— WWE Superstars, which finished its run on WGN America last week, has found a new home. The show will air every Thursday at 5:00 p.m. EST on WWE.com.

Advertised for today’s episode is The Great Khali vs. Zack Ryder. Other matches taking place include:

* Gail Kim and Natalya vs. Maryse and Melina

* Chris Masters vs. Curt Hawkins

— A scene was edited from the Tough Enough elimination process where Steve Austin asked contestant Michelle Deighton what her favorite match was. While Ariane Andrew sealed her fate on the program by naming Melina vs. Alicia Fox as her all-time favorite match (and being unable to name another match), Deighton said Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart.

— Former WWE Women’s Champion Lita celebrates her 36th birthday today.

source: Pro Wrestling Torch

Monday Night Mayhem with Bill DeMott
Hosts: The Big Mosh and “The Chairman of the Board” Todd Vincent
Report by Paterson from N.J.
Airs every Monday at 6:00 P.M. (CT)
Show available at MondayNightMayhem.com.

Why he made the decision to return to the WWE as a trainer for Tough Enough: “It’s very simple. I was sitting home, and my phone rang. I looked at the area code. It was 203, and I said ‘Damn what did I do now?’ Anytime I see those three numbers for Connecticut, the first thing I think is ‘What did I do?’ It was John Gaburick, my friend for years and who ran the Tough Enough’s in years past. Before he could get the sentence out of his mouth, I said I was in. He didn’t have to explain anything, or after the hereafters, and who was apart of it. Before I knew it was ‘Stone Cold’ (Steve Austin), Trish (Stratus), and Booker (T) I was in, because I take great pride in associating myself with the Tough Enough brand.”

How the Tough Enough contestants took to WrestleMania weekend and the overall experience of WrestleMania XXVII: “I don’t think they got it, and there’s a part of me that says they did not deserve to be there. I don’t mean it disrespectfully. I understand Raw and premiere the kids there, but WrestleMania? You have to earn that spot. There’s cats on the roster that weren’t at WrestleMania, so I don’t think they understood it. I just thought they were like ‘Wow, we’re at WrestleMania, and there’s cameras ollowing us, and we’re it right now.’ I guess that’s my crossover with Reality TV right now. I’m always going to protect the business.”

How many of the Tough Enough contestants (besides the winner) he believes have the potential to perform in the WWE: “If I gave my honest opinion, which I pretty much do 99 percent of the time, there might be three that have potential to go to the farm system. The finale will be live, so everybody will see who the two or three are. I think for reality TV, a lot of people are picking their favorite talent and putting their money on them. I think every week someone is going to be shocked at what happens.”

Whether or not there have been discussions of a return to the ring or the announcer’s table after the season finale of WWE Tough Enough airs: “There’s been some very interesting conversations since returning from L.A. and shooting the first nine weeks of the series. I think people are going to be very surprised if they see me back in anything other than Tough Enough. I like Tough Enough to be my baby and be there as long as they’ll have me, and I feel like even after the training stuff is done in producing and bringing the show further and further. But I think people are going to be surprised at my role, whether it be a new role or an old role with WWE. I have to say, don’t cash me out of making an in-ring appearance or two.”

The ratings are in for Monday’s episodes of WWE RAW and WWE Tough Enough – and both shows are down from the prior week’s post-WrestleMania shows.

– Monday’s WWE RAW drew a 3.45 rating, down 10% from last week’s 3.82.

This week’s 2-hour broadcast averaged 5.45 million viewers, down only 3% from last week’s 5.60 million viewers.

This week’s first hour drew a 3.37 rating (5.34 million viewers) and the second hour drew a 3.52 (5.56 million viewers).

– Monday’s episode of Tough Enough in the new 8pm timeslot (before RAW) drew a 1.81 rating, down 27% from last week’s premier, which drew a 2.51.

This week’s viewership was 2.79 million viewers, down 16% from last week’s 3.33 million viewers.

Overall, not a bad showing this week for for WWE. A slight drop from the post-WrestleMania shows was expected, but the numbers held on pretty strong.

(Source: Pro Wrestling Torch)

— Matt Capiccioni (a/k/a Matt Cross) was eliminated from last night’s episode of WWE Tough Enough because Steve Austin didn’t like the fact that Capiccioni had been on the independent wrestling scene for nine years and hadn’t “broke free from the pack.” This, as well as his general reluctance to take risks, led to him being cut.

— WWE.com is advertising the following for tonight’s episode of WWE NXT: “On WWE NXT, host Maryse was told by her boyfriend, Ted DiBiase, that she must pick him or the show. Is the beautiful and witty Diva’s Tuesday night fun over?”

— Edge is advertised to surrender the World Heavyweight Championship at tonight’s WWE SmackDown taping in Albany, New York. In a trivia note, Edge will be vacating the title in the same building he won his first WWE Championship, which took place in 2006 at WWE New Year’s Revolution. After John Cena won the Elimination Chamber Match, he cashed in the Money in the Bank briefcase and subsequently won the strap.

— Trish Stratus appeared on NBC’s Today show this morning to promote the new season of Tough Enough and her yoga studio, Stratusphere.

Stratus said the show’s final two contestants will appear before the live WWE audience, where the winner will be determined.

Video of her appearance is available here.

— WWE will announce during their live event tour in Mexico next month that television tapings will be held in Mexico City at Palacio de Los Deportes.

A week’s worth of programming, Raw and Smackdown, will both be taped during the October tour. Both shows will be taped in advance over a weekend.

The shows will be the first WWE events to be taped from Mexico.

source: PWInsider.com

– With WrestleMania 27 in the history books, there is talk within WWE about when the company will hold this year’s talent draft. There had been talk a few weeks ago that there would be no draft this year, but we have not heard anything concrete about the draft being scrapped. If the draft does take place , it will not be this month as in previous years, but would likely take place in June, when WWE will be holding two 3-hour episodes of RAW.

– CM Punk made some interesting comments on Twitter this week after watching the premiere episode of Tough Enough. About Miss USA Rima Fakih, Punk tweeted:

“So far this rima broad needs to take her padding and cover her weird face.”

He also wrote the following about Ariane Andrew, the first contestant to be eliminated this week:

“I know this Arianne as, “tampon girl”. Maybe I’ll tell the story…”

– It’s worth noting  Triple H vs. The Undertaker was the only match at WrestleMania 27 to last over 15 minutes.  which went almost 30 minutes. John Cena vs. The Miz went just under 15 minutes before it was re-started and after the second fall, it went 15 minutes and 20 seconds.

(Partial Source: f4wonline.com)

— The season finale of WWE’s Tough Enough is scheduled for June 6 at 8:00 p.m. on the USA Network.

— WWE Hall of Famer Sunny claimed earlier this week on her Facebook account that a WWE Diva is engaged to a chef on the Food Network. It’s being speculated that the engaged couple is Gail Kim and Robert Irvine, who appears on a variety of Food Network programs. Irvine sat with Kim at the WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Saturday.

Regarding the rumor, Kim commented on Twitter, “Why is every1 saying I’m married? Lol! P.s. I don’t talk about my personal life…thanks for the kindness and respect.”

— WWE Hall of Famer Greg Valentine has been announced for the Motor City Comic Con, which takes place May 13 – 15 at Suburban Collection Showplace 46100 Grand River Ave. Novi, Michigan.

source: prowrestling.net

— According to sources within WWE, there is said to be a lot of backstage heat between WrestleMania tag team partners John Morrison and Trish Stratus. Morrison was reportedly very upset that Trish was booked for a match at WrestleMania, which he felt took away a spot on the card from his girlfriend, Melina. Morrison was very stubborn before the match regarding the booking of the angle leading up to the match, rejecting several ideas along the way. At WrestleMania, Morrison is visibly cold to Trish, not making any eye contact with her and apparently snubbing her in the post-match celebration and turning his back to her.

— Tough Enough contestant Jeremiah Riggs, the mixed martial artist, met with TNA Wrestling’s Director of Talent Relations Terry Taylor about joining the promotion before he wound up on the reality program. The organization showed in interest in Riggs due to his role on VH1’s Daisy of Love and because he has prior wrestling experience. Riggs trained with Dutch Mantel before turning is focus to MMA.

— Tammy “Sunny” Sytch, who was enshrined last Saturday in the WWE Hall of Fame, indicated on her Facebook account that a WWE Diva is engaged to be married.

“Can’t believe one of my favorite WWE Divas in marrying one of my favorite Food Network chefs!!” Sytch wrote. “Man, is she a lucky girl! All that amazing food, all the time!!!”

Sytch stated she would not reveal who it is until the Diva in question goes public.

— The pre-sale code for the Saturday, June 18 WWE Supershow at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey is ACCESS. The pre-sale began this morning on Ticketmaster.com.

(sources: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, PWInsider.com)

It was reported earlier that an altercation took place late Sunday night at a sports bar between members of the Tough Enough cast and TNA Wrestling performer Matt Hardy.

The incident occurred at the Marriott Marquis hotel in Atlanta, where WWE held the reality show contestants and consumers who purchased WrestleMania XXVII travel packages.

Many of the cast members were watching WrestleMania at the hotel’s sports bar and warmly greeting fans. Michelle Deighton, in particular, was giving fans chops. Hardy and girlfriend Reby Sky, who were in town for the Dragon Gate USA Show, appeared at the bar (after being denied access to the WrestleMania after-party) and reportedly engaged in an argument with the Tough Enough members at 3:00 a.m., causing a scene in front of fans.

Shortly after the story broke out, Matt Hardy posted several messages on his Twitter account poking fun at Wrestling Observer editor Dave Meltzer, as the story was attributed to his website. He jokingly wrote, “Well, since it’s out- Yeah, @RebySky & myself beat up the entire Tough Enough crew after her DGUSA show-Reby beat up 4 girls, I beat 9 guys!”

He later clarified his remarks, writing, “Just so everyone knows, the silly story we’ve been joking about 2day was created by a dirtsheet, not by Reby or I. Solid reporting there WO.”

Sky clarified the situation as well, adding, “The dirtsheets were writing that me & Matt had gotten into a “serious altercation” w/the Tough Enough cast on WrestleMania weekend, which was so ridiculously erroneous that we made a sarcastic comment about “taking down” the entire cast. SARCASTIC. As in ha-ha-making-a-funny-because-the-dirtsheets-are-crazy-get-a-fking-sense-of-humor.

“For the record, Matt & I had a wonderful weekend – He came down to support me at @DragonGateUSA & we were nowhere near the TE cast.”

Shortly after the incident took place, Hardy wrote on his Twitter account, “Well, it’s official..Me & @RebySky are muthaf*ckin Banditos..I always liked the Hilton better anyway.”

Sky wrote, “Banned for life. It was worth it.” She then added, “We’re headed back to North Carolina – Goodbye Georgia, your crazy fans, your crazy cops & your even crazier hotel security personnel.”

When asked on Formspring what she and Hardy were banned from, Sky stated they were “banned for life” from an Atlanta hotel.

source: f4wonline.com

There was an altercation between TNA Wrestling talent Matt Hardy and members of the Tough Enough cast at a hotel bar in Atlanta, Georgia during WrestleMania XXVII weekend.

While details of the incident have to be disclosed, Reby Sky, Hardy’s girlfriend, revealed on her Formspring account that she and Hardy were “banned for life” from the hotel in question.

One WWE source said that if a main roster talent had done some of the things they did, termination would be likely if they were low enough on the totem pole.

source: f4wonline.com

— Jillian Hall, who has not wrestled since being released from her WWE contract on November 19, 2010, has announced plans to return to the squared circle.

The former WWE Divas Champion is accepting bookings for signings and wrestling appearances via jillian9hall@aol.com.

— Former WWE Divas Lilian Garcia and Candice Michelle hosted a Tough Enough aftershow this past Monday night discussing its premiere as well as their time in the wrestling industry. Both Tommy Dreamer and Torrie Wilson called in to the program. To view the episode, here. Torrie Wilson joins the program next week as a regular.

Next week’s episode will start at its normal time, 11:15 p.m. ET/ 8:15 p.m. PT, via ustream.tv/afterbuzztv.

— NBC has launched a WWE Tough Enough app via iTunes.

The USA Network issued the following on Tuesday night:

“WWE TOUGH ENOUGH” PUTS REALITY WORLD ON NOTICE IN DEBUT

WWE TOUGH ENOUGH premiered to huge numbers last night in its debut on USA Network. WWE TOUGH ENOUGH is #2 new reality series premiere of the year on cable in P18-49 and P18-34.

– P18-49: 1.969 million
– P25-54: 1.714 million
– Total Viewers: 3.326 million
– P18-34: 1.064 million

WWE TOUGH ENOUGH premiered last night immediately following WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW, and moves into its regularly scheduled timeslot, Mondays at 8/7c, starting on Monday, April 11.

— TMZ.com reports that the people behind Pit Boss have teamed up with VH1 to produce a show centered around the wives of famous professional wrestlers.

According to the report, the show will star Sharmell Sullivan-Huffman (wife of Booker T), Stacy Carter (ex-wife of Jerry Lawler) and Jackie Haas (wife of Charlie Haas).

The show will be centered around Booker T’s wrestling school in Texas, which Sharmell helps run.

— Raw Superstar Yoshi Tatsu has launched an account on Twitter.

— John Cena is advertised for next week’s episode of Tough Enough on the USA Network. The program airs at 8:00 p.m.

— “Stone Cold” Steve Austin said on his Twitter account that he is scheduled for tonight’s Raw.

— A four block of WWE programming is on tap tonight on the USA Network.

The 2011 WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony kicks off the four hour block at 8:00 p.m. Shawn Michaels, The Road Warriors and Sunny will be the featured inductees.

Monday Night Raw from the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia will feature fallout from WrestleMania XXVII, the WWE television debut of Sin Cara, and an appearance by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. SmackDown stars advertised for the event include Rey Mysterio, Edge, Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler and Alberto Del Rio.

WWE’s Tough Enough premieres at 11:00 p.m. with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin hosting. Booker T, Trish Stratus and Bill DeMott are trainers.

TLC — Torrie Wilson, Lilian Garcia and Candice Michelle — have teamed up with AfterBuzzTV.com to host a live aftershow on WWE’s Tough Enough.

The show will stream live every Monday night immediately following Tough Enough on the USA Network at ustream.tv/afterbuzztv. The first episode will stream live tomorrow night at midnight ET/9 PT before moving to its regular time slot of 11:15/8:15 the following Monday.

The show will feature guests on a weekly basis. “Hardcore Original” Tommy Dreamer is scheduled to appear on Monday’s show.

Here’s a look at the full cast of the new season of WWE Tough Enough:

• PICTURES of the entire Tough Enough Cast

The new season of WWE Tough Enough does not premiere until Monday night after the post-WrestleMania edition of RAW, but we’ve already got a sneak peek at the first episode, including some spoilers. You’ve been warned.

* The show begins with Steve Austin having the contestants setup an empty arena for a live WWE event. The next day, the contestants begin their training with Trish Stratus, Booker T and Bill DeMott.

* The first beef in the Tough Enough house is between Miss USA Rima Fakih and New Jersey wrestler Mickael Zaki. Zaki runs his mouth about how Tough Enough should have only featured men and women don’t belong on the show. Zaki throws a pillow at Miss USA, who responds by telling him off and storming out of the room. Zaki is portrayed as a heel on the first episode.

* One of the contestants “crapped their pants” during the in-ring training.

(Partial Source: BuzzFocus.com)

— WrestleMania XXVII host Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is scheduled for Piers Morgan Tonight on CNN. His appearance airs this Thursday at 9:00 p.m.

In January, the talk show filled the time slot formerly held by Larry King Live.

— The cast of Tough Enough are scheduled to appear at WrestleMania XXVII in Atlanta, Georgia. They are also scheduled for the following night’s Monday Night Raw taping.

— The WWE website has posted new studio photos of SmackDown Diva Kaitlyn.

source: ProWrestling.net

— John Cena wrote the following on Twitter regarding his showdown with The Rock and The Miz tomorrow night on Raw: “CeNation. Already gearing up for monday. Rock said it..and I believe it..the time for talk is over.”

— WWE Tough Enough is expected to be added to the USA Network’s Video On Demand service. Replays of the show will air late Monday night.

The first episode is titled “Get Your Teeth Out of My Ring.”

— Trish Stratus is scheduled to appear on the CBC Television talk show Steven and Chris on Tuesday to demonstrate her workout featured in the latest issue of Oxygen.

source: PWInsider.com

USA PREMIERES ITS NEWEST REALITY COMPETITION SERIES “WWE TOUGH ENOUGH” ON MONDAY, APRIL 4 AT 11/10C

Hosted by WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin,
TOUGH ENOUGH Moves to its Regular Timeslot, Monday, April 11 at 8/7c

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and PSYCH Star James Roday to Guest Star

USA Network unveils its new Monday night programming block with the premiere of WWE TOUGH ENOUGH, a non-scripted series in collaboration with World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. and Shed Media US. Hosted by WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, WWE TOUGH ENOUGH premieres April 4, 2011, featuring a group of twelve individuals looking for an once-in-a-lifetime shot to become the next WWE Superstar or Diva. The grand-prize winner will be awarded a contract with WWE, joining its roster of talent.

WWE TOUGH ENOUGH will premiere at 11/10c, the day after WrestleMania XXVII and immediately following USA’s ratings juggernaut WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW, and then will move into its regularly scheduled timeslot, Mondays at 8/7c, starting on Monday, April 11. The series premieres with a one-hour episode followed by nine (9) one-hour episodes.

Renowned WWE Women’s Champion Trish Stratus, former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Booker T and Bill Demott – from the original WWE TOUGH ENOUGH series – serve as trainers to a diverse group of men and women will live, train and compete together in a house in Simi Valley, California. To see who has what it takes to be the next WWE Superstar or Diva, the contestants will battle it out each week in a series of unique challenges designed to test for such characteristics including showmanship, creativity, athleticism and desire. Each episode will feature a current WWE Superstar, who will introduce the contenders to a quality that they must possess to make it to the top of the sports entertainment world. Along the way, viewers will witness the trials and tribulations of what it takes to be one of the best in the world’s greatest sports entertainment organization.

Each episode will conclude with the elimination of one of the hopefuls who is left outside of the ring, while those that remain will move one step closer to their dream.

In the final episode, the remaining contestants will battle it out for the grand prize.

Hollywood star and former WWE Champion Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and star of USA’s PSYCH, James Roday, will guest on the series.

IGN.com features an interview with multi-time WWE Women’s Champion Trish Stratus promoting the USA Network’s revival of Tough Enough, who appears as a trainer on the show. She notes that many of the contestants have previous wrestling experience.

“A lot of the contestants have a background,” Stratus said. “They come from wrestling backgrounds. They’ve been doing it for a few years, but it’s an entirely different thing to be doing it on the big stage and to do it professionally and to do it with the grind of the big WWE machine.”

Stratus said of current WWE talent, Natalya is “untapped.”

She explained, “Fans are starting to get to know her more and more and I’m just waiting for the day where she goes out there and really can do her thing because I don’t think she’s been given the opportunity to really get out there and show everybody what she’s got.”

