Raw going 3 Hours, Mysterio contract, JBL's tribute on Owen & more

News on RAW going 3 Hours: As noted before, a lot of people within WWE don’t expect RAW going three-hours to be a permanent thing, despite what the official announcements have said. There has been a lot of comparing it to when WCW Nitro went three hours years ago.The format of the show is still a work in progress but the idea is to treat it like a pay-per-view event every Monday night with interactive features.

Almost all of the feedback coming from within the company has been negative regarding the change. There is a feeling that two hours drags by each week and adding a third hour won’t benefit them.

It’s said that the USA Network has been interested in a third hour for years but WWE has not been interested. USA currently pays WWE about $700,000 weekly for RAW. An increase of $100,000 would mean $5.2 million in new gross revenue for WWE.

Rey’s Contract Extended: WWE has extended Rey Mysterio’s contract for the length of time from when he suffered his knee injury last August until his expected return. This will end up being roughly 10 or 11 months added to the end of his deal.

More on Alex Shelly: F4WOnline also reports that Alex Shelly was looking to work in Japan and for Dragon Gate USA when he received a phone call from WWE. He has not yet signed with them.

JBL on Owen Hart: Today (23 May 2012) marks the 13-year anniversary of Owen Hart’s tragic passing. Hart died on May 23, 1999 after an equipment malfunction during his entrance at the Over the Edge pay-per-view from the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri.

JBL wrote about that fateful day on his Facebook page today:

“13 years ago Owen Hart passed away tragically, I remember going in and telling Undertaker who was going over his match,” he wrote. “Ron and I had dressed with Owen that day in KC and later we were questioned but never testified in the lawsuit. Vince was overwhelmed and gave us option of finishing show or not wrestling-we decided to wrestle. There wasn’t a right decision. A wonderful man that is sorely missed. So many great memories about Owen, so many great ribs-he was the best. He and Davey were quite the duo:) RIP to a great friend.

“Owen dressed with Ron and I that day in KC, was a small dressing room so we were there during all the discussion about the stunt-but had nothing to offer that merited us testifying in the lawsuit. We wrestled shortly after Owen died, I don’t think right after I think it was a couple of matches later-can’t remember. Was tough because we knew he had died but no one knew what to do-to wrestle or not to wrestle, Vince was great and told everyone that they could do what they wanted-no pressure, he really didn’t know what to do…no one did. Owen was a perfect family man and role model-one of the great ones.”

Rock’s Movie Delayed: Deadline.com reports that the Rock‘s next major movie release, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, has had its release date moved nine months. The blockbuster, which was supposed to release next month, will now be released on March 29, 2013 in order to add 3D. The new release date is a little over a week before WrestleMania 29, which takes place on April 7, 2013. The Rock has previously stated that he would be a part of next year’s WrestleMania.

Rumors on Jericho: WWE.com posted an interview of Chris Jericho addressing rumors of his WWE departure at this link. Jericho stated that he wished people would just “enjoy the ride” rather than guess when he’s leaving.

Live Event ReShceuduled: WWE released the following statement, officially announcing that tonight’s RAW live event in Sao Paulo, Brazil has been moved to tomorrow night: “Due to travel complications, WWE has rescheduled tonight’s Raw live event at the Ginásio do Ibirapuera in Sao Paulo, Brazil for tomorrow night at 20:30 p.m. All tickets purchased for Wednesday night’s event will be honored on Thursday, May 24. Anyone who purchased tickets and is unable to attend the rescheduled performance should go to their point of purchase for refunds.”

Details on Re-Hiring Big Show: On this week’s WWE Raw, John Laurinaitis stated that he rehired The Big Show on Saturday, one day before Laurinaitis was to face John Cena at Over The Limit. As part of a stipulation in their match, if any WWE superstar interfered, they would be terminated.

However, in an in-character WWE.com exclusive, Big Johnny explained exactly why The Big Show’s contract was still valid.

“Come on, guys,” Laurinaitis said. “In principle, me and Big Show had an agreement on Saturday. We didn’t actually put pen to paper until after the pay-per-view.”