That's right, TNA announced yesterday they inked a deal with Hulk Hogan, and Hogan makes his TNA debut tonight.

In a release issued by TNA, Hogan said, "My fans have been asking me to return to the business for many years on a full time basis, but the timing or the opportunity has never been right until now. TNA Wrestling is a great company with an already excellent fan base, business and broadcast partner."

The deal was negotiated by Eric Bischoff, and through Hogan's partnership with Bischoff Hervey Entertainment, TNA will be working with the company to "develop new programming extensions of the TNA brand." (and yes, "Hervey" is Jason Hervey of "The Wonder Years" fame)

By the way, Hogan's book, My Life Outside of the Ring, is available now.

Jim Ross was absent from Smackdown last week because he took one of his days off, but this week he will be out because he suffered his third Bells Palsy attack Monday night during a flight from Oklahoma City to Atlanta.

At first, after getting the medication he needed to slow the paralysis effect, he thought he could go on for the Tuesday night taping, but it was determined an hour later he should not risk his health. He saw his neurologist today and was diagnosed with full-blown Bells palsy. He will have an MRI on Friday to determine if any damage was done to his brain.

In his blog, JR wrote, "It is on the right side of my face and has adversely affected my vision in my right eye more than previous bouts... my face has drooped some on the right side making me not TV friendly."

However, JR believes this not the end of his career.

"My face may be sagging, my right eye may be not so good, my tongue is numb, my head aches and my right ear is sensitive to sharp noises but my heart and my soul are stout and my desire to get back in the game has never been stronger."

JR's first attack was in January 1994 and his second was in 1998. We certainly all wish JR gets well soon.

To read JR's blog, visit JR's Bar-B-Q.

Wrestling legend and WWE Hall of Famer Captain Lou Albano died today. He was 76. The cause of death was not disclosed. Albano did suffer a heart attack in 2005.

For those you who don't know, Albano was recognized by his Hawaiian shirts and rubber band accessories, including a rubber band to contain his beard. He also played Cyndi Lauper's father in the "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" video and was the voice of Mario in "The Super Mario Bros. Show."

Albano worked for the WWE from 1983-1996, but he started a career in wrestling in the 1950's and started working with Vincent J. McMahon in the 1960's.

In a statement on their web site, the WWE said, "He will be greatly missed by the WWE and his fans."

Yes, your friendly neighborhood Red Mask was in the audience at ECW/Smackdown last night, and I'll try not spoil anything for those of you who weren't there. However, if knowing which Superstars wrestled and against whom is considered a spoiler by you, you may want to stop reading now.

First, I'd like to make a couple shout-outs to fans that stole my attention from the show.

- To Chris Jericho's #1 fan in section 114. Yes, we saw you rocking out to Jericho's theme music. Never stop breaking the walls down with your bobbing head...

- To the girl who insisted on raising her "Where's Jeff Hardy?" sign and blocking the view for some of us. If you read this blog you'd know where Jeff Hardy is-- dealing with the legal issues surrounding his arrest last month for possession and trafficking of drugs.

- To the fans chanting "Ziggler" while he was competing against John Morrison. I really hope that was joke, or that you were happy because he meant you got to see Maria.

- To all the children in audience. Wow, I don't think I've ever seen that many children at a WWE event. It was school night, too! I'm sure Stephanie and Shane are happy the next generation of viewers is so large and excited about their product.

All in all, we got to see all the biggies for Smackdown- Batista, Rey Mysterio, Morrison, Cryme Tyme, The Hart Dynasty, Michelle McCool, Kane and, of course, World Heavyweight Champion Undertaker. Some of us were disappointed R. Truth came down ramp instead of through the crowd. One unexpected highlight was an appearance by the Chairman himself, Vincent Kennedy McMahon!

ECW gave us a chance to see Christian, Tommy Dreamer and Goldust in action, Tiffany's return and the aforementioned kiddies' favorite, Yoshi Tatsu.

EC-Dub legends The Sandman and Sabu will be appearing at a National Wrestling Superstars event on Saturday, Oct. 10 at the Manville VFW Hall. The card will include plenty of the regular NWS superstars as well.

Sabu, the so-called "homicidal, suicidal, genocidal, death-defying" madman, has not been seen in ECW since getting busted with drugs along with former cohort Rob Van Dam, who made just a brief re-emergence in WWE at the Royal Rumble before disappearing again.

If you want a good look at the Bella Twins - and I know you do - they will be appearing along with John Morrison at a ceremony at Sovereign Bank Arena on Tuesday, Oct. 6, the day of the Smackdown show. The ceremony will be at 9:30 a.m. and it will commemorate the 10th anniversary of the arena, which actually hosted WWE as its first event 10 years ago also.

The show should be terrific. Stay tuned for developments from Sunday's pay-per-view to see how Tuesday's card is shaping up.