This week on PWI Weekly, AJ STYLES stops by to talk about all things TNA Wrestling. Find out what Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s top ranked wrestler in the world (PWI 500) thinks about TNA and what it needs to do to beat WWE, who he wants to see join the company, and what he thinks about Ric Flair, Dixie Carter, Batista, Michelle McCool, and Christian.

On Losing the Title to RVD
“I definitely didn’t understand it. For the life of me, I couldn’t understand it. I was very surprised that I would lose that title after holding it for so long, and to somebody who has basically been out of wrestling for over a year, and was coming in from WWE. And he should have been tired from wrestling a match before that. It was like I’m not the star I thought I was. I guess I’m just a guy in TNA.”

On the Changes TNA has Made
“I think there are mistakes that have been done. Things where you have to look at it and realize you have to take a step back. There were some people brought in that I don’t know that we needed, but there are other guys I think deserved a shot.”

On Being the Face of TNA
“I don’t know. People tell me that I’m the face, but sometimes I don’t feel like that. Don’t get me wrong. My peers definitely treat me with respect. I guess sometimes I wish that the higher-ups would come to me sometimes and ask, “Hey AJ, what do you think about this?”

On Being Different
“I don’t want to be like anyone else. I want to be AJ Styles. I want people to look at me, and have me be separated from everybody else.”

On his Favorite Feuds
“Christopher Daniels, Joe, and myself had some great interactions. Kurt and myself, that was a great little program we worked. And even Abyss, we had some incredible matches. The list goes on. It actually seems like working with everybody in TNA has been a favorite.”

Moving to Monday nights
“We never should have switched to Monday nights. We know that now. I wish that we would have just gone live on Thursday nights. The first one we did on Monday nights was huge, but Thursday nights was our night. There’s no mistake about it; Monday night is WWE’s. It’s theirs. We need to own Thursday nights.”

TNA’s decision to release Christopher Daniels
“It was very disturbing at first. I was very upset and confused,” he said. “I hope it’s not a long time (before he comes back), or they’ll bring Chris back.”

The state of the X Division
“We have to have more X Division matches in there. We have to let people see it. If it were up to me, we would have a little more wrestling and less talking. But, I’ve said that since the beginning.”

All that, plus what could have been had AJ accepted a WWE developmental deal in 2002, who he would “steal” from the WWE roster, and if TNA will do ECW some justice. A must-listen for any TNA fan … or wrestling fan in general! And while you’re at www.thebradyhicks.com, be sure to check out archived interviews with Nick “U-Gene” Dinsmore, Madison Rayne, Justin Credible, and Austin Aries, among dozens of others. Thanks for the support!

See AJ Styles *HUGE* new tattoo ->

Multiple sources confirm World Wrestling Entertainment suspended Diva performer Taryn Terrell (a/k/a Tiffany) indefinitely after being arrested Sunday morning following a domestic disturbance with husband Drew Galloway (Drew McIntyre).

The couple attended a party together in Los Angeles Saturday night and went to their hotel room. A domestic disturbance between the married couple led to both hotel security and police being summoned. Terrell was arrested and booked into the Van Nuys Valley Jail at 10:26 a.m. She was released on $20,000 bail at 4:55 p.m.

Terrell is scheduled for a hearing on Sept. 2 at the Los Angeles Municipal Court, Division 141. She was immediately sent home once WWE officials were made aware of the situation. Her lawyers believe she will be cleared of all charges. The suspension is expected to remain in place until she is officially cleared.

Earlier reports that the incident took place on Tuesday at a San Jose hotel are incorrect.

It’s been speculated amongst WWE performers that Terrell may be released by organization officials as she was in Los Angeles representing the company to promote SummerSlam. WWE has let talent go in the past as a result of incidents at hotels.

To view the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department charge report on Terrell, click here.

See Tiffany/Drew McIntyre wedding photo here ->

sources: www.f4wonline.com, PWInsider.com

Welcome to the Smackdown recap. Before I get started, I just wanted to say how saddened I was on Friday to learn of the death of former WWE performer Luna Vachon, who passed away ate age 48. As I wrote on my Twitter all day Friday, Luna was very good as a heel valet as well as a damn good wrestler too although in the WWF in the 90s there wasn’t much women’s wrestling to speak of. She was legit scary, though. Her look was unique, she could take bumps and she knew how to throw a punch very well. The three women of the WWF that I grew up with are Elizabeth, Sherri and Luna. Now they’re all gone. I’m sure that somewhere Sherri and Luna are scaring the hell out of somebody while Liz is there looking from afar. It’s a sad business sometimes. That’s for sure. RIP Luna Vachon.

