The WWE Studios feature film “Suckerpunch” starring the Big Show has been renamed to “Knucklehead” and has some new additions to the cast, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Big Show will be joined by Mark Feuerstein (USA Network’s Royal Pains) and Melora Hardin (HBO’s Hung).

In “Knucklehead,” fight promoter Memphis Earl (Feuerstein) is in debt and thinks his luck is about to change when he comes across the 7-foot lifelong orphan, Walter Kronk (Big Show). He tries to convince Kronk to wrestle professionally and Kronk finally agrees to wrestle on behalf of his fellow orphans, setting up a road trip. Filming kicked off this week in New Orleans.

The Hollywood Reporter article also notes that Big Show recently finished shooting the SNL feature film “MacGruber.” Last month, Chris Jericho wrote on Twitter that he and the Great Khali were also filming scenes for the MacGruber movie, so it looks like WWE will be well-represented there.

Earlier this week, we picked up on the story that CM Punk was booked to lose his World Heavyweight title at Hell in a Cell just weeks after winning it due to a backstage altercation with the Undertaker. Undertaker reportedly confronted Punk  on WWE’s recent European tour about dressing sloppy and not carrying himself like a World champion on the road. Punk was said to be confrontational towards then Undertaker, explaining not all champions (he mentioned John Cena by name) dress the part at all times.

There’s now a another story going around regarding CM Punk’s backstage demeanor.  According to F4WOnline.com, Punk caught heat with WWE officials for openly expressing the belief that he felt it was too soon for him to drop the World Championship.

While most believe the original story (Punk having an “attitude” when Undertaker confronted him about not dressing like a champion), both stories generally point to the same thing: Punk’s perceived attitude problem was a factor in him being dropping the World Heavyweight title so soon.

Punk getting punished because of his perceived attitude has generated two different reactions from the locker room. Punk has a reputation as being “aloof” and rubbing many people the wrong way, so those people were naturally pleassed to see him get put in his place. There are also wrestlers that feel Punk’s actions weren’t bad enough to warrant taking the title off him, especially since the Undertaker’s is in rough physical shape and does not work most house shows.

Credit to Billy Krotchsen of PWInsider.com for the following:

WWE Smackdown Taping Results
Trenton, New Jersey – Airing 10/9

*Smackdown opens with Teddy Long in the ring discussing the Bragging Rights PPV. Long says John Cena is welcome to come to Smackdown if he doesn’t win the Iron Man Match against Randy Orton. CM Punk comes out and tells Long not to focus on Cena, but on him. He complains he has to wrestle Batista tonight. He demands a rematch against The Undertaker tonight and that Scott Armstrong (ref from Breaking Point) be the referee.

*Vince McMahon comes out and announces at Bragging Rights that The Undertaker will defend the World championship against CM Punk, Batista and Rey Mysterio. He says the action will begin right now and calls out Mysterio for his match….

*Rey Mysterio defeated Chris Jericho in a good match with a 619 and top rope splash.

*WWE Women’s champ Michelle McCool defeated Eve Torres.

*Backstage, Vickie Guerrero complains to Teddy Long that it’s unfair that Eric Escobar doesn’t have a PPV match. She says it’s also not fair that Undertaker has to be in a Four Way at the PPV. In Spanish, Escobar tells Long he won’t be disrespected. Guerrero reminds Long he’s on probation.

*WWE Intercontinental champ John Morrison defeated Dolph Ziggler. Maria was at ringside watching but didn’t become involved beyond taking a chair Ziggler had set up to “use later” and sitting on it. When Ziggler went for the chair and saw it wasn’t there, he was distracted, allowing Morrison to nail him with a kick for the win.

*Backstage, Maria asks Ziggler to speak to her. Ziggler tells her that he has a personal life and a professional one. He tells her he sees big things in his future, but she isn’t one of them and walks off. Maria starts to cry.

*Drew McIntyre & Kane defeated R-Truth & Matt Hardy when McIntrye pinned Hardy with the double underhook DDT.

*Backstage, Batista and Rey Mysterio agree that whatever happens in the Four Way at the PPV, they will remain cool and hug.

*WWE World champ The Undertaker comes out and discusses winning the belt in the Hell in A Cell. He says that at the PPV, he’s going to win and take all of their souls.

*CM Punk defeated Batista by countout.

Warning: The following contains  minor *Spoiler* for Friday’s edition of WWE SmackDown:

At Tuesday night’s SmackDown taping, Vince McMahon announced that The Undertaker will defend his new World Heavyweight championship against CM Punk, Batista and Rey Mysterio at Bragging Rights.

With that match added, here’s a look at the current card:

60 Miute Iron Man Match: No DQ or Countout
WWE Champion Randy Orton vs. John Cena
* If Cena loses, he has to leave Raw

SmackDown vs. RAW Bragging Rights Match
All the winning Raw wrestlers from that night’s matches vs. all the winning Smackdown wrestlers

World Heavyweight Title Match
The Undertaker vs. CM Punk vs. Batista vs. Rey Mysterio

— Rob Van Dam has posted a message on his WWE Universe page that WWE officials probably won’t be thrilled with. Here’s what RVD posted to promote his weekly BlogTalkRadio.com radio show:

THE SUBJECT…HYPOTHETICALLY…

WOULD YOU RATHER SEE RVD GO TO WWE OR TNA?

GO TO ROBVANDAM.COM TO RVD RADIO 10/07/09 FROM 9-11 PM E.S.T.

– Last weekend at WWE Hell in a Cell, WWE crowned new WWE & World Heavyweight champions. If it feels like WWE’s top titles have been changing hands a lot this year, you’re right. Believe it or not, in the first 10 months of 2009, the WWE Championship has changed hands 7 times while the World Heavyweight title has changed hands 8-times. Remember the days when the champion would keep the title for a year?

– WWE Shop’s top sellers list shows that “The Hardys” popularity isn’t waining among the WWE Universe. Jeff Hardy and/or The Hardys take up 5 of the top 10 spots, taking #1, #5, #7, #8 and #9. John Cena has spot #2, #3 and #6, while DX take #4 and #10.

— In addition to Ted DiBiase vs. Evan Bourne, two more matches we’ll see on this week’s Superstars (taped at Tuesday’s SmackDown tapings):

* Shelton Benjamin vs. Sheamus

* Cryme Time vs. The Hart Dynasty

The October 5th edition of WWE Raw hosted by Ben Roethlisberger drew a 3.3 rating, up from last week’s 3.1. The show did hours of 3.32 and 3.29.

The fact that Raw’s rating increased is quite impressive, as the show was up against some very stiff competition. Last night’s NFL Monday Night Football game on ESPN featuring Bret Favre leading the Minnesota Vikings to victory over his old squad, the Green Bay Packers, scored a huge 15.3 rating with a staggering 21.8 million viewers. It was the most watch show in the history of cable television.

It’s been said that WWE booked NFL star Ben Roethlisberger to host Raw last night was an attempt to counter the big Monday Night Football game. Considering there were so many football fans watching television last night, there’s a good chance many of them jumped over to Raw to see Roethlisberger and the Steelers on Raw.

– The rating for this week’s Raw is not in yet, but it looks like WWE may have a tough time matching last week’s low 3.1 number. Last night’s NFL Monday Night Football game on ESPN featuring Bret Favre leading the Minnesota Vikings over his old squad, the Green Bay Packers scored a huge 14.2 metered-market rating, according to SportsBusinessDaily.com. The game is expected to be the most watched program in the history of cable television, once the final numbers come in.

– The plan as of this past weekend was to have Beth Phoenix as the next challenger to Mickie James’ Divas Championship.

