-
WWEShop.com have listed a HUGE price reduction on Eric Bischoff's "Controversy Creates Cash" book which he produced under WWE several years ago. The reduction is certainly a large and telling one at 92%! bringing the book down to the mega bargain price of  $1.98! Is this WWE's way of sending a direct message to Bishoff after he noted that he got paid $50,000 royalty check from recent book sales.

Jim Ross emphasized on Twitter, his WWE Universe blog and official website that he will not be calling WrestleMania XXVI. Instead, he will be attending the event strictly "as a fan."

Official website: "There are no plans for me to broadcast the event at this time. I'm looking forward to seeing old friends and enjoying the weekend as a fan."

WWE Universe: "This is officially a business trip but it’s much more than that. I am attending strictly as a fan for the first time that I can recall and I’m looking forward to it."

Twitter: "Made travel 4 WMania. Going 2 enjoy it strictly as a fan. ... Lots of folks asking about me going 2 Mania as a fan. I'm good w/ it. 4 date nites w/ the wife ain't bad."

This past night Monday night at Raw, word had gone around that Ross would be announcing the show alongside Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler.

- WWE has paid Eric Bischoff a nice sum in royalties for his recent promotion of his WWE Book "I got a $50,000.00 royalty check last quarter for that book. As long as they keep selling, I will keep promoting. Wanna copy? Just cling the link in the link section (http://bit.ly/ebcontroversy). They make great a great gift!!!!"


- Umaga's autopsy report is available online here

- 8 Day Until Wrestlemania 26!

- The 3/18 TNA iMPACT! Reply on SpikeTV did a 0.84 cable rating (1,162,000 viewers), matching Monday's taped iMPACT! broadcast. This trend began the week prior when the reply also matched the Live edition rating. SpikeTV were originally against broadcasting a reply but it seems it might be a good idea that they continue this for the foreseeable future.

#  Here is the updated schedule for the week of WrestleMania. All times are mountain time:

- Friday March 20th:
* 6PM-10PM: Wrestlemania Kickoff Party at the Westgate City Center. For details, go here.

- Wednesday March 24th:
* 2PM: Mickie James and R-Truth Autograph Signing
The Room Store in Mesa, AZM
1661 S. Alma School Road
* 6PM-9PM: The 3rd annual Wrestlemania Art Exhibition. This year's event will benefit the Phoenix Children's Hospital and the Arizona Chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

- Thursday March 25th:
* 4PM-6PM: John Morrison DVD Signing
FYE in Tempe, AZ
Arizona Mills Mall, 5000 Arizona Mills Circle
Signing limited to first 200 people purchasing Morrison DVD; Morrison will only sign DVDs.
* 6PM-10PM: WWE AXXESS - Phoenix Convention Center
* John Cena and Bret Hart will appear.
*Signing and photo sessions with Carlito, Cryme Tyme, Mike Knox, Hornswoggle, Kofi Kingston, Kane, Mark Henry, Kane, MVP, Jack Swagger, Chavo Guerrero, The Great Khali, Goldust, Evan Bourne, Matt Hardy, Gail Kim, Beth Phoenix, Eve

- Friday March 26th:
* 1PM: Bret Hart Autograph signing
Best Buy in Avondale, AZ at Best Buy
10035 W McDowell St.
* 6PM-10PM: WWE AXXESS - Phoenix Convention Center
* Undertaker and Edge will appear.
* Signing and photo sessions with Yoshi Tatsu, Vance Archer, Hornswoggle, Chris Masters, Santino Marella, Tyson Kidd, David Hart Smith, Shelton Benjamin, Christian, Cody Rhodes, Michelle McCool, The Bella Twins

* 8PM: Ring of Honor at Phoenix College North Gym
* ROH champ Tyler Black vs. Roderick Strong
* ROH champ Tyler Black vs. Austin Aries
* ROH Tag Team champions The Briscoes vs. The American Wolves
* Rocky Romero vs. Alex Kozlov
* El Generico vs. Steve Corino
Appearing: Jim Cornette, ROH champion Tyler Black, Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, Colt Cabana, Kevin Steen, El Generico, Steve Corino, Scott Lost, Kenny Omega, Necro Butcher, Jerry Lynn, Shawn Daivari, Joey Ryan, Bison Smith, Skullkrusher Rasche Brown scheduled.

* 8PM: Dragon Gate USA DVD Taping at The Celebrity Theater
*Open The Freedom Gate Champion BxB Hulk vs. Open The Dream Gate Champion Naruki Doi with both titles on the line.
*CIMA, Gamma & Dragon Kid vs. Jack Evans & The Young Bucks
*Shingo vs. Masato Yoshino
*Brian Kendrick & Jon Moxley vs. Paul London & Jimmy Jacobs
*Susumu Yokosuka & Genki Horiguchi vs. Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw
*YAMATO vs. TJP
*LA PARK & Hijo De Rey Misterio vs. Derrick Niekirk & G.Q. Gallo
*Teddy Hart to appear.
*"Bob Saget's Strange Days" will be filming footage, including another segment.

