“Hot Stuff” Eddie Gilbert’s Family Suing WWE

Eddie Gilbert

Tommy Gilbert, the father of the late great “Hot Stuff” Eddie Gilbert, claims that WWE is cashing in on Eddie, so the Gilbert family is suing WWE to get a cut of the action.

According to docs … Tommy Gilbert is in charge of the estate and Tommy says the WWE is plastering his son’s image and likeness all over TV and other media platforms without permission and more importantly, without paying the Gilbert family a dime.

Tommy says old wrestling footage of Eddie, a pro wrestler from 1979 until his death from a heart attack in 1995, is being used to promote the WWE.

The Gilbert family isn’t suing to block use of the footage, they just want a judge to force WWE to pay them a share of its profits, plus damages.

A WWE rep tells TMZ – “Through the years, WWE has acquired the legal rights to library footage of various former wrestling organizations including Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Mid-Southern Wrestling among many others. WWE has made substantial investments to acquire these copyrighted works and has the legal right to use them.”

The WWE rep adds – “Similar cases in the past have been unsuccessful, and we expect this case to be dismissed,”

Source: TMZ

Triple H Makes WWE Tough Enough Announcement (video)

Triple H announced that casting is now open for the new season of WWE Tough Enough. Talents can visit WWEToughEnough.com to submit their own videos for a chance to be on the show.

Triple H confirmed that there will be 10 men and 5 women on the new season that begins June 23rd on the USA Network. The WWE Universe will choose the winner.

Jeff Jarrett Contacting Talent For GFW TV Tapings

Jeff Jarrett has started the process of contacting talent to appear at the upcoming Global Force Wrestling TV tapings in Las Vegas beginning in July. Jarrett confirmed in a interview that he was in talks with at least three networks regarding a TV deal. According to Dave Meltzer from Wrestling Observer Newsletter, of the talent being contacted for the tapings, Jarrett is reportedly offering better money than Ring of Honor.

Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter via WrestleView

global-force-wrestling

Legends Of Memphis Wrestling & Other Stuff From POP!CON

I got to attend the comic convention POP!CON in Evansville, In, where I got to meet some of the Legends of Memphis Wrestling, Jerry “The King” Lawler, “Grand Master Sexy” Brian Christopher, “the Boogie Woogie Man” “Handsome” Jimmy Valiant, “The Voice of Memphis Wrestling” Lance Russell and “Superstar” Bill Dundee. I had a blast getting to meet these guys I grew up watching.

I had the chance to talk with “Grand Master Sexay” Brian Christopher about the old days of Memphis Wrestling. He shared with me a story about his dad (Jerry “the King” Lawler”) wrestling The Giant Gonzalez at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, where Lawler threw a fireball at Gonzalez and his fur he wore on his suit caught fire, Gonzalez for real got angry at Lawler and Lawler told him if he has a problem with it he could always fire him. We talked about the great matches that I got to see in Evansville, In at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Coliseum.

Here are some of the photos I was able to take, Sorry but I realized I failed to get a photo of “Dangerous” Doug Gilbert, who was there:

Jerry Lawler

Lance Russell

Jimmy Valiant

Brian Christopher

Bill Dundee

Jerry Lawler was presented with a Super Hero of the year award.

Jerry Lawler

There was more than just wrestling at POP!CON, People were dressed in costumes of their favorite wrestlers, Super Heroes, Star Wars characters, Star Trek characters and other comic book and movie characters,  below is some photos I posted on Twitter from the event:

 

 

Las Vegas Wrestling Promotion ‘PPW’ Gets National TV Deal

It is being reported by PWInsider that Las Vegas wrestling promotion Paragon Pro Wrestling informed the talent in their locker room that the company would soon be announcing a national television deal.

The deal will be with Pop TV, formerly known as the TV Guide Network. The channel is available in standard definition on both DirecTV and Dish Network, and high definition on Verizon FiOS. The channel is a joint venture between CBS Corporation and Lions Gate Entertainment. The channel is available in 80 million homes.

PPW features talent from the southern California area, and has also seen the likes of former WWE talents Gangrel and Victoria. It appears that former TNA announcer Todd Kenely will be handling announcing duties for the show.

PWInsider also reports that PPW taped television Tuesday night and had state of the art equipment on hand. Current Lucha Underground announcer Matt Striker is rumored to be directing  and producing.

The roster was told that the show will debut sometime this summer.

Source: PWInsider via WrestlingINC.com

More news on AJ Lee’s retirement 

On April 3rd the news broke that one of WWE’s biggest names announced retirement. That name was none other then 3 time divas champion AJ Lee. This left many fans confused. Why would someone who loves professional wrestling retire just 5 years after being in WWE?

Now with more light being shed on the situation we may have those answers. According to Wrestling obsbver newsletter the word going around backstage is her retirement is the result of a lawsuit that WWE physician Chris Anmann has against AJ’s husband Phil “CM Punk” Brooks

By retiring AJ was able to get out of her contract with WWE but she also gives up the opportunity to compete in any other pro wrestling organization.

-Vanessa (@GreatLove91)

Source: WrestlingInc.com 

SmackDown Moving To USA Network

WWE and USA Network announced that SmackDown will be moving to the USA Network in the first quarter of 2016.

