Beyond The Mat

TNA Star Returning To The Ring Soon- Pwinsider.com is reporting that Mickie "Moose" Knuckles is about three weeks away from returning to the TNA ring. Moose suffered a bad leg injury this past July when she came off the ropes at an Ian Rotten IWA-South show. Prior to her release, Moose was seen in TNA feuding with ODB.

FCW Officially Announces A New TV Deal, Debut Revealed- PWInsider.com is reporting that WWE's developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling has officially announced a TV deal. FCW will debut Sunday, October 5 on the Brighthouse Sports Network at 6:00 p.m. FCW has been holding tapings for several weeks, but this past Thursday night's taping is expected to be the first or second episode of the series.

News On The Undertaker's Physical Condition- The Undertaker was spotted noticeably limping in the ring at certain times during WWE's overseas tour last week and one his knees has been bothering him since he made his return in August. He did have arthroscopic surgery during his time off and his knee was in worse shape than the company had thought, which has included the beginning of arthritis. The expectiation was that he would be ready to return in good shape for the Hell in a Cell at SummerSlam after having the surgery. However, the smarter bet was to let him rest a few more weeks after the surgery. Undertaker was booked at house shows in tag matches and his TV taping dark matches were kept short.

He has been described by many within WWE as one of those guys who is often in tremendous pain backstage, never complains about it, normally doesn't show it in the ring and comes back hurting behind the curtain.

Update On When Melina May Return- According to Jim Ross on his official website (jrsbarbq.com), WWE Diva Melina is expected to return to the ring for WWE as early as January. Melina suffered a severely injured heel in late June on the WWE Draft show and has been out of action ever since.

Former NFL And WCW Star Added TO BFG PPV- Former Chicago Bear and WCW star Steve “Mongo” McMichael has been added to TNA’s Bound for Glory PPV, working as a special referee in the Four Way Monster’s Ball match for the TNA Tag Team championship.

TNA Turning Point Poster Features Foley, Genesis PPV Scrapped- TNA Wrestling has released the official promotional poster for their November 9th PPV, Turning Point. The poster features TNA's latest acquisition, Mick Foley, along with the tag line, "The Balance of Power Has Reached a Turning Point." Traditionally, TNA holds "Genesis" in November and Turning Point in December. The company has scrapped Genesis, moved Turning Point to November and will feature a new holiday-themed event on December 21st.

Cena/Orton Return Updates, Steve Austin News- Stone Cold Steve Austin will begin production on a new film titled "Damage" on October 17th. The film's plot will revolve around an underground fighting community and Austin will be playing the principal male role of John Brickner. It should be noted that this is NOT a WWE Films project, so depending on marketing strategies could have the potential to do much better than "The Condemned." The film will be shot in Vancouver and will be directed by Jeff King with a script by Frank Hannah.

Although the poster that we revealed yesterday for WWE Survivor Series 2008 does feature Randy Orton, it is not a guarantee that Orton will return to the ring prior to the event. Although initial reports had him returning to the ring in October, he may be held off until the actual night of Survivor Series just to be safe. It is also being rumored that John Cena may be medically cleared in time to return at Survivor Series as well, however nothing has been confirmed at this point.

CM Punk's Plans For The Tag Champions- The WWE.com "Raw After the Bell" show has CM Punk declaring retribution against World Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase. Punk states he won't be satisfied until he and a partner has taken away their titles belts since they took away his belt.

Rhodes and Dibiase, with Randy Orton, attacked Punk prior to his championship scramble World Heavyweight Title defense at Unforgiven, in which Punk was unable to compete resulting in his losing the title.

To view the video, click here.

Kofi Kingston would make the most sense as Punk's partner since the two have been aligned on Raw as of late, in addition to Kingston coming to Punk's aide during the Rhodes, Dibiase and Orton attack at Unforgiven.

It certainly appears that Punk will be out of the main event title picture for the time being.

