News items that dont merit their own thread...thread

[Adam D]

First topic message reminder :

Jim Ross has been signed for GWFs first show - New Japans Wrestle Kingdom 9 on Jan 4th.

That is all

[Crimey]

The Vince McMahon blind rumour was posted by a well-known troll apparently. Been totally debunked.

I am certain that Chris Hero getting fat is part of his gimmick now, it's the main thing he gets publicity for these days and he is showing that he can still wrestle well with a gut.

[Dolphin Ziggler]

What a gimmick and what a great attitude, hes proved them wrong!

[Dolphin Ziggler]

GOLDUSTVerified account
‏@Goldust
Update. Will have shoulder surgery. I am not done with the @WWEUniverse yet. See ya in 2-4 months. Remember, i will #Persevere. Thank you!!!

[Dolphin Ziggler]

Since when was Kevin Nash a part of Magic Mike? I do not understand this. I presume he blew a quad during the dancing?

[Nakatomi Plaza]

First lot of wrestlers signed to Jeff Jarrett's Global Force Wrestling have been announced. They are;

PJ Black (Justin Gabriel)
Davey Boy Smith Jr
Doc Gallows
Karl Anderson

UFC's Chael Sonnen has also been signed as 'Expert Analyst'

[Fernando]

. Also joining GFW are Chris “The Adonis” Mordetsky, former NFL offensive lineman Quinn “Moose” Ojinnaka, and women’s stars Lei’D Tapa and Thea Trinidad, with more names to come. GFW has alliances with 13 promotions on five continents, including New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Mexico’s AAA and more top independent organizations in Europe, Australia and Africa.

[Prometheus]

Its not really big, big names, is it? I thought there'd be a Goldberg in there or someone who is a household name.

[Nakatomi Plaza]

Neither of us mentioned that Lance Hoyt is on the roster as well!

[Fernando]

I suspect the majority of names will come from NJPW/AAA with a mix of indie stars thrown in.

[Samo]

Jericho is doing 19 house shows over the Summer with WWE, starting June 12th.

[Prometheus]

I suspect the majority of names will come from NJPW/AAA with a mix of indie stars thrown in.

I took it that Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson were the NJPW names.  And they are names, but ones that NJPW would not miss too much if they got injured.  

I mean there's nothing wrong with their roster, its a good indy line up.  But its also not going to send too many quakes through the world globe of wrestling I shouldn't think.

EDIT: sorry I'd missed Davey Boy Smith and Lance Hoyt. Maybe I need to sit down and read the full news before commenting further. It would have helped if GFW had made any attempt at announcing this in a digestible fashion.

[Fernando]

Well have a Press Release

GFW begins roster reveal; Chael Sonnen will have role as an analyst

For Immediate Release
May 6, 2015

LAS VEGAS – Global Force Wrestling revealed some of its talent roster in a press conference today at the Orleans Arena. The roster includes talented international athletes, former NFL players, mixed martial artists and more.

“We have slowly but steadily been building toward this day,” said Jeff Jarrett, GFW founder and CEO. “The feedback I have received in my international travels has been off the charts. Fans are ready for the reveal of the entire GFW roster and they’re eager for their voices to be heard!”

Staying true to the GFW mission statement, the roster offers “elite professional athletes from five different continents,” as well as “real stories, real people and real meaning.” Fans will be able to see stars like the “Bullet Club” tag team of “Machine Gun” Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows; the “Killer Elite Squad,” a tag team composed of Lance Hoyt and Davey Boy Smith Jr., who have made a name for themselves in Japan as well as stints throughout the world. Also joining GFW are Chris “The Adonis” Mordetsky, South African sensation PJ Black, former NFL offensive lineman Quinn “Moose” Ojinnaka, and women’s stars Lei’D Tapa and Thea Trinidad, with more names to come. GFW has alliances with 13 promotions on five continents, including New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Mexico’s AAA and more top independent organizations in Europe, Australia and Africa.

Also at the press conference, outspoken MMA star and ESPN broadcaster Chael Sonnen announced his role as an expert analyst for Global Force Wrestling.

