You can look this up for yourself (even though, for some reason, it never got the national attention that the runaway bride is generating,

His name was Sammy Smith, and after being a highly touted recruit, he was mostly a crappy bench player for 2 seasons. And then, before his junior year, he flipped out. One night, he went into his apartment (where a teammate saw him), walked out with bread and peanut butter, and wasn't seen again for 2 days. His story was that he had been abducted at gunpoint, and forced to drive all the way to Texas, where finally he managed to escape his captor with a thrilling ruse in which he pretended to need to pee, but really ran away from the car. Some of his other descriptions of his abductor and how things played out over those two days were downright comical in their lunacy, like a 3rd grader could have fabricated a more realistic tale... 

Authorities, obviously, caught on to the fake abduction almost immediately, but hilariously, poor, insane Sammy never publicly admitted that he made it up. Even the nutcase runaway bride had the good manners to do that... the FBI, the University, and Sammy's family handled everything behind closed doors, and basically he ended up avoiding arrest, but was also kicked off the basketball team. In a thigh-slapping footnote, Sammy transferred to a Division II school closer to his home and had one pretty good season there, but then last fall, when his new team was scheduled to come to the U. of Dayton Arena as one of our exhibition opponents, Sammy freaked out again and disappeared the night before the game. He later was announced as having quit the team, rather than return to face the Dayton fans who he thought might mock him.

He was probably right about that, actually, but christ, grow a sac, junior! You make a bed, and then you lie in it, that's how we dor things here in the grown-up world. You do stupid, insane shit that makes well-balanced people laugh, expect to not live it down so quickly!

Man alive: as long as I don't have to deal with them directly, crazy people sure are funny, aren't they? But they also aren't the reason you called. Here's the rasslin:

• In another one of those developments that periodically does make me wonder if I've got my finger as on-the-pulse of the fans, it sounds like last night's Backlash is *not* as popular with you folks as it was with me. Which is weird, but what can you do?
   
  Remember: my stance last night was that about three-quarters of the event was really good and entertaining, even if I railed pretty hard on certain creative decisions made with regard to the Trish/Kane/Vis thing and with regard to how Batista was not booked to kick out of the Pedigree to put an end to that retarded little subplot. I even thought it was quite considerate of WWE to roll all The Suck into one giant and easily-ignored ball in the middle of the show, when they put the useless divas and Chris Masters out there in one single segment that I've already forgotten even took place. When it's that easy to excise from the memory banks, it's easy to not complain about!
   
  But from the sounds of e-mail, you all not only found some of the same faults I did, but you also HATED the diva/Masters stuff way more than I did, and you also derived no enjoyment out of seeing Hulk Hogan's return, and more than a few of you told me I massively over-praised the ringwork in the Shelton/Jericho and Edge/Benoit matches. And if that's what you honestly believe, well, that's cool with me.... I probably can't change your mind, especially if you've just decided to be predisposed to hating All Things Hogan even though they are doing a GREAT job playing this as nostalgia and NOT as a legit "push" or anything.
   
  For my part, I think the reason the show was a hit with me is that it's the closest one of these off-month PPVs has come to having a Big Show Atmosphere in a long, long time. I think maybe the last time a brand-only show left me feeling like it actually deserved to be a PPV was over a year ago, at No Way Out 2004 (Eddie wins title from Brock). I can't tell you how much I appreciate that, and I can't tell you how much I think many of WWE's problems are an inability to connect with the audience in such a way that they can create that atmosphere month-in and month-out. But last night at Backlash, it felt like they got it right for once: Hogan being there helped, but so did the significantly-better-than-free-TV matches (Shelton/Jericho and Edge/Benoit), the shocking surprise of Hurricane and Rosey finally winning tag gold, and stuff like that.
   
  Even if I don't feel the need to re-break-down the entire PPV event in an attempt to tell you which parts were good and bad, and proceed to do some Smarkypants Calculus to prove how the good outweighed the bad, I will just point to that big picture, and to the intangible "feel" of a show that for once actually had the vibe of a major event. Hopefully you felt at least some of that, too, and can understand where my generally-positive review came from.
   
