Tough Enough competitor Jeremiah Riggs was interviewed over the weekend by Sean Walford of the Aftershock Wrestling radio show. Riggs spoke about his time working with WWE for Tough Enough, as well as TNA, ROH, UFC and more. You can listen to audio of the appearance by clicking here. (MP3)

One of the more newsworthy topics discussed was the major heat Tough Enough winner Andy Leavine received after not selling the Stone Cold Stunner he received following the Tough Enough season finale. Here’s what Riggs said about that situation:

“I think that a lot of people may have just bit there tongue on that one and let it pass, however I do know that he got his ass chewed that’s for sure. I ain’t gonna blast nobody, I ain’t gonna mention nobody’s names or anything, but there certainly was some people that knew what the deal was and they weren’t happy.”

• ORIGINAL REPORT: Tough Enough Winner Andy Leavine Screamed At Backstage

The fact that Andy Leavine was already under a developmental contract with WWE during Tough Enough was also addressed. Regarding that situation, Riggs said:

“You know it is what it is. Hell, he is back in FCW, so it’s not like the WWE invested in something they already had. I don’t think that it’s much, but I tell you that when I get my chance I’m gonna come through there and I’m gonna shake some things up. I’m gonna step on some toes. If someone is in my way then they can either move or get hit over. I think in this business your gonna get pushed around, however I’m gonna push myself to the top and I’m gonna give it my 

— This week’s edition of WWE RAW drew a 3.2 cable rating, with 4.95 million viewers. The show did hours of 3.27 (3.3) and 3.15 (3.2). That means they lost viewers in hour two.

— This week’s edition of WWE Tough Enough (season finale) drew a 1.95 (2.0) cable rating, with 2,860,000 viewers.

— The replay of WWE Tough Enough following RAW at 11:07 did a 1.08 (1.1) cable rating, with 1,541,000 viewers.

— The RAW replay following the WWE Tough Enough replay did a 0.81 (0.8) cable rating, with 1.1 million viewers.

— The debut season of WWE Tough Enough concludes tonight with Luke or Andy being named winner by “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and awarded a WWE contract.

The format for tonight’s show will include a pre-taped portion from FCW in Florida, and a live portion prior to Raw tonight. The taped portion at FCW will have Luke & Andy in separate matches wrestling in front of a crowd.

WWE Hall of Famer Ricky Steamboat will be the guest star of tonight’s finale.

— WWE RAW takes place from Richmond, Virginia and will feature R-Truth apologizing to John Cena in order to receive a WWE title shot at Capitol Punishment. As of now there are no confirmed matches for the upcoming PPV, which takes place in less than 2 weeks.

Also on RAW, expect the latest in the The Miz/Alex Riley storyline, plus the follow up to Kharma’s TV write off from last week.

— WWE.com has added newcomers Jinder Mahal and Johnny Curtis to the SmackDown roster page.

Mahal beat Yoshi Tatsu in his SmackDown debut last night with a full nelson, suplex slam. He then instructed The Great Khali to manhandle Tatsu with the Khali Vise Grip.

Curtis appeared in peculiar backstage segment on SmackDown. After being declared the winner of WWE NXT season four, Curtis was promised a WWE Tag Team Championship Match with his Pro, R-Truth.

“But that’s not gonna happen,” Curtis chuckled. “And that’s the truth.” He then proceeded to do what any other WWE Superstar would do; cry over spilled milk.

— On Twitter, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin commented on the possibility of a second season of Tough Enough.

He wrote, “I have had many questions regarding a season 2 of Tough Enough…no word yet. Very interesting…”

The WWE Hall of Famer also stated last Monday during an interview with AfterBuzz TV that he does not know whether there will be a second season.

The ratings are in for Monday’s episodes of WWE RAW and Tough Enough.

– Raw did a 3.1 rating, which is down from last week’s 3.4. The did hours of 2.98 and 3.16 and averaged 4.7 million viewers for the 2-hour broadcast.

– Tough Enough did a 1.74 rating (up from last week’s 1.64) and had 2.4 million viewers.

– Tonight’s episode of WWE RAW takes place from the Qwest Center in Omaha, Nebraska. The only advertised item for the Memorial Day edition of Raw is Kharma’s first promo, where she will address her “nervous breakdown” on last week’s show. It is expected to be part of her TV write-off.

While Triple H is being advertised locally for tonight’s RAW, it should be noted that the advertisements were booked months ago and it is unlikely he will be there.

– Tonight’s Tough Enough will feature a guest appearance from former WWE champion The Miz. Here’s the USA Network’s official preview for the episode:

“WWE superstar The Miz gives the contestants a taste of what life as a WWE Superstar means outside the ring. And, back in the gym, the competition heats up when the final three battle it out for the opportunity to compete in the Tough Enough finale. In the end, Stone Cold sends one more person home.”

– WWE diva Layla commented on her surgery last week on Twitter:

“My surgery went well Dr.Dugas is amazing But here comes the pain and the battle We can Do it tho I can’t wait to get back in the gym The journey begins.”

– Jake “The Snake” Roberts celebrates his 56th birthday today. He was born on May 30, 1955.

The ratings are in for Monday’s episodes of WWE RAW and Tough Enough – the night after WWE’s Over The Limit pay-per-view.

– Monday’s WWE RAW, which featured and a surprise appearance from Bret Hart and a tribute to Randy Savage, drew a 3.42 rating – which is up from last week’s 3.08.

– This week’s Tough Enough scored a 1.64 rating and averaged 2.5 million viewers for the episode that guest-starred The Rock. This is slightly higher from last week’s 1.61 rating (which averaged 2.4 million viewers).

Check Out: What Happened After RAW Went Off The Air

– WWE will tape this week’s SmackDown and NXT shows tonight from the Spokane Arena in Spokane, Washington.

Aside from the fallout from Sunday’s Over The Limit pay-per-view, WWE teased on RAW that Christian will face World Heavyweight champion Randy Orton on SmackDown.

– Sheamus was overseas in Poland over the weekend doing promotional work for WWE. He is back in the states and is expected to be used at tonight’s SmackDown tapings.

– As announced on RAW, former WWE champion The Miz will be making a special guest appearance on next week’s episode of Tough Enough. Here’s the USA Network’s official preview for the episode:

“WWE superstar The Miz gives the contestants a taste of what life as a WWE Superstar means outside the ring. And, back in the gym, the competition heats up when the final three battle it out for the opportunity to compete in the Tough Enough finale. In the end, Stone Cold sends one more person home.”

– On this day back in 1984, Vince McMahon Sr. passed away from pancreatic cancer. He was 69 years old.

— A.J. Kirsch and Christina Crawford were eliminated from this week’s episode of Tough Enough, the eighth episode of the program. Andy Leavine was the other contestant in the Bottom Three and was picked over Kirsch to remain in the competition.

— The final three Tough Enough contestants are Andy, Jeremiah and Luke. Jeremiah and Luke avoided the Bottom Three this week.

— The Miz will guest star on next week’s final taped episode.

— The final two contestants will be determined on next week’s episode prior to the live season finale on June 6.

— Tough Enough contestant Christina wrestled at tonight’s Florida Championship Wrestling television taping, which could indicate that she wasn’t eliminated due to an ankle injury suffered at the conclusion of this week’s episode, or at least recovered enough to resumed competing.

Matches featuring the other remaining Tough Enough contestants are being filmed tonight for future use.

Meanwhile, WWF Hall of Famers Afa and Sika are in attendance at the event.

— WWE will hold a SmackDown live event at the Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland on November 11, 2011. Tickets go on sale May 23, 2011 at noon via www.livenation.pl.

— WWE returns to Ohio this September. Dates and locations are as follows: Sept. 6 – Huntington Center in Toledo; Sept. 19 – Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland; Sept. 20 – Nutter Center in Dayton.

source: PWInsider.com

– Tonight’s episode of WWE RAW takes place from the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas and is the final show before Sunday’s Over The Limit pay-per-view.

No matches have been advertised for tonight’s show. The dark match main event after RAW goes off the air will see WWE Champion John Cena defend against The Miz.

– Prior to RAW is a new episode of WWE Tough Enough featuring several WWE Divas and people from THQ, WWE’s video game publishing partner. Tonight’s episode has been titled, “Running with Wolves.”

– The Food Network‘s show Food Network Challenge will feature a WWE-themed episode tonight – Extreme WWE Cakes. Four chefs will bake cakes based on WWE superstars and divas – with the winner receiving $10,000.

— A number of WWE Superstars were on hand for a press conference in Mexico City today, where WWE announced that for the first time ever, Raw and SmackDown will be broadcast from Mexico this October. Alberto Del Rio stated during the conference that his goal is to end The Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania, reports SuperLuchas.net.

— Tough Enough will begin airing in Canada on the Fight Network on Monday, May 23.

— John Morrison is scheduled for an appearance at the FYE located at 40 Massachusetts Avenue NE in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, June 19 at 11:00 a.m. The signing is open to the first 200 attendees who purchase WrestleMania XXVII on DVD and Blu-Ray or the John Morrison: Rock Star DVD.

— Booker T is advertised to appear at the Reliant Center in Houston, Texas on Saturday, June 4 as part of the annual FanFest.

source: PWInsider.com

— Former WWE Superstar Trevor Murdoch worked a dark match prior to tonight’s SmackDown taping in Nashville, Tennessee, losing to Jey Uso.

Murdoch received minimal reaction from the audience and and cut a brief promo on Tennessee prior to the bout. The WWE World Tag Team Champion controlled the match’s early going, but Uso came back with a flurry of offense and won in approximately three minutes with the Snuka splash.

Murdoch also worked a dark match prior to last night’s Raw taping in Knoxville, Tennessee, losing to Evan Bourne.

— Eric Watts, who was eliminated on last night’s episode of WWE Tough Enough, commented on the result on Twitter.

“Thanks to everyone for supporting me up to this point. We’re just getting started,” he wrote. “I know EXACTLY what I have to do. KEEP WATCHING THE SHOW!”

— SmackDown Superstar William Regal turns 43 years old today while WWE Hall of Famer Tito Santana turns 58.

source: Pro Wrestling Torch

— Eric and Ivelisse were cut from this week’s episode of Tough Enough. Ivelisse was eliminated due to an injury she had difficulty working through, while Eric was sent home due to substandard performance.

The other contestant in the Bottom Three was A.J., who was nearly cut over Eric.

— Advertised for next week’s episode are the WWE Divas guest-starring and joining the contestants for a “night out on the town.” The preview teased multiple injuries and one trip to the emergency room.

The synopsis for next week’s show is as follows:

The Injuries Pile Up on the Next Tough Enough, Monday at 8/7C!

And then there were six. Stone Cold Steve Austin enlists the help of four sexy WWE Divas and THQ video games to teach the remaining contestants all about creativity. In the ring, a tough training session leads to a serious injury that puts one contestant’s dreams in jeopardy.

– Regarding “The Language of WWE” memo that we posted a few weeks back, it should be noted that none of the banned words were given to the English language announcers nor have they been told that some of those words were banned. However, it is known by them to not use some words like “wrestling” and “wrestlers” but some of the words on the list still get used on English language broadcasts.

Check Out: “The Language Of WWE” – List Of Allowed & Banned Terms

– Tough Enough producers Shed Media and the USA Network were hoping for Miss USA Rima Fakih to win WWE Tough Enough, knowing her winning the competition would bring the show a great deal of mainstream media exposure and build momentum heading into the second season. As the show went on, it became clear that Rima had little chance of winning and she was ultimately eliminated last week.

Related News: Miss USA Talks About Her Tough Enough Elimination & Rib Injury

– Sin Cara vs. Sheamus for the WWE United States Title and Jerry Lawler vs. Jack Swagger with Michael Cole in his corner is booked for upcoming WWE live events.

– The idea right now is for Jim Ross to remain on WWE TV for as long as the Michael Cole angle goes on. JR’s segments have done very strong quarter-hour ratings so that may play a factor in WWE keeping him around longer. With that said, at least for now there are no plans for Ross to return to announcing full-time.

– Speaking of Jim Ross and Michael Cole, the injuries they sustained on Monday’s RAW will not prevent them from wrestling at Sunday’s Extreme Rules PPV, but JR’s hand injury may limit what he’s able to do in the match.

(Credit to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter for some of the info used in this report)

Eliminated Tough Enough contestant, Miss USA Rima Fakih, discusses her exit from the show, including exclusively revealing a rib injury that didn’t feature on the show that led to her being cut. Rima also talks about her fellow contestants, the trainers, shattering preconceived notions of a beauty queen and more. Plus, Miss USA reveals an incident in the house with Andy that led to her to throwing a drink in his face.

Listen to the interview here. Here are some highlights of what Rima said about:

On her rib injury that led to her being cut:

“This is something that nobody knows yet: I was injured. Didn’t tell anybody about it and what hurt was my ribs. I was sore everywhere… everyone was, but my ribs were really, really in a lot of pain. When I had my one-on-one session with Bill DeMott, they called me back into the ring at 10.30 at night. I was in there for probably about two hours just going at it — bumps after running — and I wouldn’t complain. I didn’t want them to think that Miss USA was like, for example, Michelle, who’s going to quit and go home, or I don’t want them to say, ‘Miss USA can’t take it’ or ‘Miss USA doesn’t want this’. No, a beauty queen can be beautiful and tough like Trish Stratus. That night when Bill asked me to give him a roll, he went and he landed on the same spot where my ribs had been fractured during a wrestling move I had done the week before. I screamed really loud and broke out crying. After leaving the show, I realized Stone Cold was only looking after my best interests. Bill DeMott said something to me that night, he said: ‘You’re in pain there? Why didn’t you say anything?’ I go, ‘Because I don’t want to look like a quitter’ and he goes, ‘Look, there’s a difference between being tough and being stupid. You need to take care of yourself’. If you ask me, I’d rather have stayed, broke a lot more ribs than I already did and battled it out.”

Her candid thoughts on Michelle Deighton:

“I’m sorry to say that she annoyed me! First of all, you don’t have 11 years experience, it was 11 years ago. It didn’t seem like she wanted to be there. It seemed like she just wanted to be on TV. I know that I’m putting her down, she didn’t do anything to me. The other thing that I’d like to say is that the way I got my rib injury is because of Michelle. If you’re in the ring and you don’t know how to wrestle, you could injure the other person and Michelle, her problem is that she wouldn’t ask questions. She’d say, ‘I know, I know, I know’. Well you really don’t know. And that’s how my injury happened. She didn’t know how to roll back and she kept falling on my ribs.”

With WWE’s latest European tour wrapped up and the 2011 Draft in the books, the stage is set for WWE’s annual “spring cleaning” talent releases.

A number of cuts will be made soon to  cut costs and free up roster space as there are numerous young wrestlers waiting in the wings to be called up to the main roster. Between NXT, Tough Enough and the developmental talent at Florida Championship Wrestling,  WWE has over 70 men and women vying for limited spots on the main roster. WWE has added only three people to the roster this year – Sin Cara, Brodus Clay and referee Scott Armstrong.

The annual “turnover rate” of main roster talent is approximately 30 people.

It is said that company officials have largely made up their minds on which wrestlers to cut ties with.

COMMENT BELOW and tell us who you think WWE should let go later this month.

Bret Hart spoke with Tough Enough contestants on last night’s episode. The terms “wrestling” and “wrestlers” were censored during his speech.

It is said that show producers Shed Media US are still in talks with WWE regarding what terms can and cannot be used on the program.

The WWE Hall of Famer discussed his appearance on Twitter, writing, “The main points I said were to never hurt yourself or your opponent and to never forget the fan inside you that was sitting in the stands.”

Two-time World Champion Bill Goldberg, who struck Hart with a thrust kick to the head during a match at WCW Starrcade 1999 (resulting in a severe concussion), replied to Hart’s remarks.

He wrote, “I feel like you were talking to me….”

Regarding the injury, Hart speculated years ago that he may have suffered up to three additional concussions within matches over the course of that day along with the days immediately following Starrcade, having been unaware of the severity of his injuries. The sum total of those injuries left Hart with post-concussion syndrome and ultimately forced his retirement from professional wrestling. Hart wrote a Calgary Sun column in which he said that Goldberg “had a tendency to injure everyone he worked with.”

— Rima Fakih was eliminated from tonight’s episode of Tough Enough.

At the conclusion of the show, Steve Austin addressed the contestants to step forward. Rima was called forward first. Austin said he normally calls forward two other people, but not today. He said Rima has a lot of heart, but doesn’t think she’s ready. Rima responded that she needs to just get it down. Austin said she can do that, but not on Tough Enough.

Austin said off-camera there was no point walking her through the Bottom 3 again since she’s already gone through the process three times.

— Trish Stratus joins former WWE Divas Torrie Wilson, Lilian Garcia and Candice Michelle on tonight’s Tough Enough Aftershow on http://www.ustream.tv/afterbuzztv. It begins at 11:15 p.m., immediately following Raw.

— Rey Mysterio is the special guest on next week’s episode of Tough Enough.

source: prowrestling.net

— Melina stated today on her Twitter account that she’s worried about tonight’s WWE Draft on Monday Night Raw. She recalled past years of being torn away from people she’s close to due to the annual affair.

“Tonight is Raw. Very nerve racking,” she wrote. “Thinking of Drafts in the past & I always hated getting torn away from John & Jillian. I miss my Jillo!”

— Ted Linhart, the VP of Program Research at USA Network, stated on Twitter that the Live + Following 7 days rating information for the premiere of Tough Enough increased the total audience for the program by 19%, to nearly four million viewers. Furthermore, the 18-49 demographic went up 17% to 2.3 million viewers.

— This Saturday, Christian appears from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. at Petsmart 12835 Citrus Plaza Tampa, Florida. More information is available through (813)-830-7251.

Tough Enough contestant Christina Crawford hopes to one day win the WWE Divas Championship. But the person she would like to take the belt from is the same person who inspired her to be a Diva in the first place — her sister, Victoria — better known as Alicia Fox.

* PICTURES of Christina Crawford

“I would love love love to win that title one day,” Crawford told CentralFloridaFuture.com. “But it would be the best if I could take it from my sister.”

Ever since her sister joined WWE, Crawford wanted to follow in her footsteps. She said Tough Enough is a once in a lifetime opportunity that she can’t pass up.

“What started my dream of working with the WWE was when my sister got hired, but I was too young at the time to apply,” Crawford said. “My dream was to go to school and then I would try out for the WWE.”

She is excited that she may work with her one day.

“She is on the main roster and I haven’t gotten the chance to work with her yet,” Crawford said. “But we do hang out together and it’s great moral support.”

One of the most important things the trainers teach the contestants is how to avoid getting hurt. Even though wrestling is staged, the injuries are real.

“I am not worried about injuries because the training environment is always safe,” Crawford said. “The trainers are helping us learn to build and to protect our body.”

The article is available here.

Tonight we’ve got new episodes of WWE RAW and Tough Enough – plus the latest performance from Chris Jericho on ABC’s Dancing With The Stars. Here’s what to expect tonight:

– Tough Enough will feature a special appearance from Hall of Famer Bret Hart. The USA Network is hyping a shocking surprise for tonight’s show – which has been titled, “The 110-pound Elephant in the Room.”

– Tonight’s WWE RAW takes place from the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina and will feature the 2011 WWE Draft.

The advertised dark match main event after tonight’s RAW will see John Cena and Randy Orton team up against WWE champion The Miz and Nexus leader CM Punk.

– Chris Jericho is still going strong on ABC’s Dancing With The Stars and will be dancing the Tango tonight with his partner Cheryl Burke. After getting his best score yet last week – Chris Jericho revealed over the weekend that his metal band FOZZY will be in the house tonight for his performance! Jericho tweeted on Sunday:

“GREAT rehearsal today with @cherylburke This tango is gonna rock…literally! Also found out that @fozzyrock will be on DWTS on Mon too!”

The ratings are in for Monday’s episodes of Tough Enough (Week 3) and WWE RAW from London, England.

– Monday night’s episode of WWE Tough Enough scored a 1.53 rating with 2,196,000 viewers. This is down from the previous week’s 1.81 rating and is the lowest rating for Tough Enough so far.

– This week’s episode of WWE Monday Night RAW scored a 3.1 cable rating with 4.7 million viewers. This is down from last week’s 3.45 rating.

Overall, Tough Enough could be alright settling in around a 1.5 .. RAW is back down to pre-WrestleMania numbers, a sign that some of the excitement has died down – especially with much of the big name talent (Rock, Austin, Trish) that helped RAW inch closer to the elusive 4.0 mark around ‘Mania time.

— Both Mickael and Michelle parted ways with Tough Enough on tonight’s episode, although only Mickael was eliminated.

Early in the episode, Michelle quit the competition, stating she had to be home for her daughter as she is the love of her life. Mickael was eliminated from the competition after failing to make an impression on the judges and not giving a compelling argument on why he should stay.

The episode also featured a special appearance by former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler, who taught cheerleading traits to the contestants.

— Steve Austin is in Vancouver filming his next action movie, Recoil.

– A new FCW Diva was introduced at last Thursday’s Florida Championship Wrestling television taping. She is Irena Janjic, a recent signee from Lance Storm’s wrestling school in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

With WWE Tough Enough drawing strong ratings on Monday nights and looking like a hit show for WWE and the USA Network, we’ve got an update with some behind-the-scenes details as well as some spoilers regarding future eliminations. You’ve been warned – spoilers head!

WWE Tough Enough finished filming 10 episodes around March 19-20. Ariane was already back home on February 18th according to her Twitter, so it was obvious she was going to be eliminated first. AJ Kirsch and Eric Watts returned home March 20th which could indicate they are in the finale. If not, it’s likely they’ll make it far. Miss USA Rima Fakih returned home March 16th, which indicates she makes it far in the show- but not to the finale.

The Wrestling Observer reports that Miss USA had to use lots of body makeup to cover up all of the bruises on her legs once she was eliminated from WWE Tough Enough and had to return to her Miss USA duties. While a bruised-up Miss USA doesn’t sound like the best spokesperson for the organization, pageant officials gave Fakih permission to do Tough Enough because they felt it would help her get an acting career started.

It’s said that while in the Tough Enough house, Fakih drank heavily, used a lot of foul language and was very critical of Miss USA owner Donald Trump. It will be interesting to see how much of her crazy antics wind up on the show and what gets edited out.

It’s been heavily speculated that Rima will join the WWE Divas roster, regardless of how she does on Tough Enough. She holds the Miss USA crown until June 19th.

While most of the eliminations have been taped already, the winner of Tough Enough will be announced during a special live broadcast in a few months.