During the second segment of yesterday's TMZ TV they had an interview with former WCW Champion Bill Goldberg that goes a little something like this:
TMZ: "You ever going to get back in the ring again?"
Goldberg: "Indies I would do in a heartbeat, but I wouldn't work for Vince McMahon if he was the last motherf----r on earth".
They then transition into a shot of Harvey Levin (the show's host) asking what Vince did to piss off big Bill. No real answer is given by the staff except to add "a lot of people seem pissed at Vince I wonder why that is?". For the rest of the segment they basically mock Goldberg by saying "don't they usually have names like Hulk or the Rock? Goldberg sounds like Feinstein....doesn't it seem like a weird name?" One of the other "reporters" on the show informs Harvey he "doesn't wrestle with a yamika on or anything so it's not that weird and I bet you wouldn't say that to his face.
World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk and WWE Divas Maria and Layla will be appearing at tonight’s Florida Championship Wrestling Super Show, “Summer Heat.” The WWE stars will be taking part in an autograph session from 7 to 8pm. WWE SmackDown Superstar John Morrison will be signing autographs at Hudson Nissan in Charleston, S.C. this Saturday, July 18th from 3 to 5pm.
Booker T was a guest on this week's Monday Night Mayhem radio show. The TNA star talked about the Main Event Mafia, his time in WCW, WWE and more. When asked about the prospect of Taz and Ken Anderson (Mr. Kennedy) coming to TNA, he said: "The addition to TNA will be great for those guys who make an appearance here. I really don't know the status of either of those guys are, but I would welcome Kennedy, Anderson...whatever he calls himself. I would welcome Taz to TNA. TNA is a growing company, the new thing on the block. A lot of time people want to check out the new flavor and see what this new thing is all about."
PWInsider reports that WWE hopes to make SummerSlam a bigger annual event with a WrestleMania-like feel to it. WWE is holding a Fan Axxess event for the show this year, and plans to continue hosting the PPV in major cities in hopes that the idea of SummerSlam being WWE's 2nd biggest show will catch on.
One problem with the plan this year is that there's only 30 days between the upcoming Night Of Champions PPV and the SummerSlam PPV. Several people within the company feel that 30 days isn't enough time to hype up an event that's supposed to be second only to WrestleMania.
There are talks within WWE about possibly eliminating one of their annual PPVs in favor of having more time to promote the others, and also jacking up the SummerSlam PPV price tag to match WrestleMania's.
The Chicago Tribune has a long article up today about Hulk Hogan with some words from The Hulkster himself. The article focused on yesterday’s Hulk Hogan Appreciation Day, which was attended by about 400 people paying $99 each. Here are some quotes:
When asked about when he would be coming back to wrestle: “About every third person was saying, ‘When are you going to get in the ring again?’ They don’t realize that, even though I look the same way I looked 30 years ago—kind of—my body is pretty beat up. It’s kind of hard to explain to them. The hip replacements, the back surgeries, the elbow surgeries, the shoulder surgeries…I never like to say never, but right now I’m on the rebuild and rewind process."
About the signing itself being challenging for him: “I tried getting through it without letting everyone know I was having a hard time. I’d never had a chair there at an autograph signing before. Now I have a chair in my bathroom so I can brush my teeth. When I shave, I shave half my face, lay on the floor for 10 minutes and then shave the other half of my face. I had a hard time walking through the Chicago airport today. I stopped one time to sit down and acted like I was doing something. I walked farther and then went into the men’s room. I leaned on the sink to crack my back and pretended I was looking at my face."
About returning to the ring: “It seems to get farther and farther in reach. I just don’t want to exclude it from my thought process. It’s like the one place that, when I’m in there, I’m totally free.”
On the pythons: “They used to be 24 inches when I was 27 years old,” he says. “Now, last time I taped them, they were about 20 inches. That was a couple years ago. I haven’t taped them since. I’m afraid too.”
Comparing himself to Steve Austin and The Rock: "It's kind of interesting now to have about 30 years of this wrestling history under my belt and kind of look back and see the Rocks and the Stone Colds pass through for a couple of years. I put so much time in and so many people were like 40 or 50 years old, and now are 70 and 80 years old. There's a whole group of kids that know me from 'Hogan Knows Best' 'Brooke Knows Best.' There's such a wide range of ages that know me. It's really neat that these people have been watching me for years, and the new people are so loyal."
