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WWE CANCELS TOUR OF ISRAEL
by Tomer Stern

The Smackdown shows in Israel that were scheduled for next weekend have been canceled. The Israeli producer of the tour, Assi Vaaknin, told major newspapers that no insurance company has agreed to insure the wrestlers and that's why it was canceled. 

I don't know if this is the correct reason for the shows being canceled, but what I do know is that many fans have already gotten their money back from the ticket agency. Again, just like the ECW case from a few weeks ago, WWE ignores the fans and has yet to announce the cancellation on their website, even though it has been known that the show will not be happening for at least 5 days now.

Note from Dave: WWE has removed the dates from their Live Events section, but I don't remember seeing them do a story about it.

DX DOESN'T MEAN RATINGS TO ECW - FULL ECW ON SCI FI RATINGS REPORT

This week's ECW on Sci Fi did a 2.1 cable rating, with a three share.  The rating was up from last week's 1.9, but was down from the usual 2.2-2.3 that the show does, probably because of the holiday weekend and the Raw number being down this week.  It's interesting to note that even with DX headlining the show, it still did under its average.  The quarter hours were a 1.8, 2.0, 2.0, 2.2 and a 2.4 for the overrun.

WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE TASTELESS LINE ON ECW, HHH GETTING UNINTENTIONAL LAUGHS AND MORE

For those of you who have asked, Brian Gewirtz was the one who wrote the really inappropriate line about the late Steve Irwin on Tuesday's ECW show.  Of course, it was submitted to Vince McMahon and approved.  So if you want to direct your ire at the people responsible, there you go.

We all know HHH gets his share of criticism for his position in the company, but even people in WWE who don't usually bury him to me did so over his "bingo" comment on Tuesday's ECW show.  Of course, it was a reference to ECW's original home, the ECW Arena, which also had midnight bingo in it for a time.  The criticism was that he said it to throw a dig at ECW and there was no storyline point for doing so.  Some people have told me that they think he did it because it's no secret that his wife is not a fan of the ECW project.  

The Times And Democrat has a story today promoting the 10/9 Raw in Columbia, SC.  It features an interview with Shelton Benjamin, who is from the area.

WWE is pushing the October issue of WWE magazine with the following text: "In anticipation of the October 13th release of The Marine, WWE Magazine sits down with Superstar John Cena for an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the high-octane action movie.  An included movie poster and never-before-seen photos of the set are in the mix as well.  All-new interviews with Triple H, Sabu, Roddy Piper, William Regal, the Divas, and much more.  Also, we pick the best in fall gear, DVDs, and music albums, and enlist Batista to walk us through the ultimate pec and bicep workouts."

WWE ISSUES APOLOGY FOR MATT STRIKER'S STEVE IRWIN COMMENT ON ECW 
by Mike Johnson 

World Wrestling Entertainment issued the following apology, attributed to Vince McMahon on ECW.com, regarding the Matt Striker promo on this past Tuesday's ECW on SciFi, which featured a reference to the death of "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin: 

"We at WWE apologize for the remark alluding to the death of Steve Irwin which was made on ECW on Sci Fi Tuesday night. The remark was, in the least, disrespectful to Mr. Irwin's fans and family." 

During a promo where he expoused his intellect, Striker commented that fans wouldn't catch him swimming with Stingrays. Irwin was killed after a stingray barb pierced his heart over the weekend while filming an underwater documentary. 

As noted earlier today on PWInsider.com, the line came from WWE Creative's Brian Gewirtz and was approved by Vince McMahon before it made air during the live broadcast. 

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