WWE
News Bytes
November 23, 2007
by Sassy
More
on Drugs in Pro Wrestling
Source: WrestlingObserver.com
Following the CNN special, you can add another major media
outlet covering the problems of doping in pro wrestling.
USA Today will have a major story on the problems of drugs in
pro wrestling. This will come out in tomorrow's newspaper. The story talks about
the death of Chris Benoit, and also has a lot of reflection on the topic
of drugs in pro wrestling by Marc Mero.
While for most fans who read up on pro wrestling, there will
not be a whole lot of new material covered, it is another major outlet covering
the situation and stirring things up as Congress has decided to hold pro
wrestling hearings in the beginning of next year.
The Story can be read at www.usatoday.com/sports/2007-11-18-drugs-wrestling-cover_N.htm
Congress
Will Hold Hearings
Congress will be holding hearings regarding performance
enhancing drugs in professional wrestling after all. The House Energy and
Commerce Committee will hold hearings on performance enhancing drugs in sports
early next year when it comes back from the winter recess. The two main sports
that will be covered are baseball and pro wrestling. The wrestling hearings will
be part of them covering other sports besides baseball. Apparently, the Barry
Bonds indictment on Thursday spurred Representative Billy Rush to make the
decision to call hearings on baseball and other sports, including pro wrestling.
In recent months they didn't seem to be too concerned to call hearings on just
pro wrestling, but since they're doing one on baseball now, pro wrestling is
coming along for the ride. Source: Wrestling Observer
Injuries
Matt Hardy had an emergency appendectomy at a hospital
in FL Tuesday night. Matt did not work in the ring at Survivor Series due to
“knee injuries sustained in an attack by his former tag team partner MVP”.
No word on whether Matt was feeling ill on Sunday or not but it was a good call
for him not to be in the ring. Matt will be out of action until he heals.
According to Matt, the appendix had already burst and he will
be out of action between 8 to 10 weeks.
Candice Michelle is still out of action due to the
broken clavicle she received in a match with The Glamazon Beth Phoneix.
Bobby Lashley is still out of action with a shoulder
injury that involved corrective surgery. He should be back by the end of the
year.
John Cena is still out of action due to a torn
pectoral muscle and corrective surgery.
Gregory Helms' rehab following his neck surgery isn't
going as well as expected. His neck is healing fine, but he has significant
nerve damage that has been very slow to recover. One of his arms is still
completely numb. Right now, there is no timetable for his return. Source:
ProWrestlingFans.com.
Val Venis is still recuperating from elbow surgery. No
word yet on his return.
Theodore “Teddy” Long has not been since on WWE
since an dose of Viagra caused him to have a “heart attack”. We know he
didn’t really have a heart attack and we thought that he would be back on
Smackdown soon, however, since the release of his “fiancé” Kristal, no word
yet on what is going on with Teddy.
Who’s
In
Edge made his return to WWE during the Survivor Series
Hell in a Cell match between Batista and Undertaker. Edge decided to screw The
Undertaker one more time and gave Batista a big assist in order for Batista to
retain the title.
WWE has been running a Ric Flair promo promising that
Flair will be back on tonight’s edition of Monday Night Raw.
Y2J Chris Jericho made his return during a “Randy
Orton moment” on Monday Night Raw.
Who’s
Out
Harry "DH" Smith is scheduled to return from
his 30-day suspension at the December 2nd Raw house show in Savannah, Georgia.
Smith tested positive for the anabolic steroid Stanazolol (Winstrol V) on
September 13th while he was working the developmental territory. Source:
Rajah.com. Perhaps WWE can explain why they moved DH up in the
organization only to send him out on a drug suspension.
Does anyone else get the feeling WWE corporate is playing this drug thing
for a little bit of positive publicity? Or are they punishing Smith for using
steroids?
Dave Scherer of the Pro Wrestling Insider is reporting that
today’s press release issued by WWE regarding the Florida Developmental
territory could be to send a message to Ohio Valley Wrestling as the company’s
top training ground. According to Scherer, Triple H and Shawn Michaels were
unimpressed with OVW when they last visited and it is reasonable to assume that
OVW is being placed on notice. Source: Rajah.com.
