– In the “Where Are They Now?” department, former WWE developmental talent Lindsay Kay Howard (Isis The Amazon, Aloisia) appeared on an episode of Grey’s Anatomy last week.

– Former WWE Superstar Christopher Nowinski, who is now running the Concussion Legacy Foundation, was backstage at WWE RAW in Boston, Mass. on Monday night. Below is a photo of Nowinski at the show with Natalya.

Awesome seeing @ChrisNowinski1 backstage at #Raw tonight. He's a great friend to me who has helped me immensely. ? pic.twitter.com/tCHv8c36rF

— Nattie (@NatbyNature) October 6, 2015

– The Rock recently did a photo shoot for Muscle & Fitness magazine and called it his “biggest and most intense photo shoot” so far. The Rock posted the following preview:

https://instagram.com/p/8evTMyoh6q/

• CM Punk INJURED While Training For UFC Debut — How Long Will He Be Out?!

WWE Medical Doctor Joseph Maroon made some controversial comments about CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephelopathy) during a recent appearance on “NFL Total Access.”

Maroon, who is also an NFL medical consultant and works as a neurosurgeon for the Pittsburgh Steelers, said that CTE is “over-exaggerated” during his appearance on the NFL Network program.

“I think the problem of CTE, although real, is it’s being over-exaggerated and being extrapolated to youth football and to high school football,” Maroon stated. “We came up with 63 total cases of CTE [and] in the last two years a few more, but there have been 30-40 million kids who have played football during that period of time. It’s a rare phenomena. We have no idea the incidence. There are more injuries to kids falling off bikes, scooters, falling in playgrounds than there are in youth football. I think again, it’s never been safer. Can we improve? Yes. We have to do better all the time to make it safer.”

Christopher Nowinski, who heads up the Sports Legacy Institute (SLI), countered Maroon’s take.

“As to whether CTE is rare in the general population, that is true,” Nowinski said. “CTE has never been found in an individual who was not exposed to significant brain trauma. It has been found in the vast majority of NFL players and professional boxers who have been studied, but the true risk in that population is unknown because of the absence of a test for CTE in the living.”

For more, visit ESPN.com.

• CM PUNK Reveals The EXACT MONTH He’ll Be Making His UFC Debut!

– WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley will be launching his WrestleMania Dream Vacation raffle tonight during WWE RAW at 9pm ET. The raffle will send some lucky fans to WrestleMania XXX in New Orleans and benefit RAINN, an anti-sexual assault organization that Foley has done some work with in the past.

– Brandi Rhodes, who as noted is again working under the name Eden Stiles, has been teasing something to happen on February 12th. She noted that she’s an “open book” and said it will be an adventure.

– Following his lengthy interview with Chavo Guerrero on the death of Chris Benoit on his “Talk Is Jericho” podcast last week, Chris Jericho noted recently that he will be having Christopher Nowinski on his show soon. Nowinski is the former WWE Superstar who examined the brain of Benoit after his passing.

– Former WWE Superstar Christopher Nowinski will be appearing on “Katie” on Tuesday to discuss traumatic head injuries and his research with The Sports Legacy Institute into CTE.

– The following is the official preview for next Sunday night’s edition of WWE Total Divas: “Ariane encourages Vincent to audition for WWE. Nikki has a difficult time getting used to living with John. Trinity’s relationship with Jon takes a turn when her dad moves in.”

– WWE will be taking part in another “Google Hangout” session on Tuesday at 1pm E.T. to promote Tuesday evening’s premiere of “Christmas Bounty” on ABC Family.

The following are highlights from a recent Newsday interview with former WWE Superstar and member of the Sports Legacy Institute (SLI), Christopher Nowinski:

On a conversation he remembers having with Vince McMahon: “He let me know how proud he was [of SLI], how far the research had come, the influence we had in changing the culture in sports. And he really opened up the door to saying how could we work together, both to protect the talent in WWE, but it’s also ingrained that they’re supporting CTE research that will benefit athletes, military veterans and the world at large.”

