Dirt Sheet History: April 2007

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 March 2007, we get a glimpse into the top scoops from April of 2007 as we read Dirt Sheet History!

Reminder that you can find all past editions of Dirt Sheet History looking at 2004 through 2006 right here. Now enjoy April 2007.

4/1/2007

* WrestleMania 23 is the highest grossing one-day live event in WWE history, grossing more than $5.38 million in ticket sales.

Fans converged on Detroit from 24 countries, all 50 states and 9 Canadian provinces, pumping an estimated $25 million into the local economy.

4/2/2007

* Ring of Honor wrestler Colt Cabana has signed a deal with World Wrestling Entertainment. No word yet if it’s a developmental deal or regular contract. The signing came about recently.

4/3/2007

* Stephanie McMahon and Triple H were said to have been very upset backstage this past Sunday at WrestleMania. In one of his news updates over the weekend on WrestlingObserver.com, Dave Meltzer spoiled some of the matches & segments (such as Slick appearing) that were going to be airing on WrestleMania.

He also reported that Shane McMahon wanted to open the PPV as the host, standing in the ring and throwing it over to Aretha Franklin to perform. He also reported that Stephanie was against this idea, resulting in it not happening. Triple H and Stephanie got wind of the story, and they were said to be very upset about it, perhaps because it made Stephanie look bad. They are determined to find the source of the leak.

4/4/2007

* Bryan Alvarez reported on his online show that Ashley Massaro was in tears after her match at WrestleMania. She knew it was an awful match and was quite upset about it afterwards.

4/5/2007

* Christopher Daniels has been said to be acting “really weird” lately, keeping to himself during indy shows and largely seeming a bit depressed. It’s been said he used to always be outgoing and fun, but apparently that’s not the case recently.

4/6/2007

* Nowadays, WWE is trying to listen to the fans a bit more. They tried to bury these three individuals, but the fans refused to stop cheering for them.

Expect to see big pushes for CM Punk, Matt Hardy and Rob Van Dam. A lot has already been shown by Punk’s role at WrestleMania and his good performance on the show. On Raw, you saw Matt Hardy become a champion again. And at WrestleMania, RVD gained a win because they want him to a part of WWE in the future. The company threw him a bone with the Mania win, basically letting him know that if he re-signed, they’d take care of him. No one knows what his plans are and the belief is that he’s not 100 percent sure at this point.

4/7/2007

* Abyss‘ mom’s official character name in TNA is Mama Park.

4/9/2007

* Carlito is said to have “nuclear heat” on him backstage following his controversial interview with the Ottawa Sun last week. The initial reaction was to send him on a permanent vacation to Heat and let him fade away. Carlito even expected to be fired over the weekend. They probably won’t let him go, but they certainly scared him off of saying much in future interviews.

* Mike “The Miz” Mizanin was also paranoid about being fired last week. Apparently, someone backstage convinced him to do a major rib on JBL, who already hates Miz and has a well-known reputation as a bully. No more details about this one yet.

4/11/2007

* Former WCW and TNA star Disco Inferno Glen Gilberti was among those arrested late Monday night during a gambling bust involving high stakes no limit hold-em poker in Roswell, Georgia.

4/13/2007

* Several WWE fans have been nervous as rumors have surfaced on the Internet that Michael Cole will be replacing “the voice of RAW” Jim Ross. Ross denies this rumor and is quite unhappy about it.

In his latest blog he writes, “I have no idea how this sort of information gets out there and then takes on a life of its own as if it is factual. I fully expect to continue my tenure with the WWE for years to come and no one in the decision making process has indicated anything to the contrary to me. Do you actually think these executives are speaking to the wrestling internet world? Me neither. These rumors upset Mrs J.R. and my family more than they do me. I still get excited about going to work every week on Monday Night Raw and I am still having fun. I would also like to think that my work doesn’t suck pond water. Perhaps I am wrong. Nonetheless when my run on Raw comes to an end, whenever that may be, I will look back on my WWE career with no regrets. I have had a blessed career and life in our wonderful business over the past four decades. There is plenty of fuel left in this tank, so don’t count me out just yet. I feel, for many reasons, that my best years in broadcasting are ahead of me and I feel really good about the future. Finally, I suggest that you don’t believe everything you read on the internet.”.

4/16/2007

* Stephyn Phillips sent the following off air report from last night’s TNA LockDown in St. Louis, Missouri to PWInsider.com:
I just got home from Lockdown and though I would send a report. Before the pre-show started Dixie Carter, Bob Backlund, Shark Boy, SoCal Val, and Lance Hoyt walked through the crowd.

I don’t know how much came across on PPV, but Jay Lethal‘s new gimmick was over huge with the crowd. As was Alex Shelley and Shark Boy.

The crowd was pretty dead through out the Petey Williams vs. Robert Roode match. There was a good reaction for Eric Young (who was taking Polaroid pictures with Tracy Brooks in the lobby earlier for $10).

The crowd was really rude to Gail Kim and Jacqueline Moore. I can’t stand sexist jerks- especially when they keep buying beers all night long from the vendors. The crowd popped big for her dive off the top of the cage.

Austin Starr vs. Senshi received a good ovation. I can’t help but feel that these two could have tore down the house, but held back. Backlund was over more than the two wrestlers.

The Blindfold match was awful, as I had been dreading it all week. The crowd was chanting “Fire Russo“, “This S*** Sucks”, and “End This Now”. I can’t even see where this match looked good on paper.

Jerry Lynn vs. Christopher Daniels received a good ovation. This was the only time in there wasn’t a “Jerry” chant I can remember. The crowd was disappointed when the two went for moves on the top rope- and nothing came of it.