It is being reported that Carlito has given WWE his
formal notice. Those of us that liked Carlito when he was allowed to work
the ring still have a problem understanding why WWE didn’t give him real
matches versus silly skits. Carlito is from Puerto Rico and may be headed back
there to work.
Sescoops.com is reporting that Carlito is good friends with
Dutch Mantel – worked in Puerto Rico prior to becoming part of Total Nonstop
Action wrestling’s creative team.
Maybes
Afa Jr., son of the Wild Samoan, worked WWE’s Heat
taping before RAW on Monday in Fort Lauderdale. Afa worked under the ring name
Mai Tai Anoai. Source: Pro Wrestling Fans.
Former WCW star Norman Smiley worked a dark match with
Vladimir Kozlov at the start of the show. Kozlov defeated Smiley in about five
minutes. Smiley got a huge reaction from the crowd. He's worked a number of dark
matches for WWE over the past few years, but has yet to land a contract with the
organization. Source: www.rajah.com.
The marathon runner on last night’s RAW was Jon Palmer, a
blogger for WrestlingNewsWorld.com. Palmer, 18, is currently training to become
a professional wrestler and is also an active member of the
WrestlingDiscussion.com online wrestling community. He will be graduating high
school this spring in Miami, Florida.
And
Maybe Nots
Jerry Saggs and Brian Knobbs re-formed as The Nasty Boys
tag team at last night’s SmackDown/ECW tapings from Tampa, Florida to wrestle
their first WWE match in many years. The dark match featuring the former WWF and
WCW World Tag Team Champions has left a ton of heat on them both.
According to Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com, The Nasty Boys
acted as if they were huge stars returning and took far too much time to get to
into the ring, interacting with friends and family members sitting at ringside.
Brian Knobbs entered the ring with his back to the hard camera while partner
Jerry Saggs got into the ring way to close to their opponents Drew McIntye and
Dave Taylor, making them look stupid.
After the match started, The Nasty Boys were said to have
worked very stiff with not only McIntye who is only 21 years old but with Dave
Taylor who is a well respected veteran. McIntyre tried to be respectful and take
the abuse but finally had enough and began returning stiff shots. One backstage
source that the dark match was one of the worst things that you could ever hope
to see.
The disaster of a match caused the SmackDown taping to finish
up late, ending at 9:54 PM EST, leaving the WWE ring crew very little time to
switch the set and ring for the live broadcast of ECW on Sci-Fi. Source: Pro
Wrestling Fans.
Did You Know
Jesse of the tag team Jesse and Festus is none other
than the son of Terry Gordy. Terry
Gordy was part of the Freebirds. along with Michael P.S. Hayes and Buddy
Roberts.
WWE
Taping Visitors of Note
Florida independent workers Scott Commodity, The Black Market
Crashers, and David Mercury were backstage at this weeks WWE television tapings.
Florida Championship Wrestling trainer Steve Keirn also attended the shows.
Not
Where Are They Now But Where
ARE They
Chavo Guerrero who was suspended for drug use has not
returned to action on any of WWE’s television spots or on the latest pay per
view.
Funaki who was also suspended has not returned to the
WWE arena either.
Jerichaholics
Don’t Help Raw Ratings
According to what we are reading, the return of Y2J to Monday
Night Raw did not improve Raw cable ratings. While we are glad to see Y2J back
in action (he wasn’t on Raw but should be back in the ring soon), the hype
leading up to his return was overdone and quite a few fans grew tired of the
wait.
This week’s Raw did a cable rating of 3.5. Source: www.angrymarks.com
This week’s ECW did a 1.3 cable rating, which is down from
a 1.4 rating the week before.
Last week’s Smackdown did a 2.7 rating.
An
Oops At Survivor Series
While rumors are flying here and there regarding Vince
McMahon wanting to downplay the sexy Diva thing WWE has going, Michelle
McCool went one step further in promoting why you should check your outfit
before hitting the ring:
Thanks to Colin Vassallo for sending this one along: A little
bit of nudity went somewhat undetected at the Survivor Series as Michelle
McCool's boob came out for a peek on Sunday during the ten women match. When
Victoria was in the ring with McCool at 25 minutes 39 seconds into the show,
McCool twisted Victoria's arm and her boob came out from the side of her tiny
top. McCool didn't notice immediately and after kicking Victoria in the face you
could see her arranging her top and then going for the cover. Source: Pro
Wrestling Fans.
This writer hasn’t check it out, but understands there are
numerous still photos of the slip posted on the Internet.
Short
Term Memory Loss for HBK & Triple H
Monday Night Raw featured a dark match with DX – remember that one night only statement from McMahon? – HBK Shawn Michaels and Triple H.
Some
One Should Have Notified DX Fans
After the match between DX vs. Umaga and Kennedy, Triple H
started to flirt with some ladies, one of them lifted her shirt and flashed the
audience. While this took place, HBK was in the corner praying and covering his
eyes. It appears the fans weren't privy to Vince's new "family show"
edict.
Maybe someone should notify Mrs. HBK and Mrs. Triple H?
Everyone
loves John Cena
Rick sent the following: I just thought your readers might
find this amusing. I was doing some shopping with the wife at Best Buy here in
town last night and we're standing in line and see this middle-aged lady ahead
of us with 6 or 7 of the Best Buy exclusive John Cena DVD pack. It comes
with a t-shirt, dog tags and some other stuff I think. Anyway, they told her she
could only buy 4 and the lady just flipped. She really made a huge scene right
there in the middle of all these people, ranting and raving about her kids and
her whole family needed one and they "loved John Cena." It was quite
amusing to watch until it just became outright ridiculous. The manager told the
lady she could go to another Best Buy store and buy 4 more if she needed them
but each store had a 4-item limit on the special DVD set. The lady actually
threw one of the boxes towards the cash register and the whole thing ended with
the lady getting arrested. Your typical John Cena fan, I guess.
Source: www.sescoops.com
WWE
Talent Events
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: JAMIE NOBLE (1976): Friday November
23, 2007
WWE
Champion John Cena will not be on NBC’s upcoming Celebrity Apprentice
television show as first reported. TV Guide released the official cast list
earlier and it did not include John Cena.
WWE SmackDown superstars Deuce, Domino and Cherry will
be at the Ford Dealership in Knoxville, TN this Saturday from 4-5PM signing
autographs.
WWE Diva Jillian Hall will be at the World of Wheels
located at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, TX signing
autographs this Saturday starting at 2PM.
RAW superstar Cody Rhodes will be at Academy Sports
this Sunday in Spartanburg, SC from 2 - 3:30PM signing autographs.
John Cena will make an appearance at the Florida
Championship Wrestling show on November 27th at the Bourbon Street Night Club in
Port Richey, Florida. Obviously with his injury he will not be wrestling at the
show. Source: www.prowrestlingfans.com.
WWE superstar Kane will be signing copies of WWE's
Tagged Classics DVD sets on 12/1 at the K-Mart in West Columbia, SC from 6-8PM.
The iN DEMAND network will begin airing "WWE Presents: Rey
Mysterio" beginning on Wednesday, January 2nd. The show has a 2 hour
and 28 minute run-time
Not
Necessarily WWE News
Stu Hart will be inducted into the Lou Thesz/George
Tragos Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame in Waterloo, Iowa. Hart will be inducted by
his son, WWE hall of famer Bret "The Hitman" Hart. Roddy
Piper will also be inducted into the Thesz/Tragos Hall of Fame. Source: www.Gerweck.net.
The Hogan Family: None of the Hogan family attorneys returned
calls for comment from the ABC affiliate in Tampa regarding Linda's videotaped
comments regarding street racing in 2005. Once again, Linda said, "Oh, I
love it. I love it. The rush, the speed on the road, stereo blasting,
heart-pounding, racing in between all the cars, dodging the cops. It's
awesome." Linda refuted her comments early this week by saying, "I
never said that ... I would never have said that." Regarding the suspended
license of Nick Hogan, Ann Nucatola, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of
Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles said, "We have the ability to suspend
someone's license if we believe what they could be convicted of is a potential
danger should this person remain on the road. We've deemed him dangerous to the
general public on the road." Source: Pro Wrestling Insider.
Nick Hogan (real name Nicholas Bollea) has had his drivers
license suspended for two years due to the accident which left John Graziano in
the hospital.
