THE NEW STEVIE RICHARDS FITNESS BLOG

First of all, I’d like to thank everyone for the positive response to my first column as well as the feedback for future ones. When I posted on my Twitter account and Facebook page the question of what to write about in this week’s entry, the overwhelming subject was nutrition.

Nutrition is something that, while pretty basic in theory, can be configured endless ways for what the individual is trying to accomplish. People who strive for pure weight loss, bodybuilding, athletics and, even, just to live healthy... all can have a nutrition plan tailored to their specific needs. Even after so many years of applying multiple plans to my regimen, I find myself confused at times. So, for the sake of this particular column, I will pass along what I ate in the weeks and days leading up to the TNA Hardcore Justice PPV.

Here it what my schedule starting 2 weeks before the event:

*PLEASE CONSULT YOUR PHYSICIAN BEFORE STARTING ANY NUTRITION AND/OR WORKOUT REGIMEN!!!! WHAT WORKS FOR ME MAY NOT WORK FOR YOU. ALL OF OUR BODIES ARE DIFFERENT.

1st Meal
4 Egg whites + 1 Whole
1 Packet Oatmeal
Handful of Peanuts or almonds

2nd Meal
1 scoop Nectar Protein Shake w/4oz. Lactaid Fat Free Milk

3rd Meal
1 Chicken Breast with a bunch of Romaine Lettuce
1/2 cup brown rice
1 TBSP Cod Liver Oil

4th Meal
1 scoop Nectar Protein w/water

5th Meal

Any lean Meat(no red) l
Green vegetables
Romaine Lettuce
Some days low sodium soup
Handful of peanuts or almonds

6th Meal
4-6 Egg Whites

This plan was given to me by Kimberly Cale, a personal trainer with tons of experience. I thought this plan looked very good and seems to make perfect sense. The nutrition plan for the days leading to the PPV, however, didn’t seem right to me. However, she is in great shape and told me this plan would lean me out sufficiently for Hardcore Justice. It’s up to your eyes to agree or disagree, but I think it worked pretty darn well. Here is what I ate starting 4 days before the PPV:

8AM-1PM(every 2 Hours)

Pick 1 these 3 fruits for the day:

Watermelon
Oranges
Cantaloup

Eat a huge serving in the time span specified above

1PM-7PM(every 2 Hours)

Chicken or fish with heaping servings of green vegetables or green salad

Now, like I stated, these plans may not be right for you. To reaffirm that and discuss his nutrition principles, I spoke with fellow wrestler and fitness colleague Johnny Swinger. Have a listen:

http://player.wizzard.tv/player/o/j/x/128345160551/config/k-4dbf8ad945d78dca/uuid/root/height/360/width/640/episode/k-01dacc19aea5c64c.m4v

Remember, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me via Twitter @michaelmanna as well as www.youtube.com/t4showvideos. Thank you and best of luck in your future nutrition endeavors.

Michael S. Manna
Host, T4 Show

On the T4 Show, Stevie Richards educates the consumer while helping them save money on the latest electronic products and gizmos being introduced to the market. CLICK HERE TO WATCH IT AT YOUTUBE

THURSDAY, SEPT 9: ONLINE BOUND FOR GLORY KICKOFF SHOW

This Thursday (Sept 9) at 9pmET/6pmPT, TNAwrestling.com presents the Bound For Glory Kickoff Show.

Hosted by Jeremy Borash, the webcast will feature a Q & A session with TNA President Dixie Carter where she will answer questions form the fans.

Additionally, tune in to see exclusive interviews with many of the stars who will be participating in Bound For Glory.

TNA WRESTLING PRESENTS "NO SURRENDER" LIVE ON PAY-PER-VIEW THIS SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 5

This Sunday, September 5, TNA Wrestling presents "No Surrender" live and exclusively on Pay-Per-View from Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida!

The three-hour epic event will air on Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Charter Cable, Cablevision, AT&T U-Verse, Verizon FIOS, DIRECTV, Dish Network, Viewer's Choice and more. It will feature all of your favorite TNA Superstars including Jeff Hardy, Kurt Angle, Mr. Anderson, The Pope, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, AJ Styles, The Motor City Machineguns and many more!
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SEMI-FINALS OF THE TNA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT
Winners advance to the Finals at "Bound For Glory" on Sunday, October 10 to crown a new TNA World Heavyweight Champion

SEMI-FINAL: KURT ANGLE VS. JEFF HARDY
SEMI-FINAL: MR. ANDERSON VS. THE POPE

TNA WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE
Motor City Machineguns vs. Desmond Wolfe and Magnus

I-QUIT MATCH
AJ Styles vs. Tommy Dreamer

X DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP
Sabu vs. (c) Douglas Williams

TAG TEAM MATCH
Sting & Kevin Nash vs. Jeff Jarrett & Samoa Joe

FALLS COUNT ANYWHERE
Abyss vs. "The War Machine" Rhino

GRUDGE MATCH
Velvet Sky vs. Madison Rayne

The "No Surrender" Pay-Per-View theme is performed by:

HELL YEAH
"It's On!"
hellyeahband.com

Watch TNA iMPACT! Thursday at 9PM ET on SPIKE for No Surrender news & announcements

WATCH THE LATEST TNA TODAY: PREVIEWING SUNDAY'S "NO SURRENDER" PAY-PER-VIEW

Check out the latest edition of TNA Today, featuring Jeremy Borash and Don West previewing Sunday's "No Surrender" Pay-Per-View, plus Don has details on his new Knockouts ShopTNA.com special

Remember to watch all the latest TNA Wrestling videos at YouTube.com/TNAwrestling

INTERNATIONAL AIRDATES FOR TNA WRESTLING'S "NO SURRENDER" PPV

United Kingdom
Extreme Channel – Friday 10th September at 22:00
BT Vision – available from Monday 6th September at 15:00

France
Ma Chaine Sport - Friday 10th September 7:30pm

Germany, Austria and Switzerland
Sky Deutschland – Monday 6th September at 01:00 (Live)

Portugal
Sport TV3– Monday 6th September at 22:30

Denmark
Canal9– Friday 10th September at 21:50

India
ESPN Star Sports– Wednesday 8th September at 18:00

Australia
Main Event – Monday 6th September at 10:00 (AEDT)

Africa
Setanta – Monday 6th September at 00:00 (Live)

Panama
TV Max - Check Your Listings

TNA WRESTLING TO DEBUT IN FRANCE

Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling announced a new television agreement that brings its flagship programme, “TNA iMPACT!” to France on Ma Chaine Sport. The deal was negotiated by RDA TV, exclusive international television distribution partners of TNA Entertainment.

“TNA iMPACT!” will air Fridays at 20:00 starting September 10, while TNA pay-per-view events will be available via MCS’s On-Demand service beginning with TNA’s biggest event of the year, “Bound For Glory 2010,” October 10.

“TNA iMPACT!” brings a two hour weekly dose of the very best in professional wrestling to MCS, featuring huge matches and high drama from some of the most famous names in professional wrestling such as pop culture icon Hulk Hogan, ‘The Nature Boy’ Ric Flair, ‘The Phenomenal’ AJ Styles, “The Charismatic Enigma” Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam.

MCS is the among the leading sports channels in France reaching over 8 million households through Cable, Satellite, ADSL and Mobile. MCS boasts several sports channels including: Ma Chaine Sport (its flagship channel), MCS Extrême, MCS Mobile, as well as various PPV and VOD services. Other content carried on Ma Chaine Sport includes Football, Boxing, Tennis ATP/WTA, Athletics and many more, for a total of more than 4000 hours per year of exclusive content.

TNA President Dixie Carter said: “TNA is excited to bring ‘iMPACT!’ back to our French fans. As TNA continues to grow internationally, our French fans have demanded TNA programming, and we’re thrilled to bring the best professional wrestling in the world to MCS.”

TNA Wrestling has gone from strength to strength since its founding in 2002 and now boasts broadcast deals in over 100 countries. In a sign of the growth of the TNA brand, global wrestling superstar Hulk Hogan signed on in 2009 to lead the roster of experienced veterans and up and coming superstars to new heights.

RDA TV has secured a record number of deals for TNA content over the past 12 months, amounting to almost 2000 hours of programming including the UK (Bravo, Extreme Sports Channel and BT Vision), Germany (Sky), Australia (Fox8, Fuel TV and One), Africa (Setanta Sports), Portugal (Sport TV), Denmark (Canal 9) and Panama (TV Max)

PREVIEW THE HARDCORE JUSTICE DVD: 2-DISC SET WITH THE COMPLETE PPV AND PACKED WITH BONUS CONTENT

Coming November 2 to major retailers and ShopTNA.com - exclusive video below

MAIN EVENT
Rob Vam Dam w/ Bill Alfonso vs. Sabu

THE FINAL SHOWDOWN
Special Guest Referee – Mick Foley
Tommy Dreamer vs. Raven

Philadelphia Street Fight (Falls Count Anywhere)
Team 3D w/ Joel Gertner vs. Axl Rotten & Kahoneys

Three-Way Dance
“The War Machine” Rhino vs. Al Snow vs. Brother Runt

6-Man Tag Team Match
The FBI (Little Guido, Tony Luke, & Tracy Smothers) w/ Big Sal Graziano vs. Kid Kash, Simon Diamond, and Johnny Swinger

Stevie Richards vs. P.J. Polaco

Too Cold Scorpio vs. CW Anderson

Plus Appearances by The Sandman, The Gangstas, and more!

