Known initially for action films solely formulated to showcase their stars, the movie That’s What I Am represents a turning point for the company. The film, which is part of an anti-bullying campaign, carves out a new niche for the pro wrestling company; their film division has finally grown up and is making films worthy of mention in Hollywood.

Although WWE star Randy Orton makes a cameo in the film as a menacing father, his performance is not only understated, but is blended seamlessly into the overall tone of the picture, which is actually an Ed Harris vehicle. Harris turns in an award-worthy and understated performance as an eighth-grade English teacher who refuses to give in to bullying tactics by either confirming or denying an unkind rumor swirling about him.

Actually, there is one flaw in Orton’s performance, which is probably a flaw in the script: in one instance of dialog, Orton’s character uses the expression, “Guaran-DAMN-tee,” which is out of tone for the era, and may not have even been in use at that time. The expression seems to date back only to 1997 and was popularized by Jim Ross, The Rock, Vince McMahon and other WWE figures.

Aside from that, the film possesses a gentle, Wonder Years-type feel to it while avoiding over-the-top sentimentality. And kudos to WWE for realizing that many kids are bullied for a wide variety of reasons; while the issue of bullying in its modern context is usually highlighted as it relates to the bullying of gays, That’s What I Am includes that message while also demonstrating through their narrative that simply being too tall, having big ears, or anything else that makes a person stick out from the crowd can create social outcasts who are subject to bullying, and bullying is wrong no matter who the victim might be.

A remarkably mature film for the pro wrestling company’s film division. Well done. You may now return to browsing your hydroxycut reviews.

The potential health consequences are many. It can mess with your brain, your nervous system, your vision, growth and development in children, lots of potential complications in childbirth and, heck, it can kill you. Even if it doesn’t kill you, overexposure to lead-contaminated products is just very risky to your health.

That’s what makes it so important to test. And I’m not saying go crazy and do so obsessively. But doing a test every six months – say in the spring after the winter melt and in the fall, before winter sets in, isn’t a bad idea at all.

Unfortunately, many are those who take the issue of lead poisoning for granted, and who inadvertently suffer from health consequences without ever realizing why. That’s why it’s best to take precautions like testing. If you know you’re getting exposed, you can do something about it.

Ignorance may be bliss, but it’s also a dangerous way to live. Bodyslam that threat right out of your life; test and act accordingly to the results.

We now return you to mindless coverage of adult soap operas!

McMahon received approximately 49 percent of the vote, while Rob Simmons got 28 percent and Peter Schiff 23 percent. The national Democratic machine was quick to attack McMahon along all the predictable lines of attack for a former CEO of a company like WWE. Whether voters in Connecticut will respond to such fear-mongering or vote on the issues remains to be seen.

McMahon might be more resilient to criticism if she had run a medical assistant school rather than WWE; yet her company’s product has certainly kept her in touch with blue-collar voters.

And, as a WWE-watcher, I was pleased to see Big Show Paul Wight on last week’s episode of Royal Pains. The good news is that his acting was a couple steps up from wooden – though only a couple. And he made for an interesting foil for Hank Lawson, Ph.D., in terms of his medical case.

Hopefully, Big Show won’t let this exposure go to his head; he could easily be a wrestler of Andre the Giant’s stature; but he doesn’t work as hard as Andre did. Big Show’s been a hidden comedy gem ever since a memorable co-guest-hosting job on Saturday Night Live a few Wrestlemanias ago.

Nice to see Show scratching that itch again. Let’s just hope he stays primarily in the ring before he ends up hocking iPhone accessories on eBay or something…

Dodd’s replacement on the Dem side is expected to be Connecticut state attorney general Richard Blumenthal, described by many as one of the state’s most popular politicians, and a solid Dem in solidly blue Connecticut.

While both McMahon and fellow GOP contender Rob Simmons had been polling well ahead of Dodd in recent months, they are not expected to fare as well against Blumenthal, once the switcharoo is complete.

This emergency evacuation of Dodd’s seat is a desperation move on the Dem’s part to try and secure the seat to remain in Dem hands and help maintain their 60-vote control of the US Senate in the upcoming midterms.

While McMahon or Simmons could still pull it off is an open question, it’s gone from being a sure thing to an uphill fight overnight.

