Here is the latest wrestling news:
Diva Breaks Leg on Raw
Ashley Massaro, 2005 Raw Diva Search winner, broke her leg on the 2/20 edition of Raw during the women’s battle Royal. According to the WWE website, "Ashley suffered a spiral fracture of the left fibula, a non weight-bearing bone, Monday night while competing in the Diva Battle Royal to crown a No. 1 Contender for the Women's Championship. Surgery will not be required, however, Ashley will be in a cast for four weeks."
It's Official: John Cena vs. Triple H at Wrestlemania 22
Triple H won a three-way match against Big Show and Rob Van Dam on Raw to become the #1 contender to WWE World title. He will face John Cena at Wrestlemania as has been planned for several months. Edge, who won John Cena's title but only held it a very short time, will face Mick Foley at WM 22.
Rey Mysterio Loses WM Title Shot, but Will He Get it Back?
There is a lot of talk about putting Rey Mysterio back into the world title picture after losing his title shot to Randy Orton at the No Way Out pay per view this past Sunday. Some are speculating that Rey will be in a three-way match with Orton and Angle. Others are speculating that the main event for the Smackdown side will be a four-way match with the above three and Undertaker. However, it gets a bit sticky when you put UT into a title match on Wrestlemania as he has never lost on a Wrestlemania and I doubt he will start now. That means, if he is in the match, he more than likely will win it. At any rate, Rey may still be headlining Wrestlemania, just not in a one on one match as promised. I will have more on this as I get the information.
Vince Not Divorcing Linda as Newspapers Reported
Several newspapers reported that Vince McMahon, who has been accused of groping a tanning salon attendant, was seeking a divorce from his wife Linda. While the groping accusations are true, the divorce info is not. Vince and Linda are not getting a divorce. The newspapers refuse to retract the statement because they saw some silly thing on the WWE website with Vince and Trish cuddling as a near comatose Linda sat in a wheelchair from a storyline a few years ago. The newspapers claim that they can’t tell reality from fantasy in wrestling and admit they erroneously reported the divorce but refuse to retract the statement. That’s just really low. If they did two minutes of fact checking, they would know the truth. Nothing much has come of the groping charges thus far and it seems as if the incident has been dropped. I’ll keep you informed if anything new happens in that case.
News on Bret Hart’s Induction into the Hall of Fame
Vince McMahon personally called Bret Hart and asked him to be in the WWE Hall of Fame this year. Bret, feeling he needed closure, agreed but refused to be paid anything. He, instead, is accepting only his travel and lodging from WWE. He will appear in a line up with the other Hall of Famers but, beyond that, he refuses to get involved in any storylines. He may, however, address the fans at Wrestlemania 22 to say good-bye.
Eddie Guerrero Officially Announced for WWE Hall of Fame
On the 2/20 edition of Raw, WWE announced that Eddie Guerrero would also be inducted into this year’s Hall of Fame. I feel he certainly is HOF material but his induction sort of takes away from Bret’s big moment and it also takes away from one of the Guerreros’ shining moments to share it with Bret. I think WWE should have inducted Eddie next year, allowing Bret to have the well deserved spotlight this year and Eddie’s memory and family to have it next year. Still, it’s a great thing to see Eddie being recognized for his many accomplishments in wrestling. Expect Dusty Rhodes to be next to be announced as being inducted this year.
Michael “Johnny Grunge” Durham Passes Away at Age 39
As I report at the end of my No Way Out recap, Michael Durham, better known as Johnny Grunge of the popular ECW tag team Public Enemy, died on February 16 at age 39. It is believed that he died from complications of sleep apnea but that has yet to be confirmed. Please check out my No Way Out recap for the details and for donation information. Durham left behind two young sons, ages eight and three. He and his late partner Ted “Rocco Rock” Petty were amazingly popular tag team wrestlers appearing in just about every major and many minor wrestling promotion as Public Enemy.
Stacy Keibler Update
Stacy Keibler has made it to the finals of “Dancing with the Stars”. She joins Drew Lachey and his partner and Jerry Rice and his partner in vying for the coveted first place trophy. The final dance off will be this Thursday on ABC at 8 p.m.EST and the winner will be crowned Sunday evening. Stacy has been telling friends and radio personalities that she wants to continue to dance and act after the show ends. I am not sure where she stands with WWE but I suspect it won’t be long before she leaves to pursue a Hollywood career or some sort.
WWE Cancels Byte This
WWE has canned their webcast, Byte This . This was a live weekly show that featured WWE guests and call ins from fans. They were becoming upset with the number of fans calling in talking up TNA and then The Heart Throbs appeared on the show and went bananas, going way over the line on the live show. The Heart Throb tag team was fired the next day and Byte This was given the ax a few days later. There is no word on if some other type of show will replace the webcast.
Legendary Managers Jim Cornette and Bobby Heenan to Face Off on Pay Per View
There will be a great pay per view called the “6:05 Reunion” airing on April 29 featuring some of the most well known wrestling talent in the business. The show, which will take place live at the Hard Rock Café in Orlando, FL on March 5, will feature a plethora of stars and matches. The current line up is shaping up like this:
Scott Steiner vs. Buff Bagwell, Diamond Dallas Page vs. Chris Kanyon, Hacksaw Duggan vs. Nikolai Volkoff (with the Iron Sheik), Jimmy Snuka vs. Greg Valentine plus appearances by Tully Blanchard, Jimmy Hart, Vampiro, Bruno Sammartino, Jake Roberts, Hacksaw Duggan, Rick Steiner, Lance Russell (calling his first pay per view broadcast), Kamala, Koko B. Ware, Mike Graham, Virgil, Tom Prichard, Johnny B Badd, David Flair, Norman Smiley, Ron Niemi, The Blue Meanie, and Disco Inferno.
Bobby Heenan will be managing the Armstrong family when they take on all three members of the Midnight Express, managed by Jim Cornette. Although the two have worked together on a couple other shows, this is the first pay per view that you will be able to see the two work against one another.
The pay per view will air on Saturday 4/29 at 6:00 PM with an 8 PM replay.
For more information on the live taping or the pay per view, visit www.605Reunion.com.
That’s it for now. I will be back later in the week with more news and views. I have been on the forum and am loving the threads and feedback. I will answer all questions there. I am trying to get mail responses out to you as well but it’s slow going.
Question of the Week
Canall86 wanted to know where Jeff Hardy has been.
Jeff has been working for TNA but has been a problem for the promotion. He frequently shows up late or misses shows altogether. Recently he skipped a pay per view and TNA put him on the sidelines. I don’t know when we will see him back but I suspect it won’t be much longer. Despite Jeff’s problems with making shows on time – or at all – he remains one of the most popular wrestlers on TNA’s roster.
This is not to say he couldn’t jump to WWE but that looks unlikely at the moment. He was released for the very reasons he is being sidelined in TNA and I don’t think WWE wants to chance it with him again. However, it was an interesting tease having Matt Hardy promise a “mystery partner” at No Way Out. Many believed it would be Jeff. It turned out to be Tatanka of all people.
Hold tight for a few days and I will be back with more news!
Patty
Miss Jeff Hardy and want to see him in action? Check out the following links to some good Jeff Hardy (with his brother Matt) merchandise.
