Following are some updates on ongoing stories from the week:
Molly Holly’s Release:
– PWInsider.com is reporting that Molly negotiated her release on Monday during a 15 minute conversation with talent head Johnny Ace. She was pushing to turn babyface, but WWE officials didn’t see her as a good fit despite her previous role as “Mighty Molly” – a superhero sidekick to The Hurricane – and she decided to ask for the release. Some say that she may leave the business altogether. It is expected that she will not be able to use the Molly Holly name outside of WWE, or wrestle until about 90 days is up. [Credit: PWInsider.com]
Matt Hardy’s Release:
– PWInsider.com is reporting that Matt Hardy’s release is mostly due to Hardy’s public commentary on the Lita/Edge situation. When an associate close to him was believed to have fed the story to Internet news outlets, it painted Hardy as an “Internet stooge” to some at the company, and with Edge being more important to WWE — along with old heat between Hardy and talent head Johnny Ace that goes back to Hardy being part of a vocal group of wrestlers unhappy with having to be instructed by someone that came over from WCW — Hardy’s release was sealed. [Credit: PWInsider.com]
– PWInsider.com is also reporting that some people who are close to Matt Hardy have said this whole situation has burned him out, and this release could be a positive, as he can now move on. Most wrestlers felt that he was a will-liked, hard worker, and were surprised by his release. It had been assumed that due to the love triangle, Matt would simply be moved to Smackdown. [Credit: PWInsider.com]
Other Releases:
– Will “Chilly Willy” Jones was released mostly because he wasn’t improving quickly enough for WWE. [Credit: PWInsider.com]
– Aaron “Jesus” Aguilera was released related to his injuries, since they felt he wouldn’t be able to make it back to a full-time schedule. [Credit: PWInsider.com]
– There is still no word on the exact reasons behind Creative Team editor Tom Chehak’s departure from the company. His role was to oversee the long-term direction of both RAW and SD, including storyline continuity, and he was hired due to findings by Hollywood consultants who advised WWE to do so. Dave Scherer is reporting that most of his sources say he “was probably better suited for another business” as he didn’t have a great grasp of wrestling. [Credit: PWInsider.com]
WWE Talent & Creative:
– Speaking of the creative team, Ted DiBiase was backstage at Tuesday’s SD tapings, as a consultant for the creative team and a road agent. He reportedly admitted during the interview process that he hasn’t kept up with current storylines and characters, and to have been honest about his faults creatively. WWE hired him in part to get an “old school” opinion added into the mix. [Credit: PWInsider.com]
– WWE’s Deep South Wrestling developmental territory is scheduled to begin in early May. Bill Behrens of NWA Wildside and Jody Hamilton have long been rumored to head up the project. [Credit: PWInsider.com]
Diva Search 2005:
– WWE sent out the following to casting agencies:
The 2nd Annual WWE Diva Search
Episodic
Spike TV
Casting Director: Kristin Prouty
RATE: $250,000/one year contract
AUDITIONS: Will be doing first round auditions throughout month of April in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix and San Diego
CALLBACKS: June 3rd & 4th
Locations: Various
WORLD WRESTLING ENT. DIVA:
Beautiful women, 20 – 29 years of age (must be legally 20 years old), great bodies, all ethnicities, comfortable in a bikini. They do not need wrestling experience or ever desire to wrestle. This is for a DIVASPOT, which entails: acting, being woven into storylines, conveying beauty, but not necessarily ever needing to wrestle…
Look for last year’s winner, Christy Hemme, on the cover of this month’s Playboy!
Vince McMahon’s Injury:
– Vince McMahon was seen at TV this week walking around, animated and on a quick path to recovery. [Credit: PWInsider.com]
ECW:
– WWE.com has finally listed the June 12 ECW “One Night Stand” PPV on the U.S. version of its Web site. [Credit: WWE.com]
– A “WWE ECW (Collector’s Edition)” DVD and “WWE Presents ECW – One Night Stand” DVD are scheduled for a July 12 release. [Credit: PWInsider.com]
Miscellaneous Notes:
– Speaking of WWE.com, the Backlash Web site has launched with event history and the two matches already announced being listed: HHH vs. Batista and Muhammad Hassan & Daivari vs. Shawn Michaels & “TBA.” [Credit: WWE.com]
– WWE has struck a deal with The Armed Forces Network to air Raw and Smackdown within 24 hours of the initial broadcast, rather than a few months late. [Credit: PWInsider.com]
– WWE will be taping television on 7/1 and 7/2 at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan. [Credit: WrestlingObserver.com]