On his new book: "We began working on this seven or eight months ago. It's about my life outside the ring," he said of the tome with the working title "My Life Outside the Ring." With all the doom and gloom, and the sky is falling, I wanted to tell my story. I've had some crazy things happening to me."
Superstar Billy Graham is selling his Hall of Fame ring on E-bay at
http://cgi.ebay.com/WWE-Hall-of-Fam...2|66:2|39:1|72:1205|293:1|294:50#ht_992wt_958
Current bid is around 8,500
Wow.
I can not believe that actually happened. I have been watching wrestling all my life, so guest hosting WWE Raw was a dream come true. But I never thought I'd actually be center ring with the biggest superstars of today!
Thank you so much to all of the people that cheered me on- I won't lie, it was scary getting in the ring with Randy Orton and The Legacy. I felt pretty safe with Triple H and John Cena on my side, but when it was just me and Randy in there...let's say I'm glad a kick to the gut was the worst I got.
That was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I used to practice my 'superstar moves' on my sofa as a kid, and last night I got to do it for real. Unbelievable.
Thanks to everyone that came out and tuned in- I hope to see you at the Robot Chicken Skate Party when we come to your town!
"I've had some big matches over the last few years, but there was always some kind of security blanket for me - thumb tacks, barbed wire, camera man I could drop kick, etc. This time it's just me and one of the greatest wrestlers of all time; no gimmicks, no tricks. Kurt still wrestles each match as if Olympic gold is on the line, which leads to some really high standards. Hopefully, I can live up to those standards.
"Expect to see a few things you haven't seen from me in a while - like in more than ten years. Every once in a while, I need to go back into the Foley vault, especially from my independent days in '94 and '95, and remind myself that I can do more than throw the forearms in the corner and pull the sock out of my shorts. Not that I won't do them both on Sunday, but I plan on making my offensive game a little more balanced.
Cornette on Shawn Michaels: Great performer, lousy human being," Cornette said. "I heard he was born again. I really wasn't a fan of him being born the first time."
Cornette on Vince McMahon: "Life is too short to have anybody named McMahon in mine."
Ric Flair is scheduled to be appearing at the Fans Edge Sports Spectacular this Saturday. Flair will be signing autographs for the fans. The event will take place in Rosemont, IL.
Former WWE Diva Trish Stratus is scheduled to be appearing on Jason Agnew's talk show "The Surf" this Thursday night at 10pm on BITE Television. The former diva will be receiving calls from viewers.
Here are the latest WWE PPV buyrates. The numbers are down from both 2007 and 2008, which is why WWE has been working so hard to "fix" their PPV business through rebranding:
* WrestleMania – 970,000
* Backlash – 185,000
* Judgment Day – 235,000
There is a good chance that this week's WWE Raw rating will be hurt by the Home Run Derby. In the past, Raw usually suffers when it goes up against the Home Run Derby.
Nick Dinsmore, previously known as Eugene in WWE, has signed a contract with WWE. Dinsmore was contracted to WWE in 2004 and was released on September 1, 2007. WWE want Dinsmore to help groom young talent. He'll likely make appearances here and there as well but nothing full-time right now. I'd assume they'll have him backstage in an agent/producer role on ECW/SmackDown!.
WWE sent out the following press release, regarding their 2nd quarter conference call… World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. to Report 2009 Second Quarter Results STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:WWE - News) announced that it will report its 2009 second quarter results on August 6, 2009, before the opening of the market. The Company's chairman, Vincent K. McMahon, and senior management will host a conference call beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET to discuss the results. All interested parties are welcome to listen to a live web cast that will be hosted through the Company's web site at corporate.wwe.com. Participants can also access the conference call by dialing 800-862-9098 (conference ID: WWE). Please reserve a line 15 minutes prior to the start time of the conference call. The earnings release and presentation to be referenced during the call will be found at corporate.wwe.com. A replay of the call will be available approximately two hours after the conference call concludes, and can be accessed on the Company's web site. Additional information on World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWE - News) can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com. For information on our global activities, please go to www.wwe.com/worldwide. If you have additional questions, please contact WWE Investor Relations via e-mail at [email protected].
Ending the news, here is a segment, according to the book of Bobby Heenan, that was destroyed by management at WCW, and as Heenan said, the only way footage would be available is if a fan recorded the show at home. Well, a fan did record the show, and it is still in existence