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Updated Wednesday, October 29 - evening update

- I'll start today's update looking at some ratings information we received for last week. WWE Raw jumped back into the top five of the cable ratings for the week of Oct. 20, averaging 4.3 million viewers for both hours. The show finished behind the Broncos vs. Patriots game on ESPN, two Disney shows, and the O'Reilly Factor on Wednesday, Oct. 22.

Despite Raw ratings being way down compared to 5 and 10 years ago, the show is still relatively strong compared to the rest of cable TV. Raw slipped out of the Top 10 for a few weeks during presidential campaign coverage, and will again slip out of the Top 10 next week because of next Tuesday's presidential race coverage, but the show is still strong all things considered.

USA Network slipped down to fourth, overall, however. For the Oct. 20 week, TBS took the top spot, followed by FOX News and ESPN, which had 2.9 million viewers. USA Network averaged 2.8 million viewers in prime time, so Raw was well ahead of the average when USA has traditionally had the highest-rated shows during the week.

We currently have a poll up on the main listing asking what the main reason is for the steady decline in Raw ratings. We have two overwhelming responses that are currently combining for 78 percent of votes tallied.

First, 46 percent of you believe a stale format left over from the 1990s is to blame. Second, 32 percent of Torch readers believe it's the lack of new stars being pushed seriously.

One of the keys for the 800th episode of Raw coming up on Monday will be the Miz & Morrison match against DX. It's a classic case of two veterans with drawing power being in position to do what's right for business and help establish a new tandem in Miz & Morrison that has caught fire recently.

I'll examine both of these top two vote-getters in tomorrow's Daily Word.

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Hogan's CCW Week 2 Reaction

- If there's one thing Eric Bischoff knows how to pull off, it's playing the role of the creepy guy. And what would a reality show be without that guy.

His character on Hogan's CCW TV show is the type of guy who stares too long at a woman in the restaurant or who maintains uncomfortable eye contact when there's a lull in conversation. Throw in the black suit, the piercing eyes, and a not-so-hidden affinity for Nikki Ziering and we have the background heel on Hogan's reality show airing on CMT.

I watched the second episode yesterday and I was astounded by the cheesy, borderline-unairable editing for the two "wrestling matches" that took place between Team Beefcake and Team Knobs. Granted, the editing team was probably pulling its hair out trying to present a somewhat credible effort in the ring, but the quick cuts, non-continuous crowd reactions, and random shots of the judges "taking notes" was too much to bear. I will pay top dollar for a copy of Hogan's "notes" that he took during the matches. Might look something like that over on the right...

During the "matches," Nikki Ziering was the star because she looked the best of the worst. Poor Erin was just a ship without a sail. I guess they didn't want to cut two women in the first two episodes, so Frank "I ain't afraid of no heights" Stallone was sent home this week. Franky Baby could have been nice for comedy relief throughout the series after missing the scientific term for a fear of heights. I'm sorry, Frank, the answer we're looking for is... "acrophobia." Acro-pho-bia.

As for the "challenge" on the show to take a "bump" from the top of a "scaffold," Hogan's set-up was just classic Hogan. He looked at the contestants with that classic wide-eyed, trust-me look as if he were talking to a group of five years at Chuck-E-Cheese. "Guys are climbing to the top of the ceiling in this business these days, brother."

Cue up the over-bearing voice-over man leading to commercial break. "Will Trishelle take the plunge?" ... Will Beefcake take off his glasses? Will Todd Bridges ever take off his hat? Will we find out if Bobby is the father? Oops, wrong voice-over.

And if that's not enough, you have Brian Knobs huckstering it up throughout the show. It sounds like he's trying to do a 24/7 Chris Farley impersonation, but his line about the schoolboy maneuver was just so awesome.

"The schoolboy is the easiest wrestling maneuver in the WRESTLING 101 ... MAGAZINE!" -- Brian Knobs

But, the "best impersonation of a real person" honor has to go to Danny "I have three families to feed" Bonaduce. If he's not making Erin Murphy cry, he's skipping town to do his radio show before mixing it up with reality celebrity Dustin Diamond. This guy.

First impression was not a whole lot. I'm curious to see next week's, though. You can't beat a reality show where faux celebrities get to pick a gimmick and try on a Vikings helmet. Quality entertainment at its finest brought to you by the good folks at CMT. Just for the heck of it, how about a good ole fashioned Hogan and Beefcake promo from Summerslam '89 that will have you rolling on the floor. (For more videos, such as these, check out WWE 24/7 on youtube.)



- Also of note related to Hogan's show, Butterbean will be appearing on In Your Head radio tonight at 7:00 p.m. EST, followed by Psycho Sid. Butterbean will be discussing the CCW show and Sid will be addressing rumors of a potential WWE return at the 800 Raw show this Monday. In Your Head website link.

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Reality with Flair and Jericho

- Maintaining the reality show theme, Ric Flair is filming the pilot for his new reality show. We got a big fat "no comment" from Flair's handlers, but the same production company that brought us "Hogan Knows Best" and the subsequent Brooke Hogan spin-off are in charge of Flair's TV series.

Pink Sneakers Production, based in Florida, is currently looking for individuals to participate in upcoming pilots, including Flair's, I'm sure. Right now, though, they need cast members for "My Big Redneck Wedding," "My Big Redneck Christmas," and "My Big Redneck Bash." Good, quality entertainment, again, brought to you by the folks at Pink Sneakers. Sorry, no Flair video today. I'll come through with a promo tomorrow or Friday.

- And finally from reality TV world, Chris Jericho's new reality series kicks off tonight at 11:00 p.m. EST on FUEL TV. If you can't find the channel on your cable or satellite provider, it's probably in between CMT and MTV 38. Actually, Jericho will be going head-to-head against Hogan tonight on TV. A replay of Hogan's CCW show airs at 11:30 p.m. EST on CMT while episode number one of Jericho's "Redemption Song" airs at 11:00.

There has been plenty of buzz online for Jericho's show. I'm surprised, but Jericho really does transcend wrestling with several VH-1 appearances to his name, having his own band, and being an aspiring actor. Publicity is better than no publicity, but some mainstream sites are having a field day looking at the not-so-flattering elements of the show, namely the crazy contestants. ...

Boston Herald: "Bizarrely, most of the women dress as if fashion ended with the Whitesnake music videos of the '80s. 'Redemption' only shows snippets of each woman singing, maybe 15 seconds tops for a few lucky ones. It's hard to say who has talent and who is deluded."

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- I know this will be a key selling point for Torch readers in Florida, but a piece of Americana, Tye Dye Guy, will be in attendance at Raw on Monday night in Tampa for the three-hour show. He'll also make the trip to Orlando on Tuesday for the Smackdown/ECW taping. Want to know his thoughts and how he always scores the front row seats facing the hard cam? Well, Miami Herald has the answer. "I will be sitting fourth row ringside, TV side, in the middle," he told the paper. "This show will be awesome." If he says so, then it must be. And, of course, there's a music video set to Tye Dye Guy's many accomplishments as a wrestling superfan. Just have to share this...



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