WWE news and notes: 30th August, 2013

Derrick Bateman

- Former WWE star Derrick Bateman wrestled a dark match at TNA’s Impact taping this week, losing to Jay Bradley. Bradley is himself a former WWE star, wrestling under the name “Ryan Braddock” on Smackdown in 2009.

- Retired UFC fighter Stephan Bonner is potentially interested in becoming a pro wrestler, specifically looking at WWE.Currently, a joint effort between Detroit, Michigan and its sister city, Windsor, Ontario, is in the works in hopes of getting Wrestlemania 32 for the city of Detroit.

Detroit is in a bidding war with Orlando, Florida and Dallas, Texas. If Detroit gets it, the event will originate from Ford Field, which also hosted Wrestlemania 23.

- WWE have turned down a deal on doing a Bruno Sammartino biopic. The man pitching the film, Scott Rosenfeldt, will continue to shop the movie around, but was really hoping WWE would be on-board for obvious reasons.

- John Cena, who is currently rehabbing a torn triceps, updated his fans over Twitter on how recovery is going. He posted the the following tweet:

“Day 9, post Op. still can’t move arm, may be bending rules a bit. I refuse to sit still. Stitches out in 5days. Then time 2 b #evenstronger”

Cena is expected to be out 4-6 months, but is hoping for a sooner return. However, many are saying Cena should take the full rehabilitation time, as he has come back too soon from injuries in the past, and they resulted in him receiving more injuries.

- Santino Marella has opened his own wrestling/MMA school known as Battle Arts Academy and has posted a behind-the-scenes tour of the school on YouTube.

- The Rock has yet another movie project he is working on. The film is entitled Lore, and Rock plays a hunter who stops mythical creatures from entering our world.

- The official poster for WWE’s October PPV, Battleground, has been released, and it features a close-up shot of Ryback.WWE developmental star “Gentleman Bruiser” Ryan Drago has undergone a gimmick change, now wrestling under the name “Simon Gotch”.

- Titus O’Neil recently went on the 4th & Pain radio show to discuss the recent coming-out of his tag team partner, Darren Young. O’Neil had the following to say:

“Darren is a great friend of mine away from the ring. I consider him a part of my family. My kids call him ‘Uncle Darren.’ They run, they play, they joke with him. For him to exhibit the courage that he did to go and discuss his sexual orientation to the world was a brave move to some, but to me is just an act of what type of man he is.

“You can only live behind certain people’s stereotypes or certain barriers in life for so long. At some point you have to say ‘Man, to hell with it. I am who I am. I do what I do and I’m going to be who I want to be.’ “

O’Neil also said he has known that Young was gay for quite a while, but that it was never a big deal.

- Ted DiBiase Jr., who recently left WWE to take an executive position at CollegeGarageSale.com, is currently accepting non-active wrestling bookings, including autograph signings, conventions, Q&A sessions, as well as his infamous “DiBiase Posse” tailgate parties.

Dolph Ziggler

- Dolph Ziggler appeared DC101 in Washington, DC, and was asked about WWE always backing Randy Orton, something that has come up recently.

His response was, “If you’ve been familiar with WWE for the last 10 years or so, you would understand without Triple H coming up front and coming out and saying this is our hand picked guy, he’s the face, no matter what we’re behind him.

“If you’ve been watching for the last 10 years or so, you’d already know that they made up their mind about him long time ago. No matter what he does, good or bad, they’re behind him and they’ll go out of their way to cut peoples legs from underneath them to make sure Randy comes out looking great.

“So, the fact that it’s now out in the open, and I’m allowed to comment on it, it actually makes me sick. I’m really happy for Randy, he’s awesome, he’s so good at this. It makes me mad how good he is. But the opportunities that he gets over and over again makes that chip on my shoulder feel that much bigger to me. I wanna go out there and prove that they’re wrong, prove [to] Triple H that he backed the wrong guy for the last 10 years, and no matter what, I’m going to come out on top, one way or the other.”

Many fans and wrestlers agree with Ziggler’s statement, but it’s interesting to note that Ziggler was not afraid to bring it up and express his true feelings, something that can be considered somewhat of an “occupational hazard” in WWE, especially when it concerns top-level stars like Orton and John Cena.