----Mike Aldren with WGN.
Great Khali and his entourage were involved in a shooting incident over the weekend, according to India's 24-hour news channel, Aaj Tak. The shooting took place late Friday night in the city of Ludhiana near the home of Indian politician Sat Pal Gosain. Khali had just visited with Gosain and was leaving the area when his vehicle was stopped by a large crowd of fans who had gathered outside the politicians home. Eyewitnesses told Aaj Tak that one man from Khali's security assignment became hostile and fired several shots into the air in an effort to disperse the crowd surrounding the vehicle. Local authorities are now investigating the matter but at press time no charges have been filed. "The fans became restless in a bid to click photographs of Khali," police inspector Surinder Mohan said. "In the melee, some unidentified person fired in the air. Splinters of the bullet hit two people, one sustained a shoulder injury while the other sustained minor bruises." It was later reported that two men were treated at a local hospital for minor injuries. Khali in a statement to TMZ said he had left the scene when the shooting took place. "I am deeply saddened to hear of this incident and am disappointed it has been incorrectly reported that I was involved", he said. "I had left my friend's house a half an hour before the reported shooting took place and did not have any bodyguards with me. My thoughts and prayers go out to the people who were injured."
Former WWE writer John Piermarini wrote a blog about his previous work with the company and sitting in on creative meetings with Vince McMahon. Piermarini served on the creative team until recently. The blog has since disappeared so it appears WWE made him pull it down. He wrote that the current storyline with Daniel Bryan and the Bellas was something originally pitched for Evan Bourne by the Bellas, but went to Bryan when Bourne got injured. Vince doesn't view Bryan as an "ass kicker" but can beat bigger guys because he can capitalize on their mistakes. Piermarini also wrote that Vince isn't too high on John Morrison because he doesn't think Morrison can't kick anyone's ass in a real fight--therefore cannot be a top babyface. As crazy as this seems, this goes back several years to when Dave Bautista was messing around with Melina on the road, and because Morrison didn't do anything about it, lost a ton of credibility in Vince's eyes. Another interesting note is that Vince has tapped Skip Sheffield as a future headliner, and believes that he can eventually be as popular as John Cena.
Bret Hart provided an update on his future last night during a radio interview with Live Audio Wrestling. "Right now it’s totally in limbo. I’m not expecting to be a part of WrestleMania but then I could get a call tomorrow asking me to play some sort of part," he said. "I’d be happy to be a part of WrestleMania or even something that comes up in the next few months." He also said he's happy that Shawn Michaels got the nod for the Hall of Fame, and if asked would even induct him. "I wouldn't have any problem inducting Shawn, the truth is Shawn was a great wrestler and I had a lot of great matches with him. The Ironman match I had with Shawn (at Wrestlemania 12) was as good a match as wrestling has ever had. I’m proud of some of the great memories I had with Shawn and I’d be happy to induct him into the Hall of Fame." You can listen to the full interview at http://lawradio.podbean.com/feed at the 1:16:00 mark.
Eddy Guerrero, Sgt. Slaughter and Jimmy Snuka are among the latest legends confirmed for the new All Stars video game. Hogan and Warrior are expected to be included on the roster while Ric Flair is one of the few excluded due to his association with TNA.
Dallas Page wrote on Twitter that he's been invited to host the upcoming WCW Nitro series of DVDs that WWE is producing.
WWE AXXESS tickets go on sale on Saturday with Undertaker doing a very rare VIP autograph session on 4/2.
New Jersey's The Times has a story on Sheamus at http://tinyurl.com/67o6v33 about his time serving as a bodyguard for Bono. Full work mode here.
Chris Masters is in line for a push after the Royal Rumble.
The Raw show on 2/24 was moved to the Voltaire Paladines Polo Coliseum in Guayaquil, Ecuador. The original venue was the Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile.
Maryse got some play on Hollywood gossip blogs over the weekend after she called Snookie from Jersey Shore "a fat midget" on Twitter.
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING
1/20 house show results from Lyon, France: Kazarian over Chris Sabin; Mickie James & Angelina Love over Madison Rayne & Tara; Matt Morgan over The Pope; Beer Money w/ Ric Flair over Doug Williams & Brutus Magnus; Matt Hardy ^ Jeff Jarrett over Shannon Moore & Mark Haskins with Kurt Angle as special referee; Mr. Anderson over Rob Van Dam & Jeff Hardy in a three-way. Show drew 500-600. Lot's of Hardy merchandise sold. Haskins is on tryout from the UK.
