NEW MATCH FOR PPV-
There is a new match added for Backlash. It is Mickie James & Ashley & Kelly Kelly & Maria & Cherry & Michelle McCool vs. Beth Phoenix & Melina & Jillian Hall & Layla & Natalia Neidhart & Victoria.
Source: wrestlingobserver.com

STITCHES NEEDED-
CM Punk ended up needing stitches on the top of his head following Monday night's King of the Ring tournament, reports PWInsider.
Sources: pwinsider.com & rajah.com

COVERED-
The Presidential candidates speeches were covered both by BBC News and BBC Radio 1, which is incredibly surprising, as there has never seen this type of mainstream coverage for the WWE over here. It was a nice surprise to hear a positive wrestling story in the UK media without either the words "death" or "steroids"
Source: pwinsider.com

FOCUSING ON-
Mainstream coverage of the presidential candidates on Raw picked up yesterday afternoon, with several publications commenting on Monday night's show. On SportingNews.com, Dan Shanoff said he's not sure how to feel about the candidates on Raw. "On the one hand, they are a very real constituency; on the other hand, it's WWE. I guess they all go on 'Ellen' and 'The View' -- it's all scripted entertainment." ABC News had a brief mention of the candidates using Monday night to show their lighter side prior to getting serious on real issues on Tuesday for the PA primary voting. ... MSNBC focused on the fake Clinton vs. fake Obama match, which they said was interrupted by "an actual wrestler". They wrote: "There were lots of body slams, knee lifts and even some sneaky moves (Bill).
Source: pwtorch.com

LOTS OF COVERAGE-
Tons of media outlets covered Monday night's WWE show, noting both the appearances of John McCain, Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and also the mock match they did. It was Deon Davis, a Carolinas indie guy, as Obama, Lexie Fyfe, a longtime woman wrestler as Hillary, and a Bill Clinton look alike who I think is the same guy who has appeared on WWE programming in the past as Bill. We've heard numerous newspapers around the country, as well as CNN, Fox News Channel, The BBC in the U.K. (on all their major news shows), the Sky News in the U.K., Howard Stern (who ripped on wrestling fans saying he doesn't want anyone who watches wrestling to vote) and Rush Limbaugh (who talked about the imaginary audience that was laughing heartily at it and put over how Lawler and J.R. announced the segment) that as among those who played footage from Raw. At one point it was the lead news item Monday night on Yahoo!
Source: wrestling observer.com

RELEASED-
Mike Johnson is reporting that WWE has released three developmental wrestlers - Ryan Bishop, Tommy Taylor, and Chris Gray. Bishop, as previously noted, is a former tight end for the NFL's New York Giants.
Source: Mike Johnson, gerweck.net

AVERAGED HOW MANY?
For the month of February, WWE averaged 8,308 fans at live events, up from 6,316 in February 2007. WWE's average gate in February was $282,462, up 42% from one year ago.
sources: wrestling observer newsletter & gerweck.net

HARDY'S RETURN!
Jeff Hardy's return from his 60-day suspension is slated for the 5/12 Raw in Detroit.
sources: wrestling observer newsletter & gerweck.net

CHANGED-
They changed the four-way at Backlash with Randy Orton vs. HHH vs. John Cena vs. JBL from a first man who gets the pin wins like at Wrestlemania, to an elimination match which means everyone but one has to lose via pinfall.
Source: wrestling observer.com

TO RETURN-
WWE returns to the Tulsa Convention Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 at 6:30 PM. Tickets go on sale Saturday, May 10th, 2008 at 10 AM. This is the first WWE event in Tulsa since September of 2006.
Sources: Devin Cutting, gerweck.net

ALSO RETURNING-
It was announced on RAW Monday night that Ken Kennedy will return to television on next week's show. There had been talk of using Kennedy in Monday night's King of the Ring tournament, but that clearly didn't happen. Kennedy has been away from WWE for several weeks while filming a straight-to-DVD movie in Puerto Rico.
Source: PWInsider.com

TO AIR LIVE!
The 5/5 Raw in Toronto will air live on The Score instead of the usual 15 minutes tape delay. Locally they are advertising Randy Orton vs. Chris Jericho as the main event, but that is most likely a dark match and a chance it'll change.
Source: wrestling observer.com

