ProWrestlingViews.com

I’ve been monitoring TNA owner Dixie Carter’s Twitter page to see if the “change TNA forever” surprise has been announced yet. If it has, it’s lame: TNA wrestling games are coming to Nintendo DS and Sony PSP.

That will change TNA forever? I kind of think that’s not the deal, but nothing else posted so far makes sense or even fits the description. Maybe she’s giving out Branson tickets to Hulk Hogan and friends?

Whatever. Looks like we’re stuck waiting for Dixie to give up her secrets… BOOO-RING!

TNA President Dixie Carter got some Internet heat going with her tweet that TNA would soon “change forever.” The speculation is rife, even though it does not likely involve her sending out wedding invitations between her and Samoa Joe.

Since her first Tweet, Carter has clarified that this big change is not the same thing as the “nice surprise” she has in store tonight at the Slammiversary PPV event. Tonight’s nice surprise is likely the arrival of some new talent… perhaps announcer Jim Ross? It’s hard to say.

Carter did recently Tweet, however, that the change is something that involved her having a meeting with Spike TV president Kevin Kay (who’s apparently “on board”), so it’s likely something more than just the acquisition of new on-air or behind-the-scenes talent.

What will it be? Carter says all will be revealed in “the coming weeks.” We’ll see.

WWE NXT wrestler Bryan Danielson, known on-air as Daniel Bryan, was released Friday from WWE. While some speculate this could be a work by WWE to sell the NXT Invasion angle, there is also evidence to argue against that.

For one, Danielson had been warned before about his on-air conduct not conforming to WWE policy, and his actions last Monday included two more violations; first, he was seen choking out a WWE ref; ever since the Chris Benoit family tragedy, WWE has strictly banned all its personnel from performing any maneuver that simulates strangulation. Also, he used the name of Jesus as a profanity during the angle, another violation since WWE made the decision to stick to a strictly TV PG style of presentation.

Danielson is arguably the stand-out of the weak first season of WWE NXT with the best ab workout, and was the main star of the NXT Invasion angle, which included him spitting in the face of John Cena. If his release is legit and they decide not to bring him back in 90 days, Danielson is sure to be a hot, young free agent that would draw a competitive offer from TNA, or he could choose to bring some of his new exposure back to his old home of ROH.

Either way, it will be interesting to see where Danielson ends up NXT.

In a match with Rey Mysterio last week, Undertaker reportedly suffered a concussion and facial lacerations; when it was determined he wouldn’t recover in time for the PPV event, WWE wrote Taker out of the match on this week’s episode, citing Taker being found in a “vegetative state” after an attack by an unnnamed assailant.

Mysterio will take ‘Taker’s place in the Smackdown World Heavyweight Championship match, which will also involve C.M. Punk, Jack Swagger, and the Big Show. Losing Taker from the four-way is an example of quick weight loss, considering Mysterio’s diminutive stature.

Still, it should be an entertaining match.

WWE wrestler Edge (Adam Copeland) was showing his cocoa butter stretch mark when he was interviewed by the Asheville, NC Citizen-Times recently, and revealed that he and his current girlfriend have a place in Asheville and plan to “settle down” there sooner than later.

Copeland has been in wrestling, according to the interview, for nearly 20 years. He must be counting from the time he began training and appearing on the indy scene, because Edge wrestled his first WWE match in 1996, signed his first WWE developmental contract in 1997 and began competing for the company in 1998. That means that as of 2010, Edge’s WWE career has spanned a mere 14 years at best.

Still, Edge has suffered some career-shortening injuries and at age 36, he isn’t getting any younger. His indy debut was in 1992, according to Wikipedia, so if he retired in 2012, he will indeed have completed two decades in the business. Here’s a quote from the interview:

“I’m coming up on my 20th year, and I’ve definitely had some injuries that have shortened my career,” Edge said. “That’s part of the reason I bought up here – we want to retire and listen to the wind in the trees, and we want to do it fairly soon. I may have two more years. With each injury, it’s harder and harder to come back.”

Edge is still considered young by industry vets like Undertaker and Kane, so this interview makes it all the more apparent that WWE needs to continue to emphasize the development of the next generation of stars; much like Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock and Mick Foley nearly a decade ago, WWE will face a crisis if the next generation isn’t ready to step forward when folks like Edge start calling it quits.

Of course, pro wrestling retirements rarely last forever; but once a superstar begins to wind down, so does his ability to draw. Time for Ted DiBiase Jr., Sheamus, Cody Rhodes and the like to step up and prove the WWE will be in good hands two to five years from now, just as Edge and Christian and even John Cena did when Austin, Rock and Foley were winding down.

WWE wrestler Chris Jericho has been announced as the host of the ABC reality-game show Downfall, for a six-episode summer run on the Disney-owned network. It’s been decades since Jericho needed acne treatment, but the show is expected to have some appeal to the acne-afflicted crowd.

