– In WWE’s latest edition of Outside the Ring, Randy Orton and the cast of 12 Rounds 2 Reloaded reveal twelve facts about the action thriller—set for release on DVD and Blu-Ray on June 4.

– The Hangover Part III, which hits theaters beginning today, features a brief scene where one of characters is watching a match pitting John Cena against CM Punk on a television screen.

Last summer, a Facebook page was launched in support of the legendary Ric Flair appearing in the flick with nearly 5,000 likes in a matter of days. The campaign was not fruitful as he does not appear in the movie.

– WWE Hall of Famer Drew Carey turns 55-years-old today.

As reported this week, Tammy Sytch, famously known as Sunny, was released from a Connecticut prison after serving a four-month sentence for repeatedly violating terms of a restraining order filed by her former boyfriend. While in jail, it was determined that Sytch had developed cervical cancer.

Sytch contracted HPV before entering prison and discovered during her sentence that it had developed into cervical cancer. However, she is now cancer-free after undergoing a hysterectomy at a hospital a few weeks ago.

Addressing the traumatic events via Facebook, she stated, “I’m free. Free from prison. Free from cancer. Free from my nightmare. I thank God for the lessons he has taught me and the blessings bestowed upon me. I have only good things ahead in my life.”

Sytch, who plans to make a fresh start in New Mexico, says she also used her time in prison to write an autobiography.

“OK , time to go type up my book…. there are 480 handwritten pages to work on! talk to you all through out the night!” she wrote on the social networking website, while adding that it will be “one hell of a read.”

TNA Knockout Mickie James joined TJRWrestling Radio to talk about her country music career, her wrestling career and her Knockout Title match against Velvet Sky this Thursday on TNA Impact Wrestling. Here are some comments from the interview.

On her new country album “Somebody’s Gonna Pay” that was released on May 7th:

“It took about a year to complete this album. I’m grateful that it did because we really took our time with it. We had a chance to make it right, make it really flow and make it a reflection of who I am. We had some of the best musicians in the world in the studio in Nashville – at least I felt like it – they were incredible. Hopefully people can connect with the album and love it. If they don’t then that’s okay too.”

On the upcoming CMA Fest in Nashville:

“I get in town on June 4th and leave on the 9th. I’m performing on the Hard Rock stage outside on the 7th in the afternoon. I’ve done it before and had a blast. I’m also doing something at the kickoff party and something on the Saturday night as well. There will be other shows that I will be a part of too. There’s live music all over the place and Broadway Street is shut down. You never know who you might see performing in a bar. It’s so much fun. Come out and have a great time if you’re in Nashville that week.”

On her next challenge in wrestling:

“Continuing to raise the bar for myself, to have better matches and do stuff that is fresh in terms of storylines. I think you want to be able to be a part of a story that takes the fans on an emotional roller coaster ride. That’s what made my storyline with Trish Stratus (at WrestleMania 22) so special because once you reach that point people are so enveloped in the storyline itself. It just worked. It’s really hard to get that kind of moment without that beautiful story behind it.”

On the differences of a heel and a babyface:

“It’s been so long since I’ve been a heel (2006) that it’s really hard to judge. You can have a lot of fun playing a bad girl. You do get a chance to say a lot of things that you can’t when you’re a face. It’s a completely different kind of character. The babyface character is kind of close to who I am in real life except the volume is turned up all the way. As a heel you get to make twists and turns that really sell that character so that you can get that genuine kind of heat from people that want to hate you. I really think that some of the best heels are also those people that can really get reactions as babyfaces too. As a babyface you often think about what a heel might do to react to you too so that when you finally turn heel you visualize all that stuff.”

On her match against Velvet Sky for the Knockouts Title this Thursday on TNA Impact Wrestling:

“Because we’ve been partners and worked together so much in the past I feel like we know each other’s stuff so well. It won’t be one of my easiest matches. I’m really hoping she feels up to par to go out there to wrestle because she has a knee injury and she was given the ringpost figure four by Gail Kim last week too.”

On growing up as a fan of the wresting business and helping others:

“I grew up as a wrestling fan. It kills me to watch bad wrestling; I can’t do it. I want to be the best and I watch matches because I want to see what other people are doing to see what’s new and fresh. You have to keep up with what’s hot. If at any point I can help somebody along the way and maybe try to keep them from making the same mistakes that I made along the way then that’s great. I think that’s a cool thing because I had people do that for me.”

You can listen to the full one hour discussion on TJRWrestling Radio for more on her careers in wrestling and music. She joined the show at around the 30:00 mark. You can order Mickie James’ new CD “Somebody’s Gonna Pay” at MickieJames.com or check it out on iTunes as well.

– In this week’s SmackDown edition of “Backstage Fallout,” The Shield has sinister messages for Team Hell No and Kofi Kingston just two days before Extreme Rules. Plus, Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow respond to “The Intellectual Savior’s” tough loss to The Miz.

– Today marks at the 70th birthday of WWE Hall of Famer “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka. Also celebrating a birthday is The Blue Meanie, who turns 40-years-old.

– Former WWE Superstar Raven appears at JR’s Sports & Collectibles at the Englishtown Flea Market (Red Building Booth 5) 90 Wilson Ave. Englishtown, New Jersey, tomorrow from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Call 347-992-8240 for more information.

– This week’s episode of WWE Superstars is highlighted by Sin Cara squaring off against Michael McGillicutty, footage of which is available below. The masked wrestler returned to action last week after being sidelined since March due to a concussion suffered in a match with Jack Swagger. He made his televised return on Wednesday’s broadcast of WWE Main Event, defeating Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett in a non-title match.

Also on the show, Alex Riley goes up against Cody Rhodes. A clip from the match is available here.

– Amit Swami, who manages The Great Khali when the WWE Superstar returns to his native India, was arrested Friday for allegedly attacking a shopkeeper in Rewari.

Ajay Kumar filed complaint that Swami and other individuals barged into his shop Thursday evening, dragged him outside, and assaulted him. Swami claims that his family members had asked him to settle their domestic dispute as Kumar had been troubling them.

More details on the story are available here.

– Former WCW competitor Alex Wright turns 38-years-old today. Today, He is the owner of a wrestling promotion in his native Germany, New European Championship Wrestling, and still occasionally competes.

With WWE on the verge of signing new developmental talent to coincide with the launch of its Performance Center in Winter Park, Florida, multiple talents situated in the developmental system were released today.

It has been confirmed that Derrick Bateman, Briley Pierce, Sakamoto, Percy Watson, Brandon Traven, Audrey Marie and Anya were let go by the sports-entertainment organization.

Bateman announced on his Twitter account that he is now available for independent bookings and then adding, “Welp see ya later @wwe @WWEUniverse #itsfine.”

Pierce, who is the brother of WWE World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler, stated on his account, “I guarantee that was the funniest and most entertaining “You’re released” phone call in WWE history. Bye, everybody!”

Sakamoto thanked WWE on his account for doing business with him, writing, “#WWE #NXT my friend thank you for everything SAYONARA.”

Traven remarked on the social networking website, “Staying positive on a bad day..not the end only the beginning…things in life happen for a reason..just had a good lunch with good people. Not the end of the book just the end of the chapter..my journey is far from over

Though Watson, Marie and Anya have yet to publicly address their standing with WWE, PWInsider.com states that all three individuals have been let go. Lending credibility to the report, their respective profiles have been removed from the official websites of WWE (WWE.com) and NXT Wrestling (FCWWrestling.info).

Bateman, who had been under contract to WWE since 2008, appeared on the final season of NXT before the program was transferred to Florida. He last appeared on WWE programming late last year, and had been making infrequent appearances for NXT.

Briley had been in WWE’s developmental system since 2011, the highlight of which was a Florida Tag Team Championship reign with Brad Maddox. He was shifted to the role of backstage interviewer for NXT last June, though would still continue to compete. However, he lost the majority of his matches from that point on.

Sakamoto was paired with Tensai last year before being demoted to developmental in November. Having been trained by Taka Michinoku at his Kaientai Dojo wrestling school in Japan, he joined WWE’s developmental system in 2011.

Traven competed for various Midwestern independent organizations as Brian Beaker before being signed to a developmental contract last year. He was originally trained by WWE Hall of Famer Harley Race in Missouri.

Watson, a former professional football player, joined WWE in 2009 and would frequently appear on NXT. At times, he appeared on the brink of joining the main roster, but ultimately did not.

Marie had been under contract to WWE since 2011 and was a fixture in the developmental system’s women’s division.

