WWE recently spoke with actress Candace Cameron Bure about her recent wrestling segment on Netflix’s “Fuller House” show. She commented on getting into the wrestling ring and said she did her own stunts:
“Well, no one expected me to actually get in the ring. They had told me about this wrestling episode with the [Fuller] kids and it would be really fun and I said, ‘Oh, that’s so great!’ My real kids love watching it; they think it’s awesome. The first day in, they brought the stunt doubles and they said we’re just going to watch the stunt doubles. They’re going to work out the wrestling routine, and then they’ll do everything and we’ll just come in and do close-up face shots of me and edit it all together. Well, I watched the stuntwoman do the routine and I just said, ‘She’s not doing it! I’m doing it. I can do that!'”
If you’ve been following Shane McMahon on Twitter, you know that he is pulling out all the stops as he trains to face The Undertaker inside Hell in a Cell at WrestleMania. Shane is leaving little to chance as control of Raw — and in essence, WWE — hangs in the balance on April 3. He’s honing his striking attacks with MMA trainer Phil Nurse, building his strength and conditioning with former WBF competitor Jim Quinn, and even getting a refresher course in the art of hardcore from ECW Original Tommy Dreamer.
But before Shane-O-Mac graces The Grandest Stage of Them All, he’ll be coming to the Windy City for Raw. Now that his father, Mr. McMahon has publicly proclaimed that Shane’s inheritance is also on the line at WrestleMania, what’s going through the mind of WWE’s prodigal son? Did The Deadman’s cold reminder that Shane’s blood will be on his father’s hands inside Hell in a Cell resonate with The Boy Wonder? Regardless, you won’t want to miss when Shane’s Jordans hit the entrance ramp.
WWE Tag Team Championship: (C) The New Day VS Y2AJ (Styles & Jericho)
Will #KOMania take shape?
After Divas Champion Charlotte ended Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks’ No. 1 Contender’s rematch on SmackDown, it was revealed that Ric Flair’s calculating daughter will defend her title against both The Irish Lass Kicker and The Boss in a Triple Threat Match at WrestleMania.
No doubt, this turn of events drastically changes Charlotte’s strategy going into The Show of Shows, but it also gives both Becky and Sasha a career-changing opportunity on April 3. What twists await these three Divas on The Road to WrestleMania — and what new obstacles will Charlotte place in the path of her challengers?
Is Dean Ambrose the next WWE World Heavyweight Champion?
Big Show may have suffered a knee injury at Sunday’s WWE live event in Kalamazoo, Michigan, according to multiple correspondents.
Show and Dolph Ziggler teamed up to defeat Braun Strowman and Luke Harper and towards the end of the match, Show landed bad on his knee but did finish. After the bell, he raised his hand with Ziggler but was barely putting any weight on one leg. Show was also seen talking to Ziggler about the injury in the corner and both looked concerned. Show left the ring under the bottom rope and went straight up the ramp to the back while Ziggler celebrated with fans at ringside after the match.
It’s possible Show was just selling but both correspondents noted that it appeared to be more than that. We’ll keep you updated.
We noted before that WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler was planning on opening a wrestling-themed restaurant on Beale Street in Memphis. The Memphis Commercial Appeal reports that “King Jerry Lawler’s Hall of Fame Bar & Grille” will open before May at 159 Beale where Flynn’s Restaurant & Bar used to be. Lawler said it will be more like a restaurant with entertainment than a bar or a club. The restaurant will also feature some of Lawler’s art.
WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley is scheduled to return to RAW in the next few weeks for a WrestleMania 32angle. As of Tuesday, Foley was not booked for this Monday’s RAW from Chicago so he could appear on the March 14th show from Pittsburgh, the March 21st show from Philadelphia or the March 28th go-home show in Brooklyn but it sounds like it will be either Pittsburgh or Philly.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported last week that Foley was booked to have some sort of role at WrestleMania. Speculation is that the RAW appearance will be used to set up a match that he has a non-wrestling role with.
Working the Bill Watts Mid South Territory & bringing Memphis talent with him:
“I was there two years and it’s a hard ass territory. Bill worked seven days a week and in the Spring time and the Fall you worked two shows on a Saturday. You did a Saturday afternoon show and then again that night. You were working a lot of wrestling matches and doing a lot of miles in a car and a lot of miles in an airplane and it was a hard territory. The two years that I was there The Midnight Express left and first went to Dallas and then over to Charlotte, Ricky (Morton) and Robert (Gibson) followed them and Magnum TA went over there as well so all of the guys that I brought down to Mid South to begin with just wanted to go over to the Crockets. So I thought, well they are leaving, so I’m leaving and I went to Charlotte and did not like it and just went back to Tennessee.”
