Viewpoint On Wrestling: Emma Released

Man, this one has caught me by surprise.  Just seen a post on Facebook, from WWE's official Facebook, that Emma has been released.

Emma, real name Tenille Dashwood, has been with WWE since 2011, when she was in their Florida Championship Wrestling developmental territory.  FCW became NXT in 2012, and competed several times for the NXT Women's Championship, but never won it.  She was called up to the main roster in 2014 and stayed there for about a year before returning to NXT.  She was once again called up to the main roster in March 2016.  And in all that time, she never won a single title.  In fact, she was barely midcard in the WWE women's roster, sometimes little more than a jobber.

I was expecting her to be part of the upcoming Survivor Series 5 on 5 match between RAW and SmackDown's women's divisions.  Obviously that is not going to be the case.

WWE released their fairly standard statement on the release on WWE.com.  It read...

"WWE has come to terms on the release of WWE Superstar Emma. 
WWE wishes Emma the best in all of her future endeavors."

But what are her future endeavours?  She hasn't posted on Twitter since Friday, and her last post was kinda cryptic...

Walking into the weekend like...

Photo: @HarryLHGFX
HMUA: @stellakae pic.twitter.com/OxkJJe5dYf

— EMMA (@EmmaWWE) October 27, 2017

Obviously, we won't be seeing her in a WWE ring anytime soon, but she could make an appearance on Impact Wrestling or Ring Of Honor, as they continue to slowly establish their Women Of Honor division, or she could appear in a Women's only promotion, such as Shimmer or Shine.

Whatever happens, I wish Tenille all the very best in whatever she does.

Viewpoint: Can We End This Nightmare Now, Please?

So let me get this straight. Donald Trump posted footage from WWE, from Wrestlemania 23 to be precise, phtoshopped to replace Vince McMahon's head with a CNN logo, footage that showed him beating up on "CNN".

That's low. That's dispicable. That's sad. Using one fake thing, professional wrestling, to accuse CNN of being fake, and showing how he wants to beat up on them. Sadly, his fans just eat it up.

The rest of us know that he has sadly demonstrated that he does not respect the media, which we already knew, but that he also does not respect the office of President. 

This is not reality TV, this is not a ratings war. He is supposed to be the President of the USA. Instead, he is nothing more than a cult leader, destroying the United States, under the Cult Of Trumpistan. 

He's too stupid to resign, and his cabinet is too in his thrall to dump him. Somebody needs to do something to end this travesty of a mockery of a sham of a mockery of a travesty of two mockeries of a sham of a presidency. 

Somebody in the Congress needs to do something, soon, whilst there is still something of the United States left to salvage.

WWE suspends 10 superstars, maybe more!

I've said it before, it's rare for a wrestling story to get any traction in the mainstream news. So with MSNBC reporting on 10 WWE superstars being suspended by the company for violations of it's "Wellness Program", well, I get interested.

The story reveals that no names have been released by WWE but that the suspensions were...

"...based on independent information from the Albany County, N.Y., district attorney’s office, which has been investigating sales of steroids and growth hormones through Internet and phone-order firms."

Wrestlezone.com is amongst many other sources with more information, although I cannot completely verify the accuracy of some of their stories. In this case however, they seem to be relying on information released by the mainstream media. Of the various other mainstream media outlets that are reporting the story, three seem to be more up on it than the rest.

The New York Daily News is on the case, thanks to the fact that the investigation is being carried out through Albany County, NY Distict Attorney's Office. They were the first people to list names connected with the investigation.

ESPN also listed names, though a different set. They too seem to be well on-top of this story.

Sports Illustrated seem to be the most clued up though, with a story that reads very authoritatively, and gives a more complete list of names. It has to be said that all the names in NY Daily News and ESPN lists also appear in this list. This is why I have said thatb I feel both of the other sources are well on top of this story. There are more details here though, including drugs listed and dates of supply. All of them are between September 2004 and February 2007.

Amongst some of the other reports I have seen for this, are reports that one of the pharmacies involved in the investigation is a company called Signature Pharmacy in Orlando, FL, and that a Florida doctor is apparently helping with the DA's enquiry.

There are also reports that say that stars from Major League Baseball and the National Football League could also be involved in this scandal, so this may not be a WWE exclusive problem.

WWE are known to be facing congressional hearings soon, so this information could not have come at a worse time for them.

This is one of those stories that will probably take a long time to go away, and will be followed by many media sources with interest. Wrestling fans too will want to follow this story, even if they don't like the result of it. One thing I know for sure is that TNA, WWE's best known rival in the wrestling world, will be looking at this as a major oppourtunity. I doubt they will be completely silent on this for long.

Chris Benoit: 1967 - 2007

It's very rare when a story about professional wrestling makes major news. It happened a couple of years ago with the untimely demise of Eddie Guerrero, and now it has happened again with the death of Chris Benoit, in more suspicious circumstances.

CBC News and the WWE both have the story about what happened, but I will not remember him that way.

I will remember him as "The Canadian Crippler", who was incredibly intesne in the ring, and gave it his all every time. I will remember him as the man who retired "The Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan in WCW, because of a storylined affair with Sullivan's manager, Woman. Ironically, life would imitate art as Woman eventually divorced Sullivan and married Benoit!

I will remember him as a former WCW World Heavyweight Champion, winning the title the night before he defected to WWE. I will remember his amazing victory over Triple H at Wrestlemania 20 by submission to win the WWE's World Heavyweight Championship, and to be joined in the ring by his good friend Eddie Guerrero, who held the WWE Championship at the time, and the celebration they had that night was incredible.

Rest In Peace, Rabid Wolverine.