--------

--Star of "The Marine" is not John Cena, instead it will be The Miz. Depending on how they work the shooting schedule, he may be off television for a while. At best, he'll probably be able to work Raw but no house shows during filming. Given the level his character is at right now, just giving him the break would be just fine as it's not like if he can't work shows that he's needed for TV ratings.

The filming will be done in June.

--C.M. Punk did an interview in Chicago promoting last night's show and noted Paul Heyman will be a talking head on his upcoming DVD. The Heyman interview is expected to be filmed next month. Heyman and Punk will also do commentary together on some of his big matches.

--Edge pulled out of his 5/11 appearance for Resistance Pro Wrestling because of a change in the filming of the TV show "Haven" that he has a regular role in. He said that he would appear and do an autograph signing at a future show. The show at the Teamster Auditorium in Chicago will now include Vader and Shelly Martinez.

--Randy Orton on Brock Lesnar on Fight Club Chicago: "I'm a big Brock Lesnar fan and I've always been. We came up together about ten years ago. Me and him, we were buds. We've lost touch over the years as you usually do with guys like that, but I wish him the best. I know he's had a few health issues as of late. But he'll conquer those just like he's conquered every other obstacle that has come his way. I truly feel he's one of the few human beings I've ever met that have been able to accomplish as much as he's accomplished. He puts his mind, body and soul into it and he's gonna get it done." Interview is at http://www.sportstownchicago.com/fightclub

--Kurt Angle has a role in the movie "Pain and Gain," which is the movie Dwayne Johnson stars in as a jacked up bodybuilder.
(well at least that explains the photos in the other thread)

--From last night's radio show talking about former football star Brian Bosworth and pro wrestling, the actual story is that WCW once offered him $50,000 to manage Sting in a PPV match, but he turned it down

--Netflix is listing Randy Orton: Evolution of a Predator and the Bret Hart/Shawn Michaels sit down as two of their new selections.

--Matt Hardy was at Chicago City Limits in Schaumburg watching Extreme Rules at a sports bar. He was there for the entire show. The bar was full, more to see the show than Hardy but he took photos signed autographs and sold merchandise. He was pushing his new shirt, "Stronger Than Death - Matt Hardy," which is I guess his new slogan. On the back of the shirt is the same phrase in Spanish.

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According to the official Facebook page of Big Time Wrestling, Tammy “Sunny” Sytch no-showed the promotion’s Friday and Saturday shows in Maine. She also no-showed Live Pro Wrestling on Thursday after the promotion paid for her flight and half of her appearance fee. She was replaced by fellow WWE Hall of Famer Tony Atlas on all three shows.

“Thanks to all the fans who joined us in Saco and Presque Isle! We are very sorry that Tammy Sytch’s personal demons prevented her from showing up to the towns. Mr. USA Tony Atlas was a class act as a replacement! We’ll see you all again soon!” the promotion stated Sunday afternoon in a message that was deleted hours later.

Sytch has no-showed several advertised appearances in the past year including four other bookings since March. She was recently scheduled to appear for American Icon Autographs at WrestleReunion in Toronto, Ontario but “personal issues” prevented her from appearing at the event. American Icon Autographs stated they have no intention on working with her again after having bailed on the organization a third time.

The WWE Hall of Famer has been battling health problems in recent months; she has stated multiple times on her personal Facebook page being sick and/or hospitalized. Sytch claimed Sunday evening via Facebook that she suffered a concussion and a black eye after “taking a bad fall a week ago in the rain.”


http://www.prowrestlingscoops.com/featu ... -inside-2/

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WWE: Brock Lesnar's Most Controversial Moments
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1167 ... _multiline

Bleacher Report sucks, but Snowden is pretty good.

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Just saw this and didn't want to make a new thread.

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Top WWE Star Nixed from The Marine 3 Role, Update on Abraham Washington's Stable
By Marc Middleton
May 1, 2012 - 8:42:12 AM


- WWE has added Abraham Washington to the RAW roster page. Washington looks to be adding Epico, Primo and Rosa Mendes to his stable. The apparent name of his stable will be Abraham Washington's Enterprise.

