Raw dark match, what happened after Raw, HHH post-firing, Solidarity Rally, JR talks firing, Questions on the HHH-COO angle, Rhodes' mask, WWE building stars, and the number of PPVs, TNA signs new online merch deal, Hogan's game released, review of HBK/Hart DVD, TNA house show canceled, Lesnar/WWE '12 trailer and interviews, more on Hogan's new TNA contract, theme for next 3-hour Raw, chat with Hogan, Tomko arrested, DX reunion at Smackdown taping, match made official for Vengeance, Mexican legend at Smackdown taping, Raw rating, and Mania in Dallas?

Before Raw began, Brodus Clay defeated a local "enhancement talent", which has been par for the course for him. No word on when he'll "move up" to a more regular role on the main roster.

After Raw went off the air, Triple H and C.M. Punk took out Awesome Truth with their finishers. That's pretty much the standard ending to a Raw taping, just with different names involved.

As for what happened DURING Raw, here's footage of Triple H leaving the ring after being removed from his duties running Raw and here's footage of the Solidarity Rally.

Jim Ross tweeted about his Raw firing. It seemed unlikely that he would have stayed on the road full-time as an announcer when they brought him back, so this shouldn't be as much of a surprise as some people are taking it as.

After the break, I look at PWInsider.com's questions and the rest of the day's news. First up, WWE's possible mindset about the HHH-COO storyline.
1. WWE's not "that stupid", and they're not "digging their own grave". The storyline's still ongoing, so we don't know for sure exactly how it's going to turn out. I agree that Cena/Punk was good and they should have continued it. I'm also a bit perplexed with why they're going the direction that they're going. However, the sky's hardly falling despite so many online fans running around like Chicken Little. Triple H is COO, yes, but look at what that's led to: increased roles for C.M. Punk, The Miz, R-Truth, Christian, Mark Henry, Sheamus, Cody Rhodes, Wade Barrett, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Alberto Del Rio, Air Boom, Zack Ryder, etc.. HHH as COO has people talking and added a jolt to the product. They're trying to use that as the catalyst for the talents I mentioned getting more over. They're working with one of the most decorated stars in the business, getting a bigger role and more important mic/ring/TV time, and being booked as important pieces of the puzzle. Is HHH all over the product? Yes. But he's being used in a way that mostly helps other people on the show. Now, if he destroys The Miz and R-Truth at Vengeance, I'll join in with the crowd shaking their head at the whole thing. But if they look as good as Punk did against him (even in a loss, he took a number of finishers before going down), I'll continue to see it as possibly being a good move.

2. I can kind of see the comparisons, though Orton supposedly needed the cast for a lot of that time. Right now, I think it adds a good deal to his character, but that can certainly change in the future. Rhodes is still pretty young and the mask is working for him, so I don't see any reason to change it in the near future. Combine that with the stitches, paper bags, and voice and you've got someone who went from a midcard/tag team guy to someone who's at least earned a consistent upper midcard spot. I can see a time arising when he'll "outgrow" the mask gimmick because I doubt he'll have it for years and years as he hopefully earns his way up to main event status.

3. Firstly, I wouldn't consider Alberto Del Rio, the WWE Champion, and Christian, a man who was recently a multiple-time World Champion, as midcard heels. I'd actually point to that group as evidence that they are trying to push new people into becoming stars (which takes quite a while to do). Vickie Guerrero has been consistently used as a heat-getter all over the card for years. It's not too surprising that she's getting such a big reaction. She had the relatively simple assignment of screwing over other people and screaming, which garnered her a lot of heat. Jinder Mahal isn't even close to being considered in the realm of being created into a megastar. I agree that the recent booking of him has been questionable at best, but I don't see it as being evidence for the "not creating megastars" theory when he's barely begun his career. Of course Creative is aware that they can't just rely on Cena and Orton; hence the pushes for the names I mentioned in the answer to #1.

4. They were also working house shows. I believe it was said that there was an agreement with the Board of Directors that the talents would work elsewhere as long as HHH wasn't present. The Board had more control than HHH, so I suppose they were able to work things out that way. Things generally aren't as one-sided and mindless as some of us like to think they are.

5. See, this is how you ask a question. No assumptions about thinking fans are dumb or accusations about a company being stupid. Just a straightforward question. Yes, I think the company could be better off with knocking off a PPV or 2 from its yearly calendar so stories will have more time to build up naturally instead of throwing together another card (especially a gimmick-filled one) with not much time for it to mean as much as it could.

Ok, deep breath. Let's move on.

TNA has a new online merchandise deal integrating their selling into other websites. That's actually a pretty cool idea. WWE should do something similar. If someone comes up with a way to link that kind of thing to Twitter, all the better.

Here's a press release on Hulk Hogan's Kinect game being released.

WWE's Shawn Michaels/Bret Hart DVD was reviewed. Very interesting stuff.

TNA has canceled a house show for 10/29 in Nevada. Unfortunate.

IGN.com has the trailer for Brock Lesnar's appearance in WWE '12, put together by Paul Heyman. That's seriously one of the best wrestling-related trailers I've seen in quite some time. I'd love for Heyman to do stuff like that for WWE or (especially) TNA.

Hulk Hogan's contract with TNA is for 2 full years. It's expected that Eric Bischoff will remain with the company for that length as well. Definitely not something I was looking forward to reading. If the last 2 years are an indication for the next 2, I don't think I'm going to be enjoying TNA very much. There's always a chance that things will turn around, but right now I'm very pessimistic. Once bitten, twice shy.

The 11/14 (3-hour) Raw will be a "Rock Reunion Party" 6 nights from his return to the ring at Survivor Series. Mick Foley, the ball's in your court. Really looking forward to that episode.

Update: here's the press release. 


ESPN.com will be chatting with Hulk Hogan on 10/11 to preview his match at Bound For Glory. I'll give him one thing, he can still get a lot of publicity for his projects.

Here's another Brock Lesnar interview, where he talks some smack about Undertaker and Stone Cold. I would mark so hard for him coming back. Man was a KILLER. They created some compelling TV with him for sure.

Former WWE and TNA superstar Tomko was arrested in Florida for felony robbery. That's certainly not good.

Update: TMZ has more details. That's some pretty serious stuff. I REALLY hope he gets some help. I always enjoyed his work, and it'd be a shame if his life became a downward spiral due to drugs. Yikes.


There was a "DX Reunion" for the live crowd in Dallas at the Smackdown taping. It reportedly won't air.Just a fun thing to get fans into the building, apparently.


Triple H and C.M. Punk vs. The Miz and R-Truth has been made official for Vengeance. How that one goes will say a lot for WWE's future direction.


Mil Mascaras is being advertised for the 10/16 Smackdown taping in Mexico. That should do pretty big for the company.


Raw got a 3.26 rating on Monday night. They started off with a 3.49 in hour one, but dropped to a 3.02 in hour two. They had a lot going for them there, but the payoff wasn't what a lot of fans were hoping for. Add that to competition from the NFL and ratings weren't as hot as they could have been. I was honestly expecting things to be worse given how crazy the show was, but they got a lot of people drawn in by the initial premise.


WWE hinted that they could bring WrestleMania to Dallas in the future. Of course, that could have just been said to hype that crowd up. If that's a good location that would draw money then, then perhaps another Mania in Texas is doable.


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