We noted before that on Steve Austin's latest podcast he downplayed the speculation on a possible WrestleMania 32 match with Brock Lesnar and said he was not trying to set up a match with the Paul Heyman exchange on their recent WWE Network podcast.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter notes this week that the match will not be happening. Apparently reasons the match is not happening have to do with issues between Austin and Vince McMahon but The Observer wouldn't speculate on what those issues are. Vince was reportedly not happy with how the podcast ended because Austin vs. Lesnar is not in their current WrestleMania 32 plans.
Vince did not know Heyman and Austin were going to do the bit they did and immediately felt they were creating major interest in a match that was not happening. There was reportedly some sort of discussion between Austin and Vince after the podcast where Vince wanted the story to go away quickly and quietly with Austin addressing it once and then moving on.
June 10, 2015
Vince McMahon Reportedly Not Happy With End Of Steve Austin And Paul Heyman's WWE Podcast
WWE Officials Unhappy with ROH's Kevin Steen Figure, Plans to Prevent Future Similar Incidents
There were some top WWE officials very unhappy about Ring of Honor and Figure Toy Company releasing a Kevin Steen action figure because it's a non-WWE company being the first to enter the marketplace with an action figure of WWE's hottest new star. They were also upset because the look and character of ROH's Kevin Steen and WWE's Kevin Owens are essentially the same.
Officials are now trying to prevent this from happening again so there is pressure on Triple H and that department to get non-WWE talents with potential signed to NXT with merchandising deals before they make it a company like ROH or TNA that has their own merchandise and cable TV deals. They are also looking to create a pipeline to find the talents with potential before ROH and TNA finds them. The idea is to not sign talent from ROH or TNA now for the main roster and get the word out to younger talents that if they have WWE aspirations, they shouldn't sign with TNA or ROH. There will always be exceptions to the rule.
Many indie talents have signed 5 year deals with Figure Toy Company, meaning they have the right to market Kevin Steen merchandise for almost 5 more years while WWE pushes him as one of their top new stars.
June 9, 2015
June 8, 2015
Scott Hall Entering Detox Facility, Tweets About Incident Last Month
Scott Hall has had his share of ups and downs, both personally and professionally. One of those downs occurred last month when Hall was escorted out of an event in New Jersey after the promoters claimed that he was too drunk to perform. He missed his scheduled meet & greet for hours later.
Today, Hall announced on Twitter that he'd be entering a detox facility stemming from the incident. Hall had appeared to be improving significantly over the past several years with the help of Diamond Dallas Page and Jake "The Snake" Roberts.
Hall said "Happy to report I'm checking in to a detox facility to address my recent difficulty. Thanks to all the supporters out there," in his tweet to fans. Hall went through WWE-sponsored rehab several times, to the tune of over $100,000 according to Stephanie McMahon. Nothing was able to help Hall conquer his demons until moving in with the aforementioned DDP.
WWE Tough Enough Final 40 Revealed
The return of WWE Tough Enough is just two weeks away, and after more than 11,100 members of the WWE Universe uploaded their video submissions, 40 individuals have been invited to a tryout at the WWE Performance Center this week.
The WWE Tough Enough mini-camp takes place Wednesday, June 10, through Friday, June 12, culminating with the announcement of the final 13 contestants, who will compete for one-year, $250,000 WWE Superstar and Diva contracts. The journey of the final 40 will be chronicled on a WWE Network exclusive, WWE Tough Enough Competition Special, which airs Tuesday, June 16, at 8/7 C.
The final 40 contenders are:
Adam Ohriner, Long Island, N.Y.
Alexander Frekey, Dallas
Alexander Galizia, Springfield, Mass.
Amanda Saccomanno, Yorktown Heights, N.Y.
Ashley Urbanski, Oakland, Calif.
Ava Knight-Salicka, Las Vegas
Carly Marshall, Los Angeles
Chelsea Green, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Danielle Kamela, Scottsdale, Ariz.
Daria Berenato, Los Angeles
David Michael Barnes, Mandan, N.J.
Dianna Dahlgren, Spokane, Wash.
Don Arner, Pittsburgh
Gabi Castrovinci, Southington, Conn.
Giorgia Piscina, Brisbane, Australia
Hank Avery Jr., Macon, Ga.
Jason Vazquez, Oak Lawn, Ill.
Jeremiah Kingdom, Los Angeles
Joshua Bredl, Thornton, Colo.
Kahlil Bell, San Jose, Calif.
Kevin Penczek, Belle, W.V.
Krishany San Jorge, Puerto Rico
LaRayia Gaston, Los Angeles
Lorenzo Davis II, Los Angeles
Mada Abdel Hamid, Los Angeles
Michael Mio, Staten Island, N.Y.
Mike Hayes, Louisville, Ken.
Nehemiah Kingdom, Los Angeles
Nicholas Cuffari, Lakewood, Okla.
Patrick Clark, Washington, D.C.
Philip Guilford, Atlantic City, N.J.
Samantha Sage, Los Angeles
Sara Bettencourt, San Jose, Calif.
Sara Lee, Hope, Mich.
