Thursday, 17 April 2008
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| [MEDIA] Charleston Post And Courier 4.13.08 Retirement 'Fuels' Song
Surge Evad Seltzer 10:56:47 |
| | http://www.mikemooneyham.com
Retirement 'Fuels' Song Surge
By Mike Mooneyham
April 13, 2008
It's only been a couple of weeks since his retirement, but Ric Flair's
fantastic farewell continues to have far-reaching effects.
"Leave the Memories Alone," the song that was used as a tribute to the
Nature Boy throughout his final weekend as an active performer, has
dramatically boosted sales for the rock group Fuel.
Sales of the song reportedly increased by 1,000 percent in the first
week and then by an additional 409 percent the second week since
Wrestlemania.
"It's a testament to wrestling fans and their passion toward Ric
Flair," Fuel's guitarist Carl Bell told the WWE Web site. "It's hard
to see somebody retire, especially somebody who has been such a big
part of wrestling as Ric Flair has been."
"It's hard to see somebody that has been an institution in wrestling,
as he has been, leave," Bell added. "I think 'Leave the Memories
Alone' kind of encapsulates some of those sentiments toward that.
He'll never change and he is what he was. He's been a big part of
wrestling and a part of their lives."
The group reportedly is in talks with Sony Records about re-releasing
the song as a single due to the resurgence in sales. WWE's Ric Flair
DVD also is scheduled to be released on July 8. His previous
collections have been among the best-selling in company history.
In a related blessing in disguise, CBS yanked the ratings-challenged
"Secret Talents of the Stars" after only one awful episode due to poor
numbers, sparing Flair the embarrassment of being featured in one of
the potentially worst reality shows in recent memory. He had been
scheduled to perform a salsa dance routine during the first week in
May.
Too bad the network didn't immediately capitalize on Flair's huge
following and, in particular, the recent retirement buzz. Count
Diamond Dallas Page among the group that thinks we haven't seen the
last of the Nature Boy inside a ring.
"Do I honestly think you will never see Ric Flair in the ring again?
Stop it! Ha! Nature Boy and Vince left everybody wanting more ... I'll
believe the Nature Boy's career is really over the day the Rolling
Stones stop touring."
Former ECW mastermind Paul Heyman, in a recent blog on the UK Sun,
weighed in on Flair's farewell with a slightly different take. Enough
of the tears, he says, and more of the dirtiest player in the game.
"Just next time, I'd like to see the bug-eyed, half-crazed, surely out-
of-his-mind Ric Flair. The custom-made from head-to-toe
personification of the phrase 'charismatic character' who just can't
help but be the center of attention.
"That's the Ric Flair I want to see. I want to celebrate his career,
not mourn it. I just don't want any more boo-hoos. I'm in the mood for
a WHOOO!"
- Former WWE and TNA performer Andrew "Test" Martin was arrested last
Sunday morning near Tampa and accused of driving under the influence.
Martin, 33, was stopped by an off-duty police officer after she
spotted a "reckless vehicle" driving north on Interstate 275. Florida
Highway Patrol officers responded to the scene and noticed Martin's
eyes were glassy and bloodshot and his speech was slurred, according
to the police report.
The report also notes that the officer did not smell alcohol, but that
Martin failed field sobriety tests and "was constantly falling asleep
in my vehicle," the trooper wrote.
Martin was arrested on charges of DUI and driving while his license
was suspended or revoked. He was taken to a local jail after refusing
to submit to a urine test.
"Considering I don't drink alcohol or do drugs, I don't know how the
DUI is going to stand," the wrestler said later.
Martin has a long history of traffic violations, including speeding,
seat-belt violations and reckless driving, according to his Florida
driving record.
- Jim Ross recently put into action the entertainer's credo that "the
show must go."
The Hall of Fame announcer experienced health problems during
Wrestlemania week in Orlando, but gutted it out during the company's
busiest weekend.
"While in Orlando I started having colon problems again and began to
lose a great deal of blood," Ross wrote last week on his blog. "But as
the old saying goes, 'the show must go on' and as I was once told, 'a
man can be sick at work just as easily as he can be sick at home,' so
I kept my issues to myself and went about the task of doing my job."
Ross spent the following Friday in the hospital back in his hometown
of Norman, Okla., where three years earlier he had 13" of his large
intestines removed along with a benign tumor from his colon.
"Friday was like a day at the beach compared that ordeal in 2005, as
Friday I underwent a thorough colonoscopy and had 3-4 non-cancerous,
thank God, polyps removed. I dodged another bullet," said Ross.
Ross reported Friday that he was feeling better and planned on flying
to the United Kingdom this weekend for Raw.
- WWE diva Torrie Wilson recently stated on her MySpace that doctors
have warned her against stepping back into the ring.
"My health is doing OK as far as back problems," she wrote. "I must
say there are days that I wake up and ask myself why the heck I put my
body through what I did the last few years, but it's all worth it. I
can never trade all of the awesome experiences that I have had in the
WWE and of course all of the great lifelong friends that I have made
along the way."
The 32-year-old Wilson took time off in November to undergo physical
therapy for a back injury.
