Ronnie

He was a guest on F4W's audio one day last year and went over all this. Apparently WWE had done an internal audit in regards to a rumour that Orton had been taken to hospital following a suicide attempt. Irv said that his source was watertight, and that he was comparing details with another journalist who has credibility, different sources, and the same story. WWE apparently covered it all up. I've a funny feeling that he tied in that Orton was the only one to escape suspension of a group busted en masse for Wellness violations, alleging that it was fear that he would try to kill himself again that caused WWE to let him off. I never heard anything more about it afterwards. Edit: There's an entry on Irv's blog about it here.

Has there ever been a worse documentary about wrestling than "WWE Unauthorised"? Or a more unknowledgable wrestling author than Shaun Assael, co-author of Sex, Lies, & Headlocks and a contributor to the aforementioned documentary? He picks up on scraps, embellishes bits, and they're reported as facts. Just off the top of my head, I recall him mentioning John Zahorian (only a minor blooper, I suppose), but then he starts narrating the Montreal Screwjob. Apparently Shawn pinned Bret and the ref fast-counted him, one, two, three. He describes in vivid detail how the viewer could see the blood dripping from McMahon's mouth after Bret struck him, even though anyone who saw Wrestling With Shadows or Vince nursing a shiner on Raw eight days later knows differently; he also states that Vince renamed himself "The Evil Commissioner", a name which is mentioned at multiple reprises afterwards, particularly when focussing on Owen Hart. I thought that this was the worst hatchet job I've ever seen, just because it was all a pack of half-truths and evident inconsistencies and lies. It would be so easy to go after Vince if you wanted to that failing to this extent is gloriously bad. Has anybody else had the misfortune to see this?

The goalkeeper's name was Roberto Rojas and the incident occurred in a qualifying match for the 1990 world cup. Chile were losing and a defeat would have seen them eliminated from contention, so he took matters in to his own hands. About three quarters through the game, he crumpled to the floor beside a flooring of flares, banners, and coins, holding his face and writhing ever more exageratedly. He was helped from the pitch sporting a crimson mask. His goal was straightforward: A cancellation of the match would have seen a commission rule in Chile's favour, putting them in the world cup. It all fell apart, however, when TV cameras revealed he hadn't been touched. It was later dicovered that he had cut himself with a razor blade that he carried in his glove. The match result was upheld, and he was disqualified for life, the carny.

Yeah, it was an article by Matt Randazzo, if I'm thinking of the same thing. If there's any call for it, I could summarise the article when I get a little time either tomorrow or next week.

Wasn't there the story of Russo trying to get Bret to drive a monster truck over a car in which sat Sid? I know that Bret disagreed (and actually received an apology from WCW) but I presume the angle went ahead with stunt drivers. Edit: Sorry, hadn't read the previous page before posting, so wasn't aware that we were listing incidents on WWE programming.

Oh, another one of my friends who watches only sporadically but is not dumb to the sport had to be told by me that Hunter's finisher is the Pedigree. He had spent years thinking it was the Canterbury. I've also noticed that irrespective of the amount of exposure people have to the name, be it via commentary and promos, captions on screen and merchandise, and printed media such as message boards, there's a core of people that have yet to realise that the wrestler isn't called Samoan Joe.

Bearing in mind that we only ever saw Vince on commentary and opening the shows for years, one of my friends spent the late eighties and early nineties thinking that Ventura, Heenan, Perfect, and the rest were addressing him as "mic-man", with reference to a microphone being the tool of his trade.

The cynic in me finds the timing here suspect: From her blog

He's updated with a much more positive piece: I'm not in agreement with the phrasing in Bix's original post. Granted, after the fact he could have rationalised that the "B show" now has Triple H, Undertaker, the guaranteed-to-pop-a-crowd Jeff Hardy, the ever-reliable Umaga, and the entertaining heel champ Edge, such that it could possibly lay claim to being the A show, but how would you expect him to sit down and think it over like that in the immediate aftermath? He wasn't told, yet he's been behind the machinations in that place since 93. He's a little different kettle of fish to Kennedy or the Hardys, and I think has a right to feel slighted that he was removed from the position he's anchored live on air, especially as Vince is hardly shy at fucking with him. He's associated with that show far more than any person on its roster is. Ultimately it doesn't matter, but I don't begrudge the guy his disappointment and unhappiness at the way a perceived demotion was handled.

Well, just about, except Vince, for once, was playing the chivalrous gent by chatising JBL for talking "out of line" when he said that Mickie's proposition sounded like "some kind of escort service". http://youtube.com/watch?v=NX8roejXiew

Batista's $60k Rolex was stolen, as was Matt Hardy's passport. They had to rush through an application for another to enable him to go on the trip to Europe.

Maybe the proximity of WM and the magnitude of his push happen to be exactly why he failed. He did an interview recently in which he listed his injuries. It could well be the case that precisely because of the current situation he's felt that he's needed to take medication, coke, or whatever to get through the day, instead of taking his foot off the gas.

Sweet, thanks for that Bix. I devoured the book in short order once I'd gotten my hands on it, but it caused no end of laughing to see those excerpts again. Stupendous book, fantastic contribution from KS. Top stuff.