Mecca

Masters isn't gonna say shit, since being released he's said nothing but nice things. He knows he has a chance of being hired back due to his body and his age.

With that Sabin Shelley story, it's actually Shelley who is the one that refused to blade Sabin went with the flow and went along with him he isn't totally against it. Shelley has said that he will never ever blade in the past. Sabin is catching heat because of Shelley right now.....one thing I was reading said Shelley likes to bitch and grumble thinking he should be a star now and one of the TNA sources said "he like to grumble awfully loud for a guy that hasn't done much"

According to Meltz they think Mysterio has a torn bicep and will require surgery which would put him out for about 6 months.

The family of Nancy Benoit filed suit against Hustler Magazine in regards to the nude photos of Nancy that appeared in this month's issue. The photos were taken in 1983 when Nancy was thinking of breaking into nude modeling. Her and her husband had the photos taken by Mark Samansky, and after the shoot she decided this wasn't something she wanted to do and asked for the pictures to be destroyed. Apparently Samansky destroyed the photos but did not destroy the video tape. I believe two copies existed, one of which was shown to folks in wrestling in Florida for years. Her husband, Jim Daus, also stated in the filing that he never gave permission to anyone to use the photos or videotape in any way. Hustler cited freedom of the press and the court shot down the idea of a temporary restraining order, noting that the magazine had already been published and the photos were out there. The Toffolini family (Nancy) stated that they were concerned that the release of the photos could in some way impact their attempts to file a wrongful death lawsuit. So there you go, it's going to happen. "Among other legal matters," the suit reads, "Plaintiff intends to file a wrongful death action in this Court on behalf of the Estate of Nancy Benoit concerning the murders of Nancy Benoit and her minor child Daniel Benoit . If the photographs are published, Plaintiff will be immediately and irreparably harmed because the photographs may be seen by, and unfairly influence, the potential venire for the wrongful death case". Rory McAllister had a good and bad week. His girlfriend Gina gave birth to Ian McAllister on February 4th. Then Rory tore his pec completely off the bone and will be out WWE put the entire Wellness Policy up on its website this week for the first time ever. It was horribly inaccessible for a long time, though thankfully I had it saved for when the Benoit thing went down. They also listed all of the amendments since June of 2006. Amendment one added the non-medical use of muscle relaxers, including somas, and sleep aids to the banned substances list. Of course, getting prescribed somas and such as a wrestler is a piece of cake. The second, third and fourth amendments were awesome. All in some way regarded the penalties for failed tests. In February of 2006 the penalties were as follows. First offense was a 30 day suspension without pay. You're done, go home, no pay, 30 days. Second offense was 60 days. You're done, go home, no pay, 60 days, plus if you're in need of rehab you get sent there and aren't paid a thing until you can return. Third offense, fired. Pretty hard-ass. So the first amendment came in August 2006. The changed it so on the first or second offense, you still could work PPVs and TV but apparently without pay. This was due to having to pull both Bobby Lashley (ELEVATED LIVER ENZYMES~!) and Great Khali (diseased liver) off the prior month's PPV, which screwed everything up (Khali was supposed to be in a major Punjabi Prison match with Taker and had to be replaced by Big Show). Now, a person could fail and nobody would ever have to know about it because they wouldn't be pulled from any events. Third amendment was in May of last year. This time they changed it so on the first or second offense you were fined your downside guarantee for 30 days and had to work TV for free, but you got your PPV payoff and bonus plus $200 per house show. Hell of a suspension right there. They also added that you could only get your downside taken away for 60 days max, even if you were rehab for, say, six months. Fourth amendment was last August. They added anti-estrogens to the banned substances list. They decided to test for alcohol only on the basis of reasonable cause (showing up to Raw drunk, like that happens very often). No major changes to the penalties except they added that they don't apply to marijuana, and that a marijuana failure was simply a $1,000 fine. They didn't say how often they would test for pot, but we had heard once per year. WWE in Guatemala City, Guatemala on February 9th before a sellout 7,200 saw Kofi Kingston beat Shelton Benjamin in what was called one of the best matches of the night; Kelly & Michelle beat Victoria & Layla in a match with apparently a screwed-up finish; Mark Henry beat Jamie Noble with the bear hug. Henry appeared to be replacing Chuck Palumbo; MVP beat Kane to retain the US Title in Guatemala. MVP cut a promo prior to the match