Samoa Joe Confirms WWE Negotiations, What Triple H Told Chris Jericho About Samoa Joe

Samoa Joe was Chris Jericho's guest on the latest episode of Talk Is Jericho. While Joe didn't talk about any negotiations with WWE during the interview, Jericho stated that he asked Joe as he was leaving if he has any intention of joining WWE. Joe wanted fans to know that there have been discussions and "there's some negotiations going on."

Jericho noted that Joe's name came up while he was speaking to Triple H a few years ago. Triple H told Jericho that he was a fan of Joe and his wrestling style.

Joe will be in action at tonight's ROH TV taping, where he will face ROH World Tag Team Champion Kyle O'Reilly. He will face Michael Elgin at next week's ROH event at the Frontier Fieldhouse in Chicago Ridge, IL.

More on the Bill DeMott Situation; New Interim Head Trainer

PWInsider.com has confirmed that Matt Bloom aka Jason Albert, formerly Tensai, has been named the interim Head Trainer and will take over DeMott's duties at the Performance Center and WWE developmental. Whether he is named to that position permanently will remain to be seen.

The change to Bloom was announced via an email from Mark Carano of WWE Talent Relations to the developmental roster shortly after DeMott issued his resignation publicly.

Among WWE developmental talents we've heard from, there was something of a celebratory feeling as the crew traveled to tonight's house show as DeMott was, as you might imagine based on everything that has come out, not beloved. What all involved should remember is that while DeMott had a lot of resentment among the talents, the position he was in was going to lead to that, as he was in charge and was going to be the one delivering the bad news when it needed to be delivered. Whoever ends up in what was formerly DeMott's position will also have to do the same, so it will be interesting to see how long it is, if ever, before they are seen in the same negative light as DeMott.

As of this evening, it appears WWE's only official statement on the matter will be that they retweeted DeMott's resignation announcement on their own social media accounts.

Bill DeMott Announces He Is Stepping Down From NXT Head Trainer Position

In light of recent allegations made toward him, Bill DeMott announced Friday that he is stepping down from his role as head trainer for NXT effective immediately.

"I deny the recent allegations made about me, however, to avoid any embarrassment or damage to the WWE, I've decided to step down from my role effective immediately," he wrote on Twitter.

DeMott has come under fire in recent days after Austin Matelson and other former developmental workers accused him of physical and verbal abuse during their time with the company. WWE investigated the matter and claimed to find no evidence of such abuse.

Video: Triple H Welcomes the WWE Universe to Columbus, Ohio

Recap of WWE NXT's First Live Event Held Outside of Florida

* JoJo was the ring announcer. It's a packed, rowdy crowd and they are ready for some wrestling.

* Corey Graves came out to kick off the show as the host. Triple H then came out to a big pop and a "holy s--t" chant. He also got a "thank you Hunter" chant. It's announced that they are taping the event for the WWE Network.

* Hideo Itami and Finn Balor defeated The Vaudevillians in a very exciting opener. Itami got the hot tag and pinned Aiden English for the win. Itami and Balor were very much over with the hot crowd.

* Alexa Bliss defeated NXT Women's Champion Sasha Banks by count out. They both got good reactions but some of us are aware that Bliss is from the area. Bliss getting the upset was a good hometown moment and got a pop.

* Tyson Kidd comes out with his WWE Tag Team Title belt and gets a huge pop. Baron Corbin also gets a good reaction. Corbin is usually the most over in his matches but Kidd had good reactions all throughout, including a "meow" chant. Corbin ended up getting the win after catching Kidd in End of Days. Fans booed Corbin after the win and he played the heel role well.

* NXT Tag Team Champions Murphy and Blake are out next. Carmella, Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady are out next to a huge pop. The crowd eats up their pre-match promo and Carmella looks great. Blake vs. Cass is next. Fans chanted for Blue Pants to come out early on but unfortunately she didn't appear. Blake rolled up Cass while he was distracted and grabbed a handful of tights to get the win.

* The Connor The Crusher video is shown.

* Big Show is out next to huge heel heat. Ryback comes out to not much better and we have a match. Fans start with CM Punk chants. This match is not wanted at all it seems. Ryback tried getting a "feed me more" chant going at one point but the crowd responded with CM Punk chants. They go to chanting for Blue Pants again. The highlight of this match is the chants easily - "NXT" and "please retire" chants at Big Show, also "we want Divas." Ryback ended up getting win with Shellshocked. Very interesting match here, the crowd made it.

Intermission

* Kalisto vs. Tyler Breeze is up next. Breeze gets a big pop and got the win with a Beauty Show. This was another very competitive match with lots of good spots.

* Ric Flair is out next to a pop. Flair praises Charlotte and introduces her. Bayley is out next and we have our second Divas match. They chanted "better than Reigns" at one point. Charlotte gets the win with Natural Selection but Bayley was over more. Flair comes in and hugs Bayley after the match. Charlotte also shows respect.

* Alex Riley vs. NXT Champion Kevin Owens is next. They both got good pops and Riley is fired up. Owens was over big time all throughout and won with a powerbomb. After the match, Owens went to powerbomb Riley on the apron but Finn Balor made the save. Balor and Owens brawled to a big reaction.

* Sami Zayn came out in street clothes and cut an amazing promo about how proud he is to be in NXT and being proud of the rest of the locker room.

* Adrian Neville vs. Cesaro is the main event. This was an awesome match, definitely the match of the night and will easily be a match of the year contender. "Push Cesaro, he's too Swiss" was a big thing here. Cesaro ends up getting the win with a Neutralizer after a crazy back and forth finish. I hope this one airs because the whole match but especially the end was must-see.

An estimated 850-1000 fans attended tonight's WWE NXT live event in Columbus, Ohio. It was mostly standing room only with many fans standing up for the entire show.

WWE SummerSlam Location Official

The New York Daily News reports that WWE SummerSlam will be held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY on Sunday, August 23rd. An official announcement will be made on Thursday. Tickets will go on sale next Saturday, March 14th, at 10am.

"SummerSlam in New York matches one of the most iconic sports and entertainment celebrations with one of the world's greatest cities," WWE executive vice president for special events John Saboor told the Daily News.

SummerSlam was originally scheduled to take place at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, NJ, however the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority board approved a plan in January to close down the arena.

Nikki Bella On AJ Lee's Comments About Diva Pay, Who Came Up With 30-Second RAW Match, More

WWE Divas Champion Nikki Bella recently spoke with Mark Madden on 105.9 in Pittsburgh. They discussed AJ Lee's WWE return, the 30-second RAW match that led to "#GiveDivasAChance" trending and more. Thanks to Diva-Dirt for the following highlights:

AJ Lee's comments about Divas pay:

"We're all here because we're living our dreams. Whether it's two minutes or twenty minutes on TV, I'm beyond grateful for that, because there are millions of people that wish they could get two minutes in that ring, and they can't, so I'm not going to be one to b---h about it. But do I think Divas should definitely get more time on TV? 100%. But do I think pay is different? No."

Divas not having the star power to make money like John Cena, Roman Reigns or Brock Lesnar:

"Let me put it this way: if a Diva was to headline a show, would those seats sell out like it does when John Cena's headlining? Roman Reigns? Brock Lesnar? Absolutely not. We're not there yet. We're trying to get there, but we're not there yet. As far as merch goes, we all get the same percentage, so I don't know why anyone's crying about it. We all make the exact same percentage, so it's like, sell more merch if you wanna be like the guys. At the end of the day, we're in a man's world. People show up to watch men wrestle, and they look at us the 'pretty things on the side', but I think slowly, we're changing people's minds about that. It's not gonna happen overnight, but eventually we're gonna get there. We just need patience and time."

Who came up with the 30-second RAW match that led to #GiveDivasAChance trending:

"What's funny about that is we were given about three minutes. Three to four minutes. And we – us four girls who were in the match – we put our heads together and said look: we can either give them a two minute match, or we can give them nothing and get Brie and I so much heat and tell a great story…We're not gonna give people three minutes of BS, and it ended up being a big chance. It ended up turning into #GiveDivasAChance trending worldwide for two days. I mean, we could've gone out there, done a few moves and called it a day, but we were like, 'How do we tell a great story?' and at the end of the day, that's what we did. Brie and I got good heat at the end of it, we got trended for two days straight, and it was like, 'Whoa. We're storytelling now.' And that's what puts the Divas on the next level. Instead of just going out there and doing moves, we storytell. 'Cause that's what the boys do, and that's what we need to do."

The unexpected virtue of Blue Pants: NXT's cult phenomenon breaks her silence

Who’d have thought that among the outsize personalities and outlandish competitors brewing down in WWE NXT, one of the most beloved would turn out to be a plucky Diva in blue pants named, well, Blue Pants?

Initially brought in as a local competitor to help Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady’s protégée Carmella fine-tune her skills in the ring, "Ol' Blue Pants" immediately took on a life of her own, amassing a cult following more or less on the spot. Over the next couple of months, Blue Pants would continue to make sporadic appearances in NXT, eventually defeating Carmella before trying her hand at the freshly crowned Women’s Champion, Sasha Banks. Blue Pants hasn’t been seen on WWE TV since that day, but WWE.com caught up with the woman behind the phenomenon — independent competitor Leva Bates — to discuss how Blue Pants was born, where the blue pants themselves came from, and whether we might see her as a more permanent fixture down the line.

So without further ado, Blue Pants, come on down!

WWE.COM: You are a longtime veteran of the independent scene. How did you end up on NXT as Blue Pants?

BLUE PANTS: I actually filled out the recruit page, because you always hear, “Hey, fill out the recruit page,” and I got a call asking if I would be interested in wrestling a match at NXT! So, of course, I said yes. [Laughs] I ended up getting called, and the name Blue Pants actually came about [when] I was stretching near the ring. At that point I was told I was going to wrestle Carmella, and Enzo & Cass were brainstorming an [intro] just off the top of their heads. They were like, “Maybe we should call her out, the girl with the blue pants.” I laughed about that, I just thought it was really funny. I went, “Absolutely! Do that!” I was just wearing the pants to roll around in, I wasn’t sure I was going to actually wrestle in that outfit. I have a crazy amount of costumes. I always over-pack so I have hundreds of things with me. I just put the blue pants on real quick to roll around in the ring, stretch, kind of get comfortable and it just stuck … that’s how Blue Pants was born, and I just embraced it!

WWE.COM: The NXT Universe is pretty supportive of everything on the show, but did you expect to catch on the way you did right out of the gate?

BLUE PANTS: No, absolutely not. It caught me off guard. I figured I’d have a little bit of a reaction considering I’m from Orlando and I wrestle a lot in the Central Florida area. I figured some of these people will probably recognize me, but the overwhelming reaction I got, I don’t know if they just thought the name Blue Pants was funny, or if they recognized me or some combination of the two, but it completely caught me by surprise. It was a nice, pleasant surprise.

WWE.COM: Who came up with the idea of having Big Cass sing “The Price is Right” theme song as your entrance music?

BLUE PANTS: I wanna say that was right on the fly. “Coming from the clearance rack,” I think that was probably the first thing that popped in his head. I gotta give him credit, he did that and the crowd went nuts. My character’s very happy, very fun, lives in the moment, for the now, for the fun, so I kind of embraced it. Instead of getting mad and going, “Ah, why are you making fun of me?” I’m like, “Yeah! What’s wrong with my blue pants, I love blue pants! I love this song!” and I started dancing. Cass and Enzo are really, really funny, so I played off of that … and we built it into what it was.

WWE.COM: Did Triple H say anything to you after those first few matches?

BLUE PANTS: The first time I came back he said, “You got a Blue Pants chant. I don’t even. I can’t,” and then he started laughing. I shook his hand and said, “Well, thank you for everything, I really appreciate this opportunity.” He said, “You’re welcome,” and then he just started laughing at my blue pants! That was kind of a really awesome moment for me, to make Triple H laugh.

WWE.COM: You most recently wrestled Sasha Banks in her first match as Women’s Champion and got a reaction on par with hers. How did that feel?

BLUE PANTS: It’s absolutely heartwarming and overwhelming in a good way. I’m so scared one day I’m going to come out and they’ll be like, “Alright, we’re over the blue pants,” but I feel like it just keeps growing and growing. I love the fans and I appreciate that. It really touched my heart, because I’m a fangirl at heart, too, so I know how it is when you’re like, “I love this so much, this is so cool!” To have that toward me is just mind-blowing. I’m still in awe of it, and very appreciative.

WWE.COM: Do you think we might see Blue Pants in a more permanent spot down the road?

