WWE/ROH news and notes

This week's Raw was rated TV-PG instead of TV-14. This could signal the official beginning of WWE marketing its TV product toward children. In the early 1990's, children were also the target audience of the then-WWF. SmackDown has always been rated TV-PG, even during the adult-themed Attitude era.

Carlito is said to once again be unhappy with his role in WWE. WWE continues to employ Carlito despite his continued unhappiness, in part because the company covets wrestlers with appeal to Hispanic audiences.

The recently released book Ring of Hell: The Story of Chris Benoit and the Fall of the Pro Wrestling Industry alleges that Vince McMahon has had a "love affair" with the drug cocaine that may or may not have subsided. "(McMahon) liked to brag with apparent justification that 'I can snort as much of that stuff as anyone can put in front of me and never get hooked.' One WWE employee of recent years told me, "The boys and former office staff use euphemisms when they talk about Vince's 'energy." The inside joke about it is that sixty-something Vince most likely isn't that energetic over multi-day sleepness stretches without help. I've seen him so wired that his eyes looked like they were going to pop,"" the book says.

Production will begin immediately on Ring Of Honor's next pay-per-view "Respect Is Earned II." It will premiere on IN DEMAND, The DISH Network and TVN cable systems on August 1st and feature a triple main event. The top three matches are: Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black versus Bryan Danielson and Austin Aries, Nigel McGuinness versus Go Shiozaki and Roderick Strong versus Erick Stevens.

In other ROH news, Jerry Lynn is only scheduled for the 6/28 ROH Chicago date. Also, Lance Storm will not be wrestling at the 7/25 and/or 7/26 ROH events, but he will have a role on each show and be available for autographs. Storm has already given advice to several members of the roster after watching their pay-per-view shows. KOCH Vision will release ROH's next two DVDs "Best In The World" and "Greatest Rivalries" into retail stores everywhere on July 8th.

Former WWE writer Seth Mates wrote in his "Steel Cage" column for Newsday that WWE has been sending various news outlets a "money-themed gift basket" as a way of promoting Raw's on-going million dollar giveaway sweepstakes. The problem with this? The gift baskets contain actual money. $4.94 USD to be exact. Technically speaking, does this mean WWE has attempted to pay off members of the press? Seth Mates believes so, stating that he refunded WWE's money for ethical reasons. For the record, I haven't received one of these gift baskets, but they sure sound neat. If any other members of the media find themselves facing this ethical dilemna, I'll gladly take Vince McMahon's gift basket off your hands.

SOURCES FOR THIS ENTRY: http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/specialevent/wrestling/

Hardy Boyz news & an update on updates

Just a quick update today with some Hardy Boyz news as we Americans head into a three-day weekend. Matt and Jeff Hardy are being advertised for the WWE Supershow in Springfield, Massachusetts on July 19th, 2008. Also, Twist Of Fate: The Matt and Jeff Hardy Story has topped Billboard's Recreational Sports DVD charts for two weeks in a row. Interestingly enough, the Triple H DVD continues to trail right behind it. Draw from that whatever you'd like.

In blog-related news, I've recently put in a request for an interview with Fan Slam promoter Tommy Fierro. The "Prom Night With Vito" portion of mister Fierro's upcoming Fan Slam wrestling convention in Totowa, New Jersey sounds like a great time for gay/bi/trans wrestling fans. So, hopefully that interview will be gracing this blog in a future entry. I'm also trying to track down former WWE writer Seth Mates, as well as Terri Runnels. For you younger wrestling fans who may not know, Terri Runnels is the former valet and real-life ex-wife of the legendary Goldust character. I actually angered Dustin Runnels last year by accidentally referring to Terri as his wife instead of his ex-wife. I even did so in the context of a compliment. Oops. Luckily, I was only corrected and then promptly dismissed. I seem to be very fortunate when it comes to angering wrestlers and not getting beaten down for it. I plan to blog about those stories sometime as well.