In his 35 year long career, Jake had been through all possible highs and lows in professional wrestling. The man is considered as the inventor of DDT and was involved in some crucial feuds with the likes of Hulk Hogan, The Giant, Earthquake, Rowdy Roddy Piper, “Ravishing” Rick Rude and “Macho Man” Randy Savage.  Jake had later suffered from serious drug addiction and the wrestler didn’t forget to thank the free re-hab WWE offered him that actually saved his life.  The legendary wrestler announced he can no longer compete due to medical issues. Wrestlerspeaks wishes “The Snake” a very happy and satisfying post-retirement life ahead. It’s just another beginning champ!

Luna was last seen in WWE in early 2000. The organization recently confirmed in their official website that Luna (Gertrude Vachon) is no more and extended their deepest condolences to her family. She was 48 and is survived by her two sons and a granddaughter.  ECW legend Tommy Dreamer and WWE superstar Goldust remembered Luna as a strong and fun loving lady and reached out to her family in this time of crisis.

Wehba‘s in-ring name was General Skandor Akbar, an evil Arabian who was a dominant heel character. Akbar was active in the independent circuit till he breathed his last breath. The reason of his death has not been officially confirmed but he supposedly was suffering from prostate cancer. TNA star Mick Foley, WWEE legend Jim Ross and many other stars of the business expressed their grief over the loss of this true wrestling legend.

In the year 2003, Lance Cade was teamed up with Mark Jindrak as an emerging tag team and they were given a spot in Raw. The tag team spilt a year later and Lance teamed up with Trevor Murdoch. The duo spent three years together and also won the WWE Tag Team Championship during this tenure. The duo had won the tag titles three times and both Cade and Murdoch were considered as the next generation WWE superstars.

But in spite of a considerable hike to his in-ring character, Cade failed to reach the heights as a singles performer and was finally released by WWE in 2008. He joined FCW, the developmental territory of WWE in September 2009 and was released from there as well in April 2010.

Details on the cause of his death are yet to be revealed. During his entire career Cade battled prescription drug issues and that reportedly was instrumental in his release from WWE. At that time, he was in the middle of a major storyline developed around his mentor Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho. Cade was scheduled to headline a pro wrestling show at Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan on Aug. 29. WWE officially released a statement on 13th August, 2010 and the organization extended its deepest condolences to the McNaught family.  Several current and former WWE superstars like Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley and Matt Hardy were stunned by the untimely death of Cade and conveyed their prayers and thoughts to Cade’s family.

Birth & Early Life: James was born on 6th of July, 1914 in Harlem, New York. James’ father, Roderick James “Jess” McMahon, was a successful concert and boxing promoter and had worked with Tex Rickard, a legendary Madison Square Garden promoter. His mother was Rose, an Irish descent who lived in New York. The couple had three children; James, his older brother Roderick Junior and his younger sister Dorothy. McMahon Senior was married to Juanita, Vincent Kennedy McMahon’s mother, in the mid 50s and later the couple got divorced.

Profession & Career: World War II brought a lot of socio-economical changes across Europe and America. The development of television is a prime one among them. Along with the development of television, the requirement of new TV programs increased. After the 1920s, professional wrestling was no longer considered a legitimate sport due to its incorporation of modern theatrics and moving away from real competition.

But James used this weak-link of American professional wrestling and built upon it. He realized the tremendous potential for growth this industry held. In those days, wrestling matches took place in smaller rings just like boxing. Only one or a couple of cameras were used in the arena and the overall atmosphere was too drab and shabby compared to modern day wrestling arenas.

James played a significant role in gradually changing the nature of professional wrestling and helping it fit better in television.  He emphasized on building “in-ring characters” and storylines.  This new concept drew considerable attention across the USA. In fact, James took the first step to bring wrestling into mainstream media.

James’ success proved his approach was right. His group Capitol Wrestling Corporation dominated the business of professional wrestling in the 1950s and 1960s. But McMahon Senior mostly operated in the north-east; the most populous area of the nation during those days. He had primarily operated in New Jersey, New York and Baltimore. McMahon Senior had a great eye for young talents and he was a master of booking matches that could create the most drama and excitement for the fans.  In 1955, McMahon Senior started airing his wrestling matches on Wednesday nights.

James later sold his company, the parent company of WWE, to his son Vincent Kennedy McMahon who took the brand to a new level altogether. But McMahon Senior was the man who sowed the seed decades back and American professional wrestling will remain grateful to Vincent James McMahon for what it is today. This legendary promoter died on 24th of May, 1984 from pancreatic cancer.

Jose Vega was born in Miami and had been a fan of MMA since his childhood. In a recent interview, Vega said how is father encouraged him and his eight other siblings to learn the art of fighting. Vega gathered some first-hand experience in fighting during his one year tenure of collegiate wrestling and made his professional MMA debut in 2002. Vega’s recent performance has not been much impressive as he lost 3 of his last 5 bouts and won only 2. In spite of this average performance, Vega believes he is at the top of his game. “I’m more complete now than I’ve been ever before”, Vega stated in the recent release.  This 5’6” fighter has now joined the other confirmed participants Danny Tims, Travis Reddinger, Ulysses Gomez and Nik Mamalis. Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said Vega has already showed what he is capable of and his inclusion in this tournament perfectly indicates the overall goal of Bellator.

