Hulk Hogan Suffers Setback In Sex Tape Lawsuit
Hulk Hogan has had his request to compel Gawker to immediately remove footage of his sex tape shot down. A federal judge in Florida ruled against Hogan’s request, agreeing with Gawker’s defense that the footage is newsworthy because of Hogan’s celebrity status. The judge, James D. Whittemore, also said that Hogan’s constant publicizing of his private life via his reality show and autobiography contributed to the decision, writing:
“Plaintiff’s public persona, including the publicity he and his family derived from a television reality show detailing their personal life, his own book describing an affair he had during his marriage, prior reports by other parties of the existence and content of the Video, and Plaintiff’s own public discussion of issues relating to his marriage, sex life, and the Video all demonstrate that the Video is a subject of general interest and concern to the community.”
The footage depicts Hogan having sex with Bubba the Love Sponge’s then-wife Heather Clem. No ruling has yet been made regarding the $100 million lawsuit itself; this was simple regarding Hogan’s request for a preliminary injunction against the video.
Here is an article from TMZ.com regarding this:
Hulk Hogan’s sex tape will STAY ON THE INTERNET … at least for the foreseeable future — because a judge has just denied the wrestler’s bid to yank it from the web ASAP.
You’ll recall, Hulk sued Gawker for $100 million for publishing his sex tape — and filed a preliminary motion demanding Gawker take the tape down immediately, while the case makes its way through the court system.
But today, a judge refused to order Gawker to do squat — ruling Hulk failed to prove the website wasn’t within its First Amendment rights to post the video in the first place.
Moreover, the judge wrote, “This is an example of where the proverbial ‘cat is out of the bag’” … i.e. everyone on the planet’s already seen the tape, so it’s too late to protect Hulk’s privacy.
That said, the judge could still decide to order Gawker to remove the tape if Hulk were to win the case at the end of the day.
WWE.com Posts Inury Update On Cody Rhodes
WWE.com posted the following tonight:
During a fierce WWE Tag Team Title Match against Team Hell No onWWE Main Event Wednesday night, Cody Rhodes sustained an injury in the ring at the hands of the monstrous Kane.
While battling The Big Red Monster, the second generation competitor took a hard fall, resulting in what WWE’s Dr. Sampson characterized as a concussion and a strained shoulder. Sampson stated further tests would be done in the coming days.
With just days to go before Survivor Series, Rhodes’ status for the pay-per-view is now in question. It is not yet known whether Rhodes, a member of Team Ziggler, will be able to compete in the Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Tag Team Match against Team Foley.
Stay tuned to WWE.com for the very latest on Rhodes’ injury and status.
WWE Copies Idea From TNA
Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter
WWE having a man narrating video packages on RAW was, in fact, copied from TNA Wrestling. According to sources, a WWE employee showed Vince McMahon a tape of iMPACT! Wrestling featuring the concept and the company chief reportedly said something along the lines of, “WWE could do it better.”
Eric Bischoff, who produces iMPACT Wrestling, acknowledged the production rip-off last week on Twitter by posting the following fan message: “Saw #WWE using your backstage camera angles along with the voiceover in the opening video. #EricWins.”
Hall Of Fame Plans
In an update on WWE’s plans for its Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on April 6, 2013 at Madison Square Garden, Mick Foley is internally considered a lock to be enshrined and there has been a push for Owen Hart to be honored since his star rose with his classic match against Bret Hart at the venue at WrestleMania X.
Despite the push for Owen, the enshrinement is unlikely to materialize because his widow will not allow it, according to brother Smith Hart.
“Because she blames the wrestling business in its entirety for his death,” he stated on Twitter in February. “She is the sole owner of his estate. With Martha, there will never B a way, perhaps his kids may eventually make the choice. But thats at least 20 yrs in future.”
Meanwhile, talk of Ultimate Warrior being inducted into the Hall “has cooled down substantially of late”.
PAC’s WWE name revealed
The international wrestling star formerly known as PAC is now going by the name of Adrian Neville in WWE Developmental. WWE’s NXT roster page has been updated with bios for several recent Developmental signees, including PAC.
Backstage Update On WrestleMania 29 Plans
Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter
– The rumored TLC PPV main event next month is CM Punk vs Mick Foleyas we noted late last night here on the website. This is different from what Foley told ESPN last month when he said he thinks he wrestled his last match. WWE began planning the match on RAW when Punk and Foley exchanged promos even though they’re not in the same match at Survivor Series. TLC is in Foley’s home market in New York.
Punk vs. Foley in a non-title match would bridge the gap between Survivor Series and the Royal Rumble, when The Rock challenges the WWEchampion. That will be Punk unless WWE puts the title on John Cena orRyback at the PPV.
– There are two possible routes that WWE will use for CM Punk vs. The Rock PPV match. This could easily change much like the finish to Hell in A Cell.
The first option would be for Punk to retain until the Rumble, where The Rock wins and there is either Rock vs. Cena II or Rock vs. Punk II atWrestleMania.
The second option would be to have Cena win the title before the Rumble, Rock wins the title from Cena (or Punk costs Rock the title match) and Rock vs Punk for the WWE title (or non-title) at WrestleMania.
WWE ’13 Sales Down From Last Year
The first week sales for WWE ’13 are around 250,000 copies sold in the US. This is down slightly from last year, but still considered a success since 20% of retail stores where the game was sold were closed that week because of Hurricane Sandy. The game sold another 57,000 copies in the UK.
Pre-orders for the game were very high. WWE ’13 was a distant #2 in sales behind Assassin’s Creed, which sold 1.6 million.
WWE’s video game publisher, THQ, is still in danger and may be sold in the next year. THQ earns around $30-40 million per year from the WWE games (and over $40 million from the Saints Row series) but they don’t have much money on hand and a $100 million loan is due next summer. If THQ can’t find an investor, they will have to liquidate. This means that theWWE franchise would end up with another publisher like Electronic Arts (EA Sports).
THQ in Trouble
WWE’s video game publisher, stated that it was in “certain defaults” on a $50 million credit facility with lender Wells Fargo. The company also notified the US Securities and Exchange Commission that they would be filing their 10-Q late. Wells Fargo is continuing to fund the company’s requests while they come to terms on a credit agreement. The company’s stock is trading at $1.10, down 95% from the 52 week high of $22.80.
WWE Expanding NXT Presence
WWE is apparently looking to expand the presence of NXT in 2013. According to a source, NXT will have its logo on most — if not all — WWE marketing materials, joining RAW and Smackdown on promotional items ranging from pay-per-view posters to media release items.
More Later!
