Post by andrew8798 on Dec 18, 2007 23:40:48 GMT -5
Latest in the Benoit case. The estate battle could end this week as the Benoits and Toffolonis will decide whether this can be settled amicably or whether they are going to court. Who gets the $1.5 to $3 million estate, of course, all rests on the order of deaths. If Nancy died first, which is what is widely believed, the estate goes to the Benoit family.
If Daniel died first, the estate flows to Nancy and then on to her family. The belief is that the Toffoloni family doesn't have much of a case here since the coroners, police and medical examiners have all stated that Nancy was killed some time before Daniel. Also, Michael Benoit's family offered the WWE the chance to pay the children a $2 million settlement in exchange for a wrongful death lawsuit to not be filed. WWE said they were not interested in discussing the matter. Benoit's attorney said his client has not yet decided whether he will file suit. However, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, which has been at the forefront of reporting on this case, believes it "appears to be just a formality."
The $2 million payment, Benoit's attorney Cary Icther (of WCW racial discrimination lawsuit fame, and a key member, coincidentally, of the Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission) said, was for "recognition of their father's contributions to the company". He added, "Had the WWE taken the slightest interest in its wrestlers — before it became the object of the interest of district attorneys and Congress — there is little doubt that Chris Benoit and his family would still be with us today." That, of course, is greatly open to debate, and I can tell you with some certainty that WWE feels that they are not in any way responsible for what happened. There is a feeling that because the Benoit side only asked for $2 million, they don't feel like they have much of a case.
Hogan told OK Magazine that, in hindsight, the idea of doing Hogan Knows Best probably wasn't for the best. "There’s an upside to it and there’s a huge downside to it, especially with family members who weren’t used to it. There was a lot gained and a lot lost by doing that. I had some crazy days and some things that caught me off guard that I didn’t know were going to happen. I’ve been riding the highs, surviving the lows, leaning into the wind. All that stuff is all an attitude thing for me — being positive and knowing things are going to get better. My main concern in life is my son and his situation and the boy that’s in the car. There is no other choice but to do okay. Jumping off a bridge isn’t an option.” They asked about perhaps one day doing another series, and he said he didn't know if they could ever regroup again, but made sure to throw out: "Never say never!".
Ads for the No Way Out PPV at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas list an elimination chamber as the main event. Most likely the winner will get a title shot at WrestleMania, so I would expect Undertaker to be in there and win.
The latest we've heard is that the Congressional hearings on January 23rd that were scheduled last week upon the release of the Mitchell Report will only cover baseball and not professional wrestling. The group arranging them, headed by Tom Davis and Henry Waxman, claimed several weeks ago that the hearings would cover both, so I don't know what happened to change their minds.
Rey's knee jammed during the MVP match at the PPV, but he was telling people later that night that he was all right.
There was a hearing Tuesday regarding the new pro-wrestling regulations suggested by the Georgia State Athletic and Entertainment Commission. If you'll recall a month or so back we did a story on this and ran down a list of the totally antiquated rules they were proposing. Basically, the rules suggest that pro-wrestling is both real and fake, with requirements for what guys can wear, how the rules need to be enforced, etc.
The big key is that they also want an ambulance on site, two EMTs, and a 5% fee to the commission. The hiring of the ambulance and the EMTs is the deal breaker for most indy promoters, who just simply cannot afford it. Of course, an ambulance used to be required for shows up here in Washington state when I wrestled regularly, and International Championship Wrestling always seemed to find a way to afford it.
The rules are scheduled to go into affect on January 7th, which will result in a lot of local shows going out of business. In an interesting twist, WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt announced that due to the strict ruling, if such a thing went into affect they would stop running events in the state. What's also weird about it is that at this point, WWE isn't even affected since the statutes currently don't have any bearing on any company that has total assets of $25 million or more. The Commission is trying to get that exemption stricken, but right now it's still on the books. At the meeting Tuesday, it was determined that they would wait 90 days to put everything into effect so they'd have time to engage in discussions with indy promoters.
JBL will be coming back full-time as a Raw wrestler, his first feud obviously being with Chris Jericho. No idea who will be replacing him on color on Smackdown
Speaking of JBL, he did a radio show in Philadelphia and said a lot of the horrible things he said about Eddy Guerrero during their feud were actually lines that Eddy himself had come up with. He also said he was sorry for what happened in his feud with Blue Meanie (referring to the assault in the ring at the first One Night Stand), saying he was unprofessional and largely to blame.
The feeling on Kennedy internally is that this is a sink or swim opportunity for him, and that if he doesn't rise to the occasion in the feud with HBK he'll be relegated to mid-card purgatory for the foreseeable future. We've mentioned many times that if you can't improve in the ring working a feud with Shawn Michaels, how can the company possibly invest in you?
According to one person who has also followed his career since the beginning, it appears -- and this should come as no surprise -- that it is a pattern of inconsistency; periods where he does well and then periods where he crashes and burns. Earlier this year he was scheduled to become World Champion, but then he suffered a triceps injury. He returned and didn't look good and the opportunity disappeared, and I can't see him getting the belt any time in the near future.
Then he was supposed to become Vince's illegitimate son, which would have been a career-making gimmick, and blew it by volunteering to go on national TV to talk about steroids, lied, and then get busted for it. He used to be very close to Austin, but Austin in a recent interview said that right now he was listening to too many people. According to another source, he's listening to anyone and everyone for advice, including people who have no clue about what he should be doing in-ring like writer David Lagana. He is said to have little confidence in his own instincts as a performer, which is pretty clear when you watch his matches. Every match it's like he tries to be someone else, largely because every match he's trying something different that someone else told him.
Jeff Hardy told Bill Barnwell of IGN.com: "Matt's good, he's at home, his appendix burst when he was in Tampa, so he goes home, he's out of the hospital one week, and he starts having chills and fevers. He went back in and had to get 40 more cc's of infection out of his toe. Now, this is the best he's felt since this all started".
For those wondering, yes, the Jillian Hall Christmas album is legit and available on iTunes. I listened to the free preview last week, then one of our subscribers actually purchased it for me as a gift. I believe you get all five songs for $1.49. It's not joke when they said it was one of the most purchased items of the week. It's also no joke when they say it is quite awful. In fact, it's so awful that you're struck with the amount of talent this woman has. She also does her own back-up vocals for most of the tracks. It's so bad it's good, though I can tell you that I don't plan on ever listening to it again. The songs include Have Yourself a Merry Christmas, Jingle Bell Rock, I'll be Home for Christmas, Rockin Around the Christmas Tree, and The Christmas Song.
WWE is looking for an editor for a new magazine they're looking to put out that will be targeted towards children. Perhaps the WWE version of Nickelodeon Magazine?.
John Graziano's mother stated that he's now semi-conscious and has opened up his eyes. He's still unable to breathe without the aid of a machine or speak
WWE has added three Mexico dates for February. It's called the Smackdown/ECW Road to WrestleMania tour. They're at Palacio de los Deportes on February 8th running head-to-head with CMLL (building seats 19,000). February 9th is Arena Monterrey (18,500), and Sunday is La Arena Vicente Fernandez de Guadalajara (12,500). OCESA is working as local promoter. Tickets range from 1,700 pesos ($156.92 US) down to 100 pesos ($9.23). Tickets went on sale Saturday and the front rows quickly sold out.
credit:F4W Newsletter
If Daniel died first, the estate flows to Nancy and then on to her family. The belief is that the Toffoloni family doesn't have much of a case here since the coroners, police and medical examiners have all stated that Nancy was killed some time before Daniel. Also, Michael Benoit's family offered the WWE the chance to pay the children a $2 million settlement in exchange for a wrongful death lawsuit to not be filed. WWE said they were not interested in discussing the matter. Benoit's attorney said his client has not yet decided whether he will file suit. However, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, which has been at the forefront of reporting on this case, believes it "appears to be just a formality."
The $2 million payment, Benoit's attorney Cary Icther (of WCW racial discrimination lawsuit fame, and a key member, coincidentally, of the Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission) said, was for "recognition of their father's contributions to the company". He added, "Had the WWE taken the slightest interest in its wrestlers — before it became the object of the interest of district attorneys and Congress — there is little doubt that Chris Benoit and his family would still be with us today." That, of course, is greatly open to debate, and I can tell you with some certainty that WWE feels that they are not in any way responsible for what happened. There is a feeling that because the Benoit side only asked for $2 million, they don't feel like they have much of a case.
Hogan told OK Magazine that, in hindsight, the idea of doing Hogan Knows Best probably wasn't for the best. "There’s an upside to it and there’s a huge downside to it, especially with family members who weren’t used to it. There was a lot gained and a lot lost by doing that. I had some crazy days and some things that caught me off guard that I didn’t know were going to happen. I’ve been riding the highs, surviving the lows, leaning into the wind. All that stuff is all an attitude thing for me — being positive and knowing things are going to get better. My main concern in life is my son and his situation and the boy that’s in the car. There is no other choice but to do okay. Jumping off a bridge isn’t an option.” They asked about perhaps one day doing another series, and he said he didn't know if they could ever regroup again, but made sure to throw out: "Never say never!".
Ads for the No Way Out PPV at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas list an elimination chamber as the main event. Most likely the winner will get a title shot at WrestleMania, so I would expect Undertaker to be in there and win.
The latest we've heard is that the Congressional hearings on January 23rd that were scheduled last week upon the release of the Mitchell Report will only cover baseball and not professional wrestling. The group arranging them, headed by Tom Davis and Henry Waxman, claimed several weeks ago that the hearings would cover both, so I don't know what happened to change their minds.
