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WRESTLING GLOBE NEWSLETTER
Monday, June 7, 2010
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Wrestling Globe Newsletter by Mike Aldren – All the latest professional wrestling news and analysis direct to your inbox. WGN is read by industry power players, many top wrestlers and thousands of fans from around the world.
 
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Please send all news tips to: you2us@wrestlingglobe.com

WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT

Raw tonight is a three-hour show from Miami with UFC star Quinton Jackson and friends as guest hosts promoting The A Team. The show will include a lot of interaction where fans can vote online for matches and stipulations.

The NXT/Smackdown tapings are Tuesday from Tampa with the first episode of the new season of NXT. For WWE people reading, apparently Bubba the Love Sponge is planning a PR stunt. We’re looking for reader reports from both shows, especially any off camera notes to you2us@wrestlingglobe.com.

***

Ted DiBiase (The Million Dollar Man) underwent emergency neck surgery
today. The operation was to free an impingement on a nerve that was
causing him severe pain in his right arm and shoulder. DiBiase
previously went under the knife many years ago which resulted in the
removal of two discs. He said he hopes to be out of the hospital
tomorrow as he’s scheduled for a personal appearance this coming weekend
in France.

Ricky Steamboat started in developmental for a stint as a trainer this
past week. WWE is still searching for another trainer to join the team.
Dennis Condrey of Midnight Express fame was brought in for a tryout in
March but things didn’t work out.

Nicole Bass, 45, a former NPC bodybuilding champion and one-time pro
wrestling valet, has now taken her long-standing lawsuit against WWE to
the U.S. Court of Appeals. She had filed for a motion for relief in New
York Eastern District Court on 3/24 relating to a 2003 judgment but the
case was tossed out without WWE even responding. WWE attorney Jerry
McDevitt said this week that he doesn’t expect the appeal to go anywhere
as the case is now time-barred under the applicable statute of
limitations. After abruptly leaving the company in 1999, Bass filed a
suit for sexual harassment, claiming she was sexually assaulted on a
flight to England by Steve Lombardi (The Brooklyn Brawler). The case was
partly dismissed in 2003 following a circus of a trial which saw
McDevitt role out various people to testify against Bass including Vince
McMahon, Triple H,  Lisa Moretti (Ivory) and Jacqueline Moore. McDevitt
picked apart inconsistencies in Bass’ stories and asserted that she was
fired because she was a terrible wrestler. Bass claimed back then that
male wrestlers would often walk into the women’s locker room and that
she was repeatedly accosted by WWE agents Steve Lombardi and Tony
Guerra, referee Earl Hebner, and wrestlers Big Show and Billy Gunn,
while she was in a state of undress. Regarding the flight to England,
she alleged that Lombardi came on to her and grabbed her breasts. She
said she didn’t report any incident to WWE officials at the time because
she feared retribution. She claimed shortly afterwards she suffered
several acts of retribution including death threats and an angle where
she had agreed to be hit over the head with a “fixed” guitar, but was
told later that the guitar was intentionally left unfixed to see how
tough she was. She also claimed that WWE violated the Equal Pay Act in
failing to pay her wages comparable to those of its male talent. Bass
has laregly fallen off the radar in recent years although last we heard
in 2006 she was in the hospital due to steroid influenced pancreatitis.

Injuries affecting key players has complicated booking since our last
update. The list of those sidelined or working through the pain barrier
has extended to Randy Orton, Undertaker, Ted DiBiase, CM Punk, and John
Morrison
. Due to the lack of talent depth the company has frantically
started pushing undercard acts such as Evan Bourne and even Fit Finlay
has been recalled to house show duty. Orton suffered a dislocated
shoulder playing basketball at home a few weeks ago and worsened the
injury at the Over the Limit pay-per-view on 5/23. As things stand right
now he is still planning to wrestle at Fatal Four Way on 6/20 although
the chances of that is said to be 50/50 and as a backup plan they taped
the angle with Edge slamming a door on his shoulder last Monday. He may
eventually need another shoulder surgery but is trying to avoid that
option hoping that physical therapy will solve the problem. DiBiase,
Punk and Morrison are all banged up too. DiBiase actually suffered a
concussion during his PPV match with R-Truth. The worst recent casualty
of all is Undertaker who suffered a broken orbital bone, broken nose and
a concussion working a match against Rey Mysterio at the 5/25 tapings in
Cleveland. He’s expected to be sidelined for three months which explains
the wacky angle they did last week with Kane announcing that Taker was
attacked and left in a vegetative state. Mysterio, who was called back
early from a planned family vacation in Hawaii, will take his spot in
the four-way at the pay-per-view.

