Mickie James returned to TNA Wrestling during tonight’s live iMPACT! broadcast, announcing that she would be the special guest referee for the TNA Women’s Knockout Championship Match between Angelina Love, Velvet Sky, Madison Rayne and Tara at Sunday’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view event.

It was reported on September 22 that James had signed a contract with TNA Wrestling and would return to the promotion during the live iMPACT! broadcast.

James was released by World Wrestling Entertainment on April 22 and TNA Wrestling reportedly began courting her shortly thereafter.

On May 20, TNA president Dixie Carter started the buzz about James possibly joining the organization, announcing on Twitter that she attended her CD release party in Nashville, Tennessee.

SEScoops.com can confirm that mult-time WWE Women’s Champion Mickie James is presently backstage at the TNA Impact! Zone, in Orlando, Florida.

It’s been rumored that James would debut during tonight’s live iMPACT! broadcast, but it can be confirmed that she is in the building.

Former WWE talent Tammy Sytch (a/k/a Sunny) explained during an interview with Women’s Wrestling Today that she loathes TNA Wrestling because when her longtime boyfriend died, Chris Candido, they refused to forward her his last paycheck (for the final shows he appeared, including the show he broke his ankle in, which led to the surgery in which he got an infection and ultimately died from) so she could pay off his outstanding bills.

“They refused, because we weren’t legally married. So bills I had of his, in both our names, ended up being my sole responsibility. It was only a $1,500 check, but still.

“F*****g scumbags.

“They had Terry Taylor call me and tell me that. So he basically broke his ankle and died for free. They sent the check in his name, which I couldn’t endorse and deposit. When I asked them to cut me a new check in my name, they said no.”

The Wrestling Observer notes that in 2008, TNA Wrestling’s creative department contemplated a storyline where Kurt and Karen would split up and have new on-screen relationships. Sytch was the leading candidate for the woman to have a relationship with Kurt. However, a TNA wrestler with influence implored the company not to hire the former WWE Diva, feeling “it wouldn’t work out.” The idea was ultimately dropped.

There was some snickering amongst the TNA locker room over company president Dixie Carter being made to look silly during the September 16 episode of iMPACT!.

Eric Bischoff announced during the show that there would be a Three-way Match for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship at Bound for Glory. However, Carter overruled him by announcing a No Surrender rematch between Jeff Hardy and Kurt Angle to determine which Superstar would face Mr. Anderson at the pay-per-view. The singles match concluded with a no decision, thus setting up a Three-Way bout at Bound for Glory.

“They’re making her look bad and she doesn’t even realize it,” said one TNA source.

Another company insider pondered whether creative intentionally made Carter look bad or if they’re too clueless to realize it.

— Kurt Angle took to Twitter to comment on reports that he was unhappy with Abyss dropping him on his head during their match on last week’s iMPACT! broadcast.

“The false rumors about Abyss dropping me on my head are untrue,” he wrote. “To the sites that wrote about it. It’s untrue.”

— During an interview with Low Blow Radio, Shawn Daivari explained what led to his release from TNA Wrestling late last year.

“Well when I came into TNA I had a very good relationship with Jeff Jarrett, who seemed to have more or less run things at the time. If I ever needed anything he could get it done. Once he got pushed out of the door things changed significantly. His job was divided among 10-15 different people, many of which I didn’t have the relationship like I had with Jeff. I signed a two-year contract assuming that the entire time my boss would be Jeff which wasn’t the case. Management and I didn’t see eye to eye on some things and that’s how things ended.”

He also discussed the organization’s use of veteran talent.

“Well, a common misconception is that the veterans in TNA may demand management to put them over, which in reality isn’t the case at all. I never witnessed that during my entire stay with TNA. If a veteran goes over it’s because of creative. I remember when Kevin Nash was doing an angle with Samoa Joe and really wanted to put Joe over. Creative kept booking it wrong and Nash eventually went over, despite what he wanted.”

To listen to the interview, click here.

Hulk Hogan was hospitalized Thursday morning in Florida after experiencing excruciating pain just one day following back surgery.