Rey's knee jammed during the MVP match at the PPV, but he was telling people later that night that he was all right.
There was a hearing Tuesday regarding the new pro-wrestling regulations suggested by the Georgia State Athletic and Entertainment Commission. If you'll recall a month or so back we did a story on this and ran down a list of the totally antiquated rules they were proposing. Basically, the rules suggest that pro-wrestling is both real and fake, with requirements for what guys can wear, how the rules need to be enforced, etc.
The big key is that they also want an ambulance on site, two EMTs, and a 5% fee to the commission. The hiring of the ambulance and the EMTs is the deal breaker for most indy promoters, who just simply cannot afford it. Of course, an ambulance used to be required for shows up here in Washington state when I wrestled regularly, and International Championship Wrestling always seemed to find a way to afford it.
The rules are scheduled to go into affect on January 7th, which will result in a lot of local shows going out of business. In an interesting twist, WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt announced that due to the strict ruling, if such a thing went into affect they would stop running events in the state. What's also weird about it is that at this point, WWE isn't even affected since the statutes currently don't have any bearing on any company that has total assets of $25 million or more. The Commission is trying to get that exemption stricken, but right now it's still on the books. At the meeting Tuesday, it was determined that they would wait 90 days to put everything into effect so they'd have time to engage in discussions with indy promoters.
JBL will be coming back full-time as a Raw wrestler, his first feud obviously being with Chris Jericho. No idea who will be replacing him on color on Smackdown
Speaking of JBL, he did a radio show in Philadelphia and said a lot of the horrible things he said about Eddy Guerrero during their feud were actually lines that Eddy himself had come up with. He also said he was sorry for what happened in his feud with Blue Meanie (referring to the assault in the ring at the first One Night Stand), saying he was unprofessional and largely to blame.
The feeling on Kennedy internally is that this is a sink or swim opportunity for him, and that if he doesn't rise to the occasion in the feud with HBK he'll be relegated to mid-card purgatory for the foreseeable future. We've mentioned many times that if you can't improve in the ring working a feud with Shawn Michaels, how can the company possibly invest in you?
According to one person who has also followed his career since the beginning, it appears -- and this should come as no surprise -- that it is a pattern of inconsistency; periods where he does well and then periods where he crashes and burns. Earlier this year he was scheduled to become World Champion, but then he suffered a triceps injury. He returned and didn't look good and the opportunity disappeared, and I can't see him getting the belt any time in the near future.
Then he was supposed to become Vince's illegitimate son, which would have been a career-making gimmick, and blew it by volunteering to go on national TV to talk about steroids, lied, and then get busted for it. He used to be very close to Austin, but Austin in a recent interview said that right now he was listening to too many people. According to another source, he's listening to anyone and everyone for advice, including people who have no clue about what he should be doing in-ring like writer David Lagana. He is said to have little confidence in his own instincts as a performer, which is pretty clear when you watch his matches. Every match it's like he tries to be someone else, largely because every match he's trying something different that someone else told him.
Jeff Hardy told Bill Barnwell of IGN.com: "Matt's good, he's at home, his appendix burst when he was in Tampa, so he goes home, he's out of the hospital one week, and he starts having chills and fevers. He went back in and had to get 40 more cc's of infection out of his toe. Now, this is the best he's felt since this all started".
For those wondering, yes, the Jillian Hall Christmas album is legit and available on iTunes. I listened to the free preview last week, then one of our subscribers actually purchased it for me as a gift. I believe you get all five songs for $1.49. It's not joke when they said it was one of the most purchased items of the week. It's also no joke when they say it is quite awful. In fact, it's so awful that you're struck with the amount of talent this woman has. She also does her own back-up vocals for most of the tracks. It's so bad it's good, though I can tell you that I don't plan on ever listening to it again. The songs include Have Yourself a Merry Christmas, Jingle Bell Rock, I'll be Home for Christmas, Rockin Around the Christmas Tree, and The Christmas Song.
WWE is looking for an editor for a new magazine they're looking to put out that will be targeted towards children. Perhaps the WWE version of Nickelodeon Magazine?.
John Graziano's mother stated that he's now semi-conscious and has opened up his eyes. He's still unable to breathe without the aid of a machine or speak
WWE has added three Mexico dates for February. It's called the Smackdown/ECW Road to WrestleMania tour. They're at Palacio de los Deportes on February 8th running head-to-head with CMLL (building seats 19,000). February 9th is Arena Monterrey (18,500), and Sunday is La Arena Vicente Fernandez de Guadalajara (12,500). OCESA is working as local promoter. Tickets range from 1,700 pesos ($156.92 US) down to 100 pesos ($9.23). Tickets went on sale Saturday and the front rows quickly sold out.
credit:F4W Newsletter