Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Swagger arrested

According to TMZ, Jack Swagger was arrested last night after the SmackDown taping. Swagger won the Elimination Chamber match this weekend and, as a result, won the chance to face the World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania in New Jersey.

According to the TMZ report (http://m.tmz.com/#Article/2013/02/20/wwe-star-jack-swagger-arrested-wwe-tv-taping-traffic-violations), Swagger was pulled over for speeding, but was allegedly determined by the officer to be under the influence and in the possession of illegal drugs.

You may remember a similar situation happened several years ago with RVD. WWE handled his drug arrest by having him lose his two titles in as many shows and then suspended him for 30 days for violating the wellness policy.

As I write this, it is unknown how WWE will handle this situation. WrestleMania is more than 30 days away, so they could suspend him and let him keep his title shot. Since SmackDown obviously is already taped, we may not know the outcome until next week, which is still more than 30 days from WrestleMania ...

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Triple Threat

I groaned within the first 20 minutes of Raw last night.

My fears were nearly confirmed in the last five.

The main event at WrestleMania will be a triple threat match- The Rock v. Cena v. CM Punk.

Why else would they start and end the show with the three-way rivalry?

And, it makes sense. First, what was Punk going to do? Some speculated he would face Taker, but I'm not sure how that would have made sense. Another idea would be for a fight with Brock Lesnar over Paul Heyman's attention, but that really should have somehow started last night.

Second, at the press conference for WrestleMania 30 yesterday, there were hints of a Rock/Cena main event in the Superdome. If that's the plan, then something or someone would have to interfere with the current plans.

I'm guessing now that if Taker is coming back for WrestleMania, he will join up with Sheamus and Ryback to defeat The Shield.  That way, when The Shield finally loses, it will be to Taker, accomplishing two things: prove Taker still is a force, and putting the young guys over more by showing only the deadman can beat them. It will also make Taker's possible singles match at the 30th anniversary even more impactful.

Monday, February 11, 2013

Got Preschool?

The Rock's milk commercial was a highlight of the SuperBowl commercials, but did you know that a brief version of the commercial is now airing on PBS Kids Sprout?

Could the WWE have had a hand in this commercial's placement on the 24-hour channel for preschool programming? I mean, even though there's no hint of wrestling, and just a hint that he is an action hero, The Rock -- the WWE Champion-- is still being introduced to preschool audiences.

Plus, according to Sprout's website, sample advertisers are Huggies, Pull-Ups, Geico, Johnson & Johnson, Honda, SeaWorld, Mattel/Fisher-Price, Leapfrog and Dannon. That leads me to believe the Got Milk? people are not regular advertisers.

Does that mean that the WWE helped Sprout get milk?

Well, although the little boy who got this information to me usually falls asleep before the electrifying one makes his presence known, he does have an older brother who taught him everything he knows about The Rock. So, yes, he knew who was electrifying The Wiggles.

And, both these boys watch WWE Saturday Morning Slam, the fast-paced wrestling program not only made for kids, but made to introduce kids to the world of wrestling.

So, yes, I would be surprised if the WWE didn't somehow back this commercial showing up on Sprout. Afterall, they need to continue to grow their audience for the future.

I just hope for this little boy's sake that someday Barney is replaced by Brodus on this channel. (I mean, really? Barney? Shouldn't he be extinct by now?)

Friday, February 1, 2013

TNA hits the road

Dixie Carter announced today that TNA Impact will go on the road and start airing live shows on March 14. The show is regularly taped on a sound stage at Universal Studios, Fla.

The first location is Chicago. TNA said it would release future locations and dates soon.

It will be interesting how this affects the staff. While they do travel for house shows and PPVs, I'm sure one of the benefits of working for TNA was that it filmed in Orlando, near where many wrestlers live.