First of all, I wish everyone a happy and safe 4th of July weekend. I stress safe because every July 5th for as long as I can remember, I turn on news radio in the morning and hear several reports about idiots who injure themselves or others with illegal fireworks. If you never read anything else I write, read this: please just go to your local park and watch the professional fireworks show with your family and friends. Bring a video camera if you like to relive the show at home. Just don't buy M80s from the trunk of an automobile. You are only proving Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection.
Back to WWE news, WWE.com had a phenomenal June with over 17 million unique visitors flooding our site (which is one of the most trafficked on the entire world wide web) and devouring all of our new weekly programs, photo galleries and lifestyle features about the WWE Superstars and Divas.
McMahon's Million Dollar Mania can be credited to attracting some new
visitors to WWE.com, but the tireless and creative staff gets the full credit for
creating enough entertaining content for each visitor to view an
average of about thirty pages each!
WWE.com will continue to add new
and exciting content constantly beginning with Summer Skin tomorrow.
From July 4th through Labor Day, WWE.com will feature hundreds of
photos and videos of the bikini-clad WWE Divas shot primarily in sunny
Southern California.
Also this week, look for the debut of Cryme Tyme's
"Word Up". JTG and Shad have warned the Miz and John Morrison that "The
Dirt Sheet" will soon be the second most watched weekly program on
WWE.com. I have put all of our WWE.com stars on notice that my Original
ECW "Oh My God!" Moments will be viewing all of them from the extreme
rear view mirror as I have already received a wave of hardcore e-mails clammoring for
more classic E-C-Dub!
June also marked the month that I finally had the pleasure of visiting and sampling JR's Family BarBQ. While I have always been a rib man, the smoked wings have made me swear off of fried wings forever. I'll be getting a smoker for my birthday, and wings will be my new favorite source of protein, second only to venison (which is also delicious smoked).
Every week, as I meet WWE fans all over America and they all ask the same question, "Do you miss calling WWE matches?" Not only do I much prefer my new duties with WWE.com to my former duties at the WWE announce table, but in retrospect I wish this position had been available in June 2005. The end of my announcing career should have coincided with that of the Original ECW at One Night Stand 2005. Professionally speaking, I will always see myself as the voice of ECW and I think everyone I work with and WWE fans around the world do as well and that makes me feel a sense of accomplishment on behalf of everyone who enjoyed part or all of the Original ECW.
Congratulations to the New World Heavyweight Champion, CM Punk. I felt a personal connection with Steve Austin and Mick Foley when the won the WWE Championship because I had seen them break out in ECW before chasing the brass ring in WWE.
However, having followed CM Punk's career through the indies and internationally before calling his WWE ECW debut in New York City, I had goosebumps Monday night watching Punk achieve his lifelong dream and almost felt like I had won the title with him.
I spent the rest of Monday evening hanging out with the new World Heavyweight Champion, clad in his trademark baggy jeans, dirty Cubs cap and worn T-shirt, knowing that this young man will not be affected in any way by his newly earned success. Punk will always be Punk. He's not just a character you see on television. Punk is genuinely that grounded person all day, every day which is why I believe our fans, specifically our younger fans flock to him. Hopefully, his message of drug free hard work will resonate with those youngsters as well. In fact, drug-free hard work is a message that will hopefully resonate with all Americans on Independence Day...and every day.
I was absolutely shocked by some of Monday night's WWE Draftees as well as some that were announced yesterday in WWE.com's supplemental Draft.
For years, RAW has been considered by many to be WWE's flasgship show but with the additions of WWE Champion, Triple H and WWE Hall of Famer, Jim Ross to SmackDown, I think there may soon be a new alpha brand and ratings will dictate that distinction.
I'm sure executives at MyNetworkTV are salivating while counting down the days to SmackDown's debut on October 3. Of course, viewers of "Meet My Folks" and "Paradise Hotel 2" (all 12 of them) are going to be disappointed.
Night of Champions is this Sunday and I am happy to announce I will sitting next next to none other than John Cena for our WWE Fan Nation live blog from 7:30 to 8:00 PM EST. Fan Nation fans may be very well having their questions answered by a Superstar less than three hours away from bringing the WWE Championship back to RAW.
I love the concept of a WWE pay-per-view that features nothing but WWE Championship Matches. In my humble opinion, it makes the event feel like a special must see for any true WWE fan.
