WWE

Ex-WWE star Ryback is threatening a legal war with Ezekiel Elliott ... claiming the Cowboys player has NO RIGHT to get a "Feed Me" trademark -- despite the RB's new tat.

"I'll tie him up for years," Ryback said this week. "He ain't using it. So he better get a good tattoo artist to go have him cover that sh*tty tattoo up on his stomach."

If you're unfamiliar, Ryback popularized the phrase "Feed Me More" during his time in the WWE -- and it became so big, crowds chanted it at arenas for YEARS.

Ryback claims he now owns the trademark for the phrase ... and when he heard Elliott applied for a similar "Feed Me" trademark this month, he was straight-up PISSED.

"This is exactly my phrase," Ryback said. "It's exactly. And it's the same meaning. And that will cause confusion."

Ryback says he believes Elliott -- a wrestling fanatic -- actually STOLE his whole "Feed Me" bit from watching him in the squared circle.

To be fair, this isn't anything new for Zeke ... he's been doing his "Feed Me" routine since he entered the NFL in 2016 -- and even got a massive tat on his belly to immortalize it this offseason.

Unclear how the trademark office will rule on the decision, but Ryback says he's more than willing to fight the legal battle against Elliott over the phrase.

In the meantime, he's slamming the NFL All-Pro for even attempting to make the move.

"I think it's low-life, scum sh*t, quite frankly," Ryback said ... "You're literally trying to latch onto somebody else's brand and then take it and make it your own."

WWE icon Joseph Laurinaitis, AKA Road Warrior Animal, died Tuesday night of natural causes ... TMZ Sports has confirmed. He was 60 years old.

Law enforcement tells us, the wrestling legend -- who was one half of the famous Road Warriors tag team -- passed away at Tan-Tar-A Resort in Osage Beach, MO.

We're told cops received a call at around 11:49 PM from Laurinaitis' wife ... but when deputies arrived on scene -- emergency personnel had already declared the ex-wrestler deceased.

Laurinaitis is considered one of the best in-ring performers of all-time -- he wrestled for most of his WWE career with Road Warrior Hawk and won multiple tag team championships as The Road Warriors/Legion of Doom.

He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011.

"RIP Animal,love you my brother," Hulk Hogan said in a statement Wednesday morning. "I know you and Hawk have a lot of unfinished business to take care of! God speed and blessings to your beautiful family,one love4Life."

Laurinaitis' son, James Laurinaitis, was a superstar linebacker at Ohio State who was picked in the 2nd-round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the Rams.

Joseph, meanwhile, was known for his face paint and spiked shoulder pads ... as well as his imposing frame -- he was 6-foot-2, 300-plus pounds.

As a team with Road Warrior Hawk (who died of a heart attack in 2003) ... Laurinaitis famously headlined several HUGE WWE events.

RIP

Daniel Cormier is figuring out life after his UFC fighting career ... revealing he's been in talks with WWE!!

The former heavyweight champ is famously a die-hard WWE fan who has been watching pro wrestling for decades ... so it seems a move to the squared circle would be a perfect fit with Cormier.

In fact, the UFC legend told Sports Illustrated the conversations have begun.

"We’ve been talking," Cormier told SI. "We’ve spoken to some of the people over there in very, very early conversations. WWE is a company I’ve watched and loved my entire life."

DC says his skills as a UFC commentator would transition perfectly with WWE.

"Put me at the commentary table," Cormier added. "Let me call the matches for six months and tell you how great these wrestlers are in the ring. I would love that, and I wouldn’t be faking it. WWE is something I’ve loved my entire life."

The feeling is mutual ... WWE honcho Triple H recently told us they're huge fans of Cormier "we'd love to do something with him if the time is right.

Triple H made a point to say that he would be respectful of DC's professional relationship with UFC and would work with Dana White to make sure everyone is on the same page.

"I DID NOT MURDER THAT MAN!!!"

That's pro wrestling legend Marty Jannetty outright denying he murdered a man when the was 13-years-old ... insisting he made up the tale as part of a "damn wrestling storyline."