"I have been told by two back surgeons that I should never set foot in
a wrestling ring again if I want to be moving around in a few years on
my own. Pretty depressing if you ask me ... I don't even have some
awesome memory of what my last match even was or who it was with."
- Condolences go out to longtime friend, wrestling personality and
Charleston native Steve Prazak, whose grandmother, Catherine Klein,
passed away here Thursday. She was a spry 105 years old.
- The rating for Thursday's TNA Impact dropped to a 1.0 - not a good
sign leading into tonight's Lockdown pay-per-view. Sting's return thus
far has to be viewed as a major disappointment, with three straight
main-event matches drawing poor numbers. Kurt Angle, who meets Samoa
Joe in the main event of Lockdown, told the North Andover (Mass.)
Eagle Tribune last week that Vince McMahon's unwillingness to allow
him to work part-time through an injury led to his decision to join
TNA two years ago.
"I wanted time to really heal my neck," said Angle, who had four
broken vertebrae in 2006. "I went to Vince McMahon, the head of WWE,
and asked for the time off and he basically said, 'No.' That incident
really made me look at my life. That year, I was on the road for 304
days, and my marriage was just falling apart, my wife had filed for
divorce.
"I went back to Vince and asked to go part-time, like some of the
older veterans had done. He said no to part-time, so I was fed up and
told him I wanted to quit, and he got really mad, and I mean really
mad, almost like he wanted to fight me. I took real offense to that.
My life was falling apart, and I felt like they didn't care. My neck
was in tough shape, and they wanted me to keep performing every night.
I felt I deserved to at least go part-time, even though I really
needed the time off." Angle signed with TNA while healing at home.
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| [MEDIA] Philadelphia NBC10 4.13.08 Professor Wrestling: TNA
'Lockdown' Results Evad Seltzer 10:40:48 |
| | http://www.nbc10.com/entertainment/15851236/detail.html
Professor Wrestling: TNA 'Lockdown' Results
Joe, Angle Top Cage Match Card
By Professor Wrestling, The Grappling Scholar
April 13, 2008
Still have that "WrestleMania" hangover? Well, TNA hoped to cure it
this Sunday with a gimmicky pay-per-view called "Lockdown." It was a
show featuring cage matches only, kids. Excited? Or do you think it's
overkill?
That's just one of the questions we're tackling on the Professor
Wrestling podcast this week. Download Episode 72 RIGHT HERE. Cheap
plug out of the way, let's get on with my stellar picks:
Queen Of The Cage Match: Angelia Love vs. Velvet Sky vs. Salinas vs.
Rhaka Khan vs. Traci Brooks vs. Christy Hemme vs. Jacqueline vs. Roxxi
Laveaux
What Should Happen: In this one, the eight contestants brawl outside
the cage. The first two that manage to get in the ring then have a
match. That being said, I'm reasonably certain Christy Hemme and
Jacqueline will be the finalists.
What Will Happen: Hemme will be the cage queen.
What Did Happen: Roxxi Laveaux beat Angelina Love in the cage.
Challenge Match: Awesome Kong and Raisha Saeed vs. Gail Kim and ODB
What Should Happen: Awesome Kong is the women's champ, so it makes
sense that Kim and ODB will get a pin.
What Will Happen: Bank on it: Kim and ODB will win.
What Did Happen: Kim and ODB got the victory.
Challenge Match: Kip James vs. BG James
What Should Happen: The former New Age Outlaws/Voodo Kin Mafia finally
go against each other. BG/Road Dogg is the babyface, Kip/Billy Gunn is
the heel. Kip needs the win the most, so he should go over.
What Will Happen: Kip will get the cage win.
What Did Happen: This one went to good old BG.
Mixed Tag Team Match: Booker T. and Sharmell vs. Robert Roode and
Payton Banks
What Should Happen: Again, Roode and Booker slumming in a garbage
match. Sorry, but I'm just not into this. What should happen? Bathroom
break. Booker deserves better booking.
What Will Happen: I predict Booker T. and his lovely wife, Sharmell,
will prevail in this caged wrestling extravaganza.
What Did Happen: As predicted, Booker and his bride had their hands
raised in victory, as Sharmell pinned Banks.
X-Division Championship Match: Jay Lethal (c) vs. Sonjay Dutt vs.
Curry Man vs. Shark Boy vs. Johnny Devine
What Should Happen: The X-Division is now TNA's comedy dumping ground.
Every performer in this match knows what he's doing, so the match
should be fine. Other than Devine, however, every contestant is a
clown. Curry Man is really weird. Shark Boy has been retooled to ape
Steve Austin. Jay Lethal is the second coming of Randy Savage. I'm
guessing this one will go to Dutt, who is destined to feud with his
pal, Lethal.
What Will Happen: Sonjay Dutt will be victorious.
What Did Happen: Mr. Lethal retained his X-title.
Lethal Lockdown Match: Tomko and A.J. Styles and Team 3D and James
Storm vs. Christian Cage and Sting and Kevin Nash and Rhino and Matt
Morgan
What Should Happen: This should be fun, right? Why shouldn't it?
