Mark Madden fired by WCW

By JOHN F. MOLINARO -- SLAM! Wrestling
Word came out of WCW today that announcer Mark Madden has been fired by the company.

WCW television director Craig Leathers informed Madden of his dismissal, citing comments he's made on WCW telecasts regarding the potential sale of the company and the status of Scott Hall as the official reason. WCW claims Madden made repeated references to the sale and Scott Hall on WCW telecasts after being instructed not to by the company.

Madden told Jason Powell of the Pro Wrestling Torch that he "did stop talking about the sale. When I was told to stop talking about Scott Hall, I did stop talking about Scott Hall a month."

WCW also claims Madden gave an unauthorized interview where he spoke disparagingly of the company.

Madden refutes that claim, telling the Torch that such an interview doesn't exist. He goes on to say that he "recently did an interview with a Chicago radio station in which I put over the company constantly. That interview was done with company permission. That's the extent of the interviews I've done for the past several months."

After several years as a guest columnist for the Torch, Madden joined WCW on a part-time basis as a correspondent for their #900 hotline. His duties were later extended to include writing for the company's magazine and Internet site, as well as handle commentary duties for Real Audio broadcasts of WCW events. He debuted as a colour commentator on WCW Nitro in January 2000.

Madden is a sports columnist for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette covering football and hockey. He also hosts a sports talk radio program on WEAE-AM 1250 in Pittsburgh.