source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter
-- As reported earlier, Jeff Hardy was suspended for 30 days for a company policy violation. Before, he would have simply been docked his pay and kept appearing on television, but that's not the case anymore as there has been a change to the way WWE deals with suspensions. Now if you get suspended, you get completely taken off of television and pay-per-views, not to mention that WWE changes booking plans. That was the original idea until McMahon got tired of having to change plans on the fly because of suspensions. Last summer, a lot of The Great American Bash PPV has to be redone at the last minute because several wrestlers were unable to compete due to elevated enzymes. McMahon then decided that people would be docked in pay and kept off of house shows, but they would continue to work their programs on TV. Recent publicity in the wake of the Benoit tragedy has made the policy rethought out because it could be an embarrassment to the company with the possibility of Congress hearings.
-- The reason WWE isn't advertising Donald Trump for the WrestleMania 23 DVD, who would probably be the biggest draw at stores, is based on Trump's demands. Trump is partially shown in ads, but they do their best to cover him -- like by putting a sticker over his image on the Shopzone website. Trump insisted on a deal where he'd be part of the promotion for the show until the day of the show, but didn't want anything to do with it after. Vince didn't fight it because he didn't want to break the deal and the real money was on the night of the show. There was a weird clause in the deal where they could show footage of Trump's Mania appearance on TV, but they can't really market his appearance other than the simple print format of his name on the back of the DVD. DVD royalties weren't of a high concern for Trump as opposed to not wanting to be associated with WrestleMania 23 forever.
-- The New Hart Foundation, Teddy Hart & Harry Smith, are coming out to Bret Hart's old WWF theme music. At the Six Flags show on 7/27, they did the old Hart Foundation clothesline finisher with Smith picking up his opponent and Teddy Hart doing the clothesline. They made their debut at the 7/25 OVW tapings.
-- See unseen mugshots of Mike Awesome and Horace Hogan (>>)
