Since opening an account on Twitter last week, Randy Orton has made numerous comments of note. For starters, he was asked to give his thoughts on Bryan Danielson as a performer as well as his sudden firing from World Wrestling Entertainment.

“I understand why it happened. But he def deserves to be there, I’m sure he’ll b back,” Orton responded. “Very talented in my opinion.”

Orton also continues to bring up former WWE performer Ken Anderson’s name, whom he recently ranted about on a message board post in regards to claims concerning his dismissal from the company last year. He laughed at a fan noting he already had more Twitter followers than Anderson and threatened to send the former WWE star after an Orton poser if he didn’t shut down his account. However, it would appear that Orton has since had a change of heart in regards to the current TNA star as he now feels that last year’s incident was a misunderstanding.

In response to a question this morning asking if he would ever make peace with Anderson, he wrote, “I think what happened is a misunderstanding and at this point there is peace. Hell……we used to ride together.”

Finally, Orton revealed that he will have a new shirt out within thirty days.

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog at JRsBarBQ.com with some commentary on the following topics:

TNA’s Hard Justice PPV: “We’re getting lots of questions on the revisited, ECW TV storyline being used by TNA. For the record, I hope that all wrestling organizations do well as the individuals who comprise the various company’s rosters are largely passionate fans living out their dreams. I’m not a ‘dream squasher.’ Do I think that this matter will be successful? I don’t know. It might be o.k. for a one off sort of deal for a company that needs a ‘hit.’ Time will answer the ‘will it be successful question’ which is somewhere subjective in itself as what is the true definition of ‘success’ in wrestling? It varies by company, that’s for sure.”

Paul Heyman: “Paul Heyman will not be a part of this presentation which does it no favors. Heyman was the strategic mastermind behind the original ECW that grew to have a passionate, cult following and lasted much longer than many ‘experts’ predicted when ECW started up primarily due to Heyman’s leadership and creative vision along with a locker room full of passionate athletes who were in their prime and loved kicking ass.”

Joey Styles: “No, Joey Styles has no interest in broadcasting again in WWE on a full time basis, or so he has said to many, and has expressed his happiness in working to build WWE.com to an even bigger brand. Joey and I hope to broadcast one match together some day in the future for WWEClassics.com or WWE 24/7 On Demand.”

The following was released this morning by WWE and 7-Eleven:

DALLAS & STAMFORD, Conn., Jul 26, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — After success with its World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.(R) (WWE) promotion last year, 7-Eleven, Inc. roars back into the ring this summer as a sponsor of SummerSlam(R), WWE’s biggest pay-per-view event of the summer. The convenience retailer has beefed up this year’s promotion, running now through Aug. 31, with double the variety of cups and double the WWE Superstars. In addition, the updated program features new products and online elements, including the opportunity to become a masked WWE Superstar.

WWE Superstars John Cena(R), Triple H(R), Rey Mysterio(R) and Undertaker(R) show off their best moves on four collectible, lenticular Slurpee(R) cups while Big Show(R), Kofi Kingston(R), Edge(R), Randy Orton(R), and WWE Diva Eve(TM) appear on five collectible Super Big Gulp(R) fountain drink cups. For more fan fun, 7-Eleven offers four collectible straws featuring the likenesses of the Superstars and product displays of WWE Magazine and DVDs.

John Cena also has created a limited-edition cup for 7-Eleven’s cause-marketing campaign, Coffee Cup with a Cause. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the Cena cups between July 16 and Aug. 31 will be donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. 7-Eleven has guaranteed a minimum donation of $250,000 to the charity.

“7-Eleven fans love WWE, and vice versa. It’s a demographic match made in heaven,” said Rita Bargerhuff, 7-Eleven vice president and chief marketing officer. “Our WWE campaign last year was centered on Big Gulp drinks. This year, we’ve taken the promotion to a new level, both in-store and online, and we think this year’s rematch of the two brands will be bigger and better.”