* 8PM: Chris Jericho and Fozzy perform at Club Red in Tempe, Arizona. Also featuring Razer, Unforseen, Suite 88, Faceless, Phoenix & Dragon, and Dinonicus.

- Saturday March 27th:
* 8AM-12PM: WWE AXXESS - Phoenix Convention Center
* Rey Mysterio and Sheamus will appear.
* Signing and photo sessions with Primo Colon, Jimmy Wang Yang, Chris Masters, Chavo Guerrero, Drew McIntyre, Cody Rhodes, Finlay, Vickie Guerrero, Abraham Washington, William Regal, Zack Ryder, Maryse, Melina and more.

* 1PM: Ring of Honor at Phoenix College North Gym
* ROH champ Tyler Black vs. Roderick Strong
* Roderick Strong vs. Austin Aries
* Colt Cabana & El Generico vs. The American Wolves
Appearing: Kenny Omega vs. Rocky Romero *Also appearing Jim Cornette, ROH Tag Team champions The Briscoes, Kevin Steen, Steve Corino, Scott Lost, Kenny Omega, Necro Butcher, Jerry Lynn, Shawn Daivari, Joey Ryan, Bison Smith, Skullkrusher Rasche Brown and more.

* 1PM-5PM: WWE AXXESS - Phoenix Convention Center
* Randy Orton and CM Punk will appear.
* Signing and Photo sessions with Shelton Benjamin, Tyler Reks, Santino Marella, Hornswoggle, Sheamus, Chris Masters, Jack Swagger, Carlito, Cryme Tyme, Ezekiel, The Great Khali, Jillian, Rosa Mendes, Gail Kim and more

* 2PM: Bret Hart Book Signing - Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, AZ (or details, call (408) 730-0205)

* 4:30PM: 2010 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony at The Dodge Theater
* Ted DiBiase: inducted by Brett and Ted DiBiase Jr.
* Antonio Inok: inducted by Stan Hansen
* Wendi Richter: inducted by Roddy Piper
* Mad Dog Vachon: inducted by Pat Patterson.
* Stu Hart: iducted by TBA
* Gorgeous George: inducted by TBA (Betty Wagner to accept)

* 7:30PM-11PM: WWE AXXESS - Phoenix Convention Center
* Kane and MVP to appear.
* Signing and photo sessions with Kung Fu Naki, Mike Knox, Vladimir Kozloz, Zack Ryder, Hornswoggle, The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Abraham Washington, Tyson Kidd, David Hart Smith, Natalya, Alicia Fox and more.

* 8PM: Dragon Gate USA PPV Taping at The Celebrity Theater
* CIMA & Gamma & Dragon Kid vs. Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino & DGUSA Open The Freedom Gate Champion BxB Hulk
* YAMATO vs. Susumu Yokosuka
* Tommy Dreamer vs. Jimmy Jacobs vs. Jon Moxley
Appearing: DGUSA Open The Freedom Gate Champion BxB Hulk, CIMA, Dragon Kid, Yamato, GAMMA, Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, Susumu Yokosuka, Genki Horiguchi, Jack Evans, Jimmy Jacobs and Sonjay Dutt.

* 10PM: Total Xtreme Comedy with Mick Foley and Colt Cabana (Venue TBD)

- Sunday March 28th:
* 10AM-1PM: WWE AXXESS - Phoenix Convention Center
* Big Show and Chris Jericho to appear.
*Signing and Photos sessions with Cryme Tyme, Hornswoggle, Teddy Long, Dusty Rhodes, Vickie Guerrero, Vladimir Kozlov, Slam Master J, William Regal, Roddy Piper, Sgt. Slaughter, Gene Okerlund, Melina, Rosa Mendes and more

* 3:30PM: WrestleMania 26: - University of Phoenix Stadium
The current lineup:
* HHH vs. Sheamus
* CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio
* Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Ted DiBiase
* No Holds Barred Match: Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon
* Money In The Bank Ladder Match: Christian vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Kane vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Jack Swagger vs. MVP vs. Matt Hardy vs. Evan Bourne vs. Drew McIntyre
* Unified Tag Team Title Match: The Miz and The Big Show © vs. John Morrison and R-Truth
* Career vs. Streak – Winner By Pin or Submission Only: Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker
* WWE Title Match: Batista © vs. John Cena
* World Title Match: Chris Jericho © vs. Edge

- Monday March 29th:
* 5:15PM: WWE Monday Night Raw - U.S. Airways Center
* Dark Match main event: John Cena, Triple H and Edge vs. Batista, Sheamus and Chris Jericho.
* Hosted by the cast of "Hot Tub Time Machine."