Killer Kowalski Memorial Show To Take Place- The "Killer" Kowalski Memorial Wrestling Show takes place on Sunday, October 26th, 2008 at the Irish-American Club in Malden, Massachusetts. Bell time is 2 PM. All proceeds will benefit the Walter "Killer" Kowalski Memorial Fund. Scheduled to appear are:

Kaz
Ox Baker
JJ Dillon
Tito Santana
Nikolai Volkoff
Christopher Nowinski
Idol Stevens
John Walters
Luis Ortiz

Go to http://www.superstarprowrestling.com for full information and http://prowrestlingevents.webs.com for a list of upcoming wrestling shows worldwide.

Status Update On New Eric Bischoff Wrestling Promotion With CMT- Negotiations continue between Eric Bischoff with Hervey Productions and CMT about the possibility of a new wrestling promotion, spanning as a result of his Celebrity Championship Wrestling project with Hulk Hogan.

The idea is that such a promotion may be centered around Goldberg vs. Hulk Hogan, and possibly with new talent from West Coast independent promotions. Goldberg recently stated he had been training, though it was never believed he was training to wrestle for WWE or TNA.

Celebrity Championship Wrestling debuts next month on CMT. The possibility of a Bischoff led wrestling promotion is only in talks now and is not definite. Bischoff’s association with the celebrity wrestling program resulted in a blog entry this summer stating he was again feeling the drive for wrestling.

Vince Pulls Savage From Video Game- The Wrestling Observer is reporting that Vince McMahon has decided NOT to feature Randy Savage as a playable character in the upcoming "Legends of Wrestlemania" video game which is slated to be released by THQ next March. Savage, who competed in 9 out of the first 10 Wrestlemania's and won the WWF Championship at two of them, is being regarded by THQ as a huge loss to the video game. In addition to Savage, McMahon has also made the decision to pull Mick Foley from the game even though his character had already been created. McMahon made the decision following Foley's departure from WWE and announcement that he has signed with TNA. Several other names were also removed from the game at McMahon's request, but those names have yet to be released.

Foley Speaks on Wrestling For TNA, Leaving WWE And More- Mick Foley appeared on the "Between The Ropes" radio show last night to address his recent move from WWE to TNA. We reported earlier that Foley had been pulled from the Legends of Wrestlemania video game slated to be released next March, and Foley claimed he was flattered that WWE decided to make the move, saying that his departure from the company must have been a big deal to them if they were taking such measures. When asked about the reports of Vince McMahon yelling into his mic during Smackdown broadcasts, Foley said, "I went from thinking about the job almost all the time to not thinking about it at all. I really thought my performance was suffering. There were some weeks where I was a little embarrassed because I hadn't done my homework."

When asked about the possibility of working with TNA in a long term capacity Foley said, "it's short-term now, but it could lead to something long-term down the road depending on how we each like working with the other." He then added, "I think if things go well, you'll eventually see me in the ring." To listen to the full interview, visit BetweenTheRopes.com

TNA/Nathan Jones Contract Update- The TNA contract with Nathan Jones does not take effect until Nathan relocates to Orlando, FL.

It is unknown whether Nathan Jones will move to Orlando while recovering from injury but certainly that might accelerate when TNA first uses him, and might be the smart thing for him to do.

News On WWE Try-Out Evaluations And TV Extras- WWE recently reduced the amount paid to the extras that are booked at PPV, and TV tapings from $250 per day to $200.

Unless a specific number of extras are requested by the writers, 2 extras are normally booked for PPV's and 4 each for the Raw and Smackdown tapings. Some weeks extras may only be booked one day in the future.

The extras that are booked may get matches or an opportunity to work out in the ring and be evaluated by Jamie Noble. Regardless, the information on talent evaluated is now loaded into a data base and the decision on whether the talent will be booked as extras again is made based on the evaluations. Good evaluation, and you are booked again...bad evaluation, not so much.