Pairing the legendary personality of Jim Cornette with the Midnight Express and Cornette’s present day perception:
“Well I don’t know about the legend part but he has been around a long time and I got along good with Jimmy and I do like Cornette. He wrote all my finishes down that he learned in Louisiana and when he went and did his own thing and I don’t blame him because that is how you learn and that is what you did. To say did he ever have an original thought of his own? I really don’t know. There used to be a formula with this business that if you stick to it, it still works. We can all cuss and we can all swear and we can all call people names and that don’t make you tough that makes you look more ignorant then tough and anyone can do that. I think Jimmy gets mixed up with what tough is and what cussing is, because that don’t make you tough.”
In comparison the reception his son Jamie Dundee gets for his very controversial comments and persona:
“There is definitely some Cornette in him. He wanted to be a white/black guy and when him and Wolfie D started and called themselves PG-13 they had the same gimmick as Cena and wore the sneakers and wore the shorts and they thought they were from the hood. Now he signs everything “white trash” and he’s got tattoos all over him and he’s back to being a redneck. He’ll say silly stuff and he’ll call people names and say stuff on the internet and write sh*t and it’s just more stupid then it is anything else. The only bad thing is people know you didn’t come into this world by yourself so when you say stupid stuff like that they think your mother and your father are like that and we ain’t nothing like that. He says well you know I’m nothing like that and it’s just a gimmick. But they don’t, the marks that listen to you on the radio shows and the podcasts hear all the things you say and they get you drunk and hear you saying silly words you and the (Iron) Sheik, they think that is you. When you do it on the internet it goes to Australia so your Aunts, Uncles and all the people that still live in Australia say look at Jamie. I think he has calmed down a little bit on that and he had a hell of a talent for this business but he got it all screwed up. I told him the drugs and alcohol are gonna kill you if you don’t get away from it and most of the ones that didn’t are not here.”
Thoughts on Jeff Jarrett and seeing him come up through the business:
“You kind of have to feel sorry for the promoters son. Greg Gagne got it with his Dad, Mike Graham got it with his Dad in Florida and when you are the promoters son people either like you or they don’t like you because well he only got to do that because his Dad is the boss and you have that cross to bear. It’s hard not to be Dad and not put your son in that position. Jerry said well I’m not going to push Jeff, well bull-sh*t you are going to push Jeff because that is your boy and that is what you are doing and that is how it is. Did he push him too fast? Maybe, who knows it took awhile for him to get his act together and I never thought he was one of the better talkers in this business because babyface wise his father was a very good talker. I got a long good with Jeff and drove up and down the road with him but were we big buddies? No, but when we were on the road we like to drink a beer and go to the bar so we had somethings in common on that part but we weren’t like the best of friends but we weren’t enemies either. I got a long good with the kid and tried to get along with helping him.”
Continuing with sons in the wrestling business, thoughts on Brian Christopher:
“I got a long good with Brian. Brian has a few demons that he has to get rid of. Jamie, Brian and Wolfie were all kind of painted with the same brush it was like what they did away from the ring was just goofy. Like I said, I’d have a few beers after the match but it ended there, I never wanted to stay up all night and party but the three of them were like that. They all ended up on the mountain and all ended up with Vince McMahon and all ended up with a job and all ended up getting fired for the same reason. Stupidity.:
Meeting with Vince McMahon after WrestleMania 1:
“I went up to Vince’s house after his first WrestleMania. He’s got that big friggin house up there in Connecticut, it’s like a damn castle. I asked him why did he have Liberace and the Rockets on his show and he said ‘Bill my father was in this wrestling business all his life and like you he thought just wrestling. When he went to the big arena in the sky he left a few dollars but I made more in the first WrestleMania then he left being in the business all his life and show business works’. He just got worse on the show business. How much can you do with the smoke and mirrors and his show now is all smoke and mirrors. I watched Raw (last night) and some of the stuff he’s doing on Raw is absolutely terrible in my opinion. Vince is a brilliant man for Vince and he’s made a lot of money and he turned his father’s business around, so obviously he’s not a dumb guy. There are more millionaires in the wrestling business today then there ever was back in the good old days.
“The day I went up there Shane was about 14 maybe and Stephanie was just a little girl and they were just young kids then. We talked and we just never quite saw eye to eye on anything and he fed me lunch and I got on the plane and had to wrestle in Jackson, Tennessee that Sunday night. It was fun and I can always say that I’ve been to God’s house and that was it.”
Recently Guide Liveconducted a Q&A with Big E, who was promoting WrestleMania 32. Below are some highlights:
Which WrestleMania match he’s most looking forward to:
“Shane and ‘Taker, for sure. I think that’s such an interesting matchup with so much on the line that a lot of people will have their eyes turned to that one. And also, I’m really excited to see what the women will do. I’m not sure what that match will be. If I had to guess, I’m assuming, possibly it looks like maybe we’re looking at a triple threat for the Divas title – Charlotte, Becky, and Sasha appears to be lining up. There’s a decent amount of pressure on those women with the whole ‘Diva’s Revolution.’ I think a lot of people are excited to see what they do to represent for all the talented women in wrestling.”