Stephen Tezanos-Pinto, Sacramento, Calif.
Tanner Saraceno, Boiling Springs, S.C.
Tommaso Giannuzzi, Germany
Vinny Tortorella, Staten Island, N.Y.
Zach Boss, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Zamariah “ZZ” Loupe, Bayou Bluff, La.
Watch Raw tonight to learn more about the final 40, and stick with WWEToughEnough.com throughout the week for exclusive videos and breaking news from the tryout.
WWE Surpasses Half a Billion Social Media Followers
WWE today announced it has eclipsed half a billion fans through its global social media platforms, further cementing its position as one of the most-followed brands in the world.
WWE’s flagship Facebook page has more fans than the NFL, ESPN, Marvel, Google and UFC, and WWE Superstar John Cena is the No.1 most followed active American athlete on Facebook with more than 36 million likes. On Twitter, @WWE has more followers than MLB, Disney, Sony and Pepsi and according to Klout, is the No. 1 most influential brand on Twitter. On Instagram, WWE’s fastest-growing platform, @WWE has more followers than ESPN, HBO, NHL and Gatorade. With nearly 5 billion video views on YouTube in the past year alone, WWE is the No. 1 Sports channel ahead of the NBA, MLB, NFL, NHL, ESPN and NASCAR.
WWE’s Social Media Snapshot:
• Facebook: 354 million total likes, including 98 million new likes, an increase of 38 percent year-over year.
• Twitter: 108 million total followers, including 18 million new followers, an increase of 20 percent year-over-year.
• Instagram: 26 million total followers, including 25 million new followers, an increase of 2,955 percent year-over-year.
• YouTube: 6.2 million total subscribers, including 2.8 million new subscribers, an increase of 82 percent year-over-year.
Earlier this year, WWE won awards for Overall Social Media Excellence and Social Media Dream Team at the 2015 Cynopsis Sports Media Awards and 2015 Cablefax Digital Awards, respectively. WWE’s 12 social media platforms include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, Periscope, Google+, Vine, Foursquare, Tumblr, Pheed and Pinterest.
New Rumors on a Physical WWE Hall of Fame
There have been many rumors about a physical WWE Hall of Fame over the past few years and we reported back in January 2014 via The New York Post that NBCUniversal was considering a physical WWE hall for Universal Studios in Orlando as part of their pitch to keep WWE on their networks. It's been reported that Triple H has been very interested in a WWE museum for the Hall and now there are new rumors of the project being hosted in the Orlando area.
Universal Studios announced this week that they are closing NBA City at Universal CityWalk in Orlando as they chose not to renew the lease several months back. They are planning on announcing a new concept soon as NBA City shuts down in August.
Theme park website BehindTheThrills.com reports that rumors of the new concept include a Cheesecake Factory restaurant, a Universal movie set themed restaurant and a WWE Hall of Fame restaurant. These are just rumors for now but it would be interesting to see WWE get back into the restaurant business.
June 7, 2015
Backstage Update on WWE Officials Discovering Havok’s Controversial Tweets, Did Her Remarks Affect Her Current WWE Tryout?
Former TNA Knockout Havok had been at the center of controversy surrounding tweets from years ago that featured racist and homophobic remarks.
Havoc apologized for the comments, but later deleted the apology. She's been at the Performance Center in Orlando for a WWE tryout this week. She also deleted the offensive tweets in question.
According to Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Radio, Havoc had been impressing those who were conducting the tryouts in Orlando. Many were comparing her to the likes of Awesome Kong/Kharma, and were very optimistic about her future.
Apparently the company and everyone at the tryouts found out about the offensive tweets while she was in the ring. Dave Meltzer noted that the situation did her no favors, and Alvarez described it as the "roof caving in." After WWE officials learned of the Tweets, the situation prompted tryout hosts to speak to the attendees about saying stupid things on social media.
The 28-year old Havok spent a few months with TNA before finishing up with the company in February. You can view some of the tweets here.
June 6, 2015
Station Fined For Airing WWE
Authorities in Ecuador are launched an investigation into television network Teleamazonas for airing WWE programming. The station said that the Superintendency of Communication and Information (Supercom) feels that the network airing the show violates federal laws against the promotion of violence. Supercom noted that WWE "runs the risk of becoming a television product incompatible with the cognitive development, criteria, and discernment of the audience."
Supercom released a statement stating that Teleamazonas was fined $1,770 for airing WWE programming on March 28th during a slot that should only be for family-friendly programming.
Rumor Mill - WWE Reportedly Cancels Kliq Reunion Special
We noted before that WWE will be releasing "The Kliq Rules" DVD and Blu-ray on Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and Sean Waltman on July 28th. The set was originally planned to include a reunion show that would first air on the WWE Network. That special has been canceled, according to WrestlingDVDNews.com, but the DVD is still going forward. It will include a documentary feature with a compilation of matches & segments but no reunion show.
Mani Mohtadi, who was the person that filmed the infamous Curtain Call incident at Madison Square Garden in 1996, revealed on Twitter that WWE interviewed him for the documentary portion of the set.