“Our continuing partnership with 7-Eleven has been a fantastic experience for WWE, our Superstars and fans,” said Michelle Wilson, WWE’s executive vice president of Marketing. “WWE is thrilled that 7-Eleven is able to help us celebrate SummerSlam by providing our fans with limited edition cups featuring their favorite Superstars and Divas.”

The collectible Slurpee cups come with codes that can be redeemed for Slurpee Nation(TM) reward points at slurpee.com. Fans can go to slurpee.com/rewards to redeem these points for exclusive in-game prizes in THQ’s popular video game “SmackDown(R) vs. Raw(R) 2010,” or to enter 7-Eleven’s augmented reality that allows WWE fans to try on virtual masks like those worn by WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio. A web-cam is required for fans to try on Rey’s masks. Users can choose any or all of the four featured masks, take multiple screen shots and upload images to Facebook. Rey Mysterio appears in a 7-Eleven commercial that airs on USA and Syfy during WWE programming and at various WWE live events across the country.

The featured Slurpee flavor during the six-week promotion is Barq’s Root Beer. Other products participating in the promotion are Slim Jim, the official meat snack of WWE, and 7-Select(TM) Crunch Cheese Curls.

WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart was married over the weekend to his fiance Stephanie Washington. This is the third time down the aisle for Bret.

Stephanie Washington is a 27 year old woman from San Francisco, California who is now going to school up in Calgary. They began dating earlier this year.

The couple is expected to spend their honeymoon in Hawaii. Since WWE will be taping the next 2 weeks of RAW shows tonight (due to the upcoming international tour), it’s likely that Bret and Stephanie will not leave for Hawaii until later this week at the earliest.

Here’s a picture of Bret Hart and his lovely new wife Stephanie Washington from earlier this year:

An organization called the “Mothers Opposing McMahon” (MOM), which opposes Linda McMahon’s campaign to become a United States Senator this November, is now attacking the former WWE CEO over the “Eugene” character that the company featured from 2007-2009.

The MOM organization has posted a video on Youtube, which you can view here, that quotes Linda McMahon talking about the unique brand of entertainment that WWE delivers – followed by WWE television footage of Vince and Shane McMahon sliming and then beating down the mentally challenged wrestler.

The video caption slams the McMahons for featuring “a character with developmental disabilities [who is] is violently beaten, humiliated, and verbally abused by Vince and Shane McMahon. The MOM organization claims to be “a grassroots group of Connecticut women working to build opposition to Linda McMahon’s Senate candidacy based on McMahon’s record as CEO of the WWE, where she marketed to kids graphic sex, brutal violence, and the degrading, abusive treatment of women to make herself millions of dollars in profits.”

While the MOM organization has their hands full trashing Linda McMahon, another organization – the Fans United against Mothers Opposing McMahon (FU-MOM), is firing back at defending McMahon.

Thomas Gidlow sent in the following:

I have started a new Facebook page called Fans United against Mothers Opposing McMahon (FU-MOM). We are dedicated to debunk the myths and half truths that the mainstream media uses to portray the wrestling industry, in particular the WWE. We have singled out “M.O.M” but we are also going to go after anyone that uses stereotypes, 15-year old information, independent wrestling as a means to portray the entire industry, and anyone else that has no idea what they are talking about.

We do not endorse Linda McMahon’s campaign or anyone else’s in Connecticut or anywhere else. We are not representatives or affiliates of either political party or any campaign. We are simply fed up with the lies and deceit used to depict the WWE and we’re doing something about it.

We’re going to be providing videos, links, discussion, and more for anyone who feels as we do. We will also not hide from debate like many other organizations (such as M.O.M) do and we will be glad to talk to everyone and anyone across the ideological spectrum.

Our Facebook site:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fans-United-against-Mothers-Opposing-McMahon/140270009330160

Our Mission Statement:

Our mission is to dispel the misreporting of Linda McMahon’s tenure with the WWE, as well as the misreporting of the WWE in general, using the facts as they are – not by using slanderous rhetoric based on assumptions and myths. We are dedicated to reporting and posting information that is nothing but the truth. If you want shotty reporting and information based on ten years ago, then watch the mainstream media or join “Mothers Opposing McMahon”. We only deal with the facts here.

