Published November 15, 2009
Are you ready for some wrestling?
Monday Night Wrestling, that is, and we’re not talking about Monday Night Raw.
That’s according to Hulk Hogan, who’s now pulling some major strings in TNA, and telling friends that he’s strongly pitched the idea of re-starting the Monday Night Wars.
Hogan reportedly is pushing a live two-hour Impact show that would go head-to-head with WWE juggernaut Monday Night Raw. The most likely time slot would be 8-10 p.m. where TNA would compete with WWE for the 9-10 p.m. spot.
Initial reports pointed to a possible startup as early as January, although Spike TV’s lineup through the first few months of 2010 doesn’t indicate a Monday night wrestling show.
It could just be a pipe dream for the Hulkster, who’s made some mighty lofty claims since joining TNA last month, including statements that he’s working to bring “Macho Man” Randy Savage and “Stone Cold” Austin into the TNA fold.
Ken Anderson – formerly known as Mr. Kennedy – says he was unhappy in WWE.
TNA would face a major uphill battle against a show that’s flourished in the Monday night cable lineup for many years. Two live wrestling programs on Monday night would be a definite plus for wrestling fans, however, possibly sparking a renewed interest in the business and pushing WWE to freshen up its product, much like WCW did in 1995 when it debuted its Nitro show on Monday night opposite Raw.
- “Nature Boy” Ric Flair’s marriages are catching up with his wrestling titles.
The 16-time world heavyweight champ walked that aisle once more — this time all the way to the altar —when he wed Jackie Beems on Wednesday afternoon in Charlotte. It was Flair’s fourth marriage and second in three years.
The WWE Hall of Famer publicly announced the “surprise” wedding on the Charlotte-based “Primetime with The Packman” sports talk show — less than an hour before exchanging vows.
“I’ve got a new, beautiful wife,” Flair beamed last week. “She is absolutely awesome.”
Flair and his new bride will be heading out today on their way to Australia where he begins publicity work Tuesday for the “Hulkamania: Let the Battle Begin” tour Nov. 21-28. Flair will wrestle against Hulk Hogan in his first matches since retiring last year at Wrestlemania 24.
Incidentally, added Flair, during a conversation on the Packman show with longtime friend Kirk Herbstreit, the ESPN college football analyst extolled the virtues of the Clemson football program under new head coach Dabo Swinney.
“He loves Clemson. He said C.J. Spiller is a legitimate top three candidate for the Heisman,” said Flair, a South Carolina Gamecock follower and Steve Spurrier backer. “He really put him over huge. When it comes from Herbstreit, that’s big.”
South Carolina native and WWE star Big Show (Paul Wight) told the U.K.’s Daily Star that he had no problem with mat icons Hogan and Flair returning to the ring in Australia.
“I just think it was a situation where two guys who love the industry wanted to go again. I don’t think Hulk has ever been to Australia and he wanted to go there. That’s the thing, no matter how long you do this for, or how old you are, you still have a love and a passion for the business. I wish them all the best.”
- Kurt Angle has been cleared of all charges filed against him by former Trenesha Biggers (former TNA Knockout Rhaka Khan).
Assault charges were dropped during a court hearing in Pennsylvania last week. The 40-year-old Olympic gold medalist had been accused of attacking his ex-girlfriend last August.
“I’ve never hit a woman and never would,” a visibly distraught Angle told reporters after the hearing. “I was brought up by my mother that way, and I had to go through this.”
“She’s a professional wrestler. She left the state, went to Florida for a period of time. We don’t know how she got those bruises, but we can tell you, they were not at the hands of my client,” said Angle’s lawyer.
Biggers, however, told a local news station that she was “terrified” of Angle.
“The first few times that it happened, I believed that, ‘Maybe this won’t happen any more,’” she said. “But at this point in time, I was like, the next time that this happens, I could die.”
Biggers said after the hearing that she will continue to pursue charges by re-filing with the District Attorney. She also withdrew a protection from abuse complaint against Angle, and the two have agreed not to have any contact with one another.
Biggers is no longer with TNA, and has moved to Florida where she is going to school.
Angle said at a press conference that he would file a lawsuit against Biggers if she tried to “spread any more lies” against him.
- Ken Anderson, formerly Mr. Kennedy, is sounding off on his tenure in WWE that was marred by injuries, suspensions and controversial media interviews.
He told The Poughkeepsie Journal last week that politics played a role in his departure, but he claimed he wasn’t bitter about it.
“It’s something that happened and I’m happy to be gone. After I got the initial shock and the punch in the stomach, it was like an elephant just stepped off my chest. I was pretty unhappy there for about three years. I thought that I could have been used a different way and I wasn’t. That’s OK. That was their business decision.”
Anderson, however, did go on to say that was he was going to do his best to “stick it” (to them) and prove them wrong.”
Anderson added that there would have to be major changes in the company before he would want to return there, and that he currently is pursing acting endeavors.
WWE released Anderson last May.
- British boxing star Ricky “Hitman” Hatton did a surprisingly good job as Raw guest host last week in Sheffield, England. But in an interview with the UK Sun last week, the former light-welterweight champ said his favorite wrestler was Hulk Hogan, who recently joined TNA.
“I already do my stand-up and after-dinner speaking so I knew I’d do a good job as guest host … “I’ve always been a big fan of wrestling, even when I was a youngster, but I never thought I’d be part of a show like Raw,” said Hatton.
- Roddy Piper will return to Madison Square Garden to host this week’s Raw.
- The new Raw theme song also will debut on this week’s show. The song is Nickelback’s “Burn It To the Ground.”
- Last week’s Raw ratings took a nosedive. The show, which was taped earlier in the day in England, scored a 3.1 rating, down from the previous week’s 3.5.
- WWE has issued an official SEC filing noting that Linda McMahon has resigned as a director of the company “due to the continuing demands on her time resulting from her campaign for the United States Senate, representing the state of Connecticut.”
- TNA released Knockout Sojo Bolt (Josie Bynum) last week.
Also removed from the company’s roster page on its Web site was Jethro Holiday (WWE’s Trevor Murdoch).
Mike Mooneyham can be reached by phone at (843) 937-5517 or by e-mail at [email protected].
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