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Sunday, March 14, 2004 

WWE's Brock Lesnar announces he will quit after Wrestlemania 

BY MIKE MOONEYHAM 
Of The Post and Courier Staff 

The life of a professional wrestler -- even in the high-profile World
Wrestling Entertainment -- can be far from the glamorous one portrayed
on television. The travel schedule is grueling, the time away from
home can cut deeply into one's personal and family life, and the
injuries are real.

Brock Lesnar, the WWE phenom on whose broad shoulders the company's
hope for the future rested, apparently came to that stark realization
last week. Just days before his dream showdown with Bill Goldberg at
one of the biggest events in WWE history, Lesnar told colleagues and
company officials that tonight would mark his last in the wrestling
business.

Citing a number of issues, including burnout and a demanding travel
schedule, Lesnar admitted that he was miserable in his current job and
said that he would be quitting WWE after Wrestlemania. The 26-year-old
revealed that his future plans could include trying out for the
National Football League.

Lesnar had been increasingly vocal to management in recent months
about the hectic travel schedule and the direction of his character.
Sources say the situation came to a head in a recent meeting with WWE
owner Vince McMahon that was described as extremely tense.

Lesnar's announcement came in the weekly pre-show talent meeting prior
to Tuesday's Smackdown taping. He had erupted at a similar meeting
several weeks ago where he off-handedly threatened to kill any
co-worker he found out was leaking inside information to the Internet.
Lesnar later apologized to the crew over the outburst and claimed he
had been joking.

Lesnar, however, has been getting little sympathy from fellow WWE
performers, many of whom struggle with the same concerns but pull in
considerably less money than the former NCAA heavyweight wrestling
champ. Lesnar recently signed a lucrative seven-year contract with the
company that made him one of the highest-paid workers on the roster.

Lesnar also has been upset in recent weeks over a scheduled
post-Wrestlemania program with The Undertaker. The Dead Man's expected
to get a renewed push, and the reprisal of his old gimmick almost
guarantees that he will be selling very little for his opponents.
Lesnar felt that Taker, now in his early 40s, is at the point in his
career that he should be elevating younger talent instead of having
them fed to him.

Lesnar had grown tired of the constant travel, particularly the recent
Smackdown tour of South Africa, where he was booked in low-profile
matches with mid-carder Hardcore Holly while new champion Eddy
Guerrero headlined against Kurt Angle. The travel had become so
stressful for him that he bought his own private plane to get to shows
earlier this year.

Moreover, Lesnar confided to friends and colleagues, the business
already has taken a heavy toll on him. Likely looking at many of his
fellow performers and taking note of their injury-riddled bodies, he
said he wanted to be able to walk when he was 40.

The announcement left some in the company stunned, although few were
said to have been sympathetic toward Lesnar's plight. Few also
believed that Lesnar, an amateur standout in wrestling but with no
college football experience, could make such a transition and land a
spot with an NFL team. The official Web site of Fox Sports reported
Wednesday that Lesnar received offers from the Tampa Bay Bucs and the
Washington Redskins back in 2000 when he won the NCAA wrestling
championship while at the University Of Minnesota. Lesnar, however,
turned down those offers and signed with WWE in August 2000.

Lesnar is expected to try out for the Minnesota Vikings this summer.

Speculation also surfaced that personal reasons also may have played a
part in Lesnar's decision to leave the wrestling business. Lesnar, who
has a young daughter who lives with her mother in Minnesota, in recent
months has been dating WWE diva Sable (Rena Mero), who split with her
second husband, husband Marc Mero, last year.

The three-time WWE champion publicly thanked Vince McMahon, Jim Ross
and Jerry Brisco for "discovering" him in college.

"He's a great kid. I have a lot of respect for Brock," Ross said on
The Wrestling Guys radio show Thursday night. "I like him. He grew up
on a farm in South Dakota and I grew up on a farm in Oklahoma. I
followed him in college. Jerry Brisco and I recruited him. Jerry
Brisco primarily recruited him. Brock's coach (his wrestling coach at
the University of Minnesota), J Robinson, was a college wresting
teammate with Brisco at Oklahoma State. We got Shelton Benjamin and
Brock off that team. We have a lot things to say about Brock. He's a
good kid, very athletic and has a lot of opportunities in this world
for him. Whatever decisions are made will be finalized after
Wrestlemania, that's our focus."

Lesnar's decision has put the finish of tonight's match with Bill
Goldberg in question, although Lesnar is still expected to be put
over. Officials feverishly convened last week to rework booking the
bout. With both headliners on the way out, the likely plan will have
special ref Steve Austin grab the spotlight and stun both men at the
end.

Goldberg's fate after Mania remains uncertain, although most expect
him to finish up with WWE after tonight's match and don't expect him
to re-sign with the company when his contract expires later this
month.

