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EVERETT, Mass. -- Pro wrestling pioneer Walter "Killer" Kowalski has died from a heart attack. He was 81. Kowalski died Saturday after being taken off life support at a hospital in Everett, Mass. He had a heart attack on Aug. 8. The death was announced on Kowalski's Web site. Kowalski, a 6-foot-7, 285-pound wrestler, earned his nickname in 1954 by dropping Yukon Eric during a match in Montreal. He became famous for various moves, including a grip called the "Killer Clutch." Kowalski was inducted into several wrestling halls of fame, including the World Wrestling Federation Hall of Fame and the...

Killer Kowalski Passes Away Walter "Killer" Kowalski passed away early this morning. Kowalski had been taken off life support two weeks ago. He suffered a massive heart attack back on August 8th.

It turns out that the Greco-Roman wrestler who was stripped of his bronze medal for dropping it in disgust on the mat had reason for being angry, according to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

BEIJING–Saeed Azarbayjani is one of Canada's wrestling Olympians and, in his day job, a handyman. But 13 years ago he was a refugee, a son of Iran on the run. Bent on fleeing the country of his birth, he and two friends stole away from their Tehran homes in the wee hours of a dark night. They told their families nothing, said goodbye to no one. Guided by paid human traffickers through the foothills of Mount Ararat, where an escapist named Noah is said to have washed up with his ark, Azarbayjani and his friends didn't always know where they...

<p>The 33-year-old immediately announced his decision to retire from wrestling....</p> <p>Abrahamian, who won silver at Athens four years ago, had high hopes of winning the gold in the 84kg competition...but was beaten in the semi-final by the eventual winner Andrea Minguzzi of Italy.</p>

"Abrahamian threw down his 84kg greco-roman bronze in disgust after his shot at gold was ended by a decision denounced by the Swedish coach as "politics". Abrahamian took the medal from around his neck during the medal ceremony, stepped from the podium and dropped it in the middle of the mat before storming off. The Swedish wrestler had to be restrained by team-mates earlier as a row erupted with judges over the decision in a semi-final bout with Andrea Minguzzi of Italy, who went on to the take gold. Abrhamian, who won silver at the Athens 2004 Games, shouted at...

<p>BEIJING (AP)—Manuchar Kvirkelia knew how big this day was for him. He could only guess what it meant for his native Georgia, a country badly in need of any glimmer of happiness during the grimmest of times.</p> <p>Kvirkelia turned two strong moves into a quick victory over China’s Chang Yongxiang in the Greco-Roman 74-kilogram finals Wednesday, giving Georgia its first Olympic wrestling gold medal.</p>

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon wrestlers have gone to court to save their program from being eliminated so the university can restore its baseball team. "We don't want to see this program go away," said Ron Finley a former Oregon wrestling coach and now director of the Save Oregon Wrestling Foundation. The foundation is one of the main supporters of a lawsuit filed last Friday in Marion County Circuit Court in Salem by Equity in Athletics Inc., a nonprofit coalition of athletes, coaches, parents, alumni and fans. The complaint seeks a preliminary injunction to maintain the wrestling program while hearings...

"A high school wrestling coach in a Michigan city known for its large Arab community says he’s being forced out of his job of 35 years on trumped up allegations he allowed his assistant, a local clergyman, to try converting students to Christianity." "Dearborn Schools' spokesman David Mustonen confirmed that principal Imad Fadlallah decided not to renew Marszalek’s contract but said it has nothing to do with Hancock." “Jerry Marszalek is a non-union employee…If we have a union member, a teacher that’s part of the union, they are given priority to people from the outside when it comes to coaching...

It has been a long and slow devolution from the Federalist Papers to Monday Night Raw. ... Monday night, in a state of utter disbelief, I witnessed the intersection of surrealism that may portend the downfall of America. Osama bin Laden could not have devised a more fiendish way of eradicating American self respect, or of amplifying inanity to near-atomic destructive levels. Our presidential candidates appeared and talked smack on a professional wrestling television program. ... When I caught wind that McCain, Clinton and Obama would make appearances on a wrestling telecast, I had an overwhelming urge to crack open...

SEATTLE – One day before they duke it out in the important Pennsylvania Democratic primary, presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are being invited to bring their fight to the ring. World Wrestling Entertainment is inviting the two senators to compete in a match on Monday Night Raw on April 21. "Forget about who's better prepared when the phone rings at 3 a.m. and find out who's better when the bell rings," says an ad on WWE's Web site. There's no immediate word on whether either side will accept the invitation.

