You should add that it was due to Bill being sloppy

Matt Hardy was recently interviewed for "WrestleTalk Radio." Highlights of the interview are below:

*Matt Hardy put over Paul Heyman's promo at the ECW PPV.

*Hardy noted that he is excited about the prospect of working outside of WWE and not having to worry about "overshadowing" the main event.

*Matt can't wait for his ROH debut next month, although he knows that there will be a lot of pressure to perform.

*Hardy spoke about his new girlfriend, Lori, and noted that he knew her long before he started dating Lita. He also stated that he was not surprised by WWE's decision to cut him loose.

*On the subject of Kane playing "Matt Hardy" in the WWE RAW angle, Hardy noted that Kane is uneasy about the role. He also expressed distaste over the angle, noting that it's completely ruining Lita's character - she was never about being a slut.

*The show, with Hardy talking in detail about the creative team, can be downloaded at WrestleTalkRadio.com

Partial Source: WrestlingObserver.com

Contrary to what was speculated on the ROH Message Boards Saturday night, CM Punk has indeed signed a WWE deal. His winning the title was not phase one of some elaborate 'swerve' to convince fans that he was actually leaving the company. He will definitely be starting with WWE shortly.

However, it has been confirmed that CM Punk will work at least one more date with Ring Of Honor, as he will be defending the title he won at Death Before Dishonor III.

Maybe he learned that the more he talks about it, the more the WWE is going to rub it in his face

Apparently certain cable companies are offering free DVDs with the purchase of three of the next five WWE pay-per views. That would include Vengeance, Great American Bash, SummerSlam, Unforgiven, and No Mercy. If you order three of those next five, you will receive "The Monday Night War" and "The Stone Cold Truth" DVDs for free. If you order four or five of the next five, you will receive "Hard Knocks: The Chris Benoit Story" , "From The Vault: Shawn Michaels" , and "Mick Foley's Greatest Hits & Misses" all for free. Check with your local cable or satelitte company to see if this deal is available to you. Several Time Warner-owned cable systems are apparently offering this deal.

FortWayne.com has an article online about "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, Road Warrior Animal, and others putting together wrestling-related shows in churches with religious tie-ins.

The Slam! Wrestling website (canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling) has a new article online, which features an interview with WWE superstar Booker T, conducted by Jason Clevett.

There is hope for a Hardy Boyz reunion (Matt and Jeff) at the upcoming 7/17 TNA No Surrender pay-per view. TNA is planning on using Jeff Jarrett in the Hardy Boyz reunion, in some fashion.

Nobody backstage is believing JBL’s side of the story about the incident with Blue Meanie at the ECW PPV. "He was staring down Blue Meanie from the second he entered the ring," says one wrestler in the ring who has watched the tape of the event. "There is no doubt in my mind that he was fuming from what Paul Heyman said about him, and he took it out on the weakest target he could find. It was an assault. He broke the trust wrestlers have with one another. Meanie's guard was down, and JBL hit him over and over, splitting his eye open. His eyes were swelled shut. That's not a receipt, it's a mugging."

While some members of WWE’s upper management are very upset with JBL, there is concern that Vince McMahon may not take any action against JBL. "Vince doesn't respect or give two sh**s about Blue Meanie," says one WWE wrestler.

Tracy Smothers, who came to Meanie’s defense during the brawl, has issues a challenge for a fight with JBL. JBL has yet to respond.

From matt hardy:
I've had an amazing few days and I am ecstatic about my future. I want to thank everyone who has been supportive and believes in me--you mean so much more to me than you'll ever know. Wherever I end up in the future, I just want you guys to stick with me and continue to believe in me. I promise I won't let you down. I will prove that nice guys do finish first. I will prove that anything is possible if you work hard enough for it."

Hardy finished his piece by thanking his fans, "That was a hell of a reaction I got in Phoenix, Arizona, considering I was in North Carolina--gotta love those MFer's."

Well it would appear on smackdown they are going to have a stable of at least Psychosis, Juvi and super crazy.... This has me wanting to watch for a change... now if only they can get some match time....

....they're making them hill billies?

.....oh man....there goes what little faith I was starting to have in the WWE...

Since I don't really know what is going on, is there any hope for the future of the business?

Jeff Jarrett did not wrestle or take part in the main event at TNA's third anniversary PPV, Slammiversary, this past Sunday in Orlando. Although Jarrett was heavily advertised to take part in the match along with AJ Styles, Sean Waltman, Abyss & Monty Brown, Jarrett made the decision to bow out of the match voluntarily. Raven was instead added to the match during the pre-show. According to reports, Jarrett was upset that he wasn't being booked by the new writing committee in TNA to win back the NWA World Title on Sunday. Jarrett reportedly felt that it would have been damaging to his character to not win the match after putting himself over as the "King of the Mountain" all year in TNA. Dixie Carter was said to have stood her ground regarding the decision and would not allow a change in the match to take place to give Jarrett the win. After this took place, many in TNA aren't expecting "smooth sailing" to take place between the Jarrett's and Carter family in the next few weeks as the struggle for power continues in the company.

When Raven was informed hours before Slammiversary that he would be winning the NWA World Heavyweight Title, he reportedly broke down and cried. Being a long time fan and student of the wrestling business, Raven could recognize the history of the NWA Title and the significance of being put in the record books as a champion. As plans stand now, Raven will be defending the title against Abyss at next month's No Surrender PPV on July 17. It should be noted that Raven isn't expected to be a long-term champion based on where TNA's booking committee wants to go with current storylines. Regardless of the plans, Raven benefited in a huge way following Jeff Jarrett's dispute over the way he was scheduled to be used in the match, especially when he wasn't even scheduled to be in the match to begin with. Some were surprised at how quickly AJ Styles' second run with the World Title started and ended just after one month.

Source: PWInsider.com

The Blue Meanie confirmed in an interview with Alex Marvez that he is considering taking legal action against John Bradshaw Layfield for the assault at the ECW One Night Stand PPV. Meanie mentioned that while he had been unflattering of Layfield in the past including a statement from a lawsuit regarding former WCW referee Billy Silverman's.

Bradshaw hugged him backstage and he thought all was fine between the two. After the incident, where Meanie was left bloodied, Bradshaw confronted him backstage. ""People were between us and he started yelling about how I had talked bad about him on the Internet. I was like, `It's a work!' Look at him. The guy is 6-7 and 300-something pounds. He's a little more imposing than me."

Brock Lesnar was recently quoted in the "Bismark Tribune" as saying he would like to settle his current lawsuit and return to WWE.

"I'm ready for it now. With the lawsuit and everything going on, I just hope we can resolve this thing, and Vince can open his doors to me and just give me a second chance. I have no idea (where it stands). I guess it stands on the end of your pencil, when it gets out on the internet. That's probably where he'll catch the news. It's either that or me calling him. But I don't know what else I'd be. What else is there for me?" Lesnar continued, "I wasn't ready for what (WWE) put on my plate. I couldn't eat it all. I tried to, you know. That's just me being me. He asked me, `Are you ready for this?' and I just said, `Bring it on. Let's go.' I wasn't ready to be traveling 300 days a year. I wasn't ready for the money. I wasn't ready for the responsibilities. I wasn't ready to be a father. I wasn't ready to be a husband. I wasn't ready for a lot of things. I had a lot of growing up to do. I was forced to grow up."

Lesnar offered many other pretty complimentary comments toward McMahon in quotes that didn't get used in the story itself, talking about McMahon giving him his big break, written at BismarkTribune.com.

There was a segment with Guerrero where he showed a video of him with Mysterio's Son Dominick. He then said he has a secret to tell him, and asked if Dominick likes bed stories. He told him he had a bed story to tell him that he will never forget. The segment was very disturbing (which is why I probably forgot to put it on here). Mysterio came out and begged Eddie not to say what the secret is. Guerrero said "Just as I thought" and walked out. Mysterio sat there depressed forever, until a beach ball started making its rounds in the crowd, and nobody cared. I believe they were going with a storyline where it turns out Guerrero is Dominick's real father. It was very disturbing, and odd. There was some horrible innuendo.

I`m indeed very happy that HHH lost and didn`t regain the title, it really turned me off the wrestling having him champion and the storyline the same for soooo bloody long!

I can't stand Smackdown right now, actually I haven't been able to stand it for a long time. At least Raw isn't that horrible, except the Lita storylines always annoy me.

Reports from backstage indicate that WWE management will be cutting several members from the talent roster in the coming weeks. Although no names are available, wrestlers are said to be on alert for a potential release.

While some past release threats did not materialize, the belief is that WWE will definitely be following through with releases in the coming weeks.

The upcoming move to USA is undoubtedly the driving force in the decision to make cuts. With WWE set to gross less from USA than Spike TV on RAW, and the loss of two weekend shows, the need for budget limitations is imminent.

