Hogan/Bischoff Starting New Promotion

Hulk Hogan is just days away from launching his own professional wrestling promotion intended to compete with World Wrestling Entertainment, reports The Sun out of the United Kingdom.

Hogan revealed that he and Eric Bischoff are very close to signing a television deal with a major United States network. Hogan commented, “Last night me and Eric were getting ready to sign a deal with one of the TV networks here in America. We had a little bit of a problem with the licensing and merchandising, which has delayed it. But I totally expect we’re going to sign the TV portion of this very soon, because there’s no point in starting any sort of wrestling organization without the TV locked in place.”

Hogan does face one massive hurdle in building his own wrestling group – most of America’s top grapplers are already under contract to WWE, TNA or ROH.

Hogan says after the television deal is locked, they will make an official announcement. Hulk on went to explain that the new product he and Bischoff plan to launch will be a product similar to WWE but he “prays to God it’s nothing like what is on TV now” and even refers to WWE's product as "boring programming."

When asked what they plan on doing for talent the Hulkster said, “There are a lot of unhappy campers in the WWE and there are also a new breed of wrestlers that Vince McMahon hasn’t explored yet, that we have. And I’m in better shape than I have been for about 10 years.”

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Eminem Rumoured To Be Training For WWE

There is a story running on MediaTakeOut.com that is reporting that rapper Eminem has signed a deal with WWE. According to an unnamed source cited in the article, Eminem (real name Marshall Mathers) is currently taking private wrestling lessons in order to get into the ring. Eminem is said to be getting in better shape and apparently is three or four months away from his debut.

A source inside Eminem's camp says that the platinum-rapper has signed on to join the World Wrestling Entertainment.

The insider, who is a well-known member of Eminem's inner circle explained, "Eminem's in training right now, he's taking private [wrestling] lessons and working on strength training ... All those reports of him being fat are crazy. He's 210 pounds of solid muscle."

Eminem is a well known fan of the WWE and had serious discussion about appearing on WWE TV for music performance or non wrestling storyline. If Eminem indeed wrestle for WWE, it would attract alot of mainstream media coverage for WWE.

Final No Way Out Card

Final WWE No Way Out Pay-Per-View Card

Here is the final card for Sunday's WWE No Way Out pay-per-view:

WWE Championship MatchRandy Orton (c) vs. John Cena

WWE World Heavyweight Championship MatchEdge (c) vs. Rey Mysterio

ECW Championship MatchChavo Guerrero (c) vs. CM Punk

SmackDown/ECW Elimination Chamber MatchBig Daddy V vs. The Great Khali vs. Finlay vs.
Batista vs. The Undertaker vs. MVP

RAW Elimination Chamber MatchJeff Hardy vs. JBL vs. Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H vs. Umaga

Career Threatening MatchRic Flair vs. Ken Kennedy

Rey Mysterio Injury Update, Couple Breakup

We reported yesterday that on Wednesday night, Rey Mysterio suffered what is believed to be a torn right bicepsin in a match in Santiago, Chile. Mysterio flew back to the U.S. to meet with Dr. James Andrews. He hasn't had an MRI done. His mentality right now is that at all costs, he does not want to miss Wrestlemania, so if surgery is recommended, he's going to have a major decision to make.

We won't know about Sunday's PPV until after he sees Andrews and they determine the severity of the injury. They could have him show up and do an injury angle because there are no TV's left before No Way Out, where he was scheduled to face Edge for the World title. Surgery would put him out around six months.

Ashley Massaro posted a new blog on her official MySpace page February 14; apparently the punk diva was a little anti-Valentine's Day: "Well, yet another Valentines Day spent alone after 28 yrs. Not like I'm surprised really. I've really become used to the idea of me myself and I. I like it better that way. And I hope all you loners out there on this silly holiday feel the same way. I got you and you got me. Later punkinpies. Xoxo."

In addition, all references to her relationship with Paul London have been removed and she is also listed once again as single. A source close to Paul London has confirmed they are no longer a couple.

Michael Hayes Pushing For Triple H-Cena II

Michael Hayes has taken on a lot more responsibility as of late and has become one of the most powerful agents in the WWE. He can always befound at the local hotel's bar or at HQ. Hayes is now on-call 24/7 and has a lot of influence over plans & pushes. In addition, with Lagana out, Ed Koskey is doing the writing on the ECW side, with Rhodes continuing to offer ideas.

However, with ECW and Smackdown working together, Hayes will be deciding the main direction of both shows.Hayes has pitched the idea of doing a Triple H vs. John Cena rematch at Wrestlemania billed as "HHH-Cena II."

The current plan has Triple H winning the Raw Elimination Chamber at No Way Out. Speaking of Triple H, as you might have guessed, he is still wanting to turn heel at some point.

JR Report:Hall Of Fame, Triple H and More

Here are the interesting bits from The latest Jim Ross Report.

The WWE has not released any names that will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame next month but one can assume that the roster of inductees will be released on a weekly basis after No Way Out this Sunday on Pay Per View.

With WM24 being in Florida’s Citrus Bowl, one could assume that there will be a Florida flavor to the proceedings, which speaks to my ringing endorsement of the late Gordon Solie, arguably the greatest play by play voice ever in the business, and Jack and Jerry Brisco who left this home in Oklahoma in the 60s to make Florida their home and both went on to one of the most distinguished careers, both as singles wrestlers and as a team, in the history of the business.

Plus, if one talks about Florida Championship Wrestling, how could promoter Eddie Graham be omitted from this class? It will be interesting to see who is inducted and who will be honored as presenters for the event that sees tickets going on sale on Saturday March 1 for the event that will be held at the Amway Arena in Orlando the night before Wrestlemania.

Rumor has it that former WWE Superstar Chyna, one of the individuals currently appearing on VH-1’s trainwreck known as Celebrity Re-hab is looking to possibly hook up with New Japan Pro Wrestling. There might be nothing to this rumor, but I do wonder if New Japan would endorse Chyna wrestling their male stars in today’s marketplace? That wouldn’t be my call.

Props go out to HHH for joining the WWE tour in progress after his family’s tragic loss, when he could have easily opted out of the trip and simply came to Las Vegas for No Way Out. Yours truly will undoubtedly be accused of kissing ass here, but the simple fact is that from my experience over the years managing the WWE talent roster, that many superstars would have opted out of commitments such as a lengthy international tour for far less legitimate reasons than “The Game” had.

Cena New, Movie, WWE HD Expanding

Today's edition of Variety (entertainment industry newspaper) features details on the next WWE Films project "12 Rounds", starring John Cena. Renny Harlin ("The Long Kiss Goodnight") would be helming the project. Aside from Cena, the film will co-star Steve Harris "(The Practice"), Aidan Gillen ("The Wire") and Brian White ("Stomp The Yard".) Production begins 2/25 in New Orleans, making it the first WWE Films production filmed Stateside. The article mentioned that Cena's The Marine has been the most successful of the WWE Films production to date, earning $22 million worldwide.

-- For those of you in Great Britain, Sky have confirmed that WWE programming will commence broadcasting in HD in the UK starting on March 17. That night’s live edition of Raw will air at 1am rather than 2am (due to daylight savings). The Thursday night replay of Raw will not be broadcast in HD, however a HD replay will air on Friday mornings. Smackdown will be shown in HD from Friday, March 21, while ECW debuts in HD from Thursday, March 27. All WWE HD programming will be found on Sky Sports HD3, which also launches on March 17, while SD broadcasts will continue as normal on Sky Sports 1 and 3. Sky confirms that WrestleMania 24 will be available in HD or SD, with the HD option available at no extra cost (the PPV costs £14.95 – around $30).

Ted Dibiase JR Arrested

WWE developmental talent and son of Ted DiBiase, Ted DiBiase, Jr. was arrested early this morning and charged with Driving Under the Influence, reports the Tampa Tribune. According to the publication, DiBiase, Jr. was involved in a car accident at 3:30 AM this morning when his Cadillac SUV crashed into another vehicale.

While no serious injuries were reported, police said, "DiBiase had an odor of alcohol on his breath, his speech appeared to be slurred, his eyes were bloodshot and glassy, and he was unsteady on his feet." After failing a field sobriety test it was determined that DiBiase, Jr. had a blood alcohol level of 0.137, far above the legal limit of 0.08

The 25-year-old son of WWE Legend "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, Ted DiBiase Jr., was arrested and charged this morning for Driving under the influence in South Tampa, Florida this morning. Tampa police took DiBiase Jr. into custody at 4:30 a.m. after a crash on South West Shore Boulevard at Browning Avenue. He was booked into the Orient Road Jail at 5:44 a.m. According to the official website of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, DiBiase Jr. was released from Orient Road Jail this afternoon at 4:53 p.m. on a $500 bond, so he spent over 12 hours under police custody.

DiBiase Jr. is the second WWE developmental wrestler to be arrested within the past few weeks as former TNA wrestler Germán Figueroa a.k.a. Apolo was recently booked in a Puerto Rican jail for 30 days for missing a court hearing regarding his domestic abuse case with his wife.

Ted DiBiase Jr. is the current Heavyweight Champion of WWE's lone developmental promotion, Florida Championship Wrestling. DiBiase Jr. won the FCW Southern Heavyweight Championship from TJ Wilson on December 18, 2007. DiBiase Jr. defeated former Spirit Squad member Mike "Mikey" Mondo in a match at last Tuesday's Florida Championship Wrestling show.