Team 3D vs. LAX…this was awful. I mean the four wrestlers worked hard and I appreciate all they did, but the electric cage was really, really lame (Abdullah the Butcher in the electric chair from the WCW Chamber of Horrors bad). The played a “humming” sound over the PA system the entire match to give the illusion of electricity. The crowd was chanting “BullS***” and “Fire Russo” again way before the stupid “BUZZZZ” played when the wrestlers actually touched the cage. I don’t understand why they made such a big deal about the Team 3D chasing the belts for all this time, and not let them celebrate in the ring afterwards with all the belts. The were cut off with a Kurt Angle interview on the screen and rushed out of the ring.

The Lethal Lockdown was good, but they need to do something about this match- there is too many wrestlers at once in the tiny ring. WCW used to put two rings together for 8 men. Anyways, Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe were over as always. Scott Steiner had heat and a big “Steroid” chant was going until he shut everyone up with the Frankensteiner off the ropes. AJ Styles bump off the cage was real scary live, as we on the floor couldn’t see where he landed on the other side of the ring. Fans were shocked to see Christian Cage and Jeff Jarrett take bumps into the thumbtacks. The finish with the guitar was real cool and received a huge pop. Overall, a lot of TNA chants.

It was a good show (my first TNA event) and after meeting some of my favorites the day before at the Fan Fest, I really got into the matches. TNA needs to go back to the days of amazing ring work and less gimmicks. Does anyone even listen to the “Fire Russo” chants.

4/17/2007

* Yesterday while on the runway preparing to leave Milan, Italy the entire RAW Roster experienced a huge scare. Apparently, the engine to their chartered aircraft got too hot and blew. WWE.com has posted the following article about the incident:

Fiery Flight

One night after figuratively setting Milan’s Datch Forum ablaze with excitement at a live edition of Monday Night Raw, the Superstars and Divas of Raw were subject to the alarm of an engine fire aboard their charter plane.

Instead of soaring through the clouds en route to Rome from Milan for another live event, the frightening mechanical issue forced a mass inconvenience and a frantic scramble to find new flights in order to make it to the show in Rome on time.

Amid all the hassles this episode caused, WWE Producer Tim White’s first-hand account of the hair-raising experience was from a grateful perspective, rather than an angry one.

“Everyone is okay,” he said in a phone interview from the runway after boarding a new flight. “Thankfully, the engine blew on the ground and not over the Atlantic.”

Allegedly the plane was taxing on the runway and the engine was revved too high, causing the engine fumes to heat up to more than 900 degrees — roughly two-and-a-half times the normal temperature the engine should operate at. At that point, a rod may have snapped, causing the engine to blow.

“I was sitting near the front [of the plane] and didn’t hear anything,” said White. “But the mechanic said those sitting near the engine would have heard a pop.”

The nerve-racking experience turned out to be a huge scare, but in the end only cost time instead of injuries. Even with everything that occurred, the WWE Superstars were all able to find new flights, as to not disappoint their international fans.

4/18/2007

* TNA has suspended Austin Starr for 90 days. No word yet on the reason for the suspension, but it should be coming out soon.

4/21/2007

* Two sources are reporting that Randy Orton has been sent home from the current European tour. As the story goes, there was reportedly severe damage done to a hotel room and the blame was pinned on Orton. He was announced as being too sick to wrestle at Thursday night’s house show. More details on this story should be coming out soon.

4/25/2007

* Batista upset several WWE fans from the UK earlier in the week at an autograph signing. He didn’t bother to speak or look up to the fans at the signing. He also refused to have pictures taken. One youngster named Kyle went home in tears after meeting his ex-wrestling idol. Kyle’s dad said, “Kyle got a ticket and couldn’t sleep the night before, he was so excited at meeting Batista and he had the afternoon off school. All his mates were telling him how jealous they were. But when he got there we were told Batista would only be signing WWE merchandise. We queued for nearly two hours and he signed a WWE book, didn’t even look at him or say a word and that was it. His mum was trying to take a picture of the two on the mobile phone but his bouncers kept standing in the way to stop it. Dad also added, “And he refused to sign a birthday card that Kyle had taken in because it is his birthday in three weeks. I think it is absolutely disgraceful for a man who is loved by so many kids to behave like this. We go down to the Wolves training ground all the time and they can’t do enough for us. If they can make the effort I don’t see why a jumped-up bloke in tights can’t do the the same. Kyle couldn’t stop crying.

4/27/2007

* Rob Van Dam has turned down WWE’s latest contract offer. His current contract is set to expire ovet the summer; possibly in late July, but it hasn’t been confirmed. However, until the deal expires, there’s always a chance that the two sides could come to an agreement.

The creative team has been instructed to focus their attention on CM Punk and Elijah Burke so that if RVD does indeed leave the company, it won’t be too strong of a blow to the ECW storylines.

4/29/2007

* Mick Foley‘s book “Hardcore Diaries” was No. 10 last week on the New York Times bestseller list. Regarding a fixed role for him on WWE television, things are constantly changing.

Internally, people are often burying him, saying he no longer connects with the crowd. Some of them even knock his promos. Foley has creative control in that he can refuse anything, but Vince McMahon has to approve everything. He’s not the priority being catered to as he used to be.

Triple H often gets in Vince’s ear by telling him why should they do anything with Mick Foley? Vince then ends up agreeing with Triple H. However, Raw writer Brian Gewirtz then gets in Vince’s ear and says they should bring him back and push him strong, which changes Vince’s mind again.

At one point, Foley was scheduled to do something big at Backlash, but that’s off the cards.

– Tune back in next time for more Dirt Sheet History as we continue 2007.

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

Past editions of Dirt Sheet History are found here.