WWE profiled by the LA Times and on the Tonight Show, Questions on Divas vs. Cole, Charlie Sheen, Victory Road on DVD and ring ropes, HHH to head up new talent development, Mania change, Cody Rhodes, Drew Carey, and Steve Austin interviews, Foley charity work, Matt Hardy rumorbuster, the future of Jersey Shore in wrestling, and a TNA-MTV Tr3s update on how Lucha Libre USA will be affected

Thursday's news starts off with a pretty important look at "the new" WWE as they expand beyond what goes on in the ring and arenas. I don't mind that they're expanding into other places as long as that's profitable for them and (more importantly from a fan's standpoint) they don't neglect their core business. At the end of the day, that's what matters to me and to this blog.

Here's a recap of the WWE-themed segment on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Doesn't sound all that funny.

As always, PWInsider.com had some questions today. Here's my take on them. The first questioner, who amusingly believes that heel Michael Cole has the personality of a footstool, wonders if we'll see a confrontation between Eve and Cole after he interrupted her match on Raw. It's certainly possible, but I don't think they were booking that beyond "get heat on Cole but not at the expense of an important match". It's an interesting suggestion, though.

I'm not even touching the second question. Not something I'd know much about.

For question #3, I also haven't read anything about WWE making an offer to Charlie Sheen to appear for them. Obviously there'd be a lot of mainstream attention if they were to get him, but would they trust him with a live mic on a PG show?

Quick answers to the other two: I don't know if TNA will make any changes at all to the Victory Road DVD. Did they edit out the time Samoa Joe cut an unscripted promo on Scott Hall? And I defer to their answer on #5.

The rest of the day's news is after the break, starting with WWE's press release on its new direction!

This contains some interesting info. I especially like the part about Triple H heading up the new talent program. At least we know that they're not looking exclusively outside of what goes on in the ring. That could end up being a VERY wise decision in the long run. I'm looking forward to seeing what he'll bring to the table in that role. The WWE Network is also something to pay attention to.


On the replays for WrestleMania in the UK, Metallica's song "For Whom The Bell Tolls" was edited out, likely because WWE (or any entity) has to pay for the rights to air Metallica's music.

Cody Rhodes talks about WWE All-Stars, WrestleMania and his mask here. I didn't know that he really broke his nose.

Drew Carey talked about his WWE Hall of Fame induction on George Lopez' talk show. The headline's a good example of sensationalist reporting, completely leaving out the part immediately after that statement where he clarifies what he meant.

Here's a clip of The Miz, Chris Jericho, and Maryse talking to paparazzi. Wrestling comes up in a few places, which is pretty much the only reason I posted it.

Stone Cold Steve Austin talks Tough Enough and getting back in the ring here. Good read. At least he gave his honest opinion on WrestleMania. It's going to take time and effort for some of those (relatively) green wrestlers to be seen as big stars. I'd be surprised if he wrestled again, but as he showed on Raw he's still got it from a physical standpoint. And some fans actually did turn on Austin's work in his 2001 heel turn.

Here's a link to some details on charity work that Mick Foley is doing with RAINN. He's definitely a humanitarian.

There's another big BS rumor out there that says that Matt Hardy got into some sort of confrontation with the contestants of Tough Enough. Both sides have denied this. I don't know what's worse, the fact that these kinds of rumors get spread or the fact that such a large number of people believe them. The confusion seems to stem from two stories of incidents at the WWE-rented hotel over WrestleMania weekend where one female contestant got rowdy at the bar, and one where Matt Hardy and his girlfriend were kicked out for getting too umm... amorous.

Snooki and JWoww will have their own reality show coming up soon, and as a result neither will be able to make appearances for WWE or TNA. WWE had no specific plans for a Snooki return (though the door was left open for such a thing), but TNA had a loose idea for bringing JWoww back in down the line. Those plans have now been shelved (at least for the time being).

There were plans to show clips of past WrestleManias at this year's event, but they were ultimately dropped. Those clips will be on the DVD release of the show.

Since Impact will be on MTV Tr3s going forward, the future of Lucha Libre USA on MTV networks looks bleak. They had done tapings for a second season, but there seems to be no rush internally to bring the show back any time soon. There's another taping currently scheduled for 4/30, but if and when the shows taped there will be shown is up in the air.

Here's another Stone Cold Steve Austin interview about WWE All-Stars, dream matches, who impresses him on the current roster, and more.

The final news story of the day is a brief comment by former WCW Champion David Arquette about wrestling while promoting Scream 4. Be forewarned that they use the old name for WWE, and mentions the forbidden w-word.

That's all for tonight. More news to come tomorrow.