— Kanascity.com has an article that looks at WWE’s attempt to “polish” its image in hopes of attracting advertisers. The article cites WWE’s shift to TV-PG programming and the Celebrity Raw Guest host gimmick as examples of WWE attempting to broaden its appeal. Since going TV-PG, WWE has landed Pepsi, 7-Eleven stores, Mattel toys and the Army National Guard as new sponsors.

— TNA announcer Taz wrote a message on his Facebook responding to fan suggestions on how to improve the TNA product. Taz wrote:

“Folks, I get many suggestions on my Tweet/FB pages asking me to do “this” or do “that” in TNA with certain talents…just so you all hear this from me…I am NOT a member of the TNA booking team guys….so there (lol)!”

— Congratulations to former WWE Diva Stacey Keibler, who turns 30 years old today. She was born on October 14, 1979 in Baltimore, Maryland.

— Mickie James was said to be unhappy with the manner in which she dropped the Divas title to Jillian Hall on Monday’s Raw, as well as the news she was being moved to SmackDown. It’s interesting to note that before her match with Hall, she kissed the belt goodbye before handing it to the referee. (Source: Wrestling Observer)

Related News: Heat on Mickie James for her Weight & Workrate

— Last night’s episode of ECW on Syfy drew a 0.95 cable rating, according to PWInsider.com. This is slightly down from last week’s 0.97 figure.

— Today’s episode of Access Hollywood features a segment on Maria Menounos’ experience as guest host of Raw. Check your local listings for time and channel.

Many mainstream media outlets have picked up on the sad news of Captain Lou Albano’s passing earlier today:

• The Associated Press
• CNN
• MTV
• People
• Los Angeles Times
• CBS News
• Newsday
• G4TV

— World Wrestling Entertainment officials are said to be down on former Divas champion Mickie James. According to a source within the company, recent weight gain and work rate are the main problems. While she’s arguably still gorgeous and in great shape, she had put on some weight (mostly visible in her abs & lower body) and it hasn’t gone unnoticed. Additionally, the quality of her matches has been sliding and she is no longer seen as the “reliable hand” that she once was. There have been various Internet reports this week that James is frustrated with the way she’s been booked as of late, which seems to jive with our source’s findings.

— WWE’s will be holding a “Supershow” live event at the 50,000 seat Carrier Dome in Syracuse on Wednesday, December 30, 2009. Tickets go on sale this Saturday at 10:00 a.m. at the arena box office, all Ticketmaster outlets and www.ticketmaster.com/wwe.

— Likely as a result of her appearance on Raw last night, Maria Menounos is No. 10 on today’s “Popular Searches” chart on Yahoo.com.

— Last night’s episode of Monday Night Raw drew a 3.35 cable rating, which is slightly up from last week’s 3.30 number. The show drew 4.79 million viewers overall compared to 4.71 million viewers last week. Raw lost viewers as the show went on, dropping from a 3.4 to a 3.3 during the second hour.

— WWE is holding Monday Night Raw at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota on January 11th, 2010. Tickets go on sale October 31st, 2009 at noon. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)

— OK! Magazine has a story on last night’s Raw host, Nancy O’Dell, being named WWE’s “Sexy Superfan of the Month” in the latest issue of WWE Magazine. The Access Hollywood host said her WWE nickname would be, “Hollywood Highlights! Because, you know, I’m from Hollywood and I have highlights.” She also has her finishing move planned out. “Well, Mr. McMahon taught me how to do a headlock. So I would take the headlock, but add in a Hollywood pose for the paparazzi,” O’Dell said.

On Twitter, a few WWE stars have given their thoughts regarding last night’s tri-branded WWE Divas trade — which saw seven Divas change brands. Here are a few comments:

• The Bella Twins on being moved back to Raw: “And yes we’re back on RAW! We’re very excited! We’ll miss ECW! :) Peace Love & Twins! Besos! B&N”
• * Eve Torres on being moved to Raw: “Thx for all your comments! Of course, I am going to miss my Blue Crew like crazy, but I’m excited about the opportunity in my new home…”
• “That’s right!… You can now find me on Monday Night Raw… Goodbye SmackDown! *Tear*”
• “I’ma miss my boys @ShadBeast & @JTG1284 … But something tells me they’ll be fine without me! ;-( Who’s going to keep Natalya away?”
• JTG’s reaction to Eve moving to Raw: “I miss my homegirl already, I miss you @evemarietorres.”
• Chris Jericho’s reaction to JTG’s reaction to Eve leaving SmackDown: “cry me a river bee-yotch…”
• Layla on her friends moving to Raw: Gd morning…workout time! Goodluck to @evemarietorres @thebellatwins I will Miss Ya Lots!!’