Super Mojado — Super Wetback, if you translate the Spanish slur — is a new Mexican wrestler making his debut Saturday in Van Nuys, Calif., to help raise money for some of the more than 100 undocumented workers busted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last month. "We decided to make a hero that would be for all the people that don't have papers," said Joseph Medina, a wrestling promoter.... When Super Mojado takes to the ring for an immigration smackdown against a fellow countryman and an American who wants him out, it won't be just a night of entertainment....

In front of the camera, Gary Hart, who died Sunday, was one of the most vile and hated managers of all time; behind the scenes, he had one of the greatest minds for professional wrestling...

Right off the bat, Don Curtis faced the best. As an amateur wrestler at the University of Buffalo in 1951, Curtis -- then known as Don Beitelman -- tangled on the mat with multi-time world champion Lou Thesz. It was a bout both would always remember...

Wrestling icon Hulk Hogan has been rocked by another bombshell as he recovers from his shock marriage split - he has been romantically linked to his teenage daughter Brooke's former assistant. (Advertisement) A new U.S. tabloid report claims Hogan had an affair with 33year-old Christiane Plante, while he was married to now-estranged wife Linda. The National Enquirer claims the wrestling great started romancing Plante 12 months before his 24-year marriage fell apart in 2007. Plante tells the publication, "I will never be able to fully forgive myself for this. I have lost an amazing friend." Hogan, who is hoping for...

For those of you who haven’t heard I had my first surgery last week. I had both of my knees scoped last Thursday to trim and remove bits of torn cartilage from my knees. There wasn’t a specific injury that necessitated my surgery it was just a long-term build up of wear and tear from a 16-year pro-wrestling career. The problems first started in my right knee and then later developed in my left, quite probably from putting added pressure on it while trying to favour the injured right. Thanks to an incredibly slow medical system the whole process from...

LOVELAND, Colo. — Five wrestlers from a Loveland middle school are being suspended for what district officials call a "nasty" incident aboard a school bus. Authorities say some of the wrestlers from Walt Clark Middle School touched their own genitals and buttocks on the bus last week, then put their hands on some teammates' faces. Thompson School District spokesman Wes Fothergill says officials hope the two-day suspension will help the students understand how inappropriate their actions were. The offending students also will not be able to wrestle for a week. Fothergill says some coaches were on the bus, but they...

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, Jan. 28, 2008 – When the “Legends of Wrestling” tour rolled in here Jan. 26, servicemembers and civilians gathered at the Morale, Welfare and Recreation clamshell to take part in the festivities. Army Pfc. Michael Grandi Jr., Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, holds the WCW Championship belt with wrestling greats (from left to right) Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, "The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart, Diamond Dallas Page, and Nicholai Volkoff during the "Legends of Wrestling" tour that came to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, Jan. 26, 2008. Photo by Spc. George Welcome,...

SHEPHERDSVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) -- WAVE 3 has learned that a man who is a local high school wrestling coach, a substitute teacher and a youth minister has been arrested. The Bullitt County Sheriff's Department says the Shepherdsville man sexually abused a 15 year old girl at the church. WAVE 3 Investigator Scott Harvey has the details. We had a chance to speak to the victim's mother who -- obviously distraught -- described 25-year-old Clayton Pruett as a wolf in sheep's clothing. She now has a strong warning for all parents. "Don't trust people that are alone with your children," said...

World Wrestling Entertainment superstar Triple H gives Spc. Lanedela Allensworth a ride on his shoulders during the WWE’s Tribute to the Troops tour at Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Tikrit, Iraq, Dec. 7. Photo by Spc. Eric Rutherford, 115th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment. TIKRIT — While the holidays may just be another day in a war zone, this year World Wrestling Entertainment gave a special Christmas gift to the troops by spending three days with them.  Wrestling superstars took their show on the road for the fifth straight year to spend time with Soldiers in remote areas who rarely even get...

Earlier this week, Chris and I were watching a CNN investigative report on the use of performance enhancing dugs in professional wrestling. I don't know why Chris wanted to watch it, since neither of us are wrestling fans, but I generally let her have her way with the TV. The thrust of the hour-long show was that professional wrestlers use steroids and what-not (I'm shocked—shocked!—to learn of such a thing), then fly into odd fits of psychotic rage like Chris Benoit, and harm themselves or others. Or just keel over from a heart attack at 35. Whatever. It's all Vince...