— Michelle McCool says it’s hard for her to see the celebrity others see in her. Though she is former middle school teacher turned wrestling star, in her eyes, the important stuff has stuck around: Family, friends, passions and herself.

“I’m still the same person,” she told the St. Augustine Record in an interview. “I just happen to be on TV now.”

She wants her fans to know that even though she plays a villain on television, she’s just a regular girl.

“I’m real,” she said. “I’m genuine.”

Though the newspaper’s article largely focuses on McCool’s life outside the ring, she would not comment on her private life. Recently, the internet was abuzz over her marriage to a fellow WWE Superstar who shall remain nameless. She declined to discuss those details with the St. Augustine Record.

She would, however, discuss her foray into the world of professional wrestling, her athletic background, and biggest supporters, among other wholesome topics. The entire article can be read here.

— WWE is holding a contest with JCPenney where one lucky winner will win a trip for two to Miami, Florida to attend this year’s Survivor Series. Legal residents of the fifty United States and the District of Columbia, and who are eighteen years of age or older, may enter the contest at www.wwesummerheat.com. The promotion concludes at 11:59 p.m. ET on September 18, 2010.

— Convenience Store News has a story on 7-Eleven being a top sponsor for WWE’s SummerSlam, noting its summer promotion featuring WWE Superstars such as John Cena, Triple H, The Undertaker and Eve on various cups. Additional SummerSlam sponsors include Slim Jim, Army National Guard, Mars’ Twix, Mattel, Topps, THQ and Syfy.

— Seven wrestlers released by World Wrestling Entertainment on April 22, 2010 are now free to join TNA Wrestling (or any wrestling promotion for that matter) as their respective 90-day no-compete clauses have expired. Among those let go that fateful day were Mickie James, Shelton Benjamin, Katie Lea Burchill, Jimmy Wang Yang, Slam Master J, Kung Fu Naki and Mike Knox.

The contractual clause was put in place to prohibit wrestlers from immediately competing with nationally televised promotions following their release.

— It was announced during Friday’s episode of SmackDown that Layla would be defending her Women’s Championship against Tiffany on this week’s show.

— World Heavyweight Champion Kane tops WWE.com’s latest POWER 25 chart. He is trailed by Sheamus and Randy Orton, among others.

Solomonster Sounds Off

DOWNLOAD THE PODCAST HERE:
Solomonster Sounds Off (Episode 118)
*right-click, “Save As”, or stream it!

Est. Runtime: 39 minutes

Solomonster is back with thoughts on Money in the Bank and Kane’s title win, Bret Hart’s big return to Raw, a rare thumbs up for Michael Cole, Tommy Dreamer’s big speech on Impact, Randy Savage resurfaces and some personal words to conclude.

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

— It was announced yesterday during San Diego Comic-Con International that Steve Austin’s Hugo Panzer character would make another guest appearance on the NBC action-comedy television show Chuck this season. He was last seen in the episode “Chuck vs. First Class” where he combats Chuck inside an airplane.

— RingsideCollectibles.net has released a high quality video of the “Macho Man” Randy Savage WWE Mattel action figure announcement at San Diego Comic-Con International. Also released is complete video of WWE writers Ed Koskey and Brian Gewirtz answering questions concerning the company’s creative process alongside Eve Torres and The Miz. Finally, several photos of Mattel’s WWE action figure line on display at Comic-Con can be viewed here.

— SmackDown star Shad Gaspard has released the synopsis and cover art of the crime/action adventure graphic novel Assassin & Son: Path of Vengeance, created and written by himself and former WWE performer Marc Caponi (a/k/a Muhammad Hassan). For details on the novel, click here.

— Jim Ross announced on his official website that Ricky Steamboat has been released from the hospital. The WWE Hall of Famer is convalescing at a relative’s home in Florida and slated to return to Florida Championship Wrestling to continue training developmental talent in a month or so.

— While squashing the unidentified member of The Straight Edge Society on last night’s episode of SmackDown, Big Show unmasked him, revealing former Tag Team Champion Joey Mercury. Mercury re-signed with WWE earlier this year and had been working as the masked man of CM Punk’s group since April.

— Radio advertisements in San Antonio, Texas are advertising Monday’s Raw main event as Sheamus and Nexus vs. John Cena and Randy Orton in a Handicap Match.

— WWE has signed Ohio Valley Wrestling’s Brent “Beef” Wellington to a developmental contract, reports f4wonline.com. The announcement was made by Wellington during Wednesday night’s OVW television taping. He was then jumped by Austin Aries.

— Three more WWE stars have joined Twitter in MVP, William Regal and Todd Grisham.

— As reported earlier, Mattel announced yesterday during San Diego Comic-Con International that Randy Savage had been signed by the company to take part in their “WWE Defining Moments” action figure line. Video has since surfaced of Savage cutting a classic “Macho Man” promo hyping the acting figure, which can be viewed here (starting at the 2:00 mark). He said Mattel is making more figures of himself from different eras of his career and vowed “2011 will be the Macho Man’s year.”

— Matches scheduled to take place on tonight’s edition of Friday Night SmackDown are as follows:

* Rey Mysterio vs. Jack Swagger (No. 1 Contender’s 2-out-of-3 Falls Match with the winner guaranteed a title match at SummerSlam)

* Matt Hardy and Christian vs. Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes

* Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler (Non-title match)

* Big Show vs. masked Straight Edge Society member

— For the second consecutive year, WWE will bring the self-proclaimed “world’s biggest pop culture event” to network television when WrestleMania XXVI: The World Television Premiere airs Saturday, Aug. 7 at 9:00 p.m. EST on NBC. The special will feature highlights from WrestleMania XXVI “set to music from today’s hottest acts in one lightning-fast hour of family-friendly programming.” (Article link)

(credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

-WWE’s marketing deparment was told a few weeks ago that Vince McMahon does not want any usage of things related to the image of Shawn Michaels. Those close to Michaels say he is mentally done with wrestling and, in his mind right now, he will never come back in ANY form. Not sure what happened, but Michaels was quite vocal many weeks back about his displeasure with his former student, Daniel Bryan, being released by the company.

-Bret Hart will be married to girlfriend Stephanie Washington this Saturday in Calgary. He was scheduled to go to Hawaii on his honeymoon, so unless plans have changed, he will likely not be on Raw this Monday.

Today at the Comic Con event in San Diego, Mattel announced that both Ultimate Warrior and “Macho Man” Randy Savage have been signed by the company to be part of their WWE line of action figures.

When the announcement was made about Savage being part of the series, it stirred up a huge reaction at the event. This would be the first Macho Man action WWE figure since the early 1990’s when the company was then working with the Hasbro toy company. WWE did produce a “Macho Madness” 3-disc DVD set last year that was mostly well-received by fans, though it lacked a documentary portion.

Savage was last seen on WWE television in 1994 as an announcer alongside Vince McMahon on Monday Night Raw. Later that year, he jumped ship to WCW and has had little or no contact with McMahon since that time, and no one seems to have a definitive reason as to why.

Platinum Championship Wrestling has announced that Austin Creed, known as Consequences Creed in TNA Wrestling, has signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment.

“We at PCW want to congratulate our own AUSTIN CREED on the recent signing of his WWE developmental contract! Congratulations Austin,” the PCW website announced.

The one-time World Tag Team Champion was quietly released from TNA Wrestling in late March. Earlier this month, Creed won ECWA’s annual Super 8 Tournament in Delaware, defeating Tommaso Ciampa.

— Monday’s Raw saw Eve Torres become the No. 1 contender to Alicia Fox’s Divas Championship as a result of her victory over Maryse. Immediately following the bout, Howard Finkel expressed his displeasure with the Raw Divas division, but more specifically, Torres.