Updates On Cherry's Release And Sid's WWE Return- It is being reported by The Wrestling Observer that former WWE Diva Cherry was released for two main reasons. One is that most officials in creative felt she wasn't thin enough to be a Diva, as most Divas are hired as models in addition to wrestlers. Second, she wasn't talented enough in the ring to be considered a true worker like Beth Phoenix, Natalya or Victoria, therefore she couldn't be placed on the roster as a model or a wrestler.

The Wrestling Observer is also reporting that reports of Sid Vicious returning to WWE are not as true as Sid may have claimed. At this point there appears to be no deal in place, and the only person pushing for Sid's return to the company is Johnny "Ace" Laurinaitis. Sid was approached by Johnny Ace last year and asked him if he would be able to pass a wellness test. When Sid said he could not, apparently lost a lot of momentum behind him concerning a return. Assuming Johnny Ace can convince management that signing Sid would be a good move, we most likely will not see him in a WWE ring in the near future.

Nash Off TV Until October? Where Ricky Ortiz Got Towel Idea From And More- Expect Kevin Nash to be off TNA TV until at least The Bound For Glory PPV in October.

The idea for the rally towel that is carried to the ring by ECW's Ricky Ortis came from Elijah Burk who suggested it to the writers as something he'd use as part of a babyface turn.

NWA Anarchy star and former Heavyweight & Tag Team Champion, Phil Shatter (Chad Lail) has signed a WWE delevopment contract and will be relocating to Tampa, FL, soon.

New Kane Dvd, History Of The I.C. Title Dvd Release And More- WWE has cleared a Sunday evening timeslot on Televisa which is Mexico's #1 rated network. 

The title for WWE's upcoming Kane DVD is "The Twisted, Disturbed Life of Kane."

WWE has scheduled 11/25 as the release date for their "History of the WWE Intercontinental Title" DVD.

Team 3D Heading Back To WWE Or Staying In TNA?- Team 3D cut a promo in NYC this past weekend claiming that they would let the fans know whether or not they planned to stay with TNA or sign with "the other company," and become The Dudleyz once again. It was confirmed last night that Ray and Devon have in fact signed new deals with TNA and will remain a part of the company. For the record, but this should come as no surprise to anyone since TNA is notorious for running idiotic angles, there is no possible way management would have allowed Team 3D to go out into their ring and announce that they might be heading back to WWE. This was a swerve that I assume swerved no one.

ECW Superstar Initiative, A Double Edged Sword- ECW or Teddy Long''s "Superstar Initiative" is really a double edged sword for the talent that has been in WWE "development" for a few years.

Really it is a "make or break" for the talent. Do well like Evan Bourne (Matt Sydal), and you are on a roster and out of development. Do not so well like Brayden Walker (Chris Harris) and you get released.

WWE has to weed out it's development roster. Keeping wrestlers in Tampa for too long just makes it harder to add new blood. So if after a while, and if creative hasn't asked for someone because of an idea, wrestlers will either just be released or given a chance in the "Superstar Initiative".

And "chance" can be relative as what the wrestler is allowed to do in the match(es) will depend on what the agents let them do, so a key will be "personality", and likely that explains the push of guys like Ricky Ortiz (Atlas DaBone), as his "work" has been average at best.

Edge Said To Be Recovering From Sore Knee- PWInsider is reporting that Edge is currently recovering from a very sore knee in addition to some other aches and pains he was experiencing recently. The Undertaker is also said to be nursing a sore knee at the moment as well. Some WWE sources have stated he may have been brought back before he was ready to work against Edge at SummerSlam.

Updates On Cage And Nash- The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that the feeling within TNA right now regarding Kevin Nash or Christian Cage signing new deals is 50/50. In both cases for Nash and Cage, the feeling is wondering how badly WWE wants them or not.

