Several Indy Talents At RAW Tonight, Early WWE SmackDown Rating Numbers Are In, Cena Tweets

Birthdate: 04/23/1977 (age 37) Height: 6'1" Weight: 251 Ib Cena is known as "the face of the WWE for a lon...

-- Friday’s episode of WWE SmackDown rebounded from the lower numbers of the past several weeks. The show drew 2.72 million viewers and a 0.8 rating in the 18 – 49 demographic. Those numbers are up 12% and a tenth from last week’s 2.43 million and 0.7; they represent the highest numbers since the October 3rd show drew 2.75 million and the October 10th episode also had a 0.8 demo rating.

The household rating will be available later.

Also read: The Rating Number For Last Friday Night's WWE SmackDown Broadcast Is In - Details

-- Several indy wrestlers from Tennessee will be working as extras on tonight's WWE RAW in Roanoke and tomorrow's SmackDown TV tapings in Knoxville.

-- John Cena tweeted the following after both WWE crews returned home to the United States last night:

"A big thank you to the @WWE Universe in Europe for having us and being so motivating. #ThankYou #NeverGiveUp"

Gerald Brisco Reportedly Trying To Recruit MMA Talents - Backstage News Inside Here

Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Also read: ?More On TNA Trying To 'Raid' ROH Talent - Big Update

WWE executive Gerald Brisco has recently been attempting to recruit athletes who would normally pursue a career in mixed-martial-arts, with the idea that they can have a longer career and make better money if they choose professional wrestling.

Additionally, Brisco has been telling these athletes — most of whom are amateur wrestlers with a lot of potential — that they can follow the same path as Brock Lesnar by using the success that they achieve in the world of pro wrestling to transition into an instantly successful and lucrative MMA career.

Brisco has also been looking at pursuing hockey players from Canada who are considered brawlers with a similar approach.

Backstage Update On 'Extras' Taking WWE Pay Cuts - Numerous Talents Turn Down The Company

Birthdate: 7/20/1979 (age 35) Height: 6 ft 1 in Weight: 221 lb Adam Rose ProfilesLeppan debuted as a professio...

Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Also read: WWE Reportedly Cuts Back Pay Given To TV Extras (Security, Rodebuds, Etc.) - Backstage WWE News

As previously reported, independent wrestlers who sometimes appear on WWE TV as extras have received a pay cut. Indy wrestling talents used to receive $250 a night to work as an “extra” for WWE TV. However, due to WWE’s recent budget cuts, the extras now only receive $100 a night for the same work.

Extras include wrestlers who work as “security guards” or some of the members of the Rosebuds for Adam Rose.

As a result of the cutback, a lot of the local wrestlers in the Northeast who contact usually WWE about being extras when they tape in the area either didn’t bother to do so or declined to do shows. It was noted that unless you are living near the city, at $100 you can’t break even on the long drives due to the cost of gas and tolls. Of course, there are still TONS of local wrestlers who jump at the opportunity to appear on RAW or SmackDown despite the pay so there is no "shortage" of extras despite some of the "veterans" backing out.

A Copy Of The Letter WWE Sent To All Former Talents

Source: The Wrestling Observer

WWE has sent a letter to all former contracted talents, offering them assistance if they need it. They program is called "WWE Professional Development." Here is a copy of the letter:

"WWE is pleased to announce a Professional Development Program available to former WWE talent, and in some cases, their family members. The Professional Development Program aims to provide guidance and support beyond your tenure with WWE. The first two initiatives are:Financial Education and Continuing Education.

Also read: WWE Offers Scholarships And Financial Services To Former Talent

Money Management International (MMI) is the largest non-profit credit counseling agency in the country and has partnered with WWE to provide financial education to WWE talent. Please see enclosed packet for more information. The use of MMI is free for you and your immediate family members. We encourage you to reach out to MMI for assistance.

WWE is now offering financial scholarships to former WWE talent in the amount of $5,000 per calendar year to be used for obtaining a college degree or completing a certificate program. In order to receive this scholarship, a former WWE talent must apply for the three annual scholarships that are available. Please note–the deadline for the 2014 award is Friday, 8/1.