Speaking of must see, my "Oh My God!" moments have returned to WWE.com, featuring some of the most extreme moments from the revolutionary, industry changing movement know as the Original ECW.
One last must see will the Michael Cole's first indroduction of the new voice of RAW in Oklahoma City before we go live on USA Network Monday night. Rest assured, this historic moment will be a WWE.com exclusive video.
The bad news is that I am late with my blog again. Friday came and went and I was running around the WWE.com offices and some would say I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. (see photo above)
The good news is that tonight is a special three hour RAW, starting at 8 ET / 7 CT. Not only will our "eccentric" Chairman be giving away yet another $1,000,000 of his own money but tonight is the WWE Draft. Any WWE Superstar, Diva, Television Announcer or General Manager can be drafted from their current brand to one of the other two. Lucky for yours truly, I am no longer sublect to such unceratinty. I intend to spend the next couple of years (at minimum) at WWE.com.
While you're here, check out WWE.com's Exclusive programs, The Dirt Sheet, hosted by WWE tag Team Champions, John Morrison and The Miz, Santino's Casa, Weekly Top Five, hosted by Josh Mathews and our newest addition, Best WWEek, Worst WWEek, hosted by your teacher (ahem), Matt Striker
With only two hours until The Draft, yours truly must continue running around the AT&T Center here in San Antonio preparing to do my part in WWE.com's coverage of tonight's historic event.
Hello WWE.com fans. WWE sources tell me this book is a must read written by my friend, Bruno.
Current WWE employee Bruno Lauer (aka Downtown Bruno, aka Harvey Wippleman) has released his hilarious autbiography, "Wrestling with the Truth," was launched at the recent Cauliflower Ally Club reunion and can be purchased exclusively at: http://www.1wrestlinglegends.com/crowbarpress/bruno/index.html
"Entertaining, visual, and vicious. A memorable memoir by a veteran performer who has seen and done it all in sports entertainment." - Chris Jericho , New York Times best-selling author
"A unique perspective from one of the most unique characters in the history of the wrestling business." - Mick Foley , New York Times best-selling author
"Wrestling with the Truth" is the title of this book, but it doesn't mean what you think it does. Bruno Lauer has no problem telling the truth. He believes in telling it like it is, and after spending 29 years as a manager in the business of professional wrestling, he has a lot of stories to tell.
The story of Bruno Lauer, known professionally as Downtown Bruno and Harvey Wippleman, relates the fascinating, and often hilarious, story of his life. Direct and opinionated, he doesn't hold back anything, sharing both the good and the bad things that happened to him. Even his close friends aren't safe from his scrutiny. Take it from Mick Foley, who read the first draft of the book and found himself on the receiving end of a few barbs thrown by Bruno: "Bruno's honesty can be, at times, a little painful."
As he retraces every step of his career, Bruno's account of his life as a "sports entertainment" performer begins at age 13, when he joins a traveling wrestling troupe at a carnival, and ends when he wins the WWF "Women's" world championship wrestling title on prime-time national television.
This autobiography, complemented by 94 photos culled from Bruno's personal scrapbooks, is a fresh glimpse of life behind the curtain of professional sports entertainment. As full of action, entertainment, heartbreak, and drama as anything that takes place inside a professional wrestling ring, "Wrestling with the Truth" is the story of a man who struggled to find his place in the wrestling business, and the success that came through his perseverance.
If you didn't know know Mr. McMahon was eccentric, you do now. I use the word "eccentric rather than "crazy" because wealthy people are "eccentric". Our beloved Chairman gave away $1,000,000 million dollars OF HIS OWN PERSONAL MONEY on live televison.
As the head of WWE.com's content, your struly had the pleasure of interviewing the winners immediately after they spoke to Mr. McMahon and I have to tell you, it was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. One of the winners was a stockboy at a local supermarket, another works at WalMart and told me he made 10 years worth of his salary thanks to Mr. McMahon's Million Dollar Mania and finally, another has one year old twins and her husband does not work because he is blind. I never thought that I would say this but God Bless Vincent Kennedy McMahon.
Here's the best part, we get to do it all over again this Monday.
By the way, we will soon debut two more exclusive weekly programs on WWE.com in addition to our current lineup:
RAW QUICK CUT
ECW QUICK CUT
SANTINO'S CASA
WEEKLY TOP FIVE HOSTED BY JOSH MATHEWS
THE DIRT SHEET PRESENTED BY JOHN MORRISON AND THE MIZ
