411Mania's Squared Circle News Report 03.07.09

Posted by Dustin James on 03.07.2009

Did the WWE have good reason to release The Boogeyman? Which two former WWE superstars will be meeting in an MMA ring in March? Why did Mr. T turn down a Hall of Fame offer from the WWE? 411's Dustin James answers all these questions and more in the latest edition of the Squared Circle News Report!

Welcome back to your favorite Saturday news report currently running in the wrestling section on 411mania! It's been a very interesting week this week. The Kansas City Chiefs managed to shock the majority of the football world by actually doing something smart and trading for Matt Cassell. Things are looking up for the Chiefs and that's awesome news considering they have sucked for years. As for wrestling? It's been slow on TNA news this week, so I apologize to TNA fans in advance. I could have searched for some TNA news, but UFC 96 is tonight and anytime there's a UFC PPV, I don't have a whole lot of spare time. Make sure you check out UFC 96 tonight. It's really not that bad of a card. Plus, you get to see Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and that's always a bonus!

Also, Watchmen finally opens this weekend, so make sure you are a good little nerd and go watch that movie. I'm sure it's going to rock all sorts of ass, I just question if I will able to sit in a theater for two hours and forty minutes. But hey, I did it for The Dark Knight...so I'm sure I can do it for Dr. Manhattan as well.

It was an amazing week of TV this week as both Heroes and Lost had amazing episodes. I hate having to wait 2 weeks for another episode of Lost considering the way they ended the last episode, but sometimes that's what life feeds you. As for Heroes, why is it that Zeljko Ivanek plays such a good prick? He's excellent on Heroes and he was just as good on Oz. You can tell he's a good actor because he makes you want to jump through your TV and stab him with a pencil.

Anyway......

LET'S GET IT ON..........

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Biggest News Of The Week:

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WWE Releases Boogeyman


Seriously, how did this guy last so long?

In some SHOCKING (?) news on Wednesday, the WWE announced that they have released The Boogeyman and even wished him well on his future endeavors....whatever they may be. The good news is that thousands of worms will now be spared from death, oh and the fact that this guy is finally gone. I have to admit, when The Boogeyman first arrived in the WWE I was interested in his character and found him pretty entertaining. But over time I got over it and was left asking, "OK, what's next?". So the man had a great entrance and ate worms, that's cool for like two weeks. You need to be able to evolve in this business and there wasn't much left for The Boogeyman as a character to do and let's face it, the guy under the costume isn't exactly setting the world on fire with his in-ring work. So, at the end of the day...is anyone over the age of 14 really upset with the release of The Boogeyman? I didn't think so. Perhaps now Boogeyman will end up in TNA where he can one up his WWE diet by eating live kittens....now that would get over.

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Mr. T Turns Down WWE Hall of Fame Offer?


"I pity the fool who thinks Pete Rose is more important than me!"

Former A-Team member Mr. T recently revealed that he had turned down an offer to be in the WWE Hall of Fame:

"WWE asked me to be in the Hall of Fame and I turned it down. You know why? They put Pete Rose in the wrestling Hall of Fame. This guy can't even get into his own Hall of Fame. After they put Rose in they came and asked me and I said "You don't insult me! You don't put Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame before me! I ain't going to be a part of that. They put him in and he only did one Wrestlemania, and he didn't even wrestle."

First of all, Mr. T has been insane for a few years now. It's not rare to see the man on TMZ plugging "Snickers" like they are going out of style. This just adds to the truth that this man is nuttier than squirrel turds. For one, you don't turn down an offer like this if you are someone of Mr. T's stature. Sure he was an icon in the 80's and perhaps even the early-90's, but let's face it...does anyone care what this guy does now a days? By entering the WWE hall of fame it would give Mr. T some nice publicity to a crowd (the younger WWE fans) who may only know Mr. T as an insane pitchman. Nothing is wrong with some publicity, especially some publicity via Wrestlemania.

Another thing is, Mr. T is reportedly upset that Pete Rose was asked to enter the hall of fame before him. Well DUH! The WWE had good reason for this. Rose being BANNED from the MLB hall of fame has been a huge story for years. The WWE was trying to capitalize on the situation by letting Rose join their hall of fame considering he was banned from the MLB's. It was a smart move by the WWE and since Rose is still somewhat relevant in the mainstream while Mr. T is basically a walking commercial....it doesn't take a genius to figure out why the WWE went the way they did. Mr. T should really reconsider this decision. Getting the chance to plug "Snickers" at Wrestlemania could result in a nice royalty check. If not, perhaps we could see a Mr. T vs. Pete Rose "knife fight in a flaming cage" match at Wrestlemania in the near future? It doesn't hurt to ask!