Remember, 60-year-old Jannetty -- one half of the WWF tag team, The Rockers -- had initially claimed he used a brick to fend off an attempted rapist behind a bowling alley 47 years ago ... killing the man in the process.

Jannetty even went on the Boston Wrestling Sports Show and suggested he dumped the body in the Chattahoochee River sometime around 1973.

In fact, the Columbus Police Dept. in Georgia even opened a probe into the apparent killing.

But now, Jannetty says the whole story was just a goof -- a made-up plot for pro wrestling -- and he spelled it out Tuesday in a new Facebook post.

"It was just the beginning of a damn wrestling storyline ... but OH MY GOD, OMG. Didn't the WORLD buy it??!!"

"It got so hot I had to drop it ... when my Columbus, Ga. Police Department got involved, I knew I had to drop it."

Jannetty says once cops got involved, he was "red-flagged"
by TSA -- and was recently pulled out of line at an airport in Atlanta while traveling to Boston.

"I wanted to call the good people at the Columbus Police Department and tell them, 'nah nah, don't waste tax payers money nor your valuable time..it was just a wrestling storyline.'"

Jannetty says looking back, he should have looped in the police about the murder story line before going public ... "but that ain't how I do it."

As for the story line ... Jannetty says it was all supposed to culminate in a wresting match with a former corrections officer -- "If he wins, he takes me in, in peace. If I win, he leave me alone, in peace ... but sadly now, we'll not get to do that storyline."

Alistair Overeem -- the last man to beat Brock Lesnar -- says the WWE superstar will NOT return to the UFC 'cause he's old, washed up ... and no one gives a crap about him!!

TMZ Sports asked the 40-year old UFC star -- who defeated Lesnar at UFC 141 in December 2011 -- if he believes Brock will step back into the Octagon now that his WWE contract expired.

Remember, earlier this week, Dana White told us he was open to making a Jon Jones vs. Lesnar fight ... IF both fighters were down.

But, Overeem tells us, he doesn't believe there's a chance in hell Lesnar comes back to fight.

"He's not coming back. He's 43-years-old. He's flunked tests. It's over with. He's not coming back."

Overeem admits he didn't think Brock was going to return to fight Mark Hunt in July 2016 ... but he did.

So, does Alistair -- who's fighting #9 ranked heavyweight Augusto Sakai at UFC Fight Night 176 -- want to run it back with Brock if the 6'3", 265 lb fighter does opt to return?

"I have beat him up. So, if someone wants a rematch, it would've been him, right? I already did it."

Overeem wasn't done throwing shade ... he took one last parting shot at Lesnar.

If Brock Lesnar wants a crack at Jon Jones in the UFC octagon, Dana White tells TMZ Sports he's down to make it happen!

Here's the backstory ... Lesnar is reportedly no longer under contract with WWE -- making him a "free agent" in the combat sports world, according to PWInisider.

There are rumblings Brock is interested in one last UFC fight before calling it a career ... and the opponent could be Jon Jones.

Remember, Jones famously called out Brock in a post-fight interview back in 2017 ... and just this week, talked some trash on Twitter.

"Brock I’ll beatcho ass too."

Now, UFC honcho Dana White tells TMZ Sports ... he's heard the rumors and says if Brock is "seriously interested" in fighting Jones, he's more than happy to put it together.

Jones recently vacated his light heavyweight title in order to move up to heavyweight ... where he's hoping to get a title shot against Stipe Miocic in the near future.

But, a Lesnar vs. Jones card would obviously be a big money fight -- so you'd think Jon would jump at the chance if Brock is serious.

The bigger issue ... Lesnar is 43-years-old and hasn't fought in the octagon since 2016, when he took on Mark Hunt.

Lesnar won the fight -- but his victory was overturned due to a positive drug test.

Pro wrestling legend "Bullet" Bob Armstrong -- a WWE Hall of Famer -- has passed away Thursday after battling bone cancer, his family announced.

He was 80 years old.

Armstong is a true legend in the sport -- he started wrestling back in 1960 and became famous for his signature move, the Georgia Jawbreaker.

He became a fan favorite back when pro wrestling was split into territories throughout the U.S. -- and was particularly beloved in his home state of Georgia.

He initially "retired" in 1988 -- but never really hung up biz boots ... staying involved in the sport for decades in one way or another.

Armstrong famously teamed up with Dusty Rhodes and Larry Zbyszko back in the early 2000s and continued to perform until 2019!!

Many huge wrestlers also looked up to Armstrong as a mentor -- including CM Punk, who posted a tribute on social media.

"Bullet Bob. Always so nice to me. I’d like to think he saw how thrilled I was whenever I got to speak with him, which fortunately for me was often."

Armstrong has 4 sons who all became pro wrestlers -- notably Scott Armstrong (who became a famous referee) and Brian, known as WWE Hall of Famer Road Dogg.

Armstrong was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011, alongside "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan and Shawn Michaels.

Nikki Bella's spent barely 3 months in her dream home living next to her sister ... but the dream's over 'cause she's putting the house on the market.

The "Total Bellas" star listed her 5-bedroom, 5.5-bathroom pad for $1,995,000. It sits on a 10,000-square-foot lot inside an exclusive, 16-home gated community.

Anyway, the crib's what you'd expect from a WWE star, who designed it from start to finish. The house is really nice ... huge wood-beamed ceilings, a sub-zero and Wolf appliances, 3 fireplaces and a custom wine/sitting room.

Now here's what's interesting ... this season's "Total Bellas" centered around Nikki building her dream house, hoping twin sister, Brie would become her badass neighbor, which is exactly what happened. They joked if they got on each other's nerves, Nikki could just up and sell the house. No word if that's what happened here.

It's more likely Nikki and her fiance, Artem Chigvintsev, just need more room for their new baby boy. She gave birth to the couple's first child earlier this month. Movin' on up!!!

It was long-rumored that 74-year-old Vince McMahon personally jumped off a 10-foot platform before WrestleMania 36 to ease Rob Gronkowski's fears ...

Turns out, IT'S TRUE -- AND THE WHOLE THING WAS CAPTURED ON VIDEO!!!

The whole incident was captured by "WWE 24: WrestleMania: The Show Must Go On" [h/t ProWrestlingSheet] -- which shows everything that happened behind WWE's biggest event of the year.

Remember, the event was taped on March 25 and 26 -- and aired on April 5 and 6 -- featuring Gronk serving as the "host" of the 2-day PPV event.

One of the big 'Mania moments featured Gronk jumping from the platform -- but before that happened, Vince McMahon personally walked the NFL star through the stunt.

Again, VINCE IS 74 YEARS OLD AND THREW HIMSELF OFF A PLATFORM!!!

No sweat for Vince! Gronk noted that the stunt was more like a "trust fall" with spotters.

In the end, Gronk executed his jump perfectly -- winning the WWE 24/7 title in the process!!

Cops have thwarted an apparent kidnapping attempt at the home of WWE superstar Sonya Deville -- claiming the suspect is an obsessed fan who was armed with a knife, zip ties and duct tape.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office in Lutz, Florida arrested 24-year-old Philip A. Thomas on Sunday ... saying he had been planning his move for 8 months.

Officials say Thomas parked his car at a nearby church late Saturday night and walked to Deville's home -- where he cut a hole in a patio screen, waited for several hours and then entered the residence around 2:45 AM.

Thomas set off a house alarm, which startled Deville -- and once she realized there was an intruder, she fled the home with another person and called 911.

Cops arrived and found Thomas still inside the home. He was arrested for attempted armed kidnapping, armed burglary, aggravated stalking and misdemeanor criminal mischief.

Cops say he's an obsessed fan who was on a mission to "inflict harm."

"Our deputies are unveiling the suspect's disturbing obsession with this homeowner who he had never met, but stalked on social media for years," the HCSO said in a statement.

"It's frightening to think of all the ways this incident could have played out had the home alarm not gone off and alerted the homeowner of an intruder. Our deputies arrived within minutes and arrested this man who was clearly on a mission to inflict harm."