Nash is reportedly negotiating in giving TNA the idea that WWE wants him as there is a potential short-term role to walk into as a bodyguard for Shawn Michaels to counteract Lance Cade, but with timing issues there really isn't anything to that right now. He has stated many times that he is very limited when it comes to working in the ring and how the TNA schedule gives him enough time to rest up in between events, so going to a full-time schedule with WWE probably wouldn't be something he would want to do.

In regards to Cage, while there was heat on the way he handled his departure from WWE in jumping to TNA a few years ago, one source has described that as "water under the bridge" within WWE. One point has been made that with drug testing now the norm in WWE, the emphasis on having a muscular physique is the lowest it has ever been in the company's history and how that bodes well for Christian whose body has been his biggest hold-up in the opinions of many despite having top notch skills in the ring and strong promo skills.

Mysterio Replaces Cena In Championship Scramble Match- Rey Mysterio was named as John Cena's replacement in the World Heavyweight Championship Scramble match at Unforgiven. As reported earlier, Cena was pulled from the match due to a serious neck injury. The scramble match will now feature World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk vs. Kane vs. Batista vs. Rey Mysterio vs. JBL.

Cena Suffering From A Potentially Serious Injury- John Cena is reportedly having serious problems with his neck, which has caused numbness in one of his arms.

Cena had an MRI done Saturday before the Raw brand house show at Madison Square Garden. He returned to the arena and said, "Long story short, my neck is (expletive) up badly."

Cena was originally slated to work singles matches at this weekend's house shows, but they were turned into tags with Batista as his partner. Batista worked the majority of their tag matches at all three shows.

Cena has yet to indicate if he's going to be taking some time off or not.

Update On Morishma's WWE Reviews And Future- Regarding Takeshi Morishima's dark matches for WWE last week, the reviews weren't too positive. Or rather, the problem seems to be with his physical appearance.

Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Live last night that a number of officials were put off by Morishima's appearance, as he's quite rotund. Some of them even thought Morishima disrespected his tryout by showing up in lackluster shape. Morishima is a big guy as he's billed at 320 pounds.

Meltzer also heard pretty much what Jim Ross wrote on his blog on Saturday regarding Morishima as he said he needs to hit the gym and work on his athletic conditioning. On Morishima, Ross wrote: "I haven’t heard a word about how well his matches went. I watched his match in Moline and it was o.k. Not bad, not great. It looks like Morishima might want to focus on his athletic conditioning and hit the gym more frequently. I am not being negative here only realistic. Morishima has "something" that seems like it might be worth exploring. I like his timing and there is no doubt potential with this young man."

In addition to this, if WWE were to bring him in, they would have to deal with a number of stringent political issues with NOAH officials because his side wants him to get some exposure in North America while still being their guy, then bring him back to Japan to carry the company after hopefully attaining stardom with the biggest wrestling company in the world. Basically, WWE can't book him like a joke or make him look bad.

Right now, it's definitely not looking good for Morishima joining WWE.

WWE's Plans For Wrestlemania XXV- WWE has already started looking ahead to next year’s WrestleMania XXV. WWE is planning to have Triple H face the Undertaker or Edge for the WWE Championship. The downfall between a Triple H and Undertaker match is that he's undefeated at WrestleMania, so he would be expected to win. Undertaker isn't against the idea of losing if Vince McMahon feels it’s a good business move.

At some point, there were plans to have Batista or Edge end Undertaker's WrestleMania streak. Mark Henry was originally scheduled to defeat the Undertaker at WrestleMania XXIV in their Casket match until plans changed.

Latest On Sid Vicious/WWE- This should probably be taken with a grain of salt because he may picked it up online, but talk show host Scott Ferrall of Sirius Satellite Radio said during hos show last week that Sid Vicious was reportedly in the final stages of signing a deal with World Wrestling Entertainment. He said Sid has been telling friends that he will back in WWE by September, and the talk show host reported that the deal is nearly complete.