in perfect Spanish, but to get heat he started with, "Hello Guadalajara!" Fans were unhappy with the lack of pyro and such for Kane and others on this show; Batista & Finlay beat Rated Rmy. They had the same match all up and down the tour; Chavo Guerrero beat CM Punk to retain the ECW Title. Best match on the show, and they're also doing the same thing on all the shows; Undertaker beat Big Daddy V. Not the best match on the show. I got a report claiming Undertaker gave V the tombstone ("el martinete", which in Mexico is a tombstone piledriver), though I find that impossible to believe; and Edge beat Rey Jr. after clonking Rey with the belt behind the ref's back. That's the low-blow finish in America and now they've taken it south of the border. Batista made the save for Rey afterwards. WWE in Guadalajara on the 10th before 12,000 was basically the same show with the exception of Undertaker & Kane teaming up to beat V and MVP. Teddy Long came out at the beginning of the show and said that Raw would be back in May. Fans were surprised that this show started on time since AAA shows usually start about a half hour late. People were also noting that there was more spectacle than wrestling on the shows. Well, yeah. The May tour is tentatively the 21st in Monterrey, the 22nd at Queretaro at the bull ring, and the 23rd and 24th at Palacio de Los Deportes in Mexico City. Latest in the Linda/Hulk divorce trial is her claim that the National Enquirer is set to publish a story very critical of her with allegations of heavy drinking and erratic behavior, and it is her belief that her husband is the man behind it all. They claim that Hogan is very close to the guy working on the story, and that Hulk referred to him as "my guy in the tabloids" and carries around a business card with the dude's name on it. Linda's side feels the article will be unfair and biased. Seriously, in the Enquirer. Is nothing sacred? They claim that at one point Linda, out of personal concern apparently that what her husband was saying was true, checked into the Betty Ford Clinic, but was then found to be without issues and sent home after a week. "It is a shame her husband and his lawyer think they can use the same forceful tactics in the legal arena that he uses in the entertainment arena, but Mrs. Bollea will not play that game," her lawyer said. So yes, this one is going to get even more messy. Hunter's brother-in-law Gordon Oullette (married to HHH's sister Lynn) passed away last Monday which is why Hunter missed the last two Raws (both were taped the same night Funaki may have suffered a broken nose at a house show last week and needed stitches. Some lady from American Gladiators called OVW and wanted to know about guys, and they recommended Anthony Bravado. She said he was too short (same thing they said about Matt Cross/M-Dogg 20), so they gave her a bunch of other names and she said she would call them back. It wasn't specified whether they were looking for contestants or Gladiators, though I'd guess the latter. The HHH DVD comes out on March 25th, right in time for WrestleMania. There was an article by Rob Lefebvre last week that said many people claimed to have seen the ghost of Owen Hart at Kemper Arena, where he fell to his death during a live Over the Edge PPV when a stunt went awry on May 23, 1999. "In the years since his death," Lefebvre wrote, "there have been multiple reports of sightings of (the ghost of) Owen Hart. Employees have claimed to have seen him in the rafters wearing the costume he was wearing for his gimmick as well as the cable before he began the descent. There have also been reports of flickering lights and other power sources that seem to go on and off in some areas of the arena. Owen Hart's death was an absolute tragedy for the wrestling world. For someone to lie about seeing the ghost of a person like Owen Hart would take a lot of nerve. However, it would not be the first time someone has. If he is haunting the Kemper Arena, it would make sense for him to be in the rafters, constantly reliving the events that led to his unfortunate demise. However, it would not make sense as it was known amongst the workers of WWF that he was afraid of heights, and had only done such a stunt very few times. The flickering lights and power losses could also be caused by faulty wiring or failing bulbs. But it is said that ghosts need energy to manifest and that they gather it from batteries and other appliances, so it could be Owen taking energy from the lights and outlets". Taryn Terrell of the Diva Search was signed this week. She'll be heading to Florida credit:F4W Newsletter

Actually the story that goes with that is that Vince didn't know who they hell they were so he nixed the idea. Then later on that was why they asked for so much money to use Enter Sandman it was their way of saying "fuck Vince"

We can never have to many guys that lactate milk from their man titties.

Taker dictates that she gets so much TV time every week, banging him has it's advantages.

I think when they say no one watched the other shows they're talking about all the women oriented ones they try to sell as top shows like Gossip Girl or America's Next Top Model.

I actually watched Reaper too, I thought that was the only decent show on that station.

Mediaweek has a report this afternoon adding more details to the split between WWE and the CW Network that was announced last night. Smackdown will no longer air on the CW after September 12, 2008, which coincides with the end of the fall network TV season. The report includes information from insiders at CW, with their general belief that WWE's ratings in the key adult 18-49 demographic were slowing. WWE's product, especially Smackdown, has been strongly marketed toward kids recently, which has led to lower adult demographic ratings. From Mediaweek's report: "The CW insiders said the network was not exactly excited about renewing, since the Smackdown adult 18-34 rating this season had decreased to a 1.4, which made it only the seventh highest-rated show on the network in prime time." CW also feels that Smackdown, despite its strong overall ratings, isn't a good fit on the CW, as viewers tune in for Smackdown, but don't watch any other programming. The report quoted one CW insider: "No one who watched Smackdown watched any of our other shows on any other night." The lack of crossover viewership for other TV shows on the CW hurt the network financially, as they couldn't package commercial timeslots to advertisers with "other CW female-skewing shows." The report quotes a CW insider, who says, "I think we just knew it was time to move in another direction."

Dood! It doesn't have any big stars on it, it sucks! That seems to be a pretty prevailing attitude people have about Smackdown.

Article on the split from Variety.com Quote: The CW is getting out of the ring, parting ways with the WWE's "Smackdown" franchise after failing to reach a new deal with the wrestling org. WWE announced the split late Thursday night, saying it had been "in negotiations" with other nets since last week. CW's exclusive negotiating frame with WWE ended Jan. 31. "Smackdown" will end its run at the end of the 2007-08 season. There was no immediate word on where "Smackdown" might land, but cabler USA might be a logical home. It already has a relationship with the WWE. NBC has also aired some primetime grappling, but a weekly franchise-- even in the era of "American Gladiators"-- would be off- brand for the network, one net insider said. News Corp.'s MyNetwork TV might also make sense, though the lack of an announced deal would suggest that such a pact isn't a slam dunk. "After a successful decade of 'Smackdown' on both UPN and the CW, World Wrestling Entertainment and the CW have agreed to conclude our partnership," WWE said in a statement explaining the move. Org did not give a reason for the decision. CW put out a similar press release that offered no further explanation. With the WWE and CW unable to come to a quick agreement, it's believed CW execs had begun telling its stations that a deal might not make, people familiar with the situation said. Rather than wait for rumors to begin leaking out, WWE apparently opted to get the news out first. CW (and previously UPN) execs had mixed feelings about the WWE franchise. "Smackdown" consistently delieved solid ratings for the network and its UPN predecessor since 1999, giving the net a pulse on weak nights such as Friday. "Smackdown" also filled two hours of programming, allowing CW to focus on fewer nights. On the other hand, wrestling didn't always fit in with the femme focus the CW has tried to cultivate via hits such as "Gossip Girl" and "America's Next Top Model." It's believed CW execs were open to the idea of keeping "Smackdown" on their air, but only at the right price. Since that price wasn't available, CW execs seemed to have decided to bite the bullet and move on without wrestling. Still, given the CW's difficulties generating big ratings with scripted shows, losing "Smackdown" will present problems for the young net. WWE was careful to word its statement without any sharp comments, even going so far as to praise CBS Corp. supremo Leslie Moonves and CW chief Dawn Ostroff. A CW rep couldn't immediately be reached for comment. And if they end up back on Thursday TNA is fucked hard.

Raven is finished here and will be opening up a wrestling school. Well, maybe. He's actually asking around on his website to see if anyone would actually be interested in it. Angle did a wacky interview on the Rise Guys radio show in Greenville, SC, saying he expected Bobby Lashley to be the next guy to come to TNA (maybe, maybe not, I would bet against it for now but who knows?), that he would beat Brock's ass because Brock was a mental midget (he was chiding him here and probably trying to build up a pro-wrestling match in Japan perhaps as well), and that he and John Cena were the two hardest workers that WWE had when he was there. Global Impact DVD features all the TNA matches from the Tokyo Dome and will feature commentary in both English and Japanese. They also have a bunch of touring Japan vignettes, etc TNA is running March 12th through 14th in Aiken, SC, Salem, VA and Pikeville, KY. Shelley Martinez shot a porn flick that is coming out on February 11th, alongside Jewel De'Nyle. Apparently TNA is well aware of this and there isn't any heat. There was heat on her a couple weeks back for skipping some house shows to do autograph signings at a porn convention. credit:F4W Newsletter I've seen a clip of the Shelly movie if anyone's interested I'll post the link.

I don't know if this is the HHH family emergency, but I'm told Steph is pregnant again and due to pop in July. Spring cleaning started in developmental with a bunch of dudes axed, including G-Rilla, Ace Steele, Cassidy Riley, Roadkill, Shawn Osbourne and Robert Anthony. G-Rilla, real name George Murdoch, was actually a bouncer in LA at a nightclub that Tommy Dreamer went to over the WrestleMania XXI weekend. He never watched wrestling and wasn't a fan but was convinced to give it a shot since he had an interesting look (four hundred pounds of blubber at 6'9"). Dreamer was after him for months before he signed. He had no wrestling experience and never really picked up the in-ring. Riley was formerly of TNA and jumped ship after Dusty Rhodes pushed hard for him (they'd worked together in TNA and Dusty liked him, thinking he looked like Dick Slater). They did a brothers gimmick in OVW with him and KC James, but Stephanie hated it and had it nixed (maybe it's a new deal similar to how Vince (who has a fake bastard kid in storyline) got pissed because the Rated Rmy were being pushed as brothers even though they weren't related). Dusty used to have enough power to save a guy like this, so who knows what that means for him politically these days. Former creative team member Court Bauer had been pushing for Ace to be hired for a long time and finally got him the gig doing the Trump angle on Raw last year. He won everyone over and was given a developmental deal, but once Bauer was gone I suspect that was the end of Ace's chances for a push. There was an idea for last summer where he and Colt Cabana (who Ace trained, along with CM Punk) would be brought up to basically play what is now the Rated Rmy, with Steele being more serious and Cabana being more goofy. Never happened. Roadkill was said to be on the chopping block for a long time. John Lauranitis was his biggest proponent and put him over huge to Vince, saying he could be a great One Man Gang-level heel, plus he could talk. No one has any idea where he determined that since Roadkill had largely done one-word promos his entire career. Vince saw pictures of him and thought he looked great, but then came up with an idea for a 70s-style Polish-American heel from Milwaukee, plus made his shave off his trademark beard. Roadkill did what he could to make it work but it just wasn't him. And then came the day where Vince met this man he'd heard so much about, and discovered he was only about 5'9". When Vince looks down on you physically, that's usually a bad sign for your career unless you're super talented. They still gave him some dark matches and not much came of it, and soon he was history. Osbourne was also on the bubble for a long time. The agents all didn't like him and buried his work, saying he had "bush league indy-level skills" and no potential to break out. Creative also didn't like him. So he was doomed. No idea what happened with Robert Anthony. We're told that the company is looking to acquire more young guys from Europe and South America, so it was probably a combo of too many guys and needing to make room for more. There have been rumors in this direction for years, but I can tell you that there are people pushing for WWE to sever ties with OVW. Does not in any way mean it's happening or close to happening, but it might be something to follow once WrestleMania is over. Bobby Lashley was officially released on Monday and actually got a best of luck in his future endeavors notification. No word on his future yet. Torrie and boyfriend Nick Mitchell, formerly of the Spirit Squad, have opened up a clothing store called Jaded near her home in The Woodlands, TX (she was living in Florida but Mitchell lives in The Woodlands and she fell in love with the place). Always good to see people looking out for their future after wrestling. "We have really cool men's and women's clothes," Torrie, who is out with a back injury, told her local paper. "The Woodlands needed a store with our kind of clothes. We have jackets and shirts and belts and even ladies' sleepwear. I love fashion, and I pick out everything we sell. It's a lot of fun to be here, and I am in the store almost all the time. This store is my baby, my project. I don't know how we came up with the name Jaded. I swear, my partner and I had 200 names. Jaded just popped in our heads, and we agreed — and we couldn't agree on anything else. So we knew that was the