Video Below: First-look at some of the extra bonus content from the 2-Disc DVD release, containing extensive in-depth interviews and memories from the hardcore superstars about the rise and fall of the famous Philadelphia promotion.

15 MINUTES WITH BOOBOO FEATURING KEVIN NASH

Hello TNA Wrestling fans! The last 2 months have been extremely busy for me since the release of Twilight: Eclipse. I have been traveling the world for the premiers and all over the United States for the Twilight fan conventions. It has been an incredible experience. Speaking of someone who has been all over the world, my next interview is with Kevin Nash, someone who has wrestled in every major promotion, been all over the world, and is still going strong in TNA today. Check it out! - Booboo Stewart

Boo: Hi Kevin. Thanks you for taking the time to spend 15 Minutes here with me on TNAWrestling.com.

Kevin: Hey buddy, my pleasure.

Boo: So you have been wrestling for quite sometime--when did you start?

Kevin: Well, my first match was in 1990, but I had trained for about year before that. I trained down in Georgia before there was any Power Plant or developmental schools. I learned to wrestle in a Quonset hut under the tutelage of “The Assassin” Jody Hamilton. I lucked out because I basically got signed to go to camp and went straight to WCW.

Boo: So you have been wrestling for over 20 years, how much longer do you see yourself in the ring?

Kevin: I am one injury away from another rehab stint, but then I am sure I would come back again haha. Right now, I feel better than I have in about 5 or 6 years. I’ve lost a ton of weight and feel great. I don’t see myself stopping right now. I would stop when it stops being fun. I still get nervous when I haven’t wrestled in a while, but once I get going, I’m back into it. The other week on iMPACT!, I wrestled Jeff Jarrett in my first TV match in months and the next day, I felt great and really cared about what I do out there.

Boo: You are one of the best known wrestlers of all time--could you ever have imagined being this successful?

Kevin: To be honest, no. I remember when I was standing in Madison Square Garden and handed the Heavyweight Championship after defeating Bob Backlund and all I could think is you have got to be kidding me. I was only given about a months notice when Vince called me during an overseas tour and told me to come to his house in Connecticut to talk. He sat me down and told me that they wanted to run with me. I had only been working there for a little over a year at that point. Truth be told, I thought I would be playing pro ball.

Boo: Who would you say is the most influential wrestler of all time?

Kevin: To me as a wrestler, the first guy that took me under his wing was Rick Rude. He taught me and was the first guy I watched that looked at it from an entertainment standpoint. He mastered the art of getting the fans to laugh and then boo him. All I could think when watching him was, “wow that’s how it’s done.” I was also a huge Hulk Hogan and Hulkamania fan. While we are only a few years apart in age, I always enjoyed watching him. If you are asking who the most influential wrestler of all times is to the business as a whole, I would say it’s not necessarily a single wrestler. Hulk and Hulkamania started it and the Monday Night Wars made wrestling even bigger. The Hulkamania era, the nWo (with Hulk turning into a bad guy), and the WWF Attitude era (DX, Austin, Rock) is really what made wrestling. The way I see it, WCW built a saturn rocket and right before we took off, Vince kicked us out and took off.

Boo: What are some of your other hobbies outside the ring?

Kevin: Weightlifting and body building. I’m also a huge NBA fan. My team is the Los Angeles Lakers and it’s been that way since Chamberlain; I didn’t just jump aboard like others.

Boo: If you could have a pro career in any sport (other than wrestling) what would it be?

Kevin: Without a doubt, basketball. I grew up in a neighborhood where you played whatever sport was in season; we played everything. I lived on a block full of kids with enough for 9 on 9 baseball games in Suburban Southside Detroit. I started playing basketball in 8th grade and also played football since 6th grade. Then, as I got taller and thinner during freshman year of high school, I got moved up to varsity basketball and started the last 5 games that season. Almost immediately I received letters from Big Ten schools that summer so I knew that was the avenue I was going to go. I ended up playing basketball through junior year of college, started 2 of the 3 years at University of Tennessee. I also played 3 ½ seasons overseas professional ball after college.

Boo: Do you have aspirations of becoming (more) involved in the film business?

Kevin: As you know I have been in several major movies already including The Punisher, The Longest Yard, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, so yea. I’m actually in the process of shooting a short with my own company in conjunction with 386 Films coming up. This is so I can show I can act besides getting handed a hatchet every time I get an audition. I thought my role in The Longest Yard would work, but it didn’t.

Boo: What would be your dream match?

Kevin: I think I’ve wrestled everyone I could have dreamt of except for Andre the Giant and that would have been brutal; me as the Master Blaster against Andre in his last year.

Boo: Do you have any suggestions for aspiring wrestlers?

Kevin: I would say go to college. But at the same time, live your dream. If you want it, do it. If someone in a dunce hat can be World Champion, anything can happen.

Boo: Would you let your son get into wrestling?

Kevin: Only if we sedated my wife. I would, but my wife wouldn’t allow it. He’s more into music and basketball now anyways. He’s currently a freshman, but you never know, like father like son.

Boo: Also, before we finish up, we do a thing called “Five with Fivel” where my sister throws 5 random topics at you to see what your thoughts are--so here you go.

Steak or Seafood - Steak

Dogs or Cats - Dogs

Hunting – Well, I love to shoot guns. Hunting is pretty sweet. I don’t do it, but I think when I retire its something I might want to do, go out and kill stuff. I love the taste of all that type of meats like deer. Eat what you kill.

Soccer – A poor man’s Ambien. It puts me to sleep. There’s a reason it’s not popular in America.

Jennifer Aniston – Perfect.

Boo: Thanks for your time--do you have anything else you want your fans to know?

Kevin: My wife is a huge fan of the Twilight series. She loves the books and loves the movies. And yes, I have seen the first 2 movies because of her and enjoyed them. Obviously I still need to see the 3rd one. Take care.

The best way to keep up with me is to follow me on twitter at twitter.com/mammarazzi1

Stay tuned for my next interview coming soon and be sure to watch TNA iMPACT! on Thursday Nights at 9 PM ET/PT on Spike TV followed immediately by ReAction at 11 PM ET/PT. I know I will be!

WATCH THE NEW EDITION OF "TNA SPIN CYCLE"

Jeremy Borash is back with a new edition of TNA Spin Cycle, featuring a special roundtable discussion on several topics with Simon Diamond, Al Snow, Tommy Dreamer and D'Lo Brown

Watch the new broadcast below!

For tons more TNA wrestling videos, check out TNA's YouTube channel at YouTube.com/TNAwrestling

And don't forget to watch three hours of TNA Wrestling every Thursday night on SpikeTV starting at 9/8c with "iMPACT!" followed by "ReACTION"

Visit TNALIVEEVENTS.COM for TNA Wrestling's complete Worldwide Touring Schedule!

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21: GRAND RAPIDS, MI
Grand Rapids, MI will host a TNA Live! event on Thursday, October 21 at the Van Andel Arena at 7:30 pm.  Tickets go on sale Friday, September 10th at ticketmaster.com or charge by phone at 1-800-745-3000.  Tickets will also be available for purchase at the Van Andel Arena box office, DeVos Place, W. Michigan D&W Stores and select Family Fares. Fans that purchase a ticket in the first three rows will receive a special meet and greet with TNA Superstars one hour before doors open! (Redeemable with ticket the night of the show; offer only applies to $50 tickets).

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22: CADILLAC, MI
Cadillac, MI will host a TNA Live! event on Friday, October 22 at The Wexford Civic Center (The Wex) at 7:30 pm.  Tickets go on sale Friday, September 10th at www.gettix.com or charge by phone at 1-231-779-9520.  Tickets will also be available for purchase at the Wexford Civic Center box office. Fans that purchase a ticket in the first three rows will receive a special meet and greet with TNA Superstars one hour before doors open! (Redeemable with ticket the night of the show; offer only applies to $50 tickets).

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23: SAGINAW, MI
Saginaw, MI will host a TNA Live! event on Saturday, October 23 at The Dow Event Center at 7:30 pm.  Tickets go on sale Friday, September 10th at www.ticketmaster.com or charge by phone at 1-800-745-3000.  Tickets will also be available for purchase at The Dow Event Center box office. Fans that purchase a ticket in the first three rows will receive a special meet and greet with TNA Superstars one hour before doors open! (Redeemable with ticket the night of the show; offer only applies to $50 tickets).

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24: PT. HURON, MI
Pt. Huron, MI will host a TNA Live! event on Sunday, October 24 at McMorran Place Arena at 6:00 pm.  Tickets go on sale Friday, September 10th at www.ticketmaster.com or charge by phone at 1-800-745-3000 or 810-985-6166.  Tickets will also be available for purchase at the McMorran Place Arena box office and all Ticketmaster locations.   Fans that purchase a ticket in the first three rows will receive a special meet and greet with TNA Superstars one hour before doors open! (Redeemable with ticket the night of the show; offer only applies to $50 tickets).

Appearing live and in person will be:
-TNA TV Champion “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles
-TNA Founder Jeff Jarrett
-Mr. Anderson
-TNA World Tag Team Champions Motorcity Machine Guns
-“Samoan Submission Machine” Samoa Joe
-The Beautiful People (Angelina Love & Velvet Sky)
-Jay Lethal
and more!