On how WWE compares to other sports in terms of what he does: “The NFL has also been supportive financially of our research. I think what’s most special to me — I do a lot of speaking on this and a lot of training. Very few professional leagues have invited me in front of their talent, in front of the athletes. because I think they’re sometimes concerned about what message they’ll get, and their ability to maybe put them back into a big game when they need them. I think some leagues like that the players don’t necessarily know the risks they’re being exposed to.”

Check out the complete interview online at Newsday.com.

NEW Matches & Huge *SPOILERS* For Sunday’s WWE Hell In A Cell PPV!

– Rey Mysterio was backstage at this week’s RAW in Memphis but not used. He was still scheduled to return on the show as late as Monday afternoon. The idea was that since he won’t be wrestling for a few more weeks, they decided against putting him on TV for an interview.

– WWE executives Stephanie McMahon and Triple H accepted an Impact Award on behalf of WWE earlier this week in Boston, MA for for the concussion work they’ve done in recent years. Stephanie tweeted the following messages, as well as a photo of herself and Triple H with former WWE Superstar Chris Nowinski of the Sports Legacy Institute:

Thank you @ChrisNowinski1 for the amazing work you and your team do to prevent concussions. Our @sportslegacy Impact Award belongs to you.

— Stephanie McMahon (@StephMcMahon) October 24, 2013

Thank you again @ChrisNowinski1 we are proud and honored to receive the @sportslegacy Impact Award for 2013. pic.twitter.com/x5gzH82KGo

— Stephanie McMahon (@StephMcMahon) October 24, 2013

• Photos of REY MYSTERIO & WADE BARRETT’s WWE Returns Last Week In Mexico

(Partial Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

– Ric Flair is said to be a strong supporter of Matt Morgan. Flair sees tremendous potential in Morgan and has been mentoring him behind the scenes at recent iMPACT! tapings.

– TNA president Dixie Carter is getting serious about protecting her talent from head injuries and recently spoke to former WWE star and concussion awareness champion Chris Nowinski. As part of this effort, TNA star Ken Anderson recently announced on Twitter that the company has banned unprotected chair shots to the head.

– To update the story of TNA’s Miss Tessmacher working at a Hooters restaurant in Houston, TX, the latest is that she did in fact work there – but it was only so she could enter a Hooters waitress bikini contest.

– The “Hulk Hogan & Friends” panel discussion that was scheduled for this week in Green Bay, Wisconsin has been rescheduled until January 21st, 2011. Among the Hogan friends who will be appearing are the Nasty Boys, Brutus Beefcake, Jimmy Hart, Greg Valentine, Jim Duggan and Koko B. Ware.

– Independent wrestler TJ Perkins will be getting a TNA tryout in January. He has worked for the company before, wrestling as the masked star “Puma” in the 2006 and 2008 World X Cup tournaments.

(Partial Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

Former WWE superstar and concussion awareness champion Chris Nowinski recently spoke to New England’s NECN news show about the WWE work environment.

Nowinski, who is a Harvard graduate and wrestled for WWE from 2002-2004 before having to retire after a head injury, paints an ugly picture of WWE encouraging steroid use, widespread use of pain pills and more.

Steroid Use In WWE: “The WWE rewards the guys who use them.”

The Unsafe Work Environment: “They have an environment where it’s absolutely unsafe to work in that ring. They have no oversight into what actually happens in the ring. And they are encouraging steroid use,” he said, citing the enormous physiques of recent champions such as Triple H and Batista. “It’s garbage that they’re not using stuff,” he said. “They absolutely know what’s going on.”

Painkiller Use In WWE: “They’re taking pain killers because they’re working 200 nights a year and getting hit unlike anyone in the history of the wrestling business — it wasn’t like that in the ’80s, it wasn’t like that in the ’70s” he said. “I used to go through tables for four days a week.”

Linda McMahon Saying She “Might Have Met”Lance Cade: “That’s complete garbage. Just kicking dirt on the guy’s grave.”

Here’s video of Nowinski’s interview: