WWE/TNA News Thread

- As noted before, Gregory Helms was found with a single soma pill in his bag when arrested with Chris Jericho. If Helms didn't have a prescription for the drug like he claimed and even though the police aren't charging him for it, WWE would be forced to suspend him for 60 days on his second Wellness violation. WWE's current policy says that every prescription a wrestler has is supposed to be filed ahead of time with Dr. David Black. All prescriptions are supposed to be written by the company doctors who travel with the WWE crew. Helms has a previous violation against him for his name coming up in the Signature Pharmacy scandal in 2007 and has never failed a WWE drug test.

There has been a lot of talk backstage regarding Helms' future with WWE after the incident. Based on the success of the Royal Rumble pay-per-view which he was pulled from, Helms missed out on a payoff from the show that would have been around $5,000.

It's said that Helms was apologetic to WWE officials for the incident.

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- Hulk Hogan appeared on Rob Van Dam's RVD Radio this week and talked to the former WWE and ECW Champion about coming into TNA. Hogan called up to speak with Van Dam personally but ended up appearing on the radio show.

Hogan told Van Dam that TNA has some serious momentum right now and if they had RVD "ruling the roost", it would make things a lot easier. Van Dam asked Hogan about TNA on Monday nights and Hogan said the move is definitely going to happen sooner than later. Hogan said TNA needs RVD's help.

Van Dam said he is very interested in hearing what Hogan has to say about him coming in. Van Dam told Hogan that now is a better time than ever as his wife is healthy, he is healthy and he's not burnt out. RVD said he was curious about coming into TNA and said that he and Hogan should probably do some more talking off the air.

Hogan said he was on the phone with Jeff Hardy earlier, talking about Van Dam and other things. Hogan said he and Hardy were coming up with crazy ideas that he guaranteed were going to work. Hogan kept saying how much fun everyone is having in TNA. RVD asked Hogan if it was his decision to go back to the four-sided ring and Hogan confirmed it was. Hogan put down the six-sided ring and Van Dam agreed with the decision.

It was really interesting hearing Hogan and Van Dam go back and forth. You can listen to the show at http://blogtalkradio.com/rvdradio. Hogan appears at about the 23 minute part. One more thing from the show that stuck out was that Van Dam said that he and Sabu had been talking about both of them together in TNA. Sabu is a regular guest on RVD's show with Booker T and others.

Van Dam on TNA??? :eek:

- Jim Ross noted on Twitter that he would be at WWE's developmental territory FCW next Wednesday night looking at the talents.

- Beth Phoenix wrote the following on Twitter yesterday regarding the new sitcom with Santino Marella: "just finished shooting the first 3 episodes of Santino's sitcom! The crew laughed til they cried...so proud of everyone! Thank u Santino!"

Santino sitcom?? LMAOOO WTF??

- The format of WWE's NXT program will be something along the lines of the old Tough Enough show with a reality TV feel to it. Viewers will also be able to follow the NXT talents outside of the ring on the show. The idea is that the talents on NXT will be fighting for a spot on the main WWE roster. WWE is still going back and forth on the idea of having veterans on the show.

- The feeling within WWE is that The Undertaker will probably work two, possibly three, matches between Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania. The tentative plan is to get the World Heavyweight title off him before WrestleMania but that could always change.

- The man Bret Hart threw out of the ring at the end of last week's RAW was Luke Hawx, formerly of MTV's WSX and XPW.

- Jon sent word that Maryse's message in French on last night's RAW to Gail Kim read like this: "You smell like garbage, it's terrible, I can smell you from 100 feet away, I pity you, youre a little girl, your a nobody, your a nobody." ROFLLL

- Ron Simmons wrestled his retirement match this past weekend in Georgia, teaming with Air Paris and David Young to lose to the team of Terry Lawler, Alexander the Great and Bobby Hayes. TNA Knockout Christy Hemme accompanied Simmons to the ring. He did his "DAMN!" spot and at a Q&A session after the show, said he would continue to appear at wrestling events but would no longer be wrestling.

- Last night's edition of WWE RAW scored a 3.6 cable rating with 5,342,000 viewers. The show did hours of 3.48 and 3.69. Hour one this week was the #4 rated show on cable last night while hour two of RAW this week was the top rated show.

- Speaking of Behrens, he confirmed in a recent radio interview that Jeff Hardy and Shannon Moore
are headed to TNA and both are expected to do big things in the company.

- Former World Champion Vader will team with his son on April 29th in Japan. Vader's son, Jesse White, will be making his pro wrestling debut that night.

Drew McIntyre vs. Kane for the WWE Intercontinental Title has been added to the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view.