TMZ.com reports that Hogan — who recently re-injured his back collecting seashells — underwent back surgery yesterday to have a spinal chord stimulator inserted. He was released from the hospital late last night, but re-admitted himself this morning because he was still in “excruciating” pain.

According to TMZ, Hogan was “upbeat” about the surgical procedure before returning to the hospital.

Eric Bischoff said in an interview Monday that he does not expect Hogan to appear at tonight’s live iMPACT! nor Sunday’s Bound For Glory pay-per-view event.

TNA Wrestling has reportedly re-signed Team 3D — Brother Ray and Brother Devon — to new contracts. It is said that the duo agreed to new contracts with the organization shortly before their appearance on last week’s Northeast house show loop.

There is strong talk of splitting the pair upon their return to television, with Devon working as a babyface, and Ray working as a heel. Should the change occur, both will become singles wrestlers.

The duo is expected to return to TNA Wrestling programming during tonight’s live iMPACT! broadcast.

source: Pro Wrestling Torch

SLAM! Wrestling recently conducted an interview with TNA Women’s Knockout Champion Angelina Love, who discussed numerous topics including how much longer she plans to continue wrestling, her character becoming fan friendly, and the numerous people impersonating online.

When asked about the recently reunited pairing of she and Velvet Sky, she noted her reservations of the group becoming fan-friendly.

“It’s been different working as a babyface,” Love said of the change. “I was very skeptical at first, because it’s so easy to do that character as a heel. But the fans really accepted it, and they’ve been really happy about it, especially to have us going against Madison.”

While Love is very healthy, she doesn’t foresee herself “wrestling forever.” She noted to SLAM! when her current TNA contract expires.

“I know that I’m not going to be able to wrestle forever, that my body will one day not let me continue to do it,” she said. “But, my body is still moving, I’m not burned out on travel, and I still love it — it’s still fun. So I definitely want to keep doing it.

“(My current contract goes) until the end of 2012, so I definitely want to be doing that,” she said about her long-term plans. “Eventually, I definitely want to get into acting. I feel that I speak well, and I can play a good character.”

The founding member of The Beautiful People also took the opportunity to clear up her status online as there are numerous people posing as her across various social networking websites.

“I want my fans to know this. I do not have FormSpring, I do not have Beebo, I do not have Twitter — there is someone who is posing as me on Twitter. I have a Facebook page,” she continued, “but it’s just for friends and family. The posers are ridiculous. I’ve actually written some of them, telling them, ‘You suck, get a life, and stop imitating me.’ Then,” she laughed disbelievingly, “they get mad at me!”

“(For fans), I have a Myspace page, at myspace.com/angel_williams14, and my official fansite at angel-williams.net. I hope people check those out, because I do appreciate everyone’s support.”

To read the interview in its entirety, click here.

— It was reported earlier that Kurt Angle was upset with Abyss over the monster wrestler dropping him on his head during their Steel Cage Match on last Thursday’s iMPACT!. To add further details, Angle leapt off the top of the cage and Abyss attempted to perform the Black Hole Slam. However, Abyss dropped Angle awkwardly on his back during the sequence. While Angle wasn’t super hot at Abyss, he was very concerned with his own safety. (source: Pro Wrestling Torch)

— TNA Wrestling will be holding several events over the next few days besides Sunday’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view at the Daytona Beach Ocean Center. For a complete schedule of events, click here.

— Yesterday was TNA President Dixie Carter’s birthday. She turned 46 years old.

TNA’s Eric Bischoff was the featured guest on this week’s live edition (10/04/09) of the award-winning Monday Night Mayhem. You can feel the “MNM Fall Tour ’10” every Monday evening (at 7PM ET/6PM CT), exclusively on The Monday Night Mayhem Radio Network.

Eric joined The Big Mosh & “The Chairman of the Board” Todd Vincent for his return to “Your Home of Wrestling Radio” & for another installment of his exclusive monthly interactive segment on Monday Night Mayhem, “The Hot Seat With Eric Bischoff”, which is now available in Windows Streaming Media or via the official MNM Podcast on iTunes:

You can listen to an MP3 of Bischoff’s appearance on The Mayhem at MondyNightMayhem.com.