Stay updated on the latest TNA Live Event news at the following sites:
www.tnaliveevents.com
www.facebook.com/tnawrestling
www.eventful.com/tna

TNA WRESTLING ANNOUNCES NEW LIVE EVENTS COMING IN OCTOBER TO ILLINOIS, WISCONSIN AND IOWA

Don't miss your chance to experience TNA Wrestling LIVE on Tour - visit TNALIVEEVENTS.COM for more touring info!

Appearing live and in person will be:
-Rob Van Dam
-TNA Founder Jeff Jarrett
-Mr. Anderson
-“The Monster” Abyss
-“The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero
-“Samoan Submission Machine” Samoa Joe
and more!

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14: ROCKFORD, IL
Rockford, IL will host a TNA Live! event on Thursday, October 14 at the Rockford MetroCentre at 7:30 pm.  Tickets go on sale Friday, September 3rd at metrocentre.com or charge by phone at 1-815-968-5222.  Tickets will also be available for purchase at the Rockford MetroCentre box office. Fans that purchase a ticket in the first three rows will receive a special meet and greet with TNA Superstars one hour before doors open! (Redeemable with ticket the night of the show; offer only applies to $50 tickets).

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15: RACINE, WI
Racine, WI will host a TNA Live! event on Friday, October 15 at The Memorial Hall – Racine Civic Centre at 7:30 pm.  Tickets go on sale Friday, September 3rd at ticketmaster.com or charge by phone at 1-866-448-7849.  Tickets will also be available for purchase at the Memorial Hall – Racine Civic Centre box office as well as the Boston Department Store. Fans that purchase a ticket in the first three rows will receive a special meet and greet with TNA Superstars one hour before doors open! (Redeemable with ticket the night of the show; offer only applies to $50 tickets).

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16: DUBUQUE, IA
Dubuque, IA will host a TNA Live! event on Saturday, October 16 at the Five Flags Center at 7:30 pm.  Tickets go on sale Friday, September 3rd at ticketmaster.com or charge by phone at 1-800-745-3000.  Tickets will also be available for purchase at the Five Flags Center box office as well as the Ticketmaster outlet at Hy-vee. Fans that purchase a ticket in the first three rows will receive a special meet and greet with TNA Superstars one hour before doors open! (Redeemable with ticket the night of the show; offer only applies to $50 tickets).

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 17: HOFFMAN ESTATES, IL
Hoffman Estates, IL will host a TNA Live! event on Sunday, October 17 at The Sears Centre at 6:00 pm.  Tickets go on sale Friday, September 3rd at www.searscentre.com or charge by phone at 1-888-SEARS-TIX.  Tickets will also be available for purchase at the Sears Centre box office.   Fans that purchase a ticket in the first three rows will receive a special meet and greet with TNA Superstars one hour before doors open! (Redeemable with ticket the night of the show; offer only applies to $50 tickets).

THE NATURE BOY RIC FLAIR TALKS TNA WRESTLING AND HIS CAREER ON ESPN

TNA Wrestling’s “Nature Boy” Ric Flair speaks to ESPN’s SportsCenter about his legendary life in the ring and Fourtune’s invasion of “TNA iMPACT!”

Click the link below to see the article and videos at ESPN.com:

http://espn.go.com/blog/sportscenter/post/_/id/75885/let-it-flo-robert-flores-goes-one-on-one-with-the-nature-boy-ric-flair

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Bienvenidos a TNA en Español.

Willie Urbina junto con Héctor Guerrero brindan la acción para todos nuestros aficionados de nuestro programa "Zona de iMPACTO!" Jueves 9/8c en Spike TV, Sabados 3:30pm TV MAX (Panamá), Domingos a las 11:30 am y 4:00pm Canal 52 MX (Mexico) y nuestros Pay-Per-View's.

Willie Urbina y Hector Guerrero ofrecen a nuestra afición en español una exclusiva actualización de las últimas noticias en TNA Wrestling.
En esta edición de TNA en Español entrevista con Jimmy Hart, información de SHOPTNA.COM, iMPACT! VIDEO GAME, "SLAMMIVERSARY 2010 DVD", EVENTOS EN VIVO, "BOUND FOR GLORY 2010" y "NO SURRENDER" el domingo 5 de Septiembre en vivo exclusivamente en P.P.V.

THE WEEKEND EDITION OF TNA TODAY WITH THE LATEST TNA WRESTLING NEWS

Watch the latest edition of TNA Today with Jeremy Borash, featuring your favorite TNA Wrestling Superstars

For archived editions of TNA Today and other TNA Wrestling videos, visit TNA On YouTube

HERNANDEZ APPEARS ON MTV LATIN AMERICA SPECIAL WITH BILLY CORGAN OF THE SMASHING PUMPKINS

On Thursday night, TNA Superstar Hernandez made a surprise appearance at the "World Stage of MTV" concert at Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City, during a performance by Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins! Check out the AP photo of Hernandez picking Corgan up for a Border Toss!

