Dawn Marie's Hotel Room Regret & Matt Cardona Chooses Death: 10 Things You May Have Missed In Wrestling This Week

AEW's much hyped Blood and Guts spectacular is in the bag then.

The Pinnacle outlasted the Inner Circle in a gruelling war of attrition that delivered all the chaos and violence that it promised.

A fantastic TV main event, it was sadly let down by the finish, as MJF pushed Chris Jericho from the top of the cage onto a glorified bouncy castle that the commentators claimed was a concrete floor.

Or perhaps it was concrete and it just hadn't set yet.

Anyway, the stunt resulted in widespread mockery, including from NXT's Shotzi Blackheart, who summed up her thoughts with a sarcastic gif.

If I were Shotzi (or anyone assigned to NXT), I don't think I would be mocking AEW, considering Tony Khan's promotion bullied them so hard in the ratings that they had to move their show to another night.

Weak ending aside, the Blood and Guts brawl was the highlight of a week that saw Daniel Bryan's WWE contract expire, Eva Marie announce her return to Raw and a whole bunch of other stuff that might have evaded your attention...

10. Molly And Vince Don't Exchange Christmas Cards

WWE.com

Recent WWE Hall of Fame inductee Molly Holly was a guest on Sean Waltman's Pro Wrestling 4 Life podcast and, while the story of a road agent asking her to 'motorboat' Trish Stratus during a match made the headlines, she had some interesting things to say on her relationship with Vince McMahon.

Well, if you can even call it a relationship, that is.

The former Women's Champion claims she didn't have a single proper conversation with WWE's head honcho - until she went to him to negotiate her release in 2005, some five years after being a full-time performer on television.

"I didn't have any conversations with Vince [McMahon]. The only conversation I've had with Vince in my entire career was when I asked to be released from my contract early. That's the only time I've said more than 'hello' to him.

So the way that I got hired was through Jim Ross and then throughout my time there, I'd talk with the writers or the head of talent relations but I didn't really have any conversations with Vince.

It was a big deal for me to walk into his office and tell him thank you for everything and then that I'd like to close my chapter in pro wrestling. I wouldn't say that I have a friendship with him or anything. He shook my hand and I took my picture with him and he was very nice”.

Holly also talked about how upset she was that WWE severely edited down her Hall of Fame speech, but that she appreciated the company uploading video of her reciting the full version (from her home) to their YouTube channel.

9. Kwee Wee: WCW Champion?

WWE.com

Former WCW star Allan 'Kwee Wee' Funk was a guest on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast recently, opening up on his career and telling some interesting stories about his time training at the WCW Power Plant, his friendship with Randy Savage and much more.

According to Funk, he was also in line to receive a big, Eric Bischoff-backed push before the company was bought by Vince McMahon.

"Eric was always cool with me. Bischoff said, ‘I really love what you do. I love your work ethic. I love your matches. Your body is great. You’re going to get a push. You’re going to be my next big guy'. I said, ‘Great. Whatever I got to do, sign me up’. He said, ‘No, you’ve already done it, but I need you to do me a favour tonight. I need you to put Rick Steiner over big, like Superman’. 

I said, ‘No problem’. He said, ‘I’m telling you. Do this for me and if I like it, you’re going to get a big push. You’re going to make a lot of money and you’re going to be my next big name'. I said, ‘Great. I’m all in brother'. I stood up and shook his hand. He was excited. I was excited. I did the job for Rick Steiner and put him over huge. I always got along with Rick, so we had a pretty good match. He jobbed me out, but he let me get some stuff in. I made him look strong.

I got backstage and Bischoff was standing back there waiting on me. He said he loved it. He said it was exactly what he wanted. Then every week from there on out, every time he was at the arena, he pretty much does the same thing. I’m thinking two or three weeks of this, I’m definitely getting a push. Next thing you know, we go down to Florida for the PPV. I wasn’t even supposed to be on the show. I go to the arena just to hang out with the boys and watch the show. I went down to Florida for a couple of spring training games. 