Interview highlights courtesy of The Mayhem’s official correspondent, Paterson from New Jersey:

What event or events from his WCW/WWE career he can compare the “road to Bound For Glory” to (in terms of preparation, build-up, & hype) and when TNA actually started planning their ideas & concepts for this Sunday’s Bound For Glory Pay-Per-View: “In terms of preparation, the two that come to mind: Starrcade (’97), Hogan & Sting obviously was a big one, because it was a long-term build. It wasn’t a month-to-month kind of Pay-Per-View typical build; it was something we built for 12 months. Bash at the Beach (’96) when Hulk Hogan turned was something that also had a long term plan and build associated with it. Those are the two that come to mind. That’s what I really enjoy doing, is when you have the ability to build for a Pay-Per-View over the course of three months, four months, six months…whatever it may be. That’s not just a luxury we have anymore with twelve Pay-Per-Views. There’s so much pressure to spend three weeks promoting, four weeks promoting, boom you have a big Pay-Per-View, then you start from scratch, and you’re building again to the next Pay-Per-View. This is one where we said ‘Let’s really build it.’ We really started really planning this one and structuring it back in March of this year. I’m excited about it.”

Whether or not he feels that wrestling fans have taken more of a vested interest in the TNA product as a result of TNA ReAction & the show’s effectiveness as a whole in building the matches on the Bound For Glory PPV card: “I think it definitely has. I think ReAction has done a phenomenal job. When we created the show and started laying it out on paper, one of the things we wanted to do was to create a television show that allowed people to get inside the heads of the talent and hear from the talent in a different way than they normally do, and I think ReAction has achieved that. It’s a fresh, innovative approach that has never been done in wrestling before, and it just has a different feel to it, but the best part is if you watch it, you get to hear from the talent over an extended period of time. You’re hearing from them in their own personal point of view. It’s not a one or two-minute interview; there’s no time constraints. If we sit down with AJ Styles and shoot ReAction footage, we may shoot 20 minutes of questions & answers, and we edit it the way flows best, but it gives the talent a chance to voice their feelings, opinions, & perspectives in an entirely different way.”

An update on Hulk Hogan’s current health status & why there’s a very good chance you may not see “The Hulkster” this Thursday night on the “Before The Glory” iMPACT Spike TV special or this Sunday evening at Bound For Glory: “It’s touch & go. Let’s put it this way, we’ve spent a lot of time over the last two weeks on ‘Plan B,’ because with a back, you can’t sit, you can’t lay, you can’t stand, you can’t walk, you can’t do anything without being in pain. Hulk has been in a tremendous amount of pain really for the last year or more. It’s gotten progressively worse, but it’s too the point now where I can’t imagine it. Right now I don’t plan on him being there at either event. I know he wants to be, and I know we have plans in place for him to be. Realistically, considering he can barely get out of his house at this point, I think optimistic to put it mildly that he’s going to be able to participate, but who knows? ”

World Wrestling Entertainment promoting Mick Foley’s new book (Countdown To Lockdown) on WWE.com & on WWE television: “In terms of the promotion that it’s getting, I think it’s great for Mick obviously, because the WWE is a promotional machine, and them putting it out there & promoting it to their fanbase is a great opportunity for Mick. How it’s happening? Why it’s happening? I really don’t know. It could have been a pre-existing deal with Mick, because of the books he’s published previously with the WWE. It could be a ‘one-off’ deal. I would imagine it’s a business transaction, because the WWE doesn’t do anything, nor should they, if it doesn’t benefit them as a company.”

Why we have not seen more of the X-Division as part of the build-up to Bound For Glory & what he believes is in store for the X-Division after Sunday night’s Pay-Per-View: “What it really comes down to is we only have so much television time. We have a lot of things we have to serve. A lot of storylines, a lot of characters, and things have to be prioritized in a certain way. While the X-Division is a very vital & unique part of TNA’s profile, right now it’s not a priority for this particular Pay-Per-View (Bound For Glory). It may be the #1 priority for the next Pay-Per-View, but you can’t promote all things, all the time, all at 100%. Sometimes you have to cycle storylines, characters, and in this case, a division, because we have to put the emphasis on the key story. If we had a three-hour show every week, we might possibly keep everything at a higher profile, but unfortunately that’s not the case.”

