Chuck DOWN Photo credit: sherdog.com

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- Slammiversary tickets go on sale today and the pre-sale code is "BOOKER". Thanks to Scott.

- The first-run UFC Countdown show last week did 782,000 viewers. I'm not saying everyone who watched it bought UFC, but I do expect that show to have done about 600,000 to 700,000 buys. That's a hell of a conversion rate. Compare that to Impact which does 1,300,000 viewers and only 20,000 buys for most PPVs. A broken record, I know.

- Also, I've mentioned this in the newsletter for the past several weeks, but I'll put it here as well. The Raw ratings, while they seem low, aren't as bad as they sound. These days, anywhere from 8-10% of viewers are DVRing the show to watch later. In other words, the Tuesday afternoon numbers are about 10% lower than the actuals. Raw last week, for example, had about 410,000 viewers watching on DVR, or about 8%, meaning the actual number was closer to a 3.45 (it came in as a 3.18). The only cable show in the country that has more people watching on DVR is MTV's The Hills. In other words, you can't add 8% to TNA, ECW or Smackdown. I don't know what percentage they're at, but it's below 3.3% (the bottom percentage on the list I was given).

- With that said, Raw did a 3.03 this week for the three-hour show. First hour killed them. With DVRs, that's a 3.29.

- Mickie James & Ashley & Kelly Kelly & Maria & Cherry & Michelle McCool vs. Beth Phoenix & Melina & Jillian Hall & Layla & Natalia Neidhart & Victoria added to Backlash.

- Keith Olberman honored JBL this week with WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD honors. I'm told JBL was overjoyed.

- Best wishes to Doc Young, co-host of Wrestling Weekly and a good friend of ours. He's been having a real tough time lately, and you can read his latest blog here.

- We're hearing Fedor Emelianenko vs. Tim Sylvia in July may end up on PPV after all.

- This will be the last main news update until probably Friday since tomorrow is a travel day (more on that in a moment). We will still have all of our usual Figure Four Dailies up. The Zach Arnold show is up right now, the Buddy Wayne show will be up early tomorrow, and on Friday we will be joined by JERRY LYNN~!, which should be a very fun show. Since I'm in Elizabeth, PA Friday night, the usual weekend Bryan & Vinny Show will be bumped to Saturday. We should be back on schedule for Backlash and Observer Live on Sunday.

- Don’t forget, THIS FRIDAY, April 25th in Elizabeth, PA at the Court Time Sports Center I will be putting my ICW/ICWA Texarkana Television Title on the line in a four-way with Larry Sweeney, Ruckus and Delirious. Larry will also be putting his Super Indy Title on the line which he won in the tournament last year. I plan to take both titles back home to the EMPIRE, because like Shawn Michaels I don't lay down for anybody. I hope some of you can make it out for these as a fun time will be had by all!

- Smackdown spoilers here.

- Ian writes: Hey Bryan haven't seen this mentioned yet, unless I missed it. But Jackie (Gayda) Haas has a photo spread in the latest issue of Fitness Rx magazine (with George St. Pierre on the cover). She looks great, I actually didn't even recognize her until I saw her name.

- The new issue of Figure Four Weekly is up for members right now and it's a big one. We've got stories on UFC in Montreal and the doom of Kalib Starnes, including his explanation for not fighting, a big story on King of the Ring and why William Regal was chosen for the role, why Michael Hayes has been suspended for 30 days, the MMA bubble outside of UFC bursting at a phenomenal pace, and tons more. It's a great read, so check it out!

- Nate Webb tried out for the Indianapolis Mustangs (semi-pro football) last week and made the team.

- Doesn't want to work for me, but the trailer for ZOMBIE STRIPPERS with Tito Ortiz and Jenna Jameson is up here

- UFC can head to John McCain's home

- Irv Muchnick has new Benoit articles here, here, here, here, here, and here.

- This man wants his FIGHTING dammit!

- Tommy Urbanksi scoffs at Pacman Jones' 'hero' title

- Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news from this site or from our newsletters, please include a link to www.f4wonline.com as opposed to "From F4W", "From Figure Four Weekly" or derivatives. Thank you!

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