World Wrestling News round up for Saturday 16th January 2010.

Television

• From wwe.com: March 15, 2010: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
  Less than two weeks before WrestleMania XXVI, WWE Hall of Famer "Stone Cold" Steve Austin hosts Raw on March 15. The WWE Universe should certainly mark their calendars for the legendary Rattlesnake's return, as it is sure to turn WWE’s flagship show upside down. Though it’s uncertain what will happen when Stone Cold takes his place at the head of Raw for one night only, there's no doubt that he'll be looked at as one of Raw’s most controversial special guest hosts.
  
  
• From The Sun: Former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler claims WWE want her to guest host an upcoming episode of Raw. And in good news for fans, the leggy blonde says she'd love to do it — as long as she can find the time. Speaking to Sports Illustrated, Stacy said: "It's funny because I actually went to them when they were in my hometown of Baltimore a little while ago and they completely ignored me. "Then, probably a month later, my publicist called them again and they said 'Oh, we would love to have her' and they gave us some dates, but it didn't' work around my schedule. "So maybe in the future if the timing is right, but right now there no plans to do it." TV star Stacy, 30, added: "It would be so much fun to walk out and feel that energy again and be around my fans. "I would absolutely love to do it.
  
  
• From Wrestlezone.com: If anyone was wondering why Kelly Kelly had different ring attire and tennis shoes as opposed to wrestling boots during her match last night on RAW, it is because the WWE Diva lost her luggage before the show. In a related note, despite what seemed to be a pretty scary powerbomb Kelly suffered in the finish of her match, she is not suffering from any full-blown injuries.
  
  
• The Raw results section of WWE.com is listing Katie Lea Burchill as a "new Raw recruit," indicating that she has made the move to Raw. We reported several months ago that her and Paul Burchill had been scheduled to move to Monday nights, and it appears as if that has now happened.
  
  
• Next week's Raw will be guest hosted by actors Jon Heder and Don Johnson.
  
  
• The audience member that CM Punk "saved" at the SmackDown! taping this past Tuesday night was pro wrestler Chris Black. Black is an Independant wrestler from NWA Wisconsin and also works in the Chicago area.
  
  

Pay Per View news

• Randy Orton vs. Sheamus for the WWE Title, Christian vs. Ezekiel Jackson for the ECW Championship, and The Undertaker vs. Rey Mysterio were added to the Royal Rumble card this week.
  
  
• F4WOnline.com is reporting that John Cena may be suffering from a back injury at the moment, more specifically, several bulging discs which are said to be quite painful.
  
  While the extent of the injury is unknown at the time, the report is indicating that this type of injury usually requires surgery, however it has not been confirmed whether or not Cena will undergo any type of procedure. It's being said that Cena is not facing Sheamus at The Royal Rumble due to this injury.
  
  
  
• F4WOnline.com is reporting that the WWE creative team has been contemplating a hair vs mask match between CM Punk and Rey Mysterio at WrestleMania 26.
  
  
• According to a source within WWE, Vince McMahon's mood concerning the current plans for the WrestleMania 26 card are said to be very erratic. The creative team is said to be ducking for cover at this point, as they never know how Vince will react to what the team has planned for the PPV. At times, he is said to be pleased with what the team is doing, and other times he becomes irate demanding that the creative team put something more "exciting" together.
  
  At this point, Vince feels that the current WrestleMania card is lacking "one more big attraction," and he thinks the PPV needs something more than what the current creative plans call for. At this point, the card looks like this:
  
  -Triple H vs Sheamus for the WWE Title.
  
  -Chris Jericho vs Edge. Even though Edge is questionable at this point, WWE is banking on him being able to return in time for the PPV because they want to book this match.
  
  -Vince McMahon vs Bret Hart. This match is said to be a lock right now.
  
  -Randy Orton vs Ted DiBiase, Jr is likely, but these plans are far from set in stone.
  
  -Also, the Shawn Michaels vs Undertaker rematch is a lock.
  
  Vince wants to book something big for John Cena, and he is trying very hard to put together a Cena vs The Rock match for the show, but it all depends on Dwayne Johnson's schedule, and the outlook at this point is not too good.
  
  
  

Other news

• The following is an excerpt from an article on WickedLocal.com:
  
  Saugus - World Wrestling Entertainment superstar Randal “Randy” Orton is facing a court hearing for allegedly spitting gum in the face of a juvenile and swearing at him outside Kowloon Restaurant.
  
  On Jan. 12 a 15-year-old male walked in to the Saugus Police Department to report that Orton, 29, assaulted him in the Kowloon parking lot earlier in the day.
  
  Police Lt. Leonard Campanello said the purported victim alleged that Orton, a third generation professional wrestler and former WWE World Heavyweight champion, reacted angrily to a request for a photo at the Route 1 restaurant around 6:30 p.m.
  
  The teenager told police he took a photograph of Orton in the parking lot and then asked to pose with him for another shot.
  
  But according to the victim, Orton, a 6-foot 4-inch, 245-pound wrestler famous for his RKO finishing move, spit his gum at him and called him a derogatory name.
  
  Campanello said the teen's mother confronted Orton, who allegedly responded “so sue me” when she voiced her protest.
  
• ProWrestling.net is reporting that Booker T was very close to re-signing with WWE, and most likely would have returned to the company at The Royal Rumble, however, negotiations fell through between both sides and an agreement was never reached. According to the report, Booker T was demanding a much lighter schedule, which included working less house show events. He was apparently asking for a "Shawn Michaels" type deal, and WWE would not agree to the terms.
  
  
• WWE has signed Luchador star Super Nova to a developmental deal. Nova will be sent to Florida Championship Wrestling to get started. Nova worked a few weeks ago on ECW, without his mask, against Baretta and Croft.
  
  
• New WWE star Asher Knight, who was signed to a developmental deal last week was asked by WWE V.P. of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis to cut his fauxhawk off. According to F4WOnline.com, Knight is a big guy and apparently his hair was the best thing going for him physically.
  
  
• The following is an excerpt from a blog from CityPages.com, where they take a look at some possible replacements for Simon Cowell, who announced he'll be stepping down from the "American Idol" franchise:
  
  Vince McMahon. Vince McMahon is a musclebound douchebag who probably spends most of his time playing with grandkids and diving into vaults full of his WWE cash, like Scrooge McDuck; he's been known to physically attack interviewers who, in his view, disrespected him. Like Ripa, he doesn't need to be on Idol; it doesn't even make sense for him to be on Idol. He'd scare hopefuls and crew alike shitless. He'd call Randy Jackson a "dawg" and come off thoroughly insincere; he'd smile at Kara DioGuardi but it'd register as a leer. All of which is exactly why McMahon needs to be on Idol. It's the fear-of-being-torn-limb-from-limb factor.
  
• John "Bradshaw" Layfield has posted the following on his Facebook page, in response to the promo that The Miz cut on him on Raw this past Monday night:
  
  "I hear Miz cut a promo on me last night on Raw. Heard he called me a dinosaur- he is correct, I am down here in the tar pits in Cabo right now using my wireless as I look over sea of Cortez-Dino, heaven where an old wrestler should be and he is right where a young wrestler with a great future should be -- cutting a promo on me in front of large crowd. Go get 'em kid, because I am, no joking whatsoever, pulling for you!"
  
  
• Linda McMahon took a major hit in a recent poll conducted by Quinnipac University for her bid to win a seat in the U.S. Seante in Connecticut.
  
  The poll indicated that her new competition, Democrat Richard Blumenthal scored 74 percent. The poll was conducted from January 8th to January 12th. Check out the full results at NationalJournal.com.
  
• Kelly Kelly turned 23 this week.
  
  
  
  

Ratings

• This weeks Raw scored a final cable rating of 3.7 for the show hosted by legendary boxer "Iron" Mike Tyson. That is up one tenthof a point from the previous two weeks' 3.6 number. The show did hours of .72 and 3.73.The show faced competition in the form of a live UFC Fight Night special on Spike TV (which scored a 1.2), but also went without competition from NFL's Monday Night Football.
  
  
• The final cable rating for the Tuesday, January 12th edition of ECW On SyFy came in at a 1.0, up from last week's 0.9.
  
  
  
  

Pay Per View

• The following is the card for this Sunday’s Genesis Pay Per View:
  
  TNA World Title Match:
  -A.J. Styles vs. Kurt Angle.
  
  
  -Beer Money Inc. vs. Scott Hall and Kevin Nash.
  
  
  -Abyss vs. Bobby Lashley.
  
  TNA Tag Team Titles Match:
  
  
  -British Invasion vs. Matt Morgan and Hernandez.
  
  2 Out of 3 Falls Match For The Knockouts Title:
  
  
  -ODB vs. Tara.
  
  
  -Amazing Red vs. a yet to be named opponent.
  
  
  -Desmond Wolfe vs. D'Angelo Dinero.
  
  
  
  
  

Comings and Goings

• From Wrestlezone.com: After speaking with a high level source within TNA, I can now confirm that Ken "Mr. Kennedy" Anderson will be debuting with the company this week. Anderson will either debut at the Genesis PPV, as the surprise wrestler that Jeremy Borash previously tweeted about, or he will debut at the Impact tapings the night after. The intent right now is to have Anderson debut at the Genesis PPV, but if TNA decides to hold out, then he will debut at the Impact tapings on Monday. Either way, I can confirm that Anderson has signed a deal with TNA.
  
