– As evidenced by Monday’s RAW rating jumping around 22% from the previous week, there appears to be strong interest in the John Cena – Nexus storyline.

According to a reliable source, WWE creative is planning to book the angle in a similar way to the classic Million Dollar Man – Virgle relationship from 1990. The idea is that Cena will reluctantly serve under Nexus leader Wade Barrett – with hopes that WWE’s live audiences will be cheering Cena to stand up for himself and fight back against Barrett (as Virgil did with Ted DiBiase). Creative has done some longterm planning for this storyline and has a definitive finish in mind, but will be booking on a week-to-week basis until they get to the finish.

– WWE has announced that John Cena will be in the corner of Wade Barrett at WWE’s Bragging Rights pay-per-view. Barrett will challenge Randy Orton for the WWE Championship, with WWE teasing that Cena will be subservient to his leader and give Barrett the advantage.

– Kurt Angle just signed a 1-year contract extension with TNA Wrestling, but the Olympic gold medalist says he’s open to returning to WWE after that. Angle appeared on the Right After Wrestling radio show on Monday night and said:

“There comes a time when everybody has to hang it up. I’m coming to the close of my career whether it be a year or two or three. I know it won’t be full-time after this year. I would like to stay in TNA, but if I my option goes to WWE, I will. I want to stay in TNA, no doubt about it.”

(Partial source: f4wonline.com)

– WWE Bragging Rights takes place in under three weeks and the card is already starting to take shape.

WWE Champion Randy Orton will defend against Wade Barrett, who earned the title shot after winning a 20-Man Battle Royal on Raw.

A commercial for Bragging Rights aired during RAW Minnesota, advertising Kane vs. The Undertaker in a Buried Alive Match for the World Heavyweight Title. After checking with a WWE source, that match looks to be set and we should see it announced this week or next.

— A Raw live event is scheduled to take place at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sunday, December 26, 2010.

– Matt Hardy announced yesterday on Twitter that he is taking a break from the social networking site for the next few days. He wrote:

“You guys & gals, take care of yourselves. I’m about to head out for a few well earned days of vacation. Talk to you all in a couple days!”

— As John Cena held Wade Barrett in the STF during their bout at Hell in a Cell, two mystery assailants stormed the ring — one distracting the referee while the other blasted The Champ in the head with a foreign object, knocking him out cold and giving The Nexus ringleader the duke.

Per the stipulation of the contest, Cena must join the heel faction.

— The Miz has landed his third magazine cover within the span of a month as he is featured on the latest edition of United Kingdom based wrestling magazine, Fighting Spirit. To view the cover, click here. Also featured is an interview with Sheamus, who reigned as WWE Champion at the time of piece.

— WWE Films’ The Condemned starring Steve Austin airs immediately following Raw. The action flick replays at 2:05 a.m.

NXT Winner Wade Barrett

NXT Season1 winner Wade Barrett was arrested on Sunday, June 15, 2008 in Tampa, Florida and charged with battery of a law enforcement officer and obstructing or opposing an officer. Barrett was arrested following an incident with a female outside the Champps bar and restaurant at 2:00 A.M. He was released at 1:43 p.m. the next day.

Wrestlers from FCW said that as he was leaving the bar, he had an altercation with a female patron he didn’t know that bumped into him. When Barrett attempted to leave the place, someone came up to him and attempted to stop him from leaving. That person was a plain-clothes police officer. One version of the story notes that the police officer followed Sanders outside and shot him with a taser gun as he was attempting to leave the scene.

The female Barrett had the altercation with declined to press charges on him and allegedly told the police that she was at fault for the initial incident at the bar.

Barrett’s arrest record lists the offense as Battery on an Officer, but he apparently told wrestlers that he was simply trying to leave the scene and did not attempt to get in a physical altercation with anyone. Also, Sanders claims that he wasn’t aware that the plain-clothes person was a police officer. He said if he was aware that the person was a police officer, he wouldn’t have tried to leave the scene in the first place. Barrett said a number of witnesses can back up his story in court.

• Check Out: CHRIS JERICHO’S Mugshot Picture From January 2010 Arrest
  

(source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

— It’s worth noting that the official Syfy website lists Edge, as well as The Undertaker, Rey Mysterio, Beth Phoenix and Michelle McCool, as appearing on Friday Night SmackDown when the program debuts on the network this October.

