411Mania's Squared Circle News Report 09.19.09

Posted by Dustin James on 09.19.2009

411's Dustin James is back to discuss the sudden departure of Linda McMahon and Carl De Marco from the WWE, the latest update on the battle between the Ultimate Warrior and the WWE, the top 10 wrestling-related arrests and much much more!

Welcome back inside the Squared Circle! How is everyone doing this week? Me? I'm still trying to recover from that first episode of the "Ultimate Fighter" on Spike. That fight was one of the bloodiest fights I have ever seen in MMA and the dude was actually bleeding so bad that I had to turn my head. As manly as I can be, I have a weird thing about blood and that dude's forehead was spilling buckets! This season should be a good one seeing as we have Kimbo Slice, "Rampage" Jackson, and Rashad Evans all in one gym! I'm sure we will see some fireworks soon.....

As for tonight, make sure you check out UFC 103 "Franklin vs. Belfort." The main event should be fantastic and the undercard is pretty solid as well. Plus the UFC is showing the prelim fights for free on Spike tonight so that's just an added bonus!

OK, I swear I'm done talking about MMA for now.......


LET'S GET IT ON!!!!!



Biggest News Of The Week:

WWE Departures.....



Can WWE survive the departure of Mrs. McMahon? The answer is, yes....


In absolutely SHOCKING news this past week, we had two "higher ups" in the WWE resign from their positions with the company. We had Linda McMahon finally confirming that she would be leaving her position at WWE to pursue Chris Dodd's seat on the U.S. Senate. You know what this means if she actually wins this thing? That means we would have a McMahon in office! I never thought I would live to the day that I would have seen Jesse Ventura, Arnold Schwartzeneger (I'm sure that's misspelled) and a member of those DAMN McMahons all serving as members of the U.S. government at one time or another. It's a crazy world we live in these days.

One question floating around is...."what will change in the WWE with Linda McMahon's departure?" Well, the answer is simple. NOTHING! You see, the company is ran through one man and one man only and that's Vincent Kennedy McMahon. While the business side of things may be hurt a little due to Linda's departure, all in all, us fans won't see any sort of difference. It's not like Linda was in charge of hiring talent or writing television. Oh no, Vince likes to keep her in the office and away from him so he can have affairs with all sorts of beautiful women. I keed, I keed....this isn't the 1990's.

Perhaps we are getting ahead of ourselves here though as she still has to win the damn thing and considering her connection with pro wrestling, that's not exactly a given. I'm sure the WWE will be pumping a lot of hype into the "Linda McMahon for US Senate" bandwagon here shortly. I highly doubt that they would run an angle with it seeing as that would only damage her campaign, but I guess you can never say never when it comes to Vince's wacky ideas.

As for the other departure in the WWE. We had the President of WWE Canada Carl De Marco leave the company after fourteen years of service. The fans who may feel the effect of this departure could be those darn International WWE fans. You see, De Marco was in charge of booking the tours in Canada, Latin America, and China. That's an awful lot of work for just one man. One can only assume how much pressure goes into that kind of job, but I'm sure it wasn't easy.

Not only did De Marco have all those responsibilities, but the WWE also recently shut down their headquarters in Canada which forced the man to start working from home. I'm sure the man felt a little disrespected for all the hard work he put in over the last fourteen years by being forced to work at home. Who can blame him? I wouldn't want to work at home. Ok, that's a complete lie. I have an Xbox360 and a laptop...I WOULD LOVE TO WORK FROM HOME! As for De Marco's replacement, it's probably going to take awhile for the WWE to find someone capable of filling the man's shoes. But hey, I heard Jim Cornette may be available now.......




Remember This Guy???



Van Hammer


Perhaps no "musician" in wrestling history has sucked more than Van Hammer. Now, I'll admit....my younger brother was a pretty big Van Hammer fan back in the day and that's just one of the reasons I gave him numerous one-sided beatings. Hammer showed up in WCW in 1991 as a rock star guitarist. The only problem was....the guy playing the gimmick couldn't even play "hot cross buns". That's fine though, as long as he can wrestle and entertain the masses right? Well....this guy couldn't do either. As a matter of fact, I think the best match he ever had was a "Falls Count Anywhere" match with Cactus Jack at a Clash of the Champions show. Besides that, he was just a waste of TV time. Seriously....WCW basically kept him employed for 10 years. Once the "rock star" gimmick had run it's course, Hammer took on a spot in Raven's Flock (BEST STABLE EVER!), then turned into a hippie, then turned into an anarchist. and then joined the Misfits in Action (WORST STABLE EVER!) before finally being released by WCW. It's quite a shame that he never got a go round in the WWE (actually....it's not, just trying to be nice here!) as I think he would have made a tremendous driver for Vince McMahon.



