Dirt Sheet History: March 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 February 2009, we get a glimpse into the top scoops from March 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 March 2009!

3/1/2009

* John Cena‘s promo from last week’s RAW where he mocked Michael Cole did not go over well backstage. According ProWrestling.net, WWE writer Brian Gewirtz scripted the promo and the general feeling is that he was playing to Vince McMahon (who is known for being tough on Cole) and not the WWE fans (ahem, the “WWE Universe”). As we’ve reported, Vince McMahon has been very distant with the creative team as of late and Gewirtz’ attempt to get a laugh from the boss flopped pretty bad. In a case of “don’t shoot the messenger,” there’s no heat on John Cena for the promo.

3/2/2009

* WWE Hall of Fame candidate Stone Cold Steve Austin was recently spotted by TMZ leaving the Firehouse restaurant in Venice Beach, California. The TMZ camera man asked Austin what he thinks about the A-Rod steroid scandal and whether he thinks A-Rod’s “package” has been affected by the steroid use.

3/3/2009

* In an interview with the Between The Ropes radio show last night, Ric Flair said he will not return to the ring for a match against Chris Jericho at WrestleMania XXV.

“Never,” Flair said regarding a possible match. “No… I would be very open to it if Shawn Michaels said, ‘Don’t give me the Rolex back, do it’… That would be the only way. Shawn would have to say, ‘Go for it because you miss it that much,’ which I don’t. I miss the boys.”

3/4/2009

* For weeks there have been rumors that Hulk Hogan will be a part of WrestleMania 25 in some capacity. Originally it was rumored that he’d be wrestling John Cena and lately there’s been talk that he will be the legend to stand up to Chris Jericho once and for all.

Hulk Hogan has updated his Twitter status, which currently reads:

“Yo Maniacs, What are your favorite letters? Currently mine are C & J. Or… Maybe J & C?”

The “C & J” would seem to indicate Chris Jericho and the “J & C” indicate John Cena.

3/6/2009

* In an interesting note, the roster sheet for this past Monday’s edition of Raw (which has leaked online) featured what looks to be the pecking order for talent in World Wrestling Entertainment.

It would appear that the performers were listed in order of importance/usefulness at the moment, from the company’s view. For instance, Randy Orton and Chris Jericho were listed as the top heel wrestlers on Raw, with seldom-used wrestlers Sim Snuka and Dolph Ziggler listed at the bottom.

Babyface Raw Divas: Melina, Kelly Kelly, Mickie James, Candice Michelle

Heel Raw Divas: Beth Phoenix, Layla, Rosa Mendes, Jillian Hall

Babyface SmackDown Divas: Maria, Brie Bella, Nikki Bella, Eve, Gail Kim

Heel SmackDown Divas: Maryse, Michelle McCool, Natalya

Babyface ECW Divas: Alicia Fox, Tiffany

Heel ECW Divas: Katie Lea Burchill

3/7/2009

* WWE officials are planting a number red herrings in order to keep their creative plans a mystery to Internet wrestling fans. The word backstage is that almost anything could be planted. This is also being done to discover the individuals within the company leaking confidential information to the people behind wrestling news websites.

As of late, WWE head Vince McMahon has grown increasingly frustrated over the number of backstage news leaks finding its way onto the Internet. More so than ever before, there is a bigger company directive on stopping Internet leaks. McMahon is actually said to be “obsessed” with stopping stories from leaking out of his company and officials underneath him have made that fact very clear to everyone.

3/8/2009

* TNA Women’s Knockout Champion Awesome Kong recently made it clear she’s not happy with newcomer Brutus Magnus (real name Nick Aldis) making more money than her. Many feel it’s hard to blame her as she’s done so much for the company whereas Magnus is still very green and his only claim to fame before joining TNA was working for the UK version of American Gladiators.

Magnus is considered to be a project of TNA president Dixie Carter — the main force behind the company’s decision to acquire him. It’s been said that Carter cares more about charisma than in-ring ability.

3/9/2009

* Stephanie McMahon has been feeding false information to members of the creative team she suspects may be leaking stories, reports The Sun. Also, the writers are using company laptops with special software that tracks their e-mails and which websites they view.

3/10/2009

* WWE officials are said to be frustrated with new United States President Barack Obama. They feel he is an enemy of business.

