VIDEO: Hugh Jackman, WWE Stars Spend 6+ Uncomfortable Minutes in the Ring

Do you know what WWE fans love? Like, really feel passionately about? Australian Tony Award winners. Just ask any of the 15,000 adrenaline junkies who showed up to see pro wrestlers like The Miz and R-Truth throw down at last night’s WWE Monday Night Raw and instead got… guest host Hugh Jackman shilling his upcoming robot boxing movie Real Steel! Summon your steeliest nerves and click through to watch the awkward scripted WWE drama unfold below. Warning: You may be tempted to revoke Jackman’s Emmy. “If you guys love the WWE Superstars, I know that you’re going to love the ground-pounding action in my new movie Real Steel.” So subtle! But still, hats off to Jackman for getting in the ring to promote his latest project even though most WWE fans presumably do not care about his illustrious stage and film career. Which was your favorite moment? When Jackman, flummoxed by the ridiculousness of the WWE skit, smirked in the grizzled face of Dolph Ziggler — who brazenly on purpose confused him with Christian Bale? When Dolph’s manager Vickie Guerrero sexually harassed the former Tony host? Or was it when Hugh Jackman vowed to consummate his love to underdogs everywhere by finding the weakest wrestler in the WWE Raw locker room and making him a winner? And more importantly, how will this WWE marketing stunt affect your decision to see the Steven Spielberg-produced Real Steel when it hits theaters October 7?

Lars Von Trier No Longer Sorry, and 6 Other Stories You'll Be Talking About Today

Happy Tuesday! Also in today’s edition of The Broadsheet: Liam Hemsworth is Expendable… The Brits take on screen smoking… The Americans take on the Brits… A True Blood co-star takes on an American crime legend… Michael Winner is somehow still in the news… and more. · The real shame about Lars von Trier stringing out this whole Nazi non-troversy is just how much it undercuts what a total fucking masterpiece he has in Melancholia. Anyway, this happened: “To say I’m sorry for what I said is to say I’m sorry for what kind of a person I am, (and that) I’m sorry for my morals, and that would destroy me as a person. It’s not true. I’m not sorry. I am not sorry for what I said. I’m sorry that it didn’t come out more clearly. I’m not sorry that I made a joke. But I’m sorry that I didn’t make it clear that it was a joke. But I can’t be sorry for what I said — it’s against my nature.” Whatever. Just keeping you up to speed. [GQ via Toronto Sun] · Liam Hemsworth is joining the macho mega-ensemble also known as the cast of The Expendables 2. No word yet on his role, unless producer Avi Lerner referring to him as “the cheap Hemsworth” counts. [Deadline] · Now the U.K. is wading into the automatic-“R”-for-smoking debate, with a new recommendation that any films depicting the consumption of cigarettes receive an “18” rating. “Our results confirm an association between this exposure and youth smoking in this country, indicating that raising the certification to 18 in the UK is likely to lower smoking rates among youth,” says a report in the British Medical Journal, which seems to overlook a few bigger problems than smoking facing the nation’s youth culture right now. Come to think of it, is glassing an automatic “18” yet? [The Guardian] · And that’s not all! How about this from the right-wingers over at Big Hollywood: “It’s disappointing that so many British actors share the opinions of their battiest American counterparts, but an English accent only makes one smart in the movies. As for real life, is it too much to ask them to button their stiff upper lips when it comes to our politics?” Burrrnnn. [Big Hollywood] · And speaking again of the UK, Michael Winner, the 75-year-old director perhaps best known for the Death Wish franchise, has caused a stir across the pond for finally marrying his long, longtime companion. According to one report, “Winner is something of a British obsession, loved and loathed in equal measure for his eccentricities, out-spoken opinions and old school charm.” And he’s on Twitter! Who knew? [THR] · True Blood co-star Lindsay Pulsipher has officially inherited the female lead in The Story of Bonnie and Clyde from Hilary Duff. [THR] · Finally, an encouraging sports-world story for anyone looking to start their Tuesday off right: Oakland Raiders fans in the team’s former home of Los Angeles are upset that CBS cut off Sunday’s Raiders/Bills nail-biter in Buffalo to go to the Chargers/Patriots game in New England. The NFL’s glorious response? “Suck it,” basically. Hilarity. [Deadline] [Photo: Getty Images]

Watch Transformers 3 For Free

Solid start for CW's 'Circle'

The CW's new drama "The Secret Circle" opened to pretty good numbers Thursday, looking to be a good pairing with the net's top-rated show, "The Vampire Diaries."Preliminary Nielsen estimates show "Secret Circle" averaging a 1.3 rating/3 share in adults 18-49 and 3 million viewers overall in the 9 o'clock hour, airing after "The Vampire Diaries" (1.4/4 in 18-49, 3.0 million viewers overall). "Circle," about a group of young witches, was written by Kevin Williamson and, like "Vampire," is an Alloy Entertainment adaption."Circle" was down a tick in 18-49 from the bow of "Nikita" in the Thursday 9 p.m. hour a year ago, but lead-in "Vampire Diaries" came in down two ticks itself (from a 1.6 last year) -- though it still led its hour among women 18-34 (2.2/7). The new drama was an especially good fit among females 12-34, with "Circle" (1.9/6) retaining 90% of "Vampire" (2.1/7).In women 18-34, "Secret Circle" averaged a 1.9/5, second to ABC among the broadcasters in the 9 o'clock hour and matching the CW's all-time high. Last year's "Nikita" opened to a 1.8. As it did a year ago, CW was looking to get a jump on the Thursday field with its early premieres. Its dramas will face tough firstrun competition in the coming weeks from the likes of Fox's "The X-Factor" and "Bones," CBS' "The Big Bang Theory" and ABC's "Grey's Anatomy." Also promising Thursday was NBC's repeat airing of "Up All Night" (1.0/3 in 18-49, 2.6 million viewers overall), which built on its lead-in from a repeat of "Community" (0.6/2 in 18-49, 2.2 million viewers overall); the show had drawn good numbers for its special preview airing behind "America's Got Talent" on Wednesday before moving to its regular leadoff slot on the night. And at 9:30 p.m., viewers got a second chance to sample "Free Agents" (1.1/3 in 18-49, 2.4 million viewers overall), which aired behind "The Office" (1.4/4 in 18-49, 3.1 million viewers overall).Elsewhere, ABC had its best Thursday in a while with the final two original episodes of the summer for "Wipeout" (2.0/6 in 18-49, 6.5 million viewers overall at 8 p.m. and 2.4/6 in 18-49, 6.9 million viewers overall at 9 p.m.), followed by a repeat of "Grey's Anatomy" (1.1/3 in 18-49, 3.2 million viewers overall). CBS aired a repeat hour of "The Big Bang Theory" (2.2/7 in 18-49, 8.1 million viewers overall at 8 p.m. and 2.6/8 in 18-49, 8.7 million viewers overall at 8:30 p.m.) and an encore of May's two-hour season finale of "The Mentalist" (1.5/4 in 18-49, 7.9 million viewers overall).Fox, which figures to be a strong Thursday player this fall with "The X Factor," didn't do much last night with repeat of "Bones" at 8 (0.9/3 in 18-49, 3.7 million viewers overall) and its regular time period of 9 (1.1/3 in 18-49, 3.9 million viewers overall).Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: ABC and CBS, 1.8/5; Univision, 1.5/4; CW, 1.4/4; Fox, 1.0/3; NBC, 0.9/3.In total viewers: CBS, 8.1 million; ABC, 5.6 million; Fox, 3.8 million; Univision, 3.7 million; CW, 3.0 million; NBC, 2.7 million. Contact Rick Kissell at rick.kissell@variety.com

Hugh Jackman sets Broadway return

Hugh Jackman is bringing his song-and-dance act to Broadway. Details are locked in for Hugh Jackman's return to the Main Stem with his song-and-dance act, now titled "Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway," set for a 10-week run this fall.Ever since the show previously known as "Hugh Jackman in Concert" won raves in a Toronto run earlier this summer, the thesp's visit to the Rialto was more a matter of when than if. Jackman is one of Broadway's true bankable stars, with a hit stint in the 2003 outing of tuner "The Boy from Oz" followed up by the boffo B.O. logged during the limited run of 2009 play "A Steady Rain," in which he co-starred with Daniel Craig. He's also a fave of the legit community, having hosted the Tony Awards three times.Biggest obstacle to his return was his busy film sked, but a recent shift in his calendar helped clear the way.The new stage show sees Jackman, backed by an 18-piece orchestra, singing some of his favorite musical theater tunes and reminiscing about his life. The show received a mixed critical reception in its San Francisco preem last year, but thanks to changes incorporated into the show, reviews were notably improved in Toronto.Warren Carlyle, choreographer of the current revival of "Follies," provides the show's musical staging and choreography. Robert Fox produces with the Shubert Organization, owners of the "Jackman" venue, the Broadhurst Theater."Hugh Jackman" begins previews Oct. 25 ahead of a Nov. 10 opening. Show will stick around through the annual Yuletide box office bonanza, shuttering Jan. 1. Contact Gordon Cox at gordon.cox@variety.com

Watch Transformers 3 Dark Of The Moon