Anya is a 6’1″ Russian kickboxer and martial artist WWE signed last summer. She was recently sidelined due to a broken arm.

– According to SaturdayMorningSlam.com, last Saturday’s episode of WWE’s children-aimed program on The CW, Saturday Morning Slam, marked as the show’s season finale. While the show is off the air beginning this week (The CW released its schedule for this Saturday’s slate of “Vortexx” programming and Saturday Morning Slam is not listed, with Dragon Ball Z Kai instead airing in the 10:30 a.m. time slot), it will resume airing in the future.

There is a graphic on MyVortexx.com teasing a new season of Saturday Morning Slam “coming soon.”

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported last week that executives of the network treated Saturday Morning Slam as its other children series, with only a specific number of episodes ordered.

– WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus is targeting junk food as she spoke out on their warning labels in an interview with The Globe and Mail.

In regards to what actually qualifies as junk food, she states, “The further a food gets away from its original form, the more processed it is, the more “junky.”

Since orange juice is full of sugar, would it qualify as junk food?

“Orange juice is okay, a natural sugar that your body can process. The crap in soda – your body says, “Hmm, not sure what this is, I’ll just store that for now,” she states.

The multi-time champion believes it would be a “great idea” if government officials legislated warning labels on junk food similar to those found on cigarette packages.

“I’m constantly surprised how unaware people are about what they’re putting into their bodies. People just don’t know!” said Stratus. “I think if people realized how detrimental some of this junk food is to their health, they really would think twice. And maybe it wouldn’t stop them from eating it, but it certainly might cause one to see the benefits of practising moderation.”

PWInsider.com has confirmed that WWE has signed California-based independent wrestler Shaun Ricker to a developmental contract. He had been appearing as a featured heel for Championship Wrestling from Hollywood, where he was at one point managed by the late Percy Pringle (a/k/a Paul Bearer).

Ricker is thirty-years-old, 6′ 1″, 225 pounds and originally hails from Hagerstown, Maryland. It was announced last month that he would be appearing as a contestant on Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s action reality series on TNT, The Hero, which brings “ten ordinary people together in an unexpected and dramatic setting, then assign them various missions that will test their brains, their brawn and even their morality.” On the show, Ricker is billed as a “a struggling pro wrestler who has all the makings of a hero… honesty, strength, charisma. But does he have the compassion?”

The acquisition had been expected as the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported last week that Ricker as well as fellow independent wrestlers Sami Callihan, Samuray del Sol and Mike Bennett had undergone medical testing required to be signed to WWE.

PWInsider.com also reports that when WWE shifts its developmental station to Winter Park, Florida in the beginning of July—officially billed as the “WWE Performance Center”—there may be as many as twenty to twenty-two more developmental acquisitions as well as changes to the developmental staff.

Former WWE Diva Michelle McCool has finally broken her silence on the taboo topic of her marriage to The Undertaker. In collaboration with MichelleMcCool.net, the four-time champion candidly addresses her relationship with “The Deadman” in a video blog that will be released this summer. A teaser has been released where she appears to respond to critics attributing her lofty position in WWE to her influential partner rather than her ability to perform.

The four-time champion will address her marriage and other topics in the vlogs, including her dealings with WWE head Vince McMahon. The synopsis of the teaser is as follows: “Michelle McCool is trying something different with MichelleMcCool.Net. For years, she’s answered questions, written blogs, and has even tweeted back-and-forth on occasion with her Faithful Followers. This time, she’s going to change it up — she’s going to vlog. In her vlogs, Michelle’s at her most candid — like you’ve never seen her before. She’s talking about anything and everything, from her precious baby girl, to even her husband… yeah, him. Raw and real, Michelle doesn’t shy away from controversy; it’s a different side of Michelle McCool… the one you thought you’d never see.”

Months after her spring 2011 retirement from the squared circle, McCool was asked in an interview if she received resentment from her colleagues due to her relationship with The Undertaker and responded, “Bottom line: People in our business are always going to look to find reasons to see the negative in somebody and to become resentful. I don’t really know where it began: probably with me getting the tag as “Diva Search reject.” But I don’t know anybody who, if they had an opportunity like the Diva Search, they wouldn’t jump at it. If they didn’t jump at it, they’d be idiots.

