The Realm

Former WWE wrestler Johnny Stamboli, who wrestled as Rellik during his previous stint in TNA, inquired about returning to the organization as part of a tag team with Chuck Palumbo, but company officials were said to not be interested. Alongside Nunzio, Stamboli and Palumbo worked together as a tag team in World Wrestling Entertainment as “The F.B.I.” — Full Blooded Italians. The partnership ended when both Stamboli and Palumbo were released from their WWE contracts on November 4, 2004. Palumbo returned to the company in 2006 but was released in 2008.

PWTorch.com are reporting that there was some eye rolling in the TNA locker room when Hulk Hogan and The Nasty Boys had a laugh at the expense of X Division star Jay Lethal. Jerry Sags openly questioned how long TNA will keep him employed and laughed at the audacity of his “Black Machismo” character. Apparently in a tongue in cheek tone, Hogan later cracked during an appearance on The Bubba The Love Sponge Show that TNA should bring in Randy Savage to manage Lethal. Speaking of Bubba, he is said to be the least popular person in the TNA locker room. Those who look past his shock jock personality say he gives off a vibe that he’s above everyone else due to his friendship with Hulk Hogan.

TNA officials have spoken to the Mexican-based AAA promotion about sending Hernandez for an extended stay. While this idea has come up in the past, there are some who feel he could become a legitimate star in Mexico. On the other hand, others fear Mexican wrestling fans could turn on him once they discover that he doesn’t speak Spanish particularly well. For those curious, Hernandez is of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent.

Alex Shelley, who is suffering from a few herniated and bulging discs, is expected to continue working through said injuries. There was some initial concern that the Motor City Machinegun member would be out for an extended period of time.

Shane Douglas told Brian Fritz of Fanhouse.com that he was confident that WWE would drop the ball on the relaunched version of ECW. “From my affinity of ECW, I was extremely frustrated but the veteran in me said that it’s pretty much what I expected and if you go back and look at interviews at the time I said as much. I knew that Vince (McMahon) was short-sided.”

“If there was one thing I could be positive of was that he’d screw that up. And sure enough he did, sadly he did. I don’t know what the general consensus is but my feeling on it is that it done nothing to damage the real legacy of ECW. If anything, it made it stronger. I would think that if anyone would have the wherewithal to bring the original ECW back – I’m not sure if it could be done today with the parameters and restrictions on TV but if someone could do it – then it would be interesting to take a second go-around at it.”

“It’s funny to me where wrestling it back to exactly where it was in 1992, ‘93 that gave rise to ECW in the first place. We’re right back there again so who knows. Stranger things have happened but I think there’s a pretty strong possibility that somebody is going to try to do something with wrestling to bring it back away from what it’s become and where it’s gone.” To read the full story, visit Fanhouse.com.

Source:PWInsider.com

The Human Tornado, who appeared for MTV’s Wrestling Society X and was a regular in the California scene for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, among other companies, announced his retirement from professional wrestling with a brief statement on his facebook account, stating, “Human Tornado is officially retired.”

Tornado has since been removed from a number of scheduled bookings, including Dragon Gate USA in Phoenix, Arizona. Tornado’s last matches took place last weekend in Los Angeles, losing to Kevin Steen at Ring of Honor and defeating former ECW World TV champ Super Crazy for PWG.

It would appear that Scott Steiner has parted ways with TNA as his bio was removed from the company website this evening.

Steiner's status with the company has been in question for months. In fact, he met with TNA talent relations director Terry Taylor on 1/5 to discuss his future with the company. He has not been used since.

It should be noted that a few days before her passing on 1/5, Georgiann Makropoulos reported Steiner expressing his displeasure towards the organization in front of fans at the Orlando hotel the wrestlers were staying at for that's week television tapings.

- Since TNA introduced the "World Title," the physical belt has been plagued with a series of downfalls and dings. The belt has been damaged to the point that there are three buttons that are in place between the plates that separate the main plates and the side plates. On each side, one of those three buttons have fallen off. At last word, TNA has no plans to replace them.

- Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff are already growing frustrated with the TNA "regulars," which has caused much post production editing. This actually resulted in TNA using the seven second delay on the 1/4 live Impact.

- Jim Ross' jrsbarbq.com website will be sponsoring the Monday Night RAW on March 1st from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Jim Ross will likely make an appearance before the crowd that night, if not on TV, as he always does when WWE is in his hometown. Cheech & Chong will be hosting RAW that night.

- CJ Short sent word that Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho in a #1 contender's match for the World Heavyweight Title is being advertised for the March 6th SmackDown/ECW live event in Pullman, WA.

- As noted yesterday, Joe "Road Warrior Animal" Laurinaitis is writing a book about the Road Warriors tag team. A press release was issued yesterday station that the book would be released in March of 2011 with a price of $25.95 in the United States. Below is the cover: