Taker was stripped because it was felt there wasn't anyone who would be a good, drawing challenger since the Taker/Batista matchup has 'been done'.
Khali is still on the roster (though not the payroll) of his old job as a policeman in India. The mental image of someone pulled over for speeding and having him get out of the patrol car is priceless.
The current WM buyrate number is just below last year's but is still quite good, especially with the big price tag.
There will be a Saturday Nights Main Event on August 2nd at 9PM. Only one hour.
First he was rumored to be the new Conan the Barbarian. Now there's talk of HHH starring as Thor.
Coachman winds up signing with ESPN for an on-air role. After all he was such a marvel on Smackdown. Or something.
5/5/2008
Orton is seeking time off, possibly just from house shows. He says he's burned out, and his wife is expecting their first child soon.
WWE now has a policy that talent must be watched while giving urine samples, due to at least one incident of someone smuggling in clean urine to beat the wellness program.
The last European tour did the most of any tour in company history.
WB and WWE are back at it over the Taz/Tazz trademark. Wasn't that settled in 2000?
Coachman's contract ends soon and he might jump to the MSG Network. Now now, don't cry.
MyNetworkTV has decided to keep Smackdown on Fridays, rather than more-watched Thursday as WWE wanted.
5/1/2008
Balls Mahoney and Dave Taylor are gone as parthe start of the annual post-WM cleanout.
Impact ratings haven't budged despite TNA finally pulling the trigger on Joe, and despite a follow-up Joe vs Angle match on TV. I say they needed to strike while the iron was hot and put Joe over Angle from the start.
Santino was arrested for DUI.
4/28/2008
Foley debuted as Smackdown color commentator at Backlash and will be in that position going forward.
The Flair farewell episode of Raw was the most DVR-ed Raw to date by a fair margin.
The candidates' speeches on Raw were co-scripted by WWE.
4/25/2008
Adamle was hired because he's tight with NBC exec Dick Ebersol, who in turn is friends with Vince going back to the Saturday Night's Main Event era. Because he's Vince's boy he's safe even though his performances are bad after extensive editing.
So I was watching some Impact last night, and I thought to myself, "oh yeah that's why I don't watch Impact".
4/23/2008
Michael Hayes has been suspended for using the n-word in a lighthearted but stupid way with Mark Henry. Hayes has apparently done this before and with a recent decision to try and be more sensitive to minorities in the wake of losing Booker, Lashley et al, Hayes' behavior had to be punished.
Khali will be taking a break after Backlash, through the end of May. He had a new home constructed in India and will be moving in. I think the most efficient way will be for him to carry his old house over and then move his possessions.
Warrior is returning to the ring in Europe for a dream match against... Orlando Jordan???
WWE took away "Fire Mike Adamle" signs before ECW.
4/18/2008
The Styles/Adamle move is very odd. Styles will have more access to the creative team and will be in charge of generating content for the website. Adamle was moved in because Vince has never liked Styles, and because Adamle gets paid too much for just backstage segments. Wait, why pay him so much if they didn't have a big role to start with?
Joe signed a multi-year extension with TNA. The main sticking point was over the rights to 'Samoa Joe', which he owned. TNA caved and he keeps it.
Random thought: WWE seems like a safe stock to own, though one with limited upside. No major competition, growing overseas revenue, a tried and true business model, profitable year after year, high yield... what's not to like? That said, domestic revenues have stagnated for a while, it's difficult to project how much they can grow globally, and there's a lot of uncertainty surrounding what would happen if Vince retires (or dies). Plus they have an above-average P/E ratio. The bottom line is: isn't it weird to talk like this about a wrestling promotion?
4/16/2008
No Way Out was a big hit, growing by 50% in the US from last year and almost doubling internationally.
Despite insinuating that Joe's contract runs out soon, he and TNA are locked up for a while.
Jeff Hardy is advertised for the 6/20 house show.
Joey Styles has been moved from announcing to working on WWE.com, no word as to why.