WWE News (Page 13)

• When the story of Randy Orton’s trashed hotel room first got out people in the locker room under the impression that he had been fired on the spot. PW Insider now reports that the damages to his hotel room were in excess of $50,000. Orton is definitely in hot water and there are people within the company who are surprised that he still hasn’t been fired yet.

WWE officials are very upset about the situation, especially after having given him so many chances in the past, but it doesn‘t look like they will be releasing or suspending him.

• The plan for Santino Morella is to give him quite a good push on TV without having him completely dominate his opponents. As of late last week, Morella’s win was not planned to be just a one shot deal, and he will be pushed as a legitimate character.

• The latest ECW on Sci Fi did a 1.4 cable rating.

• CBS debut show "Canada's Next Comedy Legend" will be hosted by former WWE Diva Trish Stratus on 7/3.

• Rene Dupree has been in rehab since his suspension was handed down to him, which was in late February. As a result, his reunion with Sylvan Grenier in ECW was broken up.

• Plans are being made to build some sort of portable structure WrestleMania 24 to protect the ring in case it rains. Next year's WrestleMania will be taking placing in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida.

• The two NBC contracted Saturday Night's Main Events are scheduled to take place on 6/2 and in mid-August. They are going to run when regular network programming is in reruns, so that the expected ratings hit is kept to a minimum. The two shows will also be taped at regular TV tapings, rather than going live, to save money on production expenses.

In a bizarre incident at a WWE house show in Paris, France, the WWE Women's Championship changed hands twice throughout the night.

Firstly, Mickie James became the new Champion when she beat Melina and Victoria in a Triple Threat match by pinning Victoria.

But later in the show...

Melina beat Mickie James to regain her title when she pinned her in a few minutes by putting her foot on the ropes to score a pinfall.

• Playboy's Special Edition magazine "Blondes, Brunettes and Redheads" features WWE Diva Maryse from SmackDown.

• John Cena is in the season - and series - finale of MTV's Punk'd. The episode will air on 5/29 and will include Cena's driver running a stop sign and hitting a hearse on the way to a funeral. All hell breaks lose between the family members of the "dead" guy with the coffin in the street. While Cena kept his cool throughout the whole segment, he really let out some expletive words after he found out he was Punk'd which was really funny.

• King Booker will be hosting a new radio show titled Tea Team with King Booker. It will begin this Saturday and air on KBME 790-AM from 12-2PM CT. You can listen to it at this site www.790thesportsanimal.com.

• Both Randy Orton and Ric Flair didn't wrestle at yesterday's WWE event in Munich, Germany. Orton was out of action with a stomach virus, while Ric Flair has sustained an ankle injury.

Government documents showed several other names of wrestlers besides those mentioned in the Sports Illustrated story a few weeks ago as linked by Dr. David Wilbirt of Phoenix and having been prescribed steroids by Dr. Wilbirt.

Three names we are aware of were former WWE stars Matt Bloom (A-Train), Jon Heidenreich and Jon Hugger (Johnny Stamboli).

WWE's tour of Italy is still continuing with both brands. There are Smackdown events in Rome today, Ancona on Thursday and Treviso on Friday.

The company then continues its overseas tour with these dates:

* April 19 - Raw House Show - Munich, Germany
* April 20 - Raw House Show - Manheim, Germany
* April 21 - Raw House Show - Oberhausen, Germany
* April 21 - Smackdown House Show - Vienna, Austria
* April 22 - Raw House Show - Bremen, Germany
* April 22 - Smackdown House Show - Cardiff, Wales
* April 23 - Monday Night Raw taping - London, England
* April 23 - Smackdown House Show - Birmingham, England
* April 24 - Smackdown/ECW tapings - London, England
* April 24 - Raw House Show - Paris, France

The WWE returns to the U.S. for Backlash on April 29 in Atlanta.

• Elijah Burke is the new video game champion in the WWE locker room, taking over for Shelton Benjamin, who had won for four straight years retired from competition. Burke beat Carlito in the finals of the competition, winning a $2000 prize.

• The Toronto Star is reporting that Trish Stratus plans to open a yoga/fitness gym sometime in 2008 located in Toronto, Ontario. The gym will be designed by HGTV Canada’s show “Designing Guys” and it’s likely that the process of designing and opening the gym will be broadcast in some form on HGTV Canada.

• This past Friday’s edition of SmackDown did a 2.5 broadcast rating with a 4.5 share.

• Many people are questioning the rumors that broke last week about Hulk Hogan and his wife Linda getting a divorce. While we are unable to confirm these rumors, it's possible they are doing this to draw more people towards the Hogan Knows Best reality series on VH-1.

• Former WWE Women’s Champion Lita has posted a message on her band’s MySpace web site about offering new merchandise:

Body: Game on! The Luchastore is up and running so go get your t-shirts patches, buttons, and stickers NOW. Our CD will be available soon from there and we are working on putting together a special fan club pack w/a new T-shirt design and more fun stuff. Our stuff is now available for overseas orders, too, so go for it, and send us pictures representing. Our store is at www.luchagors.com!