Dirt Sheet History: June 2009

    • Dirt Sheet History: June 2009

      Take a trip back to a memorable timeline in sports entertainment with the most important stories reported as fact in the journalistic world of pro wrestling dirt sheets.

      Following the timeline of the last Dirt Sheet History looking back at May 2009, we get a glimpse into the top scoops from June of 2009 as we read Dirt Sheet History.

      Reminder that you can find all past editions of Dirt Sheet History looking at 2004 through 2008 right here. Now enjoy June 2009!

       

      6/1/2009

      Recently released WWE Superstar Mr. Kennedy has already made inquiries about wrestling in Japan. He does not appear to have interest in TNA.

      6/2/2009

      According to numerous sources, Sting plans on making this his final year in TNA — and presumably, professional wrestling.

      Since his return to the company in 2006, the multi-time world champion has directed his career on a year-to-year basis, hence the one-year contract agreements year after year.

      He has been telling people that this year’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view will be it for him in TNA. His contract with the organization is once again set to expire shortly before the end of the year.

      6/4/2009

      In an interview with The Sun, Evan Bourne says he is a huge fan of the original ECW, but feels the WWE version blows them out of the water.

      “You can’t make a direct comparison between the rosters, as we’re so different,” Bourne told The Sun. “But if you compare ECW now to the old ECW on TNN – we blow that show out of the water. Every week we blow it out of the water.

      “I have tons of respect for Rob Van Dam, Sabu, Super Crazy, and Tajiri – as they were the guys I idolized growing up. I loved ECW. So that’s why I’m so proud to part of the current ECW, to make sure the name has the same feel and fans feel the same way I did at that age.

      “The main difference is that the original ECW’s events weren’t as large as ours. They were wrestling in front of 4,000-5,000, whereas WWE’s arena shows attract 10,000.”

      6/5/2009

      Perhaps in response to a ten minute rant Jim Cornette did earlier this week concerning Joey Styles‘ political views the former ECW announcer has posted some more anti-Barack Obama statements on his Twitter account

      Yesterday morning, he posted the following three “Tweets” within a ten minute span:

      “Our marxist president is in the Middle East apologizing for for the USA and snubbing Israel. The disgrace continues.”

      “Obama hid from his middle name, Hussein, during the election and now brags about how many Muslims live in America. He’s a fraud.”

      “By the way, he used taxpayer money to turn ownership of Chrysler and GM to the UAW which donated millions to his campaign. That’s a payoff!”

      6/8/2009

      Evan Bourne is rumored to have a match with Tony Atlas on ECW tonight.

      6/10/2009

      Internally, some people feel Monday Night Raw has been “boring” as of late, but no one dares to say anything to Vince McMahon about it. The feeling is that if you suggest something minor that is logical and would improve the show, you will get chewed out by him for it.

      6/11/2009

      Sources within TNA claim company officials are indeed interested in both Umaga and Mr. Kennedy. One member of management sees huge dollar signs in a Umaga vs Samoa Joe feud.

      6/13/2009

      Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer very much believes the WWE creative team patterned Vickie Guerrero‘s promo this past Monday on Raw after a promo indy worker and porn star Trina Michaels cut at a recent AWS show.

      6/15/2009

      During tonight’s Free-For-All RAW special, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon announced that he has “sold” Monday Night RAW after receiving an offer he couldn’t refuse. The man who will own and operate WWE’s flagship brand is none other than Donald Trump.

      Trump appeared via satellite to confirm the purchase and inform the WWE Universe that he’ll be at RAW next week to run things his way. He also announced that next week’s RAW will presented commercial-free for the first time in the show’s history.

      There’s no word yet on how long Trump’s involvement with WWE will last, but it has a good chance of helping RAW’s recently-soft ratings.

      6/16/2009

      John Laurinaitis, WWE’s Executive Vice President of Talent Relations, recently went to the creative team with a list of former WCW wrestlers to see if there was any possible interest.

      Laurinaitis is quite familiar with talent from the dying days of World Championship Wrestling as he joined the promotion in the summer of 2000 as a booker, carrying the role until the company was sold to the World Wrestling Federation in March 2001.

      Among those still actively wrestling (and not already under contract to WWE or under contract to TNA) from the 2001 roster include Buff Bagwell, Mark Jindrak, Shawn Stasiak, Chuck Palumbo, Shannon Moore, Kaz Hayashi and Sid Vicious.

      6/17/2009

      On his Twitter yesterday, Chris Jericho took a good-natured shot at Raw, writing: “Nice to see tht the smackdown boys totally dominated Raw last night. Watch and learn kids…..”

      He also said he will be guest starring on Aaron Stone, which airs on Monday night at 9:00 p.m. on the Disney XD channel.

      6/18/2009

      Eric Bischoff posted a blog on his official website giving his thoughts on Monday Night Raw this past week.

      * “Triple H’s entrance is weak, old and so tired I went to go floss my teeth when it started. He looks like a Lhasa Apso genetic experiment gone bad. Get him some new music for Gods sake, and a hair-cut. One word describes HHH’s character: dated.”