The most famous and recognized women's wrestler, Fabulous Moolah, passed away last night in South Carolina, the WWE announced today. She was 84. Born Lillian Ellison, the WWE says that she "was the longest reigning champion in the history of her chosen sport, or any sport for that matter." She even held the title as recently as 1999, becoming the oldest champion in the history of wrestling.

Pro wrestler Chris Benoit suffered brain damage from his years in the ring that could help explain why he killed his wife, son and himself, a doctor who studied Benoit’s brain said Wednesday. Prosecutors have said Benoit, 40, strangled his wife with a cord, used a choke hold to strangle his 7-year-old son, placed Bibles next to the bodies and hanged himself on a piece of exercise equipment the weekend of June 22.

Doctor: Chris Benoit Had Brain Damage That May Have Led to Killings ATLANTA (AP) -- A doctor who examined brain matter from former pro wrestler Chris Benoit is saying the wrestler had brain damage from multiple concussions that was consistent with what's seen in Alzheimer's patients. Doctors say the damage from years in the ring may have been a leading cause for Benoit killing his wife, children and himself at their Atlanta-area home in June. The Sports Legacy Institute, an organization that advances health and wellness of athletes, coordinated the testing using samples of Benoit's brain tissue provided by the...

World Wrestling Entertainment has suspended 10 of its wrestlers for violations of a policy that tests for steroids and other drugs, the company said Thursday. Stamford-based WWE says it issued suspension notices based on independent information from the prosecutor's office in Albany County, N.Y., which has been investigating illegal steroid sales.

They are flamboyant yet acrobatic, part entertainer but all athlete. They're the masked wrestlers of Lucha Libre, or Mexican wrestling. Lucha Libre is Mexico's second most popular sport, and it's fast becoming popular this side of the border. The wrestlers — or luchadores — slap, throw, fly, jump and flip themselves and each other. They do double flips, back flips and even bounce off the ropes around the ring. The sport combines strength and speed with karate and pure entertainment. Before the wrestlers make it into the ring, they train for years, practicing their tumbles, rolls and jumps. The men...

Cancer has claimed the life of Byron John Robertson -- "Dewey" -- to everyone who knew him. He was 68... In the 1980s, Robertson underwent a career resurgence of sorts as the mysterious Missing Link, fooling friends who had known him for years over the startling transformation from a clean-cut babyface wrestler to a Neanderthal-like monster with a tuft of hair and a face painted green...

"Crush" Bryan Adams dead at 43 By GREG OLIVER - Producer, SLAM! Wrestling According to WWE.com, Bryan Adams, who worked as Demolition Crush and was half of the KroniK tag team, has been found dead. He was 43. WWE.com said no other details were available. Adams was a boxer in the U.S. Air Force, stationed in Japan, when Antonio Inoki discovered him and talked me into going into professional wrestling. When his time in the service was up, he trained in the New Japan dojo for a year. In the United States, Adams debuted in the Pacific Northwest in 1986,...

The organisers of a major sporting event in Samoa have said they will change guidance that banned gay and lesbian competitors from having sex. The rules, published by Samoa team managers yesterday, apply only to Samoan athletes competing in the Pacific Games, a multi-sport event held later this year. The organising committee moved quickly to reject the rules and order changes. The Samoa National Olympic Committee president and organising committee chairman, Tapasu Leung Wai, told Radio Australia that the gay sex ban was not endorsed by the committee. "I regret that it appeared that gay people were being singled out...

George Caiazo — the former half of a world wrestling tag-team championship team — has been found dead at his New Hampshire home, according to the Charleston Post and Courier. Caiazo, who was more known as his wrestling name, John Kronus, teamed with Perry Saturn (real name Perry Satullo) to form The Eliminators, a top act during the mid-1990s in the now-defunct Extreme Championship Wrestling league.

IN another disturbing twist on the Chris Benoit killings, it now appears the grappler murdered his seven-year-old son using his own wrestling finishing hold. Police in Georgia are speculating that Benoit ended young Daniel's life with the Crippler Crossface – the same move that he used in almost all his matches, including when he beat Triple H for the heavyweight title at WWE WrestleMania XX. District Attorney Scott Ballard said: "A choke hold was used to strangle the boy, rather than hands, because there's no bruising consistent with strangulation by hands."

The former wife of pro wrestling superstar "Stone Cold" Steve Austin broke what had been a court-imposed silence and charged that "domestic and drug abuse is out of hand in the WWE and something needs to be done about it." Debra Williams' stunning charge, reported Wednesday by MyFoxColorado.com, comes in the wake of the grisly discovery of the bodies of Chris Benoit and his wife, Nancy-Daus Benoit, and 7-year-old son, Daniel.

