Source: F4Wonline.com
-- The original plan for the SAVE_US.222 gimmick was to lead to a big debut at the Cyber Sunday PPV. Plans could have changed, but if nothing happens at No Mercy this weekend, look for it to go down at Cyber Sunday. (duh!)
-- According to information released by WWE today, this year's SummerSlam PPV drew a few thousand buys short of last year's figure, which was 541,000 buys for SummerSlam 2006.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Chris Jericho is set to star in a new movie, Albino Farm which is supposed to be released in 2009. The movie is a Horror movie about a group of college students in the Ozark Mountains who stumble upon a group of "redneck cave dwellers." Jericho's character is named Levi. The movie is currently in post-production.
-- This Tuesday night (10/9) at the FCW show in New Port Richey, FL at the Bourbon Street Night Club, Lacey Von Erich and Nattie Neidhart will go one-on-one in a battle of third generation Divas. FCW is a developmental territory of WWE. The rest of the FCW crew including The New Hart Foundation, Billy Kidman and others will be appearing as well.
--WWE RAW announcer Lilian Garcia and her band will be performing at this week's RAW and SmackDown.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- WWE released developmental talent Keith Walker from his contract on Thursday.
Walker had been down working in Tampa in FCW. He had been signed to a WWE developmental deal since last November. Walker most recently worked the 10/2 FCW show losing to Ted DiBiase Jr.
-- There will be a launch party for Bret Hart's book on 10/17 in Calgary.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Alex Marvez, Rocky Mountain News
- Kurt Angle tells Alex Marvez in his latest column that the International Fight League has offered him the chance to train around his TNA schedule for a MMA debut sometime late next year. Angle attended last month's IFL team championships and has began negotiations with the MMA group.
"Other organizations were pushing for me to fight right away for big money - bigger money than any other fighter has ever made, but I think they were doing it for my name because I had a lot of exposure in (World Wrestling Entertainment) and TNA. When I talked to the IFL, it wasn't like they came at me with the biggest contract, but they made a lot more sense.The IFL is giving me an opportunity to get my feet wet without affecting my job with TNA whatsoever. (The IFL) said they would be second priority and make sure TNA is happy all the time and they'll take me when they can get me." Angle said.
"Randy Couture is a good leg-attacker, but he's not even close to me and he'll admit that to you," Angle said. "I could take Silva down 10 times a round. That's how quick and agile I am. I've just never had the opportunity (to show it). They've never seen a Kurt Angle in the ring or my style, which is explosive. I think a lot of heavyweights and light heavyweights won't expect it."
The article reveals that Angle has used his backstage power in TNA to push for more clean finishes in TNA, believing that the fans want conclusive winners and losers in the matches, like in MMA fights. Said Angle: "We all sat down and said: 'Hey, no more run-ins. If you want me to win, I win. If you want me to lose, I lose.' I think TNA is starting to get that. We're in an MMA world right now. It's not going to change."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A commercial promoting Cyber Sunday aired in the Washington D.C. area during SmackDown last night. Washington D.C. is the site of Cyber Sunday as the event will take place at the Verizon Center on October 28. A Cyber Sunday commercial that aired in Canada originally advertised "Rowdy" Roddy Piper as being one of the choices for the referee of the World Heavyweight Championship match along with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Mick Foley. The commercial now advertises JBL as one of the referee choices for the match, thus replacing Piper. The commercial also promoted the WWE Championship match. The stipulation options for the match are Hell in a Cell, Falls Count Anywhere, and No Disqualification.
Yesterday was the 10th anniversary of the death of former WWE/WCW star Brian Pillman. Plans are in place for a Brian Pillman Memorial show to be held within the next few months. They stopped doing the shows a few years ago when the show organizer, Les Thatcher, stated that he didn't have time to plan them anymore.
Val Venis is still leading the poll of who WWE fans want to see win the WWE Championship match at No Mercy with 40% of the vote. Another interesting pick has emerged behind Venis as Gene Snitsky is currently in second place in the poll. 17.74% of the voters want to see Snitsky as WWE Champion. He is ahead of Triple H, who stands at 14.30%.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: 1Wrestling.com
We're told that Tony Atlas and CM Punk had a verbal confrontation at the OVW taping on Tuesday night.
Atlas was apparently evaluating matches during the evening and approached Punk earlier in the day and told him that taping his hands and arms was "not the look the office wanted".
Punk came out during the taping with his hands and arms taped. Atlas was not happy that he didn't take his advice. After the show during a post-show meeting, Atlas made a speech about people with attitudes. He was staring at Punk the entire time. Punk finally lost it and asked Atlas why he was starting at him as he was giving his attitude speech.
The two exchanged words and Punk loudly asked Atlas, "Do you even watch our show? Do you even know who I am?".
