We at Womenswrestlingexposed can’t wait for Independence Day! WWE is promoting a July 4 release of a Diva feature called ‘Summer Skin!’ Expect great sports shoots featuring sand, bikinis and of course, the Beautiful Divas of Wrestling. The promotion will run every Tuesday and Friday through the whole summer, featuring a different Diva each post. The WWE website is promising seductive Divas, sizzling computer screens, steamiest photos, sexiest videos and the most provocative stories ever revealed about your favorite WWE Divas.

This week’s Diva Dish features, Katie Lea Burchill, Maryse, Jillian, Maria and Kelly Kelly. Katie Lea Burchill wants Mickie James to know she’s already technichally the champion and is just waiting for the opportunity to make it official. Burchill says James is cute, but lacks the ambition to succeed. Lovely Marys has moved from Montreal to Southern California. Jillian was at the Dew Action Sports tour to present trophies with other celebrities, like Weird Al. Maria went back to Chicago to be with friends and family, but is having a hard time keeping a low profile. Kelly Kelly has purchases a 2008 BMW and is proud to have negotiated the deal herself.

You can read the whole article by clicking here.

(source www.wwe.com)

Excerpts from The Wrestling Doctor, W.S. Thomason’s June 24 post. The good doctor illuminates factors that will affect TNA Knockout and WWE Diva brands into the future, especially if both companies compete for wrestling talent from the same pool.

A lot of feedback to last week’s column centered on whether or not I know something about the contracts of TNA Knockouts. I do not (nor ever did) claim to know the details of contracts. I use specific wrestlers as examples that I couple with past events in order to predict what is likely to occur in the future (much like everyone else who anticipates anything). This approach worked very well in predicting the change in direction for the WWE women’s division. I also am confident that the WWE will make attempts to snatch up several of the Knockouts, if for no other reason to weaken TNA in one area where it clearly has the WWE beat. I also did not state that the WWE would gobble up Knockouts immediately; however, I believe that they will at the first opportunity. The establishment of the WWE Divas title means they will be looking to bring in both eye candy and seasoned wrestling talent to add to the mix of both Raw and Smackdown. They can find the eye candy anywhere, but the wrestling talent is not coming exclusively out of FCW.

Contracts are great for the present, but remember that they run out. The wrestler in question then must make a decision based on many factors beyond whether or not a company is going to use them in the right way. A major consideration for wrestlers is whether or not the company with which they sign is going to provide them with a paycheck that will allow them to properly plan for the future.

Life factors are often the tipping point when it comes time for wrestlers to decide between staying with the smaller company that respects their abilities and appreciates their character, or a larger organization that may marginalize their role but provide for their financial needs. It is the reason that the WWE has been so successful in scooping up top wrestlers in the last 25 years, and why they will have an excellent chance of luring away most of the TNA talent in which they are interested once their contracts expire.

There is a prevailing idea in the industry that the WWE is the “big time.” Most wrestlers want to work there just to prove that they have “made it”; Sting is the only modern-era legend in the business who can claim otherwise. TNA may have a lot of talent who tow the company line now, but most of them will take the first offer they get from Vince McMahon. Do not forget that TNA has a poor track record of properly contracting its talent, so an opportunity to go north may come sooner rather than later for many.

If the advantages of signing with the WWE are coupled with a wrestler’s dissatisfaction with their TNA role, the decision is a no-brainer. Knockouts like Roxxi may become unhappy with TNA if only Gail Kim and ODB are kept at the top with Awesome Kong. In such a case, a mid-card spot in the WWE will look even more attractive when compared to a mid-card place in TNA.

For those workers who are under proper contracts, we have to consider whether or not TNA will be around in five or fewer years, or whether or not they will continue to be able to pay their talent (the cause of death for most wrestling companies). I hope that TNA sustains itself, but it all depends on how much money they are making and (far more importantly) how they are investing those profits to create reserves for the future. No one in the IWC knows for sure, since TNA is a private company. However, there are two things that we do know:

1. There is a lot more to being a successful wrestling company than having top notch workers, compelling storylines, and passionate fans. The original ECW enjoyed an abundance of all of these things, yet they went under in less than a decade, despite existing during the industry’s most profitable era. Paul Heyman was perhaps the most brilliant booker in wrestling history, but he made poor business decisions that undercut everything he built.

2. TNA cannot put more than 1,500 people in an arena for pay-per-view in wrestling-rich areas like Memphis, Norfolk, and Greenville. Their TV ratings and buy rates are frozen. The salaries of the big stars are subsidized by Spike. They are attempting to expand their core audience in a time where people are cutting back on non-essential expenses. They over-charge for on the road pay-per-views and house shows, most likely because that is the only way they can break even. These factors are not favorable for the future of the company. TNA could run out of resources if they are too quickly expanding their live event schedule and payroll. Their recent UK tour has been successful, but remember that WCW had great international runs during both its low point in early 1993 and its dying days of late 2000. TNA has to do solid business across the board, not just across the pond or in select areas of the US.

