More HOF News
King Kong Bundy made a recent tease on his Twitter account that he will be a member of the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2013. Bundy wrote the following:
“Sounds like someone listened to the #Bundyholics regarding my Hall of Fame. Huge announcement tomorrow night.”
We reported yesterday that the late Bam Bam Bigelow is being considered for the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2013.
Bigelow is from New Jersey and was in several WrestleMania matches in Atlantic City or Madison Square Garden. His most famous match was at Wrestlemania 11 against New York Giant Linebacker Lawrence Taylor. The pitch to McMahon included all of this and he is said to be seriously considering it.
Mick Foley is the only confirmed name thus far. An announcement will be made this week on the 20th anniversary of Monday night RAW.
Chris Jericho’s New Projects
Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Chris Jericho is scheduled to start shooting a new web comedy series on 1/20 in Toronto that he created and co-wrote titled, “But I’m Chris Jericho.” The series will be produced by Insight to air on YouTube. Jericho will tour Australia with Fozzy in February as part of the Soundwave Festival. A new show that Jericho hosts on Syfy called “Robot Combat League” will also debut on 2/26.
Three Hour Raw’s
WWE is said to have no plans to cut back to two hours for Monday Night RAW at least through April. A number of earlier reports had indicated that moving to three hours was a call by the USA Network. In the 24 weeks when the show moved to three hours in 2012, Raw averaged 4.07 million viewers.
Who Does Mick Foley Want To Induct Him Into HOF?
TNA Taking Their Pay-Per-View Events On The Road
TNA told their VIP ticketholders at Genesis today that this will be their only live TNA PPV held at Universal Studios in Orlando in 2013.
Lockdown will be held in San Antonio, TX. The Slammiversary and Bound For Glory pay-per-views will also be held outside the Impact Zone. Locations haven’t yet been announced.
WWE’s New Developmental Facility
Construction is continuing and nearly complete on the new WWE training facility in Orlando, Florida. The facility will reportedly hold five wrestling rings to allow for more ring time for developmental workers.
There are some concerns that the access to so much ring time will make it difficult for trainers to work more individually with the developmental talents.
Raw Preview
Two weeks before the Royal Rumble PPV, WWE travels to Houston, Tex. for the 20th Anniversary of Raw three-hour show. The show is sold-out with no tickets available as of Monday morning.
Raw is headlined by The Rock hosting a “Rock Concert” that will continue promoting his in-ring return challenging C.M. Punk for the WWE Title at the Rumble PPV.
Also announced in-advance is Kaitlyn challenging Eve for the Divas Title in Kaitlyn’s hometown.
Raw will also mark the first major show since Alberto Del Rio captured the World Title from Big Show on Friday’s Smackdown. The title change reshuffled the deck on the Smackdown brand, and seems to have put Dolph Ziggler’s MITB briefcase in-play again.
Ziggler is currently feuding with top star John Cena, whose focus is on winning the Rumble match in two weeks. This will likely be played up during Raw.
With Raw being a “milestone” episode, WWE is advertising former stars returning to Raw TV. Ric Flair will reportedly return, DX is rumored for another reunion, and long-time Raw announcer Jim Ross says he will be at Raw.
TNA Genesis PPV news
– Jeff Hardy retained the TNA World Title over Bobby Roode and Austin Aries in the PPV main event. In the elimination-style match, Roode was eliminated in 19 minutes via double pin. After Aries argued for credit for the fall, Hardy pinned Aries in 21 minutes to retain the title.
– No titles changed hands during the PPV. In the other title matches, Chavo Guerrero & Hernandez beat Matt Morgan & Joey Ryan to retain the Tag Titles, and Rob Van Dam retained the X Division Title over Christian York, who defeated Kenny King in a #1 contender match.
– Daniels became #1 contender to the TNA World Title by defeating James Storm. Daniels will receive his TNA Title shot against Jeff Hardy on the January 24 Impact, which will be taped this week.
– Velvet Sky became #1 contender to the Knockouts Title by defeating Gail Kim in the final round of a five-Knockouts gauntlet match.
– Aces & Eights went 1-1 for on the night. TV champion Devon pinned Joseph Park, but D.O.C. lost to Sting in the PPV semi-main event. In the other A&E-related match, Mr. Anderson pinned Samoa Joe.
Hulk Hogan Sues Laser Spine Institute
The Tampa Bay Times reports that Hulk Hogan is suing the Tampa-based Laser Spine Institute for what he claims are unnecessary surgeries that hurt his career.
Hogan filed the suit in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court this morning. He is seeking damages of $50 million. He also claims that the LSI used an endorsement from him without permission or payment. A prepared statement from his attorneys Wil Florin and Eric Czelusta claimed there was “negligent conduct” on the part of LSI that resulted in a provable loss of past and future income of ($50 million) during the last chapter of an internationally successful athletic and entertainment career” for Hogan.
The statement says that “numerous prominent spine surgeons” recommended traditional spinal surgery Hogan, but the LSI told him that would end his career. The lawsuit claims Hogan was “the victim of multiple unnecessary endoscopic surgical procedures that further destabilized his already existing injured back.”
TMZ.com has also picked up the story. Here is their article:
Hulk Hogan claims the Laser Spine Institute in Florida is a total sham … and it’s doctors DUPED him into undergoing multiple bogus procedures that were completely useless and damaged his career to the tune of $50 MILLION … this according to a new lawsuit.
Hogan filed the suit in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court, claiming he turned to the LSI in 2009 when he seeking treatment for multiple lumbar spinal abnormalities including scoliosis and multiple bulging discs.
In his suit, Hogan claims he fell for a sales pitch which masqueraded as “medical advice” and allowed the LSI to perform multiple surgeries on his back.
Hogan claims the procedures actually made him feel worse in the long run — and blames the institute for not advising him that the laser treatment is only a temporary solution, not a permanent one.
Hogan claims he eventually had to undergo major back surgery with a different set of doctors — and they actually fixed his back.
Now, Hogan says he wants LSI to pay for screwing him up — and for causing him to miss out on employment opportunities in the entertainment world that would have netted him tens of millions of dollars.
And to add insult to injury, Hulk says LSI used his name and image to promote their business without his permission.
He’s suing for more than $50 mil in damages. So far, no comment from LSI.
A Possible WWE Royal Rumble **SPOILER**
WWE has started to send out promotional materials for the 2013 Royal Rumble DVD/Blu-Ray packages, and the following has been included in the Key Selling Points section of the press release…
“Buzz is already building after the main event match-up announcement placing two mega-watt Superstars face-to-face for the first time since WrestleMania 28. The Rock vs John Cena for TheWWE Championship.”
While plans can change, Cena vs. Rock II was one of the rumored matches planned for this year’s WrestleMania.
More Later!
