Why ECW Is Moving Timeslots, Mike DiBiase/WWE Update, More

Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter (F4WOnline.com)

? ECW moving from a 9:00 p.m. ET start time back to its original 10:00 p.m. start time on Sci Fi, as reported earlier, will be taking place on May 5. The reason this change was made is because it gives WWE another hour to edit the show since the brand is back to taping on Tuesday before Smackdown instead of Monday before Raw as they had been doing for the last several months.

? There was a rumor going around that Mike DiBiase, son of the Million Dollar Man and brother to RAW star Ted Jr. and WWE developmental talent Brett DiBiase, was going to be called up to WWE's main roster soon. The rumor came from Mike on his verified official MySpace page. For what it's worth, since then the entire MySpace account has been deleted. Mike, 31 years of age, isn't currently an official member of WWE's developmental roster but has trained in the past with WWE Hall of Famer Harley Race. Mike has also held numerous titles on the independent scene but not too many talents make it to WWE's main roster these days without going through FCW first. So for now, take it for what it's worth – a rumor.

? Here are some WWE website figures for February: As of the end of the month, merchandise orders online were down 14.6% from the first two months of last year. DVD shipping was down 9.4%, which isn't looked at as completely bad since the overall market has seen quite a drop. There were 13.9 million visitors (believed to be uniques) to WWE.com in February, which is an increase from the last four months. For January and February, WWE Shop averaged 627 orders per day. Last year was 756 per day and 2007 was 911 per day. The drop has been linked to the declines in the economy.