Welcome ladies and gentlemen, kids and all. Welcome to another edition of Around The Ring and as always I am your loyal host, Eric. I swear time has been flying by!!

It seems to me like my last article just came out last week. Turns out it has been like 2 or 3 weeks. And I told Colin that I would have a new column for him...and that was last Saturday! Here it is Friday night and I am just now getting to the article!! Oh well, sometimes life just gets busy and before you know it, weeks have flown by like days! I also want to apologize to anyone who sent in catch phrases and had them sent back. For whatever reason, my webhost suspended that email address, which I had sent up awhile ago. I am still looking for a new catch phrase, so please keep your catch phrases coming to newcatch@aroundthering.com or ericknudsen@aroundthering.com. Thanks. And don't forget to check out the new poll on the main page of my site under the W-O widget!

I would like to extend my congratulations to wrestling-online.com on their 11 year anniversary!! Way to go Colin and all the other people that help out and most importantly, to all the readers!!

I would like to thank all of you that voted on my recent poll. Go to www.aroundthering.com to see the results.

And lastly before I get on with this rag sheet, I want to encourage everyone to go and listen to the wrestling-online blog radio show with Ian Hamilton. I have listened to a few shows and thought it was great! And who knows, I may pop up on there!!

Now onto the meat and potatoes...

I tuned into Smackdown as I usually do on Friday nights. The show was pretty decent and I even got a few chuckles and laughs out of it. It was great seeing the Godfather and his ho's again. And then to see just about everyone leave with him was a riot. And even the Little Bas...I mean Hornswoggle B-Slapping Coach in the back of the head caught me off guard and almost made me spit my drink. What I didn't agree with was the whole heart attack angle. What is it lately with death and near death angles lately?? Call me overly sensitive or whatever. I felt especially bad for Vicki Guerrero as thats basically what killed Eddie. I know they say they don't do angles if someone feels uncomfortable with it, however I just feel that this angle...like so many in the past that WWE has done...is in poor taste. Now I assume that Teddy Long will have amnesia and have no clue who Kristal is. I wish Vince would get rid of the soap opera writers and get some old school guys in there to write some good angles.

It is amazing how much has gone on since the last time I wrote a column.

Quite a few top WWE guys were handed suspensions. I swear I saw Randy Orton's name among them...yet...somehow he is still in a major angle with Cena. Hmmmm...how does that work?? Is WWE really that short handed that they just overlooked Orton's misdeeds and let him stay? I am really confused by this one.

And I know...I know...I am a little late with this one, but I can't believe WWE fired Cryme Tyme. I am sure what we all got to read was only a small part of what REALLY happened and I hope all can be forgiven at some point so we may see Cryme Tyme in a WWE ring again some day! Good luck guys!!

Who is spreading these stories about Ric Flair quitting WWE? The man himself keeps shooting down these rumors but why is someone still reporting this??

I watched the WWE streaming video or Heat the other night. It was good to see Ron Simmons back in the ring. He looks leaner and a speck of ring rust, but not bad over all. I just don't know. I am very conflicted about using wrestlers that are getting on in years. While it's nice to see them and have them around, I almost feel like it ruins something, for me anyway, to see them getting older. It's almost like I want to remember them as they were in their prime and at the top of their game. Guys like Hogan, Flair, and Piper...it would be great to see them in manager roles but not necessarily wrestling. Flair has YEARS of wisdom to pass on to younger guys that could use his guidance. While Flair looks to be in some of the best shape I have ever seen him in, I noticed as of late that he is slowing down. The man is in his late 50's and probably should retire and that would be the smart thing to do. You could argue that Terry Funk got better with age. That is very rare, especially since Funk go more and more extreme. And it cost him a lot. If anyone saw Beyond The Mat, you know that Funk should have stopped wrestling a long time ago. Both knees are shot and he will live the rest of his life in pain. I guess I would just like to remember them in a better time of their lives and not the way I see some of them now.

I don't know whether I was really surprised to hear about Sandman being released as I was at Cryme Tyme. The poor guy never really seemed to get his break in WWE. The fans loved him but I guess the office didn't. Good luck Sandman. We'll probably see him turn up in TNA.

I watched Survivor the other night...I know...I don't usually watch that crap, but I was interested in seeing how WWE Diva Ashley did. I must say I was rather disappointed and she almost got her you-know-what canned on the first show. I hope she shows some improvement in the upcoming weeks.

Well I think that brings me up to the present. And that brings to oldie but a goodie segment of my article...the Brainbuster!!!

***This Weeks Brainbuster***
(Be sure to send all answers and/or comments to ericknudsen@aroundthering.com. Remember to include your name.)

Q: Born In Montreal, what former wrestlers favorite "foreign object" was a fork?

Well that's it for me. Thank you for joining me for this edition of Around The Ring. I am Eric, that's my opinion and I am standing by it!!