Ted DiBiase Sr. has issued a statement responding to recent comments by former WWF and WCW wrestler Paul Roma.

To recap, Roma was interviewed last week by James Guttman of WorldWrestlingInsanity.com and said the following about Ted DiBiase:

“I guess probably like ten years ago, I had spoken to DiBiase, he was out of wrestling, and he became this reverend or whatever he became. So I called him up and we were talking and he goes, ‘Yeah. Listen. I found a good place.’ He says, ‘I was a bad person when I was with Vince (McMahon). I’ll never go back to that again. He’s evil. Blah, blah, blah.’ And then, the next thing I know, this guy is working for Vince again. Like, you know, so at the end of the day it doesn’t matter – wait let me rephrase that. At the end of the day, for Ted DiBiase, he can preach all he wants. He can talk about God all he wants. Bu his God is spelled M-O-N-E-Y.” He continued, “If he really believes and wanted to sell me what he was trying to sell me, he wouldn’t be back with Vince. He wouldn’t be back with the devil.”

Ted DiBiase issued the following statement this morning:

In response to Paul Roma,

I told many people about the wrong things I did, I even wrote a book about it. That’s something everybody knows. I also have been very vocal about a lot of the WWE programming in the past. And, yes, when I went back to work for them, they were well aware of my objections to some of the programming. But what I realized as a Christian is this, if I’m genuinely going to make a difference in the world and try to impact others with what I’ve found in Christ, then I can’t do it sitting in church praying about it. I have to be visible in the market place. I went back to the WWE to show them the difference in who I am now and to try to make a difference. You can’t promote change standing on the sidelines. So I went back. The truth is, the WWE has changed incredibly since my wrestling days. The work schedule is not as demanding overall, and the compensation is much better. Also, a state of the art drug testing policy brings accountability into the business that wasn’t there before. People getting into the WWE now, know that there is zero tolerance for steroid and drug abuse. If I hadn’t seen the changes I would never have given my son my blessing to go into the business. The programming, by the way, is once again, totally PG rated.

The truth is, I’m still very much sold out to Jesus Christ. I don’t think Vince McMahon is evil or the devil. I think he’s a very shrewd business man. He’s also the guy responsible for the unbelievable fan base that professional wrestling enjoys today on a world wide scale.

Please tell Paul Roma that’s he’s got it wrong all the way around, including how much I’m paid for going back and making an appearance. And the Million Dollar Man, well, that would be my son in the not so distant future!!

Ted DiBiase

The first trailer for Dwayne Johnson’s upcoming movie “The Tooth Fiary” has been released. 20th Century Fox’s synopsis for the movie reads:

Dwayne Johnson is The Tooth Fairy, also known as Derek Thompson, a hard-charging minor league hockey player whose nickname comes from his habit of separating opposing players from their bicuspids. When Derek discourages a youngsters hopes, hes sentenced to one weeks hard labor as a real tooth fairy, complete with the requisite tutu, wings and magic wand. At first, Derek cant handle the tooth bumbling and stumbling as he tries to furtively wing his way through strangers homesdoing what tooth fairies do. But as Derek slowly adapts to his new position, he begins to rediscover his own forgotten dreams.

The movie will hit theaters in the U.S. on January 22, 2010. The cast includes several big Hollywood names, including Billy Crystal, Ashley Judd and Julie Andrews.

Here’s the trailer .. Notice anything, missing from The Rock’s body?

— Reader “Lee” sent in word that he called RVD’s Internet radio show the other night to discuss the main topic of the show, which was whether RVD should return to WWE or go to TNA. When he called in, the person who was screening the calls asked whether he thinks RVD should go to WWE or TNA. When he said WWE, the screener responded, “Ok, well I will put you through anyway”.

Lee got the strong impression that they were trying to get more TNA callers and push possibility of RVD going to TNA. Van Dam mentioned during the show that going to TNA would put him closer to his parents, who live in Florida.

— ESPN.com has another an article up that looks at Linda McMahon’s aspirations to be a United States Senator. Aside from the typical argument that her association with pro wrestling will likely hurt her chances, columnist Jeff MacGregor looks at the situation from a different perspective.

He asks why Linda would want to walk away from the money, power and control she has over running a large corporation. “You aren’t the boss anymore. No one has to do what you say. No one has to listen to you. No one cares what you think. The one thing you need to be able to do as a politician is the one thing you never had to bother with in business: build consensus,” he said.

“Why Mrs. McMahon wants to give up the power, money and prestige of professional wrestling to join a sideshow like the U.S. Senate remains a mystery to me.” Visit ESPN.com for more.