Sports this 'n' that

It's been over a week since the late-game dust-up between AFC North rivals Pittsburgh & Cleveland. So why are we still talking about it?

Because Browns defensive lineman Myles Garrett, suspended for his part in the incident, claimed earlier this week that Steelers QB Mason Rudolph used a racial slur against him, allegedly provoking the use of Rudolph's helmet as a weapon.

The league, on the other hand, found no evidence to support Garrett's claims, as he was hoping for a reduced sentence. There are people griping that Rudolph virtually got off scot free for his part. Conspiracy theorists will have a field day with this one, if you get the drift.
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Nearly 25 years ago, then-WCW President Eric Bischoff famously dismissed "Stunning" Steve Austin via telephone call (urban legends say Austin was fired by FedEx letter), prompting Austin to leave for ECW, and, eventually, icon status as "Stone Cold" in WWE.

Just to illustrate how Ring of Honor has fallen off the cliff over the last year, current women's champion Kelly Klein has been told that her contract will not be renewed when it expires at the end of next month. Klein's husband, former ROH wrestler-producer BJ Whitmer, now a producer for AEW, posted on Twitter that his wife was fired by e-mail, but ROH suits are saying that they are simply non-renewing Klein's contract.

Former producer Joey Mercury (Adam Birch), who's had a couple of go-rounds with WWE dating back to 2005, and whose career dates back to ECW in the late 90's, was released earlier this year, and has released some damaging tweets at certain ROH management personnel. Resentful much?

ROH has lost a ton of talent in the last few years thanks to wrestlers leaving for either WWE, the fledgling AEW, Impact, or Japan. Veteran wrestler Bully Ray (Mark Lomanaco), whose lady in waiting, Velvet Sky, signed with ROH earlier this year, is gaining more power backstage. This is what happens when you let the inmates run the asylum, and you'd think ROH would've learned from WCW making those similar mistakes 20-plus years ago.
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We'll have a review of NWA Powerr up this weekend, but when tapings resume next month, play-by-play announcer Joe Grilli will have a new analyst to work with.

Veteran manager-promoter-producer Jim Cornette resigned Wednesday after a comment of his about Trevor Murdoch on Tuesday's show was branded racist, despite the fact that Murdoch is a white wrestler. Cornette made a joke about Murdoch having a bucket of chicken strapped to his back while riding a motor scooter across an African country. You can assume the implication of racism in the context of the remark, but at the time it aired, because it was directed at a white athlete, how could it be racist, unless the Africans were chasing the scooter, which Cornette never implied was happening?

The NWA, under the stewardship of Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, isn't taking any chances, with their show not yet two months old. Can't blame them for that. If Cornette didn't hand in his resignation, he likely would've been terminated anyway.
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You've probably noticed that on Fox's Thursday & Sunday NFL pre-games, they've got a contest going where analyst Terry Bradshaw is giving away about a quarter of a million dollars for players who pick six correct games. Like, yo. Win Ben Stein's Money was 20 years ago. I don't think anyone's won the money yet.

Next thing ya know, Bradshaw will revive Stein's old show, but for Freeform rather than Comedy Central. Not.