Layla's Mother Passes Away, SD!, Vince, WWE/MSG Sellout, More
? For those who missed it, Vince McMahon turns 63 today. Sorry, just had to bring that up again!
? Smackdown viewership was down a bit on Friday. The show drew 3.85 million viewers. The final number will be out tomorrow.
? The reason Layla El has been gone for awhile is because her mother passed away and so she has been out of the country taking care of family issues.
? The WWE show in Madison Square Garden was a legitimate sellout last night despite empty seats. All the empty seats were sold.
? Jim Ross has a new blog entry up. Highlights are here: On WWE stars at the political conventions: Interesting note that several WWE wrestlers are attending the upcoming Democratic and Republican National Conventions. It's good that some wrestlers want to see the political process of selecting our Presidential candidates and not just do a drive by for a photo op even though there will be plenty of those. I'm not sure whos going where but I do know that Batista and President Bill Clinton would have a helluva time together considering they are both socially inclined. We dont' do many politics on this site but I will tell you that Ihaven't decided who I am going to vote for come November. Professional politicians who can't even balance our country's check book and who govern only to be re-elected and not to better our country have used up all their "passes" with me. On Bret Hart's autobiography: With the warm weather Saturday, I spent some time on the patio reading through Bret Hart's autobiography again. I think every true wrestling fan should read this book. I cannot be any more honest than I am when I say this is a must read book whether one is a wrestling fanatic, a sports fan, or one who simply enjoys reading amazing, true stories of a people's lives. Any young man or woman who is thinking of a career in wrestling and perhaps more importanly any one currently in the business should read this book. Read it...study it...learn from it. Whether one agrees with every thing Bret writes is not the point here. Wrestling is wrought with subjectivity...who's better than who...who was the greatest this...who was the best that? This is about a man who kept a journal for years and years on a daily basis while traveling thousands of miles to go to work and who devoted seven, challenging years to finish his book. This book is more importanty about a man who cared so much about his vocation and its heritage that he documented virtually every day he spent in it. This book is about passion, dedication, and values. Bottom line it's about much more than headlocks and sharpshooters. On Shelton Benjamin: Really nice, old school match on Friday Night Smackdown between Finlay and Shelton Benjamin. Both men wrestled aggressively and in a bad mood. I loved the physicality. It seems as if Benjamin is starting to come into his own. Amazing athletic gifts like Shelton's should be taken advantage of by the bearer. I like what I have been seeing lately from the amateur standout from the University of Minnesota. Whin in college, Shelton was a regular workout partner with Brock Lesnar after Bejamin used up his eligibility for the Gophers. I've heard that some of their wrestling room workouts were special to watch. Shelton would seem to have the skills to have been a superior MMA competitor if he had chosen that route. Shelton has told me many times that people can't fully comprehend just how fast Lesnar is not to mention that his strength is freakish. I suggest that Heath Herring would agree with that assessment. Speaking of Lesnar, I hear he will be fighting again most probably as soon as December if a deal can be reached for his next opponent soon. It will be interesting to see if it's possible for Brock to improve as much between now and his next fight as he did between Mir and Herring.