“I have had it with the Raw Diva division,” the WWE Hall of Famer remarked during the live Raw chat on WWEUniverse.com. He added, “I DO NOT hate Divas…..I am not a fan of who is the # 1 contender.”

— At the July 6 Friday Night SmackDown television taping, WWE ran a vignette before the Atlanta crowd introducing a new Diva by the name of AJ Lee. The vignette, however, was cut from the broadcast. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, a decision was made to introduce one new character at a time — currently Alberto Del Rio — thus explaining why vignettes introducing Lee have yet to surface. Once Del Rio makes his official debut in WWE, the promotion of Lee will commence.

Lee, who’s real name is believed to be April Jeanette, is 23 years old and has been under contract to World Wrestling Entertainment since May 2009. At 5 foot 2 and 99 pounds, she is the smallest female performer affiliated with either major wrestling organization. Prior to joining WWE, Lee worked independent wrestling shows throughout the Northeast. She has been competing professionally since September 2007.

After thirteen years, WWE Hall of Famer Bret “The Hitman” Hart is returning to Madison Square Garden.

In what is being billed as Bret “The Hitman” Hart Appreciation Night, the official MSG website has announced that Hart will team up with The Hart Dynasty to wrestle three unspecified members of Nexus in a Six Man Tag Team Match at the September 25 SmackDown live event.

The match will mark as Hart’s first appearance at Madison Square Garden since a September 1997 Monday Night Raw taping, which saw him work a dark match against Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker.

The rest of the announced card is as follows:

* Rey Mysterio vs. Kane vs. Jack Swagger – Triple Threat Match for the World Heavyweight Championship
* Kofi Kingston vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Christian vs. Matt Hardy – Fatal Four Way Match for the Intercontinental Championship
* Big Show vs. CM Punk*
* MVP vs. Cody Rhodes
* Kelly Kelly and Tiffany vs. Michelle McCool and Layla

-The injury for which Triple H underwent surgery was a torn biceps. The current belief is that it could be as late as December before he is healthy enough to return, with late October being optimistic. He is still being considered for a heel turn and alignment with Nexus, although if it were to happen, they would need to drag the angle out for at least a few more months.

-Ricky Steamboat remains in the hospital and continues to experience a great deal of head pain. This, coupled with the fact that he has been there for so many weeks now, has people very concerned.

(credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

— Former TNA personality Jonny Fairplay congratulated fellow reality television alum Mike “The Miz” Mizanin on winning Raw’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match in a Facebook post Sunday night. He followed up his post Monday morning with a remark TNA Wrestling official Jeff Jarrett made a few years ago concerning The Miz.

“Is remembering back to 2004 when Jeff Jarrett told me there was no money in The Miz,” Fairplay wrote. “Thanks, Jeff.”

At the time, Mizanin was working independent wrestling shows in California for Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW). He would catch a break a few months later when he landed a spot on the fourth season of Tough Enough. Despite losing the reality based contest to Daniel Puder, Mizanin piqued the interest of WWE officials and was eventually offered a developmental contract.

— Chris Jericho’s rock band Fozzy has released a music video for the song “Let the Madness Begin.” The video can be viewed here.

— John Morrison and Eve are advertised to appear at the Daytona Lagoon Water Park in Daytona Beach, Florida on Saturday, July 31. The meet-and-greet begins at 3:00 p.m.

(partial credit: pwtorch.com)

New offerings this week on WWE’s Classics on Demand channel include:

Big Ones Section
WCW Superbrawl 2 (2/29/92)
Old School – Philadelphia, PA 9/1/84

TV Classics Section
ECW TV 4/22/97
WWF Primetime Wrestling 10/4/88
Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling 4/7/82

Legends Section
Best of WWE Volume 7

Shorties Section
Dangerous Alliance
DOA vs. Truth Commission
Gary Hart Inc.
Dungeon of Doom
Spirit Squad vs. Kane/Undertaker

Editorial Note: The opening bout at Superbrawl between Brian Pillman and Jushin Liger is awesome stuff that you should go out of your way to see if you never have before. Some might say this was the bout that ushered in the type of acrobatic wrestling that is more commonplace today.