To keep former WWE talent up to date with WWE news, we will be distributing via email an "Alumni Newsletter" on a quarterly basis. The newsletter will include information on WWE news, archives, wellness, professional development and more."

WWE 2K15 News: Playable Characters?, NXT Talents?, & More

More details have been revealed for WWE 2K15, which arrives on October 28 for the Playstation 4, Xbox One, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. You can pre-order the game on Amazon.

The game will use a new career mode similar to NBA 2K14, in which you can create a wrestler (or use an existing one) to rise up from NXT as a rookie to get to the main roster and become champion. It will include several NXT talents, with the possibility of playable characters like NXT Champion Adrian Neville, NXT Women's Champion Charlotte, Sami Zayn and Tyler Breeze.

Also read: ?Update: The WWE 2K15 Release Date Revealed

The game is also expected to once again feature the 30 Years of Wrestlemania mode. Sting and Goldberg are rumored to be featured in the game as legends.

Top WWE Talents To Appear At Wizard World Comic-Con

Wizard World sent out the following today…

Superstar John Cena® Heads Five WWE® Standouts To Attend Wizard World Chicago Comic Con, Aug. 21-23

WWE® Superstars John Cena®, Batista™ and Bray Wyatt™, WWE® Hall of Famer Bruno Sammartino™ and WWE® Diva Paige™ will attend Wizard World Chicago Comic Con, Aug. 21-23 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill. Special VIP packages now available.

Also read: ?John Cena News - SmackDown Segment Revealed + Comic-Con

Wizard World today announced WWE Superstars John Cena, Batista and Bray Wyatt, WWE Hall of Famer Bruno Sammartino, and WWE Diva Paige are scheduled to greet fans, sign autographs and pose for photo ops at its biggest and longest running event, Wizard World Chicago Comic Con on August 21-22-23 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center.

Cena will appear on Thursday, Aug. 21, from 3:30-7:30 p.m.; Bray Wyatt and Paige will attend on Friday, Aug. 22, from 3:30-6:30 p.m.; Sammartino is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 23 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m., and Batista is slated for Saturday from 2-5:15 p.m. followed by a Guardians of the Galaxy panel at 5:15 p.m. Tickets for all events are extremely limited.

"Coming back to Chicago is a great thrill for me," says Cena. "The fans here have always been good to me, and I really enjoy all my Wizard World appearances."

Also read: John Cena Headed To San Antonio Wizard World This Summer

"It is so great to meet not only the WWE Universe, but also fans of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy," says Batista (Dave Bautista). "I'm really excited to be joining my co-stars Karen Gillan and Michael Rooker at Wizard World for our Guardians of the Galaxy panel just weeks after the US debut."

"I had so many great matches in Chicago during my Hall of Fame career, it's such a thrill to be going back," says Sammartino. "It's great to relive these wonderful memories with the WWE Universe here in Chicago."

In addition to the five WWE stars, top celebrities scheduled to attend Wizard World Chicago Comic Con include David Boreanaz ("Bones," "Angel"), Matt Smith ("Doctor Who"), Karen Gillan ("Doctor Who," Guardians of the Galaxy), Anthony Mackie (Captain America: Winter Soldier), Norman Reedus ("The Walking Dead," Boondock Saints) and many more.

Also read: ?WWE SD Matches, Prince Devitt Update, Cena Excited

It is the 10th of 16 events in the 2014 series produced by Wizard World, Inc. (OTCBB: WIZD) and will also feature a top-drawer collection of well-known comics artists and writers and a variety of activities, exhibitors and special attractions. Wizard World Chicago Comic Con show hours are Thursday, August 21, 3-8 p.m.; Friday, August 22, noon-7 p.m.; Saturday, August 23, 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Sunday, August 24, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

How Many Talents Are Currently Under Contract With TNA?

Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter

In the last few weeks, Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, Chris Sabin and Shawn Hernandez have all left TNA.

