• Wrestling News & Wrestling Rumors – WWE & TNA

- For those that missed the show rapper Akon was at Raw last night in the audience and was acknowledged by the cameras and Santino Marella in the opening segment.

- Dolph Ziggler, who was suspended for his first Wellness Violation on October 10th, before he’d even had his re-debut match under the new gimmick returned to TV last night on Raw during a backstage segment with HBK and Rey Mysterio. He is the former Nicky of the Spirit Squad.

For those that forgot, the planned gimmick is that he is a stud with a big penis, and the whole “Hi I’m Dolph Ziggler” thing is or at least was supposed to shock people in to looking down at him. Hmmm kids initiative?

- Jim Ross is back with more blog thoughts from his site JRSBARBQ.com; here are the wrestling highlights:

On Relationships:
“Not with any one in particular in mind but does any one ever day dream why “wrestling couples” usually don’t make it? It’s a challenging profession, much akin to Hollywood, when there are two performers in the marriage or relationship where often times egos and who gets the most TV time or the biggest “push” can adversely affect these fragile to begin with unions. For the record, when I was head of talent of the WWE I cringed when I saw two performers who traveled almost constantly become couples. Travel and ego’s seem to be the root causes of these “not meant to be train wrecks.” Some couples cannot separate the difference in being in lust and being in love.”

On the Economy:
“Don’t kid yourself, the economy is going to affect virtually every phase of our lives here in the States and the smart touring companies won’t hit the same markets as often and will always make sure they have a bottom end priced ticket that the average Joe can afford. The cost of bringing a family to an event or any kind is often times staggering. I know to attend an Oklahoma Thunder NBA game one needs a short term loan to take a family of four. The WWE having a $20 tickets is very prudent especially during these challenging times.”

On Kurt Angle in MMA:
“After Brock Lesnar’s huge weekend in the UFC, I assume we can expect the plethora of rumor and speculation that Kurt Angle will someday be going to the UFC. I don’t see it happening myself nor do many others that I know that have infinitely more knowledge of the matter than I. As I have said before, if Kurt had tried his hand at this ten years ago, I could see it possibly being a successful venture. But with lingering, neck issues and an absence from competitive athletics for so long, it would seem that particular ship has sailed for the 1996 Olympic Gold medal winner in free style wrestling.”
[I second that, Kurt is deluded, unless he faces a nobody in a nobody MMA promotion.]

On Survivor Series:
“Do the elimination tag bouts have the well developed back stories as to why certain teams are formed? Not as they once were in the past. The reason is the plethora of pay per view events makes these important nuances challenging.”

On John Cena:
“The John Cena vignettes have been extremely well done and certainly illustrate what can be done via vignettes for other talents if utilized in a comparable method. I’m even interested in knowing more about some of the guys in the Cena vignettes including John’s brothers and friends who did a great job in providing telling sound bytes on John’s behalf. Without coming off as too much of a sycophant, the WWE TV folks do a helluva job with pre-produced packages ala the Cena vignettes, etc.”

On Manu:
“Manu gave us a glimpse of what might be in his future as Wild Samoan Afa’s son had a really good outing with Batista. Manu is genuinely athletic and seems to have natural timing and instincts. My only suggestion to him would be to watch what he eats and how he trains therefore keeping his weight under control. Bottom line is that Manu has the potential to be a significant contributor down the road.”

On Mike Knox:
“Mike Knox has a unique look, sort of an old school Bruiser Brody starter kit, and is a raw boned, rugged and aggressive young man who has a chance to be good. It will depend on how hard Knox works to improve his overall game and how well he picks up the nuances required of being a top flight antagonist. In the old days, Knox wold have been given a hot manager which would have automatically raised Knox’ stock.”

On Reid Flair:
“I am relived to see that Reid Flair is holding off on making his pro debut for whatever the reasons may be. Reid is a special kid whose Dad casts an immense shadow and my take on it is that Reid needs several months of training before he is thrown out in front of the paying customers in a well promoted event where he will be asked to be “good” from day one. There should be no hurry in launching Reid’s pro wrestling career.”