News and Notes (01/13/2014)

courtesy Wrestling-Online 

JAKE “THE SNAKE” ROBERTS EXPLAINS HOW HIS RETURN CAME ABOUT
- Speaking to WWE.COM about his surprise return on RAW, Jake “The Snake”
Roberts explained how only a handful of people knew about it and it was
kept secret until he hit the Gorilla position. Jake said that he flew into
a different airport and he was smuggled in the backstage area and was put
in one of the busses away from everyone. He spent five hours there waiting
until someone told him what was going to happen. Jake said that he was
taken care of and they brought him food and a number to call in case he
needed something while sitting there waiting. He added that only Mark
Carrano, Vince McMahon, Triple H, Diamond Dallas Page, and the person who
did his travel knew about his return and met Vince just minutes before he
came out to the ring. “Honestly, I didn’t think it would ever happen,”
Roberts told WWE.COM. 
You can read the interesting interview in full at
http://www.wwe.com/inside/jake-the-snake-roberts-exclusive-interview-261754
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THE TOP 10 WEALTHIEST WRESTLERS LIST
- TheRichest.com website has an article listing the top 10 wealthiest pro
wrestlers of all time and only one of them is in TNA. Coming in 10th place
is Mick Foley with net worth of $15 million. The Undertaker is in 9th with
$16 million, followed by Shawn Michaels in 8th place with $17 million, and
Chris Jericho in 7th with $18 million. Kurt Angle is in 6th place with a
net worth of $20 million, The Big Show is in 5th with $20 million as well,
and Triple H in 4th with $25 million. The top three are John Cena with $35
million, followed by another Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin in
second with $45 million, and to no surprise, The Rock tops the list with
an estimated net worth of $70 million. If you are wondering where is Hulk
Hogan in the list, Hogan got cleaned by his wife in a messy divorce and
other lawsuits certainly didn’t help him either.
PIPER PUSHING FOR MATCH AGAINST HOGAN AT WM XXX
- WWE Hall of Famer Rowdy Roddy Piper is pushing for a match against
fellow Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania XXX on Twitter. “Dare you
to put Hogan vs Piper! Separate the men from the Boys,” he wrote on
Twitter. He followed a few minutes later with another tweet, writing, “If
I did WMXXX with Hogan, I’d train my ass off!, and from bell to bell I’d
fight with everything I got! I’d WIN’” There have been rumors of actually
putting Piper and Hogan in a tag match, not together, but against each
other with current WWE Superstars as their tag team partners. WWE is
trying to lock down Hulk Hogan to a deal for WrestleMania XXX and God
knows Hogan needs that money at the moment. Putting him in a tag match -
and adding Piper to the mix - would certainly make it easier to limit
their in-ring time and have them only come in in certain parts of the
match. Both Hogan and Piper were in the main event of WrestleMania I in
Madison Square Garden in a tag team match along with Mr T, Paul Orndorff,
Jimmy Snuka, and Cowboy Bob Orton.
JR CLOSE TO NEW DEAL WITH FOX SPORTS
- WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross is close to signing a deal with Fox Sports
according to his latest blog and while he already wrote an article for
FoxSports.com, the deal is not signed yet. “I have not yet signed with Fox
but we are obviously close and are hopeful that we can finalize the
contract next week,” Ross wrote. “Fox provides an amazing platform for
creative work and for the many projects that I am working on during the
most unretired time of my life.” Fox, as everyone knows, has the
broadcasting rights for UFC so it will be interesting to see if JR gets in
the mix as well for the network doing some MMA jobs. In related news, Ross
will be bringing his ‘Ringside’ event to New Orleans during WrestleMania
week. The event will be held at the House of Blues but no dates have been
announced yet or even ticket prices.

WWE News and Notes 01/30/2013

courtesy wrestlingnewssource.com

-WrestleMania XXX is pretty much confirmed for the Superdome in New Orleans, LA reports The Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

This will be the first time a there has been  a pro wrestling show at the Superdome since WCW booked Nitro there on June 21, 1999.

-Vince McMahon is legitimately scheduled for surgery on his left hip, reports the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The angle with Brock Lesnar was a storyline reason to give him a reason for it. McMahon had the bad hip for some time.

courtesy Wrestling Online Network

 RAW RATING
- Fans were interested to see if The Rock won the WWE title and who won
the Royal Rumble as this week's RAW did 5,020,000 viewers and a rating of
a 3.7, the highest it did since the July 23 RAW 1000 episode. Hour one did
4,860,000 viewers, hour two did 5,270,000 viewers, and hour three did
4,930,000 viewers. The show in total did around 700,000 viewers more than
last week. (Ratings compiled by Nielsen Media Research and put online by
PWInsider.com)

 ONLY ONE CHAMBER MATCH AT THIS YEAR'S ELIMINATION CHAMBER PPV
- The current plan for the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view is to only
have one Chamber match instead of the usual two. Usually, one title is
defended on the show in a Chamber match while the other match is to
determine to number one contender for the other title for WrestleMania.
The Rock and CM Punk already have a one on one match at the pay-per-view
and it looks like the only Chamber match this year will be to determine
the number one contender for the World Heavyweight title currently being
held by Alberto Del Rio. John Cena - the winner of the Royal Rumble - has
already selected to wrestle for the WWE title at WrestleMania whoever the
champion might be at the time.

 INTERCONTINENTAL CUP TOURNAMENT SCRAPPED
- The Intercontinental Cup - a tournament involving eight Superstars to
determine the number one contender for the IC title - has been scrapped.
It was supposed to start on tonight's Main Event on ION which was taped
yesterday before the Smackdown show however there was no mention of it
all. "I am pleased to announce that I have managed to negotiate a complete
cancellation of the #IntercontinentalCup tournament," tweeted Wade Barrett
earlier today. "I think you'll all agree that this is fantastic news. Warm
regards, Your Intercontinental Champion." Meanwhile, Ryback will be the
special guest on Miz TV on the show and the two matches taped are Tensai
vs Titus O'Niel and Ryback vs Antonio Cesaro.