This Day in Wrestling History

Larry Hamilton aka The Missouri Mauler died of a heart attack at age 45.
July 19, 1996

Rumor Mill - New Directive From Triple H

WWE decided not to change the WWE Title or the World Heavyweight Title at Money in the Bank because of a new directive from Triple H. Word is that he now wants champions to hold their titles for longer than they have been.

source: f4wonline.com

Update on Kharma

The latest word on Kharma is that she is indeed finished with WWE. It's being said that she was telling people that WWE officials weren't sure what to do with her. They absolutely intended on bringing her back at one point, but those plans just fell through for whatever reasons. She was given time off for her pregnancy and to recover from her miscarriage, and she had recently begun training very hard to get back into shape, but again, the latest word is that she has been or is going to be officially released by WWE soon.

source: f4wonline.com

Stephanie McMahon's Twitter Chat with TheOnlineMom

:Stephanie McMahon, WWE's Executive Vice President of Creative, fielded questions Tuesday via twitter.com/WWEmoms in support of TheOnlineMom.com and suggested that she will be at next Monday's unprecedented 1000th episode of Raw with the following remark: "See you next Monday night on #Raw1000!" The proud mother of three girls answered queries on parenting, WWE's "be a STAR" anti-bullying initiative, Triple H, Vince McMahon, Vickie Guerrero, women's wrestling and more:

Q: Tell us about yourself?
A: I'm an executive at WWE and proud mother of 3 girls.

Q: How old are your girls?
A: This summer they will be 6, 4 and 2.

Q: What do your girls think of wrestling & are they interested in doing it?
A: Yes they love to watch their Dad and their Pop!

Q: What is it like working with your Dad?
A: Challenging and fun.

Q: Will you be at #RAW10000?
A: Tune in at 8pm on USA and find out!

Q: How hard was it to potty train your kids?
A: Working on my 2 yr old now...lots of poopy pants to clean up!

Q: What is it like working with your husband?
A: Truthfully I hardly see him at the office.

Q: I heard about the be A STAR initiative. What's that all about?
A: 1 out of 4 kids is bullied. As a mom, who has children in school, this is a serious issue. be a STAR is WWE's anti-bullying initiative and it is near and dear to my heart.

Q: How did your husband propose?
A: On one knee:).

Q: What do u think of women wrestling?
A: I love that our programming features strong, smart, athletic women.

Q: What is your favorite thing about the WWE?
A: That we put smiles on people's faces :).

Q: How did the WWE get involved in the Make A Wish Foundation?
A: WWE has a 30 year relationship with @MakeAWish dating back to when I was a kid. So far we've granted over 3500 wishes and counting.

Q: What is your favorite thing to do with your kids?
A: Cuddle:)

Q: What more do you hope to accomplish in the near future?
A: Give our fans the best creative experience possible.

Q: Love to hear more about your great work with the military. Have many family members who appreciate it.
A: Free tickets, visits to military bases and hospitals, annual special Tribute with the Troops-10yr I am also a proud member of the USO Metropolitan Board of Directors anniversary this year.

Q: Is it hard to juggle work & look after your 3 girls?
A: Constant struggle

Q: If in the future any of your three daughters want to date a WWE superstar, would they receive your blessing to do so?
A: They would have to go through Triple H first.

Q: @SMH4life I'd be willing to bet that Steph isn't even doing the tweeting. She needs to do an actual chat like in 2002 on MSN.
A: You'd lose that bet!

Q: Do you ever worry that some stuff might be too edgy for younger kids?
A: WWE programming is PG.

Q: Could you imagine picking a girl up for a date & have to talk to her dad, Triple H, first? LOL!
A: My dad had a talk with everyone of my dates first - Vince McMahon is pretty intimidating too!

Q: Do you think it sets a good example for kids watching at home to have Jerry Lawler constantly call Vickie Guerrero fat?
A: Vickie Guerrero is a strong character who stands up for herself

Q: Does the WWE participate in other great causes? Great to discuss with our mommy friends
A: Yes. WrestleMania Reading Challenge and other literacy programs, MDA, @MakeAWish and @beaSTARalliance.

Q: Who's your role model
A: My parents

Q: Stephanie any advice on how to balance work, family and making a difference
A: Love your children as hard as you can, be good to people, work hard, play hard.

