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- WWE seeking Partnership with US Olympics: WWE is trying to open a relationship with the US Olympic committee so they will have an “in” for prospective Olympic athletes who either don’t quite make the team or those who do well but are in sports where there are no professional leagues.WWE would be interested in the wrestlers, of course, but the feeling is they would also be interested in making stars out of weight men such as shot putters, discus throwers or Olympic lifters.
- Update on Kelly Kelly: As noted before, Kelly Kelly is taking some time away from WWE but some people do not expect her to return. The ATA Agency that is representing Kelly are pitching her for scripted TV shows as well as a potential reality TV show. Kelly also had offers come her way from placing high on the Maxim Hot 100 list this year.
It’s notable that WWE didn’t give her a full contract release but they aren’t thrilled that she has someone else pitching her for outside gigs.
- News on Randy Orton: F4Wonline.com reports that Randy Orton tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone, causing him to fail a WWE Wellness test and be suspended for 60 days. Orton was telling people that he took a tainted supplement that contained the testosterone, causing him to fail. Orton reportedly said he didn’t do it on purpose but acknowledged that he should have been more careful.
SuperLuchas.net earlier reported that Orton tested positive for Dianabol, an orally-effective anabolic steroid that was commonly used by bodybuilders until Congress banned it under the Controlled Substances Act. Those reports were unconfirmed.
- WWE Twitter News: WWE has been very aggressive this week in shutting down parody and fake Twitter accounts mocking the organization and its employees as well as Facebook pages portraying WWE Superstars. Notably, a popular Twitter account parodying head chief Vince McMahon was suspended Wednesday. Known as CrankyVince, the account would spoof McMahon’s demeanor and mindset with random musings depicting the WWE Chairman as eccentric, maniacal and drug-addled. It had drawn alarming concern from organization officials since last year, who believed it was being controlled by an employee within proximity of McMahon due to the eerie nature of the tweets. The account would often post messages based on things he had legitimately done or said at work—sometimes moments after occurring. Twitter generally permits parody accounts as long as it is stated that the account is a parody in the description.
Twitter announced this week that WWE is now one of 12 new partners that will be testing out new interactive tweets. “Expanded tweets” will feature WWE audio, video and photos. The new features are already on Twitter’s normal website and their mobile website, and will be rolled out to iPhone and Android apps soon.
- WWE Ends up WWE NXT: WWE wrapped up the NXT: Redemption season with Wednesday’s show. The new season of NXT, which was filmed at Full Sail University recently, will debut next week on WWE’s website. No word yet what WWE will tape next Tuesday night before SmackDown.
William Regal wrote the following on Twitter about the season ending: “I’d like to thank everyone involved in NXT redemption.Its been a great learning experience for me. Thanks to Todd, Jack, Josh and Matt for putting up with my nonsense. To all the young superstars I hope you learned from it as well. For the ones I’ve verbally thrashed I hope you understand it was all to make you better yourself as the only way people from my generation got better was wrestling more experienced pro’s and you don’t have that luxury any more. Best wishes with the rest of your careers.”
- Kharma Returning Strong! : Kharma posted a photo on Twitter of her working out with a trainer and noted that she was working hard to come back strong.
- John Laurinaitis News: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter is reporting John Laurinaitis is spending more time on the road as a talent than anything else.
As it was previously reported, Triple H has officially taken over the title of Executive Vice President of Talent Relations. While the change was just made on the companies corporate website, the company has been operating with Triple H taking on those responsibilities for a while.
Laurinaitis has been working under Triple H while Triple H continues to hire new people like Canyon Cemen and Jane Geddes. Geddes is Vice President of Talent Relations and is doing a lot of the work Laurinaitis was doing. Cemen is running Talent Development and is reporting directly to Triple H.
Laurinaitis is still reportedly booking WWE live events but the writers are more involved because there is a movement to make live events more like TV shows. Laurinaitis is also still doing the talent payroll.