There's a lot of experience in the ring, guys who have been around
forever and ever. Storm and Morgan stick out like sore thumbs as far
as guys who just don't fit in with the rest, but that's the way it
goes. One of these two will be pinned, probably Morgan.
What Will Happen: The bad guys -- Team Tomko -- will take it.
What Did Happen: The good guys -- Team Cage -- won it, with Rhino
pinning Storm.
TNA Championship Match: Kurt Angle (c) vs. Samoa Joe
What Should Happen: The storyline dictates that Joe has to win or he
has to walk away from TNA. That takes the mystery out of this one.
What Will Happen: Samoa Joe will win the TNA title.
What Did Happen: Samoa Joe pinned Angle cleanly. He's your new TNA
champ.
That'll do it. For the record, I had three right and four wrong for
"Lockdown" -- not exactly perfect, but do you notice how I always nail
the main event match? It's why I get the big money.
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Wednesday, 16 April 2008
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| [MEDIA] Alex Marvez 3.6.08 column Evad Seltzer 03:00:59 |
| | http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/31289
Alex Marvez's weekly look at professional wrestling
Thu, 03/06/2008 - 15:22.
This "Starr" is radiant once again.
Nine months after an ill-fated Total Nonstop Action Wrestling run as
Austin Starr, Austin Aries has returned to prominence for the
Philadelphia-based Ring of Honor promotion. Aries vs. ROH champion
Nigel McGuiness headlines Rising Above, which debuts Thursday night on
select pay-per-view outlets.
"I would have been foolish not to bring him back after his TNA stint,"
ROH matchmaker Gabe Sapolsky said. "He is a great talent. The more you
utilize him, the more he shines."
TNA never discovered how best to promote Aries, whose in-ring ROH work
had caught the promotion's eye. After bouncing around TNA's X
division, he became part of Kevin Nash's "Paparazzi Promotions." Aries
was then involved in an angle involving former World Wrestling
Entertainment champion Bob Backlund.
Aries, though, was often lost in a large pack of talented light-
heavyweight wrestlers. He also butted heads with TNA management, being
suspended twice before leaving.
While having previously criticized the promotion, Austin said he no
longer holds a grudge and only wishes the best for TNA.
"There are a lot of talented guys there who are really ready and
deserve the opportunity (for stardom)," Aries said. "There are so many
things that factor into why things didn't work out for me. Maybe the
timing was not right. I've analyzed it 100 times in my head. It's time
to move on."
Aries has done that in ROH, where he first rose to prominence starting
in April 2004.
"Its always nice to come back to a place where you feel comfortable
and appreciated," said Aries, whose real name is Dan Solwold.
"Everyone is on the same page and working to build something
together."
Austin did his part against McGuiness, drawing praise from Sapolsky as
having "the best match we've ever put on pay-per-view." That's high
praise considering the quality of ROH's offerings since shows began
airing last year.
"Austin is the kind of guy that wants you to put the company on his
back," said Sapolsky, who is considered one of wrestling's brightest
"bookers." "When you do, he more than carries it."
A college baseball player at Winona State University, Aries grew up a
pro wrestling fan but had no intentions of performing until hearing
from a childhood chum who had entered a Minneapolis training school.
Aries enrolled in the same camp, began sleeping on his friend's couch
and ultimately became a wrestler.
"I never really imagined this or having any impact," said Aries, 29.
"I hope someday when fans go back 20 years from now, there might be a
sentence in the Ring of Honor history books talking about me and the
things happening here.
"But so far, I don't think I've had one defining highlight. I keep
trying to make them every time I'm out there."
For more information on Rising Above, visit www.rohvideos.com.
LESNER MME FOE: Former WWE champion Brock Lesnar now knows his next
mixed martial arts challenger. Shortly after naming Marc Coleman to
its Hall of Fame, the Ultimate Fighting Championship announced the
legendary heavyweight would be facing Lesnar in August on pay-per-
view.
Despite losing to Frank Mir in last month's UFC debut, Lesnar has a
bright MMA future. Lesnar was dominating Mir before being caught in a
leg lock.
Lesnar also was reportedly a major pay-per-view draw, most likely
drawing extra buys from curious pro wrestling fans. Lesnar left WWE in
2004 for an unsuccessful attempt at playing in the NFL. He then veered
into MMA fighting, although he does still occasionally "rassle" in
Japan.
LASHLEY, WWE SPLIT: One of the most prominent performers at last
year's Wrestlemania is no longer with WWE.
Bobby Lashley was recently granted his release and could be signing
soon with TNA or an MMA promotion. Lashley was given a heavy WWE push
culminated by his 'Mania involvement in the "feud" between WWE owner
Vince McMahon and billionaire Donald Trump. Lashley's victory over
Umaga allowed Trump to shave McMahon's head.
Lashley, though, failed to click with fans and was then sidelined in
August following shoulder surgery. While exact details behind his
departure remain unclear, Lashley had reportedly taken umbrage to
WWE's firing of real-life girlfriend Kristal Marshall.
(Alex Marvez writes a syndicated pro wrestling column for Scripps-
Howard News Service. Contact him at alex1marv@aol.com.
