-- Irv Muchnick, author of Wrestling Babylon: Piledriving Tales of Drugs, Sex, Death, and Scandal, has confirmed in a blog post on his official website that Lisa Marie Varon (a/k/a Victoria) was not Chris Benoit's mystery "Diva mistress."
Muchnick's forthcoming book on Chris Benoit will investigate the suspicions of Nancy Benoit, Chris's wife, that he was carrying an affair with a "WWE Diva."
-- Muchnick has another blog post, this time looking at the suspicious nature of Dave Batista's most recent injury, entitled Batista, Master of the Torn Triceps ... And Bicep.
In November 2007, he headlined a blog post Batista, Master of the Torn Triceps to note two previous occasions in which he was stricken with that particular injury, which is common among steroid users whose disproportionate muscle mass overloads tendons. Shortly after forming the Evolution faction, Batista tore his tricep during a match at the March 1, 2003 live event in Reading, Pennsylvania. Then, a few weeks later during rehab, he re-tore it "in a freak accident while jogging with his wife," according to WWE.com. As a result, Batista would be sidelined until October of that year.
In last week's issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, editor Dave Meltzer said Batista's frequent injuries are definitely not just a case of bad luck.
Meltzer wrote: "Batista's frequent injuries are hardly just bad luck. It's a combination of age, physique, and likely a lot of muscle/tendon imbalances because he's so big and muscular at his age. Torn biceps are not like torn triceps, torn lats and torn abs, which are usually the signs of steroid-related muscle injuries. The biceps, being a small muscle that bodybuilders train heavy, will tear more frequently on steroids, but non-steroid using lifters often have problems with biceps tears. He looked to be high risk when he returned carrying noticeably more muscle mass than when he left, even though he’s now 40. His new look raised a lot of eyebrows and questions including rumors that this injury was a cover reason for a suspension. However, we were able to confirm the injury was real and you don't have surgery to cover a drug suspension."
Via e-mail, Muchnick asked Meltzer if he could make his comments regarding Batista a bit more clear because while his injury was announced as biceps, it doesn't mean that it wasn't actually his triceps.
Meltzer, who rarely goes on record to outright accuse a wrestler of steroid use (unless there is concrete proof), said Batista's latest injury was steroid related.
"Obviously, it was steroid related," Meltzer wrote in his e-mail to Muchnick, "but in fairness, guys not on steroids also tear biceps and not triceps."
To read Muchnick's blog post in its entirety, click here.
Muchnick further noted, "As soon as I can figure out what’s going on with this latest round of WWE drug PR, I'll blog further about it."
-- As reported earlier, last week's episode of Monday Night Raw drew a 3.61 cable rating with 5.40 million viewers overall. Here is a rundown of the rating:
The Intercontinental Championship match between Kofi Kingston and William Regal lost 464,000 viewers while Maryse's WWE Divas title defense against Kelly Kelly gained 75,000 viewers. Following the Divas match, the Santino Marella, Goldust and Festus vs. Chavo Guerrero, The Brian Kendrick and Jamie Noble match would lose 45,000 viewers. Successfully, The Miz's promo and non-match with John Cena due to Big Show coming out gained 748,000 viewers. At 10:15 p.m., the MVP vs. Matt Hardy match lost 75,000 viewers, which actually is not bad coming off a huge growth segment. At a time slot that is usually a ratings loser, Vickie Guerrero announcing her resignation as the General Manager of Raw and Edge coming out to belittle her gained 239,000 viewers. The segment drew a 3.86, which was the highest full quarter rating for the show. The Carlito and Primo vs. Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes tag match following it lost 209,000 viewers. The final segment with Randy Orton getting a title shot against Batista and Triple H returning gained 1,122,000 viewers to draw a 4.47 overrun. Although, the segment went on so long that they attracted a number of viewers expecting to see the program following Raw. (source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
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