name." Hey, if I'd been in wrestling as long as her I'd have come up with that name as well. She talked about all the weird stuff she'd done in wrestling including kissing Vince McMahon on TV on her first night in (with Linda in the background goading her on, which I guess would be the weirdest part of all). On her injury, she said: "I'm on leave from the WWE. My back has some degenerated disks, which are bulging and very painful. I just got a shot with a big, long needle. It's supposed to block the nerves". Phil Muchnick is nothing if not consistent, this week burying NBC for promoting American Gladiators, where "some, not all, of the 2008 American Gladiators appear far too unnaturally muscled to be believed." He added: "NBC knows what it's doing. The revived 'American Gladiators' is designed to attract a young male audience, and freakishly enlarged physiques have long been used as young male bait. That's why ESPN Classic airs the old shows on Saturday mornings. If NBC is so drug muscle-sensitive, why was anabolic kiddie hero Hulk Hogan chosen as a co-host? Why did NBC's first promos for the show literally focus on the suspiciously extraordinary muscles of even female Gladiators? NBC's claim that its Gladiators are drug-tested doesn't mean a thing to those who, with just one look, know what exceeds the extreme limits of natural physiology". The next meeting of the Georgia State Athletic and Entertainment Commission discussing proposed pro-wrestling rule changes in the state takes place February 12th. Indy promoters are banding together to try to get the regulations squashed (which include absurd and antiquated pro-wrestling rules that we've discussed here in the past). "We were very entertained by some of the rules, disturbed by others, and decided we have to take this seriously," said Bill Behrens. "We weren't fighting being somewhat regulated. We recognize their laws that allow regulation. We were objecting regulation that went above the word of the law." He said the regulations, including an ambulance being on hand for events, would mean that it would cost local promoters "at least $1,000" to run a show. It could be argued that if you can't afford to run a show for $1,000 why are you running a show? One of the big supposed hold-ups would be the new requirement to have an ambulance on hand. As we've noted before, having an ambulance on hand is required up here in Washington and it seems promoters always found a way to work around it, even if that included trying to make a deal with a local hospital or having a friend who worked there. This is pro-wrestling, and like anything in the entertainment business it's about trying to make things work. (A film director once said that making a movie was a series of compromises.) Also, there is a deal that says promotions making more than $25 million per year are exempt -- in other words, WWE. The Commission is trying to get that axed. WWE said if they do, they're no longer running Georgia. Big Show was down visiting Florida Championship Wrestling last week. In a correction from last week, Raw in the UK actually starts at 2:00 AM, not 1:00 AM. Hogan is claiming that Hogan Knows Best is done but Brooke will be getting her own show on VH-1. Apparently he's a program director now. VH-1 refused to confirm or deny the reports, only saying they enjoyed working with the Hulkster and his family. Speaking of Linda, sucks to be her. She has twice asked for the judge in the Hogan divorce trial to freeze Hulk's assets, and twice she has been told no, and that she has to wait until a hearing on February 28th where they will make their decision. Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge George Greer told her that he didn't consider this whole thing an emergency and that Linda could wait. She's concerned that Hulk is going to dip into cash made on the $17 million sale of one of their homes. She is also asking for temporary custody of Nick, still 17. Brooke is 19 and free to do whatever she wants, which usually involves shopping Alycia Lane, a former Philly news anchor, has reportedly been offered a job by WWE. She was fired for assaulting a female police officer last December in New York, and there was also an incident where she sent Rich Eisen of the NFL Network cell phone pictures of herself and all her friends in bikinis, which he then showed to his wife. She's also hot, so she's a shoe-in to get the job. credit:F4W Newsletter