“People can say what they want to say, but at the end of the day, I can look at myself in the mirror. I know how hard I fought. I know how many storylines I pitched. I know how hard I worked in the ring. I can’t tell you the number of times I was one of the first people at the arenas or at TV, constantly trying to better myself. I can honestly say that my hard work paid off. My resilience paid off. My persistence paid off. That’s all there is to it. People are always going to say what they want to say and believe what they want to believe, but that’s the bottom line.”

It was announced tonight on Impact Wrestling that stipulations have been added to Bully Ray’s TNA World Heavyweight Championship defense against Sting at Slammiversary. The contest will take place under No Holds Barred Match rules, and should Sting lose, he can never challenge for the title again.

Five additional matches were announced for the pay-per-view event, which emanates live from Agganis Arena on the campus of Boston University on Sunday, June 2. The updated card is as follows:

* Bully Ray defends the TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Sting – billed as “Sting’s Last Shot.”

* AJ Styles will face Kurt Angle.

* In a Four Team Elimination Tag Team Championship Match, Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez defend the TNA World Tag Team Championship against Christopher Daniels and Kazarian, Austin Aries and Bobby Roode, and “Cowboy” James Storm and a mystery partner.

* Devon defends the TNA Television Championship against Joseph Park.

* Kenny King defends the X Division Championship in an Ultimate X Match against Chris Sabin and an opponent to be determined.

* Taryn Terrell will square off against Gail Kim.

– TNA Wrestling President Dixie Carter announced on Twitter that tonight’s episode of Impact Wrestling will kick off with Hulk Hogan revealing the opponent AJ Styles will face at Slammiversary.

“Right at 8pm tonight on @SpikeTV @HulkHogan will name @AJStylesOrg #Slammiversary opponent! Plus Hulk calls out @TherealAbyss!” she wrote.

– Tonight on Impact Wrestling, former Gut Check participants will battle in a tournament for a spot in the upcoming Bound For Glory Series. In the first match of the tourney, Jay Bradley will face Christian York. The official YouTube account of TNA Wrestling has released the following video previewing the contest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmwmbSzHbVI

– ODB revealed on Twitter that she will be a special guest bartender tonight at The Squared Circle restaurant located at 2418 N. Ashland Chicago, Illinois.

She wrote, “gonna b at the @theSQDcircle tonite 7-9pm as your special guest bartender n @BrianStiffler will b there hopefully w out his stiffy cam #BAM.”

More information on the restaurant, which is owned by Tara, is available here.

[muscletees]Former WWE Superstar Bob “Hardcore” Holly appeared as a guest on The LAW this week promoting his recently released autobiography, The Hardcore Truth, and discussed such topics as his friendship with Chris Benoit, leaving Matt Cappotelli bloodied and bruised on Tough Enough, Buff Bagwell’s infamous brief stint with WWE, and more. Highlights from the interview, transcribed by Chris Maffei, are as follows.

His friendship with Chris Benoit: “For the people that didn’t know Chris, he was the kindest human being you would ever find on this planet. I don’t know what happened, I just honestly couldn’t tell you what happened. Chris was one of the kindest, politest people. I never saw the guy get mad, not one single time. He didn’t get upset about anything. When I was writing the book and reflecting back on him, it was kinda hard because then I started thinking about it again, and it’s almost like it’s hard to believe that he’s not here anymore. Me and him were pretty close; we confided a lot in each other. It was very tough, just thinking about it and talking about it. Back when it had happened, that’s something that you’ve got to push out of you mind right away, because you have to move forward. We’re on live TV every week; it’s a sad situation, it’s hard to heal from something when you don’t mourn over it. It’s something that you have to do, just put it out of your mind. Otherwise it’ll ruin you, it really will.”

Returning from injury after WCW was purchased by WWE: “When I came back, I was like “Wow, this isn’t good if I’m sitting around because of all these new guys coming in.” Your mind starts playing games on you, and it’s like “Okay, am I sitting out for a while now?” I’ve been sitting out for eight months, and I come back and we’ve got the whole WCW thing going on, all these guys coming in. It’s like, where do you fit in? You do worry about that. I worried about it, but then again, it was like “Okay, if they let me go, at least I have a trade to fall back on.” That was always in the back of my mind, that I had something to fall back on. Of course, that’s not what I wanted to have to fall back on, I wanted to move forward with my career instead of backwards. That weighed heavy on my mind when they had all these guys, and you’re seeing all these guys in the locker room, and I was like “Wow, I’m gonna get lost in the shuffle here.” I tried to come up with ideas and stuff like that, and a lot of times it just didn’t work.”

