WWE news

[Head Booker]

With Michael Hayes on a 60-day suspension, Ed Koskey and Christopher DeJosephs (a.k.a. 'Big Dick Johnson') are taking over as the interim head writers for both Smackdown and ECW. DeJosephs had been the head writer of ECW since Dave Lagana was fired and Dusty Rhodes left for Florida Championship Wrestling.

Brian Gewirtz, the head writer of Raw, has canceled his summer vacation. The feeling is with the lackluster ratings for Raw as of late, he doesn't want to miss writing a show since Vince McMahon is more open to outside suggestions when things aren't going too well.

The blackout at the end of Raw on Monday was done to set up two things. It was done to plant the seeds of a forthcoming William Regal vs. Triple H feud, as well as a cage match for the title at Judgment Day by not giving away the conclusion of the match right then and there.

For the record, ECW play-by-play announcer Mike Adamle is well aware that he's not particularly good at his job and that he's generally disliked. At Backlash on Sunday, Adamle was heavily booed by the fans.

FROM JR's BLOG: Do you think that for ECW’s 100th broadcast this coming Tuesday night on Sci Fi that there will be broadcasters sitting in their usual spots at ringside? Got to be, right? But who will it be? Could Joey Styles return to handle this particular broadcast? Would the WWE bring back Paul Heyman to be a part of the festivities? I know that I’ll be watching, but I also am a big fan of NASCAR and their occasional "car wrecks" too.

The WWE Magazine Yearbook 2008 issue that was released this past Tuesday hints at a possible Randy Orton vs. Undertaker feud taking place on Raw in the near future. On Randy Orton's page, they wrote: "With all of the top Raw talent gunning for him, 2008 will be the toughest year of Orton's career. There are even rumors that a certain Deadman would like to come to Raw and inflict some immortal punishment on the self-proclaimed Legend Killer."

The tentative format for the One Night Stand pay-per-view in San Diego on June 1st is to make every match an "Extreme Rules" match. Last year's show drew 188,000 total buys, with only 124,000 from North America, the company's low mark of the year.

Boogeyman recently got some new front teeth put in. They were knocked out in a accident while he was training to be a wrestler in OVW three years ago. He didn't fix his teeth due to the Boogeyman gimmick. Boogeyman has been out of action since September. He took some time off after suffering a calf injury, but has yet to be brought back to television.

Randy Orton has asked management for some time off from house shows. The story is that he's burned out. However, he still wants to work television and pay-per-views. Orton is penciled in for some top pay-per-view matches over the next few months. Orton's wife Samantha is expecting their first child in July, so you can see why he'd ask to be home more. Anyway, it is not known if his request has been granted, or for how long, although he was pulled from WWE's upcoming tour of Mexico.

SOURCE: Wrestling Observer

[Head Booker]

Mark Henry is telling people backstage that he went to Vince McMahon and said, “Either he goes or I go," in reference to Michael Hayes.

Right now there is a real weird feeling backstage because people in the company can't see how Hayes can be brought back, yet everyone figures that he will be. The McMahons are said to be very high up on Hayes as he was able to get away with getting drunk and singing at Stephanie and Hunter's wedding.

Despite being suspended, he is still receiving company emails.


Former WWE star Andrew "Test" Martin has posted a follow up on his blog last week ranting about the developmental wrestlers of WWE. He names the "2 out 90" wrestlers that actually have a chance in WWE. He has since taken this blog down in favor of one about his positive experience at an indy show last week. Here is his second blog regarding WWE developmental: "First off, I always have a good laugh at how things are taken out of context by the internet sites. Yes I said FCW has 90 guys under contract 85% of them know nothing about wrestling. Anyone who has made i in tis business has loved wrestling since they were kids. I also said as far as I saw 2 guys were ready to be called up...Ted dibiase jr and Nick Nemeth. these guys should be watching tapes of stars like Bret Hart, Ric Flair, Barry Windam, Scott Hall. I know when I was training I wasn't getting paid to do so but I still found time to train 6 hours a day work a job and go to the gym, all while sleeping on a childrens mattress on a concrete floor. Maybe these guys should be more concerned with learning how to wrestle instead of going to ocak bars and dropping the line I wrestle for the WWE in hopes to pick up some tail for the night. Why don't you try staying in and watching tapes that way you won't end up getting dui..take it from someone who knows. I don't care if this pisses people off, I never have, it's not like I'm looking to get my job back. I have other things to do with my life that don't include destroying my body. FCW has great trainers but instead of grabbing ex football players, bodybuilders, why not check out the indies where guys have been working for years. It's not like the fans can't see right thru a crapty worker. Does the name Braccus bring up any memories?"


As reported over the weekend, a story in Rolling Stone Magazine listed WWE Diva Ashley Massaro as an escort for a high-class agency in Los Angeles that would sell off nights with her to rich men for $25,000. The agency was shut down by the FBI. Ashley denied the story and said it was totally false.

Today, Rolling Stone Contributing Editor Michelle Grigoriadis, who wrote the article, told PWInsider the following. "Obviously, I stand by my story. Massaro is named in an FBI search warrant that was executed on Michelle Braun's property in October, 2007. I have no knowledge of another woman by the same name."

Meanwhile, we uncovered an old, outdated ad for "Ashley Massaro" on the old Bella Models website which is no longer active. If you search through the old website cache archives, an ad featuring Ashley does come up and lists her as living in New York City (she is from Long Island, NY) and states that she is willing to travel for a booking fee of $25,000. The archive page featuring Ashley's ad can below:

web.archive.org/web/20070516135923/...yMassaro.79.htm

An old webpage from Bella Models lists a person by the name of Ashley Massaro, and that her booking fee was $25,000. There are no pictures, because the links are dead, so we can't tell if the Ashley Massaro in question is indeed the WWE Diva. The only information regarding Massaro listed on the page is that she's based out of New York City. It's interesting to note that the WWE site bills WWE Diva Ashley Massaro from New York City as well.

According to the Rolling Stones peice, the FBI monitored e-mails between Massaro and "Bella Models." The e-mails are from 2004, regarding transportation arrangements. The monitored e-mails were used to help build towards a search warrant on the ring leader of the escort service, Michelle "Nici" Braun. The search warrant was finally executed during a raid of Braun's home in October 2007.

The Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer started the theory on there apparently being another model by the name of Ashley Massaro, and that the WWE Diva may be confused with a model of the same name. Braun's escort service was made up almost exclusively of high-end women recruited "from the ranks of Playboy models and porn stars." Massaro was involved with Playboy before she joined WWE in 2005, doing a few pictorials in 2003 and early 2004 under the name Ryan Mackenzie.

Braun had been soliciting Playmates through one of Playboy owner Hugh Hefner's girlfriends, and "was willing to solicit other Playmates and [Hefner] girlfriends" to her.

Regarding the possibility of there being another model by the name of Ashley Massaro, no one's been able to actually find anything on that. All research on "Ashley Massaro" points to information on the WWE Diva. The WWE Diva does have a friend by the name of Loredana, an Italian model who looks similar to her in some pictures, but obviously, it's not her considering that she's in pictures with Massaro.