Regarding Edge, he was originally supposed to remain on SmackDown before WWE’s mentality during the Draft changed to making the Raw brand the company’s top priority. A renewed push for the Smackdown brand is expected this fall given that Vince McMahon has predicted with its move to Syfy that the audience for SmackDown will eventually be as large as Raw’s.

— Many within WWE’s developmental sytem are raving on the potential and progress of NXT season one winner Wade Barrett. Those affiliated with Florida Championship Wrestling rave about how he continually improves in the ring. They also feel he has the size and promo ability to headline.

— Edge was given the weekend off to attend the wedding of former WWE performers Nick Cvjetkovich (a/k/a Kizarny) and Stacy Carter (a/k/a Miss Kitty). Edge, Cvjetkovich and Christian were friends growing up in Orangeville, Ontario. The trio also started their wrestling careers together training at Ron Hutchison’s gym in Toronto.

Meanwhile, Christian was not given the weekend off due to the SmackDown brand’s tour of Australia.

source: www.f4wonline.com

Drew McIntyre’s visa issue has been solved as he appeared at last night’s SmackDown live event in Savannah, Georgia to cut a promo. It is expected that McIntyre will be reinstated to the SmackDown brand at tonight’s television taping.

After losing to Matt Hardy on the June 25 edition of SmackDown, Theodore Long informed McIntyre that his work visa had expired and that he would be deported back to Scotland immediately. This storyline had a basis in reality, since his visa had indeed expired and as a result he was taken off television.

Meanwhile, Wade Barrett returned to Raw last night after resolving his own visa problems. Both Barrett and McIntyre paid visits to their home countries last week to fill out necessary paperwork pertaining to their respective visas. In that regard, everything is said to be fine now.

For those curious about Sheamus’ legality, he had his visa taken care of in late May. He, Barrett and McIntyre were simultaneously signed to developmental contracts in April 2007 following tryout matches during WWE’s annual European spring tour.

– WWE.com has announced that tonight’s RAW will open with its anonymous General Manager announcing the fate of The Nexus after their recent attacks on John Cena, Bret Hart, Vince McMahon and the WWE Legends.

While the item does not mention this, it is believed that with his visa issues now behind him, Wade Barrett will be back on the show tonight as well. There will be no guest host.

— Drew McIntyre and Wade Barrett’s respective visa issues have been resolved, reports www.F4WOnline.com. Barrett is expected to return to Raw this Monday while McIntyre will return to SmackDown once creative feels it’s right to bring him back from the deportation angle.

— The cover art for WWE’s forthcoming DVD set on the best of Monday Night Raw in 1993 and 1994, Raw “The Beginning”: The Best of Seasons 1 & 2, has been released. The cover, which features The Undertaker, Yokozuna, Bret Hart and Doink the Clown, among others, can be viewed here.

— WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes will be coming out of retirement to team up with sons Goldust and Cody Rhodes against the trio of Trent Barreta, Caylen Croft and Curt Hawkins on July 9 in Kissimmee, Florida at the Osceola Heritage Park Exhibition Hall. The Florida Championship Wrestling live event will also feature a Divas Bikini Contest.

– The situation with Wade Barrett’s work visa is said to be not as serious as it’s been made out to be. Apparently everyone knew the situation was coming as Barrett had been talking about it for weeks. He is expected to be back in the country as early as today and back on WWE TV as early as this coming week. There is still no word on Drew McIntyre’s return but it’s believed that he may be out for a bit longer.

– WWE officials have told the members of Nexus to play the heel role while in public in front of fans. They’re not allowed to pose for photos or sign autographs and are wearing the ‘N’ armbands while out.

– The decision has made that The Nexus stable will remain on the RAW roster and won’t be doing any run-ins on SmackDown. Most expect that this may change eventually.

Source: Wrestling Observer

To follow up on our earlier report regarding the work visa issues with Wade Barrett and Drew McIntyre -  we’re told at this point that WWE does not know when McIntyre will be back. Barrett might be able to return as soon as next week, but nobody knows for sure.