According to an article in The Winnipeg Sun, Goldberg has been signed
to appear as a color commentator for the upcoming Battle of the Hockey
Gladiators pay-per-view where hockey players will fight on the ice for
a $100,000 prize. Hockey Gladiators also is in discussions with Jesse
Ventura about providing commentary. The PPV is scheduled to tape in
August at the Target Center in Minnesota.

Goldberg also has more filming to do on the movie "Santa's Slay" in
Canada.

-- Big Show (Paul Wight) has emerged as the newest locker-room leader
on the Smackdown side after challenging WWE agent Johnny Ace (John
Laurinaitis) during a recent talent meeting.

Ace lectured the crew about inappropriate behavior on the recent South
Africa tour, although sources claim Bradshaw (John Leyfield)
instigated the ruckus by making inappropriate remarks near a security
checkpoint. APA partner Faarooq (Ron Simmons) and road agent Dave
Hebner also reportedly objected to the process in which the wrestling
crew was checked by hand with a metal-detecting wand. The situation
was accentuated later on the plane when several wrestlers, including
Bradshaw, asked and were served drinks, although WWE had not paid for
an open bar.

Show, who told Ace that he shouldn't chastise the entire crew for
something one individual had done, later exchanged words with Simmons.

-- Sable and Torrie Wilson also were involved in a backstage screaming
match at Tuesday's Smackdown taping in Atlantic City, N.J., that went
on for at least a half hour. The spat reportedly started at a Playboy
party that the women attended last weekend. Sources say Wilson
instigated the argument.

-- George's Sports Bar, 1300 Savannah Highway, will air the
Wrestlemania pay-per-view tonight beginning at 7 p.m. Cover charge is
$5. Only valid ticket-holders will be allowed after 6:30 p.m. I'll be
on hand 6-7 p.m. signing new paperback editions of "Sex, Lies and
Headlocks."

-- Matthew's Sport's Bar & Grill, 613 Johnnie Dodds Blvd., also will
air Wrestlemania tonight. Cover charge is $5.

-- Former wrestling star Hercules Hernandez passed away March 6 at the
age of 47. Hercules, whose real name was Ray Fernandez, died in his
sleep at his home in Tampa. Fernandez, the father of six, died of
heart disease, said his wife, Debbie.

Besides stints with regional promotions in the early 1980s and in New
Japan Pro Wrestling during the 1990s, Fernandez is best known to mat
fans for the seven years (1985-1992) that he spent working for WWE.

The muscle-bound powerhouse, who draped chains around his neck, was
one half of the Slick-managed "Power and Glory" team with Paul Roma
during the late '80s. The two enjoyed programs with such teams as
Legion of Doom and The Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty).

Fernandez, who worked Wrestlemanias 2-7, including Wrestlemania III at
the Pontiac Silverdome in a bloody chain match with Billy Jack Haynes,
turned babyface after being "sold" from Bobby Heenan's heel stable to
Ted DiBiase.

Fernandez also feuded with Hulk Hogan, including a high-profile title
bout with the Hulkster on NBC's Saturday Night Main Event, and joined
New Japan Pro Wrestling in the early '90s where he teamed with Scott
Norton as The Jurassic Powers.

Frequently recognized by fans, Fernandez preferred to live as a
"simple Tampa guy who never took himself to be as big a star as he
was," Debbie Fernandez told the AP. Fernandez regularly talked to
students about staying in school and avoiding drugs. He also visited
terminally ill children in hospitals.

"It was great! We went to matches and took friends, meeting people
like Hulk Hogan, Macho Man (Randy Savage) and Bret Hart," Fernandez's
oldest daughter, Nichole, 25, said. "I was very proud that after all
these years, people remember who he was."

Fernandez, who initially was managed by Sir Oliver Humperdink, began
his career in 1982 in Florida and Texas. He worked under a mask as
Assassin No. 2 for Jim Crockett Promotions during the early '80s and
also appeared in Bill Watts' Mid-South promotion as the masked Mr.
Wrestling No. 2 when the original No. 2 simply became Mr. Wrestling.
Hernandez later joined forces with DiBiase to form Devastation Inc.
under the management of Gen. Scandor Akbar.

Fernandez worked briefly in WCW in 1992 as The Super Invader and was
managed by Harley Race.

-- USA Today published a lengthy article on drug deaths in
professional wrestling in its Friday edition.

"USA Today's examination of media documents, autopsies and police
reports, along with interviews with family members and news accounts,
shows that at least 65 wrestlers died (out of 1,000 wrestlers 45 and
younger since 1997), 25 from heart attacks or other coronary problems
-- an extraordinarily high rate for people that young, medical
officials say. Many had enlarged hearts," the article stated. "In five
of the 25 deaths, medical examiners concluded that steroids might have
played a role. Excessive steroid use can lead to an enlarged heart. In
12 others, examiners in medical reports cited evidence of use of
painkillers, cocaine and other drugs."

