It's been announced that former Ultimate Fighting Championship Women's Bantamweight Champion, Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion, and current WWE Monday Night Raw Superstar "Rowdy" Ronda Rousey will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame next month.
Ronda will be the very first female fighter to enter the prestigious UFC Hall of Fame.
Triple H was among a panel of WWE stars interviewed by Stephanie McMahon during the WWE FYC (For Your Consideration) event in North Hollywood, California. The event was held for the purposes of campaigning for a 2018 Emmy Award nomination under the industry of entertainment.
Stephanie asked Triple H about how it is transitioning from WWE superstar to heading the talent relations and creative department in WWE.
"I think that when you're a WWE superstar, obviously the greatest part of what we get to do, putting smiles on people's faces," Triple H said. "We're doing all this stuff, but there's this, it's hard to even put it into words. There's a picture of me out front from WrestleMania this year. I noticed when I walked in today. And, what I noticed about the picture, with HD television and camera work now, I noticed that it's a shot of Steph and I from WrestleMania, and my legs are covered with goosebumps. I immediately took a snapshot of it and sent it to The Rock to say, 'dude, look at my legs.' We used to talk about this all the time, the passion for what we do when you have that moment in front of 80,000 people where your whole body, it's electric. There's no other way to describe it, but it just goes into automatic and you're covered with goosebumps and it's just this insane adrenaline thing.
"Rock sent me a note back like two seconds later and was like, 'oh my God. If it wouldn't be totally weird, I would blow this up right now and put this on my trailer wall as an inspiration.' I said, I know, that's why I trimmed it a certain way just to show my leg, 'cuz it was cold at WrestleMania (smiles), but [Rock] said that nobody can understand that like we can, it's something of the WWE. So at that point in my life, nothing greater than that. I can honestly say that step into where I am now, that pales in comparison to seeing a person with a dream."
WWE Senior Ringside Physician Chris Amaan's libel and slander trial against CM Punk and Colt Cabana wrapped in Cook County, Illinois today with the jury ruling in favor of Punk & Cabana on all counts filed by Amann. The former WWE Superstars will not have to pay anything to Amann.
It was noted that Punk & wife AJ Lee were hugging and crying after the verdict was read.
The trial kicked off last Wednesday over comments Punk made about Amann on Cabana's "Art of Wrestling" podcast in 2014, a few months after his WWE release. The jury deliberated for just a few hours today.
No word yet on what is next for the parties involved but we will keep you updated. Amann remains employed by WWE while Cabana continues to work indies. Punk has not wrestled since leaving WWE but he will return to the Octagon this Saturday at UFC 225 in Chicago, facing Mike Jackson, who also has a record of 0-1-0.
Vince McMahon is committed to proving that his professional football league will be a serious venture the second time around, and he has hired an executive to oversee the league that should help accomplish that goal.
Oliver Luck, the father of Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, revealed on Tuesday that he has been named the commissioner of the XFL.
“The XFL will be a labor of love as I get to combine my experiences as a player and executive,” Luck told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. “I’m thrilled to have this unique opportunity to reimagine the game that has been a constant in my life for 40 years.”
Luck currently holds a position with the NCAA where he oversees the Eligibility Center. His responsibilities include keeping tabs on eligibility requirements and academic affairs, but he will leave that job immediately and relocate to the XFL’s headquarters in Connecticut.
Luck, a former quarterback who played for the Houston Oilers and was inducted into the West Virginia University Hall of Fame, is a big hire for McMahon. He previously served as the president of NFL Europe and was the athletic director for four years at WVU, so he has plenty of experience in the field.
Beginning today, the WWE is taking another giant step in its international expansion.
The new WWE Performance Center website officially launched this morning, and creates a direct route for anyone seriously contemplating a career with the global leader in sports entertainment. The site, which includes information about the application and tryout process, is the result of a conversation between WWE CEO Vince McMahon and Paul “Triple H” Levesque, who is the Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events, and Creative.
“The hardest part about this business is there is no pathway,” said Levesque. “We’re creating a pathway. Vince and I spoke about it, and he said, ‘Let’s go do it.’ We are going around the world to look for international stars.”
WWE’s new recruiting website provides nearly every detail for those interested in the company, providing information on how to apply, outlining the steps after a successful tryout, offers a look at the most up-to-date roster, and even shares first-hand insight from WWE talent, like Finn Balor and Charlotte Flair, who thrived at the Performance Center.
“If you want a career in the WWE, here is how to go about it,” said Levesque. “There is advice on what to expect at tryouts and testimonials from people who have careers in WWE. It’s all about creating the pathway, and this will really open the faucet and allow talent to flood in from a global level.”...More?
source: si.com
Terror group Al-Qaeda have condemned WWE for their 'sinful' activities, as well as the Saudi Crown Prince for allowing the western company to perform in the middle east.