Chris Benoit’s doctor, Dr. Phil Astin, has requested
to the judge to ease his bail conditions so he can work and earn a living. Astin
filed for bankruptcy when he was unable to work due to being under house arrest.
He wouldn’t work in the medical field as he voluntarily handed over his
medical license. Source: www.powerwrestling.com
In the latest issue of Maxim magazine, which features Sarah
Michelle Geiler on the cover, has an article on the Chris Benoit murder-suicide.
Road Warrior Animal's son James Laurinaitis is a
finalist for the 2007 Dick Butkus award, which is given out to the best college
linebacker.
Where
Are They Now
Former WWE RAW superstar and one half of The Heart Throbs, Antonio
"The Promise" Thomas will be appearing at a Toys For Toys
fundraiser at West Real Estate in Wilmington, Massachusetts this Sunday from
12-2PM. Anyone who donates an unwrapped toy or $5 will receive an autographed
photo of Thomas.
Planet Championship Wrestling’s "No Turning Back" Tour features the following
former WWE talent:
Hardcore Match: Sabu (former ECW champion) vs. Eddie
Colon
Tag Team Match: Nasty Boys vs. Norman Smiley
and Hack Myers
Special Challenge Match: Big Vito Vs Kip James
Grudge Match: Kevin Sullivan vs King Haku
Hector Guerrero Vs “Superhero” Mark Zout
WWE hall of famer says he did not suffer a stroke
Steve Gerweck www.gerweck.net
- Wednesday, November 21 2007 - 4:13 PM
A few weeks
back, a report attributed to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, stated that WWE
hall of famer Blackjack Mulligan had recently suffered a stroke, hit the
internet. Mulligan has refuted that report, and says he's doing fine. I have
also talked to someone that knows Mulligan, and confirms Mulligan's claim.
As you probably guessed, WWE did attempt to block Joanie
Laurer's attempt to legally change her name to Chyna, claiming they own
the legal rights to the name. Source: Wrestling Observer.
Kristal is back online and letting her fans know that
she was dismissed from Smackdown because she refused to do a storyline that was
terrible and had been done before. You
can read what Kristal has to say here: http://www.kristal-marshall.net/
.According to Kristal, it was her refusal to go along with the storyline.
According to WWE, she was a pain in the neck and created problems for
Vicky Guerrero and Teddy Long among others.
Former WWE star Shawn
Stasiak is accepting indy bookings at bookshawnstasiak@yahoo.com. He
recently released a new documentary called "Shawn Stasiak:
Determined." Source: www.wrestlinginc.com
Chris Mordetzsky (a/k/a Chris Masters) was released
from World Wrestling Entertainment on November 8th. This was just days after
being informed of his 60-day suspension stemming from his second wellness policy
violation. His ring name, Chris Masters, was given to him by Jim Cornette while
he was working in Ohio Valley Wrestling (under a WWE developmental contract).
Therefore he cannot take the name with him. He is currently accepting
independent bookings under his real name.
Brandon King sent this in: I went to the Indy show in Marion,
IN tonight where Roddy Piper was advertised. The show was good for an
indy show and you could tell the promoter had a packed house because of Piper
being announced. Things didn't go exactly as planned. Piper comes out with his
son Colt and talks about how he is here to help the younger guys and how someone
has to do it. He builds himself up to be this great legend when he pulled the
ultimate no-no. Piper was interrupted during his promo by a wrestler and was
thought to have a match later on in the night. Piper takes it on himself during
intermission to take his nights pay and say he is going to the Circle K gas
station near by....to never return. The promoter sat there on the ring apron and
told us what had happened and all of us were stunned. None of us thought Piper
would pull such a stunt. EWF offered us free attendance next Saturday to make up
for it. The promoter and the crowd were devastated and the night ended pretty
abruptly. Figured I would get this online as Piper is thought to be a classy
legend, but clearly this isn't the case. Anyone near Marion, IN should come out
next week and give the show a chance. Great wrestling and fun on a Saturday
night, and next week 2 Cold Scorpio won't no show us! Source: Rajah.com.