For those of you with access to the service but who do not subscribe, it really is worth every penny. In some places, it’s as low as $6/month, which is a steal. You won’t see product shilling here very often, so just consider this a hearty endorsement of classic wrestling.

— TNA Wrestling officials have discussed using former ECW World Heavyweight Champion Justin Credible at next month’s Hard Justice pay-per-view, reports the Pro Wrestling Torch. However, it has not been confirmed that he will be working the show, or if he has even been contacted to appear.

Credible briefly appeared with TNA in 2003, forming a stable with several other ECW alumni and reviving his feud with Jerry Lynn.

— TNA Wrestling officials have declined signing Washington D.C. based independent women’s wrestler Mia Yim to a contract following her tryout match with Taylor Wilde before an iMPACT! television taping last month. The reason cited was that there were no open spots for her in the company’s Knockouts division.

“No open spots for me at TNA,” Yim wrote on her Twitter account. “It’s ok, keep an eye out for me because I am just getting started.…Who knows what will happen in the future.”

— A number of wrestling personalities were on hand for the 5th Annual NPC Bill Grant Bodybuilding & Figure Classic held in Allentown, Pennsylvania over the weekend including TNA wrestler Rob Terry, Alicia Webb (a/k/a Ryan Shamrock), April Hunter and JD Michaels.

(source: PWInsider.com)

— The following matches are scheduled to take place on this week’s episode of WWE Superstars on WGN America:

* David Hart Smith and Tyson Kidd vs. Jey and Jimmy Uso
* Yoshi Tatsu vs. Primo
* JTG vs. Chavo Guerrero
* MVP and Chris Masters vs. Trent Barreta and Caylen Croft

— The official promotional video for WWE’s annual SummerSlam has been released. The video, which has yet to air on WWE programming, can be viewed here. It’s interesting to note that Evan Bourne is the final WWE Superstar displayed in the video.

— The July 9 edition of Friday Night Smackdown! scored a 1.9 rating, with 3,046,000 viewers. The episode featured a main of Big Show vs. Jack Swagger.

SmackDown *SPOILERS*

Credit to Prowrestling.net for these spoilers from tonight’s SmackDown tapings:

Smackdown begins as Kane starts out the show celebrating the title win. He recapped his MITB win and cashing in on Rey Mysterio. Kane said he did it for his brother the Undertaker and brought the title back to the dark side. He vowed to not rest until he finds his brother’s culprit.

Jack Swagger vs. Rey Mysterio in a 2 out of 3 falls match to determine the No. 1 contender was announced.

1. Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes defeated Christian and Matt Hardy. Christian and Hardy had the advantage most of the match. Christian dove to the outside on Rhodes and McIntyre. Rhodes took advantage for his team. He tagged in McIntyre, who had a field day with Christian.

Rhodes was tagged back on. Christian tagged in Hardy, who took out McIntyre. Hardy gave McIntyre a tornado DDT from the turnbuckle into a pin only for Rhodes to distract the referee from counting the pinfall. Rhodes and McIntyre ended up winning the match. After the match, Christian and Hardy shook hands. Katelyn said it was a “very, very good match.”

Swagger was interviewed by Josh Matthews. He talked about how he will beat Mysterio and then go on to beat Kane at Summerslam.

A LayCool promo started as they boasted about their win against Kelly Kelly on Sunday. They gave each other best friend necklaces. Teddy Long walked up and told Layla that she will be defending her title against Tiffany next week.

2. Dolph Ziggler (w/Vickie Guerrero) defeated Kofi Kingston (w/Michael McGillicutty) in a non-title match. This was a pretty even match up. Both superstars scored some offensive moves throughout the bout. Michael McGillicutty got sent to the back due to Vickie Guerrero influencing the referee as Kofi was outside selling being thrown over the ropes.

Kofi reentered the ring as Ziggler continued to take advantage. As Ziggler went for a leg drop, Kofi rolled him into a pin for a 2 count. Kofi regains control only to be distracted by Vickie Guerrero. Ziggler puts Kofi in the sleeper for the win. After the match, Ziggler poses over Kofi with the Intercontinental Title. Dolph tries to leave with IC belt, but the ref wouldn’t let him. Vickie comforted Dolph.

3. Big Show defeated the SES Masked Man. Show unmasked him to prove once and for a that Joey Mercury is straight edge. Show put the mask on and then chokeslammed Mercury for the pin in a short match.

Mysterio cut a promo hyping the number one contenders match.

An Alberto Del Rio vignette aired.

4. Rey Mysterio defeated Jack Swagger in a best of three falls match to become the No. 1 contender to the World Hvt. Championship. The match started as Swagger pushed Mysterio into the turnbuckle to take opening advantage of the match. There was a lot of back and forth action early. Swagger continued to work on Rey giving him a belly to back.

Swagger remained in control of the match. He took out Rey’s knee on the turnbuckle. Swagger scored a lot of close two counts. He threw Rey into the ropes only for Rey to jump off the ropes onto swagger a two count. Rey went to setup the 619 on Swagger only to come short. Swagger put Rey into the ankle lock. Rey made it to the ropes. Swagger refused to let go and was disqualified,so Rey won the first fall.

Jack won second fall by making Rey tape out with the ankle lock. Short match. Rey went for the 619 and Jack caught him.

Swagger and Rey fought outside. Swagger threw Rey back inside the ring and continued on the offensive. Rey reverses the gut wrench powerbomb into a pinfall to get the pin and become number one contender for Kane’s title.

Jack went after Rey after the bell. Kane ran down and took out Jack. Kane held up Rey’s hand. Kane left the ring and then returned and went to chokeslam Rey, who turned it into the 619. Rey ran away.

Former WWE Women’s Champion Nora “Molly Holly” Greenwald is getting married. The Minnesota native will marry a man by the name of Geno Benshoof in a small ceremony in the backyard garden of the groom’s family home in White Bear Lake, Minnesota later this month. The wedding comes just one year after the two met at a drug and alcohol recovery program.

Over a three-year period, the former WWE Diva’s husband-to-be had been arrested, charged and convicted of felony drug possession, burglary and possession of a dangerous weapon. He was also homeless and had contemplated suicide. It all came to head in February 2009 when a judge ordered him to enter a drug rehabilitation program or face 56 months in prison.

Greenwald was working at a Minneapolis center as a teen counselor when she met Benshoof, who had just landed an internship after completing court-ordered drug treatment. She said she couldn’t help being attracted to him.

“I knew I was falling for him,” Greenwald told the White Bear Press. “But I had to keep my feelings to myself to protect my job.”

Company policy prohibited counselors from dating interns, but Benshoof eventually landed a paying position and the two were free to date. A church pastor encouraged the relationship.

Greenwald admits Benshoof was her first boyfriend and that she doesn’t care to be a virgin.

“I’m a 32-year-old virgin that doesn’t care to be a 33-year-old virgin,” said Greenwald.

She then added, “Yup, we’re waiting until our wedding night. It’s pretty cool that Geno loves me enough to buy the car without test driving it first.”

To read the White Bear Press’ piece on Greenwald and Benshoof, click here.

(source: PWInsider.com)

— The July 19 edition of Monday Night Raw scored a 3.4 cable rating, with 4,873,000 viewers. The show drew hours of 3.09 and 3.68. Viewership was slightly up from last week, which drew a 3.3 rating, with 4,800,000 viewers.

— A dark match between Alberto Del Rio and Kaval took place before tonight’s Friday Night SmackDown taping in Little Rock, Arkansas. The WWE newcomer scored the victory following a jumping spin kick to the NXT Rookie, who was tied up on the ropes.

— The pre-sale code for the Smackdown live event taking place on September 25, 2010 at Madison Square Garden is WWESUMMERSLAM. The pre-sale begins Wednesday morning at 10:00 a.m. EST via Ticketmaster.