DiBiase Jr. wrote on his Twitter early Sunday morning that he received a
speeding ticket for doing 83 mph in a 70 mph zone. He joked that an
officer talked to him about wrestling for 15 minutes but still gave him
a ticket.

Miami is making a strong push to host Wrestlemania in 2012. Miami-Dade
Commissioner Jose Diaz, county sports commission chair, has said he’s
“relentless” about securing the event. The commission has pitched to
hold Mania at Sun Life Stadium which can handle around 70,000 fans for
wrestling, along with Fan Axxess at the Miami Beach Convention Center,
and the Hall of Fame induction ceremony and Monday Night Raw at American
Airlines Arena. WWE VP of Special Events, John Saboor, formerly
president of the Central Florida Sports Commission, was quoted in local
press this past week as saying Miami was an attractive destination.

Jack Swagger, 28, confirmed in media interviews over the weekend that he
recently married Catalina White, 24, who at one-time was in WWE
developmental under the name Veronica Blaze and later Saylor James. He
said they got married just days after he won the World Championship. He
spent a lot of time in his interviews putting over Randy Orton saying
Orton is very intelligent about the business and has taught him a lot.

WWE named Eddie Hill as its new Senior Vice President of Marketing
filling a gap in the wake of the sex scandal. Hill was previously a VP
with American Express and Nickelodeon as well as holding positions at
ESPN and the Walt Disney Company.

Jerry Lawler is promoting Jerry Lawler’s Memphis Wrestling with monthly
TV tapings and shows airing Saturday mornings on Channel 50 PAXtv in
Memphis. Episode one aired this past weekend with John Cena, The Bella
Twins
, Sheamus, The Miz, and even Michael Cole plugging the show via pre
tapes. I haven’t watched any footage yet but am told there was an issue
with the PR system so the sound quality isn’t too great. On board with
the group are the usual suspects of Brian Christopher, Kevin White, and
Koko B. Ware along with a lot of well known and some little known local
talent including Eric Wayne who is the son of Nightmare Ken Wayne. Buddy
Wayne and Guy Coffey are in as authority figures and have brought back
the famed Southern Heavyweight Championship. The announce team consists
of Brandon Baxter (a local DJ who has been around the business since
childhood), Lauren Jenkins (an unknown eye candy ring announcer), Jimmy
Blaylock and local promoter Bert Prentice. WWE official Bruno Lauer
(Harvey Wippleman) also worked as a referee. Corey Maclin is not
involved. The show is available right now via YouTube clips at
www.KingJerryLawler.com. WWE has already pulled one of the segments
citing copyright infringement although I am sure this is just a
miscommunication as Lawler clearly has WWE’s blessing on this project.

The return to Madison Square Garden on 6/19 is now officially sold out.
Several WWE people were turned down for requests for comp tickets for
friends and family.

WWE’s John Laurinaitis is hosting a seminar and scouting talent this
weekend at High Velocity Wrestling in Hendersonville, NC. For more info,
contact Gary Benfield at 828-674-1378.

TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING

Jeff Hardy was back in court last week relating to his indictment on
multiple drug charges. Most of the charges against him have now been
dropped including two counts of felony possession of a schedule III
controlled substance and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.
Hardy must still answer one charge of conspiracy to traffic opium. A
trial date is scheduled for 7/6. A search of Hardy’s home last year
resulted in officers seizing hundreds of prescription painkillers and
somas, anabolic steroids and a small amount of powder cocaine. In North
Carolina, conspiracy to traffic opium, if convicted, carries a maximum
sentence of six months in jail.

