Really Rudeboy:
More has emerged on the WWE PC students arrest from yesterday. He had posted 9 indecent images of persons under the age of 16 to his Google + account in 2014, a single image of similar content to his Tumblr last year and was recently found to have 10 images of children involved in sexual activity on his I-Phone. This latest report led to police looking into his actions further. They raided his family home, that he still shares with his parents, and seized the family computer, where they made more disturbing finds. Police investigations continue.
Goldberg:
Goldberg took a helicopter flight over the set of WrestleMania today.
Impact:
LAX officially won the recently vacated Impact Tag gold last night.
Mania changes:
After a fan backlash WWE have seemingly returned the blue Women's title match to the full card. They have removed the words ''Kick off'' from the match promo on their site, and Beckly Lynch thanked fans for their support.
They are also planning to swap the running order for the event, with 'Taker vs Roman going on last. This may worry fans, as it could be a sign that Undertaker will be wrestling for the last time, and they are giving him a big send off.
Ric Flair:
WWE have unveiled a statue of Ric Flair.
Injuries:
Nikki Bella has sprained her neck, close to the site of her surgery. She has however been cleared to compete on Sunday.
NJPW star Tomoaki Honma has had surgery on his spinal injury from the beginning of this month and has now regained control of movement in his legs.
WWE HOF:
Another group of WWE legends will be enshrined into the WWE Hall Of Fame at the ceremony tonight, which is 24 hours earlier than usual because of the NXT special.
BrokenMania:
Jeff Hardy says WWE have not offered them contracts and they will not be back in a WWE ring ''Any time soon.''
Top star announces retirement:
Despite his last big match falling through Big Show has confirmed that this weekend will be his last WrestleMania appearance as a competitor.
NXT-Mania:
Sanity vs Tye Dillinger, Roderick Strong, No Way Jose and Ruby Riot has been added to the card.
WWE student arrested:
A recent trialist at the WWE PC has been arrested. James 'Rudeboy' Riley, 25, was arrested in Staten Island for distributing images of children performing and engaging in sexual acts via his Google + and Tumblr pages. When police seized his phone and home computer they found thousands more images and videos, including footage of infants and babies. His promotion have dropped him from their next shows, and his family have refused to comment on the situation. He was working at the PC as recently as last month. He has posted a bond of $3,500 and has now been released by the New York cops as their investigations continue.
Real feud led to Mauro's misery:
A real world fall out between JBL and Mauro Ranallo is being blamed, by Mauro's friends, for his recent fall into depression. JBL had ranted on Mauro winning an award for best announcer last year, when he did not place in the top 10, on the WWE Network, to which Mauro replied on Twitter...
"Jealousy is one hell of a drug."
This only escalated the tensions between the two men, and things are said to have gotten pretty bad, before Mauro went MIA three weeks ago. JBL blasted him on Twitter for missing the first show, before the real reason for his absence was known. He did then remove his tweet attacking him, but has come in for strong criticism from social media users for picking on a sick man. Bradshaw has not responded to any of it, but Ranallo's friend's, including MMA great Bas Rutten are less than impressed with him, going so far as to call him out for his treatment of the Canadian.
Orton talks 'Taker:
Randy Orton says Undertaker should main event Mania this weekend, and should not lose. He added that he was not happy with the Mania 30 result...
"I think 'Taker and 'Mania go hand in hand. It's unfortunate that he picked up a loss a few years back, I think that was wrong and I think everyone would agree with me for the most part with the exception of maybe Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar. I don't believe that that loss tarnished his career, I just hate that his streak was tarnished."
Injury:
Noam Dar was hurt on Raw this week.
Fan incidents:
WWE have had a number of fans arrested for breaching their WrestleMania hotels security.
Alum ready:
Shelton Benjamin has been cleared to return to the ring after a nine month injury layoff. He had been set to return to WWE before the injury
Goldberg snaps:
Goldberg has not taken kindly to criticism for saying he was miserable yesterday...
''Since this is chapping my ass let's get the record straight.....this @wwe run, experience is frikin' awesome.... honored, humbled, truly appreciative and then some," Goldberg wrote. "I'M MISERABLE PHYSICALLY BECAUSE IT TAKES A MONUMENTAL EFFORT, BOTH TRAINING AND EATING, TO TRY AND BE CLOSE TO WHAT PEOPLE REMEMBER.... I STRIVE TO BE THE BEST..... RESULTS ARE GREAT BUT IT DOESN'T MEAN THERE ARE NO BUMPS ALONG THE WAY."
NXT star to Mania:
Tian Bing will represent NXT and become the first Chinese wrestler to appear on a WWE PPV card in the Andre The Giant Battle Royal.
BrokenMania:
Speculation is rife that the Hardyz will return at WrestleMania to challenge The Uso's for the blue Tag gold. WWE are trying to secure legal clarification that they can use the Broken gimmicks in time for the show.
WWE UK:
The WWE UK title will be defended on the British indie scene for the first time this weekend. Progress will host Tyler Bate's defense.
New job for Nattie:
Natalya has landed a job as a columnist with OK magazine.
Mauro MIA:
Mauro Ranallo missed SmackDown again this week, and will likely not be involved with Mania this weekend.
Injury return:
Naomi is back. She will take the last spot in a 6 pack challenge for the blue Women's title at Mania.
Andre Battle Royal:
The Uso's, American Alpha, Heath Slater, Rhyno, Vaudevillains, Ascension, Breezango, Dolph Ziggler, Mark Henry, Titus O'Neil, Kalisto & Sin Cara have joined the pre Mania over the top scrap, which will have 30 entrants this year.
On air tribute:
Daniel Bryan shared his condolences with Jim Ross on WWE TV last night.
WWE champ miserable:
Goldberg has confessed to being miserable since his WWE return...
"I'll be honest, I'm miserable. I'm absolutely miserable. But my family's having fun, man. And so, every single thing, every training session, every ART massage that makes me cry, every muay thai session, it's all worth it, man. It's just worth it. And, hey, at the end of the day, if I want to smile, I'll buy a car. That's how I'm happy. I did, I bought one on the way back from Toronto because I worked my ass off."
Alum remembers Mania moment:
Hillbilly Jim has recalled his Mania 3 match...
"Everybody talks about it and it is not my favorite match but it has become one of my more talked about matches and it was that little thing that King Kong Bundy and I did with the midgets at WrestleMania 3 at the Pontiac Silverdome. There is more people who talk about that than anything and it wasn't really that good of match it just was it was but it was the fact that it was in an enormous crowd and at the time it was a world record crowd. I will never forget what an enormous thing that was because they were shooting for a world record crowd. We had to get there like two and a half hours before anybody else got there because it was out in the middle of nowhere and there was a limited amount of roads and when we got there and were waiting for this world record crowd, I can remember Vince standing back there in the tunnel and he said; "Guys you may want to check this out because this is something you may never see again and this is something here you will remember for all of your life" and we did. After that it took us three and one half hours before we could leave that arena because there were so many people leaving out of Pontiac. Than to think that as this thing has gone through all sorts of changes and I've been on twenty-something of them in some capacity either managing somebody or being at fan Axxess but just to think about that of how it has become wrestling's Super Bowl."
Why WWE are offering deal:
WWE are offering their Network deal to try to get past two million subscribers by WrestleMania.
Mania tickets:
WWE have released a new batch of WrestleMania tickets on Ticket Master.
HOF cap:
Jerry Lawler has revealed the contents of a recent conversation with Vince McMahon. He says future HOF classes will have an as yet undetermined limit on inductees, as recent inductees have talked for too long, making it difficult for broadcasters to edit the show down to an hour, and still feature all inductees.
WWE Christmas movie:
Curt Hawkins, Virgil, Hornswoggle and Bull Dempsey have made a movie together. It will be out at the end of the year.
WWE community:
WWE talent are taking part in a number of outreach activities, from cleaning parks, to visitng hospitals and reading books to children.
Feud continues:
The Rock and Vin Diesel are being kept apart as they promote their 'Fast' movie.
WWE wedding:
Paige & Alberto Del Rio got married today.
WWE Network:
WWE are E-mailing past subscribers offering them 6 PPV's and three months of subscription to their channel for $9.99.
Bubba Dudley reveals why WWE refused to use TNA name:
"When you have something called the 'Be a STAR' program, it's not easy to have a character named Bully. That was one of the reasons. We came really, really close and I know the WWE Universe would have loved to have seen Bully Ray in a WWE ring."
Brock Lesnar:
Brock Lesnar has filed to have Mark Hunt's lawsuit against him thrown out of court.
Stealth fan:
A fan snuck into Raw's pre show rehearsals and shared a picture of Roman Reigns and Undertaker running lines in the arena.
WWE star robbed:
Enzo Amore had his sneakers stolen during a flight this week.
WrestleMania:
Neville vs Austin Aries (Cruiserweight) has been dropped onto the pre show, as has the Andre The Giant battle royal, which has grown in number. Goldust, R-Truth, Primo, Epico, Jinder Mahal, Bo Dallas, Curtis Axel, Sami Zayn and Braun Strowman have thrown their names into the hat for the bout. The SmackDown Women's match has also dropped onto the kick off.
Triple H vs Seth Rollins is now official and the Raw tag title match will now be a ladder match.
Triple H talks Kliq curtain call incident:
"I understand he had to punish. I understood the conversation I had with him. The only thing I said back to him was, 'I have to know, at the end of this, that this is over. If there is no light at the end of the tunnel, I can't do my job and I can't be here. I don't want to leave, I want to be here forever. But if there's no light at the end of the tunnel, then what's the point? But if it's over, then give me whatever punishment you have to give me. As long as I know there is an end to it, I am confident enough in myself that I can get back to where I need to be.' Vince said to me, 'It's done when you walk out this door. You're going to have to eat sh-- and like the taste for a long time.' I took the punishment, I walked passed it, and I earned respect by doing it. The reality of it is I said another thing to Vince in that room. I said, 'I understand why you have to do this and I'm not complaining at all, but why was everyone in that building standing up and going crazy? 'That was the biggest reaction of the night. The business has changed.'"