  And if not: well, just go back and re-read my Immediate Post Show Recap, and focus only on the parts where I am raging against the Creative Team Unit for their ham-handed handling of Batista and the intra-match story of the main event. Because 18 hours of hindsight has done NOTHING to reduce my fury over that particular fuck up. Seriously: You couldn't have constructed that match to have it be more about Triple H and his Extreme Awesomeness without having him also win. And that's just NOT what you should be doing at a time when you're trying to launch the career of a new World Champion. Simply put: the OUTCOME of a match is not as important as the STORY TOLD by the match. And HHH, Cerebral Assassin that he is, almost surely realizes this. So what am I supposed to think when a show ends with the outcome "Oh yeah, Batista did, technically, win," but the story told was "But only after he failed to kick out of the Pedigree and retained the title thanks to a ref bump, and further more at the end of the match, he didn't even keep HHH down for that long, because HHH was up and Pedigreeing referees for the final visual of the PPV"? The only thoughts that do cross my mind are not exactly good ones... because I've joked enough in the last two months that maybe WWE really *isn't* dumb and they are hamstringing Batista on purpose, but I did NOT want that to really be the case. D'oh.
   
  So again, for my full, detailed (and mostly-positive) account of last night's PPV, check out the OO Backlash Recap.
   
  
• FYI: WrestleLine defeated OO in the PPV Predictions Battle last night. This was one of the most "by-the-numbers" PPVs we've had, as a TON of people picked a perfect 5-for-5. [Note: because they are not nearly as on-the-ball as their OO counterparts, WL didn't pick the tag team turmoil match, so we only had 5 matches count towards the Official Results. It's just as well; the tag match was actually picked accurately by NOBODY on the OO staff, so axing that is no skin off my nose.]
   
  There were also a bunch of 4-for-5'ers (including myself), and then everybody else picked 3-for-5. Well, except for the guy in charge of tabulating stats: but he was honest, and he copped to his 2-for-5 (but yet, in a quirk of our new "points-based system," he's not actually the worst prognosticator of the month, which is mighty suspicious!). So that how the combined OO/WL Joint Percentage ended up being OVER 80%, which has got to be a first. Are we getting smarter, or something?
   
  You can review the OO Team Coverage PPV Preview, and then consult the PyroFalkon-audited PPV Predictions Battle Results to see how everybody did.
   
  
• Coming off of Backlash, RAW enters an interesting little phase tonight. Not only do they not have a pay-per-view for another 2 months, but the roster they take into that PPV could be radically different from the one they've got now.
   
  So that makes the "post-PPV reset" edition of RAW a bit unique in this case. WWE has the freedom to spin its wheels a little bit, since whatever PPV they present in late June, they can take their sweet time setting it up, as they might even have to wait until a few key players get lotteried over from SD!.
   
  It's sort of a deal where, instead of immediately rushing to prep the next PPV, RAW can screw around a bit and do some mini-stories just for fun over the next month. Like letting a death row inmate get in his choice of a delicious Last Meal, there might be some entertaining throw-away things RAW could do with guys they know won't be around much past the next 2-3 weeks. Does that make sense? I hope so, because I am *not* advocating just a lazy, go-nowhere 3 weeks worth of RAW: I am advocating that we get 3 weeks of amusing and satisfying closure. Kind of like how last year, the World's Greatest Tag Team did a 2-week break-up on SD! and then were split up in the lottery... RAW can do some of that sort of thing if they know who's gonna end up where.
   
  To me, this is carte blanche to keep on focusing on Christian. He seems like a guy who is in for a complete Career Reset as soon as the Lottery hits... so putting him out there in throw-away segments that don't have a clear heel/face alignment is a perfect idea: let fans react however they want as Christian convinces us that, wherever he ends up, he's gonna be deserving of the Main Event Slot. Having Christian involved in a taut, complex storyline is NOT important: but letting him spend these next few weeks talking to the audience and continuing to get over will set him up for getting involved in just such a storyline after the Lottery.
   
  [As a side note: my comment in the PPV Recap last night was that I'm now thinking Christian goes over to SD! to challenge Cena for the WWE Title by SummerSlam... but a few e-mails commented on another idea I mentioned weeks ago, with the two champions possibly shifting brands: Cena to RAW and Batista to SD!... and having Christian vs. Cena on RAW would be mighty interesting, for sure. But remember: the way things are set up now, it looks like All Stories On RAW Will Revolve Around HHH Getting Another Title Shot. So Batista can't leave RAW until after that Late June PPV, which means he won't be getting lotteried over, in my opinion.]
   
