Comments that don't warrant a thread

[MikeCampbell]

No. The Batista story you told is absolutely not true. WCW trainers singled out Batista because he was one of the biggest guys in that class, to make an example out of him to everyone, that even the biggest guys are at wrestlers' mercy. It was not because they saw no potential. Or because he was told not to return. He went, saw how shitty the whole get up was, and left.

 

The fact you outright made up the story, tells me that I shouldn't waste any more time on you due to credibility issues. Thanks.

 

hmmm, I was going from my memory of what he'd put into his book. I'll have to take another look at it when I get home from work. I could have sworn he'd written that Sarge told him he wasn't going to make it and to not bother. I'll edit this after I check it out.

 

Quick edit after checking his Wikipedia entry: "Batista tried out at the WCW Power Plant but was told he would never make it in the wrestling business by Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker.[14]" - Maybe I'm not losing my mind.

 

Edit #2: On page 62 of his book: "Forget it," he told us. "You guys are out of here. You're done. You'll never be professional wrestlers. You don't have the fucking heart. Get out of my class."

[Loss]

This is all interesting, because while most of the big stars and successful guys were big wrestling fans before they broke in, it doesn't ring true across the board, nor should it be any type of uniform requirement. There is a change in wrestler mindset from the past that requires a different approach. Sure, your Hulk Hogans and Roddy Pipers would take a few years off to make a movie or something, but they were megastars, and now you have people who are stars, but not necessarily at that level, like Chris Jericho, Christian, Lita, Molly Holly, and Trish Stratus, that have all voluntarily walked away to pursue other interests during a time where they would still have several valuable years left and could make big money. When WWE kicked Muhammad Hassan to the curb, he didn't join TNA, Japan, Mexico, or work indies, he went into real estate (or whatever the hell it was, I can't remember). This sort of thing has always happened to a degree, but wrestlers, if not a majority at least more than in yesteryear, seem to be setting themselves up more for something to fall back on, and they leave when they're young enough that they can try other things.

 

Think about this. Ric Flair would have been "weeded out" under the current system. He quit multiple times while training under Verne Gagne, and if he quit today, no one would be seeking him out to bring him back. He ended up having arguably the greatest wrestling career of all time.

 

On the flip side of that, a lot of the old school mentality of bullying and breaking people down was both more understandable and less risky in years past because you didn't have nearly as many college graduates becoming pro wrestlers who can get real jobs. You had to put over wrestling as a super tough business to outsider trainees who were largely being kayfabed. Prospects weren't part of nearly as sue happy a generation, nor were they as educated or informed going in. There were also more places to work and made a big living. The amount of travel has also reduced, and while it's still a tough schedule, it doesn't require nearly the resolve it did to work full time that it did in the past for wrestlers who frequently worked 300+ day years, often doing double shots on weekends.

 

But as usual, wrestling will eventually catch up kicking and screaming to the modern world, but it will take forever, because one thing that hasn't changed is that it's still way more a promoter's business than a wrestler's business.

[Loss]

I saw a story about Luna Vachon today on Powell's site. Does anyone remember the circumstances of her getting released from the WWF? I seem to remember it having something to do with her mental health, and I know she has bipolar disorder, but I don't remember the circumstances.

[Phil Schneider]

I don't understand the mentality of people who feel Lashley or Brock acted somehow dishonorably. Since when is anyone required to stay in a job they aren't happy in, out of some misguided idea of loyalty to a billion dollar corporation. Shane chanting "You Sold Out" at Wrestlemania to a guy who turned down millions of dollars to pursue a dream is one of my favorite idiot wrestling mark stories ever, and I can't believe that it is an idea embraced by so many people

[The Thread Killer]

I saw a story about Luna Vachon today on Powell's site. Does anyone remember the circumstances of her getting released from the WWF? I seem to remember it having something to do with her mental health, and I know she has bipolar disorder, but I don't remember the circumstances.

It might be talking about this article which came out recently, Loss. Slam Wrestling article on Luna Vachon

[kjh]

Wasn't Luna supposedly fired over an incident where she taped the mouth shut of a producer and bound him/her up?

[Bob Morris]

Regarding treating wrestlers to "respect the business," I don't see how Lesnar would have stuck around if he had been punched in the face repeatedly by Bob Holly or anyone else during his training. Lesnar's problems were with the travel schedule, and I'd also bet his burnout came because Vince pushed him so quickly to the top in the first place.

