Mysterio Talks Rumble & More

Rey Mysterio recently was interviewed by Kevin Eck at the Baltimore Sun Ring Posts blog. In the interview, Mysterio discusses making it in the WWE despite his smaller stature, his 2006 Royal Rumble win and his thoughts on this Sunday's 30 Man match.

In this part of the interview, Rey discusses winning the 2006 Royal Rumble a few months following the death of his good friend Eddie Guerrero:

Kevin Eck: With the Royal Rumble coming up Sunday, I wanted to ask you about the one that you won in 2006. You were in the midst of the biggest push of your career – winning the Rumble and then going on to win the world title at WresteMania. But your close friend Eddie Guerrero had just died a couple months prior to the Rumble. What was it like from an emotional standpoint to be getting the big push at the same time you were mourning for Eddie, who, in the story line, was your inspiration?

Mysterio: It was a lot to carry, man. Eddie passed away in November, and the Rumble was in January. We had just finished up with a big bang with that whole story line with my son and my wife and Vickie, so it was very emotional. We had not gotten over the fact that Eddie had just left us. And then we had the story line of every time that I wrestled it would be for Eddie. That kind of gave me an inner strength and helped me push through on a daily basis every time I stepped into the ring. In addition to the fact that Eddie had left us, there was a big spot that he left for me to handle and take care of, which was the whole Latin community. There were only two Latin representatives at the time – Eddie and myself – and he left that spot sitting there. It was like he said, “Rey, you’ve got to take this and run with it.” So, there were so many things that I had to think of and process and cherish. It hurt a lot, but at the same time, I pushed through it and I believe Eddie was there every step of the way.

Rey talks about what it's like to compete against bigger opponents versus more agile quick opponents like Evan Bourne. Rey also gives his thoughts on how long his WWE wrestling career may continue for. Read the full Q&A with Rey Mysterio here.

Latest: Paul Heyman, Colin Delaney, WM24

Former WWE and ECW manager/GM, Paul Heyman is speaking out on the Chris Benoit tragedy. Heyman presents his thoughts in a new blog series which appears on the Sun UK's website called "Heyman Hustle". "I Have no Answers and I never will" comes as Heyman's first official blog entry and dissects his view on Benoit and wrestling. The National Ledger also has an article discussing Heyman's involvement and relationship with Benoit as well. It discusses how Heyman was head writer for Smackdown in 2002 and organized the show around Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero, both of whom he requested be put on the roster. Read the full Ledger article here.

According to wrestling rumor site TWNP-Wrestling News, ECW rookie Colin Delaney, has just recently signed a WWE contract. Delaney's been in matches for about 2 months or more now, being squashed by the likes of Big Daddy V, Mark Henry, Great Khali and recently Miz and Morrison. The idea for Delaney is he will be mentored by Tommy Dreamer, starting off as the weak, aspiring wrestler who needs guidance, then eventually become more of a competitor. (SOURCE)

Del Rio News Herald reports on the Wrestlemania 24 card. According to the site there will be an official Wrestlemania 24 press conference held at Staples Center where media gets to address the superstars and WWE about the event. Read more about WM24 at Del Rio News Herald.

Rumored WWE Suspensions List

The WWE announced it suspended 10 of its performers this past Thursday night, August 30, 2007. An 11th suspension was acknowledged the next day by WWE attorney, Jerry McDevitt. WWE said the suspensions were based on information received from the Albany County, N.Y., district attorney's office. Jerry McDevitt also stated the suspensions were due to wrestlers buying human growth hormones.

Suspensions under the WWE Wellness Program are for 30 days without pay for a 1st offense and 60 days for the 2nd offense. A 3rd offense results in termination. According to various sources the majority of the suspensions given were for 30 days with one wrestler receiving a 60 day.

No official list of names has been released by WWE. A Sports Illustrated article listed 14 names of wrestlers who had received some kind of steroids, human growth hormone or other performance enhancing drug from a pair of facilities in Florida that were raided by federal authorities as part of a government investigation. (3 of the names: Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero and Brian "Crush" Adams are deceased. Sylvain Grenier had been released by WWE.)

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List of 10 Rumored WWE Suspensions:

Ken "Mr. Kennedy" Anderson
Mike "Simon Dean" Bucci - released by WWE
Adam "Edge" Copeland
Edward "Umaga" Fatu
Shoichi Funaki
Chavo Guerrero
Charles Haas, Jr.
Shane "Gregory" Helms
John "Morrison" Hennignan (Johnny Nitro)
Darren "William Regal" Matthews

The 11th suspended wrestler could potentially be Robert "Booker T" Huffman, Anthony Carelli (Santino Marella), or Chris "Masters" Mordetsky, whose names have also been rumored as suspended by various sites. Eugene and Cryme Tyme were recently released by WWE, but have not been mentioned amongst the suspended names.

Randy Orton was mentioned originally as amongst the various suspended wrestlers but appears not to be at this point. David "Batista" Bautista was also rumored by sites but does not appear to be amongst those suspended. Both wrestlers were recently announced as being a part of the Unforgiven Pay Per View card, scheduled for September 16.

The WWE or Albany County, N.Y., district attorney's office have neither confirmed nor denied that any of these wrestlers are suspended. As you can see from the above info, rumors and speculation can only continue to fly without any official list of names released by WWE, making it difficult to pin down all of the names.

The Sports Illustrated article, "Fourteen wrestlers tied to pipeline" documents the various purchases of the names on their list for more information.

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PWTorch has also reported that WWE has added marijuana as a banned substance for its performers:

"WWE has told it's wrestlers that marijuana is now a banned substance and will not be treated as a drug that is in the same class of other banned drugs. Instead of a suspension if tested positive there will only be a fine of a $1000 and this also does not count as a 'strike' in the '3 strikes' rule."

Congress Letter & NBC Exhibit

News on the WWE response letter to Congress and a WWE exhibit that was going to be shown at the NBC Experience Store in Rockefeller Center (New York City). Also, news on Raw moving to Sci Fi this coming Monday.

WWE sent a formal six-page response letter to Congress on Friday (8/24). Congress had asked for a response from WWE by August 24th at 5PM regarding records on drug testing, its Wellness program and various deaths of wrestlers. The letter is authored by WWE's attorney Jerry S. McDevitt and is addressed to two members of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (Henry Waxman/Tom Davis).

McDevitt addresses the Benoit tragedy and the ongoing investigation of it, saying WWE was stunned and saddened by it, and that the media reporting of it has been very speculative and sensational at times. He adds that due to this media reporting style, some of the reports referenced by Congress regarding WWE's willingness to address drug abuse and death of its wrestlers are unfair and wrong. The response letter discusses WWE's drug testing and cardiovascular testing portions of its Wellness Program which was created in February 2006. In the letter, McDevitt also mentions the lawsuit Superstar Billy Graham had filed against WWE related to steroid abuse, as well as the deaths of Owen Hart and Eddie Guerrero.

Check out the 6 page WWE response letter to Congress here (PDF).

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In other WWE related promotional/business news, NBC has pulled a WWE exhibit from its NY store.

Prowrestling.com reports:

- The WWE exhibit at the NBC Experience Store in Rockefeller Center in New York City has been pulled and replaced by original artwork created by Tim Sale for NBC’s “Heroes.” The exhibit is in conjunction with the release of the first season of Heroes on DVD.

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This could be an indication that major companies don't want as much a part of the WWE anymore. Interesting, but the show "Heroes" has also been one of NBC's big successes. NBC only shows Saturday Night's Main Event once every few months, so it seems like the smart business move here.

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A reminder that Monday Night Raw will air on Sci Fi this coming Monday night at 9PM EST. The reason for the move is the USA network will be airing its coverage of the US Open Tennis tournament live from New York at 7PM. According to the lineup for USA, Raw will air on the station at 11PM, if you miss it on Sci Fi.