Sunday, APRIL 13 - 11:44 A.M.

-I wish I could say that I was counting down the hours to TNA's Lockdown pay-per-view. Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe for the TNA Title, and the Lethal Lockdown match between Team Cage and Team Tomko, but I'm not crazy about that undercard. Too many oddball gimmick matches. If nothing else, I hope the top two matches are good enough to carry the show. I'll be covering the event live tonight, so be sure to check back for my "Live Coverage" report.

-TNA held another Fan Fest event in Lowell, Mass. You can check out video footage shot on location at TNAWrestling.com. In semi related news, there was a note in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter this week that credited Jeremy Borash with coming up with the idea of holding autograph sessions after their house show events.

This is a really good move by TNA. It's something that separates the TNA house show experience from any other promotion, and nothing creates more fan loyalty than positive personal interaction with the wrestlers. I'm sure there are nights when the wrestlers are tired and would rather do anything else (although I've never heard anyone from TNA complain), but these meet and greet events will payoff over the long haul.

Roughly 20 years have gone by and I still remember meeting Minnesota Twins players outside the Metrodome (worst baseball stadium ever). I won't bore you with the details, but I still remember which players were nice and which players treated the fans poorly. I immediately developed an appreciation for the players who treated fans nicely even if they weren't the best ballplayers. This just goes to show that fans remember personal encounters and it could definitely lead to brand loyalty if all the wrestlers treat the fans well during these post-show sessions.

-A friend and regular Dot Net reader emailed me this morning to predict big things for Consequences Creed after watching his singles debut on the Impact replay last night. I like the kid's upside, but it's hard for me to get excited about any X Division wrestler right now after seeing what the company did to Petey Williams. I hate to be jaded, but after watching TNA's creative team turn Williams into "Little Petey Pump, how do we know that TNA's creative team won't come up with the idea of turning Creed into a Booker T mini?

-It's great to see the return of Santino Marella on WWE.com this week. It's been a while since he checked in with "Santino's Casa," but it was totally worth the wait. He blamed "Snoopy the Dogg" for turning out the lights at WrestleMania 24, compared watching women's wrestling to going to a strip club and staring at the deejay all night, and used selective editing to make it appear all the accolades dished out by the heavy hitters at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony were meant for him. How is this not appearing on WWE television every week? To view the Casa, visit WWE.com.

Friday, APRIL 11 - 2:05 P.M.

-Is Samoa Joe telling the truth of about his contract status with TNA? It's really hard to say. I know he claimed in a past interview with PWInsider.com that he signed a long-term deal with TNA that runs through at least 2010, yet he stated yesterday that he the two sides reached an impasse in current negotiations for a new deal. Is Joe making the recent claims to add more intrigue to his pay-per-view match with Kurt Angle on Sunday?

I'd be disappointed if that turned out to be the case because I don't think it's worth ruining his credibility over. Joe has a good reputation for being a straight shooter, but the fact is that he either misled people about his contract status in the past or is doing so now. TNA office sources have told me within the last two months that he has a long-term contract with the company, so at this point I honestly don't know what to believe given what Joe and people close to him are saying. I'll have a lot more to say about the Joe situation in my podcast later today.

-The opinion of multiple industry sources is that WWE didn't do themselves any favors by failing to set up feuds at WrestleMania 24. The bulk of their programs concluded at WrestleMania. There are also a few continuing story lines, but there were none that really started or were elevated at WrestleMania. Granted, the Shawn Michaels and Batista feud stemmed from the Ric Flair retirement, but the opinion of more than one source is that the creative team didn't have much of a post-Mania plan in place.

-Great to hear that WWE now has neurological testing in place. The company has yet to comment on the matter so it's hard to say what their plans are, but I hope they take it one step further by offering to pay for similar testing for some of their former wrestlers. The company has helped former wrestlers such as Jake Roberts and Scott Hall and Sean Waltman by paying for their stays in rehabilitation clinics, and I think it's just as important to help some of their former wrestlers determine whether they suffered any type of brain damage during their careers.

-I'm looking forward to the Undertaker vs. Festus match on Smackdown tonight. I didn't get a report on the show, so I didn't bother to read any spoilers. I know the creative team is high on Festus, so it will be interesting to see whether they protect him during the match. His tag team gimmick is fine for now, but a guy with his size and intensity has the potential to become a player in WWE if they tweak his gimmick.