HHH trashes Randy:
HHH says Randy Orton fails to be as good as he can be...
"I've told Randy this since the day I met him, like, he had every tool to succeed. The only guy that was going to stop Randy was Randy because he can be a little bit of a self-destructor, but he has everything it takes, man. And I don't know if it's because he's just gifted or because he watched his dad, who was great, for so long, or I don't know what it is. But, man, he just has it all. And I still think Randy doesn't take advantage of all the tools he has. I still think he does what he needs to do. Do you know what I mean? But he could be even better. Yeah, I believe [he could attain another level of success]. I just think he's that good. I don't know if that's me believing in him more than he believes in him. I don't know what that is, but don't get me wrong. He's great. I just wonder how great he could be."
He did though reveal he fought to save a current popular star from being fired...
"There's been guys that have made it that over the course of a couple of years that were constantly on the cut list. Enzo Amore, when I brought him in, everyone at the tryout was saying, 'Get rid of this kid!' I was like, 'He's got a huge personality. If he can annoy us all this bad here, imagine what he can do on TV.' ... Every time he'd get his review, they'd be like, 'I'd cut him.' Dusty [Rhodes] and I would be like, 'Keep him.' Look at him now. ... Is he ever going to make you money from an in-ring performer standpoint? Probably not. But he's money on the mic."
Paige talks hack:
"I made a big mistake. Huge. I put trust in the hands of someone that took advantage of a young girl years ago. It was my mistake and I'll always take responsibility. But the one thing that was the hardest was thinking "my husband is gonna leave me" "my family will disown me" but I'm blessed beyond words to have a family and a husband that stuck by me because they know who I am. They know I'm not a bad person and they held my hands through hell. Because as my husband says "you may feel like the devil is throwing you into a storm, but just remember, you are the storm". And he's right. But we are human. Unfortunately people don't see it that way when they are behind a keyboard. They don't think that we have feelings or that we don't suffer. Not only was I a victim of viral humiliation but a victim of cyber bullying. I had days where I wanted to physically harm myself. Not only for what millions was telling me but because my family and my husband were suffering the same fate from the internet because of my mistake. It made me and Alberto to wonder how people who aren't as mentally strong as us can handle this? How many people have to suffer because of the internet and the cowards behind the keyboard. Or how many men and women have fell into the same trap as me and made those mistakes? That's why we are taking this massive negative and making some kind of positive. We wanna bring those people to justice and also take down the ones who are trolls, with the lack of a better term. Bring awareness. Bring help to those who don't have the tools or the mental strength to do this themselves. To show men and women alike to always think about their future before they do something like this that may cause a butterfly effect later on in life. Now I know through all of this is. No one will make me feel bad about my mistakes, I already know what they are and I already feel bad. But Alberto and I together can also make a change. My mistake could help people's future. Think. Before you act. Anyways. Onwards and upwards. Only happiness. No longer talking about anything. Just looking into the future and being happy! I mean come on, I'm getting married? How can I not be happy!!!!"
Injury:
Sheamus was badly bust open on Raw last night.
SmackDown teaser:
- WWE Champion Bray Wyatt will battle former follower Luke Harper tonight
- WrestleMania Contract Signing for AJ Styles vs. Shane McMahon tonight
- "Miz TV" to present the finale of the "lost" Total Bellas footage
- Who will step-up en route to the SmackDown Women's Title free-for-all at The Show of Shows?
Alum blasts Vince:
Justin Roberts says Vince McMahon does not care what fans think of the WWE product...
"When you do a live wrestling show you have a live audience telling you what they like and what they hate. Instead of appeasing the fans and writing the show the fans like, and believe me they have some of the greatest minds and talent in wrestling, they could put on a Wrestlemania every week. Like the attitude era. You watch it now and its really flat for three hours and once in while the crowd kind of like some of it. It's not the talents fault. As an example, say the crowd really like Cesaro but the company wants you to like Sheamus so they are going to give you Sheamus until you like him in the same way you like Cesaro. Look at Roman Reigns, the company wants you to accept him, but if you like someone else, no you have to like who the company wants you to like. The fans aren't getting a show that is catered for them, it's catered to running with the guys who they want to push. The higher-ups at that company are the sort of people who say, 'You're not going to tell us what to do. This is our company and we will run it how we want' – that's it. Wrestling fans are so loyal they will find one or two things every week that they like about a show, even if they hated everything else. Its unfortunate and I want WWE to thrive. I just want the fans to have great shows and the shows I had growing up. I loved wrestling as a kid because it was great, and I want it to be the same way for current fans. I want the business to keep going strong."
Cena lands movie:
John Cena has landed a role in animated film 'Ferdinand.'