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Bobby Lashley To Fight Ken Shamrock In March



Bobby Lashley does his best impression of Snitsky......


First off, before you complain that this SHOULD NOT BE IN THE WRESTLING SECTION. Yes, it should. Both fighters are former WWE superstars and let's face it...if Quinton "Rampage" Jackson signed with the WWE, it would appear on the MMA page as well. That's just how it works. Now, as for this news. Are you kidding me? If Bobby Lashley ends up dropping this fight to Ken Shamrock then it's my personal belief that Lashley should stop trying to pursue an MMA career and return to wrestling (aka boring the ever loving crap out of me). The fact is, Shamrock hasn't been a difficult guy to defeat the last few years. Hell, Kimbo Slice "beat" him and he didn't even have to lay a finger on him. Lashley's best bet is to test Shamrock's weak chin, but who really knows how good Lashley's stand-up is? Therefore, I can see Lashley taking this fight to the ground where he would then ground and pound his way to a victory. Either way, you can bet the bank that I will hopefully be able to catch this fight on YouTube in the future. The fight is set to go down in March and you better believe I will fill you in on who wins this one.....

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Hulk Hogan Wrestling At Wrestlemania?!?!


"What'cha gonna do when I Twitter on you?"

Hulk Hogan recently posted on his Twitter (mine can be found here) that fans should watch RAW over the next few weeks, apparently teasing some sort of comeback and possible Wrestlemania match. However, Dave Meltzer is reporting that Hogan had back surgery on February 27 thus making the chances of him being physically able to wrestle a match at Wrestlemania very slim. So what's really going on here? Is Hogan using the internet to keep his name out in the public? He knows tons of wrestling fans are checking his Twitter and when he posts something like "make sure to watch RAW the next few weeks"...guess what's going to happen! Fans will start talking and then they will be let down when Hogan is nowhere to be found come Wrestlemania 25 time. I would personally love to see a Hogan appearance at Wrestlemania 25, just not exactly in a wrestling match. Let's face it, it's Wrestlemania 25. Hogan was THE man of Wrestlemania for years and it's only fitting he should be part of the show in some capacity. Let's hope perhaps we get a Hogan run-in during Jericho's match or something. As for a Hogan match at Mania? I can't see it happening.

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Remember This Guy???

In this feature I will profile a WWE or WCW gimmick of the 1980's and 1990's that didn't last very long.




Waylon Mercy

Ohhhh man...who doesn't love them some Waylon Mercy? If you were a WWF fan in 1995, then you HAVE to remember Waylon. When Dan Spivey re-signed with the WWE in June of 1995, he was given the Waylon Mercy gimmick which was based on Robert De Niro's character in the movie "Cape Fear". Mercy would come down to the ring and shake the fan's hands, the ref's hand and even his opponent's hand. It wasn't until the bell rang that we would see the bad side of Waylon. However, once the match was over and the bell had rung again....he was back to being the polite gentleman we had seen before the match. Needless to say, in a day where the line between heel and face was clear as day, this gimmick was a breath of fresh air in the WWE. My personal feeling is this gimmick would have gone on to enjoy some pretty decent success had Spivey not injured his back during a match with Diesel in October of 1995 causing him to retire from wrestling.

If you would like to see a televised Waylon Mercy appearance, track down In Your House 3 and look for his match with Savio Vega.

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Random News Bits:

- Ric Flair, Jimmy Snuka, Ricky Steamboat, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, and Mickey Rourke will all be sitting ringside for Chris Jericho's Wrestlemania match. Greg Valentine and Honky Tonk Man have also been asked to be at Wrestlemania. Is it too much to ask to get an appearance from Doink The Clown and Akeem?

- Chris Jericho's band "Fozzy" will release their fourth album this summer. It will be called "Chasing the Grail". Consider me not excited~!

- According to Entertainment Weekly (my own personal wrestling source), TNA has signed Survivor: Amazon winner Jenna Morasca and she will debut with TNA on next week's Impact. According to the report, she will start wrestling once she has completed her training. I would be lying to you if I told you I knew anything about this woman or Survivor the show, so moving on....

- FoxSports.com recently posted a listing of the Top 20 Most Shocking Sports Deaths. Former WWE Champion Chris Benoit came in at #11. I don't know about you, but his death ranks right up at the top of my list. #1 on the list was Dale Earnhardt Sr.

- Apparently WWE head honcho Vince McMahon is going a little batty these days. PWInsider.com is reporting that McMahon is constantly changing his mind these days, has been EXTRA strict on stopping leaks and has been snapping at creative team members as well. Why would Vince need to yell at the creative team? What have they done that's so bad that they need to get lectured? Ohhhhhh....that's right.....THIS:

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Saturday Morning Story-Time:

In this section I will be taking a TRUE story that is wrestling related as well as related to myself and sharing it with you. These will be short stories, so have no fear!