According to their corporate website, WWE is planning on releasing Legendary starring John Cena in September of 2010 and Knucklehead starring Big Show in November of this year.


The official theme song for WWE's NXT is "Wild & Young" by the band American Bang.

- WWE will begin filming a new movie called Killing Karma on April 13th in New Orleans. The movie stars a character named AJ, who gets released from prison and wants to make a new life for himself. However, AJ's best friend accidentally shoots a man and AJ scrambles to protect his friend, his friend's wife & daughter, all while trying to avoid a "vendetta-driven" mobster. No word yet on which WWE Superstar will star in Killing Karma.

- The Miz was getting ribbed on backstage a lot by his co-workers about being picked to mentor Daniel Bryan on NXT. Sources say that after this week's NXT premiere, Vince McMahon felt that they had already made Bryan into a star in one night with the Miz interaction and the main event with Chris Jericho.

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- WWE began filming the movie Big Red in New Orleans this week. It stars actors Ed Harris and Amy Madigan with RAW's Randy Orton. The movie is based in the mid 1960's and focuses on a smart 12-year-old boy whose teacher makes him work with a social outcast on a project and the outcast has an incident with a bully at school. Orton will star as the father of the bully who tries to get Harris fired him his job as teacher. Madigan will play the school's principal.

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- Ric Flair has been seen around Charlotte, North Carolina in the last day or two so he has been released from the hospital after the attack from his wife on Sunday.

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- TNA will be trying to break the Guinness World Record for Largest Gathering of People with Mustaches as they hold the Hulk Hogan Fu-Fest on this Friday from 2-4pm in St. Louis at Mike Shannon's Steak and Seafood restaurant. They will be giving away prizes to fans with Hogan Fu Manchu's including front row tickets to Lockdown.

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- There is talk again within WWE about turning Triple H heel later this year. This was talked about last year but put on hold because of the most recent DX reunion.

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- Paul Bearer noted on Twitter this week that he was doing some work on the new RAW vs. SmackDown 2011 video game that will be released this Fall.

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- Melina is set to return to action some time in late spring after her surgery to repair a torn ACL in December.

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- WWE Intercontinental Champion Drew McIntyre's new nickname backstage in WWE is Avatar, apparently because of the joke that his fiancee, WWE Diva Tiffany controls him.

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- WWE has hired Joe Francosi for the creative team, a former producer for UPW and the man behind ? Foley and Colt Cabana's comedy tour. WWE is looking for him a place to live in New York as he will be starting out on something like a trial basis.

During his interview with the company, Francosi actually suggested the "spoken word" segment that was done by RAW host William Shatner a few weeks back.

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- You probably noticed on last night's WWE NXT that Michael Cole kept burying Daniel Bryan and internet fans. It appears this is all part of a storyline as the following was posted last night on the WWE Universe Twitter page:

"Michael Cole has requested his @WWE Universe profile be removed from our site, not wanting to associate with 'online fans" any longer."

WWE on Twitter are asking for fans feedback and opinions on Cole's announcing and then re-Tweeting what the fans say.

Josh Matthews was playing along with Cole on NXT, even mentioning how Cole was getting tips on announcing sent to him. This was in reference to Jim Ross saying on Twitter this weekend that he e-mailed Cole tips for the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view.

Eric Bischoff has answered another batch of fan questions on his Facebook page. Some highlights:

Are rumors about Hulk Hogan turning heel on March 8th true – "If I told you it wouldn't be any fun to watch would it?"

Orlando Jordan's character being "toned down" at recent tapings and will the character continue – "Lets just say that with a controversial new character development, "less is more"."

If PPV buyrates are up since he and Hogan came in – "I have heard that PPV's are up, but I don't have specifics."

Thoughts on "The Wrestler" and its portrayal of the wrestling business – "I thought the movie was pretty good. It did portray some parts of the business accurately. I did not enjoy the end of the movie however. It was anti-climactic for me."

Whether Hogan turned down the main role in the movie – "Hogan DID turn down the role. It was offered to him by one of my agents at William Morris
Agency when they repped my company."

Thoughts of Tony Schiavone as a PBP guy – "He was decent at one time...but really lost his passion in the early mid-nineties."

Bringing him to TNA – "Don't see it...but never say never!"

Whether Dennis Rodman will show up in TNA – "Nope. My liver couldn't survive it."

Whether Tiger Woods will show up in TNA – "My marriage wouldn't survive!"

Making Vince Russo an on-screen character – "Never say Never!"

What if WCW had purchased WWF instead – "I would have tried to keep it as intact and autonomous as possible in order to maximize the inter-promotional feuds that could have developed."

