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WITH ESPN'S MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL ABOUT TO GO AGAINST RAW, ESPN COLUMNIST RIPS INTO VINCE MCMAHON
by Buck Woodward

ESPN.com has a rather lengthy article online discussing how Vince McMahon will be countering Monday Night Football (which is now on ESPN) this season.  The article basically comes up with a (often tasteless) scenario that McMahon would use during Raw to counter each specific game.  For example, for the Saints-Falcons game (which will be the first game in the New Orleans Superdome since Hurricane Katrina), the article suggests that Vince is "looking for a gigantic wind machine and the biggest, strongest woman they can find. Three guesses on what her name will be."

Other suggestions include Charlotte's Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan in the first ever "walker match" to counter the Carolina Panthers-Tampa Bay Buccaneers game and having Triple H blast Dallas Cowboy (and former Eagle) Terrell Owens with a sledgehammer opposite the Green Bay Packers-Philadelphia Eagles game with the idea that the Philly fans would "drop pay-per-view dough" for that one.

Needless to say, the author, Bomani Jones, doesn't seem to think too highly of Vinnie Mac.  While Vince certainly has had his share of tasteless ideas, Jones comes up with a few scenarios that I don't even think Vince would try (at least I hope not). You can read the whole article by clicking here.

Thanks to George Dafnos for his help with this item.

WWE NEWS ON TONIGHT'S RAW, WWE STARS TALK ABOUT 9/11, HOGAN HAS A FIRE, THE ROCK AND MORE

WWE.com has an article up on the site where some of their workers look back at the events of 9/11/2001.  I still remember, vividly, watching in shock and horror as the events of the day went down.  Bob Ryder called me after the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center and told me I had to turn on CNN.  I asked why and he said, "Just turn it on".  I did and almost immediately, the second plane went into the other tower. I was numb, as were many Americans.  How could something like this happen?  How could some people hate us so much that they would kill so many innocent people, and themselves?  It was an eye opener to most Americans in two ways.  One, it showed that we weren't as safe as we thought we were and two, it let us know that we weren't universally loved around the world.  Before 9/11, it was something that most people never even considered.  It certainly was a day that changed the way this country looked at itself and its way of life.  I know it did so for me. 

In the five years that have passed, we have become a bit less scarred and have adapted to the events of that day in the manner that the human spirit usually does.  If nothing else, we are a resilient species.  Speaking for myself though, I still think about 9/11 all the time, think about the innocent people that died and hatred that some feel towards this country.  There are lessons to be learned it that with the main one being how precious and fragile life is.  It pointed out to me that putting things off until tomorrow was a habit I was going to break immediately because tomorrow isn't guaranteed for any of us.  A lot of people went to work that day, or boarded a plane for one reason or another, and never made it home.  They never got to say goodbye to the people that they loved or got to make up after having a stupid fight with their significant other.  The people left behind still deal with the pain of their loss.  The lesson I have learned in all of this is to live every day, tell those important to you that you love them, take a second to help out someone if they need it and make sure to accomplish all that you can today, not tomorrow.

I didn't mean to go off on a tangent there.  Sorry for being so long-winded.

WWE makes its return to Madison Square Garden in New York City tonight with a combined Raw/ECW show.  Matches announced for tonight's show are: 

Vince McMahon vs. Triple H
John Cena, Carlito and Jeff Hardy vs. Edge, Randy Orton and Johnny Nitro
Trish Stratus vs. Mickie James
They also ponder if it will be John Cena's last match on Raw

WWE also has videos on their site from John Cena, Paul Heyman, Matt Striker, Lilian Garcia and Tazz where they talk about being at MSG tonight on 9/11.  They are definitely worth watching.  To see them, click here.

The Miami Herald is reporting that Hulk Hogan's yellow Lamborghini caught on fire on Saturday down in Florida. The paper reported, "Bay Harbor Islands police said the driver was a juvenile and the law prohibits the releases of his name. It's unclear if the teen is related to Hogan." This begs the question, "If it was nasty Nick, will the Hulkster drop the big leg on him?"

Philly.com has a long interview with The Rock.  You can read it by clicking here.

WrestleMag.com sent the following. ... Silver Vision’s parent company, Clear Vision Ltd have successfully applied for the previously unreleased 1988 Royal Rumble to be rated by the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification). Silver Vision are currently considering releasing the title in some format in the future but nothing has been decided and it’s not even definite as to whether or not the title will even make it into the shops. The classification was made as per the normal procedure that Clear Vision follow when acquring new material. 

Cory Strode reporting. ... I've found the channels and times in Minneapolis that Smackdown will be airing until the local WB station becomes a CW station. Channel 9, the UPN station became a "MyNetwork" station last week, but Channel 23 (which will be the CW station) is airing Smackdown now.  They will air next week's show on Saturday 9/16 at 2 p.m.

Nabbeal Hussain sent this one. ... I was watching Smackdown last night here in the UK on Sky Sports 3. What was interesting to see was the advert for the WWE Survivor Series Tour in November. I have tickets for the Raw live TV taping and was looking forward to seeing Trish again. As we all know she is leaving after Unforgiven, but still WWE/Sky advertise that Trish will be at the events!

Speaking of the UK tour, James West sent this one. ... I just wanted to let you all know that the WWE Raw tour of the UK in November is a virtual sell out.  There are only single tickets left for some shows and the rest are sold out.

I watched the Ohio State vs. Texas battle for number on last night in college football.  I gotta tell ya, James Laurinaitis, son of Road Warrior Animal and nephew of Johnny Ace, was a beast last night at middle linebacker.  The announcers made reference to his dad during the game.

Today's New York Post has a review of Rock's new movie "The Gridiron Gang".  To read it, click here.

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