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On March 23, 2001, Vince McMahon officially purchased
Ted Turner's World Championship Wrestling. When WWE bought the WCW tapes, belts, history and lineage, the monday
night wrestling wars were officially over, and Vince was the last man standing. Shortly thereafter, he
was able to do the same with ECW. Since then, no other organization has posed a realistic threat to the WWE's market share
and with that, the WWE product has suffered from that lack of urgency that real cutthroat competition brings with
it.
Until now...
WWFuNEWS: BRET HART SIGNS
SHORT TERM DEAL WITH WWE
WWFuWRESTLING.com
- According to various sources, WWE Hall of Famer, and multi-time WWE & WCW Champion Bret "The Hitman"
Hart has agreed to terms with World Wrestling Entertainment on a short-term deal, running from January
1st to April 10th, right after WrestleMania 26.
The seeds for the controversial
comeback were sown on the 12/14/09 edition of WWE RAW. On the show, Vince McMahon asked guest host Dennis Miller
who he would like to see host a future edition of WWE RAW. Miller
— with the backing of the Texas crowd — demanded Hart. This prompted Vince to look uneasy and walk away, but it
was clearly a major tease for the Hitman's return.
Rumors are now rife that Bret will make
his WWE comeback on January 4, which stands to be one of the biggest days in modern wrestling history. TNA have announced
that they will debut Hulk Hogan on a live three-hour Impact special on this date, running directly up against RAW. This is
a brief rekindling of the famous Monday Night Wars of the late 1990s and, if TNA are successful, it may well spark a permanent
switch of their flagship show to Monday nights. WWE have been expected to seek a major name to host their show on this night,
with The Rock and Steve Austin linked with the role. Now, though, Bret is the forerunner, but a three month contract indicates
a much more involved role for a sustained period.
The fact that this contract's time frame
includes WrestleMania is obviously very important. It would be very hard to see Bret returning in a wrestling capacity, since
he isn't physically able to do so fter suffering a serious concussion at the hands of Bill Goldberg, which later contributed
to a stroke. However, the Hitman has stated in various interviews lately that he has felt the best he's ever
felt in quite a few years. He was forced to retire in 2000 at the age of 43 while competing for WCW because of a major concussion
and has rarely been seen in wrestling since then.
Hart left WWE acrimoniously in 1997 after
what became known as the 'Montreal Screwjob', when he lost his title to hated rival Michaels after legitimately not being
told the planned finish of the match.
For more on the infamous "Montreal
Screwjob", you can watch the documentary "HITMAN HART: Wrestling with Shadows" chronicling the weeks prior to the screwjob
in its entirety, by clicking here.
WWFuNEWS
SPECIAL REPORT:
Umaga Dead at 36
WWFuWRESTLING.com - Eki Fatu,
best known as "Umaga" from his days in WWE, died friday evening (12/4) in a Houston hospital following multiple
heart attacks. He was 36.
Details are sketchy at this point, but he had apparently
fell asleep thursday night while watching television and was found by his wife not breathing with blood coming out of
his nose and mouth. He was immediately rushed to the hospital.
We're told his family was notified to get into
town and to the hospital as soon as possible. Family members were also told they believe he had suffered a second heart
attack while in the hospital. He was shortly thereafter taken off life support.
WWE released the following statement regarding
Fatu's passing: "WWE would like to express its deepest condolences to Mr. Fatu’s family, friends and fans on his
tragic passing. Mr. Fatu was under contract with WWE at various time periods and most recently performed under the name "Umaga."
Mr. Fatu's contract was terminated on June 11, 2009."
Umaga was recently on the HULKAMANIA: "Let
the Battle Begin" tour in Australia that had just concluded on thanksgiving weekend.
Umaga was born on March 28, 1973 in
American Samoa,
a member of the famous Anoa'i wrestling family. His mother, Vera, was the sister of Afa and Sika of the "Wild Samoans", and his Umaga gimmick would be compared to their wildness. His two older brothers, Sam (better known
as "Tonga Kid") and Solofa Jr.
(better known as "Rikishi"), are also professional wrestlers who have achieved success of their own. Dwayne
Johnson, known in wrestling as "The Rock", is his cousin.
Our deepest condolences go out to the
entire Fatu family.
Stay logged on to WWFuWRESTLING.com for
more on this story.
WWFuWRESTLING.com
SPECIAL REPORT
HULK HOGAN JOINS TNA
Legendary Wrestler and Pop Culture Icon Returns
to the Ring With Fast-Rising Wrestling Organization
WWFuWRESTLING.com - (Oct.
27 2009), NYC - “Hulkamania” is back! The biggest name in professional wrestling history, Hulk Hogan, is joining
Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling (TNA), the fastest rising wrestling organization in the world and home to one of cable television’s
highest rated shows for young men, TNA iMPACT! The announcement was made by TNA Wrestling in conjunction with Spike TV
at a press conference held in New York City.
“Hulk Hogan is one of the world’s
top pop culture icons and the biggest superstar in the history of professional wrestling. We are truly excited to welcome
him into the TNA family,” said Dixie Carter, President of TNA Wrestling. “Our goal is to become the world’s
biggest professional wrestling company. Hulk defines professional wrestling and we look forward to partnering with him in
a variety of ways as we continue to grow TNA globally.”
“I’m thrilled to be jumping back
into the world of professional wrestling,” said Hogan. “My fans have been asking me to return to the business
for many years on a full time basis, but the timing or the opportunity has never been right until now. TNA Wrestling is a
great company with an already excellent fan base, business and broadcast partner. I firmly believe now is the time for some
change at TNA as they are positioned to jump to the next level in their development and I’m here to work with Dixie
to help make that a reality.”
Through Hogan’s partnership with Bischoff
Hervey Entertainment Television, the deal with TNA was negotiated by longtime Hogan colleague Eric Bischoff. Additionally,
BHE TV has inked a first-look deal with TNA and will be working with the organization to develop new programming extensions
of the TNA brand.
“Hulk Hogan adds yet another level
of star power that positions TNA iMPACT as Spike TV’s version of ‘Must-See TV’ on Thursday nights,”
said Kevin Kay, president of Spike.
Hogan most recently penned an autobiography
with Mark Dagostino, “My Life Outside The Ring” with St. Martin’s Press, which is available now at bookstores
everywhere.
Stay logged to WWFuWRESTLING.com for more
on this developing story.
WWFuNEWS: Dawn Marie's WrestlersRescue close to procuring Health-Care
Program for Professional Wrestlers
When WWFu Underground Babe and former WWE diva Dawn
Marie Damatta started the WrestlersRescue foundation over a year ago, one of her main goals was to establish a health care
program for professional wrestlers -- past and present -- and their families.
That noble yet highly ambitious goal is very close to
becoming a reality, Damatta said.
“I am within months of the first national health
care program for professional wrestling,” Damatta told me in a telephone interview. “We just have a few little
things to work out, but we’re very close. Two major companies are bidding for it right now.
"It’s going to change the industry in such a positive
way," she added, her voice cracking with emotion. "I'm helping people that deserve to be helped."
The fact that pro wrestlers have never had health benefits
or pensions is something that has been talked about in pro wrestling circles for years, but nothing had ever come of it. More
attention was brought to the challenges facing wrestlers – especially as they get older – in the movie The
Wrestler.
Anyone who has ever had a contract with WWE, WCW, ECW
or TNA is eligible, as are wrestlers from the territories era. There most likely will be a separate policy for independent
wrestlers, Damatta said.
“The application has to come through our doors and get approved. Once it comes across
my desk, I will either approve or not approve whether this person was a person in our industry,” she said. “Once
we approve that they are actually a member of our community, they are able to purchase health care, the same health care that
any Fortune 500 company would have at the same rate.
“We will have family packages. We will have prescription
and major medical. We will have different levels of packages depending on what you can afford, or we can do different types
of co-pays like any insurance. We will have a disability package. In the real word, if you are disabled, you get disability.
They way we’re getting our package put together, disability by definition means unable to work for a period of time.
Because most people when they break their leg, they can still go to work and sit behind a desk. When we break our leg, we
can’t go to work. So there will be compensation and a disability packet.
"With the health care, there’s no high-risk category;
it’s normal category. The thing I think people don’t understand, is that when you work with a major [wrestling]
company, we don’t have heath insurance. We don’t even have anything to purchase into with our own money. And if
we do, we’re considered high risk and we can’t even afford it. Not only can we not afford it for ourselves, we
can’t afford it for our families.”
| WRESTLERS RESCUE |
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