• Wrestling News & Wrestling Rumors – WWE & TNA

- I held back on posting this for obvious reasons, but it eventually found its way to Victoria so here it is.

From Bill Durham (alleged relative of Johnny “Mike Durham” Grunge”):

“It has always been well known among the locker room that Chris had a mistress on the road prior to the tragedy. Details which were previously being kept covered up by the inner circle are now just finally beginning to surface publically some 2 years later, as certain workers have now been let go from the company. Let it be known that the unknown female was Lisa Marie Varon aka former WWE diva Victoria. He chooses to remain anonymous for obvious reasons.
But further states- “I don’t know how she can still live with herself.” These details have been verified by 1 current WWE worker, and 2 former. All 3 of which were employed by the company between 2006-2007. Also, the tabloids once speculated on this mistress as being Michelle McCool due to her supposed reputation of making rounds with the upper card guys at the time. However, Michelle was never ever with Chris. That rumor was absolutely false.”

I cannot independently confirm the above statement, and Victoria pretty much shuns it in a recent Myspace post:

“I try not to respond to rumors. It’s a lose-lose situation. If you don’t respond, it seems like you may be avoiding the rumor because it is true. If you deny it, you are bringing more attention to a lie. Well, in this case I’m gonna respond. A MySpace friend emailed me yesterday to let me know that a wrestling gossip website is claiming that they have an anonymous source or sources that say I was Chris Benoit’s secret mistress at the time of his murder-suicide. First let me say, this is absolutely false. I invite the “reporter” from that website to come to my home city, and I will submit myself to a polygraph. If this website is at all concerned with the truth, they should jump at the opportunity. But frankly, I think they are just concerned about sensational headlines, and couldn’t care less about the facts behind it. And the timing sure is conspicuous.Years after the event, but hours before my TNA wrestling debut. Could it be that a certain wrestling organization is concerned about what kind of impact that I will make in TNA? And what kind of coward would make such a powerful claim, and hide in the shadows of anonymity. Come forward. Legitimize your claim. I have made every effort to move on and take the high road. The worst thing that I have said is that I wanted a different role. Believe me, in nine years with that organization, I have been aware of behavior so deviant that it would shock the devil himself. But as the old saying goes, the only thing certain about a mudslinging contest is that everyone gets dirty. And finally, let me say this. To spread a lie like this hurts the survivors of a tragedy that already have gone through immeasurable suffering. Although it doesn’t excuse his behavior, studies on Chris Benoit’s brain after his death showed severe damage from years of wrestling-related injuries. That, mixed with mood and hormone altering drugs led to a horrible outcome. Before that, as we all have heard, he was very dedicated to his family. Don’t drag these victims and their families through vicious lies for the sake of attempting to take the wind out of my sails.”

To me it just sounds like one of those red herrings that get spread around by disgruntled fans/workers. Take it with a grain of salt.

- WWE star CM Punk is hosting the 2nd Annual Men’s Fitness Ultimate Athlete Event at North Avenue Beach in Chicago on June 20th.

- Joey Styles displayed his delight about Tommy Dreamer winning the ECW Title on his Twitter page:

“ECW without Tommy Dreamer would be like the New York Yankees without pinstripes. Sure, they would still be called The Yankees but what’s in a name? A name is just a name. A rose by any other name would not smell as sweet. In fact, I would argue that it would stink on ice. I complete this blog feeling an inner peace because The Yankees wear pinstripes and ECW has Tommy Dreamer. Dream on Original ECW fans because in some ways, the dream lives on.”

- Jim Ross is back with another JRSBARBQ.com blog. Here are the wrestling highlights:

On CM Punk:
“We’re getting lots of emails about C.M. Punk and whether he is fish or fowl as in a fan favorite or a villain nowadays after beating Jeff Hardy while cashing in Punk’s Money in the Bank Contract last Sunday in New Orleans. Now, Punk may well wind up out of favor with some fans, perhaps even the majority of the fans, but I don’t know that. If it happens, so be it. If Punk’s opportunistic endeavors at Extreme Rules make him a bigger star albeit a despised one, then that’s a good thing. Punk does have an attitude as I have mentioned before and is arguably not the most popular guy in the SD locker room but there are also no cash bonuses being paid for being named Mr. Congeniality. If you want to boo Punk, then have at it, but don’t hold it against him simply because he was smart in cashing in his MIB contract at an opportune time. Do I think at the end of the day Punk will gain favor with the fans? It damned sure won’t happen in Charlotte Monday night and I would say that chances are it probably won’t happen in the near future either. For the record, Punk appears to me, and I might be dead wrong, that he really doesn’t care one way or another. One thing about this matter is that is adds a different dimension and dynamic to Friday Night Smackdown which I think helps the broadcast.”

On Joey Styles:
“I thought it was pretty cool that Joey Styles snapped the ECW World Title on Tommy Dreamer backstage at Extreme Rules and that both men had tears in their eyes while doing it. Some younger fans may roll their eyes at this information but it is called “passion” and truly loving what one does and respecting their roots. If that is wrong then many of us are on the other side of being right.”

On HBK and Taker:
“I do think that Taker will compete longer than HBK but I don’t think either are ready to say adiós as of yet. When either retires it will be handled with class and with huge fanfare and it isn’t on the drawing board as we speak. I fully expect both Taker and Shawn to be back touring no later than the WWE’s Fall International Tour but likely much earlier than that.”