– SEScoops reader Alex sent in the first official promotional poster for WWE’s WrestleMania 26. Next year’s big event takes place on March 28th, 2010 from University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona:

Jim Ross has updated his JRsBarBQ.com blog with his thoughts coming out of last night’s newsworthy edition of WWE Raw. Some highlights:

ESPN Covering Raw: “ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt mentioned that his favorite old time wrestling star was Kamala the Ugandian Giant. Who’d a thunk it? ESPN surprised me with their coverage of Big Ben’s guest hosting shot Monday night on RAW. The Steelers had a great time from what I could see which comes as no surprise. The Steelers QB has been a WWE fan for long time.”

Cena-Orton Iron Man Match: “Orton vs. Cena in an Ironman Match is my kind of party. I just wish I could help call it. I love time limits and the scoring system. Makes the contest feel more like an athletic event of which I personally like. IF this is this pair’s last dance then I expect them to rock it for the duration and provide us fans with a compelling story. This match could be a great way to end this rivalry if that is the objective.”

Young Talent Being Elevated: “Nice to see Jack Swagger look as if he is going to get his ball rolling on RAW. Swagger has the athletic skills to be awfully good if he pushes himself to the next level both physically and mentally. Miz winning the U.S. Title will shake up that area and the popular Kofi chasing Miz could result in some excellent bouts. Nice move in my opinion.”

Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

— Stone Cold Steve Austin was in London over the weekend and was brought out onto the field during the West Ham vs. Fulham soccer game yesterday. Austin got on the microphone and said: “If you want to see West Ham open a can of whoop-ass, give me a hell yeah.”

— Bobby Heenan was not at his scheduled autograph appearance in Philadelphia yesterday. Promoters said he was injured in a fall on Friday. This would have been his first appearance at an event of this type since all of his surgeries.

— From the ‘Where are they now’ file: Kevin Fertig, who wrestled for WWE as Kevin Thorn, wrestled for Insanity Pro Wrestling on Saturday night in Indianapolis. He used the name Seven Thorn.

— There are talks for the Hulkamania tour of Australia being released on DVD in North America, but nothing is confirmed. Contrary to rumors, the shows likely won’t be available on PPV.

— Reminder: Matt Hardy appears on SyFy’s Scare Tactics tonight.

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BREAKING: RAW Host Training For CAGE MATCH In Two Weeks [FULL DETAILS]

— A source close to Jeff Hardy stated that Hardy is in “good spirits” and feels that his pending criminal case will go in his favor.

— There is backstage talk that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will host the first WWE Raw of 2010 from Dayton, Ohio on January 4. Johnson’s next feature film “Tooth Fairy” hits theaters on January 22.

— Scenes of the Pittsburgh Steelers and DX were shown during the opening of Monday night’ Sportscenter on ESPN. They showed clips of the Steelers players getting in their stance againt the Big Show and clips of Ben celebrating with DX. Jerry Lawler was heard saying, “There is your Sportscenter moment!”

— It is being reported that Gail Kim busted one of her breast implants at a recent Raw live event. She now joins WWE Divas Champion Mickie James, who was recently on the sidelines recovering from the same injury.

Sources: PWInsider.com, F4WOnline.com

Source: PWInsider.com

John Cena will be starring in his third WWE Studios movie later this year titled, “Oxley’s Road.”

Cena will play Cal Oxley, the youngest son of a wrestling family who decides to join his high school’s wrestling team. That decision is made against the wishes of his mother Sharon (played by Patricia Clarkson) in an effort to get her and the oldest Oxley brother to reconnect. Cal Oxley’s mother and older brother have been estranged for 10 years ever since a car accident claimed the life of Cal Oxley’s father.

Filming begins on December 8th in the New Orleans area.

The budget for Oxley’s Road has been set at $10 million, which means its going straight to DVD.

