Gagne Homicide Update, J.R On Swagger/ECW, Noble’s Injury, Flair, More

The Associated Press has picked up the latest on the Verne Gagne story, which has been ruled a homicide by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner. The investigation is currently ongoing, but it looks as if Gagne will not be charged: Coroner: Death of man pushed by Gagne a homicide MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The Hennepin County medical examiner’s office is calling the death of a 97-year-old man who was reportedly pushed by Minnesota wrestling legend Vern Gagne a homicide. The coroner’s report says Helmut Gutmann died of complications from a broken hip he suffered after being pushed Jan. 26 at a rest home in Bloomington. While today’s news release does not mention Gagne by name, Gutmann’s wife has said Gagne apparently threw Gutmann to the floor at Friendship Village in Bloomington. At the time, both men were living the facility’s memory loss unit and suffered from Alzheimer’s-related dementia. Gutmann also had pulmonary disease. The Bloomington Police Department is investigating. Gagne wrestled at the University of Minnesota and spent a brief stint with the Green Bay Packers before turning to professional wrestling in 1950. He wrestled into the early 1980s.

Jim Ross has a new blog entry up at JrsBarBQ.com, here are the highlights: On Jack Swagger: Watching the Jack Swagger title defense of the ECW Championship Tuesday night against Christian reminded me of food. Please, no jokes as I am becoming increasing more sensitive in my AARP years. Watching some wrestling matches on TV that last 3 minutes or so is like having fast food. It’s o.k. when you need a quick bite but there is noting like sitting down and having the time to enjoy a nice meal like one would find at J.R.’s Family BBQ, for example. The Swagger-Christian bout was long enough to sit down and emotionally invest in the process much akin to enjoying a Slobber-Knocker, 3 meat combo at J.R.’s. For the record, slow smoked ribs are meant to be savored not inhaled. Nonetheless this aforementioned ECW main event was a solid piece of business. On Jamie Noble: Good to hear that Jamie Noble is going to be o.k. after a near miss against big Mike Knox on Monday night in Nashville. Noble got timely medical care and having a doctor at all WWE events not to mention licensed trainers is a much needed asset for the wrestlers. Noble should be back in the ring in a few weeks and is one of the more underrated men on the WWE roster and is often an after thought to some because he’s not 6’2″ tall. On Ric Flair’s Birthday: Happy Birthday to my long time friend Ric Flair who turns 60 years young today. Ric will eternally be young at heart and seeing him and sitting down for a visit with him will be one of my personal highlights at WM25. Ric will induct Ricky Steamboat into the WWE Hall of Fame and if you go back and take a look at the year 1989 no one in the business had better matches together than these two. Every time they wrestled they seem to put on a clinic. I wonder how many young wrestlers who truly desire to be a wrestling star some day have thoroughly studied these bouts? Between tanning and being on their computers, unfortunately not enough would be my assumption. Sorry to come off as a grumpy, old schooler but these matches were grappling art. On the Randy Savage DVD: From what I have heard, Matt Striker and Maria did the on cameras for the June release of the Macho Man Randy Savage DVD release which features 3 disc’s of Savage’s best bouts. Simply by looking at the match compilation, this seems as if it will be an excellent DVD for Macho Man fans who have been clamoring for a Savage DVD from WWE for years. Striker particularly knows the impressive history of Randy Savage and I am sure we will get some unique “nuggets of wisdom” from Mr. “I Hate Pronouns” who rivals the King as one the WWE’s most skilled “ladies men.”

The USA Network sent out the following press release, hyping Raw’s recent ratings: WWE Monday Night RAW Ratings Soar Over the Top Rope Last Two Weeks on USA Nets Highest Ratings in Almost Seven Years NEW YORK, Feb. 25 — The last two weeks on WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW have broken ground to ratings highs not seen in almost seven years for the year-round ratings titan. The 2/16 and 2/23 episodes have delivered an average of 6.015 million total viewers, 3.028 million in P18-49, 2.9 million in P25-54, 4.055 million households and a household coverage rating of 4.1. “Charismatic characters, high production value, intricate storylines, action-adventure, soap opera, rock concert, comedy, athleticism, and drama are all a recipe for success. When combined with the partnership of USA Network, Monday Night RAW is the undisputed champion of cable television” said Kevin Dunn, Executive Vice President, Television Production. The two week delivery of 6 million total viewers for RAW was the first time that has happened in almost seven years — since April 2002, RAW delivered over 3 million in P18-49 two weeks in a row, the first time that has happened in 6 /12 years — since August 2002. This past week the 10pm hour USA was the #1 TV network among M18-34 (1.153 million) almost doubling the nearest competitor ABC. The 10pm RAW segment also drew in more M18-34 viewers for the night than Fox’s 24 (9pm). USA was also #1 in the 10pm hour, above all TV channels, among M25-54 (2.262 million) and M18-49 (2.219 million) and beat CSI Miami among P18-49 (3.258 million). In the 9pm hour USA topped both ABC’s The Bachelor and CBS among M18-34 (880,000) and beat The Bachelor among both M18-49 (1.1814 million) and M25-54 (1.951). *Note: all weekly daypart and program data is Live+SD. USA Network is the #1 network in all of basic cable and is seen in 94 million U.S. homes. A division of NBC Universal, USA is the cable television leader in original series and is home to the best in blockbuster theatrical films, acquired television series and entertainment events. The award-winning USA website is located at www.usanetwork.com. Characters Welcome. USA Network is a program service of NBC Universal Cable a division of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience.
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