Vince Mcmahon

Emerging from a black stretch limousine in Mobile, Ala., Vince McMahon slips into his trademark character, the power-crazed wrestling promoter. It's not a hard fit. McMahon, chairman of the World Wrestling Federation, is the nation's most powerful wrestling promoter. But now it's show time. As the cameras catch him outside the city's sold-out Civic Center, he flies into a screaming rage at his driver and fires him for delivering him late.

Shane McMahon has never been afraid to knock on doors. When he was just 5, his dad — wrestling impresario and WWE Chairman Vince McMahon — put him to work going from barbershop to barbershop asking if he could hang up fliers and posters for upcoming matches. Years later, McMahon was still selling for his father. Only this time around, the doors he was knocking on were in Eastern Europe and China. As the WWE's executive vice president of global media, the younger McMahon was instrumental in getting WWE content and events in almost 150 countries.

- SEE CORRECTION APPENDED In its bid to capture what World Wrestling Federation folks call "the future of America's eyeballs"--young males 12 to 34--here's what Vince McMahon is up against this particular Monday night: "Monday Night Football," a baseball playoff game, Ally McBeal's miniskirts and, of course, that other wrestling show, the one on the TNT network of "Billionaire Ted" Turner.

"Macho Man" Randy Savage, the flamboyant, raspy-voiced former professional wrestler known for his bandanas, exotic sunglasses and "Ooh, yeah!" catchphrase, died Friday in a Florida car crash. He was 58. Savage, whose legal name was Randy Mario Poffo, lost control of his Jeep Wrangler in Pinellas County on Florida's Gulf Coast around 9:25 a.m. Friday, according to a Florida Highway Patrol report. The Jeep veered, went over a concrete median divider, crossed eastbound lanes and smashed into a tree, the report said.

XFL fans: Stop blaming The Times for the death of your league. Is The Times' lack of L.A. Xtreme coverage responsible for all of the other teams folding? The XFL was a mess from the word go. The players had no skills. Vince McMahon targeted WWF fans, but stupidly didn't realize that if it wasn't scripted, they weren't going to watch. Good riddance. Matt Shevin Hermosa Beach

Vince McMahon is taking the wrestling out of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. No, this isn't an outrageous plot the colorful impresario has cooked up for his wrestlers to act out in front of thousands of screaming fans. McMahon, the chairman and chief executive of WWE, wants to give the company a makeover, starting with the name. From now on WWE will no longer stand for World Wrestling Entertainment. It will just be WWE, plain and simple. "I think every brand has to re-create itself," he said.

Promoter Vince McMahon, who transformed wrestling into a multimillion-dollar industry during the 1980s, was cleared Friday of charges that he fueled the sport's growth through a widespread steroid conspiracy. A federal jury acquitted McMahon of conspiring to distribute steroids among his heavyweight charges in the World Wrestling Federation. The panel deliberated 16 hours over two days before reaching its verdict. "I'm elated.

The debut of the XFL was crude, amateurish, tawdry, violent, outlandish, bawdy, ridiculous, titillating, amusing, silly and hilarious. In other words, it was exactly what XFL co-owners Vince McMahon and NBC were hoping for. JOE LYOU Gardena I never have been a fan of the WWF or any other pro wrestling league, but I watched the opening game of the XFL with an open mind, and you know what? I really liked it. It was the most uncorrupted pro sport I have seen. Yeah, it's true that the XFL exploits sex, but violence?

Maybe the Rock and Triple H will serve as campaign managers. Linda McMahon, chief executive of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., announced Wednesday that she was resigning to run for the U.S. Senate in her home state of Connecticut. McMahon, a Republican, will look to unseat Democratic Sen. Christopher J. Dodd in the 2010 election. Although not nearly as flamboyant as her husband, WWE Chairman and ringmaster Vince McMahon, Linda McMahon is considered the brains behind the brawn.

As someone who grew up in the whine country of Sacramento, I have had to endure the rantings of many family and friends about that fateful Game 6. Was it the refs that made Robert Horry's three-pointer after you had gagged away a 20-point lead in Game 4? Was it the refs who made you miss your free throws down the stretch in Game 7? My answer has always been the same. Make your foul shots and the Kings have rings. By the way, how was that downtown parade for the Monarchs a couple years ago?

Vince McMahon is taking the wrestling out of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. No, this isn't an outrageous plot the colorful impresario has cooked up for his wrestlers to act out in front of thousands of screaming fans. McMahon, the chairman and chief executive of WWE, wants to give the company a makeover, starting with the name. From now on WWE will no longer stand for World Wrestling Entertainment. It will just be WWE, plain and simple. "I think every brand has to re-create itself," he said.

