The Sunday Papers

Between the ‘sheets

– Reid Flair, son of Ric Flair, passed away on Friday at age 25. He was found in a Charlotte hotel room, the cause of death is still unknown. The story appeared first on PWInsider and confirmed by police via the Charlotte Observer soon after. Ric’s agent put out a statement requesting that the family’s privacy be respected. A quote taken from a World Wrestling Insanity shoot with Reid is especially poignant:
“If I die and no one remembers me for anything else, as long as I have the respect from my father, that’s enough for me.”
Needless to say, he had it. There is a guestbook for friends, family and fans to leave condolences here.

– This news came only days after Ric Flair’s scheduled appearance on Raw was cancelled due to a return of a blood clot that he suffered in Japan in January. He was sent home for tests, but not admitted to hospital. He was replaced on Raw by Booker T.

– Some Hall of Fame inductors have been announced. Bruno Sammartino will be inducted by long time friend and big time celebrity Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mick Foley is unsurprisingly being inducted by hero and mentor Terry Funk and Bob Backlund will be inducted by career rival…uh, Maria Menounos? Ok then. Maria says Backlund was her childhood idol and that they have been friends since doing a comedy appearance together a few years ago.

– More WrestleMania celebrity news, we’re getting a mini-concert from P Diddy! Needless to say this will be a pee break so chances are, Diddy, I’ll be missing you.

– More WrestleMania music news, according to WrestleZone, Eminem’s ‘Till I Collapse’ will be used for Cena’s pre-match hype video and/or entrance. Apparently Jay-Z could be similarly used for Rock.

– Evan Bourne is coming back! He recently worked a match in NXT against Sammy Sane, formerly El Generico. Bourne won the match with the shooting star press.

– We have our first glimpse at the WrestleMania set design thanks to a leaked photo. There will be a mini Empire State Building blocking a load of seats.

– PaddyPower, among other sites, is offering markets for WrestleMania. Many sites jump on WrestleMania, but I give my little shout out to Paddy because they do all the other WWE PPVs too. Good lads.

– Interested in working for WWE? Well this week they admitted (kinda) that they have no idea what they’re doing. If you have writing experience, know Mexican culture and enjoy banging your head against brick walls, go apply!

– URN ANDERSON.

– WWE was sent a MetLife stadium shaped cake by Cake Boss cake artists Carlo’s Bakery. It’s pretty awesome.

– TNA has been building their April 11th show as a bit of a supershow to fill the new gaps between pay per views. So far they have a world title match between Bully Ray and Jeff Hardy which will be held under full metal mayhem rules, and a tag title match which sees the Dirty Heels, Austin Aries & Bobby Roode, defend against Los Stereotypicos, Chavo Guerrero & Hernandez. Full metal mayhem is essentially TNA’s version of TLC, the theory being that anything made of metal is legal. Let’s just ignore that tables are made of wood, the legs are metal, that’s all that really matters.

– You may not want to read this one. Hell, I don’t want to write it. X-Pac tore himself a new asshole at a show this week. Or, more accurately, tore his old one. His girlfriend, formerly Ryan Shamrock, explained on Instagram. The most telling part is that this isn’t the first time it’s happened. I don’t know about you, but if I tore my bum doing a move, it would be the last time I ever do the move. Just me?

And finally…

– #BabyfaceDickery this week goes to Alberto Del Rio, for this misplaced rage. Cesaro did nothing.

– Speculation Corner is done for this year now WrestleMania is pretty much locked. My Cesaro prediction from last week has already been ruined, Sin Cara is out with a concussion. Ah well.