WWE Divas upset with Trish Stratus over WrestleMania spot

It was reported yesterday that there is backstage heat on John Morrison and Melina as a result of their behind the scenes treatment of Trish Stratus. It was claimed that either he or Melina, his girlfriend, felt Stratus took her spot at Wrestlemania XXVII. Morrison rejected various ideas Stratus had for the match and was said to be very difficult to work with. During the live performance, Morrison appeared visibly cold to Status, not making eye contact with her and dodging her following its conclusion. Morrison’s treatment of Stratus reportedly hurt her feelings. Word quickly spread amongst the locker room, garnering heat for both himself and Melina among some circles.

According to a friend of Melina’s, the RAW Diva is legitimately upset with Stratus. Melina has privately said that her source of contention with Stratus is not because she herself was snubbed from WrestleMania due to her, but because many of the Divas were. She’s upset that many of them were snubbed from the grand event when they’re on the road throughout the year, unlike her. Melina also said that she’s not the only girl upset with Stratus “taking their spot.”

Melina wrote a message on Twitter Tuesday defending her Diva peers, and that she will fight for them.

“I was eliminated from TE…Look how far I’ve come. I’m not the best but God knows I try my best! Thru all the h8 I’m still standing strong!”

“I don’t care what ANY1 says, WWE Divas CAN wrestle. We prove it when we get time. I believe in them. I will fight 4 them until U see what I C.”

“Thank you everyone. We have a strong group of women in the WWE. A roster that I’m proud to & be a part of.”

Regarding the validity of the story, former WWE talent Sean Waltman (a/k/a X-Pac), who was on hand for WrestleMania festivities in Atlanta, wrote yesterday on Twitter that a participant of the Six-Person Mixed Tag Team Match did not behave in a professional manner. He wrote to Stratus, “It was wonderful seeing you this weekend. You are a true professional, unlike someone else in your match and I don’t mean Snookie.”

He then added that he was very surprised and disappointed by the person’s unprofessionalism.

Report: Backstage heat on John Morrison & Melina

Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter

– Randy Orton said on Twitter that WWE’s upcoming DVD on “The Viper” will be released in September and that he’ll post a link to a teaser clip soon. The working title for the product is The Randy Orton Experience.

– Dolph Ziggler is en route to Turkey to promote WWE’s upcoming tour in the country.

– There is backstage heat on real-life couple John Morrison and Melina.

Both Superstars felt that Trish Stratus took Melina’s spot in the Six-Person Mixed Tag Team Match at Wrestlemania XXVII and have been giving her the cold shoulder since her return. Additionally, Morrison rejected various ideas Stratus had for their ongoing storyline.

Many feel this will hurt both Morrison and Melina since Stratus is highly regarded amongst WWE personnel.

Trish Stratus Speaks Out – Tough Enough, ‘Mania, More

It’s been a busy couple of months for the legendary 7-time Women’s Champ, Trish Stratus. She’s back in the WWE fold with the USA Network revival of Tough Enough, she’s going to WrestleMania this Sunday, has a movie premiering in one week and is on the cover of Oxygen magazine! With so much going on in the Stratusphere, we decided to give the Diva Dirt Legacy Award winner a call and discuss!

In this exclusive interview, a sequel to our first interview (Diva-Dirt.com) last September, Trish dishes on her return to WWE, working with Snooki and this Sunday’s WrestleMania 27 extravaganza in Atlanta. In this one hour+ interview, we also speak in depth about the upcoming season of Tough Enough, which premieres next week, as Trish gives us her opinion on each of the five female contestants. We also touch upon her stunning Oxygen magazine cover, the world premiere of her debut movie ‘Bail Enforcers’, and the WWE release of Dave ‘Fit’ Finlay who had a big hand in Trish’s training and success in the ring as a WWE Diva.
Some quotes:

On getting the call to do Tough Enough:
“I would say it was about the beginning of February I got this call, ‘Hey, we got this new show Tough Enough which you might have heard about. We want you to be the female trainer on the show’ and of course I was just absolutely honored to be asked. [...] At first they told me, ‘We can’t really tell you the details on who’s going to be involved yet’. I was like, ‘Hmm, well, last time I accepted a show and I didn’t know who was involved, I ended up working with Erik Estrada and Latoya Jackson, so I’d like to know please’. [Laughs] They told me ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin would be the host and I said, ‘I’m in’. And then Bill DeMott and Booker T [became involved] as well, so I was like ‘Oh absolutely’.”