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Today marks the ten year anniversary of the Kane character. Kane made his WWF debut on October 5, 1997 at Badd Blood 1997, costing The Undertaker his Hell in a Cell match with Shawn Michaels. After failed stints as the evil dentist Isaac Yankem, DDS, and the fake "Diesel", Glen Jacobs finally found his niche in the Kane character. In an interesting little known fact, officials originally wanted Dan "Waylon Mercy" Spivey to reprise the role of Kane. Two years earlier, Spivey suffered a back injury after being power bombed by Diesel that forced him to permanently retire from professional wrestling in October of 1995. Spivey decided to not come out of retirement for the role and so the Kane gimmick went to Jacobs.
-- This week on WWE Heat, Gene Snitsky and Charlie Haas make their long-awaited returns to the ring. Snitsky wrestles Jerry Miles, a 10 year veteran who wrestles on indy shows as J-Rocc. Snitsky was quietly suspended in late August for failing a drug test. The returning Charlie Haas takes on Super Crazy. Haas was suspended for purchasing drugs over the Internet, which is a violation of the WWE Wellness Policy. Other matches on Heat include Ron Simmons vs. Daivari and The Highlanders vs. two people from OVW in Justin LaRoche and Jay Bradley. You can watch Heat at this link.
-- This week's "Diva Dish" is all about Lilian Garcia. She talks about her music album, ¡Quiero Vivir!, which hits stores next Tuesday. She also talks about her grueling schedule this month as she'll be flying all over the place for appearances to promote her album, in addition to handling her regularly scheduled ring announcing duties at WWE shows. However, she doesn't mind the grueling schedule. "It's going to be a grueling schedule, but I'm not complaining one bit because this is what I wanted, for so long. This is the one thing I wanted in my life," Lilian said. You can read the article at this link.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Backstage Kelly/Miz/Balls Mahoney Storyline News
Partial Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter
The Kelly Kelly/Miz/Balls Mahoney storyline has been entirely booked by Dusty Rhodes. He's very hands on when it comes to this storyline as he is laying out everything in it. Rhodes came up with the storyline a few months ago, then pitched it to Stephanie, and she gave her approval for it. Both Rhodes and Vince have worked hard on coaching Kelly Kelly on her reactions in the angle, and the feeling is that she's made major progress as a character due to the angle. Other WWE writers haven't interfered in the progress of the angle because ECW storylines sometimes fall below the radar, and thus no one has bothered to come in and tweak it to their liking. Furthermore, Rhodes already knows where the storyline is heading because he has the entire angle booked with a start, middle and a finish. He actually did that in advance. This is different from the norm because WWE storylines are usually booked on a week-to-week basis.
Raw writers Brian Gewirtz and Ed Koskey find Hacksaw Jim Duggan to be useful as a comedy figure, and that explains why they keep him on the roster. Although, it probably helps that he always gets a good reception from the crowd as well.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Former WWE star Scott Hall appeared at indy show in Little Rock, Arkansas last night. Hall told fans that he would be working for AAA in Mexico soon. Sean Waltman, a close friend of Hall, has been working in AAA regularly in recent months with his girlfriend Alicia "Ryan Shamrock" Webb.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WWE sent out the following release yesterday afternoon:
Michael Lake Enters The Ring As President, WWE Films
STAMFORD , Conn. , October 4, 2007 – World Wrestling Entertainment® has hired Michael Lake as President of its WWE Films division. A 36-year veteran of the movie and television industries, Lake recently served as Executive Producer for WWE Film’s The Condemned, starring Stone Cold Steve Austin™.
As President of WWE Films replacing Joel Simon, Lake will report directly to WWE® Chairman, Vince McMahon. He will be tasked with developing theatrical and direct-to-video opportunities for WWE Films that provide unmatched on-screen action as vehicles for WWE Superstars. In addition to feature films, Lake will also work to develop new television projects that will benefit from an affiliation with WWE or its Superstars.
Michael Lake has been producing films and television shows for 20 years. Throughout his career, Lake has overseen production for such hits as The Matrix Trilogy, Miss Congeniality, Ocean’s Eleven and Ocean’s Twelve. Lake currently sits on the Advisory Board of the Association of Film Commissioners International.
WWE established its WWE Films division to explore options in filmed entertainment in order to promote its Superstars and capitalize on its intellectual property and worldwide fan base. WWE Films’ third release, The Condemned, starring Stone Cold Steve Austin, was recently released on DVD and Blu-ray and was the No. 2 DVD rental in the U.S. in its first week of release.
Additional information on World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWE) can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com. For information on our global activities, go to http://www.wwe.com/worldwide/
-30-
Media Contact: Gary Davis, 203-353-5066
Investor Contact: Michael Weitz, 203-352-8642
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- The original plan for the SAVE_US.222 gimmick was to lead to a big debut at the Cyber Sunday PPV. Plans could have changed, but if nothing happens at No Mercy this weekend, look for it to go down at Cyber Sunday. (duh!)
-- According to information released by WWE today, this year's SummerSlam PPV drew a few thousand buys short of last year's figure, which was 541,000 buys for SummerSlam 2006.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Chris Jericho is set to star in a new movie, Albino Farm which is supposed to be released in 2009. The movie is a Horror movie about a group of college students in the Ozark Mountains who stumble upon a group of "redneck cave dwellers." Jericho's character is named Levi. The movie is currently in post-production.
-- This Tuesday night (10/9) at the FCW show in New Port Richey, FL at the Bourbon Street Night Club, Lacey Von Erich and Nattie Neidhart will go one-on-one in a battle of third generation Divas. FCW is a developmental territory of WWE. The rest of the FCW crew including The New Hart Foundation, Billy Kidman and others will be appearing as well.
--WWE RAW announcer Lilian Garcia and her band will be performing at this week's RAW and SmackDown.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- WWE released developmental talent Keith Walker from his contract on Thursday.
Walker had been down working in Tampa in FCW. He had been signed to a WWE developmental deal since last November. Walker most recently worked the 10/2 FCW show losing to Ted DiBiase Jr.
-- There will be a launch party for Bret Hart's book on 10/17 in Calgary.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Alex Marvez, Rocky Mountain News
- Kurt Angle tells Alex Marvez in his latest column that the International Fight League has offered him the chance to train around his TNA schedule for a MMA debut sometime late next year. Angle attended last month's IFL team championships and has began negotiations with the MMA group.
"Other organizations were pushing for me to fight right away for big money - bigger money than any other fighter has ever made, but I think they were doing it for my name because I had a lot of exposure in (World Wrestling Entertainment) and TNA. When I talked to the IFL, it wasn't like they came at me with the biggest contract, but they made a lot more sense.The IFL is giving me an opportunity to get my feet wet without affecting my job with TNA whatsoever. (The IFL) said they would be second priority and make sure TNA is happy all the time and they'll take me when they can get me." Angle said.
"Randy Couture is a good leg-attacker, but he's not even close to me and he'll admit that to you," Angle said. "I could take Silva down 10 times a round. That's how quick and agile I am. I've just never had the opportunity (to show it). They've never seen a Kurt Angle in the ring or my style, which is explosive. I think a lot of heavyweights and light heavyweights won't expect it."
The article reveals that Angle has used his backstage power in TNA to push for more clean finishes in TNA, believing that the fans want conclusive winners and losers in the matches, like in MMA fights. Said Angle: "We all sat down and said: 'Hey, no more run-ins. If you want me to win, I win. If you want me to lose, I lose.' I think TNA is starting to get that. We're in an MMA world right now. It's not going to change."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A commercial promoting Cyber Sunday aired in the Washington D.C. area during SmackDown last night. Washington D.C. is the site of Cyber Sunday as the event will take place at the Verizon Center on October 28. A Cyber Sunday commercial that aired in Canada originally advertised "Rowdy" Roddy Piper as being one of the choices for the referee of the World Heavyweight Championship match along with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Mick Foley. The commercial now advertises JBL as one of the referee choices for the match, thus replacing Piper. The commercial also promoted the WWE Championship match. The stipulation options for the match are Hell in a Cell, Falls Count Anywhere, and No Disqualification.
Yesterday was the 10th anniversary of the death of former WWE/WCW star Brian Pillman. Plans are in place for a Brian Pillman Memorial show to be held within the next few months. They stopped doing the shows a few years ago when the show organizer, Les Thatcher, stated that he didn't have time to plan them anymore.
Val Venis is still leading the poll of who WWE fans want to see win the WWE Championship match at No Mercy with 40% of the vote. Another interesting pick has emerged behind Venis as Gene Snitsky is currently in second place in the poll. 17.74% of the voters want to see Snitsky as WWE Champion. He is ahead of Triple H, who stands at 14.30%.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: 1Wrestling.com
We're told that Tony Atlas and CM Punk had a verbal confrontation at the OVW taping on Tuesday night.
Atlas was apparently evaluating matches during the evening and approached Punk earlier in the day and told him that taping his hands and arms was "not the look the office wanted".
Punk came out during the taping with his hands and arms taped. Atlas was not happy that he didn't take his advice. After the show during a post-show meeting, Atlas made a speech about people with attitudes. He was staring at Punk the entire time. Punk finally lost it and asked Atlas why he was starting at him as he was giving his attitude speech.
The two exchanged words and Punk loudly asked Atlas, "Do you even watch our show? Do you even know who I am?".
