Young Flair set for Charlotte debut

Those waiting for Reid Flair’s first official pro wrestling match will have to wait a couple more weeks.

The 20-year-old son of 16-time world champion “Nature Boy” Ric Flair was forced to pull out of what had been billed as his pro wrestling debut due to “health issues.” The bout had been scheduled Nov. 22 on a PCW (Pro Championship Wrestling) show in Oak Lawn, Ill.

“He had a real bad gum infection,” said Ric Flair. “He had to sit out for a week, and we weren’t sure whether or not he was going to have to have surgery because he had a bone exposed. I had to take him off the show in Chicago. But they treated it and it’s fine now.”

The young Flair will have his first match in Charlotte on Dec. 6. He and older brother David, managed by their father, will meet The Nasty Boys (Jerry Saggs and Brian Knobbs), managed by Jimmy Hart. Flair said he handpicked the opponents.

“I love Jerry and Brian. They’re awesome. And Brian is so entertaining.”

Reid Flair, an amateur standout who has spent the past year training with his dad and George South in Charlotte, moved to Eldon, Mo., last week to begin three months of training under the legendary Harley Race. Flair will join another second-generation product, Ricky Steamboat Jr., at Race’s wrestling academy. Steamboat, who also trained this past year with his father, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, and South, is scheduled to leave the camp after the first of the year to train in Pro Wrestling NOAH’s dojo in Japan.

Other second- and third-generation wrestlers who have trained or are currently training under Race are Mike DiBiase and Ted DiBiase Jr. (sons of “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase and grandsons of the late Mike DiBiase ), and Joe and Amy Hennig (son and daughter of the late Curt “Mr. Perfect” Hennig and grandson and granddaughter of Larry “The Axe” Hennig).

- The on-again, off-again, love-hate relationship between Vince McMahon and Hulk Hogan reportedly has taken a turn for the worse.

Sources say the plethora of negative publicity that has surrounded the Hulkster over the past year has not done much to enhance Hogan’s stock in the eyes of the WWE owner, and Hogan’s latest reality series, Celebrity Championship Wrestling, has further angered McMahon, who feels the show has done nothing but expose the business. McMahon even reportedly put the word out to Hogan that he was not welcome at WWE’s recent Raw show in Tampa.

The acrimonious split with McMahon isn’t Hogan’s only strained relationship, as the 55-year-old Hulkster remains in the middle of a nasty divorce. His estranged wife, Linda, has accused him of selling his trademarks — including his name — to friend Eric Bischoff to prevent her from benefiting from the profits in their ongoing divorce. She alleges her former partner is trying to hide his assets by passing them on to Bischoff at a discount price. She filed for a divorce from Hogan last November after 23 years of marriage.

Hogan’s attorney, David Houston, has denied the claims. “There has been no siphoning of money — if Linda has to ask again, we’ll be more than happy to provide the same answer,” he told the TMZ Web site.

The lawyer also has responded to recent comments made by a Linda Hogan (Bollea) publicist that she pulled the plug on their marriage because Hogan had an affair with their daughter’s former best friend.

“It is unfortunate Linda Hogan will do virtually anything to keep herself in the public spotlight,” Houston said. “We are not going to demean this process nor the family any longer by responding to what amounts to pathetic pleas for attention.”

- Yet another wrestling couple has become a casualty of the wrestling business. The divorce of Kurt and Karen Angle, who until recently were playing the roles of estranged partners in a TNA storyline, has become final in real life.

The two were married in 1998 and have two children.

- ECW champ Matt Hardy told The Post and Courier last week that he has re-signed with WWE.

Hardy, who recently suffered an injury to his previously surgically repaired left knee during an ECW title match against Fit Finlay, says the knee is doing much better and he will compete at tonight’s Survivor Series pay-per-view.

“I hyperextended it and tore ligaments in the back of it midway through the European tour,” said Hardy. “I had to wrestle on television a couple times after that, but what do you do? You wrap it up and go. But I’m pretty good at being responsible whenever I do get injured, and I do what I need to do as far as icing and heating and giving it the treatment it needs.”

Hardy is taking a few days off prior to the pay-per-view and seeing a chiropractor.

“It’s going to be fine. I was lucky. I had three or four days to kind of heel and rehab it. It’s one of those things. It comes with the territory.”

- Ted DiBiase Jr., who was married last month in Mississippi, is starring in “The Marine 2,” the sequel to John Cena’s first motion picture, which was largely panned by critics but considered WWE Studio’s most successful film to date.

DiBiase’s injury angle with Randy Orton was staged to give him time off while filming the movie.

- John Cena, who returns to action at tonight’s Survivor Series, was spotted rocking out in the front row with boss Vince McMahon at an AC/DC concert last weekend at Madison Square Garden. Cena has missed the past three months because of neck surgery.

WWE is desperately hoping that Cena’s much-anticipated return will provide a boost to Raw’s stagnant ratings. Even the in-ring return of Orton and on-air return of Stephanie McMahon have done little to stem the tide, as Raw ratings dropped below the 3.0 mark (2.9) last week and back to the level they were before the three-hour special weeks ago.

- Shawn Michaels, one of WWE’s most consistent stars over the past several years, has hinted in recent interviews that he’s given the company an exact date for his final match. Most expect his swan song to come at the 2010 Wrestlemania where The Undertaker could put his famous Mania streak on the line against “Mr. Wrestlemania.”

