Bret Hart speaks out Andrew Martin

Former WWE and WCW World champion Bret Hart, who originally broke Andrew "Test" Martin into professional wrestling, has posted a blog on his official website regarding Martin's passing at this link.

HITMAN BLOG

The following are excerpts from the Hitman's blog:

"I met Andrew, along with his equally huge friend George, at the Planet Hollywood restaurant in downtown Toronto in 1996. WWE exec, Carlo DeMarco brought them both up to meet me and to see if I’d be interested in possibly training them as wrestlers. Andrew was, as my father would say, a fine specimen; 6’ 6”, lean, hard and handsome with a big, boyish smile. I wasn’t actually looking for any more prospects but I saw something in him and told him if he could get over to Calgary I’d personally teach him, free of charge."

"I was working a full WWE schedule back then and was preparing to begin teaching, or fine tuning, some of the many young wrestlers that were starting to pop up everywhere. I instantly liked Andrew and I can smile now at the memory of coming home from the road, physically exhausted, only to remember that I’d promised Andrew a real match in my dungeon. I found myself reluctantly wrapping my knees and lacing up my boots so I could wrestle Andrew on my precious day off. That day Andrew went from dreaming of being a wrestler to actually working with the WWE World Champion in his home. I wrestled Andrew for over a half hour and I knew back then that, with his size and ability, he was going to go far in the business."

"Death brought Andrew and I back together when we saw each other at Bryan “Krush” Adams’ funeral two years ago. It was during that sad, dark time - after the recent losses of Sherri Martel, Bam Bam Bigelow and the blackness of the Chris Benoit tragedy - I was hearing that Andrew was having drug addiction problems again and I was fearful he might be next. I saw a need to keep in touch with him and do all I could to encourage him to save himself, and maybe some others too. We renewed our friendship and stayed in touch."

"This past November I had the luck of doing a wrestling tour in France for two weeks with Andrew and he seemed to be a new man. He’d completed WWE sponsored rehab and had a new lease on life. Andrew clearly had his demons on the run and we talked about him becoming the poster child for wrestlers that desperately needed a voice urging, “If I can beat this, so can you!” Andrew convinced me he had the commitment and the determination to make a difference. I had a great time with him on that tour."

"Following the tour I had painful knee replacement surgery and now it was Andrew calling me to see if I was doing okay. A few weeks ago he talked of coming to visit me here in Hawaii. He seemed so strong and focused that I never thought to question him about how he was doing. I again urged him to use his experience to reach out to the many wrestlers who are still losing their battle with drug addiction."

"Now I wish so much that I could’ve somehow known that Andrew was losing his grip on his addictions, beginning to slip. I failed to see the signs of him losing a battle that I thought he’d already won. My heart has been heavy since the news of his passing. In our last phone call, a few weeks ago, I kidded him about how he worked that entire France tour and never took one bump and I smile at the memory of his deep booming laugh echoing over the phone. That’s how I choose to remember my friend. I’m sorry I didn’t see his pain and suffering; had I known I’d have tried harder to save him. He slipped and we lost one of the good ones. Nobody has anything but the nicest things to remember about Andrew Martin. I will miss him. He was a dear friend, one of very few I had left in a profession where too many die too young. My thoughts and prayers go out to him and his entire family. Somehow, as hard as we all tried, we lost another good soul forever."

FINAL THOUGHT

RIP Andrew Martin

Jim Ross blogs on The Rock

Jim Ross has updated his blog, speaking on numerous things - including The Rock.


ROCK SOLID

Here are the highlights from JR speaking about The Rock

"The Rock had been around the wrestling biz his entire life. From day one since he arrived on this planet, Dwayne Johnson had been surrounded by wrestling. I think his love of the business will always be with him but he had a wonderful opportunity to move into films

, earn a great living, maintain his physical health, but most importantly move into a vocation that had interested him for years. Even though Dwayne Johnson has likely wrestled his last match I would not bet against seeing the "Great One" appear at a WWE function before all is said and done sometime in the future. On this one, I certainly feel that the old wrestling cliché of never say never is applicable. No fan, no one in the wrestling business, and no one but the man himself can say conclusively that wrestling fans will never see Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson at a wrestling event again."

JR also speaks on WrestleMania ticket sales & the UFC


Check out the full blog entry here.

Matt Hardy Responds to Eric Bischoff

Matt Hardy recently posted a new blog entry, firing back at Eric Bischoff for comments that Bishoff made towards Matt in a recent blog entry.


