Dolph Ziggler recently spoke with NBC Sports to promote tonight’s Tribute To The Troops show. Here are some highlights from the interview:

His gradual downward spiral in WWE: “It was very gradual. It went from ‘Wow, we have something special here with Dolph. The crowd is feeding off of him whether he’s a good guy or a bad guy.’ But after a while, a really good match here and there or a special moment here and there is not enough to create a star. So after a big match and then just going back to being Dolph, it’s hard to not be Dolph.

“I’ve been very lucky in that I’ve been able to make the most out of those situations. Anytime people see me or the character, you can kind of see how they mesh together and I’m pretty sure there’s nobody who blends that gray area with the character better than me. And that’s a fact.”

Things he is looking to explore with his meta-type character in WWE: “We’ve opened the fourth wall a lot with this business and we’ve let reality become a huge part of it, which is awesome. Being able to interact with fans every single day gives them the ability to know what’s going on behind the scenes a little bit and you can actually use that as part of your character.

“It would be stupid to let them in on all of these different aspects of the show and then pretend that I win every night because then we’re basically calling them stupid for believing that. But if I go ‘Hey I don’t win all of the time, but I’m really good and you know this and I know this’ and one of the nights could be the time that we go with it and that’s very realistic in this world. It’s one thing to joke around with fans, but to disregard huge aspects of a career would be a mistake.”

What he would like to change about his current character: “Yeah I’d be about three inches taller, so I could be a 10-time world champion (laughs). I’m a big 80s hair metal guy, like a David Lee Roth or someone like Nikki Sixx or Vince Neil to where I could put on a big show and be awesome at wrestling, but in this character right now where I focus on throwing that all away because I see the transparency in characters and my character hates on them.

“It’s a special place that I get to go and I walk to the ring with disdain for the fans knowing that they sit there and bury everything that we do, but then they cheer for who their supposed to because they’re such hypocrites it’s so great.”

The post Dolph Ziggler Says If He Was Three Inches Taller He’d Be A Ten Time World Champion 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 his shows this past week, Dave Meltzer discussed the merchandise sales of Finn Balor. He said that Balor has to be one of the top merchandise sellers in WWE because there are plenty of ‘Balor Club’ shirts at each WWE event. However, he doesn’t see many Balor shirts outside of WWE events.

Russo says that’s because there aren’t any wrestling shirts outside WWE events anymore. Back during the attitude era there were several wrestlers whose merchandise could be seen anywhere in public including Austin, The Rock and the NWO. Nowadays, you don’t see anyone wearing wrestling merchandise unless you’re at a WWE show.

Meltzer also adressed the Brock Lesnar/A.J. Styles Survivor Series match, calling it a success while pointing out that nobody would have cared about a Lesnar/Jinder Mahal match. Russo says, “Screw you, Meltzer”, adding that Meltzer’s problem is that he talks out of place, putting words in everybody else’s mouths. Russo says he would have much rather watched a Lesnar/Mahal match.

At another point last week Meltzer discussed RAW’s 3-hour run-time, saying that it doesn’t matter what WWE writes, fans are always going to tune out towards the end of a 3-hour program. Russo disagrees entirely, saying that he and Ed Ferrera wrote several 3-hour episodes of Monday Nitro and those shows held their audience right until the end.

The post Vince Russo’s The Brand Recap – Preferring Lesnar vs. Mahal, Elias Stuck in Second Gear, Meltzer & Satin go to War on Twitter, More! appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

As seen at Sunday’s Survivor Series event, Kurt Angle and John Cena had some interaction in the main event on the show. WWE’s Twitter account made note of it and Angle teased a possible one-on-one match between the two.

Things always come full circle.#SurvivorSeries @REALKurtAngle @JohnCena pic.twitter.com/BE2ILqZ4GA

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) November 20, 2017

“Full circle. Nobody can deny these two are among the very best. Question is, will it occur again in a one on one??? We will see. @JohnCena https://t.co/zxBBzhofz4

— Kurt Angle (@RealKurtAngle) November 21, 2017

The post Kurt Angle Teases Match Against John Cena appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Former WWE Superstar Sean “X-Pac” Waltman recently spoke with Court Bauer on WZ Daily.  Here are some highlights:

Bullet Club’s “Invasion” of RAW drawing a cease & desist letter from WWE: “I’m not surprised by this and I still think it was worth it. I’ll probably get heat for saying that. The truth is those guys are way more than a hand gesture that they co-opted from someone else. They are just as fine without those things.”

