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by Vera H-C Chan

In the old days, they were called fans, groupies, maybe even cult followers or stalkers. Now they’re all social networkers. World Wrestling Entertainment officially released the WWE Universe, its one-stop grappling shop with blogs, videos, profiles, and every sweaty little detail about pro wrestlers and the people who heart them.

From the safety of their keyboards, Tech Crunch mocked the launch as a lonely hearts club-in-disguise for wrestlers, but Daily Variety reports that these wrestlers—or entertainers, as the bosses prefer they be called—have already herded more than 200,000 members before this week’s public debut.

The numbers are no surprise, considering WWE’s huge online popularity (as seen in daily searches for “wwe rumors,” competition updates, and favorites like Maria, Ashley, and Lita). The empire, which celebrated its 800th episode Monday, likely hopes that Universe will smack down Facebook and MySpace from siphoning its fan base, although all that online love hasn’t helped stock prices any.

As for which “entertainers” will be blogging, so far Matt Hardy promises a “DOUBLE dose of Mattitude” and diva Trish Status has delivered on some “Stratusfaction” updates. Chances of juicy insider gossip seem possible, like diva Victoria’s first blog which mentioned three wrestlers who were “recently released” (i.e., laid off). Victoria, though, didn’t do much more than philosophize about their departures: “The longer I’m in this business, this less of a surprise it is when a Superstar either is fired or quits.” Sounds like everyone needs one big social networking hug.