  
• From Wrestlezone.com: The Figure Four Weekly Newsletter is reporting that although Bobby Lashley has signed an MMA deal with Strikeforce, he is still under contract to TNA and will continue working for the company. At this point, Lashley feels that if he only has to work 4-5 dates a month with TNA, then he can manage both wrestling and MMA. However, he does feel that as he starts to climb the MMA ladder, and faces higher profile fighters, then he will have less and less time to devote to pro wrestling.
  
  As far as Scott Hall and Sean Waltman are concerned, it is being reported, as we have reported before, that both are working on short term deals with TNA and are working on somewhat of a day-by-day basis. So far, TNA has been pleased with both wrestlers, and Scott Hall is said to be in much better shape now than he was when TNA last used him. Additionally, there is said to be little heat on Sean Waltman for arriving late to last week's Impact tapings.
  
  
  

Other news

• TNA's Jeremy Borash has noted that he recently shot an episode of "Spin Cycle" with Kevin Nash and Lacey Von Erich. However, the episode had to be re-shot as Borash noted that Von Erich and Nash were too raunchy for the episode to air. Von Erich was told to clean up her "potty mouth" for the re-taping.
  
  
• The following is a new "tweet" from the official Twitter page of TNA president Dixie Carter:
  
  "Expect a new tnawrestling.com website this weekend. Lots of changes going on. Check it out. PLS RT"
  
• ProWrestling.net is reporting that according to a source within TNA, Vince Russo's job on the creative team is by no means in jeopardy. While it is true that Eric Bischoff is involved in the creative process, and according to a source within TNA that I've spoken to, he is also handling most of the negotiations with new talent, Vince Russo is also playing a major role in the creative decisions being made within the company.
  
  Additionally, it's being said that Dixie Carter has been wary of new talent that has come into the company, and has trust issues with several newcomers including Hogan and Bischoff. Therefore, she is in no hurry to hand over control of the company to these kinds of people, and is keeping people like Vince Russo around because Russo has always been good about including Carter in the creative process.
  
  So, it seems that at this time there are absolutely no plans to remove Russo from the creative team. He is trusted and liked by Dixie Carter, who feels that he is committed to the company.
  
  
  
  

• From rohwrestling.com: ROH is happy to announce the official ROH ‘app’ for your Apple iPhone and iTouch. Those using the iTunes store can search “ROH”, “ROH Wrestling”, or “Ring of Honor”. Thank you to those at Apple and AppMaker that made this a reality.
  
  

• From dgusa.tv:
  
  January 14th: Two talents will make their DGUSA debuts in Phoenix. Sonjay Dutt has been added to the March 26th & 27th events. Human Tornado will wrestle on the March 27th card.
  
  
  January 14th: Chicago will witness a modernized twist on the classic big title match on January 23rd when BxB Hulk defends the Open The Freedom Gate Title against Dragon Kid. This is a first time ever one-on-one meeting between these stars from two different generations in Dragon Gate. Will Hulk keep his momentum going? Can Dragon Kid finally win his top singles championship?
  
  
  January 11th: A huge match has been added to the Bonus Card on January 23rd in Chicago. It will feature a lot of faces that are poised to break out in 2010 in a Six Way Elimination Match. The bout will pit Arik Cannon vs. Lince Dorado vs. Hallowicked vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Kyle O'Reilly vs. Jon Moxley. Who will be the lone survivor? The only way to see this match is to have Golden Circle or stage tickets.
  
  

• During a recent interview with ESPN, Greg Nelson, UFC Champion Brock Lesnar's trainer, noted that the former WWE star will "definitely come back to fight" with UFC. It was feared for some time that Lesnar would never fight again due to a serious illness, but Nelson has noted that Lesnar is “slowly getting his body ready and being smart with his recovery” after suffering an intestines infection. An interim heavyweight title fight is scheduled for March between Frank Mir and Shane Carwin.
  
  
• UFC president Dana White and co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta appeared on "Your World with Neil Cavuto" on the FOX News Channel this week. A common theme during the show seemed to be questions about UFC being in competition against WWE. White and Fertitta for the most-part no-sold the questions, but did end up addressing a couple of them.
  White said UFC and WWE are two different things. He admitted WWE does better television ratings but mentioned that UFC was more successful on pay-per view. Feritta mentioned how UFC beat both WWE and professional boxing combined on PPV last year. They also talked about how WWE's audience skews younger.
  
  
  
• From Wrestlezone.com: The following is a complete list of names that have been removed from the FCWWrestling.com roster since last Thursday (01/07/2010):
  
  
  Dino Carter
  
  Gabriel
  
  Lennox McEnroe
  
  Leroy Morgan
  
  Lift Sawyer
  
  Sweet Papi Sanchez
  
  
• Shane McMahon turned 40 this week.
  
  

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