TVSquad

Before it became all cooking, gossip, fashion and interior decorating, Bravo used to be a fine arts network that aired classic drama, music, opera, etc.

TV viewers everywhere are hoping such sophistication returns to television with the news that World Wrestling Entertainment chairman Vince McMahon wants to create his own cable network.

McMahon wants to launch the WWE-dedicated channel for basic tier rates within the next two years. While a return to fine arts TV is unlikely, McMahon's wrestling product has been greatly softened in tone over recent months -- looking to attract a more family-based audience.

Back in the halcyon days of NBC's Bob Hope TV specials, the comedy legend would march out a list of the most bizarrely unrelated pseudo celebrities you could imagine.

You'd hear something like, "Join me this Sunday on NBC for 'Bob Hope's All-Star Salute to Existence' with great stars like Loni Anderson, Pink Lady and Jeff, the UPI All-American Football Team, Billy Carter, Steve Reeves and Brooke Shields!"

It looks like World Wrestling Entertainment is shooting for something equally bizarre with its list of upcoming Monday Night Raw guest hosts. Vince McMahon and company plan to continue the guest general manager routine through the end of 2009 and possibly all the way to Wrestlemania 26 next March.

The problem with reporting real news originating in the professional wrestling world is that you never know if you're being played as part of a story angle designed to drive up ratings or pay-per-view buys.

However, since the following hasn't been mentioned on any of World Wrestling Entertainment's television shows, it might be legit.

According to the WWE: "Linda McMahon, CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, is considering a run for the United States Senate representing the state of Connecticut. Should she decide to run, Linda would step down as CEO, and Vince McMahon would assume the duties of CEO in addition to his current position as WWE Chairman."

That didn't take long.

The storyline featuring Donald Trump "buying" Monday Night Raw from World Wrestling Entertainment's Vince McMahon lasted all of one week. On Monday's commercial-free Raw from Green Bay, Wisc., McMahon bought the show back from Trump for "double the original price." Trump took the deal and smacked McMahaon across the chops for his trouble.

The show capped a day-long publicity festival for the WWE in which local network news affiliates flocked to the Green Bay airport to shoot Trump arriving and to hear speeches from him and McMahon. It was the first time any media set foot in that airport without Brett Favre being involved.

Never have a personality and an organization entered into a more appropriate marriage than Donald Trump and World Wrestling Entertainment. Pro wrestling has always been full of over-the-top, testosterone filled rants, colorful costumes, and over-sized props. And Trump, well, is famous for about the same sort of thing. Plus, we know pro wrestling is fake, and we're pretty sure about Trump's hair.

All weekend long, USA promoted tonight's WWE Monday Night Raw event, on which Trump will appear. The "ruse" is that Trump bought the WWE, something John Scott Lewinski reported last week didn't sit well with the company's stockholders. On tonight's show, Randy Orton defends his title against Triple H, as "decreed" by Trump. And he gave a press conference today with the WWE Divas. What could be more fitting?

What started out as just a TV wrestling stunt could have Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment in a headlock from federal authorities.

As we reported earlier this week, the WWE's Monday Night Raw is running an angle in which Donald Trump purchased the show from McMahon. It's all a big wrestling "work" -- a story element to drive the weekly show and entertain fans.

The trouble is that both WWE and Raw's parent network (USA) sent out official press releases announcing Trump's "purchase." And, WWE publicly held shares fell nearly 7% the next day.

On a three-hour edition of World Wrestling Entertainment's Monday Night Raw on USA, CEO Vince McMahon announced he had sold the show to Donald Trump.

Before a shock wave ripples through the sports entertainment and reality show worlds, it's safe to say this is "a work" -- as they say in grappling circles. Trump has his orange-topped mug back on TV as an on-screen performer with WWE. Behind the curtain, when the arena goes dark, McMahon is still in charge.

According to McMahon, Trump will take over running the show in person next Monday night when a special, commercial-free Raw originates from Green Bay, Wisc.

Never fear all you wrestlemaniacs. While WWE has abandoned renegotiations with The CW to bring Smackdown back to the network, it has announced that it is already in negotiations with other networks to carry the long-running Friday night staple. Smackdown has delivered solid ratings for The CW (and UPN before it) since 1999, but has at times been an awkward fit for the demographics and perception the network has wanted to put out there.