We’re down there hanging out with some baseball players. We go to the show Sunday night. Like I said, I wasn’t even booked on the show. While I’m there, they book me on the show against Jason Jett, EZ Money from ECW. We had the curtain jerker, the first match of the night. It was about a 15 minute barnburner. It was a great match. I’m thinking I’m not booked on the PPV, I showed up, and they booked me anyway. They said Jason Jett was going to go over, which was fine with me. I’ve never had a problem with putting guys over. 

I’m thinking I’ll do this job, and the next thing you know, Kevin Nash calls while I’m driving and says, ‘Vince just bought the company'".

The match he's referring to is from the final WCW pay-per-view (Greed 2001), which took place just days before WCW went out of business.

And while the match with Jett is a banger, if Kwee Wee reckons he was going to hold the Big Gold Belt at any point, I think he's sadly mistaken.

8. The Next Santina?

WWE.com

Former WWE star Santino Marella publicly made the case for WWE signing his daughter Bianca Carelli, writing the following on Twitter:

"Hi @TripleH & @StephMcMahon remember my little daughter @CarelliBianca? Well she’s a woman now, and has been coached since day one to be a total superstar! Biology degree is done this summer, then she’s ready for her time to shine!"

The post was accompanied by a, erm, somewhat revealing picture of the wrestler-in-training.

WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix vouched for her former Glamarella partner's daughter, responding:

"@CarelliBianca was cutting promos at 10 years old that blew all of us away!! Ready to take on the world!!"

Sure she can cut a great promo, but just keep her away from Jim Cornette and The Boogeyman, whatever you do.

If you know, you know.

7. Do Not Let Randy Orton Sleep In Your Hotel Room

WWE.com

That's advice that former ECW and WWE star Dawn Marie probably wishes she had received back in 2002.

Marie recently told the tale of how she got huge backstage heat for putting The Legend Killer, then a rookie just starting on the SmackDown brand, up for the night.

Speaking with D-Von Dudley on his Table Talk podcast, Dawn said:

"I almost got into a lot of trouble because Randy [Orton] didn’t have a room or something and he probably lied, just trying to get in my room, who knows? So I felt bad for him, you know, because he was broke. Not that he’s broke now, he made up for it. So I was like, ‘Randy, okay, fine. You can sleep on the chair in my room!’. And I was like, ‘If you come anywhere near my bed, I swear to God I’m gonna kill you’. So I let him do it like a couple different nights, I let him like sleep on the chair.

I don’t even know if he remembers this and someone saw him coming out of my room and you know, back then, that was a no-no. You can not sleep with the boys, and it was [innocent]. It was totally innocent, and I was like, ‘Randy, you don’t even touch me. I swear to God I’m going to kill you’, and I remember Bob Holly and everyone, they were getting on me, they were, ‘Yeah, we know’ and I could’ve gotten fired for that".

What, so you can lose your job for helping out a co-worker but not for shagging Al Wilson to death?

The hypocrisy.

6. Fit For A Pimp

WWE.com

This week saw the airing of the Randy Savage A&E biography special.

Different in tone to the previous pieces on Steve Austin and Roddy Piper, it was not universally well-received by fans who tuned in. Much attention was given to the Macho Man's fraught personal life, including his tempestuous relationship with former girlfriend and WCW valet Stephanie 'Gorgeous George' Bellars.

Podcast host Conrad Thompson made his feelings clear when he tweeted:

'They should have named this "The Burial of Randy Savage". What a hit job. The last two weeks were puff pieces. Now this? Kind of makes you wonder, doesn't it?'

In order to hype the special, A&E released a 'sneak peak' to their YouTube channel in the days before the broadcast, which was much lighter in tone.

In the clip, Savage's costume designer Michael Braun talked about their relationship and the evolution of Randy's often ostentatious outfits.

Hilariously, Bruan cited some of Florida's pimps (who he also decked out in new threads) as the inspiration behind Savage's garb. As talking head R-Truth pointed out, it's something that makes complete sense, when you think about.

Savage's frenemy Hulk Hogan also relayed a funny story about how Randy sent a Ferrari back to the showroom because it didn't have anywhere he could fit his hat box.

We've all been there before, haven't we?

6. Fit For A Pimp

WWE.com

This week saw the airing of the Randy Savage A&E biography special.

Different in tone to the previous pieces on Steve Austin and Roddy Piper, it was not universally well-received by fans who tuned in. Much attention was given to the Macho Man's fraught personal life, including his tempestuous relationship with former girlfriend and WCW valet Stephanie 'Gorgeous George' Bellars.

Podcast host Conrad Thompson made his feelings clear when he tweeted:

'They should have named this "The Burial of Randy Savage". What a hit job. The last two weeks were puff pieces. Now this? Kind of makes you wonder, doesn't it?'

In order to hype the special, A&E released a 'sneak peak' to their YouTube channel in the days before the broadcast, which was much lighter in tone.

In the clip, Savage's costume designer Michael Braun talked about their relationship and the evolution of Randy's often ostentatious outfits.

Hilariously, Bruan cited some of Florida's pimps (who he also decked out in new threads) as the inspiration behind Savage's garb. As talking head R-Truth pointed out, it's something that makes complete sense, when you think about.

Savage's frenemy Hulk Hogan also relayed a funny story about how Randy sent a Ferrari back to the showroom because it didn't have anywhere he could fit his hat box.

We've all been there before, haven't we?

5. The Evolution Of The Mysterious Mr. JL

WWE.com

AEW coach Jerry Lynn was a guest on the AEW Unrestricted podcast and spoke about his role within the company, his relationship with fellow coaches like Arn Anderson and Jake Roberts, his ECW days and much more.

Lynn also detailed the story behind his WCW hiring in 1995, including how he got the oh-so-original name 'Mr. JL'.

“The mask idea was my idea because it’s been seven and a half years since I broke in the business. I asked Brad [Armstrong], ‘What do I have to do to get a break?’. He said, ‘Well, the business has changed. It’s all TV now. So it’s all about capturing the viewer’s attention so they don’t change the channel. It has to be something more visual’. I had been going to Japan quite a bit and saw a lot of cool mask gimmicks.  

"I thought no one in the States is doing a mask right now.  I was working in a screen printing shop at the time, and I had a friend of mine in the art department help me come up with a design. At the time, The Power Rangers were huge on TV. I thought, let’s come up with something that’s sort of like Power Rangers and alien like, like a little crossover between those two.  

"He came up with that outfit. It cost me $1,250 to get the outfit made because there weren’t a lot of gear makers running around back then. I found a company, I think they were called Satin Threads, and they did everything from choir gowns to wedding dresses, you name it, so the labor was very expensive. They made the actual first outfit. I sent pictures and video footage of me in the outfit and WCW said that’s exactly what they’ve been looking for.  

"So the first night, this is only probably a couple hours before going live, and I’ve talked to Kevin about this and I don’t blame him at all.  It was Kevin Sullivan and a couple other people there. They were saying, ‘What do you want to be called?’. I’m throwing out these names like The Phantasm or the Cyber Knight, just throwing names out there.  

"Kevin Sullivan said, ‘Well, we don’t want to just slap a name on you without researching any copyright infringements'. This is two hours before the first show. Kevin Sullivan was booking at the time. He said, ‘Eh, what the F, call him Mr. J.L'. I thought inside my head this is the beginning of the end, $1,250 down the drain. But I even told Kevin years later when we talked about it, and he apologised, and I said, ‘Kevin, it’s not your fault’.  

"I was just, I wouldn’t even say a fish in a big pond. I was just like a guppy in the ocean because you had all the heavy hitters there. You had the nWo, Sting, Macho Man, Giant, it was like, I was just glad to be signed, so I don’t blame Kevin. He had a lot on his plate. That’s how it all came about”.

I mean, Mr. J.L.

MISTER. J. L.

And people say WCW didn't really care about the cruiserweights.

