Date: 05/17	5:15 PM
Views: 1,084

Thurs. #1 HERE. Want to help out the site? Please subscribe to AngryMarks on YouTube, follow us on Twitter, or drop us a line to learn how you can contribute. Don't miss Nickolye's Superstars Recap when available, Thursday Night AMP on ROH & WWE Over the Limit at 9 PM ET, Mike Poulin's Impact Wrestling Recap and Impact Implosion after! With the cheap plugs out of the way, here's Thursday's latest wrestling news.

Kharma has been ready to return to action for some time, but WWE Creative is reportedly "having a hard time coming up with an angle" for her, even though the two most NATURAL angles (Kharma destroying the Bella Twins, Kharma challenging for the Women's Title) were both nixed by themselves. (WO) That WOULD make it hard to come up with anything good, don'tcha think?

If you want a non-spoiler Impact Wrestling preview, just click the link in the first sentence. A non-spoiler Superstars preview is below. (WWE)

* Alex Riley vs. Heath Slater
* Lord Tensai vs. Tyson Kidd
* The Usos vs. Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger

Booker T is the latest name announced for Wizard World Chicago Comic Con taking place August 9-12 in Rosemont, Illinois. CM Punk, John Morrison and Maryse Ouellet were already scheduled, although Punk will only be there on the 11th. (WO)

Although Gabe Sapolsky DID sign an agreement not to disparage Ring of Honor when the two parted ways, he believes that only applied to the ORIGINAL ROH, not the ROH that was formed when Sinclair Broadcasting bought it and made it a LLC. Nevertheless, he issued this statement on Facebook: "You stop yourself from saying something 1000 times, but the one time you take 30 seconds and write something out of anger it blows up beyond your imagination. If you are reading this the bottom line is all you really care about is great wrestling, good storylines and something compelling. We had two awesome EVOLVE shows last weekend....Our staff of Ivan, Bryan, Sean and Brandon among others, led by Sal, worked tirelessly to put on those two memorable events and great iPPV streams. I took the attention away from all that by losing my cool for a moment and lashing out with profanity. I can't make any promises in the future, but I'll remember this lesson. I ended up doing the last thing I wanted to do- take the attention off the wrestling that we all care about." (PWI)

The latest wrestling additions to Netflix are below. (PWI)

How I Met Your Mother - Season 5, Episode 12 features Stacy Keibler as a hot bartender who becomes the object of desire for the show's resident womanizer, Barney.

Universal Soldier: The Return - Bill Goldberg is featured in this sci-fi story.

WWE's Greatest Rivalries - Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart - The complete two hour sitdown discussion between the two former WWF champions that were the cornerstones of the mid to late 1990s.

4-traders reports WWE has signed a new TV deal with D-Smart in Turkey. The two year deal distributes two one hour international versions of Raw and SmackDown back-to-back on Saturday nights with SmackDown at 11:00 PM and Raw at 12:00 AM on D-Smart channel 77.

WWE has reportedly signed Ric Flair's daughter Ashley to a developmental deal. (WO) If true she's expected to start with FCW soon.

A synopsis for the new Undertaker DVD has leaked out. "It is the most impressive feat in the history of Sports Entertainment, and one that may never be duplicated. Twenty times Undertaker has stepped in the ring at the Showcase of the Immortals, WrestleMania, and 20 times he's had his hand raised in victory. Undertaker has faced some of the biggest names in WWE history, including Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Ric Flair, Edge, Kane, Batista, Randy Orton, and more, and always claimed their souls. Now for the first time ever, every match in its entirety is collected in one release—Undertaker: The Streak. In addition to every match, the DVD also includes a never-before-seen documentary discussing the historic, unprecedented run."

WWE's first taping of "WWE Superstar Showdown" i.e. FCW meets NXT takes place tonight at Full Sail University with Triple H in attendance. (PWN)

In today's wrestling birthdays, TNA's Earl Hebner and his twin brother Dave Hebner turn 63 years old, while former WCW wrestler Alex Wright turns 37. (PWN)

The Honkytonk Man and ex-TNA Knockout Nikki Roxx will appear for Chaotic Wrestling on Saturday in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. (PWN)

Ring of Honor sent out this announcement about this week's TV taping.

ROH returns to The Du Burns Arena THIS Friday night, May 18th, for another round of "Ring of Honor Wrestling" TV Tapings as well as a special match that will be taped EXCLUSIVELY for internet broadcast! Here's what's on tap so far:

* An interview with the new ROH World Champion "Wrestling's Worst Nightmare" Kevin Steen
* ROH World TV Title Match: Roderick Strong w/ Truth Martini vs. Tommaso Ciampa with The Embassy
* The All Night Express (Kenny King & Rhett Titus) vs. Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander
* "Die Hard" Eddie Edwards vs. Brutal Bob
* "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin vs. Matt Taven
* Adam Cole vs. "No Fear" Mike Mondo

* Plus there will be a special match taped for the INTERNET ONLY to determine a challenger for the World Title on 6/30 in Pittsburgh, PA.

4 men will be selected out of 8 in a random drawing to compete in a 4-Way Elimination Bout to determine who will get a shot at the ROH World Championship in Pittsburgh.

The 8 Wrestlers selected for the random drawing are…

* "American Wolf" Davey Richards
* "Die Hard" Eddie Edwards
* Adam Cole
* ROH World TV Champion Roderick Strong
* "The Prodigy" Mike Bennett
* Jay Lethal
* "The Dominant Male" Tommaso Ciampa
* "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin

WWE has announced two house shows for August 4th: Raw at the James H. Gray Sr. Civic Center in Albany, Georgia and  SmackDown at the Civic Center in Pensacola, Florida. (WWH)

Here are some more details on tonight's NXT/FCW/FSU taping. (PWI)

* WWE champion Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio
* WWE Tag Team champions Kofi Kingston & R Truth vs. Epico & Primo
* Triple H will make an appearance
* Jim Ross and William Regal will also appear

Sean Waltman has joined the Scott Steiner party of burying TNA on Twitter. "@TNADixie Highly disappointed with you as a person who claims to care. More disappointed in your handling of the only alternative to WWE @TNADixie Been meaning to tell you that since your Co. tried to make it look like I no showed your PPV. Im just sick of @TNADixie running around playing this benevolent role, when it's a facade. @TNADixie BTW Congrats on hiring Bruce Pritchard. Perfect fit . One of the biggest lowlifes in the business. Treats ppl like shit if he can Mark my words TNA will be a part of WWE's video catalog before the decade is up."

1:45 PM ET. Eric Bischoff's new reality show continues to be a hit. The Devil's Ride on Discovery got a 1.07 rating with 1.49 million viewers last night. If it continues like this, it could beat Impact Wrestling many of the weeks it airs first-run shows.

Not my cup of tea really, but if you want to watch a Linda McMahon political ad, enjoy.

Good ol' J.R. has a new blog up. A few of Ross' excerpts are below.

Paul Heyman's return is one of the more positive things to occur in WWE in a good while. As I have said over the years, Heyman's TV persona is an easy one to dislike. We've had some classic on air disputes but none compare to some of the one's that we have had off the air especially when we were teaming in Atlanta while working for WCW. What makes Heyman so effective is that he doesn't play the 'role' of a villain who has litigious tendencies. Plus, Heyman is a life long fan who now has the chance to essentially reinvent himself with this unexpected return to the genre. It will likely be his last return to the business if I had to make a wager. I thought Heyman's interaction with HHH Monday night was the highlight of the broadcast while it kicked off the show as nothing really could follow that compelling first segment of the night.

Can't wait to see CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan for the WWE Title this Sunday night in Raleigh on PPV. Hope the Raleigh live audience is more emotionally invested that was the Greensboro audience a week or so ago. Punk vs Bryan should be off the page. I love their individual, in ring styles and, Lord knows, both men have paid ample dues. Some day, Punk vs. Bryan has a potential 'Ironman Match' written all over it or perhaps even a 'best of three' series of bouts.

