– WWE.com is teasing that Vince McMahon will make a “major announcement” tonight on Raw.
– Batista vs. Randy Orton is the new main event for the 8/13 London, Ontario Smackdown house show in Canada, with Orton replacing Muhammad Hassan, so that appears to be the plan for shows where Hassan vs. Batista was announced as the headline bout.
– CM Punk, Slyck Wagner Brown, Striker, and April Hunter are backstage at Raw. Striker did a “farewell speech” at the NWA Cyberspace event in Wayne, New Jersey over the weekend talking about going “to the big time” but was non-committal when asked whether he had signed a WWE deal.
– Northeastern indy worker Mo Sexton has reportedly been offered a WWE developmental deal, WWE officials were pleased with Sexton’s work a few weeks back at the Continental Airlines Arena Raw taping.
– Tough Enough 3 champion Matt Cappotelli broke his leg over the weekend at an OVW house show. This is the latest in a string of bad breaks for Cappotelli, as he was originally supposed be a mystery opponent for Chavo Guerrero but suffered a concussion at the hands of Bob Holly, necessitating Jackquelyn to take his place and the Cruiserwieght title. However, the bad break may be a good one, as his mother passed this along:
“The orthopedic Dr. said he didn’t need an MRI as he could tell via x-ray and exam that the bones were lined up the way they should be and there was no ligament/tendon damage. He needs to keep weight off it for 2 weeks, and will probably be out of action for 6-8 weeks. I guess that’s the best we could hope for!”
– The latest word about Rob Van Dam’s status is he will be cleared to return to the ring in October. Van Dam is actually pushing for next month, but it will more likely than not be October. He’s got a readymade feud set with Carlito Caribbean Cool, as long as WWE creative remembers the Raw angle by the time he returns.
– Dennis and Lynn Brent, who handled various responsibilities including talent relations and third party bookings for talent making appearances, are gone from World Wrestling Entertainment. They relocated back to Texas, their old home, and the company opted against allowing them to continue their responsibilities from home. Dennis Brent has been a long-time associate of Jim Ross as the two worked together in various capacities for the NWA, WCW and WWE.
– Chris Jericho will be the host for the Beyond The Mountain Christian Rock Festival in San Bernardino, California on 8/27 and 8/28.
– WMOR-TV in Florida is doing a giveaway for tickets to the 8/28 WWE event in St. Petersburg, Florida. For details, click .
– Ivory will be appearing at the Wrestlereunion 2 event in King of Prussia, PA on 8/27-8/28, at the Carolina Championship Wrestling booth.
– Dawn Marie is auctioning off an outfit on her website, DawnMarieOnline. She is auctioning off the pink chaps that she wore on the original Divas Undressed competition.
– Charlie Haas will be holding a seminar on 8/20 for Chaotic Wrestling in Massachusetts from 10 AM – 5 PM. The price of the one day clinic is $99 (or $75 to observe but not participate) and you can visit ChaoticTC.com for further information.
– World Wrestling Entertainment issued the following press release this morning:
WWE(R)’s Summer Reading Slam Part of SummerSlam(R) Pay-Per-View Monday August 1, 11:30 am ET
STAMFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Aug. 1, 2005–World Wrestling Entertainment® today kicked off its annual Summer Reading Slam to encourage summer reading. It’s all part of the activities leading up to WWE’s SummerSlam Pay-Per-View (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT) on Sunday, August 21 at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C.
Fans can write to getreal@wwecorp.com with the title of the book they have or will read this summer, including the name of the author, and why they enjoyed the book. Upon receiving their submissions, WWE will send a complimentary poster featuring WWE SmackDown!® Superstar Rey Mysterio(TM). Each submission should include a mailing address where to send the poster. Fans can check back frequently to see which books are being read by their fellow fans by visiting getreal.wwe.com.
Since 2001, the Get R.E.A.L. program has partnered with schools and libraries across the country promoting the importance of reading and education. Get R.E.A.L. is an acronym for Respect, Education, Achievement, and Leadership.
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWE – News) is an integrated media and entertainment company headquartered in Stamford, Conn. WWE has offices in Los Angeles, Toronto and London, and a sales office located in New York City. Information on the company can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com.
Trademarks: The names of all World Wrestling Entertainment televised and live programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans and wrestling moves and all World Wrestling Entertainment logos are trademarks which are the exclusive property of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
– Frankie Kazarian’s bio has been added to the Smackdown! roster page.
– WCAX TV in Burlington, VT ran a story about a group of women protesting outside of yesterday’s Smackdown brand house show. Their complaint was that wrestling shows “desensitize children to violence, and promote bullying and violence against women”. It’s kind of hard to argue that fact. You can check out the story here.
-Roddy Piper will be on TSN’S Off The Record on August 9 as part of their “Best of OTR” week.
– Since losing his third straight Pay-per-view match to Batista at Vengeance, Triple H has been absent from WWE Television. He has wrestled on house shows and in dark matches, but “The Game” has not been seen on Raw, in any capacity, for over a month. Originally, it was penciled in for Triple H to return prior to Summerslam and set up a match with Ric Flair. With three episodes of Raw left before the PPV, there is still plenty of time for that to happen, but rumors say it may not. There has been talk that plans have changed, and that Triple H will be extending his television sabbatical even longer.
Credit: PWInsider.com