Thank you everyone for participating and making #WWEMoms trend! See you next Monday night on #Raw1000! ~Steph #wwemoms

This Day in Wrestling History

Happy Birthday to:
Carlos Colon - July 18, 1945
Al Snow - July 18, 1963
Joey Matthews - July 18, 1979

Verne Gagne defeated Nick Bockwinkel for the AWA Heavyweight title.
July 18, 1980

Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard defeated Demolition for the WWF(E) Tag Team title.
July 18, 1989

Ric Flair defeated Barry Windham for the NWA Heavyweight Wrestling title.
July 18, 1993

WWE Responds to More Allegations From 'The Darien Times'

Joshua Fisher, a writer for The Darien Times, who has caught the attention of WWE for his recent comments about Linda McMahon, her senate campaign, and her time in WWE, has written yet another article in which he accuses WWE of encouraging steriod use.

Fisher's latest column, which criticizes McMahon's campaign slogan of "creating jobs," accuses Linda of creating jobs in WWE that included making fun of retarded men, demeaning women, and encouraging steroid use. The following is an excerpt from Fisher's piece:

Mrs. McMahon loves to point out how she’s created jobs. But she does not like to answer questions about those jobs. While CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, she created jobs that included making fun of retarded men, demeaning women and possibly encouraging steroid use — this does not even touch on how it possibly has influenced the future bullies of American schools.

Brian Flinn, The Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications for WWE, has issued the following response to Fisher's article:

Dear Mr. Fisher:

It is regrettable that we find it necessary to once again point out that you have made inaccurate statements and mischaracterizations in the Darien Times regarding WWE, this time in your editorial on July 12. Although this was an opinion piece, you are still required to report accurately and not distort the truth. This is now at least the second instance in which you have made misstatements that damage WWE’s corporate reputation.

Your assertion that WWE has made “fun of retarded men” is inaccurate, takes our content completely out of context and fails to factually portray a storyline. WWE featured a character — an actor playing a role — named "Eugene," who was a person with intellectual disabilities. He was often faced with difficult challenges, situations and rivals, including some of the most villainous and dastardly WWE characters. What you failed to convey is that Eugene, like most of WWE’s “good guys,” overcame the obstacles, prevailed and was a hero to our millions of fans.

Your statement that WWE was “demeaning women” is also inaccurate and again takes our content out of context and makes no mention of storylines. WWE has produced a variety of powerful and heroic female characters throughout the years that have come up against malicious villains, who are also actors playing a role. And yes, those “bad guys” do reprehensible things, but they eventually pay a price for their behavior. Our television audience would not be nearly 40 percent female if we were degrading women.

As it relates to the foregoing clarifications, it is important to note that WWE programming, like Hollywood movies and Broadway shows, is an exciting blend of action, characters and fictional storylines of good versus evil that entertains millions every week. Without Darth Vader there is no Luke Skywalker. We, too, create protagonists and antagonists and tell stories of good versus evil.

You also wrote that WWE has been “encouraging steroid use,” which is a blatant misstatement of fact. WWE prohibits steroid use and conducts a minimum of four random drug tests per year for all talent, and any performer that tests positive is suspended. WWE began testing for steroids in 2006, before many major sports leagues, and we currently have one of the most comprehensive talent wellness programs in all of sports and entertainment, managed by world renowned third party medical experts. Additionally, WWE has always encouraged its talent to live a healthy lifestyle, as they are the company’s greatest asset. For more information about WWE’s talent wellness program, please visit www.corporate.wwe.com.

In your editorial, you also state that WWE “influenced the future bullies of American schools.” The fact is that WWE promotes anti-bullying and has created a global initiative called be a STAR (ShowToleranceAndRespect) designed to teach children how to deal with conflict in the real world. We recognize the power and influence of our brand and spend a considerable amount of time and resources to make sure children understand the difference between what they see on television, where storylines and conflicts are resolved in the ring, versus how to deal with challenges in everyday life.

WWE expects you will print this letter in as public a manner as that in which you made the foregoing false statements. In the future, we request you contact us for factual information about our company before attempting to characterize our programming as you continue to do so erroneously.

Sincerely,

Brian Flinn

Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications

Opening Segment for Raw 1000 Revealed

WWE is hyping that Shawn Michaels and Triple H in a DX reunion will open the 1,000th edition of Raw. The show airs next week with an earlier start time of 7:00 p.m. CT.