Former WWE CEO Linda McMahon’s opponents for the GOP nomination to face Dodd are dropping quickly by the wayside; what used to be a field of five is down to two serious contenders. In one corner, McMahon with a $50 million campaign war chest out of her own personal fortune; in the other corner, Rob Simmons, a more experienced Republican politician in Connecticut, though it remains to be seen whether he has the financial wherewithal to stand up to McMahon in the long term.

Simmons, however, is also independently wealthy and can sustain a campaign.

Both candidates received encouraging news last week, though, when it was announced in a statewide straw poll that both McMahon and Simmons would win in a hypothetical race against the incumbent, Dodd. Maybe if Dodd loses his Senate seat, he can fall back into a second profession, like medical assistant training school. You think?

While most feuds last less time than that these days, rarely do the top two stars in the company peak at just the right time to be ideal opponents; Austin was older than The Rock, for example, and Andre was older than Hogan by a lot. And even though he’s a long-time wrestler himself, Chris Jericho was much younger last year than Shawn Michaels, who likes to rent his hotels near Disneyland.

While there are a few years separating Orton and Cena, it’s certainly a fitting feud that has enough potential that one could find enough variations on the theme to last through the next WrestleMania. After that, the feud should be back-burnered for a while, but definitely these two superstars have the potential to headline more than even just one WrestleMania.

Lawler, who at one point promoted himself during his in-ring wrestling career as the “King of Memphis,” saw that popularity in sports entertainment doesn’t necessarily translate into political success. Call it the Reverse Ventura Principle.

While Lawler may be able to walk down the streets of Memphis and still need identity theft protection, apparently he’s not quite popular enough to get those looks of recognition translated into votes at the polls.

So, the gossips are speculating – as they do – that the WWE’s only straight-talker may soon be talking up TNA instead of WWE. If it comes to pass, it would certainly go a long way toward improving the announcing quality at TNA.

All we can say here at ProWrestlingViews, though, is… say it ain’t so, guys! WWE and Jim Ross simply should not part ways.

Of course, they found the infamous “Katie Vick” storyline in which Triple H accuses Kane, who he was to face at a PPV, of being a murderer and necrophiliac. Katie Vick was the name given to Kane’s alleged victim, and Triple H in a sketch intended to demean Kane through comedy, tactlessly simulates the supposed murder of Vick.

Tacky and tasteless? Sure. But it’s interesting that Dodd and the Connecticut Dems are already pulling out the big guns like this, when Linda hasn’t even won a straw poll among the state’s GOP faithful. Seems a bit premature. Could they be worried about her potential appeal if she does secure the nomination?

Oh well… you can always trust a Democrat to stab you in the back.

Well, Nowinski is a kid who was a Top Three finalist on the first season of the MTV/WWE reality show, Tough Enough. Though he didn’t win, Nowinski was indeed ultimately hired by WWE and wrestled as a heel under the moniker, Chris Harvard. His career was short and injury-interrupted; he lasted only two years, retiring from the ring in 2004.

Since then, the Harvard graduate has gone on to write books on brain injury in the NFL, other professional sports, and he was a leading activist in the effort to study the brain of Chris Benoit following the Benoit Family Tragedy of 2007. His book, Head Games: Football’s Concussion Crisis, is a surprisingly careful and scholarly effort.

While his campaign to drum the McMahon family out of their own company is clearly a case of tilting at windmills, Nowinski’s research has borne fruit; the autopsy of Benoit’s brain showed the 41-year-old had suffered such head trauma in his career that he possessed the equivalent of a brain of an 80-year-old man with dementia.

That’s startling, and while his solution’s a bit preposterous, credit should go to Nowinski for shining some light on the very real and prevalent problem of brain injury in pro wrestlers, as well as pro athletes. Makes a lot more sense than hawking weight-loss pills for a living!

I’ll give Cena Morrison, Rhodes and DiBiase… but The Miz needs a more serious persona to succeed at the top of the card, Sheamus has too much to prove yet, and Kingston just doesn’t seem to have that “star charisma” that the best WWE superstars possess by the barrel-full.

While the office supply of young talent is there, I would say that if Cena is right about half those guys, he’s not doing bad. Morrison’s almost too much of a veteran to be included in that lineup, but seems to be on a career path that could mirror Edge. Meanwhile, it would be hard to imagine Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr. NOT headlining a WrestleMania about five years or so down the line.