Terry Funk:
Terry Funk has pulled out of WrestleMania week bookings for health reasons.
McMahon wants heel turn:
Stephanie McMahon says she has been fighting to have John Cena turn heel, but was talked down, and now thinks it is for the best if he stays as he is.
SmackDown drop two:
Kenny & Mikey of Spirit Squad have been removed from the WWE active roster and dropped to the Alums.
WWE on TV:
Lilian Garcia will appear on HOF'er Drew Carey's 'Price Is Right' show this week. John Cena is hosting 'Today' this week. Nikki Bella will also appear.
WrestleMania week begins:
The final Raw before the biggest event of 2017 is tonight, here is the teaser...
- Goldberg and Brock Lesnar, under the same roof
- Will Seth Rollins sign Triple H's Hold Harmless Agreement?
- Can Bayley rebound before WrestleMania's Fatal 4-Way Match?
- Raw left without a General Manager
- Can Chris Jericho get even with Kevin Owens following last week's attack?
- Has The Undertaker gotten inside Roman Reigns' head?
New Day:
New Day rang the bell at the NYSE this morning.
Another diva coming back:
Eve Torres will be at WrestleMania 33. Like Kelly and Victoria, her role is not yet known.
Lana nominated:
Lana has been nominated for the best actress award for the Nice film festival ceremony.
Lifesaver:
Jim Ross says his wife has saved 4 lives in her death, as a result of organ donation.
SummerSlam sell out:
SummerSlam tickets went on sale on Saturday, and have already sold.
RVD:
RVD wrestled for the first time in over a year over the weekend. He also says he will attend the HOF this weekend.
Mania performers named:
WWE have confirmed musical performances by Pitbull, Flo Rida, Lunchmoney Lewis and Stephen Marley.
Diva departs:
WWE say they will not renew the contract of Eva Marie. She has not been on TV since her drugs ban of last summer, and has started an acting career. She may still feel some frustration with how things have turned out. After debuting before having more than basic ring training, criticism from fans and fellow workers motivated her to go and undertake almost two years of one on one training from Brian Kendrick. She was brought back last year to put the extra training into practice with a big push planned, her drugs fail derailed that. She angrily challenged the fail claiming she had a medical reason for using the drugs, but WWE went ahead and banned her anyway. She clearly has found it hard to forgive that, and has not returned to work since the ban ended, and now likely won't.
WWE wedding:
Alberto Del Rio and Paige are getting married this week.
Mania match changed:
The Raw Women's match will be an elimination bout.
Marty Jannetty talks nixed Mania match:
"The barbershop window segment was actually setting up a match at WrestleMania VIII between Shawn and I. A few things didn't go the way someone wanted, so they ended up completely scrapping that idea, but that was the whole idea of the barbershop. We'd have needed 20-25 minutes with a jump-start to get the people on their feet. We had a match with a pace that was blistering in Denver a few months before WrestleMania VIII, and we could have had a match at WrestleMania that people would still be talking about. When it was over in Denver, the crowd cheered both of us in appreciation of what they saw. We were building Shawn up at the time, so that's the direction we would have gone."
Second diva hacked:
Sunny says she has been sent nude photos of a top WWE star, before the pictures are shared online. She refused to say who the victim is, but has blasted the perpetrator...
''Very upset right now. I just got a text message from a random number (area code is PA) and they sent me a picture of a very popular WWE diva topless in a very provocative pose. I know for a fact that she has never done any nude photo shoots. This was a private photo. I texted her and she said her iCloud was hacked. This is so f--ked up that someone would do this to her. She is an amazing person and someone I'm proud to call my friend. Whoever did this.... You are such a f--ktard. People deserve their privacy. Just because we are celebrities does not give any of you the right to invade our personal lives!!!!''
Death:
A fan died at a WWE live over the weekend. He fell from his seat to the floor and medics were called over. They worked on him for 20 minutes before moving him to the back, from which he was rushed to a local hospital. He did not survive the heart related incident. He was caring for a disabled person, police took over, and made sure the fan was looked after.
Sasha talks gimmick matches:
"I made sure, once I got signed I bought so many bikinis with a lot of pushup. I was ready. I knew I never wanted to be doing that, but I accepted that that's probably what I'm going to have to do, like I'm going to have to wrestle models and do bikini contests, but WWE was always the goal. I get so much slack on the internet because fans are like, 'oh, she hates all the Divas' and all this. No, absolutely not. I respect so many women and it's not them that want to do the bra and panty matches. That's just during that time. That's just the era it was. Like, if I was back in that era, I'd be doing that too. It's just where we're at right now and moving along with the times. But to me, I always wanted them to change that title. I always hated that butterfly title. Whenever they'd show it, I was like, 'why? It looks like a toy! It's a butterfly. That doesn't mean we're athletes.'
Randy's rocky return:
Randy Orton has recalled his return to WWE last summer being difficult...
