Weekend 3 Count: 1.19 - 1.25 #WWE #TNA #GFW #UFC

By @B_Rock1978

The Weekend 3 Count is brought to you by Triple Threat CLE.

*** Weekend Flashback ***

- From now till the Royal Rumble, I'll be flashbacking to some of my favorite moments in the Royal Rumble. This week, I'm highlighting the 100 greatest Royal Rumble Eliminations.

*** WWE News and Rumors ***

- This past week on RAW, Dolph Ziggler, Erick Rowan and Ryback were re-instated after John Cena defeated Seth Rollins, Big Show and Kane, with the help from Sting.

- Also on RAW, Brock Lesnar looked to have gone from a heel character to a tweener (good and bad). Judging by the fan reaction and due to Lesnar taking out Rollins, Big Show and Kane at the end of RAW.

- This week's RAW finished with an overall total of 4.1 million viewers.

- WWE have announced that, Lisa Fox Lee, has been promoted within the company to Executive Vice President. Lee has been with the WWE office for 19 years. Lee will be in charge of overseeing TV production, storylines, WWE Network, WWE apps, WWE.com, behind the scenes promoting of the company and strategic business decisions. Of course, Lee, will still answer to Vince McMahon and Paul "Triple H" Levesque.

- WWE has stated that once the UK finally gets WWE Network online, we could finally see more pay per view's take place overseas. WWE stated that with the WWE Network access, a pay per view could be shown live at 7:00pm, UK time, which would be 2:00pm U.S. eastern time. The pay per view could be shown throughout the day on the WWE Network starting at 2:00pm in the U.S.

- Brock Lesnar still hasn't stated on whether or not he will re-sign with WWE or sign back with UFC. One opponent that has been talked about for Lesnar, if he returns to the octagon, is Frank Mir. Lesnar lost to Mir in his UFC debut at UFC 81 by submission, then defeated Mir at UFC 100 by TKO. Many think Lesnar/Mir 3 would be a major money draw.

- Rumors backstage are saying that two of the spots in tonight's Royal Rumble may go to NXT talent.

- Rumors have surfaced, stating that Rob Van Dam might be a surprise Royal Rumble entrant tonight.

- File under "Huge Rumor" and "Believe It When I See It": I actually heard rumors of a possible Dudley Boys Royal Rumble entrance tonight. Bully Ray and Devon no longer work for TNA, so it's not like it couldn't happen. But again WWE is either really keeping this one tightly under wraps, as no official announcement was made or its just some fan boys looking for popularity.

- The WWE, recently stated that Tough Enough would be returning to TV. We now have a possible window when it will air. WWE is looking at possibly bringing the show back right after Wrestlemania 31. Also WWE have stated that this years Tough Enough will have a few independent wrestlers, NXT wrestlers and those that are picked from the casting calls, competing on the show.

- WWE released the official trailer to Chris Jericho's new DVD. You can view that here:

- WWE will be releasing a Daniel Bryan DVD/Blu-Ray later this year. All details are unknown at this time.

- WWE will be releasing a new Ultimate Warrior DVD/Blu-Ray on April 14th, entitled, "Always Believe".

- WWE will be releasing a new Jerry Lawler DVD/Blu-Ray in May. The working title currently is: "It's Good To Be The King: The Jerry Lawler Story."

- WWE will be releasing a new Booker T. DVD/Blu-Ray. No word on the title but it will include Booker T's life growing up, his WCW days and WWE days.

- Behind the scenes news: The reason behind Dolph Ziggler's current WWE "firing", is so Ziggler can be a comedian. That's right Dolph Ziggler is following in the steps of current WWE Legend, Mick Foley, and touring as a stand up comic. Sources have said that Ziggler has been doing a great job at it too.

- Sources are saying that after Wrestlemania 31, Goldust, aka Dustin Rhodes, may be finally calling it a career. Rhodes is looking at retiring from the ring and working behind the scenes with the WWE.

- There have been two matches officially announced for NXT Takeover in February:
** "Non Title Match": Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens
** NXT Women's Title, Fatal Four Way: Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch vs. Bayley

- Finn Balor may have had a minor injury during Friday night's NXT tapings. Balor was noticed limping after his triple threat match with Hideo Itami and Adrian Neville.

- Sources are saying Justin Gabriel has been pulled from the Royal Rumble because he has left the company.

- Sources are saying Los Matadores have also been pulled from the Royal Rumble. Two spots opened for the Dudley Boys maybe? Fingers crossed.

*** TNA News and Rumors ***

- TNA Impact gained ratings in their second show on Destination America, last Friday. Impact's overall total finished at 387,000 viewer's. This was up from their debut show that finished at 359,000 viewer's.

- Feast or Fired returned to Impact this week as Austin Aries received the TNA World Title shot, Magnus received the TNA World Tag Team Title shot, Rockstar Spud received the TNA X-Division Title shot and Velvet Sky was fired.

- TNA wrestler, Abyss, was interviewed this week and asked about when he turned down a WWE contract to wrestle Undertaker at Wrestlemania 19. You can read that interview HERE

*** GFW News and Rumors ***

- Things have been quiet in Jeff Jarrett's world this week. Nothing major to report in the GFW camp.

*** Other Wrestling News ***

- Alberto El Patron (Del Rio) has officially made his debut with Lucha Underground. El Patron was at this week's TV tapings and will appear when the episode is shown in February.

- El Patron has also been very liked in Ring of Honor, where he's also competing and gunning for Jay Lethal and the ROH Television Title.

- El Patron was also interviewed this week on ROH TV, where El Patron took shots at the WWE. El Patron stated "some company said I'd never be allowed to wrestle in the U.S. for a whole year. Well here I am, in Ring of Honor." He also made it clear that "I am a wrestler, not a f***ing sports entertainer."

- Former UFC Fighter, Matthew Riddle, has thrown his name out there at wanting a shot at CM Punk. Riddle, however, was fired from UFC in 2013 for marijuana use. Riddle took shots at UFC President, Dana White, and CM Punk in the interview. Riddle stated that "Dana was a bitch and that's why his mom named him Dana." Riddle than stated "I'd break CM Punk's f***ing jaw in the first round." Riddle, is currently training to become a professional wrestler.

- CM Punk's trainer, Duke Roufus, was recently on The Jake Ellis Show. Roufus gave us an update on Punk's current progress in the UFC. You can listen to that HERE.

- Former WWE Diva and TNA Knockout Lisa Marie Varon recently vented her frustrations and opinions about Dixie Carter and TNA. You can read that interview HERE.

- Former TNA Knockout, Sarita, turned down an offer to join Lucha Underground.

- Former TNA wrestler and WWE Superstar, Chris Harris, meanwhile, stated in an interview that the WWE is probably the worst running billion dollar company ever.

- Former WWE Superstar and current Lucha Underground wrestler, John Morrison, recently gave praise to WWE and their NXT promotion. Morrison stated that he was a huge fan of NXT and would love to wrestle Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens one day.

And that is this weekend's 3 Count. Join me every Sunday afternoon where I give you the major stories in WWE, TNA, GFW and the independent wrestling scene. Till next time, tap or snap.