“WWE is proud to have SmackDown join Raw as part of our expanded partnership with USA Network.” said WWE Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Vince McMahon. “The combination of the #1 cable network and two rating juggernauts provide a destination for our viewers and an extraordinary platform fr our partners.”

“WWE consistently delivers one of the largest and most socially engaged live audiences in entertainment and we’re excited to expand our long-standing relationship and be true cable home for the WWE fan,” said USA Network President Chris McCumber.

 Paige appreciation day 

April 7th 2013 was the day after WrestleMania 30. It was probably my all time favorite post WrestleMania Raw. Not only did we get to see Daniel Bryan celebrate his championship win after months of battaling the Athority, or how about the fact that April 7th 2014 was the last time we would see the Ultimate Warrior in a WWE ring before his untimely passing.

April 7th 2014 was special for many reasons and one of those reasons was the debut of the “raven haired lady” “hell in boots”, that’s right ladies and gents one year ago this very day Raw became Paige’s house.

I remember the moment like it was yesterday. AJ came out to address the crowd putting them all on notice. She told the story of growing up poor and going on to become the longest reigning divas champion. It was a good speech that was interrupted by the sound of Paige’s music. As soon as that music hit the post WrestleMania crowd went insane, and so did I watching at home. I remember my cousins were visiting me at the time and when it happened they had no clue what was going on.

So Paige makes her way to the ring and tells AJ that she wants to congratulate her this doesn’t go over well with AJ, so what does AJ do??? She slaps the taste right out of Paige’s mouth. It’s what happens next though that’s the kicker. AJ tells Paige she’s going to beat her just like she had done everyone else. AJ says as a post mania treat she’ll put her title on the line.

This of corse sends the crowd into a frenzy of this is awesome chants. I sitting at home had goosebumps and it was safe to say I was marking out. Of corse Paige being a “rookie” at the time tells AJ she’s not ready but there was no changing AJ’s mind and so the match went on.

To be expected AJ has the uperhand and it looks as if she’s about to make Paige tap in a quick fashion, BUT THEN something else happens. The anti diva counters the black widow into the rampage and gets the 1, 2, 3, on AJ.

It took a split second for Paige to end the 295 day title reign of AJ Lee. In a blink of an eye Paige became the youngest divas champ at just 21 years old, it took one move for Paige to make history by becoming the first diva to hold both the NXT women’s championship and the divas champion at the SAME TIME.

It’s been a year since that epic history making moment and Paige has went on to do incredible things. Since then she’s held the title twice (still the youngest I might add) she’s been a face, she’s been a heel, she’s cut one is the better diva promos in recent memory, she’s given us awesome matches, she’s become a star on total divas, and has become an ever growing fan favorite.

For someone who has been wrestling since she was 13 or as she would like to say since she was a fetus, the sky is definitely the limit for her. She has so many years ahead of her and there’s no doubt in my mind that she will be a future hall of Famer.

#paigeappreciationday is already trending on Twitter and I say we keep that trend going.

But first let’s take a look back at the moment that got us here in the first place, enjoy!

http://youtu.be/Gx-E3s1oVyA

And here’s to many more just like it

-Vanessa (@GreatLove91)

AJ Lee retires 

This is not a late April Fool’s joke. The WWE just sent out word that April Jenette Brooks better known as AJ Lee has decided to retire from professional Wrestling. The WWE wishes AJ well and so do we here at WrestlingNewsBlog.

AJ was on the very first all female version of the completion show “NXT”. She made it to the final 3, AJ Lee is also a former GM of Raw, main eventef Raw multiple times and is a 3 time divas champion and not to mention the longest reigning divas champ of all time.

One of AJ’s most iconic moments was when she dropped her “pipebombshell” on the cast of total divas in 2014. One of my personal favorite AJ moments is the ongoing feud she had with real life best friend Kaitlyn (Celeste Braun)

I know today is a sad day for many fans but I honestly can’t say I didn’t see this one coming. With her husband CM Punk No longer a worker for WWE it was only a matter of time before we saw AJ Lee leave as well.

You can’t blame her for wanting to live a normal life with her husband but one thing is Forsure the black widow crazy chick has left her mark on the WWE and will be forever remembered.

Feel free to share your favorite AJ moments with us in the comments or you can tweet us @WrestleNewsBlog

 

-Vanessa (@GreatLove91)

Could Jim Ross Return To WWE?

This past Monday on RAW a irate Brock Lesnar went on a rampage after Seth Rollins refused to give him his rematch for the WWE World Heavyweight Title that night. Lesnar took out the entire RAW broadcast team. Lesnar delivered an F5 to Michael Cole. Later that night Byron Saxton announced that Cole suffered a cervical spine injury from the attack.

Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer is reporting that WWE is trying to do everything they can to get WWE Hall of Famer announcer Jim Ross back. JR attended this past weekend’s NXT show and received a shout-out from Triple H. JR has said several times on his podcast that he doesn’t plan to announce wrestling shows on a weekly basis anymore, but that could change if WWE makes the right offer.

Nobody is expecting that Cole will be back next week. Cole could be kept off the show several weeks, which would leave the play-by-play spot open. Saxton could be used again next week on RAW, but it’s also possible that next week’s show could see the return of the greatest announcer in wrestling history, Jim Ross.

Source: INQUISITR, click on this link for their full story