Credit: Pro Wrestling Insider Quote: World Wrestling Entertainment signed 2007 Diva Search contestant Taryn Terrell, a New Orleans native, this week. After the Diva Search ended last year, Terrell had a one week training tryout down in WWE developmental. She's made a number of Playboy appearances in the past. For those of you who may not recall her offhand, you can check out pictures at this link... http://www.wwe.com/divasearch/contestants/tarynterrell/

Source: PWInsider.com Add former ROH star Ace Steele to the list of those fired from WWE's developmental territory today. WWE has released the following developmental wrestlers: - George "G-Rilla" Murdoch - Antoni Polaski a.k.a. "ECW Original" Amish Roadkill - "Badseed" Shawn Osborne (Shawn McGrath) - Robert Anthony - Cassidy Riley - Ace Steele So that's 2 more....bye Ace. There is a ton of fear amongst WWE developmental talents that there will be more releases today. Everyone knew that releases were coming because it is that time of year and WWE had everyone film a video, giving their background and how long that they have been in the system. No one in the system believes that yesterday was it for the cuts. This is also a little late given Lashley has been released now but I figure it's worth the post.. Bobby Lashley has been sent a release by WWE but has yet to sign it. A number of people are still expecting him to wind up back with WWE due to the lengthy non-compete clause that would come into effect. WWE is also hopeful of negotiating another release clause that would prevent him from discussing his departure in public or disparaging the company. John Laurinaitis has been getting some heat over the Lashley situation, which comes after many other top wrestlers have left the company in a negative manner, with many people noting that Jim Ross never had such problems when he was managing talent relations. Michael Hayes' name has also been mentioned as a major factor in Lashley's unhappiness, which is perhaps in relation to supposed 'racial overtones' of the planned angle for Lashley's girlfriend, Kristal Marshall, which would have seen her and Edge become an on-screen couple. Whilst numerous people doubt it would have been an issue, there are still a number of old-school people with old-fashioned opinions about 'mixed race' couples and the way they are portrayed. Lashley was also feeling the fatigue of the busy travel schedule, to the extent that he was becoming a difficult person for public relations to handle. He was also unhappy about his WrestleMania 23 pay-off of $250,000, feeling that as the winner of the biggest-drawing match in WrestleMania history he was entitled to more. According to Dave Meltzer, Lashley earned around $1,000,000 in 2007 alone even without selling a lot of merchandise. Additionally, Lashley was good friends with Booker T, who of course became so frustrated with WWE for various reasons, some of which also reportedly involve Michael Hayes, that he quit last summer. wrestling observer newsletter Lashley sounds like a real mature guy...

Apparently Derrick Thomas can't get in the HOF.

From Meltzer's newsletter preview for this weekend... Quote: Plus we have notes on one of WWE's all-time most heavily pushed flops, who has been gone for years, and is now in talks about a return. Any guesses as to who that is?