His routine and preparation for a TV taping – "Week or two of writing with the team, arrive the day before production. Production meeting at noon, agents meeting at 1, a brief lunch and then pre-tapes until around 6 when the taping starts. Finish any pre-tapes that need to be finished and then head back to the hotel for some serious bonding, Get up around 8, and start all over again."

Was Meng as crazy as his on screen character – "He had his moments. For the most part he was (and still is) one of the kindest and gentlest people you would ever want to meet. Unless you were a rude and disrespectful ass, in which case you would wish you were a world class track star."

? Tonk Man suing TNA and Bubba – "HTM is a joke."

Is Jeremy Borash the Most Obnoxious person in wrestling? – "Without a doubt!"

More Obnoxious than ? Tonk Man? – "Jeremy is obnoxious...HTM is a ? bag. I will take obnoxious any day!"

Would he still be in WWE right now if Vince was not an "ass" to him – "Vince wasn't an "ass" to me. I enjoyed working at WWE and am grateful to this day for the opportunity. I really enjoyed my time there. It was just time to move on."

Which 3 people he would sign from WWE – "Answered this on Bubba a few weeks ago: Randy Orton, John Cena and Chris Jericho"

On Invading RAW – "That might be a little hard to do at the moment...but it would be fun!"

Will he be at the TNA houseshow in Hattiesburg in March – "I may try. My schedule is very tight in March, but I would like to start going to some house shows soon!"

Why can't he play a "good guy" boss for once – "Because I really am an evil ? and not a good enough actor to pull off a different character!"

Funniest person and creative person backstage in TNA – "Jay Lethal HANDS DOWN the funniest person Ive ever been around!"

How long will it take for TNA to get the same ratings as WWE – "Not sure. Its going to take a lot of had work and a major commitment in many different levels. Time will tell."

Introducing a TV Title in TNA – "IMO we need to make the belts we have more important before introducing new ones."

Working with old faces and new faces in TNA – "Having a blast working with everyone!"

Taking more shots at WWE – "Only when the moment hits me!!!"

Who was the best wrestler in WCW – "Too hard to say. There were so many great ones who were great in different ways. Sting, Flair, Hogan, certainly had the most long term impact, but early Rey Mysterio, Chris Benoit and Eddie was a highlight for me as a fan. And then there was Avalanche. Ok...just having fun!"

- WWE has updated its talent Wellness policy with a section about concussions. Part of WWE's effort to limit the number of concussions sustained by its Superstars is a ban on chairshots to the head, which actually went into effect back in January. The section on chairshots reads:

*The WWE has eliminated using folding metal chairs to “strike” an opponent in the head.

*The WWE penalizes through fine and/or suspension the following:

-The intentional use of a folding metal chair to “strike” an opponent in the head.

-Any blow to the head that is deemed an INTENTIONAL act.

*The fine and/or suspension will be directed by the EVP of Talent Relations.

WWE spokesperson Robert Zimmerman recently commented to Connecticut’s Hartford Courant newspaper about the chairshot ban:

“In January 2010, WWE amended its Talent Wellness Program, specifically regarding the ImPACT™ Concussion Management Program originally instituted in 2008, eliminating the use of folding chairs or props to “strike” an opponent in the head.”

Does anybody even read this ? ??

- Karen Angle, ex-wife of TNA star Kurt Angle, has announced on her Facebook page that she and Jeff Jarrett are engaged to be married. No details yet about whether the couple has set a date.

Karen Angle made her debut with TNA back in 2007 and was with the company for about a year. Kurt and Karen were divorced in mid-2008. In July 2009, an anonymous TNA employee called into the Bubba The Love Sponge radio show to reveal that Karen and Jeff Jarrett were living together at Jarrett's home in Nashville, TN. TNA President Dixie Carter subsequently sent Jarrett home for several months following that incident.

While this may seem like another crazy twist in the Kurt-Karen-Jeff love triangle, Kurt Angle is said to be on good terms with Karen and Jeff.

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- After last night's RAW, David Otunga came back to the ring while John Cena was still laid out. Otunga said Batista didn't have to wait until Extreme Rules to get his rematch against Cena, he could have it now. Batista goes for a quick pin but ends up tapping out after only a minute in. Cena called Otunga back to the ring, hit him with the Attitude Adjustment and made him tap out.

That's pathetic how they're making Batista look, tapping out to Cena all the time.

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- Below is the official promotional poster for TNA's Sacrifice pay-per-view which takes place in May. This year's Sacrifice takes place on May 16th from the iMPACT Zone in Orlando Florida. This poster with RVD looks like it may be a placeholder poster so another one may be released before the pay-per-view.