Credit: Pwinsider.com

- It's worth noting that Orlando Jordan has not appeared on TNA programming in over a month — not since the Feb. 18th edition of iMPACT! when he garnered a shocking victory over Samoa Joe. Though his character has not been featured since, he continues to tell people that he will play a bisexual character on television. Furthermore, the decision to not air footage of Jordan's male companion groping one another during his Feb. 18 ring entrance was actually made while it was happening live, according to a company source.

TNA Championship Match
- AJ Styles (c) vs. Abyss

TNA Tag Team Championship Match
- Matt Morgan & Hernandez (c) vs. Beer Money, Inc.

TNA Global Championship Match
- Rob Terry (c) vs. Brutus Magnus

TNA X Division Championship Match
- Doug Williams (c) vs. Shannon Moore

TNA Knockout Women's Championship Match
- Tara (c) vs. Daffney

Tag Team Match; if Hall & Pac win, they earn TNA contracts. If not, they must leave TNA for good
- Kevin Nash & Eric Young vs. Scott Hall & Syxx Pac

Ultimate X Match for the #1 Contendership of the TNA Tag Team Championship
- Generation Me vs. The Motor City Machine Guns

Singles Match
- Kurt Angle vs. Mr Anderson

Ladder Match for the #1 Contendership of the TNA X Division Championship
- Kazarian vs. Daniels vs. Brian Kendrick vs. Amazing Red

Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling announces "An Evening with the Legends," an autograph signing event featuring the three biggest names in the modern era of professional wrestling; Hulk Hogan, "Nature Boy" Ric Flair and "The Icon" Sting. "An Evening with the Legends" caps an exciting day of fan activities that begins with "TNA Fan InterAction" starting at 10am on Saturday, April 17, at the Ameristar Casino in St. Charles, Missouri. The main event of the evening will be the two-hour "Legends" event, beginning at 6pm. Hogan, Flair and Sting will be on their best behavior, TNA officials said, though TNA is certain there will be plenty of banter, and bickering, about who is the greatest of all time, Hogan, Flair or Sting. Joining Hogan, Flair and Sting will be wrestling legend's Dory Funk Jr, Bobby Heenan, Baron Von Raschke, and Jimmy Hart who will be honored by Pro Wrestling Illustrated in recognition of their historic careers. This once in a lifetime opportunity is available for only $299 and includes: Includes: - Admission to "An Evening With The Legends" event (6pm – 8pm) - VIP admission to Lockdown Fan Interaction (10am – 5pm), including front of the line opportunity for autographs and photos. - Exclusive early entry to the building on Sunday (must have purchased ticket to PPV separately). Fans will be personally escorted into the arena by The Beautiful People at 5pm (30 minutes before doors open.) Fans will have an exclusive opportunity at a special discounted merchandise offer from Don West at the merchandise table before doors open. Also includes: - Upon entry into the Legends event, each fan will recieve a free photo taken with Funk, Heenan, Von Raschke, and Hart. - All Legends will be available to sign up to two items each. Fans can use their own camera to get pictures taken. - Each fan in attendance will be given a 16"x 20" poster size photo, suitable for framing, of Hogan, Flair, and Sting that can be signed. Poster can be signed in addition to the two item signing limit. - 8x10 photos of all TNA talent on the roster. - Special commemorative T-Shirt. - Special surprise gift from Don West. "An Evening with the Legends" is part of TNA Wrestling's "Lockdown Weekend" which culminates with the annual pay-per-view extravaganza "Lockdown 2010" on Sunday night, April 18, at the Family Arena in St. Charles, Missouri. "Lockdown 2010" will feature every match inside a steel cage. "Lockdown Fan InterAction" on Saturday, April 17, will be held at the Ameristar Casino in St. Charles from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and more than 40 stars will gather to sign autographs, take pictures, and get up-close-and-personal with the most loyal wrestling fans in the world. "Fan InterAction" will feature appearances by Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle, "Big Sexy" Kevin Nash, TNA Founder Jeff Jarrett, Mr. Anderson, Matt Morgan, "The Monster" Abyss, "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero, and, of course, the reigning TNA World Heavyweight Champion "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles. In addition, Fan InterAction will feature appearances by Eric Bischoff, Beer Money, Inc., Eric Young, The Beautiful People and many more.

Multiple sources are reporting that Awesome Kong and TNA Wrestling have agreed to part ways.

