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WWE

WrestleMania and Mickey Rourke, Draft news, Creative news

- At this point, the plan for WrestleMania XXV is to have Mickie Rourke sit at ringside and get involved somehow with the finish of the Jericho match, reports WrestlingObserver.com.  The idea is to build Rourke up as a former boxer and somehow implement a Big Show-type of punch to Jericho when Rourke is confronted.  As far as Jericho’s opponent for the event, Vince McMahon has apparently been telling people that he has it covered, but no one knows who it is at this point.  Hulk Hogan is saying that they could not come to an agreement and unless plans change at the eleventh hour (which is very possible), it won’t be him.  There is some talk of Jerry Lawler being the guy to face Jericho since he’s stated in the past that he would like to wrestle at WrestleMania before his career is over.  He has never wrestled on a WrestleMania event.  Nothing is confirmed at this point, however.

- This year’s draft decisions will mostly be decided the weekend of WrestleMania due to the fact that the entire creative team will be there in Houston.  Vince plans on holding extended meetings that weekend to discuss the direction heading out of WrestleMania and after the draft.  It does look at this point that Triple H is definitely coming over to Raw because most of the key people don’t believe his WrestleMania match with Orton is going to be a one-off deal.  Outside of that, it doesn’t seem like much talk has went into the draft yet.

- As we’ve reported, Freddy Prinze, Jr. is now out of creative, although reports now indicate that many have expected this for quite some time, specifically Stephanie McMahon.  She offered him a promotion complete with more duties a couple of months ago, but he declined claiming he was looking at giving notice a few days later.  Stephanie talked him into staying on part-time for a while, but he virtually took himself out of the picture for weeks leading up to his departure.  He was on the creative email-list that went out, but had not been attending shows and if he did give any input via email, no one knew about it.  The idea is that WWE would like to keep some sort of working relationship with Prinze, but it will not be in any creative capacity.

Credit: wrestlezone.com

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Various news: ECW rating, Former Diva pregnant, Lawsuit dropped against WWE

- The February 24, 2009 edition of ECW on Sci-Fi did a 1.4 cable rating.

- Congratulations are in order for former WWE diva and Diva Search contestant, Amy Weber, who announced on her Myspace page that she is expecting her first child.

- The Stamford Advocate is reporting that Senior U.S. District Judge Peter Dorsey dismissed the lawsuit against WWE by Chris Kanyon, Raven and Mike Sanders. They were suing WWE claiming that they were misrepresented by the company as independent contractors and should have been considered full time employees. You can get the full story here

Credit: wrestlezone.com and 411mania.com

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CM Punk talks about house shows, his good year, building ROH, and more

- Alfonso Castillo of NY Newsday has posted an interview with CM Punk as part of the hype for the Nassau Coliseum show tomorrow.  You can read the full interview by clicking here.

The advantage of house shows versus televised events: “I think as a fan of wrestling, you can’t beat going to TV for the grand spectacle of the whole thing with the pyro, the music, and just the entire event atmosphere. It’s larger than life. But when you go to a house show, if you’re a wrestling fan, I think you have a better time because we have the freedom to pay more attention to the audience. We have the freedom to kind of go a little bit off in different directions. It’s more relaxed if that makes any sense. I know personally, I always have a better time on house shows. Sometimes at television you have to think about it. You’re doing a specific timed, television show. On a house show, we don’t have those restraints.”

Punk’s successful 2008: “The fact that I’m 30 years old, and in just this last year, in one entire year, I was ECW champion, I won the Money in the Bank at WrestleMania, I became World Champion, I was Tag Team Champion and I was the Intercontinental Champion, you know? And I won a Slammy.”

Thoughts on Ring Of Honor: “I’m proud to be able to say that I’m one of the guys that built that place – to just be able to say that that place is around because of me and handful of other guys. When times were tough, we were the guys who carried that place on our back – me, Samoa Joe, Homicide, Gabe Sapolsky. And of course there are countless others who are probably going to be mad that I didn’t mention them in this interview. But when you boil it down, we were the core guys. And I just love the fact that we built a place for guys to work and to learn. I’m very proud of that.”

Credit: PWinsider.com

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TNA

Mick Foley discusses TNA storylines and wrestling again

- Mick Foley recently conducted an interview with Slam! Wrestling and discussed quite a bit, including twists and turns that the fans should look out for in upcoming months, him training for the Lockdown pay per view, TNA critics, and much more. The following are excerpts from the interview. To read the article in its entirety, click here.

On twists and turns in the MEM/Frontline angle:

“I think the feud has given a lot of focus to the show. We haven’t seen anybody jump sides, and depending on who does, it could be even more interesting. (It could) shake things up in a big way. Who knows? It might be me.”

On the timing of his first match back in the ring:

“Clearly it wasn’t the biggest match I could have been in, but I think it may have been the right time. It’s unlike (my last stint in WWE) in that now, it’s not going to be one match every couple of years; it’ll be a few matches a year. You don’t want your jumping off point to be the absolute zenith of your time there.”

On TNA’s critics:

“Some people have a love-hate relationship with TNA like they really want it to work but sometimes they get frustrated when things don’t seem to go the way they like it. (To those people, I say) just have patience. Some weeks we’re going to hit the bullseye, sometimes we’re going to miss the target completely. But overall, a year from now, I think people will think that the company has made great strides.”

On training for a match return at Lockdown:

“I am training and gearing up as if I might have to do something at that show. I’ll leave it at that, for people to wonder about.”

Credit: wrestlezone.com

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ROH

ROH Newswire for Feb. 26

- Ring of Honor kicks off an historic weekend starting tomorrow (Friday) night in Danbury, CT at the Danbury Police Athletic League Building, 35 Hayestown Road, Danbury, CT 06811. The event starts at 8:00 PM. The show features an ROH World Title Elimination Match with Nigel McGuinness defending vs. Jerry Lynn vs. Tyler Black vs. Jimmy Jacobs; ROH World Tag Team Champion Kevin Steen & Jay Briscoe vs. Chris Hero & Eddie Edwards with Larry Sweeney in a Grudge Tag Team Match; Bryan Danielson vs. Delirious; Brent Albright vs. Claudio Castagnoli; The Necro Butcher vs. Brodie Lee in an Anything Goes Street Fight; plus more. Tickets will be available to purchase at the door on the night of the show.

- The inaugural TV tapings for Ring of Honor on HDNet take place THIS WEEKEND in Philadelphia, PA at The Arena (former New Alhambra Arena/ECW Arena), 7 Ritner Street, with a zip code of 19148. The event on Saturday night starts at 7:30 PM. The show on Sunday has a special 3 PM bell time. This is it, perhaps the most important weekend in ROH history as HDNet and ROH present the first National Television tapings in our 7-year company history! Don’t be left out as we tape the first 6 weeks of the brand new television series, which debuts on HDNet on March 21st! Scheduled to appear this weekend in Philadelphia are: ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness, Bryan Danielson, ROH World Tag Team Champion Kevin Steen, Jerry Lynn, The Necro Butcher, Tyler Black, Jay Briscoe, Chris Hero & Eddie Edwards with Larry Sweeney, Austin Aries, Brent Albright, Claudio Castagnoli, Delirious, Jimmy Jacobs & Brodie Lee of The Age of the Fall, Kenny King, Rhett Titus, & more. Tickets for both events will be available to purchase at the door on the day/night of the show.

- We’re happy to announce the 6th and final TV main event to be taped this Sunday at the Arena in South Philly, and it pits two of ROH’s best against one another. Bryan Danielson versus Tyler Black. What more needs to be said!? You DON’T want to miss your opportunity to be on National Television with ROH for the first time! If this match doesn’t personify the “ROH 101″ concept and give a huge taste of the style and action that new fans can come to expect from Ring of Honor on HDNet, nothing will. Come down to the Arena this Saturday and Sunday, as ROH and HDNet look to kick off a long-term relationship, and we want each and every one of you along for the ride!