  But since I mentioned it: yeah, Lottery or no, tonight's RAW does have one feud that it can bank on... Triple H will flap his gums about how the Pedigree is Ever So Awesome and how he should have won the World Title if not for an unconscious referee. This will, of course, lead to the inevitable "Batista/HHH III," which has GOT to be right up there near the top of the list in the Annals of Completely Inappropriate Use of Roman Numerals in a Desperate Attempt to Connote Historical Significance.
   
  To me, this is a tricky proposition, and making sure you tell the story in a way that is (1) interesting, and (2) beneficial to Batista's character are vital considerations. To WWE, if rumors are to be believed, they don't care about such considerations as "will it help Batista?"... they just figure they'll announce the re-rematch as a Hell in the Cell Match, and fans will automatically care. To some extent, they are right. But still: that's no excuse to not carefully and diligently book the story with BATISTA as the star and NOT Triple H. One is your new champ and could use the help; the other could probably best serve the brand by taking a break from the spotlight in order to freshen things up at the top of the card. So c'mon: I'm beggin' ya, WWE...
   
  Beyond that one over-riding story, almost everything on RAW is up in the air, from where I sit. When you can't say for sure who'll even still be on the roster in a month, you sure as hell can't say for sure what storylines they'll be telling in a month. Almost everything that went into last night's PPV (other than the main event) is now a dead issue, and we can start from scratch on every front...
   
  Case in point: no more Hulk Hogan. At least, not for now. So what do we do with Shawn Michaels? Does he just tread water until such time as either he can go to SD! or Kurt Angle can come to RAW? Does he keep on having trouble with Hassan/Daivari and finally have to call on Marty Jannetty (who is under WWE contract but has yet to appear on TV since his one week cameo)? I just have no idea...
   
  Or how about the tag team picture? Yes, we have new champs in Hurricane and Rosey, but is there anything special or unique about them that can be exploited to breathe life into a flailing tag division? I don't know... if WWE couldn't be bothered to book to the strengths of the ultra-talented Regal/Tajiri tag team, why should we think that Hurricane and Rosey will get any better treatment? And I *still* say that the return of Eugene should have figured into the resurrection of the tag division, so that's all the more reason why I'm confused that they took the belts of Regal/Tajiri.
   
  The IC Title scene? Well, unless this is one of those deals where you just want to tell a consequence-free mini-story before the Lottery, and actually push ahead with a Jericho semi-heel-turn (hinted at in his reaction to the loss last night) for the next few weeks, and then reset Jericho's career with a move over to SD! or something, then I'm not sure what's next for Shelton, either.
   
  Edge and Benoit are two more guys kind of in limbo for the time being. I liked how they booked the finish of their match last night so that Benoit still seems strong, but the fact is that the feel there was one of finality (like Edge won the match, and thus, the feud), not one of building to yet another showdown. So what do you do with these two? Beats the hell out of me...
   
  Even the Trish/Lita/Kane thing is seriously muddy at this point. I can't tell you how retarded I thought the finish of the segment was at the PPV: it was almost a purposeful mishandling of a situation after 2 weeks of handling it correctly. I understand the purpose of Trish's stretcher job is to create a storyline explanation for her real-life injury, but I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why they handled it THAT way. It adds about a billion times more sizzle to the Trish/Lita story if it's a Chokeslam from Kane that injures Trish, and plus, depending on how you set it up, you can continue the Trish/Vis dynamic as she continues to try to get as much gruntwork out of him as she can while STILL not laying down for Viscera ("Hey, nice work; thanks, Big Man, and we'll get that naughty bastard Kane yet! But ummmmm, you know I'd sex you up real good, except OWWWWW my back is killing me. So not tonight, sweetie"). You do that, and the Lita/Trish feud benefits, and it keeps something interesting going with Trish/Vis that plays to their characters known attributes and strengths. Instead, the way they played it last night had Trish suddenly breaking out of the character she'd established over the past month, and getting laid out by Viscera, which adds NOTHING to the Trish/Lita feud. It's baffling, really. It just muddies the waters and unnecessarily complicates things if Trish now has a reason to want to revenge on Viscera as well as Kane. I don't get it. I really don't. Unless the goal of the segment last night was just to completely write Trish off TV ENTIRELY for a month or so (instead of just out of active competition), I can envision many more constructive ways to have handled that story so that we'd have a feel for what was coming next. And so that we'd be excited about it.
   
  Then again: if Trish is hurting worse than thought and really WILL be off TV entirely for a while, well.... there still would have been better ways to go about it. And also: this would suck for the home viewers, as this could mean a month or longer with a grand total of ZERO interesting women on RAW. Even Victoria seems to have thrown in with the Useless Divas, and if she's the only ring-capable woman available, it's not exactly like she can go out and wrestle herself. Who else votes for putting a little something extra on to Ivory's paychecks for the next little bit and use her to be the anchoring heel for the women's division, and at least give Victoria somebody to work against if the need arises? And to also give RAW a woman who can complete sentences when she decides to speak. Hell: who completes TOO MANY sentences when she speaks... but christ, too much personality is better than none at all.
   
  Oh, I guess there *is* one thing we can count on: Chris Masters will make an appearance and completely fail to inspire any reaction other than, "Man alive, I wish he'd just go away." If this stupid-ass Full Nelson Challenge is just being done to set-up the return of Mark Henry or something, trust me: the tortuous ride ain't worth the trouble.
   
  Masters aside, I still do think tonight's will be a curious intellectual exercise: with a brand lottery in the near term and a PPV not coming up for 2 months, what will RAW do to keep us entertained? Bear in mind: this week also begins Sweeps Month, which *should* mean that RAW will not scrimp on the goodness. Which I guess means it probably just comes down to whether or not they serve up THEIR idea of goodness or if they serve up OUR idea of gOOdness.
   
  Check out RAW to see for yourself how this particular cookie crumbles, folks. And then tomorrow, whether you missed the show and need details or you saw the show and want the finest in snarky observational insight, come on back to OO for the Finest RAW Recap In All The Land. That ain't boasting, that's just how it is, folks. Even on the verge of Recap Burnout (have I really had to do 9 of these in a row for the first time since last summer? But maybe Erin will be nice and give me the birthday present of one bRAWd Recap next Monday? And even if she doesn't really want to, perhaps this public mention will shame her into it?), that's just how I roll.
   
  
• Speaking of "burnout," here's a possibly interesting little scoop: Head RAW Writer Brian Gewirtz is apparently taking a leave of absence from RAW duties. Just for a little bit, he'll be back. And while he's gone, he's still gonna be making himself useful by consulting with WWE's film division. Now see: *there* is a job that Gewirtz is qualified for! Keep him out there in Hollywood, dammit!
   
  It'll be interesting to see if we can notice any impact on the televised product while he's gone: in addition to scripting some of RAW's least funny comedy, Gewirtz's other main job is helping in the direction/production of pre-taped skits. I have to imagine somebody with a better eye for Non-Suck will be stepping up to fill that void... because I can't imagine anybody else having a worse eye for it. Then again, maybe crap like Spooky Lighting, convenient camera location and complex Hollywood camera moves, and all that nonsense are dictated from on high and aren't Gewirtz's doing. We'll see.
   
  In a non-related story, WWE has also made a major new hire for their Creative Team Unit. Not shockingly, his identity is "Not The Rick." It is also "Some Idiot Hollywood Writer." He is *not* being brought in to replace Gewirtz, let's be clear about that... he's actually the replacement for the Tom Chehak guy who left a few weeks ago, so he'll kind of be Steph's right hand man and will have influence over coordinating both brands. They guy's name is Larry Molen (sp? I only heard it said, I haven't seen it printed), and pardon me if I laugh as I outline what I was told was his resume: he got his start as a writer on "CHiPs" in the 70s, worked on a few 80s network dramas, and then peaked when he was a writer/director/producer for one season of "90210," and since leaving "90210," he has apparently had a grand total of ZERO work in real, mainstream American TV (instead contributing to what sounded like a bunch of C-level crap that must have been on in syndication or something, since lord knows I never heard of it).  Way to go WWE: the answer to all your problems are hip cats in their 50s whose only job experience includes contributing to relatively crappy TV shows (albeit not at any point in the past decade!) and who I'm sure TOTALLY knows how to connect with wrestling's audience!
   
  I promise you, I am not making this up. But I wish I was.
   
  
• The Chris Candido-assisted TNA Tag Title win by the Naturals did, in fact, air LAST Friday. Candido's ankle injury was made into a major element of the entire show, and when he showed up for the main event, part of his promo was lambasting the announcers for showing the graphic footage of his injury in an attempt to generate ratings.
   
  And then he stayed at ringside for the main event, crutches and all, and played a part in the finish. After the match, Candido clutched the tag title belts to himself and cut a lengthy promo that was Chris at his heelish best. After that, Impact faded to a graphic that acknowledged Candido's death (the show also opened with one of those, but nothing was done to edit the main portion of the show to reflect Thursday night's tragedy).
   