Also read: ?Report: WWE Contacts Chris Jericho To Return

The TNA roster is shrinking, as two years ago they had over 60 performers under contract. Right now, the company has 33 talents under contract.

John Cena On How To Deal With His Fans, WWE Talents & More

WWE Superstar John Cena recently spoke with The Washington Post while in Washington, DC to promote this weekend's Susan G. Komen race.

Your status with the fans is kind of split these days and has been for a little while. Does that every impact the things you do outside of the ring?

Dude. You say a little while. On April 6 we just celebrated the 30th anniversary of Wrestlemania. I distinctly remember Wrestlemania 22 in Chicago, hearing the loudest one-sided reaction opposite me I've ever heard. Since then it's been like that. It's been eight years now. That stuff doesn't transfer. The few audience members that it does transfer, they don't have a proper sense of what's going on.

A lot has changed with WWE in the past decade in terms of health and well-being, do you think the younger wrestlers are now better informed and know their limits?

With the addition of impact testing, the addition of drug testing, the formulation of developmental territories where these younger WWE superstars are getting the best medical attention, the best financial advice, getting future advice — the company has literally leaps and bounds improved the work environment to the best it's ever been. Being a WWE superstar is now a greater achievement and a greater luxury than it's ever been.

You take part in charity and cause events more than anyone else in WWE, it seems, and you've been doing it for more than a decade now. Does it still have the same sense of fulfillment after all these years?

Absolutely. Especially something like this, the Global Race for the Cure in D.C. is enormous. I get to pretty much grand marshal the race, get to rile everybody up, get them set to run a good one. When I talk about that instance with my brother, my goal is to help people. When you walk down this career path — you say I've been doing this close to a decade — your goals change as your career goes on. You want to spend your time making a difference after you've become successful. I guess that's the easiest way to say it. With this, early detection is the way to fight and beat this thing. D.C. has the highest mortality rate in breast cancer. So to be able to grand marshal the Global Race in D.C., it makes a difference. Hopefully it will help save some people's lives.

2 NXT Talents Brought In For Extreme Rules & TV Tapings

Partial Source: PWinsider.com

- WWE NXT stars Jason Jordan and Baron Corbin are being brought in for Extreme Rules and this week's WWE TV tapings. No word on if they will be used or not. 

- WWE will return to the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on July 7th for a live RAW TV Taping.

The next night, WWE will travel to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada at the Canadian Tire Centre for Main Event and SmackDown TV tapings.

New TNA Talents On The Way, iMPACT! Tapings Tonight

Partial Source: Pwinsider.com

-- Yesterday's TNA Sacrifice pay-per-view is available for purchase via Youtube for $39.99. You can check that out at this link.

-- As Andy noted earlier today here on eWrestlingNews.com, TNA will tape Thursday's iMPACT! Wrestling tonight in Orlando, Florida at Universal Studios. They will tape next week's show tomorrow. They will return to Orlando on May 7 for more tapings of iMPACTs that will be aired in the next few weeks. We'll have live **SPOILERS** of all the TV tapings here on the website.

-- According to sources, several new TNA talent signings will be completed soon. Several contracts are also being extended and will be announced via social media.

VIDEOS: WWE Talents At Reading Challenge, Playground

-- WWE added the following video of Stephanie McMahon, AJ Lee and Cody Rhodes at a WrestleMania Reading Challenge in New Orleans:

-- WWE recently added the following time-lapse video of the WWE & KaBOOM! Playground for kids being made:

-- WWE recently added the following video of WWE Superstars and WWE Divas taking part in two "Be a STAR" rallies in Louisiana:

-- WWE recently added the following video of Hulk Hogan's appearance at the WrestleMania XXX "go-home" edition of WWE SmackDown from Friday night:

What's The Plan For WWE Talents This Week?, Details

As previously reported, RAW will air live from Washington, DC tomorrow night. Following RAW, some of WWE's top talents will head to New York City for the Tuesday press conference while the rest of the crew will head down to New Orleans for the WrestleMania AXXESS festivities. Footage from the press conference and AXXESS events will be inserted into this week's SmackDown broadcast on Friday.