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Today marks the ten year anniversary of the Kane character. Kane made his WWF debut on October 5, 1997 at Badd Blood 1997, costing The Undertaker his Hell in a Cell match with Shawn Michaels. After failed stints as the evil dentist Isaac Yankem, DDS, and the fake "Diesel", Glen Jacobs finally found his niche in the Kane character. In an interesting little known fact, officials originally wanted Dan "Waylon Mercy" Spivey to reprise the role of Kane. Two years earlier, Spivey suffered a back injury after being power bombed by Diesel that forced him to permanently retire from professional wrestling in October of 1995. Spivey decided to not come out of retirement for the role and so the Kane gimmick went to Jacobs.
-- This week on WWE Heat, Gene Snitsky and Charlie Haas make their long-awaited returns to the ring. Snitsky wrestles Jerry Miles, a 10 year veteran who wrestles on indy shows as J-Rocc. Snitsky was quietly suspended in late August for failing a drug test. The returning Charlie Haas takes on Super Crazy. Haas was suspended for purchasing drugs over the Internet, which is a violation of the WWE Wellness Policy. Other matches on Heat include Ron Simmons vs. Daivari and The Highlanders vs. two people from OVW in Justin LaRoche and Jay Bradley. You can watch Heat at this link.
-- This week's "Diva Dish" is all about Lilian Garcia. She talks about her music album, ¡Quiero Vivir!, which hits stores next Tuesday. She also talks about her grueling schedule this month as she'll be flying all over the place for appearances to promote her album, in addition to handling her regularly scheduled ring announcing duties at WWE shows. However, she doesn't mind the grueling schedule. "It's going to be a grueling schedule, but I'm not complaining one bit because this is what I wanted, for so long. This is the one thing I wanted in my life," Lilian said. You can read the article at this link.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Backstage Kelly/Miz/Balls Mahoney Storyline News
Partial Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter
The Kelly Kelly/Miz/Balls Mahoney storyline has been entirely booked by Dusty Rhodes. He's very hands on when it comes to this storyline as he is laying out everything in it. Rhodes came up with the storyline a few months ago, then pitched it to Stephanie, and she gave her approval for it. Both Rhodes and Vince have worked hard on coaching Kelly Kelly on her reactions in the angle, and the feeling is that she's made major progress as a character due to the angle. Other WWE writers haven't interfered in the progress of the angle because ECW storylines sometimes fall below the radar, and thus no one has bothered to come in and tweak it to their liking. Furthermore, Rhodes already knows where the storyline is heading because he has the entire angle booked with a start, middle and a finish. He actually did that in advance. This is different from the norm because WWE storylines are usually booked on a week-to-week basis.
Raw writers Brian Gewirtz and Ed Koskey find Hacksaw Jim Duggan to be useful as a comedy figure, and that explains why they keep him on the roster. Although, it probably helps that he always gets a good reception from the crowd as well.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Former WWE star Scott Hall appeared at indy show in Little Rock, Arkansas last night. Hall told fans that he would be working for AAA in Mexico soon. Sean Waltman, a close friend of Hall, has been working in AAA regularly in recent months with his girlfriend Alicia "Ryan Shamrock" Webb.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WWE sent out the following release yesterday afternoon:
Michael Lake Enters The Ring As President, WWE Films
STAMFORD , Conn. , October 4, 2007 – World Wrestling Entertainment® has hired Michael Lake as President of its WWE Films division. A 36-year veteran of the movie and television industries, Lake recently served as Executive Producer for WWE Film’s The Condemned, starring Stone Cold Steve Austin™.
As President of WWE Films replacing Joel Simon, Lake will report directly to WWE® Chairman, Vince McMahon. He will be tasked with developing theatrical and direct-to-video opportunities for WWE Films that provide unmatched on-screen action as vehicles for WWE Superstars. In addition to feature films, Lake will also work to develop new television projects that will benefit from an affiliation with WWE or its Superstars.
Michael Lake has been producing films and television shows for 20 years. Throughout his career, Lake has overseen production for such hits as The Matrix Trilogy, Miss Congeniality, Ocean’s Eleven and Ocean’s Twelve. Lake currently sits on the Advisory Board of the Association of Film Commissioners International.
WWE established its WWE Films division to explore options in filmed entertainment in order to promote its Superstars and capitalize on its intellectual property and worldwide fan base. WWE Films’ third release, The Condemned, starring Stone Cold Steve Austin, was recently released on DVD and Blu-ray and was the No. 2 DVD rental in the U.S. in its first week of release.
Additional information on World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWE) can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com. For information on our global activities, go to http://www.wwe.com/worldwide/
-30-
Media Contact: Gary Davis, 203-353-5066
Investor Contact: Michael Weitz, 203-352-8642
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
