Ric Flair On Bret Hart, 'God He's Bitter'

Ric Flair recently addressed Bret Hart’s criticisms of others in the wrestling business on a Jeff Jarrett's My World podcast. He called his fellow WWE Hall Of Famer "bitter"

“What I do wanna do is be able to walk into the building and not have people say, ‘God, he’s bitter, he’s old, and he’s gonna continue to knock people. I couldn’t live like that. And calling Roman Reigns the next Triple H or cracking on him… I mean, how uncomfortable is that for people in the family to walk around in front of Hunter [Triple H]? And Shawn [Michaels], who is an integral part of the company. NXT, that’s part of the company, right? What else? Jerry Lawler… ‘Jerry Lawler hit me with a chair too hard.’ Wow, okay… I don’t understand it. I don’t ever wanna be that lonely.”

“I don’t know what happened there [Hart’s problem with Eric Bischoff], and now he’s blaming Eric for everything. Eric made him rich. I don’t know how you blame Eric. I was talking to Eric the other day. I said, ‘It’s the flavor of the week. He’s mad at Goldberg one week, mad at me the next, something I didn’t do, I was repetitive.’ Well, you wrestle an hour every night 280 times [a year], which he wouldn’t know nothing about, and you’re gonna get slammed off the top, that’s called taking a bump. How many press slams did you take, Bret? None.” 

Source: sportskeeda.com

Zelina Vega Reportedly Returning To WWE

Zelina Vega (Thea Trinidad) is reportedly headed back to WWE.

Vega was at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando on Thursday of this week, according to Fightful Select. Word is that Vega was at the Performance Center for some sort of filming with the company.

Wrestling Inc. recently learned that Vega’s WWE return has been planned for a while now, before WrestleMania 37.

There’s no word yet on when Vega will be back, but we will keep you updated on her status. WWE recently started airing vignettes for the return of Vega’s husband, Aleister Black.

Vega was released from her WWE contract back on November 13 after issues with the company related to their edict on third party activity with sites such as Twitch. Her 90-day non-compete clause expired in mid-February, but, she has focused on acting and video game streaming since leaving WWE, and has not worked with any other wrestling promotions.

Booker T Denies Triple H Segment Was Pulled From A&E Biography; Clears The Air On Racial Overtones of WM Match

Earlier on Sunday, professor and writer David Dennis Jr., who was interviewed by A&E to cover Booker T’s career, tweeted that he was brought in specifically to talk about the controversial WM19 storyline – but the footage didn’t make the final cut in the two-hour documentary.

While speaking on his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T cleared the air on the situation.

“Ok, you [Dennis Jr.] talked about it [the storyline] but how can it be pulled from the biography? It was never supposed to be in there,” Booker T said. “It makes it seem like there was a whole lot of meat and potatoes on the bone of the story of Booker T vs. Triple H at WrestleMania 19.

“And personally, I’ve never given that story a whole lot of credence. To me it was just a championship match that I lost. I understand where some fans are coming from, since as a young black kid, I looked up to my heroes as well. But I’ve never looked at my career and framed it around any one match.

“I got paid more money for that one match than I got paid for any other match in my life. I am not going to complain about that. End of the day, it’s about taking care of my family. When people try to make stuff out of something such as a racial issue… for me, that was not what my story was about.”

Booker T went onto confirm that he never saw Dennis Jr.’s interviews – talking about WrestleMania 19 – on the rough draft he reviewed a year ago.

“My documentary was not just about one match or one angle,” stressed Booker. “It was about taking whatever I had [in my career] and turning it into something. I never cared if I was on the mid card or I was doing GI Bro opening the show, or if I was in the main event.”

credit: Hall of Fame podcast Wrestling Inc.

Peacock Pins John Cena’s ‘WWE Evil’ Series

Peacock is diving into the sporting life for a pair of new series. The NBCUniversal streamer has ordered WWE Evil, from creator/exec producer John Cena, along with a multipart docuseries about legendary quarterback Joe Montana.

WWE Evil is described as a “psychological exposé” into the minds of the most diabolical antagonists in WWE history and their impact on mainstream culture. Wrestler-actor Cena is writing the project and also will narrate and exec produce.

Cena has a number of projects in the can or in the works, including playing Peacemaker in James Gunn’s upcoming The Suicide Squad and the DC character’s own eponymous spinoff series at HBO Max. He also is set to star with Idris Elba in Heads of State and opposite Meredith Hagner and Lil Rel Howery in Vacation Friends and also co-hosts TBS’ Wipeout revival.

source:  Deadline.com

AEW Announces Return To Touring, Tony Khan Comments

AEW has announced that they are returning to live touring with upcoming Dynamite tapings on the road.

AEW will run Dynamite on July 7 from the James L. Knight Center in Miami; July 14 from the H-E-B Center in Cedar Park, Texas; and July 21 at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, TX.

Tickets for all three Dynamite shows will go on sale this Friday, May 14, and will start at $30. Each event will be held in compliance with COVID-19 protocols.