Thursday, APRIL 10 - 10:39 A.M.

-Gail Kim's recent comments in the Baltimore Sun regarding the differences between the TNA Knockouts division and the WWE Divas made me wonder how much longer WWE will continue to stick with their dated vision for females in wrestling. I'm tired of hearing about how hard some of the Divas are working to improve. Don't get me wrong, it's great that they're trying and I respect the effort, but they should be doing this behind the scenes in pre-show training sessions or in Florida Championship Wrestling—not on my television every week.

It would be one thing if there was a shortage of talented females in the company, but that's just not the case. While WWE is pushing Playboy models who possess limited in-ring skills, talented wrestlers such as Mickie James, Beth Phoenix, and Victoria are treated as filler acts. What's worse is that Phoenix holds the WWE Women's Title.

I still don't understand why WWE insists on having all of their female talent wrestle. Let's face it, some of these women just aren't cut out for it, just like there are plenty of men who aren't cut out for pro wrestling. However, that doesn't mean these women couldn't play valuable roles as valets or managers.

It's always surprised me that WWE has never attempted to feature an older female in the role of a powerful professional businesswoman/manager. I realize she had her demons, but I always thought the late Sherri Martel would have been perfect in this role.

There seem to be plenty of men out there who resent the hell out of Hillary Clinton and powerful women, and with "cougar" becoming such a popular slang term, one would think WWE would get with the times and cast a powerful female character that's not named Stephanie McMahon-Levesque. Call me crazy, but I have a hunch that there are plenty of angry men out there who would boo the hell out of a powerful female in a business suit. If nothing else, it would be nice to think that WWE could find use for the average Diva beyond age 35.

Does Steph think she should be the only powerful woman in WWE? I'm not going to create a conspiracy theory. Vince McMahon has the final say creatively and there's a good chance that the current Divas match are his vision. Nevertheless, it does strike me as odd that WWE creative has a high-ranking female, yet the bulk of the focus is on the looks of the Divas rather than their in-ring ability or mic skills.

Maybe I'm wrong about this. Do you want to see women who combine good looks and quality wrestling or are you more concerned with getting your T&A fix? You can vote by clicking here.

Monday, APRIL 9 - 10:29 A.M.

-Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have been invited to settle their differences inside a WWE ring on the Apr. 21 Raw. I have no idea what WWE has planned, but I have a bad feeling that we're about to suffer through another parody match that will be similar to the time WWE hired an actress to play Rosie O'Donnell and called up Ace Steel to play Donald Trump.

Either way, iewers should brace themselves for a slew of jokes involving a Bill Clinton look alike hanging out with the Divas.

My initial thought was to ignore WWE's ad for the Clinton vs. Obama showdown and hope that it would go away. I can already hear the, "Well, it got you talking" taunts. Ugh. If Vince and his crew want to write in-ring parodies, then I suggest they pool their money together attempt to buy the rights to the old "Celebrity Death Match" show. Please, I'm begging with you, keep the campy parodies off Raw.

-I recorded the new "Secret Talents of the Stars" show last night just in case Ric Flair made an appearance. Fortunately, he did not, nor did they even bother to mention his name while listing most of the celebrities who are scheduled to appear. With any luck, the show will be canceled before Naitch makes his scheduled appearance.

I remembered moments before I was going to turn in for the night that I recorded the show, so I made the mistake of pressing the play button. It's like "American Idol" for old people with Debbie Reynolds in the Paula Abdul role, Brian McKnight playing Randy Jackson, and some d-bag named Gavin Polone doing his best Simon Cowell impersonation. I'm sad to report that Polone actually served as an executive producer on one of my favorite shows—"Curb Your Enthusiasm."

One of the celebrities who advanced was country music performer Clint Black, who delivered a wretched standup comedy routine that all three judges raved over. I'm guessing there were a few WWE fans tuned in, though, as figure skater Sasha Cohen's smoking hot contortionist routine received enough viewer votes to keep her alive in the tournament despite all three judges preferred a lame ass tap dance routine.

I'm no contortion expert so I couldn't tell you if Sasha's routine was technically sound, but my expertise and appreciation for flexible women qualifies me to give her performance five stars.