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| [MEDIA] Alex Marvez 1.3.08 column Evad Seltzer 03:00:51 |
| | http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/29634
Alex Marvez's weekly look at professional wrestling
Thu, 01/03/2008 - 12:21.
As the new year begins, some professional wrestling performers already
have shown signs of standing out from the pack.
Call them Eight who Could be Great in 2008:
-- John Cena: WWE's biggest solo star since Steve Austin's heyday
early this decade, Cena carried the mantle for the promotion
throughout 2007 until suffering a torn pectoral muscle in October.
Cena is now hard at work on the comeback trail and was well enough to
make a guest appearance on WWE's Monday Night Raw holiday special from
Iraq. When he does return later this year, a healthy Cena should have
heated feuds awaiting against Randy Orton, Paul "Triple H" Levesque
and Chris Jericho.
-- Jeff Hardy: Judging by his recent push, WWE seems confident Hardy
has overcome the personal problems that spurred last summer's drug
suspension. Hardy was given a surprise victory over Triple H on last
month's Armageddon pay-per-view show and is set for a WWE title feud
with Orton. Such an opportunity should help Hardy permanently
breakaway from being a middle-of-the-pack WWE performer.
-- Ric Flair: Barring an unexpected change of heart, this is the last
year we will be seeing the "Nature Boy" as a full-time wrestler.
Flair, who turns 59 in February, may be in line for one final WWE
title run while wrapping up his illustrious 36-year career around the
time of Wrestlemania 24 in April. Until then, fans should cherish
seeing the final matches of the greatest all-around performer in
wrestling history.
-- CM Punk: Punk (real name Phil Brooks) enjoyed a banner year in
2007, beginning his ongoing run as Extreme Championship Wrestling
kingpin in September. Punk's next big career step will be finding a
home on one of WWE's two main television shows (Raw or Smackdown).
Until then, Punk is being primed for what should be a quality feud
with the repackaged Shelton Benjamin for the ECW title.
-- John Bradshaw Layfield: The announcing world's loss is Raw's gain.
After being sidelined by what was believed a career-ending back
injury, Layfield has decided to resume grappling and is now feuding
with another recently-returned WWE performer in Jericho. Jonathan
Coachman was announced as JBL's replacement on the Smackdown
announcing team with Michael Cole.
-- Awesome Kong: The women's division has become one of Total Nonstop
Action Wrestling's strengths since its introduction in 2007. Helping
to lead the way is the big-bodied Kong, who is an excellent heel foil
for TNA women's champion Gail Kim. Kong (Kia Stevens) also will
ultimately tangle with ODB (Jessica Kresa), whose rugged character --
a female mix of Austin and the late Reggie "The Crusher" Lisowski -
has earmarks for stardom if pushed properly.
-- Jeremy Borash: Fans of "Mean" Gene Okerlund should love fellow
Minnesotan Borash, whose delivery and facial expressions invoke
memories of that legendary announcer. Borash is an outstanding TNA
pitchman who also wields considerable behind-the-scenes power as a
member of the promotion's match-making committee.
-- Nigel McGuiness: After four years as one of Ring of Honor's top in-
ring technicians, McGuiness is being given a chance to shine as the
promotion's heavyweight champion. McGuiness, though, has to hope the
injury bug that bit him late in 2007 goes away. Already working on a
torn biceps, McGuiness suffered more legitimate damage at last
weekend's taping of the upcoming Rising Above pay-per-view show.
McGuiness botched an out-of-the-ring dive onto Austin Aries and hit
the guard rail, resulting in a concussion, broken nose and 14
stitches.
(Alex Marvez writes a syndicated pro wrestling column for Scripps-
Howard News Service.)
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Friday, 21 March 2008
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| [WWW] Slam 3.17.08 Manager/booker Gary Hart dies Evad Seltzer 03:26:22 |
| | http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2008/03/17/5028281.html
Manager/booker Gary Hart dies
By GREG OLIVER - Producer, SLAM! Wrestling
[Gary Hart in 1989 while with WCW. Photo by Greg Oliver]
In front of the camera, Gary Hart, who died Sunday, was one of the
most vile and hated managers of all time; behind the scenes, he had
one of the greatest minds for professional wrestling.
"He was a slinky bad guy, ruthless," said World Class Championship
Wrestling announcer Bill Mercer. "I think he was the best of all the
managers. With all respect to the others, God, he could slink around
and look like he was always involved in doing something dirty behind
the scenes -- which he did."
Born Gary Williams on January 24, 1942, Hart broke into the business
in Chicago, his hometown, in 1960. Through his competitive swimming,
Hart met Billy Goelz, who was the booking agent for promoter Fred
Kohler in the Chicago area and a wrestle. Goelz helped Hart get a job
at the Marigold Arena, and he used the opportunities in the building
to start early. "So I started when I was only 18 years old, but I had
been trained since I was 15," he said.