Taped from Fresno, CA let’s talk some Smackdown…

Kane d. Rey Mysterio (*1/2)
They worked hard for about 10 minutes here. It was a no DQ match with Rey selling the arm based off losing the match to Alberto Del Rio last week. In case you’re wondering that means Rey has to sell an arm injury from a week ago while Cena never has to sell anything even when he got beat up 8 on 1 when The Nexus first attacked him. He looked fine the week after. Basically it means Rey’s a weak little man while Cena’s a super man. But you already knew that. The no DQ meant they could use a chair for the finish, so Rey got a shot in on Kane’s back, but Kane was able to fight back and counter the springboard plancha into a chokeslam onto the chair for the win.

Post match, Alberto Del Rio came out and beat the crap out of Rey some more with some serious shots on his left arm. I’m a fan of Del Rio already. Thought his debut last week came off great. Obviously this is leading to more matches down the road for these two.

CM Punk d. JTG (SQUASH)
Hey, it’s JTG. So why’d they break up a perfectly good team in Cryme Tyme? No reason at all. Right. Anyway, Punk won with the Go To Sleep followed by the Anaconda Vice. Post match, he berated the members of the Straight Edge Society basically telling them to be better. He wanted Gallows to put Show face down in his drool and this was the last time he’d tell them this. Be better or be gone. Second last time we’d see Serena. More on that a bit later.

There was a backstage segment with Teddy Long and Hornswoggle. They talked about Laycool since Horny was spying on them last week. And I feel stupider for writing those two sentences. This was brutal.

The Raw Rebound aired to remind us that Raw’s important while Smackdown, which is almost never talked about on Raw, is the B show. But they won Bragging Rights last year! Whatever that means.

It’s time for GROOMING TIPS~! with Cody Rhodes. The tip this week is to shave your body, especially your legs. I think legs are excessive. But he’s a wrestler, so it makes sense. Normal dudes shouldn’t shave their legs. Am I really writing about this? Let’s just move on.

Kofi Kingston d. Dolph Ziggler via countout (***)
The last time they wrestled it was a DQ finish and Dolph attacked Kofi after the match, ending it with a swift boot to the jaw while Kofi was face down. They got 15 minutes here. It was like a lot of their matches have been of late. How many have they had of late? I’m not complaining. Just saying they’ve had quite a few to this point. They told a good story with Dolph going for the sleeper and a number of nearfall finishes throughout while Kofi kept showing babyface fire with some nice comebacks. They went to the floor, did a double KO spot, Kofi went back and Vickie kept Dolph out on the floor to cause the countout. Kofi wins, but Dolph keeps the belt. I’d assume this leads to a cage match at Night of Champions. That would make sense to me. We’ll see, though. At least they actually put the IC title on the line unlike the US title.

I don’t know what is so “record breaking” about this 900th Raw on Monday. It’s the “longest running episodic program in the history of television,” but it had that record a long time ago. And all they’ve really promoted is Laycool being on the show. Others from Smackdown too although we don’t know who.

Jack Swagger d. MVP via DQ in something (NR)
It was called the “Jack Swagger Invitational” with the rules being the first guy to five takedowns wins. This is really the best thing they could come up with for Swagger? For shame. Swags goes up 3-0 on MVP, who then slaps him in the face and that’s a DQ. Post match, Swagger put the ankle lock onto him while they were in the aisle. Since he’s not John Cena, he’ll sell that injury next week. This sucked. Turn MVP heel. He’s done nothing for two years now.

Backstage, Laycool talked about plans for Melina on Monday. Even Kaval said it was flawless. McCool had her wedding ring on during the segment. I’m sure McUndertaker thought that was nice of her to include him in their Laycool segments.

We got a video package highlighting the Cody/Drew vs. Chrisitan/Matt midcard-fest feud that doesn’t help any of them because they all stay stuck in the midcard. I mean didn’t McIntyre feud with Hardy for like five months, yet neither guy is in a better place than where they were before. Oh, and none of them are on this show except Cody with his tips to tell us to shave our legs.

Alberto Del Rio d. Carlos Sanchez (SQUASH)
Sanchez is “from Fresno, California” and for some reason got an entrance. Del Rio beat him in about two minutes with the cross armbreaker. I like how they are putting over that finish. I’m a fan of Del Rio already and I think feuding with Rey is a great way to get him started because Rey makes everybody look good.

Big Show d. Luke Gallows (SQUASH)
Big Show won in about two minutes. Punk was backstage and only shown watching on a monitor. Show won clean when he KNOCKED THE FUCK OUT~! of Gallows with the big right hand. With Serena being fired (it was after this show, which was taped last Wednesday) and with Punk’s earlier speech it seems to me like the SES might be over and Punk will be a solo act going forward. Not sure, though.

Regarding Serena being fired, I’ll say this. It seems as though WWE doesn’t care if a woman can work or not. Serena knows how to wrestle. She’s also young at only 24 years old, so her future is bright. So why fire her? Because they don’t care to have women with a different look anymore. They have put word out that all they want now are models aged 18-24 that don’t have to have any wrestling experience whatsoever. It’s like they’re doing another diva search without officially announcing it on TV. Meanwhile Tiffany, who was suspended with a misdemeanor charge, is still employed due to her blondeness I guess. I don’t know Serena or anything like that. It’s just that I know she’s made her rounds on the indies and she loves the business. She’s worked hard to get better. And this is the reward for that? It’s stupid on WWE’s part. It’s a slap in the face to the divas division although they’ve been doing that all year.

The Undertaker and Kane had a promo face-off as the main event. The Undertaker made his big return. This is his first Smackdown appearance since he’s been married. I was hoping he’d come out to Michelle McCool’s music. That would have been epic. It feels like he makes a big return 3 times a year. It kind of wears off after a while. You know why this sucked? Because they are feuding over who is the “devil’s favorite demon.” Yes. We’re supposed to give a shit about who is the devil’s favorite demon? I don’t give a shit! Can’t they just say the little brother is jealous of the big brother and leave it at that? No, they have to involve the devil. Isn’t the devil a heel? I mean I’ve been raised to learn that the devil is a heel. I guess he’s a babyface to the Undertaker. I don’t know. I’m sure that some people liked this. I’m not one of those people. The show ended with Kane saying he swears on their mother’s grave that The Undertaker will never rest in peace. Oh no he didn’t! He used his catchphrase! You go girl! I mean evil man. This was a bad way to end the show.

Three Stars of the Show
1. The Devil – Who will win his heart? Pay $50 on PPV to find out!
2. Alberto Del Rio – I officially like this guy
3. CM Punk – Best performer on the show. Push him!

4 out of 10

Bad Smackdown. The show felt flat to me. The matches weren’t as good as the norm (aside from Kofi vs. Dolph it was full of squash matches) and I really wish we got more from the midcard guys instead of just a video package.

I’m not really faulting the work of Kane or Undertaker. It’s the story. They are making it too hokey even for WWE and it’s going to turn more people off than on. PPVs already down and now you’re trying to sell people on who the devil’s favorite is? Yawn. Plus, I watch South Park. We all know it’s Saddam.

———————–

Keep checking out thejohnreport.net for exclusive articles that are only posted on my site. We have recaps of Raw, Smackdown, NXT, Superstars and TNA Impact, so give us a look.

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John Canton – [email protected]
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Matt Hardy was sent home from World Wrestling Entertainment’s ongoing tour of Europe today, company sources have confirmed.

There was concern over Hardy’s condition backstage at yesterday’s SmackDown live event in Minehead, England.

This comes on the heels of an incident at last Sunday’s SmackDown live event in White Plains, New York where he was scheduled to team with R-Truth against Luke Gallows and CM Punk. Company sources indicate there was concern over his condition that day too. It is said that Hardy left the building after officials spoke to him and never returned for his match.

Hardy posted a peculiar message on his Twitter account late last night, writing: “Good Night Earth.. And remember, life is special.. http://bit.ly/bPRN8J Godspeed everyone.”

The enclosed link directs to Jeff Hardy’s video announcement last month that he is going to be a father.

See *FRONT ROW* photos from last Monday’s Raw ->

source: PWInsider.com

Former WWE Diva/two-time Playboy cover model, Torrie Wilson, was a featured guest on this week’s live edition (10/11/10) of Monday Night Mayhem.

Torrie Wilson joined The Big Mosh & “The Chairman of the Board” Todd Vincent on “Your Home of Wrestling Radio” (in her first post-WWE interview) to discuss & preview this Saturday’s Legends of the Ring convention (at The Crowne Plaza Hotel in Monroe, NJ). Her first-ever appearance on Monday Night Mayhem is now available in Windows Streaming Media or via the official MNM Podcast on iTunes:

Torrie Wilson/Monday Night Mayhem Interview (MNM Streaming Audio): www.mondaynightmayhemarchives.com/waxfiles/101110.wax

Torrie Wilson/Monday Night Mayhem Interview (MNM Podcast on iTunes): www.mondaynightmayhemarchives.com/oct10/101110.mp3

Interview highlights courtesy of The Mayhem’s official correspondent, Paterson from New Jersey:

Torrie’s reason for departing the WWE/why she did not wish to return to a full-time schedule and her transition from the world of professional wrestling/sports-entertainment to being an actress & self-employed businesswoman: “I ended up leaving the WWE because I had to have back surgery, so it was kind of an abrupt thing. I came home and had back surgery and called them up back after my surgery and told them that it wasn’t something that I wanted to go back to. I was kind of not wanting to travel, and it was just the pain of not being actually working in the ring and be sidelined because of back surgery, so I just decided to give it up. I opened up my own business here in Houston, with the full intentions are to do a lot of other entertainment-type things. I was on a reality show last summer called “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out if Here” (on NBC), which did really well, but more importantly the business here…I didn’t realize how much work it was going to be. It definitely pulled me away from doing many appearances & other TV things, so I just closed my business here a couple of weeks ago, and I’m getting ready to move out to California, which I’m really excited about. I just started doing some appearances here & there, and it’s really exciting & fun to see my fans & some of the wrestlers there (at Legends of the Ring) as well.”