What he hopes the fans take away from Thursday night’s “Before The Glory” live edition of iMPACT & TNA’s plans for the rest of 2010 post-Bound For Glory: “What can the fans expect from Thursday? Look at this Thursday’s show as wrestling foreplay if you will. The real event is going to happen on the 10th, but Thursday should be some great foreplay for a wrestling fan. The next three months is really to set the stage, and after Bound for Glory there is going to be seismic shift from a storyline point of view & a presentation point of view. I think people are going to see things they didn’t expect to see. We’ve worked hard to build a story that’s going to be just as exciting after Bound for Glory as it was leading up to it, and what we do for the rest of the year is really set up for what we want to do in TNA in 2011 and build towards that.”

More is contained in another installment of “The Hot Seat With Eric Bischoff” (flavored by Sizzlin Sauces), including Eric’s candid thoughts/comments on his involvement in the main event of Bound For Glory (Kurt Angle vs. Mr. Anderson vs. Jeff Hardy) to crown a new TNA World Champion (and what fans can expect from their three-way match), the intrigue to the Abyss “They” storyline leading into 10.10.10, whether to not we will see the return of TNA World Title Ranking System after Sunday’s Bound For Glory, plus more of your calls & Facebook questions! Call your local cable or satellite provider and demand No Surrender (airing this Sunday night on Pay-Per-View). “The Hot Seat With Eric Bischoff” (flavored by Sizzlin Sauces) returns Monday night, November 1st leading into TNA’s Turning Point PPV…exclusively on “Your Home of Wrestling Radio.” Check out Eric’s official website (located at www.EricBischoff.com), along with the newly-launched BHE TV website (located at www.BHE.tv). Get the latest on the exciting new projects coming your way from Bischoff-Hervey Entertainment! Don’t forget to follow Eric on his official Twitter page (located at www.Twitter.com/EBischoff), and join the more than 19,000+ fans on EB’s official Facebook page (located at www.Facebook.com/TheEricBischoff).

Here is the updated card for TNA Bound For Glory – this Sunday on pay-per-view:

TNA World Heavyweight Title Match
Kurt Angle vs. Mr. Anderson vs. Jeff Hardy

TNA Tag Team Title Match
Generation Me vs. The Motor City Machineguns

TNA Knockouts Title Match
Tara vs. Madison Rayne vs. Velvet Sky vs. Angelina Love

Lethal Lockdown Match
Fortune vs. EV 2.0

Monster’s Ball Match
Rob Van Dam vs. Abyss

Six-Man Tag Match:
Kevin Nash, Sting and The Pope vs. Jeff Jarrett, Samoa Joe and a partner

TNA sent out this press release hyping a special preview of Kurt Angle’s new movie “Beyond the Mat” for fans in Daytona, Florida this weekend for Bound For Glory this weekend:

BOUND FOR GLORY WEEKEND: ATTEND AN EXCLUSIVE SCREENING OF KURT ANGLE’S NEW MOVIE

TNA Wrestling and Catch 22 Entertainment have teamed up to kick off “Bound for Glory 2010” weekend with an exclusive midnight screening to Kurt Angle’s new movie “Beyond the Mat” Friday, October 8 at the R/C Ocean Walk 10 in Daytona, Florida.

Fans will have one exclusive chance to see “Beyond The Mat” before its national theatrical release scheduled for early 2011, with purchase of the TNA “Bound For Glory 2010” VIP Weekend Package. Only fans who have purchased the “Bound For Glory 2010” VIP Weekend Package will be granted admission to this screening.

Set against the backdrop of a high school varsity wrestling team, “Beyond the Mat” is the coming-of-age tale of Aaron Miller, whose friendship is put on the line when his best friend robs Aaron of his spot on the varsity wrestling team in order to stage a rematch with a cross-town rival. Aaron is torn between his loyalty to his friend and his commitment to his sport. Fueled by the desire to succeed and the need to prove himself, Aaron embarks on a journey of self-discovery.

Kurt Angle gives a punishing performance as Coach Kamen. Angle predicts the film, which he says portrays the sport with authenticity, will resonate with the wrestling community and introduce that world to a wider audience. What’s more, “it has a great story that goes beyond wrestling itself,” notes Angle.

The “Bound For Glory 2010 VIP Weekend Package” is $199 and available for purchase exclusively at www.ShopTNA.com. In addition to entrance into the “Beyond the Mat” screening, the VIP Weekend Package includes admission to “TNA Bound For Glory Fan InterAction,”where fans can meet over 40 TNA Superstars, as well as private, meet-and-greet and signing events with “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair, “The Icon” Sting, and “The Charismatic Enigma” Jeff Hardy, as well as a special “Night Before The Glory Luau” on Saturday night, special gifts from TNA personality Don West and much, much more!

Solomonster Sounds Off

DOWNLOAD THE PODCAST HERE:
Solomonster Sounds Off (Episode 128)
*right-click, “Save As”, or stream it!

Est. Runtime: 67 minutes

Solomonster with reaction to last week’s special Sound Off, why Chris Jericho will be missed, Flair and Foley on Impact, shitty Smackdown premiere, Raw sinks to new lows, WWE kissing Foley’s ass, Summerslam buyrate, Tyler Black’s new name and more!

Want your question on the air? Send feedback to THESOLOMONSTER@gmail.com.

Wanna subscribe to the Sound Off via iTunes? CLICK HERE!

Visit The Solomonster on Twitter @ twitter.com/solomonster

Friend The Solomonster on Facebook @ facebook.com/thesolomonster

— TNA Knockout Tag Team Champion Taylor Wilde announced on Twitter Saturday that she dislocated a bone in her foot. She then noted that a doctor was able to put it back in place.

She will, however, miss Thursday’s live iMPACT! and subsequent Bound for Glory pay-per-view as she announced on Twitter today that she is heading to England for a few weeks.

“Off to England tonight for a few weeks, I’m so excited!!!!!!” Wilde wrote.

— TNA Knockout Chelsea has launched accounts on Facebook, Twitter, eBay, YouTube, as confirmed by her official website, AlisonSkipper.com.

Chelsea noted yesterday on Twitter that her purse was stolen.

“To whoever stole my purse: I hope you are happy but remember what goes around comes around!!” she wrote.

— TNA Women’s Champion Angelina Love appears on the latest edition of TNA en Español. To view the episode, click here.

— TNA Wrestling officials are hopeful that the disclosure of “They” at Bound for Glory will hook a number of fans to purchase the pay-per-view event. The widespread assumption amongst the TNA locker room is that “They” will be revealed as a combination of Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff and possibly Jeff Jarrett.

Though D’Angelo Dinero cut what was described as a ‘heelish promo’ on Thursday’s iMPACT!, many believe he, Sting and Kevin Nash will turn babyface once “They” is revealed. (source: Pro Wrestling Torch)

— Jeff Hardy’s fiancée, Beth Britt, who is pregnant with the TNA Superstar’s first child, released a message on Twitter yesterday asking that people respect their privacy.

“Been hearing some rumblings about this so I’ll only address it this once. Do not assume that anyone on the Internet that is talking about or answering questions regarding me & my pregnancy has any “inside information”. I can GUARANTEE that the few people who do know any actual facts ARE NOT talking about it to people they don’t know, namely on the Internet & in some silly Q&A forum. There’s a reason that I haven’t answered any questions about the pregnancy. The reason is that this is probably the one thing that we’ll be able to hold sacred & keep somewhat a secret from the public, just so that we can enjoy something so special, even if only for a short time. “Privacy” is something that doesn’t really exist in Jeff’s profession, much less his personal life. I’m just trying to hold on to what I can in MY personal life, & this is it. Respect OUR privacy on this. The people that know anything about us & this pregnancy are doing just that. People that are claiming to know, or are speculating, have NO idea.”

— Former WWE talent Ed Leslie (a/k/a Brutus Beefcake) said on the Miami sports talk radio show The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz Friday that he’s joining Hulk Hogan in TNA Wrestling. He noted they’re going to be “starting from scratch and going nWo style.”

