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Saturday, July 2, 2011

Former FCW Diva returns, Summerslam poster, Questions on Tessmacher's background, Kelly Kelly as Divas' champion, and Jeff Hardy's future, Celebrity Boxing interrupted by fan referencing Punk promo, Jericho interview, Cena talks Punk, appearances for WWE stars, HHH on HBK's hunting show, X-Pac critiques Punk and Ryder, JR talks Savage, cruiserweights, tag teams and more, WWE evaluating talent, and Flair doesn't appear for the TNA fans in Brooklyn

Christina Crawford, Alicia Fox's sister and contestant on the most recent Tough Enough, has returned to FCW as Caylee Turner. That's got to be weird for the people watching FCW. "Isn't that chick on Tough Enough Caylee Turner? Why does she have a different name now?", then she comes back to FCW under the name she had pre-Tough Enough. They rename characters a good deal, too. To be fair though, they have a pretty small audience and the whole point is to train them for whatever WWE Creative wants of the talent when they get called up, so it's impossible to plan ahead. They had AJ working heel a good deal of time there only for her to portray a completely different character (based on her actual personality) on NXT, for instance. But on the flip side, they gave her experience working as a heel that she wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

WWE has revealed an awesome poster for Summerslam. Obviously they're high on Sin Cara. Hopefully it doesn't get changed like the last two did. We went from Orton pounding the mat and Morrison going for Moonlight Drive off a ladder to caricatures of Obama, Mysterio, and Cena, and Big Show looking for treasure with Hornswoggle. Ugh.

On to PWInsider.com's questions:
1. I don't remember ever seeing three questions on the same wrestler three days in a row. Though this is mostly noticeable because of the wrestler in question. She actually started out on WWE's ECW brand some years ago. She trained in WWE's developmental system for a while (DSW, OVW, AND FCW apparently), but I'm not sure who's teaching her now that she's in TNA. She's definitely improved since I first saw her.

2. It wasn't really a surprise to me. Kelly's pretty popular. She actually has improved over the years, though she obviously isn't Trish Stratus in the ring. Honestly, she'll get a pretty good reaction pretty much no matter how well she wrestles, but I think she'll continue to get better as she has more and more matches.

There's been plenty said here about Punk's promo, and there's nothing to add to #4, so after the break I look at what a sober Jeff Hardy would mean for wrestling.

5. Even if Jeff does get past his issues, he's taken over a decade's worth of big bumps, so I don't know how much of a run he has left in him. Both companies have given him chance after chance, so it's not unfathomable that he'll get another shot at or near the top in TNA when all his legal troubles are settled. WWE I'm a bit less certain about. They could definitely use some established main eventers right now, but he'd be one failed drug test away from being fired under the Wellness Policy. I seem to remember him being unhappy with the schedule there, too, so that'd be another hurdle to overcome.

Every once in a while a story comes along that defies imagination. This is one of those stories. A fan rushed the ring at a Celebrity Boxing event featuring "Octomom" to propose to her, then made reference to C.M. Punk's promo on Raw. Apparently the fan was an independent wrestler, so this could have been part of the show.

Chris Jericho discussed a number of topics in a recent video interview. Long story short: he's focused on Fozzy right now, and has dates set for at least through the end of the year. He has no plans to return to WWE at the moment, and if he did, he would do a completely new character. So, WWE should go on the assumption that he isn't coming back anytime soon.

John Cena discussed the situation with C.M. Punk and how it affects things going forward in an interview with the Chicago Tribune. WWE has decided not to use Punk for media appearances, which is smart, because in addition to keeping people waiting for Monday to see what he might say next, it's possible that he'll say something else they're not crazy about.

The AP has picked up the story of Randy Savage's passing.

Hornswoggle will throw out the first pitch at the 7/7 Milwaukee Brewers game. That should be interesting! The fans will either love or hate the leprechaun wrestler I think.

In addition to the FCW regulars, Sheamus, Santino Marella, Vladimir Kozlov, and the Usos will be at an event by the company on 7/22.

Triple H will be appearing on Shawn Michaels' new hunting show. It's unlikely that they'll shill DX merch there, though.

In other Kliq news, X-Pac has a blog evaluating C.M. Punk and Zack Ryder. I agree with it pretty much wholeheartedly.

Jim Ross also has a solid blog as usual, looking at a number of topics inside and outside of WWE.

Speaking of Ross, he and fellow Hall of Famer Jerry Brisco will be evaluating experienced talent for WWE at an event in Waterloo, IA on 7/22. More details (and links to stories I just covered) here.

And in the final link of the day, here's a take on a recent TNA house show. Ric Flair was advertised for the show, but only did a signing and didn't appear on the show in front of the live crowd (despite a request to do so). He even left before it was done! This from the same guy who cut a promo on Carlito for leaving early... I don't know when his contract is up, but I'm not keen on them re-signing him based on his behavior in the past year.

That's all for Friday's news. More to come tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

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