The Wrestling Gospel

[NDX]

- Jay sent the following: I'm reading the newest issue of Rolling Stone (with "The Hills" girls on the cover - what has this rag come to?), and there's an article about a high-end escort service in L.A. operated by a woman named "Nici" that setup women like Maxim and FHM models, porn stars, and Playboy Playmates with rich clients who would pay up to $25,000 a night. Of course, she was busted by the FBI, and the Rolling Stone article lists the names of several of Nici's escorts, one of whom is WWE Diva Ashley Massaro. It's an interesting article and worth seeking out.

We had a chance to check out the issue, and Ashley is indeed mentioned, with a photo, as a WWE star and Playboy cover girl who was amongst a number of Los Angeles based women attached to the escort service. We should point out that there was no implication that she ever had sex for money, just that she was among the celebrity-type women the service took a fee for in return for setting up meetings with their clientele.

Although Rolling Stone magazine provides a photo of WWE's Ashley Massaro and identifies her as a WWE Diva and a former "Survivor" contestant, Dave Meltzer, raises the possibility that this could be a case of mistaken identity, as there is a bikini model out of Las Vegas who goes by the same name.

If that turns out to be the case, the lawyer who represents WWE's Ashley is about to become a very busy person. As previously reported, Ashley denied the allegations on her Myspace page and stated that she would be contacting her lawyer. Stay tuned.

An old webpage from Bella Models lists a person by the name of Ashley Massaro, and that her booking fee was $25,000. There are no pictures, because the links are dead, so we can't tell if the Ashley Massaro in question is indeed the WWE Diva. The only information regarding Massaro listed on the page is that she's based out of New York City. It's interesting to note that the WWE site bills WWE Diva Ashley Massaro from New York City as well.

According to the Rolling Stones peice, the FBI monitored e-mails between Massaro and "Bella Models." The e-mails are from 2004, regarding transportation arrangements. The monitored e-mails were used to help build towards a search warrant on the ring leader of the escort service, Michelle "Nici" Braun. The search warrant was finally executed during a raid of Braun's home in October 2007.

The Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer started the theory on there apparently being another model by the name of Ashley Massaro, and that the WWE Diva may be confused with a model of the same name. Braun's escort service was made up almost exclusively of high-end women recruited "from the ranks of Playboy models and porn stars." Massaro was involved with Playboy before she joined WWE in 2005, doing a few pictorials in 2003 and early 2004 under the name Ryan Mackenzie.

Braun had been soliciting Playmates through one of Playboy owner Hugh Hefner's girlfriends, and "was willing to solicit other Playmates and [Hefner] girlfriends" to her.

Regarding the possibility of there being another model by the name of Ashley Massaro, no one's been able to actually find anything on that. All research on "Ashley Massaro" points to information on the WWE Diva. The WWE Diva does have a friend by the name of Loredana, an Italian model who looks similar to her in some pictures, but obviously, it's not her considering that she's in pictures with Massaro.

As reported over the weekend, a story in Rolling Stone Magazine listed WWE Diva Ashley Massaro as an escort for a high-class agency in Los Angeles that would sell off nights with her to rich men for $25,000. The agency was shut down by the FBI. Ashley denied the story and said it was totally false.

Today, Rolling Stone Contributing Editor Michelle Grigoriadis, who wrote the article, told PWInsider the following. "Obviously, I stand by my story. Massaro is named in an FBI search warrant that was executed on Michelle Braun's property in October, 2007. I have no knowledge of another woman by the same name."

Meanwhile, we uncovered an old, outdated ad for "Ashley Massaro" on the old Bella Models website which is no longer active. If you search through the old website cache archives, an ad featuring Ashley does come up and lists her as living in New York City (she is from Long Island, NY) and states that she is willing to travel for a booking fee of $25,000.

 

[Colossal Spoons]

awesomeness:
when jerry lawler said to adamle , " i'm not going to complain about your announcing ...i dont want to wait in that line"

rowdy piper " i beat mr t, i beat hogan .....i beat cancer"

regal 's angle as melogomaniacal gm

ron simmons honored

not awesome:

trish for only one second

jbl saying the hart foundation is dead , when so many hart's died tragically.
dh smith looking chubby.

That was a bit awkward. I was just hoping he didn't say "Owen can't help you now".

 

[Colossal Spoons]

I compare the WWE to the NFL in a way. Neither has any competitors, so the quality of the product is mediocre at best, but they are still number one. You watch an NFL game, and you notice that the games are filled with nothing but penalty flags. In the WWE, the matches are booked poorly. The NFL has come under investigation for Spygate, while the WWE came under investigation for steroids. Both have serious concussion issues and the talent level in both is poor (in the NFL, it's more at the Quarterback position).

I have to disagree. I think both the NFL and the WWE are ful lof people with immense talent. The wrestlers may not always be given a chance to show off their talent b/c of bad booking but football players still perform their asses off IMO.

 

[Hunter Rider]

I don't get some of what i am reading in here, the last 2 weeks as an example, the roof came off for HHH, in Cena's 2006/7 run the arenas were more heat filled than they had been in a long time. I really think that some are wearing rose tinted sun glasses when they think of "The Attitude era". You didn't get many good matches, especially not on TV, in that period, it was all hype and shock value, the mid card titles stopped meaning anything in 99, when Russo decided they would become nothing more than "props" as he called them.

Austin protected the WWE title from him but other than that you had a stack of schlock, I look at this year alone on Raw and see better matches taking place, i look at SD and i see that it has slowly went downhill and needs a reboot, but Punk vs Edge and Hardy vs MVP on that show far outweigh Raw 98/99 stuff as far as match quality goes. The pops are still there, they have heels with more heat than ever and the PPV match quality is strong.

There is more stupid **** than ever due to Vince's cartoon character being involved and when he is off TV the product is much stronger. It seems many want to put the cart before the horse in terms of pushing certain ppl, right now we have HHH vs Orton and then HHH/JBL and HHH/Regal title programs to follow, I don't see a problem with this, Cena vs HHH is gonna happen, it's the biggest money match in the company.

I hear the Warrior, Hogan and Austin named as unpredictable ? What in his WWF days was ever unpredictable about Hogan's run ? It was even the same match finish EVERY time out, The Warrior doesn't even warrant a mention, his routine was so limited and he was so stupid you couldn't afford to be unpredictable with him. Austin and Vince was a great angle but hardly difficult to figure out, you could see where it was going most weeks and it became a rinse repeat formula, Austin was just so mega over that it kept heat. I think we need to take a look in the mirror, those of us that were 18 when these rose tinted angles happened are now in our late 20's, of course we are not gonna be fooled anymore, we have read to much and been watching to long for that, Ive been fooled precisely once in the last 7 years, and that was when Cena returned at the Rumble.

Last nights Raw was a tale of two halves, it built Regal brilliantly and did solid jobs with HBK/Jericho and The women's division. The Piper segment was pure fun. However they completely wasted Punk and Kennedy in favour of another "Orton RKO's enemy and stares sinisterly" moment. Kennedy has had two hot weeks on the mic in his turn to tweener, then they job him out ? Punk is MITB and they don't have him and the current WWE champ interact at all except him getting smashed in the head with a chair like some nobody ? BAD BOOKING....but as ive said, it also wasn't this Da Vinci masterpiece years ago, It's always been the same, the good with the bad, only the names have changed.

 

[TheFuture]

It also doesn't help when future stars like Carlito and Shelton become lazy in the ring and feel like they're owed something. Guys like them could've really been something special if they actually provided passion in their craft.

Benjamin has been in the WWE for about 5 years and still no mic improvement so I agree with you there.

But not with Carlito. Carlito is competent in the ring and is careful (some people mistake being careful with being slow). Just because he doesn't jump around like a lunatic who is willing to sacrifice his health doesn't mean he's lazy. He might miss the odd spot but who doesn't when they are trying to pull of athlectic moves?

 

[Hunter Rider]

Benjamin has been in the WWE for about 5 years and still no mic improvement so I agree with you there.

But not with Carlito. Carlito is competent in the ring and is careful (some people mistake being careful with being slow). Just because he doesn't jump around like a lunatic who is willing to sacrifice his health doesn't mean he's lazy. He might miss the odd spot but who doesn't when they are trying to pull of athlectic moves?

Carlito is lazy in all his matches when they are against lower card guys, it's clear to see he phones it in b/c he's bored. Hell last night with Piper he even got caught dawdling on the mic. Lots of guys are careful, Edge is as safe as houses but he isn't working in slow motion.

 

[TheFuture]

Carlito is lazy in all his matches when they are against lower card guys, it's clear to see he phones it in b/c he's bored. Hell last night with Piper he even got caught dawdling on the mic. Lots of guys are careful, Edge is as safe as houses but he isn't working in slow motion.

Edge is great worker, probably tied with HBK as the top workers. But he doesn't use the ropes like Carlito or Benjamin, or try really athlectic moves. Sometimes to execute those kind of moves you need to think about what you're doing. I actually remember once or twice when Carlito tried to pick up the pace with those moves he f'd them up.

 

[Dr. Evil]

I am surprised to see CM Punk jobbing so much, I guess he isn't the face of the WWE's "See Not Everyone in the WWE takes Drugs" Campaign.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Also, the shows haven't been bad, it's just that the dead crowds aren't helping.

 

[CorpusBlack]

I am surprised to see CM Punk jobbing so much, I guess he isn't the face of the WWE's "See Not Everyone in the WWE takes Drugs" Campaign.

No, he is still the anti-drug face of WWE. Losing a few matches doesn't mean anything.

 

[Eric Draven]

No, he is still the anti-drug face of WWE. Losing a few matches doesn't mean anything.

Especially since the matches he's lost against are against bonafide main-eventers.....

 

[Hunter Rider]

We must get a different version of Raw here, b/c the last 2 weeks in particular have had great crowds, huge pops for HHH, Matt Hardy, Kennedy, HBK and Piper, and lots of heat for Orton, JBL and Regal.

 

[Eric Draven]

We must get a different version of Raw here, b/c the last 2 weeks in particular have had great crowds, huge pops for HHH, Matt Hardy, Kennedy, HBK and Piper, and lots of heat for Orton, JBL and Regal.

I even heard the fans chanting "Cena" when JBL was beating down DH Smith. Who would've thought a Canadian crowd would do something like that?

 

[Dr. Evil]

We must get a different version of Raw here, b/c the last 2 weeks in particular have had great crowds, huge pops for HHH, Matt Hardy, Kennedy, HBK and Piper, and lots of heat for Orton, JBL and Regal.

Well, the crowd was dead during the Pay per View, but they have been lively the last two weeks.

 

[LastSunrise1981]

I don't get some of what i am reading in here, the last 2 weeks as an example, the roof came off for HHH, in Cena's 2006/7 run the arenas were more heat filled than they had been in a long time. I really think that some are wearing rose tinted sun glasses when they think of "The Attitude era". You didn't get many good matches, especially not on TV, in that period, it was all hype and shock value, the mid card titles stopped meaning anything in 99, when Russo decided they would become nothing more than "props" as he called them.

Austin protected the WWE title from him but other than that you had a stack of schlock, I look at this year alone on Raw and see better matches taking place, i look at SD and i see that it has slowly went downhill and needs a reboot, but Punk vs Edge and Hardy vs MVP on that show far outweigh Raw 98/99 stuff as far as match quality goes. The pops are still there, they have heels with more heat than ever and the PPV match quality is strong.

There is more stupid **** than ever due to Vince's cartoon character being involved and when he is off TV the product is much stronger. It seems many want to put the cart before the horse in terms of pushing certain ppl, right now we have HHH vs Orton and then HHH/JBL and HHH/Regal title programs to follow, I don't see a problem with this, Cena vs HHH is gonna happen, it's the biggest money match in the company.

I hear the Warrior, Hogan and Austin named as unpredictable ? What in his WWF days was ever unpredictable about Hogan's run ? It was even the same match finish EVERY time out, The Warrior doesn't even warrant a mention, his routine was so limited and he was so stupid you couldn't afford to be unpredictable with him. Austin and Vince was a great angle but hardly difficult to figure out, you could see where it was going most weeks and it became a rinse repeat formula, Austin was just so mega over that it kept heat. I think we need to take a look in the mirror, those of us that were 18 when these rose tinted angles happened are now in our late 20's, of course we are not gonna be fooled anymore, we have read to much and been watching to long for that, Ive been fooled precisely once in the last 7 years, and that was when Cena returned at the Rumble.

Last nights Raw was a tale of two halves, it built Regal brilliantly and did solid jobs with HBK/Jericho and The women's division. The Piper segment was pure fun. However they completely wasted Punk and Kennedy in favour of another "Orton RKO's enemy and stares sinisterly" moment. Kennedy has had two hot weeks on the mic in his turn to tweener, then they job him out ? Punk is MITB and they don't have him and the current WWE champ interact at all except him getting smashed in the head with a chair like some nobody ? BAD BOOKING....but as ive said, it also wasn't this Da Vinci masterpiece years ago, It's always been the same, the good with the bad, only the names have changed.

See this is where you and I differ, when I see a bad product I call it for what it is and I am not impressed by WWE's methods of "shocking entertainment." Perhaps "unpredictablity" is the wrong word to use when it came to Hogan, Warrior, and etc. But maybe real excitement is a better word for it? There isn't any excitement in professional wrestling anymore and it's basically the same ho hum material with no sense of wrestling, fan interaction, great booking, and so forth.

I thought the Attitude Era had some decent matches. I think the reason why it's so popular because of the shock value within the material, the over the top matches, and the edgier product was a sign of the times that the fans of wrestling changed over time. Looking back on it now I do agree that maybe it's not as great as it could've or should've been. At that time it was just right for the business and right for the fans.

One of the reasons I did like Heyman booking was because he concentrated on wrestling as well. Guys like Punk, MVP, Matt Hardy, Orton, Morrison, Jericho, and Londrick would be able to show off their skills under a Heyman led booking team. But again, I also realize that this is a business and if the business was only about real wrestling talent fans most likely would get bored.

It's all about selling tickets and about who is the marketable wrestler for the company.

 

[Hunter Rider]

See this is where you and I differ, when I see a bad product I call it for what it is and I am not impressed by WWE's methods of "shocking entertainment." Perhaps "unpredictablity" is the wrong word to use when it came to Hogan, Warrior, and etc. But maybe real excitement is a better word for it? There isn't any excitement in professional wrestling anymore and it's basically the same ho hum material with no sense of wrestling, fan interaction, great booking, and so forth.

I never found Hogan exciting at all so maybe i just don't get that, but lets rewind, you say when you see a bad product you say so, in my post i clearly stated the negatives as well as the positives, i think if you go back in time wrestling has always been like this, there are angles we have liked and ones we haven't all running concurrently. To me right now SD is a mess and i said so, Raw is doing ok, i guess part of that is b/c i don't see a problem with HHH holding the belt in some fresh feuds for now, if Jeff had not screwed up i'd have been anti the reign but since no one is ready and HHH is clearly very over then it makes sense. I said last night the shortcomings of the booking. So i do say, i just also give credit to the areas of the show going well.

One of the reasons I did like Heyman booking was because he concentrated on wrestling as well. Guys like Punk, MVP, Matt Hardy, Orton, Morrison, Jericho, and Londrick would be able to show off their skills under a Heyman led booking team. But again, I also realize that this is a business and if the business was only about real wrestling talent fans most likely would get bored.

All those guys are getting that chance except Londrick, MVP and Hardy have had plenty of long matches in their feud, their match from SD went ages. Punk got good outings on Raw the other week and a nice long match with Edge on SD. Jericho's loss of popularity has led to WWE wondering what to do with him but his matches with Jeff and Umaga were given time and were good. Orton has had some awesome fights this year, HHH and him at Backlash was 18 minutes full bore, he's also had good TV matches with Regal and Matt Hardy since Mania.

 

[Hunter Rider]

The PPV numbers are in for WrestleMania 24, and they are considerably lower than WWE and Floyd Mayweather expected. WrestleMania 24 drew 1,058,000 buys which works out to $23.8 million. This is less than last year’s 1,200,000 buys and $24.4 million for WrestleMania 23. The numbers were released this morning with WWE’s first quarter earnings report, which had the company listed as pulling in $19.5 million in net earnings over the first quarter of 2008.

ProWrestling.net reports that Vince McMahon was targeting 1.4 million buys for WrestleMania 24, and this number is viewed as a disappointment for WWE. Floyd Mayweather publicly predicted the number would beat out WrestleMania 23, which featured Donald Trump. Nonetheless, $19.5 million is a pretty decent first quarter figure.

I'm not that surprised, I think something Vince forgot this year was that the name of the event is still Wrestlemania, last year had two hugely anticipated world title matches, this year no one cared about either title match.

 

[Hunter Rider]

In a rematch from Wrestlemania XIX, Chris Jericho will be wrestling Shawn Michaels at Judgment Day. This was just announced by WWE.com.

Mickie James got some rare promo time in an after match interview for WWE.com. Joey Styles interviewed James on her win over Beth Phoenix last night on Raw. Also, you can read the letter sent in by a 911 dispatcher who tended to the person who suffered a seizure at a Mickie James/Torrie Wilson autograph signing during WrestleMania weekend. The dispatcher was waiting in line for an autograph when the seizure occurred. Frank wrote, "She truly was a vital part of the first aid process. I would like to thank Mickey for her help. She was very concerned for the man's well-being and was crying. She truly exemplified what it means to be a WWE superstar." Thanks to Briggs for the link.

In case you missed it, Trish Stratus made a cameo appearance on Raw last night in a random segment with Ron Simmons and Trevor Murdoch. The WWE site managed to snag an interview with Trish, who discussed her return to Raw.

All good.

 

[Sarge 2.0]

I even heard the fans chanting "Cena" when JBL was beating down DH Smith. Who would've thought a Canadian crowd would do something like that?

I still can't believe that you a-holes did the wave during a match.

 

[Hunter Rider]

The WWE site has reaction from Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross on Raw General Manager William Regal bringing out Mike Adamle to do commentary for one match. The article also features comments from Adamle. He said, "I’m as good as Jim Ross is, and one day I will take over his spot on Raw. As for walking off ECW, I'll make a statement about that tomorrow night on ECW on Sci Fi's 100th episode."

This guy may turn out to be amusing as a stooge.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Last week Rolling Stone Magazine broke the news a recent FBI investigation revealed WWE Diva Ashley Massaro used to work as a high-priced escort. Massaro has denied the allegations but the evidence supporting Rolling Stone's claim is mounting.

The general feeling within WWE is that Ashley Massaro should not be fired if the allegations are truthful.

This is getting weirder.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Prepare to Relive, Rewrite or Redefine History with WWE(R) Legends of WrestleMania(R)

AGOURA HILLS, Calif. - (Business Wire) THQ Inc. (NASDAQ:THQI) and JAKKS Pacific, Inc. (NASDAQ:JAKK) today announced that WWE® Legends of WrestleMania® is currently in development for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system. Joining the distinguished WWE® SmackDown®/SmackDown vs. Raw® franchise, which has shipped more than 37 million units worldwide since 2000, WWE Legends of WrestleMania is scheduled for release in March 2009 to coincide with the annual pinnacle of sports entertainment, WrestleMania® 25, in Houston, Texas.

“We have generated significant year-over-year growth in key global territories with WWE-licensed videogames, including tremendous success with the WWE SmackDown vs. Raw franchise,” said Peter Matiss, vice president, global brand management, THQ. “The development capabilities afforded by next generation hardware, combined with our established history and deep understanding of fighting videogames, allow us to leverage the strength of the WWE brand to further extend our leadership in the fighting videogame genre and bring this new property to market.”

“JAKKS Pacific is pleased to introduce a new WWE videogame property to the fighting genre,” said Nelo Lucich, senior vice president of interactive, JAKKS Pacific. “The WWE SmackDown vs. Raw franchise has captured a collective audience of WWE fans, game enthusiasts and casual players, and we are confident that WWE Legends of WrestleMania will be poised for great success.”

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/080506/20080506006580.html?.v=1

I wonder which legends will be featured in the game?

 

[Marx]

Prepare to Relive, Rewrite or Redefine History with WWE(R) Legends of WrestleMania(R)

AGOURA HILLS, Calif. - (Business Wire) THQ Inc. (NASDAQ:THQI) and JAKKS Pacific, Inc. (NASDAQ:JAKK) today announced that WWE® Legends of WrestleMania® is currently in development for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system. Joining the distinguished WWE® SmackDown®/SmackDown vs. Raw® franchise, which has shipped more than 37 million units worldwide since 2000, WWE Legends of WrestleMania is scheduled for release in March 2009 to coincide with the annual pinnacle of sports entertainment, WrestleMania® 25, in Houston, Texas.

“We have generated significant year-over-year growth in key global territories with WWE-licensed videogames, including tremendous success with the WWE SmackDown vs. Raw franchise,” said Peter Matiss, vice president, global brand management, THQ. “The development capabilities afforded by next generation hardware, combined with our established history and deep understanding of fighting videogames, allow us to leverage the strength of the WWE brand to further extend our leadership in the fighting videogame genre and bring this new property to market.”

“JAKKS Pacific is pleased to introduce a new WWE videogame property to the fighting genre,” said Nelo Lucich, senior vice president of interactive, JAKKS Pacific. “The WWE SmackDown vs. Raw franchise has captured a collective audience of WWE fans, game enthusiasts and casual players, and we are confident that WWE Legends of WrestleMania will be poised for great success.”

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/080506/20080506006580.html?.v=1

I wonder which legends will be featured in the game?

Wow. That definately has potential!

 

[Dr. Evil]

According to this, the game will feature former WWE Superstars, so nobody actively wrestling for the WWE is going to be in this game:

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/871/871968p1.html

I hope the roster for the WWE Legends game goes like this:

Male Roster:

- Bret Hart (could do voiceover work)
- Mr. Perfect
- Jim Neidhart
- Davey Boy Smith
- Hulk Hogan
- Ted DiBiase
- The Rock
- Ric Flair (he's still with the WWE in a Public Relations Role, maybe he could do voice over work?)
- Ricky Steamboat (Agent for WWE, could do voiceover work)
- Harley Race
- Dusty Rhodes (Booker for FCW, could do voiceover work)
- Mick Foley (Smackdown Announcer, could do some voiceover work)
- Jerry Lawler (Raw Announcer, could do voiceover work)
- Bam Bam Bigelow
- Razor Ramon
- Roddy Piper (Could do voiceover work)
- Sgt. Slaughter (Could do voiceover work)
- Jimmy Snuka
- Arn Anderson (Could do voiceover work)
- Pat Patterson (Could do voiceover work)
- Jerry Brisco (Could do voiceover work)

Females:

- Fabulous Moolah
- Mae Young
- Miss Elizabeth
- Wendy Richter
- Sherri Martel
- Trish Stratus
- Lita

Announcers:

- Mean Gene Okerlund
- Howard Finkel
- Jim Ross

Managers:

- Classy Freddie Blassie
- Jimmy Hart (could do voiceover work for the game)

 

[Hunter Rider]