Here's Van Hammer vs. some jobber from WCW......

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Random News Bits:


- I don't know about you guys, but one of the best times of the year for me (video game wise) is the release of the newest version of WWE Smackdown vs. RAW. Back in the day I would troll the internet to find the latest scoop on the roster for the new SvR game, just so I could bitch about who WASN'T in the game. Let's take a look at the roster for this year's SvR game....

Batista, Beth Phoenix, Big Show, Carlito, Chavo Guerrero, Chris Jericho, Christian, CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, Edge, Evan Bourne, Eve Torres, Ezekiel Jackson, Festus, Finlay, Gail Kim, Goldust, Great Khali, Jack Swagger, Jeff Hardy, Jesse, John "Bradshaw" Layfield, John Cena, John Morrison, JTG, Kane, Kelly Kelly, Kofi Kingston, Maria, Mark Henry, Maryse, Matt Hardy, Melina, Michelle McCool, Mickie James, Mike Knox, Montel Vontavious Porter, Mr. Kennedy, Natalya, Nikki Bella, Primo, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, R-Truth, Santino Marella, Shad Gaspard, Shawn Michaels, Shelton Benjamin, Ted DiBiase, The Brian Kendrick, The Miz, Tommy Dreamer, Triple H, Umaga, Undertaker, Vladimir Kozlov, & William Regal.

Now we can bitch about who's not in the game. You know...wrestlers like Paul Burchill, Hurricane Helms, Jimmy Yang, and Zack Ryder. So...proceed to start the bitching. I personally think it's a damn fine roster so I'm actually not bitching this year.


- Remember Sylvain Grenier of "La Resistance"? Well, apparently he was backstage at RAW on Monday looking for a tryout. Unfortunately he wasn't able to secure one...but that could be because the WWE remembered how bad he sucked ass the first time around. It's not like he could have improved leaps and bounds since his departure from the WWE. It hasn't been THAT long. Miracles do take time people.


- Of course we all remember the sad news that the Traci Brooks "Playboy" pictures weren't going to be released in the actual magazine itself, but instead would run on the company's website. Well, TNA nerds rejoice! I have the pictures right here for you.....








OK....so I can't actually post the pictures themselves. We DO have rules here people. However, you can see them right here.


- IGN.com has put up an article that discusses Cedric The Entertainer guest hosting RAW next week. Cedric will reportedly be plugging his new DVD, Shaq & Cedric the Entertainer Presents All-Star Comedy Jam, a DVD that I actually kind of want to see. Cedric's stand-up is pretty good and I want to see what kind of involvement Shaq has with this whole thing.....


- In "surprising" news this week, TNA has announced that they have released BG James and Jim Cornette. I believe I mentioned a few weeks back that James and Cornette's jobs could be in trouble due to the whole "Jarrett/Angle/Angle" love triangle. When I saw this news, I actually was not shocked at all and was kind of anticipating it. I highly doubt either man will return to the WWE because both have burned that bridge pretty bad and it would take some serious damage control to fix that. Someone please put BG James on suicide watch please.....


- For anyone watching the boxing PPV this weekend (and why you are...I don't know. UFC 103 is on and is a MUCH better card) you may recognize a member of Floyd Mayweather's entourage. It appears as though our "one & only", Triple H, is going to be escorting Mayweather to the ring on Saturday for his big PPV fight. Why this is news, I have no idea. It must be a slow news week.


- Jeff Hardy has deleted his "Twitter" and "MySpace" pages after his embarrassing arrest last week. That's quite a shame because I was looking forward to some drugged-up updates on my "Twitter" from Hardy. What does surprise me is that Jeff Hardy still has a MySpace account. Didn't those things stop being cool in like 2006?


- Former WWE women's champion Trish Stratus is currently working with Frima Studios on a new video game for the Nintendo Wii called "Stratusphere Yoga featuring Trish Stratus". Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not the kind of dude who is going to rush out to buy a video game about yoga. However, if Trish Stratus is doing yoga in skimpy outfits....I'll at least be tempted to rent the sucker on GameFly. I mean, how HOT did she look on RAW this past Monday? With her new hair color she looked better than ever. Yes ma'am...I'll take two to go please......


- Hulk Hogan recently made an appearance on The Footy Show in Australia and announced that the Nasty Boys, Brutus Beefcake, Jimmy Hart, and Ric Flair would be apart of his upcoming wrestling tour. In related news, the 1980's called and they want their news back.


- And here's the scoreboard update on the current feud between the Ultimate Warrior and the WWE:


WWE - 9

Warrior - 0


The Warrior has ONCE AGAIN lost to the WWE. You see, the Warrior had tried to sue the WWE for damages over comments made toward him on the DVD, the Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior. Warrior apparently filed the claim stating that the DVD violated the Settlement Agreement that he had reached with the WWE back in 2000 that would allow the WWE to use footage of the Warrior, but the Warrior owned the trademarks to the actual character. In the agreement it was also stated that neither party would disparage each other and since Warrior was trying to sue the WWE for breaking the agreement by disparaging him in the Warrior DVD...he was looking for some cold hard cash. However, it was discovered that the Warrior had actually made public disparaging marks towards the WWE himself and thus he ALSO breached the deal and now he gets jack and shit. I have just one thing to say about this.....




Warrior did post the following on his website. I'll post it if you want to read it....but I'm personally going to pass. Warrior's ramblings always leave me with a massive headache, so consider yourself forewarned:


Hello, everyone. I wanted to get this news out before it got out other places and the idiotic pundits tried to claim I was hiding from mention of it because I am all consumed with grief, fear and embarrassment.

WWE won a round here in my ongoing litigation with them over the Self-Destruction DVD they produced. There were actually two lawsuits going on; one at the Federal level and one at the State level. The State Court has dismissed that case. They were similar in some ways, but much different in others. I'm not going to attempt to explain what a lawyer better understands.

I've attached the pdf file. I think it is public record, so I don't believe I'm violating anything.

It is what it is. There are no guarantees in litigation. None.

Of course, when you pursue these things, you want things to turn out in your favor. So does the other side. Cases are made and cards fall where they will.

What helps me handle it is that I am realist about things I cannot control and an optimist about all the incredible opportunity that always lies ahead, every day, every hour, every minute. I mean, from the moment you decide in your head that the past is done and gone, that it is a fact of reality you can't change, and you put your time and energy into moving forward, right then and there positive things begin to happen. Only when you change the world of your mind will things in world outside of you change.

There is no reason for hesitation except that you choose to stay stuck. The only force is your mind. I don't choose to remain stuck. I'm not good at whining and complaining about what I, myself, can, will and must do. I still have the rest of today to make the most out of myself and my life. I'm going to get at it.

Your Founding Father of Ring Intensity.
Always Believe,
Warrior


(Credit goes to The Wrestling Observer for the above news!)

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Wrestling Top 10 Lists:





Top 10 Wrestling-Related Arrests Of All-Time

With Jeff Hardy's "shocking" arrest last week, I figured I would put together my top 10 wrestling-related arrests of all-time. I'm not endorsing these acts at all, I'm just ranking what could be considered the most "shocking" and most "hilarious" wrestling arrests of all-time......



This list is in a particular order......





10) Billy Gunn...Arrested For Disorderly Conduct


Look...I have no idea why Billy Gunn was arrested back in 1990 for disorderly conduct. I'm sure it was something stupid and something involving his love of "asses", but the real reason I wanted to include this was to post that beautiful mug shot of him. How could anyone want to arrest Zack Morris?

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9) Ric Flair......Arrested for Road Rage


Whoever would have thought that the "Nature Boy" Ric Flair had a temper problem? Apparently in 2005, one of our favorite wrestling legends allegedly grabbed a dude by his throat and then proceeded to kick the man's car. While it was never known as to what lead to the attack, one thing is for sure....don't cut off Flair if you see him in traffic. Otherwise you may see yourself in a fist fight with a senior citizen.

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8) Crush......Arrested for Possession of Steroids and Unregistered Guns


When Crush vanished from the WWE in the mid-90's, no one really knew what had happened to him. That was, unless you read the "dirt sheets". Then you knew the TRUTH! You knew that Brian Adams had actually been arrested for having an enormous amount of steroids and tons of unregistered guns. That was huge news for Crush fans and it actually ended up with the WWE turning this.....





Into this........





What a transition!

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7) Eddie Guerrero.....Arrested for DUI


Just when all of us Eddie Guerrero fans finally thought the man had gotten sober and had set his life straight....he goes and gets a DUI which then leads to him getting canned by the WWE (and "Latino Heat" was huge at the time!). The only reason this makes the list is because it was the straw that broke the camel's back regarding Eddie Guerrero's run-in with the law. After this, Eddie got his life straight, returned to the WWE and finally became world champ!

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6) Big Show......Arrested for Indecent Exposure


Ohhhh, Big Show, Big Show, Big Show. He sure had a great time during his run with WCW didn't he? Ohhh, that's right! He actually hated the majority of his run in WCW and also had this brief (yet hilarious) run-in with the law! You see, it appears as though Big Show must have been HEAVILY intoxicated or is just packing a "bigger show" down in his trousers, because after a WCW show one time, Show felt the need to show off his package to a hotel clerk which then lead to his arrest and PLENTY of laughs for all of us fans. I forget the actual details as to why Show felt the need to show off his pork sword to a hotel clerk, but I'm sure it involved Disco Inferno.

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5) Buff Bagwell......Arrested for Assault


In case you didn't know, here are the actual signs you are a douchebag:

- You have wrestled in a gay tag team with horrible entrance music.

- You got in a fight with The Hurricane right after you signed with the WWE which lead to YOU being fired.

- You were once in a tag team known as "Vicious & Delicious" and you were the "delicious" one.

- You once assaulted a WCW stage hand which lead to you being arrested for assault.

- You take your mugshot with your shirt off.

- Your name is "Buff" Bagwell.


If you happen to suffer from all the above....you are more than likely (yet not confirmed) a huge smelly douchebag.

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4) Jim Duggan & Iron Sheik.....Arrested for DUI and Possession of Cocaine & Marijuana


Remember when wrestling had this thing called "kayfabe" where they wanted every one to believe that what they were seeing in the ring was real? Well, remember who were two of the first guys to prove that wrestling was indeed....staged?!?! Look no further than "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan and The Iron Sheik. The two happened to be involved in a huge "USA vs. Iran" feud on WWE TV in the 1980's yet to everyone's surprise they were traveling together and happened to get pulled over and ARRESTED together! Just imagine how pissed off Vince was at this one! Now he basically had the mainstream media letting everyone know that Duggan and the Sheik were actually traveling buddies and weren't involved in a "Gulf War" of their own. It's actually a shame something like this doesn't happen more often. Imagine watching a "Girls Gone Wild" DVD and seeing John Cena & Randy Orton motorboating college hotties in the background while high fiving each other. That stuff would own......

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3) Sabu & Rob Van Dam......Arrested for Possession of Marijuana, Vicodin, and more


This news shouldn't have shocked anyone when it actually happened. If there are two guys in wrestling who we pretty much know were taking drugs at one time or another....it's Sabu and Rob Van Dam. That's why it didn't shock anyone when the duo were pulled over and charged with possession of marijuana, pain killers, and other stuff. The arrest lead to Rob Van Dam losing his WWE title (which he cried for years to get), but it made for one kick ass video! That's right, somewhere online there's the actual police video of RVD & Sabu being arrested. I would try to track it down for you guys....but honestly.....I'm a bit lazy.

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2) Steve Austin......Arrested for Domestic Abuse


Back in 2002, there was something going on with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. His time as the top draw in the WWE was winding down and he was having all sorts of problems with WWE management and his wife Debra. Well, it all turned out ugly in the end once we learned that Austin had been arrested for domestic abuse during a dispute with Debra. Police apparently showed up to the Austin house and Debra was found acting hysterical covered with bruises. Debra later claimed that Austin had lashed out due to "roid rage", but since it's her word vs. his as far as that goes....I guess we will never learn the truth. Expect that Austin is a woman beater...

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1) Booker T......Arrested for Robbery


Can we say, BEST.MUGSHOT.EVER? Seriously....that mugshot owns all kinds of ass. For those of you who don't know, the wrestling legend known as Booker T is a former felon! Here's the story according to Wikipedia.org:

[Booker T] is a convicted felon who spent nineteen months in prison after pleading guilty to armed robberies at Wendy's restaurants in Houston. Huffman and his partners wore Wendy's uniforms during the holdups since they had been working there for 2-1/2 years. Because of the gunmen's uniforms and familiarity with the fast food chain's operations, police suspected the robberies were inside jobs—and it didn't take long before Huffman and three other men were found. Huffman plead guilty in December 1987 to two aggravated robbery counts and was sentenced to five years in prison. He was released after serving about one-third of that term, and was placed on parole until April 1992.

It's a good thing this man changed his ways. Who ever would have thought that Booker would go from convicted felon to "KING?"

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YouTube! Find Of The Week!


Raven's Flock was seriously one of the best stables of all-time......

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And that's it for me this week. Remember, don't be a stranger to 411! Bookmark the site and visit it countless times a day. Hell, be brave and make it your homepage! Trust me, it will make you a better person......

See you next Saturday back in the Squared Circle! Until then, you can find me on Facebook! .

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