The show will air Friday, September 17th on MTV Latin America during Mexico’s week long Bicentennial celebration and on Friday, October 8th on more than 64 MTV channels in over 155 territories around the globe.

COUNTDOWN TO COUNTDOWN: 35 DAYS

Yes, hard to believe, but it's only 35 days until the big debut of Countdown. Plenty of time for plugs and quotes and outtakes and such, but today I just want to go over a few things that have been on my mind over the last week. This has been a very exciting time for me; I can't remember a year where I have had so many different interesting things going on simultaneously. I even teased a big surprise on my Twitter account, which I will not be revealing here - as much as I would like to.

Speaking of Twitter - wow, it's pretty addictive, right? And to think, I was mocking JB (behind his back, of course) all this time. Thanks to everyone who has climbed on-board the Foley Tweet Train - over 15,000 so far. JB is kind of my tweeting mentor, and he feels like I have really gotten the hang of it. There have been so many times when I have thought of something over the years that seemed mean to share with fans, but I didn't have the means to do so. Now I do. Of course, sometimes I have more to0 say than 140 characters will allow, which is when I go to www.tnawrestling.com or my Typepad account. So, from now on, whenever I have something I think is worth going into more detail on, I will send out a tweet @realmickfoley and direct you to it.

MICK FOLEY'S TYPAD ACCOUNT

For example, I tweeted a couple times about Lindsay Lohan, wishing her luck as she goes through a difficult time. I write a little bit in the new book about Lindsay; in my opinion, she has been through way too much, in the most public way possible. Remember - she's just 24, and she's made many of the same mistakes everyone has, just in a much more public forum. I do remember meeting her a couple of times right after "The Parent Trap", and she was the sweetest kid. She gladly took photos and talked with my kids backstage at the Aaron Carter show, and sat next to me for several hours at the Marty Lyons Foundation holiday party. I saw her kindness and patience as she took the time to make each and every kid feel special. She was the only guest there who wasn't a sports person - a pro-athlete of some sort, or a washed up pro-wrestler. She was there simply because she wanted to be there, and she was the hit of the party. She felt very much like the little sister I'd never had as she'd get all shy and blush when asking me for advice on boys, and things of that nature. I still see that sweet, shy kid when I see the grown-up Lindsay in trouble - and know it might make me seem naive, I really think the magic power of a good Mick Foley hug, and some words or encouragement coulod go a long way. I know good people when I meet them, even if they go on to be huge stars and have problems. Lindsay Lohan is a good person...and I wish her all the luck in the world.

A few people have suggested that what Lindsay really needs is a good kick in the butt. Maybe so, but not from me. I'm a believer in the power of peace, love and understanding...what's so funny about that? In many ways, Lindsay has led a life that few could dream of, let alone touch. But she's young and she's human. Every human makes mistakes, especially young ones, and no one is beyond redemption; personally, professionally and spiritually. I know it's human nature to pile on when a public personality is down. Not me. If I could, I would peel all the haters, moralizers and bad news rubberneckers off that pile one by one,, pick her up, and help her in any way possible.

A few days ago, I sent out a tweet about a cool band from Sweden that I heard while hosting VictorVTV  for Victory Records in Chicago. Sister Sin rocks considerably harder than the usual Foley selections, but I was blown away by their new album "True Sounds of the Underground". It usually takes me awhile to make my way through a whole CD these days, but I keep coming back to so may of the kick-ass tunes on this album. In particular, I think "Outrage" would make for a great tie-in tune for a TNA PPV, and though it's hard to predict success in the constantly changing world of music, where one act after another looks just like the other - in pop, country and rock, if these guys (and one sexy young lady-check Liv out on the VictorVTV show) get a little exposure, they might just catch on with the masses.

Who can really explain what it is about certain music that drives and inspires different people? Though I'm not usually a music and headphones guy, there have been distinct times when I have found great comfort and/or inspiration before particularly important matches through some unlikely  artists. I explore thins quite a bit in the new book, in the chapter "Meeting Tori Amos", where I wonder just what it might be about a particularly beautiful tori song that inspires me to do things in the ring that are not particularly beautiful. It was the first chapter I wrote for the book, and is absolutely the chapter that means the most to me. Check out the "Afterword" in the book to see what a profound change writing that chapter made in my life. Don't like Tori Amos? Don't worry - there is a surprising ammount of blood and guts in the chapter as well. Besides, regardless of musical preferences, I think it's a chapter that pays tribute to the ability of artists and their art to touch the lives of those around them; to inspire others to be just a little bit braver. stronger, tougher, more important than they ever felt they could be.

