--A documentary movie called "Memphis Heat" was written about in today's Memphis Commercial Appeal. It's about the history of pro wrestling in Memphis in the 50s, 60s and 70s focusing on Jerry Lawler, Bill Dundee, Lance Russell, Sputnik Monroe, Jackie Fargo, Jimmy Hart and others. It's based on Ron Hall's publicity picture book "Sputnik, Masked Men & Midgets: The Early Days of Memphis Wrestling." For those of you who are older fans, the book is a fun collectors piece. The movie will be released next year.

--AOL and Time Warner will officially become two different companies as of the open of business Thursday. The merger of AOL Time Warner has been cited as the reason WCW went out of business. The merger was the reason Ted Turner lost all power and couldn't save the wrestling company. But if the company was successful and not losing money at a scary rate, and almost anyone but Jamie Kellner had been hired to oversee all the television programming, history would have been different, merger or not. It still may have gone out of business, but it would have at least had another chance.

--The Hollywood Reporter listed the Power 100 women in the entertainment industry today. Stephanie McMahon and Donna Goldsmith of WWE who have made lists like this in the past, were not on the list. Bonnie Hammer was No. 4, however, behind Amy Pascal of Sony Pictures, Anne Sweeney, president of Disney-ABC and Oprah Winfrey.

--Jim Cornette, who debuts tonight on ROH television, cut a promo on Vince McMahon and Vince Russo among others on the ROH website at http://www.rohwrestling.com/news/article.aspx?id=3111

--Oleg Prudius aka Vladimir Kozlov became an American citizen this morning, taking the oath of allegiance along with 412 others at the Convention Center in Tampa. He said this was a dream come true. "It was a very long journey but I made it. I'm so excited," he said.

--Lilian Garcia recently did a photo shoot for the No K8 campaign in support of same-sex marriage.

--Jan. 18, 2010 Raw Guest Hosts: Jon Heder & Don Johnson--Stars from the soon-to-be-released film When in Rome, Jon Heder and Don Johnson, will take center stage on Raw on Jan. 18 from Knoxville, Tenn. Known mostly from his role as the discomfited and unintentionally humorous main character in Napoleon Dynamite, Heder enjoyed tremendous success this decade in a variety of comedies. Johnson, meanwhile, who became a popular television icon in the 1980s when starring in the hit series Miami Vice, continues to be an admired Hollywood actor. Their new film is set to be released in theaters on Jan. 29.

--As for the new Monday Night Wars, WWE still has Raw scheduled for 9 PM EST on January 4th, meaning as of tonight the three hour Impact would get a one hour jump on them. WWE may move to counter TNA by asking USA to add an extra hour on the 4th but they haven't done so yet. TNA originally planned to do only two hours but they assumed USA would go three to counter, so they decided to beat them to the punch.

--WWE and the movie industry are actually a big topic today. We've learned that over the next year, WWE studios will film three movies in New Orleans. Also, WWE Studios has purchased the rights to the projects A Chance for Both Barrels and Big Red.

--Speaking of Big Red, here is a synopsis of the project: "In 1965, as the world changes all around him, 12-year-old Andy Nichol comes of age when he's asked by his favorite teacher, Mr. Simon, to partner with school outcast Big Red for an English assignment."

--According to Ric Flair's Facebook, Flair will make the following appearances as a part of the Coca-Cola Tour:

* Stopping in at the D'Iberville, Mississippi Wal-Mart for the Coca-Cola Tour!
Meetings - Club/Group Meeting
Wal-Mart #2715, (228) 396-4740
Thursday, December 10 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm

* Headed to the Wal-Mart in Madison Heights, VA on the Coca-Cola Tour.
Meetings - Club/Group Meeting
Wal-Mart #2565
Thursday, December 17 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm

--Philstar.com reports that SmackDown superstar Batista was in the Philippines this weekend to help launch a new energy drink called Xplode. Batista, who is a huge national celebrity in his native Philippines, is said to have some some financial stake in the energy drink.

--It's worth noting that Spike TV is going head-to-head with WWE Raw the following week after Monday Night iMPACT! with a live UFC Fight Night special. You can be sure all parties involved (Spike, USA, WWE, TNA, UFC) will be watching to see how TNA and UFC stack up against WWE Raw in early January.

--Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett officially proclaimed December 5th, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan Day.

--Vladimir Kozlov is officially a U.S. citizen. Kozlov made the following comments… "Oh to be a U.S. citizen has been like a dream for long time. When I was raised and born in Russia, I had [a] dream to come to United States because U.S. [is a] land of big opportunity. If you work hard, you can reach whatever you want."

--Tyler Reks now has pages on Facebook and MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/tylerreks

--WWE.com has posted a video package of Rey Mysterio signing copies of Behind the Mask.

--Next week's RAW will be a three hour show, starting at 8PM ET. The show will be hosted by Dennis Miller, and will also feature the return of the Slammy Awards.

--Former WWE ring announcer Lilian Garcia recently took part in a photo shoot for the NOH8 campaign petitioning against anti-gay marriage laws. In another Lilian note, the former WWE Diva sang the National Anthem before 76,000 fans prior to last week's New York Jets game. She is auctioning off the #6 Mark Sanchez jersey she wore to the game at http://bit.ly/4EeQzi

--In today's wrestling birthday, Tammy Sytch turns 37 years old. "Sunny" was born on December 7, 1972 in Matawan, New Jersey.