Former WWE coach/trainer Steve "Dr. Death"
Williams is helping to train wrestlers for the local Fusion Pro Wrestling in
Denver, CO. Source: Gerweck.net.
According to Tampa Bay's 10 News, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
quarterback Jeff Garcia, 37, and his wife, 2004 Diva Search contestant and
Playboy Playmate Carmella DeCesare, 25, are expecting their first child
-- a daughter -- in April. Following the football team's practice on Wednesday,
Jeff was asked what he was most thankful for this Thanksgiving. He replied his
family and stated, "My wife and I are expecting a baby girl in five
months." Source: ProWrestlingFans.com.
Aaron Aguilera (Jesus) formerly of the WWE and WSX was
on a recent episode of CMT's "Trick My Trucker" show. He was working
as a trainer to help the truckers lose weight.
Sent In By James Tillison
I thought i'd pass this along for those wondering what kind
of shape Brian Knobs is in these days since he wrestled the dark match at
Smackdown. For those interested there are recent pictures of Brian Knobs on
Jessica Hatch's website at the following link:
http://www.jessicadhatch.com/photos_dream_reunion.php
Source: www.lordsofpain.net.
The Hitman Cometh: Legendary wrestler Bret Hart talks
about his life and his autobiography
Author: Jim Barber, Date: Nov 22, 2007
Canadian professional wrestling legend Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart
will be signing copies of his autobiography at Barrie’s Chapters story, on
Tuesday, Dec. 4, at 7 p.m. He spoke at length with Simcoe.com about the book,
his life, and the highs and lows of the wrestling business. There were a few
things Bret Hart wanted out of professional wrestling when he decided to take up
the family business as his own vocation.
He wanted to travel the world, paying his own freight through
his own grunting sweat and toil. He wanted to stay in shape, and he wanted to
meet girls.
After nearly a quarter of a century in the smoke and mirrors
world of pro grappling, Hart achieved those simple child-like goals – and
actually excelled at them way beyond what even his lofty imagination could have
dreamed.
But along the way, he also withstood personal and
professional heartache, excruciating, chronic physical pain, betrayal and
backstabbing from within his own family and from those within the wrestling
fraternity whom he considered to be a surrogate family.
Friends, colleagues and family members died far too young and
far too senselessly. His personal relationships crumbled. He experienced
crushing loneliness, depression, dabbled in the sordid temptations of
performance-enhancing drugs, eased his pain through the steady companionship of
women who were not his wife, and agonized over missing his kids as he spent 300
or more nights away from his Calgary home.
There were also the highs of being adored by millions of fans
worldwide, seeing his name in lights, his image on magazine covers, his likeness
turned into dolls and other toys. He made a fortune, visited the far-flung
corners of the globe, and became a Canadian icon.
He is Bret Hart, also known as the Hitman, The Excellence of
Execution, and he has a body slam of a story to tell.
Hart recently released his autobiography, Hitman: My Real
Life World In the Cartoon World of Professional Wrestling, and is coming to the
Chapters store in Barrie on Tuesday, Dec. 4, at 7 p.m., to sign copies of his
book for what will, in no doubt, be an enthusiastic throng of fans.
Early in his career, just as he was joining Wrestling’s big
leagues, as a new member of what was then called the World Wrestling Federation
(now World Wrestling Entertainment) after eight years working for his father Stu
Hart’s regional Stampede Wrestling, Hart decided he wanted to catalogue this
grand new adventure for posterity.
“I didn’t really call it a break then. It was a chance
for me to see America and make a little bit of money before it all fell apart
and I went back to my dad’s territory and started wrestling for Stampede
Wrestling again,” he told Simcoe.com in a recent interview.
He started keeping an audio journal and continued to do so
right until the end of his wrestling career after a concussion in 2000.
He started getting the idea of putting down his insider’s
observations of the wrestling business, the wrestling lifestyle and the
wrestling personalities into a book not long before his younger brother Owen
died in a in-ring mishap in Kansas City, while in the WWF, and Hart was working
for the rival WCW, in the summer of 1999.
He initially was going to wrap the book around an infamous
incident known as the Montreal Screwjob, which took place at the Survivor Series
pay-per-view event in the fall of 1997.
Hart had already told WWF boss Vince McMahon that he was
jumping to the WCW. McMahon initially wanted Hart to drop his title belt to
Shawn Michaels at the event. Hart didn’t want to lose the title in his home
country, and offered that he would come back on the next night’s television
program, Monday Night Raw, and surrender the belt, leaving on amicable turns.
McMahon changed his mind, and altered the predetermined match
ending without the knowledge of Hart, but with the collusion of Michaels and his
good friend, Hunter Hearst Helmsley (now called Triple H).
It is considered to be one of the most infamous of real-life
wrestling double-crosses, and was immortalized in the documentary Wrestling With
Shadows.
In his deliberations, Hart decided that the narrative needed
to continue past these incidents.
“The more I went on, the more I thought I might piece the
book around my concussion injuries (in 1999 and 2000) and then my stroke (in
2002, after falling off his bicycle) and then with my father passing (in 2003).
And I kind of settled with when my father passed away,” Hart said.
The WWF experiment certainly lasted a lot longer than the
proverbial cup of coffee for Hart, as the 1980s became the 1990s. First, he and
brother-in-law Jim ‘The Anvil’ Neidhart ascended the tag-team ranks,
eventually becoming one of the most exciting and well-known duos on the circuit,
reigning as champion twice.
In 1990, Hart started wrestling as a solo act, winning the
WWF Intercontinental twice, and the World Heavyweight Championship in 1992,
1994, 1995, and twice in 1997.
Throughout his rise to the upper echelon of what is now
called sports entertainment, there was near-constant squabbling from within the
ranks of the extensive Hart Family. Eight brothers and four sisters comprised
Stu and Helen Hart’s expansive brood, and all were involved in the wrestling
game to one degree or another.
Jealousy permeated many of the internal squabbles and was
expressed by brothers who felt left behind by Bret, or sisters (all of whom
married wrestlers) who felt their husbands, including The Anvil, and former
British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith, were deliberately held back by Hart.
“You get that (jealousy) in every family, I guess, with
different siblings. I just think that the problems in my family aren’t that
much different that everyone else,” he said. “Most people say have, like,
four in a family. They might have one person out of that four that everyone in
the family doesn’t get along with, one black sheep … if you magnify that to
a family of 12, then you’ve got three or four people who you clash with,
ego-wise.”
He is on civil terms with many of his remaining siblings
(another brother, Dean, died of complications from drug and alcohol abuse in the
1980s), although he is not even on speaking terms with sisters Diana (widow of
Davey Boy Smith) and Ellie (wife of Jim Neidhart).
The autobiography not only looks at the issues of family
strife through Hart’s eyes, but also some of the many very public challenges
that have befallen the wrestling industry in recent years.
Steroids remain in the fore on sports pages, talk radio
shows, and television exposés thanks to the Barry Bonds saga in baseball, as
well as the recent death of Hart’s friend, and another graduate of Stu
Hart’s famous ‘Dungeon’ training room, Chris Benoit.
In the mid-1980s, when Hart was trying to establish himself,
he dabbled in anabolic steroids, because he saw that, at the time, the guiding
philosophy in pro wrestling seemed to be the bigger you were, the more cut your
physique, the better shot you had of getting the headlining matches and the
corresponding larger paycheques.
He stopped doing it after less than two years when he
realized that he preferred getting by on hard work, dedication, and by becoming
arguably the most technically proficient wrestler ever to lace up a pair of
boots.
To this day, he believes steroids are unnecessary for success
in pro wrestling.
“There’s no reason to be taking steroids … especially
in a business where it’s a pre-determined outcome. It’s irrelevant how you
look sometimes, especially as far as steroids go. If you lift weights, and you
train really hard, you will look fine. For most of my career I looked pretty
good without steroids,” Hart said. “And if there’s any lessons to be
learned from the last few years is that they really don’t need steroids in
wrestling. They should abolish them, and wipe them out, and hopefully they
will.”
He believes a wrestler’s ability to tell a story with their
body, not the size and musculature of that body, ultimately determine a
performer’s credibility and success.