-- Vince McMahon told The Associated Press last week: "I'm always
making mistakes. Some years are better than others ... You always have
to give the audience what it wants, and what it wants is constantly
changing. Really, we are like any good Hollywood studio, except with
maybe a better track record."

-- Ricky Morton vs. Greg Valentine in a cage match with special ref
Tully Blanchard headlines a Carolina Championship Wrestling show April
3 in Lenoir, N.C. George South vs. Bobby Fulton also is on the bill.

-- Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka won't be in the corner of The Rock and Mick
Foley as had been teased Monday night on Raw.

-- Mick Foley told the Stamford Advocate last week that he had dropped
50 pounds (down to 292) for Wrestlemania because he didn't want anyone
to think his match and work is sad.

-- Cody Runnels, son of "American Dream" Dusty Rhodes (Virgil Runnels
Jr.), won the Georgia state high school wrestling title in the
189-pound class for the second straight year. Rhodes attended the
finals along with his oldest son, Dustin "Goldust" Runnels, and
Diamond Dallas Page.

Runnels has compiled a 101-2 mark over the past two years.

His dad never wrestled as an amateur, favoring football, which he
played at West Texas State. Rhodes went on to become one of the most
charismatic performers to ever grace a wrestling ring.

The younger Runnels' life-long dream has been to emulate his father
and become a big-time pro wrestler, but he says it's mostly a
coincidence that he has taken up the amateur sport. He started at age
5, after a friend impressed him with a wrestling trophy. Rhodes
coached Runnels' sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade football teams in
the Lassiter High program.

In stark contrast to his famous dad, Runnels carries not a trace of
fat on his six-foot frame.

Rhodes' oldest daughter, Kristin, was a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader,
and his youngest, Teil, is a drama student in Florida.

-- The highly anticipated Jack Brisco autobiography, "Brisco -- The
Life & Times of National Collegiate and World Heavyweight Champion
Jack Brisco," has been released.

The 286-page softbound book, published by Culture House, is available
for $24.95 and can be ordered on-line at www.wrestlingmuseum.org or
calling Culture House at 641-526-8836 or the International Wrestling
Museum at 641-791-1517.

Brisco is regarded as one of the greatest pure wrestlers in the
history of the business. An NCAA champion at Oklahoma State
University, Brisco went on to become one of the biggest stars in pro
wrestling, winning the NWA world heavyweight title in 1973.

-- The latest issue of Wrestling Perspective newsletter features an
excellent interview with Ricky Steamboat.

Steamboat discusses the series he and the late Jay Youngblood had with
Sgt. Slaughter and Don Kernodle and Jack and Jerry Brisco in the
Mid-Atlantic territory, his problems with Dusty Rhodes and why he quit
the territory, his relationship with Vince McMahon and the WWF, and
many other subjects.

The issue also includes a controversial look at the top 100 wrestlers
of all time.

Wrestling Perspective is available by subscription for $2.50 per issue
up to $30 for 12 issues. Checks should be made payable to Wrestling
Perspective. The address is: Wrestling Perspective, 3011 Highway 30
West, Suite 101-197, Huntsville, Texas 77340.

-- Ken Mihalik is selling his collection of Wrestling Observer
newsletters from 1990-2000 (nearly 500 issues in all). He'll also
throw in three Wrestling Observer Yearbooks (1988, 1989, 1990) plus a
unique WWF trunk that he'll send them in. Minimum bid starts at $575.
For more information, contact him at (843) 795-0590 or e-mail at
Kenneth.Mihalik{at}tridenttech.edu.

-- The Boston Globe covered Jesse "The Body" Ventura's first day on
the job teaching class at Harvard as a visiting fellow at the Kennedy
School's Institute of Politics.

The former mat star and Minnesota governor offered his observations on
a number of subjects.

Same-sex marriage: "Could someone please tell me how this will affect
me? Come on, this is Harvard, folks. I came all the way out here to
learn this."

The California recall election (won by his pal Arnold Schwarzenegger):
"A joke."

Teaching at Harvard: "Some felt I'm not academically qualified, and
they're right."

Vince McMahon is slated to be a guest speaker for the bombastic
Ventura's class. The two are scheduled to discuss how pro wrestling
ideally prepares one for a career in politics.

-- Steve "Mongo" McMichael is planning to write a book on his days
with the Chicago Bears. He says he also plans to write a second book
on his days in wrestling and on radio.

-- Bobby Heenan is currently doing a book tour for his latest, "Chair
Shots and Other Obstacles," which has just been released.


--- Internet Rex 2.29