"I've been back since last July and it was a rocky start when I came back from my injury. I had Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam and he's a machine right there. I got a concussion, got split open, blood all over the place. It kind of put me back a few steps. It took a couple months to get my feet under me again. then I got to doing this thing with the Wyatt Family and I don't remember having this much fun in the ring in a long time. Messing with them. The mind games. The promos. Tagging with Bray. Tagging with Luke. And being a part of the Wyatt Family threw me back into that heel element that I love so much and had missed for a very long time. It's no secret that I would prefer to be a heel, night and day, over being a babyface. And it was nice to get that little taste of being a heel again. And now I've kind of switched back over, so to speak. I still want to walk that line and be as much of a bad guy that I can be while still doing my job well. To answer your question, we're going into WrestleMania and it's been two years for me and I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to bringing the kids, all five children, and their going to watch their father whip Bray Wyatt's ass. Instead of going to it with them as a fan, I get to possibly main event it with them sitting in the front row. So personally, it's a huge victory."
He also praised WWE for putting their feud with Jim Cornette to one side for HOF...
"Well, I'd say until a few days ago, Kurt Angle was the guy who I was most curious to see get inducted this year. But a couple days ago, I heard that Jim Cornette is going to be given a live microphone and so I'm going to have a bag of popcorn, maybe a little flask of some good stuff in my breast pocket, and I'm going to sit back and listen to Jim Cornette and just cross my fingers that it's as good as I think it can be. Because he is amazing on the mic, he doesn't hold anything back, and I think it says a lot about WWE and whoever made that final decision -- I'm sure it was Vince -- to have Cornette induct the Rock 'n' Roll Express. Because there's some bad blood there. I don't know what it is. I know as far back as 17 years ago when I first signed there was some kind of weird backstage heat thing going on where Cornette never went up north and didn't like interacting with the guys in the office. You never really knew what it was, though I'm sure if you did some digging you could find out. I'm not interested in that though, I just think it's cool that he's being allowed to come and induct these guys into the Hall of Fame. These guys who are both very deserving in their own right."
Foley debut:
Noelle Foley has launched a YouTube channel.
Sami Zayn has his Mania moment:
Sami Zayn says being allowed to main event a live in Montreal last night was his Mania moment. He wrestled his best friend Kevin Owens.
Sasha Banks talks tough childhood:
"We moved a lot when I was younger because I have a brother with autism and we were just trying to find the right schools and the right doctors. After, from California, we moved to Iowa because that's where my mom's is from." Banks continued, "for me, growing up was really difficult having a brother with autism. It was such a struggle, but having that two hours of having wrestling, I just felt like that was my time and the only time I was… yeah, my escape, pretty much. Wrestling is the only thing that I ever loved. The moment I laid my eyes on wrestling, I knew that was what my calling was. I remember I was living in Iowa at the time and there was nothing on TV and we had no cable and SmackDown came on. It was legit, maybe at midnight, I was like, 'what is this?' And then I remember my mom coming in. She was like, 'what are you doing? What are you watching? God wouldn't like this stuff. Turn that off!' I was like, 'okay' so I turned it off. I ran into my brother's room and turned it back on and just continued watching it and I was like, 'wow' and I was instantly hooked ever since that very moment."
WWE give up on Undertaker:
It seems this year will really be the last year for The Undertaker. A major meeting was held at Raw this week due to how much pain he was in backstage. He needs hip replacement surgery, a surgery that would certainly end his career, and senior WWE execs are said to be ready to advise him to get the op, and hang them up. They have more matches they wanted him to do, big money drawing bouts vs John Cena and Sting, but are coming around to feeling he has done enough.
Mauro Ranallo:
A friend of Mauro Ranallo has updated his status...
"Yeah, he's doing okay, ya know? As everybody knows, he's very vocal about it, but Mauro is bi-polar. Sometimes - a couple of times a year, things [are] going too fast and he needs to just simply slow down and uh... but he's doing good. I talked to him and he's sent me funny video clips... it's all in good spirits, I think he will be back to normal very soon."
JTG:
JTG is making a movie.
Landmark for diva:
Eva Marie is celebrating four years of sobriety.
Pete Gas shares wrestlers court story:
"True. The Undertaker is the judge. The judge is typically the wrestler with the most seniority in the locker room. I tell a story in the book where, unfortunately Undertaker was there, and Triple H had to step in. It was probably the funniest thing that I ever got to see in WWE. The A.P.A. was actually suing Teddy Long. The charges that were brought up were that Teddy was a cheapskate. The room was set up just like a courthouse. The bailiff was played by The Godfather. Ron and JBL were the plaintiffs and Teddy Long was all by himself as the defendant. Triple H explained that wrestlers court was a lot different from regular court because you can lie, cheat and steal, bribe, whatever you need to do. So, JBL reads out the charges and it was stuff like when they came up to a tollbooth Teddy wouldn't put his hand in the pocket until they were 30 yards passed it because he didn't want to pay the toll. And he never put his hand in his pocket for meals and gas and all of that. After the charges were all read, Triple H says, 'Teddy, you're pretty much screwed here…'"
Hardy blasts Jarrett:
Matt Hardy has angrily reacted to Jeff Jarrett's tweet of congratulations to Christopher Daniels for winning the ROH Championship. He said that if he cared about ROH he would not have sent them legal threats over use of his broken gimmick.