Professional wrestler Chris Benoit strangled his wife and smothered his 7-year-old son before hanging himself in his weight room, the Associated Press reported Tuesday. Police have scheduled a 3 p.m. press conference on the case. Authorities also said they are investigating whether steroids may have been a factor in the deaths of Benoit, his wife and their 7-year-old son who were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide. Steroid abuse has been linked to depression, paranoia, and aggressive behavior or angry outbursts known as "roid rage." "We don't know yet. That's one of the things we'll be looking at," said Fayette...

News reports are quoting authorities as saying the death of Chris Benoit, his wife Nancy, and son Daniel, is being investigated as a homicide. Furthermore, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution altered the paragraph of their article on the Benoit family deaths. The third paragraph of the article originally read: "Officials would not say how the family died, other than to say they weren't shot to death." The third paragraph of the article has been changed to read: "Officials were investigating the deaths as a murder-suicide." Furthermore, the lieutenant on the case, Lt. Tommy Pope, said the three were actually found at their...

We are still awaiting further details, but PWInsider.com is extremely saddened to report that former WWE and WCW World champion Chris Benoit and his wife, former WCW and ECW personality Nancy "Woman" Benoit were both found dead today in Atlanta, Georgia. Obviously this will be a huge developing story in the days to come but at this point, we'd like to express our deepest condolences to the Benoits' family, friends, and fans at this time. A meeting is currently ongoing at WWE TV and it is expected that tonight's three hour Raw will now be dedicated to Benoit's memory. 6:09...

Calcio Storico Fiorentino: Bare Knuckle FootballBy: Bob | April 10th, 2007 Before football became the civilized and tidy sport that it is today it was Wild in the Streets in both England and in Italy. By some accounts, the early form of Italian football began in the 59 BC in the Piazza Santa Croce in Florence. The sport of giuoco del calcio fiorentino - a mix of soccer, rugby, Greco-Roman wrestling and bare-knuckle fighting - was played by the aristocrats on every night between Eipiphany and Lent.According to the occasionally reliable Wikipedia: The official rules of calcio were published for...

The following is a statement from Superstar Billy Graham. This is absolutely disgusting that anyone would treat someone like this. Unfortunately for some douchebag at this museum, (and we will find out who it is and embarrass the piss out of them) they did the following: My name is Billy Graham. I am a former World Wrestling Entertainment Champion. I am an author, an artist, a liver transplant survivor, a diabetic and a victim of catastrophic bone loss do to the disease known as avascular necrosis. My doctor, a world renowned orthopedic surgeon calls this condition, the death of a...

Japan's elementary school girl Ai Mizota (front) and Hana Fujio compete at the Wrestling Japan Beverage Queen's Cup 2007 in Tokyo April 14, 2007. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (JAPAN) Japan's elementary school girl Setsuna Isnono (R) competes with Hideka Mitsui at the Wrestling Japan Beverage Queen's Cup 2007 in Tokyo April 14, 2007. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (JAPAN) Elementary schoolgirl Ruka Akihito (R) competes with Remina Yoshimoto at the Wrestling Japan Beverage Queen's Cup 2007 in Tokyo April 14, 2007. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (JAPAN) Japan's elementary school girl Misuko Miyakuchi (R) competes with Yasuha Matsuyuki at the Wrestling Japan Beverage Queen's Cup 2007 in...

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Olympic wrestling champion Rulon Gardner and two Utah men were rescued by a Lake Powell fisherman Sunday after surviving a small plane crash near Good Hope Bay the day before. Gardner was a passenger in the Cirrus SR 22 along with pilot Randy Brooks and his brother, Leslie Brooks, according to a news release from Becki Bronson, public information officer for Garfield County. The plane was flying low when it struck the water and all three men were able to get out of the plane before it sank. Authorities are uncertain of the exact location...

I've read enough of the posts on this sight to know that most of you people are really dangerous. If someone disagrees with you, you would "Take them out" if you could. It's that "Ultra-conservative, All American Redneck, NASCAR, Pro-Wrestling, inbread country music fan" kind of politics that tries to shut down anyone who speaks their mind against your beliefs that bothers me. I am in favor of gun ownership and the right to bare arms, and it's people like you that I need to protect myself from. This probably won't get posted for the reasons listed above, but even...

