-Michael Cole was not informed ahead of time that Jim Ross was going to interrupt his farewell address at the Smackdown taping in Tulsa on Tuesday. Cole was told that he was getting a chance to deliver a farewell address to the Smackdown viewers similar to the one Ross delivered on Raw the night before. Rather, Vince McMahon played a rib by having Ross interrupt and give Cole the boot. The segment did not air on Friday's Smackdown.

-Ross was a popular man backstage at Raw last week, as J.R.'s Family Bar-B-Q handled the catering for the event. One of his restaurants also hosted a party for WWE personnel later that night.

Powell's POV: Cole took his departure from Smackdown seriously, as he pointed out in post-draft interviews that he had called all but two episodes of the show since it started. I don't know whether he had any idea that the rib was coming, but it sounds like he was a good sport about it. Then again, what choice would he have if the rib was Vince's doing? One can only assume he was less than pleased about spending an extra night on the road just to be ribbed.

The party must have cost Ross a fortune, as the buzz is that all the food and drinks were on the house, and that over 100 guests in attendance.

Dot Net members received the first look at this news yesterday. They currently have access to Jason Powell's one-on-one interview Brock Lesnar, the message board, the ability to write their own Dot Net blogs, and an audio recap of Monday's Raw. For signup information, check out the Dot Net Members' Signup Page.

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