AEW has also announced two re-scheduled live event dates for St. Louis, Missouri and New Orleans, Louisiana. The June 23 taping at the Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis will now take place on Friday, November 5, and will be a TV taping to air on TNT, but apparently not as a Dynamite show. The event scheduled for the UNO Lakefront Arena in New Orleans will now take place on Wednesday, January 12, 2022, and will be a Dynamite taping.

“We’re so appreciative of our fans in Jacksonville who have been with us these past nine months,” said AEW President, CEO, General Manager and Head of Creative Tony Khan. “Their support and incredible energy have lifted us week after week, and viewers have fed off their enthusiasm and support. Daily’s Place will always be our home.

“Looking ahead, we’re thrilled to welcome our fans back to become part of the action in Miami, Austin and Dallas. We’ve missed touring cities, meeting the fans and hearing their roar during our live shows. Please be assured, we are working closely with the venues to comply with state and local regulations in each city. Miami, Austin and Dallas are the first of many as we gear up the trucks to travel around the country again!”

How Much of the WWE do Vince, Linda, Shane, Stephanie and Triple H Own in 2021?

Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics.com revealed  information about WWE’s shareholders. According to him, the McMahons own class B shares, which give them ten times more voting power than other shareholders. These class B shares can only be transferred to Vince and Linda McMahon’s descendants, i.e. Stephanie and Shane McMahon.

Paul Levesque, Vince’s son-in-law, owns 67,571 class A shares, valued at $3.7 million. These class A shares aren’t like class B, which the McMahons own.

What is shocking is Shane McMahon used to own over a million class B shares but hasn’t been listed as a shareholder since 2013. Rumour has it that he sold his stock a while ago.

According to Thurston’s assessment, Vince owns 38% of the shares and 81% of the voting units. Other major shareholders include Lindsell Train Limited, The Vanguard Group, Stephanie McMahon, and Linda McMahon.

From WWE's 2021 Proxy Statement:

SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT.

The following table sets forth certain information known to us with respect to beneficial ownership of our Common Stock as of March 30, 2021 by (1) each stockholder known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than five percent of either Class A common stock or Class B common stock; (2) each of the Directors and named executive officers; and (3) the Directors and executive officers as a group. 

Class B1  Vince McMahon         92.3%

Class B1  Linda McMahon           1.0%

Class B1  Stephanie McMahon   6.0

Stephanie McMahon Named to Variety's 2021 New York Impact Report

New Vince McMahon TV Project In The Works

“No Chance: The Vince McMahon Story and The Rise of the New Wrestling World Order” is the working title for the project. Joseph Krueger is the director.

The only position they are casting for as of now looks to be the “Host” role, indicating what kind of TV show this may be, something along the lines of a for-TV-documentary. The production synopsis noted that this is a “review retrospective” and not a movie.

It should be noted that this does not appear to be affiliated with WWE.

Stay tuned for more on the project. Below is the production synopsis provided with the casting call:

“For decades, there were many professional wrestling territories across the United States. Each regional promotion was locally owned and offered it’s own distinct brand of wrestling and home grown superstars . Promoters would often cross-promote their wrestlers with other wrestlers in other promotion under the cooperation of the National Wrestling Alliance which made it easy for wrestlers to go from one territory to the next to improve their craft.

The territories had this system in place that worked well between the 1950s to late 70s. Then by the early 1980s, the rise of cable television began to raise the bar on wrestling territories in putting out a product that would appeal to a large audience. Few tried and had limited success until one third-generation entrepreneur saw the power of Cable TV as his weapon to turn his regional promotion into a national promotion .

Fueled with a bold creative flair of re-imagining pro wrestling as sports entertainment gave Vincent Kennedy McMahon the esteem edge over his adversaries. It was his art of the hustle that led him to raging war on the top territories (AWA, Jim Crocket Promotions, WCCW Mid-South, and many others) and stunting their growth by raiding all of their top talent . It was his novel and bold approach to pitch the Super Bowl of Wrestling Shows , ‘WrestleMania’ into the Pay-Per View stratosphere that wrestling would forever be changed forever.

This isn’t a movie but a review retrospective that will dig deep in learning not only about Vince McMahon’s adversaries but how he outsmarted them all in associating USA Pro Wrestling with the World Wrestling Federation. Learn more about other noteworthy promoters who dared tried to oppose the Young Conqueror in which we will focus on each territories noteworthy plays and embarrassing mistakes made on their wrestling shows.”

Chris Jericho Refutes Triple H Saying AEW vs. NXT Ratings War Was 'Imaginary'

EW star Chris Jericho fired back at WWE NXT founder Triple H on Tuesday regarding the Wednesday night ratings battle between AEW and NXT.

