WWE News (Page 25)

This is very troubling, shocking news, we know.

But the WWE has officially released Marty "The Boogeyman" Wright from the company. He had been part of the Smackdown! brand, but hadn't appeared on TV since WrestleMania 22.

While out of the ring since April, Wright had been rehabbing leg injuries. He was reportedly close to being ready to return to action this month as promos were airing announcing as much on Smackdown!. However, WWE management were said to have been unhappy with his commitment to return to the ring, mostly questioning why Wright hadn't been checking in with doctors when he was supposed to.

He had been warned a few times about his conduct, but made no effort to change his behavior and was then let go by the company. We sort of assume no one even realized The Boogeyman was even gone.

- Reviews of Gridiron Gang have been mixed, but box office results for the latest vehicle starring The Rock are not: it ranked as the highest grossing movie of the weekend.

The film grossed approximately $15 million this weekend, causing it to outpace The Black Dahlia, starring Josh Hartnett and Scarlett Johansson.

- Meanwhile, John Cena probably hopes his first flick, The Marine, fares as well. At least he was recently honored (sort of) by a Harvard football player.

Matt Curtis paid homage to the new WWE champion during yesterday's 31-14 victory over Holy Cross. The player flashed the "you can't see me" wave after contributing to a pair of big defensive stops; the gesture was recognized by several fans in attendance.

For all the negative press, the WWE often receives, it's nice to see a story such as this:

Sue Aitchison, WWE's Senior Manager of Community Relations, has received the Chris Grecius Award, from the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

For 20 years, WWE.com stated, Aitchison has started and maintained a strong relationship between WWE and the Foundation. Without her, WWE’s Circle of Champions charity program would not have had the tremendous success it has enjoyed.

“It’s one of the nicest things that has happened to me in a long time,” Aitchison said. “I was very, very touched … I was really excited and at the same time I was humbled.”

Aitchison is excited to join the list of past award winners, which includes The Rock and WWE itself. She has said that the children’s smiles are rewarding enough, but this honor is the icing on the cake.

It's never too early to buy tickets - or clear your Sunday night schedule - for a WWE pay-per-view. Remember: we're just about six months away from Wrestlemania 23.

With that in mind, here's a look at upcoming events from WWE RAW, Smackdown, ECW and joint productions to close out the calendar year:

• 9/17/06: Unforgiven, Air Canada Centre, Toronto (RAW)
• 10/8/06: No Mercy, RBC Center, Raleigh (Smackdown)
• 11/05/06: Cyber Sunday, US Bank Arena, Cincinnati (RAW)
• 11/26/06: Survivor Series, Wachovia Center, Philadelphia (Joint)
• 12/3/03: ECW December to Dismember: Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center, Augusta (ECW)
• 12/17/06: Armageddon, Richmond Coliseum, Richmond (Smackdown)

Five years ago today, America was attacked by terrorists. Everyone remembers where he or she was at that time. WWE superstars, of course, are no different.

The company website, therefore, has an article posted regarding wrestler's memories from the tragic day. Here are some excerpts from it:

- King Booker was set to perform in his home town of Houston that night.

“I just got up and flipped on the TV like normal, and I actually saw the second plane going into the Trade Center," the World Heavyweight Championsaid. "Referee Nick Patrick was staying with me; I woke him up and told him we had something going on here. We sat there and watched the chaos, just trying to realize what we were watching.”

- Jim Ross and Paul Heyman were on announcing duties.

"Going into the show, it was hard to keep your mind on anything with all the tragedy and trauma that New York City and the country was experiencing,” J.R. said. "We had several people who had friends or relatives that were lost in the World Trade Center; I didn’t know anyone personally that perished, but I felt for everyone as an American ... We felt it was our obligation to give the world just a little bit of a break, some sort of entertainment."

- Triple H also wanted to be there, but he had torn his quadriceps muscles earlier in 2001. He was in Alabama rehabilitating the injury on Sept. 11. The Game still felt a sense of pride being part of WWE.

“I was very proud to be involved with WWE because of that. That was a global event that changed the world, and to be the first public assembly of that kind … in a terrorist attack, what they want you to do is to change your lifestyle. That show was us, not as WWE or as wrestlers but as Americans, saying F you. You’re not going to change the way we are, we’re going to do what we do because that’s who we are.”

It's nice to know the WWE has SOME moral line it feels badly about crossing.

Vince McMahon issued an apology for a remark Matt Striker made regarding Steve Irwin's death on Tuesday's ECW show.

"We at WWE apologize for the remark alluding to the death of Steve Irwin which was made on ECW on Sci Fi Tuesday night. The remark was, in the least, disrespectful to Mr. Irwin's fans and family," McMahon said on WWE.com Thursday.

Thank goodness. The insult was out of line.

During a promo in which he distanced himself from "dumb jocks," Striker said that fans would never catch him swimming with stingrays, referencing a the way in which Irwin died.

People with computers loved to read about wrestling. That's the only conclusion we can draw after reading the following figures:

WWE was the third most popular search term for the month of July on Yahoo. On the day after SummerSlam, it reached the top spot. As of Monday, WWE has been a top 20 search term for 113 consecutive days.