Who did Triple H Pedigree during a commercial break?

After Daniel Bryan and A.J. left the ring following their tag match and marriage proposal segment on Raw, The Miz came back out. He demanded an authority figure come out and explain to him why he is being over-looked. Cue up "Time to play The Game!" and out came Triple H to a huge pop, He stepped into the ring, Pedigreed The Miz, and then just walked out.

Biggest Pops, in order:

Triple H
John Cena
Chris Jericho
Rey Mysterio
CM Punk

source: pwtorch.com

Raw Results 07/16/12

Tammy 'Sunny' Sytch Checks Into WWE-Sponsored Rehab Program Following Vodka Binge

WWE Hall of Famer Tammy "Sunny" Sytch checked into a rehabilitation program sponsored by WWE on Monday morning. She was admitted to an emergency room late Friday night for consuming nearly two gallons of vodka, and her boyfriend, independent wrestler Damien Darling, insisted that she seek professional help.

Rob Feinstein, who conducted a sit-down interview with the legendary Diva yesterday where she addressed her variety of personal battles over the past year, posted the following on Facebook 'putting over' WWE for its handling of the situation: "I want to take this time to really put over the WWE as many people don't know how quick they work and this needs to get out there. I am not writing this to put myself over, I am putting over the WWE. Yesterday when we finished the interview with Tammy I made a quick phone call to Tommy Dreamer and told him that Tammy wanted to go to rehab ASAP. He made one call to them on a Sunday and within 30 minutes she was booked with in 24 hours and the WWE had her picked up today as well. The WWE needs alot of credit on how fast they acted and it is a good thing that they do this for anyone that has worked for the company."

Beginning in September 2007, WWE distributed rehabilitation assistance to all former WWE contracted talent. The goal of the initiative is designed to help any former talent that may have a substance-related dependency problem.

Daffney Speaks On Her Lawsuit Against, TNA, Her Injuries, More

The following are highlights from a recent Diva-Dirt interview with Daffney:

On being pigeonholed into doing hardcore spots: "It started off as Abyss asking me to take the tacks in the match and I agreed, then I think it snowballed from there. I almost wish I hadn't been painted in such a light that I was just hardcore and that I couldn't deliver a good match in the ring. I feel like there's so much more to my ring work. I may not be the best technical wrestler in the world, but I felt like I had learned enough of my sport that I could deliver some good matches. I don't think I was ever taken seriously after that. It was like, 'She's the one that's going to go out there and Taylor [Wilde]'s going to jump from the stage and put her through a table, but we're not actually going to see a good match'. [...] Looking back in hindsight, I almost wish things didn't go that route and that we had just more straight-up matches. I think that might've been good for me in the long run."

The extent of her injuries: "I don't think people realize how badly I've been hurt. [...] I was there the night [in WCW] Goldberg kicked Bret [Hart] in the head and he had that crazy concussion. In the beginning of 2000, we were going to England for a tour and Bret was coming to do the tour with us and he was just going to be speaking. He said to me, we were on the bus talking, he said: 'I don't think I'll ever wrestle again'. I was like, wow. How many years has this man been wrestling? This is his entire life and he had a career-ending injury and he won't be able to do it anymore. [I thought] no, no, just give him some time. As time went on, he just never came back. I'm not comparing my career with his by any means -- he's an icon and he's Bret Hart -- but as time has gone on, I don't think I'm going to be able to wrestle anymore. I kind of had to think back on him telling me that, and be wise and stay away from the ring to accept it. It's really hard. I think if I got in the ring and took any more bumps, I wouldn't be able to function as a normal human being. It would just be too hard on my body."

Her lawsuit against TNA: "What you guys have read about the details that just came out not too long ago, all of that is true. People expected it to be resolved very quickly, but just know that we're doing everything we can to move it along as quickly as possible but it takes two sides. It's still ongoing."
Check out the complete interview online at Diva-Dirt.com.

This Day in Wrestling History

Bruiser Brody was stabbed to death in Puerto Rico. Jose Gonzales was said to be responsible for the murder and was charged, but the charges were later dropped.
July 16, 1988

Terry Gordy died of a heart attack at age 40.
July 16, 2001