However, the story doesn’t end there. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is effectively rejecting what they call Chris Jericho’s “insincere and worn” apology for using anti-gay and racist slurs that day at the Sacramento Horror Film Festival.

GLAAD president Jarrett Barrios issued the following statement to TMZ.com this week:

“Just three months ago Chris Jericho’s boss and WWE Chairman Vince McMahon acknowledged to GLAAD that words matter.

There is no time, context or occasion in which it is acceptable to utter racist and anti-gy slurs. Jericho’s hollow apology ‘if (he) offended anyone’ is a template used by many and is insincere and worn.”

Are the Walls of Jericho really coming down?

Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan called in to Bubba The Love Sponge’s satellite radio show Monday morning and as always, the Hulk Hogan Hype Machine (patent pending) was in full force. During the Hogan said that some big names in the pro wrestling world could be headed to TNA Wrestling. Hogan said we could see Steve Austin, Randy Savage and the Nasty Boys in the future.

Steve Austin is a working actor and it’s highly unlikely he’d ever appear for any company outside of WWE. Hogan said he’s buried the hatchet after a long personal feud with Randy Savage, who is 56 years old and did not look very good during his last TNA run several years ago. The Nasty Boys are close with Hogan and actually could wind up in TNA at some point.

Hogan also joked with Bubba and asked if he wanted a spot on TNA’s creative team with him.

WWE Superstar Jeff Hardy

Gilbert Hardy, father of Matt and Jeff, spoke to the Fayetteville Observer newspaper last week and said Jeff has been doing his best to keep a very low profile in the weeks since his September 11th drug arrest. “He won’t talk. He ain’t talking to nobody,” the senior Hardy said. “He doesn’t even want to talk to me.”

The newspaper tried getting a quote from Jeff, but he refused to speak to them.

Hardy was due in court last week for a probable cause hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to warrant indicting the former WWE champion on the various drug charges (including six felonies) he’s facing. The hearing was rescheduled for December 2nd.

If convicted of the opium trafficking charge alone, Hardy faces nearly 6 years in prison, at a minimum, said Warren McSweeney, a Moore County prosecutor. “It could be substantially more,” he added.

Greg Price, who runs the NWA Legends Fanfest each August in Charlotte, said he doesn’t believe Hardy’s career will be jeopardized even if he’s found guilty of drug charges. “The worst-case scenario – jail time,” Price said. “Honestly, in the wrestling business, all that would do is delay his career. No wrestling promoter out there today is not going to use him because of that. I think again, that comes back to society and prescription pill use. A lot of people don’t look at that as being illegal.”

WWE Ex-Star Eugene

Just days after he made his first return appearance on WWE television, Nick “Eugene” Dinsmore has been released from the company.

“WWE has come to terms on the release of WWE Superstar Eugene as of August 14, 2009. We wish Eugene the best in all future endeavors,” read a WWE.com statement.

Eugene wrestled a masked The Miz in a “contract on a pole” match that determined who would become part of the RAW roster. Miz won the match, but few would have figured that Eugene’s failure to capture the contract would be his final WWE appearance.

Stay tuned for further details.

WWE Chris Jericho

The immediate creative reaction to Edge suffering a torn Achilles tendon at the live event this past Friday was to figure out a way to get the belts on Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase. Over the weekend, those plans changed as they were looking to have Edge make one final appearance on television by giving his Unified WWE Tag Team Championship belt to Dolph Ziggler, and proceed from there. However, it was noted that given how things work in the company, that plan would likely change a dozen times between now and this Monday’s television taping in Orlando, when the final decision would likely be announced. At this point, they no longer have plans to make Ziggler Jericho’s tag team partner.

At one point over the weekend, there was talk about keeping the Colons together, editing out Carlito’s turn on Primo on this past Monday’s taped airing of Raw. However, that idea is off the board because they ended up airing the turn on Raw.

Creative was looking at footage of the SmackDown show taped on 7/1 in Bakersfield, California to see if there was a spot they could point to on this week’s episode they could use for the injury. The hope was to find a spot during Edge’s run-in during the Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio match, since that would be his last physical appearance. It would appear that they found nothing because on Tuesday, the WWE website acknowledged the injury and the surgery, and listed it as happening in his match with Jeff Hardy match from a leapfrog spot as opposed to trying to create a storyline reason for it.

Edge had been working hurt even before his ladder match with Hardy at last month’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view. He noted during a recent radio interview promoting the television taping in Fresno that when he was younger, he was able to recover quickly from those type of matches quickly. He then said he was hurting just walking for a week after the match.

John Cena's Marriage Proposal

Reportedly, John Cena was in a Boston court on Friday asking that the 3 day waiting period for getting married after receiving a license in the state of Massachusetts be waived. It is believed that the WWE Superstar is going to be getting married this weekend.
Click the jump for more pictures of Cena proposing to his now Fiancee, Elizabeth Huberdeau.

The WWE Superstar was in court with his fiancée — Elizabeth — as well as another female, who appeared to be his publicist. They filled out paperwork and were there for about a half hour, which saw the judge waive the waiting period. Cena waited in line like everyone else, but signed a few autographs in the meantime. He later thanked the staff for helping him.

John Cena Wedding Proposal Pictures

Dave Batista - The Animal

According to insider sources, Batista is scheduled for surgery on Tuesday morning for a torn biceps muscle that he sustained in a match just before his bout with Randy Orton at “Extreme Rules” 2 nights ago. The injury was most likely the reason their match only lasted just over 7 minutes.

Why the WWE decided to go through with the title change despite the injury is still a question, but not doubt the reason will be revealed in a storyline in the near future.

Expect an injury storyline or something similar to be done on RAW to get the title away from Batista, as once he undergoes surgery, he’ll be out of commission for a while.

WWE Diva Candice Michelle

Candice Michelle wrote on her Twitter account recently that she is expecting to return to the ring sometime this month. The problem is, there is reportedly a lot of bad sentiment towards Candice Michelle right now, similar to what caused Vince McMahon to release Mr. Kennedy; her perception that she is often injured and a lousy worker.

So does that mean Candice Michelle is getting pushed out of the door of the WWE?

One company source told The Sun: “She doesn’t exactly help her cause when she’s running around in LA hanging out at bars and going to Dodger games… What happened to rehab and getting back in shape? There are guys on our roster with far worse injuries sucking it up and still coming to work.”

One of the few positive notes though, one of her biggest supporters in the company is said to be none-other than Stephanie McMahon.

When you’re not doing what you’re paid to do, it helps having the support of the boss’s daughter.

WWE Jim Ross aka J.R.

The big man himself, Jim Ross (better known as WWE announcer J.R.) updated on his blog, speaking on the subject of Ric Flair coming out of retirement and returning to the ring. Here are some of the highlights:

- Ric called me last Sunday morning and we had a nice talk and I could tell that “Naitch” was getting “the itch” to get back in the ring. He might be feeling somewhat burned out regarding all the autograph shows and meet ‘n greets that he’s done over the past several months. One can only imagine how much flesh Ric has pressed since retiring. Ric’s driver’s license may say that he is 60 years old but he still has the spirit and constitution of a 30- something year old, for better or for worse, depending on one’s perspective.

- Can Ric still perform in the ring at a competitive level. Hell, yeah. Should he? Well, that’s another question that’s a little tougher to answer.

- I think every one should chase their dreams and do what it is in life that makes them happy and that is legal and ethical because there are no guarantees how long our time here on Earth will be. I chase my dreams every week as I still love “calling” wrestling matches. My wife says broadcasting wrestling is my “calling” and she may well be correct, as usual.

- But this isn’t my call. I do have an opinion. It almost changes from day to day as a matter of fact. In a perfect world, for me, I would love for Ric to not risk life and limb at 60 and not wrestle again. I don’t want to read of Ric Flair wrestling in a high school gym some place.

- However, if Ric can return to a major stage and perform occasionally then I have less a problem with the matter. But here is the bottom line….my thanks to Stone Cold….it’s Ric’s life and he should do whatever he wants to do at this stage of the game that makes him happy.

- If Ric’s act is going to live again, it needs to play “Broadway”….. for a limited time only. WHOOO! What’s your thoughts on the subject? Just because Ric Flair might be able to, should he? There are certainly enough people in the world who think his time is over, but does it matter what other people think? Would you go to see him in the ring again?

With the continuing decline in WWE’s television ratings, PPV buyrates, house show attendance and overall revenue, things have definitely been better in the WWE Universe. In an attempt to cure what ails WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, he is currently on a kick to freshen things up and set WWE up for a proper turnaround.

While many ideas have been discussed, one thing WWE wants to do is get a lot of new faces into the mix. Since WrestleMania, we’ve seen guys like MVP, John Morrison, The Miz, THE Brian Kendrick and Dolph Ziggler getting a lot more television time in hopes that somebody catches on in a big way. Elevating new stars is more of a priority now than it has been since the late 1990’s, largely because Vince many of his top names getting older and knows the key to future success is cultivating new stars.

Aside from elevating these “potential” superstars already on the active roster, WWE is also calling up several names from developmental – with several names from Florida Championship Wrestling now touring with WWE working house shows and dark matches.

Former FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion Sheamus O’Shaunessy worked an undercard match at a Raw brand house show in Youngstown, Ohio over the weekend, beating Jamie Noble. He also wrestled a dark match before this week’s Raw, once again defeating Noble.

Women’s wrestler Angela Fong, another FCW regular, was a ring announcer at a SmackDown/ECW brand live event in Grand Rapids, Michigan. There has also been talks of bringing FCWC standout Eric Escobar on the road soon to take another look at him.

While giving television time to fresh faces is certainly a start – you have to wonder how much of an impact that can have. Things like longer in-ring matches, less goofy comedy, rebuilding WWE’s tag team division and putting on fewer (and cheaper) Pay-Per-View events would also go a long way.

What’s your take on the situation? How would you improved the brand?