The word legend is thrown around a lot these days, but "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair is the very definition of the word and the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) will be inducting him into the NWA Hall of Fame on June 7th at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, GA!

Flair is an icon of Pro Wrestling and has collected 16 World Heavyweight Championships including 8 recognized by the NWA, 6 by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and 2 for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Flair was also the leader of "The Four Horsemen", a dominant group of fighters that ruled the Pro Wrestling world for many, many years.

"With Ric Flair's involvement, I'd say our 60th Anniversary event is truly going to be a history making one. I have been around the NWA longer than anyone and I can tell you this marks the first time in close to 20 years that Flair is going to step into an NWA building," said NWA Executive Director Robert K. Trobich.

He continued "Atlanta this is a great homecoming for many of these men, I mean Rich, Sheik, The Midnights, Koloff and Flair at the site of the old Omni? I hope every wrestling fan in Atlanta comes out and shows the support these men earned and deserved. This may be the greatest class we've ever inducted."

Since the year 2000, Flair has wrestled for World Wrestling Entertainment on their RAW and Smackdown brands. Earlier this year he lost a match at WrestleMania 24 in Orlando, FL that required him to retire ending a storied 30 plus year career. Today Flair acts a WWE Ambassador, representing the company at special events. The 2008 NWA Hall of Fame Ceremony will take place on June 7th in Atlanta, GA. It is a featured attraction during the NWA 60th Anniversary event.

On Sunday night, June 8, TNA Wrestling celebrates six years of Total Nonstop Action with the "Slammiversary" Pay-Per-View event from the Memphis area, live and exclusively on Pay-Per-View!

The three-hour spectacular will be available on InDemand, DirecTV, Dish Network, TVN, Viewer's Choice Canada and more. Call your local cable or satellite provider for availability.

The current lineup for "Slammiversary" is as follows (more matches will be added next week on "iMPACT!") :

THE ANNUAL "KING OF THE MOUNTAIN" MATCH: FOR THE TNA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Special Enforcer: Kevin Nash
Champion Samoa Joe vs Robert Roode vs Booker T vs "The Instant Classic" Christian Cage vs "The War Machine" Rhino

TNA GRUDGE MATCH
"The Phenomenal" AJ Styles vs Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle

X DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Champion "Maple Leaf Muscle" Petey Williams vs Kaz

TNA WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Champions The Latin American Xchange vs Team 3D

JAY LETHAL AND SOCAL VAL GET MARRIED!
Watch them walk down the aisle at Slammiversary - also featuring American Idol star Ace Young

Plus, many more matches to be announced soon!



Taken from: tnawrestling.com

It's safe to say that many wrestling fans have been scratching their heads since WrestleMania 24 as to why CM Punk has been on a noticeable losing streak on both TV and PPV. After all, this is the guy holding a briefcase for a World Title shot of his choosing.

According to a new report by Bryan Alvarez in The Figure Four Weekly, there are some possibilities as to why this has been taking place recently.

It should be noted first that Punk was never scheduled to win the "Money in the Bank" Ladder Match at WrestleMania 24 as the obvious frontrunner and planned winner was Jeff Hardy until he was suspended 60 days for violating the WWE Wellness Policy a second time. The decision to have Punk was last minute as the company had no real plans for him to win the match and receive a major push.

For whatever reason, Punk has some major heat with many individuals in the WWE. Some of the reasons are considered valid, while others are quite frankly just flat out stupid (one of these being that he has been buried for refusing to go out and drink alcohol with the other wrestlers). Those who have known Punk for a while have stated he has a tendency to rub people the wrong way and that this dates back to his early career working the independent scene.

Another reason Punk may have heat is the fact that he was built up quite a bit on the independent scene and now there is a desire to prove that he was "overrated" to those who never saw a thing in him or his character. One WWE source has stated that Punk's career could take the path of Matt Hardy where he would get small pushes here and there and always be used, but he will likely never break through as a top guy. WWE writer Christopher DeJoseph (who plays the Big Dick Johnson/fat oily guy character) has been moved into a leadership role on ECW and is said to be very high on Punk. However, since Punk appears to be on everyone's you-know-what list lately, it appears that may not happen and this could explain his recent string of losses and being buried.

The latest on the World X Cup, which will be held in late June and finish at the July 13th TNA Victory Road PPV is as follows. There will be four teams, and as of now (and things can and likely will change) these are the expected lineups:

• Team TNA looks to be Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin (the Motorcity Machine Guns) so far, with nothing else confirmed. Either Sonjay Dutt or "Black Machismo" Jay Lethal are likely to be added.

• Team Mexico as reported last week should be Averno, Volador Jr., Ultimo Guerrero and Rey Bucanero. This is said to be about 90% likely.

• Team Japan will be Milano Collection AT and Taichi Ishikari, who were already announced. Their partners, who are from Dragon Gate will be Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino.

• The final team will be Team International, and there is not a lot conformed about the team. The top names being considered for the team are Tyson Dux, Doug Williams, Alex Kozlov and Shawn Daivari.