XTREME REBUTTAL

Here is Matt response to Eric Bischoff:

There are so many wonderful and positive things my success has made possible and allowed me to do. On the other end of the spectrum though, there are other byproducts created by success-critics and negative opinions. It comes with the territory and I have learned to not only accept them, but to embrace them as motivation. Which brings me to some comments that were made about me that I was recently made aware of. I'll be the first to admit, I love keeping up with my profession on all levels, including the rumor-mill known as the internet. The last two weeks I've had such a hectic schedule between my day job and my other projects, I've haven't been up to speed on the current internet "topics." A good friend of mine showed me some comments a former power broker in the sports entertainment business made about yours truly. After I read his comments, I actually started laughing they were so off the mark. He then proceeded to make a couple of comments about Jeff, without knowing actual facts, which just made him look like a rotten person. Here's verbatim what was said about me..

[QUOTE BISCHOFF]

"Matt, you are a friggin goof. Your recent recap of your "lifestyle" frames you as a candidate to the Jake Roberts Hall of Fame. Your suggestion that you and your generation are "smarter and more responsible" than previous generations of wrestlers makes me sick. You are a mid-card talent that should be grateful to even get a check every other week. Enjoy it while it lasts. And rather than looking down your nose at previous generations of professional wrestlers, donate a portion of your check to one of them and ask them to point out all the parallels between your current career path/lifestyle and theirs."

[END QUOTE BISCHOFF]

I find it funny that my "suggestions make him sick", yet he cares enough about me and my blog to read it and actually comment on it. Because I certainly didn't even know he had a blog or gave a damn about it until someone made me aware of it. So I'm gonna give this individual just what he was looking for by taking a couple of ignorant jabs towards someone he apparently cares about-some publicity on the net. Alright, let's break this down..


[QUOTE BISCHOFF]

"Matt, you are a friggin goof. Your recent recap of your "lifestyle" frames you as a candidate to the Jake Roberts Hall of Fame."

[END QUOTE BISCHOFF]

Hmm.. Absolutely no disrespect toward Jake Roberts, a guy who sacrificed to keep the business up and running so I could work in it one day, I don't think you could possibly be any further off. Besides my wrestling income, I have other projects and situations that produce income for me. I'm a little bit of an entrepreneur, kinda like you, HA. I could have retired already, dating back to 2005. I'd say that's pretty responsible for someone who just turned 34 years old. I'm not a drug guy either-I've never been in trouble, I've never had to battle demons, and the Wellness Program loves me. For the record, when I was out all night at Shane Helm's place, it was a New Year's Eve party. The majority of America stays up late that night. I was off the next day, and was able to get enough sleep to catch up. The following Friday after our Ft. Lauderdale live event, I went to eat with a friend after the show around midnight and hung out for a while. And because my sleep schedule had been wacky for a couple of days, I was wide awake. Sorry, didn't have or was willing to take any kind of "substances" to put me to sleep before my 4:30 a.m. wake up call. Had to disappoint you. Or the condescending "pro wrestling journalist" who writes for the preposterous Minnesota .com site who also made some patronizing remarks about the same situation. Once Saturday night rolled around, I was back on my regular sleeping schedule. You guys do realize we keep outrageous hours at work that constantly change depending on scheduling and traveling right? Just checking..


[QUOTE BISCHOFF]

"Your suggestion that you and your generation are "smarter and more responsible" than previous generations of wrestlers makes me sick."

[END QUOTE BISCHOFF]


First and foremost, hope you're feeling better. And by the way, since you were singling him out, my brother does not make up my entire "generation." Things have changed SO much for the better since I started with the WWE full-time in 1998. I consider my generation roster beginning from around the time myself, Jeff, Edge, and Christian started with the WWE, 1998ish. Even before the Wellness Program began, the majority of my generation didn't want to end up dying early or broke if they were fortunate enough to make a good living in the business. And we learned that from those who had come before us. The majority of us were smart enough to learn from the mistakes of those who paved the way for us. The business isn't perfect, but it's damn sure better and more responsible than it's ever been. I stand completely behind that statement. If you have an issue nowadays, you have to either change or be gone. If I'm not mistaken, you're friends with DDP-he was around some of our generation for a while, ask him his opinion on the subject. On top of that, Vince McMahon and the WWE have been working diligently on all levels-in an honest attempt to keep their employees as safe and as healthy as possible by utilizing the Wellness Program, cardio testing, impact testing, and constant physical check-ups.


[QUOTE BISCHOFF]

"You are a mid-card talent that should be grateful to even get a check every other week. Enjoy it while it lasts."

[END QUOTE BISCHOFF]


HAHAHA!! Ewww.. Scott Hall finger thing.. Mid-Card, grateful to even get a check.. Wow, that's upsetting. I'm going on 11 years with the WWE and my 1099's (which I just looked at for 2008) certainly don't have a number on them that implies I'm lucky to be getting a paycheck. And just for the record, for the last 11 months, I have consistently been at nearly all televisions tapings-more than any other talent has. Enough of justifying myself though, I feel in good company. If I'm not mistaken, that's the same sentiment you had about Steve Austin-and he turned out ok. Maybe there's a small ray of hope for me yet..


