SAT UPDATE: Warrior all over the place, Cena on why he's not going heel, WWE house show

Saturday's News, Notes & Links

 

--There may be a change in WrestleMania.  Alberto Del Rio in doing media today in Puerto Rico said that he is under the impression he will not be at WrestleMania.  He said that at one point he was going to face Randy Orton, and most recently was going to be on John Laurinaitis' team but that he's been just told he's no longer in the match.  We'll see, since the final member of both teams has to be announced on Monday you would think.

--There will be a UFC press conference at 11 a.m. Pacific time (2 p.m. Eastern) on Tuesday free and open to the public at the MGM Hotel Lobby in Las Vegas for UFC 146 which takes place on 5/28.  At the press conference will be Junior Dos Santos, Alistair Overeem, Cain Velasquez, Frank Mir, Roy Nelson and Antonio Silva.  Tickets for UFC 146 will go on sale Wednesday to Fight Club members, Thursday for newsletter subscribers and Friday to the general public priced from $800 down to $75 for the Dos Santos vs. Overeem heavyweight title fight.

 

--Ultimate Warrior appears tonight in Oak Lawn, IL at the Pavilion for Pro Championship Wrestling doing an autograph session for a 6:30 p.m. show.  Warrior was in Poughkeepsie doing an autograph show last night for Northeast Wrestling.

 

--Lilian Garcia will be singing "America the Beautiful" to open WrestleMania.

 

--A story criticizing UFC for suing its fans for streaming is at http://www.techdirt.com  Thus far no lawsuits have been filed. 

 

--John Cena talks why he isn't going to turn heel and why he thinks he gets booed at http://www.lfpress.com/sports/othersports/2012/03/23/19542626.html  "I'm not a bad guy.  I generate so much hatred just because of the way I act.  I look at Tim Tebow as a good example.  People couldn't stop saying his name.  He's such a stand-up guy.  People don't believe it because it's almost too good to be true.  And he generates that hatred.  I have fun with this business.  I love every second of it.  I love to be right there in the middle of the hunt. At the end of the day, it's not my job to force people in any direction.  I just to out there and see what happens.  You can analyze character development all day, but with the current state of affairs, there's no need or rationale for me to deviate from what I'm doing."  He believes he's booed by fans from the attitude era who think he's a  bad guy.

 

--Northeast Wrestling from last night in Poughkeepsie before 2,000 fans:  Jerry Lawler b Jake Manning, Melina b Velvet Sky, Brian Anthony won six-way TLC match over Tommy Dreamer, Ron Zombie, Cedric Alexander, Caleb Konley and Adam Page, Matt Taven b Matt Hardy, Hale Collins b Vik Dalishus in a loser leaves town match, John Morrison b Fit Finlay.  Ultimate Warrior also did an in-ring interview on the show.

 

--Leo Kruger from FCW looks like he's on the Raw house show loop as last night he lost to Zack Ryder at the first show of the weekend in Lakeland, FL.  John Laurinaitis was also at the show, changing the Primo & Epico vs. R-Truth & Kofi Kingston match to a non-title match (so you can guess who won that), and Brodus Clay pinned Miz.  Same Punk vs. Ziggler and Cena vs. Kane matches that have been at all the Raw shows the last several weeks on top.  They are in San Juan tonight.  Primo & Epico are going to be big faces there so we'll see how that does or doesn't change the show.  As of a week ago, they were to face Alberto Del Rio & Ricardo Rodriguez in a tag match, and as noted Del Rio is in Puerto Rico.  Neither were on the show last night.  

 

--Bill Maher last night on "Real Time with Bill Maher" said the Arizona legislature was making it so tough for a woman to get an abortion, and joked that the new standard is to get an abortion, a woman would first have to defeat wrestling star The Undertaker.  Hopefully he delivered that one better than it reads (thanks to Robb Block)

 

--The Rock vs. Cena special airs in the U.K. before the U.S., tomorrow at Noon on Sky Sports.

 

--A C.M. Punk Q&A is at http://www.inkedmag.com/features/article/q-cm-punk/   It covers a number of subjects including his tattoos.  (thanks to Andrew Smith)

 

--Regarding ordering WrestleMania in HD on Comcast, the vast majority of cable systems have it no problem.  We have gotten e-mails from people in a few parts of the country who seemingly can only order the replay in HD.  I'm guessing you should check with your cable company and alert them because it's likely a glitch because this will be one of the bigger PPV events of the year and I really don't think a company won't want it on HD live.