26-year-old Deville -- real name Daria Berenato -- later commented on Twitter, thanking cops.

"Thank you everyone for your love and concern. A very frightening experience but thankfully everyone is safe," Deville said.

"A special thank you to Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office for their response and assistance."

Marty Jannetty is now claiming self-defense in the apparent death of a man he says he killed 47 years ago ... saying he used a brick to fatally fend off a rapist.

The ex-pro wrestling star called in to the Boston Wrestling Sports show on Wednesday night -- where he was questioned about a bizarre Facebook post in which he suggests he killed a guy and dumped the body in the Chattahoochee River sometime around 1973.

At first, 60-year-old Jannetty tries to be careful about the language he uses ... but ultimately describes an incident involving a male bowling alley employee who allegedly tried to "rape" him in a car behind a building in Georgia.

"He was a front desk clerk," Jannetty said ... "He was known to sell the weed. What I didn't know was he lured in little kids."

Jannetty claims the man tried to grab his genitals, so Marty tried to flee ... but the man grabbed him by the hair and got physical with him so Marty couldn't escape.

That's when Marty says he grabbed a brick and fought back.

"I can't say he deserved to die, but he deserved to get his ass beat."

"And, when I was beating him in the head with a brick, I was only trying to beat his ass, I wasn't trying to kill him."

Jannetty suggests the man died -- and that's when he tried to get rid of the body.

"Can you imagine dragging a guy -- he's just tried to f*** you in the ass --- can you imagine dragging him to the river and throwing him in? And, then finding out on the news the dude's missing. You know the dude. And, you know more than that. That affected me bad, bro."

As we previously reported, the Columbus Police Dept. in Georgia has already opened a probe into the apparent killing.

In fact, a spokesperson from the homicide/cold case division told us, "The first step will be seeing if we have any missing persons or unidentified remains cases that match the limited information in the post."

Ex-WWE superstar Marty Jannetty may have confessed to murdering someone when he was 13 years old in a bizarre social media post ... and now cops are investigating.

The former member of the tag team "The Rockers" told a story on Facebook about trying to buy weed from a man who worked at a bowling alley in his home town when things went awry.

"I was 13, working at Victory Lanes bowling alley buying weed from a f** that worked there ... and he put his hands on me ... he dragged me around the back of the building ... you already know what he was gonna try to do."

Jannetty continued, "That was the very first time I made a man disappear. They never found him. They shoulda looked in the Chattahoochie River."

By the way, Jannetty is 60 years old -- so the alleged incident would have taken place around 1973.

Now, the Columbus Police Dept. in Georgia tells us straight up, "We are going to look into this."

In fact, a spokesperson from the homicide/cold case division says, "The first step will be seeing if we have any missing persons or unidentified remains cases that match the limited information in the post."

The CPD notes that they have "several current active homicide investigations underway and they will have to remain the priority" -- so, it won't be an all hands on deck situation right now.

We've reached out to Jannetty for comment several times -- but haven't heard back. The Facebook post has since been removed from his page.

Jannetty was huge during the WWF's run in the '80s and '90s -- teaming up with Shawn Michaels on The Rockers ... one of the most popular tag teams of the era.

The Rock owns the XFL and former L.A. Wildcats head coach Winston Moss has a message for DJ ... GIVE ME A JOB!!!

Moss lost his head coaching gig when the 2nd iteration of the XFL went under -- largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic -- leaving the former NFL player and coach without a job.

Winston -- who played football at University of Miami a few years before Johnson -- thought his time with the XFL was done ... until The Rock swooped in, threw down $15 mil, and rescued the league.

Now, Moss tells TMZ Sports he BADLY wants another crack coaching in the XFL.

"I was excited to hear the news. I've been on pins and needles ever since we were shut down due to COVID-19 and how can you not be excited about The Rock?!" Moss tells us.

"He's an ex-football player, he's a great entertainer, has a passion for whatever he does, has a passion for football, he seems to love the game. Both of us are University of Miami alumni, so c'mon!"