ROH respond to buyout talk:
The owners of ROH have released a brief statement on their talks with WWE...
"Sinclair's corporate policy is never to comment on speculative rumors and unsubstantiated stories."
CBS claim to have exclusive news that the story is dead, and that the deal has fallen through.
Del Rio no show:
Alberto Del Rio has withdrawn from wrestlecon. He says Paige is struggling mentally, and she needs him more than the fans do right now.
HHH says he does not make people stay in NXT:
''I would be very hesitant to say for anybody, 'I don't want them to go to the main roster because it's better for NXT if he or she is here.' That wouldn't be the right thing to do for anyone. People stay in NXT because it's not the right time or the right fit to bring them in. People being impatient that there's somebody they want to see, 'Oh this guy would be great on Raw or this girl would be great here, I want to see them there.' I understand that feeling, but if we have a plan that six months from now we have an idea to do this that's going to debut this person in a bigger way … that six months might seem like forever to a fan who doesn't know what the plan is. To us, it's just around the corner. Some of these guys come in the door and it's not a question of 'I'm just waiting to get to the main roster, I just want to move up.' When Joe came in, Joe came in because he wanted to be a part of NXT, and that was the conversation we had. Is there an opportunity on the main roster maybe down the line? Yeah, but that wasn't his intent walking in the door. It's all kind of a work in progress of where it can go and what it can be. I think everybody in their mind at the end of the day wants to compete at WrestleMania and be on Raw or SmackDown, but there's a lot of people right now clamoring to get in the door and just be on NXT. If you want to look at it as something different from Raw and SmackDown, it's the second-hottest promotion there is. A lot of people want to just get there. And the money you can make and the living you can make here on NXT doing well is very, very, very good."'
He also revealed what he looks for in talent...
"Look, I mean there are other factors as well. I don't want to make it sound like 'Oh, look at this guy he has a big personality and forget all of the rest of it.' Obviously athleticism, the willingness to do this, the desire to work hard, but then there's leadership qualities that we really look for. When guys go to a camp, sometimes people watch them and go, 'You're just making these people throw-up in garbage can because you're working them so hard.' I want to push them to where they're really outside of their comfort range and then see what they do with it. It's really easy to be nice and be the perfect professional when you feel great, but when you're on the verge of puking in barrel and you're exhausted and there's someone barking at you to do more and the guy next to you just fell on you because he's at the same place you are, do you help pick him up or do you curse at him and go about your own business? There are differences in how people react to things. I'm looking for leaders. I'm looking for someone that can be a professional. I'm looking for the consummate athlete on all aspects. It's not just one thing, but if you ask me the one thing I look for, charisma is king. So, I'm a big believer in talent is talent. It comes in all shapes, sizes, looks, feels, everything. I think sometimes there's been a bad rap of like take this as the thing that's most successful, so that's what we're going to give. I think that's happen here in the past. People can say whatever about WWE and look, is there a particular style of athlete [we look for]? Sure, it's like that in anything. If you're shown steak all of the time, it's no surprise that you're going to eat steak. So when everybody coming to you with the same look and feel, a certain pattern begins to develop because that's what being put in front of you and that's what you have to select from. My selection process is different. Yes, I understand what Vince likes and what Vince sees in an ideal archetype performer, but I also know him well enough to know that he likes a lot of different archetypes, so I'm not going to give him one; I'm going to give him a little bit of everything. He's going to see a Bray Wyatt and go (Vince voice) 'That's great!' He's going to see a Braun Strowman and go 'Ah yeah, that's my wheelhouse right there. I love that.' He's going to see Finn Balor and hear the girls going nuts and then see the paint and go 'Geez look at that, I love that!' That's something that I don't think would have been put in front of him eight years ago. I sometimes wonder if Bray Wyatt would have been put in front of him 10 years ago. I don't know that he would've. That doesn't mean that Vince wouldn't have loved him back then. I want there to be so much diversity on every level. I want it to be international diversity. I want there to be something for everybody within WWE so you can gravitate towards characters that you can relate to. That's still a work in progress. It's a work in progress when you look at the Performance Center and you look at the talent there and see that 40 percent of the talent is international now, there's 17 countries represented. A quarter of the talent there is women. The diversity level is at an all-time high and that's on purpose. We've done that for desired effect. Is it showing right now on the main roster? Nah, not necessarily because it's going to take a little bit of time to percolate up, but it's there. I want that diversity. When you talk about the women, I want there to be a Sasha Banks; the smaller, run her mouth, cocky, arrogant, little athlete. I want there to be a bigger, dominant athlete like a Charlotte. I want there to be a Nia Jax that brings a whole different danger component. I want there to be a Bayley that is this naïve, fan-friendly, little girl centric character that everybody loves. Then you still want there to be the Bellas, who are like the Kardashians of the women's division. You want that variety. It's the same with the guys. I want there to be a Cena, I want there to be a Randy Orton. But I also want there to be a Bray Wyatt. I want there to be a Braun Strowman. I want there to be a Finn Balor. I want there to be a Samoa Joe or a Kevin Owens. Big Cass and then a little guy like Enzo that can run his mouth nonstop. I want that diversity."