Hart began using the phrase “the best there is, the best
there was and the best there ever will be,” to describe himself in the
wrestling ring. But he believes that moniker to be true. Hart says off his more
than two decades in the ring, what he takes the most pride in is not the number
of titles he won, the amount of money he made, or headlining big pay-per-view
shows like Wrestlemania, but the fact that he put the skills of wrestling first,
that the performance was the most important thing.
“I think that’s why I tried to write about the artistry
of it all, for people to appreciate that there’s skill involved, that it’s
not necessary to really hurt somebody for real,” he said.
“The truth is that I wrestled for 23 years, and I never
injured one wrestler, ever. And that’s saying something for this business,
especially one that’s so physical. I was pretty intense as a wrestler. When
you wrestled me, I would really work hard and make a pretty good, convincing
match of it.
"The throws and all the physical contact was all pretty
real … I was always able to make somebody believe that it was real. I think
that’s an important thing. To do that job and not hurt anyone takes a
tremendous amount of skill and ability.”
Hart and his first wife Julie fought often, mostly because of
the amount of time he was away from her and their four children.
When you combined the physical fatigue that accrued because
of the oppressive travel schedule and workload, the constant pain from nagging
injuries that never seemed to be away, and the depression of knowing you are
missing out on important moments in your families' lives, often led wrestlers to
travel down the dark road of prescription drugs, mostly painkillers,
recreational drugs, including cocaine and copious amounts of alcohol, as well as
marital infidelity.
Seeing so many wrestlers lose their careers - and in too many
cases, their lives - because of the first two, Hart’s ‘drug’ of choice was
female companionship.
He is open and honest about this somewhat shameful part of
his life, but believes in his heart of hearts that it kept him from the kinds of
self-destructive habits that claimed the lives of wrestlers like Benoit, Brian
Pillman, Road Warrior Hawk, Bam Bam Bigelow, Ravishing Rick Rude, Davey Boy
Smith, Curt Hennig and Miss Elizabeth.
“I think if I had done anything different than the way I
did it, I don’t think I would have made it,” he said. “I just had to do
whatever it was to take care of my brain first, just to make sure in my mind I
didn’t get too depressed. I think you could easily get laid low by depression
and sad feelings, and being homesick. You’re missing everything at home,
you’re missing your kids.”
He said he is certainly not proud of the fact he became a
womanizer on the road, but believes it was either do that, or fall prey to
narcotic and alcoholic pitfalls.
“The only other way to cope with that kind of life
sometimes was just to throw a couple of pills in your mouth, and zonk out, and
wash them down with a few beers and everything just goes away, and you kind of
stagger up to your room and flop out on your bed, and you sleep and you get up
and do it again the next day,” Hart explained.
“I’m so glad I didn’t fall into that routine. I might
have been morally a better person, maybe I would have been faithful, but I might
not have survived. I think, in the end, I used a lot of the people I knew from
different places and situations to take me away from the depression of being
away from home all the time.”
Hart still suffers from the fallout of his 2003 stroke. He
says cold weather wreaks havoc on the left side of his body, which is why he
spends most of the winter at a home he owns in Hawaii.
He told Simcoe.com that he is completely finished with
wrestling and that, once his book promotion tours end, he will be concentrating
and bringing the book to a silver screen or television screen in the near
future.
Other than that he said he is just going to “take it easy,
enjoy my life.”
The book hit the top of the Globe and Mail bestseller list
shortly after its release in early November.
The goal, Hart said, was to allow the reader to walk a few
miles in his wrestling boots.
“I think as I lived my life and as I went through different
tragedies, like even my brother Owen’s death and all that, it just became so
surreal. And I thought people would really want to know what it was like to be
me. And I started realizing that I had a pretty interesting story, if I could
just put it into words and spit it all out, it might be a really fascinating
read for somebody,” he said.
“I thought, ‘jeez, I could probably write a book about
myself,’ because it’s pretty fast paced and it’s full of a lot of twists
and turns and a lot of villains and a lot of backstabbing and a lot of politics.
You know, I think the whole experience was pretty incredible sometimes.”
- Jim Barber is the Sports, Arts and Lifestyles Editor of the
Barrie Advance. Contact him at jbarber@simcoe.com.
Source: www.pwbts.com.
WWE NEWS BYTES / NOVEMBER 16
Wrestling Bodyslam . Com