BLUE PANTS: I would absolutely love that! I kind of go with the flow. If they want to keep calling me back, if they want to make it permanent, if they want to say, “Alright, the ship has sailed,” I will roll with it. Right now I could stress out about it, but you gotta have fun with it! Enjoy the moment as it happens, and that’s what I’m doing: enjoying every single second. If it continues to go on and becomes a permanent thing, hallelujah, that’d be awesome. Even if it doesn’t, I still accomplished a dream of mine. Actually a couple of dreams of mine! I got [to wrestle] for WWE, I got to wrestle in front of a huge crowd and I got to win in a match for WWE, so all of these dreams have happened! To keep pursuing it? Absolutely, I would love to do that. I’m just enjoying it while I can.

WWE.COM: If you do stick around, blue pants on WWEShop.com would be kind of a layup.

BLUE PANTS: Yes! I would love that!

WWE Partners With "Spread The Word To End The Word" Campaign

WWE has partnered with the "Spread the Word to End the Word" campaign, which highlights all of the harmful effects that the words "retard" or "retarded" has on the millions of individuals who suffer from developmental and intellectual disabilities, as well as their families and friends.

Many WWE Superstars and Divas have tweeted their support of the campaign, and "Spread the Word to End the Word" has invited fans to make donations on their official website, which you can access by clicking here.

Former Head Of Talent Relations Leaves WWE

Jane Geddes, who you've seen on Total Divas and was the head of WWE Talent Relations before being moved to running Triple H's office, is no longer with WWE.

Geddes actually quietly left the company on a Friday somewhere between 1 month and 6 weeks ago. The circumstances surrounding her departure are unknown. There's speculation within WWE that she was released.

Backstage News On WWE Using Veterans In NXT

Regarding WWE bringing veterans like Rhyno and The Brian Kendrick to NXT, the idea is that new talents will improve faster by working with the more experienced guys. This is similar to what Jim Ross did with Ohio Valley Wrestling years ago when it was a developmental territory. WWE may be bringing more veterans to NXT soon.

King of Kings: A Q&A With WWE Superstar Triple H

Few sports entertainment Superstars have had the longevity, in and out of the ring, that Paul “Triple H” Levesque has had. Whether you remember him best as the long-haired punk leader of Degeneration-X during WWE’s Attitude Era, the sledgehammer-wielding heel nicknamed “The Game”, or, most recently, the heavy-handed leader of The Authority faction that does most of his bullying in a suit and tie, Triple H has earned his place among the most important figures in sports entertainment history and pop culture at large.

This weekend, the 13-time world champion who is also WWE’s EVP of Talent, Live Events, and Creative will be inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame at the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio. Levesque spoke to us about what the honor means to both him and the business of sports entertainment, and what has made him the “king of kings” among WWE fans.

Aside from having charisma and a quick wit, what do you think makes WWE Superstars stand out from athletes in other sports?

Triple H: I think the well-roundedness. Charisma, quick wit, the ability to perform in front of tens of thousands but also one or two. Our athletes are very well rounded and some of the best in the world physically, and they also have to have the ability to improvise and do theater at the same time. It’s like playing football and doing Shakespeare at the same time. I think that’s a rare combination. It’s a broader skillset.

Also, with all these other sports, they want the athletes to be a cog in the wheel. With WWE, we want you to be larger than life. The bigger your brand is the bigger ours is.

More Superstars seem to be being inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame every year. The Hall already includes Mark Henry and Bruno Sammartino. Do you think this will help legitimize WWE and sports entertainment in the eyes of critics who still call it “fake” and say the performers aren’t athletes?

I do. And I never understood that about it being fake. When you see a guy who does something physically that 99% of the rest of the world sees and goes, “Oh my God that’s amazing!”, and you say “well, they’re not really athletes” … Oh really? To me the International Sports Hall of Fame is more than about being good at your sport or your profession but it’s about giving back. I think that WWE superstars are finally now getting their due for all the things we do for Make-A-Wish and Susan G. Komen, the military, anti-bullying, and all the other things we do. We’re candidates for the Hall for being more than just athletes. I think what the Hall of Fame is about, as far as the people I see going in there, is athletes great at their chosen sport but also people that did more with it than just reap the rewards.

More?