WHY KEVIN NASH PULLED OUT OF EVENTS

 Kevin Nash was pulled from weekend independent wrestling dates in Canada because WWE needs him to go to Pittsburgh to take all the necessary medical exams so he can be cleared to wrestle

NATALYA TALKS ABOUT TEAMING UP WITH BETH PHEONIX

WWE Diva Natalya spoke with The London Free Press about her new team with Beth Phoenix:

“I’ve been in WWE three years and I’ve evolved … I’ve grown a lot. There’s been an evolution and that evolution turned into the Divas of Doom, with Beth Phoenix. We stand up for what we believe in. It’s our point of view that we’re role models and we’re revolutionizing what Divas should be, much the same way as Trish Stratus did. We’re not Barbie dolls. But we are still strong, bold and beautiful. It’s like Beth said, ‘We’re here to stop the stinkfaces and booty popping.’”

NEWS UPDATE ON WWE '12 GAMEPLAY

A new IGN article on the WWE ’12 video game lists the following features that will be included. It was noted that many, many more features have yet to be revealed.

* Over 80 match configurations including four-way Extreme Rules brawls, Elimination Chamber and more.

* A 12-hour Road to WrestleMania story mode.

* 10 creation modes including Create-An-Arena.

* Online gameplay and content sharing where you can download another player’s creations.

* Over 70 characters and more than 60 unlockables. There will be an unlock key you can purchase that gives access to all bonus content.

RAW RATINGS FOR 8-15-11

 As noted before, the August 15th WWE RAW did a 3.27 cable rating and 5.04 million viewers. In comparison, the New York Jets vs. Houston Texans NFL preseason game did a 3.71 rating with 4.97 million viewers. RAW this week was the sixth highest rated show on cable for the night.

What’s not good about this week’s ratings are that the second hour plus the overrun averaged 380,000 less viewers than the first hour. RAW’s second hour normally does better since viewers know to tune in at 10pm and 11pm for the main event. Here is the segment breakdown.

The opener with Triple H and then Alberto Del Rio did a 3.73 rating, the high point of this week’s show. R-Truth vs. John Morrison in the Falls Count Anywhere match lost 817,000 viewers – one of the worst declines of any match all year.

The Miz’s Subway segment gained 225,000 viewers while Kelly Kelly & Eve Torres vs. The Bella Twins lost 52,000 viewers. Kevin Nash’s interview and segment with CM Punk gained 556,000 viewers in the 10pm slot, which is about average.

Alex Riley vs. Jack Swagger lost 619,000 viewers, which is worse than usual. Kofi Kingston & Evan Bourne vs. David Otunga & Michael McGillicutty lost another 412,000 viewers. The main event for the WWE Title with Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio gained 763,000 viewers, bringing the overrun to a 3.41 rating.

CM PUNK TALKS ABOUT FEUDING WITH TRIPLE H

 As noted before, former WWE Champion CM Punk recently appeared on Mark Madden’s radio show in Pittsburgh. Madden asked Punk if he was headed for a feud with Triple H and if he was, could he escape that feud “undamaged.”

“That’s a fantastic question,” Punk said. “And I’m not so sure that’s where we’re headed. I guess that’s the $64,000 question. Everybody immediately assumes based on past experiences and past TV shows that this is what’s going to happen. ‘Punk’s going to get buried.’ That’s one of those things, Mark, I hate to give you this answer but you have to wait and see. Is there a way I can escape that undamaged? Absolutely. Unless we’re doing things we were doing 10 years ago and we don’t really care about the future of the business. Because let’s be honest, the future of the business is in jeopardy right now. If we want to make the same mistakes, then I’m obviously speaking out against it. But if we do make those same mistakes, I don’t know if there’s going to be a business in 30 years.”

ROCK CONGRATULATES ALBERTO DEL RIO

The Rock threw out a congratulations to Alberto Del Rio today on Twitter. He wrote:

“Congrats Alberto Del Rio – New WWE Champion. Pero sabes que te puedo partir la madre, pinche guey!”

WWE RELEASING JOHN CENA CLOTHING?

WWE sent out a survey to fans today to see if they were interested in a John Cena branded clothing line and other merchandise that would be available through retailers. Apparently WWE has been interested in releasing a Cena clothing line for a few years.

MAXINE MAKES HER RETURN

As seen on Tuesday’s WWE NXT, Maxine made her return to the storylines. She ended up with a much smaller role than originally planned as she was set to debut on SmackDown in the role that Aksana currently has. As mentioned before, Maxine lost the SmackDown spot due to what was described as a “breach of etiquette.”