Hailey's Newsies Issue 13 - March 14th 2009

I Love Money : WWE Matchcard

Last time, Maria was sent home. This week here are the matches.

MVP vs. Shad (Dr LL vs. Heavenisme)
Candice vs. Kelly Kelly (Litaisextreme vs. AngelMessiah)
The Great Khali vs. CM Punk (Litaisextreme vs. Blue)
Umaga vs. Curt Hawkins (AngelMessiah vs. AngelMessiah)
The Boogeyman vs. Chavo Guerrero (Litaisextreme vs. Stickie)
Zack Ryder vs. Triple H (AngelMessiah vs. Dr LL)

I'm sure you know half the news I'm going to tell you today. But, my source has been slow lately...

Braddock Released

WWE released Ryan Braddock from his contract. He had been working for the company for approximately 3 years.

Jericho's Power

WWE has been giving Chris Jericho quite a bit of creative control over his storylines with the legends of wrestling.

Prinze's Departure

Stephanie McMahon tried to give Freddie Prinze Jr a raise and a promotion, but he opted to leave the company instead.

New Jeff Hardy Shirt

WWE has released a brand new shirt for Jeff Hardy featuring the Immune to Fear logo.
http://www.wweshop.com/Product_detail.asp?productId=01-10435

ESPN Promotion

Jim Ross recently noted that Jonathan Coachman is on the verge of being promoted to host of Sportscenter.

Kozlov to Turkey

WWE recently sent Vladimir Kozlov to Turkey to promote their product. He appeared on a version of Wheel of Fortune.

Not Flown In

WWE has implemented a new policy where they no longer fly in wrestlers that aren't scheduled to work the TV shows.

New Role

Rock has signed on for a new cartoon movie where he will provide the voice of a cow that is looking to go to India.

Wrestlemania 25 Jersey

WWE has released the official jersey for the upcoming Wrestlemania 25 pay per view.
http://www.wweshop.com/Product_detail.asp?productId=01-10278

Kizarny Released


On October 10, 2008, WWE began airing vignettes of a brand new character that was set to make his debut on the Smackdown brand.

That character was Kizarny, who was playing the role of a carnival worker who spoke in the secret language of that industry.

After two months of promotions, Kizarny finally made his in-ring debut on Smackdown (in a win against MVP).

Rumors began to spread that WWE management had given up on Kizarny almost immediately after his first televised match.

He mainly worked matches for Florida Championship Wrestling afterwards (in tag team matches with Ricky Ortiz, DJ Gabriel, Scotty Goldman, and second generation star Dakota Darsow).

Well, it turned out that the rumors were true. On Monday, the company decided to end the Kizarny experiment.


When word spread that Kizarny was being called up to the main roster, it appeared as if the Canadian born wrestler was going to make it.

For one, he had a unique cartoonish gimmick, which is something that Vince McMahon leaves a place in his heart for.

More importantly, though, the people that Kizarny knew and learned from were people that truly understand the wrestling business.

Kizarny grew up with Christian and Edge, two guys who definitely understand how the wrestling business works.

He also has a close friendship with Jake "the Snake" Roberts, who had taken on a mentor/student relationship with Kizarny.

Despite his history of alcohol abuse, you can ask every single wrestler on the planet to list the wrestlers that truly understood the game, and Jake Roberts will show up on more lists than not.



Kizarny is a very talented guy, and there's a very good chance that he could end up in either TNA or ROH.

Ring of Honor is currently looking for wrestlers that are recognizable to wrestling fans.

While Kizarny didn't have much of a stint on Smackdown, most WWE fans will recognize his face if they see him on the upcoming ROH television show.

TNA is currently looking to change things up with their undercard, which means that the talented Kizarny has a good chance of being signed.


Kizarny Not Bitter

Recently released Kizarny stated that he was not bitter at WWE for not giving him much of a chance to succeed.

Cena on Kimmel

John Cena is expected to be on the Jimmy Kimmel show on March 20, 2009 to promote Wrestlemania 25.

Mickie's Relative

WWE was going to bring a wrestler up from developmental to play Mickie James' relative, but she got released instead.

