– Bob Ryder at 1Wrestling.com is reporting that UPN executives have told WWE that they don’t want the Muhammed Hassan character on their network any longer. He was not on last week and will not be on tonight, but if Hassan wins at the Great American Bash, Smackdown faces the chance that the #1 contender to their World Title will not be allowed on TV. Don’t be surprised if WWE makes another “worked shoot” angle out of this.
– PWTorch.com is reporting the following: “WWE creative is working on the situation, and the plan right now is to have Undertaker kill him off on Sunday. The backlash by sponsors or local affiliates must have been quite strong after the ill-timed terrorist-themed angle on the July 7 Smackdown.” Note from PK: Why not just have Teddy Long fire him for what he did and have him re-signed by RAW?
– And according to WrestlingObserver.com, this is confirmed, and WWE can either move him back to RAW or end the angle altogether. This has implications for at least two matches this weekend.
– The Hassan angle was discussed in a great column by Birdman on ESPN.com Page 2 columnist Bill Simmons’ “The Sports Guy’s World” page. The column — which also talks about Katie Vick, Mae Young giving birth to a hand, and other embarrassing angles — can be found here.
– Mike Johnson and PWInsider.com are reporting that WWE Cruiserweight Champion Paul London is not on SD this week due to a creative decision, not a real life injury. WWE.com recently posted an exclusive feature on London’s injury when Juvi landed knee-first on his head, so they may be working an injury angle.
– Speaking of WWE.com, the bWo promo challenging the Mexicools for the Great American Bash that was shown on last night’s Byte This! is currently online.
– Ring of Honor announced that the two currently booked appearances of Matt Hardy on ROH will feature him facing Homicide on August 12 in Chicago and Roderick Strong on August 13 in Dayton. Go to ROHWrestling.com for ticket info and more on those cards.
– PWInsider.com’s Mike Johnson is also reporting that Matt Hardy will face TNA star AJ Styles at the Internet Wrestling Council’s return to Monroeville, PA, on July 29. IWCWrestling.com has more on tickets, etc.
– Former Smackdown superstar Luther Reigns made his first indy appearance since being released at Rick Bassman’s UPW vs. UPW Champ Tom Howard. (Credit: PWInsider.com)
– The St. Paul Pioneer Press quotes Brock Lesnar’s agent as saying he is “negotiating” a WWE return and won’t be trying out for the Vikings again this year.
– In Your Head Wrestling Radio spoke with Pringle III (Paul Bearer) about how Paul Bearer wasn’t really killed on WWE TV, his run in WWE, his gastric bypass surgery that saved his life, and more. You can listen to it here.
– Bubba Ray Dudley had two interviews yesterday where he discussed that the Dudley Boyz are still under WWE contract until August 26, 2005, and weren’t released. As previously reported, WWE decided they would not renew the contracts. Bubba says it was a mix between WWE wanting to pay them less than they were willing to take, and the lack of real tag team competition currently in WWE. He left it open to returning to WWE when there are more established tag teams, and noted that WWE is looking to build the tag division again as it hasn’t been a priority since the Hardyz/Dudleyz/Edge & Christian days. He is looking forward to indie bookings and didn’t rule out going to TNA, as competition is good for the business overall. He plugged Quest Pro Wrestling, talked about TLC, the ECW One Night Stand PPV and more. You can listen to his interview on The Buckethead Show here and on Between the Ropes Radio here.
