----Mike Aldren with WGN.
WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT
10/29 Smackdown TV results Milwaukee, WI: Daniel Bryan over Dolph Ziggler; Jack Swagger over Kaval; Melina, Kelly Kelly & The Bella Twins over LayCool, Alicia Fox & Rosa Mendes; Big Show & Kofi Kingston over Cody Rhodes & Drew McIntyre; and Edge over Rey Mysterio & Alberto Del Rio in a thee-way to win a title shot at Survivor Series.
WWE held it's Fan Appreciation Day Saturday afternoon in Hartford, CT which included Triple H returning to the ring, a Stand Up For WWE promo from Vince McMahon and a surprise appearance from John Cena. Big Show won a battle royal to open the show--later losing via count out to Ziggler in an IC title match; Bryan over Miz to retain the U.S. title; Melina won a Divas dance competition hosted by Howard Finkel; Sheamus over John Morrison; Randy Orton over Wade Barrett to retain the WWE title; Triple H (who worked in a t-shirt because he can't train to any serious degree post biceps surgery) over Alberto Del Rio; and Cena over Kane via DQ. Vince's promo was about encouraging people to vote on Tuesday wearing WWE garb. Fans chanted "What!" throughout. He didn't mention Linda by name, nor was she at the show, however, people from Linda's campaign were handing out her button at the building exits.
The Smackdown crew ran Boston on Sunday with Kane over Big Show in the main event while Raw ran Montreal with Orton over Barrett. Maryse got a big babyface reaction in her hometown--actually her first time ever wrestling in Montreal with WWE.
Raw is live tonight from Long Island with Pee-wee Herman as guest celebrity. The Smackdown/NXT taping is Tuesday in Bridgeport, CT which coincidentally is election night. The entire McMahon family is scheduled to attend Linda's election rally defeat/celebration.
***
Rey Mysterio missed weekend shows due to an inner ear imbalance--which is causing him dizziness and nausea. No update on the severity of the issue at press time.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani endorsed Linda McMahon at an event over the weekend in Windsor, CT. "She's been an American businesswoman who built a very successful business that helped the state of Connecticut, because it put people to work," Giuliani told voters. "Linda is the right choice for the Senate right now... sure as heck the right answer for the country."
Triple H and Stephanie were out campaigning for Linda over the weekend. Video footage at http://tinyurl.com/37z3ueq. Linda's closing speech music was Get Ready by The Temptations.
Brodus Clay (George Murdoch--no relation to the legendary Dick) from developmental is on the road with Smackdown this week. He worked JTG in Boston.
WWE Studios' Knucklehead with Big Show, which had a production budget of $5-7 million, did less than $1,000 total last weekend between six theaters, according to internal estimates. The movie goes on sale on DVD and Blu-Ray from11/9. The select theater release was pretty much for tax purposes.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING
TNA ran Friday night in Springfield, MO drawing less than 300 paid with Eric Young over Magnus; AJ Styles & Kazarian over Ink Inc; Madison Rayne over Velvet Sky; Machine Guns over Generation Me; Jeff Jarrett over Brian Kendrick; and Matt Morgan over Jeff Hardy in a non-title match. Hardy was doing everything possible to get the crowd to heel him. He tried flipping the bird and spitting but this was a pro-Hardy crowd who it appeared doesn't pay attention to the television show.
We didn't receive any reports from the Saturday night show in West Plains.
Hall of Famer Harley Race was a backstage visitor at the Thursday night show in Sedalia.
***
Old wrestlers and social networking = Whoops! Hulk Hogan over the weekend accidentally Tweeted a topless photo of his girlfriend Jennifer. Apparently the steamy image was not meant for public consumption because it was deleted soon after it was posted. The word making the rounds is that Jennifer underwent a breast argumentation at some point and Hulk is more than thrilled with the results.
Hogan settled his lawsuit against Post Foods claiming that a TV ad for Cocoa Pebbles cereal misappropriated his likeness by featuring the cartoon character "Hulk Boulder." Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Hogan's attorney, Joseph W. Bain, said Hulk was happy with the outcome.
The TNA episodes of the Family Feud game show airs this coming week. Check your local listings.
The company has launched a new anti-bullying campaign titled "Eliminate the Hate" aimed at eliminating bullying of all kinds. More info at www.tnawrestling.com.
Mick Foley wrote another blog explaining his support of Linda McMahon at http://tinyurl.com/2v4xqlh.
Regarding the Mickie James auction to raise funds for a children's hospital in Richmond, I believe the winning bid was $800 to have dinner with Mickie on Saturday night.
The advertised line up for Sunday's Turning Point pay-per-view: Jeff Hardy vs Mr. Anderson for the TNA heavyweight title; Machine Guns vs. Team 3D for the tag titles; Robbie E vs. Jay Lethal for the X-title; EV2 vs Fortune with the winning team getting to fire a member of the losing team; and Mickie James vs. Tara for the Knockouts title.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Ring Of Honor tonight on HDNet has El Generico & Colt Cabana vs. Kevin Steen & Steve Corino in a steel cage match; Eddie Edwards defends the TV title vs. Rhett Titus; and Rachel Summerlyn vs. Sara Del Rey.
Bill Goldberg teased on Twitter that he would be happy to wrestle Undertaker at Wrestlemania 27 in Atlanta. He wrote that he would do it the match "in a NY minute" should he opportunity arise.
There was a show on Sky Sports in the UK over the weekend called Time Of Our Lives which is somewhat similar to WWE's legends round table. This particular show was titled 'Grapple Greats' and featured British legends Mick McManus, 82, Mark "Rollerball" Rocca, 59, and Tony "Banger" Walsh, 61 , discussing the glory days of British Wrestling which at it's peak was one of the highest rated shows on UK television. You can watch the entire show at http://tinyurl.com/34xls49.
Bobby Heenan turns 66 today. He's said to be doing as well as expected considering his health issues in recent years.
Dutch Mantell posted a new blog at www.dutchmantell.com. He says the title of his second upcoming book will be "Tales From A Dirt Road" which goes on sale within the next couple of months. This book will cover some TNA stories and his opinion of Vince Russo.
British world heavyweight boxing champion David Haye at http://tinyurl.com/22nb7xo claims he's quitting the ring next year and wants to cross over to acting, just like Dwayne Johnson.
Perry Saturn is advertised for the K&A Wrestlefest in Philadelphia on 12/10, his first public appearance in over five years. More info at www.kandswrestlefest.com.
Chris Hero is hosting a training seminar at Squared Circle Wrestling in Toronto on Sunday. More info at www.squaredcircletraining.com.
Zach Gowen wrote a new blog at http://tinyurl.com/3ylk6e4 discussing the changes in his life and what he's been doing recently.
www.playwithfriends.com has an interview with April Hunter talking WWE, Linda McMahon and politics.
Today's Babe of the Day is Ashley Massaro at http://thewrestlingpress.com/?page_id=298.
