YellowHandMan

Ooooo-YEAH!

Looking forward to watching the Macho Man DVD collection...it's a pity that the bad blood between him and Vince (rumored to arise from Macho making a pass or doing something derogatory at Steph) prevents WWE from doing more to promote this collection.

Unlike Ric Flair, whom I only came to appreciate when I became a 'serious' wrestling fan in the 'naughties, Randy Savage was my childhood favorite wrestler. Still remember marking out while watching the video of Savage's face-turn, when Elizabeth saved him from Honky-Tonk and he subsequently carried her on his shoulder around the ring. Plus, of course, watching the Megapowers unite then break up.

Yesterday's YellowHandTweets after the cut, posted by LoudTwitter.

Ric Flair to retire

Ric Flair to retire next year

Recently, there had been speculation that Ric Flair - The Greatest Wrestler Of All-Time - had walked away from WWE, in disgust at the lack of respect they'd been showing him in storylines. However, Flair has since denied it, and has now also confirmed that he'll be retiring next year. This has also been anticipated for a long time, and will most probably happen at Wrestlemania 24 in March.

It'll be the end of an era - indeed, 'era' is a misnomer, because Flair has been undoubtedly The Man stretching over a period that began in the 1970s. Even now, if WWE were to give him one last run at the title (which is what he'd originally wanted), they'd have an sure-fire money angle. Unfortunately, Triple H's ego would probably never allow it, since in his own world, he is the new Ric Flair.

Ha. Right. With apologies to Buddy Rogers who originally used the nickname, there's only one Nature Boy. And I hope he means it literally when he says his retirement match will be his "finest hour" - Flair is the original "sixty-minute man"!

Whoooo!

Benoit had brain damage

Benoit's brain showed severe damage (ABCNews)

The Sports Legacy Institute did a study on Benoit's brain, and found that it was "so severely damaged that it resembled the brain of an 85-year-old Alzheimer's patient". In particular, he had injuries to the frontal lobes, which is not surprising given that one of his signature moves was the flying headbutt off the top rope.

Smackdown in Singapore

Smackdown Summerslam Tour in Singapore, 28 July 2007

PW Torch finally posted the results that I sent in. Frankly, the show was rather disappointing. Or maybe I was still feeling down on wrestling, post-Benoit - although "business definitely picked up" (as Good 'Ol JR would say) with Mr McMahon's return on Raw last Monday.

Anyway, in case the link eventually goes dead, the full results are after the cut, for what it's worth.

NY Times on WWE's drug testing

I've been meaning to blog about my reaction to the Benoit tragedy, but there are just so many aspects to it that I don't know where to begin - not least, how I feel about being a wrestling fan in the aftermath. This NY Times article focuses on WWE's drug testing policy, which is a big piece of the puzzle. BTW, Benoit's toxicology results will be released later today...the storm is about to get bigger for Vince.