On Saturday night, a ceremony was held at the Lucha Underground television tapings in California to honor the life of the late Perro Aguayo Jr., who tragically passed away after a horrible accident during a match at the CRASH independent wrestling event in Mexico on Friday. The ceremony was described as “very sad.”
Lucha Underground officials informed the media that talent at the taping would not be available for interviews until next week because they were too upset to talk.
There were tributes held at several other Mexican wrestling events on Saturday night, and it’s believed that many of the independent shows in California during WrestleMania 31 weekend in California will also have some form of a tribute to Aguayo Jr.
Aguayo Jr.’s funeral is being held today in Guadalajara.
With WrestleMania only a week away, we continue our survey of the best matches in the event’s history by looking at the second decade of action. This was an important and transitional decade for the company, as they started the period relying on superstars such as Bret Hart, Diesel, and Shawn Michaels at the top of the card, while ending it with guys such as Triple H, Brock Lesnar, and of course, Steve Austin.
The content of the product also changed dramatically during this time period, with it starting as a family-friendly product during the “new generation” era, and we all know what went on during the Attitude Era after the company shifted focus due to pressure from rival WCW. With that said, here are the ten best matches from this era. Matches are judged based on workrate, in-ring psychology, pre-match build, and historical significance, and a full video of the match is included with each entry.
10. Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle vs. Chris Jericho (WrestleMania 2000)
Despite being billed as the greatest thing since electricity, WrestleMania 2000 was basically a bust. One of the few bright spots was the two-fall triple threat match between Benoit, Angle, and Jericho. The stipulation was unique in that both the Intercontinental and European Championships were on the line, with the first fall deciding the former and the second deciding the latter. Angle would go into the match holding both titles, but would unfortunately walk out with neither. Benoit won the first fall with a diving headbutt and pinning Jericho. Jericho would win the second by delivering a Lionsault and pinning Benoit. It featured fast-paced action with a ton of near-falls, and it told a great story by having Angle lose both of his titles without being pinned or forced to submit.
This was the first time Chris Jericho had the opportunity to headline a WrestleMania, and he came into the match aligned with Stephanie McMahon as a heel. It told a great story that featured a thorough build, and eventually ended with The Game winning the Undisputed Championship after hitting the Pedigree.
8. Chris Benoit vs. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania XX)
These guys were three of the best technical wrestlers in the game at the time. The match was entertaining, there were multiple near-falls, and in the end, the title changed hands after Benoit forced Triple H to tap out to the Crippler Crossface. After the match, Benoit’s best friend Eddie Guerrero came to the ring and the two embraced while confetti rained down from the rafters. It’s of course a little bittersweet due to what happened years later, but it is still an emotional moment and a great match nonetheless.
7. The Rock vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan (WrestleMania X8)
This match seems to receive a mixed reaction from a lot of fans. In my opinion, it is one of the most entertaining and unpredictable matches in WrestleMania history, largely due to the crowd reaction. Going into the match, The Rock was the fan favorite while Hogan was booked as the heel. However, the crowd turned on Rock halfway through the match and started to cheer Hogan. The two improvised from there the match ended with Hogan once again turning face and celebrating with The People’s Champion after going down in defeat.
6. Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania XIV)
Following his match with Bret Hart at the previous WrestleMania, Austin was undoubtedly the top dog in the WWE. It wouldn’t be until this night that he would finally capture his first WWE Championship, however. This wasn’t a technical affair by any means, largely due to Michaels wrestling with a severely injured back. With that said, it was still an entertaining contest that featured great in-ring psychology and one of the best builds of any main event in WrestleMania history due to the involvement of Mike Tyson. Austin would of course go on to win the title and start his run as perhaps the most successful superstar in WWE history.
The Thursday, March 19th edition of WWE SmackDown scored a final cable rating of 1.91, according to Nielsen Media Research. The 1.91 final draw marks an increase compared to last week’s show, which delivered a 1.83 rating.
Thursday’s SmackDown averaged 2.595 million viewers, which was also up from last week’s show, which averaged 2.573 million viewers.
The show on March 21, 2014, this same week one year ago, drew almost identical numbers, finishing with a 1.9 rating and drawing an average of 2.597 million viewers.
Pedro Aguayo Ramirez, who wrestled as Hijo del Perro Aguayo, passed away due to trauma to the neck and a cervical fracture, according to the state prosecutor’s office. The same office has begun an investigation into possible manslaughter.
The president of the Tijuana Boxing and Wrestling Commission, Juan Carlos Pelayo, addressed the medical treatment at a press conference on Saturday.
“The reaction for medical attention was quick, in my opinion,” said Pelayo. He also explained that the physician that was supposed to be at ringside was not present during the match because he was backstage treating an injured wrestler.
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently spoke with The Last Gentlemen Podcast to talk about a number of topics. Below are highlights from the interview.
On whether the wrestling business is dictated by the fans, and why Daniel Bryan is main eventing house shows, but not WrestleMania: “Its a coach’s decision… In their view that’s the best utilization of Daniel Bryan. In the WWE, The Intercontinental Title has been very tepid…. (The Belt) could mean more… Maybe Daniel Bryan wins the ladder match at Wrestlemania, and becomes the Intercontinental Champion and actually has the title long enough to make it mean something… You also got a guy that’s in the eyes of many, a little undersized, and now unfortunately for him…. I don’t know how his health is… Whether he’s still on pins and needles…There’s probably more to the story then you and I know about.”
On the current commentators: “Like any other talent, you follow the producer, if your unwilling to compromise your style you’re more then likely to be replaced…. The announcers today are a reflection on how they are being produced. They are following their orders….”
On CM Punk possibly not hitting a UFC buyrate that he might be expecting: “It would probably be a very productive pay-per-view if Punk and Lesnar were both on the same one….. The irony is that while neither of them are seemingly emotionally invested in the wrestling business any longer, which does alienate that fan base from you… They are both counting on that fan base to set those records.”
On recruiting pro wrestlers, specifically former athletes: “I’d wanna talk to every coach they ever had, I’d wanna talk to their parents, to their teammates, if I’m going to invest money in a player, id wanna know as much as I humanly possibly can, before I offer them a contract. That’s where a lot of mistakes were made.”
Check out the complete interview at TheLastGentlemenPodcast.com.
Jim Ross shared his in-depth thoughts on the ongoing negotiations between Brock Lesnar and WWE in the latest blog posted on his official website.
Below is an excerpt:
“Arguably the hottest issue that has been on my Twitter timeline @JRsBBQ is the contract status between WWE Champion Brock Lesnar and WWE. This matter is running into the 11th hour and one would have thought it would have been settled month ago just as I mentioned last summer on one of my Ross Report Podcasts. Now both sides are scrambling to finalize a deal in what could be a high stress and emotional negotiation which is exactly what neither party ever wants to experience. To WWE’s credit they have have been talking to Brock for months and he could have possibly simply been posturing to achieve what is happening now to occur. I have no idea of the circumstances surrounding this matter. I do know that Brock likely makes an enormous sum of money for essentially a part time job but I have no issue with that as Lesnar stays more ‘special’ because he is not over exposed which is seemingly the norm in the biz these days and another reason that the genre struggles at times with TV ratings and general perception.
If Lesnar re-signs with WWE there is no lock that he will lose the WWE Title at WM31 to Roman Reigns but I do applaud WWE for seemingly steering the course with their long term build of Reigns who has a viable upside and plenty of potential but is arguably not completely ready for the distinction of being the ‘man.’ However, when was any first time WWE Champion ever 100% ready to be the ‘man?’ If we analyze the past champions, all of who displayed the traits desired for the role, no one could guarantee their success until they got in the game and experienced the ‘live ammo’ that comes with that extremely challenging job and it’s many responsibilities.
It’s obvious that UFC would love to have Brock back in the fold and would likely pay him a proverbial pot of gold to return and step back into the Octagon. Is returning to the highest level of MMA the best thing for this beast of an athlete who’s nearing 40 years of age and coming off significant heath problems and who also has a beautiful and young family?
One thing is for sure and that’s both Reigns and Lesnar are former D1 athletes of distinction and both men will bring their legit, competitive athletic fire to the personation as to have a match that will make them both pleased with the effort and the results no matter who wins or loses. They are athletes first and entertainers second which tells me that they will have no major issues closing the show at WrestleMania in a positive way. I don’t see this match being fancy or a spot fest but I do feel that it will be physical and reality based.
Some fans seemingly are in over thinking mode more concerned about who gets booed and who doesn’t than focusing on what the match will be like and the story that will be told inside the ring.
I am somewhat optimistic that Brock will re-up with WWE but there are certainly no guarantees and I’d expect we won’t know that answer until after the event in Levis Stadium. Having said that, one cold argue that the main event is as unpredictable as it has been in quite some time of which I personally like. Many within WWE will breathe much easier if Brock puts pen to contract this Monday in LA at RAW.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
Rey Mysterio took to Twitter on Saturday to post his comments on the tragic death of Mexican wrestling legend El Hijo del Perro Aguayo (Perro Aguayo Jr.), who passed away shortly after a terrible accident in a match involving Rey Mysterio on Friday evening.
Below are Mysterio’s tweets in Spanish, along with a translated version in English, courtesy of SEScoops.com reader Eddie Gomez.
Apenas se formaba una amistad de hermanos que empeso años atras y no deberiamos cuestionar los designios de Dios. pic.twitter.com/HzlWE16wLS
“A brotherhood had just begun to form between a friendship that started years ago[. And] we shouldn’t question God’s plans. But on this occasion I ask why[. I] don’t understand, I’ll miss you and I’ll take you with me for the rest of my life, RIP HijoDelPerro.
With all the respect in the WORLD my biggest sentiments to the family Aguayo, I’ll ask God that he fill us with strength and deference to support this great loss! May God bless you all, and may He fill us with strength!”
Chris Jericho recently spoke with Scott Fishman of The Miami Herald to promote his new WWE DVD, “The Road Is Jericho.” Below are highlights from the interview.
On working with younger talents and including his Bray Wyatt match on the new DVD: “In this day, most of the guys are newer. That’s just the cycle of wrestling. I’m fortunate enough to be doing this for 25 years and can still do this at a high level. I’m still Chris Jericho. As far as years in the ring, I have more than Triple H. I have more than Kane. I think only Goldust and Undertaker really have as many years in the ring. Just to stay in the company and continue to work, you have to work with the younger guys. I think that is important to do that.
“This is why I included the Bray Wyatt match on the DVD because I thought it was a great match. I think the Randy Orton match I had was a great match. I don’t always want it to be a career retrospective just based around 1999 to 2004 or whatever. I’ve had great matches every year in my career, so I think it’s important to support that and continue to remind people of that. I’ve enjoyed working with Bray Wyatt. I think the cage match we had on Raw was tremendous. One of the best ones I’ve done. I think the match I had with Orton at [Night of Champions] is the best one we’ve ever had.
“So it’s important to work with the younger guys, but it’s not like there is any choice to work with anybody else. I like working with whoever it is that I feel I would have fun with. When I went back to do the live events over the last couple of months, that was one of the things. I would love to come back to do live events, but who am I working with? I need to know that before I get in the ring. The two names they picked were Cesaro and [Luke] Harper. I love both of those guys, so it worked out great.”
On WrestleMania 31 and talents he would like to work with: “I like the concept. It amazes every year. It’s always good. Of course, I want to see Triple H and Sting. I know what kind of match it’s going to be because I’ve seen Sting in TNA for the last 10 years. It’s not like he is going to come back and be different in the ring. The storyline is what counts. I’m excited for Brock [Lesnar] and Roman Reigns. I’m a big Reigns fan. I’ve been a supporter of his for years. I think the [Intercontinental championship] ladder match will be great. There is a lot of stuff on there. I think it’s pretty cool NXT is doing a big building before WrestleMania as well, 5,000 seats.
“There are a lot of guys there I would like to work with. I would like to work with [Finn] Bálor. I would like to work with Sami Zayn and [Adrian] Neville. Even [Dean] Ambrose, [Seth] Rollins and Reigns I would like to work with. I would like to work with Daniel Bryan as a heel. I think I can bring something out of him that he hasn’t been seen. It is one thing the company really doesn’t have is strong heels. Maybe they have strong heels, but not the way Jericho would be if the circumstances were right. That would be interesting to come back as a heel.”
Check out the complete interview at MiamiHerald.com.
Miami’s FOX 7 Entertainment reporter Chris Van Vliet recently interviewed The Rock to promote his role in the new “Furious 7” film. Below are highlights and video of the interview.
On giving Jason Statham the Rock Bottom in “Furious 7”: “The idea was I got together with Jason Statham and said let’s put together an epic fight that’s going to be memorable. And at the end to punctuate it I said ‘Alright brother, what if I hooked you’ and he’s like ‘Yeah? Suplex?’ and I said ‘No, not a suplex. First time ever on film, I hit you with the Rock Bottom.’ When you present that to a movie star like Jason, you’re at a crossroads because if ego is involved the movie star could say ‘I don’t know. That your thing, it’s a big finishing move and I don’t want you to hit me with it.’ If you check your ego at the door like Statham did, it was great. He’s a focused guy and we pulled it off and we went through the glass table, cut us up a little bit and he was game to play and he came to rumble. And by the way, it’s the best move of the movie.”
On whether he thinks Roman Reigns is ready to be the WWE Champion? “Ready to headline WrestleMania and ready to be the Champ are two different things. I think that he’s in a unique position. He’s being pushed quickly, I was in that position before so I know what it’s like, but at the same time you either sink or swim so you’ve got no choice but to be ready. Fans have expressed their displeasure in it and that is the best part about the WWE Universe is that they’re so vocal and passionate about how they feel. I think he’s going to go out with Brock, who I’ve known for a very long time, and they’re going to have a hell of a match and that’s what I expect.”
On the rumors about facing Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 32: “In Dallas? Possibly. There’s a lot of things that are up in the air. We’ll see. I would love that rematch. Whatever it is I think that you want to create something that is going to be special, memorable and especially in Dallas at that stadium and you have a shot at breaking the attendance record.”
On how he thinks CM Punk will do in UFC: “I think he’s going to great because he’s putting in the time to train. And he’s had the background anyway so I think he’s going to great.”
The WWE Network is advertising a four-way tag-team match for the WWE Tag-Team Championships for the official WrestleMania 31 Kickoff Show.
The match is scheduled to feature Cesaro and Tyson Kidd vs. The New Day vs. Los Matadores vs. The Usos, which means Jey Uso is likely able to work through his shoulder injury.
We are saddened to announce that El Hijo del Perro Aguayo, one of the top wrestlers in Mexico, died early this morning after wrestling on a AAA show in Tijuana, Mexico last night.
According to news reports, El Hijo took a dropkick from Rey Mysterio and landed on the middle rope to set up for the 619. He apparently landed on his trachea, causing severe whiplash. He was knocked out by the move and never regained consciousness.
The match was taken to an impromptu finish as El Hijo was put in a backbrace by paramedics and taken out of the arena to Del Prado hospital.
Local news outlet El-Mexicano.com reported that El Hijo was pronounced dead around 1:00 a.m. local time.
AAA issued a brief statement early Saturday on Twitter, translated:
“The grief overwhelms our hearts. Rest in peace, El Hijo del Perro Aguayo.”
El Hijo main-evented AAA’s “Rey de Reyes” PPV just two days earlier, along with Rey Mysterio, in his first match since leaving WWE.
Our condolences to the family and friends of El Hijo Del Perro. Rest in Peace.
I will never fully understand Mexico’s fascination with death. It all dates back to the ancient Aztec civilization. They had a perspective on life and afterlife that is remarkably different from the perspectives of many modern cultures. Today most people, myself included, believe that the afterlife is determined by how a person lived. In contrast, the Aztecs believed that a person’s afterlife was determined by how that person died. Keep in mind most of them, if not all of them, were warriors. They also believed that death was just a portal to the underworld, a place from where a plethora of gods ruled the earth. More than 500 years ago, when the Spanish Conquistadors landed in what is now central Mexico, they encountered natives practicing rituals that seemed to mock death. The Aztecs and other Meso-American civilizations kept skulls as trophies and displayed them during their rituals. The skulls were used to symbolize death and rebirth. Unlike the Spaniards, who viewed death as the end of life, the natives viewed it as the continuation of life. Instead of fearing death, they embraced it, staring at it face to face with disdain, impatience and irony. To them, life was a dream and only in death did they become truly awake. I suppose that, philosophically speaking, what the people were embracing was Mexico’s fascination with death as a metaphor for life.
Tonight’s show starts us off with a video package recapping Big Ryck’s feud with The Crew, the Drago-Aerostar best of five series matches and the Muertes-Fenix storyline for tonight’s coffin match.
Vampiro and Striker are with us on commentary and Melissa Santos informs us that the first match will be match three in the best of five series between Aerostar and Drago. Each man has one win. Aerostar is first to come out, followed by Drago.
Drago vs. Aerostar
Match number 3 of the Series
Whenever you work a best of five you have to be innovative and change it up every time you meet in order to avoid redundancy. Not a lot of wrestlers have the ability to do that (with some guys if you’ve seen one match you’ve seen them all) but kudos to these two for doing something different and exciting tonight. They started off kind of slow but once they got going they pulled off some really cool spots. I was genuinely excited to see what they would do since their last two matches were full of back and forth action.
Aerostar gets a series of rolling armdrags to begin the match. I appreciate their talent and creativity, they made the sequence of armdrags look great. Love matches that start off this way. Drago takes him down and applies an Indian Deathlock. Alabama slam from Drago off the ropes. Nice. Drago gets kicked to the outside and Springboard cannonball thrust dive from Aero! Dang that looked hard. The aerial camera view is a thing of beauty. Aero gets a leaping kick before nailing a springboard dropkick that sends Drago to the outside. Suicide dive and the match is picking up. Drago hoists him up top and hits a draping DDT that looked similar to the one Owens did on Neville back in December. Sick. Randy does them from the second rope but these guys do it from the top. They are vey dangerous and always look like someones neck got broken. Aero misses a dive and eats a corkscrew dive over the top from Drago. He gets a huge ovation for that one. The two trade kicks until Drago is caught up in the ropes and eats a double foot stomp from the top. Aerostar misses a splash and Drago dives to the outside and takes him out. He gets a running sitdown poweromb, but doesn’t cover in order to sell how exhausted he is. Aero walks from one corner to the other on the second rope to hit a top rope hurricanrana. Crowd is wowed. That was cool. Wrestling should be a spectacle. Springboard splash gets him the one, two, three. His splash is similar to Rey’s but better, in my opinion. His chest crashes as he freefalls against his opponent’s body with his hands behind his back. Crowd is having a blast. They shake hands. Always great to see sportsmanship among talent. With tonight’s win Aerostar needs one more victory to win the series ( and a “unique opportunity” ) but I’m sure Drago will win the next one. Vamp hypes up the Grave Consequences match.
Konnan and his heat-forged weapon cane are back and kicking butt while he tells a story about how position is everything in war as he plays a game of chess. For those of us who may not know, it is well documented that kings used to teach their soldiers military strategy through concepts used in the game of chess. The board itself was literally a blueprint to the battlefield. It’s amazing how one can learn strategy from chess, as strategy concerns itself with a plan of action designed to win a war and that is exactly what chess is. It teaches us tactics and the conduct of engagement. I have a genius little brother who was Grandmaster and taught me all of this. He takes after his older brother. After more beatings and chess, we see that the person he’s been talking to all along is Prince Puma, who understands the lesson and looks ready for war. Good stuff, love these vignettes. A Pentagon Jr. hype video airs showcasing many of his package piledrivers. That is one sick move. If you want to see moves like that in WWE don’t hold your breath because you just might die of asphyxiation. Lucha Underground now has Cricket as a sponsor.
We return to the arena for a three on one elimination match. The Crew is mid-ring to battle Big Ryck. Striker lets us know eliminations occur via pinfall, submission or stoppage.
Big Ryck vs. The Crew Handicap Elimination Match
I thought this would stink but it was surprisingly decent. The Crew takes turns beating down Ryck, diving through his face feet first through the corner ropes. Striker says they call that “The Treatment”. Ryck fights back briefly, throwing one of them through a chair between the second and third turnbuckles but gets double teamed with a double foot stomp from the top rope/DDT combo that looked pretty awesome. Bael grabs a kendo stick and hits Ryck hard in the back but Ryck hulks up and no sells it. Instead Ryck gets the kendo stick and starts chopping everyone, pinning Bael and eliminating him. Ryck then double suplexes the two remaining members of The Crew and clotheslines Cortez hard with the kendo stick between his arm. That was unique. Cortez is eliminated. Cisco is the only one left and tries to leave, but Sexy Star throws him back in the ring! That’s one tough woman. He gets a stiff forearm to the face and blades. I miss blood in WWE. Juicing is part of what made the attitude era great. Cisco is eating some really, really stiff shots. Finally, Ryck hits the Uranage through a chair for the win. Sick spot. No love from Big Ryck who threw him against the chair with power. Somewhere in the city of angels Cisco is lying down tonight recuperating his back.
Next week will be Night of Champions for Lucha Underground as Alberto El Patron will defend the AAA World Heavyweight Championship against El Texano Jr. and Prince Puma will defend the Lucha Underground Championship against Cage. That’s going to be a treat.
We get a detailed Day of the Dead introduction before the match. A group of people come out looking like Tim Burton’s cast of Night Before Christmas. Great set from costume design to the painted faces. They are seen bringing a large black coffin painted with a large skull of death in the middle. The Day of the Dead is an integral part of Mexican culture, a celebration of death that is particular to its national identity. During the period of one week popular belief is that the deceased visit friends and relatives on earth and enjoy once again the pleasures of this life. To facilitate this, Mexicans visit the graves of families and friends and adorn them with colourful flowers and “offerings” of food (In particular the sugary “bread of the dead), spices, toys, candles, and drinks amongst other things. I love our culture but this is my least favorite thing about it. In some of the states they dress up just like they dressed up for tonight’s set with their faces painted as skulls and walk around in the streets to celebrate. Millions of people come out. Millions. In a country as socially and geographically diverse as Mexico, there is significant regional variation in the nature of the festivities: the southern states are more likely to focus their efforts on processions and public commemorations of death but in the northern states the decoration of altars in homes and tombs of the deceased is more popular. Urbanisation, too, plays a large role in regional variations. For the south and rural areas the period holds far greater social and cultural significance than in the north and large cities; families and communities in rural areas will often spend large parts of the year preparing for the occasion. What’s ironic and peculiar to the culture is they are celebrating life and not the sober mourning of their families passing. While contemporary observance of the day includes traditional masses and prayers, today it is dominated by carnivalesque rituals much different, to far greater extent, from those of the orthodox Catholic celebrations found in western Europe.
Needless to say Mil Muertes comes out to one heck of an entrance and is introduced as the man of a thousands lives. Fenix comes out second with a nice reception from the crowd. Ladies and gentlemen it is time for our main event.
A tournament featuring NXT talent will be held next Thursday at WrestleMania Axxess, with the winner earning the right to compete in the second annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania.
Tournament participants will include Adrian Neville, Finn Bálor, Hideo Itami and Tyler Breeze.
WrestleMania Axxess takes place at the San Jose Convention Center Thursday, March 26, through Sunday, March 29. Details on the event are available here.
– During a taped interview on Raw offering his thoughts on Roman Reigns, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar mentioned beating The Rock as a rookie—at the 2002 SummerSlam to capture the WWE Championship—and sending him to Hollywood. It was stated in this week’s issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that this line was scripted to push a match between both wrestlers as a possibility for next year’s WrestleMania.
WrestleMania 32 is scheduled to take place on April 3, 2016, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
– After realizing Renee Young is his perfect co-host on The JBL & Renee Show, JBL celebrates by singing with other WWE Superstars on this week’s episode.
– It was announced on Monday that Larry Zbyszko will become enshrined in the WWE Hall of Fame the night before WrestleMania 31. To celebrate the induction, five clips of “classic moments” from his career have been added to the WWE Hall of Fame section on the WWE Network.
WWE Medical Doctor Joseph Maroon made some controversial comments about CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephelopathy) during a recent appearance on “NFL Total Access.”
Maroon, who is also an NFL medical consultant and works as a neurosurgeon for the Pittsburgh Steelers, said that CTE is “over-exaggerated” during his appearance on the NFL Network program.
“I think the problem of CTE, although real, is it’s being over-exaggerated and being extrapolated to youth football and to high school football,” Maroon stated. “We came up with 63 total cases of CTE [and] in the last two years a few more, but there have been 30-40 million kids who have played football during that period of time. It’s a rare phenomena. We have no idea the incidence. There are more injuries to kids falling off bikes, scooters, falling in playgrounds than there are in youth football. I think again, it’s never been safer. Can we improve? Yes. We have to do better all the time to make it safer.”
Christopher Nowinski, who heads up the Sports Legacy Institute (SLI), countered Maroon’s take.
“As to whether CTE is rare in the general population, that is true,” Nowinski said. “CTE has never been found in an individual who was not exposed to significant brain trauma. It has been found in the vast majority of NFL players and professional boxers who have been studied, but the true risk in that population is unknown because of the absence of a test for CTE in the living.”
Part-time WWE performer Chris Jericho recently spoke with IGN to promote his new WWE DVD, “The Road is Jericho.” Below are highlights from the interview.
On how much he was involved with the making of his new “The Road Is Jericho” WWE DVD: “Yeah, one hundred percent all me. I mean, they send me a bullet point list and so I get to choose the ones off there that I want to use. But then also I get to pick some new ones. I see a match with X-Pac on the list but then I know that we had a better one in a cage at some point. So I go and track that one down and use that instead. But that’s the way that it has to be. I’m hands on with all the stuff that I do. Especially when it comes to something like a collection of my matches. I want people to see – not necessarily the greatest ones – but I want them to see the ones that hold a certain significance historically. Or the fact that they’re something a little bit different than from what they’re used to seeing. Or just something fun. So I was very much involved in the final decision on pretty much everything.”
On WrestleMania 31 and if he feels Roman Reigns is ready to headline the show: “Look, like I’ve said before, if you’re going to give someone a shot, give them a shot. There’ve been tons of guys who when they’ve been put in the main event at WrestleMania might not have been quote unquote ready. Who’s to say who’s ready and who’s not? Let’s see how the crowd reacts when they get there. But all I know is that Roman Reigns was everybody’s favorite guy until the Royal Rumble. And then everyone turned on Roman Reigns. It’s so funny how two days before, and the year before, everybody loved Roman Reigns. Everybody. All the fans did. And don’t tell me that you didn’t because they were all saying “Roman Reigns, Roman Reigns, Roman Reigns…what? Daniel Bryan didn’t win the Royal Rumble? We hate Roman Reigns! Boo!” And meanwhile, ever since then – I mean, we did house shows in Calgary and Edmonton and it was like Beatlemania. They were going nuts for him. And that was a week after the Royal Rumble. So I think that he is ready, as much as anyone can be ready in this day and age. So let’s see how it goes. I mean the match he had with Daniel Bryan at Fastlane was incredible. And you can’t tell me that it was all because of Daniel Bryan. Really? Because I always heard in the business that it takes two. And I think I’ve proven myself to be a fairly decent worker, so if I’m telling you it takes two, I think every fan should shut the hell up and listen to what I’m saying. He did a great job of living up to his end of the bargain and he’ll do the same thing at WrestleMania. They will leave no stone unturned to make that a great match. They will get all the benefits. All the bells and whistles. And as long as they can hold it together, I think it’s going to be great.”
As previously reported, WWE hired a local casting agency in San Francisco to cast “Russian soldiers” and “scarecrows” for entrances at WrestleMania 31. The soliders are for Rusev’s ring entrance, while the scarecrows could be for Sting or Bray Wyatt’s entrance, but most likely Sting’s.
As it turns out, WWE hired the same casting agency to book both roles and they will be using the same extras for both roles as a way to save money. They are looking for males between the ages of 24 and 33, with no facial hair. The casting agency will be paying extras $1,100 each for three days.
The extras that are hired must be available to train on March 27th and March 28th, then perform the day of WrestleMania 31 on March 29th. The first day of work will consist of costume fitting and a four-hour walk-through. They will then do a late night rehearsal after the WWE Hall Of Fame ceremony on Saturday night from 11pm until 3am. From there, they are simply required to be at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California all day and evening on Sunday.
WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan recently spoke with USA Today’s “For The Win” blog to promote this year’s WrestleMania 31 pay-per-view. Below are highlights from the interview.
On if he was taken aback by the intense negative reaction to him not winning the Royal Rumble and headlining WrestleMania: “I wasn’t really that surprised, I thought that a lot of fans wanted me to win the Royal Rumble… but it’s a great story, right? The guy who has never lost a title had to lose the title because of the neck surgery, comes back and he fights the guy who’s just this monster destroyer, a David versus Goliath story, and I think a lot of fans were excited by the prospect of that. And also by the prospect of a match of me versus Brock Lesnar, I feel like I do pretty good against big guys.”
On what the Intercontinental Championship means to him: “To me it’s the one title that I haven’t won in the WWE. I’ve been the United States champion, I’ve been the World Heavyweight champion, I’ve been the WWE champion, I’ve been the tag team champion. The Intercontinental championship is the only one I haven’t won, and to me I have been disappointed that — when I was a kid, the Intercontinental championship matches were usually the matches I looked forward to the most. WrestleMania III everybody talks about Hulk Hogan slamming Andre the Giant, but when everybody remembers the great match, they’re remembering Ricky Steamboat versus Macho Man Randy Savage. Same thing with WrestleMania X, with Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon in a ladder match.
So it’s one of those things where the Intercontinental title for a long time was so prestigious, but now for some reason it feels to me like it’s been devalued. One of the things I would really like to do is win the Intercontinental championship at WrestleMania and make it be not just what it was before, but make it better than that. Make it so the Intercontinental championship is something that can headline pay-per-views, can headline all the live events we do throughout the country. I’ve been disappointed with how the Intercontinental championship has been treated, but I’m hoping after WrestleMania it’s going to change.”
On his wife, Brie Bella’s match at WrestleMania 31 and splitting focus on his and her matches: “Brie and I do this thing at the end of every night where we tell each other three things that made us happy each day. One of the things that makes me happiest each day is being able to watch Brie go out there and perform because she loves to do it, and she’s good at it. There was a big deal, #GiveDivasAChance, and hopefully they’re going to get a chance at WrestleMania this year. That’s every performer’s dream — not just the guys, but the girls too.”
On inducting Connor “The Crusher” Michalek into the WWE Hall Of Fame: “What we do as entertainers, people see us as stars or you know sometimes people look up to us, but what we really do is just entertainment, right? For us, there are people who inspire us — and one of the people who inspires me is Connor. Despite all the pain and everything that he was going through, you never saw him really down, he was excited to be there…. He was just so happy and so fun to be around. When you were around Connor, he just lit people’s faces up. It’s a true honor for me to induct him into the Hall of Fame.”
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently appeared on Under The Mat Radio, talking in-depth about this year’s WrestleMania 31 pay-per-view. Below are highlights from the interview.
On WrestleMania 31 card so far: “Wrestlemania is a special event and it will always be a special event no matter the card. We’re in the age were everyone is going to second guess big events and cards more often than not until they see it. I find it amazing that some people have the ability to judge a card before it happens.”
On what comes to his mind when he hears the word “WrestleMania”: “Wrestlemania 9 was a matter of migrating into the world of WWE from the world of WCW and having your first assignment be the play by play for Wrestlemania. It was a pretty auspicious way to start I mean where do u go from there? So I’d say Wrestlemania 9 the first one you always remember the first one.”
