Rowdy Roddy Piper Dies At Age 61

TMZ reports:

Wrestling legend "Rowdy" Roddy Piper has died at the age of 61 ... TMZ Sports has learned. Piper -- born Roderick George Toombs -- died from cardiac arrest in his sleep at his home in Hollywood on Thursday night. He was discovered on Friday. Piper was a wrestling icon -- one of the biggest stars in the WWE back in the '80s, and even wrestled in "Wrestlemania I" back in 1985 ... squaring off against Hulk Hogan and Mr. T. Roddy's rep tells us, "I am devastated at this news. Rod was a good friend as well as a client and one of the most generous, sincere and authentic people I have ever known. This is a true loss to us all." Piper had been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 2006, but last November he said he was cancer free. A family source tells us he was "cancer free" at the time of his death.

New Yorker Profiles Drag Wrestler

The New Yorker has published a fascinating profile on star Mexican wrestler Cassandro. An excerpt:

At the top of the fun list, for Saúl [Armendáriz], was lucha libre—the flashy, popular Mexican brand of professional wrestling. Every barrio had a small arena where masked heroes (técnicos) and villains (rudos) grappled and whirled and tossed one another around on Sundays. Saúl loved the gaudy costumes. He loved the rowdy, passionate crowds. He idolized the larger-than-life luchadores. He was not a big kid, but he was athletic and quick and in desperate need of an alter ego. “Being gay is a gift from God,” Armendáriz told me recently. That was not his experience as a child. He remembers being brutally punished, at a very young age, for playing patty-cake, a girl’s game, with a like-minded boy at school. His parents, particularly his father, were mortified by his effeminacy. “My dad was a machista,” he said. “He did not want a gay son.” His father, a truck driver, drank; he beat Saúl’s mother. They divorced when Saúl was thirteen. Other kids were also rough. “Boys in the neighborhood, including my own relatives, used me as a sex toy,” he told me. Armendáriz, who is forty-four, stood at a dressing-room mirror in Los Angeles, putting on green-glitter eyeshadow, while recalling these horrors. He did not seem notably detached from, or perturbed by, what he was saying, but somewhere in between. “I am not a victim,” he said firmly. Then he gave a small sigh and started putting on lipstick—fire-engine red. “But I am still so damaged.” He glued on a pair of false eyelashes. He was transforming Saúl into his lucha character, the fabulous world welterweight champion Cassandro.

Just Because...

WWE Poses For NOH8 Campaign

Via press release: "WWE has teamed up with charitable organization NOH8 to show its support for marriage, gender and human equality. Some of WWE’s most notable Superstars and Divas have jumped in front of Adam Bouska’s lens to publicly proclaim their support for equal rights and had a great time doing it! Everyone from Chief Brand Officer, Stephanie McMahon and her Superstar husband, Triple H to the cast of E!’s Total Divas joined the silent photographic protest campaign." You'll have to embiggen the image to see who is who.

John Cena Supports Michael Sam

Wrestling superstar John Cena has a gay brother.

Watch the full Larry King show.

Feminists Hate Wrestling

"Wresting has been an Olympic sport ever since the Olympic Games were started in ancient Greece. The opposition to wrestling was probably coming from the feminists who do not excel in the sport of wrestling, and who dislike anything that is truly masculine, as wrestling certainly is. I'm happy to report that our campaign was successful and wrestling will remain as one of the sports in the Olympic Games. If any sport could be targeted for elimination, I suggest ping-pong. I don't think that is really a sport worthy of inclusion. Even I can play ping-pong, and I'm no athlete. The attempt to cancel wrestling was really a political decision rather than anything to do with athletics. Let's hope the public wakes up to the feminist war against manly sports and begins defending sports and exposing the nonsense of the feminists." - Phyllis Schlafly, claiming to have personally convinced the International Olympic Committee to reinstate wrestling for the 2020 Games.

ESPN On Mexico's "Exoticos"

ESPN has published a fascinating piece on Mexico's "exoticos," the (sometimes) straight men who play flamboyant characters on the professional wrestling circuit known as lucha libre.

Contemporary luche libre is big business on television but retains its early folkloric identity. Exóticos date from the golden age of the sport, which ran from the 1940s through the 1960s. One of the first was Sterling Davis, a Texan who moved to Mexico in 1942 to reinvent his wrestling career. Davis handed out flowers to women on his way to the ring, which earned him the nickname Gardenia. An old friend of Davis' back in the States, George Wagner, heard about the act. He decided to try something similar and in doing so became a pop-culture phenomenon, America's first great wrestling heel, the vainglorious Gorgeous George. The old-time exóticos had been straight men harping on tired gay clichés. In the mid-1980s, that began to change. A new generation of openly gay wrestlers reveled in the exótico's sexuality, coyly tweaking stereotypes to confront the audience with the idea that being gay could be something more than a stage joke. They also ushered the exótico out of villainy. Lucha libre's organizing principle is good vs. evil: técnico contra rudo. Técnicos are graceful, honorable and skilled wrestlers. Rudos win with brute strength and by cheating when the referee's back is turned. Where the early exóticos had been exclusively rudos, some of the new generation began to assume the role of técnico.

The highlight of the act is when the exotico kisses his opponent, a move that is meant to be demeaning to the vanquished, a "symbolic deathblow."  (Tipped by JMG reader Sean)

Wrestling Reinstated For 2020 Olympics

The International Olympic Committee has reversed itself and reinstated wrestling for the 2020 Summer Games, which will be held in Tokyo.

Wrestling, which was surprisingly dropped from the list of core sports in February, received 49 votes to win in the first round of secret balloting by the International Olympic Committee. Baseball-softball got 24 votes and squash 22. The decision capped a frantic six-month campaign by the wrestling body FILA to revamp the organization and reshape the sport to save its Olympic status. “With this vote, you have shown that the steps we have taken to improve our sport have made a difference,” FILA President Nenad Lalovic said. “I assure each of you that our modernization will not stop now. We will continue to strive to be the best partner to the Olympic movement that we can be.”

(Tipped by JMG reader Dwight)

Pro Wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin Endorses Same-Sex Marriage

Good As You tips us that six-time WWF champion Steve Austin has endorsed same-sex marriage in a rather hilariously profane string of comments made during an internet radio interview. It's a big week for wrestling news around here, huh?

WWE Star Darren Young: I'm Happy Now

"I've been suppressing these feelings for so long in my life that - I'm going to be 30 on November 2nd - I just need to be happy."

WWE Stars Support Darren Young

In case you missed this morning's news, WWE star Darren Young has come out. The WWE has issued a statement to GLAAD: "WWE is proud of Darren Young for being open about his sexuality, and we will continue to support him as a WWE Superstar. Today, in fact, Darren will be participating in one of our Be A Star anti-bullying rallies in Los Angeles to teach children how to create positive environments for everyone regardless of age, race, religion or sexual orientation."

UPDATE: WWE superstar John Cena applauds:  "Good for him. That's fantastic. I know Darren personally. Darren's a great guy. That's a very bold move for him. And congratulations for him for actually finally doing it. It's all about being professional, and Darren Young is a consummate professional. For us, it's entertainment, and if you're entertaining you shouldn't be judged by race, creed, color or sexuality ... as long as you're entertaining."

WWE Star Darren Young Comes Out

I almost put a question mark in the headline because with pro wrestling, you never know. Here's what TMZ says:

WWE superstar Darren Young just dropped a bombshell, telling TMZ, he's gay ... and no, this isn't part of the act. Darren was at LAX Wednesday when we asked whether a gay wrestler could succeed in WWE, and Darren laughed, saying, "Absolutely. Look at me. I'm a WWE superstar and to be honest with you, I'll tell you right now, I'm gay. And I'm happy. I'm very happy." For the record, Darren is now the first openly gay wrestler ever at WWE ... and the first headlining wrestler ever to come out while still signed to a major promotion. Other pro wrestlers have been rumored to be gay, but that's it ... just rumors. Bottom line: this is big, big news. For all its chauvinism and testosterone-driven bravado, coming out in WWE is tantamount to coming out in the NFL.

Sporting news site the Bleacher Report reacts:

The news is initially jarring, but perhaps it shouldn't be in this day and age with tolerance at an all-time high for alternative lifestyles. Perhaps even more surprising than Young's announcement was the nonchalant manner in which he made it. There were no bells and whistles involved as Young didn't call for a news conference or anything of that nature. TMZ is infamous for its ambush interview style, and it appears as though Young's interview was no different. It seemed like a spontaneous decision on Young's part, and he should be commended for it.

CM Punk's Grammar Slam

More of his slams are at The Nerdist.

Olympic Wrestling At Grand Central

The New York Times reports:

Cheered on by a raucous crowd waving flags and chanting, a team of Iranian wrestlers defeated the United States, 6-1, in an exhibition match staged in New York’s Grand Central Terminal on Wednesday. The match was part of a unified effort by sporting officials from the three nations to save wrestling as an Olympic sport. The International Olympic Committee suggested in February that wrestlers might not be invited to compete in the 2020 Olympic Games.

Iranians Cheer US Wrestler

The Washington Post reports:

There’s a long history of sports diplomacy serving as a kind of release valve for international tensions. Last week’s international wrestling tournament in Tehran, where the Iranian and American teams took a low-stakes opportunity to show a bit of mutual goodwill, was a nice example. Posted by CNN over the weekend is a video of Iranian wrestling fans getting in on the love. As if performing a sort of corrective to the U.S.-Iranian antagonism that is increasingly costing their country, the fans made a big show of cheering the American team and one American in particular: star wrestler Jordan Burroughs.

