— Both Eric Bischoff and Kevin Nash offered comments to Jeff Wilen of The Daytona Beach News-Journal regarding the passing of Andrew “Test” Martin.
Bischoff knew Martin from their time together in World Wrestling Entertainment.
“Being only 33 years old, it’s another unfortunate incident. He obviously had challenges with addiction.
“We were friendly, (but) he had a different group of friends as we had an age difference. I did spend a fair amount of time with him (overseas trips, etc.). He was always first-class, very cordial and a polite, professional guy.
“I never saw any evidence of substance abuse until about a year and a half ago. All the time before that he was always sober and professional.”
Kevin Nash was close to Martin, so much so that he helped him enter a rehabilitation facility in West Palm Beach, Florida this past August.
“We were really close. I helped him get into rehab. WWE picked up the dollar and helped him through rehab. Andrew went in. He was doing really well, making his meetings.
“He went over and worked in Japan (recently). He was in that not as busy as you once were routine. We don’t know the cause of death, and I would hate to speculate.
“The combination of muscle relaxers and pain pills are lethal.
“He was a great guy. I kind of looked at him like a little brother. I considered him one of my better friends.
“He was a big guy. He was a bud.”
To read the article in its entirety, click here.
— WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair will be attending the 25th running of the NASCAR All-Star Race on Saturday, May 16, 2009 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. In his duties as honorary race director, Flair will serve on the panel of judges for the Victory Challenge. Flair will also attend the drivers’ meeting and assist SPEED personalities with driver introductions.
“I’m honored to be a part of the 25th running of the Sprint All-Star Race,” Flair said. “I’m a longtime Charlotte resident and Lowe’s Motor Speedway is an integral part of our city. It’s one of the things that makes Charlotte a great place to live. There’s nothing like NASCAR and the Nature Boy to get you pumped up! WoooOOOooo!”
Click here to read an article regarding Flair’s involvement with NASCAR.
— All-Star Wrestling returns to the Hippodrome Theatre in Bristol, England on March 16th, 2009 at 7:30 PM with these matches:
Rene Dupree vs. Gladiator Goliath
Sami Callahan & Drake Younger vs. Wade Fitzgerald & Mark Haskins
Man Mountain Kong vs. The Metal Master
Karl Kramer vs. James Mason
Dean Allmark vs. Mikey Whiplash
Go to http://bigtimewrestlinguk.com for info about ASW and http://prowrestlingevents.tk or http://prowrestlingevents.webs.com for info about upcoming wrestling shows worldwide. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
Click here to see pics of Test in ECW (>)