      * “The VKM announcement of the new GM tease was weak at best…is it me or are Vince’s ears gaining size on his head? The VKM revelation that he “sold RAW” was lame. When you start out a story line with a premise that is completely unbelievable, should it be a surprise that the audiences gags on it? Trump isn’t good in this role and is too forced. My guess is that Trump will bring in Ric to handle day-to-day duties on his behalf, and at least give fans something to get excited about for a while.”

      * “Golddust and Hornswaggle? Too f’n goofy for comment. And Miz, make me believe. Because right now I don’t.”

      * “CM Punk was the best interview I heard all night. He’s believable, his in ring work is great, and he’s comfortable in his character. Props on the respect for Masawa. Can’t say enough good things about him. Matt Hardy‘s mic skills are marginal in this interview. Unless he was just having an off night, his interview skills reached a plateau a few years ago.”

      * “WTF is Jeff Hardy’s character supposed to be? He looks like Papa Shango after a Lap-Band procedure, and doesn’t look he could crack an egg. Enjoyed watching Edge, but the match was a bit too much of a spot fest for my liking, although I recognize some people enjoy that type of match. Did I mention that I hate 3 ways, 4 ways?”

      6/19/2009

      Quite like every year since he came back to TNA, there has been a lot of talk as of late concerning Sting possibly retiring. This year’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view is being targeted as the show where he could possibly retire.

      Every year, Sting, 50, say it’s his last year, and every year TNA president Dixie Carter gives him a good deal and talks him into staying for another year. Internally, many believe the same thing will happen this year as a result of the new television taping schedule. His schedule would have him working four days per month, all in a row, once a month, since he doesn’t work live events or foreign tours. Plus, he’ll earn north of $500,000 per year, so it’s a guarantee he’ll always be on top.

      6/20/2009

      John Cena threw his hat into the audience. The fan who caught the hat threw it back at Cena was then ejected from the arena.

      6/22/2009

      For those wondering, Lisa Marie Varon did not come up with her ring name in TNA Wrestling, which is Tara. In actuality, management decided her name for her.

      When asked if she came up with the ring name, Varon responded on her Twitter account with the following: “TNA gave me the name. :((“

      6/24/2009

      CM Punk on working for Vince McMahon: “I think he’s a great dude. He’s so passionate about what he does, and when you think about how long he’s been doing it, it’s outstanding. He took something very small and made it a global phenomena.”

      6/25/2009

      Former WWE tag champion, Brian “Grandmaster Sexay” Christopher, has been arrested for public intoxication.

      Brian Christopher Lawler, son of Jerry “The King” Lawler, was arrested just before 3:00 a.m. Friday at a convenience store. The store clerk told officers Lawler fell over a cooler outside the store before coming inside.

      6/26/2009

      The word going around the locker room is that Vickie Guerrero was only being paid $500 per appearance by WWE. On top of that, she had to cover her own hotel and road expenses.

      Typically, talent on the main roster net a $75,000 downside guarantee at the very least, so her salary was drastically below even the lowest paid main roster performers in the company.

      Some wrestlers are understandably fired up over this rumor, as the feeling is that the company could have done more to take care of a person who was such an integral part of WWE.

      Although, it’s worth noting that WWE paid for Eddie Guerrero’s funeral and likely did more to help out Vickie financially than the locker room is aware of.

      6/28/2009

      Taz‘s 90-day no-compete clause with World Wrestling Entertainment expires today.

      He has also answered another set of questions on his facebook. When asked why he left ECW to return to commentating on Smackdown, Taz wrote: “It happen because I was in a very tough spot on ECW, calling 1 match on PPV’s and stuck in quicksand with Adamle and VKM & K Dunn knew I wanted to get back where I belonged on one of the bigger brands! So when the opportunity popped up Kevin Dunn did what he said he would do and he moved me back up. See, the plan for the re-birth of ECW and for the ECW brand was for it to be on par with Raw & SD….but it just didn’t have a chance because half the people in creative wanted the brand to represent what the brand use to be and the other half of the Powers That Be wanted it to be Raw or SD “LIGHT”…so it became the red headed step child in my opinion (no offense to any actual red headed step children). I wanted off the show….i wasn’t challenged anymore on that show.”

      6/29/2009

      Shane Douglas was advertised to wrestle Al Snow at Saturday’s “Legends of the Arena” event promoted by longtime ECW performer Francine and her husband Joe to raise money for the American Cancer Society, but pulled a no-show.

      When Snow came out for his match, he blamed the Head, saying he was responsible for all their losses to Douglas in the past and now that he had a chance to beat him, Head pulled this. The lights went out and when they returned, Jerry Lynn was in the ring. A few minutes into the match, the crowd began chanting, “F*** Shane Douglas.”

      Tammy Sytch was also scheduled to appear at the show, but did not appear as well. In fact, her picture was on the banner advertisements promoting the show. Sytch backed out of the appearance to take a booking in California.

      6/30/2009

      During an episode of Brooke Hogan‘s reality show that aired on VH1 this past weekend, Brooke Knows Best, Brooke was seen chatting with people. When asked what Macho Man’s (Randy Savage) favorite snack is, she replied “steroids.”

      – Tune back in next time for more Dirt Sheet History as we continue looking at 2009.

      Stories are credited from Rajah, PWTorch, PWInsider and The Wrestling Observer. Month name photo art is by Phillip Martin.

      All past editions of Dirt Sheet History are found here.

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