"Special Delivery" Jones passes away

"Special Delivery" Jones passes away

Written: October 27, 2008

“Special Delivery” Jones, one of the steadiest performers ever to appear in a WWE ring, passed away on Oct. 26 in his native Antigua, West Indies; he was 63.

Jones, whose real name is Conrad Efraim, was trained in the early 1970s by WWE Hall of Famer Johnny Rodz, and entered WWE in late 1976. His WWE tenure continued through 1986. Through that time, Jones was a competitor who always gave optimum effort in all of his matches. Many of his opponents knew that if they wanted to gain a victory over Jones, they absolutely had to dig deep to earn it.

One of the more infamous distinctions that S.D. will be remembered for was his match against King Kong Bundy at the inaugural WrestleMania in 1985. The match lasted a mere nine seconds, and although on the losing end, this match made Jones a part of WWE history for the fastest pinfall ever scored at that time.

S.D.’s last WWE appearance was in 2006, when he inducted his long-time friend and confidant Tony Atlas into WWE’s Hall of Fame.

Our condolences go out to the family and friends of Conrad Efraim, a.k.a., “Special Delivery” Jones.

WWE chairman promotes `Raw’ with $1M giveaway

By DERRIK J. LANG, AP Entertainment Writer
10 hours, 6 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES (AP)—Wrestling fans eager to get their hands on Vince McMahon’s money will have to jump through a few hoops first.

The World Wrestling Entertainment chairman announced during last week’s “Monday Night Raw” that he would give away $1 million of his own wealth to viewers, but he didn’t specify when or how it would be distributed.

The cash will be given away as part of a lengthy promotional sweepstakes, McMahon and the WWE told The Associated Press.

For a chance to win $1 million each week for the foreseeable future, viewers must pre-register on WWE.com and then watch the beginning of “Raw” each week to receive a special code, which viewers must tell McMahon if he calls them during the live broadcast.

The code will change each week of the promotion and will not be revealed until the beginning of each episode.

“People can view this as my own version of an economic stimulus plan to benefit our viewers,” McMahon told the AP.

While the USA Network series continues to be one of the most watched shows on cable TV, its ratings have recently declined. Last Monday’s episode received the lowest ratings for a Memorial Day broadcast in five years, according to Nielsen Media Research.

McMahon said his goal with the giveaway, which begins June 9, is to reward loyal “Raw” fans and draw new and former viewers back to the show.

USA is owned by General Electric Co.’s NBC Universal.

On the Net:

http://www.wwe.com