A possible big entrance for the New Day at WrestleMania:
“We’ve already kind of started getting people excited about our entrance – which I’ve kind of wanted to temper expectations, but we had some media hits this morning, and Woods and Kofi were already telling people to look out for our entrance. So, I suppose our WrestleMania entrance is the big plan. There’s a good chance that it all gets nixed, and people are very disappointed, but we have something cooking.”
Big E also discussed working with veterans like the Dudleys and Chris Jericho, the post-WrestleMania RAW, New Day’s status heading into Mania and more. You can read the full interviewby clicking here.
The pro wrestling world has suffered a great loss, as Eiji Ezaki, known to wrestling fans as Hayabusa has died at 47 years old.
Reports emerged early Friday of the Japanese legend’s passing due to a subarachnoid hemorrhage. Tokyo Sports said that Ezaki was found dead on Thursday afternoon.
Ezaki had been confined to a wheelchair for the last 14 years after suffering a career-ending injury inside the ring. During a match against Mammoth Sasaki, Ezaki lost his footing on a springboard moonsault attempt which caused him to land awkwardly, cracking two of his vertebrae, and leading to him being paralyzed.
Ezaki had a fantastic moment in 2014 where he rose from his wheelchair and took steps. He was later able to stand and walk on his own with the aid of a cane.
American pro wrestling fans perhaps best remember Ezaki from the classic ECW match where he teamed with Jensei Shinzaki (Hakushi) to take on Rob Van Dam and Sabu. The match was one of several in a talent exchange and co-promotion between ECW and Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, known as FMW.
Hayabusa was one of the key cogs in FMW, and after his injury, the company withered away. In 2015, it was announced that the company would be revived, with Hayabusa/Ezaki serving as the Executive Producer.
Hayabusa also helped popularize several moves such as the Falcon Arrow and 450 Splash, while also inventing the Phoenix Splash. American fans may also know him as the motivation for the character “Han Zo Mon” in WCW/NWO Revengevideo game and “Habanero” in WCW vs. The World.
WWE issued this statement on his passing:
WWE is saddened to learn of the passing of Eiji Ezaki, better known to fans around the world as Hayabusa, at the age of 47.
An innovative high-flyer who helped inspire a generation of Superstars, the mysterious, masked Hayabusa was known for throwing caution to the wind. Ezaki created daring moves like the Phoenix Splash, which to this day can be seen in the repertoire of daredevil competitors, including former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins. A major star in Japan in the mid to late ’90s, Hayabusa competed in one major American match, teaming with Jinsei Shinzaki (known as Hakushi in WWE) in a losing effort against Sabu & Rob Van Dam at ECW’s Heat Wave 1998 event. Although his career was cut short by injury in 2001, Ezaki never strayed far from the industry, where he continued to impart his knowledge.
WWE extends its condolences to Ezaki’s family, friends and fans.
Brian Fritz of The Sporting News recently interviewed Jimmy Garvin about The Fabulous Freebirds being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year. Below are a couple of highlights:
If he thought the announcement of The Freebirds being inducted into the into the WWE Hall of Fame was coming this year with WrestleMania taking place in Dallas:
“No, I was really quite surprised. Michael has mentioned something about it. We didn’t really talk too much about it because it was in Atlanta a few years back. People would say “Atlanta feels like the place” but Dallas is a great place, too, because of what we accomplished and what we did in Dallas.”
If his time in Dallas feuding with the Von Erichs was his favorite period of his career:
“I’d say it’s one of them. I had a pretty good run down in Florida. I wrestled Harley Racefor the world title and went an hour broadway with him. I wrestled with the Briscos down in Florida. I had a J.J. Dillon as a manager. I had the legendary Buddy Rogers as a manager at one time. I had Killer Karl Kox as a manager at one time. That’s pretty heavy company to be with and we had some good feuds down there. That was good times for me. The AWA was good times for me with Rick Martel. We used to have magical matches. It reminded me of the matches David and I would have because we blended so well together. In Crockett’s territory, there was Wahoo McDaniel. I never felt I had a great match with (Ric) Flair. I just never did. I really never felt that I had anything to be proud of working with Ric. It just didn’t mesh that good. I don’t know why. The chemistry just wasn’t there.”
Garvin also discussed the impact the Freebirds had in the business, if he was surprised how well the feud with the Von Erichs worked, how he became a Freebird, being stabbed overseas, what the scene will be like at the Hall of Fame and more. You can read the full interviewby clicking here. You can also listen to the interview at this link.