Thanks to reader Joey Adams for sending this in…

This morning Saturday Night Live cast member Andy Samberg appeared on 97 Rock’s Norton in the Morning Show out of Buffalo, New York to talk about his upcoming comedy show called Andy and Friends. When one of the hosts asked him if he had any other upcoming projects he said he had been contacted to host an upcoming RAW episode in October emanating from Buffalo. RAW is scheduled for Buffalo on the 26’th later this month.

After the hosts joked with him asking if he had to wear tights to get that gig Samberg laughed it off and said no but he would be debuting a new Digital Short he’s been working on for RAW starring some of the WWE Superstars. This makes sense because SNL airs on NBC which owns the USA Network.

Word going around the WWE locker room is that the reason CM Punk lost the World Heavyweight Title last night is because of heat on him stemming from an incident on the recent European tour, according to Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

The story goes that there was in issue with how Punk was dressed, and The Undertaker tried to nicely tell Punk that he was the World Champion and was representing WWE overseas so he should dress better. Punk said something to the effect of “what about John Cena?”

This got back to WWE management and they took it as Punk thinking he was a bigger star than John Cena. Then the decision was made to take the belt off Punk at Hell in a Cell and put the match as the opener. There are a couple versions of the story going around, but which ever one is being told, the end result remains the same.

The problems with Punk has been the talk of the SmackDown locker room for the past two days. There are some who are wondering why Undertaker was given the title considering his limited schedule and health problems with the feeling that it was too soon to take the title off Punk. Word is that WWE is planning on going with a Batista vs. Undertaker feud for the World Heavyweight Title.

UPDATE: Jim Ross has commented on this situation in his latest JRsBarBQ.com blog, writing, ‘Crazy email….CM Punk lost the World’s Title because of a “dress code” violation. Please, stop the pain.’

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Details On CM Punk-John Morrison Backstage Fight Last Week, New Maryse Pics, & More

Tonight’s edition of WWE Raw takes place from Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania.

* The guest host will be NFL Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback and Superbowl champion Ben Roethlisberger, who is bringing members of his offensive line with him. Over the weekend, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported “Big Ben” is bringing the following players with him to tonight’s show: Max Starks, Trai Essex, Justin Hartwig, Chris Kemoeatu, and Willie Colon.

Roethlisberger is an interesting pick to host tonight’s Raw, which will be going up against some very stiff competition from Monday Night Football. Tonight’s NFL game will feature Bret Favre & the Minnesota Vikings playing Favre’s old squad, the Green Bay Packers.

* For those wondering what Ben Roethlisberger will be promoting during his appearance tonight, it will be his charitable foundation, The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation, which  provides support for police and fire departments throughout the United States and enhances the quality of life for residents of Findlay, Ohio (his hometown) and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

* The advertised dark match main event for tonight’s show is a six-man tag match with John Cena, Triple H, and Shawn Michaels vs. Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase, and Cody Rhodes. It’s the same dark match main event they’ve been having after Raw for the past few weeks.

With only 20 days until WWE’s next PPV, Bragging Rights, WWE has no time to waste building towards that event – so we’ll probably see some matches announced tonight.

From site reader Jeff W: Al Michaels mentioned on Sunday Night Football on NBC that “tomorrow Ben Roethlisberger and some of his line are going to jet up to Wilkes-Barre to partake in Monday Night RAW with Vince McMahon and company”. Then he and Chris Collingsworth went into the controversy about his appearance. Considering that NBC owns USA Network (at least for now) you would think that Al would have been handed a formal billborad to read, but he was not.

From Andy R: I’m watching football tonight instead of the PPV and the NBC guys have mentioned Big Ben’s appearance on Monday Night Raw a few times. It even came up in Bob Costas’ pre-game interview with Ben where he advised him to watch out for the Big Show. Ben said he was bringing his O-line with him, so he’ll have back-up in case someone tries something. He did go out of his way to say that he wouldn’t be coming off the top rope or anything tomorrow. Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth were just talking about the appearance and Collinsworth said if you want to make your O-line happy, take them to wrestling.