Rock grieving:
Rock's girlfriends father died whilst performing on a cruise ship this week, after suffering a heart attack. He was famously a member of Boston.
Mauro Ranallo:
Mauro Ranallo has admitted being ill. He says his doctor has asked him not to use social media, but broke his advice to take the time to thank people for their well wishes.
Diva reunion:
Mickie James reunited with Melina and Jillian this week.
Kane:
Kane has filed his paperwork to officially confirm his interest in running for political office in Tennessee.
Vince Russo blasts current WWE roster:
"Today's roster, these guys look like my next door neighbor. You wouldn't recognize them in an airport. They look like regular fricken guys... I'm watching Wrestlemania X today and bro all these fricken guys, every guy on the show looks tremendous. The body on Hennig, the body on Piper, you know what I mean… Shawn, Scott, the list goes on and on. Bro, this is what I do know... when I was in the wrestling business, steroids or no steroids, these guys were in the gym every single day. It was a religion to them, their bodies were part of the presentation and whether they were on steroids or not, they were fricken working out at a gym, on the road, never missed a beat. I look at this roster today and you can't tell me these guys go to a gym. They don't look the fricking part and to me, if you don't look the part I'm not going to believe it. It's unbelievable to me."
He singled out Kevin Owens for most criticism...
"Everything I've said about Kevin Owens, the guy doesn't like to workout, maybe he's a little lazy. I'm just saying that, but my point is bro, the guy visually being a little bit overweight, if I were writing for him that would be part of the character and part of the gimmick and then it would work for him. But the fact that it's not addressed, it's not part of the gimmick, it's never discussed. That's where ask a writer the disconnect comes for me. If they looked at Kevin Owens and they worked his look into his character, in my opinion bro, it would be a thousand times better and I would have no issue with it. But when they call a guy like that a Prize Fighter, and he looks the way he does, that's where the disconnect is for me."
Kenny Omega:
Kenny Omega has confessed to working hurt recently (Shoulder).
JR to Mania:
Jim Ross says he will be attending WrestleMania week to honour his wife, who was looking forward to going this year.
Goldust threatens legal action:
Goldust is threatening to take action against people selling fake Dusty Rhodes autographs.
Alum on TV:
John Morrison has a cameo on an upcoming episode of 'Baby Daddy.'
WWE HOF:
FW4 have gotten hold of the names that will comprise this years WWE HOF Legacy class...
- Rikidozan
- Haystacks Calhoun
- Dr. Jerry Graham
- Judy Grable
- Farmer Burns
- Luther Lindsay
- Toots Mondt
- June Byers.
Zack Ryder:
Zack Ryder has announced another new show for his YouTube page, based on his love of action figures. It's called ''Unboxed.''
MMA wrestler blasts champion:
Matt Riddle is no Goldberg fan...
"Bill Goldberg can't wrestle. That's it. He knows it. The fact that the guy is very bold and claims he does MMA training and I know that's bulls—. I saw him throw a knee on Rusev his first night back on Raw and he almost broke his hip when he fell on his back and they had him spear him and jackhammer him quick. His work in the ring — people always go it's Goldberg, he can have a one minute match or whatever. Yeah, it's one minute because he can't work more than one minute. If he works more than one minute, it could Botchamania, you know? Even with one minute, it's Botchamania almost. Let's be honest, if we get more than a one minute match from Bill Goldberg, it's gonna suck. So, I hope he only wrestles for one minute whether he wins or loses, whatever. He's never been my cup of tea. I don't like how he acts like he's a shoot-style guy. I hated it when he did commentary for Strikeforce in MMA because he's not a legit, credible character. He's an old man who hits a jackhammer and a spear. He can't even do a kimura. If Bill wants to go in the gym, there doesn't even have to be cameras, if he wants to roll and train and see what it's like to be in the ring with a real stallion, he can. Any day, any time. Bill Goldberg is a pro wrestler. I do sport wrestling. I'm a real fighter. I'm a real athlete. I'm a sport athlete. He did football then parlayed that into doing a spear and jackhammer and then WCW let him go 250-0 and he got over. Let me beat Hulk Hogan in one minute, clean, for the title and see how my stock rises. It doesn't matter who you put in that situation. It just so happens they take the guy that couldn't wrestle for over a minute or two. And he's responsible for ruining Bret Hart's career and others and I could go on. There's multiple reasons why I don't like Goldberg and, foremost, it's because he doesn't deserve it."
Hall Of Famer grieving:
Jim Ross has lost his wife Jan. She succumbed to her injuries from her auto accident earlier in the week, late last night.