I was very sad to hear of the passing of Skandor Akbar. Ak was a tremendous influence on me, both in the ring and out, and I hope you will enjoy my remembrances of this legendary figure. RIP, my friend.

REMEMBERING THE GENERAL

My beloved Ford Fairmont had finally hit the deck for good, following many a glorious road trip from Cortland, NY to Pittsburgh, Pa., as I slowly worked my way into the fold and some sort of respectability at Dominec DeNucci's school in Freedom, Pa. The school was about 380 miles, one way from my college at Cortland, I came to understand that certain sacrifices were going to be made out of necessity if I was going to follow this foolish dream of becoming a professional wrestler Sacrifices like foregoing the relative luxury of the Admiral Perry Motor Inn, which offered up a semi-clean room and a regular hissy fit from the owner, all for $15 a night.

That Fairmont was good to me though; traversing the rugged terrain of the Ohio and West Virginia independent scene, sometimes with big stars from Bill Watts's UWF in tow (Chris Adams, Terry Taylor),sometimes an NWA star or two (before they became WCW) that I'd been lucky enough to drive from their hotel to the Pittsburg Civic Arena. On one specific night, I saved the whole bleepin' show, in the eyes of the Lightning Express, Brad Armstrong and Tim . U nfortunately for the Express, they figured out en-route that they had forgotten their ring music. "Well, maybe I could help", I offered up meekly. "Armstrong looked at me and smiled. "Brother, I seriously doubt you can." he said. "Not unless you happen to have "Train Train" by Blackfoot laying around. Within two seconds, a Blackfoot cassette was in their hands, and the night was saved for the Lighting Express and all who loved them. I felt a special sense of pride that night when Brad and Tim hit the ring; really feeling that I'd made my first, honest to goodness contribution to the business.

I believe it was Terry Taylor who described my car this way: "Shitbox car, kickass stereo".- a fairly accurate assessment. But unfortunately, Ford Fairmonts do not run on tunes alone, and as I saw it resting in Billy's (no last name, just Billy) garage/home, and got the bad news from the man himself (he'd tried to save it, but there was nothing more that he could do) I got the distinct feeling that one name Billy was going to euthanize my beloved pet Fairmont in order to put him out of his misery.

I was devastated; that car had meant so much to me. Not only had it held my sleeping bags and an inordinate amount of fast food wrappers, but for a short time, the back seat had paid host to some rather spirited make-out sessions with a post-flower power free spirit who had a most persausive tongue. I never even attempted to cop a feel in the cracked burgundy backseat of that piece of crap Fairmont, but to this day, I can't listen to Jefferson Starship's "Miracles" without thinking of the cop that should have been but never was.

But life moves on, and the fact of life was that along with Gorgeous Gary Young, I was being requisitioned to Texas, to the vast frontier of World Class Championship Wrestling. After sifting through the wretched refuse that made up the Nashville used car scene, an unlikely angel appeared in my life; the twisted facade of Mike Davis of the Rock'n'Roll RPM's. Mike may have been the most poorly cast "rocker" of all time, but he was a good guy, and a hell of a worker, and later found his true calling as "Maniac" Mike Davis, who, among other things, would dress up as a red and white barber pole, and then spin out of control all over his opponents. "I'll tell you what Jackson", Davis said, using a name for me that almost made sense at the time. "I heard you need a car, and my old lady has one to sell. How does a hundred dollars sound?"

To tell you the truth, it sounded like all the money in the world, and the car, a Plymouth Arrow, with one unusable front door, made the piece of crap Fairmont look like it was a custom George Barris muscle car by comparison. In fact, of all the uncool cars I've owned, this Davis Arrow was undoubtedly the least of the least. But at least it got me to Dallas. Whizzing and banging, puffing and sneezing, but it got me to Dallas.

I'm not sure that Gary and I were ever supposed to be a big deal in Big D. Certainly not by the way we were booked in our first even, a twenty minute broadway (time limit draw) with Steve Casey, and the returning Tony Falk, who had donned a rugged cowboy hatin order to transform into "Cowboy" Tony, from the Androgenous "Boy Tony", a name that raised many a goosebump up and down the spine of many an opponent.

We must have made a decent impression that night, especially when I went to get the Arrow in the parking lot, only to find that two of the tires had been slashed, by angry fans. In most lines of work, having tires slashed would not be looked on as a good thing. But wrestling is not most lines of work; it's wrestling, where slashed tires meant "heat" from the fans, which meant people care, which meant this cactus Jack/Gary Young team had to be given another look. Indeed, within two days, we were given the news that we were going to go with the General. The General? Scandor Akbar, the founding father of Devestation , Incorporated, the most hated heal group in the territory. I think, by that time, they were also the only heal group in the territory. No doubt about it, being with Scandor Akbar's Devestation Inc. was the biggest honor of my career at that point.

