BoboBrazil

HHH has held it over a year. I don't count the month he gave it to his buddy HBK.

Goldberg wins the title and HHH wins it back at the next ppv possible, which is Survivor Series and holds it for another year.

Is the Superstar Graham thing not airing tonight or something?

Last night's edition of Smackdown did a 3.2 broadcast rating, with a 5 share, according to Nielsen Media Research. 1wrestling.com

I still say they should get the writers from OZ.

As we reported yesterday, this week's edition of Smackdown did a 3.2 broadcast rating, with a 5 share, according to Nielsen Media Research. The quarter hour numbers told an in interesting story for the Ironman match. The second hour of the show did a 3.5 rating, but the quarters were 3.4, 3.4, 3.3 and finally, 3.9. That tells me that a lot of people cared more about the finish more than the entire match, which is kind of sad. 1wrestling.com

FROM THE INSIDE with Jeremy Borash It was quite a memorable night Wednesday... and one I won't soon forget for a myriad of reasons. TNA delivered on its promise to shave someone's head bald, as well as several surprises and a great world title match between Styles and Lynn. I'll kick off this edition of From the Inside with some big news for us at TNA. Starting a week from this Wednesday, TNA will now have a 30 minute weekly pre-show that will air before the PPV absolutely free. The show will feature many of the elements you see each week on Xplosion, as well as some exclusive stuff counting down the minutes until we go live. As of right now, the show will be carried by iN Demand PPV, with more affiliates likely to be added in the future. I don't think I've witnessed anything like the hair vs. hair match between Raven and Shane Douglas. It was like watching a horror movie. After coming through the curtain, doctors immediately attended to Douglas who had suffered a stinger in his arm late during the contest. Raven was literally scalped by the razor that was cutting his hair. Seeing Shane Douglas hurl during the main event was one of those unplanned moments you only see on live television. It was quite gross, and seeing it in person was even more disgusting. I did the show Wednesday with a 101 degree fever… and have been pretty sick for the last week… so the sight of that made me gag. Thankfully, I hadn't eaten much all day and was able to keep things down. It nearly turned into the scene from Stand By Me as a chain reaction hurl-a-thon nearly ensued. Raven once again showed why he is a top player in this sport with another solid main event effort, taking his loss and getting his head shaved. Roddy Piper taped a sit down interview Thursday morning with Mike Tenay that will air this Wednesday night. Two weeks ago Kash slapped Taylor backstage during their interview segment, and last Wednesday night, Taylor got his revenge in the #1 contenders tag team match. Taylor will face Kid Kash one on one this Wednesday night on PPV. Lots of things going on behind the scenes this week in TNA. You can now see TNA Xplosion on Tuesday nights on the new iN Demand high-def channel. This is professional wrestling's first and only high-def show. If you have digital cable, as well as a high-def TV and conversion box, you will be able to view the program. The picture quality is like looking through a window. TNA Xplosion will air late Saturday night this weekend in Minneapolis on Ch. 45. Check your local listings for exact airtimes. The very large individual (real name Ekmo Fatu) who debuted as Sonny Siaki's ace in the hole this past Wednesday night will be making a big impact in TNA. I think you will see how much talent he has, whereas elsewhere he was told to tone things down. I'm hearing alot of that from my friends elsewhere. 3 Live Kru will be getting their shot at Simon & Swinger this Wednesday night for the NWA World Tag Team Titles. Kato from Mexico's AAA Promotion wrestled a dark match this past Wednesday night and was impressive. On Xplosion this weekend you will see Elix Skipper, Christopher Daniels, Erik Watts, and CM Punk & Julio Dinero all in action. I was very impressed with Justice and Jerelle Clark from Florida who both had very impressive outings you will see this weekend as well. Expect TNA to establish strong working relationships with promotions in Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Australia. It looks like we will be sending our own talent around the globe via talent exchanges with these different companies. D-Lo Brown will be headed to All Japan for a short tour. From Bob Ryder's Notes from Backstage column… "I have to admit I never thought it would happen. I've never really liked Goldberg. But you have to give credit where credit is due. Goldberg is a ratings success. Goldberg has proven that the outrageous salary is deserved. Over 10,000,000 households watched Goldberg last week. I was wrong about Goldberg. She has proven she can carry a show. Way to go Whoopi!" Another indy story to pass along... and the names will be kept off to protect the innocent. One of the heels on the show was trying to get heat from the crowd with the usual... I hate this town... you people suck... your football team are a bunch of girls... you know... your textbook heat 101 phrases. One of the local kids took exception this and started yelling back at the heel. Sure enough, the heel invited the kid into the ring as often happens, knowing that a confrontation would never take place. Well, he was wrong. The kid immediately charged the ring and went to town on the heel. As it turns out... the kid was a local high school area wrestler and stretched the hell out of the heel. Now you see why plants are used. Since there was no security, and the fans weren't going to stop this hilarity, two of the boys from the locker room had to come out and get the kid to release the heel from his stretching. A number of TNA stars including Jeff Jarrett and America's Most Wanted will be in Myrtle Beach at the Convention Center for a big show Saturday night. The show is nearly sold out. That is all for this week… I am going to catch up on some serious sleep this weekend and hopefully shake this illness while watching DVD of the first season of "24" that Bob Ryder and Glenn Gilberti keep raving about. Have a great weekend and we will see you back on PPV Jeremy Borash