- Producers of the upcoming Mick Foley sitcom have dropped the show’s original title, “Hey Dude,” and rechristened the project “Have a Nice Day,” for Foley’s best-selling autobiography. Producers say the original title tested poorly among focus groups and courted confusion with a decade-old Nickelodeon show of the same name.

Christy Canyon, Foley’s favorite old-school adult star, has signed on as a cast member and will play Foley’s next-door neighbor.

“I love Mick Foley,” Canyon said in a press release. “We all love Mick at Playboy Radio, and his wife too ... they are truly two of the best people I know. Mick and I became fast friends when we met a few years back at a book signing here in Hollywood, where we were both promoting books at the time. I can’t wait to work with him on ‘Have a Nice Day.’”

Former TNA booker Scott D’Amore will serve as one of the producers.

- Former WWE heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar captured the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title Nov. 15 by defeating Randy Couture via a second-round TKO. The rugged Minnesotan’s next bout will likely be against the winner of the Frank Mir-Antonio Nogueira bout Dec. 27 at the UFC 92 pay-per-view. Lesnar’s lone UFC defeat was to Mir last February in his UFC debut.

- WWE stock dropped to its lowest point in years last week. The good news is that it set an all-time record for the recent European swing by taking in more than $15 million. The company hopes to cut $20 million next year.

- WWE has re-signed Dustin Runnels (Goldust) to a contract.

- Former WWE women’s champ Trish Stratus hinted in a recent interview on the company’s Web site that she could be making a return to the ring in the near future. She retired from WWE at the Unforgiven pay-per-view two years ago to pursue other interests.

“I’ve heard that Beth Phoenix and this new diva Natalya have talked (trash) about me,” Stratus said. “I’ve said it before, but if they ever decided to call me out, I wouldn’t hesitate to step into the ring.”

The 32-year-old Canadian is up for that country’s Gemini Award for “Hottest Canadian Female TV Star” on Nov. 28.

- Latest WWE casualty is former ECW general manager Armando Estrada (Hazem Ali). Estrada, who made his debut on WWE television in April 2006 as a Cuban businessman and heel manager for the debuting Umaga (Eddie Fatu), was released less than two weeks after several other performers were dropped from the roster.

The company, which has made a number of cutbacks in recent weeks, also is now employing a scheduling change regarding its referees based on seniority that is expected to lower costs. Referees will no longer be Raw, Smackdown or ECW brands, but will be assigned independently of brand.

Jim Ross hinted on his blog last week that additional talent cuts appear likely.

“If forced to make a prediction, I would think yes, and that unfortunately, but honestly, it isn’t a bad thing to change the bottom and then the middle of the lineup at least annually. Roster ‘upgrades’ was always my goal when I worked in talent relations as it is today. However, the more cooks in the kitchen regarding who goes and who stays makes it more difficult in my opinion,” said Ross.

- TNA also is loosening its budget belt with talk of possible roster cuts. The company recently released road agents Pat Kinney (aka Simon Diamond) and Glenn Gilberti (aka Disco Inferno).

- Linda McMahon has been ranked 43rd in the 2008 Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Cable.

“As part of a tag-team duo with husband Vince, Linda McMahon makes deals while building a positive image for WWE and growing its film unit,” Cablefax magazine wrote of the WWE CEO. “She also laid the groundwork for the Smackdown Your Vote! initiative and paved the way for presidential candidates Obama, McCain and Clinton to make special appearances on Monday Night Raw.”

- It was nice to see Stephanie McMahon bring out WWE Hall of Famer Chief Jay Strongbow for a bow during last week’s Raw in Atlanta. Strongbow, who lives in nearby Griffin, Ga., was a major star for Vince McMahon’s dad, Vincent James McMahon, in the World Wide Wrestling Federation during the ‘70s.

While his gimmick was that of a rain-dancing, headdress-wearing, tomahawk chop-throwing Native American, he was actually an Italian American from Brooklyn named Joe Scarpa.

“A gimmick is what you make out of it. Saying you’re a pilot doesn’t mean you can fly a plane. You have to learn to fly the plane as well. Same with the Indian gimmick,” Strongbow said in an interview last year. “You’ve got to relate with the people. Some of the guys out there today think they’re more important than the people buying the tickets.”

Scarpa, 79, was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1994.

- The annual WWE Tribute to the Troops show will air Dec. 20 on NBC. A WWE crew will head to Baghdad following a Raw event Dec. 1 in Washington, D.C.

- WWE will be in town Dec. 7 with a Smackdown/ECW house show at the North Charleston Coliseum. The Sunday event, which is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m., features Triple H vs. Vladimir Koslov in a street fight for the WWE heavyweight title; Undertaker vs. Umaga in a challenge match; and Jack Swagger vs. Matt Hardy in an ECW title match.

Ticket prices are $51, $41, $31, $21 (plus applicable fees). Tickets are available at the Coliseum Advance Ticket Office, all Ticketmaster outlets (including select Publix grocery stores), online at www.ticketmaster.com or charge by phone at 554-6060.

- Halligan’s Restaurant and Bar, 3025 Ashley Towne Center, Suite 201, will air WWE’s Survivor Series pay-per-view at 8 p.m. tonight. Admission is free.

Reach Mike Mooneyham at (843) 937-5517 or mooneyham@postandcourier.com. For wrestling updates during the week, call The Post and Courier Info Line at (843) 937-6000, ext. 3090.

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