1/21 house show results from Paris, France: Kazarian over Chris Sabin & Mark Haskins in a three-way; Mickie James & Angelina Love over Madison Rayne & Tara; Rob Van Dam over Matt Hardy; Beer Money w/ Ric Flair over Doug Williams & Brutus Magnus; Matt Morgan & Shannon Moore over Jeff Jarrett & The Pope; and Mr. Anderson over Jeff Hardy. Show drew an estimated 1,500-2,000. RVD was the most over of any guy in this city. Jarrett had the most heat. Dixie Carter, dressed in a refs jersey, was at the show and thanked the crowd for coming out in French.
The European tour continues tonight in Dublin, Ireland (National Stadium), followed by Tuesday in Berlin, Germany (O2 Arena), Thursday in Glasgow, Scotland (Braehead Arena), Friday in Manchester, England (MEN Arena), and concluding Saturday in London, England (O2 Arena). We're looking for live reports from any readers attending these shows.
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Kurt Angle apologized to fans last night for having to leave the European tour due to the birth of his daughter Giuliana, and thanked TNA management for allowing him to return home early. I have a story on this at the Slam Wrestling website at http://tinyurl.com/6cbvqz8 which includes a photo of Kurt holding his baby for the first time.
The Miami Herald has a good story on Sean Waltman. He discusses his suicide attempt in Mexico three years ago and confirmed he left TNA last summer because he was diagnosed with having Hepatitis C. He says he knows for sure there are other guys who have the same disease, but chose not to be open about it. When asked about going back, he said: "I would work for TNA strictly for the money... Then try to last as long as I could before I go %$#$ing crazy because their writing sucks so bad. I was on my webshow, and somebody was talking about it. I told them they dip their pen in $%^& before they write their shows. I have a relationship that is deeper than wrestling in WWE. Honestly, TNA it would strictly be for the paycheck. I really don’t feel any emotional equity with those people at this point." He added that he loves Vince Russo as a human being, but thinks he's not a great wrestling writer. "They would rather bury their head in the sand than do something correct or listen to somebody else’s input. Everyone is so defensive there. To me, I don’t care whose idea it is. If it’s a good idea, then lets do it. I don’t care who gets credit for it." Full story at http://tinyurl.com/6b2ks3a including discussion on Shawn Michaels going into the Hall of Fame and his regular trips to WWE developmental.
There is a TNA Gut Check on 2/26 in Richmond, VA with Jeff Jarrett and D-Lo Brown. Cost is $250. More info at http://www.tnagutcheck.com.
Samoa Joe at http://tinyurl.com/665o6gh discusses his theory on why he's no longer pushed as a top contender.
OTHER WRESTLING NEWS
Sid Eudy, 50, who was a major star in the 90s in WWE and WCW as Sid Vicious was arrested over the weekend in Memphis. WMC-TV reports that police did a traffic stop on Eudy because he wasn't wearing a seatbelt. They then found 18 grams of marijuana resting on an armrest. He was charged with not wearing a seatbelt, driving without a license and possession of marijuana. He was later released on $1,000 bond.
An update on former Diva Maria Kanellis. She's currently working on two new songs to add to her LP and has plans to shoot a second music video later this year. She's also taking been acting classes and recently shot an independent film called "Manos" with Gene Snitski about a family who get lost on country roads and stumble upon an underground cult of devil worshippers.
Ring of Honor announced Davey Richards vs. Colt Cabana for their next internet PPV on 2/28... Women's wrestler Mia Yim made her debut this past weekend in Philly under the name, Princess Mia, aligned with Prince Nana of the Embassy.
The Severn, MD Patch has an article on Duane "Gillberg" Gill and his wrestling training academy at http://tinyurl.com/6go9ued.
Sean "Val Venis" Morley posted a new video at http://twitter.com/ValVenisENT attacking Matt Hardy and referencing an incident in Europe where a WWE Diva (Eve Torres) choked him out while on tour a few years ago.
NPR covered Christopher Nowinski's research into sports-related concussions and what recent studies have discovered. Story is at http://tinyurl.com/4fet6xc.
Alex Marvez at http://tinyurl.com/4smnjhv has a story on the upcoming Wrestle Reunion event in Los Angeles.
Indy group Showtime All-Star Wrestling announced a 5/7 show at the Nashville, TN Fairgrounds after the Nashville City Council voted last week to keep the Fairgrounds open until 2012.
Today's Babe of the Day is Maria Kanellis at http://thewrestlingpress.com/?page_id=298.
