As reported earlier, former WWE Diva Jackie Gayda told a fan at the Arnold Classic Expo this past weekend that WWE recently approached her about wrestling at the 25-Diva Battle Royal at WrestleMania XXV. Gayda was called about coming back by John Laurinaitis (WWE Senior Vice President of Talent Relations). When she answered the call, she was 100% sure he was calling to fire her husband, Charlie Haas. It was not the case and she was relieved to find out they were offering her a spot at WrestleMania instead.
As noted earlier, WWE has released the first batch of financial data for the first quater of 2009 and one of the most telling items is the early buyrate for the 2009 Royal Rumble. While last year’s Royal Rumble did approximately 575,000 buys, this year’s show was down almost 23% with 445,000 buys. Even more alarming is that 40% of those buys came from outside of the United States, where WWE receives less of a cut from the Pay-Per-View revenue. With WrestleMania only 3 weeks away and WWE’s television ratings sliding the past few weeks, WWE appears to have an uphill battle ahead to ensure this year’s WrestleMania is a financial success. For more on WWE’s Q1 2009 Key Performance Indicators, visit Corporate.WWE.com.
From the “Where are they now?” files, Indiana’s Journal & Courier has an article about former WWE superstar Marty Jannetty. The article features a video of Jannetty wrestling in front of 129 fans last weekend. For more, visit JCOnline.com.
AEW Announces 5/6 AEW Dynamite & Collision Show To Be Dedicated To Ted Turner
Various: Lei Ying Lee Wins TNA Knockouts World Title at 5/7 TNA Impact! Show, ROH Announces 5/12 Special Episode of ROH TV on YouTube, Indies/Misc.
WWE: Chelsea Green Undergoes Heart Procedure for SVT, Zaria Appearance Set for 5/5 WWE NXT Show, WWE Reportedly Mistakenly Advertised Roman Reign for WWE RAW Shows This June, Big E on Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston WWE Departures




