– The WWE website has removed “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan’s profile from the Raw roster section. Instead, it’s been placed in the WWE Alumni section.
Technically, Duggan has not been released. His contract was not renewed in May 2008, though WWE continued using him on a pay-per-appearance basis. He continued to be flown to the weekly Raw tapings through the early part of the year, but was rarely used.
In his only wrestling appearance for WWE this year, Duggan appeared in the 2009 Royal Rumble match, entering at #29 and setting a record for the most years between Royal Rumble appearances. He was eliminated from the match by Big Show. He would not appear on television until the August 10th episode of Raw, where Sgt. Slaughter had Duggan come out in place of Bret Hart and introduced as “The best there was, the best there is, and the best there ever will be” in order to mock the Canadian wrestling fans.
– As seen last night on WWE’s “Decade of SmackDown” broadcast, former SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero announced she would be returning to WWE to manage her new newly-signed boyfriend, Eric Escobar. Her profile has been added back to the SmackDown roster section.
Speaking of Escobar, he is a former FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion and has been working non-televised matches for numerous months. Prior to his call-up to the main roster this week, he was in developmental for an astonishing four years, which may be a record. Most wrestlers last no more than two years before they are either called up or released, but he managed to stay put since September 2005. It should also be noted that he could have been called up as early as 2006 as he worked ECW’s short-lived house show tour.