“Chael Sonnen is someone we’ve talked about for a long time,” said Jarrett. “He’s not one to shy from speaking his mind, and we’re all eager to see what he has to say about the GFW athletes.”

The GFW Las Vegas TV tapings will take place on Friday, July 24; Friday, August 21; and Friday, October 23. Tickets for all three events will go on sale on Friday, May 15 at noon, with an exclusive pre-sale beginning on Monday, May 11 at noon. Tickets are available starting at $30 and can be purchased online at www.orleansarena.com, by phone at 702-284-7777 or in-person at Boyd Gaming box offices. VIP tickets will include a Meet & Greet with GFW talent. Join the conversation online with the hashtag #GFWVegas.

About Orleans Arena
The Orleans Arena, a Boyd Gaming facility located just west of the Las Vegas Strip, is one of the nation’s leading multi-purpose sports and entertainment facilities and the 2014 recipient of the Venue Excellence Award from the International Association of Venue Managers. Orleans Arena hosts more than 200 events each year, including nationally touring concerts, NCAA basketball conference tournaments, family shows, motorsports and other unique events. For more information, call 702-365-7469 or visit www.OrleansArena.com. Stay connected to the Orleans Arena on Facebook (www.facebook.com/orleansarena) and on Twitter (@orleansarena). Additional news and information on Boyd Gaming can be found at www.boydgaming.com. Boyd Gaming and Orleans Arena press releases are available at boydgaming.mediaroom.com.

About Global Force Wrestling
Global Force Wrestling is a privately owned professional wrestling and entertainment company based in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 2014, Global Force Wrestling is changing the wrestling and entertainment industry with an innovative and groundbreaking approach to fan interactivity, storytelling and overall entertainment to engage audiences across television, digital and social media platforms.

[Dolphin Ziggler]

I'd respect them a lot more if they went full on with some European names, especially British ones.

[Adam D]

Good old Dave Meltzer has another exclusive:

TNA talents have been told that the planned tour for China at the end of this month won't be happening. Talents were unhappy because the tour was going to make them a significant amount of money and now they have to scramble to find work for those 10 days.

The tour being nixed was seen as another loss of faith within the company. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter notes that some talents have talked privately about how they believe the company is all but dead after getting the word about the tour. While the tour was not officially announced by TNA yet, talents were told it was happening until just a few days back.

Many TNA talents have sent feelers out to other promotions and ones that contacted WWE were reportedly told that WWE is not interested in anyone from TNA, even if they were willing to go through a tryout camp first.

I am sure he has a "TNA bad news generator" app that he uses every month!

[Prometheus]

I think the last sentence is the most interesting. Maybe Dave has been chatting to Kurt Angle again

[Kay Fabe]

Jericho is doing 19 house shows over the Summer with WWE, starting June 12th.

Hold me back

[Dr Gregory House MD]

Best of the super juniors line up announced

Block A- El Barbaro Cavernario, Baretta (aka Trent), Chase Owens, Gedo, Jushin Lyger, Kyle O'Rielly, Ryusuke Taguci, Yohei Komatsu

Block B- Alex Shelly, Bobby Fish, Dave Finlay Jr, Kushida, Mascara Dorada, Nick Jackson,  Rocky Romero, Tiger Mask IV

Winner will challenge Kenny Omega for the IWGP Junior title at the stacked 5/7 Dominion show

Could live without Owens or Taguchi in the A block but everything else looks sensational

Caveranrio vs O'Rielly  

[Prometheus]

Best of the super juniors line up announced

Block A- El Barbaro Cavernario, Baretta (aka Trent), Chase Owens, Gedo, Jushin Lyger, Kyle O'Rielly, Ryusuke Taguci, Yohei Komatsu

Block B- Alex Shelly, Bobby Fish, Dave Finlay Jr, Kushida, Mascara Dorada, Nick Jackson,  Rocky Romero, Tiger Mask IV

Winner will challenge Kenny Omega for the IWGP Junior title at the stacked 5/7 Dominion show

Could live without Owens or Taguchi in the A block but everything else looks sensational

Caveranrio vs O'Rielly  

Do you know how njpwworld is going to cover this? There are 2 shows (I think) scheduled for 22 and 30 May.

[Dr Gregory House MD]

I don't think they'll show everything, but I think well also get the Kouraken show on the 5/6 and the finals, I here shows on the 21st/23rd are also being taped forthe Japanese TV so they may surface, doubt we'll get it all but I hope it would be more than just the 2 shows, everything for the tournament used to surface online in the pre world days so that's the fall back if so

Since I've got your attention P have you seen LU this week? Where do Mundo and Alberto get off having a match that good?

[Prometheus]

No, I've not seen it yet. I'm actually watching the clock tick down so I can get home and watch it. All I've been seeing today is reviews singing the praises of this.

Mundo we should not be surprised by, right at the start of LU that match against Puma set the stall out. Alberto. Well, I think it just shows how far he was run down being at WWE. I've loved everything he's done at LU so far, since his 'you know who I am wink', through to the first mic work he did that got a major pop and now this. It just feels like he's found a home he's really happy at. Not really a Hernandez fan so be interesting to see what match they can pull out next week.

I find it hard to keep the timeline of LU tapings and the real world in line as they seem so far advanced, when does Alberto get injured?

[Dr Gregory House MD]

I don't dislike Mundo or AEP (miss just being able to type ADR felt so much more natural) as workers but this match was just so much better than I was expecting, easily in my top 15 MOTY so far and no1 for LU

Didn't know he was injured, that's a shame

I'm not a huge Hernandez guy either, he worked well as the big man in a tag with a workhorse, particularly Homicide in the LAX days but as a singles guy I've never been sold, especially for a guy who's a 10+ year vet at this stage

[Prometheus]

He tore a quad at the beginning of March, so I don't know if that is to come or already gone in LU tapings.

In other news, the Mountie's son Cedric Rougeau apparently has a try out for WWE. I've no idea what he wrestles like, but he has a look.

[Prometheus]

Itami out for 6-8 months. Just as I'd really got into him

[Samo]

That sucks for him, it seems the WWE were starting to warm to him aswell. I'd already picked Breeze to win the Triple Threat but I could have seen Itami winning it just as easily.

I dont want to say it but this could seriously hinder him. It took him this time to finally get adapted to the style, 6-8 months could be too long away and he'd have to start from scratch again.

[RinoGattuso]

Zayn expected to be out for 6 months aswell, that's might be why Uhaa Nation has been called up quickly.

[Dolphin Ziggler]

Zayn and Itami in one shot. I'd almost say don't bother bringing Zayn back at all now. They got him over on Raw, properly over. Bring him in there when he's fit and save Owens and him for the real world.

[RinoGattuso]

And Riley

[Prometheus]

Yeah, Riley out for surgery. Itami and Zayn longterm sidelined. Even Owens is just back from surgery. Guess we'll have to start looking forward to Balor and Breeze every week And a Corbin title run

Seriously, does sound like an opportunity for Uhaa Nation, Samoa Joe and I could see guys like Adam Rose / Leo Kruger and Titus O'Neill coming back to NXT.

[Prometheus]

Booker T, Billy Gunn and Lita to work as trainers on Tough Enough. Hogan, Jericho, Bryan and Paige to work as judges.

I can't work out if that makes me more or less interested in the show.

[Dolphin Ziggler]

I'll give it a go, probably not with any regularity but I won't dismiss it

[Crimey]

