Russo is joined on today’s show by his co-host, Jeff Lane, and Glenn Gilbertti (Disco Inferno).

Russo opens today’s show speaking about the rumours that The Undertaker will be returning to the ring at WrestleMania 34 to face John Cena. Russo hopes these rumours are untrue, and he hopes that The Undertaker remains retired, especially after the huge retirement display that we saw at the end of WrestleMania 33.

He adds that Undertaker needs to think about his legacy in the business at this point, because his worst mistake would be returning for more matches when he’s clearly not the same competitor that fans remember from the prime of his career. Russo goes out on a limb and predicts that Undertaker will not be returning to face John Cena at WrestleMania this year.

Gilbertti doesn’t have any issue with Undertaker returning for one more match at all. He thinks Undertaker carried himself pretty well during his last couple of matches, and he still has the best entrance in the business. As long as Undertaker can sell tickets for WWE and cash a big WrestleMania paycheque, Gilbertti has no issue with him returning to the ring.

The post Vince Russo’s The Brand Recap – Undertaker Vs. Cena at ‘Mania, Pay Inequality in WWE, FOX Purchasing WWE? More! appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Russo is joined on today’s show by his co-host, Jeff Lane.

On one of their audio shows this past week, Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez picked Nakamura to win the Royal Rumble match this year. They think this will lead to Nakamura challenging A.J. Styles for the WWE Title at WrestleMania, and they think WWE teased that with a spot on Smackdown Live a few months back. Russo can’t even remember what “tease spot” Meltzer’s talking about.

Russo has heard clips of wrestling analysts saying that Chris Jericho proved that he could hang with the elite during his recent WrestleKingdom match against Kenny Omega. One analyst said Jericho could return to the West beaten, but not bested. Russo points out that this was a fake fight – of course Jericho can hang with Omega. Jericho is the elite of the wrestling business. In fact, he WAS the business in this match.

A fan calls into the show and points out that WWE’s programming is so bad right now. The fan asks Russo why WWE doesn’t simply change their approach in an effort to improve their programming. Russo points out that WWE produces a lot of programming each week, not to mention the increase in PPVs over the last couple of years.

The post Vince Russo’s The Brand Recap – Jericho IS the Elite, Styles Vs. Nakamura at ‘Mania, Earthquake Can’t Stop Dave Meltzer, More! appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Russo is joined on today’s show by his co-host Jeff Lane and Glenn Gilbertti (Disco Inferno).

Russo and Gilbertti open today’s show by discussing WWE’s decision to run RAW live on Christmas Day. Russo is still angry over the fact that WWE made their employees leave their families at Christmas in order to work a wrestling show, but Gilbertti doesn’t have a problem with it at all. Russo points out that if Gilbertti had a wife and kids he might think differently.

Lane points out that the live attendance for the show was great and ratings for the show were roughly the same as the week prior, with around 2.7 Million people tuning in. This doesn’t surprise Russo because he mentions that those 2.7 million people are the marks who watch every single week, whether it’s Christmas, Hanukkah, Thanksgiving, or Halloween.

Gilbertti speaks about Hideo Itami kneeing Brin Kendrick in the face this past week, resulting in severe injuries. He doesn’t think it’s necessary to utilize moves like this in the business anymore, and he thinks the wrestling world is turning a bling eye to how reckless the in-ring action has become. He adds that a move like Itami’s ‘GTS’ has to be executed perfectly every single time or it can have disastrous results.

The post Vince Russo’s The Brand Recap – RAW Live on Christmas, Reckless In-Ring Work, Nakamura Losing Appeal, More! appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Russo is joined on today’s show by his co-host Jeff Lane.

Lane mentions that Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer spoke about WWE’s Universal Title picture this past week, saying WWE would be stupid to put the Title on Kane, even though that wouldn’t affect revenue. Russo says he disagrees completely, pointing out that the television product absolutely does affect revenue in regards to merchandise sales and live event ticket sales.

Meltzer was also critical of WWE’s usage of Paul Heyman recently, saying WWE should use Heyman for more than just an introduction when he’s live at RAW because he’s one of the best promo guys in the business. Russo says he can’t remember the last time Heyman cut a good promo, pointing out that Heyman says the exact same thing week after week.

Meltzer and his co-host Bryan Alvarez went on to speak about John Cena’s match with Elias from this week’s RAW. They both agreed that for all the people who praise Cena’s wrestling ability, he didn’t look good at all during this week’s match. Russo can’t believe the nerve of Meltzer and Alvarez who criticized Cena for his work in this match when in reality, Cena was simply doing WWE a favour by appearing live on Christmas Day when he should have been home with his family.

The post Vince Russo’s The Brand Recap – Financial Implications to Kane as WWE Champion, Defending Cena & Elias, Balor Doesn’t Stack up, More! appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Cody Rhodes recently spoke with Wrestledope.com. Here are the highlights from the interview:

Being free from WWE: “The Feeling, the sensation behind it is, it’s exciting to cherry pick and select and be your own boss and to be in control of your own brand, however it’s a lot of work.”

Wrestling Kurt Angle in UK: “To have a record crowd for What Culture, to be in there with Kurt Angle and not to be just like Kurt Angle plus garnish. For it instead to be, Kurt Angle V Cody Rhodes, our second match actually, it was very vindicating. It’s also nice, you know, the greatest revenge in all the world is success so it’s nice to be vindicated.”

British Wrestling stars working in the United States: “In America, we have “The British are coming!”, when it comes to the Revolutionary War but I always equate it to the current situation with guys like Will and Marty and Zack where they are literally like invading America with their talent and the effect and the ramifications of that so it’s cool to come over here(UK)”.

Exclusive contracts in the business: “I understand why not. But there is allot of dated minds and allot of old school mentality. It’s like were almost reverting to the most traditional which is just a dang handshake like Hey I’m glad to be here and I’m going to give you my absolute best. I worked for a big corporation for a decade for the majority of my youth. Now I really like the opportunity to essentially play my music on as many brands and stuff as I can and Ring of Honor and Impact have been exceptional. They have been exceptional about that, there has been no pushback, and it’s all lined
up exactly how we hoped.”

Impact backstage environment: “My experience was the utmost engine operating at peak efficiency. Billy and Dixie were extremely wonderful. All had feedback, creative input. My experience from the time I went and filmed with the Corvette in Nashville to when I left the tapings to come overseas was wonderful.”

Working with Billy Cogan: “I’m passed the concept of, oh he’s not a wrestler, he shouldn’t be involved in wrestling. He is an entertainer and they fall in line. An entertainer with a ton of equity, worldwide experience, proven. It’s Billy man, he’s famous!, he’s a rock star!. I thought he was wonderful, great for pro wrestling. He had some music made for me and didn’t know I wanted to use my other music. That was one of the hardest moments of perhaps my life. To see his face when I heard the music and know that I’m going to ask him to use my other music. Especially someone who is a musician. It’s a moment frozen in time. Me and Billy’s’ relationship I want to build off that moment to where we are good buds because that was a tough one!.”

Leaving WWE: “I did make every effort I possibly could. It just was a matter of, no faith in me at a certain juncture turns around well you know what I don’t have faith in you guys either. But let’s not end on such a sour note. It’s rather dramatic and seems sourer than it really is. It’s not, the Rhodes in WWE have a wonderful history. I’m glad they let me go, they are the house that built me and you never now I might be there again one day”.

The post Cody Rhodes Says He May Return to WWE Someday appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Ross welcomes Josh Barnett to the show.

Barnett and Ross will voiceover the NJPW WrestleKingdom 12 event in January and they’re both very exited about the opportunity to do so. Barnett informs that he never watches matches or clips before calling the action because he wants to watch the action for the first time as he’s making the call. Ross agrees entirely and says he does the exact same thing.

Barnett says if he was Conor McGregor he’d definitely fight again. For him, having made the money that McGregor has recently would take the pressure off and he’d just be able to fight for the love of fighting. Perhaps, McGregor has different motivations however, and he mighn’t be interested in fighting unless he’s paid what he feels he’s deserved.

He also wouldn’t be surprised to see Conor McGregor make an appearance in WWE in the near future, but he hopes that McGregor appreciates and respects the business if he’s lucky enough to work for WWE at some point.

Barnett also thinks Ronda Rousey will make a great addition to WWE’s roster and he feels her training in Judo will make for a natural transition to professional wrestling.

The post The Ross Report Recap w/ Kevin Nash – Recent Knee Surgery, Today’s Performers ‘Playing’ Wrestler, Selling for Smaller Opponents, More! appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Ross welcomes PWTorch’s Wade Keller to the show to discuss Sunday’s Clash of Champion’s PPV.

Keller thought Clash of Champions was a fine show, but there weren’t any defining or memorable moments  that would have made a great show. The main event match between A.J. Styles and Jinder Mahal was okay, but not great, and the Daniel Bryan/Shane McMahon storyline failed to give viewers a big payoff.

Ross calls Charlotte the greatest women’s wrestler he’s ever seen, and he refers to her as the female version of 1980’s Hulk Hogan in the sense that she’s bigger, tanner and more impressive looking then all of her competition. Keller agrees and mentions that he expected Smackdown Live to be A.J. Styles & Charlotte’s brand when WWE conducted their Superstar shakeup months ago. Hopefully now that she’s holding the Women’s Title she can claim her rightful position as a major part of the show.

Ross asks Keller what he thinks about the ongoing Twitter dispute between Jim Cornette and several indie wrestlers, including The Young Bucks. Keller says that his views on how the business should be presented are more in line with Cornette’s, but he differs with Cornette in the sense that he wouldn’t want to ridicule someone for enjoying a different style of wrestling.

The post The Ross Report Recap w/ Wade Keller & Konnan – Clash of Champions Analysis, Development of Aro Lucha Wrestling, Elias is the Complete Package, More! appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

While speaking to CBS Sports, Triple H was asked about Chris Jericho facing Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom next month.

“I think it’s great. Good for Chris,” Triple H said. “It’s phenomenal. Good for Kenny, good for New Japan. We were aware. That was a conversation that was had.”

Triple H continued, “It’s great, it’s good for him. Chris is one of the greatest talents in the history of the business, so I think it’s great. Good product is good product. I’m happy for them, happy for Chris and happy for everybody.”

Click here for the full article.

The post Triple H Reacts to Chris Jericho Facing Kenny Omega appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

ESPN Sports Business Reporter Darren Rovell announced on Twitter that one of Ric Flair’s robe sold for a ridiculous amount of money on Friday night during an auction.

According to Rovell, the autographed robe went for $27,000 through Goldin Auctions.

You can check out his announcement below, which includes photos of the signed robe:

Ric Flair worn and signed robe went for $27K in @GoldinAuctions sale last night. pic.twitter.com/p5HBFplkUB

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) December 10, 2017

The post Ric Flair’s Robe Auctioned Off for $27,000 appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Here are some highlights from Sting’s Q&A session at last weekend’s Wales Comic Con:

Facing an intoxicated Jeff Hardy at TNA Victory Road 2011: “Jeff was in a bad way, he was deteriorating as the day went on, by the time our match rolled around it became clear that he couldn’t compete so I had to take him down quickly. He has since turned it all around, I love Jeff, I love his work, I hold nothing against him and wish him all the best.”

Favorite year in the business: “The transition from surfer Sting into the darker / Crow-like Sting in 1997. That was a good year. ”

Favorite TNA match: “The Empty Arena match with [Kurt] Angle. That was bizarre but also a lot of fun.”

Which championship win was his favorite: “The first one – against [Ric] Flair in 1990.”

Who hit him the hardest in the ring: “Leon White [Vader] . In the beginning he was really rough, he was fresh out of Japan. Give me credit, I was the one who tamed him.”

What it was like being in WCW amidst the jump of several WWE guys into the company: “I was very receptive of it. At the time I was the only one going on PR tours, UK, Japan, Europe. It was good to have Hogan for that. Savage, Hall and Nash were good at it too. It took a hell of a lot off my shoulders and it was going to boost the ratings so it was good for everyone.”

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