- WWE was not planning on announcing The Miz starring in The Marine 3 for several weeks but when news broke online yesterday, they decided to come out with the press release. Before they decided on The Miz, CM Punk was the lead candidate to star in the movie. Vince McMahon nixed the idea because Punk is too valuable to be taken off the road.

As noted before, filming begins on June 11th in Vancouver. It will run for 20 days. They are still looking for an actor to star in the lead villain role.


That would've been hilarious.

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That bar is like 3 minutes from me. Quite the hellhole

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Team Cutler.

Didn;t take long for them to figure out Punk can't act worth a lick...

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This is my signature...

That's why it would've been great.

Can you imagine the unintentional comedy?

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RntKxbNhfJ8&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Husky Harris' new gimmick. Not bad.

A bit Waylon Mercy-esque.

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I've seen a few bands there. Not the most pleasant place to be.

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Chris Jericho will definitely be gone from WWE by Summerslam in August, as Jericho's "Fozzy" band has been announced for the Uproar Festival August 15 - September 30. Fozzy is one of the spotlighted bands along with Godsmack, Staind, Shinedown, and Papa Roach. Dates and locations have yet to be announced, but it's a 3-to-4-show-per-week tour that would make it difficult for Jericho to work for WWE during that time.

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Punk as the Marine would have been the most hilarious thing ever.



I kinda like it. At least a character of some sort. Better name and gear too. Very Waylon Mercy as said, which I thought was kinda cool back then.

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-- As far as stories of Brock flipping his lid after Extreme Rules on Sunday night, well, he did flip his lid, but how much of that was real and how much of it was a way to convince the other wrestlers that him losing to John Cena was the right call, that's open to speculation. At least part of it, and maybe most of it, was a work on the boys, but there were a few things that Lesnar was legitimately upset about. Perhaps not upset enough to tear a locker room apart over, but upset nonetheless. The company tried to get out word Monday that he'd quit, I guess hoping various websites would report it so everyone would be surprised when he walked out on Raw. Unfortunately, they did a poor job getting the info out, particularly since by the time most of us heard it, we'd also heard that Brock was, in fact, in the building and scheduled to do the show. Dave Meltzer and I have tons of details on what the hell is going on, why the finish of Sunday's PPV was booked the way it was, and more on the new Observer Radio that is up on the site right now.

-- WWE's official explanation of the HHH injury: "Triple H’s arm was placed in a hold that created a tremendous amount of torque on his upper arm and elbow. “He has a non-displaced fracture of distal humorous," said a supposed doctor. "Fortunately, this is not something that needs surgery with pins and screws. We’ll be treating him with a sling for comfort and following with him in the next few days." The idea was for Brock to return for a match with HHH at SummerSlam, but you know how those things go.

-- The Bellas' contract expired and they are now taking convention dates. Their firing angle, which none of you saw since it only aired on Youtube,

-- Smackdown tonight is scheduled to have Sheamus & Randy Orton vs. Kane & Daniel Bryan.

-- JR's blog here: http://www.jrsbarbq.com/blog/monday-blo ... wweshopcom

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Since we're conserving threads, is there any update on Sabu? Last I heard, Mustafa kicked down his hotel door to find him sprawled out. Off to the hospital where Sabu subsequently checked out of.

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Middle Aged Crazy, like Uncle Terry

HERE AND THERE
Besides a broken neck in two places, Marcus “Buff” Bagwell, 42, also suffered a crushed nose, a broken leg, a broken jaw and
a broken cheekbone. He is going to need neck surgery first. His wife called 911 immediately after Bagwell called her and said
he thought he was about to have a seizure. In her 911 call, she said how her husband called and said he thought he was going
to have a seizure, and that he had changed medication. She noted he was taking new medication to fight off bacteria that he
believed he had gotten from previous antibiotic. She also said that he was trying to cut back on pain pills and had a previous
seizure. Bagwell was found barely conscious and covered in blood when he was rushed to the hospital. Bagwell is eating and
breathing on his own. The first few days were touch-and-go but his breathing tube was removed on 4/25 and he was eating
solid foods and talking by the end of the week. Doctors were very impressed by his progress. He was attributing his issues to
having gone to the dentist, having some work done, and being put on antibiotics, that weren’t getting the job done. So he got
new antibiotics and started feeling weird. He was driving and felt like he was going to have a seizure, called his wife to tell her
he was going to drive to the hospital and to call 911. Then he passed out, the car his a median and rolled several times. A lot of
the people he used to hang around with in WCW, like Lex Luger, Scotty Riggs, DDP, Mick Foley, Sting and the Steiners have all
been in touch with him. Bagwell’s former tag team partner, Scott Antol (Scotty Riggs) just got his gall bladder removed after it was one the way to no
longer working.

