March 2008 News Archive (Page 4)

John Cena is profiled in the most recent issue of Men's Fitness. Here are excerpts from the interview with the WWE superstar:

Since you're a pro wrestler, someone who's been criticized and dragged through the mud about performance-enhancing drugs in the past, we were hoping to get your take on the MLB steroid scandal. How do you respond to the inquiry into Roger Clemens and MLB?
John Cena: I think it's something that needs to be done. I don't think baseball has taken the right approach, just like I don't think the media has taken the right approach as far as scrutinizing professional wrestling. The absolute correct approach would be the same as the war on drugs. These drugs are illegal, they're not for any prescription, they're not for any athlete. So make the penalty if you get caught using an illegal substance arrest and jail time.

The government is allowing each sanctioning body, whether it's sports entertainment, the NFL, the NBA to police its own. If an athlete fails a drug test, they get a 30-day suspension, where if I'm John Q. Public, walking around the street with a bunch of anabolic steroids, I'm going to jail.

There is a severe double standard. If the government and Congress want to step in, they have to start at the source and make sure the athletes know these drugs are illegal. I think if the penalty is severe enough, the amount of offenders will go way down.

In baseball, if it's a 30-day suspension, that might be the equivalent of a 15-day suspension. For an athlete, a lot of times, that's worth the risk.

Read the full article on Cena now.

Last night, on ECW...

(1) John Morrison and The Miz def. Tommy Dreamer and Colin Delaney to retain the WWE Tag Team Titles in an Extreme Rules Match.
Colin and Tommy arrive at ringside with an entire shopping cart full of weapons. Dreamer is wearing a Chicago Cubs shirt. There was a near double pinfall, until a table got involved. The finish ended up with Tommy Dreamer getting thrown through a table and getting pinned. It was said to a good match. We are told that tables, kendo sticks, football helmets, and garbage cans were all used during the bout.

(2) The Great Khali def. Stevie Richards
This was a short squash match. Mike Knox ran in and beat up on Richards after the match.

(3) Kofi Kingston def. Deuce
The usual Kofi match that we have seen since his debut. Won fairly handily.

(4) Festus def. Elijah Burke
Jesse came out with Festus.

Shelton Benjamin comes out and joins Joey Styles and Tazz at the announcer's table.

(5) CM Punk def. Big Daddy V via count out in a Money in the Bank ladder match qualifying match.
After the match Matt Striker (Big Daddy V's manager) attacked Punk. Punk ended up hitting Go to Sleep on Striker.

It was announced during last night's ECW show that a 24-man battle royale featuring wrestlers from all three brands will be taking place during WrestleMania. The winner will then challenge Chavo Guerrero for the ECW title during the very same show.

There was talk of doing the battle royal and/or the ECW title match as dark matches to only be shown on the WrestleMania DVD release, but now they're combining the two for the main show.

Few wrestlers on the WWE roster have much sympathy for Jeff Hardy. Most feel he's simply blown his chance at a big push within the company.

"He doesn't take anything seriously and doesn't seem to care that he is his own worse enemy," said a former WWE star. "He thinks rules don't apply to him and lives in a completely different world than the rest of us. If he hasn't gotten the message by now, he never will."

As noted earlier, Hardy has been removed from Wrestlemania. Moreover, another violation of WWE's Wellness policy will result in Jeff Hardy being released from the company.

With all the talk - and beautiful photos - of other WWE Divas around our site, it was only a matter of time before Melina spoke out:

What about me?!?

Sorry, Melina, it's just easy to ignore one of the few WWE Divas who is yet to appear in Playboy. Nevertheless, here's a picture tribute to you...

Huge, breaking WWE news:

WWE.com has just issued the following announcement on their official website:

In accordance with its Substance Abuse and Drug Testing Policy, WWE has suspended Jeff Hardy for 60 days, for his second violation of the company’s policy.

It should be noted that one more violation of WWE's Wellness policy will result in Jeff Hardy's manditory release from the company.

Jeff has been removed from the Wrestlemania preview on WWE.com and will not be participating in the Money In The Bank match at the event.

Several WWE stars were informed of the suspension backstage at RAW last night. Hence, why Hardy dropped the Intercontinental title to Chris Jericho on the show.

OUCH! What a major blow to the company and idiotic move by Hardy. He was on the verge of a major push. Talk about it now in our forum. 

Here's the official preview for tonight's ECW show, courtesy of WWE.com:

WWE Tag Team Champions John Morrison & The Miz successfully defended their titles against Tommy Dreamer & Colin Delaney on the last ECW. Still, the duo of the ECW Original and the young Superstar proved to know the formula to defeating the WWE Tag Team Champions a week earlier.

When they face the titleholders again next week, will they be able to come out on top? With the match being Extreme Rules, Dreamer & Delaney certainly have the advantage, thanks to Dreamer’s experience in the Land of the Extreme.

ECW Champion Chavo Guerrero, retained the gold on the last ECW, but he is hardly safe. CM Punk vowed to keep coming back for more until the title is his. If Guerrero plans on being champion for the long run, he has his work cut out for him. What lies ahead for the “Mexican Warrior” and his championship reign?

ECW Original Stevie Richards was slowed down by the self-proclaimed “Gold Standard” of ECW, Shelton Benjamin. Will Richards get back on track and continue proving that he hasn’t lost a step since leaving the ring for throat surgery?

Following an altercation after ECW on Sci Fi, Richards might be looking for vengeance the next time he steps into an arena to compete. It's hard to imagine payback isn’t on Stevie’s mind after being attacked by an angry ECW Superstar.

Here are the taping results for TNA iMPACT, set to air this Thursday:

- Jim Cornette announced Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe at Lockdown for the TNA World Title. Cornette also announced a Lethal Lockdown match for Lockdown with Christian Cage and Tomko being captains of their respective teams. AJ Styles then ran out and attacked Cage. Kevin Nash made the save.

- Curry Man defeated Petey Williams.

- Samoa Joe came out to the ring and announced that if he didn't win the TNA World Title at Lockdown he wouldn't appear on iMPACT ever again.

- Black Reign & Rellik defeated The Motor City Machineguns (Sabin & Shelley). After the match, "Super" Eric Young came out.

- TNA World Champion Kurt Angle defeated Kaz in a Non-Title Match. After the match, Karen Angle came out and announced she wanted a separation. Kurt liked the idea since it would give him time to focus on Samoa Joe. Karen ran away crying.

- Lance Hoyt, Jimmy Rave & Christy Hemme defeated LAX & Salinas.

- Gail Kim defeated Velvet Sky. After the match, Awesome Kong hit the ring and took out Kim. ODB ran out to make the save.

- Christian Cage & Kevin Nash defeated TNA World Tag Team Champions AJ Styles & Tomko via DQ when Team 3D interfered. 3D also attacked Joel from Survivor at ringside again.

Here are a few WWE rumors floating around for Wrestlemania 24...

• There are currently no plans to do an ECW title match at WrestleMania. However, it's been discussed as a pre-show match as a DVD exclusive.

• There is also talk of conducting the annual interbrand Battle Royal as a pre-show match at WrestleMania. WWE does this match every year so that all their regulars receive a WrestleMania bonus. It also serves as morale booster for undercard wrestlers.

• There has been talk of doing a Legends Battle Royal match at WrestleMania. They last did it in 2001 with Iron Sheik winning. However, Triple H is said to be greatly against the idea.

SOURCE: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Welcome to a recap of Wrestlemania Rewind night on WWE RAW. Let's see what went down...

Match #1: Wrestlemania 22 Rematch - Casket Match: Undertaker vs. Mark Henry
Undertaker gets Henry in a submission hold, blood comes from his mouth. Undertaker kicks Henry as he rolls into the open casket. The refs closed the casket.
Winner: Undertaker

Triple H wants Wrestlemania gold. At Wrestlemania 23 he was out due to an injury inflicted by Randy Orton. Triple H never got his rematch and says that this year, it's personal.

Match #2: Mr. Kennedy vs. Finlay
JBL comes out and accepts Finlay’s match at WrestleMania for a Belfast Brawl. Finlay upset and, disturbed by JBL’s disruption of his match, attacks Kennedy with his shileliah repeatedly. The ref comes down and calls the match.
Winner by DQ: Kennedy

Match #3: Intercontinental Championship match: Jeff Hardy vs. Chris Jericho
Jeff Hardy hits the twist of fate, but misses the swanton-bomb! Chris Jericho hits the code breaker for the victory!
Winner: Chris Jericho (New Intercontinental Champion)

Iron Sheik and Nikoli Volkoff come out with Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda to do a Wrestlemania 1 rematch. Unfortuantely, Jillian comes out and croaks “born in the USA” and Rotunda picks her up in an airplane spin, Jillian leaves, and the match never really takes place.

Match #4: Wrestlemania 15 Rematch: Triple H vs. Kane
Triple H hits a pedigree after a bit of back and forth action.
Winner: Triple H

John Cena says that he beat all of the odds in returning to the WWE as early as he did, and will defy all odds again by winning the gold.

Match #5: Wrestlamania Pre-Match: Melina w/Beth Phoenix vs. Maria Kanellis w/Candice Michelle
Santino comes down to the ring carrying a copy of Maria’s Playboy issue. He rips up the magazine and gives Melina the opportunity to pin Maria.
Winner: Melina

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