I do not know the FCC's position on such a thing. At the very least, I would think it's a crime against humanity. In this case, our very own connection to the Lakers is guilty and not to be trusted. Every time the Lakers play, broadcaster John Ireland begins the night schmoozing with Phil Jackson and ends the evening with an arm around one of the Lakers players. He also travels with the Lakers on their team plane, stays at their hotel, carries their bags and rides the team bus. We have come to count on Ireland for his Lakers-biased insight.

Maybe the Rock and Triple H will serve as campaign managers. Linda McMahon, chief executive of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., announced Wednesday that she was resigning to run for the U.S. Senate in her home state of Connecticut. McMahon, a Republican, will look to unseat Democratic Sen. Christopher J. Dodd in the 2010 election. Although not nearly as flamboyant as her husband, WWE Chairman and ringmaster Vince McMahon, Linda McMahon is considered the brains behind the brawn.

Wrestling impresario Vince McMahon will never be confused with Mr. Rogers, but he sure wants to be. The chairman of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. doesn't even like the word "wrestler" anymore. He prefers "performer" or "superstar" or "diva" to describe his stable of talent. Gone is much of the sexual innuendo, over-the-top trash talk, blood-splattering bouts and scantily clad female wrestlers that fueled the WWE's "Attitude Era" of 10 years ago when the company was locked in a death match with Ted Turner's rival wrestling outfit, World Championship Wrestling, which McMahon eventually bought out. Now McMahon, 64, is hawking a kinder, gentler, wrestling show, and that new approach was on display this past weekend when WWE took over L.A. Live as part of a massive promotional push.

Peter Sarkisyan is a fan of the Lakers and World Wrestling Entertainment, so when the 23-year-old Northridge resident found out WWE stars were unexpectedly coming to Staples Center on Monday because of a scheduling conflict with the Denver Nuggets, his two favorites suddenly merged. He wanted to watch the Lakers play Game 4 at the Pepsi Center in Colorado, but he also was skeptical that the outcome of the game was as scripted as the WWE action he watches.

As someone who grew up in the whine country of Sacramento, I have had to endure the rantings of many family and friends about that fateful Game 6. Was it the refs that made Robert Horry's three-pointer after you had gagged away a 20-point lead in Game 4? Was it the refs who made you miss your free throws down the stretch in Game 7? My answer has always been the same. Make your foul shots and the Kings have rings. By the way, how was that downtown parade for the Monarchs a couple years ago?

Rob Johnson vs. Doug Flutie 1:15 p.m. SUPPORTING CAST SUPPLIED BY BUFFALO BILLS, SAN DIEGO CHARGERS This is where Vince McMahon went wrong with the XFL. If he knew what he was doing, McMahon would have signed Johnson and Flutie off the top and scheduled them to play each other every week, kind of like the T-Birds and the Bombers in the glory days of Roller Derby. Acrimony, pettiness, resentment, fear and loathing--this has everything you could possibly want in a football rivalry.

Pro football (non-Arena variety) has returned to Los Angeles, but why would anyone pay to watch the XFL when they can see mediocre football by attending a Bruin or Trojan game? The league will become the Ex-FL within two years unless Vince McMahon draws on his wrestling background and adds some extra fillips to make the game more interesting. As McMahon knows, there's a large contingent of sports fans who are especially turned on by blood and guts. To attract this group, he can add some wrestling techniques to the standard NFL rule book.

Briefing has been meaning to provide some commentary on Versus' coverage of the NHL, but, you know, the channel is just so hard to find. So we'll have to take Brett Hull's word for it. Hull, now an NBC hockey analyst, told New York's WFAN last week that the NHL's poor ratings for its All-Star game were caused by the league's choice of a cable partner. "I don't even think people know Versus is a station," he said, calling it "a ridiculously bad channel." Hull didn't stop there.

Rob Johnson vs. Doug Flutie 1:15 p.m. SUPPORTING CAST SUPPLIED BY BUFFALO BILLS, SAN DIEGO CHARGERS This is where Vince McMahon went wrong with the XFL. If he knew what he was doing, McMahon would have signed Johnson and Flutie off the top and scheduled them to play each other every week, kind of like the T-Birds and the Bombers in the glory days of Roller Derby. Acrimony, pettiness, resentment, fear and loathing--this has everything you could possibly want in a football rivalry.