[QUOTE BISCHOFF]

"And rather than looking down your nose at previous generations of professional wrestlers, donate a portion of your check to one of them and ask them to point out all the parallels between your current career path/lifestyle and theirs."

[END QUOTE BISCHOFF]


I don't look down my nose at anyone. No one from any walk of life. I don't even see how you could take my comments out of context that far to even suggest that. I am especially grateful to the previous generations who kept the business alive so I could leave the life I do today. Anyone who knows me well personally knows that. I've busted my ass for a long time with a master plan of positioning myself into a certain situation. A situation that I'm responsible for where I'm happy, secure, and free to dictate my daily activities. On my own, I've more or less gotten to that point. I've never asked for any donations, so I don't feel responsible to give out any. And call me crazy, but I think my current career path/lifestyle is gonna be just fine.

You can read Matt's full blog here.


FINAL THOUGHT

I can't wait for Bischoff's reply

Rev Theory on Raw

Its been announced the Rev Theory, the band behind "Light It Up", "Hell Yeah" and Randy Orton's theme song "Voices", will be on Raw next week. (26th January 2009)


REVELATION RAW

Rev Theory posted the following message on their Myspace page:

"We're super excited to announce that we've been tapped to play WWE "Monday Night Raw" next Monday, January 26th in Cleveland, Ohio! We'll be performing Randy Orton's theme song, "Voices", a song which features Rich on vocals, and also happens to be WWE's biggest theme at the moment. In addition, WWE "The Music" compilation CD, which features "Voices", drops the following day - Tuesday, Jan 27th. "Monday Night Raw" airs on the USA Network and is cable TV's most watched program, so please be sure to tune in!!"

To view Rev Theory's MySpace page, click here

FINAL THOUGHT

WWE The Music Volume 9 better be worth all this hype and publicity work.

James A. Johnson better not produce more random WWE remixes to songs.

Michelle McCool on Victoria's Retirement

Michelle McCool has confronted the WWE Universe about Victoria's Retirement.


McCOOL CONFRONTATION

McCool addressed the WWE Universe on her official blog, stating:

"Though we've had our differences on TV, she is someone very special to me. It's funny how life goes full circle. From watching her on TV as Godfather's "Head Ho", to kicking her butt in diva dodgeball :) to becoming her opponent, her ally, and most importantly - her friend, I absolutely love that girl to death! She is brave, happy, hilarious, courageous, the list goes on....I can't even do justice what she means to me. The great thing about her is that I guarantee every person she's met, she has made a positive impact on in some form or fashion!"

To read her entire blog, click here


FINAL THOUGHT

Glad to see a different side of Michelle.

I still think WWE should have let Victoria win her last match.

Jim Ross Blog (Hall of Fame, Reality TV etc)

Jim Ross has updated his blog speaking out about the video libraries WWE doesn't have access to, Hall of Fame inductions and WWE producing Reality TV.


ON WWE HALL OF FAME INDUCTIONS

"Way too much is being made about who presents who in the WWE Hall of Fame. I think some fans are losing sight that the Hall of Fame is about those that are being inducted and not those that are presenting them. For example, this is Steve Austin's well earned and deserved night in Houston on April 4 and not the presenter's. This goes for any one who is presenting a Hall of Fame inductee. Good grief, does it really matter who does a 2 minute or so intro as long as it is the person the inductee wants to represent them? Let's stop the pain, as Michael Cole would say."

ON THE NON-WWE OWNED VIDEO LIBRARIES

"Some want to know why the WWE doesn't do DVD's from the Memphis or Mid South Wrestling territories. Simple reason is that the WWE doesn't own the libraries. The Memphis video library situation is a mess which is really too bad as they had some great weekly TV shows for years and years but unless someone cares enough about organizing this library it is likely fans will ever see that period of wrestling be shared with today's fans. Mid South is owned by Bill Watts' ex-wife and she has not demonstrated an interest in selling the library as best I know but I am not nor do I want to be involved in that negotiation which I assume is dormant at this time. "

To read the full interview, go to www.jrsbarbq.com.

Jim Ross Blog Update

Jim Ross has a new blog up, here are the highlights:



On the release of Sgt. Slaughter

"Sorry to hear of my old friend Sgt. Slaughter being released from the WWE as I did not know it until I arrived in Omaha on Tuesday. Sarge and I both worked for Bill Watts back in the 70's, Sarge under his real name of Bob Remus, and for economic reasons we used to split an $8 room, with two beds for you wise asses out there, at the lovely Belmont Motor Inn on Airline Highway in Baton Rouge, La.

Sarge and I made many visits to the local Chinese Buffet, usually in the late afternoon, for the all one could eat extravaganza or a "pitch 'till you win" meal. Often times was our lunch AND dinner, or supper for my southern brethren. Sarge went on to become a huge star in wrestling and is one of the nicest individuals to ever work in the biz. I have yet to speak with Sarge but I will and I know he will eventually be fine.

Bob has been in tough spots before in this wacky profession and has always persevered. I am not making light of this matter whatsoever as I can relate to Sarge's dilemma."

On the release of Ron Simmons

"Ron Simmons, who became the first black World's Champion of a major wrestling company when he defeated Big Van Vader in August of 1992 in Baltimore, has also been released from the WWE. I did not know this one either until I walked into the Quest Center Tuesday in Omaha.

Ron might want to explore public and motivational speaking as he has a great story to tell and the pipes to tell it. Ironically that night in Baltimore, Ron defeated Leon (Vader) White in a battle of two division one college football stars of significant acclaim and it was a nose guard (Simmons from Florida State) versus a center (White from Colorado) in a match orchestrated by Bill Watts (former lineman at Oklahoma) who was in charge of WCW at that time."

On the new ECW Champion Jack Swagger

"My last talent recommendation to the WWE talent relations department is the new ECW Champion Jack Swagger. Swagger wrestled at Oklahoma, my gosh we can't say THAT on TV, and used to eat the occasional meal at the Ross home while a student at OU. Swagger, then known as Jake Hager, was roommates with current Chicago Bear Dusty Dvorchek and the two of them used to hang out at our home.

There is no reason Swagger shouldn't be a star if he continues to work hard and doesn't make any foolish or irresponsible mistakes. Educated 6'6"-270 pounders with natural balance, agility, a wrestling background and a bona fide mean streak aren't easy to find."

On Stone Cold in the WWE Hall of Fame:

"The announcement of my friend Stone Cold Steve Austin going into the WE Hall of Fame in Houston on Saturday night April 4 was a big hit in my world. Steve is the greatest star of all time in the wrestling biz if one considers revenue into the equation including tickets and pay per views sold along with merchandise sales.

Steve was a fierce competitor who was always his own worst critic and would not allow himself to be any thing but the best in his field. My hiring of Stone Cold certainly made my tenure as the head of talent relations in the WWE look good but, trust me, Steve Austin attained his success through hard work and being an amazing student of the game.

Steve did and still does identify amazingly well with wrestling fans, which helped him craft his Stone Cold persona so well. Ironically, Steve became a wrestling fan while watching wrestling from Houston which will be the same city that Steve will close the wrestling chapter of his life at WM25."

- You can check out the full blog entry here.

Kevin Nash addresses his injury

Kevin Nash may be out with injury, but he can still type.


BIG SEXY ADDRESS

TNA Wrestling posted the following blog from Kevin Nash on their official website. Nash underwent emergency surgery yesterday in Charlotte, North Carolina on his elbow:

"Greetings from Charlotte, still.

I know I’ve only been in the airport, hotel and hospital since I’ve been here after arriving late Saturday afternoon, but I’ve run into some very nice people.

The hospital staff is very nice, and one young brunette nurse is really a looker. Kinda tall Megan Fox-looking.

I have some sort of infection in my right elbow; the culture has not come back yet. The doctors have been treating it as MRSA. For those of you who do not know, MRSA is an antibiotic-resistant infection. A mutated superbug. Lucky me.

Oh, by the way, did I tell you that I was operated on Monday afternoon. That’s surgery No. 27. After being cut on that many times, sometimes you forget, even if it was just Monday when I was operated on. (Editor’s note: Nash’s arm was cut open to drain blood due to massive swelling).

Don’t know when this will heal, depends on how my body reacts to the antibiotics.

I have a gaping, open wound in my elbow, with the equivalent of a small ShopVac hooked up to it. I’m sure I’m paying 2-bills to rent that bad boy. When I go home, I’ll hook up the Black & Decker, and save the insurance company some money.

Hated missing the Pay-Per-View because I felt like the Mafia was just starting to get some momentum. But my left arm is OK, so I should be able to whack somebody at the next iMPACT events in Orlando.

Heard Kurt and Jeff had a great match; I look forward to watching that.

I would like to continue on with this blog, but American Idol is upcoming. Can’t miss.

I’ll blog more this week.

Nash …“The MRSA Man”

Oh MRSA, MRSA me … things ain’t like they used to be.

Kevin Nash"

FINAL THOUGHTS

Glad to see Kevin Nash is still able to type.

Here's hoping he gets a speedy recovery