Buff Bagwell’s brief stint with WWE in 2001: “That guy, he blew it huge. He was on his own watch; he thought he was gonna do what he wanted to do, just like in WCW. The rules were completely different with WWE, and that’s why Vince runs such a tight ship. We have certain times he wants us there, and for a good reason. Buff would just show up whenever he wanted to. For example – one night, the show starts at 7, of course, and we’re supposed to be there at 6. He shows up right when the show is starting. He doesn’t change with boys, he’s gotta go find his own little locker room or something. He did generate a lot of heat, and he brought it all on himself. I always got along with Buff, I never had a problem with him, but I think he kinda blew it for himself because I think they had big plans for him. He just kinda threw it away, and he didn’t want to play the game; he didn’t want to follow the rules, and that’s something you have to do.”

Matt Cappotelli incident on Tough Enough: “If that was the case, if I was a bully, as some people say I was, do you really think Vince would have kept me? Do you really think Vince would have kept me if that was the true case, that I took advantage of this guy and roughed him up just for the sake of doing it? No, I wouldn’t be there, trust me. Vince doesn’t put up with that kind of stuff. That’s what I tried to get people to understand; once they start thinking about it, it’s like “Oh, okay, that does make sense.” Also, you’ve gotta understand, it’s like Randy Orton. These guys tell me to do something, well these guys are the ones that sign my paychecks, so I’m gonna do what they ask me to do.

“It’s 50/50 about the Matt Cappotelli thing; a lot of people understand coming from my point of view, and then some people understand from his point of view. I think the people that are on his side about it don’t get the wrestling business. These are people that are not in the wrestling business that don’t get in the ring and wrestle. Matt gets on television and cries because he has a black eye and a bloody lip. I did not break any bones, I did not knock any teeth out of his mouth, I didn’t send him to the hospital. He was perfectly fine, except he got his feelings hurt and he had a black eye.”

The audio interview is available here. Catch The LAW every Sunday night at 11pm EST on TSN 1050 Toronto, The TEAM 1410 Vancouver and all shows at www.liveaudiowrestling.com and on iTunes.

[muscletees]- Legendary announcer “Mean” Gene Okerlund, who works for WWE on a limited capacity as the host of Vintage Collection and Classics On Demand programming, revealed in an interview with the St. Paul Pioneer Press, that he intends to work for the sports-entertainment organization for at least three more years.

“As long as I can travel,” said Okerlund, who is 70-years-old.

Okerlund also weighed in on fellow Minnesota native Brock Lesnar’s affiliation with WWE.

“Brock probably is one of the top three stars in the organization,” Okerlund said. “We’ve got a pay-per-view coming up, ‘No Rules,’ which is right down his alley.”

It is also noted in the article that Okerlund resides in Sarasota, Florida and spends summers near McGregor, Minnesota, on Big Sandy Lake.

– Hardcore Holly is this week’s addition to WWE.com’s Alumni section. WWE says of the six-time Hardcore Champion and three-time World Tag Team Champion: “From the larger-than-life personas of the early ’90s to the wild brawls of The Attitude Era, Bob Holly’s long WWE career was emblematic of the eras of which it spanned. But after 15 years spent evolving on sports-entertainment’s grandest stage, there’s no doubt that Holly was one thing: Hardcore.”

To view his profile, click here.

[muscletees]- Saturday Morning Slam, WWE’s children-aimed program on The CW, is officially off the air.

The CW released its schedule for this Saturday’s slate of “Vortexx” programming and Saturday Morning Slam is not listed. Instead, Dragon Ball Z Kai will air in the 10:30 a.m. time slot.

The changed had been expected as WWE ceased taping matches for the program last month. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported last week that executives of the network ordered a specific number of episodes, therefore explaining its abrupt hiatus. It is not publicly known whether the show will resume airing.

– WWE released the following video promoting this Sunday’s Extreme Rules Pre-show, which will feature a match between The Miz and Cody Rhodes. The synopsis reads, “If you’re looking for two Superstars hungry for the limelight in WWE right now, look no further than The Miz and Cody Rhodes.Both will get the chance to shine on the pay-per-view stage this Sunday when they square off in the Extreme Rules Pre-Show, streaming live at 7:30 ET/4:30 PT on WWE.com, the WWE App, YouTube and Facebook.”

– According to WrestlingFigs.com, WWE Hall of Famer George “The Animal” Steele will sign copies of his book “Animal” at Barnes & Noble Huron Village 3235 Washtenaw Ave. Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Saturday, July 15 at 7:00 p.m. Call 734-973-0846 for more information.

TNA Wrestling President Dixie Carter addressed Austin Aries’ lewd behavior towards ring announcer Christy Hemme on last week’s episode of Impact Wrestling with a stern statement via Twitter this afternoon.

“TNA has ZERO tolerance for inappropriate behavior,” she wrote. “The incident with Austin Aries was taken very seriously and handled immediately.”

David Schwarz, Senior Vice President of Communications for Spike TV, stated this week to Mark Madden of Wrestlezone.com that action would be taken against Aries for his public form of sexual harassment towards the veteran Knockout.

“We have a zero tolerance policy for sexual harassment,” said Schwarz. “We discussed [the incident] with our partner. [Aries is] being disciplined. I’m trying to get more information on what action is being taken. Dixie Carter took this very personally. He will be disciplined. Again, we have a zero tolerance policy for sexual harassment.

“I’m not sure specifically how [the discipline] will be handled. To what extent, I don’t know. This is certainly something we don’t condone and don’t tolerate. Such behavior is not welcome.”

In response to whether Aries’ discipline should be made public since Hemme was harassed on national television, Schwarz responded, “I think that a statement of some sort will be coming. That’s being worked out. But immediate action will be taken.”

On the show, Hemme mistakenly introduced Aries and tag team partner Bobby Roode as their opponents for the evening, Christopher Daniels and Kazarian. This led Aries to corner Hemme in the ring as he intimidated her into correctly introducing him before climbing onto a mid-level turnbuckle and shoving his groin near her face.

Following the event, Hemme voiced her displeasure with Aries’ actions via Twitter, deeming it “unacceptable.” Late Saturday night, Aries appeared to address the incident though the social networking outlet, writing, “Pretty nuts, some of the junk people get the balls to say over the net, knowing they couldn’t to your face…Eh, anyway, time to sack out.”

[wweshop]- Monday’s Raw bounced back from year-low viewership the week before as the program averaged 4.05 million viewers.

Raw averaged 3.79 million viewers, 4.1 million viewers in the second and 4.25 million viewers in the third.

Last week’s show garnered a 2.9 cable rating and averaged 3.917 million viewers. Two weeks ago, the program drew 4.285 million viewers.

– The official WWE website has published an article recalling seven matches featuring competitors that are not known as hardcore brawlers. This list includes Ric Flair challenging ECW Champion Big Show in an Extreme Rules Match in July 2006, Bret Hart battling Terry Funk in a Hardcore Match in World Championship Wrestling, Trish Stratus defending the WWE Women’s Championship against Victoria in a Hardcore Match at Survivor Series 2002, Rey Mysterio clashing with Psicosis in a Mexican Death Match in Extreme Championship Wrestling in 1995, Kofi Kingston squaring off against Shelton Benjamin in an Extreme Rules Match, Crash Holly defending the WWF Hardcore Championship against Dean Malenko, and Eric Bischoff battling Terry Funk for the WCW Hardcore Championship.

– This week’s WWE en Espanol is now, which promotes Extreme Rules.

(source: tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com)

[cesaroshirt]- After holding the United States Championship for 240 days through last month when he was upended by Kofi Kingston, Antonio Cesaro’s standing in WWE has been greatly curtailed as the Swiss grappler has lost the majority of his televised matches. For those wondering whether his demotion is as a result of “heat” backstage, it is not. Rather, top WWE officials simply feel he lacks personality.

While addressing Cesaro’s current placement in WWE, Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio Monday night that company brass believe that the former Ring of Honor standout is “boring,” resulting in his slide down the card. Some in WWE, however, are not in favor of the demotion, and believe Cesaro should be a headliner.

While Cesaro engaged in a match with Kingston two weeks on WWE Main Event that was well-received by management, it failed to alter his standing in the organization. Meltzer noted, “They don’t see him any higher than they did two weeks ago. There was lip service paid there for a week or two, but it’s over now.”