ROH buyout:
It has been revealed that ROH have been in secret takeover talks since the start of the year. The interested party are WWE, who want to ''Absorb them'' into their promotion, and buy their tape libraries. They would then have a weekly ROH show on the Network, but that does not mean they will sign their talent to deals, it may be an archive footage show. They first made an approach in August of last year, which was rebuffed.
ROH are not the only company WWE are setting their sights on, they have made approaches to several other indie leagues in the US, Canada and UK.
NXT debut:
British superstar Tommy End will debut his new WWE gimmick Aleister Black at NXT-Orlando vs Andrade Cien Almas.
No love like brotherly love:
Bray Wyatt has defended his younger brother Bo Dallas...
"Bo Dallas is, quite possibly, the most talented wrestler on either roster. He is the most underrated superstar of all time, in my opinion. He has so much to give. At some point, I would love to form an alliance with him because I know who and what he really is. Whether people want to look at him like that, well, then I'll show you. It's very, very possible."
WrestleMania:
Summer Rae is training at the PC for her return to TV, which is planned to be in the blue Women's title match at the big show. It is also speculated that some former ladies will be involved in what will likely be a stipulation match. Kelly Kelly and Victoria were expected to be back for Beth Phoenix's HOF induction, but Natalya has been named as her inductor, leaving fans wondering what these two, and other ladies that have been approached, will be doing at the show.
Hunter throws bucket of ice water over Angle hopes:
Triple H has spoken about the chance of Kurt Angle making a WWE ring return...
"I think that we were very clear with Kurt, I've been very clear with Kurt in every conversation on this topic, it's a proving ground, right? So he did a lot of great things and there's a lot of time under the table, a lot of baggage, all those things. It just comes back down to, 'let's get together - let's see how it goes. If it goes well for you and it goes well for us, and everything is great, then, we see where it goes from there. 'We're not going to say, 'never'. Kurt would have to go through a lot of physical requirements to be able to be allowed to return to the ring. And I know that angers fans, but that's us looking after the wellbeing of talent in general whether they like that or dislike that. That's the facts."
AJ vs HBK:
Shawn Michaels has admitted WWE did offer him a match vs AJ Styles for this years Mania. The angle was to have started at the Rumble, leading into the big one, but he refused to do it. He says he told WWE he wished they brought him in 10 years sooner.
Worries for Mauro:
Mauro Ranallo has not been in contact with even his closest friends for the past couple of weeks. Some of his nearest and dearest are now concerned criticism of his no show from two weeks ago has spiraled him into a new bout of depression, a condition he has openly admitted to struggling with in the past
ECW to PC:
Jerry Lynn has been working as a guest coach at the PC this week.
For London...
UK wrestling to be featured at Mania:
NXT, 205 Live and UK promotions, Progress and ICW will be featured at the WrestleMania week's Axxess events.
SmackDown:
The Uso's snagged the blue Tag gold from American Alpha last night.
Offer made:
WWE have made contract offers to both Hardy brothers. They will likely wait for their ROH stint to end, and their TNA legal troubles to be dealt with, but the return is said to be ''Inevitable.'' They will not sign Matt's wife Reby.
Mauro MIA:
Mauro Ranallo missed SmackDown for the second week running. He is said to be sick, but his WWE status is being questioned after his commitment to the company was challenged last week. He is also keeping quiet on social media.
WrestleMania:
Dean Ambrose vs Baron Corbin for the IC gold has been confirmed.
Construction of the set has begun.
Paige in trouble:
The parents of Paige are worried for her mental health, and her father believes she may be a suicide risk after the leaks of her private videos this week...
"My last say on the scandal surrounding my daughter I have just spoken to her over facebook and I am worried for her mental health or worse ffs world get a grip she has not killed anyone robbed anyone she was having sex in a private situation between consulting adults and then has been betrayed by some low lifes as her dad I urge people to back off as I say I am very worried for her it will be no good backing her when its too late like many other celebrities who have left us."
Her mother echoed his feelings, saying the buisness is destroying her, and them.
Hall Of Fame:
Natalya has been named as the inductor for Beth Phoenix.
It seems that the lack of a new inductee this week means there will be no celebrity in the class, as WWE have created a video package to promote the ceremony with the full class, bar the legacy wing, included.
PPV returning:
Bad Blood is coming back this year, as a Raw special. It has not been hosted for 13 years. The event will be best remembered for the first Hell In A Cell match, and the debut of Kane in 1997.
Jim Ross:
Jim Ross' wife was knocked off her Vespa at 9.33 in the evening by a 17 year old driving a Mercury Grand Marquis. Both vehicles caught fire, but the young man was unhurt. Mrs. Ross is still in a severely ill condition in hospital. She has suffered a traumatic brain injury and is on life support.
Jerry Lawler:
Jerry Lawler says Memphis wrestling will be on the WWE Network eventually, but he is having a dispute with USWA for footage dated between 1988 and 1996.