During a recent appearance on Cheap Heat with Peter Rosenberg, Triple H referred to the rivalry between AEW and NXT as an "imaginary war" on Wednesday nights:

"The promotional opportunity for us is much better on a Tuesday. And also then not having to have a narrative where it's just constantly about an imaginary war, or this imaginary battle. And, you know, people can say what they want, but the truth of the matter is you compete against everything. If you are creating a television product or content—that is the world we live in is content not television, not internet. It's everything. So you're constantly competing for eyeballs and time against everything under the sun, including sleep and time to do other things, and video games, and TikTok and everything else that's out there."

In an interview with Joseph Staszewski of the New York Post, Jericho suggested Triple H created the "imaginary war" narrative only because AEW had higher ratings the vast majority of the time:

"It will be there for the rest of time, it was an 'imaginary war,' and if it wasn't a war why did they take Wednesday night the exact same time that we had? It was there to take away our ratings and for us not to get re-signed. Three months after that started we were re-signed to a hundreds-of millions-of-dollars extension. They failed."

After more than a year of AEW and NXT going head-to-head on Wednesday nights, NXT moved to Tuesdays on April 13, marking the end of the Wednesday night wrestling war regardless of whether it was real or imagined.

Jericho added: 

"That's typical WWE. It's typical rhetoric. Because I believe that they congratulated us the first week and said, if you remember, 'It's a marathon, not a sprint.' We won the marathon, right? So now it's an imaginary war. Well then why were they saying it's a marathon, not a sprint a year-and-a-half ago when our first rating came out?"

WWE NXT Viewership Rises, But Its Demographic Number Dips

WWE NXT suffered a decline in viewership last week, but the show somewhat bounced back on May 4.

According to ShowbuzzDaily, the viewership climbed up to 761,000 this week, a slight increase from last week’s 744,000.

As for the 18-49 demographic, WWE NXT drew a 0.18 rating, a notable drop compared to last week’s number of 0.22. Overall, the show ranked 21st among the top 150 original programs on cable.

The May 4 episode included an NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship Match, a Falls Count Anywhere Match between Leon Ruff and Isaiah “Swerve” Scott, and the return of Finn Balor.

NXT VIEWERSHIP YEAR-TO-DATE RANKINGS

Apr. 20: 841,000 – 2021 High

Jan. 14: 551,000 – 2021 Low

May 5: 761,000 – This Week

Titus O’Neil Announced For Another Hall Of Fame

Boys & Girls Clubs of America will induct six new Club alumni into their Alumni Hall of Fame tonight during the youth advocacy organization’s virtual 115th Annual Conference. The ceremony will honor six Boys & Girls Club Alumni, who have made major contributions in their fields, including sports, government, and music.

This year’s inductees, the “Class of 2021,” include: Tara August, Vice President of Turner Sports Talent Relations and Special Projects; Ciara, Grammy-winning recording artist; The Honorable Jerry Demings, Mayor of Orange County; Ricardo Lockette, retired NFL special teams player and wide receiver; Titus O’Neil, WWE Global Ambassador, philanthropist and author; and Alex Rodriguez, entrepreneur, philanthropist and MLB All Star.

The honorees have forged unique, successful paths as adults, but a shared Boys & Girls Club foundation of education, support and community brought to them through invaluable programs, attentive staff, and the connections made with other Club youth.

Titus O’Neil

Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County, Florida

WWE Global Ambassador Titus O’Neil, aka Thaddeus Bullard, attended Delray Beach Boys & Girls Club at the age of 8 as a safe place to go after school. When he couldn’t afford to sign up for a local youth football league, a Club counselor paid his registration fee. He excelled on the gridiron, earning a scholarship to the University of Florida, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a master’s degree in administrative education. After a stint in the NFL, O’Neil pursued a career in sports entertainment, and eventually signed with WWE where he has become WWE Tag Team Champion, the first-ever 24/7 Champion and was recently inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as the Warrior Award recipient, an award given to an individual who exhibits unwavering strength and perseverance and who lives life with the courage and compassion that embodies the indomitable spirit of The Ultimate Warrior. He is known for his humanitarian work outside the ring as much as his work inside WWE and created the Bullard Family Foundation to provide children and families in need with programs and resources to help build character, develop relationships, and strengthen the communities around them. In addition to the Boys & Girls Clubs, O’Neil also supports The Special Olympics and Pop Warner Football.

Rumor Mill - WWE In Talks With Major League Wrestling

WWE is reportedly in talks with Major League Wrestling, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. 

The deal would allow some NXT developmental wrestlers appear on MLW TV, and would be a very similar deal to what they had with EVOLVE. 

The deal would also help talent they have signed have further exposure, instead of sitting on the sidelines while the company is currently off the road due to the COVID19 pandemic.

We recently reported, WWE filmed a new pilot for a show titled, "NXT EVOLVE" with the idea that it would air weekly on Peacock and feature some of WWE’s developmental talent. It remains unknown if this idea will materialize into something.

WWE also wants to be viewed as forward-thinking and open to working with other promotions, given the fact AEW has partnerships with the likes of IMPACT Wrestling, New Japan and AAA.