JBL Returning To WWE Full-Time
JBL has announced on Facebook that he has signed a deal to stay at the WWE announce table on a full-time basis, making his temporary fill-in a permanent return. JBL said he will be doing SmackDown with Josh Matthews, posting:
Very happy WWE and I have worked out a deal for me to return on a full time basis. There came a need when my friend Jerry Lawler had a heart attack and was not able to work, however, I realized how much I enjoyed being back and this was the basis for my decision to return.
Update on The Rock
At this time, early plans in 2013 are calling for The Rock to make more appearances than previous years. With The Rock in the WWE Title picture for the Royal Rumble, he is expected to be the biggest focal point heading into WrestleMania 29. There has not been a set amount of return dates agreed upon, but both sides realize that he is going to have to make more appearances, on both RAW and SmackDown.
Why WWE Changed The Survivor Series Main Event
Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter
As seen Monday on Raw, WWE overhauled its plans for Survivor Series on November 18, 2012.
On the show, Vince McMahon mandated that CM Punk will defend his WWEChampionship in a Triple Threat Match against Ryback and John Cena at the pay-per-view event. With this turn of events, Team Punk is now known as Team Ziggler, while Team Foley has an empty fifth slot. Prior to the change, The Miz quit the group in protest of Punk’s leadership, and was replaced by Wade Barrett after Paul Heyman aggressively sought him.
According to sources, WWE changed their plans for multiple reasons. Among them was the belief that the originally scheduled main event, Team Punk vs. Team Foley in Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Tag Team Match, would draw dismal pay-per-view buy numbers. With rare exceptions, tag team matches as main events are generally mediocre earners on pay-per-view. The entire Bragging Rights concept was dropped for that very reason.
What also swayed plans for Survivor Series were the pay-per-view buy figures for Hell in a Cell on DirecTV being “surprisingly strong.” Privately, McMahon credited Ryback for the result and felt placing him in a ten-man tag team match, even though he would likely be left standing, would not be beneficial to him. McMahon feels they need to capitalize on Ryback’s momentum, which would require the muscle-bound grappler to challenge for the WWE Championship in the main event.
Super Smackdown TV ratings
WWE Super Smackdown on Tuesday, November 6 scored a dismal 1.52 rating on Election Night. This was down four-tenths of a rating from where Smackdown was the past month on Friday nights.
Smackdown averaged 2.20 million viewers. The audience was the lowest of the year for a first-run episode and nearly the lowest of 2012 for any airing. Only the July 6 replay of the previous Tuesday special had fewer viewers this year.
Kharma’s second return date
Awesome Kong (formerly Kharma in WWE) has been added to the next SHINE women’s wrestling show on Friday, November 16 in Ybor City, Florida. Kong is scheduled for pictures and autographs, but is not booked for a match.
WWE 13 Patch
THQ has released a patch for WWE ’13 that will fix several issues, including one where the game crashes while using created arenas in Universe Mode.
The patch went live for the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360. You can download it by logging on to either the Playstation Network or Xbox Live. It is approximately 681 MB large. You can find the entire press releasehere.
Chris Masters Rips Linda McMahon
Chris Mordetzky, who appeared as Chris Masters for WWE, feels the McMahon family needs to step away from competitive politics after formerWWE CEO and President Linda McMahon spent upwards of $100 million on two failed U.S. Senate campaigns.
He tweeted Tuesday upon learning of McMahon’s loss to Democratic Rep. Chris Murphy for a Senate seat in Connecticut, “100million dollars later its time for the McMahons to quit politics.”
The Rock Lands Major Movie Role
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has secured the lead role for Hercules, reports Deadline.com.
Production on the film is scheduled to begin in “early 2013,” which could coincide with Johnson’s involvement with WWE in the weeks leading up toWrestleMania 29.
The Brett Ratner-directed action film will be co-produced by Paramount and MGM. The screenplay is based on Radical Studios’ graphic novel Hercules: The Thracian Wars.
More Later!