In light of Sunny’s induction into this year’s WWE Hall of Fame class, Stratus suggested that Chyna be enshrined next.

“I think Chyna should be next in because she did a lot of stuff to bring attention to the women’s division itself and just presented women as a different thing,” Stratus said. “I think fans were conditioned to see women as eye candy for a long, long time and she really broke the mold with that.”

Stratus also discusses her favorite opponent, her favorite WrestleMania match, incorporating yoga into the Tough Enough contestants’ warming up regimen, as well as the program. The article can be read here.

— Tough Enough, which premieres April 4 on the USA Network, wrapped up filming last week. Trainers Trish Stratus and Bill DeMott noted on Twitter that the show concluded “principal shooting” and that the top two finalists have been determined.

— Abdullah the Butcher is expected to be announced as the latest member of the WWE Hall of Fame tonight on Raw.

— Jim Ross said on Twitter that Saturday’s Raw live event at Madison Square Garden in New York City drew 19,000 fans for an estimated gate of $800,000.

— Mark Henry missed last week’s Monday Night Raw taping as he was in Australia promoting WrestleMania XXVII as well as WWE’s upcoming tour Down Under. “The World’s Strongest Man” appeared on the breakfast television program Weekend Sunrise discussing the WWE experience. (video)

— Brodus Clay, who debuted two weeks ago on Raw as the bodyguard of Alberto Del Rio, is now officially a member of the SmackDown roster. TheNXT Season 4 contestant has been added to the Superstars page on WWE.com.

— Steve Austin said this morning on his Twitter account that Tough Enough has concluded filming.

“Well…just finished with Tough Enough…it was a helluva lot of fun…thanks to @BillDeMott, @trishstratuscom, and Booker T..great cats.”

— The May 31 SmackDown taping will take place at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa. The advertised main event is Edge and Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio and Cody Rhodes.

— Tough Enough contestant Matt Cross is scheduled to appear for the Vanguard Wrestling All-Star Alliance in Oak Park, Illinois on April 9.

— NXT Season 3 contestant AJ Lee celebrates her 24th birthday today. She currently reigns as FCW Divas Champion in WWE developmental.

source: PWInsider.com

— Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will make a guest appearance on the upcoming season of Tough Enough, reports EW.com.

In the episode, the multi-time champion works out with the contestants, judges a challenge and demonstrates his own skills in the squared circle.

— TNA Knockout Tara said on her Twitter account that she’s excited for the John Morrison, Trish Stratus and Snooki vs. Dolph Ziggler and Lay-Cool match at WrestleMania XXVII.

When asked to give her reaction to the announcement of the match, she stated that she is “super excited.”

“I’m a huge Jersey Shore fan and Trish is my girl,” she wrote.

— WWE Monday Night Raw on August 8, 2011 will be held at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.

source: PWInsider.com

— According to reports from the Tough Enough set, Luke Robinson is considered the early favorite on the show. He stands out as a star and is considered a good wrestler that possesses charisma. Show host Steve Austin was so impressed by Robinson that he is privately working out with him.

Robinson is a 26-year-old independent wrestler from Maine who performs under the name “Golden Boy” Bobby Robinson. His USANetwork.com bio reads: “For him, WWE combines all his passions rolled into one: performing, marketing, athleticism and traveling. Luke proved his athleticism as captain of his high school’s varsity soccer, hockey and baseball teams, competing all four years, before moving on to getting his BA in Business Administration from University of Southern Maine.”

— WWE developmental talent Su Yung (a/k/a Sonia) tried out for Tough Enough but failed to make the cast. The Seattle based wrestler signed a contract with WWE last year and is currently listed on the official Florida Championship Wrestling website as a Diva.

Jerry Lawler, 61, revealed in a recent interview with Fighting Spirit that he is dating Yung, who is 21 years old.

— Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is featured on the cover of the April 2011 issue of WWE Magazine.

sources: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Pro Wrestling Torch