 

If Vince was really worried about "paying dues," Lesnar wouldn't have been given the top title less than six months after his WWE debut, a debut in which Lesnar had no more than two years training in OVW prior.

[rovert]

Why does Jerry Jarrett hate Gordan Solie.

[Guest Iron Chad]

Didn't Holly rough up Lesnar in a match because he "hadn't paid his dues", so Brock issued a receipt by dropping Bob straight on his dome?

 

-Chad

[MikeCampbell]

Didn't Holly rough up Lesnar in a match because he "hadn't paid his dues", so Brock issued a receipt by dropping Bob straight on his dome?

 

-Chad

I was always under the impression that Holly's neck injury was an accident, and that it was Holly's fault. Holly sandbagged Brock on a powerbomb, and Brock dropped him, Holly fell on his head and suffered the neck injury.

[Bix]

Didn't Holly rough up Lesnar in a match because he "hadn't paid his dues", so Brock issued a receipt by dropping Bob straight on his dome?

 

-Chad

I was always under the impression that Holly's neck injury was an accident, and that it was Holly's fault. Holly sandbagged Brock on a powerbomb, and Brock dropped him, Holly fell on his head and suffered the neck injury.

 

Mike remembers it better. Holly sandbagged Lesnar on the powerbomb (as he is known to do to younger wrestlers), Brock tried to do the move anyway, and ended up spiking Holly.

[tlk23]

source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, PWInsider

 

-- During the 7/31 Impact main event featuring Gail Kim & Taylor Wilde vs. The Beautiful People, Kim was shown hugging a young woman at ringside that looked like a relative of her, or possibly a younger sister. The woman was shown prominently during the match, so it seemed like she was going to get involved. However, the announcers made no mention of her. The woman in question is not related to Kim, but is being considered for a role as one of her "relatives" for television. At the moment, the character is still up in the air, so in case they don't use her, they didn't want to call attention to her on television this early.

 

-- Injured TNA Knockout Mickie Knuckles' TNA ring name has been quietly changed to Moose Knuckles on the roster page. This is the third ring name for Knuckles in TNA. When she made her TNA debut back in June, Mike Tenay called her Mickie Knuckles on commentary. She then appeared at Slammiversary and her name was changed to Moose by The Beautiful People. And now they added her real last name to the Moose name.

 

-- In a correction from an earlier report, Christy Hemme has not been removed from the cover of the upcoming Knocked Out DVD. TNA will be releasing two different covers featuring Christy Hemme & Karen Angle, respectively. The DVD is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, October 7.

 

-- As we reported here earlier his week, former WWE Diva and alleged-escort Ashley Massaro was scheduled to make an appearance at "The Scene" strip club in Long Island, New York Wedesday night. TheSun.co.uk has posted a promotional poster that was used to advertise Ashley's appearance, which can be viewed here. http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive...400_554272a.jpg

 

-- Today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has an interview with TNA star and Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle. Angle spoke about this year's Olympic games in Beijing as well the 1996 summer games from Atlanta where he won gold. "Sometimes you only have one shot, and if you don't get it right, your whole dream withers away." Regarding the 1996 Olympics, Angle said, "I definitely wasn't the best wrestler in my weight class, or the fastest or smartest, but I was the best conditioned. I actually got more confident as a match went on." The article also notes that Angle "welcomes the chance to prove his innocence" of charges of driving under the influence of alcohol, refusing a blood test and careless driving from September 2007. A nonjury trial before Judge David R. Cashman is scheduled for Sept. 9. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08227/904124-55.stm

 

-- Former WWE/WCW star, Jorge "El Gigante" González, 42, was on deathwatch as recently as a few days ago due to renal (kidney) complications, reports the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. He's apparently okay now as he was released from the hospital on Tuesday. It was a big news story in Buenos Aries, Argentina since Gonzalez was a national team basketball star in the late 80s before starting his professional wrestling career. His health has deteriorated in recent years due to his overwhelming size (González is legitimately 7-6 ½) as his knees have gotten very bad, to the point that he can barely stand on his own two feet. He uses a wheelchair to get around.

 

-- Former ECW valet and 3PW owner Jasmine St. Claire is working on an autobiography that will focus on her life in the adult entertainment industry, reports PWInsider.com. The book is set to be released next year. St. Claire is perhaps best known for starring in a number of "gang bang" pornographic movies, in which she has sex with large numbers of men continuously without stopping.

