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http://www.charleston.net/stories/030704/moo_07wrestle.shtml

Sunday, March 7, 2004 
 
WWE Hall of Fame to honor Rose 

BY MIKE MOONEYHAM 
Of The Post and Courier Staff 

Pete Rose always wanted a spot in the Hall of Fame. He'll get his wish
March 13.

That's when baseball's bad boy will be inducted into World Wrestling
Entertainment's Hall of Fame.

The all-time hit leader will be honored in New York as part of
Wrestlemania weekend at Madison Square Garden.

Never one to miss a payoff, Rose will be handsomely compensated for
his appearance at the March 13 induction at the New York Hilton, and
at the sold-out Wrestlemania XX extravaganza the following night at
the Garden where he will join 10 other legitimate inductees as part of
the WWE class of 2004.

Banned from the game of baseball for life, the disgraced legend
belatedly admitted to betting on America's pastime in his
autobiography released earlier this year with the hopes of being
reinstated, clearing his path to induction into the Cooperstown, N.Y.,
museum. For now, though, he'll have to settle for WWE's shrine.

WWE owner Vince McMahon announced last week that Rose would be the
first-ever special celebrity inductee into the wrestling hall. While
4,256 hits might not have been enough to get Rose into Cooperstown,
three celebrity Wrestlemania appearances (1998-2000) -- where he
dressed as a chicken and took choke slams and tombstone piledrivers
from Kane -- apparently were sufficient to land him a spot among pro
wrestling's elite.

The real reason for his induction, of course, is that it's a publicity
stunt that has garnered marketing dividends and considerable ink for
WWE, including coverage in the New York Times and a host of other
media outlets, and has capitalized on the burst on publicity for
Rose's book, "My Prison Without Bars."

"He has a deep, abiding respect for what we do," McMahon told the
Times. Whether he was snickering when he made the comment was not
clear.

"That body of work was clearly enough to get him into the hall,"
sports talk show host Jim Rome sarcastically said last week.

"That and the check they are going to cut him to get him to appear ...
I would imagine he also has a deep, abiding respect for the pile of
cash you are going to give him as well. Pete Rose in the wrestling
hall of fame? I look forward to him receiving the Nobel Prize as well.
I would imagine he is going to be inducted into the Supercuts hall of
fame as well later this summer. And if he isn't, he should be.

"In all seriousness, this is sad. This guy is one of the greatest
players ever, and instead of sucking it up and coming clean
legitimately, and sincerely and eventually getting back into
baseball's good graces, he is chasing more jack from the WWE. It's
sad. The guy has become a caricature of himself."

"Pete Rose is our first-ever celebrity inductee for the classic
moments he has provided in Wrestlemania matches with WWE superstar
Kane," McMahon announced on his company's Web site. "Only a champion
like Pete Rose would get into a wrestling ring with a 300-pound
monster like Kane, and then have the tenacity and determination to do
it again. One day Pete Rose will take his rightful place in the
Baseball Hall of Fame, but on March 13, Pete will officially become a
member of the WWE Hall of Fame."

Kane (Glen Jacobs), who was Rose's nemesis at the three Wrestlemanias,
will present the former Cincinnati Reds player and manager at his
induction.

"He came in, from totally outside our environment, and said, 'What do
you want me to do?'" McMahon told the Times. "I said, 'Well, we have
this 300-pound wrestler named Kane who does the piledriver.' Pete
says, 'Great, what's that?' And I said, 'He turns you upside down and
drives you into the mat.' Without hesitation, he said: 'Is that good?
Will there be a crowd reaction?'"

"This is how far Pete Rose has fallen: Being inducted in a pro
wrestling hall of fame neither improved wrestling's credibility, nor
hurt his," wrote one sports scribe.

On the other hand, rumors that homemaking icon Martha Stewart will be
next year's guest celebrity at Wrestlemania appear to be completely
unfounded. Not that she'd be available anyway.

-- WWE announced last week the full list of former WWE stars who will
be inducted into its hall of fame. The group includes former Minnesota
Gov. Jesse Ventura, Superstar Billy Graham, Bobby Heenan, Greg
Valentine, Sgt. Slaughter, Tito Santana, Don Muraco and Harley Race.
Junkyard Dog (Sylvester Ritter) and Big John Studd (John Minton) will
be inducted posthumously.

Bob Backlund, whose name was initially mentioned as a candidate for
the WWE Hall of Fame, is no longer on the list. It might also be noted
that Bruno Sammartino, who held the company's world title for a
seven-year stretch during the '60s and '70s and is widely regarded as
one of the greatest champions in the history of the business, is not
among those presently in the hall.

-- "Wrestlemania's 10 Greatest Matches Ever," as voted by WWE
wrestlers, will air at 10 p.m. Tuesday on Spike TV. Ric Flair will
host the one-hour show.

-- George's Sports Bar, 1300 Savannah Highway, will air the
Wrestlemania pay-per-view March 14 beginning at 7 p.m. Cover charge is
$5. Only valid ticket-holders will be allowed after 6:30 p.m. I'll
also be on hand signing new paperback editions of "Sex, Lies and
Headlocks: The Real Story of Vince McMahon and World Wrestling
Entertainment."

-- Matthew's Sport's Bar & Grill, 613 Johnnie Dodds Blvd., also will
air Wrestlemania on March 14. Cover charge is $5.

-- Ring of Honor founder and co-owner Rob Feinstein was the target of
an underage sex sting by a Philadelphia television station in
conjunction with perverted-justice.com, a Web site which exposes
suspected pedophiles.

Feinstein, who also owns RF Video, was caught on camera and confronted
as he approached the door of a house he thought to be the residence of
an unsupervised 14-year-old youth. Feinstein met the boy, who really
wasn't 14 but rather a spokesman for the Web site, in an AOL online
chat and set up a meeting. Feinstein reportedly had claimed to be a
wrestler and not the owner of a wrestling promotion in his online
discussions with the youth.

Feinstein, who launched the Ring of Honor promotion two years ago as a
way to produce royalty-free video tapes of wrestling events for his
video business, which he started as a teen-ager, issued a press
release Thursday announcing that he was stepping down as a partner of
Ring of Honor Inc. and president of RF Video.

"Due to recent allegations that have been lodged against me it is in
the best interest of both companies that until these allegations are
resolved that I step down to avoid tarnishing the excellent reputation
that has been built over the years of both companies," said Feinstein.

Both companies, however, will continue to operate under new ownership.
ROH announced on its Web site Friday that Douglas Gentry has been
named new president and CEO of both RF Video and Ring of Honor.

-- USA Championship Wrestling, which airs shows locally on the College
Sports South network 10 p.m.-midnight on Fridays, is opening a
full-time office in Atlanta effective March 20. Longtime promoter Bert
Prentiss runs the company.

-- Lowcountry resident and former WWE women's champ Molly Holly
appeared on WWE's Byte This show Friday and discussed her upcoming
match at Wrestlemania in which she puts her hair on the line against
new champ Victoria's title. Molly vows not to shed her locks, since
she says she worked long and hard to get it healthy after having
bleached it blonde for the first few years of her career.

Molly also discussed her religious ties, encouraging fans to see Mel
Gibson's "Passion of the Christ" blockbuster and mentioning that she
goes to church every Tuesday and Wednesday night, her days off the
road. She said that she spends time with fellow Christians in the
wrestling business, such as Shawn Michaels and Charles Robinson,
noting that brings her closer to God.


--- Internet Rex 2.29