4. Who Is Matt Cardona And Why Is He Saying He Wants To Fight Me?

Impact Wrestling/Fite

No, that's not the name of a sequel to the Dustin Hoffman-starring film Who is Harry Kellerman and Why is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? 

Obscure reference, I know.

No, this is concerning GCW World Champion Nick Gage unleashing a hilarious three-tweet takedown of Matt Cardona this week.

Long Island Iced Z responded to a fan asking if he would work with Gage by saying 'sign me up' during a Twitter Q&A, prompting the deathmatch icon to fire back in funny fashion.

They tweets were, as follows:

Who is matt cordona and why is he saying he wants to fight me mad people hitting me up about it

Oh sh*t matt cardono is the zack ryder dude lol my bad nevermind

Someone told me that dude collects dolls for a living now is that true? i feel bad keep your head up matt keep working hard you can get back to wwf if you believe in yourself

If he can almost decapitate David Arquette, I shudder to think what he has in store for the 'broski'.

3. Harley The Spot Monkey

WWE.com

Harley Race was about as old school as old school gets.

Surly, hard-nosed and with a methodical style that stressed realism and logic, it's hard to imagine the late, great former NWA World Heavyweight Champion being too enamoured with the highspot-based style that is en vogue today.

According to one of his proteges, the underrated Trevor Murdoch, The King had a surprising reaction the first time big Trev hit a move similar to a Code Red/sunset flip powerbomb.

In an interview with Metro.co.uk, Murdoch says he saw Petey Williams do the Canadian Destroyer on television and wondered if he could do his own unique version:

"I was like, 'Wow, it’s a sunset flip!. That’s all that is, a sunset flip!. I wonder if I could do that without the swing?'. 

I went to Harley’s school and I grabbed a couple of students, I explained the situation. [laughs] I apologised if it was gonna hurt, because I didn’t know what was gonna happen.

The first guy I hooked up, instead of putting the guy’s head between my legs, I put my legs under his armpits, so when I jumped into it I was hooking his arms and slinging him back into a pinning predicament.

[Harley] stops. He goes, 'What the f*ck was that?!'. And I said, 'I think it’s a snap sunset flip!'. And he goes, 'You need to use that as a finisher, holy sh*t!'. 

Harley always knew that you had to change with the times. But he always felt like the core of who you were, though, was a wrestler. You didn’t really divert from that, you just added to it. Lots of guys try to do things that are so far out of the realm of pro wrestling sometimes that it’s just not believable, fans aren’t gonna buy it. 

Harley usually got, 'Oh he’s old school, doesn’t like high spots, blah, blah, blah'. He didn’t mind if it made f*cking sense!". 

Considering Harley popularised the top rope diving headbutt in the 1970's and was in some ways ahead of his time, it's not entirely shocking that he would be comfortable with the evolution of the business.

2. A Warning From The Bruiserweight

WWE.com

NXT star Pete Dunne had a warning for Randy Orton, currently enjoying life in the R-K-Bro tag team with the divisive Riddle.

The former NXT UK Champion posted a picture of himself (looking miserable as ever) with Riddle in a custom golf cart during their spell as the 'BroserWeights'.

Tagging The Viper in the post, Dunne simply said 'Quick, Before it’s too late'.

1. Horsemen Forever

One of the sadder wrestling stories of late was the recent plight of former WCW star Steve 'Mongo' McMichael.

The Super Bowl XX winner recently revealed that he is battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Mongo is having a tough time of it as his physical condition deteriorates and he has been sent a lot of love from his former squared circle colleagues.

One of those colleagues (and hard partying friend) Ric Flair visited his ex-Four Horsemen stablemate, posting a picture of the two together accompanied by the caption 'Let Me Hear The Biggest WOOOOO For Mongo On This WOOOOO Wednesday! Keep On Fighting The Fight My Friend!'.

The Chicago Bears defensive tackle was never the greatest wrestler in the world (unlike the Nature Boy) but he was a great character and an entertaining presence on WCW television in the mid-to-late 90's and it's tough to see what he's going through at the moment.

I'm sure a catch up with the Dirtiest Player in the Game raised his spirits, at the very least.