World Wrestling News round up for Saturday 6th February 2010.

Television

• Due to the New Orleans Saints participation in the Super Bowl, WWE has decided to move their scheduled Smackdown taping on February 9th New Orleans to Baton Rouge. The reason WWE is doing this is because the city of New Orleans is honoring The Saints with a parade whether or not they win the Super Bowl.
  
  
• Next week's Raw will be guest hosted by NASCAR driver Carl Edwards.
  
  
• Guest host William Shatner announced on Raw this week that next week's show will feature DX vs CM Punk & Luke Gallows vs The Miz and Big Show in a triple threat unified tag team titles match.
  
  
• It was announced this week that ECW will run for 3 weeks more, then the show name and format will change to 'NXT'. 'NXT' is the name of an existing wrestling company in Scotland (the feeder company for SWA), and it's unknown at this point if WWE realised this when choosing the name.
  
  
  "We have had no direct contact from WWE regarding this matter but we welcome any conversation or resolution they would like to put forward." Commented Peter Murphy, owner of the Scottish Wrestling Alliance.
  "Everyone at the Scottish Wrestling Alliance is honoured that WWE have decided to name their latest product after SWA's feeder programme, NXT. We would like to assure our fans that the original NXT is still leading the way for trainees in Scotland and the shows on 6th February, Spittal Community Centre, Rutherglen, 19th February, Bargarran Community Centre, Erskine, March 6th, Viewpark Community Centre, Uddingston and March 19th, Links Community Centre, Cumbernauld are all still due to go ahead as advertised."
  
  
• On February 22nd, RAW will be hosted by married couple Jewel and Ty Murray. Jewel is a famous singer and Murray is a professional bull rider.
  
  
• On March 8th the host of the A&E show "Mindfreak" and magician Criss Angel will be guest hosting RAW.
  
  

Pay Per View news

• Sheamus vs Randy Orton vs Kofi Kingston vs John Cena vs Triple H vs Ted DiBiase in an Elimination Chamber match for the WWE title, and The Undertaker vs. John Morrison vs. R-Truth vs. CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio for the World Title have been added to the Elimination Chamber card.
  
  

Other news

• According to F4WOnline.com, Japanese pro wrestling icon Antonio Inoki will be inducted into the 2010 class of the WWE Hall Of Fame this year.
  
  
• WWE.com has posted a recap of the press conference held earlier today announcing that the event will take place in Atlanta, GA at The Georgia Dome on April 3, 2011. Vince McMahon said the following during the press conference:
  
  
  “We are thrilled to bring the biggest sports entertainment event in the world for the first time to the city of Atlanta in 2011. The enthusiasm of the sellout crowd at last night’s Royal Rumble was just a small sample of what to expect when WrestleMania XXVII takes over Atlanta,” said Mr. McMahon, WWE Chairman and CEO. “We look forward to focusing the eyes of the world onto the great city of Atlanta and making history at the Georgia Dome.”
  
  
• PWInsider.com is reporting that former WWE Tag Team Champion Joey Mercury is set to return to the company in the near future. Mercury held the tag team titles along with John Morrison, when Morrison was known as Johnny Nitro, and the two were part of the tag team MNM. Mercury was released from WWE back in March of 2007.
  
  
  Mike Aldren is now reporting that one possible plan for Mercury's return is to have him join CM Punk's straight edge society. Because Mercury was released from WWE back in 2007 due to an addiction to pain killers, the story line would play on his past drug use and how CM Punk "saved" him from his problems.
  
  
• WWE star John Cena recently appeared on a webcast, and when asked if he will ever wrestle Hulk Hogan he said, "Yes. I just don't think that's going to happen right now. He's too busy wasting his time."
  
  
• The Wrestling Observer is reporting that Cena did get some good news coming from the MRI he received. It appears that his back and neck are not in as bad of shape as feared, so he will most likely not miss any ring time.
  
  
• WWE.com has a new interview up with "The Glamazon" Beth Phoenix. In the interview, Phoenix talks about her performance in the 2010 Royal Rumble - as she was only the second Diva to ever compete in such a match. Phoneix took an interesting shot at Joanie "Chyna" Laurer in the interview: "I am WWE’s Glamazon. Chyna was WWE’s Ninth Wonder of the World … mostly called so because people wondered whether she was a man or a woman. I often wonder this, myself."
  
  
• The Figure Four Weekly Newsletter is reporting that the original plan within WWE was to continue the Raw guest host concept up until WrestleMania 26, and then decide whether or not they wanted to continue with the concept following the big PPV. At this point, it's being said that WWE is leaning towards continuing with the gimmick, as they feel it will be a unique weapon against TNA if they decide to go live with Impact on Monday nights.
  
  

Ratings

• This past Monday night's edition of Raw scored a final cable rating of 3.6, according to Nielsen Media Research. That is the same number the show did last week, despite coming off the Royal Rumble with Edge's return and a week build towards the return of Bret Hart.
  
  
• This week's ECW On SyFy featuring Vince McMahon scored a final cable rating of 1.05 rating, with 1.413 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.
  
  
  

Pay Per View

• The following has been announced for the TNA Against All Odds PPV:
  
  
  -AJ Styles with Ric Flair vs. Samoa Joe for the TNA Title.
  
  
  -The Nasty Boys vs. Team 3D.
  
  
  -8 Card Stud Tournament featuring Mr. Anderson, Kurt Angle, Desmond Wolfe, Hernandez and 4 other stars TBD. The winner of this tournament will go on to face the TNA Champion for the title at Lockdown.

Television

• The next edition of TNA Epics will air on February 11th, right after Impact at 11pm EST. The show will focus in Sting.
  
  
• Spike TV has once again changed the schedule on their website. TNA Impact is now listed on Thursday, March 4th at 9 PM and Spike's current Monday night programming, a series called Playbook, is now listed on both March 1st and 8th. No word yet on if Spike edited their schedule so that TNA could announce the Monday special on TNA's terms or if the plan to do the Monday special fell through.
  
  

Comings and Goings

• TNA agent Scott D'Amore has left TNA Wrestling. D'Amore posted the following on his Facebook page:
  
  
  "Scott D'Amore would like to wish TNA well in their future endeavors. More to follow."
  
  
• From Wrestlezone.com: Following the altercation between herself and Bubba The Love and Sponge, we reported that TNA Knockout Awesome Kong asked TNA for her release from the company. ProWrestling.net is now reporting that TNA management denied Kong's request to be released from the company and she is still under contract with TNA. As a result of the release denial, Kong did not appear on the UK tour as advertised, but did agree to work a match for TNA the night after the altercation with Bubba.
  
  
  It's also being said that the tension between Kong and Bubba has apparently been resolved following a meeting between Hogan, Kong, Bubba and Bischoff. It wouldn't surprise many to see this possibly turn into a TV angle in the future. As we exclusively reported after the incident, several TNA sources claimed that they wouldn't be surprised if the entire thing was provoked by Bischoff and Russo, so that it could be later used as an angle.
  
  
• TNA has removed Scott Steiner's name from their roster page. It has not been confirmed or announced, however, that Steiner has left the company.
  
  

Other news

• TNA announced that the Lockdown PPV this year will emanate in St. Louis instead of the usual Impact Zone. TNA also held Lockdown in St. Louis back in 2007.
  
  

• From rohwrestling.com: As the “Big Bang!” rapidly approaches, our working relationship with Ruben Zamora and Masked Republic brings back a man from the world of Lucha Libre that ROH fans got a taste of last year in Houston. The impressive Magno returns to ROH on April 3rd as part of the “Big Bang!” The high-flying luchador promises to bring that Lucha flair to Charlotte and back to ROH! Also signed to appear in Charlotte are Roderick Strong, Mark and Jay Briscoe, El Generico, and ROH World Champion Austin Aries with much more to be announced.
  
  

• WWE Hall Of Famer and former NWA Heavyweight champion Jack Brisco passed away this week at the age of 68. Our condolences go out to his family and friends.
  
  
• Variety.com is reporting that SpikeTV will begin airing a new wrestling show called "Half Pint Brawlers" in June. The article notes that the show "will examine the world of little-person wrestling and its increasing popularity as an underground sport." It also claims that "participants often perform in venues where crowds can often reach 5,000." The show is currently slated for 6, thirty minute episodes.
  
  
• The following is a new tweet from the official Twitter page of former WWE Superstar and ECW Original Tommy Dreamer:
  
  
  "Many people have asked me why I left WWE. If you watched ECW tonight, a piece of the puzzle was revealed for my actions. Stay tuned."
  
  
• Trish Stratus has landed the lead role in indy Canadian film 'Bail Enforcers'.
  
  
• The Heyman Hustle is reporting that THQ's upcoming "UFC Undisputed 2010" video game will feature Brock Lesnar on the cover. The Hustle notes, "Still on the mend but back in training, the UFC Heavyweight Champion of the World Brock Lesnar will be on the cover of the next "UFC Undisputed" video game."
  
  
  

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