Baron Corbin being the #1 contender to AJ Styles‘ United States Championship: I think he has a lot of upside but they just tried to go with him a little too soon, maybe. I’m a fan of his.

Bauer on Corbin: “I think he needs to be repackaged. I think he looks a little vanilla. His face and the way he registers things doesn’t really do much for me. Would face paint help? Would a new persona help? I don’t know. Would a manager help? Definitely. Somebody to get you invested in his matches, yes, that could possibly help. Just Baron Corbin as Baron Corbin, what is that? We used to do this thing at WWE, it was an exercise, where if you can’t describe a guy’s persona in one sentence then something is not working here. I’m like, ‘What is that?’”

You can listen to the interview embedded below:

The post X-Pac Thinks Bullet Club’s ‘Invasion’ Was Worth the Cease & Desist Letter appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

While speaking to Ring Rust Radio, Johnny Impact was asked about the rumors about Global Force Wrestling and what’s going on behind the scenes. He was also asked how does it affect him and how does he go about trying to block out all the whispers. Johnny responded with the following:

“Man some of the best advice I got in wrestling I got from Matt Cappotelli who’s dealt so much stuff, so much hardship, adversity and always remained positive. His biggest advice to me was worry about the things you can control, don’t worry about the things you can’t because that will drive you crazy. So, I take that to me meaning I can control what I do in the ring, I can control how jacked I am, how tan I am, how my hair looks, how I talk, how I walk, but if the company is sold it’s going to be on a different network or its going to go bankrupt. On some level, worrying about that takes energy and I don’t want to put my energy into worrying about something that’s ultimately not my decision anyways. So I’ve become good at just cutting that off and not worrying about it because it’s either going to happen or it’s not going to happen but regardless I know I am going to land on my feet because I’m focusing on the things that I can control. I’m a valuable asset to GFW, Lucha Underground, AAA, WWE and even Ring of Honor. Who knows, maybe Johnny Honor may make an impact too. By worrying about just me, it eliminates that worry.”

You can check out the full interview here.

The post Johnny Impact Asked About Backstage GFW Turmoil Reports appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

In the recent installment of the E&C Podcast of Awesomeness, Edge revealed that he spoke with TNA Wrestling back in 2008 & 2009 and mentioned that the company wanted to sign him.

“Interesting little tidbit here that I don’t even know how much [Christian] know[s], if [Christian] even know at all, to be honest. I don’t recall talking to [Christian] about it. I don’t know how word gets out on contracts being up and things like that, but there was one point where my contract was coming up and TNA reached out to me, and [Christian was] there, so they reached out to me, and they told me numbers, and schedule, and all of these things. And for me, at that point, schedule was the thing that I was like, ‘well, that’d be a whole lot easier on the body’ because I was getting pretty beat up. It’s like [Christian] said, I started with WWE in ’97. At that point it was like 2008 or 2009. I can’t even remember. It’s a long time. Now, there [were] breaks because of injuries, but that was my body saying, ‘take a break dude,’ and I never did until something broke.”

He continued, “The idea that [Christian was] there, and the opponents. If I went there, there’s [Samoa] Joe, there’s AJ [Styles], there’s a lot of fresh things to do, but for whatever reason, from day one WWE felt like my home. It felt like the place that I’d always wanted to get to. I did those two TV matches in WCW against Kevin Sullivan and Meng and within five minutes of walking into that locker room I was like, ‘I don’t want to be here – I could tell this is not the place for me.’ And the dream was still WWF and getting there. And then, finally seeing the inner workings and then working into a position where I was one of the main event guys and I was factored in, it just felt like they did put that faith in me, that they did pull the trigger with me for whatever reason they did and I felt like I can’t look that gift horse in the mouth. And sure, there was work involved, but ‘I got to stick it out here and I got to stay here. I just want my career to be here and nowhere else.’ But for [Christian], I do believe that was definitely the right thing to do.”