One of the things that made her want to come back & do the storyline going into WrestleMania:
“The opportunity came up to work with Lay-Cool which I’m so excited about. I mean they’ve done such great work. People love to hate them. As a fan, I’ve sat back and I’ve watched — especially Layla — [I've] watched them grow into these great workers. They’ve really come along, especially when you think about where both of their backgrounds are. They’ve put in the work to develop their characters. [...] I was a big fan of their work so to come back and work with them was a neat little opportunity.”

What it’s like working with Snooki:
“She’s so sweet. The first time I met her — the first Raw — she was just really excited to be there and really open minded and I love that when people come from other worlds and are just like, ‘Okay, what do you want me to do?’. Sometimes you get that resistance like, ‘Hmm, I don’t know if I could do that…’ and she was just totally into it.”

Report: Snooki causes major WWE issues – drunk!

Source: PopTheCrowd.com

THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS A **SPOILER** FOR THIS MONDAY’S RAW TELECAST:

As noted yesterday here on the website, WWE shot a major angle Wednesday at Miami Mike’s Sports Zone in East Hanover, New Jersey involving Nicole “Snooki” Polazzi, Trish Stratus and LayCool for this Monday’s RAW. The segment features LayCool searching the bar for Snooki and Stratus. The Jersey Shore star gets into a fight with a “guido” and then LayCool finds her, resulting in a bar-room brawl. Layla and Michelle McCool also went through a table at one point. Fit Finlay and David Kapoor (better known as Ranjin Singh) directed the segment.

In an update on this, filming was delayed from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. because Snooki didn’t leave her hotel room until 1:00 p.m. They shot until close to 8:00 p.m.

Snooki was said to have been drinking heavily throughout the day and was rude to people on set. She called the bartender a ‘weirdo’ and also said she was going to be a full-time WWE Diva once Jersey Shore is finished. She also said she was leaving to go bowling after the segment was finished taping and would return later for more drinks.

WWE Tough Enough filming finished!

Steve Austin said this morning on his Twitter account that WWE Tough Enough has concluded filming. “Well…just finished with Tough Enough…it was a helluva lot of fun…thanks to @BillDeMott, @trishstratuscom, and Booker T..great cats.”

Trish-Cena-Snooki-RAW Twitter Pix!

– John Cena tweeted this photo of himself with Snooki backstage at RAW.

– Trish Stratus also tweeted this photo of her and Snooki from Monday night. As noted earlier here on the website, Snooki was well-liked backstage.

Tough Enough cast

The USA Network has launched a Tough Enough website. You can view the full cast and biographies here.

Note from Joe: Results from the poll indicates that majority of you want to see the Elimination Chamber PPV replays and you'll have it :). I'll be posting the replays possibly tomorrow or in a few days.

Steve Austin speaks out – RAW return, retirement, & more

IGN.com recently sat down with WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin to promote the new WWE All Stars video game. Here are some highlights:

On His RAW Return: “I didn’t get a chance to do exactly everything that I wanted to do because I wanted to give the fans so much more, and they expected more”

On Being Retired & WWE Tough Enough: “I’m close enough — I’m as close as I want to be and can get to it right now by being the host and watching Bill (DeMott) and Booker and Trish (Stratus) put them through their paces .. The days of lighting up 20,000 people every single night of the week, no matter what day it was, and 90,000 on a big show like WrestleMania, that was a blast, but those days are over, and I’ve had some great times in this ring. And when I think back, I’ve got a lot of great memories, and this is about as close as I want to be.”

