During a recent appearance on "Live Audio Wrestling", former WWE star JBL said the reason he is no longer with the company is that when he retired as an active wrestler at WrestleMania 25 that they didn't offer him anything. He added that had they offered an announcing role or a GM role that he would have been interested. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that JBL did have talks with TNA at one point, but nothing materialized out of it. JBL ended up issuing a response on his official Twitter account today responding to the rumors adding, "No talks of tna and no regrets on my career-internet rumors are completely bogus. I am happy playing golf and being retired."

Story By: Andy Steven of ProWrestling.com

Recently released WWE Superstar Ken “Mr. Kennedy” Anderson opened up (in a serious fashion) regarding his WWE release his future, and why he's been doing the funny videos. Anderson gave a first "my side" type of story exclusively to Paul Heyman and the Heyman Hustle site. Here are some highlights:

"This is not a bitching session, where I complain about how WWE held me down on purpose, took away my dreams, shoved my career up my ass, or singled me out and screwed me over.

This is an explanation about the purpose of these videos, which is to show everyone what I have to offer. I'm a home run hitter being told to be satisfied with landing on first base. I love being part of a team, and if we need runners on first base, I'll lead off. But when you have a lack of entertainment in the industry of sports entertainment, and you can hit the ball out of the park, it's the worst feeling in the world being told to draw a walk.

WWE.com has posted photos of the recent Smackdown/ECW tour of Tokyo, Japan and Manila, Philippines.

Photos of WWE in Tokyo: click here.

Photos of WWE in Manila: click here.

 Although WWE released photos of Edge undergoing surgery on Tuesday morning in Birmingham, AL with Dr. James Andrews (you can view them at this link), the company has yet to issue anything new regarding his recovery and how long he is expected out of the ring.

PWInsider is reporting that people close to Adam "Edge" Copeland say his Achilles tendon surgery went well yesterday and he will be forced to stay off his foot for around 10 to 14 days. After that he will be allowed to start walking while wearing a rehabilitation boot and start rehab around that time.

The initial thought was that WWE wouldn't acknowledge the injury until at least this coming weekend since Edge appears on Friday Night Smackdown this week and gets involved in the ring, but they decided against that. The next big question is where creative goes from here with Edge as a WWE Unified Tag Team Champion along with Chris Jericho and the two being scheduled for a title defense at Night of Champions between Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that WWE had long-term plans for Edge and Jericho as a tag team as they had worked on mixing both men's entrance music and created a dual video for the team. The company was also working to come up with a team name with some ideas being Team Ego and Team Rated Y2J.

The immediate reaction to Edge's injury within the company was trying to figure out a way to get the belts on Rhodes and DiBiase. Of course, they shot TV before the injury and had Ted DiBiase Sr. announce as the special guest host of Raw that no title matches would be taking place until the Night of Champions PPV on July 26. So it puts them in an interesting situation with TV the next two weeks heading into the PPV. It should be noted that Ted Dibiase Jr. is currently suffering from a shoulder injury at the moment, but the belief is that it isn't too severe and he was kept out of the ring at a few shows overseas in Australia as a result. The plan at one point within WWE was to have Edge come to TV and hand his belt over to Dolph Ziggler to give Ziggler a rub and a big push teaming with Jericho. However, plans always change in WWE and there have been multiple ideas between now and the next set of TV tapings this Monday and Tuesday so the plan with Ziggler could be off the table. There was also said to be talk of keeping The Colons (Carlito and Primo) together and editing off Carlito's attack on Primo from Raw this past Monday, but those plans changed since they ended up airing it as is.


» Report by Adam Martin of WrestleView.com

~The word going around as to why WWE put the Unified Tag Team Titles on Edge and Chris Jericho was so Edge's in-ring involvement could be limited in tag matches. Edge had been working hurt before getting injured this past Friday night. There's still no word yet on what WWE plans on doing with the titles now that Edge is injured.

Edge did an interview last week to promote the WWE tapings in California and had this to say about his match with Jeff Hardy at Extreme Rules:

"That one really took it out of me. Ten years ago if we did that match you know maybe in a few days we would have felt a lot better. We were 10 years younger though. Now, it took me almost a full week before I could walk upright. It took a while to recuperate from that one."

The Figure Four Weekly Newsletter reports that the one of the main reasons WWE went with the decision to put the WWE Unified Tag Team Championships on Edge and Chris Jericho is because Edge is banged up right now and doing tag matches will allow him to do slightly less work in the ring. However, it may put him in the ring more often since the Unified champions are slated to appear on all three brands if need be.

Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

In an update to the CM Punk situation, the latest word is that WWE has not officially committed to the heel turn. Though the turn does seem inevitable, the final decision will be a product of fan reaction to Punk in his upcoming pay-per-view match with Jeff Hardy, given that WWE sees Hardy as the audience's most beloved babyface.

Source: PWInsider

USA Network is doing everything they can to increase ratings because network exec Bonnie Hammer wants to win the cable ratings race every single week now that the NBA Finals are done. The commercial-free RAW is completely USA Network’s idea because they are in a ratings war with TNT and feel this will give them an edge. There is tremendous stress on the creative team right now because it’s their job to put together the best show possible next week to impress the (expected) increased audience.

The Trumps "buys RAW" Story buys Raw" story has gotten a ton of media attention, which is exactly why WWE is doing it. The funny thing is I have seen some usually credible outlets that are "reporting" the story as if Trump really did purchase the show. Jeez, journalistic integrity ain't what it used to be.

Speaking of people falling for the Trump story, Reported PWInsider , This morning on the News segment with Robin Quivers on the Howard Stern show, Robin opened with the story of Trump buying RAW. For a few minutes, Robin spoke as if Trump legitimately bought RAW before Howard questioned it, and a staffer finally added that it was just a storyline.

Vickie Guerrero informed WWE more than a month ago that she would be leaving after the Extreme Rules PPV. Guerrero made the call herself to leave the company and was not forced out. Her departure was extended to the following night's Monday Night Raw where she announced on TV that she had quit followed by Edge coming out and making a divorce final for both characters.

The angle of Vickie looking like a pig was started on the first TV taping after she gave her notice. This built to the "Hog Pen" match at Extreme Rules and was supposed to be her final angle. As stated earlier, Guerrero wants to be home more for her daughters. The last month of angles involving her character were designed as entertainment segments for the audience, although some in the company believe they took as many shots as possible over her weight and looks.

Guerrero was always scheduled to be a transitional General Manager for Raw.

Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Though Ric Flair was present at Saturday's Ring of Honor event long enough to deliver an in-ring promo, he did not appear in his scheduled role as an outside enforcer for the ROH Championship main-event.

PWInsider.com reports that Flair departed the event shortly after his promo, which took place during the early part of the card. According to the report, Flair's storming out came as a surprise to Ring of Honor officials, who had, earlier in the day, believed Flair had no issues with what was planned for his appearance.

It seems Flair did, however, have issues with his booking. While going over spots for the main-event backstage, sources say Flair responded that he was only present to meet with fans and deliver his in-ring promo. En route to a WWE return, Flair also expressed a problem with the fact that HDNet was shooting footage at the event--Flair did not want to appear on ROH television.

Ring of Honor officials attempted to retrieve Flair as he made his exit, but they were too late to catch up to "The Nature Boy," who departed the venue in a rental car.

Source: PWInsider