  I watched the show on DVR on Saturday night when I was drunk, bored, and mildly annoyed after the Pacers game went badly... and it was every bit as uncomfortable a show to watch as I thought it would be when I was mentioning it in my write-up last Friday. The range of things you felt watching it was crazy: you go from being happy that Candido's making his mark in TNA, to realizing how bad it sucks that he suffered this ankle injury just as he was picking up steam, to realizing that hey it's not so bad because Candido is really making the best of the situation and overcoming his injury to STILL contribute to the product, to finally realizing that as good as Candido was on this night it also doesn't matter because he's passed on since the show was taped. Just a real weird bit of TV to watch: not exactly "good," but it was also hard to turn away.
   
  If you want to see it, TNA does get one last replay, I think on Thursday night on FOX Sports Net. Check your local listings (it's on pretty late, if I recall, like maybe even 3am or something like that).
   
  
• Services for Candido are taking place today and tomorrow (wake today, funeral tomorrow morning). In lieu of flowers, wrestling fans are encouraged to contribute to the Chris Candido Scholarship Fund, which you can do by sending checks to:
   
  Chris Candido Scholarship Fund
  Bank of New York
  3rd Avenue & Washington St.
  Springlake, NJ 07762
   
  It'll also be interesting to see how or if WWE acknowledges Candido's death... they didn't do anything last night, but given that there is nothing embarrassing or suspicious about Candido's death, there's absolutely no reason to distance themselves from a guy who held a title for them (and also for ECW and WCW). At the very least, a show-opening graphic and the mini-3-bell-salute would be appropriate tonight on RAW, don't you think?
   
  TNA, then, can handle the more-fitting tribute at their next tapings.
   
  
• It has come to my attention, thanks to Alert Readers, that Phil Mushnick is at it again: using a wrestling death to put himself over.
   
  In today's NY Post, Mushnick once again takes the opportunity to cast aspersions on the Pure Evil of Vince McMahon and WWE for their roster full of drug-addicted, steroid-abusing drones. This despite the fact that Candido's death had little or nothing to do with his past abuses, and that almost ZERO of Candido's abuses would even have happened while he was working under the WWF/WWE banner.
   
  In short: Phil Mushnick is still one of the world's biggest idiots. Even more so than the usual slew of "sports columnists" or "sports talk radio" types. I swear: anybody who derives enjoyment (or even supports) these genres has to be almost as retarded and devoid-of-intellectual-capacity as the Mushnicks and Jim Romes who are serving it up. Which is pretty fricking retarded.
   
  Mushnick also leapfrogs from specifically mis-representing Candido's death to calling for Congress to step up and investigate/regulate pro wrestling. Mushnick's argument: if they're doing it for baseball, they should do it for wrestling. Um, dumdum: baseball is a REAL SPORT, where steroids or other drugs create an unlevel playing field among athletes who compete physically to determine a game's outcome. That actually is kind of unfair, and eliminating loopholes will make for a more-just game. And wrestling is entertainment; athletically driven entertainment, yes, but an assfull of steroid never won anybody a wrestling match. Creative decisions dictate that. I swear, Mushnick couldn't be a bigger jackoff.
   
  Am I saying that all steroids should be allowed in wrestling? Of course not: there should probably be SOME level of enforcement, at least at the level of somebody playing watchdog in terms of actual criminal activity. But if somebody really wants to get fancy and do all the not-yet-illegal designer steroids and stuff? Fuck it: that's not WWE's job to be Nazis about something that has only a cosmetic effect. And it SURE AS HELL doesn't fall to Congress to worry about: they have other things on their plate (and I'm not even sure sticking their nose into baseball's trouble was the best course of action, except that Idiot Commissioner Bud Selig pretty much forced them to). It's up to an individual wrestler to decide if he's willing to accept the consequences (both positive and negative) of drug use...
   
  If you want to make a federal case out of something, make it out of how WWE continues, in the face of ample evidence that they are retarded for doing so, to have a gigantic hard-on for undertalented body-builders. Which maybe DOES create an environment in which a wrestler might be motivated to use steroids if he thinks that he'll get a better job by LOOKING GOOD instead of by actually being talented. Christ: how many guys like Christian and Carlito Cool do you need to have stealing to show, WWE, before you realize that guys with realistically-athletic builds and ACTUAL ABILITY are gonna be way more valuable to you than ass-injecting, marble-mouthed choads like Chris Masters?
   