Ex-WWE star confirmed as new Tough Enough trainer

WWE issued the following press release today:

“WWE(R) TOUGH ENOUGH(R)” GETS SOME “STRATUS-FACTION”

Trish Stratus & Bill Demott Named Trainers

Former WWE(R) Women’s Champion Trish Stratus joins USA Network’s upcoming, non-scripted series WWE TOUGH ENOUGH(R) as a trainer. Stratus and Tough Enough veteran trainer Bill Demott join WWE Legend Booker T. as the training team for the show. WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin will serve as the host.

The series will premiere Monday, April 4 at 11/10c, the day after WrestleMania(R) and immediately following USA’s ratings juggernaut WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW(R), and move to its regularly scheduled slot in primetime, Mondays at 8/7c, starting on April 11.

With her natural athleticism, charismatic personality and knowledge of what it takes to be the best in WWE, Stratus is the ideal trainer for Tough Enough. In 2000, she made her television debut with WWE. Combining beauty, brains, strength, and a record breaking seven championships – for which she earned a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records – Stratus was the epitome of a “WWE DIVA” and helped to make the brand a cultural phenomenon. In 2006, Trish retired from WWE and will go down as one of the greatest Women’s Champions of all time. After retiring, Stratus focused her efforts on launching her lifestyle brand, which includes a yoga studio – the largest in Canada, a travel adventure series currently airing on the Discovery Channel and a yoga/fitness product line set to be released this fall, all under the Stratusphere banner name.

Along with fellow trainers Booker T and Bill Demott, Stratus will mentor the diverse group of WWE TOUGH ENOUGH men and women who will live, train, eat and sleep under one roof in a house in Southern California. Each week, the contestants will battle it out in a series of unique challenges designed to test for such characteristics as showmanship, creativity, athleticism and desire, just to name a few. Viewers will witness the trials and tribulations of what it takes to be one of the best in the world’s greatest sports entertainment organization. The grand prizewinner will be awarded a contract with WWE.

For more information on Stratus’ yoga studio and her upcoming feature film debut, log onto www.trishstratus.com

Trish Stratus Speaks: Why she returned, Lay-Cool, & more!

WWE.com recently interviewed Trish Stratus, here are the highlights…

On Why She Returned: I’m joining Booker T as one of the Tough Enough trainers, so he asked me to come down to Elimination Chamber so he could make the announcement on live TV.

On Lay-Cool: Lay-Cool irks me a bit. They’ve been running their mouths off, so I thought I’d show them who’s “tough enough.” [laughs] There’s just a little rule to take away [from tonight's experience]: Whenever I come to a WWE event – although I am retired – I should always, always have my wrestling boots. When you wear heels and you try to be a Diva, it’s not a good thing, as we saw this evening when I tripped up ap a little bit. Hey, I’m retired. I tried to deliver some Stratusfaction, and I’m a little bit rusty.[laughs]

On Keeping Busy Away From Wrestling: I have been keeping busy. The latest thing that I’m very excited about is this action film I did, called Bail Enforcers. I was doing some stunts – I actually did all my own stunts, which was so much fun, I just had a blast doing it – and there’s a little “leak” of the footage on my website, so you can see a little snippet of the film there.

Jim Ross Blogs: Trish's return, Del Rio's push, Morrison

Jim Ross has a new blog entry posted at http://www.JRSBARBQ.com/ Here are the highlights…

On Alberto Del Rio: Alberto Del Rio is evolving nicely. Love his cross arm breaker finisher. Del Rio gets into his finishing maneuver very cleverly. I’m buying Alberto Del Rio and feel that he will have a successful outing at WM27.

On The Smackdown Elimination Chamber: The Smackdown Elimination Chamber match was big league. One of the best PPV bouts I’ve seen in a long time especially one involving multiple participants. It earned a FULL bottle of sauce rating.

On Trish Stratus: Another Canadian import made her return as well as Trish Stratus had an enhanced , surprise cameo on the PPV. The brunette Trish is just as lovely as the blond Trish. Good to hear that she’s going to be a Tough Enough trainer. I’m watching.

On John Morrison: Big night for John Morrison. Morrison’s efforts were akin to some memorable, break out performances athletes have made in, particularly, Royal Rumble bouts of the past. Wasn’t sure if Morrison was being referred to as parkour or hardcore or both but he’s a spectacular athlete who positively distinguished himself Sunday night. Morrison maximized his minutes in the Elimination Chamber.

On CM Punk: It sounded like there were lots of cheers for CM Punk. Was it fans being defiant, fans who simply like the villains, or fans who appreciate Punk’s skill level? What ever the reason, Punk felt like a star inside the Raw Elimination Chamber.

You can check out the full blog at http://www.JRSBARBQ.com/

The Coach/Vince McMahon relationship, Trish photos, Lilian

– Former WWE commentator and announcer Jonathan Coachman recently did an interview with As The World Turns Left. He spoke about what it was like to work for Vince McMahon: “There were times, especially when I started doing the bigger shows, where I — you know, he’s a perfectionist, he built it from the ground up, I respected him and still do to this day — and because of the way he was, so hard, so difficult, I got to the point where I could almost repeat in within a quarter or half a second what he was telling me. We got that much in synch. It’s difficult. There were times when I’d leave a show, and literally, I don’t know what a migraine headache is, but I think that’s what I had. Your head is really pounding, and it feels like it’s just going to explode after asking your brain to shape everything perfectly for two hours. So, did I enjoy it all the time? No. Did it make me mentally, incredibly strong? Absolutely. And I always said this the last two or three years I was there: No matter who I work for when I leave here, it’ll be like working for Mister Rogers compared to working for him. And I mean that in a good way. We left on the best of terms, and I still go and see everybody when they’re around, in Hartford or Springfield or Bridgeport. And we get along great. So, it was a great time for me. Anybody that complains isn’t mentally tough, and I don’t want to hear it. I hate people that leave and then bash him, bash the company and say what a horrible guy he is, because he’s not. He just asks a lot. And you’ve got a bring a lot, that’s it.”

– Lilian Garcia tweeted that she’s finished pre-production work on her next album. She’ll begin recording the album later this week in Miami, FL.

– Shawn “HBK” Michaels will be appearing at the Detroit Autorama in Detroit, Michigan on February 27th. The event takes place from 1-4pm.

– Trish Stratus shot some new photos for WWE.com backstage at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. Expect the photos to appear on WWE’s website later this week.

Backstage visitors at Elimination Chamber, Trish's return!

– Christian and Goldust, both currently nursing injuries, were backstage at the WWE Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. UPDATE: Christian returned at the event following the SmackDown! Elimination Chamber match. He made the save for Edge, who was being attacked after the match by Alberto Del Rio.

– At Sunday night’s WWE Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, Booker T introduced Trish Stratus as a trainer for WWE’s Tough Enough. Wearing heels, she came to the aid of the rehired Kelly Kelly, fending off Michelle McCool and Layla. The multi-time champion took to Twitter to comment on her return.

“Wow good to be back in front of a live ppv crowd & the @wweuniverse! What did u think of my new catchphase?” She later added, “Note to self: always pack wrestling boots when u go to a WWE event-cause u just never know.”

The term “Trish Stratus” continued to trend worldwide on Twitter following the pay-per-view event.

The Rock and Trish Stratus in 2012 WWE HOF?

Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter

– While numerous seats remain available for WrestleMania XXVII, WWE officials are reportedly pleased with ticket sales thus far. Tickets for the Hall of Fame ceremony have been selling especially well, with only balcony seats remaining as of early this week.

– WWE officials are already contemplating candidates for induction into next year’s Hall of Fame class. The primary names being discussed are Trish Stratus, given that it will likely take place in her hometown of Toronto, and The Rock.
The idea with Rock is it would be mark ten years after his memorable WrestleMania match with Hulk Hogan, which took place in Toronto.