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Officials are desperately searching for ex-WWE superstar Shad Gaspard -- after he went missing during a swim at Venice Beach on Sunday with his 10-year-old son. Gaspard and his son were among a group of swimmers caught in a strong rip current around 4 PM -- with lifeguards racing into the water to pull everyone out. Gaspard's son was rescued -- but the 39-year-old pro wrestler has not been located. One witness at the scene tells us ... when lifeguards raced into the ocean, Gaspard directed rescuers to help his son first, which they did. During the rescue, we're told...

Former WWE star Jesse Ventura has admitted he is considering jumping in the ring with a wildcard presidential run — only days after bashing rumors about it. “OK, I’ve decided I’m going to test the waters. IF I were going to run for president, the GREEN party would be my first choice,” the 68-year-old wrestler-turned-Minnesota governor tweeted Monday. “To be clear: I haven’t filed anything. I authorized a letter of interest that was sent on my behalf to the Greens and I’m testing the waters for Green Party nomination,” he said. “I’m an independent. I’m not a Democrat or a...

Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email print WWE was deemed an "essential business" in Florida, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said Monday, allowing the company to resume live television shows from its Orlando training facility and Full Sail University in Winter Park. The decision, outlined in an April 9 memo from Gov. Ron DeSantis' office, could open the door for other sports to resume in the state.

Count professional wrestling among the essential businesses like grocery stores and pharmacies that can stay open despite coronavirus-related restrictions statewide. WWE will continue taping and airing live from the empty WWE Performance Center near Orlando even during the state’s month-long “shelter-in-place,” which Gov. Ron DeSantis announced April 1. At a press conference Monday, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings was asked whether WWE would continue operations. He said that WWE was not originally deemed an “essential business,” a designation allowing it to stay open during the state’s “shelter-in-place” order. However, a conversation with DeSantis changed that.

Actor Dave Bautista attacked President Donald Trump over the weekend, declaring him a “disgrace” to everything America stands for. Bautista made the comments in response to a story detailing how CNN anchor Victor Blackwell teared up as he denounced Trump’s attacks on Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), who he described as “brutal bully” who has let his district in Baltimore become a “disgusting, rat and rodent-infested mess.” Of course an elitist POS would say that,” Dave Bautista said about Trump’s comments. “He’s never wanted for anything. He’s never had to fight or go hungry! He doesn’t know what the American Dream is. He’s...

Hart was on stage with his niece, Natalya, Neidhart's daughter and also a WWE wrestler, who also fell to the ring floor as Madsen tackled Hart. [cut] "I'm so proud of my uncle @BretHart tonight during our HOF ceremony," Natalya tweeted after the event. "Bret is a cancer survivor, a stroke survivor and one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. He didn't deserve to be attacked or have his moment or my dad's diminished. We got it back on track. Thank you, guys." Security held Madsen down until police arrived and arrested him. A security guard suffered minor injuries,...

Actor Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has considered jumping into politics in the past: “It would be a great opportunity to help people, so it’s possible.” We wish he would do it because we have a feeling he understands the culture of the leftists who are offended by just about everything. Johnson spoke at the Republican Convention in 2000 (see video below) and is a Registered Republican. He gets that the snowflakes are killing our freedoms including freedom of speech. In fact, the WWE wrestler-turned superstar actor just slammed the “snowflake” culture in an interview with the U.K.’s Daily Star. Johnson...

WWE is saddened to learn that WWE Hall of Famer Gene Okerlund, the most recognizable interviewer in sports-entertainment history, has passed away at age 76. In his early days, “Mean Gene”, as he was named by fellow Minnesotan, Jesse “The Body” Ventura first came to prominence by interviewing the greatest stars of the AWA, including Ventura, Bobby “The Brain” Heenan and Hulk Hogan. In 1984, Okerlund made the move to WWE where he became a staple on national cable television by continuing to interview the biggest names in sports-entertainment like Hogan, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, The Ultimate Warrior and many...

Hulk Hogan returned to a WWE ring Friday as he made his first appearance since 2015 at the controversial pay-per-view Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia. Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, kicked off the event by coming out to a packed crowd in his full red and yellow “Hulkamania” gear along with a red and yellow boa around his neck. “You know something maniacs, it feels so good to be out here in front of the whole WWE Universe and to be out here with my stark raven Hulkamaniacs,” Hogan said in front of the crowd. WWE announced in...

The wrestling event was set to be another highlight for Vince McMahon - but has been cancelled after ongoing issues in the Middle East WWE Crown Jewel was set to be another blockbuster event in Saudi Arabia - following the Greatest Royal Rumble in April. That show was as part of a new 10-year deal with the Middle Eastern nation, only for their very next event to be cancelled. Has WWE Crown Jewel been axed? According to reports, the event is set to be cancelled - in Saudi Arabia at least anyway. The Middle Eastern country has been embroiled in...

