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 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?

In an interview with The Sun, Randy Orton shares his opinion on his match with Triple H at WrestleMania XXV, punting Vince McMahon in the head, why Manu was booted from Legacy and ultimately released from WWE, which wrestler he would add to Legacy, and much more. Here’s some of the highlights:

On his match with Triple H at WrestleMania XXV: “This was a storyline where Triple H needed retribution. He needed to beat the living p*** out of me because of what I did. I handcuffed him and made him watch while I beat up his wife and then kissed her while she was unconscious. Then to top it off after I do that, I knock him out with a sledgehammer to the head. I kick his father-in-law in the skull and put him in the hospital, and do the same to his brother-in-law. I think when all that happens and then you have this match where he can’t be disqualified or he loses the title, you kind of screw yourself. We were not able to do everything that the other guys were able to do. Matt and Jeff Hardy had a hardcore no-holds-barred match. They were able to use all the bells and whistles to beat the hell out of each other. Everyone was expecting Triple H and I to do the same, but we had rules that put a fence around everything we were able to do. We weren’t able to go to the extreme. If anything hurt us, it was that.”

Did he try changing the rules of the match with Vince McMahon? “No, because I was happy with the match. I really was. The crowd in the arena had seen three and half hours of wrestling and, not only that, they had seen some very good wrestling. Shawn Michaels and Undertaker put on a hell of a performance, the Money In The Bank match was crazy and a lot of guys did some death-defying maneuvers. When you do that and then you have this match with two guys who can’t be outside of the ring for more than 10 seconds, you kinda screw yourself. You’ve backed yourself into a corner where it’s going to be hard to outperform the matches that went before you. I think our storyline and what our match was all about deserved to be the main-event match on WrestleMania. But I think that the restraints and stipulations around the match made it harder on us than it should have been.”

What about the wrestling fan population who have grown tired of Triple H: “Yes, there is that minority of people out there who have seen enough of Triple H. I’ve had fans come up to me and beg: “Please kick Triple H in the head.” He’s a huge babyface, probably the ultimate babyface. But no matter what the character is, there’s always going to be that smart group of people who want to see the guy on top shot down. Just like right now there’s probably guys telling Batista to beat the hell out of me this Sunday at Judgment Day.”

Any thoughts about going easy on Vince McMahon when booting him in the head: “Did you see that kick to Vince? It didn’t look like anything was pulled did it? They replayed that thing from every angle and he definitely ate a big piece of my boot. When I’m kicking Vince in the head, if it doesn’t look good on live TV, people are going to think: “Oh, he didn’t want to kick him too hard because, deep down inside, Orton knows that is his boss so he took it easy on him.” So I did the opposite. I kicked him harder.”

Extras: “I want everything I do in the ring to be as crisp and as perfect as humanely possible. I calculate my movements to where it’s going to be the best for that moment. So when I kicked Vince in the head, the only thing going through my mind was: “I’m going to kick this b*****d in the skull as hard as I can. Here we go. I’ve been waiting for this one!”

Why was Manu booted from Legacy AND The WWE: “Manu had some respect issues. There are a lot of different reasons he wasn’t good for Legacy, but the reason he’s not with the company anymore had a lot to do with his backstage attitude. His father was the great Afa, of the Wild Samoans, and Manu had been in the ring since his early teens. Now, in his early 20s, technically he’s been in the ring for more than a decade – but not really. Really he’d only been in the business a month by the time I knew him. He carried himself like he had been in the business for 15 years. He thought he knew everything. He thought he deserved a first-class seat when we went overseas. He thought he didn’t have to pick up in the lockeroom after the show was over, like the new guys do. He didn’t feel like he had to pay his dues, because he’d already paid them. What he doesn’t understand is that wrestling once a week for 10 years doesn’t count. When wrestling is all you do, when everyone in the world knows who you are and you’ve held titles and main-evented PPVs – that’s when you start to get to the point where you might deserve a little something extra. I don’t think he applied himself in the gym or when it came to his diet. He just thought: “Hey, my dad is Afa, the Wild Samoan, so I get a job. I deserve to be here.” He just didn’t get it.”

Who would make a good 4th member to Legacy: “If someone came to me and said we need another guy in this group, I would go with Harry (Smith). Right now though, I think we’re fine. I feel like everything is running its course. It’s going smooth.”

Well there you have it. Randy Orton’s opinion on quite a lot actually. What’s your thoughts? Props for kicking Vince McMahon, but what about letting Triple H Take Retribution like that?

Ric Flair has been interviewed by ScrippsNews.com and Flair was saying he’s just itching to get back in the ring. “I want to wrestle again,” said Flair. “I watch WWE and I can still do better than 90 percent of the guys there. I weigh one less pound than the day I retired. I still work out really hard and I wrestle my kid (Reid) all the time. It’s not like I haven’t been in the ring.”

And then of course there’s the financial aspect to getting back into wrestling. Flair dishes out $22,000 a month in alimony payments to 2 ex-wives, but is getting big money offers to return to the ring. “People in Europe are offering me a fortune. I’m tired of signing autographs. I can make more money wrestling. I love the business. I was thinking the other day about the reason why God gave me this health. I don’t hurt anywhere. I haven’t lost any strength. I’m just like I was 10 years ago. I keep thinking, ‘Why am I signing autographs when I can still take backdrops?”

Flair has even gone as far as sending Vince McMahon a text message recently asking him why he wasn’t a part of the 2009 WWE Draft. Vince reportedly responded by reminding Flair that he’s retired. At this point, the only thing holding him back is the blessing from WWE and Shawn Michaels. “I respect Shawn and WWE so much that I wouldn’t do anything to disrespect them. They would have to give me full approval (to wrestle again). They put me in a special place. I think it’s going to be a long time before we see something come across again like what they did for me (with the retirement ceremony). I didn’t think it would be that big a deal. We’ll see how this turns out.”

Flair’s son Reid was arrested yet another time last month (this time for DWI and felony heroin possession) and the Nature Boy spoke candidly about Reid’s drug problem. Ric and Reid had been working on a reality TV show project, but that is now on hold. “It all depends on how he gets himself put back together. The biggest thing about that is that it’s a disease. It’s not so hard for me to say that after being at an outpatient clinic with him where they talk about a chromosome deficiency causing stuff like that. It’s curable, but he’s going to have to work real hard at it. He’s doing that.”