The Sunday Papers

Between the ‘sheets

– TNA has taped nearly a year’s worth of it’s One Night Only mini pay per views now, six of which took place over the last week and featured many returning TNA and WWE superstars. The ‘World Cup Of Wrestling’ event was set to feature teams from Canada and Mexico, but due to visa issues many of the wrestlers TNA contacted couldn’t appear. They were left with only four countries; USA, UK, International and Aces & Eights, of which only two are actual countries. The tapings were took another hit as many of the former TNA knockouts who were contacted to work the ‘Knockout Knockdown’ show banded together in protest, declining the invitations. Daffney and Amber O’Neal did show up at the taping however, but as fans. They held a sign reading “We’re here independently,” a reference to their independent contractor status while within the company and TNA’s excuse for not paying medical expenses. April’s X-Travaganza and May’s Joker’s Wild were taped in January. The full schedule of events can be found on Wiki, and spoilers of this week’s tapings are linked from here.

– Bully Ray was forced to apologise to a Chicago fan after calling him a faggot. Dixie Carter also apologised on behalf of TNA. Imagine that, a heel getting heat by showing negative traits. We’re past that in 2013.

– More TNA news for you! The X division has been given another overhaul. The weight limit has been re-set to 230lbs (down from 275 in 2008 and then 225 in 2012), and all title matches will be triple threats with the loser being eliminated from the next title match. I’ve only heard complaints so far, but I really like it.

– The latest inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame was announced on Raw. 6-time, 6-time, 6-time, 6-time, 6-time, 6-time world champion Booker T is comin’ for you.

– Also announced on Raw was the stipulation for the WrestleMania match between Brock Lesnar and Triple H. It’ll be a no holds barred match. This means…well, nothing. The last match between the two at SummerSlam was a no DQ match – which is exactly the same thing – so the only difference this time around is that Triple H’s career will be on the line. You know, the career that consists of two matches per year.

– Problems continue to linger regarding Rey Mysterio. According to Dave Meltzer there are problems, although he doesn’t elaborate as to what they are. However, his feared ACL tear wasn’t as serious as first thought and retirement seems unlikely.

– John Cena has invited Jay-Z to appear at WrestleMania to “handle some bizz” with The Rock. I hope he has better luck than he did last time.

– Chris Masters saved his mother from a house fire this week. The highlight of the story is when Masters uproots a tree to smash a window, which is heroic and impressive, but also seems like it would cause more problems than it would solve. Still, it all worked out in the end.

– The Rock appeared on The Tonight Show on Thursday, without the WWE title belt and making no mention of WWE nor WrestleMania.

– Brock Lesnar appears on this month’s Muscle & Fitness.

– Long serving WWE referee Jack Doan was released from his contract this week. Leave the memories a-Doan.

Speculation corner

– We now know pretty much the whole WrestleMania card, leaving little room for speculating. Aww. I’ll keep it alive with one though, that being Antonio Cesaro v Sin Cara probably on the pre-show.

And finally…

#BabyfaceDickery goes to the vault again this week, with this unprovoked sucker punch from Edge, going into WrestleMania XXVII.