----

Kurt Angle has a role in the movie “Pain and Gain,” that stars Dwayne Johnson and is currently being filmed. Johnson is playing
the role of a bodybuilder, and well, looks like a bodybuilder. The reason Angle wasn’t at the weekend house shows as
advertised was the movie filming.

----

Edge’s contract expired on 4/30 and he didn’t sign a new deal. He agreed to appear as a guest on Billy Corgan’s Resistance
Pro Wrestling show on 5/11, but then had to cancel because it coincided with filming of “Haven” on Syfy, where he has a
recurring role. He did promise to appear at one of their upcoming events.

For those wondering about Jericho’s schedule and when he’s leaving, Jericho and band Fozzy have announced that they will be
part of the Uproar Festival, a tour that includes Godsmack, Staind, Shinedown and other bands from 8/15 to 9/30, so Jericho
will be finishing, at least temporarily, by that time.

Even though he goes back-and-forth like the wind, officially Michael Cole as a heel announcer was supposed to have ended
with WrestleMania a few weeks back. He’s supposed to be an edgy character down the road now, although he was still favoring
John Laurinaitis on TV, but in the Cena angle, was trying to be sympathetic to Cena and not behind Laurinaitis.


Paul Heyman will be coming to Stamford some time in the next few weeks to do an interview for an upcoming Punk DVD
release. Heyman had also done similar work for last year’s Austin release. In both cases, it was because the wrestler doing
the project was hands on about the release and wanted his involvement.

-----

On the broadcast of Raw on 4/30 in Mexico, they announced Sin Cara would be returning for the May shows. He was doing
media interviews to promote Memorial Day weekend shows in Hermosillo, Aguascalientes and Guadalajara, saying he would
be returning by then, and may be on television sooner than that. He said he expects things to go a lot better for him. He said it
was difficult learning to work WWE style and actually mentioned having to work the other side (Mexico is the only country that
works the right side predominately) was much harder than one would think. But he said he’s mentally now natural with it.

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Used to be ok for bands. Haven't been there in years. Would have laughed my ass of if I went there for the PPV and saw Fat Hardy.

-- Paul Heyman is expected to be a somewhat regular character on TV building to Lesnar vs. HHH at SummerSlam. They need someone to keep the story alive since Lesnar has limited dates built into his contract and WWE burned through four of them very quickly last month. And there is no better person in the world than Heyman to do so, since he understands Brock's character better than anyone.

-- CM Punk got into a war of words on Twitter after tweeting his support for gay marriage and being lambasted. He told one fan to kill himself and another fan to drink bleach. Later, he ended up apologizing. "I was pretty worked up today. The amendment 1 situation had me all wound up. I stand by my thoughts on gay marriage 100%. How I defended... That stance was 100% wrong. I admit it. You can't stoop to others levels. Sometimes I fight fire with fire and it isn't ways the best way." Regarding wishing death on a follower, he wrote: "I apologize. I don't want you to kill yourself. I want you to better yourself. Just as I want to better myself."

-- As noted on the front page, the final rating for UFC on FOX Saturday night was a 1.5 with 2.4 million viewers. The prelims on FUEL did 86,000, by far the lowest of all time.

-- TNA is going all out on Youtube. Their entire library of archived PPVs dating back to 2004 is now available on demand at youtube.com/TNAwrestling, and the 2011 and 2012 PPVs will be added shortly. They're available for one-week viewing at 99 cents each, which is actually a hell of a deal for the 2006-2007 period where they were doing awesome shows more months than not. They noted that you can purchase the shows on Youtube, TNAonDemand.com, Xbox Live Marketplace, iTunes marketplace, Sony Playstation, and soon, both Netflix and Hulu.
( I still stand by TNA 2005 being the best year in ppv history).

new JR blog: http://www.jrsbarbq.com/blog/monday-blo ... s-products

-- John Cena's appearance on Dream Machines airs tonight on Syfy.