Hart never played down his rough edges. "I'm a guy from Chicago, I did
grow up in a rough area and I learned early if somebody's got a brick
you get a board, if they got a board you get a knife, and if somebody
gets you today, you get them tomorrow. That's always been my
mentality," he told The Missing Link (Dewey Robertson) biographer
Meredith Renwick. "I'm a kid from Chicago who worked very hard to make
it in wrestling."
His actual start was as a manager. One night, Angelo Poffo was looking
for someone to be a second to him, as Bronco Lubich had gone to the
Carolinas. "I started as his second. As time went by, he liked me, I
became his tag team partner, then I became his manager."
Hart had made an appearance on Saturday in Allentown, Penn., for a
signing, a story covered by our own Steven Johnson [World Class not a
distant memory].
At the signing, Hart took credit for the legendary Von Erichs versus
Freebirds feud from World Class. "Contrary to what Michael Hayes said,
that was all 'Playboy' Gary Hart. I brought him in, I manipulated him,
I positioned him," said Hart, who ran the office with referee Bronco
Lubich, a 10 percent owner, since Fritz Von Erich spent most of his
time tending to other interests. "They [The Freebirds] were great at
what they did, but that was me. I would have never told you that 10
years ago," Hart said. "What popped Dallas and Texas itself was Kevin,
David, and Kerry. They were the guys that packed arenas."
Other Hart creations? How about changing Virgil Runnels into Dusty
Rhodes, and later baptizing him The American Dream.
In Rhodes-speak in his autobiography, he addressed how Hart was the
ideal adversary. "In 1974 Pak Song Nam and 'Playboy' Gary Hart were
the players who not only had a hand in changing the landscape of
wrestling, but they were the tools used to build the icon,
transforming the interview into the reason to many would attend the
event, and most of all to see the Korean Assassin with his manager
matched against the son of a plumber from Austin, Texas -- 'The
American Dream' Dusty Rhodes. It does not get any simpler than that.
Good versus evil."
Hart had numerous stints as a booker, primarily in Texas, but also in
Florida and Australia. By his own account, he was a booker for 14
years.
It was a job he took seriously. "I was the booking agent and I was the
producer of the TV and I had a responsibility to World Class, and I
had a responsibility to the other wrestlers in the area to make this
thing work," he recalled about returning to World Class around 1987.
A list of wrestlers that Hart managed reads like a who's who of
professional wrestling: Angelo Poffo, George "The Animal" Steele, The
Kangaroos (Al Costello, and Karl von Brauner), Missouri Mauler and
Brute Bernard, The Spoiler (Don Jardine), Mark Lewin, Curtis Iaukea,
the Great Kabuki, the Great Muta, Pak Song, Bob Orton Jr., Dicky
Slater, Buzz Sawyer, Bruiser Brody, Gino Hernandez, Al Perez. In all,
there were probably 25-30 wrestlers. "I usually had a crew of five
guys that I kept with me, that way you could control the town. I
learned from Buddy Rogers that 'he who surrounded himself with the
best talent controlled the town.' It worked like a miracle until
corporate wrestling. When it got into corporate wrestling, they didn't
really care if you drew or not. They would pay you. Therefore, it was
really difficult to get guys to do things that was good for business
rather than just for themselves. My deal was that I always had four or
five guys with me, and we would do what was best for the town and
ourselves. But corporate wrestling kind of f***ed that all up."
He wouldn't commit to just one favourite to manage. "I had a good
rapport with all my guys. I was very selective. I wouldn't take a guy
unless I really got along with him really, really good. I was a
primadonna when it came to guys who I would manage. I can't really
think of anyone, even to this day, that I was with that we weren't
good friends, and still don't have a good rapport with. I didn't have
any of those 'I hate you' type things."
"I looked at myself as a finder and developer of talent," Hart said.
"I was very good as a manager. I don't think there was anyone any
better on the mic, or at the ring. I think I had excellent ideas. But
my forte was, I had the ability to find and develop talent. That was
what I brought to the table more than anything else. I always felt
that you could be excellent at interviews, you could be excellent at
ideas and finishes and the way to present people, but if you didn't
have a good eye for talent, pick the right, you weren't going to be
very successful. I had a hell of an eye for wrestling talent. I more
or less credit that to my success -- finding a developing guys that
really had not had a chance until they got with me, for whatever
reason."
The other famed incident in Hart's life was being on board the plane
that Buddy Colt crashed in the Tampa Bay Gulf, killing Bobby Shane.
"In 1974 I crashed in Tampa Bay in a light aircraft with three other
guys, and I got broke up really bad. I broke my leg, my wrist, my
back, lost the sight in my right eye," he recalled.
Hart retired at the age of 48. "I had had a full cup by the time, in
1990, that I was with WCW. I wasn't really happy with the direction
wrestling was going," he said. "I definitely wasn't happy with the
management at Turner Broadcasting. It was quite easy for me to walk
away."
[Gary Hart, right, honours his former team Rip Hawk (left) and the
late Swede Hanson at a 2007 Hall of Heroes banquet and awards
ceremony.last August at the NWA Wrestling Legends Fanfest in
Charlotte, NC. Courtesy Greg Price]
After leaving the spotlight, Hart retired to Texas, and promoted
independent wrestling shows; "I hated promoting, but it was a way to
make a decent living."
The last few years, Hart was a house-father, raising his son Chad, who
had begun his own career in pro wrestling, in Euless, Tex. He appeared
on various World Class DVDs and at fan conventions.
He had completed work on his autobiography with writer Philip Varriale
of New York. "It's a long process, but I'm really pleased with the
final product. I worked on it for, I'd say, a little over a year,"
Hart said in August 2006.
Hart died Sunday afternoon, leaving behind no regrets. "I was in
wrestling some 30 years. I had a great life. I have no complaints. I'm
not a bitter guy. I enjoyed every moment that I was involved."
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| [MEDIA] Boston Herald 3.11.08 Swaggerin' into the ring Evad Seltzer 03:26:22 |
| | http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/music/general/view.bg?articleid=1079293&srvc=rss
Swaggerin' into the ring
Growlers come to grips with WWE
By Barry Thompson / Music
Tuesday, March 11, 2008 - Updated 9d 3h ago
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WWE finally figured it out: Drinking is practically synonymous with
Boston punk, and pro wrestling isn't as much fun to watch sober.
The behemoth wrestling conglomerate recently tapped local Irish/folk
punkers the Swaggerin' Growlers to record the new entrance theme for
Fit Finlay, a superstar wrestler formerly known as the Belfast Bruiser
(Hear it - and see Finlay strutting to it - on youtube.com).
Four days after receiving a Myspace message from WWE's music
coordinator, and the morning after playing a late-night show in
Portland, Maine, the Growlers zipped into Somerville's Q Division
studios for a 13-hour session.
"I think it was the 11th hour and a nine-ounce flask of whiskey later,
and we had a vocal track. I did some of my finest growling," said
singer and acoustic guitar player Jonny Swagger in the Brookline
apartment he and several band members share.
While the unsigned Growlers, who play at Great Scott in Allston on
Thursday, are psyched for continuous national TV exposure, they've
also thought about the broader implications of their brush with the
mainstream.
"(Social networking) technology enabled somebody like WWE to find
independent artists to help them produce something wonderful," said
Swagger. "Kind of blows the old paradigm out of the water. If we were
on a label, things would have been held up in lawyers and red tape.
The lower you go down the food chain, the more freedom you have."
WWE composer James A. Johnston conceptualized the song, so the
Growlers were paid as work-for-hire musicians and don't expect
additional royalties. In other words, they're still not rich.
Nonetheless, if DIY purists consider performing music for wrestlers as
selling out, they're missing the big picture.
"Conservatively estimated, you've got a couple million kids out there
watching wrestling, who might be living out in backwater/anywhere,
USA," mused Growlers' drummer Chestnut P. Growler, who also plays
guitar and sings. "They may not be exposed to stuff we're exposed to
here, like the punk scene. They might pick up our album and, all of a
sudden, hear songs about labor unions, being drunk before noon and
sticking it to The Man. "
Entirely likely. The band's first CD, "The Bottle and the Bow," is a
rambunctious testimonial of poverty, boozin' and defiance. Swagger
contends the pending follow-up will confound anyone pigeonholing the
Growlers as archetypal Irish-punk, which is no reason not to utilize
their musical lineage to its fullest. The Growlers made their debut as
a band on St. Patrick's Day three years ago. This year they'll mark
the holiday by playing the WFNX-FM Irish Breakfast in their acoustic
incarnation, Saint Poitin; then the full band treks to Portland for
another set.
Whether providing the soundtrack for choreographed donnybrooks or
unrehearsed shenanigans, the Growlers take unapologetic satisfaction
in their frequent involvement in the fun kinds of trouble.
"We're uppity bastards," said Swagger, "and we're proud of it."
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| [MEDIA] Charleston Post And Courier 2.17.08 Austin: Flair Not Getting
Proper Sendoff Evad Seltzer 03:26:22 |
| | http://www.mikemooneyham.com/
Austin: Flair Not Getting Proper Sendoff
By Mike Mooneyham
Feb.17, 2008
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin, who pitched a Rocky-like storyline for Ric
Flair's final year with WWE, said last week that he hasn't been
pleased with the angle thus far.
Austin laid out an elaborate scenario for Flair's last major run with
the company following last year's Wrestlemania, but a revised, watered-
down angle didn't take root until late November when WWE owner Vince
McMahon announced that Flair would have to retire the next time he
lost.
Plans for the original storyline called for Flair to either win the
title for a 17th and final time before retiring, or lose in an
emotional, competitive match for the gold at Wrestlemania 24 in late
March. Flair, however, doesn't appear to be in the title hunt at this
year's big show, and his most likely opponent for his final match
appears to be Shawn Michaels.
Austin admitted he hasn't been watching the product that closely, but
added that he didn't think Flair was getting the kind of sendoff and
storybook ending to his career that he deserved.
"We're talking about 'Nature Boy' Ric Flair. He's my favorite pro
wrestler ever in the history of the business. I know he took a little
bit of a break and they brought him back. But I don't think they green-
lighted that thing near enough or made it as important as it could be
and as it should be."