This coming week will be insane news-wise as WWE will open their Superstars up to numerous media outlets. That means there will be a TON of interview recaps, etc. We'll have loads of videos, recaps and more.

Later in the week once the AXXESS festivities begin, we'll be providing recaps and photos of those as well. As of this writing, we have 7 fans who will be in New Orleans and will be sending us reports.

It begins this week guys .... you'll see triple the amount of news you normally see so be sure to check back in as often as possible! The next two weeks are going to be wild around here.

WWE Bans Baby Oil For Their Talents, AXXESS Sch...

-- As noted earlier today here on the website, during Emma's recent interview with The Herald in Australia, she revealed that a note was posted on the memo board at the WWE Performance Center that told talent that baby oil has been banned from all events. There is a mindset in WWE that baby oil doesn't look good on the Superstars and Divas on HDTV.-- WWE has updated their schedule of events for WrestleMania XXX AXXESS. You can find the listing here.-- WWE will release a Slam City book se...

More NJPW Talents Coming To ROH, NYC Event Sold...

-- ROH has announced that New Japan Pro Wrestling wrestlers Karl Anderson, the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight tag team champions The Young Bucks, and The Forever Hooligans are set for their May 10 at the Ted Reeve Arena in Toronto, Canada and their May 17 event at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, New York.-- According to ROHWrestling.com, seats are still available for the Global Wars show on May 10 in Toronto, but they are selling quickly. War of the Worlds on May 17 in New York City is now ...

PHOTOS: WWE Talents Tape An Episode Of The Sou...

UPDATE: As previously reported (see below), a WWE-themed episode of E!'s The Soup was filmed today featuring Michael Cole, JBL and Jerry Lawler.Also set for the show are The Bellas, Dolph Ziggler and Titus O'Neil.Michael Cole and JBL tweeted these photos from "The Soup" set earlier today:Fun day filming @TheSoup for @eonline with @JerryLawler and @MichaelCole pic.twitter.com/PNf6ePzEcU— John Layfield (@JCLayfield) March 21, 2014On the set of @thesoup with @joelmchale @Jer...

TNA & WWE Talents Launch A Fitness Website

TNA wrestler Ethan Carter III is now working on a fitness website with WWE Superstars JTG and Ezekiel Jackson called "Fitness Spartan". Former WWE Superstar Tyler Reks is also involved with the website.You can check the website out at BodySpartan.com.

Presser: WWE & TNA Talents Open A Fitness Websi...

Here is the official press release regarding several WWE and TNA talents opening a new fitness website:Former WWE Superstar Tyler Reks officially launches new fitness site & bookRohnert Park, CA - Former WWE Superstar, Gabe Tuft (AKA: Tyler Reks) has written a new fitness book and has launched a brand new fitness website called Body Spartan: Genesis. Written with his wrestling fans and the international wrestling community in mind, the fitness book is a downloadable eBook that will be av...

DGUSA News: CIMAs Issues, New Talents & More

DGUSA sent out the following today…We regretfully announce that CIMA will not be on this weekend's events. CIMA has had back issues lately. We believed he would be able to compete this weekend at a high level. However, we determined yesterday that while CIMA can wrestle, he would not be able to meet expectations for a match of the magnitude as the one he was scheduled for on Saturday. In addition, we became fearful that around 30 hours of travel, resulting in a very tough schedule, would o...

Numerous Talents React To Big Daddy Vs Passing...

UPDATE: As noted earlier, Nelson Frazier, Jr., who was known as Viscera, Mabel and Big Daddy V in the WWE, has reportedly passed away at the age of 43. Frazier, who just celebrated a birthday last Friday (February 14th), is reported to have died following a heart attack.Frazier was a good friend of mine and I had just talked to him three weeks ago. Everything seemed good and he was taking indy bookings. Frazier worked in WWE during the 1990s and mid-2000s and was a part of the Undertaker's M...