(At first when I read that, I thought Mickie was released. I got scared.)

Show in MiTB

Big Show was scheduled to be involved in the Money in the Bank match, but management changed their mind.

Wrestlemania 27

There are reports that WWE is working on having Wrestlemania 27 in Indianapolis. There's a huge new stadium there.

(There is a little news report about where WM 26 is, but the page isn't working. I'm sure you all know where it is anyways)

Austin's New Movie

Steve Austin has signed on to do a movie with Mickey Rourke, Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li, and Jason Statham.

Lita at Wrestlemania

Lita is adamant about not appearing at Wrestlemania 25. Instead, she will be appearing at Booker T's show that weekend.

Rock's Next Role

With several movies under his belt, the Rock has stated that he wants his next project to be a Broadway musical.

Hogan's New Album

Brooke Hogan is expected to launch her brand new album soon. The new album is entitled "The Redemption".

New Snuka DVD

WWE will be releasing a DVD covering the career of hall of fame wrestler, "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka at the end of 2009.

Touring Iraq

On March 14, 2009, TNA Knockouts So Cal Val and Traci Brooks will be flying to Iraq to tour the country for a week.

More Stars for Booker

Jake "the Snake" Roberts and Stan "the Lariat" Hansen have both signed on to be at Booker T's convention in Houston.

Former Divas Being Contacted For Wrestlemania 25

WWE has been contacting various former divas for a match at Wrestlemania 25.

To commemorate the 25th anniversary of Wrestlemania, WWE has decided to do a divas battle royale featuring 25 female performers. Since there isn't enough female performers in the company right now, the company has decided to contact former divas to participate.

Thus far, WWE has contacted Molly Holly, Sunny, Trish Stratus, and Jackie Gayda to participate in the event.

Molly Holly has generally avoided professional wrestling over the last couple of years. Sunny made a special guest appearance on Raw not too long ago. Trish Stratus did the same thing recently, working a tag team match with John Cena. Jackie Gayda's husband, Charlie Haas, is currently working for the company.

Rey Mysterio to Smackdown


It was quite a shock for most wrestling fans to see Rey Mysterio being moved from the Smackdown brand at the last draft lottery.

WWE decided to start the draft lottery last year with a bang.

The very first pick was the returning Rey Mysterio, who was moving from the Smackdown brand to the Raw brand.

For the longest time, Smackdown had been considered the home for Rey Mysterio and most people did not expect him to ever leave.



The main reason why people didn't think that Rey Mysterio was going to be leaving Smackdown was because of how vital he was to the marketing of the brand.

After the tragic loss of Eddie Guerrero, the masked superstar basically carried the entire Smackdown brand's influences on the Hispanic community.

Rey Mysterio was a proven ratings draw for Smackdown, especially with the Hispanic market.

WWE decided to take the risk and send him over to Raw.



The company basically wants to send Rey Mysterio back to Smackdown to boost the ratings.

Not only did they want to increase the ratings with Hispanic fans, but they also want to increase the overall ratings of the show.

Smackdown lead writer Michael Hayes has been under heavy pressure from Vince McMahon to bring the ratings back up.

In response to that, Michael Hayes has been heavily lobbying for the company to send Rey Mysterio back to his brand.



Rey Mysterio's return to Smackdown needs to be accompanied by a huge push.

The former World Heavyweight Champion's stint on the Raw brand has been pretty lackluster.

Programs with Santino Marella, Kane, and Mike Knox have not done much for his momentum.

While he might never hold the top title in the company again, it still wouldn't hurt for WWE to elevate Rey Mysterio into a higher spot.

He recently signed a brand new contract with the company, so it's not out of the question for management to reward him with a nice push.



Kong Not Happy



Reports are surfacing that Awesome Kong is unhappy with the situation in TNA.

Apparently, the source of her discontent is the fact that a newcomer like Brutus Magnus is making more money than she is.

It's a bit difficult to blame Awesome Kong for being upset with the financial situation. She has played an extremely important part in building up the TNA Knockouts division. She recently signed a new contract with TNA after briefly flirting with a contract with WWE.

While it's true that she is upset with the situation, there are no truth to the rumor that she's looking to leave the company.



