Today's News

Batista:

A second source have confirmed WWE had planned to have Batista win the Royal Rumble and go on to face Randy Orton at WrestleMania 30 for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, this time PW Insider's sources have shared the story. WWE are also looking at Batista vs Undertaker which would be a rematch from WrestleMania 23.

WWE have confirmed Batista's WWE return, with this video package, he will be back on January 20 2014...

He and Triple H have been working on this for several months and Batista will stay through and for a while after WrestleMania 30.

Batista tweeted about his upcoming return...

"I can't wait to get to the Cheesefest in Hoakietown and punch somebody right In the f'n face! Playtime's over children."

And in a move likely to annoy a performer who has openly criticized WWE for it's PG attitude, the promotion edited the swear out, before sharing it on it's own feed, which was shown on screen during Raw.

Vince McMahon is furious with the leak of this story, WWE sources say it was a good thing he was out of the country when he was told of the leak because it sounded like he was going to kill someone. The source also confirmed that the original plan was for Batista to return as a surprise entrant into the Royal Rumble match and how the leak happened...

WWE send out advertising material to arena's months in advance of shows to promote upcoming events, including a batch for events in the new year featuring Batista, a letter had been drawn up with the strict proviso that the posters with Batista could not be used until after his Rumble return, however someone forgot to put the letter into the package with the posters so the arena's did not know about the secrecy and posted the material on their websites and billboards when they received it, the internet caught wind of the story and the angle was ruined... Woops!.

Jeff Jarrett:

TNA stars past and present have paid tribute to Jeff Jarrett in the wake of his departure from the company...

Samoa Joe...

"@JeffJarrettTNA my best to you and yours Jeff see you down the road."

Angelina Love...

"@JeffJarrettTNA made something amazing & gave so many of us a platform to share our talents with the world. And it was FUN!! ThankYouJeff"

Velvet Sky: "IMHO @JeffJarrettTNA deserves more credit than ever. He started up tna & gave all of us a place 2 do what we love. Forever thankful to Jeff."

Eric Young...

"Thanks to @JeffJarrettTNA for everything wouldn't be where I am without him. @JeffJarrettTNA is one of the smartest men I have ever been around. Above all else he is a amazing man father and husband. Huge loss for TNA"

Matt Morgan...

"Sad news @JeffJarrettTNA resigning from @IMPACTWRESTLING. Thank u Jeff for giving me a real opportunity&always believing in me!"

Zema Ion...

"Just joining the many wrestlers giving thanks to @JeffJarrettTNA today. He's the man. Thank you for everything double J! ThankyouJeff"

TNA have also released the following statement...

"TNA Entertainment, LLC announced today that it has accepted Mr. Jeff Jarrett's resignation from the company effective January 6th, 2014. Dixie Carter, President, commented 'On behalf of TNA, we would like to thank Jeff for his contributions to the Company. We wish him the very best and look forward to his continued participation as an investor in TNA Wrestling.''

Jarrett's resignation apparently came out of the blue, with no known issues or reason for him to make the move, he was working as an agent and was back in the creative department and was by all accounts enjoying being back in the fold, so this initially made some TNA staffer's think the resignation was the start of an angle, which would lead to his on screen return in the new year, it increasingly looks like that is not the case.

Double J himself made an interesting tweet about his future, with a possible hint to his plans...

"I had to pick myself up and get on with it, do it all over again, only even better this time."

JR to TNA?:

Jim Ross has opened the door to an approach from TNA, adding he would rather do something new, but would listen to offers, should they come in...

''I'd have to listen to the opportunities that Viacom presented. I have great respect and admiration, and a friendship, with Mike Tenay and Taz. I like the guys, they're friend of mine. I wouldn't want to be the guy that comes into TNA and upsets their chemistry or their team. But if me or my people were approached on a package deal or something from Viacom itself, I certainly would be remiss to not listen. But to engage TNA directly - or even Bellator, because I don't know anyone at Bellator, I don't know much about their company - I wouldn't close the door. I would say that if that came about, the MMA component would interest me more than the wrestling component today. And I gave you the reason why - I wouldn't want to be the guy that had anything to do with upsetting the status of Taz or Mike Tenay, because I like them, I know they're loyal to their brand.''

He also discussed possibly going to UFC, but said he had not had any ''Official'' discussions about joining the promotion.

Big Show:

Do you want to see Big Show wearing nothing but a top hat and a nappy (Diaper)... Of course you Do 

This weird vignette is to promote the new years episode of Raw, which will air live next Monday...

Colt Cabana talks his WWE status:

"I'm just riding the wave of fun right now. The WWE has been weirdly talking with me for over a year now. I can't rely on them though. I do my own thing until stuff gets concrete. Right now, I can't worry if I'll be doing announcing or anything else. I know I want to concentrate on continuing to wrestle around the world and growing my comedy stuff. All I can say about the future is that I'm going to be having fun with wrestling. That's a guarantee."

Foley snubbed:

Mick Foley has revealed he begged to be on Raw this week, but was not invited by WWE. He however says the story had a happy ending, Mark Henry, who played Santa instead of the Hall Of Famer donated his Santa suit to Foley, who passed it on to a man who could not portray Santa this year because he had outgrown his suit...

"Sure, I would have like to be on RAWChristmas - but it's not my show, and not my call. So, I'm going to look at the glass of milk half-full and share a nice behind the scenes story. A couple months ago, I heard from a longtime Santa -a large man who had fallen on tough times, and had been unable to play the Santa role he loved, because he no longer owned a suit for his large frame. Following the Santa match on RAW, Mark Henry gave me his Santa suit, and I had it in a box bound for Kentucky the next day. The Kentucky Santa sent me a photo a couple days later - the suit fit perfectly  And to all a good night."

Raw:

JBL and Michael Cole re did the commentary for Raw this week at WWE HQ.

Goldberg:

Is training 6-8 times a week to be in great shape should he accept WWE's WrestleMania 30 offer.

Legend hospitalised:

Bobby Eaton will spend Christmas in hospital. He is suffering from problems with his legs as a result of diabetes. This is a separate health problem than the one he suffered earlier in the year where heart problems led to him having a pacemaker fitted.

WWE featured in documentary:

Triple H and Bruno Sammartino will represent WWE in a programme about the reconstruction of Madison Square Garden. The two men visited the site in September.

Heath Slater:

WWE have given Heath Slater time off to deal with some personal issues he is facing. No word on the time frame for a return at this stage.

Legends working with Ziggler:

Dolph Ziggler is receiving advice from Hall Of Famers Arn Anderson and Pat Patterson on turning around his flagging WWE fortunes...

"Absolutely Arn. He's taken a liking to me because of my work ethic. I'm the guy who doesn't necessarily win all the time, always out there giving a great match, [and] making someone else look better. He crushed for so many years like that, so I feel like he relates to me sometimes. He pulls me aside and gives me a lot of pointers. Pat Paterson is another one. Guys who are so good and so smart with the business, loving the business, and [when] they see someone else loving it, they try to pass on their wisdom."

WWE step up:

An 8 year old wheelchair bound boy could not get into a WWE event due to a botch by the ticket company, who placed him in an area without wheelchair access. So WWE worked with the arena to give the boy and his family VIP executive tickets so he could get to an area his wheelchair would have access to. He will attend a show in New York on December 28.

Magnus:

Samoa Joe will be the first challenger for Magnus' TNA title at this Friday's TNA live show.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...

Who should Batista face at WrestleMania 30???