On Saturday Iran won the freestyle portion of the competition, with Russia coming in second and the U.S. finishing third.

Wrestling Groups Petition IOC

A global coalition of wrestling groups has launched a website and several petitions which urge the International Olympic Committee to reconsider their decision to drop the sport starting with the 2020 Games.  The coalition has vowed to make changes in order to remain an Olympic sport.

FILA President Nenad LalovicFILA takes its responsibly very seriously on behalf of all the 180 affiliated National Federations and all the wrestlers in the world. We understand the IOC recommendation and respect the process. As a sport, we are willing to undertake all the necessary steps for our sport to remain on the core program of the Olympic Games. The world of wrestling is understandably disappointed by the IOC Executive Board’s recommendation to remove wrestling from the 2020 Olympic Games program. We see this as an opportunity which could be a positive turning point for our sport. One thing is for certain : it is our responsibility alone to address the issues that led to this situation. We are listening to the IOC’s concerns and learning from their guidance. We must strive to improve our sport’s Olympic offering in order to retain our position on the Olympic program and evolve with the times.

Russian Coach Blames Gay Activists For Demise Of Olympic Wrestling

Yesterday the International Olympic Committee announced that wrestling will be dropped as an official sport starting with the 2020 Games.  And you know who's fault that is?  Gay activists who hate masculinity.   From the Russia-based website R-Sport:

Gay rights activists with a vendetta against masculinity are behind plans to cut wrestling from the Olympic program, the coach of a London 2012 gold medal-winner told R-Sport on Tuesday. If they expel wrestling now, that means that gays will soon run the whole world,” coach Vladimir Uruimagov said, calling the decision “a blow to masculine origins.” He added: “It turns out this committee is headed by representative of these minorities," clarifying that he meant sexual minorities. Uruimagov called on wrestling fans to petition the IOC to reinstate wrestling, suggesting that the future of humanity was at stake. “It is necessary for millions around the world who understand that this is a man’s sport and who understand the need to continue the human race to go out and explain their position to the Olympic Committee,” he said. “We should prove and explain that in any other case there is no future.”

R-Sport politely notes that none of the IOC board members have "any apparent background" in the gay rights movement.

Olympics To Drop Wrestling

In a move sure to disappoint some gay fans, the International Olympic Committee has voted to drop wrestling as of the 2020 Games.  Among the criteria considered were the sport's television ratings, ticket sales, anti-doping policy, global participation, and popularity.

"This is a process of renewing and renovating the program for the Olympics," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. "In the view of the executive board, this was the best program for the Olympic Games in 2020. It's not a case of what's wrong with wrestling, it is what's right with the 25 core sports." The loss of wrestling is a huge blow to the U.S., one of the most successful countries in Olympic wrestling, winning 124 medals. The U.S had two gold medalists at last summer's London Games: Jordan Burroughs and Jake Varner. Coleman Scott added bronze along with Clarissa Chun in women's freestyle. U.S. women have won four medals since women's wrestling was added to the 2004 Athens Games. The former Soviet Union won 116 medals in the Olympics, and Russia 51. Wrestling featured 344 athletes competing in 11 medal events in freestyle and seven in Greco-Roman at the London Olympics.

A federation of wrestling groups is expected to appeal the decision at an upcoming IOC meeting. Prior to today's move, it had been expected that the pentathlon would be the eliminated sport.  The most-recently discontinued Olympic sports are baseball and softball.  Golf and rugby will debut at the 2016 Games in Rio De Janeiro. [Photo: 2012 U.S. gold medalist Jordan Burroughs.]

GOP Senate Candidate Linda McMahon Reverses: I Would Vote To Repeal DOMA

Quite surprising. But welcome.

CONNECTICUT: Wrestling Maven Linda McMahon Buys GOP Senate Primary Win

Tea Party candidate and pro wrestling jillionaire Linda McMahon won today's GOP Senate primary in Connecticut after outspending her moderate opponent by 12-1.

In defeating Christopher Shays, a former United States representative and longtime fixture in moderate politics in the state, Ms. McMahon underscored the power of being an outside candidate, as well as a wealthy one. She outspent her opponent nearly 12 to 1, and flooded the airwaves with advertisements promoting herself as a political maverick who could bring common sense to Washington. It appeared that Mr. Shays, who held his House seat for two decades before losing his bid to keep it in 2008, was tripped up by the Washington experience and centrist viewpoints that once made him one of the more popular Republicans in a left-leaning state.

In 2010 McMahon spent an estimated $50M of her own money in her losing campaign against now Sen. Richard Blumenthal. This time she will face three-term U.S. House Rep. Chris Murphy, who is making his first Senate bid. Both are vying for the seat opened by the retirement of Joe Lieberman.