WWE
– According to F4WOnline, after addressing on television that his WWE title defenses have not been featured as the main event of WWE PPV this year, the current plan is for WWE Champion CM Punk’s title defense against John Cena and Big Show to close the show. In his latest blog, Jim Ross also guessed that the WWE title match will be the show’s official main event. There has been talk of putting the WWE title on Cena and building up to Cena vs. Rock II for the WWE title at the Royal Rumble (and then Punk vs. Rock at WrestleMania 29), but those plans are tentative at this point. As for Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H, most people expect Lesnar to win in dominant fashion. Lesnar put John Cena over in his return match at Extreme Rules and the feeling is that Lesnar needs the win more than Triple H does in order to build him back up for his next few matches.
– WWE held a private party in Los Angeles Thursday to kick off SummerSlam Axxess. Among the celebrities in attendance were Ryan Lochte (Olympic Gold Medalist), Marlon Wayans (actor), Maria Menounos (TV personality), Piers Morgan (TV host), former WWE Diva Maryse, Heidi Mueller (actress), David Arquette (actor, former WCW Champion), Kat De Luna (actress), Ciara Price (model), and the cast of Eve Torres’ NBC show “Stars Earn Stripes” (Terry Crews, Talon Smith, Grady Powell and Dale Comstock). Check out these pictures from the event:
– Former WWE Diva Trish Stratus will be releasing a new yoga DVD for men in October titled, “Stratusphere Yoga for Men.” The project was filmed earlier this year and is scheduled for an October release.
– When WWE announced the new animated Scooby Doo movie that is coming out in 2014, two superstars not included on the list of voice actors were CM Punk and Sheamus. The PWInsider speculates that this could be a sign that Punk and Sheamus are not currently under contract through when the movie is set to be released.
– WWE superstar Tensai is interviewed in the september issue of WWE Magazine and spoke about how today’s WWE locker room is different from his previous run with the company (1999-2004):
“I don’t know if they’re tougher, because when I was years ago, there were a lot of men on the roster. When I came back, there were a lot of young faces, a lot of kids. The talent that walks in the locker room is amazing now, but in terms of toughness…well, this is a tough business.”
“The current roster is a bunch of tough guys, and I give them a lot of credit. It’s a man’s game. I hit people hard and they hit me back harder. Let’s just say I’ve had a couple of fights.”
– TMZ caught up with WWE Champion CM Punk this week and asked him what he thinks about WWE firing “Abraham Johnson.” Punk laughed and corrected the camera guy, telling him that it was Abraham Washington that was fired. Punk said he doesn’t like seeing anybody getting fired, but rape jokes aren’t funny and understands why WWE let him go.
– According to F4WOnline, WWE recently sent out a memo to fans asking for ideas for Classics On Demand in 2013. Since WWE won’t be launching the WWE Network until after Classics on Demand concludes, that’s another sign the Network won’t be launching this year.
– It would appear that WWE has parted ways with developmental wrestler DT Porter as he is no longer listed on the roster page of FCWWrestling.info. He rarely appeared on Florida Championship Wrestling cards after joining the developmental promotion last year. In May, Porter, whose real name is Brian McGhee, posted a message on Facebook crying for help due to alleged mistreatment from camp officials. He then claimed that his account was hacked. The “help” statement read:
“Guys, I don’t know how much longer I can handle this. Every day is a constant struggle to keep my sanity. I love wrestling and it’s all I ever wanted to do. Already going crazy since I’ve been for like ten months now, but it gets worse. Every day a trainer goes out of his way to rib or disrespect me in front of the boys because I’ve been out so long. I can’t clear myself. I wanna wrestle more than anything, but I don’t even know who I am anymore. It’s so fucking hard. I just feel it just building inside of me and I don’t know how much longer I can contain it. I have daydreams of just fucking everyone up on some real shit. I’m not a kid. I’m a fucking man. But what do you do when the people in charge of helping you get to the main roster are the ones making your life the hardest. I’ve been drinking almost every day. It’s to the point to where I keep Vodka and Gin in my trunk. Help me!”
– Check out WWE Diva Kaitlyn dressed as Ultimate Warrior:
– WWEDVDNews.com has published the official content listing for the WWE’s upcoming “Brock Lesnar: Here Comes The Pain” collector’s edition DVD/Blu-Ray set, which will be released in October.