--Tampa Bay Online reports that WWE's Oleg "Vladimir Kozlov" Prudius will be taking the "Oath of Allegiance" at the Tampa Convention Center in Florida today. Kozlov will be there with 413 other people from over 74 countries to take the oath.

--Several WWE talents, including Diva Mickie James via her Twitter page, voiced their disappointment over not being booked for the Tribute to the Troops show in Iraq. With last week's show taped at the Balad Airbase in Iraq, the roster for the show was finalized months in advance as all talents are subject to FBI screening. Also, with all the production equipment and crew, there is limited space on the cargo plane.

--WWE has released Hornswoggle's very own DX t-shirt for sale on their shop website. Speaking of DX and Hornswoggle, no word yet on why the little people's segment didn't air this week but it looks to be scrapped altogether.

--The dark match before tonight's RAW in Dallas saw Chris Masters defeat Alex Riley with the Masterlock. Riley, wearing a letterman's jacket, cut a promo before the match about how he beat people up in high school and now does it for money in WWE.

--Linda McMahon is spending her week meeting with GOP leaders in Washington, according to CQ Politics. She claims that she is meeting with the Senate leaders so that they could ask questions about her bid, not because she's seeking their endorsements. The story also notes that Linda is willing to invest up to $50 million of her own money for her Senate bid. To read the full story, visit CQpolitics.com.

--While the WWE wrestlers were split between Iraq and house shows in the Southern U.S., Batista was in the Philippines last week promoting a new energy drink he is endorsing.

Batista is of Filipino descent and he grabbed headlines in national newspapers declaring that Filipino star boxer Manny Pacquiao will defeat Floyd Mayweather in the March 2010 fight.

Batista told reporters that he'll talk trash with Triple H leading up to the fight. Hunter endorsed Mayweather this past summer prior to Mayweather defeating Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas after Mayweather guest-hosted WWE Raw.

Caldwell's Analysis: WWE's marketing push for WrestleMania 26 would be greatly enhanced if WWE can hitch their wagon to the build-up to Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, which takes place two weeks before WrestleMania. The right strategy would be to book Triple H vs. Batista for WrestleMania in a re-match from WrestleMania 21 when Batista won his first World Title. Stay tuned.

--WWE CFO George Barrios made a presentation to potential investors and advertisers at the annual UBS Global Media & Communications conference in New York City today. Barrios commented on several key business items highlighted below.

-Barrios said WWE will announce more details in 2010 on their plans for a WWE TV Network as they consult with media groups on how best to monetize "over 100,000 hours" in their tape library while using current stars to create new content. Barrios cited WWE Raw being the "number one show on the number one cable network" to give them leverage with cable/satellite distributors.

Related to cable providers, Barrios briefly discussed Comcast announcing their plans to buy a majority stake in NBC Universal. He said WWE is "locked in" with USA Network after both sides renewed their TV deal last month.

-Barrios said WWE has had "more operational missteps than not" trying to find ways to monetize the eyeballs they have on TV and online through their website. WWE's online and PPV business took a hit in the third quarter, which reflects WWE's inability to translate TV viewers into customers for merchandise and PPVs.

-The key to the presentation is that Barrios was trying to give potential investors and advertisers something to latch on to from the presentation. Barrios repeated throughout the presentation that WWE offers "family-friendly" entertainment.

Barrios gave data that WWE's TV audience is 40 percent female and made up of "moms and wives." He spent a considerable amount of time talking about the new toy deal with Mattel that starts in January 2010. Barrios painted pictures of kids wanting to "mimic the moves they see on TV" with the action figures.

Barrios was later asked about UFC's business compared to WWE. Barrios again painted a picture of WWE offering "family-friendly" entertainment by saying people who attend WWE events are the type of people who would also attend "Disney On Ice." He said he's attended UFC events and said, "They're not wearing John Cena t-shirts or Jeff Hardy arm bands like at our events."

Specifically on WWE vs. UFC in the marketplace, Barrios said UFC is a "different type of entertainment." Barrios added that the information they receive from cable companies indicates WWE's PPV audience does not overlap with UFC's PPV audience. He said UFC competes for eyeballs, just like any other form of entertainment, but he said they're "competitive, but not directly competitive."

-WWE has two long-term international business objectives in place related to overseas brand expansion and touring in China. Both are beyond a three-year window of current business objectives, according to Barrios.

Barrios said WWE has TV contracts with nine provinces in China, representing approximately 85 million TV households. That compares to 110 million available households in the U.S.

Barrios also said WWE has talked internally about an overseas brand expansion, but said it's not "imperative" to their current business strategy. He said the preliminary talks have resulted in a hypothetical strategy where they would use current WWE stars as the foundation of an overseas brand while using local talent to fill in slots.

"The Chinese people don't want to see the Chinese Rolling Stones, they want to see the Rolling Stones," he said.

-Barrios also talked about WWE expecting a significant portion of their PPV buys to come from Mexico in the next decade. He cited information that Mexico will be the #4 PPV market in the world over the next 5-10 years.