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RESULTS

1/10 PWG in Reseda, Calif.: (1) Los Luchas (Phoenix Star & Zokre) beat The Cutler Brothers (Brandon & Dustin) ... (2) Austin Aries beat T.J. Perkins via submission. ... (3) Joey Ryan beat Bobby Quance. ... (4) Bryan Danielson beat Scott Lost via submission. ... (5) El Generico beat Chuck Taylor. ... (6) PWG tag team champions the Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson) beat Davey Richards & Roderick Strong to retain the PWG tag titles.

1/11 WWE Raw/ECW in Des Moines, Iowa: (1) ECW champion Matt Hardy beat Jack Swagger. ... (2) Women's champion Beth Phoenix beat Melina. ... (3) World tag team champions John Morrison & The Miz beat Cryme Tyme (JTG & Shad Gaspar). ... (4) Finlay (w/Hornswoggle) beat Mark Henry (w/Tony Atlas) in a Belfast Brawl. ... (5) IC champion William Regal beat Kofi Kingston. ... (6) Randy Orton & Cody Rhodes beat Rey Mysterio & C.M. Punk. ... (7) World Hvt. champion John Cena beat Chris Jericho.

1/12 WWE Raw TV in Sioux City, Iowa: Chris Jericho fired by Stephanie McMahon. ... (1) Rey Mysterio beat The Miz in 4:00. ... (2) Intercontinental champion William Regal beat C.M. Punk via DQ in 2:00 to retain the IC Title. ... (3) Randy Orton beat Kane in 9:00. ... (n/c) Women's champion Beth Phoenix & Jillian Hall vs. Kelly Kelly & Melina. ... (4) Shawn Michaels (w/JBL) beat World Hvt. champion John Cena in 24:00 in a non-title match.

***

NEWS

TNA News: Injury report with details on walking wounded after last night's PPV

PWTorch has confirmed several injuries on TNA's roster coming out of last night's Genesis PPV:

-Robert Roode suffered an ankle injury during the three-way tag team match. No word on the severity of it at this time.

-Mick Foley is hurting today after landing awkwardly during a table spot in his match.

-Jeff Jarrett was in severe pain today from the suplex he took from Kurt Angle off of the stage where they missed the table and landed on the floor without much of a break to their fall.

-Sting was hobbled due to have having a double knee operation last month in which both knees were drained. The Rhino injury angle was devised to create a storyline reason for his match being short and not particularly elaborate.

-Awesome Kong entered the night with a sore back and over-exerted herself during her post-match angle with ODB.

-ProWrestling.net reported earlier that Alex Shelley entered his match under the weather.

-They entered the show with Christy Hemme and Kevin Nash on the disabled list.

***

TNA News: More details on Kevin Nash's medical situation - details on timeline and seriousness of situation

PWTorch has confirmed through friends of Kevin Nash that he was hospitalized for the reason TNA said on PPV on Sunday night. He flew to Charlotte on Saturday and was anticipating wrestling on the PPV, but one of his arms swelled up to twice the size of normal due to an infection he contracted, probably on his most recent overseas tour.

He admitted himself to a local Charlotte hospital on Saturday and spent the night, hoping to be well enough to participate on Sunday, but doctors wouldn't release him due to concern over the seriousness of the infection, which had raised his white blood cell count to double normal levels.

As reported earlier on PWTorch.com, he had surgery this afternoon at a Charlotte hospital during which his arm was lanced and blood was drained. The infection hasn't been identified yet, but he is on heavy antibiotics as doctors are awaiting test results. He's being treated as if it's a super-bug that will require special heavy antibiotics to control and defeat.

He first noticed swelling on his elbow on Thursday last week, but didn't think anything of it at the time until it got much worst 48 hours later.

***

WWE News: First 2009 Hall of Fame inductee announced for WrestleMania 25 ceremony

WWE announced today that Steve Austin is the first inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame 2009 class. Austin will be the "main event" wrestler to be inducted into the Hall, where he'll accept the honor in Houston prior to WrestleMania 25.

Austin is from Victoria, Tex., which is just 100 miles south of Houston. Tickets for the Hall of Fame ceremony at the Toyota Center in Downtown Houston go on-sale this Saturday morning.

Announcing Austin's induction a few days prior to the official on-sale date should help boost ticket sales for the Texas-themed Hall of Fame ceremony this year.

***

Ratings News: TNA Impact numbers for episode before Genesis PPV; alarming trends continue

Good news: TNA's Impact TV ratings for the January 8 show rebounded from the New Year's Day "best of" edition to a 1.06 rating and 1.5 million viewers.

Bad News: The first quarter hour had a larger viewing audience than the final two quarter-hours of the show, which were designed to give the final sell for last night's Genesis PPV.

The audience level peaked in the sixth quarter-hour of the show for the TNA tag title switch, with Consequences Creed & Jay Lethal capturing the TNA tag titles. From there, the rating dropped slightly for the B.G. James vs. Kurt Angle match, then dropped even more slightly for the show-closing segment with Jeff Jarrett giving his PPV sales pitch/speech.

Looking at the rating from a long-term perspective, the audience level has recovered to the Christmas Day numbers, but is down compared to the previous five and ten weeks of TV.

Compared to the previous five weeks, the Jan. 8 Impact was down 2.67 percent in total viewership. Compared to the previous ten weeks, it was down 1.33 percent.

Demographic ratings in the key metrics of adults 18-49 and males 18-35 are down from the previous weeks of TV. Most alarming is the males 18-35 demo, which slipped to 0.69 after peaking with a 0.94 rating on December 11.

***

WWE News: Cena-HBK, title match booked for tonight's Raw; history of Raw blunders at tonight's location

Tonight's edition of WWE Raw on USA Network will feature one title match, one WrestleMania re-match, and one strange pseudo heel vs. cool heel in a "who-do-we-root-for?" match.

In no particular order, WWE booked the WrestleMania 24 re-match between WWE World Hvt. champion John Cena and Shawn Michaels for tonight's show as part of the ongoing storyline involving Michaels being part of JBL's currently-just-a-partnership-but-looking-to-be-a-corporation.

JBL faces Cena for the World Title at this month's Royal Rumble PPV and the storyline developed with JBL going to on-air authority figure Stephanie McMahon to book tonight's match to test Michaels's loyalty.

As for the title match, WWE is re-doing the Intercontinental Title match from last week's show. William Regal will re-defend against C.M. Punk. If Regal gets himself DQ'ed like last week, then Punk wins the IC Title.

In the heel vs. heel...kinda...match, Randy Orton faces Kane in a battle for some sort of non-love interest in Kelly Kelly.

The event is being held in Sioux City, Iowa, where WWE has a history of trashing the local Tyson Events Center arena. The Sioux City Journal took notice and listed WWE's history in May 2005, July 2006, February 2007, and January 2009.

From May 2005, the Journal reports that a couch belonging to the Sioux City Musketeers had been trashed, the cost of allowing WWE wrestlers into the hockey team's locker room.

Also, one of the "green rooms" was discolored during a segment when a gallon of green paint was dumped on a few wrestlers hanging out.

Link: Sioux City Journal report. Thanks to PWTorch specialist Brian Hoops for contributing.

***

TNA News: Booker T says he told Vince McMahon to fire him; why he doesn't consider himself a wrestler

TNA legends champion Booker T doesn't consider himself a pro wrestler, but rather an entertainer who happens to perform inside a wrestling ring.

Without a background in athletics, he acknowledges he's not the greatest wrestler, but says he is successful because he knows how to work in the ring without needing to practice what he's going to do.

"I don't have that background of physicality," Booker told Ch. 14 in Charlotte, "but fighting and entertainment intertwines with each other and I think those are my greatest assets to go out and make a fool out of myself, but still be serious at the same time."

Booker said he tells his wrestling students that you have to understand your talent and if you feel under-utilized, the only thing a company can do is fire you. "That's the only thing they could do to you, but I believe in my talent," he said.

Booker recounted a story in WWE about going to Vince McMahon (without naming him by name) and telling him that one agent is telling him one thing and another agent is saying something else, and he really can't work like that.

"'If you don't like what I do; if I don't put people in the seats, if my ratings don't come up for my segments, then just fire me,'" Booker recalls telling McMahon. "That's how much I've always believed in my talent as a performer, not as a wrestler."

Now in TNA, Booker says he's not sure how much longer he'll be in the business, but it won't be as tough for him to walk away compared to other wrestlers who only know wrestling as the fabric of their lives.

"I always looked as wrestling as part of my life, but a small part of my life," Booker said. "I walked away from the biggest company we have in the world, which is WWE, at the top of my game because I felt like it was time for something else; for me to build a whole new chapter."

Link: Ch. 14 Charlotte video interview with Booker T. Also includes Booker talking fondly about the famous Best-of-seven series against Chris Benoit during their WCW days.

***

TNA News: TNA champion explains survival and longevity in pro wrestling; what younger stars are missing

In part two of our coverage of Booker T's in-depth interview with Ch. 14 in Carolina from over the weekend, TNA Legends champion Booker T has plenty of advice to share with pro wrestlers who want to know how to survive in wrestling when no one is looking out for a wrestler other than him or herself.

Booker is from the generation of wrestlers who have accepted no unions, no pensions, and no net to brace a fall as part of the pro wrestling industry. As a result, Booker says he's learned how to survive and he's trying to pass along that knowledge to students at his wrestling school in Houston and to younger TNA talent.

"I'm giving them advice as far as what they need to do to become stars; what they need to do to create a fanbase; what they need to do create longevity," Booker told Ch. 14 in Charlotte. "Wrestling is not one of those businesses where have a pension - something at the end of the rainbow that's going to take care of us. We have to take care of ourselves."

Booker said he tries teaching the younger talent how to be a businessman and not buy into the accolades and nice things fans say because it could be gone very quickly if a wrestler doesn't plan for the future.

"They're not hiring a lot of out-of-work wrestlers," Booker said with a smirk. "We got to know how to take care of ourselves. ... We are businessman, so I try to teach these guys to make sure we pay our taxes, make sure we have a financial advisor, make sure our accountant isn't a crooked guy trying to take our money. A lot of times, these guys really don't realize this."

FYI: Booker T runs his PWA Academy in Downtown Houston, just minutes away from where the WrestleMania 25 activities will be taking place in April. Booker's PWA promotion runs monthly shows in Pasadena, Tex. and the next show is Saturday night with special guests LAX.

Link: Ch. 14 Charlotte video interview with Booker T.

***

TNA News: Finally, an answer to the Booker T accent mystery; Booker talks Mafia vs. Frontline

Booker T's character transformation on TV is an ongoing process, with his accent now-comically changing in the middle of each promo for no rhyme or reason.

Booker says it's part of him ad-libbing a lot of his promos and appealing to a younger audience that isn't really concerned about good guys and bad guys, but seeing an entertaining performance on TV.

"I like doing it on the fly," Booker told Ch. 14 in Charlotte to promote yesterday's Genesis PPV. "At one point, I had a British accent. (chuckling) Now, I kind of have an African, Zimbabwe, and Mexican accent."

He then described a fan having a "Booker T accent wheel" at a recent house show where the wheel spun to whatever accent he wanted Booker to pull out. Booker says it's all part of fans finally catching on to a TNA storyline after trying to connect with the audience.

"This is like the hottest thing going on since I got to TNA," Booker said about the Mafia vs. Frontline feud. "When I got to TNA, people were wondering, 'What's going? The storylines are going this way or that way.' But, now, people are really in tune with the Main Event Mafia just beating up our competitors."

Link: Ch. 14 Charlotte video interview with Booker T.

***

WWE News: WWE to have its own TV channel? Internal discussions and recent WWE investments have the answer

Cable TV or satellite subscribers might have another TV channel to occupy their time, as there could come a day when WWE has its own cable TV channel.

WWE was one of the first companies to deliver a dedicated On-Demand channel when they launched WWE 24/7 in November 2004. The next step could be a dedicated WWE channel, similar to NFL Network or NBA TV.

"A WWE channel has been discussed over the years," said Jim Ross in the Q&A section of jrsbarbq.com. "It wouldn't surprise me if it happens some day in some form aside from the video on demand service of WWE 24/7 On Demand."

Prior to the U.S. economy beginning to falter in the second-half of 2008, WWE earmarked $100 million to fund the company's plans to expand the TV studios facility at WWE's offices in Stamford, Conn.

They certainly weren't expanding shelf space for old World Class tapes, as WWE had ambitious plans to use the TV facility to expand the company's global reach. But, in the company's fourth quarter earnings report, CEO Linda McMahon said WWE is cutting the "planned capital spending by approximately $30 million."

The budget cut to a long-term capital project probably pushes talk of "WWE TV" to the backburner in favor of shoring up the short-term interest of the company, but there is potential down the road to see old AWA shows at 1:00 in the morning on WWE TV rather than ESPN Classics.

***

WWE News: PWTORCH.COM Exclusive - Insider details on WWE's staff and talent firings last weekend

WWE's major corporate and talent firings last Friday led to several names you've heard of and several prominent names you haven't heard of being let go from the company.

We reported this past weekend on a number of department heads being let go to trim some excess salaries that were bloating the company's budget, with an internal department re-structuring expected to take place as a result.

One of the major internal firings was to Geof Rochester, who was an officer in the company and head of WWE's marketing division. Rochester was let go on Wednesday and held 24,635 shares of company stock, according to SEC documents.

Rochester was with WWE in the position for nearly three years, which is considered a lengthy period of time because the department tends to have a high turnover rate. Rochester was known internally for "rubbing people the wrong way," but he was thought to do a solid job in his position.

Former referee Tim White, who was involved in the infamous "suicide angles" from his local tavern a few years ago, was let go. His then-current role was handling all incoming money at house show events. The duty will probably trickle down to the "producers" at each live event.

Current referee Jimmy Korderas was released on Friday, which coincided with his father's death also on Friday. Korderas was training for some different positions behind the scenes because of health concerns in the ring as a referee.

***

TNA News: TNA books PPV caliber match featuring Kurt Angle for this week's Impact

Prior to heading to the U.K. for a significant money-making tour, TNA returns to Orlando today and tomorrow to tape the next two weeks of TNA Impact to air on Spike TV leading to the February "Against All Odds" PPV.

TNA announced the main event match for this Thursday's show following Kurt Angle's dismantling of Jeff Jarrett during the TNA Genesis PPV last night.

Angle will face A.J. Styles in the main event of the show with Mick Foley as special referee. Foley scored the pinfall in the main event six-man tag match during last night's PPV.

Angle and Styles have a history of epic PPV matches. Their most-famous PPV match was the Hard Justice PPV last year when Styles beat Angle in a Last Man Standing match. The match was one of the key moments that started the Main Event Mafia vs. Frontline feud.

Also booked for this Thursday's Impact is Matt Morgan & Abyss vs. Consequences Creed & Jay Lethal in a #1 contender match to Beer Money's TNA tag titles.

We are looking for a correspondent at tonight's Impact taping in Orlando. If you are attending the show, be sure to send in a report to pwtorch@gmail.com.

Link: TNA's preview of this week's Impact.

***

Other News: "The Wrestler" delivers successful weekend at the box office, numbers and details on how the movie fared

"The Wrestler" had its first major expansion in the U.S. market this past weekend and delivered solid results. The movie will continue to expand next weekend and debuts in the U.K. on Friday (when TNA begins its U.K. tour) to help boost ticket revenue.

Over the weekend, "The Wrestler" grossed $874,000 in 60 theaters, for a very good average of $14,567 per theater. The per-theater average was the highest of the weekend for any movie airing in more than two theaters.

Through four official weekends in theaters, the movie has grossed $2.85 million. The movie gained national TV exposure on Sunday when Bruce Springsteen and Mickey Rourke won Golden Globe awards during the awards shown airing on NBC.

The additional exposure and upcoming Academy Award nomination announcement should continue to boost ticket sales for the movie.

Source: Boxofficemojo.com.

***

Other News: Wrestling executive comments on dire consequences to WWE if wrestlers join Hollywood union

At its core, WWE presents scripted entertainment with an athletic background. That "shades of gray" classification, and the fact that WWE doesn't advertise to the general public that the product is scripted, is one factor in how WWE has avoided compensating the wrestling talent as employees and union members.

Darren Aronofsky's "The Wrestler" movie has pushed the underbelly of pro wrestling into the international limelight, with the movie winning two major awards last night at the Golden Globes.

Aronofsky has said in recent interviews that after studying pro wrestling for several years to create his film on pro wrestling, he believes pro wrestlers should be part of Hollywood unions.

After all, they are performing in a scripted television series, with WWE openly acknowledging to Congress that they have writers who script storylines and conflict between the on-air talent to be played out in a theatrical setting.

Former WCW president Eric Bischoff has intricate knowledge of what it takes to run a pro wrestling organization, including the hush-hush topic of unions and pro wrestlers being classified as employees of the organization they primarily wrestle for.

"I am not sure how long WWE will continue to be able to dodge the union bullet," Eric Bischoff recently said on his blog. "The arenas WWE produces their events in are generally union 'houses.' The local crews that are hired to set up staging etc., are union members (usually). Which means that for the most part, everyone associated with the staging of a WWE event are either employees of WWE, the arena, or members of a union. Everyone except the talent."

Although Bischoff takes a personal attack at Raven and Chris Kanyon for their recent lawsuit against WWE claiming they should have been paid as employees for their work in WWE years ago, Bischoff says it would be devastating to WWE and Vince McMahon if the lawsuit indirectly pushed for legitimate change to the top company in the industry.

"The implications of this lawsuit are beyond frightening," Bischoff said. "Should the government, as a result of this suit, determine that WWE wrestlers are employees, the fines and back taxes that WWE could be held liable for are astronomical. There is no statute of limitations on these taxes and in the case of a public company, the Chairman can be held personally responsible."

Bischoff says the financial impact of being forced to comply with the Hollywood union SAG would be staggering to WWE's financial position. "Combine that with union rules regarding overtime, residuals, and things like mandatory meal breaks, and it's easy to see why Vince McMahon would fight this move until his last breath."

Link: Eric Bischoff blog.

***

WWE News: CEO Linda McMahon granted unprecedented access to information about kids audience

WWE CEO Linda McMahon was named to the Connecticut state Board of Education today, with Conn. governor M. Jodi Rell making the official announcement.

McMahon has been added to the 12-person Board and will help oversee state policies that determine public education for Connecticut state students.

"Linda clearly understands the skills and education needed to succeed in business and the type of highly educated and skilled workforce that must be available to ensure that success," governor Rell said in statement.

Caldwell's Analysis: Not that I'm suggesting any potential conflict of interest, but Linda McMahon will have unprecedented access to information on a very specific focus group of children that makes up a significant portion of WWE's audience, even if chairman Vince McMahon wants to call it a "small percentage."

Putting that aside, it's an opportunity for Linda to present WWE in a positive light by helping encourage advancement in public school education, and give back to the community in a necessary way as part of WWE's corporate responsibility.

Link: TheDay.com report from Connecticut.

***

TNA News: What you might have missed during last night's PPV - Sting wrestles through pain from recent surgery

Current TNA World Hvt. champion Sting was reportedly limping noticeably backstage prior to last night's TNA PPV in Charlotte, N.C. Sting wrestled last night's TNA Title match against Rhino mere weeks after knee surgery, limiting his movement in the ring.

The match, which clocked in at a brief nine minutes and included several restholds, was designed to limit Sting's movement in the ring to protect his knee.

During the match action, Rhino never attacked either knee, which would have required Sting to favor one of his knees while selling the other knee. When Sting applied the Scorpion deathlock on Rhino, he noticeably couldn't sit down on the hold, as it requires a deep knee bend for the person applying the hold.

Caldwell's Analysis: Rhino deserve credit for wrestling a very professional match, protecting Sting as best as possible. It was a tough story to weave into the match storyline of Rhino being aggressive in seeking revenge against the Main Event Mafia, but still needing to protect his fellow wrestler. I went back and re-watched the match this morning and it's obvious how careful both men were protecting Sting's knee, even during the outside-the-ring brawling.

***

Other News: "The Wrestler" director creates controversial moment during Golden Globes awards show

Hollywood blogs, including Yahoo's much-read TV blog, are focusing on one controversial moment during Sunday night's Golden Globes awards show when Mickey Rourke accepted the award for Best Actor.

On stage, Rourke thanked director Darren Aronofsky for bringing out the best in him when filming "The Wrestler" movie, and gave him a classic "Mickey Rourke" complement.

"He hates it when I say he's tough, but he's one tough son of a bitch," Rourke said about Aronofsky. The director then created a controversial moment by playfully shooting Rourke his middle finger, which the camera focused on.

"If you're not in shape, the man will bring you down, because I always say he's smarter than the rest of us - maybe not Steven (Spielberg)," Rourke added.

Yahoo's TV blog had Rourke flipping Aronofsky the bird as the second most-memorable moment of the awards show airing on NBC. Anything to create more additional buzz for the movie, which had another great weekend box office.

***

Other News: Quotes from Bruce Springsteen's Golden Globes acceptance speech for "The Wrestler"

"The Wrestler" picked up two significant awards on Sunday night during the annual Golden Globes Awards show, which is generally considered the second-most important Hollywood awards show of the year behind the Academy Awards.

Bruce Springsteen accepted the award for Best Song, as he performed the title track to the movie. Over the past few months, Mickey Rourke has discussed Springsteen's involvement in the movie, then Springsteen had the opportunity to comment on how he became involved when accepting the award.

"Mickey called me in Ireland and he asked me for, some music, he told me a little bit about the character," Springsteen said during his acceptance speech. He said this was a guy (Rourke's character) that didn't figure, hadn't figured that out. So I said well, I know a couple of those guys. And so, the song."

Springsteen thanked Mickey Rourke for the phone call and his inspiration. "Thank you brother, for a beautiful performance, thank you," Springsteen said. "Thanks for thinking of me." He also thanked director Darren Aronofsky for inviting him to be part of the film.

Source: Bruce Springsteen blog link.

[Steve Austin art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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