3/11/2009

* TNA Wrestling has announced on their official website that television and radio personality Danny Bonaduce will step in the ring for his first pro wrestling match at TNA Lockdown on April 19th.

3/12/2009

* Vince McMahon isn’t a big fan of ECW wrestler Christian, according to one former WWE employee. It’s no secret that the WWE chairman doesn’t view him as a “star.”

“He cares more about the doormat at his house than Christian,” said the former employee. “I don’t understand why you re-up with the guy and then don’t do anything with him.”

3/14/2009

* According to multiple reports, former WWE wrestler Andrew “Test” Martin passed away yesterday at his apartment in Tampa.

He was just four days shy of his 34th birthday.

3/15/2009

* According to the recent roster sheet, here is the pecking order for the ECW roster (as of Thursday, February 26, 2009):

Babyface ECW Superstars: Christian, Finlay (w/Hornswoggle), Tommy Dreamer, Boogeyman, Ricky Ortiz, DJ Gabriel, Evan Bourne (injured)

Heel ECW Superstars: Jack Swagger, John Morrison, The Miz, Mark Henry (w/Tony Atlas), Tyson Kidd, Paul Burchill

3/16/2009

* According to the roster sheet, here is the pecking order for the SmackDown roster (as of Thursday, February 26, 2009):

Babyface SmackDown Superstars: Triple H, Undertaker, Jeff Hardy, The Great Khali (w/Ranjin Singh), R-Truth, MVP, Carlito, Primo, Festus, Jesse, Jimmy Wang Yang, Kizarny, Kung Fu Naki, Hurricane Helms (injured), Mr. Kennedy (injured)

Heel SmackDown Superstars: Edge, Big Show, Matt Hardy, Umaga, Vladimir Kozlov, Shelton Benjamin, Chavo Guerrero, The Brian Kendrick, Ezekiel Jackson, Zack Ryder, Curt Hawkins, DH Smith, Ryan Braddock

3/17/2009

* Brooke Hogan was seen pole dancing on stage at the Calle Ocho music festival in Miami over the weekend. Brooke’s father Hulk Hogan was also in attendance with his “Brooke-alike” girlfriend Jennifer and was sporting crutches due to his recent back surgery. Brooke performed a few songs and had several backup dancers working with her.

3/18/2009

* As noted earlier, Kip James was not used at Sunday’s Destination X pay-per-view. James is said to be on the bubble and there have rumblings of the company not renewing his contract when it comes due. TNA President Dixie Carter and her right-hand man, Executive Vice President Andy Barton, have never been high on the former D-Generation X member.

3/20/2009

* John Cena and Edge have had a long and storied history. So much so that Cena’s scheduled encounter with Edge and Big Show at WrestleMania XXV will be his 34th televised bout with the “Rated-R Superstar.”

3/21/2009

* The April edition of WWE Magazine features a newsworthy interview with the Heartbreak Kid, Shawn Michaels. When Shawn was asked about who he’d want to induct him into the WWE Hall of Fame one day, he responded with a rather surprising answer.

“My instincts say Triple H, or Ric Flair, but I’m always looking for something different. I’ve thought of my wife. I’ve thought of Kevin Nash, or my son, when he’s older. I thought of Vince–he could talk about how it was to have me work for him. I’m sure I was difficult. It’s funny; I’ve even thought of Bret Hart.”

Michaels continues, “I sometimes think, ‘Will he ever make peace with me?’ I’m not in denial about what happened in Montreal. I’m OK that I was that way, but that doesn’t make it right. It’s still wrong, but it is what it is. There’s nothing I can change about that, and I don’t want to pretend it didn’t happen. It’s something that really bothered me. But in the end, I want to be inducted without all the fluff. I want the truth.”

3/22/2009

* WWE’s creative team was told to visit Vince McMahon‘s Boca Raton penthouse condo following the the WWE RAW show on March 9th from Jacksonville, Florida. Vince planned on spending the week there and the staff was told to be ready for a big meeting to finalize the next few weeks of TV storylines, the direction of WrestleMania 25 and the upcoming Draft in April. Brian Gewirtz and Michael Hayes were later told on March 11 via phone that Vince would not be attending the meeting and for the creative team to return to Stamford come up with ideas on their own. Stephanie McMahon took part in the Stanford meeting via teleconference and was described as being frustrated with how Vince has handled the situation.

