WHAT HAPPENED TO ALBERTO DEL RIO, CREATIVE PURGE AND MORE!!

Obviously the talk right now is Alberto Del Rio's release from WWE.

The story making the rounds is that Del Rio allegedly slapped a WWE.com staffer at a recent WWE event. In speaking to a source close to Del Rio after I returned from last night's TNA taping, I was told that his side of the story is that he was responding to something said that he felt was racist in nature.

I am told WWE will not be commenting on the situation beyond what was stated on their website.

We've heard from multiple sources over the last several years that Del Rio hadn't been happy with his run in the company and that there was talk of him looking to retire when his contract had expired. He had recently relocated to Texas, which some in the company believed was so he could be closer to Mexico once his WWE run was over.

One question about the release that we don't know the answer to is whether WWE considers his actions a breach of his contract. If so, they could claim he has forfeited any royalties due to him for merchandise, PPV, licensing, etc.

The release was discussed a lot backstage at last night's TV Taping and if and when he's available they would be very open to speaking to him. Obviously, the idea of Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez reuniting for conventions, independents, etc. could be a possibility as well.

The release was discussed a lot backstage at last night's TV Taping and the impression I have is that if and when ADR is available they would be very open to speaking to him.

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We didn't mention this on the site yet as we hadn't 100% confirmed it until this evening, but as part of the cutbacks in the last week, there was a creative purge. Depending on who you ask, three or five writers were let go from the creative team.

Also gone from the company is Edward Feldmann, who held the position of Senior Vice President of Creative. Prior to working for WWE, Feldmann had worked on a number of series in writing and production roles, including Arli$$, The Dennis Miller Show, The Wanda Sykes Show, Law & Order and Married with Children. He had worked right under Triple H.

**** A number of Spike TV executives, including President Kevin Kay, were at last night's Impact Wrestling taping.

TNA has now taped all the episodes that are scheduled to air under the current SpikeTV contract, which ends the final week of September.

TNA has a hold on the Manhattan Center for September tapings but are formalizing their strategy for those tapings before officially announcing the shows. They may be taping One Night Only PPVs as part of those tapings.

The 8/8 taping was the highest attended Manhattan Center taping of the six tapings this summer as the company sold out and had added lots of additional seating on the floor and an additional row of chairs across the balconies.