three new WWE books

World Wrestling Entertainment has announced three new book titles due out in time for Christmas. Rey Mysterio, Degeneration X, and the Iron Sheik will all have autobiographies released between September and November of 2009. Mysterio's book will be the only of the three available in hardcover format. All three books will be ghost-written.

WWE hirings and firings

Sgt. Slaughter, Ron Simmons, developmental talent Matt Cappotelli and referee Mickie Henson have been released from World Wrestling Entertainment. They join a growing list of both on-screen and backstage talents released as part of a cost-cutting measure. Other releases this year included Bam Neely, Val Venis, D-Lo Brown, referees Tim White, Keenan Quinn, Mike Kruel and Jimmy Korderas, Gavin Spears, Bruce "Brother Love" Prichard, and Kevin Thorn. Victoria and Tommy Dreamer are also expected to retire soon, and Shawn Michaels is expected to retire next year.

WWE has come to terms with Rey Mysterio on a three-year WWE contract, with an option for another two years after that. Randy Orton has been offered a ten-year deal.

Armageddon results

Vladimir Kozlov defeated Matt Hardy in a non-title match.

CM Punk defeated Rey Mysterio to become number one contender to the Intercontinental title. Both wrestlers were injured during the match.

Shawn Michaels "sold out" to JBL in an in-ring promo.

Finlay defeated Mark Henry in a Belfast Brawl match.

Batista defeated Randy Orton.

Michelle McCool, Maria, Mickie James and Kelly Kelly defeated Victoria, Natalya, Jillian Hall and Maryse in a Santa's Little Helpers tag team match.

John Cena defeated Chris Jericho to retain the World championship.

Jeff Hardy defeated Edge and Triple H in a Triple Threat match to win the WWE championship.

WrestleMania and budget cuts

WWE has begun taping two SmackDown broadcasts on various Tuesday nights instead of the usual one. This is being done as part of WWE's plan to cut $20 million in expenses from their budget, according to the Wrestling Observer newsletter. That double-taping trend will continue at least until WrestleMania, after which time WWE will evaluate the situation again. ECW shows will continue to be taped on Monday nights along with the live Raw show until February. Eliminating one taping saves WWE almost $700,000 in production expenses. Bruce "Brother Love" Prichard and two developmental talents were released earlier this week due to budget cuts, and more firings are expected. WWE has also cut down on its usage of pyrotechnics to save money, and the referee schedules have been reduced.

Shawn Michaels has pitched the idea of wrestling The Undertaker at WrestleMania 25. Michaels is expected to retire at WrestleMania 26.

More information has been released about the upcoming video game Legends Of WrestleMania. The roster features a total of 40 wrestlers and managers including Hulk Hogan, Andre The Giant, Jerry Lawler, The Undertaker, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Mr. Perfect and Ted Dibiase Sr. Yokozuna and The Ultimate Warrior have been rumored as appearing in the game, but that has not yet been confirmed by a reliable source. The cover art for the game also features images of Steve Austin, The Rock, Bobby Heenan and Jimmy Hart. Jimmy Hart is expected to be cut from the roster due to his involvement with CCW. He was already pulled from the non-virtual WrestleMania tour. The game is scheduled for a March, 2009 release.

Cyber Sunday results and Dale Gagner case decided

Mickie James won the Divas Halloween costume contest.

The Miz and John Morrison defeated Cryme Tyme.

The Honky Tonk Man defeated Santino Marella by disqualification. Santino retains the Intercontinental title.

Matt Hardy defeated Evan Bourne to retain the ECW championship.

Shelton Benjamin defeated R-Truth to retain the U.S. championship.

Rey Mysterio defeated Kane in a No Holds Barred match.

Batista defeated Chris Jericho to win the World Heavyweight championship. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin was the guest referee. Shawn Michaels, JBL and Randy Orton interfered in the match, with Austin fighting off Orton and JBL attacking Michaels and Batista.

The Undertaker defeated The Big Show in a Last Man Standing match.

Triple H defeated Jeff Hardy to retain the WWE Championship.

In other news, WWE won its legal against Dale Gagner, son of Verne Gagne. As a result, Gagner must turn over all rights to his AWA domains to WWE and can no longer use the AWA name for his wrestling promotion.

Scott Hall attempted suicide Friday or Saturday. He is currently hospitalized. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Unforgiven results

World Wrestling Entertainment successfully surprised its audience last night by making Chris Jericho the Raw brand's World Heavyweight champion. Randy Orton "injured" CM Punk earlier in the night, making him unable to defend his title in one of the three scheduled Championship Scramble matches. Jericho took Punk's place and walked out as World Heavyweight Champion, but not before losing his own scheduled match to Shawn Michaels earlier in the night. WWE fans seem split on this decision, but all are talking about it, which arguably already makes the move a success.

In other Unforgiven results, Matt Hardy captured the ECW World Championship in the ECW Scramble match, and Triple H retained his WWE Championship in the SmackDown Scramble. Also, Big Show turned heel by attacking The Undertaker, World Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr. defeated Cryme Tyme, and Divas Champion Michelle McCool defeated Maryse.

Raw should be very interesting tonight.

SummerSlam results

Undertaker defeated Edge in a Hell in a Cell match.
WWE Champion Triple H defeated The Great Khali.
World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk defeated JBL.
Matt Hardy defeated ECW Champion Mark Henry by disqualification.
Batista defeated John Cena.
Montel Vontavious Porter def. Jeff Hardy.
Chris Jericho interrupted Shawn Michaels' "retirement" announcement
Santino Marella is the new Intercontinental Champion and Beth Phoenix is the new Women’s Champion after defeating Kofi Kingston and Mickie James in a Winners Take All match.

PPV results and news

Here are the short results for the WWE Great American Bash pay-per-view.

Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder won a Fatal Four Way Match against John Morrison and The Miz, Finlay and Hornswoggle and Jesse and Festus to win the WWE Tag Team Championships.

Shelton Benjamin won the United States championship against Matt Hardy.

Mark Henry beat Tommy Dreamer to retain the ECW title when Colin Delaney turned on Dreamer.

Chris Jericho beat Shawn Michaels when the referee deemed Michaels physically unable to continue wrestling.

Michelle McCool beat Natalya to win the Divas championship. More on this later.

CM Punk and Dave Batista wrestled to a double disqualification when Kane interfered. CM Punk retained the World title.

JBL beat John Cena in a Parking Lot match.

Triple H beat Edge to retain the WWE championship.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Bob Holly was sent home due to an undisclosed incident recently that may have also put his job in jeopardy with WWE. There are also unconfirmed online reports that personal issues may be the cause.

Rey Mysterio and WWE are still unable to come to terms on a new contract. Despite what some may consider to be a "promotion" to the Raw brand recently, Mysterio feels he is being underpaid in comparison to other top performers in the company. He is reportedly seeking significantly more money than WWE officials are willing to pay.

Dakota Darsow, the son of former WWF and WCW wrestler Barry Darsow, is getting a one-week tryout in Florida Championship Wrestling.

William Regal's suspension came to an end this past Friday, so he should be reappearing on TV soon.

Mickie James posted a blog entry on WWE Fan Nation talking about MySpace imposters, John Cena, Trish Stratus, and a same-sex kiss! To read the entry, go here:
http://fans.wwe.com/mickiejames/blog/2008/07/20/my_first_blog

Randy Orton is ranked number one in this year's Pro Wrestling Illustrated 500, which ranks the top 500 wrestlers in the world.

In the lighter side of wrestling news, WWE (or "WWF" according to the article) fans got in trouble at the Great Americzn Bash for trying to steal chairs. You can read the full article at:
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/nassau/ny-liwwe0722,0,3718307.story

The person in charge of the WWE Divas (the person teaching them to wrestle the WWE style and how to handle their matters) is Michelle McCool. This is due to her relationship with The Undertaker, who has pushed for her to be in charge of the divison. The other divas don't care for McCool, particularly the ones more experienced at wrestling than herself. This is also why McCool was given the Diva title on SmackDown.

Three-day old news, WWE's clothing line, and an addition to the blog!

So I'm back from my aforementioned journey to Texas. I've missed a lot of wrestling as a result of the trip, but I can't let this post pass without discussing WWE's 2008 draft. The short results of the draft, including after-show trades and picks, are as follows: The Raw brand gained Batista, CM Punk, Kane, the injured Rey Mysterio, Michael Cole, Kofi Kingston, Chuck Palumbo, Deuce, Jamie Noble, Layla, and Matt Striker. SmackDown got Triple H, Jim Ross, Jeff Hardy, Ken Kennedy, Umaga, Shelton Benjamin, Carlito, Brian Kendrick, Trevor Murdoch, Maria, and DH Smith. Likewise, ECW is now the home of Finlay (and presumably Hornswoggle), Matt Hardy, John Morrison, and Super Crazy.

I have several thoughts about the draft picks themselves. We'll get to them one by one, starting with ECW. First, I have to say that one part of the draft bothered me tremendously. Matches were held to determine which brand received a draft pick. I'll accept that. What I refuse to accept is ECW's almost total lack of involvement. Each match should've featured a member from all three brands, if only to give them the appearance of equality. This didn't happen. ECW got the short end of the stick and it was obvious from the start that they would. If WWE wants us to take this draft as seriously as the draft of any other major sport, they need to make us believe the playing field is even from the start. That being said, I'm happy to see Super Crazy back on the ECW brand. It adds another Original to the roster, and with none of the WWE brands currently featuring a lightweight division of some sort, ECW is likely the best home for Crazy.

DH Smith being a part of SmackDown is also rather interesting. No, seriously! His presence on the blue brand kills the rumor that he'll be revealed as the partner of Ted Dibiase Jr. at Night Of Champions. Many times, the wrestling business won't do what's predictable just because it's so predictable, even if the majority of fans know it's coming and want to see it. Many times, this logic blows up in the faces of the promoters/writers/bookers. For proof of this, see Hornswoggle being revealed as Vince McMahon's son instead of Ken Kennedy. With DH Smith out of the picture on Raw, it should be interesting to see who Ted's new partner is going to be. Only time will tell if it turns out to be a better or worse choice than the Bulldog's kid. Likewise, Carlito is now a part of SmackDown, which is where he began his WWE career. Carlito recently complained about his status in WWE, and has now been "demoted" because of it. Interestingly enough, he remains on the same brand as the man he buried, Triple H. Jeff Hardy, who also recently got in hot water with WWE management, is also now a part of the B show. For Hardy's health if not his career, I hope this serves as a wake-up call.

Does CM Punk's move to the Raw brand suggest a larger push for his character? One would think so. Deserved or not, WWE is currently in the aftermath of a steroid scandal. Considering this, a "straight-edge" smaller wrestler seems like the perfect person to feature on their lead brand. It should also be pointed out that the last time WWE rebounded from a steroid accusation, wrestling saw the rise of smaller wrestlers including Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. That worked out rather well. Furthermore, Punk's Money In The Bank title shot has yet to be cashed in. The storyline says he has between now and next year's WrestleMania to do so. How this will play out, especially with different champions switching brands in the draft, will hopefully make for fascinating TV. Kane re-joining Raw is also a good move in my opinion. He's far more associated with the red brand than with ECW. This move could be used to explain the upcoming working relationship between the Raw and ECW brands. Night Of Champions will now feature Raw versus SmackDown matches for two of the company's Heavyweight titles. How WWE writes themselves out of those corners should be fun to watch. Or just very confusing. Unfortunately, the results of the pay-per-view seem a bit more predictable now that the trades have been made.

In other news, WWE has launched an official t-shirt line similar to the Afflication brand. "WWE Top Rope" shirts will retail for about $45 USD. Normal WWE shirts sell for around $20-$30 USD. It is currently unknown whether the Top Rope shirts are of a better quality. The first two shirts in the Top Rope line are for Shawn Michaels and Triple H. They can be viewed at the links below:

http://www.wweshop.com/Product_detail.asp?cat=cat-shawnmichaels&productId=01-09882

http://www.wweshop.com/Product_detail.asp?cat=cat-tripleh&productId=01-09870

Lastly, I'm happy to announce that this blog will soon feature a female's perspective in addition to my own. A friend of mine who through the years has worked with me on various wrestling-related projects will soon be joining this blog with a regular column. We're still working out the specifics, but I assure you, her work will be worth reading.

Enjoy your weekend, loyal readers.

backlash results

Here are the short results to WWE's Backlash pay-per-view.

Triple H won the WWE championship, last eliminating Randy Orton.

Matt Hardy won the United States championship from MVP.

The Undertaker retained the World championship against Edge.

Kane retained the ECW championship against Chavo Guerrero.

Big Show defeated the Great Khali.

Shawn Michaels defeated Batista, and may or may not have been legitimately injured during the match.

Beth Phoenix, Melina, Jillian Hall, Layla, Victoria and Natalya Neidhart defeated Mickie James, Maria, Ashley, Michelle McCool, Cherry and Kelly Kelly.