– Johnny Ace was reportedly pretty annoyed at comments Tough Enough IV Champion Daniel Puder made in an interview a few weeks back in the Knight-Ridder newspapers, where he suggested he should have hurt Kurt Angle during Tough Enough in order to get himself over, and that WWE screwed up by letting him go. As previously reported, he was let go mostly due to financial issues (he was making $250,000 guaranteed while under contract, and WWE decided not to renew him at that price since he was only in OVW), and even though Heyman pushed him in OVW (and had even thought up the Angle Challenge as a way for Puder to eventually go over Kurt and win his medals, but that never happened ’cause Heyman was taken off of the Smackdown writing team), it was too late. Plus, the decision to not bring Tough Enough back also had a hand in him not staying on the roster.
– The Orlando Jordan three-way bisexual storyline has apparently been dropped.
– Due to a legal battle with Jim Crockett, WWE has trademarked “Rick Flair” as they aren’t allowed to use “Ric Flair.”
– Dusty Rhodes is high on Roadkill and his team with Kasey James may be brought up to the main WWE roster.
– Terry Funk is scheduled to ref a street fight in Amarillo at a May 14 house show. At the May 13 show in El Paso, Chavo vs. Orton is being advertised.
– The Smackdown Juniors division was originally thought up by a writer who saw Mistico after admitting cruiserweights had a bad reputation. Of course it ended up becoming a joke midget division that was, no pun intended, short-lived.
– The Miz was originally supposed to be put into a tag team with Matt Cappotelli, and then with Chris Cage — with a series of skits partying in South Padre Island taped with Cage. Cage, though, partied too hard in Louisville to the point of being hospitalized, and was eventually released.
– Matt Cappotelli told the Boston Herald that surgery would be his last option.
– Localized interviews have been inserted into UK’s versions of Heat and Velocity. This was a usual practice for syndicated weekend WWF shows years ago.
– OVW and DSW are also expected to follow WWE’s wellness program. Johnny Ace and Ed Kauffman presented the workers with the details of the program around the same time the RAW and SD rosters were told.
Credit: Wrestling Observer newsletter (click here for subscription information)