Austin, who enjoyed the most lucrative run in pro wrestling history
during the late '90s, said Flair is the greatest performer - bar none
- the industry has ever produced.
"Ric Flair is the most legitimate pro wrestler there ever was. He was
the greatest traveling world champion of all time," said Austin. "With
all the exposes that pro wrestling was supposed to be fake and it
turned into sports entertainment (in the mid-'80s), Ric Flair had the
ability to go out there with an opponent of any talent level and have
five-star matches. Whatever you thought about pro wrestling, when you
saw Ric Flair, you knew that was the man in this sport. You had (Hulk)
Hogan, who got hot in the '80s and was kind of the show-bizzy type,
but Ric Flair was the real deal in the world of entertainment, which
everything is these days. Flair was the man. He still is."
Austin, who said he "never would have thought in a million years" his
career would have turned out the way it did, said there were several
names he would have liked to wrestle, but never had the opportunity,
including Randy Savage, Andre The Giant, Harley Race, Jack Brisco and
Dusty Rhodes. There's nothing at this point, he said, that would draw
him back into active competition.
"If I really needed the money, I'd probably go back," he said. "But
I've always been very, very conservative about money, and I've
invested wisely. I love the business and I'll always love the
business, but I don't miss it anymore. I have fond memories when I
think about all that stuff, but I've been out long enough to know that
life goes on and that life doesn't revolve around professional
wrestling."
It's uncertain, Austin says, whether he'll have a role at this year's
Wrestlemania.
"I got a pitch thrown at me that I wasn't real keen on and turned it
down. I'd like to think that I'll be at Wrestlemania. Obviously I'm
not going there to wrestle, but I would like to go to the Hall of Fame
to see the new guys coming in. I think they've got a full card. It's
not my desire to get back in the ring at this point in my life. I've
got great memories of everything I did. I had a great career, but it's
time for those guys and girls to have the spotlight."
Austin, whose three-disc "Legacy of Stone Cold Steve Austin" DVD
collection was released last week, said he gives thanks every time he
hears the glass breaking, the explosion of the crowd and fans coming
out of their seats. He's not able to deliver the way he used to, he
admits, and that disappoints him. A serious neck injury led to his
eventual ring departure several years ago.
"I just wish that when I out went I could give the people more. But I
can't," said the 43-year-old Austin. "I've worked my (behind) off for
it, but I appreciate it more than anybody in the world. Without those
people, I would have never had the career or the lifestyle I have.
It's truly appreciated by me."
Regarding his health, he said, "I feel real good right now. I have an
active life, hunting and fishing. I'm making movies. Physically, I
feel fine, and my past injuries don't effect me filming movies. I can
do what I need to do in the movies, and it doesn't hold me back at
all."
Few moments in pro wrestling were more electric than the ones where
Austin would come out to the sound of shattered glass filling the
arena. Austin said he took a more traditional approach to his pre-
match routine and prior to stepping through the curtain.
Nowadays, he says, it's more like a bodybuilding show backstage where
wrestlers do pushups, calisthenics and pump up their muscles. It was
in stark contrast to how veterans such as Jake Roberts prepared.
"Jake 'The Snake' Roberts, with that snake bag slumped over his
shoulder, smoking a cigarette. They'd hit his music, and he'd kind of
stamp out his cigarette on the concrete floor with his boot, and walk
out to the ring. And that was Jake 'The Snake' Roberts."
"'Stone Cold' Steve Austin is just sitting back there with a bottle of
water," Austin says of his pre-bout routine. "I'll pour it on me just
to make my skin is wet because my skin is very ashy, and if I don't
use the water, I'll look like hell on TV. I don't use oil because it
makes you too slippery in the ring and I didn't like the way it felt.
But when that glass broke, 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin was turned on and
all of a sudden I was already to go ... You might be having the worst
day of your life, but when that glass breaks, you're 'Stone Cold'
Steve Austin, and there's a job to do, and that's what you go do."
Austin said he sees too many wrestlers today with roles and gimmicks
not suited to them.
"Don't pretend to be anything that you're not. You've got be who you
are," he advises them. "When I was Stunning Steve Austin and I wasn't
a star, I was comfortable being that guy. There wasn't enough there
for people to really identify with, although there was with me and
Brian (Pillman) as The Hollywood Blonds. When I turned into Stone Cold
Steve Austin and kind of just let it all hang out ... certainly that's
just a part of me, but I'm extremely quiet in my normal, everyday
life, and that's just me turned up to volume 10.
"I see so many guys and girls out there these days trying to be
somebody they're truly not. And if they're cutting a promo that's
unfortunately been written for them and they don't believe it, they
can say it a million times, but I can look in their eyes and listen to
their delivery, and I can see it's not coming from their gut and their
heart, and it's not even coming from their brain."
One WWE performer in particular, Ken "Mr." Kennedy, has tons of
potential, says Austin. He says he first spotted him working a match
with Batista and personally called him to tell him he liked the bout.
The two became friends over time, and Austin occasionally gives
Kennedy pointers and advice. Austin says Kennedy could become a big
star if WWE allows him to be.
"I think there are too many voices, too many people in his head up at
WWE," said Austin. "They need to stand back and let him do exactly
what he wants to do, and kind of go back to that OVW style. ... He's
going to be a big star if they just let him be a big star and stop
messing with him."
Austin said he has no problem with Shark Boy's parody of him in TNA.
"It doesn't anger me. If a guy's able to make a living doing a 'Stone
Cold' Steve Austin impersonation or a rip-off or spoof, or whether
he's doing to make fun of me or whatever, I could care less .. If that
guy can make a paycheck acting like 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, more
power to him."
- Several former WWE stars are taking advantage of the company's offer
to pay for drug and/or alcohol rehabilitation for any former WWE
performers who need the service. Jake Roberts, Scott Hall and Ron
Simmons are currently in the same rehabilitation clinic in Atlanta.
Roberts posted in a blog last week that he was a "dead man walking"
and Vince McMahon saved his life.
"Still breathing, heart still beating, but my soul was dead and gone.
So thank all of you, my friends, my family, my fans, especially Vince
McMahon. Thank you for tossing me that life preserver. Yes, Vince you
threw me a life preserver, and I grabbed hold of it."
- Stephanie McMahon, daughter of WWE chairman Vince McMahon and wife
of WWE star Triple H, is expecting the couple's second child this
summer.
- A potentially damaging article for Linda Bollea, estranged wife of
Hulk Hogan (Terry Bollea), is scheduled to be published in the
National Enquirer. Her divorce attorney told his client that he
believes her husband is behind the article and that he is set on
portraying her in a bad light. He also said the reporter has a close
relationship with the wrestler.
The tabloid piece, according to BuddyTV, will discuss Linda Bollea's
"erratic behavior, her drinking habits and verbally abusive language
directed at both her husband and her children."
- Toy maker Jakks Pacific Inc. has signed a five-year licensing deal
with TNA to make toys based on TNA wrestling characters. Jakks, which
has a licensing pact with WWE expiring in 2009, said it's planning to
roll out its TNA Wrestling products in 2010.
Mattel Inc., meanwhile, announced last week it had reached a five-year
licensing deal with WWE starting in 2010.
- Lex Luger (Larry Pfohl) is currently recovering at a spinal
rehabilitation center in Marietta, Ga. Luger, who suffered a spinal
stroke and collapsed in a hotel room Oct. 19 while in San Francisco
for a wrestling convention, was paralyzed in both arms and both legs,
but has regained some movement and feeling in recent weeks.
Nikita Koloff, who traveled with Luger on a Christian cruise last
June, said in a wrestling-radio.com interview that he has made two
visits to Luger since the health scare. Luger is able to move his legs
and torso, but he remains in a wheelchair.
- The end of Ric Flair's illustrious in-ring career is drawing closer
and closer. Have a personal experience with the Nature Boy that you'd
like to share? I'll be publishing some of the best in a future column.
E-mail your favorite Flair memories to mooneyham@postandcourier.com.
Don't forget to list your city.
- George's Sports Bar, 1300 Savannah Highway, will air the No Way Out
pay-per-view at 8 p.m. tonight. Cover charge is $7.
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| [MEDIA] Charleston Post And Courier 2.16.08 Carolinas Legend Johnny
Weaver Dies Evad Seltzer 03:26:22 |
| | http://www.mikemooneyham.com/
Carolinas Legend Johnny Weaver Dies
By Mike Mooneyham
Feb. 16, 2008
Johnny Weaver, one of the most popular professional wrestlers to ever
appear in the Carolinas, died of natural causes Friday at his home in
Charlotte at the age of 72.
Weaver was the top babyface (good guy) for the Charlotte-based
Crockett Promotions throughout the '60s and early '70s and teamed for
much of that time as a headline act with partner George Becker. The
two held the regional tag-team titles on several occasions. Weaver
also held a slew of singles titles during his lengthy ring career. He
won his first title, the NWA Southern tag-team belts, with partner
Cowboy Bob Ellis in 1963.
Known as "the dean of professional wrestling," Weaver wore many hats
during his career, including wrestler, broadcaster, booker and mentor.
Born in East St. Louis, Ill., Weaver began his pro career in 1957 and
teamed with the late Sonny Myers as the Weaver Brothers. He came to
Charlotte in 1962 to work for promoter Jim Crockett Sr., and had lived
there ever since.
Weaver, whose effective sleeper hold became known as the "Weaverlock,"
was formerly married to women's wrestling star Penny Banner, and the
couple had one daughter, Wendi.
"The business has lost one of the greats," former pro wrestling star
Blackjack Mulligan (Bob Windham) said Friday night. "He was a master
at this business. He ran the territory for 30 years for Crockett. He's
going to be missed greatly."
Mulligan said he had recently told son Barry (Windham), now a producer
with WWE, that Weaver would be a great asset for any wrestling
company.
"He was the greatest finish man there ever was. This is a great loss,
and there's going to be a big gap in this business."
Weaver had planned on retiring from the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's
Department, where he had worked as a deputy sheriff since the end of
his in-ring wrestling career, in October.
"I'm counting down the days," Weaver said in an interview two weeks
ago.
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