Friday's Notebook

NEWS ROUNDUP

It looks like the announcement that Hulk Hogan signed with TNA isn't helping ratings, at least not in the short term.

After posting a 1.3 last week, this week's Impact! scored a 1.1. Not good considering Hogan may be the biggest star in the history of the business.

Thet did beat WWE Superstars. That show scored a 0.8.
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If you missed it, Chris Jericho went into druken rant of racial and homophobic slurs while appearing at a horror film festival in Sacramento, Calif.

They'll be a full posting on this shortly, but suffice it to say the guy who was the target of most of this did not accept Jericho's apology.
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There's some preliminary names being bandied about for WWE's 2010 Hall of Fame inductees. So far, Vince McMahon is considering Demolition, The Road Warriors, Ron Simmons, Slick and "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase.

A few curiosities here. First of all, I wonder if Demolition and The Road Warriors are together since the former was essentially a cheap rip off of the latter. I also wonder which name for the Animal & Hawk will be uttered more often: Road Warriors or The Legion of Doom. Given they used the latter during their World Wrestling Federation stint, I'd say the latter.

I also think Ted DiBiase is a shoe-in given the big push his son is getting.
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WWE might be dropping one of its 14 pay-per-views from the schedule. Don't celebrate yet. To mkae up for the lost revenues, the other shows will going up in price to $45. Nice way to show appreciation for fans in this economy.
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The Dec. 14 Raw from Corpus Christi, Texas will be three hours long and be hosted by Dennis Miller. It'll be the Slammy Awards edition, back for second time in its modern incarnation. Given how great Miller was for Monday Night Football, this should be a hit.
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If you thought all pro wrestlers stuck together when they enter politics, think again. Former Killer Bee B. Brian Blair is running as Repulican for the Florida state legislature. "The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart is supporting his opponent. Ouch! Heel turn.
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Ken "Mr. Kennedy" Anderson dyed his hair brown, in case you're keeping track. You can see a picture here.
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Actor Mickey Rourke wants to wrestle for WWE. If you remember last year's The Wrestler (an awesome movie, btw) he put on a pretty convincing performance. He was a part of WrestleMania XXV and was supposed to wrestle Y2J. Supposedly a clause in his contract for Iron Man 2 wouldn't allow him in the ring because of the possibility of injury. Not having him in the ring did water down the appearance a bit.

But I wonder, if he does indeed get a job with WWE hasn't The Wrestler shine worn off by now? I guess we may see.
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So, how does Vince McMahon feel about his son leaving the company? Here's what he said during a recent conference call with investors:

"Some people perceive this to be a family business, but I do not." He added that the managment team is decided by strength of performance not if your last name is McMahon. Could Shane have been fired?!
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Remember when NASCAR drivers Joey Logano and Kyle Busch were hosting Raw? Well, the race they were hawking happens tomorrow at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. It airs on ESPN 2 at noon ET.
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Joining performers like Big Show, John Morrison and The Miz, Michelle McCool (pictured far above) appeared on "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader." And she lost. The final question was "What animal appears on the great seal of the United States?" Michelle's answer---a great seal.

Didn't she used to be a teacher?
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Samoa Joe recently trashed online pro wrestling reporters, and being one myself, I think Joe may have a point. Here's what he posted on his Twitter account

"I often wonder how Wrestling news can call their posts 'news' when they cannot cite sources or provide proof of what they say occured? I'm not targeting anyone in particular. I'm just saying in normal journalistic circles sources and evidence are key aspects of journalism. I mean wrestling is a highly political game so you have to wonder what are these sources agendas?"

I also spend time during the day as a "real" reporter, so Joe could be on to something here.
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Why was there no news on Jeff Hardy's court appearance this week? Because it was postponed until Dec. 2.
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