Here's the whole F4W report this week... Bobby Lashley is finished with WWE. We don't know the entire story yet because it's very complex, and of late Lashley has opted out of talking much about it because he has not officially been released and he wants to make sure he gets that release without any problems. This is what I know. Lashley was very upset with the handling of his girlfriend Krystal and her departure from the company several months back. She had gotten a reputation as being difficult to work with, and in particular I believe she had ixnayed a storyline that would have put her in the Vickie Guerrero role as Edge's love interest. I know that Lashley is the one who wanted out of WWE and not vice versa, and he didn't want out to go to UFC or EliteXC or TNA or anywhere else, he just wanted out of WWE. On his website last week, he wrote: "I am sorry to everyone here but I am serious when I say I won't be back. Everyone wants to come here and hear the real story and I am telling you the real story. Circumstances which are out of my control left me no decision but to leave the WWE. I can't go into details of this now but like I said before sometimes people will hate you personally and try to destroy you which has happened here. Evil has prevailed however like I said before if you continue your struggle doors will open around these people. You have not scene the last of me so please don't stop your support. Add Bobby Lashley to the list of RECENTLY RELEASED!" There were people who doubted that Lashley actually posted this, so he went on his message board and said if anyone didn't believe him they could PM him their number and he'd call them personally to verify it. Believe it or not, he called several people. The aspect of this that WWE does not want to talk about is that it may have had to do with an old-school "racist" mentality by some of the older agents and power brokers in the company. I put "racist" in quotation marks because, as someone who has been around this business in some form for over a decade, including in the ring and backstage, there is, dating back decades, a tendency for older wrestlers to really go heavy on the racial slurs. I don't know if any of these people are actually racist, although the odds are that some of them are. But I have known older wrestlers who have flippantly thrown slurs around and I can tell you that they were not racist, it was just the way they were brought up on the road in the business. The point is that there are individuals in WWE who still throw slurs around, maybe not so much to people's faces but behind their backs, and a few of them when they get drunk got at it really hot and heavy. I'm told the original reason for Mark Henry being called the "Silverback" was because one of the writers was constantly referring to him as King Kong. Whether that was a racial jibe or not, who knows, but the writer in question is one of those known to throw these terms around. The belief is that the reason Krystal balked at the Edge storyline was because she was concerned that a racial element would be brought into the story, and she was vigorously against that. Shortly thereafter she was released, which did not sit well with Bobby. I don't know if something was heard or said recently, but there is certainly a belief by some that this in some way, perhaps minor and perhaps major, played into the Lashley departure. It should be noted that Lashley was upset with a number of things for quite awhile now, and it may be a situation where a bunch of little things added up and something big may or may not have broken the camel's back. What he'll do now is anyone's guess. Had he come along a few years later he almost certainly would have gone into MMA instead of pro-wrestling. In fact, he was training at the American Kickboxing Academy in 2004, but that was before UFC exploded and so when he got the WWE offer he took it. He currently lives in Colorado and trains with the Army wrestling squads, and has also trained quite a bit in an Octagon with a friend who does MMA locally. He's a big UFC fan and would obviously be interested in giving it a shot, but unlike Brock Lesnar he doesn't have the name yet that would make such a thing financially viable at the start. He'd have to pay for all of his own training, and even Brock has been training full-time for two years prior to his debut this Saturday. In two years, what will Lashley's name mean? He'd pretty much have to start at the bottom like anyone else for a few thousand bucks a shot and work his way up from there. Of course, there are all sorts of upstart groups, including the new YAMMA, who may want to throw big money at him, particularly if Brock destroys Mir on Saturday. At 31 he's starting awfully late, though he does have the strong wrestling background (two-time Armed Forces champion, NAIA wrestling champion in 1997 and 1998, and a Missouri Valley College National Champion in 96, 97 and 98). TNA is obviously salivating at the chance to bring him in, but my gut tells me that would be a last-case scenario for him, although I could be wrong. Among the tentative plans for WrestleMania, and I can guarantee that this will probably change 100 times: Cena vs. Hunter for the title, which means the plan right now is for Cena to win the belt from Orton at No Way Out. I have also heard it may end up a three-way with Orton, Cena and Hunter. Either way, the chances of Hunter not fighting for the belt at WrestleMania appear to be about zero. It's said he has been politicking like crazy ever since Sunday night; Edge vs. Undertaker for the belts and the Mania streak, which has been the plan pretty much forever. They're doing TWO Elimination Chambers at No Way Out, so obviously Taker wins the other; Flair vs. Kennedy, MVP vs. Matt Hardy for the US Title, which has been the plan forever; the remaining big stars (Hardy, Orton if he's not in the title match, etc.) in Money in the Bank; and something involving Vince and Finlay, though not necessarily a singles match. I have also heard Vince vs. Foley, Foley vs. Shane, or Finlay & Foley vs. Vince & Shane. ECW writer David Lagana, who had been with the company for years and was at one point the head writer of Smackdown, was fired this past week. This had been something in the works for probably around two years or so. Stephanie fired him while he was on vacation and sent a one sentence terse e-mail to all the other writers saying that he had been terminated. It was said to be very cold unlike most e-mails where they at least put over the contributions of a dude who is leaving the company. The gist of the story is that Stephanie believed that Lagana was responsible for leaking creative and management information to newsletters and websites. They had been watching him closely for years but could never prove it. The beginning of the end for him took place in May of 2006 during a creative meeting. The meetings take place at the building prior to TVs and PPVs, and the way it works is everyone gets together in a room with desks and such, very similar to a