I hope that TNA not only survives, but grows and flourishes. I would love to see the day when Impact tapings draw 6,000 to 10,000 fans to arenas across the country. TNA’s existence is good for wrestling as a whole. I regularly am hard on TNA in this column because I love wrestling, and believe that everyone benefits when Vince McMahon has to look over his shoulder once in a while. I am not confident that TNA’s current state, from both a business and creative standpoint, is headed in the direction to sustain long-term growth. I really hope that I am wrong, but we will have to wait a few years to see.

In the meantime, you can bank on seeing some of TNA’s loyal talent jump to the WWE in the next few years. Just about everybody on the current WWE roster worked under contract for somebody else at one point. Contracts are not the only thing that TNA needs to put up to keep the WWE’s hands out of its pie.

(source: www.411mania.com)

nydailynews.com posted an article on Tuesday that reports on the strained relationships between the Hogans.

Brooke Hogan is fightin’ mad after her mother, Linda, accused estranged hubby Terry (Hulk) Hogan of violating a restraining order and stalking her. Linda recently told police that as she was leaving her house, she saw Hulk driving toward it and called 911.

“I know for a fact that the accusations made against my father are completely false,” said Brooke. She’s right: Miami cops found no evidence of a restraining order. According to Hulk’s lawyers, cops “apologized and said they were writing up the incident as a false report on the part of the wife.”

Since filing to end her 24-year marriage, sources say, Linda has been shopping around a “slew of other stories, some of which are nearly 18 years old.” And a best seller it ain’t: One tale blames Hulk for a bump on the head their son, Nick, sustained while water-tubing as a child.

Far more dysfunctional would be Linda’s recent romp with the family’s 19-year-old pool boy. Not that the Hulkster has been a saint himself: After a fling with Brooke’s look-alike best friend, he went on Larry King to defend Nick, who is in jail after a drag-racing accident last August left his pal John Graziano in a coma. But the wrestler managed to only salt wounds, saying that God caused the accident to make Nick and John “better people.” In response, Graziano’s parents released a heartbreaking video of their son in his hospital bed, where he will remain for the rest of his life.

Still, Brooke is blaming her mom for the family’s turmoil, telling friends: “I just wish she would think of the family first.”

Well, if TNA is sitting on Roxxi, not quite sure how to push her, then here’s a nod to SHIMMER for promoting her return for the taping of SHIMMER - WOMEN ATHLETES Volumes 19 and 20.

Nikki Roxx is back in Berwyn July 5th!
- Front row SOLD OUT, General Admission still available for 7/5!
- Penny Banner segment on St. Louis news
- Preview of Vols. 17 & 18 DVD covers at The SHIMMER Forum

NIKKI! …ROXX!

Nikki Roxx returns to SHIMMER - WOMEN ATHLETES on Saturday, July 5, 2008! She will be a part of the Volumes 19 & 20 taping at the Berwyn Eagles Club (6309 26th Street) in Berwyn, IL. Bell time is 4pm. Doors open at 3pm.

Nikki Roxx was one of the original 18 women who were a part of SHIMMER from the beginning, and was an integral part of establishing the promotion during our first two years of operation.

Despite competing in undercard matches, and sometimes being in the opening match on several of the early SHIMMER DVDs, Nikki Roxx worked her way to the top of the card through heart and determination. Following her match against Amazing Kong on Volume 5 of the SHIMMER DVD series, which caught the attention of wrestling fans around the world, Nikki went on a winning streak that propelled her into the main event picture at SHIMMER.

Though Nikki had to cease active SHIMMER competition in late 2007 due to signing a contract with TNA Wrestling, the recent video agreement signed by SHIMMER which allows TNA contracted talent to appear on our events opened up the opportunity to bring one of the most popular wrestlers in SHIMMER history back into the mix!

July 5th will see the return of Nikki Roxx to SHIMMER competition after a one year absence. General admission tickets to the July 5th taping are still available at www.shimmerwrestling.com. Make sure you’re there LIVE and in person to see Nikki’s return!

(source: www.shimmerwrestling.com)

Congratulation to Jazz and Rodney Mack! Former WWE Diva Jazz is now pregnant with the couple’s first child!

One of the things I love about Awesome Kong is her ability to put over her opponents. Kong’s size alone, the goliath against a horde of Davidetts, is enough, but Kong is willing to sell her opponents. Kong can make a babyface favorite in thirty seconds of wrestling. Kong can even make ODB look like a babyface.

On Impact this week, we finally saw Shantelle Taylor in action against the Awesome Kong. Taylor has already been signed by TNA. The writers for TNA seem to have had a hard time figuring out how to use Taylor. Having Mickey ‘Moose’ Knuckles get rolled by ODB in her first match at Slammiversary started a rumor that Knuckles was done after her first night- where do you take a feud that ended before it started? Having Shantelle step into the ring with Kong, put on a great match, stagger Kong and ultimately lose has turned out to the right solution.

The Kong challenge has been raging now for a month and until Taylor, Kong has waded through her opponents. Kong’s momentum is now being put to good use by TNA. Kong winning is right, as TNA can continue to push Kong as invincible and continue to try out new faces for their Knockouts roster. Shantelle staggering Kong and ultimately losing is right because their performance won the crowd for Shantelle. The audience is happy because we want to see Kong pressed, but we’re not ready to see her lose.

Thanks to Awesome Kong’s 270 pounds of push, Taylor has momentum. So, we’re curious now how TNA will officially bring Taylor into the Knockouts division.