Monday, WWE Raw will be celebrating 15 years with a special three-hour episode. On the eve of this celebration, Reuters tells us that the wrestling program's contract has been extended another two years, guaranteeing more chair smashing, smack talking through 2010. The overall deal includes a continuation of the twice yearly NBC Saturday night specials, the A.M. Raw weekend USA show, as well as a Spanish-language edition for the growing Telemundo networks.

After fifteen years, Raw remains one of cable's strongest programs, currently averaging 5.1 million viewers weekly. And since it doesn't go into reruns, that's strong programming year-round, which at this time has to look pretty enticing to the network. If things continue with the strike, we might even see more WWE programming come to NBC proper.

TMZ is reporting that WWE wrestler Chris Benoit is suspected of killing his wife and 7-year old son before committing suicide. Benoit and his family were found dead in their Atlanta home on Monday afternoon, the same day he was supposed to appear in a "memorial" episode for Vince McMahon's WWE character. TMZ reports that Atlanta police suspect Benoit strangled his wife on Saturday and then smothered his son in bed the next day. Benoit was apparently text messaging friends as he watched Vengeance, a WWE Pay-Per-View program, on Sunday.

I do not watch wrestling, but everything I read says he was very popular among fans. His signature move was the "Crippler Crossface". WWE quickly changed up its programming last night so it did not focus on the "death" of McMahon's character. McMahon made a brief statement to fans about the tragedy, saying Benoit was "one of the greatest WWE superstars of all time."

*UPDATE: Atlanta PD says Benoit killed his wife on Friday, his son on Saturday, and hanged himself (possibly) on Sunday. Sick.

When a man gets older and he finds himself vulnerable to mortality, and that which affects his heart and his mental health, there are no proper words to describe the fear and anticipation.

By now, the news has been announced that Regis will be leaving the show to undergo bypass surgery. Although you might have read articles about the situation, there really isn't anything like watching the exact moment he describes it. Something about the delicate nature and his soft spoken voice that reminds you of how fragile life is, it really tugs at your soul. No one ever wants to see anything bad happen to Regis.

On a completely opposite spectrum...

I went through a brief professional wrestling phase in junior high. This was when Hulk Hogan was in his prime and you could also see the likes of Rowdy Roddy Piper, the Iron Sheik, and Hillbilly Jim, among others. Eventually I got over watching men in tiny pants strutting around the ring and gesticulating, but professional wrestling kept going on without me, turning into a huge phenomenon and becoming, as one friend of mine put it, "a male soap opera."

He's right. The storylines have become more complex, and sometimes downright silly. This time, however, Vince McMahon may have topped himself. On April 30, during the WWE pay-per-view special "Backlash," Mr. McMahon will wrestle God. Wrestling fans already know that this is the culmination of an ongoing storyline which involved the sinister McMahon getting beat by Shawn Michaels, a born again Christian. I don't have pay-per-view, so I won't be able to watch, but here's what God had to say:

Oh yea brother, after a mere 13 year hiatus, the WWF WWE returns to NBC's Saturday night to wreak havoc. Throughout the '80s and early '90s, in wrestling's hey-day, NBC carried the WWF's Saturday Night Main Event on an almost weekly basis, showcasing the top talent at the time-- Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Andre the Giant, and the immortal Hulk Hogan. While none of them are "scheduled" to return tonight (9/8c), you can always count on Vince McMahon and company to put on an entertaining show and pull off a couple of surprises. Tonight will see the likes of John Cena, Triple H and a bevy of WWE Divas take the ring. I'm an unabashed wrestling fan, and the Saturday Night Main Event is one of the crystal clear memories I have of my grandfather, who was also a wrestling nut, so to say that I'm excited about this is an understatement. Although this is only scheduled to be a one-time event, wrestling's popularity (which is always like a roller coaster) has been on the upswing of late, and if the ratings are well enough to warrant it, I'm sure we'll see a return appearence. Say your prayers and eat your vitamins, because tonight, the WWE is going to go wild on you!

Fake wrestling promoter and all around bombastic personality Vince McMahon is being accused by an employee of a Bocan Raton, Florida tanning salon of showing nude pictures of himself to her and trying to kiss her. The 22-year-old alleges McMahon showed her naked pictures of himself on his mobile phone, then followed her into a room and tried to kiss her and lift up her shirt. A customer who was there the same day described McMahon, whom she didn't know from TV, as "nothing but a gentleman." As is always the case with stories like this, the veracity of everyone's story has yet to be determined. McMahon has so far not been charged with anything.

Special thanks to Doug Stewart for tipping us off.