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ANOTHER WWE DEVELOPMENTAL SHAKEUP 
by Mike Johnson 

There was another WWE developmental shakeup yesterday as Ohio Valley Wrestling booker Greg Gagne was dropped by the company. The former AWA star had been hired as a WWE agent shortly after Wrestlemania 22 in Chicago and was then moved to OVW as booker, replacing Paul Heyman. 

There's no immediate word on who his replacement will be at this point, so Danny Davis and Al Snow will continue to run the day to day operations of the territory. Gagne is not being reassigned somewhere else and is gone from WWE. 

ECW/RAW RATING

The week before a PPV, the last thing WWE needed was the return of Monday Night Football. Check that, the last thing they needed was the return of a Monday Night Football and an unprecendented doubleheader that would cut into the usually non-competitive west coast airing of Raw. Well, they didn't get the best case scenario last night and it showed in the Raw rating as the show did just a 3.6 cable rating, with a 5.5 share, much lower than the show's recent average. Raw did hours of 3.6 and 3.6 and Monday Night Football on ESPN definitely cut into their audience as ESPN scored the network's highest audience ever for the Minnesota Vikings vs. the Washington Redskins game, which drew a 9.9 rating, and 12.57 million households. To use wrestling terms, it laid the Smackdown on Raw. ESPN's second Monday night game, San Diego's 27-0 win over Oakland which aired live against more than the first hour of Raw on the west coast, received a rating of 8.5 and was seen in an average of 7.87 million households. As I mentioned on the Elite hotline yesterday, this isn't a good sign for WWE through the fall football season.

The 9/9 edition of AM Raw did a 0.7 cable rating, with a 3.1 share.

This week's edition of ECW on Sci Fi did a 1.9 cable rating, with a three share.  That is down from last week's 2.1 and it sure seems like there is a pattern developing that on weeks when the Raw number is down, ECW follows suit.  It's hard to argue that there isn't a correlation between what Raw does and what ECW does at this time.  The high point of the show was the 2.2 that they did for the overrun.

FORMER WCW STAR SIGNED FOR ECW BRAND 
by Mike Johnson 

World Wrestling Entertainment has signed one of the most underrated in-ring performers of all time, former WCW star Brad Armstrong. Armstrong will be starting in a few weeks with the ECW brand. As irony would have it, his brother Scott was hired for the ECW brand as a referee last month. 

EDGE ON BEING THE CHAMP, PRE-SALE PASSWORD, WHERE ARE THEY NOW AND MORE  

The Canadian Press has a long "local boy made good" article on Edge today.  It has a lot of quotes from the WWE Champion.   He talks about being the champ, how he feels about losing the title, wrestlers breaking down and burning out, and more.  It's a good piece.   To read it, click here.

The Dayton Daily News has a story about Ohio State linebacker James Laurinaitis growing up as the son of Road Warrior Animal.  To read it, click here.

Dave Whitaker reporting. ... Former pro wrestler Nathan Jones plays the role of a thug working for the main crime group in the recently released movie "The Protector." The movie was released in Europe and Asia last year and was dubbed and re-titled for the US. 

Pre-sale tickets went on sale today for the 11/21 Smackdown/ECW taping at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island today.  The pre-sale password is: BATISTA.

RJ sent this one. ... During Raw that aired in Canada last night on Monday, it was announced next week's Smackdown taping in Montreal would feature King Booker vs. Vito and Rey Mysterio vs. Chavo Guerrero in a steel cage.

FORMER WWE DIVA IN VIDEO WITH PORN STAR, ROCK MAKES HIS NON-RETURN TO WRESTLING OFFICIAL, WWE MOBILE, FORMER WWE DIVAS HIT THE ROAD AND MORE

For those of you who like to watch train wrecks, here's a disturbing link to a TMZ.com video of Joanie Laurer hanging out with porn star Mary Carey.  Man, I don't even know what to say. ... Thanks to Grant Scott for sending that along.  

Mike K sent word that WWE’s 10/15 Supershow in Los Angeles at the Staples Center has sold out.

Ricky O. sent this report. ... The Rock was on Cold Pizza this morning on ESPN. They talked about the struggling Miami Hurricanes and about Rock as a former player there. Then the host asked him "What would it take to return to Pro Wrestling" and The Rock said that he had no plans to return. He accomplished all he wanted in pro wrestling. He loved the business and grew up in it, but 4 years ago he realized it was time to move on. The wanted new challenges in his life. Then they went on to talk about his new movie coming out, "Gridiron Gang." ... Thanks to Terri Bey for also sending a report.

Speaking of Rock, for those of you hoping (in vain) that he will come back to wrestling some time soon consider this: He was in New York on Monday promoting his new movie and didn't appear at MSG.  That says it all.

Devin Cutting sent this. ... The Pure Wrestling Association will continue its weekly cards on Thursdays at the French Canadian Community Centre.  On Sept. 28, former World Wrestling Entertainment female stars Ivory and Molly Holly will appear in Cambridge at the PWA show.

Ivory and Molly are doing a deal where they are driving across the country and into Canada on what is being called "the gas money tour".  They are working at shows along the way to "pay for the gas to drive to Trish Stratus's wedding" at the end of the month.

MediaWeek has posted their weekly look at the cable ratings numbers for the week ending on 9/10.  

Jason McDaniel sent this item. ... Tonight on the Below the Belt Show we will have recently released WWE superstar Orlando Jordon in one of his first interviews. We will talk about what lead up to his release and also talk about his rumored controversial gimmick. Listen live at 9:00pm Eastern tonight (Wednesday September 13) only on belowthebeltshow.com. 

mBlox sent out the following today: 

mBlox, the world's largest mobile transaction network, today announced that World Wrestling Entertainment(R) has chosen its mobile message delivery platform to bring global interactive services direct to its consumer base, reaching fans in more than 130 countries, across all networks and handsets. These enhanced interactive services are part of WWE's mobile initiative, setting the stage to drive incremental revenue growth to this multi-million dollar entertainment empire.

WWE is known for its passionate, intense and brand-loyal fans, and it chose mBlox in part for its ability to offer a single point of access for its audience. With mBlox, the WWE can be assured that its fans across the globe will have reliable, fast and seamless interactive mobile experience.

"Mobile is the next frontier for WWE, and content that allows our fans to interact with us or with each other is our highest priority in this medium," said David Knise, Vice President, Interactive Development, at WWE. "Our decision to use mBlox as our partner in delivering this content reflects the quality of its offering, the depth of its relationship with mobile operators and its global capabilities. With mBlox, we've found the partner who's committed to giving our worldwide fans the same high quality of service and pleasant experience they expect from WWE."

In May, WWE unveiled plans for new mobile services that now include a slate of original "made for mobile" content, including video, text news alerts, schedules, ringtones, wallpapers and a fantasy ticker. Adding even more interactivity and functionality is the next phase of this growing program, and the program will include offerings that allow fans to interact with WWE and each other with an eye toward further engaging and captivating WWE Mobile users through innovative promotions, sweepstakes, in-arena activities, trivia, contests, Live Event seat upgrades and other Premium SMS (PSMS) programs. With mBlox, these communications can occur on any mobile device and over any mobile network.

"For WWE, fast and reliable access to its content, regardless of the mobile device or network, is essential," said Jay Emmet, president of mBlox Americas. "We are pleased to provide this service, allowing WWE to focus on creating exciting content that delights the many mobile customers around the world who love their programming, superstars and events."

WWE NEWS ON JIM ROSS, ANOTHER PRE-SALE PASSWORD, THE ROCK, FRANCINE AND MORE

Jim Ross has posted his latest blog on his BBQ site, with open talking about being in NYC on Monday.  In addition to his thoughts on being at the show, he mentioned that Mike Rotundo was at the Raw this week, interviewing about being a producer for WWE.  He also said the tag team division on Raw needs "a shot in the arm".  Amen JR.  Amen.  There are a number of other cool items in the post.  Check it out.

The pre-sale password for the 10/23 Raw taping in Chicago is RAWTV.

Mike Emond sent this one. ... There's another long Rock interview at www.joblo.com about his new movie, Gridiron Gang.  Mike K. sent word that there is also a Rock interview at this link.

Brandon Kheller sent this one. ... I just wanted to let you know that Francine's ECW.com profile has been updated with a beautiful new photo shoot. She looks really pretty.  To see them, click here.

Mike K. sent this link, which lets us know that Nikolai Volkoff finished a distant last in the Republican primary that he was running.

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