MARLBOROUGH, Mass. -- A local pro wrestler's act might have gone a bit too far. Chris "The Skunk" Antal has become infamous in Brazil after a national TV program aired a video of the Marlborough resident desecrating a Brazilian flag. In his latest episode of his public access cable show, "Pro Wrestling Monthly," Antal appears to urinate on a Brazilian flag. The video was aired regularly in Marlborough since early January, and became one of Sunday's lead stories on "Fantastico," the Brazilian version of "Inside Edition," with a global audience of about 35 million, said show producers. Many native and...

U.S. wrestlers receive warm welcome in Iran despite tension with Washington Associated Press Sports Jan 16, 2007 TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -Twenty U.S. wrestlers received a warm welcome when they arrived in Iran on Tuesday for a tournament, despite the high running tension between Washington and Tehran. The U.S. wrestling team arrived in Bandar Abbas, a southern Iranian port, only a week after U.S. President George W. Bush called for increased pressure on Iran and Syria as part of his new strategy to defeat the insurgency in Iraq. Local government officials met the American wrestlers and 12 young girls, dressed in...

Latin America: Ahead of what should be a majestic presidential inauguration, Mexico's losing leftists are turning Mexico's Congress into a fighting ring before the world. That shows how unfit they are for democracy. In case you haven't heard, these leftists still haven't accepted the July 2 verdict of Mexico's voters, who chose Felipe Calderon to represent them as their president. Instead, they've protested and camped out in central Mexico City, falsely crying fraud. Their weeks of street blockades deprived thousands of poor Mexicans of the right to go to work. They also blocked critical trade routes into Texas in a...

Deputies act out new confrontation at the rostrum After the quarrel, the PRD Deputy for the State of Mexico, Alberto Lopez, had to be evacuated from the sessions room in a wheelchair Ricardo Gómez & Andrea Merlos El Universal Mexico City Tuesday 28 November 2006 4:56 p.m.   A new confrontation among federal deputies of the National Action Party (PAN) and the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) was provoked at the foot of the rostrum of the Chamber of Deputies, which continues to be occupied by legislators of both factions. At 4:13 p.m., the legislators of both groups were...

Forrester Camp Calls It "Despicable" (AP) NEWARK A paralyzed wrestler on Tuesday endorsed Jon S. Corzine in the latest gubernatorial ad, touting the Democratic U.S. senator's support of embryonic stem cell research. The director of Doug Forrester's campaign responded that the Republican differs from Corzine only on the topic of who should pay for the research. The 30-second television ad features a personal testimonial from Carl Riccio, a 19-year-old from Warren who lost the use of most of his limbs nearly three years ago during a match. "Doug Forrester doesn't support embryonic stem cell research, therefore, I don't think he...

At least 47 spectators have been killed at a wrestling match in India when a water tank collapsed. About 200 people had climbed onto the container to watch a bout when the decades-old structure gave way, in Rajasthan state's Bharatpur district, an official said. At least 30 other people, standing under and near the water-filled concrete tank, were injured as it came crashing down. The container collapsed due to the weight, the area's top administrator R. Venkateshwaran. He said: "All of them fell into the tank which had very little water. They died as the concrete fell on them." The...

The new McMahons DVD features commentary from Stephanie McMahon where she says that she had to nix potential incest angles. According to her, Vince wanted himself to be revealed as the father of her baby and when she said no, he pushed for Shane to be revealed as the father. She turned that idea down also. She also said no to Vince's idea that her wedding to Triple H be aired on PPV. Credit: PWInsider.com

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Teenagers who watched pro wrestling on TV were more likely to behave violently than other kids, researchers reported Monday, and girls seemed to be more influenced than boys. Those findings were part of a study suggesting that teenagers who watched wrestling shows such as "RAW" and "SmackDown" had a tendency toward violence, including carrying weapons and fighting on dates. The researchers also found that students who were most likely to fight on dates after they had been drinking or using drugs were the ones who watched wrestling most often. "It's yet more evidence that, when it comes...

MONDAY, Aug. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Watching professional wrestling on TV encourages aggressive behavior in teens when they date. And these violent tendencies are more pronounced in girls who watch more wrestling. Those are the conclusions of a new study by Wake Forest University researchers, who reported their findings in the August issue of the journal Pediatrics. "Both among male and female students, the frequency with which they watched wrestling was associated with a number of indicators of violence and weapon-carrying," said lead author Robert H. DuRant, a professor of pediatrics and social science and health policy at Brenner Children's...