Dave Meltzer of the Wreslting Observer Newsletter claims that the cable network Destination America reportedly regrets signing a multi-year, multi-million dollar deal with TNA Wrestling to produce and broadcast their programming. While Destination America initially reported that they were pleased with TNA’s viewership numbers when their partnership began, Meltzer claims that behind-the-scenes, many working for the network wish they had never signed on the dotted line.
The company has already scrapped Mike Tenay’s show, which he had been contractual obligated for a year to TNA for, and it seems like they aren’t trying to make “IMPACT WRESTLING” a success on their channel. Meltzer writes,
“The latest move by Destination America is to completely cancel the Unlocked show, which is the show with the Mike Tenay text messages and interviews. They had been giving it a new time slot every other week, which is usually something that leads to death. To say the honeymoon between regarding Destination America and TNA is over is an understatement.
It’s is not a secret within the Destination America company that they are regretting making the deal, which is why all the shoulder programs that were supposed to be part of the deal are now gone. I’m not sure the reasons, as the ratings are way above the network average, but when you watch the show, the ads don’t look impressive and it was a multi-million dollar commitment. .
It will be interesting what happens next to Tenay. He signed a one-year contract at the start of the year with the idea of building the Unlocked show around him, with the text messages throughout the show with trivia notes, and the long form interview, which brought out parts of personalities and backgrounds never touched upon.
Now the show is gone. When Taz left, the decision to go with Al Snow instead of Tenay as the co-announcer, which was not a surprise since Snow was the one in studio working with Matthews on the tryout, makes one wonder what’s going on with Tenay.
Since taking Tenay off Impact was one of John Gaburick’s first moves in the move to Destination America, I guess they felt they couldn’t put him back and instead are going with Snow as a project. If it wasn’t Tenay, Jeremy Borash would have been a better bet as when he did do the show in the past, he was very good. It’s too early to get a read on Snow.
Samoa Joe leaving had to do with a lot of factors, one of which was that he would suggest ideas and they weren’t listened to and there was just a feeling it was becoming a dead end street, and there were also issues with Gaburick.”
Meltzer also claims that some TNA superstars are unhappy working for the company, even going as far as saying that TNA is “all but dead.” Many have started putting feelers out to other wrestling promotions, such as Global Force Wrestling, Ring of Honor, and WWE to see if they’d be interested in hiring them.

I know some will dismiss this as Meltzer hating TNA, but bad press is bad press and even if a slither of this is true, it's not good for TNA.

[Prometheus]

If we take the main story in this as legit, that DA execs regret signing a multi-year, multi-million dollar deal, then that mostly makes DA look stupid to me.

Spike didn't want TNA, it was obviously a buyers market, so why sign a multi-year deal. Why not have that deal full of performance related pay and termination clauses?

Then, what better would DA achieve? I don't think RoH was available, LU is costing 20M a season for negligible English language viewers. So, what wrestling shows were out there and what bang for their buck did they expect? Especially in a time when Raw is losing viewers at an alarming rate.

And my final question, why say this? DA has invested in this show, its just got going and they are dissing it, how does that help anything other than a show failure?

I'm not saying this isn't true, but I do wonder what motivation the person who's saying this has. And that's my problem with so much of Meltzer's stuff. It's all so Watergate Deep Throat, very little double sourcing, no attributable quotes, no names. This could come from the CEO of the company or the cleaner, who knows.

[Prometheus]

Being going on for a couple of days, but I only noticed today. Lana tweeting as theRavishingCJ now.

[Crimey]

Being going on for a couple of days, but I only noticed today.  Lana tweeting as theRavishingCJ now.

Is she? Just had a look, think that's just a fan account.

[Prometheus]

Ah, my bad then sorry. Thought it was her having a new face account.

[Adam D]

JTG has a new book out ($1.33 apparently!). He wanted to do a Muppet gimmick which was okayed by Vince (I believe Jim Henson nixed it though!):

JTG On Nixed Muppets-inspired Gimmick

"I thought I was a rich man. I'll tell you how rich I thought I was. When Vince [McMahon] approved the gimmick, when he told me that he loved it, I took my wife out to Mr. Chow when I got home because I just saw money," JTG said.

"It was my idea, the idea stemmed from this character I used to do in promo class. WWE Superstars, before Raw, some Superstars were called in early to the show—like maybe an hour early—and we would have hands-on classes with Vince McMahon and we did promo classes where it was kind of like improv and working on promos."

"He would give us an exercise where he would say 'say anything and you have to cut a promo on it.'"

"I can't remember what word he gave me, but there was a few times where I started talking to myself and it was highly entertaining, and I created a new character with a double personality. His name was Self."

"The idea was for the muppet to look exactly like me," JTG said. "The premise behind the whole Self-Muppet idea was for it to be seen and heard by the WWE Universe, but not seen by anybody backstage. For example, if me and you were talking backstage, Self would be insulting you but you couldn't hear him. Only me and the WWE Universe, he was kind of like my conscience."