Unfortunately, everything else about the show was hideous. It was so awful that I just couldn't force myself to hit the stop button and go to bed. People who suffered through George F'n Takei performing the country classic "On the Road Again" will bond over this nightmarish viewing experience when it somehow comes up in conversation at dinner parties 20 years from now.

-Good to see WWE showed some restraint by not using Mike Knox on ECW last night despite teasing the continuation of his feud with Stevie Richards. Even if they believe he'll be cleared in the steroid stash scandal, it was common sense to keep him off television until the investigation is completed.

***

Monday, APRIL 7 - 10:30 A.M.

-If I were booking WWE, I'd mock the Ric Flair tribute on tonight's Raw. Hear me out. I'd put the heat on Randy Orton by having the Legend Killer hold a tribute to himself for retaining the WWE Title at WrestleMania 24. I'd have another heel such as Carlito or Mr. Kennedy play the Triple H emcee role and then I'd mock the tribute in an over the top manner.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the Flair tribute and I wouldn't set out to offend the guy in any way. Heck, I'd even call him to get his blessing if I felt it were necessary. It's just that after reading Paul Heyman's rant yesterday, it became obvious that the entire tribute ceremony is prime to be spoofed. Can you think of a better way to put heat on a heel than to have him openly mock Flair and that tribute?

I'm sure Naitch realizes he's an emotional guy. If I thought he could laugh at himself, I'd have Orton mock his high tear count by pretending to weep over the introduction of his wife, his father, various heels, and a few meaningless individuals with the joke being that Flair wept over anyone and everyone who walked through the curtain last week.

Maybe Kennedy and Orton could show off a couple of ridiculously cheap watches and read mock inscriptions to play on the classy watches that HBK purchased for himself and Flair. Of course, the segment would conclude with one of the babyfaces taking offense and crashing the party.

-TNA seems to be reluctant to hype the Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe match as something other than a pro wrestling match. Angle stated during a recent radio interview that they intend to wear MMA gloves and fight the match in MMA style, yet TNA hasn't mentioned anything like that on Impact.

Granted, this could be another case of Angle overstating things during a radio interview, but the fact that he's taken part in the MMA-style workouts and Joe's been shown working with MMA fighters on Impact suggests that there's some truth to what Kurt said.

Our weekend poll asked Dot Net readers whether the MMA-style match they are teasing appeals to them. The readers who took the poll were split down the middle. 50 percent liked the stipulation, while the other 50 percent wanted to see them work a standard match. I think these two are the perfect for the style, but they definitely risk upsetting fans if they work a ground based submission-style match and don't advertise the stipulations ahead of time.

-WWE's decision to move JBL into the title picture is perplexing. His feud with Chris Jericho bombed. His feud and WrestleMania 24 match with Finlay were disappointments. Yet somehow WWE decided he's ready for a pay-per-view main event role in an awkward heel vs. heel program with Randy Orton. My guess is that Triple H will be added to the mix tonight and the Backlash main event will be another three-way.

-The Shawn Michaels and Batista feud should be interesting. HBK can sell the big man's moves and make Batista look like a million bucks, assuming Big Dave doesn't trip over his own feet like he did at WrestleMania. Batista had a nice series of matches with MVP on Smackdown recently, but it's going to take a while to wash that lousy WrestleMania match out of my mind.

-We're about to enter non-wrestling territory, so check out now if you're not interested in reading about something other than pro wrestling on this website (see how easy that is, TNA?). I had a really cool experience at Mall of America's Underwater World on Saturday night. My girlfriend and I took my niece to the amazing indoor aquarium. We went late enough in the evening that there was no crowd, so we were able to spend as much time as we wanted checking out all the exhibits.

I'm not a huge nature buff or sea lover. Heck, I didn't even watch "Crocodile Hunter" (although I did see a stingray up close on Saturday night). Even so, the entire experience was awesome and I definitely intend to go back again soon. As if the aquarium wasn't cool enough, they have a tank set up at the end of the tour where you can reach in and touch sharks and some other crazy looking creatures. I think it's primarily for kids, but I didn't hesitate to reach in.

I even pissed off one of the creatures because it flipped my hand away and then splashed water at me. Sorry, dude. Maybe he read my review of the "Shark Boy turns Stone Cold" skits. Anyway, I highly recommend this tour to anyone who lives within driving distance of the Mall of America. And, yes, I realize I'm probably last person in the area to check this out, but it was very cool and I thought I'd spread the word just in case.

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