Scott Norton almost KILLS my brother




Man, look at that mullet.....

First of all, don't be confused by the title of this story. Scott Norton by no means was planning on killing my little brother....it just almost worked out that way. Back in 1990 Scott "Flash" Norton made his way into the Portland Wrestling territory. For those of you unfamiliar with Norton, the dude was HUGE. He was a former professional arm wrestler who decided to pursue wrestling after an offer from New Japan Pro Wrestling. Norton was about 6'3, 320 pounds of MEAN. During his run in Portland Wrestling, Norton had a face lumberjack gimmick. Well, during one of Portland Wrestling's shows in the Hillsboro Armory in Hillsboro, Oregon....I happened to be attending the event with my 7-year old brother (I was around 9). I don't know if everyone reading this has been to a wrestling event in an armory, but let's just say that the wrestler/fan interaction is A LOT closer. You could literally walk across the "entrance way" while the match was going on, that's how safe this place was.

Well...during the main event of the evening, popular wrestler Steve Doll (later known as Steven Dunn of "Well Dunn" in the WWF) was getting doubled-teamed by The Grappler and The Equalizer (later had a WCW stint as Dave "Evad" Sullivan) in the ring. Well, one of the fans in attendance (if I remember correctly he was handicapped) started BANGING on the door of the faces locker room yelling for help (had I been a 27-year old man in attendance I would have been laughing my ass off) and it just so happens that the first man to come RUSHING out of the locker room was SCOTT F'N NORTON!!!!

I was ECSTATIC to see Norton, until I looked about 10 feet down the "entrance way" and saw my little brother about 5 seconds away from becoming road kill thanks to a 330-pound semi truck smoking a cigar. Needless to say....it didn't happen. Some brave young lady grabbed him by his arm at the last possible second and everyone in the place gave her a standing ovation. Even The Grappler stopped beating up on Steve Doll and the two embraced in a hug. OK, so the last part didn't happen. What actually happened was Norton got down to the ring and SAVED THE DAY (YAY!!!!) not knowing that he about ended the life of a dumb ass 6-year old kid who wanders off without his parent's permission.

Sometimes I sit and think about what would have happened had Norton steam rolled my brother and I can't help but laugh....if you knew him, you would too.

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Wrestlemania Top 10 Lists:



With Wrestlemania right around the corner, every Saturday I will present you with a special Wrestlemania-themed top 10 list. Trust me, it will be good times!


My Top 10 Wrestlers Who Have Never Wrestled At Wrestlemania

(Here are my top 10 wrestler's who have never competed at a Wrestlemania. Keep in mind that these wrestlers had to have been active during the Wrestlemania era to be considered, and of course...this is my list)




10) Bryan Danielson

This guy can tear the house down and I would love to see him tear the biggest house of them all down.....

9) Jushin "Thunder" Liger

Imagine if Liger could have faced Brian Pillman at a Wrestlemania.....

8) AJ Styles

There is still time for this one to happen, and if I was a betting man....I would place some money on it.

7) Steve Corino

It's a shame we never got to see the King of Old School on the biggest wrestling stage. A Corino crimson mask would have been a great sight.

6) Nikita Koloff

Koloff as a heel in the WWE's Hogan days could have made for a HUGE Wrestlemania mania event and one that would have oozed of heat.

5) The Great Muta

Muta was one of the reasons I started watching WCW in the early-90's and it pains me that we never got to see his greatness in the WWE.

4) The Midnight Express

I'm a HUGE Midnight Express fan and I would have LOVED to have seen them compete at a Wrestlemania, especially "Beautiful" Bobby. And no, Bart Gunn and Bob Holly don't count.

3) Brian Pillman

While Pillman wrestled for the WWE in 1996-1997, he never actually competed at a Wrestlemania. I'm sure Pillman would have had an instant classic with anyone......

2) Jerry Lawler

While Lawler has attended and announced plenty of Wrestlemania's, he has never actually competed on one. Will his time come this year against Chris Jericho?

1) Sting

Well, that was easy. Not only is Sting the greatest wrestler to never wrestle in the WWE, but he's also the greatest wrestler to never wrestle at a Wrestlemania. For shame. We will probably never get to see it either.

I'm sure there are a TONS of guys I forgot that I'm sure you will remind me about in the comments section. But hey, nobody's perfect!

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YouTube! Find Of The Week!

It's Rick "The Model" Martel. Watch out, he's got "arrogance" and plenty of it........

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And that's it for this week. I highly recommend watching UFC 96 "Jackson vs. Jardine" tonight on PPV. It's going to be a hell of a card! See you next Saturday back in the Squared Circle! Until then, you can find me on MySpace or Facebook!