Moss says working with Johnson would be a huge privilege.

"I think he brings so much to the table that I would be honored, I would be thrilled to work with somebody with that stature."

Now, this obviously ain't the XFL's 1st rodeo ... so Moss has some ideas that he believes will make Johnson's league a hit the 3rd time around.

Mick Foley is praising the hell out of The Rock for buying the XFL with his ex-wife ... telling TMZ Sports his business relationship with Dany Garcia is just another example of why the former WWE star is an awesome person.

"The greatest part of this announcement is that one of his partners in this venture is his former wife, Dany Garcia," Foley says.

"The Rock not only sets an example on how to conduct yourself as a human being, an actor, a philanthropist but as a former husband."

FYI -- The Rock married Garcia way back in 1997, but they divorced in 2007 while promising at the time to continue to stay in each other's lives as "best friends."

Mick says the way Dwayne has kept up that commitment with Garcia despite the separation is powerful ... and Foley claims it tells a lot about the 48-year-old movie star's character.

"Of all the stories I tell about The Rock, I think my favorite one is he was actually at his ex-wife's wedding," says Foley, who wrestled with Dwayne for years in the WWE.

"I think that's a great lesson for everyone to learn for the fact that they can stay amazing friends, be amazing parents to Simone, and then take on these business ventures."

As we previously reported, Rock teamed up with Garcia and partners at RedBird Capital (led by Gerry Cardinale) to scoop up the XFL for $15 million on Monday.

The Rock's promising to build a good product on the field for fans ... and Foley says there's no doubt in his mind his former coworker is going to crush it.

"It's got a really good shot to succeed because of the intensity and the effort that he and Dany and their partners put into it," Foley says.

By the way, Mick is already lobbying his old pal for a role in the league ... but he tells us he doesn't want a suit-and-tie front office job -- he wants to strap on a helmet!!

"That's what I'd like to do," Foley says.

It was like a scene outta 'Kill Bill' -- a WWE superstar had his eye popped out of his head on live TV!!

And, just like that scene in 'Kill Bill' -- it was totally scripted and not real!!!

Still kinda gross/cool though ... that is, if you dig content involving a detached eyeball!

Here's the deal ... Rey Mysterio was taking on Seth Rollins on Sunday in a match dubbed the Eye For an Eye at an event called The Horror Show.

Rollins took control and shoved Rey's eye into the corner of the steel steps -- and the POP GOES THE EYEBALL!!!

It wasn't exactly as violent and gory as when Pai Mei snatched the peeper from Elle Driver's head ... but still, gnarly!

Rollins -- playing up the moment -- was so "grossed out" by the bloody eyeball forced himself to BARF! So gross!!

WWE superstar Charlotte Flair is opening up about a horrible bout with silicon poisoning in 2018 ... after she discovered one of her breast implants had leaked.

"Picture it. Charlotte, North Carolina, 2018. A young queen, shortly after a career-defining WrestleMania victory, finds herself sicker than sick at her brother's house," Charlotte says.

"A trip to the doctor tells us the likely culprit is silicone poisoning, and that my implant had been leaking for quite some time. It was one of the worse cases the doctor had seen."

Flair says she consulted with doctors about her options but ultimately decided to go with the choice that "allowed me to return [to pro wrestling] the soonest. That was the choice I made."

The 34-year-old pro wrestler says things appeared to be resolved for a while ... until a few months ago when "something felt off."

She returned to the doctor and found out the new issue was NOT related to silicon poisoning ... but she still needs another operation to fix the problem.

"The surgery is cosmetic to fix an issue from a prior surgery," Charlotte explained.

"This time, I'm going with an option that I believe will solve the issue long time, even though the recovery period is a little longer than I would like."

Now, Charlotte says she'll be taking some time off from WWE to fix the issue -- and she'll return "when I'm ready."

"The body will be rested, and the mind still focused on legacy. Focused on this job. Focused on being better. Always being better."

Flair later said she refuses to feel ashamed over the medical issue -- and seemingly wants to put a spotlight on it to let other women suffering from a similar condition to know they're not alone.