-- Shannon Moore will be making his first interview since taking his hiatus from TNA. Shannon will appear on Highway2Helms this Wednesday night, May 9th, at
7pm EST. H2H can be seen LIVE at geekweek.com/live

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--Take a look at the famous Danny Hodge issue of Sports Illustrated from 1957. You can also see the Hulk Hogan cover issue from 1985.

look for "view this issue" right in the middle

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/ ... /index.htm

sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/cover/featured/7506/index.htm

--ESPN had a story yesterday on C.M. Punk singing the national anthem at the Cubs game. The Cubs twitter account got a number of requests for him to do so and since he's thrown out the first pitch at games before, they knew who he was and how to contact him. Punk said that when he's home he likes to see at least one Cubs home game per homestand. He joked about being handed the words to Take Me Out To The Ballgame.
espn.go.com/blog/playbook/sounds/post/_/id/988/cm-punk-lives-dream-sings-at-cubs-game

-------------------

ROH didn't do itself any favors yesterday as in what was a smart move on the surface. To get people used to getting video from their web site, they put up a Bryan Danielson vs. C.M. Punk match but the interest was such that the video ended up not working, which after their problems with the previous two iPPV shows and now switching to themselves as a carrier, was not the best time for this to happen.

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DJ Waleed Coyote, who works for 102 Jamz in Greensboro, North Carolina, is challenging Chris Jericho to a three-on-three no rules match with the proceeds from the match going to North Carolina music charities.

The DJ says he was involved in a verbal altercation with Chris Jericho at The Treasure Club in the early hours of May 7th. Reportedly Jericho was with R-Truth and a WWE referee.

AllHipHop.com reports that Jericho got mad and took Coyote's mobile phone when the man tried taking a photo of Jericho inside the club.

Coyote said: "The thing that bothered me about this dude is that we weren’t formerly introduced and he acted out of line and you can’t do that in North Carolina. He would have done that to anyone in this state and you can’t do that."

I'm sure Jericho was being a jagoff, but the bold part alone makes me wish he put this guy in The Walls on the dance floor. I hope Iron Sheik comes to North Carolina, humbles Coyote, and asks him to marry him.

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With the last 2 Raws pretty much being weak when I read most of the comments on here and I would say they have done nothing to help sell this ppv also.

I don't know if there just planning to get to Summerslam right now, but it's like there backwards in their thinking right now.

Take the Punk-Bryan match, it should be a good match, but in Reality Bryan should not be getting this match, he has lost 2 ppv matches in a row and both title matches and since Raw is supposed to be the stronger show, wouldn't that make the Smackdown Champ weak.

Back in the day, you pretty much knew the main event for the next ppv by the time the last ppv ended, your Heavyweight Champion would face a winner from an earlier match, like last month, it would have been the Punk-Jericho winner versus Cena-Lesnar winner.

With all that put, I think Daniel Bryan wins, so they get another month out of this.

On Cena-Lauriniatias in the backwards thinking, the stipulation the Laurniatias should have been on the Raw after Cena was attacked, not the last 2 minutes of this week's Raw.

Things always change, but this feud is supposed to continue, so I almost wonder, does Big Show and cost Cena the match and Johny gives him his job back.

My far out one, is since Shane Douglas was on Raw about a month ago, he comes back and helps his former partner save his job.

I know this is a little long, but right now WWE feels if we know things they need to change them and really that's the wrong way of thinking, like Extreme Rules, it was out there that Kharma was coming back, so they changed and went with Layla to get the women's belt. So what if Kharma comes back, some people still may want to see her.

I will add to this, I took a shot at it in the TNA thread, but when it was out there that AJ and Dixie may be hooking up, I actually wanted to see on the tv and did watch that part.

THe WWE won't do this, but Over the LImit PPv is at the least in Non HD 44.95, if they lower the price they would get more buyrates, because they have done nothing to make you spend 45.00 for this ppv, if they lowered to the most for any way you watch it is 35, you could get a couple more buyrates.

To tell the truth, maybe right now they don't feel the need to turn it on, because they have no Competition, TNA is doing nothing to scare them right now, but hopefully it does get back to the time when you look forward to watching it and not just hoping for something good.

