Interview: Paul London and Melina Perez (2008)

Paul London and Melina Perez
Friday night wasn’t the warmest night of the year, but that didn’t stop more than 2,500 people lining up to get a signed photo of World Wrestling Entertainment wrestlers Paul London, Super Crazy, and Melina.

The grapplers were there to promote this week’s upcoming live broadcast of WWE Presents Monday Night Raw from the Erwin Center. Sitting in the limo afterward, London asked the promoter if the crowd had been expecting a bigger name star. The amiable, sometimes goofy London seemed amazed when he said no, they were there for the three of them.

“How do you explain that?” said London. “It’s flattering. It’s very surreal, makes you put yourself back in check.”

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Review: A Lion’s Tale: Around the World in Spandex by Chris Jericho (2007)

jerichoPro-wrestler Chris Jericho must have a bucket of hyphens somewhere, since he seems to be setting new records for the term “wrestler-turned-“. Since his “retirement” from the WWE, he’s recorded successful heavy metal albums, gained a good rep as an improv comedian with LA’s the Groundlings, become a VH-1/E-Network regular talking head, and now finally pumped out an autobiography.

But there is a long, dark shadow hanging over A Lion’s Tale, and it is cast by Chris Benoit. Between writing this book and its publication, the grisly details of the wrestler’s last days became public knowledge. It’s hard to describe the impact of Benoit’s murder/suicide on the pro-wrestling community, and especially to Chris Jericho, a.k.a. Chris Irvine. Benoit was his friend, his mentor, his role-model and, prior to the terrible events of his death, someone that everyone who knew him loved.
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