On the transition from WCW to WWE: “I didn’t change a thing; I didn’t change anything that I did. You call a wrestling show based on what you see and not based on what you want to see or what you want to hear or say. The wrestlers provide the music and the announcer provides the lyric.”
On fans who keep asking if Chris Benoit will get into the WWE Hall of Fame: “They (fans) ask me don’t you feel Chris Benoit should be in the Hall of Fame and I say no I don’t. I get them saying oh you guys are being etc… I don’t work for WWE, who in the hell are guys?? And who are you to tell me what I have to do? What are you 13 in your parents basement? It Benoit could communicate right now he’d say no I’d be a distraction…”
TNA executive John Gaburick announced another round of talent signings on Friday.
In addition to the several stars who have already re-signed with the promotion, Gaburick announced Bobby Lashley, Robbie E. and Bram have all signed new contracts with the company as well.
Below are the announcements Gaburick made on Twitter.
– TNA has announced that they’ll be returning to Universal Studios in May for another round of Impact Wrestling tapings. On Friday, May 8th, Impact Wrestling will air “live” on Destination America (actually a slight tape delay). The events May 9, 10 and 11 will be television tapings. Admission to each event is free.
– The following is a preview for tonight’s Impact Wrestling on Destination America:
World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Lashley vs. Kurt Angle
Knockouts Champion Taryn Terrell vs. Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong
Ultiamte X: BroMans vs. The Revolution vs. The Wolves
Mark Henry recently spoke with Doug Mortman and Dave Lagreca on Busted Open to promote WrestleMania 31. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
His Favorite WrestleMania Moment:
“My match with Undertaker at WrestleMania 22 changed me. It made me believe that I belonged and boosted my confidence. That match propelled me to where I am today. When Roman Reigns has that moment of belonging that is when he’ll be great. However, you need time to pass for that to happen. It took me 18 years. It takes faster for some people and I believe Roman is ahead of the curve in that regard.”
Roman Reigns’ Push & Fans Not Fully Accepting Him:
“If Roman attacks Brock the way he attacked Daniel Bryan at FastLane, then he can do big things. People always run off at the mouth on what people should do. I believe people should sit back and enjoy and if they don’t like what they’re seeing, tune them out. Fans have to realize that as big of an impact that they have on the industry, they’re not calling the shots. They should just sit back and enjoy the show. When fans go to football games, they’re not the ones calling the plays. There’s a different mentality with the fan base nowadays where the fans are reacting before storylines even have a chance to play out. People are commenting before stuff even happens. There used to be a time where the anticipation grew so much and that anticipation superseded everything else. However, that anticipation has lessened in today’s day and age because of all the information and media surrounding the company. Roman Reigns can definitely be the next top guy in WWE but he has to have a thicker skin and not worry so much about what the critics are saying.”
You can hear Busted Open on SiriusXM 92 and on the SiriusXM app or at BustedOpenNation.com.
Earlier this week, WWE insider ‘MetsFan4Ever’ made a post on Reddit revealing some major developments in WWE’s booking plans for WrestleMania. With Brock Lesnar close to signing a new deal with WWE, Triple H has reportedly been pushing for Brock Lesnar to retain the WWE Championship at WrestleMania, John Cena and Daniel Bryan to win the US & IC titles and for those secondary belts to be elevated to compensate for Lesnar’s limited schedule.
To update the situation, MetsFan4Ever says that another idea being discussed for the IC title ladder match is for Sheamus to return as a surprise entrant in the match, cost Bryan the win and capture the gold himself. This would lead to Sheamus and Bryan feuding over the title in the coming weeks & months.
He clarified that Sheamus winning the IC title and feuding with Bryan is only a rumor at this point and less likely than the original scenario of Bryan and Cena coming out of Mania as champions.
With WrestleMania only 9 days away, WWE will be finalizing booking plans very soon and we’ll see how it all goes down next weekend.
– Alex Roley spoke to WWE.com about getting back in the ring with NXT after two years on the sidelines as a commentator.
When asked if he was at peace with never wrestling again before his recent return, Riley said:
“It was never over in my mind. Although I had people in WWE and in very high-powered, prominent positions telling me I was never going to wrestle again. I heard things like, “if you have anything in common with Alex Riley, you should be worried.” Honestly, hearing those things was more painful than I can put into words. But in my mind, I lived everyday like I was hours away from WrestleMania. That’s how you know you love something. It’s when there is zero chance of you ever getting to see it, touch it, do it again and you go on faith and never stop pursuing it.”
– The latest SmackDown Fallout video features the big post-SmackDown interview with Stardust that he’s been hyping on social media. Stardust spoke to Tom Phillips about the WWE Intercontinental Title Ladder Match at WrestleMania: