By James Caldwell, PWTorch columnist

- Tonight is a relatively calm edition of WWE Smackdown. No crazy Halloween themes or announcers in sailor suits. And they aren't hyping a major match the likes of The Undertaker vs. Triple H right before a PPV.

Instead, we're looking at Vladimir Koslov vs. The Undertaker in a main event match where Koslov gets his WWE Title shot against Hunter if he can beat Taker. Also on the show, Great Khali confronts MVP in the VIP Lounge and The Miz & John Morrison pick up another chance against Triple H, this time with Jeff Hardy as his partner.

Jim Ross wrote in his blog about Smackdown that "it seemed like a good one when we taped it Tuesday in Orlando. My partner Tazz, who I am really having a blast working with, and I usually know when we have a good broadcast or not and are both our own harshest critics. You be the judge when you see it." Ross blog on jrsbarbq.com.

- TNA has a PPV on Sunday. I came to this stunning revelation on Wednesday when I tracked down TNA's PPV video trailer. Last night on Impact hammered home the point rather effectively, although viewers's ears may have still been ringing after Scotty Steiner's promo to start the show. I think he set the record for most bleeped words and racial slurs in a quarter hour. In case you missed the promo, well, TNA is making all 10:50 of it available to you.



- WWE is serving up a live blog on WWE Universe at 6:30 p.m. EST tonight discussing the new Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 video game. Hold onto your pants, as we'll be debuting some technological features, such as a live blog/chat discussion, on the site in a very similar manner. It won't be PWTorch Universe or EntertainmenTorch or some lame corporate-speak marketing name, though. In any event, the WWE blog takes place here.

- Also on the WWE video game front, the THQ developer for the Nintendo DS version of the SvR 2009 game was interviewed by pocketgamer.com. The title: "Why WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 will touch you." I don't want to be touched by a video game, but developer Dan Ryan checked in with some commentary on the game for the DS system.

- There's already a review out for Behind Enemy Lines 3 starring Mr. Kennedy that will be coming out straight-to-DVD in January 2009. Yesterday, WWE CEO Linda McMahon said the company will be doing more straight-to-DVD and "movie of the week" projects rather than theatrical releases, so we can get used to more action thrillers starring WWE wrestlers.

Cinemablend.com's review of the movie: "This type of film is targeting a very specific selection of movie lovers. If you crave pyrotechnics and action this disc certainly provides content worthy of your $26.98. And if you’re really a war junkie, maybe even the $34.98 for the two-disc special, which includes the original Behind Enemy Lines. But, then there’s the rest of us who say we hear enough about fighting and war on the news and decide to pass."

Coincidentally, WWE released a trailer for the movie today on youtube. Movie is Rated R. You know how the MPAA now lists every single possible reason why a movie receives a G, PG, PG-13, or R rating? Well, they just decided it wasn't worth it here. Movie is Rated R for... Violence. That's it. No other reason. Maybe they didn't make it past the first ten minutes. In any event, trailer is below.



- We received some promotional consideration for Hulk Hogan's CCW, with Week 4 airing tomorrow night on CMT at 8:00 p.m. EST. Clips below of Nikki Ziering and Danny Bonaduce. And not in that order.

By the way, if you're looking for a trip, check out Bonaduce on re-runs of "Animal All-Stars" on Animal Planet. It's a very toned down Bonaduce playing the role of judge for cats, dogs, and parakeets. The man officially has no shame, which makes him a perfect reality show star.





- If you've ever wondered what your favorite college football would look like inside a wrestling ring, well, Sports Illustrated has you covered. With president-elect Barack Obama bringing attention to the BCS system in college football and overall name-calling bound to occur in about four weeks, SI.com decided to look at the top college football teams as WWE wrestlers.

While I certainly get my Texas Longhorns as Mr. Perfect, I'm not quite buying Jim Ross's Oklahoma Sooners as Umaga. Other picks are the USC Trojans as Kane, Penn St. as the modern-day Ric Flair, Florida Gators as John Cena, Texas Tech's brand of riverboat gambling swashbuckling as Rey Mys...er... Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels as the Rockers. ? Also, Boise St. represented by Crush, Alabama by Shawn Michaels, and Georgia as the Ultimate Warrior. SI.com article link.

- Last week, we reported on Stevie Richards beginning a podcasting class at the Connecticut School of Broadcasting later this month. Our initial report is here. Check out Richards's promo on the class if you're in the Connecticut area and want to learn how to produce a podcast.

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