sources: PWInsider.com, www.pwtorch.com
— As reported earlier, three-time WWE Tag Team Champion Joey Mercury worked a dark match prior to last night’s television tapings in Uncasville, Connecticut. For those curious, he is indeed under contract to WWE as he signed on with the company late last year. Also note, Mercury debuted an all-new look at the taping as he now has shaved head and wears shorts similar to John Cena.
You can see a photo of Mercury from last night’s show here.
— The April 9 episode of Friday Night Smackdown scored a 1.9 broadcast rating with 3,065,000 viewers.
— As reported earlier, Triple H has replaced Batista in WWE Studios’ latest film, Killing Karma. Though Batista had been publicly announced for the lead role a few months back, a decision was made to pull him from the movie because he is nearing the end of his current contract and has yet to commit to a new deal. He is said to be furious over the company’s decision.
Batista has been telling those close to him that he’s pondering retirement from the wrestling industry in order to focus on acting. However, he’s made similar statements in the past and would ultimately re-sign with the company. Though, there may be more to it this time as WWE was unable to re-sign him quickly enough to feel comfortable basing a movie project around him.
Randy Orton going to SmackDown? details ->