Downfall is described as a trivia show in which contestants are perched atop the roof of a Los Angeles high rise and as the answer questions, the “largest conveyor belt ever seen on TV’ will send cash, prizes, personal possessions, friends and family over the side of the building.

Sounds suspenseful and tacky. A perfect fit for the alphabet net.

The next three guest hosts for Raw have been announced; apparently the guest host concept is alive and well, despite Raw naming Bret Hard the new Raw general manager.

Next Monday, Ashton Kutcher will appear to host and promote his new movie, The Killers. After that, there will be a three-hour Raw on June 7 featuring the cast of the new A-Team movie, which includes UFC fighter Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in the Mister T role, as well as Bradley Cooper and Sharlto Copley.

Finally, Royal Pains star Mark Feuerstein will host on June 14 in a tidy cross-promotion between Raw and the USA dramedy. With a lineup like this, it looks like Bret Hart won’t have to work too hard as the new Raw GM after all. Guess he won’t have to peruse the PA job listings any time soon, then! Good deal!

Carlito Colon, son of legendary Puerto Rican wrestling promoter Carlos Colon, was released from WWE last week, and Carlos has stepped forward with details on his son’s WWE release.

Officially, WWE stated that Carlito had a first-offense violation of the company’s wellness policy and that he was released when he refused to submit to WWE’s rehab program. In order to fend off rumors of his son possibly using illegal narcotic drugs such as cocaine or marijuana, Carlos revealed to the Primera Hora newspaper that his son had developed an addiction to painkillers in the course of dealing with back pain related to an injury.

Painkillers and other prescription drugs, when abused, can lead to untimely deaths just as easily as illicit narcotics. Painkillers may seem as harmless as the best natural acne treatment compared to cocaine, but the untimely deaths of wrestlers like Eddit “Umaga” Fatu and Andrew “Test” Martin are the most recent reminders that the WWE Wellness Policy includes painkiller abuse in their guidelines for good reason.

According to Carlos’ account, Carlito did not recognize his own addiction when confronted by WWE with the violation, and refused rehab because of that. Carlos also claims that WWE is willing to accept Carlito back into their employ if he agrees to submit to rehab.

That claim has not been verified by WWE, which simply has released its brief PR statement on Carlito’s release and has made no further on-record comment on the matter, per WWE policy.

Former WWE and TNA wrestler Bobby Lashley has been pulled from June’s big Strikeforce card, due to a knee injury. Lashley, who has posted an impressive 5-0 record in his MMA career thus far, was scheduled to headline the card.

The fight, scheduled for Los Angeles, has no HGH connections; Lashley is considered a rising Strikeforce star, though he has not yet drawn the interest of UFC President Dana White.

The injury is believed to be minor; Lashley’s fight will be rescheduled once his injury and rehab process have been more closely evaluated.

In becoming Raw general manager, Bret Hart announced he was vacating the US Title he won off The Miz last week and that Miz would face top contender R-Truth to determine the new champ. R-Truth, coming off a nice win over Ted DiBiase Jr. at the Over the Top PPV, put on a show and was awarded the title.

This win sets up a natural feud over the US title between R-Truth and the Miz, which ought to make for more good matches, if this title match was any indicator. They displayed good in-ring chemistry and told a good tale from a ring psychology standpoint without over-relying on high-spots.

The Miz, who has obviously been laying off the weight loss diet supplements since his Real World New Orleans days, has matured into a solid heel, though he hasn’t yet rid himself of that youthful, Real World look.

From US Champ to new GM of Raw, Bret “the Hitman” Hart’s return to WWE has been nothing short of a complete success for both the former grappler and the company, which used Hart’s return to fend off and completely rebuff a challenge by TNA Impact to Raw’s Monday Night dominance.

Now, with the “guest host” concept gone by the wayside and Hart ensconced as a face authority figure, Raw might have a chance to return to some great, stable storytelling with a fresh perspective, rather than offering guest-hosting duties to just about everyone and their grandma as a unique mothers day gift.

Hart is a brilliant foil for the company’s heels, with great mic skills and instant credibility; and the ongoing power-struggle between Hart and McMahon could fuel some interesting PPV storylines. Well chosen, WWE!

So far, moving back to Thursdays has been a mixed bag for TNA Impact.

Before moving to Mondays, Impact averaged a 1.2 rating on Thursday nights. On Mondays, they fell to an average rating of 0.78 or so. On their first Thursday back, Impact scored only a 0.9 rating, up marginally from their Monday night average, but still down 25 percent from previous Thursday night performances.

How all this schedule juggling has affected ratings to begin with is open to questioning, also. However, the real test will come a few weeks from now, once viewers “find” the show again. Hopefully for TNA, all this chaos won’t negatively affect the buy-rate for tonight’s PPV, which isn’t as big a concern as proper funding for Mesothelioma Cancer, but certainly matters to TNA employees.