— Kurt Angle was said to be upset over Abyss dropping him on his head during a recent iMPACT! match. It was considered a botched maneuver on Abyss’ part.

— Jeff Hardy’s next court date is scheduled for Monday, October 25.

See *SEXY* new photos of Tara/Victoria/Lisa Marie/etc ->

sources: PWInsider.com, Pro Wrestling Torch, Wrestling Observer Newsletter

TNA star Mick Foley was interviewed by The Huffington Post this week about his new book, Countdown to Lockdown. Here are some highlights of what Foley said about:

Linda McMahon’s Senate Campaign: “I was really kind of worried about seeing her because I hadn’t seen anybody since I’d left the WWE. I think she makes a good candidate, a very interesting candidate, and I know that her opponents want to make the issue about wrestling itself, and I think that’s a losing argument but it’s their only argument because it’s hard to refute somebody who’s been so successful in a really rough economic climate. I think she’s a good candidate because I think it’s less likely that she’ll participate in the partisan bickering that makes politics so frustrating for me to watch. She’s not looking to be a career politician, she doesn’t need the money, so she’ll probably be rushing back to the grandchildren instead of political fundraisers, and I just don’t think the McMahon in her is going to allow her to simply fall in line with party politics. Although she is running as a Republican, I don’t think she thrived in the busuness she was in without a fierce independent streak.”

Concussions & Wellness: “I think things are constantly changing for the better. Everybody in wrestling is looking at the information coming in on concussions. Everyone from the NFL to the WWE to TNA to the youth soccer groups around the country are realizing that there are dangers that weren’t previously known. I think the environment is better, and I think people are more willing to admit when they’re hurt so they won’t be injured again.”

Drugs In Wrestling & Andrew Martin’s Death: “I did like Test, and he was a guy I kept in touch with for years after we stopped working together. One of my regrets is that he left me a message a few weeks before he died and I guess at the time I thought I was too busy to return the call. To tell you the truth I did not even know he had a problem with pills. I think that’s by far the biggest problem facing wrestling, the painkillers and muscle relaxers, and because they are legal it’s much more difficult to crack down on them.”

— TNA president Dixie Carter’s most recent teased talent acquisition failed to generate much buzz amongst the locker room.

“Nobody talked about it because nobody cared,” a TNA source told the Pro Wrestling Torch. “No one is big enough to make a splash in our ratings.”

Others in the company echoed similar thoughts as the general feeling is that it will take a creative overhaul to make a significant change, not a talent acquisition.

— Kurt Angle recently confirmed on Twitter that he has an account on Facebook. His page can be reached here.

— Today is TNA Spanish color commentator Hector Guerrero’s birthday. He turns 56 years old.

In an interview with Alex Marvez of Scrippsnews.com, TNA star Ken Anderson talked about leaving WWE, saying that his bitterness toward WWE and “certain people there” ran so deep that he “wasn’t able to even look at it on TV for the longest time.”

Despite the sour ending, Anderson looks back on his time in WWE fondly. “I’m very happy to have put in my time there.” said Anderson. “I wouldn’t be where I’m at in my life without that company. I have a lot of really amazing memories. I met some great people I still keep in contact with. Yeah, the last two years didn’t go the way I had planned. But I’m not going to whine about it. I’m going to move forward and try to turn the negatives into a positive.”

Anderson, who starred in the WWE Studios film Behind Enemy Lines 3 and plans to continue acting, still loves wrestling and looks forward to raising the profile of TNA Wrestling.

“I want to help TNA,” he said. “I know we’re a significant underdog in this whole picture. I don’t expect to be competing right now on the same level as a company that’s been around for 50, 60 years. But if we can take some of those (television) ratings points away from (WWE), that would be a great thing.”

Hulk Hogan is back in the hospital after having an “electrical spinal cord stimulator” installed this to alleviate chronic pain.

Read More: Hulk Hogan Posts Video After Having Spinal Surgery

Hogan has posted yet another video from the hospital .. Hogan says he was supposed to have surgery on Friday to have the stimulator permanently installed in his back, but his doctor could not make it. Hogan is not as upbeat in this video as he’s been in the past, saying he will “try to make it through the weekend and make it ’til Monday.” He ends the video by saying, “We’re still trying to find out what’s wrong with my back. Stay tuned.”