Glenn Jacobs, the WWE wrestler known as Kane, has won the bout for mayor in Tennessee's third largest county. Jacobs, a Republican who also runs an insurance and real estate company, was leading Democrat Linda Haney by a large margin with most of the votes counted in Knox County on Thursday. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports Jacobs claimed victory at his watch party, saying his decision to seek the mayor's job was met at first with "pretty resounding laughter" from some politicians. Jacobs won a close primary in May. Results of the primary were delayed when the county's election reporting...

From Wrestlemania to the mayor’s house. Glenn Jacobs, better known by his WWE name “Kane,” was elected the mayor of Knox County, Tennessee Thursday, beating Democratic contender Linda Haney. The 51-year-old former wrestler, who was listed at 7’0” and 323 pounds at his peak as the Big Red Machine, considers himself a “Reagan Republican.” He listed seven goals on his campaign website: a commitment to keeping taxes low, a renewed focus on quality of education, continuing to attract new jobs to the area, improvement of roads and infrastructure, “full and absolute transparency,” safer communities and “a fresh outlook on limited...

It was about 11 p.m., an hour before the end of Emelia Holden’s waitress shift late last month, when she felt the hand grab her backside. Holden, 21, had just finished taking a customer’s order and placing a stack of menus on an unoccupied table in the small restaurant, Vinnie Van Go-Go’s pizzeria in Savannah, Ga. At first she thought it might have been her female co-worker, she recalled to local CBS affiliate WTOC. But as she turned around, she saw that it was a customer walking past her, a 31-year-old man police later identified as Ryan Cherwinski of Palm...

Volkoff began wrestling in 1967 and embarked on a career that lasted nearly 40 years. He spent the bulk of his time in the WWF and World Wide Wrestling Federation, Vince McMahon Sr.'s precursor to the WWF. He also spent time with the American Wrestling Association in the 1970s. Volkoff and The Sheik were one of the premier heel tag teams of the 1980s under the management of Classy Freddie Blassie. The pair won the WWF Tag Team Championship once before breaking up. Volkoff later teamed with Boris Zukhov as part of The Bolsheviks for the remainder of the 1980s before leaving the company in 1990....

It is reported the fight began over a dispute regarding the timing of singer Kehlani's performance. Bemused onlookers were left watching in shock as the scenes unfolded. Navdeep Thind, a student at Diablo Valley College, told Sfgate he was vlogging around 1pm on Sunday when he noticed a crowd of people gathered around a group of women. "It got kind of brutal," he said. "People were saying it was like some WWE stuff and it really was. You saw some heads hitting the cement."

Professional wrestling legend Bruno Sammartino has died at 82, WWE announced Wednesday. A sickly, malnourished immigrant boy when he first came to America, Sammartino transformed himself into one of the strongest men in the world, winning the respect and love of legions of immigrants who found hope in his message that hard work brings reward. “You just knew this guy was a nobody,” said Marty Lazzaro, a fan as a kid who became Sammartino's friend and spokesman in adulthood. “But he came here, worked hard, got big and strong and made something of himself. These people weren't just rooting for...

Trailblazing UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey has agreed to terms with WWE to perform for the company as a full-time professional wrestler. Rousey made a surprise appearance at the WWE's Royal Rumble pay-per-view in Philadelphia on Sunday night. After the conclusion of the first-ever women's Royal Rumble match, Rousey emerged and shocked the crowd. "This is my life now. First priority on my timeline for the next several years. This is not a smash-and-grab; this is not a publicity stunt," Rousey told ESPN's Ramona Shelburne of her decision to join WWE. "When I first met with Triple H, I...

ang up those baseball cleats, Timmy, and start getting into football shape. I’m talking to you, Tim Tebow, because you will no doubt be the No. 1 draft pick and starting quarterback of the inevitable Orlando team when the XFL reinvents itself and begins play once again in 2020. WWE founder and chairman Vince McMahon announced Thursday he is going to re-start the XFL — the league McMahon and NBC unveiled for one forgettable season back in 2001. McMahon, obviously seeing an opening and wanting to take financial advantage of the NFL’s sagging popularity, struck all the right chords during...

(CNN) The Reddit user who initially claimed credit for President Donald Trump's tweet that showed Trump tackling CNN issued an apology Tuesday for the video and other offensive content he posted -- one day after CNN identified the man behind the account and attempted to make contact with him. Reddit user "HanA**holeSolo" first shared the GIF last Wednesday of Trump pummeling a wrestler with CNN's logo imposed on his face. CNN could find no earlier instance of the GIF. The GIF was later edited into a video with sound and tweeted by the President on Sunday. On Reddit, "HanA**holeSolo" took...

The first article of impeachment against president Donald J. Trump -- if the Democrats regain the U.S. House majority -- will be that his behavior demeans the office of the President. Set aside for a moment that for Dem loons just electing Trump irreparably tarnished the stature of the office. But now, the Dems have Exhibit A to the impeachment article: Trump’s image-shopped WWE parody of himself “body-slamming” CNN, perhaps the most accomplished, and persistent purveyor of fake news. Unlike Bill Clinton -- whose pants around the ankles in the Oval Office, while being serviced by an intern, redefined dignity...