Concussions Retire Hockey Star

Paul Kariya never saw Scott Stevens coming, but he did foretell his own demise.

“There’s too much of a lack of respect players have for one another — and it’s got to stop,” said Kariya. “If the league wants to stop that kind of conduct, it will have to punish players. ... Ten-game suspensions ... and more, have to be brought back to help wake up players, to teach them about having respect for one another.”

Kariya could have made that statement when he retired Wednesday because of concussion problems after 15 years in hockey — and he did make some like it — but that quote is actually from a Sporting News article in the summer of ’98...More?

source: thestar.com

This Day in Wrestling History

Happy Birthday to Terry Funk
June 30, 1944

Gail Kim wins the WWE Women's Title in a Battle Royal upon her debut in WWE. She would be released from the company a year later in November of 2004.
June 30, 2003

Randy Orton Comments On His Heat With The Rock And WWE Mgmt Believing He Publicly Criticized Triple H

WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton participated in an interview with Phoenix, Arizona based rock station 98KUPD promoting this week's SmackDown tapings:

Orton shared a story of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson trying to get him in trouble prior to WrestleMania. Orton said he gave his opinion on The Rock during an interview with ESPN—that he wasn't buying his return speech about returning to WWE and never leaving again. Orton said Johnson called management and claimed the WWE Superstar slammed him and Triple H in the interview. Orton feels Rock mentioned Triple H to grab their attention even though he didn't criticize "The Game" in the interview. Orton said he had "got in trouble" and "made Vince mad" for his statements. He feels the interview was "blown out of proportion" and that Johnson should have confronted him over his remarks, rather than complaining to Vince McMahon and management.

Orton referenced Hunter's possible ring-rust in the ESPN interview. You can read the remarks and the remarks about The Rock by clicking on the link.

More?

Shawn Michaels' Blog: New Adventures

Derek Foore Will Get a Shot at WWE Glory

Derek Foore thought it was a joke. He listened to the voicemail, shook his head and then laughed at the shenanigans.

Surely one of his college buddies was putting him on and it really wasn’t Jerry Brisco of World Wrestling Entertainment calling him to inquire about possibly joining the organization. Then a text message and e-mail from Brisco came. Yes, that Jerry Brisco.

“After I came back down to earth, I was trying to figure out what I could say. I was nervous. I was writing notes down, trying to think of what I was going to do when I called him. Then I was like, ‘I’m just going to wing it.’ When I called him, all the butterflies went away.”

As it turns out, Brisco was in attendance in early March to see Foore — Medina County’s winningest prep wrestler — finish second at nationals.

While Foore didn’t come home from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with the medal he was looking for — he won a national title as a junior — he gained the interest of the biggest recruiter from the largest professional wrestling organization in the world.

Pleased with how Foore carried himself after a tough 2-1 loss in the finals at 197 pounds, Brisco did the legwork and went through the proper channels to obtain the phone number of the Notre Dame Falcon.

“He told me what he liked about me and my character,” Foore said of Brisco, who stays in contact with him at least two times a week. “He liked the way I handled myself, win or lose. He said character will carry me a long way.

“Honestly, I was just excited to talk to him. It doesn’t happen to a lot of people, and to be noticed in Iowa, it was like, ‘Wow, is this real?’”

What came next was even more unreal. While most would-be WWE stars pay their dues — as well as exorbitant amounts of money on acting classes and wrestling camps — Foore is different.

He’ll travel to Tampa Bay, Fla., the site of the WWE’s training facility, on the company’s dime. Foore will be there for two weeks, all expenses paid. He’ll learn the ins and outs, get a physical and go through some skits. He’ll stand up to vigorous workouts to see if he has what it takes, all while being recorded...More?

source: medinagazette.northcoastnow.com

Alberto Del Rio Comments on the Origin of his Character, More

“Alberto Del Rio is something Vince McMahon and I created,” he noted. “We created this character. He came up with the idea of the scarf, the cars and everything. However, I developed the character from guys from the movies like ‘Scarface’ and ‘The Godfather’ or guys who I hated during my life.”...More?

source: miamiherald.com

"Formerly Creative" Looks at the CM Punk Promo

Six minutes and twenty five seconds. That's how long it took CM Punk to turn the wrestling world on its ear. The questions – "who knew", "who didn't know", and "what was real" are all there right now. Is this the launch of a new era for WWE? Is this the AUSTIN 3:16 of this generation? Or is this a promo that will sell one PPV and then never be talked about again?

In this new Formerly Creative Podcast I assemble a few of the former WWE Creative Team Members – Alex Greenfield, Andrew Goldstein and John Carle. We all were excited to hop on the line and talk about this. That's what is so great about the six minutes and twenty five seconds from Monday Night. Listen to our excitement in this podcast at IWantWrestling.com or subscribe on iTunes.

Triple H Will Be At SummerSlam Axxess 2011

Saturday, August 13:
• Meet WWE Superstar The Miz from 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
• Meet WWE Superstar Triple H from 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
• Meet WWE Superstar Randy Orton from 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
• Meet WWE Superstar John Cena from 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Click here for more info.

WWE NXT Results 06/28/11

Hulk Hogan Gets In Trouble For Speaking Too Soon

On Bubba the Love Sponge's radio show Hulk Hogan noted that he got in trouble for tweeting that Impact Wrestling would be taping every other show outside of the Impact Wrestling Zone from August. This announcement was incorrect on his part as they only plan to test the proposed schedule and nothing is set in stone.

Linda Hogan: "I Was Afraid Hulk Was Gonna Kill Me!"

Linda Hogan appeared on NBC's "Today" show promoting her new book, commenting on her marriage with Hulk Hogan, his alleged drug use and fearing for her life.


Hulk Hogan's response - Linda is 'Delusional'

WWE Posts Official Update On CM Punk's Suspension

As of Tuesday, June 28, WWE and CM Punk have reached an agreement that Punk will fulfill his non-televised live event obligations for the remainder of his contract, through July 17. Furthermore, both sides have mutually agreed not to disparage one another.