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WEEKEND REPORT: Shelton at the Rumble, Edge on ECW TV, Nigel in Japan Jan 13, 2008 - 10:20:22 PM
James Caldwell reports on various news from around wrestling during the weekend.
Updated Saturday, January 12
10:20 p.m. Shelton Benjamin beat Tommy Dreamer to qualify for the Royal Rumble at the Smackdown/ECW house show in Jonesboro, Ark. on Saturday night. Carlito & Santino Marella qualified at the Raw house show in Tallahassee on Saturday. We're looking for a report from both shows on Saturday night. We're also looking for reports on the two WWE house shows tonight in Dothan, Ala. and Little Rock, Ark.
- World Hvt. champion Edge will host a "Cutting Edge" segment on ECW TV this Tuesday night. He'll announce the special guest Monday afternoon on wwe.com. (Monday edit: ECW champion C.M. Punk will be the special guest.)
- ROH World champion Nigel McGuinness will defend the ROH Title against Go Shiozaki at the Jan. 20 NOAH show in Tokyo. Since KENTA is not expected to wrestle in the U.S. during 2008, Shiozaki will be involved in ROH matches and storylines this year, with Nigel getting the ball rolling with a title defense this weekend.
- TNA sent a text message to Mobile subscribers tonight that an announcement will be coming soon on house shows in the U.K. and New York. They already have shows booked in New York state on Feb. 22 in Westbury and Feb. 23 in Elmira.
***
Updated Saturday, January 12
12:40 p.m. WWE Smackdown on the CW from last night averaged a strong 2.9 rating, but it was only good for last on the night. The show did a 2.8 first hour and 3.0 second hour. Smackdown improved slightly from last week's 2.8 overall rating.
- A TV news website has a story on WWE spending $20.0 million to upgrade the TV production facility in Stamford, Ct. to handle new capacity for HD broadcasts. There are more upgrades coming in 2008.
- Tazz has an interview on wwe.com discussing the old ECW vs. the new ECW. A quote from Tazz on the new ECW brand being "smarter" than the old ECW under Paul Heyman: "What we did back in the day was an explosive, combustible style. Injuries were happening often, guys were destroying their bodies and a lot of brain cells were destroyed in that bingo hall for a multitude of reasons.
"WWE deserves credit for what it’s done for ECW. The ECW brand now has legs. Our fans won’t see what they saw back in Philadelphia or Cincinnati or Queens, N.Y., in 1998 or 1999, and I can see how that’s confusing for some people. But it’s a different brand with the same name."
- Cody Rhodes qualified for the Royal Rumble at last night's Raw house show in Jacksonville, Fla. The list of qualifies now includes Umaga, Snitsky, Hardcore Holly, The Miz, John Morrison, Hornswoggle, Mick Foley, Batista, Undertaker, Kane, Jamie Noble, Finlay, and Cody.
- We're looking for live reports from the Raw house show and TNA house show in Dallas from last night. Also, a report from last night's ROH show in Boston. Tonight, Raw is in Tallahassee, Fla. where they're having another Rumble qualifying match. Smackdown and ECW are in Jonesboro, Ark. TNA is in Oklahoma City. ROH is in Edison, N.J.
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