[nadeem2099]

^^
That wouldn't have worked, surely?

[liverbnz]

Sounds awful.

[RinoGattuso]

Similar to Lil' Jimmy then.

[XR]

Similar to Lil' Jimmy then.

And Al Snow's "Head".

Not very original as he's playing it up to be.

[Fernando]

More additions to the GFW roster including Cliff Compton,Tyrus & The Young Bucks

[Prometheus]

In fairness they are getting a good tag division together. I'm still not seeing why I'd be more excited by this than RoH or another indy set-up, but still.

[Adam D]

WWE has announced the Elimination Chamber for Sunday, May 31st from Corpus Christi, Texas. The event will air exclusively on the WWE Network.

WWE's website has confirmed that the WWE Tag Team Titles and the newly vacant WWE Intercontinental Title will be decided inside the Chamber.

[Prometheus]

WWE has announced the Elimination Chamber for Sunday, May 31st from Corpus Christi, Texas. The event will air exclusively on the WWE Network.

WWE's website has confirmed that the WWE Tag Team Titles and the newly vacant WWE Intercontinental Title will be decided inside the Chamber.

It feels like this WWE mid-card is having to work very hard. I'm assuming that give or take a Daniel Bryan and a Neville, the entrants for the Elimination Chamber are going to be pretty much the same guys who were in the Mania IC ladder match and the KotR tourney. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but there are only so many times you can have Barrett, Sheamus, Ziggler interacting before it just feels like the same thing again and again, unless there is a creative way to take forward those interactions. At this rate, by the end of the year we could have had half a dozen different events, with half a dozen different winners and then you start to question whether it matters at all.

After so long of completely ballsing up the tag-division however, it does appear that someone has realised this division not only exists but is actually starting to look good. Rowan & Harper back together with an Ascension that is not a joke suddenly means there are a number of options of tag matches at different levels and this could be quite interesting.

I'm not sure if WWE quite "got it" with the KotR tournament. I thought that for your Network subscribing fans the matches were a bit short and the build up was really poor. But hopefully that toe in the water has given WWE learning experience and ways to improve this event, as this is exactly what the Network should be used for.

[Marky]

How would a tag title Elimination Chamber work? 3 teams, 6 participants? Or 6 teams, 12 participants? Would be cosy for a tag team to be in a chamber together!

IC Title I'd expect to be Ziggler, Sheamus, Barrett, Neville, two others who will lose. Not massively eye catching but they're the four who would compete.

[Fernando]

WWE's website has also confirmed that the United States Title and the WWE World Heavyweight Title will be defended at Elimination Chamber but not inside the structure.

[Samo]

Actually think making an IC title Chamber Match is a brilliant idea. Have 6 guys willing to go through absolute hell for it is a great way to make the title mean something, but they really need to get good booking behind it.

Think the tag match will be 3 teams of two. 12 participants would just be a hot mess.

Network exclusive PPV's is an idea I could get behind but they would need to dump 1 or 2 other PPV's throughout the year, but I dont think they can do that contractually.

[Nay]

How would a tag title Elimination Chamber work? 3 teams, 6 participants? Or 6 teams, 12 participants? Would be cosy for a tag team to be in a chamber together!

IC Title I'd expect to be Ziggler, Sheamus, Barrett, Neville, two others who will lose. Not massively eye catching but they're the four who would compete.

They stole the tag team chamber match from my WWA a few years ago.

[Prometheus]

I'm actually finding this Lucha World Cup to be potentially quite interesting. Here are the teams:

Dream Team: Rey Mysterio, Alberto El Patron & Myzteziz
Team Mexico: Hijo del Fantasma, El Texano Jr & Psycho Clown
Team MexLeyendas: Blue Demon Jr, Dr Wagner & Solar I
Team RoW: Drew Galloway, Angelico & El Mesias
Team TNA / LU: Matt Hardy, Mr Anderson & Johnny Mundo
Team RoH / LU: Moose, ACH & Brian Cage
Team NOAH: Ishimori, Takayama & Kotoge
Team AJPW: Suzuki, Tiger Mask III & Masamune

[Samo]

Sanada has parted ways with TNA.

[Sponsored content]