- ROH officials have been told to expect a visit from Prince Nana at some point this weekend, and he’s apparently coming to “talk business”.

- ROH Officials are happy to announce that “M-Dogg” Matt Cross will return to action on March 20th in suburban Pittsburgh! He will team with his former Resilience teammate, Erick Stevens, to face the brash Kenny King and Rhett Titus in a contest of two teams made up of supreme athleticism, power, and according to Titus, “dependable thrust that you can trust”. Can M-Dogg make a splash in his return? Will King and Titus enter the ring in Pittsburgh the newly crowned World Tag Team Champions?

- Just signed for ROH’s 7th Anniversary Celebration at the Hammerstein Ballroom on March 21st are two matches that would main event anywhere in the country! D’Lo Brown looks to continue to impress ROH officials and fans as he has signed to face Jay Briscoe in Manhattan! “Man, I got all kind of respect for D’Lo,” said Jay. “And it’s an honor to face him in NYC. But D’Lo, I gotta warn you, this is ROH, and in ROH it’s simple. Man up, or get out.” Also signed for singles action is “Lightning” Mike Quackenbush! Quackenbush, making his return to ROH, will be locking up with Jerry Lynn! “I grew to love watching Jerry Lynn perform,” said Quack. “And to see his revival of sorts in ROH has been refreshing; it’ll be great to test myself against Jerry and to once again perform for the great ROH fans.”

- Bryan Danielson sent word to the ROH Booking Committee that he wants Bison Smith in the worst way, and apparently one match isn’t enough. He’s asked to face Bison in both St. Louis on March 13th and on the ROH debut in Indianapolis on March 14th. We have yet to receive word from Bison on whether or not he’ll accept this bold challenge from “the Best in the World”.

- We’re running a special sale this weekend on the ROH website and at the live events in Danbury & Philadelphia. For a limited time when you Buy 2 Ring of Honor DVD, you can get 1 Free. Full details on the sale along with the instructions on how to take advantage of this deal on the ROH website can be found here: http://www.rohwrestling.com/news/article.aspx?id=2643 . New ROH DVD releases include “Full Circle” from Manassas, VA from January 16th. This event features Features ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness vs. Tyler Black; Bryan Danielson vs. Jimmy Jacobs; Jerry Lynn vs. Austin Aries; Jay Briscoe & Roderick Strong vs. The American Wolves; Delirious vs. The Necro Butcher; plus more. Also available is “Injustice II” from Edison, NJ on January 17th. This show features the controversial Nigel McGuinness vs. Tyler Black ROH World Title Match; Bryan Danielson vs. Jerry Lynn; Roderick Strong & Erick Stevens vs. The American Wolves in a Lumberjack Strap Match; Austin Aries vs. Jay Briscoe vs. Jimmy Jacobs; plus more.

- There is a great article on The Necro Butcher here talking about “The Wrestler” and his career at http://www.dailymail.com/entertainment/200902251202 . Speaking of “The Wrestler”, click http://www.you-tube.com/watch?v=uK6smwWg8bc to see Bruce Springstein’s video for the title track in the film.

Credit: 411mania.com

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Other

Father of man injured in Nick Hogan crash arrested for murder plot

- In what has to be seen as a shocking turn of events, John Graziano Sr., whose son was severely injured in a car wreck as Nick Hogan’s passenger in 2007, was arrested for a suspected murder plot against his wife. Graziano Sr. is accused of hiring a hitman to kill his wife Debra. He reportedly had been plotting to have his wife killed in a car wreck. The hitman that Graziano Sr. dealt with was in actuality an undercover cop who received some $2,000 and a gift card from Graziano as payment for the proposed killing.

You can read more about it here

Credit: PWinsider.com

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