Rumor Mill - TNA Now Serious About Concussions

WrestleZone has confirmed through several sources that TNA President Dixie Carter has had at least one conversation with Chris Nowinski, who as many of you know founded the Sports Legacy Institute, an organization that has teamed up with Boston University School of Medicine to research the long-term effects of concussions.

Currently, over 100 professional athletes have donated or pledged to donate, after death, their brains to the organization for use in their research, including soccer player Cindy Parlow and Ravens offensive lineman Matt Birk.

Tonight, several wrestlers at the TNA iMPACT tapings in Orlando confirmed to WrestleZone that the word going around was that Dixie herself pulled Ken Anderson from his scheduled match against Jeff Hardy in Nashville over the weekend because Anderson's doctor warned he wasn't "100 percent healed" from his head trauma yet.

Apparently, after a discussion with Nowinski, the TNA President has ordered the creative staff to be more judicious with head shots that are scripted into the shows.

This Day in Wrestling History

WWE inducts legends Capt. Lou Albano, Killer Kowalski, Baron Mikel Scicluna, Johnny Valiant, Jimmy Valiant, Johnny Rodz, Pat Patterson, Vincent J. McMahon and Jimmy Snuka into the WWE Hall of Fame.
November 16, 1996

Vince McMahon hired Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura as color man for the XFL broadcast team.
November 16, 2000

Raw Results: Old School, New Tricks

Who needs a DeLorean that can hit 88 mph to travel back in time? Instead, Raw kicked off Old School night with a battalion of WWE Alumni and Hall of Famers. And although the classic Raw graphics and ring ropes were evident, there was still a lot of brand new developments leading up to this Sunday’s Survivor Series. Full results.

source: wwe.com

Six WWE Developmental Releases

The talent page on the official Florida Championship Wrestling website has been updated and has revealed six names that have been released from WWE's developmental system. The following names were cut from their developmental contracts:

* Daniel Skylar (referee)
* Devin Allen
* Dr. Cable Jones
* Fahd Rakman
* Rhys Ali
* Ron Meyers

SBN ATL Interviews Shawn Michaels And Triple H On Sports And Wrestling

WWE's Triple H and Shawn Michaels conducted a lengthy interview with the SB Nation Atlanta sports website covering a number of wrestling items in the news. The following are highlights from their interview.

Triple H ripped TNA's Hulk Hogan related to Hogan using the WWE Hall of Fame as part of a storyline in TNA earlier this year. Hunter claimed he "heard" about the storyline.

"As far as the Hall of Fame goes, it's tough. We have a unique business, and we try to do a legitimate Hall of Fame. We try to honor the guys that deserve it. To the guys that go in, it's something special," Hunter said. "I heard Hogan shit on it, but I don't think anything's special to him except for money."

Hunter and Michaels also downplayed the possibility of Bill Goldberg being invited to the Hall of Fame ceremony next year, which will be held in Goldberg's home territory of Atlanta.

Hunter said: "Bill's trying to get into the Hall of Fame. If there's a rumor about him coming back, he probably started it. I've not seen any mention of his name."

Michaels chimed in: "You want to move on into the future. It's tough to not go back and get some big-name guys here and there, but I don't know about any of the older WCW guys. It might be good for a one-shot deal but where do you go from there? As a company, you're trying to move into the future. It'd be like bringing Michael Jordan back."

Hunter added later: "When you say, 'What about Goldberg?,' no offense to Bill, but you've got guys like Bruno Sammartino that were legends with longevity that should be in there, but they're holding out because they think they've got one more run. Just using Bill as an example, how many years did he wrestle? Not many."

Michaels chimed in again: "To me, he's not even in the ballpark. Not because he's not talented, but greatness doesn't happen in a few years. Greatness is established over a long period of time. We try to promote people and get them over, but you can't do it that quickly."

Regarding their WWE futures, Hunter said he's still rehabbing and hinted he'll be ready to return at the beginning of 2011. Michaels said he might consider working behind-the-scenes creatively if he gets bored of hunting.

"Got another couple months rehab-wise. I don't know how regularly I'll be back. We made a pact that if one of us didn't recognize it's time to quit, we'd tell the other one it's time," Hunter said. "It's a young man's business, and I'm cool with that. I have fun working with the other side of the business, and I don't kill animals or follow sports."

Michaels added: "Once you kill something, you'll be hooked. No, I miss the creative process, and eventually I'm sure I'll get tired of taking life in the woods."

Click here for the full interview.

This Day in Wrestling History

Tony Atlas & Rocky Johnson defeated the Samoans for the WWWF(WWE) Tag Team title.
November 15, 1983

The Rock defeated Mankind in the finals of the Deadly Game tournament to capture his first ever WWF Championship and Sable defeated Jacquelyn for the WWF(E) Women's title.
November 15, 1998

Interview with Tony Atlas

Video: Triple H & Shawn Michaels on Atl & Co.

This Day in Wrestling History

Killer Kowalski & Gorilla Monsoon defeat Skull Murphy & Brute Bernard to win the United States (WWWF version) tag team championship.
November 14, 1963

WWF held the Survivor Series in Detroit, Michigan at the Joe Louis Arena. WWF faced a lot of criticism for running an angle on the PPV where Steve Austin was hit by a car, resulting in him being unable to wrestle in the main event against Triple H and The Rock. WWF knew in advance that the injured Austin would be unable to wrestle, but waited until after the PPV began (and fans had already purchased the event) before running the angle and creating a storyline reason for his absence. Big Show (subbing for Steve Austin) defeated Triple H and The Rock in a Triple Threat match to win the WWF World Title.
November 14, 1999

source: pwinsider.com

Sean Waltman Comments on Chyna, Triple H & Stephanie

From Monday Night Mayhem DVD Review: "YouShoot: Sean Waltman":

How did the Chyna/Triple H/Stephanie McMahon love triangle come about?

Waltman used to ride with Chyna & HHH until their arguments made him uncomfortable. The typically reserved Triple H started referring to the psychotic nature of Chyna, which eventually led him to Steph. Pac feels that HHH is the perfect guy for Stepanie & the McMahon family, since he has a relatively spotless past and doesn't have any emotional baggage or drug problems.

Click here to read the full review.

Interview with John Morrison

WWE Reveals Its List of The Top 50 Superstars of All-Time

1. Shawn Michaels 2. The Undertaker 3. Steve Austin 4. Bret Hart 5. The Rock 6. Harley Race 7. Ricky Steamboat 8. Andre the Giant 9. Rey Mysterio 10. Roddy Piper 11. Eddie Guerrero 12. Triple H 13. Gorgeous George 14. Randy Savage 15. Curt Hennig 16. John Cena 17. Ric Flair 18. Dusty Rhodes 19. Edge 20. Jerry Lawler 21. Lou Thesz 22. Terry Funk 23. Hulk Hogan 24. Bruno Sammartino 25. Chris Jericho 26. Ted DiBiase 27. Fabulous Moolah 28. Freddie Blassie 29. Randy Orton 30. Pat Patterson 31. The Iron Sheik 32. Jimmy Snuka 33. Mick Foley 34. Kurt Angle 35. Buddy Rogers 36. Gorilla Monsoon 37. Junkyard Dog 38. Billy Graham 39. Jake Roberts 40. Big Show 41. Jack Brisco 42. Sgt. Slaughter 43. Kane 44. Nick Bockwinkel 45. Jeff Hardy 46. Dory Funk Jr. 47. Bob Backlund 48. Rick Rude 49. Batista 50. Killer Kowalski