bronnen: Wrestling Observer Newsletter,
www.pwtorch.com-- Mistico has sent out feelers to TNA in hopes of working with the company in the future. Due to his heavy schedule and value in Mexico, at best he'd probably be a special attraction performer for TNA.
-- Regarding Judas Mesias departure from TNA, he was asking for a contract matching what he was earning in Mexico, but was turned down. Mesias makes approximately $100,000 a year under a full 5-night-a-week, 52-week schedule in Mexico. His feud with Abyss had run its course and they didn't really have any other plans for him. However, a possible return to the company shouldn't be ruled out as the company wouldn't mind using him again if and when a storyline for him comes up.
-- Last night's edition of Impact drew the
usual 1.1 rating (1.12 to be exact). The show's rating
peaked with the Roxxi Laveaux makeover segment & Velvet Sky vs. Gail Kim match (which wasn't promoted at all during the show) as the quarter hour drew a 1.18 rating. Karen Angle's "big announcement" drew a 1.11 quarter hour rating. The show then dropped to a 1.09 rating until the women's match. The main event pitting Kevin Nash & Christian vs. Tomko & A.J. Styles lost some viewers after the Knockouts match, drawing a 1.10 rating.
-- The central theme of Jesse Ventura's new book is whether the former wrestler and governor of Minnesota should run as an Independant for President of the United States later this year. Ventura writes:
“As I begin to write this book, I’m facing probably the most monumental decision of my 56 years on this planet. Will I run for president of the United States, as an independent, in 2008? Or will I stay as far away from the fray as possible, in a place with no electricity, on a remote beach in Mexico?”
Ventura goes back and forth on the issue throughout the book, weighing the pros and cons. “Don’t Start the Revolution Without Me!" is due out on April 1st. (Thanks to Examiner.com for the quotes)
-- PWInsider.com reports WWE's latest Wrestlemania XXIV marketing ploy is to advertise in boxing gyms in major cities across the country.
- Vince McMahon was honored with the 2,257th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame yesterday. Triple H and Shane McMahon both spoke in honor of McMahon as Triple H acknowledged the fact that Vince was his father-in-law and called him the closet thing that he had to a father. Shane talked about his father first getting a job as an announcer for Vince Sr. After his family members spoke, Vince McMahon delivered his acceptance speech to the enthusiastic and large crowd. Linda McMahon was there but did not speak. Stephanie was not at the ceremony as Triple H said that she was home because she is pregnant. Vince McMahon will have to pay a $25,000 fee for costs related to the star.
- Last night’s edition of WWE SmackDown did a 2.7 fast national rating on the CW Network. Look for the final number to be out later next week.
- CNN Money has a new article online on WWE’s stock, talking about the success that it has endured. You can read it at this link.
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/...1-23786270.htm- TNA Wrestling is currently seeking fans that want to form a street team in Boston, Massachusetts to help spread the word about the Lockdown pay-per-view coming to the city. For those interested, TNA is accepting applications at info@tnawrestling.com as they are asking people to send their name, phone number, email address, street address, t shirt size, and any ideas that they may have in helping promote the event in the city.
- TNA did an injury angle at all three or their house shows this past week where James Storm was selling his “injuries” from his Elevation X match with Rhino at last Sunday’s Destination X pay-per-view. Storm, who claimed he was unable to compete, appointed Johnny Devine as his replacement on two shows to face Rhino while Robert Roode was appointed to face Rhino at last night’s TNA show in Pikeville, Kentucky.
- Booker T did not work last night’s TNA house show in Pikeville, Kentucky as he worked the main event at his PWA show in Pasadena, Texas. TNA’s Team 3D worked the PWA main event as well in opposition of Booker as they are doing an angle that they “invaded” his promotion.
- The Miami Herald has a new interview with LAX’s Hernandez now online. The piece features quotes from James Storm and Tomko as Tomko compares Hernandez to Mark Henry. You can check it out at this link.
http://www.miamiherald.com/675/story/457670.html- The edition of Larry King Live on CNN featuring Vince McMahon, John Cena, Chris Jericho, Floyd Mayweather, Big Show, and Triple H has been rescheduled for this Wednesday at 9 PM Eastern. CNN has a very brief video online of Chris Jericho giving Larry a backstage tour at a recent WWE event. Click here to check it out.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bes....promotion.cnn-- WWE has started uploading clips to video sharing site Hulu.com. Most of the clips are from recently released WWE DVDs.