The event is headlined with a 182 pound catchweight bout between Louis Taylor and veteran Jorge Riggs. The news is being confirmed by the Strikeforce officials late Wednesday night. Mike Afromowitz, the Strikeforce Director of Communications believes with only a little more than two weeks in hand; Damm can still manage to fight her scheduled opponents Maiju Kujala, Hitomi Akano and Miesha Tate. But if she fails to show up, Strikeforce officials are ready with a replacement.  Damm is the sister of Strikeforce and ‘BodogFIGHT ‘veteran Rodrigo Damm. She is unbeaten since December 2006 and her last fight was against Aline Serio at Jungle Fight 17 where Damm won by first-round TKO.

“Strikeforce Challengers 10” will take place on 13th August, 2010 at the Dodge Theatre in Phoenix Arizona. The officials are working diligently to help Damm secure a visa in time. They are confident that the problem will soon be resolved and the scheduled bout will remain intact.

Last-minute opponent change in a pre-scheduled bout is nothing new to Salter. Recently, during UFC 113 in Montreal his pre-scheduled opponent Nick Catone was forced to withdraw his name due to a back injury. Initially, UFC veteran David Loiseau was thought to be Catone’s replacement. But Quebec’s athletic commission took him off the table. Finally, Salter was scheduled against another UFC veteran Jason MacDonald on a short notice of one week. Salter, however, won the match when MacDonald broke his leg in the very first round of the match.

UFC 118 is scheduled to take place on 28th August, 2010 at the TD Garden in Boston. A lightweight title rematch between former champion B.J. Penn and current champion Frankie Edgar is the featured headliner of the pay-per-View. The updated status of the UFC 118 event is as follows:

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view)

# Champ Frankie Edgar vs. B.J. Penn (for lightweight title)

#  Randy Couture vs. James Toney

# Nate Marquardt vs. Rousimar Palhares

#  Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard

#  Marcus Davis vs. Nate Diaz

PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike TV)

#  Gerald Harris vs. Alessio Sakara

#  Terry Etim vs. Joe Lauzon

PRELIMINARY CARD

#  Nik Lentz vs. Andre Winner

#  Dan Miller vs. John Salter**

#  Nick Osipczak vs. Greg Soto

#  Amilcar Alves vs. Mike Pierce

** Yet to be announced officially

WWE Storyline: Vince admitted that at times he did regret some of the storylines, but he made it very clear that those were things “from the past”.  He said some people say from “an elitist point of view” that they don’t watch WWE. But when you have 16 million viewers in USA only who watch WWE programming, you surely know that a considerable number of people in USA loves this and watch this every single week.

New Drug-Testing Procedure: Vince has made it clear that his company was and till date is very strict against the usage of performance-enhancing drugs. In fact, WWE runs a rehab program for all the former WWE superstars and any professional wrestler who seeks their help. He said the only “RAW” material one can find in WWE is their talented superstars.

On Benoit Murder: Both Vince and WWE has remained very tight-lipped on Benoit murder issue. But during this interview, he clearly stated that WWE or its tight schedule has nothing to do with Benoit and his death. “Who knows what clicks in somebody’s head one day”? He said since the advent of this business, nothing like that had ever happened and “it goes back to Abraham Lincoln”.

Mike Mooneyham, a South-Carolina based journalist who is covering professional wrestling for 45 years, said Vince’s success is a true “rags-to-riches” story.  From his life in an 8 foot wide trailer in North-Carolina to becoming “the most influential power broker in the history of the wrestling business” had been a tough job. But Vince did it in style and took the industry to a completely new level.  Vince’s wife Linda McMahon is running for US Senate; Vince said he’s very proud of his wife and is going to vote for her. Vine is away from the ring since the “kayfabe” attack on him by the Nexus and there are no plans for him to return to the ring, said Robert Zimmerman, WWE spokesperson. But since it is WWE, you never know!

What is Lucha Libre: Lucha is a great party! It’s a contact sport that is very close to what we can call a piece of art. When the beautiful skill blends with the masks, colorful Lucha wrestling arena, music, light and some great sportsmen, it creates the magic of Lucha.

History and Importance of Mask to Mexican Wrestlers: Mexican wrestling symbolizes a war between good and evil. The mask helps to create the “on-stage drama” effect. It is connected to the roots of Latin American culture like the Aztecs, Olmecs and Teotihuacans. They always wore masks of wolf, eagle, snake and jaguars when at war as they believed it would give them the power of those animals.

On Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio: Rey is very hard-working and down-to-earth person. Everything that he has achieved in an American wrestling ring is quite admirable. El Hijo also appreciated the way WWE treated this Mexican talent. Eddie has always been a great friend outside the ring; but El Hijo enjoyed the legendary feud with him inside the ring and admitted it was very difficult to beat Eddie in a wrestling match. El Hijo also mourned the fact that such a huge talent died so young.

On WWE: WWE is undoubtedly the leading American wrestling promotion and the company’s future is bright, believes El Hijo. In fact, long back he was even approached by one of the WWE agents. But El Hijo always preferred to be an independent performer.  However, he said he would rather prefer to perform with WWE in some of their tours.

It is the passion for this beautiful game that pushes this 46 year old Mexican legend to reach new heights and Wrestler Speaks wishes him all the very best for his latest venture in London to promote Lucha Libre to the rest of the world.