How she first got into the wrestling industry & the impact of Kevin Nash for getting her first big break in WCW: “I can definitely say I credit Kevin Nash fully for me getting in the wrestling business. I’ve heard a few people in the business talk crap, and say I was never a wrestler to begin with, and fell into it, and yadda yadda yadda, but I was given this great opportunity, and obviously I did something with it to stay in the business for nine years. Kevin basically saw me in a fitness magazine as a fitness model and thought that I would be great for wrestling. It just so happened that one of my good friends was friends with Kevin Nash and took me to a WCW show, and we got backstage and met a bunch of the wrestlers, and on a whim they asked if I would be interested in walking Scott Steiner to the ring that night, and I did, got a decent reaction, and the next thing I know Kevin is calling up my agent asking if I’d be interested in doing a storyline. One thing after another just snowballed, and I’ve never looked back. I could never thank him enough.”

How her time in World Championship Wrestling did not prepare her fully for what was to come in World Wrestling Entertainment, the differences of what she was taught in WCW vs. the WWE, & Madusa’s frustration with a lot of the girls on the WCW roster at the time: “It’s one of those things where at the time, I obviously knew nothing about what I was getting into and was very intimidated by all these big, burly wrestlers and going out there in front of these huge crowds, but I really didn’t realize until later when I went to the WWE how much I truly did not know. I was taught a lot more when I went to the WWE. They tried to teach us how to wrestle there for a little while in WCW, but the way we were known into it, it was kinda like ‘We’re gonna make you guys pay your dues right now and make you guys hurt,’ and Madusa, being the great wrestler that she was, was very frustrated at a lot of the girls that were in WCW at the time, and she just wanted us to realize how much it hurt for a lot of people. Looking back, I’m kind of embarrassed about some of the things I did in WCW without having a clue as to what I was doing.”

If there was any fear or intimidation about her debut storyline in the WWE as Vince McMahon’s mistress/his latest affair: “Major fear. I was already so intimidated by just being there backstage, and of course, Vince McMahon just being the man of power that he is. My first day meeting him, and being backstage, I had to kiss him, and do all these things with him, so I was extremely intimidated.”

Her memories of the WWE women’s locker room & the attitudes that resided in it, being part of “a man’s world,” and if she felt she was ever judged differently by the way she got into the business: “The women’s locker room was tricky at times. I can’t say that I got along just peachy with some of the people, but for the most part I had a great relationship with everyone that was in the locker room. Wrestling is largely a man’s world, and so for us, in the girls’ locker room, I felt like it was even more important to be able to get along and have people understand what we’re going through in a man’s world. Being someone that came from the fitness industry, and wasn’t a wrestler, and I didn’t work the independent scene for years, I think that there are certain people that don’t respect that, and think you should have ‘paved your way,’ and I personally think it’s pretty lame. There are a lot of industries where people all go in at all different ways: Some people fall into it, some people have a lucky break right away, some people work for years on the independent scene or whatever it is, and that’s the way they get there. When we’re there, and trying our best to improve, and obviously people want watch us on TV, you can’t fault really me for that. That was frustrating at times.”

Her candid thoughts on the now infamous “Stepmother vs. Stepdaughter” storyline between herself & Dawn Marie (involving her real life father, Al) and the largely negative reaction it received from fans: “It was definitely interesting. There were a few times during that storyline that I actually would go online and see what people were saying and decided that was not a good idea to ever do again. Of course, I didn’t really know what I was getting my father into or myself into for that matter. My father did a lot of interesting things to embarrass me backstage, just not knowing the etiquette or whatever. My brothers would be calling me mortified that dad was standing in his underwear in the ring, but there really wasn’t much I could do about it. It was an interesting storyline. It was cool that he got to see what my life was like on the road and do what I do for work & everything, but I was definitely ready for it to be over after that six-month mark.”

Much more is included in Torrie’s exclusive Monday Night Mayhem interview, including why she considers the in-ring chapter of her career closed, if TNA has made any advances towards her since leaving World Wrestling Entertainment, what the bigger adjustment was in her transition from WCW to the WWE, whether she believes that World Championship Wrestling has received a bad wrap over the years since the promotion’s demise in 2001 (and WWE’s subsequent purchasing of the company), the Divas that helped her the most, what she feels was her favorite storyline from her near ten-year career, plus so much more at www.MondayNightMayhem.com.

See *NEW* bikini photo of Torrie ->

source: MondayNightMayhem.com