– The official WWE website has posted photos of Chris Jericho’s rehearsal with partner Edyta Sliwinska prior to his Dance-Off with Fandango on Monday’s Raw.

– This week’s “WWE Raw Slam of the Week” is now online, with Randy Orton adding Damien Sandow to his lengthy list of victims.

– MVP, who is currently a free agent after parting ways with New Japan Pro Wrestling in February, addressed his future in the professional wrestling industry on Twitter on Tuesday.

When asked what’s next for him after leaving NJPW, MVP responded, “Thinking about it. WWE, TNA, retirement?

“I’ve never worked with Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe, Mr. Anderson/Kennedy, Bobby Roode and so forth. I’ve often wondered what that would be like.”

“The beautiful thing for me is that my future is wide open wherever I end up. Living life on my terms is an amazing feeling. Live for YOU!”

MVP later clarified his remark regarding the possibility of joining TNA Wrestling: “To be clear, I didn’t say I WANT TO GO TO TNA. I just said they had some guys that are tremendously talented that are on my wish list.”

– TNA Wrestling released the following video previewing Thursday’s Impact Wrestling broadcast on SpikeTV, which is centered on Abyss returning last week to help TNA in the war against Aces and Eights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5nZ0hKEsR8

– According to WrestlingFigs.com, fans will have the opportunity to meet Taryn Terrell as she will be signing autographs at the Middletown Market 128 Dolson Ave. Middletown, New York, on Saturday, June 9 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

– Last Thursday on Impact Wrestling, Abyss returned to TNA as he joined Sting and Kurt Angle as their partner in the main event six-man tag team match against Aces & Eights members Bully Ray, Devon and Mr. Anderson. The masked wrestler chokeslammed Anderson through a table before hitting the Black Hole Slam on Devon to secure the victory. Yesterday on Twitter, Joseph Park addressed his brother’s return.

“I can’t wait to get to @IMPACTWRESTLING this Thursday and see my brother Abyss. It’s been awhile. Still can’t believe I missed him last week,” Park wrote.

“I miss one week due to @REALBully5150 and @TestifyDevon acts upon me and I miss my brother. I was shocked to see him. TNA has its monster back and just in time to defeat @TheAcesAnd8s. I knew he would come back. I feel better and healed up. I’ll be at @IMPACTWRESTLING Thurs.”

– As previously announced, on May 30, Impact Wrestling returns to its former time slot as it will resume airing at 9:00 p.m. TNA Wrestling released the following video Monday promoting the time change.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XseCq_8sa2A

– This Saturday, Miss Tessmacher and Robbie E appear at the Sci-Fi Valley Con at the Jaffa Shrine Center 2200 Broad Ave. Altoona, Pennsylvania, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. (Event Information)

Austin Aries will be disciplined for his public form of sexual harassment towards TNA Wrestling ring announcer Christy Hemme on last Thursday’s episode of Impact Wrestling. Mark Madden of WrestleZone.com garnered a statement from David Schwarz, Senior Vice President of Communications for Spike TV, regarding the matter Tuesday.

“We have a zero tolerance policy for sexual harassment,” said Schwarz. “We discussed [the incident] with our partner. [Aries is] being disciplined. I’m trying to get more information on what action is being taken. Dixie Carter took this very personally. He will be disciplined. Again, we have a zero tolerance policy for sexual harassment.

“I’m not sure specifically how [the discipline] will be handled. To what extent, I don’t know. This is certainly something we don’t condone and don’t tolerate. Such behavior is not welcome.”

In response to whether Aries’ discipline should be made public since Hemme was harassed on national television, Schwarz responded, “I think that a statement of some sort will be coming. That’s being worked out. But immediate action will be taken.”

On the show, Hemme mistakenly introduced Aries and tag team partner Bobby Roode as their opponents for the evening, Christopher Daniels and Kazarian. This led Aries to corner the inaugural winner of WWE’s Diva Search in the ring as he intimidated her into correctly introducing him before climbing onto a second-level turnbuckle and shoving his groin near her face.

Following the show, Hemme voiced her displeasure with Aries’ actions via Twitter, deeming it “unacceptable.” Late Saturday night, Aries appeared to address the incident though the social networking outlet, writing, “Pretty nuts, some of the junk people get the balls to say over the net, knowing they couldn’t to your face…Eh, anyway, time to sack out.”

