World Wrestling Entertainment will make their annual trip to the Middle East next week. The talents heading over will leave immediately after the Raw taping in Baltimore, Maryland on 11/30. Highlights of the tour will air on an NBC “WWE Christmas in Iraq” one hour special. Due to the Iraq tour, Smackdown and ECW will be taped in Hampton, Virginia this Sunday.

As part of the marketing promotion for Wrestlemania 26, WWE champion John Cena will be the Grand Marshall for the Fort McDowell Fiesta Bowl Parade on 1/2/10 at 11 AM, according to AZCentral.com.

Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler” will make its debut on HBO this weekend. The acclaimed Mickey Rourke film received a number of Academy Award nominations and featured scenes shot at Ring of Honor, CZW, WXW and JAPW events. Among the talents featured in the film are Necro Butcher, WWE’s R-Truth, Romeo Roselli, Claudio Castagnoli, Desmond “Nigel McGuinness” Wolfe, Tommy Rotten, Bobby Dempsey, the late Paul E. Normous and more.