According to a source, WWE creative was told at Tuesday’s SmackDown tapings to presume assume neither man would be back until SummerSlam in August. Up until now Wade Barrett had been the centerpiece of the new Nexus group on RAW. It is possible Barrett or McIntyre could both be back soon, but that was the initial word as of today.

It should be noted that current WWE Champion Sheamus was signed by WWE around the same time as Barrett and McIntyre. The belief as of right now is that he is okay in regards to his work visa, but given the fact how things were handled with Barrett and McIntyre he could possibly be next. This is definitely causing major issues for WWE creative.

Source: The Wrestling Observer

Two of WWE’s up and coming young stars are on the sidelines due to problems with their work visas.

Wade Barrett, leader of RAW’s Nexus stable, has been pulled from WWE television and live events because his United States work visa expired. Barrett missed Monday’s WWE RAW and the weekend’s live events.

SmackDown star Drew McIntyre has the same problem as Barrett. There was a recent angle shot on SmackDown where Drew was being “deported” – which isn’t that far from reality. While its unknown as to whether McIntyre remains in the United States, it’s possible that he can stay while his green card application is being reviewed, since he’s married to WWE Diva Tiffany, a US citizen.

There’s no timetable yet on when Barrett or McIntyre can return.

Source: PWInsider.com

— Conspicuous by his absence tonight on Raw was that of Wade Barrett. Michael Cole continued in his role as mouthpiece for Raw’s still anonymous General Manager, announcing that the mystery GM will have a verdict on the season one NXT Rookies – who have taken to referring to themselves as The Nexus – on next week’s show. To explain Barrett’s absence, it was noted that he was conferencing with WWE officials to learn the fate of he and his group.

It should be noted that the season one NXT Rookies did run-ins during the main events of this past weekend’s Raw live events and Barrett was notably absent from the proceedings.

— Two WWE Superstars matches were taped prior tonight’s Raw broadcast in Philadelphia.

* Yoshi Tatsu and Goldust vs. Zack Ryder and Primo
* Nikki Bella vs. Jillian

— Raw wrestler David Otunga appears on VH1’s Behind the Music feature on his fiancée Jennifer Hudson. The show replays Tuesday at 12:00 a.m., 3:00 a.m., 12: 00 p.m., 8:00 p.m. and several more times throughout July.

— As of Sunday, the idea was that guest hosts would be used on Raw every other week instead of every week. (source: www.f4wonline.com)

— As seen last night on Raw, Bret Hart was removed from the Raw General Manager position by Vince McMahon for not attending the previous night’s Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view (kayfabe). McMahon then informed fans that a new, anonymous General Manager would take control of the show, emailing announcer Michael Cole his orders. His profile has since been removed from the Raw Superstars section.

— It was also announced on Raw that the Rookies from the first season of NXT have earned contracts with World Wrestling Entertainment (kayfabe). Their respective profiles have been added to Raw Superstars section. It was also revealed that Wade Barrett had been granted a future pay-per-view title match again by the mystery General Manager.

– Following the NXT invasion on RAW, there are plans for John Cena to feud with Wade Barrett for the WWE championship this summer. The match could headline a summer pay-per-view and would be another example of WWE shooting another young star to the top in a feud with John Cena, ala Sheamus.

– Speaking of John Cena, he is still scheduled to appear at this week’s live WWE events, but WWE will likely want to sell the beatdown he suffered on RAW – so he may not wrestle this week.

– Tuesday’s WWE NXT Season 2 premiere did a 1.07 cable rating with 1,529,000 viewers. Viewersihp was up 8% compared to last week’s Season 1 finale.

– WWE creative is currently happy with the Michelle McCool – Layla tag team, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. While some saw them as a “Beautiful People” knockoff at first, Lay Cool is seen as a hot act with a lot of potential.

(source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

— Two days before Over the Limit, Randy Orton dislocated his right shoulder while attempting a dunk in pick-up basketball game in St. Louis. This explains why he was favoring the shoulder at the house show in Cincinnati the night before the pay-per-view event.

Orton’s had problems with the shoulder for years as it’s the third time in which it’s been dislocated. He plans to focus on physical therapy before deciding on whether to have surgery. An injury angle was done on Monday’s Raw where Edge hurt Orton’s shoulder to take him out of the evening’s main event. Hence, if he’s not healthy enough to compete at Fatal 4-Way, WWE will have a storyline explanation.

— WWE has a few ideas in mind for Wade Barrett as there was talk of having the NXT winner team up with mentor Chris Jericho to go after the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship. There has also been talk of having Barrett face R-Truth or Kofi Kingston for their respective titles.

— CM Punk was kept off the weekend house shows resting up minor injuries.

– Monday’s episode of WWE RAW drew a 3.2 rating and averagaed 4,525,000 viewers. The show did hours of 3.11 and 3.32. (Credit: PWInsider.com)

– It’s expected that Wade Barrett will be joining the RAW brand.

– Speaking of Barrett, he and David Otunga were tending topics on Twitter last night.

– WWE sent out an alert yesterday reminding fans that this coming Monday’s RAW in Miami will begin at 7:30pm. Some tickets printed have a start time of 8:15pm but since it’s a three-hour RAW, the show is starting earlier.

– WWE officials have been going back and forth on the idea of having one or two Money in the Bank briefcase matches at July’s Money in the Bank pay-per-view. There is also talk of putting CM Punk and a babyface in the World Heavyweight Title match against Jack Swagger, if he is still Champion then.

— WWE Magazine conducted a “Twitterview” with Dolph Ziggler this evening on the social networking site as he answered questions regarding Shawn Michaels’ retirement, WrestleMania, his hair, Simpsons, and much more.

When asked to give his pick to win NXT, he selected Heath Slater. It’s worth noting that during his response, he referred to David Otunga with the following: “And the one guy is simply here because he dates some chick that’s in magazines, he’s not even in the Diva’s league.”

Regarding Michaels’ retirement, he compared it to the last episode of Seinfeld.

“You don’t want it to end, and no matter how amazing and mindblowing it is, you don’t want it to end,” Ziggler said. “It still doesn’t seem like he’s gone, WWE has lost the greatest superstar ever, and a lot of guys, including me, have lost a great mind. I went out into the arena floor for that match, and it was amazing! He went out like no one else could or ever will!”

To read the interview in its entirety, visit www.NickNemeth.net.

— Former WWE star Shawn Daivari has launched an account on Twitter. You can keep up with his tweets at twitter.com/sdaivari. He posted an image of his home, which is quite large.

— NXT rookie Wade Barrett has posted a blog on WWEUniverse.com discussing his second place standing in NXT, WrestleMania and more.

— After working with Wade Barrett and Daniel Bryan on last night’s debut episode of WWE NXT on Syfy, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho praised the two young upstarts on his Twitter account.

“NXT was pretty cool. Daniel Bryan and Wade Barrett will be stars,” Jericho wrote. “However, Punk’s guy has the worst hair I’ve ever seen…”

Later, a fan said he was “a little stiff” Bryan. Jericho quipped, “Awww did it upset u baby waby?”

— After paying a fee to head down to Florida Championship Wrestling for a tryout in front of WWE trainers and agents this past December, the company has signed Calgary-based wrestler Tiger Raj Singh to a developmental contract. The 23-year-old told SLAM! Wrestling he has a developmental contract in hand and is waiting for his work Visa to be cleared before relocating to Tampa.

Notable names such as Steve Keirn, Pat Patterson and Mike Rotunda saw him work. “It was a four-day tryout, and every day there was someone new there,” Singh explained. He believes his gimmick made him stand out.

“I think they needed an Indian guy, they were looking for one,” Singh said. “We had matches and stuff and all the wrestlers came in their gimmicks. Well, I came out wearing a turban and had my full outfit on, and spoke Punjabi in my promo, and they liked that. They like guys who speak different languages and have different looks. My wrestling was pretty good, I had some pretty good matches. I did good at the drills and everything.”

— Regarding Lance Cade, he remains under contract to WWE but is simply not being used in any capacity. He worked a Florida Championship Wrestling event late last year and hasn’t been seen since. Furthermore, no one knows when he’ll be returning to television let alone which brand he’ll end up on.

— You can follow Wade Barrett on Twitter at twitter.com/WadeBarrett. He is being mentored by Chris Jericho on WWE NXT.