classroom layout. Vince, Kevin Dunn, Steph and the lead writers are at the front of the class and all the low-level writers and agents sit at the desks. The writers go over the show and they do a read-through of the script, and then Vince makes all his comments/changes, etc. The agents also give their advice. So Lagana was sitting there at one of the desks on his laptop, and he usually sat in such a position where nobody could see his screen. But on this particular day there were people that could see his screen, and allegedly he was seen sending an e-mail with creative info to one of the major wrestling websites. Nobody said anything at the moment, but after the meeting Stephanie was approached and told the entire story. She immediately confronted him and almost fired him on the spot, but he insisted he was innocent and managed to get off the hook. The key was, he was the tech guy in the company, where if anyone had a problem they went to him and he took care of it. He was very computer savvy and was able to permanently delete e-mails, likely hide IPs, whatever. The next week, however, he was immediately demoted from Smackdown to ECW. The picture that was painted was that it was a positive move, but it wasn't and he knew it. He was working under Paul Heyman, who he'd known dating back to ECW. Still, he wasn't head writer and would basically just type up the scripts that Paul recited to him. Life got tough for him as he had a bad reputation from the Smackdown days of speaking down to the wrestlers (whether justified or not, that's what people believed), and people would make fun of him for his look (a dead ringer for the dude on Blue's Clues) and his voice ("Dr. Evil from Austin Powers"). Worse, when the Paul/Vince split went down he expected to be moved up to the head writer position of ECW but instead they moved Dusty into that spot. People said his confidence really started to erode at that point and things got really bad over the holidays. There were a great number of leaks, including stories about the viral campaign for Jericho and Mr. Kennedy being planned to be Vince's illegitimate son (and I should note, I got neither story from Lagana). Stephanie blew a gasket and had a meeting with the agents saying there were to be absolutely no leaks and if you were discovered revealing information you would be fired on the spot. Without saying so directly, she said she thought she had a pretty good idea who was responsible and even looked directly at Lagana when saying it. That same afternoon, all the writers got laptop upgrades (everyone has a WWE-purchased laptop and Internet phone). The laptops, as it turned out, had shadowing software. Very shortly afterwards, Lagana was fired. The belief among the rest of the crew was that Steph had been feeding him false info on very specific information to see if it would get out, and it did. There was also an incident a few weeks ago where Brian Gewirtz went into Lagana's office and sticking out of his laptop bag were a bunch of newsletters. Lagana tried to hide them but failed, then claimed that he wasn't actually reading them but they kept showing up because his subscription was yet to run out and he'd just happened to pick his mail up from home. Gewirtz then made snide remarks over the next several days about how he wasn't surprised that news kept getting leaked. Michael Hayes, who hates newsletters and websites, also began to really bury him right and left, apparently in a really demoralizing manner. The level of paranoia in the company is truly astounding. Not sure if Stephanie realizes that people have home computers, home phones, private cell phones, pay phones, stamps and paper, etc. Still, because of the misinformation deal, writers are likely to be more leery about what information they share for the foreseeable future. Regarding his loss to Chavo, clean loss to Edge a few days later in the big revenge match, and elimination by Chavo in the Rumble, we're told that Punk is in the dog house of late. The story is that he isn't listening to the agents and his house show matches are considered "indy level sloppy". He's botched a lot of stuff and the agents claim he comes to the back and laughs about it. There also may have been another political issue of some sort recently involving hitting on the wrong person. American Gladiators goes to 90 minutes on February 4th Nick Hogan had a pretrial hearing this week and the judge waived his right to a speedy trial. He's back in court on February 6th. There are casting calls for the next season of Gladiators all this week and next week throughout America. New announcer Mike Adamle, besides being part of the original season of American Gladiators, worked at WBBM in Chicago for four years and was said to be, and I quote, "TERRIBLE live." He was so bad that radio disc jockey Steve Dahl would encourage fans to tune in to see him mess up, and they actually had several compilation tapes of his smurf-ups on newscasts. Torrie is still out with a back problem. She told Yahoo that she'd just gotten four big shots in her back for a nerve block. "I've got two herniated discs and a bulging disc. And that's just me. I'm just a girl that doesn't wrestle half the amount that the guys wrestle. Some people's bodies take it better than others. I guess I'm just a little more fragile than most people". Apolo (German Figueroa), who signed recently with WWE, is in jail for a month after missing a court hearing in Puerto Rico regarding his domestic abuse case with wife Habana (who also works as a valet). This is a grand level of stupidity because both sides had agreed to dismiss the case and all Apolo had to do was show up to court. But he'd missed a few court dates and this one set the judge off, so he ordered him imprisoned until the next court date on February 25th. credit:F4W Newsletter

F4W on CM Punk.. Regarding his loss to Chavo, clean loss to Edge a few days later in the big revenge match, and elimination by Chavo in the Rumble, we're told that Punk is in the dog house of late. The story is that he isn't listening to the agents and his house show matches are considered "indy level sloppy". He's botched a lot of stuff and the agents claim he comes to the back and laughs about it. There also may have been another political issue of some sort recently involving hitting on the wrong person.

Ron Killings has agreed to contractual terms with WWE, but at last word, has yet to sign a deal. Killings must pass all medical and drug testing before WWE signs him. The word is that if he does indeed sign, he'll use the ring name KWIK Ron Killings. RAW head writer Brian Gewirtz was vocal about being opposed to WWE bringing Killings back into the fold. credit: wrestling observer newsletter

Oh my god, your sig sucks. It's just...staring at me. That womans mouth scares me, if she was gonna blow me I'd be afraid she'd bite it off.

The crowd lost all it's cool points for cheering the midget.

Kennedy is the guy who goes down a notch anytime someone new comes in.

Seeing as Bradshaw always wore that shirt...