To update Sting’s contract situation with TNA Wrestling, his current is set to expire at the end of the year.

For the past several years, Sting has seriously considered retirement and has agreed to try “one more year” a few times now.

So far, Dixie Carter has been able to convince him to keep wrestling with impressive offeres. It’s said that Sting has never been less interested in TNA than he is right, now but it’s hard to turn down the good money and limited schedule that TNA can give him.

There is already tentative talk in WWE that if Sting does not re-sign with TNA, he would be invited by WWE to enter its Hall of Fame next year when WrestleMania is in Atlanta, former home of WCW. One source close to Sting says that a possible job with WWE won’t be a factor at all in his decision to stay with or leave TNA.

Partial Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Hulk Hogan has reached a settlement with cereal manufacturer Post Foods LLC, according to Hogan’s attorney Joseph W. Bain.

Hogan sued Post Foods back in May over a TV commercial for Cocoa Pebbles cerea, titled “Cocoa Smashdown” featured a blond-haired wrestler with a championship belt and Fu Manchu mustache that bore a striking resemblance to Hogan and was produced without Hogan’s knowledge or consent, according to the suit.

The terms of the settlement are confidential, but the commercial will no longer be aired and the lawsuit is being dismissed.

Hogan’s lawyer told TampaBayOnline.com, “Terry is happy to have it favorably resolved.”

According to the federal lawsuit, Hulk “is shown humiliated and cracked into pieces with broken teeth, with the closing banner, ‘Little Pieces…BIG TASTE!'” He also claims that he has been harmed by “the unauthorized and degrading depictions in the Cocoa Smashdown advertisements.”

The lawsuit says Post Foods never sought or received Hogan’s permission to use his likeness and ignored Hogan’s requests to discontinue the ads.

Here is the commercial in question:

— Kurt Angle’s fiance, actress Giovanna Yannotti, announced on her Twitter account that she and Kurt are expecting a child. Yannotti is 24 years old, 17 years younger than Angle. They met on the set of one of Angle’s movies, “End Game.” You can see some of Yanotti’s modeling pictures here.

— Hernandez has not been on hand for TNA events in recent months because he is on loan to the Mexican based AAA promotion due to a talent exchange. Management has lost faith in pushing him as a singles star because his ring work has not progressed at the rate they feel it should. (source: Pro Wrestling Torch)

— TNA Wrestling has announced that Bound For Glory, scheduled for Sunday, October 10, will be available in high-definition via DIRECTV’s satellite system.

Here’s a spoiler-free preview for tonight’s episode of TNA iMPACT! on Spike TV:

* Abyss vs. Kurt Angle: Steel Cage Match.

* TNA TV champion AJ Styles vs. Brian Kendrick.

* Ric Flair and Mick Foley go face to face.

* Beer Money vs. Tommy Dreamer & Rhino.

* Mr. Anderson vs. Samoa Joe.

Also appearing are Rob Van Dam, Eric Bischoff, Sting, Kevin Nash, The Pope and more.

Hulk Hogan just had an electrical spinal cord stimulator installed in his back to alleviate chronic pain and posted this video following the surgery:

Hogan calls the procedure a “make it or break it Hail Mary” and is praying it works. HE wrote the following on Twitter.com/HulkHogan4Real:

“Going for the make it or break it hail Mary.at4:00pm having an electrical spinal cord stimulator inserted for a test run,praying it works.”

“[I’ve] had 6 small back surgeries,everything was fine,then for 4hrs I was picking up shells on the beach,my back blewout”

“I’m sick of being down and I’m sick of all these heavy pain pills,dog I’m gonna kick out”

“You guys really gave me a shot in the arm that I needed,thank u for all the love,support,positive vibes right now,believe me it really helps”

“I’m gonna shave,jump in the shower,get totally clean right now,because after the procedure it will be hard to shower with the wires hanging out of my back.I’m praying when this works,a couple days later they can implant the machine permanently.I’ll keep u guys updated as soon as I get off the operating table and let u know if it is working.then well have fun and I’ll try to gross u out with some good pictures.”