Wrestlemania 25 - Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker

There's very few matches that are truly worthy of being in a high profile spot at Wrestlemania.

Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant. Randy Savage vs Ricky Steamboat. Hulk Hogan vs Ultimate Warrior. Bret Hart vs Steve Austin. Rock vs Steve Austin.

Those matches were all worthy of being in a high profile spot at Wrestlemania. They're all considered classics.

When you look at the current group of wrestlers, there's not too many matchups that are worthy of that spot.

WWE has come through and booked one of the biggest Wrestlemania matches of all time.

Shawn Michaels will be facing the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 25.



In the eyes of a lot of wrestling fans, what's at stake in the match between the Undertaker and Shawn Michaels is more valuable than any championship title being defended on the show.

For the past couple of years, thousands and thousands of wrestling fans go on to wrestling message boards to debate whether or not someone should break the streak.

The streak that I'm talking about is the Undertaker's undefeated streak at Wrestlemania.

Right now, he currently stands with 16 wins and 0 losses at Wrestlemania pay per views.

Considering his history, Shawn Michaels is probably the most credible threat to that winning streak than the Undertaker has ever faced.

Shawn Michaels ended Ric Flair's career last year at Wrestlemania. That momentum has carried on over to this year's Wrestlemania pay per view.


To be honest with you, I don't think there's really anything at stake at Wrestlemania when you factor in things from behind the scenes.

Shawn Michaels simply has less to gain than the Undertaker has to lose if the upset victory happens.

Wrestling fans often cite the Undertaker's undefeated streak at Wrestlemania when they list off his accomplishments.

Some forget that the matches are scripted and cite the record just as football fans cite the undefeated seasons that the New England Patriots recently accomplished.

Losing that streak would burn in the hearts and souls of many of these fans.

It would probably do more to hurt Shawn Michaels' popularity than help for him to beat the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 25.



(Not my opinions)



Calling The Haas House

Funny story the other day when WWE vice president John Laurinaitis called Charlie Haas' house.

Since Charlie Haas is rarely used nowadays, the family always has concerns about his job stability. With his status in the company and the weak economy right now, there's always the fear that he could be fired any day.

For Wrestlemania 25, WWE wanted to set up a battle royale featuring 25 divas from today and the past (winner gets crowned Miss Wrestlemania). John Laurinaitis was calling to offer Jackie Gayda, who is a former WWE diva and the wife of Charlie Haas a spot in the match.

However, she did not know that. She automatically assumed that the company was calling to release her husband.

Suffice it to say, she was quite relieved to know that her husband was not being fired.

WWE Disappointed with Royal Rumble

Within the walls of WWE headquarter, there's quite a bit of disappointment over the numbers for the Royal Rumble.

For one, the numbers dropped severely from the 2008 Royal Rumble. This year's Royal Rumble had approximately 445,000 buys as compared to the 575,000 buys from last year. That's an astounding 23% drop.

445,000 buys is nothing to really sneeze at. However, almost half of those buys came from outside of the United States. WWE receives a lot less money from the buys that come from other countries because the pay per view companies keep more of the cut from international sales.

Considering the drop in numbers and profits, WWE is more focused than ever on producing a Wrestlemania that will bring the numbers back up. That explains why Vince McMahon has been acting like a madman (or at least, more of a madman than normal) backstage lately.

Christian Splits Up With Wife

According to reports, Christian has split up with his wife.

On May 25, 2001, Christian married Denise Hartmann in a private ceremony. She's a model from Germany. The two have been married since then.

Recently, though, things have started to sour between the former TNA World Heavyweight Champion and his wife. The two are reportedly separated and a divorce seems to be impending.

There are speculations that one of the key reasons why the two are splitting up is because of Christian's decision to return to WWE. While he was working in TNA, he had a lot more time to spend with his wife. Not only is the TNA schedule a lot lighter, but it also enabled the former WWE Intercontinental Champion to be able to stay close to his home in Tampa, FL.

JBL To Retire


In 2006, WWE ran a storyline where JBL boldly boasted that he would walk away from the ring if he couldn't capture the World Heavyweight Championship from him.