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PIC: WWE’s Entire October RAW Guest Host Schedule Leaks Online [VIEW HERE]

Various changes were made to the booking of Sunday’s Hell in a Cell PPV according to F4WOnline.com. One match that WWE spent a lot of time crafting was the SmackDown IC title match between John Morrison and Dolph Ziggler. WWE views both men as future stars on the verge of moving to the next level, so its understandable that the WWE producers gave the booking of this one extra attention.

In addition the match order itself was also changed around several times before WWE settled on what we saw last night on PPV. At one point, there was talk of putting Randy Orton vs. John Cena on as the main event, which didn’t happen.  Additionally, most do not believe Undertaker vs. CM Punk was initially scheduled to open the show.

Based on how the match order played out, its clear WWE tried to space out the three Hell in a Cell matches. This is similar to what WWE has done at WrestleManias in the past, spacing out the title matches with undercard matches. This is why we saw Drew McIntire vs. Ron Killings in the second to last match of the night.

As has been reported, WWE creative as well as the talent roster have expressed some concern about having to book multiple, identical gimmick matches on the new specialty pay-per-views.

DOWNLOAD THE PODCAST HERE:
Solomonster Sounds Off (Episode 83)
*right-click, “Save As”, or stream it!

Est. Runtime: 60 minutes

Some of the topics discussed in this week’s Sounds Off include:

| Thoughts and predictions on the WWE “Hell in a Cell” pay-per-view and last minute changes

| Thoughts on the Smackdown 10th Anniversary show and ideas for Rock’s guest hosting gig on Raw

| The Ultimate Fighter BEATS Raw in the ratings this week and panic sets in at Titan Tower

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

Pay-Per-View provider iNDEMAND has released a preview for WWE’s new Bragging Rights event, which takes place on Sunday, October 25th in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The event replaces Cyber Sunday and is expected to feature some of that event’s interactive elements.

Here’s the event synopsis and promotional poster from iNDEMAND that reveals details on a huge interbrand main event:

“Bragging Rights are on the line in a special SmackDown vs. Raw tag-team main event featuring winners of the night’s matches. Don’t miss WWE Bragging Rights, with all your favorite Superstars including Randy Orton, John Cena, Triple H, Undertaker and Rey Mysterio, Sunday, October 25, 8PM ET / 5PM PT, live on pay-per-view. A World Wrestling Entertainment Production.”

Related Link : More Details on WWE’s new Bragging Rights Pay-Per-View

Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

— Several readers sent work that MyNetwork TV is no longer available in Memphis, TN. SmackDown will now instead be airing every Saturday Night in Memphis on the CW affiliate in Memphis channel 30 starting at 7 p.m.

— Bobby Heenan will be making a rare public appearance this wekend at an autograph signing run by Turnbuckle Promotions and Jason Blaustein (the son of Beyond The Mat director Barry Blaustein). It takes place on October 3rd and 4th in Oaks, Pennsylvania at the Greater Philly Expo Center, 100 Station Ave.

— Edge and Eve will be in Australia from November 11th through the 16th to do promotion for WWE’s tour of the country in 2010.

— Roy Nelson talked about defeating Kimbo Slice on this week‘s episode of The Ultimate Fighter to USA Today: “First round was 44 punches to the face, and then Herb Dean doesn’t know how to ref, but we’ve seen that before. And then the next round was 22 punches. You could even see me yelling at Herb Dean, ‘Come on, ref.’… But the thing is, there’s a lot of people, there’s a lot of money… So I think it was more that Herb Dean was afraid to lose his job, because there’s a lot of people with a lot of money that can have a lot of influence with his career.”

— From the ‘Where are they now’ file: Collector’s Realm has an autograph signing with “Mr. Kennedy” and Dusty Rhodes on Saturday, November 7th from 1-3 pm at 44 Raymond Avenue in Poughkeepsie – one block north of Vassar College.

