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NASCAR.com is reporting that Hulk Hogan will be the grand marshal for the Florida Dodge Dealers 250 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race on Friday night, Feb. 13. His daughter Brooke, who will sing the national anthem, will join him. … Thanks to everyone who sent that along.

Dave: It's interesting to note that Hogan hasn't been able to get back into WWE yet (unless a deal is done that no one has heard about). Mania XX is six weeks away and one of the big questions in wrestling is, "Will Hulk be there for it?"

For fans of "Beyond the Mat" and "Hitman Hart: Wrestling With Shadows", there are two new wrestling-related documentaries. One has been released via DVD while the other is currently in production. "Unscarred" is a documentary looking at the life of recently retired hardcore wrestler "Sick" Nick Mondo, known most notably for his work in Combat Zone Wrestling. Mondo, who retired after injuries occurred in CZW's Tournament of Death II this past July, narrates the documentary, which follows his training and work in professional wrestling and the effect it has on his immediate family. The documentary can be ordered on DVD at www.NickMondo.com. Gentlemen's Choice", a documentary by director Mickey Grant, looks at the life of the late Chris Adams, a huge stars in the 1980s for World Class Championship Wrestling who is best known to today's generation of fans as the trainer of WWE star Steve Austin. The film "will be a dramatic story of drugs and murder and romance. It is also a story about making decisions, and the overwhelming power of addiction" according to promotional materials promoting the film. Among those interviewed include wrestler "Killer" Tom Brooks and William Brent "Boo Ray" Parnell, Adam's former roommate, who was cleared in Adams' death after his shooting was ruled a self defense. The film is still in production with 1/4 of the shooting completed. Grant's plan is to find investors to help finance the film. He hopes to submit the film into film festivals by the end of the summer and eventually do a limited theatrical release. Grant was heavily involved in the television production end of World Class. Gary Hart, who recently debuted in Major League Wrestling, is also involved with the project.

Dale Torborg, who performed in World Championship Wrestling, as The Demon (and has appeared at a lot of Kiss-related functions since in character) has signed on with The Chicago White Sox as a training coordinator. Torborg held similar responsibilities with the Florida Marlins before being dismissed at the onset of the last baseball season. Torborg still occasionally wrestles, last appearing most notably as part of the XWF promotion headed by Jimmy Hart.

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla wrapped up their tag team title tournament on 1/25 in Santa Ana, CA before another crowd estimated at around 150. The show is generally getting rave reviews. B-Boy & Homicide won the titles in the final over Super Dragon & American Dragon when Homicide hit the cop killer (vertebreaker) on Super Dragon to get the pin. Really good match. American Dragon may have suffered a concussion, as he was out with his eyes rolled back into his head, long after the crowd had exited the facility. He had to be carried to the back. Both semifinal matches were said to be even better than the finale. The Dragons beat the X-Foundation (Joey Ryan & Scott Lost). One report had this as match of the night. Another had the other semifinal, B-Boy & Homicide over C.M. Punk & Chris Hero, in that slot. Punk got hurt taking a bump to the floor. He shined in the match, as did Homicide, who reportedly suffered a concussion. Second round matches were X-Foundation over Quicksilver & Chris Bosh, Dragons over Havana Pitbulls (good match), B-Boy & Homicide over Samoa Joe & Puma, and Punk & Hero over the Thomasellis. As with the previous night, the only non-tournament bout was a PWG title defense by Frankie Kazarian. On this show, he retained in a four way over Jonny Storm, M-Dogg 20, and Big Babi Slymm. Fun, entertaining match. Afterward, Adam Pearce ran in, put Kazarian through a table, and cut an intense promo. Regarding the Kazarian-Pearce match from night one, the match was originally scheduled to go 30:00, but the show was running long because the doors had opened late and because of Shannon Ballard's injury. So they cut back the time to 20:00. The decision was then made to cut even more time, as there was a fear that, once the ambulance was called for Shannon, the building would either shut the show down or lock them out for the next day; they wanted to get it over as soon as possible to keep the building happy. Ring announcer Justin Roberts, who ran the time, was told to start the clock right when he began his introductions. Things worked out with the building, as they are scheduled to return in February.

Jess: These shows sounded great.  Me want tape!

MSNBC.com today reported on Afa Anoai's troubles with his old building in Hazleton, PA. Afa had been running biweekly shows at the American Legion Hall there until this past fall. Gianni Vucetovic bought the building from the Legionnaires, with plans to turn it into a restaurant and nightclub, but Afa has a valid lease there until late-2004. The city tried to resolve the dispute, but in the process discovered code violations with the building, so now no one can use it until it's brought back up to code. Anoai told the reporter he's still paying rent on the building and is planning to take Vucetovic to court.

NWA Florida returned to the Arena in St. Petersburg, FL for their biweekly show on 1/24. Former TNA X-Division champion Michael Shane and former ECW tag champion Danny Doring worked as part of a three way match, the third man in being Florida indy veteran Lex Lovett. Shane pinned Doring with a superkick after Doring had laid out Lovett. The three drank beer together afterward, but then Shane decked Lovett. Doring helped Shane, but Lovett made his own comeback. They are building toward Shane vs. Jerelle Clark for the NWA jr. title. After Clark retained that belt over Naphtali, Shane got in the ring with the belt and cut a promo, saying the title was nothing compared to the TNA X title. Clark vacated the Florida X title at this show; they are going to have a tourney starting at the next show on 2/7. Steve Madison retained the heavyweight title beating Frankie Capone. Madison wore a Riki Choshu T-shirt to the ring. Ron Niemi was in Capone's corner, trying to screw Madison out of the title since they are feuding. Niemi's interference backfired, and Madison won with a rollup. Justice beat Scoot Andrews to become number one contender to the title. After a ref bump, Mike Sullivan ran in and gave Andrews the reverse DDT (Scorpion death drop). Justice then hit the 450 for the pin. This was revenge for Andrews interfering to cost Sullivan a tag match earlier (Bruce Steele & Roderick Strong over Sullivan & Billy Fives). Shane Twins kept the tag titles over Fahrenheit 420, but Mike Shane tore his bicep in the match and is looking to be out two to three months. (An exact prognosis from the doctor is expected later in the week.) That's a tough break for the Twins, as they were reportedly scheduled to tour with Zero-One at the end of February. Show closed with a street fight battle royal that was co-won by Rod Steel and Mikey Tenderfoot. Afterward they cut a promo talking about a title match with the Shanes. Next show on 2/7 has Madison vs. Justice for the title.

USA Championship Wrestling ran at their TV studio in Nashville on 1/24. They had a battle royal for a U.S. title shot. Bully Douglas won the match, then lost the subsequent title match to Kasey James. Kid Kash worked underneath beating Bart Sawyer. Also on the show was Chris Michaels, who lost to "Kodiak" Steve Hall. They are building to a 2/14 show called "Valentine's Day Massacre" at the Fairgrounds. The promotion's website reported that they are starting on WQRF Channel 39 (FOX) in Rockford, IL in a Saturdays at 11 PM time slot, replacing WWE After Burn.

Liberty Championship Wrestling had Jimmy Golden, E.Z. Money, and Sherri Martel at their 1/24 show in Kingsport, TN. Golden beat Bryan Wayne in the main event. Money also went over on Wayne. Sherri managed Jeff Tankersley against Eddie Golden.

Buck: I had the opportunity to see Sherri Martel wrestle a little over a year ago, and she still looked great in the ring.  For better or worse, she changed the role of women in wrestling with her WWF run, making it "okay" for male wrestlers to toss around women.  Whether you think that is a good or bad thing, of course, is a matter of opinion.  Martel doesn't get nearly the credit she deserves for her contributions to wrestling. 

The Michigan Marquee Wrestling Association brought in Shane Douglas and Larry Zbyszko for their TV taping in Cadillac, MI on 1/25. Douglas lost via DQ to MMWA champion Spyder Nate Webb. He then did refereeing duties for a Webb-Matt Maverick match in which Maverick won the title. Zbyszko, subbing for Lou Albano, was in the Bump-n-Uglies' corner for their match vs. Maverick & Jamie D. The show was filled out with Michigan and Ontario indy regulars, including TNA X-Division champion Chris Sabin and Joe E. Legend. Sabin dropped the Marquee title to Gutter. He also teamed with Danny Daniels to go to a no contest with The Antagonists (Frankie the Face & Jimmy "The Hype" Shawlin) in a tag title bout. Legend beat Conrad Kennedy III. Others on the show included Truth Martini, Jimmy Jacobs, Angel Williams, and Jaimy Coxxx.

Rodney Grimes' CWA returned to the American Legion Hall in Corinth, MS on 1/24. Grimes, who has promoted since 1998, ran the building weekly for four years and this time around is planning to promote shows there two Saturdays per month. They drew about 60 for the return. The crew of talent used was different than the last time they ran here. Main event was heavyweight champion Sir Mo over Big Nasty Bill after a belt shot. Mo defends in two weeks vs. Brickhouse Brown, who beat Brian So Fine in a number one contenders' match. Others on the show included Kevin Jones, Arrick Andrews, Hammerjack, Tojo Yamamoto Jr., and Shane Eden.

Nick Arnold sent along the following from the AP wire regarding "Bubba The Love Sponge", the radio host that is close friends with Hulk Hogan, and has also had Chris Jericho and others on his radio program: WASHINGTON (AP) - The government proposed a $755,000 fine against Clear Channel Communications on Tuesday for a sexually explicit radio show aired on four stations, the second-highest such fine ever proposed. The Federal Communications Commission, whose chairman recently urged that penalties be increased for indecent programming, said the stations - all in Florida - aired various episodes of "Bubba the Love Sponge" a total of 26 times. The commission proposed fining Clear Channel the maximum $27,500 for each time the episode ran, or $715,000.

Thanks to Jason Blessing for the following: Billy Corgan, former frontman for the 90s rock powerhouse "The Smashing Pumpkins" recently started his own website (www.billycorgan.com). It's really not much more than a few messages that he updates now and then detailing the progress of a solo album he is working on. Anyway, the reason I'm sending this to you is that he posted an update on 1/26, which was almost entirely about professional wrestling. He admits to being a huge fan and gives a short review of the Royal Rumble, as well as mentioning NWA: TNA among other wrestling topics. He mentions Mick Foley and Jerry Lynn as being among his favorite wrestlers. If you want to check out the update, go to www.billycorgan.com and under messages click on 1/26/2004.

Buck: Billy Corgan used to show up at ECW shows all the time.  A lot of the time, he would try to be "incognito" wearing a hat and trying to stay out of site.  At one ECW show in New York, Corgan was noticed, and fans began paying more attention to him than the match, so he left for a while, because he didn't want to take away from the wrestlers in the ring. I always thought that was very classy and respectful of him. 

Indystar.com has a story online from the Associated Press about Clint Von Dielingen, who now wrestles for OVW as Vaughn Lilas.  A high school baseball coach and teacher in Muncie, Indiana, Von Dielingen brought OVW to his school for a fundraiser, then became hooked on wrestling, attending weekend classes with the WWE developmental territory.  The article speculates on Von Dielingen having to choose between his teaching and wrestling career in the future. Click here to check it out.

The 2/14 Universal Championship Wrestling show in Anderson, SC has had David Flair (first U.S. indy booking for him since quitting IWA Puerto Rico), Trinity, Chris Hamrick, Glacier, and Danny Doring added to the lineup.

Ben Throckmorton's North American Championship Wrestling, which has a TV show on Comcast Sports Southeast on Friday nights at 10 PM Eastern, will be doing a two-hour live broadcast on the network on 3/13 from Morristown, TN.

Jess: This is a pretty interesting deal that hasn't gotten much pub, since apparently not many people watch CSS.

Matt Stryker (ROH/HWA) has been added to the 2/7 Southern Championship Wrestling show in Stem, NC.

Memphis Wrestling for 1/24 did a 3.5 rating with a seven share, off quarter hours of 3.2, 3.6, 3.8, and 3.4. The show was tied for fifth among the highest rated programs on UPN 30 that day. Several months back, they were consistently top rated on Saturdays. Since the ratings have been hovering in that range for a while, I would suspect that this means viewership is up at the station. Hopefully the wrestling show gets some credit for that, at least when it comes to when the station decides the future of the show.

Dave: Those are great numbers for any wrestling show!

Rick Steiner is off the 1/31 Stars & Stripes Championship Wrestling show in Clifton, NJ.

Jess: Tying together the loose ends from an above IWA item, Steiner is off the show because he's working the IWA tour.  Funny thing is, they booked him but he's not in any of the top matches.  He's working Chicano in a mid-card match.

Lucha Xtreme Wrestling will be featured on the syndicated Urban Latino TV during the week of 2/2-2/8 and 3/9-3/15. The piece will include taped at their 11/15 show in New York. Rey Bucanero is off the 2/29 Miami show; taking his place will be Atlantis.

Apolo (IWA Puerto Rico) is booked on indy shows in Orlando, FL on 3/21 and 4/25 for New Revolution Wrestling.

Jess: Apolo spends a good deal of time in Orlando due to a family situation.

The Continental Reunion show was apparently a big success, as there are plans in the works for monthly shows now at the Houston County Farm Center in Dothan, AL, the home of weekly Saturday night wrestling in town for many years in the 70s and 80s. (The most recent reunion show was at the Civic Center.) The next one will be in March. They had wanted to run on 3/5 but they couldn't get the building. So the tentative date is now 3/20. Names they are promoting include Robert Fuller, Jimmy Golden, Ken Wayne, Dirty White Boy & Dirty White Girl, Johnny & Tommy Rich, the Armstrongs, and Adrian Street.

The East Central Indiana Star Press had a story in its 1/28 edition about Curt VonDielingen, baseball coach at Central High School in Muncie, IN who's been training to become a wrestler at the Ohio Valley Wrestling school. The piece was mostly about VonDielingen now being at the crossroads, as he'll have to choose whether he's going to give up his baseball coaching job to pursue pro wrestling full time. This was actually a pretty clever plug for the OVW show in Muncie, IN on 1/29, which coincidentally had VonDielingen, who wrestles as Vaughn Lilas, vs. champion Nick Dinsmore.

Connecticut Championship Wrestling ran in Fairfield, CT on 1/25. Main event was Boogalou winning a four way ladder match over Spider, J-Busta, and Azrael to become the Northeast champion. Also on the show were Striker, Ron Zombie, the Untouchables (Mark Gore & Anthony Michaels), Kidd USA, Molsonn, Mana, All Money Is Legal, The Solution, Abunai, and Crazy Ivan.