Connecticut newspaper publishes story on WWE scrubbing racy footage from the internet.
It was reported earlier this week on assorted wrestling news sites that WWE was working with YouTube (with whom they have a million dollar deal) in taking down as many of the company’s…. well, less-family friendly content.
Linda McMahon continues to be attacked by opponents for the content of WWE programming in its pre-PG days. WWE, who usually stress that they are NOT affiliated with Linda anymore, actually issued a statement last week acknowleding that they were doing this, but were doing so not to benefit Linda, but to protect their own image which they felt was being hurt by these political attacks which were presented “without context.”
Unfortunately for Linda and WWE, McMahon’s opponent and local media have picked up on the story, and of course have now accused her of not only trying to erase her past, but being in cahoots with the wrestling organisation while doing so.
I actually went to Smackdown, they were here last week. I saw [Sin Cara] backstage. And I can always tell if a wrestler’s happy, if they’re being fucked with; you can always tell. All these wrestlers always wear it on their face. And you could tell that he was like… kinda sad. And I asked him, I goes; ‘so uh… what match are you?’ And he just goes ‘I’m on that fuckin’ NXT.’ So you knew he wasn’t happy.
- Konnan tells Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer about his meeting with Sin Cara backstage at a recent Smackdown! show.
Without giving any specifics, Kevin Nash said last night on twitter that he found out a close friend was fired from WWE. He then ranted about not wanting to be in their hall of fame, going so far as to claim he told his wife to turn down any offers in the event he dies.
There is something to watch. Brianna & Nicole Garcia, the Bella Twins in WWE, are doing an autograph show on 5/19 at Frank & Sons in the City of Industry, CA. They are being advertised as “Brianna and Nichole, formerly The Bella Twins in WWE.” We also got word of a convention in New Jersey that has them booked although is not advertising it yet, and WWE talent is not allowed at their events. If they are not on television tonight, I’d read something into this. Given Nikki Bella just beat Beth Phoenix in a non-title match at Smackdown, it wouldn’t seem that they would be quitting or being let go today. There were rumors over the weekend that WWE had made some cuts but they wouldn’t be announced until everything was finalized and everyone was contacted. WWE did not confirm anything regarding the Twins.
[Yesterday, Thursday the 5th of April was] the 30 year anniversary of the very first Jerry Lawler vs. Andy Kaufman match on April 5, 1982, at the Mid South Coliseum in Memphis. While nobody outside of the Memphis metro area knew about the match beforehand, by the end of the week, it was easily the most famous pro wrestling match of its era.
-Dave Meltzer, Thursday Update, F4WOnline.com
Kaufman vs. Lawler is one of the best examples of a celebrity taking part in wrestling, both in terms of the success of the angle as well as the sheer entertainment value of the celebrities role. Kaufman was tremendous in his role, as was Lawler. Unless you go out of your way to track down footage of Lawler in his prime, which even in the age of the internet can be tough at times, you might not realise just what a tremendous performer he was. He still shines from time to time in the modern era such as in his feud with The Miz in 2011.
Looking back on that feud highlights the potential there is for celebrity involvement in wrestling, and really further illustrates how tacky and useless many of the modern cameos in WWE and TNA can be.
According to this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter; many higher ups in WWE are quite pleased with UFC cancelling their pay-per-view from Montreal, which was initially scheduled to take place eight days before Wrestlemania. UFC running on the same weekend as WWE shows has proven to do significant damage to WWE buyrates, including the 2010 Wrestlemania which had a very disappointing number following a UFC event one day earlier. While not quite as damaging, the eight day gap has also proven to hinder WWE pay-per-view numbers due to the big crossover of MMA and pro wrestling fans, with many paying customers favouring UFC.
The UFC show was cancelled (although UFC refer to it as a postponement) due to lack of a strong main event, and the Montreal show will take place with a new main event later this year.
This means Wrestlemania 28, with John Cena vs. The Rock will go unopposed on pay-per-view.
While Vince McMahon continues to publicly deny any cross over between WWE and UFC’s audience, he has admitted to UFC hurting WWE pay-per-views, claiming that cable companies give UFC commercials more airtime, which hurts WWE.