Heat and Velocity are getting canceled  where else am I going to see the cruiserweights and the tag team titles....This is not good

In addition to Monday Night Raw, USA will air a one-hour weekend RAW-branded program, and NBCU's Telemundo will air Spanish-language versions of RAW. NBC will also air at least two yearly, 90-minute Saturday late night RAW specials.

As we noted several days ago, Matt hardy was contacted by WWE several days before the RAW wedding angle. They asked him if he would wait it out several weeks before signing with TNA as they were interested in trying to work out an angle for a return. Sources indicate that fan reactions over the past several months have indicated to Vince McMahon that Hardy has the [potential to be something else and sell merchandise. The issue is that there are obviously emotional problems between the two.

This places Hardy in a really good position as he's become a very talked about hot commodity who has his pick of the litter in the near future, even if WWE doesn't make him an offer to return. Hardy is at the point he can pretty much write his own ticket on the independents (where some promoters have claimed he is asking for $2,500-$3000 a shot), TNA, or even possibly Japan. If course, as it stands, there is also a distinct possibility he can head back into World Wrestling Entertainment (if they make him an offer) with an angle that fans are literally asking for weekly. In many ways, Hardy's current situation could be compared somewhat to Bret Hart's red hot momentum after the Montreal incident in November 1997, although WCW completely dropped the ball on that once Hart debuted for them. (PWinsider.com)

Hardy's current WWE no-compete expires on 7/11 and a TNA deal is ready to go. TNA has also been holding off Jeff Hardy's return so the two can reunite the Hardy Boyz.

Reports from backstage indicate that WWE management will be cutting several members from the talent roster in the coming weeks. Although no names are available, wrestlers are said to be on alert for a potential release.

While some past release threats did not materialize, the belief is that WWE will definitely be following through with releases in the coming weeks.

The upcoming move to USA is undoubtedly the driving force in the decision to make cuts. With WWE set to gross less from USA than Spike TV on RAW, and the loss of two weekend shows, the need for budget limitations is imminent.

The Blue Meanie has added a new blog over on his MySpace.com page regarding some reports already stating that he is filing a lawsuit against WWE's John Bradshaw Layfield following the in-ring incident at ECW One Night Stand on June 12. Meanie noted strongly that he is considering filing a lawsuit, but nothing has taken place at this time to further the situation.

In addition, Meanie also talks about why he did the interview with WWE.com and why some have already considered this situation to be a "work" since the company decided to run an article about it on their website. Meanie wrote, "This whole thing between JBL and I is NOT a work. I know that is the age ole conspiracy theory but it is NOT a work. A lot of people were surprised I gave an interview to WWE.com. To be honest I really wasn't going to BUT I felt that I had to refute the things I had heard JBL say. That's all. Do I regret doing it? No. Because I think that article exposed a lot of things that you can be the judge of for yourself."

Meanie also announces in the post that 3PW (the independent promotion in Philadelphia that he has been involved with since its start in 2002) would be canceling all of their scheduled summer events and restart again this September. In regards to the status of his current injuries following the ECW One Night Stand PPV, Meanie noted that he is scheduled to meet with a physician on Thursday to be further examined.

- Prior to the One Night Stand PPV, JBL had been drinking and continued to drink during the show.

- WWE production commented prior to the live ECW PPV that the Hammerstein Ballroom was a dump, and the live audience consisted of savages.

- At this point, there are no plans for ECW to be a separate television show, although, WWE has discussed promoting an ECW house show tour.

From WWE.com:

ECW’s One Night Stand may have ended two weeks ago, but what took place in the middle of the ring during the successful pay-per-view’s closing moments is still quite a source of controversy.

During the wild brawl that closed the show, former ECW wrestler The Blue Meanie and SmackDown! Superstar JBL appeared to trade some heavy blows, with the 6-foot-6 JBL seemingly getting the better of the exchange.

Photos and witnesses later confirmed that JBL did a fair amount of damage to The Blue Meanie’s face, even opening up some stitches he had received just a day earlier.

The incident has since been one of the hot-button topics making the rounds on the Internet. WWE.com was able to track down JBL, Meanie and Paul Heyman to talk about the bizarre events of that night.

Outside sources have tried to interview JBL, but they declined after being asked to record the conversation. As a result, WWE.com has the first words from JBL on this topic.

“People don’t know my side of the story, so I’m glad WWE.com has given me a chance,” JBL said. “But I’m not sure who’ll believe me anyway. I’m really surprised at all the backlash and I wish I was never associated with this and that it never happened.”