You can listen to the full podcast here.

The post Edge Reveals He Had Talks With TNA Wrestling Back In 2008 & 2009 appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

“The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero indicated of Instagram that he is done with Global Force Wrestling. Here is the announcement he made:

“The clock is ticking, never standing still, yet memories will come, in floods they will. This was no surprise as things began to click, when negotiations stalled because of arithmetics. In arriving hello is easy to say, in departing it’s different as some will sway. But no not me as I look towards the sky, for there’s a reason I’ve always walked with my head held high. Although the past will come trickling around and through, the future is bright with much things for me to do. So thanks to my friends and staff who showed me goodwill, because those memories are the only moments that makes the clock stand still.” ~PHS #GoodBye #ThankYou #Pray4Flair #WWE #Wrestling #Sports #Entertainment #Impact #Boxing #HOF #Smile #Nothing #But #Love”

"The clock is ticking, never standing still, yet memories will come, in floods they will. This was no surprise as things began to click, when negotiations stalled because of arithmetics. In arriving hello is easy to say, in departing it's different as some will sway. But no not me as I look towards the sky, for there's a reason I've always walked with my head held high. Although the past will come trickling around and through, the future is bright with much things for me to do. So thanks to my friends and staff who showed me goodwill, because those memories are the only moments that makes the clock stand still." ~PHS #GoodBye #ThankYou #Pray4Flair #WWE #Wrestling #Sports #Entertainment #Impact #Boxing #HOF #Smile #Nothing #But #Love

A post shared by Elijah Burke (@dablackpope) on Aug 17, 2017 at 9:28am PDT

Dinero been with TNA/GFW since 2009 after a run with WWE’s ECW brand. There is no indication yet on what the future has planned for him. We will keep you updated if we hear anything.

The post Play-by-Play Commentator Done with Global Force Wrestling appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

While speaking to USA Today, James Storm talked about his departure from WWE and reveled why he left. He also indicated that he is open to a return to the company if the opportunity presented itself.

“Everything is about timing. I didn’t think it was the right time. I was treated with respect when I went down there, Hunter (WWE executive vice president Paul ‘Triple’ Levesque and I talked about things. He just said, ‘At the end of the day, you have to do what’s best for you. If things don’t work out, you have my number. Give me a call.’ It was great for him to say that to me. At the time, I don’t think I was ready for it with some stuff with my family life and my personal life to take care of. He understood that. It had nothing to do with wrestling. But never say never is the wrestlers’ motto that we live by. If it presented itself, I would talk it over my family again and see what we could do.”

You can check out the full interview here.

The post James Storm Open to WWE Return appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Roman Reigns caught wind of a Twitter account that didn’t have nice things to say his wrestling abilities and decided to rip into the hater.

He wrote the following in response to a Tweet sent out by the user “HeelDegenerate”, who claims to be a wrestler in training.

Lol ok sweetie..here's a tip, some of us don't like @WWE or their bs politics. We're happier where we're at.

— Ian Porter (@HeelDegenerate) June 12, 2017

Let ME give you a tip amateur. @WWE is the Top of the Mountain in Pro Wrestling. A view you'll never deserve or get to enjoy. #Facts https://t.co/sHf9ebYmi7

— Roman Reigns (@WWERomanReigns) June 12, 2017

The post Roman Reigns Responds to Hater on Twitter appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that according to the WWE, when one includes all forms of WWE Product related consumption, India comes out as the number one market surpassing even the United States of America.  According to them, on the basis of product consumption, India is at the first position followed by the USA and South Africa.

However, since consumption and income are two different things, there arises an issue when it comes to India. WWE doesn’t really earn much from the Indian market. Therefore to tackle this obstacle, WWE has opened a brand new office in India in order to garner more revenue from the Indian market.

This sudden increase in attention towards India comes at a time when the Impact Wrestling’s tour of India ended. Both the companies are allegedly looking to widen their markets in India as the sub-continent has a colossal wrestling fandom.

It is also being reported that because of this very reason, Jinder Mahal’s title reign will not be short lived. Plans can always change because WWE doesn’t have any tour plans for India anytime soon.

The post Major Update on WWE’s Plans for India appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.