INTERVIEWED-
As mentioned on Raw, JBL was featured in The New York Times. JBL is interviewed in the piece, he plugs his new Mamajuana Energy drink. "It's more of a sex potion," said Mr. Layfield, who enjoyed a successful run as a professional wrestler before reinventing himself as a financial whiz and beverage impresario. "Think of it as liquid Viagra." The health supplement retailer recently decided to stock Mamajuana Energy in its 340 stores.
Sources: Mike Informer & gerweck.net

FIRST TIME-
WWE runs for the first time since 2006 in Tulsa on 7/1 for a Smackdown taping.
Source: wrestling observer.com

HAYES SUSPENDED?
Bryan Alvarez is reporting in the upcoming issue of Figure Four Weekly that WWE Vice President Michael Hayes has been suspended for 60-days stemming from unprofessional language used over WrestleMania weekend. Hayes was heard using a very racial comment to a performer and the WWE has decided to clamp down on this type of behavior. This is not an isolated incident for Hayes, who has had issues with this type of behavior in the past.
Sources: Bryan Alvarez, Figure Four Weekly, the LAW

TO GET-
According to sources, there was a directive several months ago to get more African-American faces on WWE television. The marketing department noted a major downturn in African-American viewership since 2006. This probably explains the decision to bring back Cryme Tyme out of nowhere.
sources: wrestling observer newsletter & gerweck.net

SUPPOSED TO?
At one time, Elijah Burke was supposed to move to Raw in a trade, but writer Brian Gewirtz never came up with an idea for him, and the plan was nixed.
sources: wrestling observer newsletter & gerweck.net

ECW CHAMP-
ECW champion Kane is scheduled to sign autographs on Saturday at Monster Comics Cards and Toys in Holbrook, NY from 2 to 4PM. Call 631-244-3934 for more information.
sources: wrestling observer newsletter & gerweck.net

INSTRUMENTAL!
Triple H and Michael Hayes were instrumental in putting together the The Big Show vs. Floy Mayweather Jr. Wrestlemania match.
sources: wrestling observer newsletter & gerweck.net

DEVELOPMENTAL PROBLEM?
WWE's developmental league Florida Championship Wrestling were supposed to start holding television tapings at the end of the February, but two months later and counting, things still have yet to get off the ground. They planned on holding the tapings at the end of March, and delayed them again until after WrestleMania, but things have not started yet. There is no word yet on when the tapings will finally get going. The major problem preventing the television tapings from taking place is that Florida Championship Wrestling's state of the art wrestling facility does not have a single public bathroom, and only recently did they realize that they need one for spectators. There is a bathroom for the wrestlers to use in a building adjacent to the facility, but it was left in such a mess that the wrestlers don't use it anymore. The WWE developmental wrestlers, who train at the facility for several hours a day every single week, have to go down the street to a gas station if they want to use the bathroom. Until plumbing is put in and completely installed, they won't be able to draw fans to the weekly tapings, so everything is on hold until some bathrooms get installed, whenever that may be. FCW was also planning on touring across the state of Florida with several live shows every single week, but that has yet to get off the ground as well. Right now, WWE's wrestlers of the future work one show a week on Tuesday nights at a night club with a wrestling ring in it, and nothing else for the rest of the week. Because they have approximately 50 talents under contract (and are looking to increase that number to 70), the majority of the developmental wrestlers primarily work in tag matches to fit everyone on the card.
source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

COMPLAIN ABOUT THE ROCK?
Some people in WWE did indeed complain about Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson at the Hall of Fame ceremony a few weeks ago, but the people complaining about him were described as being "a vocal minority." Some felt that because some key people in WWE were complaining about Johnson, others latched on and spoke in that direction as well because it was the correct political view. Although, Steve Austin was also negative on Johnson's speech, but he specifically came to Orlando to see Ric Flair's speech and apparently felt that anything possibly cutting time into Flair's speech wasn't good from his vantage point. Of course, Johnson's speech went rather long. Nonetheless, it was really only a small group of people speaking negative times about Johnson. Many noted that any knocks on how Johnson conducted himself backstage reeked of jealousy.
source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

HOW MANY?
WWE's new theme music CD sold 9,887 copies during its second week and fell to No. 76 on the Billboard charts. Total sales for the CD were 27,360 after two weeks.
source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Credit: A1 Wrestling Newsletter