– The Miz spoke to the Los Angeles Times this week and revealed that his movie, “The Marine 3: Homefront” will hit theaters in Spring 2013, around WrestleMania 29. The Miz hyped
“I think it will be an absolute incredible movie and I can’t wait for its release. It is about a Marine who just got home from a tour and one of his sisters gets kidnapped by terrorists. He then has to go in and save them. I think I play the best Marine of all of them but, of course, that’s just my opinion.”
– Earlier this week, the developmental diva Caylee Turner’s profile page was removed from the FCW/NXT website, leading to speculation that she had been released. PWInsider.com is now confirming that Turner, real name Christina Crawford, was indeed let go from WWE this week. Turner is the younger sister of WWE Diva Alicia Fox and was the reigning FCW Divas champion. She was signed to a developmental deal back in June 2010 and appeared on the latest season of Tough Enough on the USA Network.
– WWE has posted a series of promo videos hyping Sunday’s Summerslam 2012 pay-per-view:
– Rey Mysterio was interviewed by FOX affiliate KTBC-TV out of Austin, Texas this week to promote Tuesday’s SmackDown tapings. During the interview, Mysterio discusses WWE’s recent tour of Asia, wrestling since he was 14 years old, keeping up his intensity and desire to wrestle over the years and much more. Mysterio revealed that he currently owns around 500 wrestling masks. Mysterio and the interviewer talk about growing up watching WWE Hall of Famer Mil Mascaras as kids and the strong Hispanic community in Austin, Texas. Mysterio also talked about signing autographs for fans and WWE’s anti-bullying campaign. Here is video from the appearance:
– Ken Shamrock has been added to the Alumni section of WWE.com. Shamrock is expected to be a playable character in the upcoming WWE ’13 video game.
– WWE wrestler and William Regal will be appearing at Mick Foley’s live comedy show in Los Angeles on Sunday night after SummerSlam. Regal tweeted Thursday night that he’ll participate in a Q&A session at the event, which takes place from the Hollywood Improv. Other WWE personalities, including Jim Ross, will be in attendance.
– According to F4WOnline, following last night’s SummerSlam kickoff party in Beverly Hills, WWE talent will be taking part in various community service activities today, with wrestlers visiting hospitals in the Los Angeles area and anti-bullying rallies taking place at schools. Mark Henry and Alberto Del Rio will be visiting Watts, a part of South Los Angeles known to be a violence-prone and impoverished area. As part of WWE’s community service work this week in Los Angeles, Sheamus, Hornswoggle, Eve Torres and Alicia Fox visited the Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA on Thursday afternoon and handed out Mattel toys to the kids.
– WWE developmental wrestler Xavier Woods (formerly Consequences Creed in TNA) tweeted this week that he’s in the final stages of becoming a PhD and will soon be “Doctor Woods.” He’s currently working on his 20-page final paper and will soon have his Masters on Educational Psychology
NBA
– Heat’ G Dwyane Wade (knee surgery) is “two weeks away from basketball work,” according to the Palm Beach Post. Wade is reportedly “moving well six weeks after surgery,” and his rehab was “going very well.” He was expected to resume on-court workouts in September, and will stay close with his initial timetable, barring setbacks.
– Warriors’ G Stephen Curry (right ankle surgery) said Thursday that he hopes to begin playing 5-on-5 in time for training camp, and that he expects to be 100% healthy for opening night. Curry has no medical restrictions and said he has “no soreness or tightness” even after full-court workouts.
– Nuggets’ GM Masai Ujiri said that the team wants to sign G Ty Lawson to a long-term extension. Lawson is eligible to become an RFA in the summer of 2013, but Lawson said in July that he would sign an extension “in the next month or two.” He averaged 16.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.2 treys on 48.8% shooting last season, and continues to improve with experience.
– 76ers’ head coach Doug Collins said that he plans to use F Thaddeus Young off the bench next season. ”I’d like to continue to play Thad off the bench. I like his energy and his attitude he brings to us.” Young was believed to be competing for the starting power forward job. He’s also jumped from 215 pounds to 229 after Collins asked him to bulk up this summer. The 24-year-old averaged 12.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.0 steals in 28 minutes off the bench last season.
– Clippers’ F Blake Griffin has hired a shooting coach and has been working with him “every single day.” Griffin is aware that his jump shot needs improvement, but he appears ready to put in the work. When discussing his old shooting form, Griffin said, “it was decent, I guess. But now I’ve just kind of streamlined it. But I’ve still got a lot of work to do.” Griffin worked down low for most of last season, but expanding his game to add a consistent jumper would be great in helping his overall value. He averaged 20.7 points and 10.9 rebounds on 54.9% shooting last year, but did manage just 0.8 steals and 0.7 blocks in 2011-12.
– Celtics’ G Courtney Lee could open the season as the starting shooting guard with G Avery Bradley (shoulders) sidelined, while G Jason Terry comes off the bench as the sixth man. Bradley is expected to return in December. Lee averaged 14 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.8 treys on 42.9% shooting in 26 starts for Houston last season. According to ESPN Boston, “Terry will spearhead what should be a renewed bench effort.” Terry averaged 15.1 points, 3.6 assists, 1.2 steals and 2.2 treys on 43% shooting in a sixth man role with the Mavs last season.
MLB
– According to David Kaplan of CSN Chicago, the Cubs are working on a long-term extension with SS Starlin Castro. Kaplan writes that the deal “could be six or more years in length” and is expected to be made final by the end of the 2012 season. Castro, 22, has a career .296/.333/.422 batting line so far. This extension would cover his arbitration-eligible seasons and at least two years of free agency.
– Blue Jays’ OF Jose Bautista (wrist) took live batting practice Thursday off manager John Farrell. Bautista is expected to take Friday off before going through regular pre-game workouts with his teammates on Saturday and Sunday. Barring setbacks, he could begin a rehab assignment early next week.
NFL
– Chargers’ RB Ryan Mathews (fractured collarbone) told XTRA Sports 1560 that he has “no doubt” he’ll be ready to go in Week 1 versus the Raiders. Mathews is already out of his sling and doing light workouts, and will begin running next week. His initial 4-6 week would allow him to return for the opener, but the progress he’s made so far could suggest that he’s actually ahead of schedule. Injuries like this, however, generally take the full six weeks. Stay tuned.
– CSN Chicago’s John “Moon” Mullin reports that Bears’ MLB Brian Urlacher’s (left knee surgery) recent surgery to alleviate swelling and soreness was not the first of the offseason. Two sources confirm Urlacher underwent a “non-invasive” procedure shortly after the season finale, and another added that Urlacher required an additional surgery in the spring. All three appear to have been scopes, but Urlacher is still not 100% even eight months after the surgery. Urlacher said Thursday that he believes he will play in the season opener.
– The Palm Beach Post believes Dolphins’ QB David Garrard (knee surgery) is more likely to reach an injury settlement than make the final roster. The Post reported early in the month that the loser of the Garrard-Matt Moore battle would likely become “expendable.” Garrard’s 3-4 week injury, however, makes him a long shot to win the battle. His $2.25M salary becomes guaranteed if he’s on the Week 1 roster. QB Ryan Tannehill has emerged as an option to start the season opener, meaning Garrard is now expendable.
TNA
– Hulk Hogan will return to Impact Wrestling next Thursday night. Hogan will appear in the opening segment of the show, as TNA’s top babyfaces will call out the rouge Aces & Eights group for a potential fight.
– Matt Hardy was asked on Twitter what he would do differently if he had the chance to return to WWE. He replied:
I was physically beat up, rundown, stressed & burnout-would do it different now RT @bristen_potter: @MATTHARDYBRAND why did u quit WWE? #FF
– Rumours earlier this week speculated that TNA had signed X Division talent Mason Andrews (aka Scorpio Sky) to a contract. Andrews then denied those reports. F4WOnline reports that Andrews has been offered a TNA deal, but he is also attending next week’s big post-SummerSlam WWE tryout camp in Los Angeles and will see how that goes before signing anything with TNA.
– Former WWE diva Tiffany (Taryn Terrell) made her TNA debut as the special guest referee for the TNA Knockouts title match. After Earl Hebner used some questionable officiating to help Rayne win the title on Sunday night, Taryn Terrell officiated the title change on Thurday night. Here is video from her TNA debut:
– It was announced this week that the TruTV cable network has picked up “Hardcore Pawn: Chicago,” the latest series from TNA executive Eric Bischoff and Jason Hervey’s production company. The show will debut on TruTV later this year. Here is the official synopsis of the show, courtesy of TVBytheNumbers.com:
Hardcore Pawn: Chicago takes viewers behind the scenes at “the baddest pawn shop in Chicago.” One of the city’s largest and oldest establishments in the pawn and gold-buying business, Royal Pawn Shop is owned by Randy and Wayne Cohen, two brothers who d on’t always see eye to eye, except when it comes to finding the best deals for the business. These over-the-top siblings will wheel and deal with just about anyone, from a sweet kindergarten teacher to an intimidating mob boss.