BACKSTAGE NEWS: Huge INCIDENT Between Mickie James & Randy Orton @ RAW [Full details >>]

Wednesday night’s  highly anticipated edition of UFC’s The Ultimate Fighter delivered a monster rating that put this week’s edition of WWE Raw to shame. UFC President Dana White boldly predicted 6 million viewers would tune in for Kimbo Slice’s first UFC fight and he was right on the money.

The 1-hour broadcast drew a 3.7 cable rating and averaged 5.3 million viewers. The final 15-minute segment featuring the Kimbo-Nelson fight drew a staggering 6.1 million viewers, making it the most watched MMA show on Spike ever.  The show drew a massive 6.81 rating in the M18-34 demo, with a 5.4 for M18-49.

Despite Kimbo Slice’s shortcoming inside the cage, his ability to draw in fans is undeniable. ?He now holds three of the top four most viewed MMA fights in the sport’s history.

By comparison, Monday’s Raw hosted by Al Sharpton drew a 3.1 cable rating with 4.5 million viewers, the lowest rating of the year.  Even uglier was Raw’s performance in the M18-49 demographic. UFC killed it with a 5.4 rating while Raw drew a meager 1.86.

Before the Ultimate Fighter rating came out, the backstage feeling within WWE was that “sh*t would hit the fan” and changes would be in store if UFC beat Raw this week. While the UFC show featured a special attraction in Kimbo Slice’s first UFC fight and the company likely won’t be able to sustain those numbers, WWE will not take this lightly.

— Radio personality for New York’s POWER 105, Ed Lover, has a new video online where he discusses Al Sharpton’s appearance on WWE RAW this week. Lover says: “Speaking of stupid s***, did you see Al Sharpton on WWE? Is this the same man who stood up for Sean Bell and non-violence in the streets? And then you’re at the WWE? The WWE is nothing but violence. […] Come on, son. Who do you think you are, Classy Freddie Blassie? You‘re a reverend, son.” You can watch the video at this link.

— In the UK for the week ending Sept. 20: TNA iMPACT did 50,000 viewers, RAW did 58,000 live and 66,000 for the replay, and SmackDown did 56,000.

— ESPN came in first place once again for last week’s cable ratings race, with USA coming in second. SyFy was at #13 and Spike was at #17 despite thie big ratings for The Ultimate Fighter. The two hours of RAW hosted by Cedric were the #3 and #5 rated shows for the week, with football dominating the rest of the chart. In the 18-34 demographic, the second hour of RAW was #4 while the first hour didn’t crack the top 10. In 18-49, the two hours of RAW were ranked #2 and #7, while The Ultimate Fighter was #5.

— In Leonard Maltin’s 2010 Movie Guide, he gives The Wrestler 3.5 stars and gives 12 Rounds 2.5 stars.

PICS: WWE’s Newest Diva – Looks Like Chyna…Whoa [INFO + PIC GALLERY; CLICK HERE]

— According to an article by BostonHerald.com, a source at the Boston Park Plaza hotel revealed some interesting details about what goes on when Vince McMahon and superstars and staff of World Wrestling Entertainment stay at a hotel.

First off, “all of Vince McMahon’s charges go to the master bill,” the info sheet states. Those charges would include “a special room-service order upon (McMahon’s) arrival between 11:45 p.m. and midnight . . . WWE will pay the chef to stay late.”

Additionally, all of the WWE rooms had to be non-smoking and “all rooms traveling with Vince McMahon should be pre-keyed” so he doesn’t have to wait to check in upon his arrival.  Say what you want about him, the guy knows how to travel!

— In a recent interview with WWE Magazine, Vince McMahon gave his thoughts on what defines today’s WWE Superstars. Using the massive Warlord as an example, McMahon says bigger is not necessarily better in today’s WWE. When asked what defines today’s top WWE superstars,  Vince said:

“It’s everything that people don’t see. It’s easy to say from a visual standpoint that bigger is better in reference to past eras of WWE. But take The Warlord, for example. He was enormous — one of the most visually impressive Superstars we’ve had — but he couldn’t sell five tickets. He had no charisma, no “gift of gab,” which is what really sets apart today’s Superstars, even if they may not be as physically intimidating. Someone like CM Punk, even though he’s a good-looking guy, isn’t built like that. He probably weighs less than I do. But today’s fans are drawn to his confidence and charisma. Those are the things a Superstar exudes, and they translate though the television set.”

Earlier this week, Matt Hardy posted a message on his Twitter page that said he’s tired of “being punished because of someone else’s sins.” Since Matt was only been on WWE television once since his brother’s Jeff’s arrest on September 11th, some speculated that Matt’s Twitter remarks were implying that he was being punished by WWE for Jeff’s behavior.

After a few sites out there took the bait, Matt posted a message on his MySpace blog

Last night, since almost every WWE personality was in Boston for The Decade Of Smackdown show, we all went out to eat after the show last night. A huge tab ended up being comped, which was very cool. Everyone was gonna leave generous tips because the meal was free obviously, and we wanted to take care of our servers. I was one of the last ones to leave, and was figuring up the tip. The tip wasn’t as good as I would have liked it to have been from a couple of the guys. So I left an extremely large tip at the end before leaving. I joked and said it was a sin that I had to pay for other people’s mistakes and cheapness. I bet a couple of my closest WWE friends that if I posted a tweet rephrasing the situation as “I am exhausted from being punished because of someone else’s sins”, that the wrestling media would pick up that comment and run with it as something completely different. Low and behold, almost every site did.

While there may be a few copy and paste “newz” sites out there that reported Matt was in fact talking about Jeff, most reputable sites did what we did – posted Hardy’s comments and allowed readers to connect the dots themselves.

— This past Monday’s edition of Raw drew a 3.1 cable rating, its lowest number in several months. The show drew hours of 3.06 and 3.15. The program’s two hours were the number two and three rated shows for the evening, behind Monday Night Football on ESPN (which drew a 11.5 rating).

— MyNetworkTV, home of WWE’s Friday Night SmackDown, has basically given up on running original programming and is no longer considered an actual broadcast network, according to an article on Variety.com. My”Network”TV will now have its ratings reported weekly as part of a syndicated report and will no longer have daily national ratings reported.

— The WWE website has posted video of Al Sharpton detailing his big night as the guest host of Raw, which you can see here.

Jim Ross updated his blog at JRsBarBQ.com. In this edition, JR gives an update on Jeff Hardy’s situation and talks about who will replace Lilian Garcia:

Jeff Hardy Update: “Word has it that Jeff Hardy is ‘laying low’ these days and diligently preparing to meet the challenges that await him. The more I hear of this legal matter the more I think that there is MUCH more to this story than meets the eye and that Jeff Hardy is far from being a drug trafficker. To even think the latter is ridiculous. I feel confident that in the coming weeks that Jeff will have his day to reconcile this matter and to better address it publicly.

“Until then, Jeff is wise to remain silent and not feel obligated to tweet, etc his fans as no one needs or deserves any information on this issue until the proper time. Just from what I have been able to ascertain, this case looks much worse on paper than it actually is but let’s all allow the legal process to address this matter and remember that we, as citizens of the United States, are innocent until proven guilty.”

Replacing Lilian Garcia: “I don’t know the details of what going to occur as it relates to replacing Lilian Garcia, whose last night on the job was this past Monday, but I suspect that Justin Roberts, the current SD ring announcer, might get that nod. That’s just speculation on my part but Justin does a really nice job and is a reliable, professional young man. I think getting a female who also sings to do Lil’s role has its challenges. However, it’s obvious that a new ring announcer is needed and someone will be introduced next week or so it would seem. The young lady who worked in Tulsa Tuesday night seem to sing the National Anthem quite well.”