way.”

Vince McMahon conference call coverage: Operating income loss in quarter; incomplete answers on television negotiations and carriage of WrestleMania XXX; expected losses in 2014

Vince McMahon and members of senior management hosted a conference call pertaining to the 2013 fourth quarter report that was released on February 20, 21014. The following are the highlights of the call.

-The call was hosted by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, WWE CFO George Barrios, and WWE Investor Relations Michael Weitz.

-Vince touted increases in live event attendance, TV viewership, and social media reach. He also touted some of their new product lines and the new UK television deal.

-Vince mentioned that they had left their negotiating window with NBCU and they were in the marketplace for the first time in long time.

-He hyped the WWE Network launch on Monday and said "most" of their traditional pay-per-view carriers have agreed to carry WrestleMania XXX with a month-to-month approach to events after that.

-George Barrios took over the call and read through the financial report. He announced an OBIDA loss for fourth quarter based primarily on spending for the WWE Network and film impairment charges, but that their year-end OIBDA results were within expected results.

-Barrios said that with the addition of Total Divas this year, WWE reaches 14.2 million viewers on average each week.

-Average attendance for the quarter were up four percent for the quarter and two percent for the year with a seven percent increase in ticket prices.

-Barrios touted Total Divas increasing viewership by over 150 percent from the programming it replaced on the E! Network.

-Barrios again repeated their belief that they can double or triple the 2012 $60 million OIBDA level by 2015. He listed their American and Indian television deals, as well as the WWE Network as how they would do that.

-Barrios said they expect expansion of the Network to the UK, Canada, Australia, and Nordic countries by the end of the year or early 2015.

-Barrios said to expect losses early in 2014 because of costs to launch the WWE Network and other investments. He said they expect a 2014 first quarter loss of $12 to $15 million.

-The call was turned over to questions. Barrios refused to answer a question about how many companies were interested in their TV shows but said they were optimistic about the negotiations since all of their properties are available at the same time.

-Barrios also refused to give an estimate about how many subscribers they expected to have by WrestleMania but repeated the "one million by the end of the year" line for expected total subscribers.

-A caller asked about the excitement level for WrestleMania XXX from fans and Vince said he felt like they were on track to have a big year.

-Vince simply said CM Punk was "on sabbatical" when asked for an update.

-A caller challenged why WWE was in the movie business. Vince said they understood characters and story lines and already had a set of stars to use. He talked about changing the models for the studio and when asked about how long they would take to decide if the studio was working, Barrios said they were seeing a better return under their new model and would continue to evaluate with each film.

-A caller asked about WrestleMania coverage and Barrios said they expected to be available in 85 percent of the US households. He refused to discuss who was and was not carrying the PPV.

source: prowrestling.net