What a group it was, too. The Black Ninja, Keiji Muto, who would return to Japan and become one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. Jimmy Jack Funk, Kamala and Kamala 2, and now, the new guys, Cactus and Young.

Perhaps that Plymouth Arrow was actually a blessing in disguise, the way it chugged from town to town, barely making it most of the time, once in a while not making it at all. When it finally stopped for good, in the mountains of Pennsylvania, I just took the plates off and left it on the side of the road; hitch-hiking to the wrestling show because that's just the way you do things when you wrestle.

But knowing the limited lifespan of the Arrow, I was far more open to the possibility of riding with a couple of our more seasoned veterans, Akbar and Bronco Lubich, a grizzled old main-eventer from Charlotte who did 40 mph in the fast lane and actually refereed slower than he drove. But, oh, the stories they could tell! Most of Bronc's started out with "I remember one time, I was working in on top in Charlotte...it was sold out", a precurser to Ricky Morton's oft-heard declaration, "Brother, me and Robert sold this sonuvabitch out". Bronc was a lovely man, though and a perfect foil for the tough as nails Akbar, who showed no signs of weakness for at least two weeks, as we lumbered through the rugged Texas countryside, doing 40 in the fast lane.

Akbar liked to yell every now and then. One night, without the reassuring presence of Bronco to comfort him, AK went on a tear, throwing around the F-bomb in much the same way Vince McMahon did twenty years later. I was barely 23, and though I could drop an elbow off the apron from 12 feet with uncanny precision, I was absolutely petrified. Ak did this on a fairly regular basis after all. After a couple minutes, he started laughing. "General, are you ok?" I asked. Ak kept right on laughing for a while, then got serious and turned to me. "God damn I love going off, Jack", he said with a big smile. "I love it!"

"You mean, you thought that was fun?", I said

Ak looked at me philisophically. "Jack, after I go off, I just feel so great. I sleep so well. I try to go off at least a couple times a week." He even encouraged me to give it a try, an offer I turned down at the time, but in my own way took up several years later, during my ECW promos. I'll be darned if the General wasn't right, too; going off in those promos - on the fans, my opponent, myself, whoever, made me peaceful, almost serene, and I slept really well as long as I had that outlet to go off.

But "going off" was just a small part of Skandor Akbar. He was a true gentleman who looked out for and cared about the guys in his flock. We may have been a fictitious band of bad guys, but there was a definite family feel to Devestation, and even after leaving, I would talk to the General about the possibility of putting together a Devestation reunion party. From time to time, as I travelled around, I'd run into guys who had served under the General and we'd share our favorite story about our time in the Sportatorium or laugh about something Ak had done or told us. We finally got to do a little Devestation Reunion Party in 2000, though it was only a handful of his guys, representing different eras inside Ak's incorporation: me, Kamala, King Kong Bundy and the Missing Link. I think I've still got a couple of those show 8x10's laying around the Foley house.

More than anything, I remember Skandor Akbar as a man who took a genuine interest in my life. He was concerned, not only that I was doing a few too many things that might not lend themselves to career longevity, but that I might be hurting my status as a bad guy by being too nice to everyone outside the Sportatorium. "Jack", he said, his big expressive eyes awide with genuine concern, with those impossibly furry eyebrows dancing around for added emphasis. "You work so hard, and you put yourself through so much. I just don't want you to lose your heat because everyone knows you're the nicest guy in the building." I nodded, but didn't truly understand. I think Ak sensed that I just wasn't going to be the guy to be rude to fans or yell or brow beat them in order to stay a heel. "I'm not saying you have to be mean or anything. Just stop making it so hard to boo you."

He was a great guy. He loved the oldies, and to this day, I steal an Akbar line verbatim anytime I'm asked if I have music at an independent show.

"Yes, I do...This Magic Moment"

I heard about the General's passing two days ago. I don't feel the sense of tragic loss that I do at the deaths of others in the business, because unlike so many in this wrestling business, he'd lived a full life. He was a figure who commanded immediate respect, but who reciprocated and gave back in so many ways. I was proud to be one of his "boys", and he never hesitated to tell me how proud he was of me every time we got together over the years. It was twenty two years ago that the General bestowed on me the two most lasting gifts of my career: he took me to my first Whataburger, and showed me that saving money can be a joy, not a sacrifice.

So the next time I head through the Lone Star state, and see that majestic "W" slicing through the blue Texas sky, rest assured that I will honor the General's memory. A double meat and cheese Whataburger, hold the onions please...and a cup of tap water. The tap water's free, right?

Rest in peace General. You were such a great help to me and so many others.

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