JBL lost and promptly left the wrestling ring.

Behind the scenes, though, the reason for JBL's departure as an active competitor was because of a serious back injury.

He spent the next two years as the extremely entertaining color commentator for the Smackdown brand.

With the time off, JBL had time to heal his back to the point where he was able to make a return to the wrestling ring (on the Raw brand this time).

Now, though, word has leaked that JBL has been telling everyone that it's time for him to permanently hang up the boots.



There's basically two reasons why JBL is walking away from the wrestling ring again.

For one, his back has been acting up.

With the grueling WWE schedule, it was only a matter of time before JBL's body gave out on him. You simply can't work that many night without hurting yourself.

The other reason why JBL is moving on is because he has so many other interests outside of WWE.

He's got plenty of other business opportunities, including his energy drink business.

JBL also has his eyes on being a promoter for professional wrestling and MMA.

There are differing reports out right now about JBL buying Ohio Valley Wrestling, the former developmental company for WWE.

Regardless of what the actual deal is, there is a business connection between JBL and OVW, which recently launched an MMA business.

If you've been watching Raw lately, you'll know that JBL has confidently boasted that he will make history at Wrestlemania 25.

With him recently winning the WWE Intercontinental Championship, the history making moment could be where he becomes the first IC champion to retire with the belt.

Regardless of what it is, we should all take the time to enjoy the last few months of JBL's career.

The former professional football player actually is not scheduled for any house shows past April.



New Jericho Special



For one low price, you can get a Chris Jericho shirt, necklace, and his baseball cap.

http://www.wweshop.com/Product_detail.asp?productId=50-04716



Vince McMahon's Opinion Of Christian



A former WWE employee recently revealed that Vince McMahon hasn't changed his mind about Christian.

Vince McMahon still does not view Christian as a main event wrestler and a star.

While the chairman does see the talent that Christian possesses, he still does not believe that it's enough for him to build his company around.

Vince McMahon has to have that much faith in a wrestler before he puts the World or WWE title around their waist.



It's not a secret as to why Christian walked away from WWE in 2005.

He was both disappointed and upset with WWE for not giving him a shot at being a main event wrestler.

With TNA growing as a company, Christian then had a viable alternative to working for WWE.

Instead of signing a contract on the spot as the company had demanded, Christian decided to let his contract expire and journey on to TNA.

TNA gave Christian a chance to be a main event wrestler.

The company had enough faith in him to make him their world heavyweight champion.

Thanks to his solid in-ring skills and his superb mic skills, Christian found success as a main event wrestler.

However, he was yearning for more. He wanted to be a main event wrestler in WWE like he always dreamed about.

Christian reportedly walked away from a contract offer which was for 5 years and $2.5 million.

That offer is probably not that far off from what he is making with WWE.

However, WWE had an advantage in that they were a goal that Christian had been wanting to conquer.


More than likely, WWE will be giving small pushes here and there.

However, don't be too shockd if you don't see Christian getting a proper main event push in the next 3 years.

Whether or not Christian decides to resign with the company after his contract expires is anyone's guess right now.

It wouldn't be a shock to see him walking away completely from the business at that point.



I Love Money : WWE Results

Shad def. MVP with a Samoan Drop
Kelly Kelly def. Candice with a K2
The Great Khali def. CM Punk with a Vice Grip
Umaga def. Curt Hawkins with a Samoan Spike
Chavo Guerrero def. The Boogeyman with a Gory Bomb
Triple H def. Zack Ryder with a Pedigree

In the Battle Royal to become PayMaster, we have.
Shad vs. Kelly Kelly vs. The Great Khali vs. Umaga vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. Triple H
(Heavenisme vs. AngelMessiah vs. Litaisextreme vs. AngelMessiah vs. Stickie vs. Dr LL)

In the Battle Royal for the Danger Zone, we have.
MVP vs. Candice vs. CM Punk vs. Curt Hawkins vs. The Boogeyman vs. Zack Ryder
(Dr LL vs. Litaisextreme vs. Blue vs. AngelMessiah vs. Litaisextreme vs. AngelMessiah)

Source : WrestlingRevealed