Many Internet reports have indicated that JBL and Blue Meanie had some previous run-ins during Meanie’s stay with the company in 1998, 1999 and part of 2000, and that those problems are the genesis of the ECW incident.

“The incident with Meanie had nothing to do with any old heat, I don’t even know the guy,” JBL said. “I understand he worked here, but I don’t even remember working with him. I couldn’t care less about the fat little kid. “

Meanie, who worked with WWE from October 1998 to June 2000, finds it almost impossible that JBL doesn’t recall his time there.

“That’s BS, he remembers me,” Meanie said when reached at home by WWE.com. “From my first day to my last, JBL never liked me. Maybe it was because I wasn’t an All-American football player or because my body wasn’t chiseled from granite, but he had it in for me.

“I enjoyed my time at WWE, I loved the work and I got to see the world,” Meanie continued. “I liked everything about it except JBL. When I was fired I was actually happy I wouldn’t have to see him anymore, that’s how depressed he had me.”

Here’s JBL’s version of the final moments of the pay-per-view:

“Before the brawl at the end of the pay-per-view, he starts cutting a shoot promo on me, saying I’m the reason he got fired and the only reason I got where I am is because I suck Vince McMahon’s d**k. I was incredulous,” JBL said. “I thought there’s no way he could really mean this. So I got to work with him at the end, and here we are trying to give the fans a great finish when we begin to lock horns in the melee. But he’s basically not even acknowledging my presence. Now I might have caught him snug with a shot, but then he starts throwing back heavy punches, including a body shot. So make no mistake, I club him back to make sure he knows I’m not playing, and I think I got him with a shot over the eye and one near the forehead and apparently opened him up a little.”

“Backstage I asked him if he wanted to finish it right then and there,” JBL continued. “He told me it’s all a show and that he didn’t want to fight. And he pretty much ran off.”

Meanie, as you might expect, had a much different view of what transpired.

“I was jaw-jacking with everyone, that was the whole point,” Meanie said. “The tape doesn’t lie. He went right for me and hit me when I wasn’t even looking. He even tried to pull my shirt over my face and have one of those hockey fights. He wanted a receipt for the things I’ve said about him.

Meanie is referring to old interviews on various Internet sites that quote Meanie calling JBL a “bully.”

“I tried to fend him off the best that I could, but at that point, I was also trying to protect the 14 staples I had in the back of my head from the night before,” Meanie added. “He’s a real big guy and there’s only so much I was able to do.”

JBL claims any accusations The Blue Meanie has made regarding JBL sabotaging his job with WWE are ludicrous.

“Apparently he blames me for getting him fired here,” JBL said. “I don’t have that kind of power, and even if I did, I wouldn’t use it on him. I really couldn’t give two sh**s about this guy. I don’t care if he ever wrestles again and I don’t care if he becomes a World Champion. Beating up the Blue Meanie doesn’t benefit me in any way. It just makes me look like a complete a**hole to attack this kid.”

For his part, Meanie is also trying to put the incident behind him.

“To me, it’s just really sad. JBL is supposed to be one of the top guys,” Meanie said. “He’s supposed to lead by example, not by fear.”

ECW founder Paul Heyman, who you might remember had some harsh words himself for JBL during One Night Stand, certainly isn’t surprised at the amount of attention the incident as drawn over the past week.

“I'm not surprised the JBL-Blue Meanie incident is still generating so much buzz,” Heyman told WWE.com. “The top star on SmackDown!, a former WWE Champion, hit ECW's court jester with his best shots and couldn't knock him out? This is like The Sandman pounding on Howard Finkel and Howard walking away with some bumps and bruises.”

Furthermore, Heyman wouldn’t mind seeing both men settle their differences in the ring. In fact, Heyman wonders what WWE brass is waiting for?

“It's pretty amusing the SmackDown! brain trust hasn't capitalized on the interest in JBL and The Meanie and begged Vince McMahon to allow this match to take place on TV or pay-per-view,” Heyman said. “If they don't have the vision, ECW certainly does, and I'd welcome that match on any platform ECW is afforded. I even propose we allow the two to fight in the streets of New York City and broadcast on ECW.com! After failing to silence his harshest critic, I think it's on JBL to prove if there's anything but bullsh** behind the Wrath of the Wrestling God.”

In an interview with the Sun, Steve Austin spoke on a number of topics. In addition to confirming interest in wrestling Hulk Hogan, he also put over the success of the ECW PPV. Austin also blamed Goldberg's decision to sit on his WCW contract for the lack of a dream match between the two.