  If Phil Mushnick had half-a-brain in that skull of his, *that* would be the point he'd try to make about those who use drugs under the WWE banner. But he can't paint himself as a self-righteous douchebag if he makes *that* case... he can only do that if he paints himself as morally superior to Vince McMahon in every way. And you know what? Being morally superior to Vince McMahon might not really be a tough thing to do, but Mushnick, in my book, fails miserably. At least Vince is pretty forward and in-your-face with regard to his assholitude; Mushnick, clueless putz that he is, is completely unaware of what a worthless pustule he is.
   
  
• With last night's debut of an ad for the ECW One Night Stand PPV, momentum seems to be picking up for the WWE-sponsored event. For whatever it's worth, I'm gonna repeat what I said last night, which is how it was kind of cool that WWE didn't over-gloss-ify the ad, and instead, kept it true to the lo-fi spirit of ECW's actual PPV spots from back in the day.
   
  Just high-impact clips of hardcore craziness, a voice-over by Paul Heyman, and pretty unspectacular graphics. Because, as I'm sure Paul E. himself would say: the product is so good it sells itself. Also of note is that there was NO SIGN of a "WWE Presents" or any WWE logo or anything in the ad... so those whose panties were bunched over that a few weeks ago may kind desist.
   
  Tickets for the event will go on sale on May 14, and as the Hammerstein Ballroom seats only a couple thousand, the event could quite realistically sell out faster than WrestleMania. Anticipation is high, as WWE seems to be letting Paul E. and Tommy Dreamer create this show in their image, and the line-up is looking to feature just about every significant ECW talent except for Shane Douglas and Raven (due to TNA commitments). Joey Styles is still an X Factor, too. Although it should be note that Styles and WWE apparently continue to go back and forth (or rather, that Dreamer and Styles have spoken again fairly recently to keep the issue alive) and that TNA is talking about relaxing their rules to allow their guys to appear on the One Night Only PPV if they want. That could be very cool...
   
  It's still unknown exactly how WWE will present the promotion for the PPV on TV. There will be a magazine released in a few weeks which figures to be a major part of setting the stage (and was described to me as almost being an "event program" in that it will outline key past ECW feuds/storylines by way of lining up a few sellable matches for the PPV). Other than that, it might only be pre-taped, "promotional consideration paid for by ECW" type spots on RAW and SD!.... which could also work very well, and would fit in nicely with ECW's renegade image. The only "live" hype that I think would fit in perfectly is if Paul Heyman "invaded' RAW and SD! and recruited guys to come back for the PPV.... no real ECW matches/stories on RAW and SD!, just a sense that Paul is showing up to stock his roster for One Night Only. I'd dig that.
   
  
• As smart as I pretend I am, sometimes I am quite dense...
   
  In my PPV Predictions, I noted how Hulk Hogan hadn't done the Legdrop o' Doom since coming back to WWE, theorizing that that was so he could save it up to polish off Daivari at the PPV. Which is a nice notion, but is also a stone cold case of me overthinking.
   
  Because the truth is that Hogan's got a bum hip (I believe having hip replacement surgery was one of the excuses he used to weasel out of a TNA PPV appearance back about 18 months ago, right?), and probably shouldn't be doing the Legdrop under any circumstances. Duh. I am stupid: those who brought this to my attention are much smarter than me.
   
  I actually do feel bad about this one. Unlike the Eddie Money/Billy Ocean debacle of last week, this actually has some cosmic significance. At the very least, it calls my Wrestling Acumen into doubt! And we can't have that...
   
  
• Still no official word on TNA's status with regards to WGN, but everybody seems to be expecting something to happen, possibly this week.
   
  And although I think I'm right to be mostly suspicious of WGN's chances of providing a better outlet for TNA than FSN does currently (for all the reasons outlined on Friday), one reader did mail in with an interesting theory: WGN is the flagship station of the mighty Tribune Media Conglomerate. If TNA gets and in with Tribune, that means they might have preferred access to Tribune's many other TV stations in other markets (which could GREATLY enhance TNA's anemic syndication network) and get good press in Tribune newspapers and what not.
   
  Well, it ain't exactly the same as hopping into bed with Viacom or with NBC/Universal, but it *is* something of a potential cross-platform synergistic relationship. We'll have to see what becomes of TNA on WGN...
   
  
• I think that's about all I got for you today, folks. You know the drill: RAW Recap tomorrow, midweek news and views on Wednesday... so I'll see you then. Later on...