WWE Doctor’s Controversial Concussion Statement

WWE Medical Director Dr. Joseph Maroon, who is also a NFL medical consultant and neurosurgeon for the Pittsburgh Steelers, appeared on the NFL Network this week to discuss concussions after the retirement of San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland, who is just 24 and is retiring out of concern for his longterm health.

Maroon, who has operated on several WWE talents and says the NFL has never been safer, is receiving heat in the media for some of his comments. Maroon said his message to parents that are concerned about their youth football players would be that he believes "the problem of CTE, although real, is it's being overexaggerated and being extrapolated to youth football and to high school football" and that "it's much more dangerous riding a bike or a skateboard than playing youth football."

WWE Issues Statement On Piracy Arrest

The UK's Police International Property Crime Unit has raided the home of a 55 year old UK man and arrested him for illegally uploading WWE and UFC content. TorrentFreak.com described the man as "one of the world's most prolific uploaders of both UFC and WWE content." It's believed the man went by the name "Sir Paul" on torrent sites. The man is accused of uploading 3.2 terabytes of copyrighted content, or around 3,000 videos, which have been downloaded more than two million times and cost WWE and UFC lost revenue.

WWE Senior Vice President of General Counsel James Langham issued a statement to The Daily Mail:

"WWE provides many options for our fans to watch our content lawfully - on television, pay-per-view, and digitally via YouTube and the WWE Network. We will continue to protect our intellectual property aggressively and combat piracy in any form."

WWE Lawyer Talks About the Wrongful Death Lawsuit from Nelson Frazier's Widow

The Boston Herald has an article about Cassandra Frazier, widow of former WWE Superstar Nelson Frazier Jr. (Big Daddy V, Viscera), filing a wrongful death lawsuit against WWE over her husband's death.

The lawsuit is being brought by Konstantine Kyros, an attorney who filed a class-action lawsuit against WWE on behalf of Vito LoGrasso and others for failing to protect talents against brain injuries earlier this year.

WWE's attorney Jerry McDevitt was interviewed for the article and it was noted that WWE will likely "seek sanctions" against Kyros for bringing frivolous lawsuits against them. They feel Kyros is just looking for a payday. McDevitt pointed out how WWE provides health and wellness services for all performers, even when they retire. He said:

“They just ignore these things and allege whatever they feel like alleging. You can’t do that as a lawyer. You have to be basing your allegations on a reasonable investigation of the facts. It’s not some creative writing exercise to see if you can get media attention.”

McDevitt said Frazier’s case is “tragic” but the nearly 500-pound performer’s death had nothing to do with his career as a pro wrestler:

“It’s an embarrassment to be a lawyer sometimes. It’s ridiculous that someone can ... try to blame someone because a gentleman with a weight problem died of a heart attack in the shower eight years after he last preformed. It's ridiculous to try and blame someone for that."

Screenwriter Max Landis Releases “Wrestling Isn’t Wrestling” Parodying WWE And Triple H’s Career Feat. Dozens of Cameos

American screenwriter Max Landis (Chronicle) has released a new “educational parody” called Wrestling Isn’t Wrestling. The 24-minute film, which is available in its entirety below, covers the entire career of 13-time world champion Triple H and brilliantly discusses professional wrestling as a storytelling medium.

Wrestling Isn’t Wrestling features dozens of special appearances, including cameos from wrestlers Joey Ryan, John Hennigan (Morrison), Christopher Daniels, Kazarian, Chris Hero, Becky Bayless, former WWE announcer Justin Roberts, Colt Cabana, JTG and Shad Gaspard, Ryan Nemeth and many others, as well as Seth Green, David Arquette and more.

WWE NXT WrestleMania Show Sells Out In Under Two Hours

In a very limited sample, Triple H's plan to take NXT on the road looks like a success.

Tickets for the just announced last week WrestleMania weekend show in Northern California went on sale today at noon Eastern time. And they were sold out of the approximately 4100 seats before 2PM.

So while several thousand lucky bastiches get ready to rock the San Jose University Events Center on March 27th, the rest of us will be looking to see where the Developmental brand heads next after a couple of successful dates in Ohio and what promises to be a great follow-up in Northern California.

WWE has a hold on dates in Philadelphia, but has reportedly not come to a final decision on whether or not to run NXT shows there on the May weekend that would lead into the main roster's pay-per-view (PPV) down I-95 in Maryland, where Payback will be held in Baltimore on May 17th.

The promotion has shown the ability to sell out small-to-midsize venues, first in Florida and now in other markets. Depending on what the costs of putting on a NXT road show are, these sellouts could make a compelling case to travel more with names like Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn at the top of the bill.

What will that mean for the show's original mission statement of preparing acts for Raw and Smackdown? Would touring revenue lead to more signings? Would those be veterans like Rhyno, or indy stars like Jay Briscoe?

It's an exciting time to be a fan of NXT...even if you didn't land tickets to the San Jose show.

Rumor Mill - ROH Attempting to “Lock-Up” Talent to Prevent WWE from Raiding its Roster, Big News on the Future of The Young Bucks

According to PWInsider.com, ROH is attempting to lock-up some of its top talent, namely The Young Bucks. The company wants to sign certain top talents to exclusive, longterm deals, as a way of preventing WWE from “raiding” its roster.

We have noted in the past that WWE has its eye on many top tier indy talents, so ROH hopes they can sign certain names to longterm deals to thwart any attempts WWE might make to lure talents away.

If ROH does successfully sign The Young Bucks to an exclusive deal, it could have a ripple effect on the independent scene as a number of companies depend on the Bucks as headliners. The deal ROH is looking to make with The Bucks would see them receive a salary, and ROH would have the right to approve or deny any indy dates the Bucks choose to work. ROH would likely allow The Bucks to continue working for New Japan Pro Wrestling, as they are huge stars in Japan with the Bullet Club.

Following last week’s FWE iPPV event in Brooklyn, NY, Reddit user MetsFan4Ever reported The Young Bucks were close to signing a very lucrative, exclusive deal with ROH, but the hold up had to do with merchandising, and ROH allowing The Bucks to work for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla in California. PWG is a promotion The Bucks feel gave them a shot when no one else would, so they want to continue working there.

With regards to WWE, The Young Bucks have turned them down in the past, but they might want to keep their options open in case a secure WWE contract would be worth giving up the big New Japan Pro Wrestling money that they make. This could be another reason why the team is trepidatious about signing an exclusive, longterm deal with ROH.

WWE Superstar Out of Action with Shoulder Injury

Jey Uso missed this weekend’s WWE live events, and WWE.com has posted a report noting Uso is out of action following a shoulder injury suffered at last week’s Smackdown tapings:

“Following Thursday night’s SmackDown, it was revealed that Jey Uso suffered a shoulder injury during an Eight-Man Tag Team Match. The former WWE Tag Team Champion will be evaluated again this week.”

WWE Shop Express

WWE is now offering a service in which fans can pre-order live event merchandise online and it will be waiting for them at the venue when they get to the show. The advantage is customers won’t have to wait in long lines for merchandise when they get to the arena.

WWE Officially Confirms Tonight’s Hall of Fame Inductee

WWE.com has announced “The Living Legend” Larry Zbyszko will be the next Hall of Fame inductee announced tonight on Raw. The following is an excerpt from the WWE.com article:

A true Living Legend in the sports-entertainment industry, Larry Zbyszko is the latest inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2015. He will be inducted by his former mentor and rival, WWE Hall of Famer Bruno Sammartino.

Zbyszko got his break in the ring game in 1973, studying under Sammartino, a fellow Pittsburgh native. He broke into WWE in the mid-1970s, making a name for himself as part of a tag team with Tony Garea and capturing the World Tag Team Titles from the Yukon Lumberjacks.

WWE NXT Champion Undergoes Knee Surgery

WWE.com is reporting NXT Champion Kevin Owens underwent a partial meniscectomy for a knee injury he sustained late last week. Owens issued the following comment in the report:

“I’m not the kind of person that lets things like this get in my way. I’m already walking around without crutches and doing physical therapy at the WWE Performance Center.”

“Now that I’m at the level I am now, and with as much at stake as there is, I don’t think it’s going to slow me down. I’m on the way back.”

WWE Announces Snoop Dogg Will Return to Guest Host Raw Next Week

Entertainment icon Snoop Dogg will join WWE’s Monday Night Raw when he guest stars on Monday, March 23 at 8/7C on the USA Network.

Snoop Dogg has sold more than 35 million albums worldwide, reigning for more than two decades as one of the most recognizable giants in music. Snoop Dogg’s new album, BUSH, produced entirely by Pharrell Williams on Columbia Records is out on May 12th. The first single off BUSH, “Peaches N Cream” featuring Charlie Wilson, is available now with the entire album available for pre-sale. Snoop Dogg will also be the Keynote speaker at the 2015 SXSW Music on March 20th.

Monday night’s show will mark Snoop’s return to WWE after guest hosting Monday Night Raw in 2009 and appearing on WrestleMania XXIV.

Former Ring of Honor Champion to Join the WWE Creative Team

PWInsider.com is reporting former Ring of Honor Tag Team Champion Jimmy Jacobs has signed a deal to join the WWE creative team, and he will begin with the company in April after WrestleMania.

Jacobs’ WWE signing has reportedly been in the works for some time now, and his last appearance for ROH could be the March 27th Supercard of Honor event in California.