 

-- ProFootballTalk.com has an article on former WWE star Joe "Road Warrior Animal" Laurinaitis splitting from the DeBartolo Agency. According to the article, "many in the agent community suspected that the move was nothing more than an end-run around new NFLPA rules that prevented any of them from talking to Joe's son, Ohio State linebacker Jim Laurinaitis, who at the time was a junior." You can read the article at this link. http://www.profootballtalk.com/2008/08/12/...bartolo-agency/

 

-- Former WWE star Rob Van Dam will be wrestling Kendo Kashin tomorrow night in Japan for the IGF promotion, reports SLAM! Wrestling.

 

-- Earlier in the week, it was believed that AWA promoter Dale Gagne had suffered a heart attack. Gagne posted a thank you note on the AWAStars.com saying that he believes it was a bacterial infection that mimicked the symptoms of a heart attack. Whatever the case may be, he appears to be fine now.

 

-- The latest edition of the National Enquirer has a cover story on celebrity plastic surgery noting former WWE Diva Chyna's extensive facial surgery over the years. The article also notes Brooke Hogan's recent breast augmentation.

 

-- Wrestling legend Wladek (Walter) "Killer" Kowalski, 81, remains in serious condition after suffering a severe heart attack last Friday. He was not expected to survive through the evening. Kowalski was briefly non-responsive, but by Saturday he was responsive to those around him. Kowalski was briefly taken off life support on Saturday, and his heart kept beating on its own. However, he went back on life support by Sunday evening and at last word is in a coma state, reports 1Wrestling.com.

 

-- Eric Bischoff has posted a blog on his website taking aim at the tabloid media. He eventually goes into a rant on Internet sites, specifically taking aim at the Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer, who he also ripped in his book. Wrestling valet Missy Hyatt posts commentary on Meltzer's site, and Bischoff takes aim at her as well, calling her a "middle aged, overweight, silicon-laden troll." Bischoff wrote:

 

The wanna-be TMZ's of the world lower the bar even further to get attention and people that can’t find enough negativity to fill the black hole in their own lives, continue to seek out even lower forms of Internet life.

 

Those people need only to become wrestling fans.

 

Once they do, they can seek out Internet sites like Dave Meltzer's that features commentary from a middle aged, overweight, silicon-laden troll whose only real talent was converting her willingness to being passed around by wrestlers as a party favor into a paycheck more than a decade ago. Or worse yet, that headlines bogus "divorce stories" as breaking news only because they didn't bother to do a basic public records check beforehand. They can then subscribe to his 345,000+ word weekly assault on grammar that attempts to be the arbiter of an industry he’s never been directly involved with for "inside information".

 

You can read the blog in its entirety at this link, which is the second one down. http://www.ericbischoff.com/blog.asp?Path=...mp;MaxListings=

 

-- On last night's edition of the Best Damn Sports Show Period, they showed a number old clips of celebrities badly singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at Wrigley Field. Former wrestling star "Macho Man" Randy Savage (with former valet Gorgeous George by his side) did the honors in his trademark gravelly voice in the spring of 1999, and his clip was the first one shown.

 

-- WWE Hall of Famer Bobby "The Brain" Heenan is not doing too well health wise these days as his health is said to be deteriorating‏, according to a report on www.WrestlingEpicenter.com, a site that has interviewed a number of wrestling stars over the past few years. The WWE Hall of Famer's health is so bad that one source told the website that he does not believe Heenan will make it another month. The source said Heenan is now having trouble remembering the people around him. Heenan has been in a Tampa, Florida area hospital since December. He was first put in due to reconstructive surgery on his jaw, after the first surgery was unsuccessful. Heenan was placed in a medically induced coma and was slowly brought out. In late January, Bobby Heenan was brought out, but was unable to speak. He was also in line for some more surgeries to reconstruct his facial features.

 

-- Hulk Hogan's divorce is going back to court. There was court hearing yesterday regarding a dispute between Hogan and estranged wife Linda over a multimillion-dollar condo in Las Vegas he had agreed to purchase three years ago. Other legal motions in the divorce case are scheduled to be heard today in court. You can read The Associated Press' article on the situation at this link. http://www.winknews.com/news/local/26927179.html

 

-- You can see some promotional photos of actor Mickey Rourke in the upcoming move The Wrestler at this link. Most of the photos feature Rourke as the lead character, but there is also a shot of actress Marisa Tomei in her role as a stripper. http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/08/11/new...s-the-wrestler/

 

-- Gunnar Eudy, the 28-year-old son of four-time World Heavyweight Champion Sid Vicious, as well as indy wrestler Rage (a friend of Sid), are saying that Sid will be back in WWE next month. Reader Charlynn Star sent in the following.. My friend and fellow Sid fan Joyce told me that Sid's son Gunnar Eudy told her that Sid will be back in September the WWE. Here is my friend's myspace. She has Sid's indy wrestler Rage as a friend, Rage is a friend of Sid, and worked with him as a member of Sid's Pride of Brotherhood gang in the indy circuit. She says that Rage has also told her that he'll be returning. http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea...endid=382043701

 

-- Speaking of Sid, he will be appearing on Sid Vicious on the 8/24 NWA show in San Antonio at the Freeman Coliseum. In a battle of former WWE stars, Brent Albright will be defending his NWA title against Trevor Murdoch. Sean "X-Pac" Waltman, Rob Conway, Blue Demon Jr., Adam Pearce and former WWE developmental wrestler Ace Steel are also slated to appear. Also, Murdoch is now spelled "Murdock," so Trevor Murdock will be his name on the indy scene. For more information on the show, visit www.NWAWrestling.com.

 

-- Raw Diva Layla was advertised to appear at the WWE Summerfest event in Venice, California last Saturday, but did not attend it for reasons unknown. She was also not on Raw this past Monday. In other Layla related news, she was seen sitting in the audience for a taping of the MTV show America's Best Dance Cre two Tuesdays ago. You can see her in the background of some shots of Tila Tequila at this link. http://layla-el-fan.com/photos/displayimag...m=270&pos=0

 

JR's Blog

J.R.'s UFC Review Draws Mixed Feedback..

08/13/2008

As a MMA fan and a customer of UFC PPVs, I recently shared a few thoughts of the Minneapolis event. These were simply my personal thoughts as a fan. Nothing more and nothing less. However, it seems that my long term association with sports entertainment with the WWE is a problem for a handful of vocal MMA devotees. I prefaced my comments that I was not an expert, but simply a fan. Apparently that wasn’t good enough for some. I loved the presentation and look forward to the upcoming Atlanta event. How I referenced B.J. Penn inaccurately can be attributed to attention to detail and writing in the middle of the night. My bad entirely. I still think 2009 is the right time for the Penn vs. St-Pierre fight. Die hards would buy the fight tomorrow, but new fans would benefit from a solid build so that they too could emotionally invest in the matchup. Any one with an ounce of common sense knows that the show biz presentation of pro wrestling knows the distinct difference between MMA and ‘rasslin. Nonetheless, after being a MMA fan since its inception and being around TV production including pro wrestling and football for many decades, a slick television production of any PPV event is an important element of any event with which big money is charged.

 

Most MMA fans are level headed fans of MMA and other sports but the handful of those that rip a guy because of one’s professional background are near sighted and need to get over themselves. I made a few personal observations/suggestions that I felt had merit largely as it relates to TV production. I also made it clear that I really enjoyed the show not that it seemed to matter to some. To the best of my knowledge, no MMA fan was forced to read my blog which was more intended to invite my core audience to sample MMA if they already had not. Upgraded TV production has zero to do w/ pro wrestling but everything to do with broadcasting. Sorry if I offended anyone but I am still under the impression that the 1st Amendment is still in place and one man’s opinion is just that. I like to write about things that I like including football, pop culture, and, of course Bar-B-Q, and will continue to do so. That includes MMA, which I truly enjoy as a fan...not an expert.

 

Boomer Sooner!

JR

[MikeCampbell]

The wanna-be TMZ's of the world lower the bar even further to get attention and people that can’t find enough negativity to fill the black hole in their own lives, continue to seek out even lower forms of Internet life.

 

Those people need only to become wrestling fans.

 

Once they do, they can seek out Internet sites like Dave Meltzer's that features commentary from a middle aged, overweight, silicon-laden troll whose only real talent was converting her willingness to being passed around by wrestlers as a party favor into a paycheck more than a decade ago. Or worse yet, that headlines bogus "divorce stories" as breaking news only because they didn't bother to do a basic public records check beforehand. They can then subscribe to his 345,000+ word weekly assault on grammar that attempts to be the arbiter of an industry he’s never been directly involved with for "inside information".

Someone sounds a bit bitter.

