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[TROY]

This would explain a lot:

Pro Wrestling Torch reports Mark Henry may be on his way out of WWE.

On the December 12, 2011 episode of Raw, Henry pulled his groin during a match against John Cena. Testing done during the week revealed that the injury was more severe than was originally believed. The majority of WWE's creative forces wanted to give him an easier schedule for a few weeks to let the injury heal. Vince McMahon, however, was described as being less than sympathetic to Henry's plight and decided to have him lose the World Heavyweight Championship to Big Show the following week at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs. McMahon didn't think Henry should have taken time off to heal and pushed him to continue making his scheduled dates. This has led to frustration on Henry's part.

Henry's contract with WWE is set to expire this year and the Torch says that tension could have led him to not renew, thus explaining why he's losing the majority of his television matches.

[TROY]

Really feel bad for this kid, hope he has a miraculous recovery:

- TNA President Dixie Carter announced that Jesse Sorensen will be out of action for up to a year. She wrote on Twitter:

"@TNASorenson met w/doctors this wk & is out for up to a yr. We're blessed he will be back at all. He's staying positive. No comment on Zima.

[TROY]

WWE has published their 10-K report for 2011 and it includes their wrestling contract with Paul Levesque (a/k/a Triple H). The new agreement went into effect January 1, 2012 and expires on March 30, 2016, when he is 46 years old.

Highlights:

* Levesque will be paid a 'Minimum Annual Compensation' of $1 million for each year under contract.

* Levesque will be limited to 180 dates per year, unless both parties mutually agree to extend beyond that number.

* Levesque cannot work or perform in any capacity for any 'martial arts' organization while under contract.

[misac]

It kind of surprised me, but the improvements to TNA's product following Russo's departure are lightning fast. The main event with the world champ, X-Division champ AND the tag team champs made all titles seem important (TV title doesn't exist for me). And the main event was a 15min solid 6 man tag match with a clean finish rather than a typical 3min run-in.

AJ/Daniels/Kaz match was also great, the X-Division match with Shannon Moore was a throwaway but cool, the KO matches were ok though Madison Rayne REALLY annoys me. Angle's opening promo started off really awkward but once I saw where he went with it and Hardy came out it finished on a high note. Garrett Bischoff is still there, but thankfully he's far away from the main event and has collected his dad, Flair and Hogan into a small corner of the show I can fast forward through.

The mood in the Impact Zone is killing them though, the audiences reactions really ruin so much.

But everything is focused, directed and easy to watch. Seeing what could have been these past few years if Russo had been gone since then is unbelievable.

All my shows were in reruns so I was able to record it. It's going to be the first episode I'll watch since the change.

[misac]

This would explain a lot:

If it's true it's too bad he's getting jobbed out to Sheamus like the last couple of shows.

[syxxpakk]

[Stephen Day]

Awesome pic.

[kingbeavis]

Turns out ROH didn't block the Briscoes from signing the contracts. I knew the Observer had been misreported (they said something to the effect of WWE having interest and the Briscoes, but the Briscoes had ROH contracts and nothing about ROH actually blocking it), but Jay confirmed on his Twitter that it didn't happen.

It sounds to me that the WWE called ROH to ask about the Briscoes availability, and ROH turned them away. No contract was ever offered, so ROH never blocked them from signing one.

[GLX]

The WWE/ROH story reminds me of this:

[syxxpakk]

It sounds to me that the WWE called ROH to ask about the Briscoes availability, and ROH turned them away. No contract was ever offered, so ROH never blocked them from signing one.

It sounds to me like the WWE called the Briscoes to see where they were in their contracts and the Briscoes told them nowhere near the end.

[syxxpakk]

Oh and GLX - I'm all about recommendations.

[rdrsfn82]

It sounds to me like the WWE called the Briscoes to see where they were in their contracts and the Briscoes told them nowhere near the end.

Yeah, something like that seems most likely.

[fieldy snuts]

Bruno Sammartino interview. A bit of more of the same but he's still interesting to read:

Bruno Sammartino on the WWE Hall of Fame and Vince McMahon: "Okay, first of all, let’s talk about the Hall of Fame. You see what people don’t understand about this Hall of Fame, they say that I’m being stubborn now. That’s not true. The first year he came out with the Hall of Fame, they totally ignored me like I didn’t exist. They named certain people—I don’t even remember who they inducted first—but they got these people. I was never even mentioned because that was McMahon—in my opinion—that was his way of showing me that 'you don’t mean nothing to us' or 'you’re out, you’re finished, you’re a has-been'. OK. But what happened was, it backfired on him because people called, wrote in, all kinds of stuff like 'how the heck could you call that Hall of Fame? Here’s a guy who’s World Champion for almost twelve years. Sold out the Garden more times than all these blah blah blah, and he’s not in Hall of Fame…' It was because I guess he didn’t expect that kind of reaction.

"And after that a few years later, his attorney contacted me (Jerry McDevitt) and tried to talk me to go into it, and I said no, that I was not interested in it. I said first of all because I don’t believe I had part of that part of the wrestling. I was in the WWWF, not the WWF that he had which he transformed into something completely different from the wrestling that I had been involved with, number one. And I said so I don’t want no part of that Hall of Fame. And then also because,, when people say to me—the few, because most people understood me—but those who didn’t, I would ask them, I’d say 'If you ‘re gonna go to this Hall of Fame, would you want to take your kids or whatever, tell me, where do you take ‘them?' I said, don’t you get it?