A Friday bulletin from the militant group was verified by British newspaper The Independent, and has strong criticism for the Greatest Royal Rumble, which took place last month in Jeddah.
“[Foreign] disbelieving wrestlers exposed their privates and on most of them was the sign of the cross, in front of a mixed gathering of young Muslim men and women,” the bulletin read.
The bulletin was critical of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, who has instigated massive social reforms since receiving his role last year.
"The new era of [Mohammad bin Salman] replaced mosques with movie theatres," the extremist group claimed.
Since his appointment, bin Salman has introduced several western ideas to the nation, and was a prominent figure during the campaign that lifted the ban on women driving.
A WWE Executive who helped secure the company's recent deal with the United Arab Emirates has been fired, following a series of Islamophobic tweets and content from his wife.
Sal Siino was fired after a Huffington Post article highlighted his wife Amy Mekelberg, with the content of her tweets being brought to the attention of WWE.
"Now that it has come to our attention, Sal Siino is no longer an employee," a company spokesman said.
On her Twitter account, which has followers including President Donald Trump, Roseanne Barr, Sean Hannity and Sara Huckabee-Sanders, Mekelberg targets Islam in her over 45,000 tweets.
One tweet included an image of a Pig (which is considered unclean in Islam) cooking a presumably Muslim male, whilst using the Muslim holy book the Quran as fuel for the fire.
In another tweet, which has over 9,000 retweets, Mekelberg claims that opposing Islam is no different to opposing Nazism or Communism.
Since her husband was fired, Mekelberg has tweeted about Huffington Post author Luke O'Brien, claiming the journalist has endangered her.
Rupert Murdoch Highly Influential In WWE SmackDown Live Moving To FOX
Rupert Murdoch, the Executive Co-Chairman of 21st-Century Fox is believed to be influential in the recent broadcasting deal which saw FOX poach WWE SmackDown Live from NBCUniversal's USA Network for a whopping $1 billion over a five year period.
The deal was reportedly negotiated between Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, and FOX executives although the deal has yet to be officially signed but agreed on a handshake.
The Hollywood Reporter notes that Murdoch told WWE that NBC are embarrassed to have the sports entertainment brand on their network, even though it brings in a strong and consistent viewership.
Murdoch is also believed to have told Vince McMahon in a phone call that this will usher in a new era between himself and the McMahon as they both see themselves as rebels who built big media brands.
In addition, FOX plans to air promos airing across sports programming every night of the week, along with a new weekly studio show on FS1.
It is believed shortly FOX will sell the majority of their assets to Disney or Comcast with sports becoming the centerpiece for the networks' programming on "New Fox".
WWE has reached an agreement to air their SmackDown Live brand on the FOX network, ESPN reports.
Specific terms of the agreement are unknown at this time, although the offer was described as "massive." According to ESPN, WWE has declined to go into specifics about the offer, and a FOX representative could not be immediately reached. The FOX on-screen partnership with the WWE goes in effect following the expiration of SmackDown Live on the USA Network, which will be September 30, 2019.
For fans, this could be a step in the right direction regarding Raw and SmackDown Live feeling like two distinct brands, which is something that many fans have criticized. As we previously reported, WWE CFO George Barrios was asked about Raw and SmackDown Live separating to two different companies, and he had this to say.
"Market determines that opportunity. From our end, [we don't think] it's an issue to split it," said Barrios. "We have done it before. We think we're pretty good at promoting and moving our viewers from one platform to another. Seven or eight years ago, it was only from one network to another network, which changed dramatically. We can't over-emphasize it, is the nature of social and digital and helping do that.
"So, we've been able to do it before, we would feel even more comfortable doing it today just because we have a direct connection with all our fans which we did not have seven or eight years ago. So, our ability to do that, if it made sense economically, there were partners interested, if we felt comfortable with the partners in question, operationally we would not see an issue with doing that."
Previously, Raw and SmackDown were on different channels, but under the same parent company. Recently, NBC Universal reached an agreement with WWE to continue to air Raw, but SmackDown Live was left without a home. WWE and FOX has been in talks since last year regarding moving their product from USA. While FOX will not be acquiring Raw, it does give SmackDown Live an opportunity to showcase its brand with a different company.
Due to the television deals, WWE's stock has reached record highs in 2018, topping over $50 for the first time in history. While the total number of viewers have substantially decreased over the years, the general feeling is that WWE remains a viable product due to the fact that Raw and SmackDown Live has stayed in the same area of viewers for quite some time and has not witnessed a decrease compared to other shows from numerous networks this year.
In addition, WWE's acquisition of Ronda Rousey plays signficant assistance to the product as well. It could be argued that a reason why Rousey has been pushed to the Raw Women's Championship level so quickly, and why it was announced during an NBC Universal event, was for WWE to have a bigger mainstream presence, which helps the company in regards to television negotiations.
Source: ESPN
