Big Show conference call, Lawler releases statement, Lita article, more (from the Lords of Pain Website)

The supposed racial slur by Show gained him more press than anything else, it seems.

Johnny Valiant dies at 72 (from Wrestleline)

He was already a manager and announcer by the time I discovered him, but this in no way diminishes his significance to the wrestling world.

He managed The New Destruction Crew (The Beverly Brothers in the WWF) to their early fame in the last years of the AWA. For years, "Luscious" Johnny V. was a WWF staple as a heel manager, bringing Greg Valentine (his son) and Brutus "the Barber" Beefcake to a tag-team title victory at Wrestlemania. Now, sadly, he's gone.

News from Don Callis' column, posted on SLAM Wrestling:

Don was Cyrus in ECW, The Jackal in WWF. His newspaper column is copyrighted, thus the quote instead of a site Blog

Rick Titan, (the former fake Razor in WWF) is retired from active wrestling after breaking his neck in a match with Shinya Hashimoto in New Japan Pro Wrestling... Rick is fine, but has limited mobility in his neck and is concentrating on promoting live events in Alberta.

I remember the fake Razor - actually, not very fondly. Still, a broken neck is serious; Darren Drozdov is paralyzed because of it. Both guys are actually lucky in that they are still alive, as broken necks tend to be fatal.