-WWE showed last minute interest in signing Johnny Swinger, Simon Diamond, and Trinity earlier this week. WWE quickly found out that Trinity had signed a TNA contract several months ago, so those discussions broke down quickly. The word in the TNA locker room is that the WWE official who contacted Swinger and Diamond wanted them to put off signing their TNA contracts so that they could negotiate with WWE. Swinger and Diamond told TNA wrestlers that they later received a phone call from a WWE official who informed them that the company would not be making an offer because Vince McMahon doesn't like to negotiate under deadlines. -Vince McMahon doesn't like to negotiate under deadlines? What? The wrestling world has known since Aug. 27 that TNA wrestlers had until Sept. 17 to look over their TNA contracts, yet no one from WWE bothered to contact the TNA wrestlers they were interested in until the last minute. Clearly, WWE put themselves in the position to negotiate on the last minute deadline by not acting faster than they did. -Speaking of the contracts, it sounds as if just about every wrestler who was offered a contract signed. There were some wrestlers who asked to be guaranteed 30-45 dates per year. Management was reluctant to give those wrestlers those many guaranteed dates, but did compromise by giving those wrestlers 26 guaranteed dates. There were also some wrestlers who negotiated for creative control over their own characters outside of TNA. Obviously, TNA retained creative control over for what happens in their own company, but gave in and allowed some wrestlers to retain control when they work for independent promotions such as Ring of Honor and Major League Wrestling. The gist of that issue was that the wrestlers didn't want to become less valuable to other promoters who would be obligated to book them according to TNA storylines. For instance, C.M. Punk works as Raven's protege in TNA, but the two actually feud with one another in ROH, MLW, and other independent promotions. -There was a backstage incident between Raven and Jim "Sinister Minister" Mitchell after the Sept. 17 show relating to the rough shave Mitchell gave Raven following the hair vs. hair main event match. Before the show, Jeff Jarrett gave Raven and Mitchell instructions in front of several wrestlers in the locker room. One wrestler overheard Mitchell ask Jarrett if there was a certain way he should hold the clippers when he cut Raven's hair. Jarrett told him to simply press down until the hair started coming off. However, Mitchell held the clippers the wrong way and left Raven's scalp a bloody mess. When Raven got backstage, Mitchell approached him to apologize. Raven took a swing at Mitchell, although observers say it looked as if Raven thought better of punching Mitchell and actually pulled the punch as he would in an actual match. Raven yelled at Mitchell in front of the other wrestlers and went so far as to say that he doesn't want to work with Mitchell in the future because he makes too many mistakes. Mitchell tried to apologize later in the evening, but Raven wiped some blood from his own head and then pie-faced Mitchell with his bloody hand. Although Raven was very upset the night of the show, the latest word is that he and Mitchell have already made peace and will continue working their program in TNA. -The backstage take on the Raven-Mitchell incident has been that while the wrestlers understand Raven was upset about his head being cut, he should not have lashed out at him in front of the rest of the locker room. Raven and Mitchell have been friends for a number of years dating back at least to the time both spent in WCW, so I don't expect much to come of this situation, especially since they've already kissed and made up. -In addition to his on-air duties, Terry Taylor has apparently taken on the role of TNA agent. More than one wrestler has praised Taylor for the way he gives wrestlers the finishes. Although fellow agent Scott D'Amore is popular with the wrestlers, the general opinion is that Taylor does a better job than D'Amore of giving out finishes because he is more specific with what he wants out of the wrestlers. -Roddy Piper spent more time in the main locker room on Wednesday night than he has been known to spend in the past. Wrestlers described him as "quiet" and "strange," but said he was at least a little more accessible this time around. However, Piper did not dress in the main locker room. Instead, he dressed in Jeff Jarrett's private locker room, which Sting, Sean Waltman, and other major names have done in the past. No word as to whether Piper is a TNA regular or not. -The wrestlers seem to understand the reason for Jarrett having his own locker room, meaning there is no sign of the jealousy that existed when some top WCW wrestlers had their own locker rooms. The main reason seems to be that Jarrett is not just a wrestler, he also works in the office. Wrestlers also know that Jarrett also uses the locker room as an office to conduct private meetings with talent, and he and his father Jerry meet privately in the room prior to each show. -America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris & James Storm) have the reputation for "boo boo facing" whenever they are scheduled to lose matches. Wrestlers say that was certainly the case on Wednesday night when they found out they would not be winning the three-way number one contender's match. One wrestler said the demeanor of Harris and Storm totally changed once they were told the finish of the match. There have been rumblings in the past that once Harris and Storm find out they are losing, their main interest goes from putting together the best match possible to making sure they get in all of their own spots. All of that said, there were no reports of Harris and Storm having problems when they were asked to put over Johnny Swinger and Simon Diamond for the NWA Tag Titles at the Aug. 27 show.

