WWE
– According to the Wrestling Observer, as we reported earlier this week, Brock Lesnar’s contract with WWE is said to be a 1-year deal that pays $5M and is for approximately 30-40 appearances, including matches. Even before Lesnar’s final UFC fight against Alistair Overeem in December, there was talk in the MMA world that Lesnar had a multi million-dollar deal waiting for him in WWE. Vince McMahon was said to be “agreeable” on the idea of shelling out $5M to bring Lesnar in, however, there was a lot of negotiating before the two parties agreed on the number of appearances Lesnar would be obligated to make.
WWE.com’s newly posted bio on Brock Lesnar acknowledges his career as a mixed martial artist. However, no mention is made of UFC. The bio reads:
“Possessing the type of staggering strength and scary intensity usually only seen in Superman villains, the 6-foot-3, 266-pound freak of nature from Minneapolis, Minn., has forced his way to the top of every major combat sport. He won the NCAA Division I collegiate wrestling championship as a senior at the University of Minnesota, the WWE Championship within six months of his debut and the heavyweight title in his fourth professional MMA fight. Plain and simple, the man was built to destroy.”
WWE is advertising Lesnar for Monday’s Raw SuperShow (from the Verizon Center in Washington D.C), the April 23rd RAW Supershow from the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan as well as Extreme Rules on April 29 from the AllState Arena in Chicago, Illinois.
Meanwhile, The Rock has also signed a 1-year contract with WWE that will see him wrestle a few times this year and at WrestleMania 29. With 12 months to go until next year’s big event, WWE already has its sights set on a Rock vs. Lesnar main event. WWE is looking to sell out WrestleMania the day that tickets go on sale, something the company hasn’t done since 2007. Something WWE has to consider with a Rock vs. Brock main event is the possibility of fans turning on both wrestlers, which happened during the infamous Brock Lesnar and Goldberg at WrestleMania 20. Back then, word got out that both Lesnar and Goldberg were leaving the company immediately after their WrestleMania match, and the New York crowd was merciless. Fast forward 9 years, and we could see another big Lesnar match at WrestleMania in front of a New York crowd that is aware both participants are making their final appearances for WWE.
– According to the Wrestling Observer, there is a lot of talk in both WWE and TNA that Ric Flair will be back with WWE some time next year. Flair’s current TNA contract expires at the end of the year and WWE reportedly wants to use Flair’s star power to help push the WWE Network when it launches. Flair remains very popular with wrestling fans of all ages, and WWE owns the footage to most of Flair’s career. The Nature Boy did an interview for a Charlotte radio station earlier this week, where he claimed his last wrestling match was the retirement match against Shawn Michaels. He also spoke highly of Vince McMahon and The Rock, and had a great time hanging out with the WWE crew during WrestleMania weekend.
– According to the Wrestling Observer, following Randy Orton’s removal from the upcoming WWE Studios film, The Marine 3, WWE is currently considering CM Punk, John Cena, Cody Rhodes, JTG and Kofi Kingston for the role. Because the movie is co-promoted with 20th Century Fox, WWE wants a big named star in the movie and the number of performers with Orton’s star power is limited. T The Marine 3 begins filming in June so we should hear something soon.
– The Wrestling Observer reported Thursday that morale is low among members of WWE’s creative team after many of the were not invited to the annual post-WrestleMania party Sunday night in Miami, Florida. Top writers Brian Gewirtz, Ed Koskey and Michael Hayes were there, but most of the creative staff was not. The report says the party snubs “hurt a lot of feelings.” There is an account on Twitter parodying company head Vince McMahon’s real-life demeanour (located at CrankyVince) and several messages were posted Tuesday night foreshadowing the behind the scenes report. The individual behind the account wrote:
“EAVESDROPPING ON WRITERS, WHO ARE B******G ABOUT BEING BARRED FROM POST #WRESTLEMANIA™ COMPANY WIDE PARTY. HMPF, THE VIRGINS ARE A BUZZKILL.”
“OUTSIDE WRITERS ROOM, STILL LISTENING TO THIS FAST-TALKING L.A. RUNT B***H ABOUT NOT BEING WELCOMED AT THE #WRESTLEMANIA AFTER PARTY. F****R.”