 

--We've got what for the time being is our weekly coverage of Friday night wrestling/MMA radio show up on the site right now, which also talks Mania, Hall of Fame, Joe Blanchard, Pro Wrestling NOAH's situation and more.

 

--Anthony Johnson's first post-UFC fight will be on the Titan Fighting Championship show on 5/25 in Kansas City at Memorial Hall facing David Branch.  The show will be airing live on HDNet, going head-to-head with Ultimate Fighter.

 

--Honky Tonk Man and Lanny Poffo talk about when they got started in wrestling, Randy Savage and other subjects at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOcZ9SG98E

 

--King Kong Bundy was either unhappy with Miz or looking for attention on twitter in the last few days.  Miz on Raw talked about how Bundy went from main eventing at Mania to wrestling Little Beaver the next year as one of the biggest falls from one year to the next, comparing to himself going from the main event to nowhere.  Miz seemed to be having fun with responding, asking which 80s midget wrestler was the toughest.

 

Is Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen the biggest fight in MMA history?

Yes 14.1%

No 30.4%

Not only no, but this question is preposterous 55.4%

 

What did you think of Thursday's MMA Uncensored?

Excellent 14.3%

Good 22.9%

Average 20.0%

Fair 8.6%

Poor 34.3%

        79.3% of those responding didn't see the show

 

Who was the best Japanese wrestler ever?

Kenta Kobashi 24.9%

Mitsuharu Misawa 20.8%

Kota Ibushi 15.1%

Jushin Liger 11.7%

Keiji Muto 9.9%

Jumbo Tsuruta 5.8%

Satoru Sayama 4.9%

Toshiaki Kawada 3.1%

Genichiro Tenryu 1.3%

Tatsumi Fujinami 0.9%

Nobuhiko Takada 0.8%

Shinya Hashimoto 0.8%

 

What did you think of Impact?

Excellent 9.2%

Good 31.6%

Average 21.4%

Fair 8.2%

Poor 29.6%

        57.8% of those responding didn't see the show

 

--Tito Ortiz will be doing the Q&A at the weigh-ins the day before the 4/14 UFC show in Stockholm, Sweden, which is the company's next full card.

 

--Some brief glimpses on TV last night.  Abraham Washington was shown backstage on Smackdown around Mark Henry with no I.D.  Also Rachelle Leah, the company's most popular ring girl from years back, was in the role and there was a glimpse of her last night as well.

 

--Tim Sylvia and Cheick Kongo went back-and-forth on twitter briefly last night.  Sylvia is looking for any kind of a way to drum up enough attention to get back into UFC.  Dana White has been pretty adamant about not wanting him back. 

 

--Millennium Wrestling Federation tonight in Melrose, MA at Memorial Hall with Low Ki vs. Slyck Wagner Brown vs. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Fit Finlay, Brian Fury vs. Carlito, Rick Fuller & Brian Milanos (managed by Paul Bearer) vs. Bushwhacker Luke & Beau Douglas and more.    

 

--Ultimate Warrior was announced for the 6/2 Legends of the Ring convention.  For $100 you can get a photo with Warrior in his makeup and old ring jacket, one-on-one interaction, and an autograph.  For more info you can go to www.legendsofthering.com

 

--James Beard and Black Bart will be doing seminars at the XCW Institute in Denton, TX at 3737 Mingo Rd. Suite 503 with Beard on 4/28 at Noon for $20 and Bart on 5/5 at Noon for $30.  Beard is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to pro wrestling having refereed all over the world.

 

--MEXPW on 4/14 in Los Angeles at the Arena at 6655 Santa Monica Blvd. headlined by Supreme vs. Damian 666 in a fans bring the weapons death match plus Joey Kaos vs. Bestia 666 in a ladder match.

 

--Son Sunday at 1:15 p.m. on ABC1 in Australia, there is a TV show called "Roller Derby Dolls" (thanks to James Stanios) 

 

--Hoosier Pro Wrestling on 3/31 in Columbus, IN at the 4-H Fairgrounds headlined by U-Gene.

 

--New England Championship Wrestling from last night in Blackstone, MA:  All Money is Legal b Matt & Brian Logan to win vacant tag titles (Promoter Sheldon Goldberg stripped D.C. Dillinger & Brian Fury of the titles), Johnny thunder b Jason Rumble, Bobby Fish b Chase Del Monte to keep NECW title, Adrianna b Mistress Belmont, Giant Pharaoh & Tank the Tank b Brandon Webb & Apocalypse (thanks to Bradley Grover)

 

--The Chaotic Wrestling show on 3/31 is in Hudson, MA at the Elks Lodge, not in Woburn, MA.  The Woburn show is on 4/20.