— To correct some Internet reports, the original source of this story, Bryan Alvarez of www.f4wonline.com, is now reporting that Al Barone has not, in fact, signed a deal with WWE to become the bodyguard of Santino Marella. They are still taking a look at him this week. A few other wrestlers are still in the running for the role.
— Last week’s edition of Smackdown drew a 2.2 final broadcast rating, down from last week’s 2.4. This appears to be the lowest figure of the year for SmackDown.
— Regarding Michael Hayes’ relationship with Dave Kapoor a.k.a Ranjin Singh, while he’d often refer to him (and The Great Khali) with a racial slur when he wasn’t around, he wasn’t shy about doing it in his presence during booking meetings either. “The worst part is that Dave would be there to take the abuse and he was intimidated and almost paralyzed by the comments,” one source said. “He’d try and smile to deflect, but you could see it impacted him. Hayes would also do a stereotype Indian dialect, mocking Dave, who doesn’t have an Indian dialect at all.” A number of people confirmed these stories on Hayes’ using this terminology in reference to Kapoor, but it was split on whether it came off as bad as it reads. Some say it was clearly not said in a biting manner, and that Hayes was simply joking around. Additionally, Hayes’ racials slurs towards people of Indian descent weren’t only limited to Kapoor and The Great Khali. A few years ago, a professor from George Washington University by the name of Dr. Ranjan Chhibber worked on the creative team. Hayes routinely referred to him with a racial slur as well. Also, Kapoor’s ring name, Ranjin Singh, name is a spoof on Chhibber, who has long since parted ways with the company, but apparently still has some enemies within WWE.
Credit: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter
