WWE News (Page 15)

WWE - and Wrestlemania 23 in particular - were highlighted in The New York Times today. You need a subscription to read the article, but here's the opening:

Quick, name the biggest events in global pop culture during the last week.

College basketball’s Final Four? Hoops makes for nice water-cooler talk in the United States, but do you think Florida vs. Ohio State was news in Japan? Hardly. And the start of the baseball season gets Americans excited, but did thousands of Europeans fly over to watch the Rockies play the Diamondbacks? Uh, no.

Meanwhile, the eyes and wallets of millions around the world were fixed on this unglamorous city for what is becoming a star-studded entertainment happening: WrestleMania. On Sunday 80,103 people from 24 countries and 50 states packed the cavernous Ford Field stadium here while the program was delivered via satellite to 110 countries.

The piece was accompanied by a couple great photos. Here they are:

• Ring of Honor  star Colt Cabana has signed a developmental deal with WWE. He is expected to be assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling. Cabana was also backstage at WrestleMania 23.

• Stone Cold Steve Austin will be a presenter at the CMT's 2007 Music Awards show on 4/16 in Nashville, TN.

The following press release was issued by WWE:

WrestleMania Blows Away Attendance Record At Ford Field

DETROIT, Mich., April 1, 2007 – World Wrestling Entertainmentset an all-time attendance record at Ford Field tonight, as 80,103 ecstatic fans shared in the excitement of WrestleMania 23, WWE’s annual pop culture spectacular. Fans packed Ford Field from ringside to the rafters, including thousands with standing room only tickets.

WrestleMania 23 is the highest grossing one-day live event in WWE history, grossing more than $5.38 million in ticket sales.

Fans converged on Detroit from 24 countries, all 50 states and 9 Canadian provinces, pumping an estimated $25 million into the local economy.

This marks the second time World Wrestling Entertainment has established an attendance record in Detroit. In 1987, at WrestleMania III, 93,173 fans filled the Silverdome in Pontiac, Mich., setting the all-time indoor attendance record.

“Who says lightning doesn’t strike twice,” said Kurt Schneider, Executive Vice President of Marketing. “Ford Field shook to the very core of its foundation with the thunderous noise from the record-setting crowd. The support of our fans in Detroit and around the world made WrestleMania 23 a tremendous success.”

• WWE hardcore legend Mick Foley’s “Hardcore Diaries” has had the most successful WWE book opening since Ric Flair’s autobiography in 2004.

• Rumors of Edge taking several months off this summer are false. Edge is currently scheduled to take place in many major storyline angles over the summer months.

• Both Hulk and Brooke Hogan were spotted in the crowd at a Jamie Fox concert at the Glass club in Miami.

USA Network sent out the following press release, hyping WWE as having reached mainstream status in pop culture:

Since Monday Night RAW has returned to USA Network, the program has helped USA become #1 in basic cable prime across all demographics and brought new, younger viewers to the network. In 2006, RAW's first full year back on USA, the show averaged a better household rating (4.04) than in three previous years on Spike TV. RAW has also delivered 13% more P18-34 (1.4 million) and 9% more P18-49 (2.6 million) than Spike had the previous two years. On the February 26, 2007 broadcast of RAW, more than six million viewers tuned into USA Network for the show, the largest number since 2002.

WWE rose to the heights of its popularity while on USA Network during the mid-1990's and early 21st century, then saw a pop-culture drop-off while on Spike TV. Monday Night RAW returned home to USA in October of 2005 and since then has come back with a vengeance to mainstream pop-culture. In 2007 to date, RAW is averaging a household rating of 4.01, with 2.8 million in P18-49, 1.5 million in P18-34 and 2.5 million in P25-54.

On network television within the past year, WWE Superstars such as John Cena, Triple H, Edge, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Candice Michelle, Mick Foley and others have appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The TODAY Show, Live with Regis and Kelly, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Jimmy Kimmel Live, MadTV and many others. In the print media, there have been features and mentions in People Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, Us Weekly and OK! Magazine.

WWE's mainstream popularity is supported by leading Web portal Yahoo!'s rankings which listed WWE as the second most searched item for 2006, outscoring such notables as Paris Hilton, American Idol, Jessica Simpson and Pamela Anderson. RAW has featured appearances by Donald Trump, Kevin Federline, The Rock (former WWE Champion turned movie star), and the cast of MTV's Jackass as well as professional athletes from the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL.

• Stone Cold Steve Austin will be inducting Jim Ross into the WWE Fall of Fame on Saturday.

• And Sabu wil be doing the same his late uncle, The Original Sheik.

It was announced on WWE.com that former multiple time WWE Tag Team Champion Joey Mercury has been released from the company. Here is the WWE's official statement:

WWE.com has learned that today in Chicago, WWE officials have agreed on the immediate release of Joey Mercury.

This comes at a time when Mercury was looking at a comeback with the continued reuniting of MNM on all three brand shows in the last month or so since ECW's December to Dismember.

One also has to note that the wording for his release does not match ones where the superstar and the WWE have mutally agreed to come to terms. Considering the recent "Wellness Program" tests, it's easy to jump to certain conclusions.

• Cruiserweight champion Chavo Guerrero’s contract is set to expire this April. No word yet on if he plans to resign; however, WWE normally tries to persuade talent to resign several weeks before their contracts expire.

• Friends close to Chris Jericho say that he is getting the “itch” to return back to the ring. Jericho is not interested in resuming a full travel schedule and would like to get a contract that's similar to Mick Foley. He is open to working in TNA Wrestling if the money is right, but would prefer to sign back with WWE

An official statement concerning Randy Orton, Edge, Rey Mysterio, and the Hurricane being mentioned in an article on Sports Illustrated’s website linking them to purchasing steroids from an Internet pharmacy has been issued on WWE.com.

The statement reads:

A Statement From World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.
March 19, 2007

All of the allegations set forth in a recent SI.com article mentioning WWE predate the initiation of WWE’s current Talent Wellness Program. This WWE program prohibits the use of performance enhancing drugs, as well as other prescription drugs which can be abused, if taken for other than a legitimate medical purpose pursuant to a valid prescription from a licensed and treating physician.

For purposes of WWE's policy, prescriptions obtained over the Internet and/or from suppliers of prescription drugs from the Internet are not considered to have been given for a legitimate medical purpose.

The following is an excerpt from SI.com, implicating more than just Kurt Angle in the recent steroid bust, reported by Sports Illustrated:

It turns out Angle isn't the only pro wrestler alleged to have received prescriptions from Wilbirt. According to the official documents we reviewed, [Arizona doctor, David Wilbirt] was billed for HCG and the steroid stanozolol that were sent to WWE star Eddie Guerrero in early 2005. (Guerrero died on Nov. 13, 2005, in a Minneapolis hotel room due to what a coroner later ruled as heart disease, complicated by an enlarged heart resulting from a history of anabolic steroid use.)

Wilbirt also allegedly issued prescriptions for the steroids nandrolone and stanozolol to Oscar Gutierrez, whose stage name is Rey Mysterio. (Through the WWE, Gutierrez declined comment.)

When reached at his home Wilbirt spoke with us briefly, asserting, "I'm not even practicing medicine now, so... I don't remember doing half the stuff you're talking about." (The Arizona Medical Board confirms that his license is currently suspended.) Asked specifically about the professional wrestlers, Wilbirt remarked: "I'll tell you one thing and then this conversation is going to end. They had done blood work and had laboratory work done and they had come to see me." Wilbirt obviously remains a "person of interest" for the investigators.

In total, there were 11 professional wrestlers listed in the documents that we saw. Some of these wrestlers are working as independents; some are out of the business entirely; others are first-tier stars. Consider Randy Orton, who allegedly received eight prescriptions for six different drugs - stanozolol, nandrolone, anastrozole, Clomiphene citrate, oxandrolone and testosterone - between March 2004 and August 2004. (Through the WWE, Orton declined comment.)

Click here to read about how Edge and others are also implicated in the steroids ring.