Jack Swagger arrested for DUI & Marijuana possession:
If his new xenophobic gimmick wasn’t enough controversy, WWE Superstar Jack Swagger was arrested yesterday evening for DUI and possession of Marijuana.

According to TMZ Swagger was traveling after the Smackdown taping in Biloxi, Mississippi, and was pulled over for speeding. The officer managed to search his car and found him in possession of a small amount of marijuana. He has been charged with DUI, marijuana possession, and speeding, although it is not clear what procedure they recorded his DUI under.

“Mr. Swagger is responsible for his own personal actions,” noted a WWE spokesperson.

If WWE now choose to test Swagger and it comes back positive he will face a fine of $2,500 from his downside guarantee, although will NOT be suspended. However if he is convicted of possession his contract will be terminated under the following Wellness Policy clause…“Any WWE Talent, who is arrested, convicted or who admits to a violation of law relating to use, possession, purchase, sale or distribution of drugs will be in material breach of his/her contract with WWE and subject to immediate dismissal.”

Swagger has only just returned after a lengthy hiatus and is in line for a World Heavyweight title shot at Wrestlemania. Knowing WWE they could easily pull the rug from under him based on this embarrassment and work out a new storyline without him. In a PG environment where the Zeb Colter angle is also already causing negative press it would not be surprising for the company to put it all on hold.

Interestingly the Twitter account for Zeb Colter is already Tweeting #FreeJackSwagger messages…“A Real American like Jack Swagger is not a priority criminal. Those who willingly accept handouts are priorities #WeThePeople.”

[Editor's note: From a fan's perspective it would be brilliant if they worked this in to the storyline. Libertarians are pro Marijuana and anti-drug law. They could play off the use of Hemp during the early days of America. Then again that might be too radical and face-like for their negative right-wing stereotype.]
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Hall of Fame airing on USA Network:
This year’s WWE Hall of Fame will air on the USA Network on Tuesday, April 9, 2013 from 10-11 PM/9-10 CT, and will run for one hour.

The actual ceremony is much longer than this and in the past has either aired on WWE.com or been featured later on the Wrestlemania DVD.
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2KSports announce WWE 2K14:
Casey Collins, WWE’s executive vice president of consumer products discussed Take-Two Interactive acquiring the WWE video game license in a new ESPN article…

“We looked at a lot of different leaders in the industry and talked to all of the big guys, and for us, we had been with THQ for so many years, it was nice to finally go out and date a few other companies and see what kind of thought process they had about the video game industry going forward,” says Collins. “As we look at the next-gen systems coming out, whether that’s this holiday or next holiday, we want to make sure we align our property with who we thought would be a leader going forward on these next-gen systems.”

It’s not clear whether the game will be titled WWE 2K14 as part of the 2K Sports subsidiary or just WWE ’14, but it will be an integral part of the 2K Sports brand.

“The WWE series is a great addition to our stable of triple-A titles, and we’re very happy with this exclusive agreement with our new partners,” said David Ismailer, Chief Operating Officer for 2K. “We look forward to capturing the excitement of WWE and marrying it with the same commitment to authenticity and entertainment that we give to our NBA 2K and MLB 2K franchises.”

“We’ve looked at the WWE franchise with respect for a long time,” continued 2K Sports’ vice president of marketing, Jason Argent. “There are a lot of similarities that we see, from the size of the franchise to the demographics of the franchise, and they fit in very well with what we’ve done with NBA in terms of development and marketing. We thought we could add tremendous value right off the bat and down the road. We’re super excited to get an agreement in place.”

As part of the five-year deal (financial terms were not disclosed), Take-Two has not only hired some of the key designers behind the WWE gaming franchise from THQ to work hand in hand with 2K Sports’ game design team at Visual Concepts, but has also agreed to bring back longtime WWE games developer Yukes from Japan to continue pushing ahead with the development of “WWE 14,” ensuring the new game will hit its fall 2013 release window.

“With Yukes, we have a lot of history, and we’ve been very happy with what Yukes has done in the past,” said Collins. “What we’re going to do moving forward is meld Yukes with the team at Visual Concepts, so we can have the best of both worlds. Having Yukes’ experience and then getting the Visual Concepts guys on board with them, we think this is going to be a dynamic duo.

“The THQ Fight Team is also being brought over, and they’ll report directly to Visual Concepts. Their experience in the marketing, their experience in the development, their experience with our franchise for years … we thought that it was very valuable to keep that continuity.”