-- Jim Ross has posted a new Q&A at his website. Ross answers questions about Brock Lesnear and Lashley's futures in MMA, whether Bret Hart will ever wrestle again, Mick Foley's career status and more. You can check out the whole Q&A feature here.
http://www.jrsbarbq.com/2008/03/15/jrs-qa-9/-- WWE has been interviewing a number of comic book industry professionals to work on their upcoming WWE Kids Magazine, which launches next month.
-- PWTorch.com reports that Matt Hardy is the person who covered Jeff's house on fire. After he realized Jeff was not home, there was not much he could do except call local authorities.
TMZ.com has picked up on the story of Jeff Hardy's house burning down and has provided lots of new details:
-- Captain Bruner of the Cameron Fire Department said that the Moore County Fire Department has ruled the cause of the fire that claimed wrestler Jeff Hardy's home as "undetermined."
-- Bruner said around 11:30 PM the blaze was "paged out as a wildfire" -- because the citizens that made the call only saw the fire through some woods. Three minutes later another call was made -- this time specifically naming the Hardy residence as the location of the fire.
-- When firemen arrived at the scene, Hardy's home was "fully engulfed." Because the home was "burnt so bad," the Moore County Fire officials investigating the blaze ruled it "undetermined".
-- Foul play on the part of Jeff Hardy is not being investigated -- because Jeff Hardy told Captain Bruner that he didn't have insurance on his home.
-- TNA's official website has removed Judas Mesias from their roster page. This pretty much confirms reports that he's through with the company.
-- TNA's website has finally added Salinas to their roster section, although they have yet to put a bio page on her.
- It looks like WWE will not be replacing Jeff Hardy in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania. It was announced on this week’s edition of SmackDown as well as reported on the official WWE website that John Morrison gained the final spot in the match. There was at least talk of adding Matt Hardy to the match, however, that does not appear to be the case. Matt worked WWE house shows again this weekend as he faced MVP in two matches.
- WWE Raw will air live tonight from the Lafayette Cajundome in Lafayette, Louisiana. Confirmed thus far for the show is WWE Champion Randy Orton & John Cena vs. the entire Raw roster. The official preview is advertising Chris Jericho for the show as well as the continuation of Big Show’s feud with Floyd Mayweather.
-- Regarding the story on former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler selling memorabilia on eBay, she said the following via BaltimoreSun.com:
I was delighted to learn about the interest in my things being offered on eBay. As you can imagine, I have accumulated so much during my 7-year run in wrestling. I would love to keep everything, but it's simply a lack of storage space.
It was great for me to reminisce and at the same time be able to give back to my loyal fans who have appreciated my contribution to wrestling. There is a variety of dresses, skirts, shoes, boots, lingerie and bikinis.
We are finalizing the certificate of authenticity and articles should be ready to go in about 2-3 weeks.
-- For her next music album cover, Madonna poses as a 50's women's wrestler from the Mildred Burke/Fabulous Moolah era.
-- WWE.com has posted a report acknowledging Jeff Hardy's house being destroyed in a fire on Friday night. Their article covers what was reported in the TMZ.com story, not to mention announcer Jim Ross's story on his website, JRsbarbq.com. The article doesn't offer any new details, although they plan on covering the story as information becomes available.
-- The latest edition of Autograph magazine has a four-page articles on wrestling deaths in 2007. Among the wrestlers spotlighted are Bam Bam Bigelow, Mike Awesome, Bad News Brown, Sherri Martel, Fabulous Moolah, Brian Adams and Chris Benoit.
-- Batista missed this weekend's swing of SmackDown/ECW house shows because he was overseas doing promotional work for the company and hyping WrestleMania 24.
-- The Rock's movie The Game Plan has made $29 million internationally thus far.
-- There were a number of traveling issues resulting in changes for Saturday night's SmackDown/ECW house show in Alexandria, Louisiana. Several wrestlers arrived to the building late and so they had Chavo Guerrero & CM Punk work a long opening match that went 2 out of 3 falls. Additionally, heels participating in early matches were told to stall as much as possible. For instance, Chavo spent a good portion of the match berating particular fans in the audience.