The first of the current generation of wrestlers is HHH, who really will be running hte company once he marries Steph.

RAVEN'S RETRIBUTION After suffering a humiliating haircut at the hands of James Mitchell, Shane Douglas, and Vampiro last week...Raven has vowed revenge this week and will be on a rampage seeking to get even with the men who embarrassed him in front of a pay-per-view audience. JEFF JARRETT/DON CALLIS SHOWDOWN Don Callis says he will have a statement to make about the career of Jeff Jarrett and plans to deliver the message personally. DUSTY RHODES HAS MESSAGE FOR AJ "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes has promised to deliver a message to NWA World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles this week. Rhodes says he saw a glimmer of hope last week that AJ was actually beginning to pay attention to what Rhodes was telling him, and Rhodes intends to keep trying to deliver the message until it sinks in. SIMON DIAMOND & JOHNNY SWINGER VS 3 LIVE KRU NWA WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH 3 Live Kru earned the title shot with their win last week in a "Four Corners" tag match. They'll get their shot this week against Diamond & Swinger. As always, Glenn Gilberti will be ringside to cause as much trouble as he possibly can. KID KASH VS TERRY TAYLOR Kid Kash has been disrespecting legends, women, and everyone else he comes in contact with. With Terry Taylor he might have bitten off more than he can chew. Taylor hit the ring last week and cost Kash & Abyss their chance at the NWA World Tag Team Titles and this week he plans to teach Kash what the word respect is all about. One thing he'll have to deal with is the possible involvement of Abyss, but Terry Taylor has been around long enough to know how to handle a monster like him. Expect Taylor to have an answer for Abyss #1 CONTENDER X DIVISION ELIMINATION MATCH Chris Sabin, Nosawa, Juventud Guerrera, Jerry Lynn, and Frankie Kazarian will battle it out in an elimination match to determine a new #1 contender for the X Title currently held by Michael Shane. Antonio Pena, famed wrestling promoter and owner of AAA promotion in Mexico, will be on hand to scout this match. ALSO ON THE SHOW Roddy Piper was at the TNA offices on Thursday meeting with TNA officials and Mike Tenay caught up with him for some candid comments regarding his career and his future. In addition to getting a shot at the tag titles, 3 Live Kru will also debut their new single with a live performance at the Asylum. Jeff Jarrett, America's Most Wanted, Christopher Daniels, and other TNA stars will also be on the program. All this and much more, Wednesday night September 24...only on pay-per-view. Find out what Total Nonstop Action is all about!

I think 3 Live Krew will win. They are getting a big push. They have a new shirt out, plus they are debuting a new single as their theme music. I have a feeling they will walk out with the belts.

Meltzer said in the Observer a couple of weeks ago, that he was behaved backstage, but it costs too much to fly him in from Canada every week. If he drove to the show they would still use him.

The reason Teddy Hart isn't being brought back is that it costs too much to fly him in.

It says Mantell starts Monday, so you probably won't notice his input until the week after this upcoming show.

I found a good article on Dutch here http://www.liveaudiowrestling.com/wo/news/...lt.asp?aID=8303

He has been drawing huge ratings and crowds to the shows in Puerto Rico and have almost put their competitors WWC out of business, so he must be doing something right.

Here is what Dutch Mantell has to say about it: Okay before this gets out of hand... I'm taking a position with TNA and still working with IWA. I'm doing a liaison between the two companies. There is a void between companies in today's market and hopefully this can benefit both companies. I will still be helping Savio and Luke with their big shows and will be traveling back and forth between the two companies, but I will be spending most of my time in Nashville. But as for me leaving cold turkey, that's not accurate. Negotiations have been underway for about 6 weeks now. I came to an agreement with Panda about 10 days ago. I discussed the offer with Victor Quinones and Savio and all is well. As you know in the wrestling business... moving is a staple of the business but with the business having imploded there are few opportunities left for people to take. I find TNA to be a diamond in the rough waiting to be uncovered. Now whether that can be made to happen... that's why we play the game. You can't win unless you play.

I wonder if he will have full control over the booking or still have to work with Russo and the Jarretts.

This would be huge for TNA if they got Hogan. He would add alot of buyrates and help the promotion in the media's eye, because everyone knows the name Hogan. He would be a huge asset to TNA.

*Apparently word is going around that Kevin Nash injured himself yet again during his time off. No word on how he injured himself or how long he is out. liveaudiowrestling.com

"There are a bunch of other surprises planned, which range from groans to ehs." wrestlingobserver.com

DDP might be on tonight's show.

They visited the Doll House strip club in Raliegh, North Carolina last night. HHH was there and Scott Steiner, Vince McMahon, Chavo and Eddy Guerrero, and Dean Malenko were spotted as well.

Sabin, Shane, and Nosawa vs. Juvi, Hart, and Kazarian were the announced participants on Explosion. Should be a pretty good match.

-Amazing Red is expected to be out for a year after doing further damage to an injured knee while wrestling in Japan last month. While no one is happy to see Red suffer such a serious injury, there has been some "I told you so's" coming from wrestlers and promoters who warned Red to let the injury heal before getting back in the ring. pwtorch vip update