Kong's profile has been removed from TNA's website, which is their unofficial way of confirming a wrestler's departure from the company. They do not publicly comment on roster changes.

It was reported last week that Kong was telling friends within the industry that the company had agreed to release her from her contract. This coincides with a recent Twitter post where she thanked Dixie Carter and TNA Wrestling for wishing her the best in her future endeavors.

She had reportedly been asking for a fifteen percent pay increase or a contractual release, with company officials opting for the latter.

One of the holdups in her release becoming official is that TNA wanted to include a lengthy non-compete agreement, while she was asking for the traditional ninety-day non-compete. Sources are unaware of the length of the non-compete agreement that will be enforced.

Kong is the fourth female performer to part ways with the company this year, following Alissa Flash, Roxxi and Traci Brooks.

- TNA Superstar Jeff Hardy's has had his trial  pushed back until May 10th according to North Carolina media reports.

No other news to report at this time.

Shawn Michaels has been telling friends as of late he plans on retiring at WrestleMania. His contract is set to expire soon and he has talked about wanting to spend more time with his children as they grow up.

Michaels himself has made noise about retiring in recent years, to the point that WWE actually scripted jokes about it on Raw. After taking time off in 2008, he made noise about deciding not to come back. Like previous times he'd taken time off, WWE would call him back to return and he would. He also said in a radio interview last year that he had told the company his retirement date (which at the time was this year's WrestleMania). On the other hand, he's brought up the idea of wrestling well into his fifties, though only a match or two per year.

Michaels is not advertised for any shows past the night after WrestleMania when Raw emanates from the US Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona.

source: www.pwtorch.com

Internally, there has been discussion of launching a "Four-Horsemen-like" faction. There's much buzz about it among the wrestlers in the locker room as a number of them are said to be interested in joining the act.

Keep in mind that TNA cannot use the Horsemen name as it became property of World Wrestling Entertainment when World Championship Wrestling was sold.

From Ian Hamilton:

For the week ending March 7, 2010...

Impact from March 4 (airing on March 6) drew 82,000 viewers (-9,000 viewers), with the Bravo+1 timeshift "replay" drawing 70,000.

Raw from March 1
- drew 51,000 viewers in Thursday evening's replay
- drew 17,000 in a Friday morning (8am) replay

SmackDown from March 5
- drew 86,000 viewers in its first airing (-79,000 viewers)

Superstars from March 4
- drew 54,000 viewers on Saturday night March 6

NXT (episode 2)
- drew 51,000 in the first airing on Thursay night (+13,000)
- drew 45,000 in a Saturday night replay

TNA Wrestling posted the following on facebook:

"Missed Monday's TNA Wrestling "iMPACT!", featuring AJ Styles vs. Jeff Hardy? Catch the full replay on Thursday night at 9/8c on SpikeTV! Then, join us on Sunday for "Destination X" live on PPV, followed by an all-new live "iMPACT!" on Monday night!"

- Originally there was due to be no replay however after a strong replay last week almost matching that Match 8th broadcast rating it seems the company have backtracked. SpikeTV's schedule also confirms this change.

Dixie Carter tweeted announcement on her Twitter today, announcing the following legends for the Lockdown Fanfest:

"Dory Funk Jr, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan & Baron Von Raschke are 1st legends confirmed for Evening w/The Legends at Lockdown Fan Interaction"

- The following DVDs are set to be released by TNA:

* TNA Genesis 2010 will be released on March 23rd
* TNA Cross The Line 3-DVD Set will be released on April 2nd: (Includes Final Resolution 2009, Turning Point 2009, and Against All Odds 2010)

- WWE is looking to get The Rock to host the June 7th RAW from Miami but it's not confirmed that he will appear then.

- The plan right now is for Jim Ross, Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler to announce WrestleMania with Todd Grisham, Matt Striker and Josh Matthews doing backstage interviews and such.

- TNA has added a Global Title match to this Sunday's Destination X pay-per-view. Here's the final card:

TNA World Heavyweight Title Match
Abyss vs. AJ Styles

X Division Title Match
Shannon Moore vs. Doug Williams

Tag Team Title Match
Beer Money vs. Matt Morgan & Hernandez

TNA Knockouts Title Match
Daffney vs. Tara

Global Title Match
Brutus Magnus vs. Rob Terry

Ultimate X Match for #1 Contendership to the TNA Tag Titles
Generation Me vs. The Motor City Machineguns

Ladder Match
Amazing Red vs. Kazarian vs. Daniels vs. Brian Kendrick

Scott Hall & Sean Waltman vs. Kevin Nash & Eric Young
If Hall & Waltman win, they earn TNA contracts. If they lose, they have to leave TNA.

Kurt Angle vs. Mr. Anderson