-- Chris Masters was indeed hired back by World Wrestling Entertainment this past week. "The Masterpiece" had a meeting with Vince McMahon at the Los Angeles tapings a few weeks ago and was recommended by Randy Orton to be brought back. Many in WWE are curious as to how he will look like when he returns as it was noted that it will send a message. WWE released Masters from his contract on November 8, 2007 six days after he had been suspended for 60 days for having violated the company's drug testing policy on a second occasion. The suspension was for 60 days because he had been previously suspended on August 30, 2007 when the Signature Pharmacy scandal broke out. Shortly after his return to the ring, he was suspended for failing a drug test. Contrary to his Wikipedia bio, Masters was not suspended when he quietly taken off the road in May 2006. Masters entered a drug rehabilitation due to an issue with prescription painkillers, but it did not count as a strike against because there was no drug test failure associated with him being sent to rehab. He returned to WWE four months later with much less muscle mass, leading Jerry "The King" Lawler to refer to him as "leaner and meaner" Chris Masters.
- As announced this week on Friday Night SmackDown, CM Punk will defend his World Heavyweight Championship against Edge and Jeff Hardy in a three-way bout this Monday night. As it turns out, the match was originally scheduled to take place at The Bash pay-per-view later this month, but due to next Monday's three-hour RAW, it's being moved up. As of Thursday, the creative team were still scrambling on how to figure things out for Monday's show, not to mention how it would all lead to matches for the pay-per-view in two weeks.
- In a follow-up on an earlier report, Rey Mysterio did not hand in his notice to WWE officials as he still remains in the company. However, there are some issues between both sides which need to be worked out.
- Hurricane Helms made his ring return Saturday night at the SmackDown/ECW live event in Binghamton, New York. Helms teamed with Evan Bourne to lose to The Hart Dynasty after Helms took the Hart Attack.
- Saturday night's SmackDown/ECW event also saw WWE Hall of Famer Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat defeat WWE developmental talent Drew McIntyre.
- Triple H has been back on the road with the RAW brand this weekend, defeating Randy Orton in the show's main events.
- WWE will present a three-hour episode of tonight's RAW from Charlotte, NC at the Time Warner Cable Arena. The theme of tonight's show will be the "Three-For-All" edition. Matches confirmed include an ECW Title match with Tommy Dreamer vs. Christian, a World Heavyweight Title match with CM Punk vs. Edge vs. Jeff Hardy and a match to crown a new WWE Champion with Randy Orton vs. Triple H vs. Big Show vs. John Cena.
- World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. has named Mike Pavone as Executive Vice President of WWE Studios. In his new role, Pavone will lead WWE Studios’ theatrical releases, direct-to-DVD movies, series and reality programming and report directly to WWE Chairman Vince McMahon.
Pavone brings with him more than 18 years of experience in the film and television industry having worked as a writer, producer, director and actor. His projects include such notable titles as: The Client (CBS), Prison Break (FOX), High Incident with Steven Spielberg (ABC), Jack & Jill (WB), Against The Grain (NBC), Street Time (Showtime), The Blue Wall (Disney), Northmen for Warner Bros. and Seven Men from Now for Beacon Films.
