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Interesting media conference call with Triple H earlier today. He did note Sami Zayn was cleared despite his shoulder issues and Hideo Itami would not be wrestling.
On the Samoa Joe front, HHH was sort of evasive and never really answered about whether WWE was bringing him in or not. I felt it was the only time we didn't get a straight answer and I don't blame him for that. There's lot of rumors about Joe debuting tomorrow at Takeover and we'll see. I haven't heard that but there's obviously been communication between the two sides. Joe lives in Florida, so if that's the case, it will be really easy to slip him in the building at the last possible second. I think everyone is waiting to hear that Joe has signed a WWE deal, but even if he doesn't, he could still work for NXT. There's no reason WWE couldn't bring him under the same auspices they bring in Rhino as sort of a feeling out process, allowing Joe to work with their guys and seeing if it's a relationship they want to have. Time will tell.
Triple H will be doing a Twitter Q&A at 3:30 PM EST.
The word making the rounds, by the way, is that WWE has officially hired former NWA champion Adam Pearce on full-time and he will be joining the staff there as a Coach and Producer. Pearce was in Orlando today at meetings at the Performance Center.
The WWE documentary on Jerry Lawler was released today on DVD and Blu-Ray. I was very happy seeing they interviewed Bill Dundee, Jerry Jarrett and Lance Russell.
The Daniel Bryan autobiography will be released as an audio book as well this July.
TSN featured a piece on the reaction of Kevin Owens' son Owen to his father getting in the ring with his favorite wrestler, John Cena at this link. It's pretty damn cool.
Lana has a small role in Pitch Perfect 2, billed as CJ Perry. She appeared in the first film as well. Actress Anna Kendrick was at Raw in Los Angeles a few months back visiting her.
I've been catching up on the Taz podcasts and there's a great one where he recounts his experiences as a trainer for the first season of Tough Enough. With the new season starting on 6/23, it's a nice look back. You can check it out at this link.
WWE Network has added a lot of episodes of Monday Night Raw from late 1996 and early 1997, including the original ECW invasion episode.
The Rock will be on the cover of the new Men's Health magazine.
The Rock was also interviewed by Sports Illustrated to discuss his new film San Andreas and a lot more, including WWE at this link. On the crowds booing Roman Reigns, Rock commented on the advice he passed on to the WWE star, noting, "The only advice I gave Roman was that you just need to stay the course. It’s a unique dynamic and relationship that you have with the fans in wrestling. They’re passionate, just like you’re passionate, but they know it’s a work, just like you know it’s a work. It’s this fine balance you have to find between just staying the course and continue to cut your teeth every night by putting in good performances."
Mark Harris sent the following...I talked to Booker T to promote his appearance at Comicpalooza this weekend in Houston. We talked about Tough Enough, who he thinks from NXT will be future superstars, his schedule and his own wrestling promotion (he said he was something big coming up with it) at this link.
RVA Magazine in Virginia featured a piece on yesterday's WWE Raw event in the city, which you can check out by clicking here. Thanks to Doug.
Cover art for the upcoming Undertaker book by Kevin Sullivan has been released:
Mick Foley kicks off his new comedy tour next week with the following dates:
5/27 in Kansas City at The Improv.
5/28 in Omaha, Nebraska at the Funny Bone.
5/30 in Council Bluffs, Iowa at the Mid-America Center.
5/31 in Des Moines, Iowa at the Funny Bone.
6/1 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at Penguin's Comedy Club.
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