“AND F**K THESE DISPOSABLE WRITERS FOR B******G ABOUT MY G*****N #WRESTLEMANIA AFTER PARTY. EAT ME, THEN GO F**K YOURSELVES. F**K YOU.”
“YELLING AT WRITERS: “IF ANOTHER ONE OF YOU SORE P*****S CRIES ABOUT NOT BEING WELCOMED AT THE #WRESTLEMANIA AFTER PARTY I’LL GUT YOU.”
“GETTING OUT OF ORLANDO, FAR AWAY FROM THIS HUMIDITY & P***Y WRITERS & THEIR B******G ABOUT NOT BEING INVITED TO THE WRESTLEMANIA AFTER PARTY.”
– According to the Wrestling Observer, Wade Barrett (shoulder surgery) is targeting August for his return. As we noted a few weeks ago, WWE decided to pull Money in the Bank from the WrestleMania lineup when Barrett got injured, as he was booked to win the match. The latest is that Money in the Bank could take place at SummerSlam, when Barrett would be healthy to return.
– WWE is reportedly looking at producing a new one-hour Spanish television show.
– According to the PWInsider, with WrestleMania XXVIII in the books, numerous roster changes are expected to commence in the ensuing months. Jim Ross says this is the case as “several” WWE developmental wrestlers will surface on the main roster in the near future. He wrote Thursday on his official website, “Several FCW talents are either being introduced or on the cusp of such on a WWE roster. Expect to see several new personas in the coming weeks on Raw & Smackdown. Congrats to all who’ve earned an opportunity,” NXT star Maxine is looking forward to the company’s annual post-WrestleMania roster shuffle, which will likely result in numerous longtime wrestlers being let go to make room for the incoming faces. She wrote on Twitter on Wednesday, “Wrestlemania is now over…time for a change out with the old in with the new…hmmm Im sure I should be on that list..”
MLB
– Rangers’ 2B Ian Kinsler said he’s “disappointed” a contract extension with the Rangers couldn’t be worked out prior to the season. ”Close enough to be disappointed that it’s not done. If they continue talking, I’m not involved in it and don’t want to be involved in it.” Jim Bowden of ESPN.com and MLB Network Radio reported Thursday that the two sides could be closing in on a deal in the ballpark of 5-years/$70M at $14M annually, and it would kick in after the team exercises Kinsler’s $10 million option for 2013. Kinsler plans to focus on baseball right now and not worry about his contract.
– According to Jim Bowden of ESPN.com and MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM, the Reds have offered 2B Brandon Phillips a 5-year contract in the “neigborhood” of $62.5-65M. The deal will exceed Braves’ 2B Dan Uggla’s 5-year/$62M contract. GM Walt Jocketty expressed confidence Thursday that a deal could get done with Phillips within a week, though there is no specific timetable. The 30-year-old is due to become a free agent after this season.
– Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that the Cubs have “inquired again” about Nationals’ LHP John Lannan. Lannan requested a trade following his demotion to Triple-A, but the Nats maintain that he won’t be moved. Wittenmyer adds that former LHP Tom Gorzelanny’s name has been involved in the talks, and OF Marlon Byrd has come up, as well. Lannan will make $5M this season. Any deal would likely result in the Nats picking up most of the money involved.
– The Astros have placed SS Jed Lowrie (sprained right thumb) on the 15-day DL retroactive to March 29. Lowrie hit soft toss and took swings off a tee Thursday without any issues. Barring a setback, he seems likely to be ready for activation on April 13, the first day he’s eligible.
– Rays’ RHP Kyle Farnsworth (elbow) is expected to be sidelined 4-6 weeks.
NHL
– Rangers’ head coach John Tortorella sounded off after Penguins’ D Brooks Orpik landed a knee-on-knee hit on Rangers’ F Derek Stepan during Thursday’s game:
“Absolutely. It’s a cheap, dirty hit. I wonder what would happen if we did it to their two whining stars over there. I wonder what would happen. So I’m anxious to see what happens with the league with this. Just not respect amongst players. None. It’s sickening.”
“Ask the guy who did it, ask him. It’s one of the most arrogant organizations in the league. They whine about this stuff all the time and look what happens. It’s ridiculous, but they’ll whine about something else over there, won’t they? Starting with their two (freakin’) stars.”
“They whine about this stuff all of the time, and look what happens? It’s ridiculous. But they’ll whine about something else over there, won’t they?”
– A Sweden newspaper is reporting that G Viktor Fasth will sign a contract with the Ducks once the World Championships end in May. The two sides have reportedly verbally agreed to a 1-year contract. Fasth, 29, was stellar in the World Championships last season, and will likely backstop the Swedes again this year with the Championships in his home country as well as Finland. The 29-year-old is 23-21 this season for AIK during the regular season with 2.12 GAA and a .931 SV%.
– The NHL Draft Drawing will take place Tuesday, April 10 , at 8 p.m. ET. Based on team finish, the percentage chance of being selected in the Draft Drawing is:
30th place team – 25.0%
29th place team – 18.8%
28th place team – 14.2%
27th place team – 10.7%
26th place team – 8.1%
25th place team – 6.2%
24th place team – 4.7%
23rd place team – 3.6%
22nd place team – 2.7%
21st place team – 2.1%
20th place team – 1.5%
19th place team – 1.1%
18th place team – 0.8%
17th place team – 0.5%
The 2012 NHL Draft will take place at CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh. The first round will take place on Friday, June 22 commencing at 7 p.m. ET and the subsequent rounds (two through seven) will begin at 10 a.m. ET Saturday, June 23.
NBA
– Prior to Thursday’s loss to the Knicks, Magic’ head coach Stan Van Gundy confirmed to the media that F Dwight Howard indeed tried to have him fired. Shortly after, Howard walked into the media session and put his arm around the coach. SVG left afterwards, while Howard denied the riff. Check it out:
– Knicks’ F Tyson Chandler (hand) is reportedly playing with a fractured hand.
NFL
– Redskins’ OC Kyle Shanahan will reportedly meet with Baylor QB Robert Griffin III a few times per week leading up to the 2012 Draft. This is more confirmation that the Colts will take Stanford QB Andrew Luck at No. 1. RGIII will get a head start on the Redskins playbook in order to minimize his learning curve.
– Jaguars’ WLB Clint Session (concussions) insists he feels better now than he did before a trio of concussions ended his season prematurely in November. Session, 27, also had a “terrifying” concussion in college, and estimates five in his playing career. He’s finally feeling better after an “active” concussion rehab program at the University of Pittsburgh to aid the healing process.
– The Bengals have released S Chris Crocker. Crocker is entering his age-32 season with three consecutive years of knee injuries. Per Pro Football Focus, Crocker graded out below average in coverage and run support in 2011.
TNA
– Scott Steiner, who parted ways with TNA Wrestling last week, posted numerous messages on Twitter Thursday slamming his formerly employer’s brain trust, particularly Hulk Hogan. He also alleges that TNA controls Sting’s account on the microblogging site.
* When these assholes got control they tried to takeover everybodys twitter page
* u didnt have twitter they made one up for U…so u people who think yur tweeting sting its not him
* He told me he doesnt watch the show.so hes not tweeting about a show he doesnt watch
* Evrybody refused to sign over twitter so every wk u get an email begging u to twitter what they want
* Got one today,Please tweet this;Hogan take over as GM wonder what he will do…WTF really
* Even if u r not on show Please tweet..so the booking team of pritchard bischoff n hogan wont book U want u to tweet about hogan
* Tweet about yurself hogan nobody else wants to tweet about u u fucking mark
* Im tweeting what they wish they could
* Wondeting what hogans going to do…hmmmm…hes a fn mark so hes going to make a couple of matches that ppl want to see
* Nothing more unprofessional than a heel wanting to be cheered
* So ppl cheer him which pissd everybody off especially sting bcuz he had to wrestle him
* Have the future of wrestling garrett do something bcuz eric told him to in booking meeting….what a fucking joke
* Now hes good but hes going to everything like he did when he was bad bcuz he was first good
* And that produced the worst ratings ever so he went bad which was just as bad as when he was good
* Then his bad wasnt any good bcuz his ratings still sucked so he turnd back to good from bad
* Wtf y’all get his bullshit ….dont forget to say BROTHER ..bcuz its fresh
* Stupid mofo
* Remember deny u had anything to do with the release of the sex tape to try n get more sales
* How kardashian of u….Homomania running wild..his shit writes itself
* His w
* His ex-wife said he was gay right!!!..hhmmm who brought in Orlando Jordan