Source: The Times Leader
WILKES-BARRE TWP. – Did Vince McMahon, who’s bluffed and blustered his way into the ringmaster’s role of the testosterone-fueled soap opera that is professional wrestling, really fall for the old bomb-in-the-limo trick?
Though World Wrestling Entertainment would have you believe otherwise, the answer is no.
“No one was in any danger,” said Steve Poremba, a Wachovia Arena spokesman, of Monday night’s WWE RAW spectacle at the arena, though he would not elaborate.
A WWE spokesman echoed that, but also wouldn’t elaborate, instead pointing to a news release from the company and “reports” on its Web site. The release inferred that celebrities who have “less than flattering things to say about” McMahon, including real estate mogul Donald Trump, sportscaster Bob Costas, rapper Snoop Dogg and wrestler “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, might be behind a plot to bump him off.
Despite articles on the Web site that firefighters and federal agents are investigating, workers at the Luzerne County 911 Center confirmed that it was “a stunt” and that no emergency vehicles were called to the arena on Monday night.
“The ‘federal agent’ (referenced on the Web site) is definitely not the FBI,” said Jerri Williams, a special agent spokeswoman with the FBI’s Philadelphia office. “We have not been made aware of any car bombings. … We would definitely have been informed.”
But fans from across the country have been contacting local media to find out if McMahon, the chairman of the board of WWE, was actually blown up in a fiery limo-bombing on his so-called “Mr. McMahon Appreciation Night,” which was televised on USA Network. McMahon had walked out of the building to the waiting vehicle, so fans inside the arena saw the same televised live scene.
Only it was wasn’t live. Supervised by Zenith Pyrotechnology, based in Deer Park, N.Y., the explosion was actually filmed at the arena late Saturday night, the footage of the burning hulk taped Sunday night and the whole mess spliced together, said Andy Kratz, the township’s zoning officer.
“They did it, I believe, at 11 o’clock at night until 3 a.m., so no one would be around,” he said, adding that it was done in a section generally blocked from public view by the building and surrounding land features.
The pyrotechnics company had to get permits, which Kratz said it did about a week ago. “We have pyrotechnics shows in the arena all the time” for wrestling and ice skating, among other things, he said. “They say they do this quite a bit,” but usually not outside.
Representatives of the pyrotechnics company have not returned calls for comment.
Based on reaction from fans, who expressed indignation with the stunt, the story hook could instead hook itself.
“It’s messed up. A death is a serious matter,” said Kenny Noe, of Lakewood, Wash. “Wrestling is not about death. It’s about beating people up, maybe getting hurt.”
He referenced the actual deaths of several wrestling personalities in the past and said this incident casts a shadow over their memories. “What if Eddie Guerrero isn’t dead?”
“For (McMahon) to do something like this is ridiculous, if it’s a hoax,” Chris Dent of New Freedom, Pa., said, “… because the American public’s gonna wind up not watching his shows and it’s going to go down hill,” he said.
Still, they also agreed that the stunt will cause a buzz. “It’s just kind of weird, and my friends are probably going to be talking to me all day,” Dent said.
