Warrior vs. THQ:

In a confidential, sealed settlement, Warrior settled his lawsuit against WWE video game publisher THQ on 9/29.

The lawsuit, which was filed in April 2005, featured claims by Warrior that the publisher had used Warrior’s ” likeness, moves, trade dress, marks, and other intellectual property” associated with him without his permission in their Create-A-Wrestler mode of WWE video games, allowing players to “create a character that has a similar build, face paint, and logo symbol as Warrior, that uses the entrance and finishing moves found under the label ‘OUW’ that are similar to Warrior’s, that has the call name ‘The Warrior’ or ‘Warrior,’ and is from ‘Parts Unknown.’”

Warrior had negotiated with THQ in 2003 in regard to licensing his intellectual property for the videogames but discussions ended without any contractual agreement. Warrior contended that THQ had utilized and circumvented his trademarks and copyrights by allowing users the ability to build and create a Warrior character and thus, created the confusion that he had given his permission and was associated with the game.

Warrior vs. WWE:

The Warrior’s lawsuit against World Wrestling Entertainment in regard to their release of the 2005 “Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior” DVD featured many different facets, including the issue of whether WWE had violated a previous Settlement Agreement between the two sides from a previous lawsuit.

The issue of whether the older settlement had been violated was moved to the United States Court of Appeals in November 2006 by World Wrestling Entertainment. In a decision rendered on 11/17, Judge Roslyn O. Silver decreed that any issues arising from the original Settlement Agreement should be handled under the jurisdiction of Arizona State Court and closed the appellate case.

There has been no other movement in the Warrior’s lawsuit against WWE in several months as the two sides have been in discovery mode.

1. WWE: Hell In A Cell
2. WWE: No Mercy 2008
3. 2001 FedEx Orange Bowl National Championship
4. NFL History of the Cleveland B
5. NFL: Pittsburgh Steelers 5 Greatest Games
6. Beijing 2008 Olympics Opening Ceremony
7. NHL: Sidney Crosby: On The Ice And Beyond
8. NFL: Washington Redskins: Super Bowl Champions
9. WWE: The Rock: The Most Electrifying Man In Sports Entertainment
10. Pride Fighting Championships: Total Elimination 2006

LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–World Wrestling Entertainment®’s recent November international tour grossed $15.1 million US dollars with sellouts in France, Germany, Belgium, and the UK, breaking its previous record of $14.5 million US dollars in April of this year.

“This is a clear indication of WWE’s continued international growth,” said Shane McMahon, Executive Vice President of Global Media. “Even though these are tough times in the global economy, WWE remains the best value in entertainment.”

On this day in history in ….

1990 - WCW Clash Of The Champions XIII, nicknamed “Thanksgiving Thunder” was held in Jacksonville, Florida at the Jacksonville Coliseum. Here are the results of the show, which aired live on TBS:
- In a dark match, Barry Horowitz defeated Mike Thor.
- The Freebirds (Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin) defeated The Southern Boys (Tracey Smothers & Steve Armstrong when Hayes pinned Smothers with a DDT after he was tripped by Rocky King (who was working as the Freebirds’ “roadie”).
- A Sting interview was interrupted by the voice of the Black Scorpion coming over the speakers in the arena.
- Brian Pillman defeated Buddy Landell with a flying bodypress.
- Big Cat (Curtis Hughes) defeated Brad Armstrong via submission with a bearhug.
- Tom Zenk defeated Brian Lee with a top rope dropkick.
- Michael Wallstreet (Rotundo) defeated The Starbazer (Tim Horner under a mask) with a Samoan Drop, called the “Stock Market Crash”.
- Sgt. Krueger (Ray “Doink” Apollo) & Col. DeKlerk (Ted “Rocco Rock” Petty) defeated The Beast & Kaluha when DeKlerk pinned The Beast.
- Lex Luger defeated The Motor City Madman with a clothesline.
- Chris & Mark Youngblood defeated The Nasty Boys via DQ, and the Steiner Brothers ran in to beat up the Nasties.
- Sid Vicious defeated The Nightstalker (Bryan Clarke).
- NWA United States Tag Team Champions Rick & Scott Steiner defeated Magnum Force in under two minutes when Scott pinned Magnum Force #1. The Nasty Boys then came out to attack the Steiners.
- A ridiculously bad segment where Paul E. Dangerously attempted to interview Sting and the Black Scorpion came out and did magic tricks. Seriously.
- Ric Flair defeated Butch Reed when Arn Anderson hit Reed with a chairshot. As a result, the Four Horsemen received a World Tag Team Title match with Doom at Starrcade.

2000 - Chuck Paulumbo & Sean Stasiak defeat Elix Skipper (subbing for an injured General Rection) & Alex Wright for the WCW World Tag Team Title in August, Georgia, beginning their second reign as champions.

2002 - Jeff Jarrett defeats Ron Killings for the NWA World Heavyweight Title in Nashville, Tennessee during an NWA:TNA Pay-per-view. This was the first NWA World Title win for Jarrett in TNA. Jarrett would go on to hold the title a total of six times.

- As noted before, a video recently surfaced online of WWE Hall of Famer “Rowdy” Roddy Piper smoking marijuana from a bong in front of a crowd. TMZ now has an article on the situation. The incident took place this past August at the Gathering of the Juggalos — an Insane Clown Posse fan festival.

Regarding the incident, Piper issued the following statement to TMZ: “I am not an advocate of using drugs, however due to the lack of appropriate medicine, this alternative treatment was recommended to alleviate the symptoms associated with cancer.”

Piper was diagnosed with cancer in November 2006. Last night’s episode of TMZ featured a segment on the story, which included footage of Piper wrestling Hollywood Hogan at WCW Starrcade 1996. In the segment, the TMZ narrator questioned Piper’s decision to smoke weed passed on from someone who’s obviously not a doctor after running his statement on it being medical. They lampooned Piper’s “medical excuse” more by running down the excuses Arnold Schwarzenegger, Snoop Dogg and Woody Harrelson likely would have used in order to smoke pot.

If you’ve yet to see the Piper video, we have it here on the WrestleNewz.com video pages.

We noted one wrestler in particular as failing for pot 11 or 12 times not to mention that his push of not that long ago was stopped.

According to sources backstage, the wrestler in question who failed a dozen tests for pot is The Brian Kendrick, whose push has leveled off in recent weeks. Kendrick is said to be a frequent marijuana smoker who happily pays the fines to continue his habit.

Amidst the story of WWE’s marijuana crackdown, the Pro Wrestling Torch noted that one wrestler was let go this year as a result of his marijuana habit, at least on top of a few other things. The wrestler in question is Trevor Murdoch, who was released this past July. Murdoch is said to be a frequent marijuana smoker.

- WWE developmental wrestler Gabe Tuft is doing a surfer gimmick in Florida Championship Wrestling. He’s going under the name “Tyler Reiks” in the promotion, which is second name change in recent weeks. He went under the name “Taj Milano” for a few weeks following the company’s directive to change a number of FCW wrestlers’ ring names. Reiks has an elbow drop called “High tide” and his finishing move is a moonsault is called “The Big Kahuna.” Reiks has the kind of size, look and body company officials like, so that helps his cause in being called to the main roster. Tuft was signed to a developmental contract last year out of the UPW wrestling promotion, which has produced the likes of John Cena, Chris Masters, Victoria and Heidenreich.

- WWE developmental wrestler Lupe Viscara is now going under the name Lupe Santiago. He initially debuted under his real name, then Lupe Martinez. FCW is billing him from Mexico City and he comes out with a Mexican flag. Viscara is 21 years old and was the last wrestler to be signed to a WWE developmental contract (alongside Andrew Vein, who has been inactive for quite some time) out of the Ohio Valley Wrestling school.

- For the 12/30 RAW taping in Portland, Maine, a match featuring John Cena & Batista vs. Randy Orton & JBL is advertised as the (dark match) main event.

- Last week, two names surfaced regarding the wrestlers most likely to be cut from World Wrestling Entertainment. The names that came up were Armando Estrada and Deuce. Estrada’s release was finalized by the company this past Tuesday. Thus far, Deuce has evaded the chopping block, but his future in WWE definitely appears grim as his name came up on being let go by the company alongside Estrada’s. It’s pretty much only a matter of time before WWE parts ways with Deuce as well.

More releases are expected to be announced as WWE continues to cut costs, so stay tuned.

A few days after last year’s WrestleMania, Fox (real name Victoria Crawford), along with current ECW stars Jack Swagger (real name Jake Hager) and Ricky Ortiz (known as Atlas DaBone in developmental) showed up in no condition to perform at an Ohio Valley Wrestling show. All three current ECW stars showed up to the Friday, April 6, 2007 Ohio Valley Wrestling house show allegedly “stoned out of their minds” and reeking of marijuana.

The wrestlers were immediately reprimanded by Idol Stevens, who occupied a head position in the organization at the time before being being let go by WWE later in the year.

The three wrestlers were very new to the business at the time. Crawford signed with WWE when Kelly Kelly signed her deal in the spring of 2006. Johnny Ace recruited the two after seeing their pictures in a modeling catalog. Jim Ross & Ace recruited Swagger because he was a highly regarded amateur wrestler out of the University of Oklahoma. Ricky Ortiz was signed to a deal within mere months of his debut in early 2007, largely due to his look.

- There is talk between New Japan and TNA about sending talent to this year’s Tokyo Dome show in January.

- If you’re wondering, Jim Cornette is still with TNA acting as an agent.

- There has been a lot of talk within TNA of releasing some undercard talents who aren’t used regularly. There’s always talk of dropping the talents who aren’t featured on TV or in regular roles but there’s been more discussion about it in the past few days.