"This is strictly a marketing gimmick; this is no Hall of Fame! Where’s the building? Where’s the place that people can go to and see, what? And where does a guy like—eh, what’s his name—[Drew] Carey, a show host belonging to a wrestling Hall of Fame, or Refrigerator Perry or Pete Rose or Bob Uecker… These guys were all great guys and I’m not against any of them. They were all great at what they did, but what do they have to do with wrestling? So to me, I’d be embarrassed! I wouldn’t want any part of that kind of a 'Hall of Fame'. And as far as McMahon and I…repairing our relationship, I don’t think it’s possible. I made it myself very very clear from the beginning: I totally disagree and went against what’s he done to wrestling."

Bruno Sammartino on Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan still wrestling: "Nah, I find it almost disgusting. Let me tell you something real quickly: When I was wrestling, I made a promise to myself that I would get out of that and retire, regardless whether I could afford to or not. When I didn’t feel that I could be on top anymore. In other words, where I wasn’t getting the job done, where I wasn’t drawing the crowds, and so forth. And I always paid close attention to every place I wrestled to see what the crowds wants and so forth. And I wanted to get out before it got bad, and I did. When I got out, we were selling out everywhere. I’m sure you’re familiar with the program I did with Larry Zbyszko; we sold out everything. And that’s when I retired.

"I retired right after that, that’s where I wanted to go out. This guy should have been out twenty years ago. To me it’s a shame, it’s a disgrace, no self-respect, no shame, no nothing, because—he should be ashamed!—because he looks like hell and he just don’t belong! He just don’t belong. [Hulk] Hogan’s the same thing for god’s sakes! Recently in England he had the audacity to say that he drew the house in Shea Stadium where Zbyszko and I sold out! (Zybszko and I, we sell out everywhere!) He was on the card, he takes credit for that house. Yet, he and André [the Giant], right after that show they went to, uh—what’s that arena in White Plains, New York—it’s holds four thousand, they only drew eleven hundred people.

"But as far as wrestling, like I said, he stunk then and he still has the audacity to go in the ring today once in a while. I don’t understand it, why these guys do that. I’m sure financially they must be okay ‘cause they were in it when the big money came into it. So I don’t know if they have no shame or what. But to watch these guys… I never watch wrestling, but I watched a couple times because friends call me up and say, hey you wanna see Hogan he’s gonna be in the ring, or Flair. And I look and I shake my head and I say, My god these people have no shame, no self-respect, no pride, nothing.'"

Bruno Sammartino on being the main guy in wrestling in the 1960’s: "Well the ‘60s especially, they were just great, you know. There was a famous club in New York called Jilly’s and Jilly Rizzo was the owner, and he was Frank Sinatra’s right-hand man. And I mean, when you went into that place you’d run into anybody. But anyway, through him, yeah I did get to know Frank, and Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Peter Lawford, and Richard Conte. And I hung out with those guys through the years. It was a lot of fun. For me it was a big kick because I used to see these guys in the movies and what have you, and to be with them in person, it was quite fascinating. I was very fortunate because in my travels around the world, I got to meet a lot of great people. For example when I went back to Italy for the first time, I get to meet the President of Italy who came and I spent some times with.

"It’s just been one tremendous experience. I’ made like twenty tours of Japan alone. And Australia, many many tours. The Philippines, all through South America, South Africa, North Africa, been all over Europe… So it’s been quite a ride to be perfectly honest with you. For a kid who barely survived World War II, and then I came down sick with rheumatic fever which nobody expected me to live. And to have the opportunity then to come to this great country. (I came here as a human skeleton and I built myself up to a 275-pound guy, did some good weight-lifting competition I did very very well. And so it’s been like I say, quite a ride."

Bruno Sammartino on Kurt Angle: "Kurt Angle—we all know, right, he was an Olympian and a gold medalist—but even in the ring as he made the transition from amateur to professional, the guy can do some phenomenal, good, solid stuff. And he’s got that background so nobody can question or deny that he’s a wrestler. Yeah, I wish there were more Kurt Angles in there. And even if not in his caliber, in my day there were a lot of guys who were not Olympic champions or anything like that but they were great wrestlers in that ring. And it’s gone.

"They knew—as we put it—they knew how to tell a story. They knew how to make this match, if there’s gonna be a return match to where the people couldn’t wait for that return match to come. Because these were great talent, they knew what they were doing in the ring, they looked good, they weren’t a bunch of steroid freaks, but they were genuinely big guys who knew how to wrestle who were athletic. And now it’s a completely different thing. Yeah, Kurt Angle is one of the greats and too bad there aren’t more of him.

Bruno Sammartino on WrestleReunion: "I think the first one we had was in Florida. It was awesome because we had eighty or ninety wrestlers from yesteryear and present., signing autographs and taking pictures with the fans, and having lunches and talking with the fans. It was kind of unique and they have done that now every year. They have gone to different parts of the country. This one coming up in Toronto is very special, especially for me, because that is where I got my big break was in Toronto, and I have not been back since. So when I was invited to go there, because I am retired I won’t travel much anymore, I agreed to do this. I am excited about it and they are extremely special and they are awesome these Wrestle Reunions."

[kingbeavis]

It sounds to me like the WWE called the Briscoes to see where they were in their contracts and the Briscoes told them nowhere near the end.

But the part of the story that started out as ROH blocking the WWE from offering contracts makes it seem like at some point the ROH front office was involved.

[fieldy snuts]

But the part of the story that started out as ROH blocking the WWE from offering contracts makes it seem like at some point the ROH front office was involved.

Yeah the way I read it was that WWE put out feelers as to whether they could buy out the Briscoes contracts and ROH said "Thanks but no thanks, we prefer to hold onto them for now."