Dr Death Steve Williams would have been 52 on Monday if cancer had not taken the good doctor from us approximately three years ago. I've often wondered how successful Doc would have been in WWE if we had been able to sign him a decade or so earlier. We took a 'flyer' on him by signing him late in his career even though he had been banged up some but then the quad injury that he sustained in the ill fated Brawl for it All really curtailed any plans that we had for Steve. I'm asked regularly on Twitter @JRsBBQ if I ever forgave Doc for his work in WCW with Ed Ferrera's JR presentation where my Bells palsy issues were mocked. I was NEVER angry or miffed with Doc as he needed work and was simply doing his job. Doc was 'cast' to play a role in a fictional environment and he did exactly as he was produced. I wasn't so pleased with Ed and Vince Russo at the time but Ed, too, was largely in the same situation as Doc. That matter is long since water under the bridge and I'm certainly not angry or wish any ill will on any one involved and executed such a stupid idea.

Here's a new audio interview with Daniel Bryan. We've got a few excerpts below courtesy Brian Fritz.

YES! - "Yeah, you'd never think it. All the years I spent toiling on the independent scene, really learning my craft, being as good of a wrestler as I could possible be and the thing that makes me the most popular is probably the first word I learned as a kid."

WrestleMania - "You have to look at it as part of your job but you can also be disappointed. I've always wanted to go out there and steal the show, every show that I'm on. That's how I got to where I'm at. I didn't get here by being a nice guy or going out there and being a character or anything like that. The WWE noticed me because I put on great matches. That was my thing. Now, I've developed into somebody who has some personality on TV and that sort of thing but that isn't what brought me to the dance. What I love and what I enjoy doing is going out there and wrestling and going out there and entertaining people with what I do in the ring. So to not be able to do that to the best of abilities what disappointing but everything that has come from it has actually been very good so I guess I can't complain."

The Miz is expected to be at USA Network's upfront presentation today in New York.

Here's when and how the next three hour Raw will air in Canada. (PWE)

* Monday, June 11th - 9 PM to Midnight (ET)
* Tuesday, June 12th - Midnight to 3 AM (ET)
* Tuesday, June 12th - 4 PM to 7 PM (ET)

Kurt Angle on turning babyface: "I've been struggling the past couple of years. A couple of times, they tried to turn me bad guy, it didn't really work out. So, I think now - just keep him the good guy. It's kind of hard to be the bad guy now, when the fans have the respect for you."

TNA runs tonight in Hattiesburg, Miss. at Lake Terrace Convention Center, and tomorrow in Jackson, Miss. at Jackson Convention Center. The card is below. (PWT)

* Jeff Hardy vs. Mr. Anderson
* Kurt Angle vs. TNA tag champion Christopher Daniels
* Bully Ray vs. Rob Van Dam
* Samoa Joe & Magnus vs. Motor City Machineguns
* Velvet Sky vs. Angelina Love
* Garett Bischoff vs. Robbie E

Anthony Nese, who believe it or not was still under contract to TNA even though he wasn't being used, was just let go so he could work a Pro Wrestling Syndicate show. (PWI)

Sunny (Tammy Sytch) has done it again - no-showing an in-studio appearance for VOC Nation yesterday. (PWI) Unless she gets her shit together, no one should book her for anything ever - and nobody should pay to see her if her name's on a bill - she won't show.

WWE runs on July 28th in Lexington, Kentucky at the Rupp Arena and starting tomorrow the pre-sale code is WWERAW. CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan is the advertised main event. (PWI)

WWE confirmed today that Jim Ross will be at ringside calling matches for the Full Sail University taping tonight. (PWT)

Jerry Lawler is appearing at a Tulsa Drillers minor league game tonight. (PWT)

Dixie Carter confirmed that Velvet Sky will be in the new Montgomery Gentry music video. (PWT)

6:15 PM ET. ESPN.com talked to Mr. Belding a/k/a Dennis Haskins and he was very complimentary toward WWE. "I just have a lot of respect for how they maintain their athleticism and how hard they work and the show they put on for the fans."

Chris Shays just won't let up on Linda McMahon. He keeps trotting out the old line about how nobody who spends $50 million of their own money on an election can be a fiscal conservative. LOOK, I'm not a voter in the State of Connecticut, but the way I see it is this - as long as she doesn't spend GOVERNMENT money that way, who cares what she does with her OWN PERSONAL MONEY? Since when is buying yourself a nice car, a nice house, or a Senate seat a crime? As long as the taxpayers aren't footing the bill for her campaign, I say let her spend as much money running for office as she wants. Oh - and he thinks any company that has a "Kiss My Ass Club" doesn't bode well as a public official. Maybe it actually does - if a few more politicians told lobbyists to pucker up and KISS IT, maybe we wouldn't have so much corruption in politics.

Dragon Gate USA/EVOLVE sent out this big update today. (DGUSA)

There is a new www.DGUSA.tv Weekly Special on DVDs. All DVD 3 Pack Deals are discounted to just $45. You can get any combination of DGUSA and EVOLVE DVDs with this including all the recent releases. All titles are included. If you go with all DGUSA DVDs that's 25% off. Here's the match listing for Bushido: Code Of The Warrior 2011, which is the newest release from DGUSA:

1) Open The Freedom Gate Title Match  YAMATO vs. Chuck Taylor
2) Open The United Gate Title Match  CIMA & Ricochet vs. Sami Callihan & Arik Cannon
3) South Philly Street Fight  Sabu vs. Pinkie Sanchez
4) DGUSA Homegrown Roster vs. Dragon Gate Veterans Match 1 - Johnny Gargano vs. BxB Hulk
5) DGUSA Homegrown Roster vs. Dragon Gate Veterans Match 2 - Rich Swann vs. Akira Tozawa
6) DGUSA Homegrown Roster vs. Dragon Gate Veterans Match 3 - AR Fox vs. Masato Yoshino
7) DGUSA Homegrown Roster vs. Dragon Gate Veterans Match 4 - Brodie Lee vs. PAC
Bonus Features:
1) The Scene vs. BJ Whitmer & Uhaa Nation
2)Alternative Angle Highlight Video

The next DGUSA live events will be on the July 28th weekend. We are finalizing the building locations now. More DGUSA and EVOLVE live events will be announced shortly.

Make sure to check out www.Youtube.com/DGUSAdotTV for all the behindthescenes Book It Cam videos from last weekend's EVOLVE cards. Here is the final one with a puzzling ending: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEdcQfZ8ITc&list=UUFAA7NmLmwcL9bbX_gXEV0g&index=1&feature=plcp .

There is now a poll on the main page of www.DGUSA.tv so you can pick the match that goes in the EVOLVE 12 show name.

Both EVOLVE 12 and EVOLVE 13 from last weekend are available to watch right now on iPPV at www.WWNLive.com On Demand. See the cards that many are calling the best EVOLVE events ever. Here's a quick recap:

EVOLVE 12 This iPPV has quality from top to bottom with a Fit Finlay vs. Jon Davis wrestling clinic, Ricochet vs. El Generico in a must see match and the first ever Evolution's End pitting AR Fox vs. Sami Callihan in a violent fight. Plus, lots more including Low Ki vs. Jigsaw and Johnny Gargano & Samuray Del Sol vs. Chuck Taylor & Silas Young.

EVOLVE 13 This iPPV puts EVOLVE's best foot forward with a spectacular card starting with the can't miss opening Four Way Match with Ricochet vs. Jigsaw vs. AR Fox vs. Samuray Del Sol with the winner facing Johnny Gargano for the Open The Freedom Gate Title in the main event. The action throughout the show is intense with Low Ki vs. Jon Davis in a battle and El Generico vs. Sami Callihan in an absolute classic.

Thank you for reading.

Cody Rhodes has responded to Santino Marella with a new Twitter video. Apparently his plan is to humiliate Santino by implying the U.S. Title can be worn while washing your car, or something. I think having Santino lose to The Miz in a non-title Beat the Clock match the day after successfully defending it in a PPV dark match is humiliating enough.

Last but not least NWA Hollywood just released this music video recap of their last taping.