– WWE Hall of Famers Ric Flair and “Rowdy” Roddy Piper will appear on ABC’s Celebrity Wife Swap on Sunday, June 23 at 8:00 p.m. Production elements of the episode are currently being finalized.

For those unaware of the premise of the show, courtesy of ABC.com, it is as follows: “In this new series, the mothers in two celebrity families with vastly diverse values switch homes (but not bedrooms) — embarking on a journey like no other and revealing the various ways some controversial celebrities live their lives. The two moms are given the chance to see how another celebrity raises their children and deals with life in the spotlight, while allowing both couples the opportunity to re-discover why they love each other and decided to get together in the first place. It’s a mind-blowing experiment that will change their lives forever.”

– This week’s “WWE SmackDown Slam of the Week” is now online, featuring a ladder causing chaos between Alberto Del Rio, Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger.

– WWE Hall of Famer George “The Animal” Steele and Justin Credible will appear at Pro Wrestling World at the Merchants Square Mall 1901 S. 12th St. Allentown, Pennsylvania, on Saturday June 1 from noon to 2:00 p.m. (Event Information)

(source: PWInsider.com)

Last Thursday on Impact Wrestling, TNA ring announcer Christy Hemme mistakenly introduced Austin Aries and tag team partner Bobby Roode as their opponents for the evening, Christopher Daniels and Kazarian. This led Aries to corner the inaugural winner of WWE’s Diva Search in the ring as he intimidated her into correctly introducing him before climbing onto a second-level turnbuckle and shoving his groin near her face. According to a source within the organization, the scene was not pre-planned.

In response to whether the former WWE Diva was legitimately bothered by Aries’ actions on Impact, the source responded, “Of course, she was. How would you react? It’s one thing if that was set up as a work earlier in the day, and even then our girls would have to reassure our agents over and over again that they would be okay with that spot before it got approved for television.”

The source adds that he believes she was “technically sexually harassed.”

Following the show, Hemme voiced her displeasure with Aries’ actions via Twitter, deeming it “unacceptable.” Late Saturday night, Aries appeared to address the incident though the social networking outlet, writing, “Pretty nuts, some of the junk people get the balls to say over the net, knowing they couldn’t to your face…Eh, anyway, time to sack out.”

(sources: www.PWTorch.com, ProWrestling.net)

– Last week’s episode of WWE SmackDown scored a 1.86 cable rating, up slightly from a near-year-low 1.82 rating the week before.

The episode, which was headlined by a match pitting Chris Jericho against Ryback, averaged 2.53 million viewers over the course of two hours. This up from a near-year-low average of 2.47 million viewers the week before.

SmackDown finished in fifth place in overall viewership on cable television Friday evening and ranked second in key male demographics behind ESPN’s coverage of the NBA Playoffs on ESPN.

– Balls Mahoney partnered with former ECW colleague “Pitbull” Gary Wolfe last Saturday for Warriors of Wrestling’s “FULL THROTTLE” event as they squared off against the team of Abdul Nasir and Harley. Video footage of the match in its entirety is available below.

(source: Pro Wrestling Torch)

– Sin Cara resurfaced at Friday night’s Raw live event in Shreveport, Louisiana, as he partnered with Bo Dallas and Adrian Neville in a tag team match against Michael McGillicutty and Prime Time Players. The masked grappler had been sidelined since March due to a leg injury.

– This week’s SmackDown edition of “Backstage Fallout” is now online. The synopsis reads, “See why Alberto Del Rio is so sure he’ll walk away with the World Heavyweight Title at Extreme Rules. Plus, Mark Henry sends a strong message to Sheamus.”

– Former independent women’s wrestling standout Daizee Haze turns 30-years-old on Saturday.

– James Storm announced on Twitter that he suffered an injury to his groin while officiating the Bad Influence vs. Austin Aries and Bobby Roode tag team match at Thursday’s Impact in Tupelo, Mississippi. The injury occurred when he slid to count a pinfall.

Following Friday’s live event in Birmingham, Alabama, Storm admitted himself to a nearby hospital due to pain.

– Suicide will be returning “soon” to Impact Wrestling. The following video aired on Thursday’s show promoting the reemergence of the character.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FM2zBOOEIk