[Eduardo]

The wanna-be TMZ's of the world lower the bar even further to get attention and people that can’t find enough negativity to fill the black hole in their own lives, continue to seek out even lower forms of Internet life.

 

Those people need only to become wrestling fans.

 

Once they do, they can seek out Internet sites like Dave Meltzer's that features commentary from a middle aged, overweight, silicon-laden troll whose only real talent was converting her willingness to being passed around by wrestlers as a party favor into a paycheck more than a decade ago. Or worse yet, that headlines bogus "divorce stories" as breaking news only because they didn't bother to do a basic public records check beforehand. They can then subscribe to his 345,000+ word weekly assault on grammar that attempts to be the arbiter of an industry he’s never been directly involved with for "inside information".

Someone sounds a bit bitter.

 

Dave Meltzer's reply to this on the F4W board was pretty funny:

 

I got confused for a while. I was trying to figure out why he called me overweight and silicon-laden.

[Bob Morris]

Dave also made a remark in his F4W update yesterday about how Bischoff said Bob Ryder was a better reporter than Dave.

[Bix]

--Eric Bischoff on the Scott Levy lawsuit at http://www.ericbischoff.com/blog.asp?Path=...amp;MaxListings You can also get Bischoff talking about what a bad reporter I am as compared with Bob Ryder.

Dave making fun of Ryder will never get old.

 

Dave also made a remark in his F4W update yesterday about how Bischoff said Bob Ryder was a better reporter than Dave.

Bob Ryder isn't even a better reporter than Rajah.

[Bob Morris]

As I'm watching Impact tonight, I find it quite amusing how, when the former Billy Gunn was in WWE and how he got stuck in a gay stereotype gimmick... and now in TNA, he's getting stuck with one again.

 

To explan, he's apparently being paired up with The Beautiful People as their personal hairdresser and fashion consultant... in other words, he's the new Rico.

[sek69]

So in the latest episode of RAW up on the Monday Night Wars part of WWE 24/7 they have a lucha minis match on the show, and someone in the crowd has a "Max Mini: The Biggest Little Man in the WWF" sign.

[Tim Cooke]

Maybe a sign plant. WCW did that ALL the time back in the early 90's

[Bix]

Hell, WCW planted white models in the Center Stage Theatre crowd in the early '90s because they didn't like having so many black fans on camera.

[sek69]

I'm sure it was probably a planted sign, I was more amused with that possibly being where they got the title for Rey's last DVD set.

[Marty]

I can't wait until his DVD comes out:

 

 

Got this from another forum, but still it's gold.

And here's the trailer:

 

[Bix]

Matt Farmer posted this at WC:

 

Here's a story about how the Mexican wrestlers were treated. When the Villanos were in WCW, they worked a tag match with Raven and Chris Kanyon. Kanyon screwed up a neck breaker and broke Villano IV's neck. After the match he complained about the injury but no one took him seriously. He went out off to the side of the arena to be alone, and started having problems breathing and passed out.

 

The Grappler, Len Denton was there working TV too and saw him. He helped recesitate him and get help for him. Neither knew eachother, but about 5 years later we were working some lucha shows and they saw each other. Tomas (Villano) was so happy and thanked him time after time for the help.

[ohtani's jacket]

Quick edit after checking his Wikipedia entry: "Batista tried out at the WCW Power Plant but was told he would never make it in the wrestling business by Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker.[14]" - Maybe I'm not losing my mind.

 

Edit #2: On page 62 of his book: "Forget it," he told us. "You guys are out of here. You're done. You'll never be professional wrestlers. You don't have the fucking heart. Get out of my class."

I don't see what's so bad about this.

[Guest Iron Chad]

Hell, WCW planted white models in the Center Stage Theatre crowd in the early '90s because they didn't like having so many black fans on camera.

Indeed they did because I used to show up hellaciously early at those Center Stage tapings so I could get a good seat up front. I noticed when I went with my girlfriend (who was, coincidentally white and pretty attractive, especially when compared to the usual girls at those shows), we got ushered down front a few times. I knew if she was with me, we didn't have to get there more than 20 or so minutes before the show. If I went with my fat nerd D&D buddies, I better have a hotel room the night before if I wanted anywhere near the ring.

 

I know we were all over the Nikita/Larry Z two out of three falls match from WCW Saturday Night in mid 1992 and several others in 1992, Frye and Watts eras.

 

-Chad