Dixie Carter recently met with Mickie James in Nashville. In fact, Dixie
attended Mickie’s CD release party as her guest. Not sure she’s coming
but but there is some interest from both sides.

Dixie announced that Angelina Love and Daffney were both medically
cleared to return. At the 4/20 tapings, Love partially tore her bicep
and suffered ligament damage in her arm while Daffney suffered a bruised
sternum and a concussion working with newcomer Rosie Lottalove in her
dark tryout match. Love was back in action this past weekend.

The name Rosie Lottalove is apparently a spoof on comedian/actress Rosie
O’Donnell.

There was a recent incident involving Karen Angle at LA Fitness, a Gym
she frequents near her home in Robinson Township, PA. Karen, who was
with Jeff Jarrett at the time of the incident, dropped her children off
at the kids club. Her son, Kody, 3, was put in timeout by staffers
because he was reportedly deemed too rough while playing with the other
kids. When Karen discovered her son was placed in timeout she flipped
out and blamed him imitating his father, Kurt Angle. She then stormed
out and said she was canceling her membership. She probably would be
anyway as she is about to relocate to Nashville to live with finance
Jarrett. The couple got engaged earlier this year.

Jim Cornette‘s always entertaining audio show is online at
http://whosslammingwho.podomatic.com/. He said he feels sorry for some
of the young talents with talk of impending budget cuts. “Hogan and
Bischoff sold ’em a bill of goods. From what I understand now, Dixie is
starting to see through Hogan. Of course, she has yet to see through
Vince Russo, which has been her bigger problem for a lot longer, but now
you have a company paying a fortune in salaries — probably two or three
times more than what they were paying a couple years ago — to do
ratings half as good… It’s a shame for the guys who have been down
there giving their all working their hardest to build this company. It’s
a shame for all the office people who have worked so hard and creative
has let them down. It’s a shame that this mark, little Southern belle
with her rich father started this company that had the only chance of
anybody chasing Vince McMahon.” Cornette says he fears that undercard
guys will suffer the most. “They have to pay some of the senior citizens
on the payroll. And everyone knows when Russo is involved with a failing
proposition, he’s not going to blame creative, so the wrestlers are
going to take the brunt of the blame. Just like the comedy writers in
WWE. ‘Oh, we don’t have anything for these guys, so we’re going to fire
them.’ Fire the creative. Fire Vince Russo, fire the over-the-hill gang,
and get back to wrestling.”

Desmond Wolfe vs. Abyss has been added to Sunday’s Slammiversary
pay-per-view. Abyss ended up with 17 stitches in his arm from the attack
by Wolfe that recently aired on Impact.

Mick Foley turns 45 today.

OTHER WRESTLING NEWS

ROH is back on HDNet tonight with El Generico vs. Ricky Reyes; Austin
Aries vs. Tyler Black; and Jerry Lynn vs. Steve Corino. More info at
www.rohwrestling.com.

Northeast indy worker Michael Verdi (Trent Acid) was recently arrested
for violating his parole after attempting to travel to Japan to wrestle.
A judge ordered him back in rehab as part of a plea deal as opposed to
six months in jail. Verdi was arrested this past April for possession of
heroin. The charge combined with other previous charges, included
possession of drug paraphernalia and public intoxication.

Florida ring announcer David Tuthill out of St. Petersburg recently
competed at the 41st World Series of Poker No Limit Hold’em event. He
made the final table placing 4th and cashed a prize of $160,654.

Jackie and Charlie Haas’ first son Thomas Russell Haas II was born on
Tuesday. The child is named after Hass’ late brother Russ who died of a
heart attack at age 27 nine years ago while they were a tag team in WWE
developmental.

Former Diva Katie Lea Burchill is advertised for WWC’s Anniversario
event next month in Puerto Rico. She may be accepting U.S. bookings soon
but has had to go through the process of applying for a new work visa
since her WWE departure in April. She previously used the name Nikita
before she signed with WWE.

Today’s Diva of the Day is Gail Kim at
http://www.thewrestlingpress.com/DailyDiva.

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