Raw to get a third hour permanently starting July 23rd. Given how recent shows have gone, I'm worried this will simply mean more Triple H and Cena promo time.

That's an extremely bad idea.

Stupid company.

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Wow, not a good idea. Do they forget what happen when Nitro went to three hours?
You think with an extra hour we would get more action or more skits/backstagecrap/promos?

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When I am stuck and need to figure something out I always remember the Immortal words of Socrates when he said:"I just drank what?"

That would be great if they used that extra hour to build a legit tag division, elevate a derserving mid-carder, or to have matches that last longer than 3 minutes.....but they won't. They'll use it to sell merchandise, and promote their shitty straight to DVD movies.

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"Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public." ~ H.L. Mencken

I haven't been watching or reading much of anything, so this is only my call. This probably makes too much sense. I think Heyman is about to lead a faction of Lesnar, possibly Punk, possibly Bryan, and some of the Indy darlings in FCW.

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I agree with most of you guys, 2 was good, 3 will be awfull.

I will wonder if this was a WWE decision or the USA Network.

WWE News: Breaking - Raw permanently moving to three hours, WWE announces "interactive elements" for viewers to book matches

May 17, 2012 - 3:58:59 PM

By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor


WWE Raw is permanently moving to three hours on USA Network starting with a three-hour Raw on July 23. The July 23 show will be recognized as Raw's 1,000th show (actual #999) to introduce the permanent timeslot change to 8:00 p.m. EST.

In an announcement Thursday, there was no indication that the additional first hour will be a pre-show or non-arena type show. Instead, Raw will essentially become Viewer's Choice Raw every week.

WWE announced Raw will have "new ways to get involved in the show through WWE.com and social media by deciding matches, stipulations, Superstar development, and more."

WWE CEO Vince McMahon added, "Our new three-hour Raw represents the next generation in interactive television where our fans won’t just watch the show, they will help create it.”

USA Network presidents Chris McCumber and Jeff Wachtel added, "The powerful three-hour block of live TV truly makes USA the year-round destination for young male viewers on Monday nights."

Caldwell's Analysis: I'm stunned by this news. With a lack of star power, over-stretched Creative team, and too much filler already on a two-hour Raw, I would argue WWE needs to go back to one hour before they think about expanding to three hours. Adding an "interactive element" for viewers to book matches shows a lack of Creative sense creating inorganic situations and matches that plagued the themed PPVs introduced over the past few years. Overall, this comes across like WWE's latest toy to "freshen up" Raw, e.g. adding Smackdown stars to Raw, which does not make a difference anymore because it's not treated like a special occurrence.

The business perspective WWE would take is it adds incremental revenue to their TV Rights Fees every quarter from USA Network. But, how much will PPVs suffer? Will Smackdown suffer on Friday nights? Will house show attendance drop when fans get enough of WWE on Monday nights? There are so many business implications that comes with adding an extra hour's worth of TV Rights Revenue.


Yowza...

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WWF In Your House: Monday Night

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I hate to say this but Vince needs to go away and let the kids take over.
Something interesting I found out the other day,In Vinces will all his stock goes to....Shane.

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When I am stuck and need to figure something out I always remember the Immortal words of Socrates when he said:"I just drank what?"

I'll let somebody start the ppv thread, but for the 2 title matches and Cena-Lauriniatis, I will give my thoughts.

The 4-way, Jericho will lose again since he's leaving, Del RIo seems like they always want him to be the Champ but never give him the belt, Orton will get close to winning, but Sheamus holds on.

Bryan-Punk, Like I put earlier this week, Bryan doesn't deserve the title shot after losing 2 straight PPV and title matches, this could be more with the YES Chants, but that being said, I think Bryan wins the belt here to get another month out of Punk-Bryan to get closer to Summerslam.

On Cena-Laurianitis, On Smackdown I heard that if anybody comes down and helps Johny get DQ'edthat there gone and Johny fired, well what if a wrestler comes down and attacks Laurianitis, are they fired. What I mean, I feel Big Show gets involved in this match, he's already been fired.

If this added stipulation was not brought in the last 5 seconds of Raw and more the week or 2 before, I could see Cena winning with Laurniatis being fired, but Lauriniatis will survive and win this match.