3/24/2009

* The Hollywood Reporter has an interview with Vince McMahon promoting Wrestlemania XXV. Here are some highlights from the interview:

Whether he is concerned with rival promotion TNA Wrestling as competition: “My concern with TNA is not in terms of competition. My concern with TNA is that they are TV-14, and we are PG. They have to change with the times. I think some of the things they do on television are reprehensible, but it is a TV-14 rating. That’s the only bone I have to pick with them. Their TV ratings are a fraction of ours.”

3/25/2009

* Kurt Angle appeared on Howard Stern‘s Sirius Satellite radio show this morning and dropped a bombshell regarding what led to his divorce from ex-wife Karen. Here are some of the more newsworthy quotes:

– His Divorce from Karen Angle: It happened two months ago and “Karen is a millionaire now,” which he doesn’t mind as long as his kids are taken care of. Kurt said that someone in the business did something with Karen and implied it was a fellow wrestler. Kurt said he’s the one who got her into wrestling and it was a mistake. She’d stay out all night and later tell Kurt she was hanging out with friends in the hotel lobby. Kurt did said he cheated on Karen “a couple of times” while they were separated and feels she may have slept around to get back at him. Kurt put her over as a great mother. Howard asked if it was Vince who Karen cheated with and Kurt said if it was Vince, he would have called to him to say, “I got a storyline for you…”

– His Love for Black Women: Kurt proclaimed his love for Stern’s news woman Robin Quivers and read a poem to her. Kurt said he may be in love with Robin and he’s dated a black woman since his divorce (later revealing her to be TNA Knockout Rhaka Khan).

3/26/2009

* TMZ.com cameras caught up with Chris Jericho this week, who had some choice words for President Barack Obama. When asked, “You’re a wrestler, so do you think you have better abs than Barack Obama?”, Jericho responded, “As of right now I have better abs … but pretty soon he’s gonna take 65% of my abs away from me and give ’em to somebody else.”

3/27/2009

* As reported earlier, Big Show was originally earmarked to take part in the Money in the Bank Match at WrestleMania XXV, but Vince McMahon decided to put him in the World Heavyweight Championship bout instead. Mark Henry ended up taking place in the bout. Had Big Show stayed in the match, he was expected to win the briefcase.

McMahon felt they had done John Cena vs. Edge way too many times before, so he changed the bout to a three-way match by adding Big Show to it. Although, weeks worth of angles between Cena and Edge were shot before he came to this decision.

3/28/2009

* Former TNA production manager Randy Ricci wrote an e-mail to the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer in response to Danny Bonaduce‘s decision to wrestle a match in TNA.

In the e-mail, he recalls a company meeting about the build for the 2007 Slammiversary pay-per-view in Nashville, saying TNA president Dixie Carter was fuming over her people not being able to get in touch with Vanilla Ice, Jonny Fairplay and “some other no-name.”

3/29/2009

* Kurt Angle was frustrated with his match with Sting at Destination X. The TNA World Heavyweight Champion was unable to do the match laid out backstage and was often out of position in spots.

3/30/2009

* Over the past year, John Cena has been very vocal about his feelings towards Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and how he’s turned his back on the wrestling industry. Cena has called The Rock out on several occasions, saying The Rock has gone back on his word that he’d always remember the fans who made him a star. Now, Cena wants to settle their score in the ring.

In an interview with MTV, Cena said he wants to wrestle The Rock Dwayne Johnson at WrestleMania 26 for a one-night-only showdown of action stars. “I’ve been trying to wrestle him,” Cena told MTV’s Josh Horowitz. “It’s not that he won’t accept the challenge. He truly has a full plate.”

Cena then set a date for the possible showdown and revealed that he’s not even that confident that he could beat the Great One. “What a better showdown .. Dwayne Johnson, or The Rock, or whatever he wants to be called .. versus John Cena at, let’s say, WrestleMania 26. I’m not even saying I’m going to win. He’s a hell of an athlete. God-given ability. One of the nicest people ever to grace a WWE ring. I’d just like to get him back for a night.”

– 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.